Variance of IQ is partially dependent on deletion type among 1,427 22q11.2 deletion syndrome subjects.

The 22q11.2 deletion syndrome is caused by non-allelic homologous recombination events during meiosis between low copy repeats (LCR22) termed A, B, C, and D. Most patients have a typical LCR22A-D (AD) deletion of 3 million base pairs (Mb).

Missing Rings in Pinus halepensis - The Missing Link to Relate the Tree-Ring Record to Extreme Climatic Events.

Climate predictions for the Mediterranean Basin include increased temperatures, decreased precipitation, and increased frequency of extreme climatic events (ECE). These conditions are associated with decreased tree growth and increased vulnerability to pests and diseases. The anatomy of tree rings responds to these environmental conditions.

Use of an Inverse Method for Time Series to Estimate the Dynamics of and Management Strategies for the Box Jellyfish Carybdea marsupialis.

Frequently, population ecology of marine organisms uses a descriptive approach in which their sizes and densities are plotted over time. This approach has limited usefulness for design strategies in management or modelling different scenarios. Population projection matrix models are among the most widely used tools in ecology.

When stable-stage equilibrium is unlikely: integrating transient population dynamics improves asymptotic methods.

Background And Aims: Evaluation of population projection matrices (PPMs) that are focused on asymptotically based properties of populations is a commonly used approach to evaluate projected dynamics of managed populations. Recently, a set of tools for evaluating the properties of transient dynamics has been expanded to evaluate PPMs and to consider the dynamics of populations prior to attaining the stable-stage distribution, a state that may never be achieved in disturbed or otherwise ephemeral habitats or persistently small populations. This study re-evaluates data for a tropical orchid and examines the value of including such analyses in an integrative approach.

Plasticity in dendroclimatic response across the distribution range of Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis).

We investigated the variability of the climate-growth relationship of Aleppo pine across its distribution range in the Mediterranean Basin. We constructed a network of tree-ring index chronologies from 63 sites across the region. Correlation function analysis identified the relationships of tree-ring index to climate factors for each site.

The day hospital: analysis of results, costs and management of pneumology resources.

Background: Day hospital units specialized in pulmonology are a relatively new instrument for providing care to complex respiratory patients. However, the number of studies focused on the efficacy and efficiency of day hospitals is scarce.

Aim: Therefore, the aim of the present study was to analyze the effects of implementing a specialized respiratory day hospital in a standard teaching hospital with 500 beds.

Evidence for the spatial segregation hypothesis: a test with nine-year survivorship data in a Mediterranean shrubland.

A current focus of ecology is the investigation of spatial effects on population and community dynamics; however, spatiotemporal theory remains largely untested by empirical observations or experimental studies. For example, the segregation hypothesis predicts that intraspecific aggregation should increase the importance of intraspecific competition relative to interspecific competition, thereby enhancing local coexistence in plant communities. We applied recent methods of point pattern analysis to analyze a unique long-term data set on fully mapped seedling emergence and subsequent survival in a Mediterranean gorse shrubland after experimental fires and simulated torrential rainfall events.

EARLY TO RISE MAKES A PLANT HEALTHY, WEALTHY, AND WISE.

Seedling emergence time is a crucial event in the life cycle of a plant, determining its fitness via different components including survival, growth, and fecundity. Precocious emergents usually survive, grow, and/or reproduce earlier in the life cycle, but for perennials it is unknown whether these benefits are maintained throughout the life of the plant. Here, we examine for the first time whether fitness benefits due to the early emergence of perennial plants are perpetuated or vanish with time.

When, how and how much: Gender-specific resource-use strategies in the dioecious tree Juniperus thurifera.

Background And Aims: In dioecious species male and female plants experience different selective pressures and often incur different reproductive costs. An increase in reproductive investment habitually results in a reduction of the resources available to other demands, such as vegetative growth. Tree-ring growth is an integrative measure that tracks vegetative investment through the plant's entire life span.

Factors controlling seedling germination after fire in Mediterranean gorse shrublands. Implications for fire prescription.

In Western Mediterranean areas, fires are frequent in forests established on old croplands where woody resprouting species are scarce and post-fire regeneration is limited to obligate-seeder species, such as Mediterranean gorse (Ulex parviflorus), that accumulate a great deal of fine dry fuel, increasing the risk of other severe fires. Under these conditions, fuel control techniques are required in order to prevent fires of high intensity and severity and the subsequent economic and ecological damage. Prescribed fires present an alternative to fuel control, and recent studies demonstrate that, under optimum climatic conditions, fire-line intensity values fall within the limits of those recommended for fire prescription.

Factors influencing fire behaviour in shrublands of different stand ages and the implications for using prescribed burning to reduce wildfire risk.

Fire behaviour under experimental conditions is described in nine Mediterranean gorse shrublands ranging from 3-12 years of age with different fuel loads. Significant differences in the fire-line intensity, fuel load and rate of fire spread have been found to be related to the stage of development of the communities. Fire spread is correlated with fuel moisture using multiple regression techniques.

Structure of (-)-1-phenylethylammonium hydrogen (+)-tartrate.

C8H12N+.C4H5O6-, Mr = 271.27, monoclinic, P21, a = 6.

Mortality risks of mentally retarded and mentally ill patients after a feeding gastrostomy.

Feeding gastrostomy procedures were performed on 9 mentally ill and 30 mentally retarded, institutionalized patients. The postoperative mortality was 0 percent (0/9) for the mentally ill and 13 percent (4/30) for the mentally retarded patients. Mortality within 1 year after the operation was 11 percent (1/9) for the mentally ill and 33 percent (10/30) for the retarded patients.

Surgical management of acute diverticulitis in women.

The incidence of diverticular disease of the colon has increased during the course of this century. The management of diverticulitis has changed in many centers from a conservative medical approach to a more aggressive surgical one. The surgical technique has also evolved; primary resection and anastomosis is currently preferred after a standard bowel preparation.