Lung function decline in people with serious mental illness: A call to action.

This prospective observational study aimed to evaluate the rate of change in forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1) and to explore the factors associated with changes in FEV1 in people with serious mental illness (SMI). Sixty subjects diagnosed with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder who were smokers and without history of respiratory illness agreed to participate. The mean (range) follow-up period was 3.

Magnitude of nitrate turbulent diffusion in contrasting marine environments.

Difficulties to quantify ocean turbulence have limited our knowledge about the magnitude and variability of nitrate turbulent diffusion, which constitutes one of the main processes responsible for the supply of nitrogen to phytoplankton inhabiting the euphotic zone. We use an extensive dataset of microturbulence observations collected in contrasting oceanic regions, to build a model for nitrate diffusion into the euphotic zone, and obtain the first global map for the distribution of this process. A model including two predictors (surface temperature and nitrate vertical gradient) explained 50% of the variance in the nitrate diffusive flux.

Recognising mollusc shell contours with enlarged spines: Wavelet vs Elliptic Fourier analyses.

Gastropod shells may present large spines and sharp shapes that vary according to environmental, taxonomic, and evolutionary factors. In these cases, classic morphometric methods used to study shell contour might not provide a clear representation of morphological shell based on angular decomposition of contour. The present study analyzed and compared for the first time the robustness of the contour analysis using wavelet transformed and Elliptic Fourier descriptors for gastropod shells including enlarged spines.

Identifying sagittal otoliths of Mediterranean Sea gobies: variability among phylogenetic lineages.

In this study, we describe and analyse the morphology of the sagitta, the largest otolith, of 25 species of Gobiidae inhabiting the Adriatic and north-western Mediterranean seas. Our goal was to test the usefulness and efficiency of sagittal otoliths for species identification. Our analysis of otolith contours was based on mathematical descriptors called wavelets, which are related to multi-scale decompositions of contours.