Warm

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Distribution within Earth and Environmental Science

Terms modified by Warm

  • warm air
  • warm climate
  • warm condition
  • warm environment
  • warm event
  • warm front
  • warm ischaemia
  • warm ischemia
  • warm ischemia time
  • warm ischemic time
  • warm period
  • warm pool
  • warm season
  • warm sst anomaly
  • warm summer
  • warm temperature
  • warm water

  • Selected Abstracts


    ASSESSMENT OF A WASH TREATMENT WITH WARM CHLORINATED WATER TO EXTEND THE SHELF,LIFE OF READY,TO,USE LETTUCE

    JOURNAL OF FOOD QUALITY, Issue 3 2003
    J.A. ODUMERU
    There was a significant difference in psychrotrophic counts (P<0.0001) of warm chlorine (100 ppm) washed lettuce at 47 ± 2C for 30 s, 60 s, and 180 s exposure from days 1 to 10 of storage at 4C compared with cold chlorine (100 ppm) washed lettuce at 4 ± 1C for 30 s. There were no significant differences in psychrotrophic counts between wash treatments of 30 s and 60 s during 17 days storage (P < 0.05). The EN detected initially high levels of volatiles in this group compared with cold treatment. Lettuce samples treated with cold or warm chlorine wash water showed no differences in the presence/absence or levels of Listeria monocytogenes. The warm chlorine washed lettuce samples were rated acceptable upon sensory evaluation up to day 14. [source]


    SENSORY QUALITY OF READY-TO-EAT LETTUCE WASHED IN WARM, CHLORINATED WATER,

    JOURNAL OF FOOD QUALITY, Issue 6 2000
    P.J. DELAQUIS
    ABSTRACT Three prepackaging treatments were evaluated for ready-to-eat (RTE) lettuce. Fresh iceberg lettuce pieces were dipped for 3 min in cold water (4C) with 100 ppm total chlorine, warm (47C) water with 100 ppm chlorine and tap water at room temperature. The lettuce was dewatered by centrifugation, packed in breathable film bags (OTR: 1600-2000 cc/m2/24 h) and stored for 11 days at 1C. Sensory evaluation revealed that the texture and visual appearance of stored RTE lettuce were improved by the warm water treatment. However, heat processing induced changes in the flavor of the lettuce, and a chlorinaceous off-odor was detected by some panelists. [source]


    Warm and Neutral Tumescent Anesthetic Solutions Are Essential Factors for a Less Painful Injection

    DERMATOLOGIC SURGERY, Issue 9 2006
    CHIH-HSUN YANG MD
    BACKGROUND Tumescent local anesthesia is widely used in dermatologic surgery. Minimizing pain associated with injections is crucial to successful surgical procedures. OBJECTIVE This study investigates the pain associated with warm and room temperatures in neutralized or nonneutralized tumescent anesthetic solutions injection. METHODS Thirty-six patients with axilla osmidrosis who underwent local anesthesia for surgery were randomly assigned to three groups. Group A received warm neutral (40°C) and room-temperature neutral (22°C) tumescent injections to each axillary region. Group B received warm neutral (pH 7.35) and warm nonneutral (pH 4.78) tumescent injections on each side of axilla. Group C received warm nonneutral and room-temperature nonneutral tumescent injections on each side of axilla. Pain associated with infiltration of anesthesia was rated on a visual analog scale (VAS). RESULTS A statistically significant decrease (p < .001) in pain sensation was reported on the warm, neutral injection side (mean rating, 32.7 mm) compared with the room-temperature, neutral injection side (mean rating, 53.3 mm). Patient-reported pain intensity was significantly lower on the side that received warm, neutral tumescent anesthesia (mean rating, 26.8 mm) than on the side receiving warm, nonneutral tumescent anesthesia (mean rating, 44.9 mm; p < .001). The difference in VAS scores between warm neutral (mean rating, 23.9 mm) and room-temperature nonneutral (mean rating, 61.2 mm) was statistically significant (p < .001). CONCLUSION The warm, neutral tumescent anesthetic preparation effectively suppressed patient pain during dermatologic surgical procedures. [source]


    Fishing in Peru between 10,000 and 3750 BP

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OSTEOARCHAEOLOGY, Issue 1-2 2001
    Elizabeth J. ReitzArticle first published online: 28 FEB 200
    Abstract Archaeozoological data for the period of 10,000,5000 bp were rare for the southeastern Pacific coast, until recent work provided data from eight sites in Peru and Ecuador. These sites span the early to mid-Holocene period, during which time modern climatic conditions became established. Vertebrate faunal data from these sites provide an opportunity to explore the influence of mid-Holocene environmental changes on fishing in Peru during this time. With two exceptions, most faunal collections are dominated by marine animals, with virtually no terrestrial vertebrates. Many of the marine organisms are catholic species, tolerant of a wide variety of water conditions, rather than ones which clearly prefer warm,tropical or warm,temperate ones. Warm,tropical species are more common in the northern assemblages, as would be expected. There is a temporal pattern as well. Within three subdivisions of this area, warm,tropical animals diminish in abundance, and warm,temperate animals increase. These differences probably reflect cultural responses to mid-Holocene environmental change, in which coastal waters from southern Peru into Ecuador became cooler. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


    Beating-Heart Valvular Surgery: A Possible Alternative for Patients with Severely Compromised Ventricular Function

    JOURNAL OF CARDIAC SURGERY, Issue 2 2002
    Richard J. Kaplon M.D.
    We report a novel approach to myocardial protection in a patient requiring multi-valve surgery who had an ejection fraction of 15%. Warm oxygenated blood was infused continuously both antegrade and retrograde during aortic valve replacement and mitral and tricuspid valve repair. Adequacy of perfusion was confirmed by the absence of electrocardiographic changes. Clinical improvement suggests that this strategy of myocardial protection warrants further investigation. [source]


    Morphophysiological dormancy in seeds of three eastern North American Sanicula species (Apiaceae subf.

    PLANT SPECIES BIOLOGY, Issue 2 2010
    Saniculoideae): evolutionary implications for dormancy break
    Abstract Dormancy breaking and germination requirements were determined for seeds of the eastern North American (eNA) species Sanicula canadensis, Sanicula gregaria and Sanicula trifoliata, and the data compared to those available for the European,Asian (EurA) congener Sanicula europaea. Seeds of the three eNA species had underdeveloped embryos that were physiologically dormant, i.e., morphophysiological dormancy (MPD). Warm (25/15°C) followed by cold (5/1°C) stratification was effective in breaking dormancy in 100% of the S. canadensis seeds, but in only 29.3% of S. gregaria seeds and 43.3% of S. trifoliata seeds. Cold stratification alone broke dormancy in 38.7, 12.0 and 0% of S. canadensis, S. gregaria and S. trifoliata seeds, respectively. Thus, some seeds of S. canadensis and of S. gregaria that germinated have non-deep complex MPD, and others have deep complex MPD. All seeds of S. trifoliata that germinated have non-deep complex MPD. Within a phylogenetic context, the kind (level) of MPD may or may not differ between eNA Sanicula sister species because conspecific variation in the kind of MPD exists in seeds of S. canadensis and S. gregaria. Similarly, the kind of MPD in seeds of eNA S. canadensis and S. gregaria may or may not differ with the deep complex MPD in seeds of the EurA S. europaea. However, the non-deep complex MPD in all seeds of eNA S. trifoliata and deep complex MPD in seeds of S. europaea represent a distinct difference in this trait between two of the five clades comprising the genus Sanicula. [source]


    Modellierung und Simulation thermo-mechanisch gekoppelter Umformprozesse

    PROCEEDINGS IN APPLIED MATHEMATICS & MECHANICS, Issue 1 2008
    C. Bröcker
    Die thermomechanisch konsistente Materialmodellierung des viskoplastischen Werkstoffverhaltens der Metalle bei thermomechanischer Kopplung wird beschrieben. Dabei beinhaltet die Wärmeleitungsgleichung auf natürliche Weise die Wärmeproduktion aufgrund der dissipativen Vorgänge während der plastischen Deformation. Ein konkretes Materialmodell wird angegeben und anhand von Experimenten validiert. Abschließend wird ein Anwendungsbeispiel zur gleichzeitigen Warm,/ Kaltumformung einer Flanschwelle mit LS,DYNA thermo,mechanisch gekoppelt simuliert. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [source]


    Thermal effects on reptile reproduction: adaptation and phenotypic plasticity in a montane lizard

    BIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY, Issue 3 2010
    RORY S. TELEMECO
    Interspecific comparisons suggest a strong association between cool climates and viviparity in reptiles. However, intraspecific comparisons, which provide an opportunity to identify causal pathways and to distinguish facultative (phenotypically plastic) effects from canalized (genetically fixed) responses, are lacking. We documented the reproductive traits in an alpine oviparous lizard, and manipulated thermal regimes of gravid females and their eggs to identify proximate causes of life-history variation. Embryonic development at oviposition was more advanced in eggs laid by females from high-elevation populations than in eggs produced by females from lower elevations. In the laboratory, experimentally imposed low maternal body temperatures delayed oviposition and resulted in more advanced embryonic development at oviposition. Warm conditions both in utero and in the nest increased hatching success and offspring body size. Our intraspecific comparisons support the hypothesis that viviparity has evolved in cold-climate squamates because of the direct fitness advantages that warm temperatures provide developing offspring. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 100, 642,655. [source]


    Composition of Partially Ionized Systems Using the PlanckLarkin Partition Function of Mid-Z ions

    CONTRIBUTIONS TO PLASMA PHYSICS, Issue 10 2009
    A. Sengebusch
    Abstract We report on the composition of warm, dense plasmas of M-shell ions. Assuming local thermal equilibrium, the abundance of different ionization stages is given by a set of coupled Saha-equations. In order to avoid discontinuities at the Mott density, the partition functions have to account for pressure ionization due to continuum lowering consistently. The Planck-Larkin renormalization of bound and scattering states is well elaborated for hydrogenic systems. This paper shows the consistent extension to moderately ionized Mid-Z elements. We present results for solid-density polymere and titanium plasmas (© 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [source]


    Warm and Neutral Tumescent Anesthetic Solutions Are Essential Factors for a Less Painful Injection

    DERMATOLOGIC SURGERY, Issue 9 2006
    CHIH-HSUN YANG MD
    BACKGROUND Tumescent local anesthesia is widely used in dermatologic surgery. Minimizing pain associated with injections is crucial to successful surgical procedures. OBJECTIVE This study investigates the pain associated with warm and room temperatures in neutralized or nonneutralized tumescent anesthetic solutions injection. METHODS Thirty-six patients with axilla osmidrosis who underwent local anesthesia for surgery were randomly assigned to three groups. Group A received warm neutral (40°C) and room-temperature neutral (22°C) tumescent injections to each axillary region. Group B received warm neutral (pH 7.35) and warm nonneutral (pH 4.78) tumescent injections on each side of axilla. Group C received warm nonneutral and room-temperature nonneutral tumescent injections on each side of axilla. Pain associated with infiltration of anesthesia was rated on a visual analog scale (VAS). RESULTS A statistically significant decrease (p < .001) in pain sensation was reported on the warm, neutral injection side (mean rating, 32.7 mm) compared with the room-temperature, neutral injection side (mean rating, 53.3 mm). Patient-reported pain intensity was significantly lower on the side that received warm, neutral tumescent anesthesia (mean rating, 26.8 mm) than on the side receiving warm, nonneutral tumescent anesthesia (mean rating, 44.9 mm; p < .001). The difference in VAS scores between warm neutral (mean rating, 23.9 mm) and room-temperature nonneutral (mean rating, 61.2 mm) was statistically significant (p < .001). CONCLUSION The warm, neutral tumescent anesthetic preparation effectively suppressed patient pain during dermatologic surgical procedures. [source]


    Sorbitol and myo -inositol levels and morphology of sural nerve in relation to peripheral nerve function and clinical neuropathy in men with diabetic, impaired, and normal glucose tolerance

    DIABETIC MEDICINE, Issue 4 2000
    G. Sundkvist
    Abstracts Aims Sorbitol and myo -inositol levels and morphology of sural nerve were compared with nerve function and clinical neuropathy in men with diabetic, impaired (IGT), and normal glucose tolerance. Methods After neurography of sural nerve and determinations of sensory thresholds for vibration, warm and cold on the foot, whole nerve sural nerve biopsy was performed in 10 men with Type 1 diabetes mellitus, 10 with IGT, and 10 with normal glucose tolerance. Polyol levels were assessed by gas,liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry. Results Sural nerve amplitudes were significantly lower and sorbitol levels significantly higher in diabetic patients (median (interquartile range)) (3.7 (3.5) ,V and 643 (412) pmol/mg protein, respectively) both compared with IGT (11.3 (10.6) ,V; P = 0.04 and 286 (83) pmol/mg protein; P = 0.0032, respectively) and normally glucose tolerant (10.0 (11.6); P = 0.0142 and 296 (250) pmol/mg protein; P = 0.0191, respectively) subjects. There were no differences in nerve morphology between the three groups. Nerve myo -inositol levels correlated, however, positively with cluster density (rs = 0.56; P = 0.0054). In diabetic and IGT subjects, sural nerve amplitudes (2.6 (3.8) vs. 12.1 (10.6) ,V; P = 0.0246) and myelinated nerve fibre density (MNFD; 4076 (1091) vs. 5219 (668) nerve fibres/mm2; P = 0.0021) were significantly lower in nine subjects with clinical neuropathy than in 10 without. Conclusions Nerve degeneration (i.e. MNFD) correlated with clinical neuropathy but not with glucose tolerance status whereas nerve myo -inositol levels positively correlated with signs of nerve regeneration (i.e. increased cluster density). [source]


    Palaeomonsoon variability in the southern fringe of the Badain Jaran Desert, China, since 130 ka BP

    EARTH SURFACE PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS, Issue 3 2006
    Quanzhou Gao
    Abstract Taking the Chagelebulu Stratigraphic Profile as a typical example, a comprehensive study has been conducted to elucidate the palaeoclimatic and geomorphic evolution patterns in the southern fringe of the Badain Jaran Desert, which were found to be complex and polycyclic in the past 130 ka. However, the fluctuating magnitude is not as remarkable as that in the eastern China sandy region. The shift in climate from interglacial to glacial and the uplift process of the Qinghai,Xizang Plateau are the two leading forces driving the evolution of the climate and desert landforms in this area. Seventeen cycles of cold, dry and warm, humid climatic stages were recognized in the Upper Pleistocene Series of the profile. The sharp uplift of the Qinghai,Xizang Plateau superimposed a cool and arid climatic trend in this area. As a result of the climatic changes, the desert in this area has undergone multiple stages of expansion and contraction since 130 ka bp. The middle Holocene Epoch and the early stage of the Late Pleistocene Period were the main periods when the sand dunes became stabilized, and the early and late phases of the Holocene Epoch and late phase of the Pleistocene Epoch were the main periods when the previously stabilized sand dunes became mobile. The late phase of the Pleistocene Epoch was the most mobile stage, when the aeolian sand activities formed the essential geomorphic pattern of the Badain Jaran Desert. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


    A Rb/Sr record of catchment weathering response to Holocene climate change in Inner Mongolia

    EARTH SURFACE PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS, Issue 3 2006
    Zhangdong Jin
    Abstract Variation in the rubidium to strontium (Rb/Sr) ratio of the loess,palaeosol sequences has been proposed to reflect the degree of pedogenesis and weathering in the northwestern region of China. To characterize the Rb/Sr ratio of the dissolved loads of a single catchment, we analysed a 12·08 m sediment core from Daihai Lake in Inner Mongolia, north China. Dating control was provided by 210Pb, 137Cs and AMS- 14C. Sequential extraction experiments were conducted to investigate the concentrations of Rb and Sr on various chemical fractions in the lake sediments. Down-core variation in the Rb/Sr ratios provides a record of Holocene weathering history. From 9 to 3·5 ka bp, accelerated chemical weathering was experienced throughout the Daihai catchment under mainly warm and humid conditions, and this reached a maximum at c. 5 ka bp. However, weathering was reduced between c. 8·25 and 7·90 ka bp, which may reflect the global 8·2 ka cooling event. After c. 2·5 ka bp, increased Rb/Sr ratios with higher frequency of fluctuations indicate reduced weathering within the Daihai catchment. The highest Rb/Sr ratios in the Little Ice Age lake sediments indicate the weakest phase of Holocene chemical weathering, resulting from a marked reduction in Sr flux into the basin. The Rb/Sr record also shows an enhancement of chemical weathering under today's climate, but its intensity is less than that of the Medieval Warm Period. Increased Rb/Sr in lake sediment corresponding to reduced catchment weathering is in striking contrast to Rb/Sr decrease in the glacial loess layers in the loess,palaeosol sequence. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


    Females of the European beewolf preserve their honeybee prey against competing fungi

    ECOLOGICAL ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 2 2001
    Erhard Strohm
    Summary 1. Females of the European beewolf Philanthus triangulum (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae) provision brood cells with paralysed honeybees as larval food. Because brood cells are located in warm, humid locations there is a high risk of microbial decomposition of the provisions. Low incidence of fungus infestation (Aspergillus sp.) in nests in the field suggested the presence of an anti-fungal adaptation. 2. To test whether the paralysis caused the protection from fungus infestation, the timing of fungus growth on bees that were freeze-killed, paralysed but not provisioned, and provisioned regularly by beewolf females was determined. Fungus growth was first detected on freeze-killed bees, followed by paralysed but not provisioned bees. By contrast, fungus growth on provisioned bees was delayed greatly or even absent. Thus, paralysis alone is much less efficient in delaying fungus growth than is regular provisioning. 3. Observations of beewolves in their nests revealed that females lick the body surface of their prey very thoroughly during the period of excavation of the brood cell. 4. To separate the effect of a possible anti-fungal property of the brood cell and the licking of the bees, a second experiment was conducted. Timing of fungus growth on paralysed bees did not differ between artificial and original brood cells. By contrast, fungus growth on bees that had been provisioned by a female but were transferred to artificial brood cells was delayed significantly. Thus, the treatment of the bees by the female wasp but not the brood cell caused the delay in fungus growth. 5. Beewolf females most probably apply anti-fungal chemicals to the cuticle of their prey. This is the first demonstration of the mechanism involved in the preservation of provisions in a hunting wasp. Some kind of preservation of prey as a component of parental care is probably widespread among hunting wasps and might have been a prerequisite for the evolution of mass provisioning. [source]


    Predictions and tests of climate-based hypotheses of broad-scale variation in taxonomic richness

    ECOLOGY LETTERS, Issue 12 2004
    David J. Currie
    Abstract Broad-scale variation in taxonomic richness is strongly correlated with climate. Many mechanisms have been hypothesized to explain these patterns; however, testable predictions that would distinguish among them have rarely been derived. Here, we examine several prominent hypotheses for climate,richness relationships, deriving and testing predictions based on their hypothesized mechanisms. The ,energy,richness hypothesis' (also called the ,more individuals hypothesis') postulates that more productive areas have more individuals and therefore more species. More productive areas do often have more species, but extant data are not consistent with the expected causal relationship from energy to numbers of individuals to numbers of species. We reject the energy,richness hypothesis in its standard form and consider some proposed modifications. The ,physiological tolerance hypothesis' postulates that richness varies according to the tolerances of individual species for different sets of climatic conditions. This hypothesis predicts that more combinations of physiological parameters can survive under warm and wet than cold or dry conditions. Data are qualitatively consistent with this prediction, but are inconsistent with the prediction that species should fill climatically suitable areas. Finally, the ,speciation rate hypothesis' postulates that speciation rates should vary with climate, due either to faster evolutionary rates or stronger biotic interactions increasing the opportunity for evolutionary diversification in some regions. The biotic interactions mechanism also has the potential to amplify shallower, underlying gradients in richness. Tests of speciation rate hypotheses are few (to date), and their results are mixed. [source]


    Temperature-based population segregation in birch

    ECOLOGY LETTERS, Issue 2 2003
    Colleen K. Kelly
    Abstract Mean temperature of establishment years for warm- and cold-year subpopulations of a naturally occurring stand of Betula pendula (birch) shows a difference equivalent to that between current temperatures and temperatures projected for 35,55 years hence, given ,business as usual.' The existence of ,pre-adapted' individuals in standing tree populations would reduce temperature-based advantages for invading species and, if general, bring into question assumptions currently used in models of global climate change. Our results demonstrate a methodology useful for investigating the important ecological issue of adaptation vs. range shifts as a means of response to climate change. [source]


    Thermophilic anaerobes in Arctic marine sediments induced to mineralize complex organic matter at high temperature

    ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 4 2010
    Casey Hubert
    Summary Marine sediments harbour diverse populations of dormant thermophilic bacterial spores that become active in sediment incubation experiments at much higher than in situ temperature. This response was investigated in the presence of natural complex organic matter in sediments of two Arctic fjords, as well as with the addition of freeze-dried Spirulina or individual high-molecular-weight polysaccharides. During 50°C incubation experiments, Arctic thermophiles catalysed extensive mineralization of the organic matter via extracellular enzymatic hydrolysis, fermentation and sulfate reduction. This high temperature-induced food chain mirrors sediment microbial processes occurring at cold in situ temperatures (near 0°C), yet it is catalysed by a completely different set of microorganisms. Using sulfate reduction rates (SRR) as a proxy for organic matter mineralization showed that differences in organic matter reactivity determined the extent of the thermophilic response. Fjord sediments with higher in situ SRR also supported higher SRR at 50°C. Amendment with Spirulina significantly increased volatile fatty acids production and SRR relative to unamended sediment in 50°C incubations. Spirulina amendment also revealed temporally distinct sulfate reduction phases, consistent with 16S rRNA clone library detection of multiple thermophilic Desulfotomaculum spp. enriched at 50°C. Incubations with four different fluorescently labelled polysaccharides at 4°C and 50°C showed that the thermophilic population in Arctic sediments produce a different suite of polymer-hydrolysing enzymes than those used in situ by the cold-adapted microbial community. Over time, dormant marine microorganisms like these are buried in marine sediments and might eventually encounter warmer conditions that favour their activation. Distinct enzymatic capacities for organic polymer degradation could allow specific heterotrophic populations like these to play a role in sustaining microbial metabolism in the deep, warm, marine biosphere. [source]


    Perceptions of Parental Acceptance-Rejection and Self-Concepts among Ukrainian University Students

    ETHOS, Issue 3 2005
    DAVID E. COURNOYER
    This report describes perceptions of parental acceptance-rejection, parental control and self-concepts in a sample of 108 university students in the city of Kharkiv, Ukraine. The students responded to Russian translations of two questionnaires: the Parental Acceptance-Rejection/Control Questionnaire (PARQ/Control) and the Personality Assessment Questionnaire (PAQ). The Ukrainian respondents generally regarded their parents as loving, warm and low in hostility, aggression, neglect and indifference. The participants also revealed moderately positive self-concepts. The now familiar pancultural correlation between perceptions of acceptance-rejection and psychological adjustment was also observed. The more accepting the participants perceived their mothers and fathers to be, the more likely the students were to hold positive self-concepts. [source]


    Intraepidermal nerve fibre density, quantitative sensory testing and nerve conduction studies in a patient material with symptoms and signs of sensory polyneuropathy

    EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY, Issue 2 2006
    S. Løseth
    Small diameter nerve fibre (SDNF) neuropathy is an axonal sensory neuropathy affecting unmyelinated (C) and thin myelinated (A-delta) fibres. We have evaluated 75 patients with symptoms and signs suggesting SDNF dysfunction with or without symptoms and signs of co-existing large diameter nerve fibre involvement. The patients were examined clinically and underwent skin biopsy, quantitative sensory testing (QST) and nerve conduction studies (NCS). The purpose of this study was to compare the relationship between the different methods and in particular measurements of thermal thresholds and intraepidermal nerve fibre (IENF) density in the same site of the distal leg. The main subdivision of the patient material was made according to the overall NCS pattern. Patients with normal NCS (38) had 6.4 ± 3.8 and patients with abnormal NCS (37) had 4.4 ± 3.4 IENF per mm (P = 0.02). Limen (difference between warm and cold perception thresholds) was significantly higher (more abnormal) in those with abnormal than in those with normal NCS (22.1 ± 9.1 vs. 13.4 ± 5.6, P < 0.0001). Cold perception threshold was more abnormal (P < 0.0001) than warm perception threshold (P = 0.002). Correlation between IENF and QST was statistically significant only when NCS was abnormal, and thus dependent of a more severe neuropathic process in SDNFs. [source]


    Cortical control of thermoregulatory sympathetic activation

    EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, Issue 11 2010
    M. Fechir
    Abstract Thermoregulation enables adaptation to different ambient temperatures. A complex network of central autonomic centres may be involved. In contrast to the brainstem, the role of the cortex has not been clearly evaluated. This study was therefore designed to address cerebral function during a whole thermoregulatory cycle (cold, neutral and warm stimulation) using 18-fluordeoxyglucose-PET (FDG-PET). Sympathetic activation parameters were co-registered. Ten healthy male volunteers were examined three times on three different days in a water-perfused whole-body suit. After a baseline period (32°C), temperature was either decreased to 7°C (cold), increased to 50°C (warm) or kept constant (32°C, neutral), thereafter the PET examination was performed. Cerebral glucose metabolism was increased in infrapontine brainstem and cerebellar hemispheres during cooling and warming, each compared with neutral temperature. Simultaneously, FDG uptake decreased in the bilateral anterior/mid-cingulate cortex during warming, and in the right insula during cooling and warming. Conjunction analyses revealed that right insular deactivation and brainstem activation appeared both during cold and warm stimulation. Metabolic connectivity analyses revealed positive correlations between the cortical activations, and negative correlations between these cortical areas and brainstem/cerebellar regions. Heart rate changes negatively correlated with glucose metabolism in the anterior cingulate cortex and in the middle frontal gyrus/dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and changes of sweating with glucose metabolism in the posterior cingulate cortex. In summary, these results suggest that the cerebral cortex exerts an inhibitory control on autonomic centres located in the brainstem or cerebellum. These findings may represent reasonable explanations for sympathetic hyperactivity, which occurs, for example, after hemispheric stroke. [source]


    Taurine selectively modulates the secretory activity of vasopressin neurons in conscious rats

    EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, Issue 7 2001
    Mario Engelmann
    Abstract Previous experiments have shown that a 10-min forced swimming session triggers the release of vasopressin from somata and dendrites, but not axon terminals, of neurons of the hypothalamic,neurohypophysial system. To further investigate regulatory mechanisms underlying this dissociated release, we forced male Wistar rats to swim in warm (20 °C) water and monitored release of the potentially inhibitory amino acids gamma amino butyric acid (GABA) and taurine into the hypothalamic supraoptic nucleus using microdialysis. Forced swimming caused a significant increase in the release of taurine (up to 350%; P < 0.05 vs. prestress release), but not GABA. To reveal the physiological significance of centrally released taurine, the specific taurine antagonist 6-aminomethyl-3-methyl-4H-1,2,4-benzothiadiazine-1,1-dioxide was administered into the supraoptic nucleus via retrodialysis. Administration of this antagonist caused a significant increase in the release of vasopressin within the supraoptic nucleus and into the blood both under basal conditions and during stress (up to 800%; P < 0.05 vs. basal values), without affecting hypothalamic or plasma oxytocin. Local administration of the GABAA receptor antagonist bicuculline, in contrast, failed to influence vasopressin secretion at either time point. In a separate series of in vivo electrophysiological experiments, administration of the same dosage of the taurine antagonist into the supraoptic nucleus via microdialysis resulted in an increased electrical activity of identified vasopressinergic, but not oxytocinergic, neurons. Taken together our data demonstrate that taurine is released within the supraoptic nucleus during physical/emotional stress. Furthermore, at the level of the supraoptic nucleus, taurine inhibits not only the electrical activity of vasopressin neurons but also acts as an inhibitor of both central and peripheral vasopressin secretion during different physiological states. [source]


    It's all relative: Competition and status drive interpersonal perception

    EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 7 2008
    Ann Marie T. Russell
    Structural features of interpersonal relationships, particularly competition and status, can cause people, respectively, to (dis)like and (dis)respect each other, although they think they are reacting to the target's personality. Two studies manipulate structural relationships between students in a 2,×,2 between-participants design. Competition and status, respectively, differentiate perceptions of the target's warmth and competence. In Study 1's pre,post design, the pre- and post-interaction warmth, but status affected only pre-interaction competence. Study 2 post-interaction-only design did replicate both of Study 1's pre-interaction results. Competing targets were judged less warm than cooperating targets; high-status targets were judged more competent than low-status targets. These experiments demonstrate the structural predictors of the intergroup stereotype content model at the interpersonal level. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


    Estimation of net nitrogen flux between the atmosphere and a semi-natural grassland ecosystem in Hungary

    EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOIL SCIENCE, Issue 5 2010
    A. Machon
    The aim of this work is to estimate the net N balance (deposition , emission) between the atmosphere and a semi-arid, semi-natural grassland (Bugac station, Central Hungary, CarboEurope IP, NitroEurope IP level 3 site). Dry deposition of N compounds has been determined by the inferential method, based on continuous monitoring of NO2 gas and daily 24-hour concentration measurements of HNO3 vapour, NH3 gas, and NH4+ and NO3, particles, using dry deposition velocities from the literature, measured above surfaces with the same characteristics as Bugac station. The bi-directional flux of NH3 within the atmosphere and the canopy (excluding soil emission) has also been estimated by the inferential method. Wet deposition of nitrate and ammonium ions was calculated on the basis of daily precipitation sampling and concentration measurements of nitrate and ammonium ions. To estimate the soil-atmosphere exchange of different gaseous N forms (N2, NO, N2O, NH3), the DNDC model was used as validated by the chamber measurements of NO and N2O soil emission fluxes. Soil emissions of NO and N2O have been determined by dynamic and static soil chamber methods, respectively. The measurement and modelling activity covers a complete year. Using the measured and modelled data, the calculated N balance at Bugac station between August 2006 and July 2007 is estimated at ,8.8 kg N ha,1 year,1 (deposition) as a sum of the deposition and emission terms (,10.4 and 1.6 kg N ha,1 year,1, respectively). Due to the warm and dry weather during the examined period, wet fluxes were substantially lower than usual, which may also have altered the regular yearly course of dry deposition and emission. [source]


    Regolith and soils in Bhutan, Eastern Himalayas

    EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOIL SCIENCE, Issue 1 2004
    I. C. Baillie
    Summary Bhutan lies at altitudes of 100,7500 m on the steep, long and complex southern slopes of the Eastern Himalayas. Soil surveys show that, despite steep gradients, there are many moderately or deeply weathered soils. Many slopes are mantled with polycyclic, layered drift materials, so soil horizons owe as much to regolith heterogeneity as to pedogenesis. In the limited arable areas soil profiles are further complicated by rice cultivation and the construction, maintenance and irrigation of flat terraces on steep slopes. Some natural pedogenic horizonation is apparent, and there is an altitudinal zonation of soil types. Although the climate is warm and seasonally wet, most soils on the subtropical southern foothills are not particularly weathered and leached. The foothills are seismically active, and many soils are formed in unstable landslide debris. Elsewhere the regoliths are more stable. The main soils up to about 3000 m in the inner valleys are moderately weathered and leached, and have bright subsoil colours and thin dark topsoils. Above these there is a zone of bright orange-coloured non-volcanic andosolic soils. Further upslope there are acid soils with thick surface litter, stagnogleyic topsoils, and drab brown subsoils with organic cutans. These grade to weak podzols, which extend from about 3500 m up to the treeline, around 4000 m. Above this, alpine turf soils, with deep, dark, and friable topsoils and yellowish friable subsoils, are intermixed with unweathered glacial deposits. The interactions between pedogenesis and the deposition of the varied and layered drift materials complicate mapping and classification of the soils. [source]


    Targeting fuel poverty in England: is the government getting warm?

    FISCAL STUDIES, Issue 3 2002
    Tom Sefton
    Abstract This paper examines the cost-effectiveness of the new Home Energy Efficiency Scheme (HEES), a key component of the UK government's Fuel Poverty Strategy. The impact on the fuel poverty gap is simulated using data on a large-scale and representative sample of households in England. The scope for improving the scheme's targeting is considered by examining the optimal allocation of grants between households. The extent to which these potential gains might be achieved in practice using pragmatic criteria for distributing grants, and the implications of taking into account the dynamics of fuel poverty and the self-selection of grant applicants, are also explored. The current scheme is unlikely to have a very significant impact on fuel poverty, and considerable gains could be achieved by redesigning HEES, although the paper also highlights the difficulties involved in efficient targeting, including some additional complications not encountered in the analysis of more traditional anti-poverty measures. [source]


    From small-scale habitat loopholes to decadal cycles: a habitat-based hypothesis explaining fluctuation in pelagic fish populations off Peru

    FISH AND FISHERIES, Issue 4 2004
    Arnaud Bertrand
    Abstract The Peru-Humboldt Current system (HCS) supports the world's largest pelagic fisheries. Among the world's eastern boundary current systems, it is the most exposed to high climatic stress and is directly affected by El Niño and La Niña events. In this volatile ecosystem, fish have been led to develop adaptive strategies in space and time. In this paper, we attempt to understand the mechanisms underlying such strategies, focusing on the El Niño 1997,98 in Peru from which an extensive set of hydrographic, capture and acoustic survey data are available. An integrated analysis of the data is crucial, as each has substantial shortcomings individually; for example, both catch data and acoustic surveys may easily lead to wrong conclusions. Existing hypotheses on anchovy and sardine alternations lead us to a ,habitat-based' synthetic hypothesis. Using our data, an integrated approach evaluated how fish responded to habitat variation, and determined the consequences in terms of fish-population variability. Various factors occurring at a range of different spatio-temporal scales were considered: interdecadal regime (warm ,El Viejo'/cool ,La Vieja' decadal scale); strength and the duration of the El Niño Southern Oscillation event (interannual scale); population condition before the event (interannual scale); fishing pressure and other predation (annual scale); changes in reproductive behaviour (intra-annual scale); presence of local upwelling (local scale). During El Niño 1997,98, anchovy was able to exploit a small-scale temporal and spatial ,loophole' inside the general unfavourable conditions. Moreover, sardine did not do better than anchovy during this El Niño and was not able to take advantage of the ,loophole' opened by this short-term event. Our results question the traditional view that El Niño is bad for anchovy and good for sardine. [source]


    Interannual and seasonal variability of the diversity and structure of ichthyoplankton assemblages in the central Mexican Pacific

    FISHERIES OCEANOGRAPHY, Issue 3 2008
    C. FRANCO-GORDO
    Abstract We examined larval fish diversity and assemblage structure off the central coast of the Mexican Pacific from December 1995 through December 1998, including the 1997,98 El Niño event. A total of 132 taxa were recorded, the dominant species being Bregmaceros bathymaster, Dormitator latifrons, and Harengula thrissina (90, 1.9, and 0.8% of the total abundance, respectively). Only B. bathymaster, D. latifrons, and Gobionellus sp. occurred in all samples. The effects of the 1997,98 El Niño on ichthyoplankton diversity were significant, but typical seasonal patterns were also detected. Diversity null models were used to determine the structural changes in the assemblage related to El Niño; both richness and evenness of the species were highest during this event. The most parsimonious models of assemblage organization include El Niño and seasonality as the most significant environmental variability sources. The small-scale spatial variability expressed as the cross-shore gradient was not significant. The dominant species group formed by B. bathymaster, D. latifrons, and Vinciguerria lucetia typifies, in terms of similarity, both the pre-El Niño and El Niño periods; abundance differed between periods. The El Niño period was characterized locally by the dominant Bentosema panamense and H. thrissina, by the rare Euthynnus lineatus, and species of Lutjanus. Seasonality produced changes also in the relative frequencies of the dominant species plus the occurrence of rare forms. The average taxonomical distinctness, considered herein as an indicator of functional diversity, reflected the seasonal variability of the assemblages, aside from El Niño; this index showed lowest values during tropical and transitional periods, both characterized by warm, oligotrophic waters. The high dominance of B. bathymaster in the area and its effect on diversity stabilized the local ichthyoplankton assemblage. An upgraded analysis of diversity allowed a more detailed description of the variability in this assemblage, thus stressing the differential effects of El Niño at distinct latitudes. [source]


    Cohort splitting in bluefish, Pomatomus saltatrix, in the US mid-Atlantic Bight

    FISHERIES OCEANOGRAPHY, Issue 3 2008
    JODY L. CALLIHAN
    Abstract Atlantic bluefish exhibit cohort splitting, whereby two modes of juvenile recruits originate from spatially distinct spring- and summer-spawning regions in US Atlantic shelf waters. We evaluate the pattern of cohort splitting in a transition area (US Maryland coastal region and Chesapeake Bay) between the two major spawning regions. Spring and summer cohorts were differentially represented in Maryland estuarine (Chesapeake Bay) and coastal waters. The spring cohort was dominant in Chesapeake Bay, but was not well represented in the ocean environment, and the converse true for the summer cohort. We hypothesized that ocean temperatures control the bimodal spawning behavior and extent of cohort splitting. As evidence, we observed an intervening early summer cohort produced in years when shelf temperatures during early summer were suitably warm for spawning. In most years however, two dominant cohorts were evident. We propose that vernal warming dynamics in the mid-Atlantic Bight influence spawning behavior and the resultant bimodal pattern of seasonal juvenile cohort production commonly observed along the US east coast. [source]


    Larval fish assemblages and water mass structure off the oligotrophic south-western Australian coast

    FISHERIES OCEANOGRAPHY, Issue 1 2008
    B. A. MUHLING
    Abstract Larval fish assemblages were sampled using replicated oblique bongo net tows along a five-station transect extending from inshore (18 m depth) to offshore waters (1000 m depth) off temperate south-western Australia. A total of 148 taxa from 93 teleost families were identified. Larvae of Gobiidae and Blenniidae were abundant inshore, while larvae of pelagic and reef-dwelling families, such as Clupeidae, Engraulidae, Carangidae and Labridae were common in continental shelf waters. Larvae of oceanic families, particularly Myctophidae, Phosichthyidae and Gonostomatidae, dominated offshore assemblages. Multivariate statistical analyses revealed larval fish assemblages to have a strong temporal and spatial structure. Assemblages were distinct among seasons, and among inshore, continental shelf and offshore sampling stations. Inshore larval fish assemblages were the most seasonal, in terms of species composition and abundance, with offshore assemblages the least seasonal. However, larval fish assemblages were most closely correlated to water mass, with species distributions reflecting both cross-shelf and along-shore oceanographic processes and events. Similarity profile (SIMPROF) analysis suggested the presence of twelve distinct larval fish assemblages, largely delineated by water depth and season. The strength and position of the warm, southward flowing Leeuwin Current, and of the cool, seasonal, northward flowing Capes Current, were shown to drive much of the variability in the marine environment, and thus larval fish assemblages. [source]


    The importance of episodic weather events to the ecosystem of the Bering Sea shelf

    FISHERIES OCEANOGRAPHY, Issue 2 2005
    NICHOLAS A. BOND
    Abstract Climate variability on decadal time scales is generally recognized to influence high-latitude marine populations. Our recent work in studying air,sea interactions in the Bering Sea suggests that interannual to decadal climate variability is important through its modulation of the frequencies and magnitudes of weather events on intraseasonal time scales. We hypothesize that it is these weather events that directly impact the marine ecosystem of the Bering Sea shelf. The linkages between the event-scale weather and the ecosystem are illustrated with three examples: walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma), Tanner crabs (Chionoecetes bairdi), and coccolithophorid phytoplankton (Emiliania huxleyi). We hypothesize that the strong recruitment of walleye pollock that occurred in 1978, 1982, and 1996 can be attributed in part due to the seasonably strong storms that occurred in the early summer of those years. These storms caused greater than normal mixing of nutrients into the euphotic zone which presumably led to sustained primary productivity after the spring bloom and, possibly, enhanced prey concentrations for pollock larvae and their competitors. Recruitment of Tanner crab was particularly strong for the 1981 and 1984 year-classes. These years had periods of prominent east wind anomalies along the Alaska Peninsula during the previous winter. Such winds promote flow through Unimak Pass, and hence an enhanced flux of nutrient-rich water onto the shelf. This mechanism may have ultimately resulted in favorable feeding conditions for Tanner crab larvae. Finally, an unprecedented coccolithophorid bloom occurred over the Bering Sea shelf in the summer of 1997. This summer featured lighter winds and greater insolation than usual after a spring that included a very strong May storm. This combination brought about a warm, nutrient-poor upper mixed layer by mid-summer. This provided a competitive advantage for coccolithophorid phytoplankton in 1997 and to a lesser extent in 1998. Unusually high concentrations of coccolithophores persisted for the following two years although physical environmental conditions did not remain favorable. While slow variations in the overall aspects of the physical environment may be important for setting the stage, we propose that the significant multi-year adjustments in the marine ecosystem of the Bering Sea shelf are more directly caused by major air,sea interaction events on intraseasonal time scales. [source]