The Fynbos Biome in the Core Cape Subregion of South Africa is prone to recurrent fires that can clear vast areas of vegetation. Between periods of fire, ophiostomatoid fungi colonize the fruiting structures of serotinous Protea species through arthropod-mediated dispersal. Using microsatellite markers, this study considered the process whereby a Protea-associated ophiostomatoid fungus, Knoxdav...

A stack of n pancakes can be rearranged in all n! ways by a sequence of n!−1 flips, and a stack of n ‘burnt’ pancakes can be rearranged in all 2nn! ways by a sequence of 2nn!−1 flips. In both cases, a computer program can efficiently generate suitable solutions. We approach these tasks instead from a human perspective. How can we determine the next flip directly from the current stack? How can ...

Fire regimes in many north Australian savanna regions are today characterised by frequent wildfires occurring in the latter part of the 7-month dry season. A fire management program instigated from 2005 over 24 000 km2 of biodiversity-rich Western Arnhem Land aims to reduce the area and severity of late dry-season fires, and associated greenhouse gas emissions, through targeted early dry-season...

Using 100 years of fire perimeter maps, we investigate the existence of geographical patterns in fire orientation across California. We computed fire perimeter orientation, at the watershed level, using principal component analysis. Circular statistics were used to test for the existence of preferential fire perimeter orientations. Where perimeters displayed preferential orientation, we searche...

With the support of new technologies such as of remote sensing, today’s societies have been able to map and analyse wildland fires at large observational scales. With regards to burnt area mapping in particular, two of the most widely used operational products are offered today by the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the European Forest Fires Information Sy...

A large amount of heroin street doses are seized and examined for drug content by the Israel police. These are generally wrapped in heat-sealed plastic. Occasionally it is possible to visualize latent fingerprints on the plastic wrap itself, but the small size of the plastic item and the sealing process makes the success rate very low. In this study, the possibility of extracting and profiling ...

Objectives The current study examined the extent to which symptom improvement and full return to work occurs among clinically burnt-out employees and what the influence of concurring sleep problems is with respect to health recovery. Methods Fifty-nine burnt-out employees on extended sick leave assessed their symptoms for 2 weeks using an electronic diary. After 6 months, the measurements were ...

Wildfires are a major problem in Portugal. Since 1980 an area equivalent to 3/5 of the forested surface has burned. The aim of the study was to assess the potential impact of regional climate change on wildfires in Portugal using an appropriate Burnt Area Model (BAM). Based on multiple regression analysis, the model was able to estimate the decimal logarithm of the monthly burnt areas in July a...

Lichens associated with old forest are commonly assumed to be negatively affected by tree logging or natural disturbances. However, in this study performed in a spruce-dominated sylvopastoral landscape in the Swiss Jura Mountains, we found that genetic diversity of the epiphytic old-forest lichen Lobaria pulmonaria depends on the type of disturbance. We collected 923 thalli from 41 sampling plo...