This study aims to determine the effect of twig (current year shoot) size on seed size variation and to test whether a seed size vs number tradeoff occurs for the twigs of subtropical broad-leaved species. Fruit-bearing twigs were sampled for 55 woody species (including 33 evergreen and 22 deciduous dicot species) from a southwest Chinese forest. Twig size, fruit size and number, and seed size ...

It has been shown previously that the awareness and concern of the general public about global warming is not only a function of scientific information. Both psychological and sociological factors affect the willingness of laypeople to acknowledge the reality of global warming, and to support climate policies of their home countries. In this paper, I analyse a cross-national dataset of public c...

Garden orache (Atriplex hortensis L.), a halophytic forb in the family Chenopodiaceae, is well adapted to dry saline habitats. Here, we presented the results of the effect of salinity and seed weight on seed germination and radicle emergence of A. hortensis. Highest germination percentages were obtained under non-saline conditions and increases in salinity inhibited seed germination with less t...

Sleep need is characterized by the level of slow-wave activity (SWA) and increases with time spent awake. The molecular nature of this sleep homeostatic process is practically unknown. Here, we show that intracerebroventricular administration of the neuropeptide, cortistatin (CST-14), enhances EEG synchronization by selectively promoting deep slow-wave sleep (SWS) during both the light and dark...

Melatonin plays a key role in the circadian timing system. At present, many other functions of melatonin are known. Question remains whether changes in endogenous melatonin may be associated with food intake. Hence, the levels of melatonin, C-peptide and glucose were followed during a daily regimen (16 hours) including standardized food intake using commercial kits. The diurnal profiles of the ...

UNLABELLED Body weight positively correlates with bone mass, gravity being a stimulating bone stress. Adipose tissues could influence bone metabolism especially in postmenopause. Also, muscle mass positively correlates with bone mass and is dependent on physical activity, but also on some hormones with direct effect on bone, such as insulin growth factor-1 (IGF-1). AIM Our study investigated ...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Atopic diseases are thought to be associated with cytokine-mediated immune dysregulation, for example, a T helper cell type 1/2 (Th1/Th2) imbalance. CD30 is proposed to be one of the surrogate markers for Th2 immunity. In this study, we investigated whether CD30 is a good marker for atopy and Th2 predominance in a pediatric population. METHODS This study included 61 chi...

Rice comes second after wheat in Iran`s food consumption economy. However Iran is one of the greatest rice importer countries all over the world because of its rising population and recent growth in GDP. This paper presents an analysis of cointegration test between rice import and it`s economic factors over the period 1990-2011, employing Engle-Granger model. At first, Dickey-Fuller test shows ...

in order to study the phenological and morphological characteristics, comparison of yield and yield components, correlation between traits and determination of the parameters affecting seed yield, a field experiment was carried out at the research farm of shahrekord university in 2007. ten lentil genotypes were compared by a randomized complete block design with three replications. the analysis...