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As a result of the important role played by phosphorus (P) in surface water eutrophication, the susceptibility of soils to release P requires evaluation. The degree of phosphorus saturation, assessed by oxalate extraction (DPSox), has been used as an indicator. However, most laboratories do not include DPSox in routine soil tests because of cost and time. This study evaluates the suitability of the ammonium acetate extraction in the presence of EDTA (AAEDTA), the standard soil test P (STP) in Wallonia (Southern Belgium), to predict DPSox; we also compared it with the Mehlich 3 extraction. Ninety-three topsoil samples were collected in agricultural soils throughout Wallonia. Good correlations were found between the AAEDTA and the Mehlich 3 methods for P, Fe and Al ( r = 0.85, 0.77 and 0.86, respectively). An exponential relationship was found between PAAEDTA and DPSox. Results of principal component analysis and regression demonstrated that STP can be used to predict DPSox ( r = 0.93) after logarithmic transformation. Soil test Al was also a good indicator of the P sorption capacity (PSCox) of soils ( r = 0.86). Including the clay fraction in regression equations only slightly improved the prediction of PSCox ( r = 0.90), while other readily available data (such as pH or organic carbon) did not significantly improve either DPSox or PSCox predictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gay M-C, Vrignaud P, Garitte C, Meunier C. Predictors of depression in multiple sclerosis patients. Acta Neurol Scand: 2010: 121: 161–170. © 2010 The Authors Journal compilation © 2010 Blackwell Munksgaard. Depression is one of the major problems associated with multiple sclerosis (MS). Several physical and psychological factors tend to interact and make it difficult to pinpoint the predictors of the depression. It seemed particularly important to examine how anxiety and illness evolution (characterized by the functional status) influence the appearance of depression symptoms. Thus, the aim of this article was to clarify the relationship between depression and the factors associated with it. One hundred and fifteen participants living at home recruited through various associations and MS clinics answered socio demographic, medical and psychological questions and questionnaires (depression, anxiety, coping, social support, locus of control, alexithymia, self-esteem). Results show that functional status (EDSS), trait anxiety, alexithymia and satisfaction with social support system are the predicting factors of depression. Trait anxiety and functional status are two predictors that independently and simultaneously lead to the appearance of depression symptoms, with trait anxiety playing a predominant role. Alexithymia and social support indirectly influence the appearance of these symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most important ways by which northern forests will respond to anticipated climate change is through variations in seed maturation. In this study, the relationship between growing degree-days (DD) >5°C and seed maturity was evaluated at three spatial scales. At the continental scale, the development of female gametophytes and embryos was evaluated as a function of the heat sums obtained from II sites distributed across the Canadian range of black spruce. At the regional scale, cone size and the percentage of germinated seeds formed in 1998, 1999, and 2000 were analyzed from seven sites situated along a latitudinal gradient in northern Quebec. At the local scale, cones were collected along perilacustral and insular transects according to their exposure to large water bodies, and from 10 islands located within a 2835-km² hydroelectric reservoir. Our results confirm the 800-940 DD thermal sum threshold necessary for the complete maturation of black spruce embryos at several populations distributed across the total range of the species. Along the regional south-to-north climatic gradient, the percentage of germination can be predicted by a sigmoid function of a thermal sum (y=2.8 +25.1/[1 +e(x-896.6)/84.6]; r²=0.85, P < 0.0001) that attains a plateau at around 800-940 DD. Once the 800-940 DD threshold is attained, variations in the percentage of seed germination are mainly associated with inter-tree differences and local site factors (thickness of organic matter, tree density, tree height, tree age, and fetch). In the springtime, cold enclaves are created by the presence of the hydroelectric reservoir. The seed germination percentages in these enclaves varied from 0.6% ± 0.7% to 14.9% ± 19.1% (mean ± SD) according to the site (compared to 22.7% ± 15.1% for a site not exposed to the reservoir), which was equivalent to the germination percentages for sites at latitudes 1-3° farther north. These data suggest that the potential for black spruce regeneration increases strongly beyond the 800 DD isotherm, which evokes the possibility that subarctic open forests may become more dense under the current anticipated climate changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present here a spatial and temporal population genetic survey of a common freshwater snail, also a predominantly selfing species, Lymnaea truncatula. The rate of genetic diversity loss was quantified by estimating the effective size ( N e) of the snail populations, using two different methods. A temporal survey allowed estimation of a variance effective size of the populations, and a spatial survey allowed the estimation of an inbreeding effective size, from two-locus identity disequilibria estimates. Both methods were consistent and provided low N e values. Drift due to (i) high amounts of selfing and (ii) fluctuations in population sizes because of temporary habitats, and also selection coupled to genome-wide linkage disequilibria, could explain such reductions in N e. The loss of genetic diversity appears to be counterbalanced only very partially by low apparent rates of gene flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present work, dynamic clamp was used to inject a current that mimicked tonic synaptic activity in the soma of cat lumbar motoneurones with a microelectrode. The reversal potential of this current could be set at the resting potential so as to prevent membrane depolarization or hyperpolarization. The only effect of the dynamic clamp was then to elicit a constant and calibrated increase of the motoneurone input conductance. The effect of the resulting shunt was investigated on repetitive discharges elicited by current pulses. Shunting inhibition reduced very substantially the firing frequency in the primary range without changing the slope of the current-frequency curves. The shift of the I-f curve was proportional to the conductance increase imposed by the dynamic clamp and depended on an intrinsic property of the motoneurone that we called the shunt potential. The shunt potential ranged between 11 and 37 mV above the resting potential, indicating that the sensitivity of motoneurones to shunting inhibition was quite variable. The shunt potential was always near or above the action potential voltage threshold. A theoretical model allowed us to interpret these experimental results. The shunt potential was shown to be a weighted time average of membrane voltage. The weighting factor is the phase response function of the neurone that peaks at the end of the interspike interval. The shunt potential indicates whether mixed synaptic inputs have an excitatory or inhibitory effect on the ongoing discharge of the motoneurone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Fasciolosis is a re-emerging parasitic disease that affects an increasing number of people in developing countries. The most severe endemic affects the Bolivian Altiplano, where the liver fluke (Fasciola hepatica) and its hermaphroditic snail host, Lymnaea truncatula, have been introduced from Europe. To achieve a better understanding of the epidemiological situation and the consequences of the colonization event of this invasive species, genetic analysis of Bolivian snail populations was needed. Here we compare the genetic diversity and population structure of snail samples from the Bolivian Altiplano with samples from the Old World at six polymorphic microsatellite loci. Whereas some variability exists in the snail populations from the Old World, we observe only a single genotype of L. truncatula in the Bolivian Altiplano. We discuss the possible explanations for such a reduction in genetic variability, and, given the high natural parasitism pressures exerted on the snail populations, we discuss the relevance of this result for host–parasite interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article comments on anxiety, confidence and conformity. The present experiment was designed to examine the possibility that test anxiety and persuasibility are related via a judgmental mechanism, confidence in judgments. To evaluate this notion, high and low test anxious persons made judgments and indicated their confidence in these judgments in a group pressure situation. Examination of findings in performance, learning tasks, and conformity suggest that one of the self-oriented components may involve a cognitive factor, confidence in performing the task. Since high test anxious college students are so responsive to evaluative instructions, the effect of these instructions may be to stimulate the re-evaluation of the person's own likelihood of success and failure. Such re-evaluation would be manifested in the individual's confidence in making the correct response. Thus, the contribution of cognitive factors in situations involving both conformity pressures and test anxious persons remains to be assessed. The present research was aimed at examining the role of judgmental confidence in determining differential conformity for high and low test anxious persons.

Discusses the development of polymorphic microsatellite markers to investigate the role of mating systems and population dynamics in the genetic variability of hermaphroditic snail, Lymnaea truncatula. Population genetic of the interactions between liver fluke, Fasciola hepatica, and its intermediate host L. truncatula; Core and primer sequences; Size of cloned allele; Repeat motif.

Six microsatellite markers were isolated from Fasciola hepatica, a re-emerging parasite that causes important veterinary and public health problems. In a sample of 52 liver flukes from a region of hyperendemicity (Bolivian Altiplano), five microsatellite were polymorphic. Our results showed that liver flukes present important genetic variability, suggesting a preferential outcrossing reproduction mode for this hermaphroditic parasite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]