A kHz optical remote sensing system is implemented to determine insect melanization features. This is done by measuring the backscatter signal in the visible and near-infrared (VISNIR) and short-wave infrared (SWIR) in situ. It is shown that backscatter cross section in the SWIR is insensitive to melanization and absolute melanization can be derived from the ratio of backscatter cross section of d

Due to the large amount of water resources stored in glaciers, permafrost, and lakes, the source region of the Yangtze River (SRYR) is of great importance for the overall basin water flow. For this purpose, a state of art review and calculations were made for the period 1957-2013 using observed hydrological and meteorological data with a water balance approach. Actual evapotranspiration was calcul

Aims and objectives: To assess the effect of early mobilisation of patients after dysvascular lower limb amputation and to compare the effectiveness of different mobilisation regimens. Background: Patients who have undergone dysvascular major lower limb amputations are at high risk of postoperative complications, which include loss of basic functions, and early mobilisation interventions might pre

Modeling pollination ecosystem services requires a spatially explicit, process-based approach because they depend on both the behavioral responses of pollinators to the amount and spatial arrangement of habitat and on the within- and between-season dynamics of pollinator populations in response to land use. We describe a novel pollinator model predicting flower visitation rates by wild central-pla

Obligate insectivorous birds breeding in high latitudes travel thousands of kilometres during annual movements to track the local seasonal peaks of food abundance in a continuously fluctuating resource landscape. Avian migrants use an array of strategies when conducting these movements depending on e.g. morphology, life history traits and environmental factors encountered en route. Here we used ge

Dispersal is a process that increases genetic diversity and genetic connectivity of populations. We studied the turnover rate of breeding adults and genetic population structure to estimate dispersal in Peregrine Falcons in Finland. We used relatedness estimates among Finnish Peregrine Falcons over a 5-year period, genotyping over 500 nestlings with 10 microsatellite loci to reveal the rate of tur

Even though Central Asia is water rich, water disputes have characterized the region after crumbling of the Soviet Union in 1991. The uneven spatial distribution and complex pattern of transboundary water sources with contrasting national water needs have created an intricate water dilemma. Increasing national water needs, water claims by surrounding countries, uncertainties in renewable water vol

Existing econometric approaches for studying price discovery presume that the number of markets are small, and their properties become suspect when this restriction is not met. They also require making identifying restrictions and are in many cases not suitable for statistical inference. The current paper takes these shortcomings as a starting point to develop a factor analytical approach that mak

Predation is an interaction during which an organism kills and feeds on another organism. Past and current interest in studying predation in terrestrial habitats has yielded a number of methods to assess invertebrate predation events in terrestrial ecosystems. We provide a decision tree to select appropriate methods for individual studies. For each method, we then present a short introduction, key

A new generation of potent hDHODH inhibitors designed by a scaffold-hopping replacement of the quinolinecarboxylate moiety of brequinar, one of the most potent known hDHODH inhibitors, is presented here. Their general structure is characterized by a biphenyl moiety joined through an amide bridge with an acidic hydroxyazole scaffold (hydroxylated thiadiazole, pyrazole and triazole). Molecular model

Emerging evidence suggests that the basis for variation in late-life mobility is attributable, in part, to genetic factors, which may become increasingly important with age. Our objective was to systematically assess the contribution of genetic variation to gait speed in older individuals. We conducted a meta-analysis of gait speed GWASs in 31,478 older adults from 17 cohorts of the CHARGE consort

Realistic projection of future climate-carbon (C) cycle feedbacks requires better understanding and an improved representation of the C cycle in permafrost regions in the current generation of Earth system models. Here we evaluated 10 terrestrial ecosystem models for their estimates of net primary productivity (NPP) and responses to historical climate change in permafrost regions in the Northern H

Today's power plants are shifting their combustion toward a more complex fuel mix on the grounds of environmental impact, cost, availability and regulations. Certain new types of fuel can be classified into the following groups: herbaceous material (straw and grass), agricultural by-products (pits, shells and hulls), wood, and waste fuels. These fuels contain various amounts of alkali metals, main

With the dramatic increase in x-ray source brilliance and associated coherent photon flux, holography with x-rays has become feasible and is increasingly used for real-space investigations of static and dynamic properties of nanoscale systems. We describe the basic principles and capabilities of the method and present the current state of the art. A particular emphasis is put on the investigation