Nordic Walking and Walking in Parkinson's disease: a randomized single-blind controlled trial.

Introduction: Non-pharmacological interventions are increasingly being acknowledged as valuable options to overcome or reduce functional problems in patients with Parkinson's disease. In the last decades, Nordic Walking was employed and investigated by rehabilitation specialists. Clinical trials on the effect of Nordic Walking on motor and non-motor Parkinson's disease symptoms are few, small, and heterogeneous for inclusion criteria and intervention protocols.

Bacterial Composition and Survival on Sahara Dust Particles Transported to the European Alps.

Deposition of Sahara dust (SD) particles is a frequent phenomenon in Europe, but little is known about the viability and composition of the bacterial community transported with SD. The goal of this study was to characterize SD-associated bacteria transported to the European Alps, deposited and entrapped in snow. During two distinct events in February and May 2014, SD particles were deposited and promptly covered by falling snow, thus preserving them in distinct ochre layers within the snowpack.

Structures of Microbial Communities in Alpine Soils: Seasonal and Elevational Effects.

Microbial communities in alpine environments are exposed to several environmental factors related to elevation and local site conditions and to extreme seasonal variations. However, little is known on the combined impact of such factors on microbial community structure. We assessed the effects of seasonal variations on soil fungal and bacterial communities along an elevational gradient (from alpine meadows to a glacier forefield, 1930-2519 m a.

Microbial abundance and community structure in a melting alpine snowpack.

Snowmelt is a crucial period for alpine soil ecosystems, as it is related to inputs of nutrients, particulate matter and microorganisms to the underlying soil. Although snow-inhabiting microbial communities represent an important inoculum for soils, they have thus far received little attention. The distribution and structure of these microorganisms in the snowpack may be linked to the physical properties of the snowpack at snowmelt.

Diversity, resistance and resilience of the bacterial communities at two alpine glacier forefields after a reciprocal soil transplantation.

In this study, we determined the driving key factor determining variability in bacterial community structures in soils at two unvegetated alpine glacier forefields with different bedrock geology (calcareous and siliceous). We further assessed the resistance and resilience capacities of the bacterial communities through reciprocal soil transplantations. Sterilized and unsterilized soils were incubated locally ('home') or transplanted ('away') for 15 months (July 2011-October 2012) and sampled regularly during the snow-free seasons.

Field-scale transplantation experiment to investigate structures of soil bacterial communities at pioneering sites.

Studies on the effect of environmental conditions on plants and microorganisms are a central issue in ecology, and they require an adequate experimental setup. A strategy often applied in geobotanical studies is based on the reciprocal transplantation of plant species at different sites. We adopted a similar approach as a field-based tool to investigate the relationships of soil bacterial communities with the environment.

Influence of arsenate adsorption to ferrihydrite, goethite, and boehmite on the kinetics of arsenate reduction by Shewanella putrefaciens strain CN-32.

The kinetics of As(V) reduction by Shewanella putrefaciens strain CN-32 was investigated in suspensions of 0.2, 2, or 20 g L(-1) ferrihydrite, goethite, or boehmite at low As (10 μM) and lactate (25 μM) concentrations. Experimental data were compared with model predictions based on independently determined sorption isotherms and rates of As(V) desorption, As(III) adsorption, and microbial reduction of dissolved As(V), respectively.

Response of methanotrophic activity and community structure to temperature changes in a diffusive CH/O counter gradient in an unsaturated porous medium.

Microbial methane oxidation is a key process in the global methane cycle. In the context of global warming, it is important to understand the responses of the methane-oxidizing microbial community to temperature changes in terms of community structure and activity. We studied microbial methane oxidation in a laboratory-column system in which a diffusive CH(4)/O(2) counter gradient was maintained in an unsaturated porous medium at temperatures between 4 and 20 degrees C.

Identification of dominant bacterial phylotypes in a cadmium-treated forest soil.

The presence of heavy metals in soils can lead to changes in microbial community structure, characterized by the dominance of groups that are able to tolerate contamination. Such groups may provide good microbial indicators of heavy-metal pollution in soil. Through terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) profiling, changes in the bacterial community structure of an acidic forest soil that had been incubated with cadmium (Cd) for 30 days were investigated.

Bacterial community structure and activity in different Cd-treated forest soils.

In this study we compared indicators of Cd bioavailability (water extracts, Lakanen extracts, free ions) and ecotoxicity in forest soils with contrasting physico-chemical characteristics. Soil samples were treated with CdCl(2) solutions (0, 0.1, 1, 10 and 100 mM) and incubated for 30 days.