The fetal cerebellum. Pitfalls in diagnosis and management

Prenatal diagnosis of congenital and acquired cerebellar disorders is possible by the use of ultrasound (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Although numerous studies have been conducted in this field, diagnostic uncertainties are still common in daily clinical practice. This review outlines five possible pitfalls in the diagnosis of fetal cerebellar disorders: confusion between different entities describing vermian pathologies (Dandy–Walker variant, vermian hypoplasia and vermian agenesis); premature diagnosis of abnormal vermian formation; difficulties in the ultrasonographic differentiation between the cerebellar hemispheres and the vermis; late development of cerebellar hypoplasia/atrophy and differential diagnosis of unilateral cerebellar findings. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The boom in mineral markets: How long might it last?

The commodity price boom that emerged in 2004 has proved far more persevering than its predecessors of 1950 and 1973. Some analysts have suggested that it may represent the start of a “supercycle” caused by the voracious raw materials demand from China and other emerging economies, with prices remaining high for 20-30 years. We offer an alternative explanation. For a variety of reasons, the establishment of new capacity in minerals and energy to match the accelerated demand trends is more time consuming than commonly assumed, and may take a decade or longer. As soon as the new capacity is in place, however, the boom will be punctuated. Prices may collapse much earlier in the event of a severe recession that cuts the growth in commodity demand.     

Higher soybean production using honeybee and wild pollinators, a sustainable alternative to pesticides and autopollination

This is the first report showing that using honeybee (Apis mellifera) and wild pollinators complementary pollination can enhance soybean productivity (Glycine max). Current industrial production of soybean involves autopollination and high loads of pesticides. Therefore, growers have neglected possible biotic pollination despite suggestions that soybean benefit from insect pollinators. Reports advocating possible biotic pollination are based on experiments where bees are caged with flowering plants and the absence of pesticides, thus not in field conditions. Therefore, here we compared in field conditions soybean yield produced (1) independently of biotic pollinators, (2) with wild pollinators and (3) with honeybee colonies. Results showed an increase of +6.34 % of soybean yield in areas where wild pollinators had free access to flowers. The introduction of honeybee colonies further raised the yield of +18.09 %. Our findings therefore show that, though soybean is autogamous, allowing pollination by wild pollinators leads to higher yields. Moreover, adding honeybee mitigates pollination deficits and improves yield compared to current practices.     

Weed seedbank evaluating method to generate spatial distribution maps

The objective of this work was to develop a fast and practical method of weed seedbank evaluation to generate spatially distributed maps for use in site-specific weed management. Soil cores were collected at 0.20 m depth, air-dried, and then submitted to seedling growth in greenhouse. The sampling grid of 20 by 20 m was georeferenced by Global Positioning System, obtaining 73 soil cores with three replicates. During the greenhouse trial, there were two peaks of weed seedling growth: one in 119 days after water irrigation and another after KNO3 application. Weeds seedbank maps were obtained at different stages of seedling growth. The Pearson correlation was 0.99 for Brachiaria plantaginea seedbank map, 0.95 for Commelina benghalensis, and 0.85 for Cyperus rotudus generated at 119 days compared with 392 days after seedling growth in the greenhouse. The Brachiaria plantaginea seedbank map evaluated at 35 days presented correlation of 0.97 with 392 days. It was concluded that, for site-specific weed seedbank management, the evaluation of seedling growth in greenhouse until the first emergence peak is enough to generate weed seedbank maps.     

Bromeliad-living spiders improve host plant nutrition and growth

Although bromeliads are believed to obtain nutrients from debris deposited by animals in their rosettes, there is little evidence to support this assumption. Using stable isotope methods, we found that the Neotropical jumping spider Psecas chapoda (Salticidae), which lives strictly associated with the terrestrial bromeliad Bromelia balansae, contributed 18% of the total nitrogen of its host plant in a greenhouse experiment. In a one-year field experiment, plants with spiders produced leaves 15% longer than plants from which the spiders were excluded. This is the first study to show nutrient provisioning in a spider-plant system. Because several animal species live strictly associated with bromeliad rosettes, this type of facultative mutualism involving the Bromeliaceae may be more common than previously thought.     

Searching for Networks: Ecological Connectivity for Amphibians Under Climate Change

Environmental Management - Ecological connectivity depends on key elements within the landscape, which can support ecological fluxes, species richness and long-term viability of a biological...