Search results for "DEC"
showing 10 items of 10327 documents
Soil processes are not influenced by the functional complexity of soil decomposer food webs under disturbance
2002
Abstract A 3 yr experiment, using field lysimeters with seedlings of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) growing in raw humus, was established to study how functional complexity of the soil decomposer food web affects ecosystem functioning. The functional complexity of decomposer system was manipulated by (1) allowing either microfauna (fine mesh) or microfauna+mesofauna (coarse mesh) to enter the initially defaunated systems, and (2) treating half of the lysimeters with wood ash. To test whether altering functional complexity of the decomposer community is related to the system's ability to resist disturbance, the lysimeters were later on disturbed with drought. Ecosystem function, measured as l…
Defoliation effects on Plantago lanceolata resource allocation and soil decomposers in relation to AM symbiosis and fertilization
2009
Plants can mediate interactions between aboveground herbivores and belowground decomposers as both groups depend on plant-provided organic carbon. Most vascular plants also form symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), which compete for plant carbon too. Our aim was to reveal how defoliation (trimming of plant leaves twice to 6 cm above the soil surface) and mycorrhizal infection (inoculation of the fungus Glomus claroideum BEG31), in nutrient poor and fertilized conditions, affect plant growth and resource allocation. We also tested how these effects can influence the abundance of microbial-feeding animals and nitrogen availability in the soil. We established a 12-wk microcosm st…
Soil feedback does not explain mowing effects on vegetation structure in a semi-natural grassland
2009
Due to its ability to create aboveground conditions that favour plant diversity, mowing is often used to preserve the high conservation value of semi-natural species-rich grasslands. However, mowing can also affect belowground conditions. By decreasing plant carbon supply to soil, mowing can suppress the activity of soil decomposers, diminish plant nutrient availability and thus create a feedback on plant growth. In this study, we first documented the effects of three-year mowing on plant community structure in a species-rich grassland. We found that mowing decreased the total areal cover of woody plants and increased the total cover of leguminous forbs. At the species level, mowing further…
Volatile components of dry-cured ham
1991
The volatile components of dry-cured ham were isolated by vacuum distillation and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The structures of 76 molecules were identified by mass spectrometry, cochromatography, or measured Kovats indices. The compounds identified may come from the catabolism of the main constituent parts of the meat (glucids, lipids and protids) during the curing of the hams, from the pig feed, or from technological processes. The volatile compounds extracted from 50 g of ham according to the technique described correspond to a chromatographical surface equivalent to 0.12 mg of the dodecane internal standard, or approximately 2.4 ppm of the weight of the sample. Fla…
The Performative University: ‘Targets’, ‘Terror’ and ‘Taking Back Freedom’ in Academia
2020
The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link. This special issue assembles eight papers which provide insights into the working lives of early career to more senior academics, from several different countries. The first common theme which emerges is around the predominance of ‘targets’, enacting aspects of quantification and the ideal of perfect control and fabrication. The second theme is about the ensuing precarious evocation of ‘terror’ impacting on mental well-being, albeit enacted in diverse ways. Furthermore, several papers highlight a particular type of response, beyond complicity to…
Building a statistical surveillance dashboard for COVID-19 infection worldwide
2020
When a pandemic like the current novel coronavirus (COVID-19) breaks out, it is important that authorities, healthcare organizations and official decision makers, have in place an effective monitoring system to promptly analyze data, create new insights into problematic areas and generate actionable knowledge for fact-based decision making. The aim of this article is to describe an initial work focused on building a comprehensive statistical surveillance dashboard for the epidemic of COVID-19, which can be exploited also for future needs. We propose novel ways of exploring, analyzing and presenting data, using metrics that have not been used previously. We also show the steps necessary to b…
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on surgery for thyroid cancer in Italy: nationwide retrospective study
2021
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Spectroscopic studies of neutron-deficient light nuclei: decay properties of 21Mg, 25Si and 26P
2003
Neutron‐deficient nuclei with Tz equals to −3/2 and −2 have been produced at the GANIL/LISE3 facility in fragmentation reactions of a 95 MeV/u 36Ar primary beam in a 12C target. For the first time, β‐delayed proton and β‐γ emission has been simultaneously observed in the decay of 21Mg, 25Si and 26P. The decay scheme of the latter is proposed and the Gamow‐Teller strength distribution in its β decay is compared to shell‐model calculations based on the USD interaction. The B(GT) values derived from the absolute measurement of the β‐branching ratios are in agreement with the quenching factor of about 60% obtained for allowed Gamow‐Teller transitions in this mass region. A precise half‐life of …
Cuestiones varias en torno a la determinación de la filiación por doble paternidad
2018
The article 7.3 of the law 14/2006, of May 26 on technologies of human assisted reproduction establishes the possibility of determining legally the double maternity of married women and not separated legally or of fact, when the not biological mother consents that filiation decides to his favor the respect of the born son of his spouse. In the suppositions not regulated in the mentioned rule the Supreme Court in relation with equal women?s homosexuality in judgment of December 5, 2013 and January 15, 2014 applies the civil code and allows to determine judicially the maternity by means of the exercise of an action of claim for possession of status foreseen in the article 131. In the present …
The Role of Vitamin D as a Biomarker in Alzheimer’s Disease
2021
Vitamin D and cognition is a popular association, which led to a remarkable body of literature data in the past 50 years. The brain can synthesize, catabolize, and receive Vitamin D, which has been proved to regulate many cellular processes in neurons and microglia. Vitamin D helps synaptic plasticity and neurotransmission in dopaminergic neural circuits and exerts anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective activities within the brain by reducing the synthesis of pro-inflammatory cytokines and the oxidative stress load. Further, Vitamin D action in the brain has been related to the clearance of amyloid plaques, which represent a feature of Alzheimer Disease (AD), by the immune cell. Based on the…