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The alternating between dry and wet seasons and the consecutive microbial responses to soil water content in semiarid ecosystems has significant consequences on nitrogen exchanges with the atmosphere. Three field campaigns were carried out in a semi arid sahelian rangeland in Dahra (Ferlo, Senegal), two at the beginning of the wet season in July 2012 and July 2013, and the third one in November 20

The variables of snow cover extent (SCE), snow cover duration (SCD), and snow albedo (SAL) are primary factors determining the surface energy balance and hydrological response of the cryosphere, influencing snow pack and glacier mass-balance, melt, and runoff conditions. This study examines spatiotemporal patterns and trends in SCE, SCD, and SAL (2000–2016; 16 years) for central Chilean and Argent

From in situ measured woody cover we develop a phenology driven model to estimate the canopy cover of woody species in the Sahelian drylands at 1km scale. The model estimates the total canopy cover of all woody phanerophytes and the concept is based on the significant difference in phenophases of dryland trees, shrubs and bushes as compared to that of the herbaceous plants. Whereas annual herbaceo

Monitoring long-term biomass dynamics in drylands is of great importance for many environmental applications including land degradation and global carbon cycle modeling. Biomass has extensively been estimated based on the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) as a measure of the vegetation greenness. The vegetation optical depth (VOD) derived from satellite passive microwave observations i

Woody plants play a major role for the resilience of drylands and in peoples' livelihoods. However, due to their scattered distribution, quantifying and monitoring woody cover over space and time is challenging. We develop a phenology driven model and train/validate MODIS (MCD43A4, 500 m) derived metrics with 178 ground observations from Niger, Senegal and Mali to estimate woody cover trends from

Aim: To evaluate trend analysis of earth observation (EO) dense time series as a new way of describing and mapping changes in ecosystem functioning at regional to global scales. Spatio-temporal patterns of change covering 1982-2011 are discussed in the context of changes in land use and land cover (LULCC). Location: Global. Methods: This study takes advantage of the different phenological cycles o

We present a detailed measurement of charged two-pion correlation functions in 0-30% centrality sNN=200 GeV Au+Au collisions by the PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. The data are well described by Bose-Einstein correlation functions stemming from Lévy-stable source distributions. Using a fine transverse momentum binning, we extract the correlation strength parameter λ, the

Background: This is the second of two papers presenting the results from a study of the implementation of patient online access to their electronic health records (here referred to as Open Notes) in adult psychiatric care in Sweden. The study contributes an important understanding of both the expectations and concerns that existed among health care professionals before the introduction of the Open

Background: Lymphedema may affect patients' health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and thus a disease-specific questionnaire is needed. The Lymphedema Quality of life Inventory (LyQLI) has been tested for reliability and validity. The purpose of this study was to test the LyQLI for responsiveness and sensitivity. Methods and Results: The study participants were patients with lymphedema in the uppe

The Gaia mission is expected to make a significant contribution to the knowledge of exoplanet systems, both in terms of their number and of their physical properties. We develop Bayesian methods and detection criteria for orbital fitting, and revise the detectability of exoplanets in light of the in-flight properties of Gaia. Limiting ourselves to one-planet systems as a first step of the developm

Nod-like receptors (NLRs) are important innate pattern recognition receptors and regulators of inflammation or play a role during development. We systematically analysed 41 non-synonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 21 NLR genes in a Czech discovery cohort of sporadic colorectal cancer (CRC) (1237 cases, 787 controls) for their association with CRC risk and survival. Five SNPs were f

This article analyses the effect of cultural diversity on employment growth, considering the recent global financial crisis (GFC) as a moderating factor. In doing so, we developed competing hypotheses based on Blau’s theory of heterogeneity versus an alternative perspective which combines the resource-based view (RBV) with social identity theory (SIT). We empirically test such theories using a uni

Background: The dental characteristics of large plant-eating mammals, such as hypsodonty, quite accurately describe present and past climatic conditions worldwide. However, several peculiar regions give systematically higher predictions of primary productivity than the local average environmental conditions should support. We call these 'anomalies'. Anomalies are prominent in areas dominated by pa

We report on the design and performance of a velocity map imaging (VMI) spectrometer optimized for experiments using high-intensity extreme ultraviolet (XUV) sources such as laser-driven high-order harmonic generation (HHG) sources and free-electron lasers (FELs). Typically exhibiting low repetition rates and high single-shot count rates, such experiments do not easily lend themselves to coinciden

The first detailed chemical abundance analysis of the M-dwarf (M4.0) exoplanet-hosting star Ross 128 is presented here, based upon near-infrared (1.5-1.7 μm), high-resolution (R ∼ 22,500) spectra from the SDSS Apache Point Galactic Evolution Experiment survey. We determined precise atmospheric parameters T eff = 3231 ±100 K, log g = 4.96 ±0.11 dex and chemical abundances of eight elements (C, O, M

Due to the need of sustainable energy sources, methane dry reforming is a useful reaction for conversion of the greenhouse gases CH4 and CO2 to synthesis gas (CO + H2). Syngas is the basis for a wide range of commodity chemicals and can be utilized for fuel production via Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. The current study focuses on spectroscopic investigations of the surface and reaction properties of

Background: Type 2 diabetes, chronic kidney disease (CKD) and its cardiovascular complications are increasing as health problems worldwide. These diseases are interrelated with overlapping occurrence and once diabetes is established, the risk of cardiorenal disease is dramatically elevated. Thus, a search for unifying modifiable risk factors is key for effective prevention. Summary: Elevated fasti

Background: Obesity is suggested to underlie development of other metabolic aberrations, but longitudinal relationships between metabolic factors at various ages has not been studied in detail. Methods: Data from 27,379 men and 32,275 women with in total 122,940 health examinations in the Västerbotten Intervention Project, Sweden and the Vorarlberg Health Monitoring and Prevention Programme, Austr

To date, little is known about the effects of violence on the educational outcomes of adolescents in disadvantaged communities in South Africa. In response, self-report data were collected from a socioeconomically disadvantaged sample of 503 adolescents aged 10 to 18 participating in a child abuse prevention trial in the Eastern Cape. Adolescents were purposively selected in the trial. This study