236 research outputs found
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The physiological responses of cacao to the environment and the implications for climate change resilience. A review
Cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) is a tropical perennial crop which is of great economic importance to the confectionary industry and to the economies of many countries of the humid tropics where it is grown. Some recent studies have suggested climate change could severely impact cacao production in West Africa. It is essential to incorporate our understanding of the physiology and genetic variation within cacao germplasm when discussing the implications of climate change on cacao productivity and developing strategies for climate resilience in cacao production.
Here we review the current research on the physiological responses of cacao to various climate factors. Our main findings are 1) water limitation causes significant yield reduction in cacao but genotypic variation in sensitivity is evident, 2) in the field cacao experiences higher temperatures than is often reported in the literature, 3) the complexity of the cacao/ shade tree interaction can lead to contradictory results, 4) elevated CO2 may alleviate some negative effects of climate change 5) implementation of mitigation strategies can help reduce environmental stress, 6) significant gaps in the research need addressing to accelerate the development of climate resilience. Harnessing the significant genetic variation apparent within cacao germplasm is essential to develop modern varieties capable of high yields in non-optimal conditions. Mitigation strategies will also be essential but to use shading to best effect shade tree selection is crucial to avoid resource competition. Cacao is often described as being sensitive to climate change but genetic variation, adaptive responses, appropriate mitigation strategies and interactive climate effects should all be considered when predicting the future of cacao production. Incorporating these physiological responses to various environmental conditions and developing a deeper understanding of the processes underlying these responses will help to accelerate the development of a more resource use efficient tree ensuring sustainable production into the future
Timescales of Quartz Crystallization and the Longevity of the Bishop Giant Magma Body
Supereruptions violently transfer huge amounts (100 s–1000 s km3) of magma to the surface in a matter of days and testify to the existence of giant pools of magma at depth. The longevity of these giant magma bodies is of significant scientific and societal interest. Radiometric data on whole rocks, glasses, feldspar and zircon crystals have been used to suggest that the Bishop Tuff giant magma body, which erupted ∼760,000 years ago and created the Long Valley caldera (California), was long-lived (>100,000 years) and evolved rather slowly. In this work, we present four lines of evidence to constrain the timescales of crystallization of the Bishop magma body: (1) quartz residence times based on diffusional relaxation of Ti profiles, (2) quartz residence times based on the kinetics of faceting of melt inclusions, (3) quartz and feldspar crystallization times derived using quartz+feldspar crystal size distributions, and (4) timescales of cooling and crystallization based on thermodynamic and heat flow modeling. All of our estimates suggest quartz crystallization on timescales of <10,000 years, more typically within 500–3,000 years before eruption. We conclude that large-volume, crystal-poor magma bodies are ephemeral features that, once established, evolve on millennial timescales. We also suggest that zircon crystals, rather than recording the timescales of crystallization of a large pool of crystal-poor magma, record the extended periods of time necessary for maturation of the crust and establishment of these giant magma bodies
The Grizzly, November 3, 1992
Senior Party Success • Keith Strunk Rallies Student Support • Vote: Our Future Depends on Us • Smoking Danger Update • Blue Eyes, Brown Eyes • Phi Psi Clothes Drive • Truth About Tomatoes • Coffee House: Good to the Last Drop! • Coffee Talk • Singles Review • Fresh Brewed, Mountain Grown, 70\u27s Rock • New Berman Endowment to Preserve Outdoor Art • Another Dark Hit Brewed by Waters • Choir Percolates a Performance • In Search of Purpose • Letters to the Editor • Intramural Football Culminates in Thriller • Field Hockey Struggles; Season Ends This Week • Volleyball Finished Season with Split • Football Battles Ranked W.P.I.https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1303/thumbnail.jp
Geology, petrography and geochemistry of the A-type granites from the Morro Redondo Complex (PR-SC), southern Brazil, Graciosa Province
The Morro Redondo Complex is one of the most important occurrences of the Graciosa A-type Province, southern Brazil. It consists of the Papanduva and Quiriri granitic plutons and a contemporaneous bimodal volcanic association. The Papanduva Pluton includes massive and deformed peralkaline alkali-feldspar granites with Na-Ca and Na-amphiboles and clinopyroxenes. The deformed types are the most evolved rocks in the province and carry rare ‘agpaitic’ minerals, some being described for the first time in granites from Brazil. The larger Quiriri Pluton comprises massive, slightly peraluminous, biotite syeno- and monzogranites with rare Ca-amphibole. Biotite compositions are relatively homogeneous, whereas sodic amphiboles and clinopyroxenes show increasing Na and Fe3+ evolving paths. The Morro Redondo granites are ferroan, with high SiO2, alkalis and HFSE contents; the peralkaline types registering the highest fe#. LILE and HFSE abundances increase with the agpaitic index and the most evolved are HHP granites, with radiogenic heat production up to 5.7 µWm–3. Geothermobarometric estimates indicate emplacement under low pressures (∼100 MPa), at temperatures up to 850-800 °C, and relatively reduced (QFM) and oxidized (+1 REPLACE_LT ΔQFM REPLACE_LT +3) environments for the Papanduva and Quiriri Plutons, respectively. In both cases, melts evolved to relatively high oxidation states upon crystallization progress
Germline copy number variants and endometrial cancer risk.
Known risk loci for endometrial cancer explain approximately one third of familial endometrial cancer. However, the association of germline copy number variants (CNVs) with endometrial cancer risk remains relatively unknown. We conducted a genome-wide analysis of rare CNVs overlapping gene regions in 4115 endometrial cancer cases and 17,818 controls to identify functionally relevant variants associated with disease. We identified a 1.22-fold greater number of CNVs in DNA samples from cases compared to DNA samples from controls (p = 4.4 × 10-63). Under three models of putative CNV impact (deletion, duplication, and loss of function), genome-wide association studies identified 141 candidate gene loci associated (p < 0.01) with endometrial cancer risk. Pathway analysis of the candidate loci revealed an enrichment of genes involved in the 16p11.2 proximal deletion syndrome, driven by a large recurrent deletion (chr16:29,595,483-30,159,693) identified in 0.15% of endometrial cancer cases and 0.02% of control participants. Together, these data provide evidence that rare copy number variants have a role in endometrial cancer susceptibility and that the proximal 16p11.2 BP4-BP5 region contains 25 candidate risk gene(s) that warrant further analysis to better understand their role in human disease
Collage Vol. II
JUDY COCHRAN: Editorial, 4-5
ROBERTA CHAPMEN: Photo, 6
ANITRA CHUGHTAI (Translations): Haikus, 7
CHARLES O\u27KEEFE: Photo, 8
MARK VANDERLINDE-ABERNATHY, ALYSSA LANDRY (Translator): Memories of a Spider (Les souvenirs d\u27une araignee), 9
MARK VANDERLINE-ABERNATHY, AMY NORSKOG (Translator): Tomato Fields (Champ de tomates), 10
SARAH BISHOP, HEFEDH ZANINA (Translator): Dear John (Cher John), 11
RYAN BUTZ (Translator): Basho\u27s Haiku, Issa\u27s Haiku, 12-13
JENNIFER HUMBERT, FADOUA EL BOUAMRAOUI (Translator): Pressed Lips (Levres Serrees), 15
ADELE REEVES (Translator): Contemporary song by Mr. Children, 16-17
BRODY PAGEL, GRACE DUGAR (Translator): The Lizard King (Le Roi Lezard), 18
JIMMY PIPKIN (Translator): In Love with You, 19
MOLLY ROSCOE: Saturday Night at Rusty\u27s (Samedi Soir a Rusty\u27s), 20
CHARLES O\u27KEEFE: Photo, 21
MATT MESSMER (Translator): Waseda University School Song, 22-23
TIMOTHY COOPER: Wenn du grosh bist… (When you\u27re Tall…), 24
DAVID HARMAN: Der Dunkle Stern (The Dark Star), 25
ANN TOWNSEND, JUDY COCHRAN (Translator): From a Window (D\u27une Fenetre), 26-27
SARA CAHILL: El sauce lloron (The Weeping Willow), 28-32
CHARLES O\u27KEEFE: Photo, 30
JENNIFER HUMBERT, MATT BISHOP: Past, Present (passe, present), 33
CAROL GENEYA KAPLAN, FADOUA EL BOUAMRAOUI (Translator): Une Autre Femme (Another Woman), 34-35
CHARLES O\u27KEEFE: Photo, 36
ANN TOWNSEND, JUDY COCHRAN (Translator): The Mowers (Les Faucheurs), 37
PRISCILLA PATON: Photo, 38
GONZALO TUESTA: La Grande Dame De Paris (The Great Lady of Paris), 39
SARAH PILLERDORF (Translator): Japanese Cartoons by Tezuka Osamu, 41-45
DANIELLE GERKEN: Schuhe der Heimat (Boots of Home), 47
CURTIS PLOWGIAN: Le peste de la langue francaise, 48-52
PRISCILLA PATON: Photo, 50
ZANE HOUSEHOLDER: Vive la Republique! (Film), 54
JENNIFER ZIMMER: EL tenis y las frustraciones (Tennis and Frustrations), La tumba de Ben (Ben\u27s Grave), 56-57
AUTUMN LOTZE: Times Square in the rain, 58-59
CHARLES O\u27KEEFE: Photo, 60
STEPHEN M. JULKA: Colors of the Earth, 61
THOMAS BRESSOUD: Java, 62
ERIC NELSON: World, 63
SARAH CLAPP (Translator): At a long day\u27s end (Natsume Soseki), A friend has come and is now leaving, Eating persimmons (Masaoka Shiki), 64
CHARLES O\u27KEEFE: Photo, 65
JOHN BURZYNSKI, MEGAN FETTER (Translator): Home is where the heart is, 66
RICHARD BANAHAN: Photo, 67
KIM FREEMAN: Baltimore, 68
JACOB RIDRIGUEZ-NOBLE: Home (Heimat), 69
SUZANNE KENNEDY: Oft verberge ich mich (Oft I hide myself), 70
RICHARD BANAHAN: Photo, 7
The Serra da Graciosa A-type granites and syenites, southern Brazil. Part 1: regional setting and geological characterization
An Exploratory Landscape Metrics Approach to Agricultural Changes: Applications of Spatial Economic Consequences for the Algarve, Portugal
Latin American consumption of major food groups: Results from the ELANS study
Background
The Latin American (LA) region is still facing an ongoing epidemiological transition and shows a complex public health scenario regarding non-communicable diseases (NCDs). A healthy diet and consumption of specific food groups may decrease the risk of NCDs, however there is a lack of dietary intake data in LA countries.
Objective
Provide updated data on the dietary intake of key science-based selected food groups related to NCDs risk in LA countries.
Design
ELANS (Latin American Study of Nutrition and Health) is a multicenter cross-sectional study assessing food consumption from an urban sample between15 to 65 years old from 8 LA countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela). Two 24-HR were obtained from 9, 218 individuals. The daily intake of 10 food groups related to NCDs risk (fruits; vegetables; legumes/beans; nuts and seeds; whole grains products; fish and seafood; yogurt; red meat; processed meats; sugar-sweetened beverages (ready-to-drink and homemade)) were assessed and compared to global recommendations. Results Only 7.2% of the overall sample reached WHO's recommendation for fruits and vegetables consumption (400 grams per day). Regarding the dietary patterns related to a reduced risk of NCDs, among the overall sample legumes and fruits were the food groups with closer intake to the recommendation, although much lower than expected (13.1% and 11.5%, respectively). Less than 3.5% of the sample met the optimal consumption level of vegetables, nuts, whole grains, fish and yogurt. Largest country-dependent differences in average daily consumption were found for legumes, nuts, fish, and yogurt. Mean consumption of SSB showed large differences between countries.
Conclusion
Diet intake quality is deficient for nutrient-dense food groups, suggesting a higher risk for NCDs in the urban LA region in upcoming decades. These data provide relevant and up-to-date information to take urgent public health actions to improve consumption of critically foods in order to prevent NCDs. Copyright
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Population based models of cortical drug response: insights from anaesthesia
A great explanatory gap lies between the molecular pharmacology of psychoactive agents and the neurophysiological changes they induce, as recorded by neuroimaging modalities. Causally relating the cellular actions of psychoactive compounds to their influence on population activity is experimentally challenging. Recent developments in the dynamical modelling of neural tissue have attempted to span this explanatory gap between microscopic targets and their macroscopic neurophysiological effects via a range of biologically plausible dynamical models of cortical tissue. Such theoretical models allow exploration of neural dynamics, in particular their modification by drug action. The ability to theoretically bridge scales is due to a biologically plausible averaging of cortical tissue properties. In the resulting macroscopic neural field, individual neurons need not be explicitly represented (as in neural networks). The following paper aims to provide a non-technical introduction to the mean field population modelling of drug action and its recent successes in modelling anaesthesia
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