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Biological soil crusts (BSCs) are small-scale communities of lichens, mosses, algae, and cyanobacteria that cover much of the surface area in regions where vascular plant growth is restricted due to harsh environmental conditions, such as perpetually ice-free areas in terrestrial Antarctic environments and alpine areas above the tree line. To our knowledge, none of the available studies provides a direct Antarctic-alpine comparison of BSC activity periods and the water use, both key traits to understand their physiological behavior and therefore related growth and fitness. Here, activity patterns and water relations were studied at two sites, one in continental Antarctica (Garwood Valley 78°S) and one in the High Alps of Austria (Hochtor, Großglockner 2350m). BSCs in continental Antarctica were only rarely active, and if so, then during melt after snowfalls and by fog. In the Austrian Alps, BSCs were continuously active and additionally activated by rainfall, fog, and dew. Consequently, high alpine BSCs can be expected to have much higher photosynthetic productivity supporting higher growth rates than the same functional vegetation unit has in continental Antarctica.

Wildman Whitehouse is popularly remembered as the surgeon turned ‘dabbler’ in telegraphy responsible for damaging the first Atlantic telegraph cable in 1858 by use of his high voltage induction coils. He is also known for his disagreement with the electrical theories of William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) and being sacked as electrician to the operator of the transatlantic cable, the Atlantic Telegraph Company. Over the past 150 years commentators have marked him down as insignificant, a loose cannon in the annals of telegraphy, a ‘non-engineer’ and certainly a ‘non-scientist’. This paper, after a brief account of his whole career, looks specifically at Whitehouse’s work associated with submarine telegraph cables prior to the laying of the 1858 Atlantic cable. During this period he was making electrical measurements at the manufacturer’s works and also on long underground cables, in order to try to establish the viability of communications along the proposed 2000-mile transatlantic link.By reappraising ...

10 pages, figures, and tables statistics., The cold, dry ecosystems of Antarctica have been shown to harbor traces left behind by microbial activity within certain types of rocks, but only two indirect biomarkers of cryptoendolithic activity in the Antarctic cold desert zone have been described to date. These are the geophysical and geochemical bioweathering patterns macroscopically observed in sandstone rock. Here we show that in this extreme environment, minerals are biologically transformed, and as a result, Fe-rich diagenetic minerals in the form of iron hydroxide nanocrystals and biogenic clays are deposited around chasmoendolithic hyphae and bacterial cells. Thus, when microbial life decays, these characteristic neocrystalized minerals act as distinct biomarkers of previous endolithic activity. The ability to recognize these traces may have potential astrobiological implications because the Antarctic Ross Desert is considered a terrestrial analogue of a possible ecosystem on early Mars.

Gene technology and plant breeding are combining to provide powerful means for modifying the composition of oilseeds to improve their nutritional value and provide the functional properties required for various food oil applications. Major alterations in the proportions of individual fatty acids have been achieved in a range of oilseeds using conventional selection, induced mutation and, more recently, post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS). In particular, a number of high-oleic oils have been developed in order to provide high-stability cooking oils. These oils provide the opportunity to replace the current widespread use of saturated fats and hydrogenated oils that contribute significantly to increased risk of cardiovascular disease due to the effect of saturated and trans-fatty acids on elevating LDL cholesterol in the bloodstream. Similarly, oils with increased stearic acid content are being developed to enable the production of solid fats without the need for hydrogenation. We have recently applied hpRNA-mediated PTGS in cotton to down-regulate key fatty acid desaturase genes and develop nutritionally-improved high-oleic (HO) and high-stearic (HS) cottonseed oils (CSOs). Silencing of the ghFAD2-1 delta12-desaturase gene raised oleic acid content from 13% to 78% and silencing of the ghSAD-1 delta9-desaturase gene substantially increased stearic acid from the normal level of 2% to as high as 40%. Additionally, palmitic acid was significantly lowered from 26% to 15% in both HO and HS lines. Intercrossing the HS and HO lines resulted in a wide range of unique intermediate combinations of palmitic, stearic, oleic and linoleic contents. The oxidative stability, flavor characteristics and physical properties of these novel CSOs are currently being evaluated by food technologists.

Partitioning patterns of 13C‐labelled assimilate were studied in mature field‐grown plants of three asparagus (Asparagus officinalis L.) cultivars. Plants were labelled in January and destructively harvested at different stages of the summer fern growth phase and in early spring. There was very little new fern establishment after January, so the majority of the assimilated label was translocated from the labelled fern to the storage roots, and in smaller amounts to buds on the rhizome, from where it was later remobilised into new spear growth in the spring. The label was confined to a physiological unit composed of the labelled fern, the rhizome from which it grew, and buds, roots, and new shoot material associated with that rhizome. Similar patterns of 13C distribution within the physiological unit were observed in three cultivars differing in spear yield.

Objective Telehealth is an approach to disease management, which may hold the potential of improving some of the features associated with COPD, including positive impact on disease progression, and thus possibly limiting further reduction in quality of life (QoL). Our objective was, therefore, to summarize studies addressing the impact of telehealth on QoL in patients with COPD. Design Systematic review. Methods A series of systematic searches were carried out using the following databases: PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Controlled Trials Register, and ClinicalTrials.gov (last updated November 2015). A predefined search algorithm was utilized with the intention to capture all results related to COPD, QoL, and telehealth published since year 2000. Outcome measures Primary outcome was QoL, assessed by validated measures. Results Out of the 18 studies fulfilling the criteria for inclusion in this review, three studies found statistically significant improvements in QoL for patients allocated to telemedical interventions. However, all of the other included studies found no statistically significant differences between control and telemedical intervention groups in terms of QoL. Conclusion Telehealth does not make a strong case for itself when exclusively looking at QoL as an outcome, since statistically significant improvements relative to control groups have been observed only in few of the available studies. Nonetheless, this does not only rule out the possibility that telehealth is superior to standard care with regard to other outcomes but also seems to call for more research, not least in large-scale controlled trials.

Thomas Ringbæk,1,2 Allan Green,1 Lars Christian Laursen,2,3 Ejvind Frausing,1 Eva Brøndum,1 Charlotte Suppli Ulrik1,2 1Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Hvidovre Hospital, Hvidovre, Denmark; 2Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen; 3Pulmonary Unit, Department of Internal Medicine, Herlev Hospital, Herlev, Denmark Background and objective: Tele monitoring (TM) of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has gained much interest, but studies have produced conflicting results. Our aim was to investigate the effect of TM with the option of video consultations on exacerbations and hospital admissions in patients with severe COPD.Materials and methods: Patients with severe COPD at high risk of exacerbations were eligible for the study. Of 560 eligible patients identified, 279 (50%) declined to participate. The remaining patients were equally randomized to either TM (n=141) or usual care (n=140) for the 6-month study period. TM comprised recording of symptoms, saturation, spirometry, and weekly video consultations. Algorithms generated alerts if readings breached thresholds. Both groups received standard care. The primary outcome was number of hospital admissions for exacerbation of COPD during the study period.Results: Most of the enrolled patients had severe COPD (forced expiratory volume in 1 second