Search results for "SCA"
showing 10 items of 23299 documents
Sectoral policies as drivers of forest management and ecosystems services: A case study in Bavaria, Germany
2023
European countries have national sectoral polices to regulate and promote the provision of a wide range of forest ecosystems services (FES). However, potential incoherencies among these policies can negatively affect the efficient provision of FES. In this work, we evaluated the coherence among three national policies from Germany and their ability to effectively provide FES in the future: the Forest Strategy 2020 (FS), the National Strategy on Biological Diversity (BDS), and the German National Policy Strategy on Bioeconomy (BES). Using forest inventory data from the Federal State of Bavaria, we simulated a range of forest management options under three climate trajectories for 100 years i…
Is there a microbial sub alpha-diversity at soil microscale ?
2012
The distribution of the soil microbial diversity depends on a broad range of environmental filters nested in spatial scales from continent to millimeter. Although microbial biogeography studies have recently shown the influence of environmental factors (texture/pH/plant cover and land-use) on soil microbial abundance and diversity, little is still known about spatial heterogeneity at a micro-scale within soil. Our study aims at describing and understanding the distribution of abundance and diversity of soil microbial communities between different soil microenvironments. Four soils were selected on the basis of differences in physico-chemical properties and historical land-management practic…
Scientific Opinion addressing the state of the science on risk assessment of plant protection products for in‐soil organisms
2017
Abstract Following a request from EFSA, the Panel on Plant Protection Products and their Residues developed an opinion on the science behind the risk assessment of plant protection products for in‐soil organisms. The current risk assessment scheme is reviewed, taking into account new regulatory frameworks and scientific developments. Proposals are made for specific protection goals for in‐soil organisms being key drivers for relevant ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes such as nutrient cycling, soil structure, pest control and biodiversity. Considering the time‐scales and biological processes related to the dispersal of the majority of in‐soil organisms compared to terrestrial non…
Interspecific interactions influence contrasting spatial genetic structures in two closely related damselfly species
2014
Spatial genetic structure (SGS) is largely determined by colonization history, landscape and ecological characteristics of the species. Therefore, sympatric and ecologically similar species are expected to exhibit similar SGSs, potentially enabling prediction of the SGS of one species from that of another. On the other hand, due to interspecific interactions, ecologically similar species could have different SGSs. We explored the SGSs of the closely related Calopteryx splendens and Calopteryx virgo within Finland and related the genetic patterns to characteristics of the sampling localities. We observed different SGSs for the two species. Genetic differentiation even within short distances …
A microstructure based mechanical model for planar fibrous scaffolds.
2010
Cardiac valve and myocardium tissue regeneration has consistently raised interest for cell-seeded/microintegrated planar fibrous scaffolds. Electrospun constructs, decellularized tissues and collagen/fibrin gels often show a similar microstructure mainly characterized by the fibrous network topology. Microstructure based mechanical modeling enable fabrication parameters and scaffolds morphology to be related to mesomacro mechanical response. A novel approach to (1) characterize the material fibers network microarchitecture, (2) reproduce stochastically equivalent fiber network models, and (3) predict the mechanical response at meso-macro level is presented in this work. Electron micrographs…
The Transcallosal Anterior Interfoniceal Approach: A Microsurgical Anatomy Study
2014
Objectives: A plethora of surgical strategies have been described to reach deeply lesions situated within the third ventricle, including the Rosenfeld or anterior transcallosal interfoniceal approach (TAIF). Firstly, introduced in 2001, it consists of a small callosotomy followed by the midline transseptal dissection of fornices to enter the roof of the third ventricle. The aim of this microsurgical anatomy study is to describe and show each stage of the surgical procedure, focusing on the possible trajectories to anatomic landmarks. Participants: A total of twenty adult cadaveric specimens were used in this study. Using x3 to x40 magnifications the surgical dissection was carried out in a …
Investigation on the stability of dispersion of zirconia nanoparticles prepared by microwave- hydrothermal synthesis
2005
Difficulties in reproducing the performances of nanoparticles dispersions are obstructive for the progress of the nanotechnology. A plausible reason for this variability is the lack of the control of the stability as well as the dimensions of the nanoparticles in the dispersions. In this work we report results of investigations on the stability of zirconia nanoparticles in aqueous medium, monitoring nanoparticles sizes by means of Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS). Nanocrystalline zirconia powders, prepared by microwave-hydrothermal synthesis, were determined to be 6-8 nm in size by TEM observations. By using DLS technique the as-prepared dispersions wit…
Development and validation of the Healthy-Unhealthy Music Scale
2015
Background: Music is an integral part of life in youth, and although it has been acknowledged that musical behavior reflects broader psychosocial aspects of adolescent behavior, no measurement instruments have been specifically designed for assessing musical engagement as an indicator of adolescent wellbeing and/or symptomatology. This study was conducted in order to develop and validate a scale for assessing musical engagement as an indicator of proneness for depression in youth. Method: Items were developed based on the literature and a prior grounded theory analysis and three surveys (N = 54, N = 187, N = 211) were conducted to select, refine, test, and validate the items. Scale structur…
How brain-computer interface technology may improve the diagnosis of the disorders of consciousness: A comparative study
2022
ObjectiveClinical assessment of consciousness relies on behavioural assessments, which have several limitations. Hence, disorder of consciousness (DOC) patients are often misdiagnosed. In this work, we aimed to compare the repetitive assessment of consciousness performed with a clinical behavioural and a Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) approach.Materials and methodsFor 7 weeks, sixteen DOC patients participated in weekly evaluations using both the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R) and a vibrotactile P300 BCI paradigm. To use the BCI, patients had to perform an active mental task that required detecting specific stimuli while ignoring other stimuli. We analysed the reliability and the effic…
Linguistic landscapes of a minoritized regional majority: Language ideologies among Hungarians in South-West Slovakia
2016
[Introduction] This article is an investigation of the linguistic situation in South-West Slovakia and its interpretation by local inhabitants through the notion of linguistic landscape (LL hereafter), here understood broadly as texts displayed in visual space.1 This study has two broad aims. Firstly, the general distribution of the languages in the LL of two historically Hungarian villages is established. This distributional picture is compared to (inter)national and local conceptions about the visual use of different languages in South-West Slovakia. Secondly, using an ethnographic approach and making use of the data gathered during one month fieldwork, a set of individual signs and sign …