Secondary sexual dimorphism (SSD) in flowering plants is expressed as differences in sexual characteristics that are not directly related to gamete production, involving a wide variety of morphological and physiological traits. Yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis) is an evergreen dioecious tree native to South America. It was hypothesized that: (1) in early years, the two yerba-mate genders would segregate with lower frequency in biomass production than during later years; (2) in the case of SSD, higher biomass production would be seen for female plants when compared to male plants at a more advanced age; (3) higher SSD would appear in morphotypes that represent leaf adaptations to full sunlight cultivation; and (4) progenies originated from provenances from higher altitudes will show greater SSD in biomass production. One experiment with 135 progenies originated from six provenances with different altitudes was established in 1997 in a monoculture (under full sunlight conditions). Biomass production (leaves and thin twigs) per plant was evaluated during four harvests (1999, 2001, 2003, and 2015). The frequency of SSD in biomass production did not change throughout the plant’s life. Males were more productive than females in 1999, 2001, and 2003, while the increased frequency of more productive female plants was observed during the most recent harvest (2015), resulting in an equal frequency of female and male progenies. Sexual segregation was observed in dully green, sassafras, and gray morphotypes that are characterized by their waxy leaf structures, an adaptation to elevated irradiance and UV. As a result of adaptative responses to stressful conditions and elevated interplant variability, the relationship between SSD and biomass production of progenies originated from the highest altitudes segregated with higher frequency when compared to the lowest altitudes.

Bergmann’s Rule describes an increase in the body size of endothermic animals with decreasing environmental temperatures. However, in ectothermic insects including moths, some of the few existing studies investigating size patterns along temperature gradients do not follow the Bergmann’s Cline. Intraspecific differences in moth sizes along spatiotemporal temperature gradients are unknown from the Palaeotropics, hindering general conclusions and understanding of the mechanism responsible. We measured intraspecific forewing size differences in 28 Afrotropical moth species sampled in 3 seasons along an elevational gradient on Mount Cameroon, West/Central Africa. Size increased significantly with elevation in 14 species but decreased significantly in 5 species. Additionally, we found significant inter-seasonal size differences in 21 species. Most of these variable species had longer forewings in the transition from the wet to dry season, which had caterpillars developing during the coldest part of the year. We conclude that environmental temperature affects the size of many Afrotropical moths, predominantly following prevailingly following Bergmann’s Cline. Nevertheless, the sizes of one-third of the species demonstrated a significant interaction between elevation and season. The responsible mechanisms can thus be assumed to be more complex than a simple response to ambient temperature.

Access to care services in remote areas is challenging. The use of telemedicine technology in these areas facilitates access to health care. This study aimed to summarize the current research on telemedicine in remote areas such as mountains and forests. A systematic search was conducted in databases including Medline (through PubMed), Scopus, IEEE Xplore Digital Library, and ISI Web of Science to identify relevant studies published until May 12, 2021. Screening of retrieved articles for selection and inclusion in the study was performed based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyzes extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) checklist. A total of 807 articles were identified after removing duplicates, from which 20 studies meeting our inclusion criteria were selected. Challenges, opportunities, and equipment required to use telemedicine in remote areas were extracted from the selected studies. The results revealed that telemedicine implementation in remote areas had many challenges, including harsh weather conditions, Internet connectivity problems, difficult equipment transportation, and ethical issues. Telemedicine also has many benefits, such as cost and time savings for patients, improving patients’ quality of life, and improving patient satisfaction. Telemedicine for inhabitants of forested and mountainous areas facilitates rapid access to health care and enhances patient satisfaction. Distinguishing advantages and barriers as well as reducing restrictions will have an essential role in accelerating the use of this technology.

It is difficult to expound in any pithy fashion on the imprint that James C. Scott's work has had on writing history in the orbit of Asia. Where to start? From The Moral Economy of the Peasant all the way to Against the Grain, Scott's work has found receptive and fertile ground among his peers in Asian studies, who have often proudly pointed out to their non-Asianist colleagues that Scott is “one of their own.” This has certainly been true “internally” as well, in the ways that Southeast Asianists have spoken to their fellow professionals in the larger, allied subdisciplines of South and East Asian studies. It does not matter that Scott's books have touched on a wide variety of subjects: the central concerns with power, agency, space, and the essence of a shared humanity have all resonated with his professional interlocutors.

In the first aerial crossing of the South Atlantic, by Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral in 1922, several methods of astronomical maritime navigation were used with adaptions to aerial navigation. In order to apply these methods, the navigator needed to know the approximate altitude of the aircraft so that its position could be determined. The instrument available at that time, the altimeter, did not give reliable values for altitude. Therefore, Coutinho had to devise a method that enabled the navigator to determine the altitude quickly and efficiently. The method Coutinho devised is based on a mathematical and geometrical procedure. In this paper, we study in detail Coutinho's method to determine altitude, with diagrams to aid understanding of the deductions and calculations. We also present a real example of how this method would be used during the flight.

Needles of Juniperus rigida are used in Chinese traditional medicine for the treatment of brucellosis, dropsy, skin disease, and rheumatoid arthritis. This is the first study that reports anatomical structures of the J. rigida needles collected at different altitudes. The most common anatomical, phytochemical, and histochemical techniques and methods are used. The results show that anatomical structures and chemical composition change significantly at different altitudes. The main anatomical characters are significant xeromorphic structures (thick epidermis, hypodermis, and cuticle), a stomatal band, a developed vascular bundle, and a marginal resin duct. The xeromorphic structures become more pronounced with increasing altitude. The phytochemical and histochemical results demonstrate that the content of the main chemical compounds (phenols and terpenoids) basically increases at a higher elevation. Histochemical analysis localizes the phenols in epidermal cells, sponge tissue, endothelial layer cells, and stomatal bands, and the terpenoids in palisade tissue, sponge tissue, and the edge of the resin duct. This work reveals the relation between anatomy and chemistry in J. rigida needles, contributes to the quality control of its ethno-medicine, and provides the evidence to develop the commercial cultivation.

Seed reserves play vital roles in seed germination and seedling growth and their variation may be related to various environment factors, plant traits and phylogenetic history. Here, the evolutionary correlation associated with seed mass and altitude and carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) allocation of seeds among 253 alpine herbaceous plants was tested. In this study, phylogeny had strong limitations on nutrient allocation of seeds across species, and species from younger phylogenetic groups tended to have higher N and P contents, which might be considered as the evolutionary selection of seed plants. Higher seed N and P content would help seedlings to gain more survival chance and stronger competitive capacity, and their progeny would be more likely to be preserved. When phylogeny was considered, altitude only had a significant positive effect on P content, but the negative effects on seed mass were all expressed. The independent effects of altitude and seed mass suggest that the nutrient allocation of seeds might be affected by both environment and plant traits. In addition, altitude and seed mass displayed partial overlapping effects on nutrient allocation of seeds. The negative effects of seed mass were affected slightly by altitude, whereas altitude only had a significant positive effect on P content when seed mass was controlled. Above all, seed P content showed obvious and general correlations with seed mass, altitude and age of clade, which indicated that higher seed P content might be an adaptive selection of species associated with growth and survival of progeny.

Plant–animal mutualistic interactions through ecological network systems and the environmental conditions in which they occur, allow us to understand patterns of species composition and the structure and dynamics of communities. We evaluated whether flower morphologies with different pollination syndromes (ornithophilous and non-ornithophilous) are used by hummingbirds and whether these characteristics affect the structure (core-peripheral species) of hummingbird networks. Observations were made in flowering patches, where plant–hummingbird interactions were recorded at three altitudes (300–2500 m) during three seasons (dry, rainy and post-rainy) from 2015 to 2016 at El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve, Chiapas, Mexico. We recorded 15 hummingbird species interacting with 58 plant species, and the greatest number of interacting hummingbird species (11; 14) and plant species (28; 40) were found at middle altitudes and during the dry season, respectively. In all study sites, most of the plant species visited by hummingbirds had an ornithophilous syndrome (67%) at high altitudes (22 plant species) and during the dry season (26 plant species), but more individual hummingbirds visited non-ornithophilous plant species. The hummingbird species at high altitudes exhibited the greatest level of specialization towards plants (H2′ = 0.74), but the networks of plant-hummingbird interactions were generalist (H2′ = 0.25); i.e. visiting plants with both syndromes, at low altitudes. The core generalist hummingbird species remained constant with altitude and season, but the core generalist plant species varied between different altitudes and seasons according to the phenology of the species.

Intrauterine exposure to the rainy season in the tropics may be accompanied by high rates of infection and nutritional deficiencies. It is unknown whether this exposure is related to the extrauterine timing of development. Our aim was to evaluate the relations of prenatal exposure to the rainy season and altitude of residence with age at menarche. The study included 15,370 girls 10 to <18 years old who participated in Colombia’s 2010 National Nutrition Survey. Primary exposures included the number of days exposed to the rainy season during the 40 weeks preceding birth, and altitude of residence at the time of the survey. We estimated median menarcheal ages and hazard ratios with 95% confidence interval (CI) according to exposure categories using Kaplan–Meier cumulative probabilities and Cox proportional hazards models, respectively. All tests incorporated the complex survey design. Girls in the highest quintile of gestation days exposed to the rainy season had an earlier age at menarche compared with those in the lowest (adjusted hazard ratios (HR)=1.08; 95% CI 1.00–1.18, P-trend=0.03). Girls living at altitudes ⩾2000 m had a later age at menarche compared with those living <1000 m (adjusted HR=0.88; 95% CI 0.82–0.94, P-trend <0.001). The inverse association between gestation days during the rainy season and menarche was most apparent among girls living at altitudes ⩾2000 m (P, interaction=0.04). Gestation days exposed to the rainy season and altitude of residence were associated with the timing of sexual maturation among Colombian girls independent of socioeconomic status and ethnicity.

Objectives: Cognitive dysfunction from high altitude exposure is a major cause of civilian and military air disasters. Pilot training improves recognition of the early symptoms of altitude exposure so that countermeasures may be taken before loss of consciousness. Little is known regarding the nature of cognitive impairments manifesting within this critical window when life-saving measures may still be taken. Prior studies evaluating cognition during high altitude simulation have predominantly focused on measures of reaction time and other basic attention or motor processes. Memory encoding, retention, and retrieval represent critical cognitive functions that may be vulnerable to acute hypoxic/ischemic events and could play a major role in survival of air emergencies, yet these processes have not been studied in the context of high altitude simulation training. Methods: In a series of experiments, military aircrew underwent neuropsychological testing before, during, and after brief (15 min) exposure to high altitude simulation (20,000 ft) in a pressure-controlled chamber. Results: Acute exposure to high altitude simulation caused rapid impairment in learning and memory with relative preservation of basic visual and auditory attention. Memory dysfunction was predominantly characterized by deficiencies in memory encoding, as memory for information learned during high altitude exposure did not improve after washout at sea level. Retrieval and retention of memories learned shortly before altitude exposure were also impaired, suggesting further impairment in memory retention. Conclusions: Deficits in memory encoding and retention are rapidly induced upon exposure to high altitude, an effect that could impact life-saving situational awareness and response. (JINS, 2017, 23, 1–10)

Understanding the processes that shape parasite diversification, their distribution and abundance provides valuable information on the dynamics and evolution of disease. In this study, we assessed the diversity, distribution, host-specificity and infection patterns of apicomplexan parasites in amphibians and reptiles from Oman, Arabia. Using a quantitative PCR approach we detected three apicomplexan parasites (haemogregarines, lankesterellids and sarcocystids). A total of 13 haemogregarine haplotypes were identified, which fell into four main clades in a phylogenetic framework. Phylogenetic analysis of six new lankesterellid haplotypes revealed that these parasites were distinct from, but phylogenetically related to, known Lankesterella species and might represent new taxa. The percentage of infected hosts (prevalence) and the number of haemogregarines in the blood (parasitaemia) varied significantly between gecko species. We also found significant differences in parasitaemia between haemogregarine parasite lineages (defined by phylogenetic clustering of haplotypes), suggesting differences in host–parasite compatibility between these lineages. For Pristurus rupestris, we found significant differences in haemogregarine prevalence between geographical areas. Our results suggest that host ecology and host relatedness may influence haemogregarine distributions and, more generally, highlight the importance of screening wild hosts from remote regions to provide new insights into parasite diversity.

The StratEx program used a self-contained space suit and balloon system to loft pilot Alan Eustace to a record-breaking altitude and skydive from 135,897 feet (41,422 m). After releasing from the balloon and a stabilized freefall, the pilot safely landed using a parachute system based on a modified tandem parachute rig. A custom spacesuit provided life support using a similar system to NASA’s (National Aeronautics and Space Administration; Washington, DC USA) Extravehicular Mobility Unit. It also provided tracking, communications, and connection to the parachute system. A recovery support team, including at least two medical personnel and two spacesuit technicians, was charged with reaching the pilot within five minutes of touchdown to extract him from the suit and provide treatment for any injuries. The team had to track the flight at all times, be prepared to respond in case of premature release, and to operate in any terrain. Crew recovery operations were planned and tailored to anticipate outcomes during this novel event in a systematic fashion, through scenario and risk analysis, in order to minimize the probability and impact of injury. This analysis, detailed here, helped the team configure recovery assets, refine navigation and tracking systems, develop procedures, and conduct training. An extensive period of testing and practice culminated in three manned flights leading to a successful mission and setting the record for exit altitude, distance of fall with stabilizing device, and vertical speed with a stabilizing device. During this mission, recovery teams reached the landing spot within one minute, extracted the pilot, and confirmed that he was not injured. This strategy is presented as an approach to prehospital planning and care for improved safety during crew recovery in novel, extreme events.

MenonAS, JourdanD, NusbaumDM, GarbinoA, BucklandDM, NortonS, ClarkJB, AntonsenEL. Crew Recovery and Contingency Planning for a Manned Stratospheric Balloon Flight – the StratEx Program. Prehosp Disaster Med.2016;31(5):524–531.

Understanding the impact of altitude and ecological heterogeneity at a fine scale on the populations of malaria vectors is essential to better understand and anticipate eventual epidemiological changes. It could help to evaluate the spread of alleles conferring resistance to insecticides and also determine any increased entomological risk of transmission in highlands due to global warming. We used microsatellite markers to measure the effect of altitude and distance on the population genetic structure of Anopheles funestus and Anopheles gambiae s.s. in the Muheza area in the north-eastern part of Tanzania (seven loci for each species). Our analysis reveals strong gene flow between the different populations of An. funestus from lowland and highland areas, as well as between populations of An. gambiae sampled in the lowland area. These results highlight for An. funestus the absence of a significant spatial subpopulation structuring at small-scale, despite a steep ecological and altitudinal cline. Our findings are important in the understanding of the possible spread of alleles conferring insecticide resistance through mosquito populations. Such information is essential for vector control programmes to avoid the rapid spread and fixation of resistance in mosquito populations.

Tropical montane forests (TMF) are associated with a widely observed suite of characteristics encompassing forest structure, plant traits and biogeochemistry. With respect to nutrient relations, montane forests are characterized by slow decomposition of organic matter, high investment in below-ground biomass and poor litter quality, relative to tropical lowland forests. However, within TMF there is considerable variation in substrate age, parent material, disturbance and species composition. Here we emphasize that many TMFs are likely to be co-limited by multiple nutrients, and that feedback among soil properties, species traits, microbial communities and environmental conditions drive forest productivity and soil carbon storage. To date, studies of the biogeochemistry of montane forests have been restricted to a few, mostly neotropical, sites and focused mainly on trees while ignoring mycorrhizas, epiphytes and microbial community structure. Incorporating the geographic, environmental and biotic variability in TMF will lead to a greater recognition of plant–soil feedbacks that are critical to understanding constraints on productivity, both under present conditions and under future climate, nitrogen-deposition and land-use scenarios.

The epidemiology of trematode infections in cattle was investigated within highland and lowland areas of Iringa Rural District, in southern Tanzania. Fecal samples were collected from 450 cattle in 15 villages at altitudes ranging from 696 to 1800 m above the sea level. Freshwater snails were collected from selected water bodies and screened for emergence of cercariae. The infection rates in cattle were Fasciola gigantica 28·2%, paramphistomes 62·8% and Schistosoma bovis 4·8%. Notably, prevalence of trematode infections in cattle was much higher in highland (altitude > 1500 m) as compared with lowland (altitude < 1500 m) areas and was statistically significant (P-value = 0·000) for F. gigantica and paramphistomes but not for S. bovis. The snails collected included Lymnaea natalensis, Bulinus africanus, Bulinus tropicus, Bulinus forskali, Biomphalaria pfeifferi, Melanoides tuberculata and Bellamya constricta with a greater proportion of highland (75%) than lowland (36%) water bodies harbouring snails. Altitude is a major factor shaping the epidemiology of F. gigantica and paramphistomes infections in cattle in Iringa Rural District with greater emphasis upon control needed in highland areas.