Background
It is commonly accepted that pregnancy‐related physiological changes (circulatory, respiratory, and locomotor) negatively influence the daily physical activity of pregnant women.
...Objectives
The aim of this study is to conduct a meta‐analysis of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) for assessing the effectiveness of physical exercise interventions during pregnancy to prevent gestational diabetes mellitus and excessive maternal weight gain.
Search strategy
Keywords were used to conduct a computerised search in six databases: Cochrane Library Plus, Science Direct, EMBASE, PubMed, Web of Science, and ClinicalTrials.gov.
Selection criteria
Healthy pregnant women who were sedentary or had low levels of physical activity were selected for RCTs that included an exercise programme.
Data collection and analysis
Two independent reviewers extracted data and assessed the quality of the included studies. Of 4225 articles retrieved, 13 RCTs (2873 pregnant women) met the inclusion criteria. Pooled relative risk (RR) or weighted mean differences (WMDs) (depending on the outcome measure) were calculated using a random‐effects model.
Main results
Overall, physical exercise programmes during pregnancy decreased the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus (RR = 0.69; P = 0.009), particularly when the exercise programme was performed throughout pregnancy (RR = 0.64; P = 0.038). Furthermore, decreases were also observed in maternal weight (WMD = −1.14 kg; 95% CI −1.50 to −0.78; P < 0.001). No serious adverse effects were reported.
Conclusion
Structured moderate physical exercise programmes during pregnancy decrease the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus and diminish maternal weight gain, and seem to be safe for the mother and the neonate; however, further studies are needed to establish recommendations.
Tweetable
Exercise programmes decreased the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus and excessive weight gain.
Aim
This prospective clinical study evaluated the incidence of instrument fracture observed after single‐file root canal treatment of molars using WaveOne Gold instruments.
Methodology
Three ...standardized, experienced and calibrated specialists treated 750 maxillary and mandibular molars with curvatures less than 45° (2691 root canals) over a 12‐month period. All the treatments were performed in a single session. A total of 1104 WaveOne Gold instruments were used, including 38 small, 750 primary, 228 medium and 88 large instruments. Intracanal procedures were performed according to the manufacturer's recommendations, and each instrument was used in a single clinical case. The instruments were examined after their removal from the canal, under an operating microscope at 8× magnification.
Results
No fractures were observed in any of the 1104 instruments used.
Conclusions
No fractures of WaveOne Gold reciprocating instruments occurred during root canal preparations performed in maxillary and mandibular molars with curvatures less than 45° when used strictly according to the manufacturer's recommendations and applied in a single clinical case.
Plant traits determine how individual plants cope with heterogeneous environments. Despite large variability in individual traits, trait coordination and trade-offs
result in some trait combinations ...being much more widespread than others, as revealed in the global spectrum of plant form and function (GSPFF
) and the root economics space (RES
) for aboveground and fine-root traits, respectively. Here we combine the traits that define both functional spaces. Our analysis confirms the major trends of the GSPFF and shows that the RES captures additional information. The four dimensions needed to explain the non-redundant information in the dataset can be summarized in an aboveground and a fine-root plane, corresponding to the GSPFF and the RES, respectively. Both planes display high levels of species aggregation, but the differentiation among growth forms, families and biomes is lower on the fine-root plane, which does not include any size-related trait, than on the aboveground plane. As a result, many species with similar fine-root syndromes display contrasting aboveground traits. This highlights the importance of including belowground organs to the GSPFF when exploring the interplay between different natural selection pressures and whole-plant trait integration.
1. Mycorrhizal symbiosis is a widespread association between plant roots and mycorrhizal fungi, which is thought to contribute to plant niche differentiation and expansion. However, this has so far ...not been explicitly tested. 2. To address the effect of mycorrhizal symbiosis on plants' realized niches, we addressed how mycorrhizal status (i.e. the frequency of occurrence of mycorrhizal symbiosis), flexibility (i.e. the ability to grow both with and without mycorrhizal symbiosis) and type of a plant species affect the realized niche optima, widths and volumes. For this, we used co-occurrence data from the flora of the Netherlands along soil fertility, moisture, pH, salinity, light and temperature gradients. Phylogenetic dependency of the species was taken into account using phylogenetic generalized least squares models. 3. We show that facultatively and flexibly mycorrhizal plants have the widest niches compared to non-mycorrhizal and obligately mycorrhizal, and inflexible plants respectively. Among obligate plant symbionts, ecto- and ericoid mycorrhizal plants exhibited the widest niches compared to plants with other mycorrhizal types. Also, plants with different mycorrhizal statuses and types differed in their realized niche optima. 4. Synthesis. Our results indicate that mycorrhizal symbiosis mediates plant niche differentiation and expansion, facilitating the understanding of current distribution patterns of plant species, as well as predicting shifts in plant distribution and dominance due to environmental changes.
Abstract
Although species with larger body size and slow pace of life have a higher risk of extinction at a global scale, it is unclear whether this global trend will be consistent across ...biogeographic realms. Here we measure the functional diversity of terrestrial and freshwater vertebrates in the six terrestrial biogeographic realms and predict their future changes through scenarios mimicking a gradient of extinction risk of threatened species. We show vastly different effects of extinctions on functional diversity between taxonomic groups and realms, ranging from almost no decline to deep functional losses. The Indo-Malay and Palearctic realms are particularly inclined to experience a drastic loss of functional diversity reaching 29 and 31%, respectively. Birds, mammals, and reptiles regionally display a consistent functional diversity loss, while the projected losses of amphibians and freshwater fishes differ across realms. More efficient global conservation policies should consider marked regional losses of functional diversity across the world.
Empirical and taxonomic approaches are the two main methods used to assign plant mycorrhizal traits to species lists. While the empirical approach uses only available empirical information, the ...taxonomic approach extrapolates certain core information about plant mycorrhizal types and statuses to related species. Despite recent claims that the taxonomic approach is now almost definitive, with little benefit to be gained from further empirical data collection, it has not been thoroughly compared with the empirical approach. Using the most complete available plant mycorrhizal trait information for Europe and both assignment approaches, we calculate the proportion of species for each trait, and model environmental drivers of trait distribution across the continent. We found large degrees of mismatch between approaches, with consequences for biogeographical interpretation, among facultatively mycorrhizal (FM; 91% of species mismatched), non-mycorrhizal (NM; 45%), and to a lesser extent arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM; 16%) plant species. This can partly be attributed to the taxonomic precision of the taxonomic approach and the use of different AM, NM, and FM concepts. Our results showed that the extrapolations of the taxonomic approach do not consistently match with empirical information and indicate that more empirical data are needed, in particular for FM, NM, and AM plant species. Clarifying certain concepts underlying mycorrhizal traits and empirically describing NM, AM, and FM species within plant families can greatly improve our understanding of the biogeography of mycorrhizal symbiosis.
Summary
The objective of this study was to systematically evaluate gender differences in the prevalence of TMD. A systematic review was performed in PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science and LILACS in ...duplicate by two independent reviewers. The inclusion criteria were cross‐sectional studies that reported the prevalence of TMD for men and women and that used the Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (RDC/TMD) Axis I group diagnostic criteria:(group I = muscle disorders; group II = disc displacements; group III = arthralgias/arthritis/arthrosis).To be eligible for inclusion, studies must include adult individuals (>18 years) from a non‐clinical population (ie without pre‐diagnosis of TMD); in other words, from population‐based studies. There were no restrictions on the year and language of publication. The quality of the articles was assessed by an adapted version of the Newcastle‐Ottawa Scale(NOS), and the publication bias was assessed by a funnel plot graph. Data were quantitatively analysed by meta‐analysis using odds ratio (OR) as the measure effect. The electronic search retrieved a total of 6104 articles, of which 112 articles were selected for full‐text reading according to the eligibility criteria. By means of manual search, one study was retrieved. Five articles were selected for meta‐analysis with a combined sample of 2518 subjects. Women had higher prevalence of TMD in all RDC/TMD diagnostic groups. The meta‐analysis yielded the following results: (a) OR = 2.24 for global TMD (groups I, II and III combined), (b) OR = 2.09 for group I, (c) OR = 1.6 for group II and (d) OR = 2.08 for group III. The importance of gender in the development of TMD has been demonstrated, with a two times greater risk of women to develop it as compared to men.
Dispersal is a critical ecological process that modulates gene flow and contributes to the maintenance of genetic and taxonomic diversity within ecosystems. Despite an increasing global understanding ...of the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal diversity, distribution and prevalence in different biomes, we have largely ignored the main dispersal mechanisms of these organisms. To provide a geographical and scientific overview of the available data, we systematically searched for the direct evidence on the AM fungal dispersal agents (abiotic and biotic) and different propagule types (i.e. spores, extraradical hyphae or colonized root fragments). We show that the available data (37 articles) on AM fungal dispersal originates mostly from North America, from temperate ecosystems, from biotic dispersal agents (small mammals) and AM fungal spores as propagule type. Much lesser evidence exists from South American, Asian and African tropical systems and other dispersers such as large-bodied birds and mammals and non-spore propagule types. We did not find strong evidence that spore size varies across dispersal agents, but wind and large animals seem to be more efficient dispersers. However, the data is still too scarce to draw firm conclusions from this finding. We further discuss and propose critical research questions and potential approaches to advance the understanding of the ecology of AM fungi dispersal.
Legume species are an important source of protein and other nutrients for human and livestock consumption, playing a central role in food security. Besides, legumes benefit agriculture because of ...their ability to establish symbiotic interactions with nitrogen-fixing bacteria, providing nitrogen for subsequent crops, which is very much appreciated for sustainable agricultural practices. However, like other food crops, legumes are highly vulnerable to climate variations, water stresses being the main constraint that negatively affects both crop quality and productivity. Because of this, the development of strategies to improve the tolerance of such cultivars against water stresses, as well as the study of effective approaches to monitor these improvements, have gained special attention during the last years. Among these strategies, metabolomics has been considered one of the most promising approaches for the detection and/or quantification of primary and secondary stress-responsive metabolites in abiotic stresses. In plant science, many research groups have been using metabolomics to evaluate the success of genetic modifications by the analysis of chemical markers that can be altered in breeding programs. In addition, metabolomics is a powerful tool for the evaluation and selection of wild specimens with desirable traits that can be used in the development of improved new cultivars. Therefore, the aim of the present paper is to review the recent progress made in the field of metabolomics and plant breeding, especially concerning the adaptive responses of legume species to abiotic stresses as well as to point out the key primary and secondary metabolites involved in the adaptation and sensing mechanisms.
The effect of nanosized ceria on supported Cu nanoparticles was investigated at an atomic level and correlated to the catalytic activity on the water–gas shift reaction (WGSR) rate. For Cu/Al2O3, ...increasing the Cu nanoparticle size leads to a decrease in the oxygen coverage and an increase in the bond length of Cu–O. When different loadings of nanosized ceria are introduced to the Cu/Al2O3 catalysts, no significant change occurred in the Cu particle size, the Cu–Cu bond length, or the oxygen coverage. However, ceria is able to interact with the Cu nanoparticles to increase the Cu–O bond length, and a linear correlation between ceria loading, Cu–O bond length, and WGSR rate was found. Hence, while previous reports claim that ceria leads to Cu nanoparticle stabilization or interface active sites, we have shown that the ceria tailors the Cu–O bond length, which has been shown to be a determinant of the WGSR rate.
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