Is the ATIC terminology oriented to nursing phenomena?

The main goal of this observational and descriptive study is to evaluate whether the diagnosis axis of a nursing interface terminology meets the content validity criterion of being nursing-phenomena oriented. Nursing diagnosis concepts were analyzed in terms of presence in the nursing literature, type of articles published and areas of disciplinary interest. The search strategy was conducted in three databases with limits in relation to period and languages. The final analysis included 287 nursing diagnosis concepts. The results showed that most of the concepts were identified in the scientific literature, with a homogeneous distribution of types of designs. Most of these concepts (87.7%) were studied from two or more areas of disciplinary interest. Validity studies on disciplinary controlled vocabularies may contribute to demonstrate the nursing influence on patients" outcomes.

A conserved transcript pattern in response to a specialist and a generalist herbivore.

Transcript patterns elicited in response to attack reveal, at the molecular level, how plants respond to aggressors. These patterns are fashioned both by inflicted physical damage as well as by biological components displayed or released by the attacker. Different types of attacking organisms might therefore be expected to elicit different transcription programs in the host. Using a large-scale DNA microarray, we characterized gene expression in damaged as well as in distal Arabidopsis thaliana leaves in response to the specialist insect, Pieris rapae. More than 100 insect-responsive genes potentially involved in defense were identified, including genes involved in pathogenesis, indole glucosinolate metabolism, detoxification and cell survival, and signal transduction. Of these 114 genes, 111 were induced in Pieris feeding, and only three were repressed. Expression patterns in distal leaves were markedly similar to those of local leaves. Analysis of wild-type and jasmonate mutant plants, coupled with jasmonate treatment, showed that between 67 and 84% of Pieris-regulated gene expression was controlled, totally or in part, by the jasmonate pathway. This was correlated with increased larval performance on the coronatine insensitive1 glabrous1 (coi1-1 gl1) mutant. Independent mutations in COI1 and GL1 led to a faster larval weight gain, but the gl1 mutation had relatively little effect on the expression of the insect-responsive genes examined. Finally, we compared transcript patterns in Arabidopis in response to larvae of the specialist P. rapae and to a generalist insect, Spodoptera littoralis. Surprisingly, given the complex nature of insect salivary components and reported differences between species, almost identical transcript profiles were observed. This study also provides a robustly characterized gene set for the further investigation of plant-insect interaction.

Spatial pattern and process at the plant neighbourhood scale: insights from communities dominated by the clonal grass Elymus repens (L.) Gould.

Question: How do clonal traits of a locally dominant grass (Elymus repens (L.) Gould.) respond to soil heterogeneity and shape spatial patterns of its tillers? How do tiller spatial patterns constrain seedling recruitment within the community?Locations: Artificial banks of the River Rhone, France.Material and Methods: We examined 45 vegetation patches dominated by Elymus repens. During a first phase we tested relationships between soil variables and three clonal traits (spacer length, number of clumping tillers and branching rate), and between the same clonal traits and spatial patterns (i.e. density and degree of spatial aggregation) of tillers at a very fine scale. During a second phase, we performed a sowing experiment to investigate effects of density and spatial patterns of E. repens on recruitment of eight species selected from the regional species pool.Results: Clonal traits had clear effects - especially spacer length - on densification and aggregation of E. repens tillers and, at the same time, a clear response of these same clonal traits as soil granulometry changed. The density and degree of aggregation of E. repens tillers was positively correlated to total seedling cover and diversity at the finest spatial scales.Conclusions: Spatial patterning of a dominant perennial grass responds to soil heterogeneity through modifications of its clonal morphology as a trade-off between phalanx and guerrilla forms. In turn, spatial patterns have strong effects on abundance and diversity of seedlings. Spatial patterns of tillers most probably led to formation of endogenous gaps in which the recruitment of new plant individuals was enhanced. Interestingly, we also observed more idiosyncratic effects of tiller spatial patterns on seedling cover and diversity when focusing on different growth forms of the sown species.

Metal complexation by electroanalytical techniques: hard- and soft-modelling approaches

En la investigació de la complexació de metalls mitjançant eines electroanalítiques són emprades dues aproximacions generals. La primera, anomenada de modelatge dur (hardmodelling), es basa en la formulació d'un model fisicoquímic conjunt per als processos electròdic i de complexació i en la resolució analítica o numèrica del model. Posteriorment, l'ajust dels paràmetres del model a les dades experimentals donarà la informació desitjada sobre el procés de complexació. La segona aproximació, anomenada de modelatge tou (soft-modelling), es basa en la identificació d'un model de complexació a partir de l'anàlisi numèrica i estadística de les dades, sense cap assumpció prèvia d'un model. Aquesta aproximació, que ha estat extensivament emprada amb dades espectroscòpiques, ho ha estat poquíssim amb dades electroquímiques. En aquest article tractem de la formulació d'un model (hard-modelling) per a la complexació de metalls en sistemes amb mescles de lligands, incloent-hi lligands macromoleculars, i de l'aplicació d

Modelling hydrodynamics in the Rio Parana, Argentina : an evaluation and inter-comparison of reduced-complexity and physics based models applied to a large sand-bed river

Depth-averaged velocities and unit discharges within a 30 km reach of one of the world's largest rivers, the Rio Parana, Argentina, were simulated using three hydrodynamic models with different process representations: a reduced complexity (RC) model that neglects most of the physics governing fluid flow, a two-dimensional model based on the shallow water equations, and a three-dimensional model based on the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations. Row characteristics simulated using all three models were compared with data obtained by acoustic Doppler current profiler surveys at four cross sections within the study reach. This analysis demonstrates that, surprisingly, the performance of the RC model is generally equal to, and in some instances better than, that of the physics based models in terms of the statistical agreement between simulated and measured flow properties. In addition, in contrast to previous applications of RC models, the present study demonstrates that the RC model can successfully predict measured flow velocities. The strong performance of the RC model reflects, in part, the simplicity of the depth-averaged mean flow patterns within the study reach and the dominant role of channel-scale topographic features in controlling the flow dynamics. Moreover, the very low water surface slopes that typify large sand-bed rivers enable flow depths to be estimated reliably in the RC model using a simple fixed-lid planar water surface approximation. This approach overcomes a major problem encountered in the application of RC models in environments characterised by shallow flows and steep bed gradients. The RC model is four orders of magnitude faster than the physics based models when performing steady-state hydrodynamic calculations. However, the iterative nature of the RC model calculations implies a reduction in computational efficiency relative to some other RC models. A further implication of this is that, if used to simulate channel morphodynamics, the present RC model may offer only a marginal advantage in terms of computational efficiency over approaches based on the shallow water equations. These observations illustrate the trade off between model realism and efficiency that is a key consideration in RC modelling. Moreover, this outcome highlights a need to rethink the use of RC morphodynamic models in fluvial geomorphology and to move away from existing grid-based approaches, such as the popular cellular automata (CA) models, that remain essentially reductionist in nature. In the case of the world's largest sand-bed rivers, this might be achieved by implementing the RC model outlined here as one element within a hierarchical modelling framework that would enable computationally efficient simulation of the morphodynamics of large rivers over millennial time scales. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Comparing simulation methods for modelling the errors of stand inventory data

Abstract

Performance of Randomly Oriented, Fiber-Reinforced Roadway Soils, HR-211, 1982

Several primary techniques have been developed through which soil aggregate road material properties may be improved. Such techniques basically involve a mechanism of creating a continuous matrix system of soil and/or aggregate particles, interlocked through the use of some additive such as portland cement, lime, or bituminous products. Details by which soils are stabilized vary greatly, but they are dependent on the type of stabilizing agent and nature of the soil, though the overall approach to stabilization has the common feature that improvement is achieved by some mechanism(s) forcing individual particles to adhere to one another. This process creates a more rigid material, most often capable of resisting the influx of water during freezing, loss of strength due to high moisture content and particle dispersion during thawing, and loss of strength due to migration of fines and/or water by capillarity and pumping. The study reported herein, took a new and relatively different approach to strengthening of soils, i.e., improvement of roadway soils and/or soil-aggregate materials by structural reinforcement with randomly oriented fibers. The purpose of the study was to conduct a laboratory and field investigation into the potential of improving (a) soil-aggregate surfaced and subgrade materials, including those that are frost-prone and/or highly moisture susceptible, and (b) localized base course materials, by uniting such materials through fibrous reinforcement. The envisioned objective of the project was the development of a simple construction technique(s) that could be (a) applied on a selective basis to specific areas having a history of poor performance, or (b) used for improvement of potential base materials prior to surfacing. Little background information on such purpose and objective was available. Though the envisioned process had similarities to fibrous reinforced concrete, and to fibrous reinforced resin composites, the process was devoid of a cementitious binder matrix and thus highly dependent on the cohesive and frictional interlocking processes of a soil and/or aggregate with the fibrous reinforcement; a condition not unlike the introduction of reinforcing bars into a concrete sand/aggregate mixture without benefit of portland cement. Thus the study was also directed to answering some fundamental questions: (1) would the technique work; (2) what type or types of fibers are effective; (3) are workable fibers commercially available; and (4) can such fibers be effectively incorporated with conventional construction equipment, and employed in practical field applications? The approach to obtaining answers to these questions, was guided by the philosophy that an understanding of basic fundamentals was essential to developing a body of engineering knowledge, that would serve as the basis for eventual development of design procedures with fibrous products for the applications previously noted.

Modelling of vegetative filter strips in catchment scale erosin control

Selostus: Valuma-aluetason mallisovellus suojakaistojen käytöstä eroosion torjunnassa

Measuring the diurnal pattern of leaf hyponasty and growth in Arabidopsis - a novel phenotyping approach using laser scanning

Plants forming a rosette during their juvenile growth phase, such as Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh., are able to adjust the size, position and orientation of their leaves. These growth responses are under the control of the plants circadian clock and follow a characteristic diurnal rhythm. For instance, increased leaf elongation and hyponasty - defined here as the increase in leaf elevation angle - can be observed when plants are shaded. Shading can either be caused by a decrease in the fluence rate of photosynthetically active radiation (direct shade) or a decrease in the fluence rate of red compared with far-red radiation (neighbour detection). In this paper we report on a phenotyping approach based on laser scanning to measure the diurnal pattern of leaf hyponasty and increase in rosette size. In short days, leaves showed constitutively increased leaf elevation angles compared with long days, but the overall diurnal pattern and the magnitude of up and downward leaf movement was independent of daylength. Shade treatment led to elevated leaf angles during the first day of application, but did not affect the magnitude of up and downward leaf movement in the following day. Using our phenotyping device, individual plants can be non-invasively monitored during several days under different light conditions. Hence, it represents a proper tool to phenotype light- and circadian clock-mediated growth responses in order to better understand the underlying regulatory genetic network.

Letter to the Editor : on the value of probability for evaluating results of comparative pattern analyses

This letter to the Editor comments on the article Practical relevance of pattern uniqueness in forensic science by P.T. Jayaprakash (Forensic Science International, in press).