Thirty-four patients with clinical infectious endocarditis were examined by M-mode and two-dimensional (2D) echocardiography. Vegetations were identified in 16 patients (47%) by M-mode and in 27 patients (87%) by 2D echocardiography. Vegetations identified by 2D echocardiography were categorized as small (less than 5 mm), medium (5 to 9 mm), or large (greater than or equal to 10 mm). Large vegetations were caused by a variety of organisms, had a higher incidence of surgery (44% v 0%), and had no increased incidence of stroke or death. The larger the vegetation, the more detectable it was by M-mode. Aortic valve vegetations were associated with a higher incidence of congestive heart failure (CHF) (67% v 14%) and stroke (44% v 9%). Four patients with large aortic valve vegetations had the highest complication rate; CHF developed in all four, two had valve replacement, one had a stroke, and two died.
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Ann N Y Acad Sci
January 2025
Institute for Earth System Science and Remote Sensing, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany.
Vegetation is often viewed as a consequence of long-term climate conditions. However, vegetation itself plays a fundamental role in shaping Earth's climate by regulating the energy, water, and biogeochemical cycles across terrestrial landscapes. It exerts influence by consuming water resources through transpiration and interception, lowering atmospheric CO concentration, altering surface roughness, and controlling net radiation and its partitioning into sensible and latent heat fluxes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGlob Chang Biol
January 2025
Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.
In recent decades, global change and local anthropogenic pressures have severely affected natural ecosystems and their biodiversity. Although disentangling the effects of these factors is difficult, they are reflected in changes in the functional composition of plant communities. We present a comprehensive, large-scale analysis of long-term changes in plant communities of various non-forest habitat types in the Czech Republic based on 1154 vegetation-plot time series from 53 resurvey studies comprising 3909 vegetation-plot records.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Sci Technol
January 2025
CMA Earth System Modeling and Prediction Centre (CEMC), China Meteorological Administration, Beijing 100081, China.
Vegetation fires release a large fraction of light-absorbing components, which can contribute to the melting of snowpack and alpine glaciers. However, the relationship between variability in fire emissions and alpine glacier melting on the Third Pole (TP) remains poorly understood. This study provides evidence that carbon emissions from windward vegetation fires play a crucial role in comprehending glacier melting on the TP, particularly during the months of intense vegetation fires from March to May for monsoon-dominated glaciers and from June to October for westerlies-dominated glaciers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Fungi (Basel)
January 2025
Department of Plant Pathology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
Evidence of unintended introductions of species into native habitats has become increasingly prevalent in California. If not managed adequately, species can become devastating agricultural and forest plant pathogens. Additionally, California's natural areas, characterized by a Mediterranean climate and dominated by chaparral (evergreen, drought-tolerant shrubs) and oak woodlands, lack sufficient baseline knowledge on biology and ecology, hindering effective management efforts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEcol Evol
January 2025
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Polar Terrestrial Environmental Systems Potsdam Germany.
Mountains with complex terrain and steep environmental gradients are biodiversity hotspots such as the eastern Tibetan Plateau (TP). However, it is generally assumed that mountain terrain plays a secondary role in plant species assembly on a millennial time-scale compared to climate change. Here, we investigate plant richness and community changes during the last 18,000 years at two sites: Lake Naleng and Lake Ximen on the eastern TP with similar elevation and climatic conditions but contrasting terrain.
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