Bringing together leaf trait data spanning 2,548 species and 175 sites we describe, for the first time at global scale, a universal spectrum of leaf economics consisting of key chemical, structural and physiological properties. The spectrum runs from quick to slow return on investments of nutrients and dry mass in leaves, and operates largely independently of growth form, plant functional type or biome. Categories along the spectrum would, in general, describe leaf economic variation at the global scale better than plant functional types, because functional types overlap substantially in their leaf traits. Overall, modulation of leaf traits and trait relationships by climate is surprisingly modest, although some striking and significant patterns can be seen. Reliable quantification of the leaf economics spectrum and its interaction with climate will prove valuable for modelling nutrient fluxes and vegetation boundaries under changing land-use and climate.Green leaves are fundamental for the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems. Their pigments are the predominant signal seen from space. Nitrogen uptake and carbon assimilation by plants and the decomposability of leaves drive biogeochemical cycles. Animals, fungi and other heterotrophs in ecosystems are fuelled by photosynthate, and their habitats are structured by the stems on which leaves are deployed. Plants invest photosynthate and mineral nutrients in the construction of leaves, which in turn return a revenue stream of photosynthate over their lifetimes. The photosynthate is used to acquire mineral nutrients, to support metabolism and to re-invest in leaves, their supporting stems and other plant parts.There are more than 250,000 vascular plant species, all engaging in the same processes of investment and reinvestment of carbon and mineral nutrients, and all making enough surplus to ensure continuity to future generations. These processes of investment and re-investment are inherently economic in nature [1][2][3] . Understanding how these processes vary between species, plant functional types and the vegetation of different biomes is a major goal for plant ecology and crucial for modelling how nutrient fluxes and vegetation boundaries will shift with land-use and climate change. Data set and parametersWe formed a global plant trait network (Glopnet) to quantify leaf economics across the world's plant species. The Glopnet data set spans 2,548 species from 219 families at 175 sites (approximately 1% of the extant vascular plant species). The coverage of traits, species and sites is at least tenfold greater than previous data compilations [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] , extends to all vegetated continents, and represents a wide range of vegetation types, from arctic tundra to tropical rainforest, from hot to cold deserts, from boreal forest to grasslands. Site elevation ranges from below sea level (Death Valley, USA) to 4,800 m. Mean annual temperature (MAT) ranges from 216.5 8C to 27.5 8C; mean annual rainfall (MAR) ranges from 133 to 5,300 mm per year. This cove...

Posttraumatic stress disorder is more prevalent than previously believed, and is often persistent. Progress in estimating age-at-onset distributions, cohort effects, and the conditional probabilities of PTSD from different types of trauma will require future epidemiologic studies to assess PTSD for all lifetime traumas rather than for only a small number of retrospectively reported "most serious" traumas.

The prevalence of psychiatric disorders is greater than previously thought to be the case. Furthermore, this morbidity is more highly concentrated than previously recognized in roughly one sixth of the population who have a history of three or more comorbid disorders. This suggests that the causes and consequences of high comorbidity should be the focus of research attention. The majority of people with psychiatric disorders fail to obtain professional treatment. Even among people with a lifetime history of three or more comorbid disorders, the proportion who ever obtain specialty sector mental health treatment is less than 50%. These results argue for the importance of more outreach and more research on barriers to professional help-seeking.

In patients with chronic hepatitis C, the most effective therapy is the combination of peginterferon alfa-2b 1.5 microg/kg per week plus ribavirin. The benefit is mostly achieved in patients with HCV genotype 1 infections.

We review evidence for partially segregated networks of brain areas that carry out different attentional functions. One system, which includes parts of the intraparietal cortex and superior frontal cortex, is involved in preparing and applying goal-directed (top-down) selection for stimuli and responses. This system is also modulated by the detection of stimuli. The other system, which includes the temporoparietal cortex and inferior frontal cortex, and is largely lateralized to the right hemisphere, is not involved in top-down selection. Instead, this system is specialized for the detection of behaviourally relevant stimuli, particularly when they are salient or unexpected. This ventral frontoparietal network works as a 'circuit breaker' for the dorsal system, directing attention to salient events. Both attentional systems interact during normal vision, and both are disrupted in unilateral spatial neglect.

The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) has received considerable attention in the literature. The present study is a quantitative integration and review of that research. From a database of 185 independent studies published up to the end of 1997, the TPB accounted for 27% and 39% of the variance in behaviour and intention, respectively. The perceived behavioural control (PBC) construct accounted for significant amounts of variance in intention and behaviour, independent of theory of reasoned action variables. When behaviour measures were self-reports, the TPB accounted for 11% more of the variance in behaviour than when behaviour measures were objective or observed (R2s = .31 and .21, respectively). Attitude, subjective norm and PBC account for significantly more of the variance in individuals' desires than intentions or self-predictions, but intentions and self-predictions were better predictors of behaviour. The subjective norm construct is generally found to be a weak predictor of intentions. This is partly attributable to a combination of poor measurement and the need for expansion of the normative component. The discussion focuses on ways in which current TPB research can be taken forward in the light of the present review.

About half of Americans will meet the criteria for a DSM-IV disorder sometime in their life, with first onset usually in childhood or adolescence. Interventions aimed at prevention or early treatment need to focus on youth.

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In patients with chronic hepatitis C, once-weekly peginterferon alfa-2a plus ribavirin was tolerated as well as interferon alfa-2b plus ribavirin and produced significant improvements in the rate of sustained virologic response, as compared with interferon alfa-2b plus ribavirin or peginterferon alfa-2a alone.

The commonly observed high diversity of trees in tropical rain forests and corals on tropical reefs is a nonequilibrium state which, if not disturbed further, will progress toward a low-diversity equilibrium community. This may not happen if gradual changes in climate favor different species. If equilibrium is reached, a lesser degree of diversity may be sustained by niche diversification or by a compensatory mortality that favors inferior competitors. However, tropical forests and reefs are subject to severe disturbances often enough that equilibrium may never be attained.