Suicidal process,suicidal communication and psychosocial situation of young suicide attempters in a rural Vietnamese community

The study aimed to explore the suicidal process, suicidal communication and psychosocial situation of young suicide attempters in a rural community in Hanoi, Vietnam. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, in a community setting, with 19 suicide attempters aged 15-24 who had been consecutively hospitalized in an intensive care unit. In 12 of 19 cases, the first pressing, distinct and constant suicidal thoughts appeared less than one day before the suicide attempt in question. However, distress and mild, fleeting suicidal thoughts had been present up to six months before the suicide attempt in 16 cases. Five respondents had a suicide plan one to three days before attempting suicide. Altogether, 13 engaged in some form of suicidal communication before their attempt. This communication was, however, difficult for outsiders to interpret. Twelve of the respondents were victims of regular physical abuse and 16 had suffered psychological violence for at least one year before attempting suicide. Eighteen of the respondents used pesticides or raticides in their suicide attempts. None sought advice or consultation in the community despite long-standing psychosocial problems. The strategy of reducing the availability of suicide means (e.g., pesticides or raticides) in Asian countries should be complemented with a long-term suicide-preventive strategy that targets school dropouts and domestic violence, and promotes coping abilities and communication about psychological and social problems as well as recognition of signs of distress and suicidal communication.     

Linking plant functional traits with post‐fire sprouting vigour in woody species in central Argentina

Abstract Sprouting vigour is determined by the plant amount of reserves and intrinsic growth rate of plants. While the first factor has been well studied, the second is far less understood. Although a higher growth rate would imply a higher sprouting vigour, fast‐growing species may have less below‐ground reserves, and thus, a lower sprouting potential. The relative importance of both opposite effects was little explored in the literature. To analyse the influence of growth rate on sprouting vigour, one growth season after a fire we measured plant height of the old (pre‐fire) and new (post‐fire) tissue in 194 individuals of 14 woody species from a woodland in central Argentina. We calculated a mean value of pre‐ and post‐fire height for each species, and obtained from a data‐base potential height at maturity, wood density (WD) and specific leaf area (SLA), as surrogates of intrinsic growth rate. We performed a forward stepwise multiple regression using WD and SLA, together with mean pre‐fire height or potential height as independent variables, and mean post‐fire height (as an indicator of resprout vigour) as the dependent variable. Interactions were also tested. Pre‐fire height, WD and their interaction term were the variables that best explained post‐fire height. We also analysed the relationship between pre‐ and post‐fire size for each species independently by fitting hyperbolic functions. Then we correlated both parameters of the functions to species characteristics (WD, SLA, potential height and mean pre‐fire height). Both parameters of the hyperbolic functions were significantly correlated only with WD, but not with the other species characteristics. All results together indicate that species with low WD (i.e. high potential growth rate) regrow more vigorously than species with high WD when pre‐fire individuals were tall. In contrast, when pre‐fire individuals were small, WD had no influence on sprout vigour. A trade‐off between allocation of biomass to underground reserves and shoot growth seems to be responsible for the patterns obtained. For small individuals, below‐ground reserves seem to play a more important role than inherent growth rate (here measured through WD) in determining the sprouting vigour, while for large individuals, growth rate seems more important than reserves.     

Palaeoecological significance of Barremian ammonite assemblages and facies variations from Southwest Mexico

Analyses of ammonite shell forms of two Barremian stratigraphic sections from Southwest Mexico consist of two well-defined morphotypes: (1) Small uncoiled, mostly leptoceratoid ancyloconic shells of the families Ancyloceratidae and Hamulinidae, and (2) middle-sized involute to moderately evolute oxycone to discocone shells of the family Pulchelliidae. Index taxa allow the recognition of standard ammonite biozones for the Barremian, which permit the relative dating of different processes that occurred through the water column in the environment of deposition. The vertical distribution of ammonite morphotypes and facies suggests changes of the palaeoceanographic and sedimentological conditions that prevailed in the area during Barremian time. Petrologic data, analyses of the organic carbon and carbonate contents of the rocks support the idea that oxygen-deficient bottom waters existed within a shallow marine, tectonically active area with little carbonate deposition during the early early Barremian (upper part of the Taveraidiscus hugii Zone through the base of the Nicklesia pulchella Zone). These conditions in the basin caused a proliferation of middle-water depth ammonites of Morphotype 1 but prevented the abundance of nektobenthic forms of Morphotype 2. Oxic conditions on a more calcareous and open normal marine environment seem to have been reestablished progressively during a transgressive episode from late early-early late Barremian (upper part of the Nicklesia pulchella Zone through the Gerhardtia sartousiana Zone). This environmental setting supported more facies dependent nektobenthic ammonites of Morphotype 2 to flourish within the basin.     

Ontogeny of a new Palaeogene pipid frog from southern South America and xenopodinomorph evolution

Lacustrine interbeds of a volcaniclastic succession that crops out extensively in north-western Patagonia yielded impressions of articulated, nearly complete, frogs of different ontogenetic stages including tadpoles. The stratigraphic position of the fossil bearing beds in this sequence and evaluation of palaeofloristic data against the record of climatic change in southern high latitudes support a middle Eocene – early Oligocene age for the frogs. These frogs are described as a new genus and species that resembles the late Palaeocene ' Xenopus' romeri from Brazil, and differs from the middle Eocene S. pascuali from Patagonia, in the relatively wide and short braincase and fused first two presacral vertebrae. However, unlike ' X. '  romeri , the nasals are paired and bear short, but distinct, rostral processes. A parsimony analysis based on 49 adult osteological characters demonstrates that these South American fossil pipids are closely related to xenopodines, restricted to the African continent today, although their interrelationships remain poorly resolved. Interpretation of the ontogenetic stages exemplified by the fossil specimens suggests a developmental pattern more similar to that of extant xenopodines than to the ontogeny of more distant pipoid relatives. Moreover, the similarity between these fossil larvae and those of Xenopus and Silurana strongly suggests similar habits. Many of these larval features may be considered as caenogenetic, i.e. specializations of the tadpoles as obligate, microphagous suspension feeders.  © 2003 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2003, 139 , 439-476.     

Bottled Mineral Waters Polluted by Protozoa in Mexico

A survey of protozoa polluting bottled mineral water in Mexico was carried out using samples obtained from the three best-selling brands of bottled mineral water in the country. The organisms were concentrated through filtration procedures and subsequently cultured in sterile media. The cultures were observed over four weeks, with identification to the level of genus and species. Most commonly found were the amoebae Naegleria gruberi, Acanthamoeba astronyxis, and Vahlkampfia vahlkampfi (trophic as well as cystic stages) plus one flagellate, Bodomorpha minima. No ciliates were detected. The public health importance of the findings is obvious, since some strains of Naegleria and Acanthamoeba have the potential to cause human disease that may lead to death.     

Determination of Microgram Quantities of Stevioside from Leaves of Stevia rebaudiana Bert. by Two-Dimensional Thin Layer Chromatography

A method is described for the determination of stevioside fromleaves of Stevia rebaudiana Bert. Separation upon non-activatedsilica gel impregnated with boric acid in a two-dimensionalchromatographic system followed by clution and colorimetricassay is reported. Recuperation from chromoplates is over 95%.The observed ratio of the optical density of glucose: steviosidematches that expected theoretically so that glucose may be employedas a standard where pure stevioside is not available. Effects of the plant growth retardant, ancymidol, on the growthand morphology of the shoot system of cucumber (Cucumis sativusL. ) were investigated. Ancymidol inhibited stem elongation,reducing both number and length of internodes. Reduction inleaf area, attributable to a reduction in both cell size andnumber, was accompanied by an increase in chlorophyll per unitarea. The retardant decreased apical dominance and delayed anthesis.Gibberellic acid fully reversed ancymidol-induced inhibitionof stem elongation, internode length and production, and leafexpansion. GA_4/7 and ancymidol gave a synergistic promotionof stem elongation by increasing elongation of younger internodesand increasing internode production. Synergistic promotion ofpetiole elongation by this combination was also observed. Ancymidol,applied 7 d previously either to the shoot or root, severelyreduced the level of gibberellin-like activity in bleeding sapcollected from decapitated plants.     

Resource density regulates the foraging investment in higher termite species

1. Resource density can regulate the area that animals use. At low resource density, there is a conflict in terms of balance between costs of foraging and benefits acquired. The foraging of the higher termite Nasutitermes aff. coxipoensis consists of searching throughout trails and a building galleries phase. 2. In this study, a manipulative field experiment was used to test the hypothesis that colonies of N. aff. coxipoensis forage towards a more profitable balance between the establishment of trails and gallery construction at low resource density. 3. The experiment was conducted in north‐eastern Brazil. Seven experimental plots were established with a continuous increase in resource density (sugarcane baits). Entire colonies of N. aff. coxipoensis were transplanted from their original sites to the experimental plot, totalling 35 nests. The number, branches and total length of trails and galleries were quantified. 4. The results show that N. aff. coxipoensis optimises its foraging output, intensifying the establishment of trails at the cost of gallery construction when resource density is low. The number of trails, the number of trail branches and the total length of trails decreased with increasing resource density. Interestingly, at low resource density, the search effort was concentrated on forming longer and a greater number of trails, a small proportion of which were converted into galleries. The opposite relationship was observed at high resource density. 5. These results suggest an optimisation of search efforts during foraging depending on resource density, a mechanism that may help researchers to understand the use of space by higher termite species.