Summary 1.We investigated patterns in the dispersion (i.e. spread and spacing) of plant species traits that are frequently associated with competitive ability, in an old-field plant community. In contrast with previous studies, we found no evidence for significant over-or under-dispersion of maximum plant height, maximum plant biomass, or seed mass. 2. These findings hold across three plot sizes (10 × 10 cm, 30 × 30 cm, 50 × 50 cm), and when plot size is measured in terms of number of ramets (50 ramets, 250 ramets or 500 ramets) rather than per unit area. Plot size, however, significantly affected the direction of dispersion observed across test statistics, supporting previous studies that have observed that trait dispersion patterns are sensitive to plot size. 3. While no significant dispersion was detected, dispersion direction, measured as the tendency for a two-tailed test to indicate trends for a given trait, was more frequently observed when analyses were weighted by abundance. Abundance weighted analyses had significantly different dispersion directions compared with presence/absence analyses for one of three traits considered. These findings suggest that abundance weighted analyses may yield more consistent trait dispersion patterns. 4. Synthesis. Our results may be interpreted as evidence for limited, if any, functional niche partitioning between co-occurring species via size-mediated differences in rooting depth or physical space niches (i.e. limiting similarity). Alternatively, some species with large differences in competitive traits may avoid competition through niche separation, while others may simply compete asymmetrically, leading to overall patterns of dispersion that cannot be distinguished from random. This interpretation supports recent perspectives that niche and neutral theoretical concepts are not mutually exclusive; both, working together, can be applied to the interpretation of plant community assembly and structure.

Purpose: Our purpose was to determine advanced manual and manipulative physiotherapists' (AMPTs') current use and awareness of continuing education (CE) opportunities; to establish their perceived CE needs by identifying facilitators and barriers to participation; and to explore the association of demographics with CE needs. Methods: A questionnaire was e-mailed to 456 registered members of the Canadian Academy of Manipulative Physiotherapy. Data analyses using frequencies and percentages of total responses and t-tests for group comparisons were performed. Results: One hundred thirty-three (29.2%) participants responded. Most lived in an urban region and worked predominantly in direct patient care. More respondents reported engaging in informal CE than in formal CE. Hands-on or practical workshops were the preferred CE format. Common barriers to CE included professional commitments and cost and time of travel; facilitators included interest in the topic and increasing knowledge and competency. AMPTs with less physical therapy experience found cost to be a greater barrier and were more interested in mentorship programs and CE as a means to obtain credentials. Conclusions: AMPTs' preferred CE formats are inconsistent with the CE opportunities in which they participate. CE initiatives for AMPTs should include hands-on training and should account for time and cost to make CE opportunities more readily available to them.Key Words: education, continuing; musculoskeletal manipulations; physical therapy modalities. RÉ SUMÉObjectif : É tablir l'utilisation actuelle et le degré de sensibilisation des physiothé rapeutes spé cialisé s en thé rapie manuelle et manipulation (AMPT) des possibilité s de formation continue (FC); é tablir les besoins en formation continue perc¸us de cette clientè le en identifiant les é lé ments facilitateurs et les obstacles à leur participation à la FC; et explorer les possibles associations entre les donné es dé mographiques et les besoins en FC. Mé thode : Un questionnaire a é té envoyé aux 456 membres inscrits à l'Acadé mie canadienne de thé rapie manuelle. Des analyses des donné es à l'aide de fré quences et de pourcentages du nombre total de ré pondants et des tests t pour la comparaison des groupes ont é té ré alisé s. Ré sultats : Au total, 133 participants (29,2 %) ont ré pondu. La plupart vivaient en milieu urbain et travaillaient principalement à des soins directs aux patients. Un plus grand nombre de ré pondants ont dit participer à de la FC informelle et non à de la FC plus officielle. Les ateliers pratiques sont la formule privilé gié e pour la FC. Les principaux obstacles à la FC sont les engagements professionnels, de mê me que les coû ts et le temps de dé placement; parmi les é lé ments facilitateurs, citons l'inté rê t pour les sujets abordé s et la possibilité d'accroître ses connaissances et ses compé tences. Les physiothé rapeutes moins expé rimenté s ont mentionné les coû ts de la FC comme é tant pour eux un plus grand obstacle, et se sont dits plus inté ressé s par...

In the paper 'Modulated DSC as a tool for polyethylene structure characterization' J. Therm. Anal. Cal. 90 (2007) 713-719. On page 717 the right Fig. 6 is as follows: We are sorry for the mistake.

Headwater streams accumulate, process, and export organic materials for use in downstream environments. Decomposition of organic material, an important ecosystem function, may be sensitive to land cover changes in urbanizing regions since headwater stream processes tend to be tightly coupled with riparian and catchment characteristics. Headwaters represent 70–80% of total stream length in watersheds but are disproportionately converted to drainage infrastructure or buried with urban development. Cumulatively, this loss may result in substantial changes to physical and biological downstream processes. From a monitoring perspective, headwaters are largely ignored compared with fishable/navigable waterways for planning decisions, so their structural and functional variability is not well understood. Here, we engaged citizen scientists to contribute data on this variability and to evaluate the sensitivity of standardized cotton‐strip decomposition rates to multiscale factors across headwaters with varying landscape conditions in the Greater Toronto Area (York Region), Canada. These factors included stream, riparian vegetation, and catchment characteristics. We expected decomposition rates to be similarly sensitive to local‐ and catchment‐scale factors because of the strong links between headwater catchment and stream processes. We also expected a hump‐shaped distribution of decomposition rates across a gradient of urban cover, with stimulating effects at low to moderate cover but deleterious effects at high urban cover. We found that decomposition rate was most sensitive to local‐scale factors (e.g., strip burial, stream velocity, and both local upland riparian vegetation density and topography) rather than whole catchment properties. We did not find the expected hump‐shaped distribution with urban cover and suggest that more mechanistic studies are needed for understanding cotton‐strip decomposition to control for local factors in determining the scale at which decomposition rate is most sensitive to land cover change.