Climate and phylogenetic history structure morphological and architectural trait variation among fine-root orders.

Fine roots mediate below-ground resource acquisition, yet understanding of how fine-root functional traits vary along environmental gradients, within branching orders and across phylogenetic scales remains limited. Morphological and architectural fine-root traits were measured on individual root orders of 20 oak species (genus Quercus) from divergent climates of origin that were harvested after three growing seasons in a glasshouse. These were then compared with similar measurements obtained from a phylogenetically diverse dataset of woody species from the Fine-Root Ecology Database (FRED). For the oaks, only precipitation seasonality and growing season moisture availability were correlated to aspects of root diameter and branching. Strong correlations among root diameters and architecture of different branch orders were common, while correlations between diameter and length were weakly negative. By contrast, the FRED dataset showed strong positive correlations between diameter and length and fewer correlations between root diameter and architectural traits. Our findings suggest that seasonal patterns of water availability are more important drivers of root adaptation in oaks than annual averages in precipitation and temperature. Furthermore, contrasting patterns of trait relationships between the oak and FRED datasets suggest that branching patterns are differentially constrained at narrow vs broad phylogenetic scales.

The Circadian Neuropeptide PDF has Sexually Dimorphic Effects on Activity Rhythms.

The circadian system regulates the timing of multiple molecular, physiological, metabolic, and behavioral phenomena. In Drosophila as in other species, most of the research on how the timekeeping system in the brain controls timing of behavioral outputs has been conducted in males, or sex was not included as a biological variable. The main circadian pacemaker neurons in Drosophila release the neuropeptide Pigment Dispersing Factor (PDF), which functions as a key synchronizing factor in the network with complex effects on other clock neurons. Lack of Pdf or its receptor, PdfR, results in most flies displaying arrhythmicity in activity-rest cycles under constant conditions. However, our results show that female circadian rhythms are less affected by mutations in both Pdf and PdfR. Crispr-Cas9 mutagenesis of Pdf specifically in the ventral lateral neurons (LNvs) also has a greater effect on male rhythms. We tested the influence of the M-cells over the circadian network and show that speeding up the molecular clock specifically in the M-cells leads to sexually dimorphic phenotypes, with a more pronounced effect on male rhythmic behavior. Our results suggest that the female circadian system is more resilient to manipulations of the PDF pathway and that circadian timekeeping is more distributed across the clock neuron network in females.

Barriers and facilitators for adolescent girls to take on adult responsibility for dental care - a qualitative study.

Purpose: This study aims to explore and describe experiences of the dental care system among adolescent dental patients with a recent history of missed dental appointments at public dental clinics (PDCs) in a Swedish county. Methods: Twelve adolescent girls participated in the study. Data were collected by individual, semi-structured, open-ended interviews and analysed with qualitative content analysis. Results: The study findings could be summed into the theme "Triggers for adolescent girls to take on or not take on adult responsibility for dental care". The experience of free dental care could be summarized in five main categories: Pain and discomfort; Attractive and healthy teeth; Feeling safe and secure; Taking on the responsibility; and Free of charge. These five categories consisted of 15 subcategories. Conclusions: The results of this study should increase the knowledge on how to meet and treat adolescent girls in dental care. Knowing what will happen during the dental visit was highlighted by the participants as decisive to whether or not they would attend their dental appointments. Therefore, we should as far as possible ensure that our patients feel safe at their dental visits and by trying to avoid painful treatments.

[Language tests in electroglottography]. / Testy jezykowe w badaniu elektroglottograficznym.

An Electroglottograph (Fourcin Laryngograph Processor) was used to determine, whether there was a significant difference in degree of Irregularity in vocal fold vibration (% Irregularity) or Contact Quotient (Qx) in the vocal fold vibratory cycle (Lx) between different phonatory tasks and between men and women. The most recent software package, 'Speech Studio', was used to analyse the data. The subjects were 24 healthy subjects, 16 females and 8 males, aged from 22 to 71. The tasks consisted of sustained vowels: a, o, u, short words: Ala, Ola, Ula and a short phrase in Polish, spoken at comfortable pitch and volume. The average age of females and males did not differ significantly on t-testing. The results showed there were no statistically significant differences between mean values of Qx between phonatory tasks on ANOVA testing. However, the differences between mean values of % Irregularity were significantly different between tasks. The % Irregularity obtained for the phrase, was significantly different from the values obtained for the sustained vowels and single words. The values for the latter two did not differ significantly. The difference between male and female Qx and % Irregularity values were not significant on t-testing except for % Irregularity for the word 'Ola', which was greater in men. Our findings show that for calculation of Qx either sustained vowel phonation, single words or phrases may be used. % Irregularity of vocal fold vibration is however task dependent.