A boat hitchhiker's guide to survival: Cabomba caroliniana desiccation resistance and survival ability

Cabomba caroliniana is a submersed macrophyte that has become a serious invader. Cabomba predominantly spreads by stem fragments, in particular through unintentional transport on boat trailers ('hitch hiking'). Desiccation resistance affects the potential dispersal radius. Therefore, knowledge of maximum survival times allows predicting future dispersal. Experiments were conducted to assess desiccation resistance and survival ability of cabomba fragments under various environmental scenarios. Cabomba fragments were highly tolerant of desiccation. However, even relatively low wind speeds resulted in rapid mass loss, indicating a low survival rate of fragments exposed to air currents, such as fragments transported on a boat trailer. The experiments indicated that cabomba could survive at least 3 h of overland transport if exposed to wind. However, even small clumps of cabomba could potentially survive up to 42 h. Thus, targeting the transport of clumps of macrophytes should receive high priority in management. The high resilience of cabomba to desiccation demonstrates the risk of continuing spread. Because of the high probability of fragment viability on arrival, preventing fragment uptake on boat trailers is paramount to reduce the risk of further spread. These findings will assist improving models that predict the spread of aquatic invasive macrophytes.

A boat hitchhiker’s guide to survival: Cabomba caroliniana desiccation resistance and survival ability

Cabomba caroliniana is a submersed macrophyte that has become a serious invader. Cabomba predominantly spreads by stem fragments, in particular through unintentional transport on boat trailers (‘hitch hiking’). Desiccation resistance affects the potential dispersal radius. Therefore, knowledge of maximum survival times allows predicting future dispersal. Experiments were conducted to assess desiccation resistance and survival ability of cabomba fragments under various environmental scenarios. Cabomba fragments were highly tolerant of desiccation. However, even relatively low wind speeds resulted in rapid mass loss, indicating a low survival rate of fragments exposed to air currents, such as fragments transported on a boat trailer. The experiments indicated that cabomba could survive at least 3 h of overland transport if exposed to wind. However, even small clumps of cabomba could potentially survive up to 42 h. Thus, targeting the transport of clumps of macrophytes should receive high priority in management. The high resilience of cabomba to desiccation demonstrates the risk of continuing spread. Because of the high probability of fragment viability on arrival, preventing fragment uptake on boat trailers is paramount to reduce the risk of further spread. These findings will assist improving models that predict the spread of aquatic invasive macrophytes.

Channel Islands marine protected areas first 5 years of monitoring: 2003-2008 [Report produced by the California Department of Fish and Game in collaboration with the Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans (PISCO), Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, and Channel Islands National Park]

The Channel Islands—sometimes called the Galapagos of North America—are known for their great beauty, rich biodiversity, cultural heritage, and recreational opportunities. In 1980, in recognition of the islands’ importance, the United States Congress established a national park encompassing 5 of California’s Channel Islands (Santa Barbara, Anacapa, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, and San Miguel Islands) and waters within 1 nautical mile of the islands. In the same year, Congress declared a national marine sanctuary around each of these islands, including waters up to 6 nautical miles offshore. Approximately 60,000 people visit the Channel Islands each year for aquatic recreation such as fishing, sailing, kayaking, wildlife watching, surfing, and diving. Another 30,000 people visit the islands for hiking, camping, and sightseeing. Dozens of commercial fishing boats based in Santa Barbara, Ventura, Oxnard, and other ports go to the Channel Islands to catch squid, spiny lobster, sea urchin, rockfish, crab, sheephead, flatfish, and sea cucumber, among other species. In the past few decades, advances in fishing technology and the rising number of fishermen, in conjunction with changing ocean conditions and diseases, have contributed to declines in some marine fishes and invertebrates at the Channel Islands. In 1998, citizens from Santa Barbara and Ventura proposed establishment of no-take marine reserves at the Channel Islands, beginning a 4-year process of public meetings, discussions, and scientific analyses. In 2003, the California Fish and Game Commission designated a network of marine protected areas (MPAs) in state waters around the northern Channel Islands. In 2006 and 2007, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) extended the MPAs into the national marine sanctuary’s deeper, federal waters. To determine if the MPAs are protecting marine species and habitats, scientists are monitoring ecological changes. They are studying changes in habitats; abundance and size of species of interest; the ocean food web and ecosystem; and movement of fish and invertebrates from MPAs to surrounding waters. Additionally, scientists are monitoring human activities such as commercial and recreational fisheries, and compliance with MPA regulations. This booklet describes some results from the first 5 years of monitoring the Channel Islands MPAs. Although 5 years is not long enough to determine if the MPAs will accomplish all of their goals, this booklet offers a glimpse of the changes that are beginning to take place and illustrates the types of information that will eventually be used to assess the MPAs’ effectiveness. (PDF contains 24 pages.)

Estudio de la incidencia de ampollas en el "trekking" y sus factores asociados

Objetivo: Determinar los factores asociados con la presencia de ampollas durante el senderismo. Método: La población de estudio fueron 1155 peregrinos que recibieron asistencia podológica. La información fue obtenida mediante una anamnesis y una exploración podológica. Los factores analizados fueron: edad, sexo, entrenamiento previo, nacionalidad, tipo de calzado, antigüedad del mismo y kilómetros realizados. Resultados: Las ampollas se encontraron en el 71,9 % de los peregrinos y se distribuyeron de manera similar en ambos pies, afectando principalmente el talón (20%) y el quinto dedo (14,6 %). Se encontró asociación con el sexo (p < 0,05). Las deportivas fueron las menos asociadas con ampollas (p = 0,03). No hubo relación significativa con el entrenamiento previo y el uso de calzado nuevo. Conclusiones: La incidencia de ampollas entre los senderistas fue del 80 %, y se asoció con el sexo (mayor en la mujer) y el tipo de calzado.

Niagara Bruce Trail Club Fonds, 1962-2014, n.d.

The Bruce trail is Canada’s longest and oldest continuous footpath. The trail runs along the Niagara Escarpment from Niagara to Tobermory through private and public land. The main trail is 890 km long and the side trails measure 400 km. In 1961, a “Save the Escarpment” conference was held in Hamilton. Gerry Wolfram, a writer for the St. Catharines Standard proposed that a committee be formed to develop a hiking trail. The Peninsula Field Naturalists Club formed a committee and President Bert Lowe contacted landowners along the proposed route to gain permission to cross their properties. Through Bert Lowe’s effort and dedication, the trail was completed in October 1963. The trail was officially opened on May 24th, 1964 in a ceremony at Queenston. The Niagara group joined the Bruce Trail Association in 1968 at which time the Niagara Bruce Trail Club was formed. The Bruce Trail Association is a charitable, membership-based volunteer organization. Their goal is to preserve public access to the Niagara Escarpment while restoring its natural habitat. The head office of the Bruce Trail Association is located in Hamilton, Ontario. The Niagara Bruce Trail Club’s goal is to secure and preserve a natural corridor along the Niagara Escarpment while providing education, awareness, and access for the public and the future. The club has organized many hikes including special hikes such as the one to commemorate the St. Catharines Centennial. The club has also hosted children’s hikes, cross country skiing hikes, wildflower hikes, jogging hikes, snowshoe hikes and bike outings. They hold annual events such as the End to End hike which is a 3 day walk from Grimsby to Queenston and the 30 km Laura Secord hike to commemorate Laura Secord’s famous walk. Charity hikes have also been held for the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Lung Association as well as other causes. Major changes have taken place along the trail throughout the years, some of these include: a reroute which eliminated the tunnel passage (1976) and a bridge which eliminated the need to walk to Mountain Road to cross the Queen Elizabeth Way (2008). Other major changes and clean-up projects have been undertaken by the club. The Bruce Trail Conservancy (formerly Association) is made up of 9 clubs including: Niagara Bruce Trail Club (Queenston to Grimsby), Iroquia Bruce Trail Club (Grimsby to Kelso), Toronto Bruce Trail Club (Kelso to Cheltenham), Caledon Hills Bruce Trail Club (Cheltenham to Mono Centre), Dufferin Hi-Land Bruce Trail Club (Mono Centre to Lavender), Blue Mountains Bruce Trail Club (Lavender to Craigleath), Beaver Valley Bruce Trail Club (Craigleath to Blantyre), Sydenham Bruce Trail Club (Blantyre to Wiarton) and Peninsula Bruce Trail Club (Wiarton to Tobermory). Sources: http://www.niagarabrucetrail.org/index.html and http://brucetrail.org/

Photograph - Group Photo at the Lake

A group photo of five individuals, including Percy Band. There are three women and two men. Both men are hiking up their pant legs for the picture.

Planificació estratègica d’una xarxa de vies verdes a la comarca de la Selva

Les vies verdes són vies de comunicació autònomes reservades als desplaçaments no motoritzats. Per a la proposta de creació d’una xarxa per a la comarca de La Selva s’han utilitzat dues eines: els sistemes d’informació geogràfica i els seus indicadors complementaris, les quals han permès generar diversos possibles traçats, per triar una proposta final amb la seva valoració

Disseny conceptual i anàlisi estructural d’una motxilla - cotxet per a transportar de nens en activitats de lleure muntanya

La idea de realitzar aquest projecte sorgeix d’una necessitat en el mercat de productes relacionats amb els nens i nenes petits, dins d’un rang d’edats entre 2 a 5 anys, per poder realitzar activitats de lleure a la muntanya. En ser un producte no existent s’ha hagut de fer el disseny conceptual de tot el producte buscant la solució final adient per a cada part considerada bàsica. Per assegurar-ne la fiabilitat i la seguretat del nen i del pare s’han fet els càlculs pertinents de les seccions més carregades i s’han descrit els processos de fabricació i muntatge de cada peça. La Motxilla – Carretó servirà per circular per pistes de muntanya i forestals. Tindrà dos usos, el primer per quan el nen estigui cansat de caminar i el terreny es poc accidentat,“funció carretó” i el segon ús, per quan el nen està cansat i el terreny és més accidentat, “funció cadireta”. El producte serà transformable en funció d’aquests dos usos principals

10 itineraris pel cap de Creus [Ressenya del llibre Cap de Creus parc natural: guia d’ itineraris, de Ponç Feliu

Ressenya del llibre de Ponç Feliu, 'Cap de Creus, parc natural : guia d’ itineraris', publicat per Brau Edicions de Figueres, l'any 2007. L’obra s’estructura en dues parts clarament diferenciades. La primera, presenta el cap de Creus des de la diversitat de paisatges i ecosistemes naturals. A continuació es proposen deu itineraris -nou de terrestres i un de marítim– que tenen per objectiu fer descobrir al lector o lectora els indrets més atractius del parc

Domestication of plants revisited - Darwin to the present day

Darwin studied domesticated plants and animals to try to understand the causes of variability. He observed that variation is greatest in the part of the plant most used by humans, but explanations of the causes of this variation had to await the discovery of Mendelian genetics and subsequent advances in the understanding of the structure and mode of action of genes, from the one gene, one enzyme hypothesis to the role of transcriptional regulators. Darwin credited his studies on domesticated plants and animals with demonstrating to him the power of selection. He recognized two forms of human-mediated selection, methodical and unconscious, in addition to natural selection. Selection leaves a signature in the form of reduced diversity in genes that have been the targets of selection and in 'hitch-hiking' genomic regions linked to the target genes. These so-called selective sweeps may serve now to identify genes targeted by selection in early stages of domestication and thus provide a possible guide to crop improvement in future. (C) 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 161, 203-212.

Custos e benefícios de um programa de exercício aeróbios na doença pulmonar obstrutica crônica: ensaio cliníco aleatório controlado

Pulmonary Rehabilitation, especially due to aerobic exercise, positive impact in reducing morbidity/mortality of patients with COPD, however the economic impact with costs of implementing simple programs of aerobic exercise are scarce. This is a blind randomized clinical trials, which aimed to evaluate the costs and benefits of a simple program of aerobic exercise in individuals with COPD, considering the financial costs of the Public Health System and its secondary endpoints. We evaluated lung function, the distance walked during six minutes of walking, the respiratory and peripheral muscle strength, quality of life related to health (QLRH), body composition and level of activity of daily living (ADL) before and after eight weeks of an aerobic exercise program consisting of educational guidance for both groups, control and intervention and supervised walks to the intervention group. The health costs generated in both groups were calculated following table Brazilian Public Health System. The sample consisted of forty patients, two being excluded in the initial phase of desaturation during the walk test six minutes. Were randomized into control and intervention group thirty-eight patients, three were excluded from the control group and one was excluded from the intervention group. At the end, thirty-four COPD comprised the sample, 16 in the control group and 18 in the intervention group (FEV1: 50.9 ± 14% pred and FEV1: 56 ± 0.5% pred, respectively). After for intervention, the intervention group showed improvement in meters walked, the sensation of dyspnea and fatigue at work, BODE index (p <0.01) in QLRH, ADL level (p <0.001) as well as increased strength lower limbs (p <0.05). The final cost of the program for the intervention group was R $ 148.75, including: assessments, hiking supervised by a physiotherapist and reassessments. No patient had exacerbation of IG, while 2 patients in the CG exacerbated, generating an average individual cost of R $ 689.15. The aerobic exercises in the form of walking showed significant clinical benefits and economic feasibility of its implementation, due to low cost and easy accessibility for patients, allowing them to add their daily practice of aerobic exercises

O percurso de formação das personagens infantis em Guimarães Rosa

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Efeito do treinamento com pesos nos distúrbios do sono e na qualidade de vida de pacientes com demência de Alzheimer

The Alzheimer's dementia (AD) is the most prevalent form of dementia in the elderly. Among the harmful changes arising from the DA, there may be sleep disturbance and impaired quality of life. Physical activity is an important non-pharmacological feature that would provide positive effects for the treatment of disease. However, there are still few studies that clarify the effects of resistance training in this population. Thus, the present study has as objective analyzes the effects of the resistance training in sleep disturbance and quality of life of patients with AD. Participated in this study 22 patients with clinical diagnosis of AD divided into two groups: Training Group (TG) and Social Interaction Group (SIG). The subjects of TG underwent a resistance training protocol, appropriate to the individual conditions, during three days no consecutive in the week, with duration of 60 minutes each session, for 16 weeks. The SIG won't participate in any systematized physical activity, but they realized other activities, such as reading, poetry, hiking and painting, among others. This protocol also was realized three times in week for 16 weeks, with duration of 60 minutes each session. Both groups were assessed at the beginning of the program and after 16 weeks. For the assessment of sleep disturbance was used the Mini Sleep Questionnaire and to assess of quality of life was used the Scale for Assessment of Quality of Life in Alzheimer's disease (QL), versions: patient, caregiver, family and the final score. Due to the scalar nature of the data and small sample, all variables were analyzed by nonparametric statistics. The U-Mann Whitney test, Wilcoxon test and Spearman correlation test was used, except for the Modified Baecke... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

Intervenções com a atividade física em crianças e adolescentes com deficiência intelectual: uma meta-análise

Abstract Intellectual disability is development atypical conditions that involve issues on a number of factors, such as intellectual skills, adaptive behavior, interactions and social roles. Furthermore, they report higher rates of physical inactivity than the general population, as well as participating less and less of regular physical activity, as they grow and age. The participation of people with intellectual disabilities in physical activity programs promotes, benefits of prevention of diseases, particularly cardiovascular, improvement of intellectual and cognitive ability in addition, regular physical activity promotes reduction of body fat. Therefore the aim of this study was to identify through a systematic review, physical activity programs for adults with intellectual disabilities and their extension of the benefits, limitations and recommendations, moreover, the following objectives: to analyze the types of physical activity programs and determine which is the most suitable for adults with intellectual disabilities, and to determine the benefits that physical exercises programs entail for adults with intellectual disabilities. The initial electronic search resulted in 2808 manuscripts. The predetermined exclusion criteria were: review process of the studies involved reading titles, abstracts and full texts checking. After all these phases, eight manuscripts met the inclusion criteria of the review. Articles presented participants aged between 18 and 67 years with mild to moderate intellectual disability. The intervention period was from 2.5 months studies ranged up to 9 months and the weekly frequency was from one to three times a week. The intervention types differ between the articles analyzed, including leisure and recreation activities, combined exercises of strength and muscular endurance, aerobic activities of hiking, with races and exercise bikes, widespread activities and sports specialization, athletics and...

Surgical dislocation of the hip for a locked traumatic posterior dislocation with associated femoral neck and acetabular fractures

Traumatic posterior dislocation of the hip associated with a fracture of the posterior acetabular wall and of the neck of the femur is a rare injury. A 29-year-old man presented at a level 1 trauma centre with a locked posterior dislocation of the right hip, with fractures of the femoral neck and the posterior wall of the acetabulum after a bicycle accident. An attempted closed reduction had failed. This case report describes in detail the surgical management and the clinical and radiological outcome. Open reduction and fixation with preservation of the intact retinaculum was undertaken within five hours of injury with surgical dislocation of the hip and a trochanteric osteotomy. Two years after operation the function of the injured hip was good. Plain radiographs and MR scans showed early signs of osteoarthritis with some loss of joint space but no evidence of avascular necrosis. The patient had begun skiing and hiking again. The combination of fractures of the neck of the femur and of the posterior wall of the acetabulum hampers closed reduction of a posterior dislocation of the hip. Surgical dislocation of the hip with trochanteric flip osteotomy allows controlled open reduction of the fractures, with inspection of the hip joint and preservation of the vascular supply.