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The present study investigated the effects of land-use abandonment on the soil decomposer community of two grazed Mediterranean ecosystems (an annual grassland with scattered holm oaks and a low-density shrubland). To test the influence of grazing abandonment, a set of plots within each site were fenced and kept undisturbed during 4-5 years, during which above-ground plant community structure was

Diffusive-ballistic heat transport in thin films was simulated using energy conserving dissipative particle dynamics (DPDe). The solution domain was considered to be two-dimensional with DPD particles distributed uniformly under constant temperature boundary conditions at the top and bottom walls and periodic boundaries at the side walls. The effects of phonon mean free path were incorporated by i

Our aim was to assess right ventricular (RV) performance after mitral valve repair by use of RV focused echocardiography and to evaluate the influence of elevated pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP) on RV recovery.

To extend nurses' descriptions of how they understood caring, as reflected in the findings of an earlier study (i.e. the hierarchical outcome space) and to gain additional understandings and perspectives of nurses' views of caring in relation to a coronary care patient case.

Electrocardiograms are routinely obtained in clinical follow-up of patients with asymptomatic aortic stenosis (AS). The association with aortic valve, left ventricular (LV) response to long-term pressure load, and clinical covariates is unclear and the clinical value is thus uncertain. Data from clinical examination, electrocardiogram, and echocardiogram in 1,563 patients in the Simvastatin and Ez

The effects of combustion phase and fuel on smoke particle emissions from a wood stove operated with three different wood fuels and from a corn stove were investigated. A single-particle mass spectrometer (aerosol time of flight mass spectrometer (ATOFMS)) was used for time-and size-resolved chemical signatures and a scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS) was used for online mobility size distrib

Management by objectives is intrinsic to the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) and Swedish environmental policy. We describe three approaches to formulating objectives via model-assisted dialogue with local stakeholders concerning eutrophication in a coastal drainage area in south-eastern Sweden: a WFD eco-centred approach based on 'natural state'; Swedish environmental policy reformulated into q

The adsorption of l-alanine on Ni{111} has been studied as a model of enantioselective heterogeneous catalysts. Synchrotron-based X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy were used to determine the chemical state, bond coordination, and out-of-plane orientation of the molecule on the surface. Alanine adsorbs in anionic and zwitterionic fo

In the present study, mesoscale simulations of grain growth in UO2 are performed using a 2D level set representation of the polycrystal grain boundary network, employed in a finite element setting. Anisotropic grain boundary properties are considered by evaluating how grain boundary energy and mobility varies with local grain boundary character. This is achieved by considering different formulatio

By contrast with other southern European people, north Portuguese population registers an especially high prevalence of hypertension and stroke incidence. We designed a cohort study to identify individuals presenting accelerated and premature arterial aging in the Portuguese population.

This study aims to investigate whether incident workplace bullying and its dicontinuance is related to subsequent change in morning and evening saliva cortisol concentrations.

As Syria’s anti-authoritarian uprising and subsequent civil war have left the country in ruins, the need for understanding the nation’s complex political and cultural realities remains urgent. The second of a two-volume series, Syria from Reform to Revolt: Culture, Society, and Religion draws together closely observed, critical and historicized analyses, giving vital insights into Syrian society t

Presents an iterative approach to optimal control when modeling errors are present. The problem considered is movement of open containers containing liquid in an industrial packaging machine. The goal is to move as fast as possible without too much slosh. There is no measurement of the slosh available in the machine, therefore open loop control via the acceleration reference is the only possibilit

Transmitted vibrations from water-pipe systems, involving supports standing on a concrete slab and the underlying ground, are investigated here. The effects of varying parameters of the supports, such as location, their elastic modulus and their cross-section, on the level of vibrations transmitted by the water-pipe system are analysed in order to minimise vibrations transmitted to sensitive parts

The thin-plate spline (TPS) has been widely used in a number of areas such as image warping, shape analysis and scattered data interpolation. Introduced by Bookstein (IEEE Trans. Pattern Anal. Mach. Intell. 11(6):567–585 1989), it is a natural interpolating function in two dimensions, parameterized by a finite number of landmarks. However, even though the thin-plate spline has a very intuitive int