Water relations, growth and gas exchange in Acacia auriculiformis under experimental and natural conditions

Investigations on the water relations and gas exchange of/tcacia aun'culiji_2rmis were carried out in natural and controlled environments. The experiments were performed in both seedlings and five year old trees. Different sets of experiments were conducted in Acacia plantations, at Kothachira, Palakkad District and in .seedlings, at KFRI campus nursery mainly during the summer months. Investigations were also extended to seedlings of A.mangium, Aaulacocarpa and /Lholocericea, which are also phyllodinous species with the intention of comparing their physiology with Acacia auriculifomus. Potted seedlings of four species of Acacia viz., A. auriculi/E)/7r:i.r, /I. aulacocarpa, A. holocericea and A. mangium were used for the study. Measurements of relative water content (RWC), water potential, photosynthetic rate, transpiration, stomatal conductance, water use efficiency etc. of phyllodes were measured diumally in plants subjected to three stress conditions namely, drought, salinity and flooding

Perspectives of Urban Growth Management and Sustainable Development In West Bank, Hebron District as a case Study

The main objective of this PhD research study is to provide a perspective on the urban growth management and sustainable development in Palestine, and more specifically in Hebron district as a case study. Hebron is located 36 km south of Jerusalem, with an overall population size of around 600,000 people living in a total area around1246km2. Hebron is the biggest Palestinian district that has 16 municipalities and 154 localities. The research discusses and analyzes the urban planning system, economical and environmental policies and the solution required to manage and integrate the development elements to develop a sustainable development plan for Hebron. The research provides answers for fundamental questions such as what kind and definition of sustainable development are applicable to the Palestinian case?. What are the sustainability problems there and how the Israeli occupation and unstable political condition affect the sustainable development in Palestine? What are the urban growth management and sustainability policies and actions required from government, public and privets sector in Palestine? The fast urban growth in Palestine is facing many problems and challenges due to the increase in the population size and the resulting impact of this increase including, but not limited to, the demand of new houses, need for more infrastructure services, demands on new industrial, commercial, educational and health projects, which in turn reduces the area of agricultural lands and threatens the natural resources and environment. There are also other associated sustainability problems like the absence of effective plans or regulations that control urban expansion, the absence of sufficient sustainable development plans at the national levels for the district, new job requirements, Israeli restrictions and occupation for more than 60 years, existence of construction factories near residential areas, poor public awareness and poor governmental funds for service projects and development plans. The study consists of nine chapters. Chapter One includes an introduction, study objectives, problems and justifications, while Chapter Two has a theoretical background on sustainability topic and definitions of sustainability. The Palestinian urban planning laws and local government systems are discussed in Chapter Three and the methodology of research is detailed in Chapter Four. As for Chapter Five, it provides a general background on Hebron District including demographical and economical profiles, along with recommendations related to sustainable development for each profile Chapter Six addresses the urban environment, sustainability priorities and policies required. Chapter Seven discusses and analyzes infrastructure services including transportation, water and wastewater. As for Chapter Eight, it addresses the land use, housing and urban expansion beside the cultural heritage, natural heritage with relevant sustainable development polices and recommendations. Finally, Chapter Nine includes a conclusion and comprehensive recommendations integrating all of urban and sustainability event in one map. Hebron has a deep history including a rich cultural heritage aged by thousands of years, with 47% of Hebron district population under 14 years old. Being the biggest Palestinian district, Hebron has thousands of industrial and economical organizations beside a large agricultural sector at Palestine level. This gives Hebron a potential to play major roles in developing a national sustainability plan, as the current urban planning system in Palestine needs urgent reform and development to fulfill the sustainability requirement. The municipalities and ministers should find permanent financial aid for urban planning and development studies so as to face future challenges. The Palestinian government can benefit from available local human resources in development projects; hence Palestinian people have sufficient qualifications in most sectors. The Palestinian people also can invest in the privet sector in Palestine in case businessmen have been encouraged and clear investment laws and plans have been developed. The study provides recommendations associated to the sustainable development in Palestine in general and Hebron, as a case study, in specific. Recommendations include increasing the privet sector as well as the public involvement in urban growth management, and stopping unplanned urban expansion, subjecting granting building permits of new projects to the no-harm environmental impact assessment, increasing the coordination and cooperation between localities and central bodies, protection and renovation of old cites and green areas, increasing the quality and quantity of infrastructure services, establishing district urban planning department to coordinate and organize urban planning and sustainable development activities. Also, among recommendations come dividing Hebron into three planning and administrative areas (north, central and south), and dividing the sustainable development and implementation period (2010 to 2025) into three main phases. Finally, the study strongly recommends benefiting from the same urban development plans in similar districts at national and international levels, also to use new technologies and information systems in urban planning process.

Differential changes in transforming growth factor β isoform expression during postnatal cardiac growth

Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) is synthesised as an inactive precursor protein; this is cleaved to produce the mature peptide and a latency associated protein (LAP), which remains associated with the mature peptide until activation by LAP degradation. Isoform specific antibodies raised against the LAPs for TGF-β2and -β3were used to determine the myocardial levels of LAP (activatable TGF-β) and full length precursor (inactive TGF-β) forms during post-natal development in the rat. TGF-β2was present predominantly as the precursor in 2 day old myocardium. There was an age-dependent shift from precursor protein to LAP between 2 and 28 days. A corresponding increase in the level of mature (activatable) TGF-β2was found. TGF-β3was detected in significant quantities only as LAP. However, a four-fold increase in the expression of TGF-β3LAP was observed between 2 and 28 days. The substantial increases in activatable forms of TGF-β2and -β3that occur in myocardium during the first 28 days of life in the rat support a role for these proteins in post-natal cardiac development.

Trees outside forests and rural livelihoods: a study of Chitwan District, Nepal

Trees outside forests (TOF) in Nepal’s Terai have significantly increased over the past decade. The Chitwan District was one of the focus districts in the Terai Community Forestry Development Project that promoted a tree seedling distribution program. This paper examines the current position of tree integration on farmland and its contribution to livelihoods of rural households in this district. Interviews with local key informants, government and non-government agencies and woodbased industries, as well as an in-depth study of 32 households were used to describe the constraints faced by the households in management of trees on farmland. Most households cited disease, poor growth, lack of preferred tree species, lack of technical support, an uncertain tree market, and lack of financial support as constraints. Despite the important role of trees in subsistence and marketbased rural livelihood diversification, and the consequent reduction in pressure on national forests from on-farm trees, current government policies and practices fail to recognise the value of these trees. It is argued that there is substantial potential for improving on-farm trees to enhance rural livelihoods. A responsive service mechanism centred on tree growing households would help the management of tree resources on the farmland.

Biomass partitioning and growth efficiency in four naturally regenerated forest tree species

Current forest growth models and yield tables are almost exclusively based on data from mature trees, reducing their applicability to young and developing stands. To address this gap, young European beech, sessile oak, Scots pine and Norway spruce trees approximately 0 to 10 years old were destructively sampled in a range of naturally regenerated forest stands in Central Europe. Diameter at base and height were first measured in situ for up to 175 individuals per species. Subsequently, the trees were excavated and dry biomass of foliage, branches, stems and roots was measured. Allometric relations were then used to calculate biomass allocation coefficients (BAC) and growth efficiency (GE) patterns in young trees. We found large differences in BAC and GE between broadleaves and conifers, but also between species within these categories. Both BAC and GE are strongly age-specific in young trees, their rapidly changing values reflecting different growth strategies in the earliest stages of growth. We show that linear relationships describing biomass allocation in older trees are not applicable in young trees. To accurately predict forest biomass and carbon stocks, forest growth models need to include species and age specific parameters of biomass allocation patterns.

Production of attaching-effacing lesions in ligated large intestine loops of 6-month-old sheep by Escherichia coli O157:H7

Shiga-toxigenic Escherichia coli O157:H7 (STEC O157:H7) is associated with potentially fatal human disease, and a persistent reservoir of the organism is present in some farm animal species, especially cattle and sheep. The mechanisms of persistent colonisation of the ruminant intestine by STEC O157:H7 are poorly understood but may be associated with intimate adherence to eukaryotic cells. Intimate adherence, as evidenced by induction of attaching-effacing (AE) lesions by STEC O157, has been observed in 6-day-old conventional lambs after deliberate oral infection but not in older animals. Thus, the present study used a ligated intestinal loop technique to investigate whether STEC O157:H7 and other attaching-effacing E. coli may adhere intimately to the sheep large intestinal mucosa. To do this, four STEC O157:H7 strains, one STEC 026:K60:H11 and one Shiga toxin-negative E. coli O157:H7 strain, suspended in either phosphate-buffered saline or Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium, were inoculated into ligated spiral colon loops of each of two lambs. The loops were removed 6 h after inoculation, fixed and examined by light and electron microscopy. AE lesions on the intestinal mucosa were produced by all the inoculated strains. However, the lesions were sparse and small, typically comprising bacterial cells intimately adhered to a single enterocyte, or a few adjacent enterocytes. There was little correlation between the extent of intimate adherence in this model and the bacterial cell density, pre-inoculation growth conditions of the bacteria or the strain tested.

Simulation of tree-ring widths with a model for primary production, carbon allocation, and growth

We present a simple, generic model of annual tree growth, called "T". This model accepts input from a first-principles light-use efficiency model (the "P" model). The P model provides values for gross primary production (GPP) per unit of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (PAR). Absorbed PAR is estimated from the current leaf area. GPP is allocated to foliage, transport tissue, and fine-root production and respiration in such a way as to satisfy well-understood dimensional and functional relationships. Our approach thereby integrates two modelling approaches separately developed in the global carbon-cycle and forest-science literature. The T model can represent both ontogenetic effects (the impact of ageing) and the effects of environmental variations and trends (climate and CO2) on growth. Driven by local climate records, the model was applied to simulate ring widths during the period 1958–2006 for multiple trees of Pinus koraiensis from the Changbai Mountains in northeastern China. Each tree was initialised at its actual diameter at the time when local climate records started. The model produces realistic simulations of the interannual variability in ring width for different age cohorts (young, mature, and old). Both the simulations and observations show a significant positive response of tree-ring width to growing-season total photosynthetically active radiation (PAR0) and the ratio of actual to potential evapotranspiration (α), and a significant negative response to mean annual temperature (MAT). The slopes of the simulated and observed relationships with PAR0 and α are similar; the negative response to MAT is underestimated by the model. Comparison of simulations with fixed and changing atmospheric CO2 concentration shows that CO2 fertilisation over the past 50 years is too small to be distinguished in the ring-width data, given ontogenetic trends and interannual variability in climate.

Age and firm growth: evidence from three European countries

This article provides new insights into the dependence of firm growth on age along the entire distribution of growth rates, and conditional on survival. Using data from the European firms in a global economy survey, and adopting a quantile regression approach, we uncover evidence for a sample of French, Italian and Spanish manufacturing firms with more than ten employees in the period from 2001 to 2008. We find that: (1) young firms grow faster than old firms, especially in the highest growth quantiles; (2) young firms face the same probability of declining as their older counterparts; (3) results are robust to the inclusion of other firms’ characteristics such as labor productivity, capital intensity and the financial structure; (4) high growth is associated with younger chief executive officers and other attributes that capture the attitude of the firm toward growth and change. The effect of age on firm growth is rather similar across countries.

Trees for development? Articulating the ambiguities of power, authority and legitimacy in governing Ghana’s mineral rich forests

The growth of mining activities in Africa in the last decade has coincided with increased attention on the fate of the continent’s forests, specifically in the contexts of livelihoods and climate change. Although mining has serious environmental impacts, scant attention has been paid to the processes which shape decision-making in contexts where minerals and forests overlap. Focussing on the illustrative case of Ghana, this paper articulates the dynamics of power, authority and legitimacy of private companies, traditional authorities and key state institutions in governing mining activities in forests. The analysis highlights how mining companies and donors promote a neoliberal model of resource management which entrenches their ability to benefit from mineral exploitation and marginalises the role of state institutions and traditional authorities in decision-making. This subsequently erodes state authority and legitimacy and compounds the contested nature of traditional authorities’ legitimacy. A more nuanced examination of foundational governance questions concerning the relative role of the state, traditional authorities and private interests is needed.

Seedling response to phosphate addition and inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizas and the implications for old-field restoration in Western Australia

We predicted that P-fertiliser residues will limit the establishment of native plant species and their mycorrhizas to old-fields in the wheat-growing region (i.e. the wheatbelt) of Western Australia. To test this prediction, we assessed the growth and P uptake of seedlings of three native plant species to phosphate addition and inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizas (AM) in a pot study. The native plant species were Acacia acuminata Benth. (Mimosaceae), Eucalyptus loxophleba Benth. subsp. loxophleba (Myrtaceae) and Hakea preissii Meisn. (Proteaceae); and each pot contained one seedling. P was added to field soil to mimic pre-agricultural (P0), old-field (P1) and 10 times old-field (P10) soils. AM inoculant, which was a mix of Scutellospora calospora (Nicolson and Gerdemann) Walker and Sanders, Glomus intraradices Schenck and Smith and Glomus mosseae (Nicolson and Gerdemann) Gerdemann and Trappe, was added to half of the pots. After 12 weeks, the biomass and P uptake of the mycorrhizal A. acuminata were greater than those of the non-mycorrhizal plants across all P treatments. Plant biomass decreased significantly with increasing P addition, yet this species was apparently unable to suppress its mycorrhizal colonisation at high P despite this reduction in growth. In contrast, mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal E. loxophleba subsp. loxophleba were of a similar biomass after 12 weeks; maximum biomass was attained at intermediate (old-field) levels of P. P uptake increased with increasing P supply, beyond that required to attain maximum biomass. AM did not form on H. preissii. P uptake increased with increasing P supply for this species also. Overall, it is the apparent inability of these species to down-regulate P uptake rather than a lack of mycorrhizal symbiosis that will constrain their establishment on wheatbelt old-fields.

Evaluating the annual nature of juvenile rings in Bolivian tropical rainforest trees

Knowledge on juvenile tree growth is crucial to understand how trees reach the canopy in tropical forests. However, long-term data on juvenile tree growth are usually unavailable. Annual tree rings provide growth information for the entire life of trees and their analysis has become more popular in tropical forest regions over the past decades. Nonetheless, tree ring studies mainly deal with adult rings as the annual character of juvenile rings has been questioned. We evaluated whether juvenile tree rings can be used for three Bolivian rainforest species. First, we characterized the rings of juvenile and adult trees anatomically. We then evaluated the annual nature of tree rings by a combination of three indirect methods: evaluation of synchronous growth patterns in the tree- ring series, (14)C bomb peak dating and correlations with rainfall. Our results indicate that rings of juvenile and adult trees are defined by similar ring-boundary elements. We built juvenile tree-ring chronologies and verified the ring age of several samples using (14)C bomb peak dating. We found that ring width was correlated with rainfall in all species, but in different ways. In all, the chronology, rainfall correlations and (14)C dating suggest that rings in our study species are formed annually.

Seasonality and growth rings in lianas of Bignoniaceae

Lianas are one of the most important components of tropical forest, and yet one of the most poorly known organisms. Therefore, our paper addresses questions on the environmental and developmental aspects that influence the growth of lianas of Bignoniaceae, tribe Bignonieae. In order to better understand their growth, we studied the stem anatomy, seasonality of formation and differentiation of secondary tissues, and the influence of the cambial variant in xylem development on a selected species: Tynanthus cognatus. Afterwards, we compared the results found in T. cognatus with 31 other species of Bignonieae to identify general patterns of growth in lianas of this tribe. We found that cambial activity starts toward the end of the rainy season and onset of the dry season, in contrast to what is known for tropical trees and shrubs. Moreover, their pattern of xylem formation and differentiation is strongly influenced by the presence of massive wedges of phloem produced by a variant cambium. Thus, the variant cambium is the first to commence its activity and only subsequently does cambial activity progress towards the center of the regular region, leading to the formation of confluent growth rings. In summary, we conclude that: the cambium responds to environmental changes; the xylem growth rings are annual and produced in a brief period of about 2 months, something that may explain why lianas possess narrow stems; and furthermore, phloem wedges greatly influence cambial activity.

In vivo effects of TGF beta 1 on the the growth of gastric epithelium in suckling rats

As the content of Transforming Growth Factor-beta (TGF beta) wanes in the milk of lactating rat, an increase in TGF beta is observed in the gastric epithelia concomitant with differentiation of the glands upon weaning. Whereas TGF beta has been shown to inhibit the proliferation of gastrointestinal cells in vitro, its functional significance and mechanisms of action have not been studied in vivo. Therefore, we administered TGF beta 1 (1 ng/g body wt.) to 14-day-old rats in which the gastric epithelium was induced to proliferate by fasting, and determined the involvement of signaling through Smads and the impact on epithelial cell proliferation and apoptosis. After the gavage, we observed the progressive increase of active TGF beta 1 while T beta RII-receptor remained constant in the gastric mucosa. By immunohistochemistry, we showed Smad2/3 increase at 60 min (p < 0.05) and Smad2 phosphorylation/activation and translocation to the nucleus most prominently between 0 and 30 min after treatment (p < 0.05). Importantly, TGF beta 1 inhibited cell proliferation (p < 0.05), which was estimated by BrDU pulse-labeling 12 h after gavage. Lower proliferation was reflected by increased p27(kip1) at 2 h (p < 0.05). Also, TGF beta 1 increased apoptosis as measured by M30 labeling at 60 and 180 min (p < 0.001), and by morphological features at 12 h (p < 0.05). In addition, we observed higher levels of activated caspase 3 (17 kDa) from 0 to 30 min. Altogether, these data indicate a direct effect of TGF beta 1 signaling through Smads on both inhibiting proliferation, through alteration of cycle proteins, and inducing apoptosis of gastric epithelial cells in vivo. Further, the studies suggest a potential role for both milk and tissue-expressed TG beta 1 in gastric growth during postnatal development, (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Produktion, skador och grenegenskaper hos 10-årig tall i ett kombinerat förbands- och avkommeförsök : Volume production, damages and branch properties in a 10-year old combined spacing and progeny trial of Scots pine

A Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) progeny trial was established in 1990, in the southwestern part of Sweden. The offspring was from 30 plus trees. The trial is located on abandoned agricultural land and has a single tree block design with a variation in spacing. The trial has been damaged by voles. At a tree age of ten years, growth, damages and branch properties were estimated. An analysis of variance on height, diameter and stem volume shows significant difference between spacing and progenies as well as interactions between these factors. As indicated by a better annual height increment and fewer and thinner branches at each whorl the densest spacing has the highest potential to produce quality logs.There were also differences between progenies in growth and quality traits. Some progenies combined good growth and branch characters with low mortality, straight stems and few damages. Other progenies had superior volume production.

From old to new developmentalism in Latin America

O fracasso do consenso de Washington e das políticas macroeconômicas, baseadas em altas taxas de juros e taxas de câmbio não-competitivas para promover o crescimento da economia, levou os países da América Latina a formularem estratégias nacionais de desenvolvimento. O novo desenvolvimentismo é uma estratégia alternativa não apenas à ortodoxia convencional, mas também ao antigo nacional-desenvolvimentismo latino-americano. Enquanto o antigo nacional desenvolvimentismo era baseado na tendência à deterioração dos termos de troca e, adotando uma abordagem microeconômica, propunha planejamento econômico e industrialização, o novo nacional-desenvolvimentismo pressupõe que a industrialização foi alcançada, apesar de em diferentes estágios em cada país, e argumenta que, para assegurar rápidas taxas de crescimento e o catch up, a tendência que deve ser neutralizada é a da sobrevalorização da taxa de câmbio. Contrariamente à economia convencional, um estado capaz continua sendo o instrumento chave para assegurar o desenvolvimento econômico, a política industrial continua sendo necessária; mas o que distingue a nova abordagem é principalmente o crescimento com poupança interna, ao invés de com poupança externa. Uma política macroeconômica baseada em taxas de juros moderadas e uma taxa de câmbio competitiva, e não altas taxas de juros e moeda sobreapreciada conforme recomenda a ortodoxia convencional.