Climatic warming and drying are having profound impacts on terrestrial carbon cycling by altering plant physiological traits and photosynthetic processes, particularly for species in the semi-arid Mediterranean ecosystems. More effective methods of remote sensing are needed to accurately assess the physiological responses and seasonal photosynthetic activities of evergreen species to climate ch...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE In high-bleeding risk procedures, discontinuation of antiplatelet drug therapy with clopidogrel may be requested by surgeons, usually 7-10 days before the surgical procedure. New platelet function tests, such as the vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein phosphorylation assay, may help to assess the perioperative status of the clopidogrel-specific P2Y12 receptor. METHO...

Since histogram-based methods are formed by some simple differences, they are very desirable for deinterleaving. However, their main imperfection concerns recognizing complex pulse repetition interval (PRI) patterns like jittered and staggered ones. In this paper, we present new thresholds to detect jittered and staggered PRI from histogram-based methods even in complex circumstances such as no...

Treatment strategies for penetrating rectal injuries (PRI) in civilian settings are still not uniformly agreed, in part since high-energy transfer PRI, such as is frequently seen in military settings, are not taken into account. Here, we describe three cases of PRI, treated in a deployed combat environment, and outline the management strategies successfully employed. We also discuss the literat...

Aim We studied different species of gooseneck barnacles from the globally distributed rafting genus Lepas to examine whether the most widespread species are true cosmopolitans and to explore the factors influencing the phylogeny and biogeography of these epipelagic rafters. Methods We used a phylogenetic approach based on mitochondrial 16S and coI sequences, and the nuclear 18S gene to elucidat...

BACKGROUND In patients with atrial fibrillation, intracardiac atrial defibrillation causes discomfort. An easily applicable, short-acting analgesic and anxiolytic drug would increase acceptability of this new treatment mode. METHODS AND RESULTS In a double-blind, placebo-controlled manner, the effect of intranasal butorphanol, an opioid, was evaluated in 47 patients with the use of a step-up ...

Besides well-known effect on bone and mineral metabolism vitamin D is involved in essential non-calcemic regulatory mechanisms, such as cellular proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis in various cell types. Major limitation for therapeutic use of calcitriol, a hormonally active form of vitamin D, is its calcemic and phosphatemic action. Recently, more selective vitamin D analogs which ret...

STOCK DEFINITION AND GEOGRAPHIC RANGE The gray seal is found on both sides of the North Atlantic, with three major populations: eastern Canada, northwestern Europe and the Baltic Sea (Katona et al. 1993). The western North Atlantic population occurs from New England to Labrador and is centered in the Sable Island region of Nova Scotia (Mansfield 1966; Katona et al. 1993; Davies 1957; Lesage and...

To assess the viability of high latitude environments as coral refugia, we report measurements of seasonal changes in seawater parameters (temperature, light, and carbonate chemistry) together with calcification rates for two coral species, Acropora yongei and Pocillopora damicornis from the southernmost geographical limit of these species at Salmon Bay, Rottnest Island (32°S) in Western Austra...

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are excised from hairpin structures within primary miRNAs (pri-miRNAs). Most animal pri-miRNAs are processed by two cleavages, the first at a loop-distal site approximately 11 nucleotides (nt) from the end of the hairpin and the second approximately 22 nt beyond the first. To identify RNA structural determinants of miRNA processing in plants, we analyzed the functional conseq...