We propose instead a cultural explanation for this late deforesta

We propose instead a cultural explanation for this late deforestation: the expansion of the Ottoman Empire in Bulgaria (1396), Romanian Principalities (1417 for the Wallachia; 1498 for Moldavia; 1526 for Transylvania) and Serbia (1455). The Ottoman-ruled Bulgaria and Serbia and especially the vassal Romanian

principalities provided a significant part of the empire’s resource provisioning including “wheat, honey, timber, and above all, sheep” ( White, 2011). Y-27632 We propose that deforestation of highly erodible alpine settings that led to the five-fold increase of sediment load on the Danube ( Giosan et al., 2012) reflects this increased demand for timber and especially for sheep by the Ottoman Porte. Indeed, zooarchaeological evaluations

for medieval Moldavian towns ( Stanc and Bejenaru, 2013) shows that before the Ottoman expansion in the region, cattle and pig dominated the local diet. In a short time, by the end of the 16th century, Moldavia alone may have provided 300,000 sheep to Constantinople (Istanbul), out of an estimated 400–500,000 sent by the entire northern Balkans and Romanian principalities ( White, 2011). Such radical changes in animal husbandry suggest that the region adapted to meet the religious dietary requirements and the huge demand of the suzerain Islamic empire by deforesting alpine lands for pasture. Currently, despite INCB024360 price a 70% sediment deficit accrued after extensive damming in the watershed during the Communist industrialization of Romania in the late 20th century (McCarney-Castle et al., 2012), Danube delta is better positioned compared to other deltas to withstand in the short run the ongoing rise in sea level (e.g., Cazenave et al., 2002). This is due to a combination of reduced subsidence and anthropogenically-augmented sediment trapping on the delta plain (Giosan et al., 2013). That holds true in large part for the internal lobes of Chilia I and II; furthermore, ongoing and planned restoration measures such as dike removal (e.g., Schneider et al., 2008) may re-establish sediment

retention and ecological functions even for their sectors that were drained for agriculture or diked for fisheries. On the other hand, the open coast Chilia III lobe coming under increased Pyruvate dehydrogenase wave dominance due to the sediment deficit has become the most dynamic coast of the entire Danube delta (Fig. 4c). Besides the Old Stambul mouth that advances into a shallow lagoon, the only other stable stretch of the coast is linked to the construction of a protecting jetty at the Bastroe mouth, built as a part of a large navigation project. This led to updrift beach ridge progradation as the southward longshore drift is trapped by the jetty and downdrift spit extension under a reversed drift in the lee of the jetty (Fig. 4c).

In particular, we are looking at how changes in riparian vegetati

In particular, we are looking at how changes in riparian vegetation can alter the flux of one nutrient, silica, click here in rivers. Rivers are the primary source of silicon to coastal ocean ecosystems, where it is often a limiting nutrient for important groups of phytoplankton – like diatoms and radiolarians – that are the foundation of aquatic food webs. Declines in riverine input of bioavailable silica to coastal ecosystems, in combination with increases in riverine discharge of phosphorus and nitrogen, have been shown to limit diatom growth and allow ‘undesirable’ types of algae to flourish

(Garnier et al., 2010, Lane et al., 2004, Officer and Ryther, 1980 and Smayda, 1990). Bioavailable silica, hereafter Si, includes dissolved silica (DSi) and amorphous particles of silica (ASi) that are relatively soluble,

e.g., siliceous diatom frustules, sponge spicules, and terrestrial plant phytoliths. Mineral silicates like quartz sand and clays are relatively insoluble, and thus are a less significant source of Si to aquatic ecosystems. In recent years, studies have shown that terrestrial plants play a larger Nutlin-3a ic50 role in the global silica cycle than had been previously acknowledged (e.g., Conley, 2003, Meunier et al., 2008 and Vandevenne et al., 2012). Specifically, those studies

found that terrestrial vegetation can use and store significant amounts of silica. We surmised that when vegetation is located directly within a river channel, it will also have a substantial impact on silica. This study took place on the Platte River (Nebraska, United States), where an accidental experiment has been underway for more than a century. In the 1900s, river discharge was reduced for agricultural irrigation, leading to an incursion of native diglyceride vegetation into newly exposed areas of riverbed and the formation of vegetated islands. In 2002, a non-native, invasive grass, Phragmites australis (common reed), first appeared in the river and within just a few years infested >500 km of river corridor ( R. Walters, pers. comm., 2010). Due to its dense growth habit, Phragmites was more effective than the native vegetation at slowing flows and causing fine sediment deposition. Furthermore, Phragmites biomass is relatively rich in silica relative to other plant species ( Struyf et al., 2007b), making it an effective “Si-bioengineer” ( Viaroli et al., 2013). The combination of Phragmites-generated biomass and its shedding onto stable islands could cause Si to continuously accumulate and thus deprive the flow of its equilibrium concentration.

45% Deforestation is higher in villages in the north and southea

45%. Deforestation is higher in villages in the north and southeast of Sa Pa district, that are located at greater distance from the tourism centre. Land abandonment

is mostly observed in Sa Pa town and in the communes of Ta Phin, San Sa Ho, Lao Chai, Ta Van and Ban Ho (Fig. 1 and Fig. 3). In some villages (Sa Pa town; Ta Chai village, belonging to Ta Phin commune; Ly Lao Chai village, belonging to Lao Chai commune and Hoang Lien village, belonging to Ban Ho commune), more than 8% of the surface area was abandoned between 1993 and 2014. Over the period 1995–2009, the number of tourists in Sa Pa district has increased by 25 times (Fig. 1). Given the current economic policy, it is expected that the development of tourism activities will further increase in the future (Michaud and Turner, 2006). The statistical results indicate that the cultivation of cardamom is negatively Natural Product Library cell assay associated with deforestation and expansion of arable land. This means that the involvement in cardamom cultivation (under forest) slows down deforestation and expansion of cultivated land, as cardamom plantations are not classified here as agricultural land. Cardamom production provides higher incomes than traditional crop farming (Sowerwine, 2004a). Recently, cardamom is emerging as an important NLG919 cost cash

crop in northern Vietnam that requires little investment and labour but may offer higher income levels (Tugault-Lafleur Phosphoglycerate kinase and Turner, 2009). Because

of the requirement of a dense forest canopy for optimal production, the villagers not only protect the remaining old forest but also allow regeneration of some of the swidden lands in order to create the necessary ecological conditions to plant and harvest cardamom (Sowerwine, 2004b). Its impact on forest conservation is similar to the system of shade coffee cultivation in forest that also contributed to a preservation of the afromontane forests in, e.g., the south of Ethiopia (Getahun et al., 2013). The role of ethnicity is complex. After controlling for biophysical and socio-economic settings, Hmong villages are characterized by higher expansion rates of arable land compared to Yao villages. This can be explained by the fact that Hmong villages are more densely populated than Yao villages (Jadin et al., 2013) so they need to expand their arable land more to supply the food demand. In villages with mixed ethnicities, the land abandonment rate is higher than in Yao villages, which can be explained by the fact that mixed ethnicities only occur in the accessible commune centres that are more involved in off-farm activities. The effect of preservation policy is certainly reflected in the difference in land cover changes inside and outside the National park. The estimated coefficients for the explanatory variable ‘Inside NP’ are negative for all land cover change categories whereby the ‘Outside NP’ is taken as a reference value.

The gelatinisation parameters were determined by Differential Sca

The gelatinisation parameters were determined by Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) using a differential exploratory calorimeter (Shimadzu, model DSC 50, coupled to computer software) in a nitrogen atmosphere at a flow rate of 50 ml min−1. For the preparation of the samples, 6 μL of distilled water were added to 2 mg of starch, sealed in tubes and weighed again;

to provide the uniform distribution of water in starch the samples were maintained 24 h at room temperature before analysis. The scanning temperature ranged from 30 °C to 150 °C, and the heating rate was 10 °C min−1 (Lawal & Adebowale, 2005). The chemical composition of the starch content in the seeds showed protein (7.98% soft and 5.56% hard) and lipids levels (0.59% soft and 0.24% hard) similar to those reported by Silveira (2002) for protein (5.07% soft and 5.50% hard) and lipids (0.52% soft and 0.23% hard) in jackfruit preparation this website containing seeds and residue. The starch isolated from jackfruit seeds showed for soft and hard varieties, respectively, 2.75 ± 0.10 and 2.86 ± 0.10 of moisture, 0.37% of lipids (for both), 1.53% and 0.62% of protein and 0.16% and 0.07% of ash. The starch content in soft and hard jackfruit seeds were 92.8% and 94.5%, respectively, higher than the 81% first describes to jackfruit seeds starch (Aldana et al., 2011). These

results are in accordance with minimum specifications required by Brazilian Legislation for commercial starches used in food industry, which allows AZD2281 mouse up to 14% moisture and 0.5% ash and requires at least 80% starch (Brazil, 1987). Considering the higher starch content and low content of protein, fat and ash founded in two varieties of jackfruit seeds studied here, it could be hypothesised that the starch of Brazilian jackfruit seeds could be employed in foods formulations, since these are characteristics of the starches of great quality (Franco et al., 2001). Early study (Aldana et al. 2011) conducted with jackfruit seeds grown in México, reported high protein content (ca. 22%) and less amounts

of starch to seeds at different stages of fruit maturity and ripeness, when compared to amounts detected in the present study. However, variations in chemical constitution of seeds could be related to soil and climate conditions from the region where the fruit was grown and the higher content of starch could be a marker of the jackfruit seeds cultivated in Northeast of Brazil. GPX6 The scanning electron microscopy analysis showed granules with round and bell shapes and some irregular shapes showing cuts in their surface, which appear to be characteristic of these starches (Fig. 1). The results shown here are consistent with those observed by Tulyathan, Tananuwong, Songjinda, and Jaiboon (2002) for native starch from jackfruit seeds grown in Asia. The average size of starch granules analysed by the optical microscope were 6–11 μm for the soft and 6–13 μm for the hard variety, do not show differences related to size between the seeds.

The hydrodistillation (HD) was used as a complementary technique

The hydrodistillation (HD) was used as a complementary technique for the elucidation of possible misinterpretations as a result of processes that may promote artifact formation ( Schossler, Schneider,

Wunsch, Soares, & Zini, 2009). The volatile oil composition of fruits and leaves from M. indica var. coquinho has been reported previously, but analysed only through one method of extraction, the HD and at one stage of maturation ( Helena et al., 2000 and Torres et al., 2007). Simionatto, Peres, Hess, Silva, and Chagas (2010) selleck found for the first time an interesting anticancer activity in the leaf oil of M. indica var. coquinho, suggesting the presence of very active sesquiterpenes. In this context, the aim of the present work is to compare the volatile oil composition of fruits and leaves collected during different periods of vegetation. The results show the differences and similarities obtained by two extraction

techniques, the hydrodistillation and HS-SPME. Budziak et al., 2007a and Budziak et al., 2008 reported the preparation and application of two new fibres used in HS-SPME technique, the NiTi-ZrO2 and NiTi-ZrO2-PDMS which have as main characteristics thermal stability and excellent sensitivity. They were successfully applied in the extraction of some analytes ( Budziak, Martendal, & Carasek, 2007b) and here are evaluated on the extraction learn more of essential oils. The parameters of HS-SPME technique were optimised to improve analysis efficiency. The leaves and fruits of M. indica var. coquinho were collected in September 2008 (immature period) and February 2009 (mature period), from the biological reserve of Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, in the town of Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul state, Brazil. Voucher specimens (20206) were collected at the Herbarium of Federal University

of Mato Grosso do Sul. Geographic coordinates of the biological reserve of UFMS are 30° 10′ 47″ S and 51° 23′ 33″ W. Leaves and fruits were sampled of the same bush in the two seasons. After collected, the samples were immediately fractioned in two parts and submitted to hydrodistillation Verteporfin in vivo and HS-SPME. Fresh leaves (200 g) and fruits (150 g) were subjected to hydrodistillation in a modified Clevenger apparatus for 4 h, followed by exhaustive extraction of the distillate with hexane. Anhydrous sodium sulphate, previously heated to 400 °C, was employed to eliminate essential oil humidity. After removal of the solvent, the average yield of the crude oils was 0.12%. The experiments were performed using a SPME holder and fibre assemblies for manual sampling (Supelco, Bellefonte, PA, USA). Three different fibres were evaluated for the extraction of the essential oil as follows: commercial fibre of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS, 100 μm) and the two new fibres, NiTi-ZrO2 (1.

The conclusion is that concave substrates favor adhesion More re

The conclusion is that concave substrates favor adhesion. More recently, Yi et al. [18] investigated the adhesive wrapping of a soft elastic vesicle by a lipid membrane. It indicates that there exist several wrapping phases based on the stability of full wrapping, partial wrapping, and no wrapping states. Besides these, extensive studies have been carried out on separating a vesicle initially adhered to a solid surface [19], [20] and [21]. Shi et al. [22] further explored click here the pulling of a vesicle

deposited on a curved substrate, and presented the relation between the external force and the displacement of the vesicle for different substrate shapes and interaction potentials. Although much effort has been performed to study the adhesion of cells on a rigid substrate, there is still a lack of concern on an elastic substrate. It has been reported Reverse Transcriptase inhibitor that, when cells adhere on a substrate with a non-uniform rigidity, they will move directionally and congregate at the area where the rigidity is higher [23] and [24], and this phenomenon is distinct with a droplet on a substrate with gradient

rigidity [25]. Disclosing the mechanism of the cell-substrate adhesion is beneficial to understanding the phenomenon of cell migration, which plays a central role in many processes, including embryonic development, wound healing and immune response. Therefore, the current motivation is directed towards a systematic analysis of a vesicle adhering to an elastic substrate, and another goal is to provide some illustrations on the existing experimental results. However, this current problem is more challenging, for the vesicle and the elastic substrate with strong geometric nonlinearity will experience large deformations. The outline of this article is organized as follows. In Section II, we first present Mannose-binding protein-associated serine protease the model formulation of the problem, including boundary conditions and energy functional. Then we derive the governing equations and the transversality boundary condition in consideration of the movable bound, and numerically solve the governing equation set. In Section III, we discuss two limit cases of the critical adhesion. Then

we can obtain the function of the energy versus the substrate rigidity, the phase diagram, and the morphology of the vesicle-substrate system. We further compare the calculated results with a droplet-membrane system. Finally, we discuss the cell on a rigid substrate, indicating a possible way to control cell movement by modulating the work of adhesion. Our concentration is to probe the physical mechanism of this problem, and without loss of generality, only two-dimensional case is investigated throughout the entire paper, though the present method can be extended to three-dimensional case. Let us first consider a cell or a vesicle adhering on an elastic and smooth substrate, i.e. a slender beam in two-dimensional, as schematized in Fig. 1.

, 2005 and Dick et al, 2008) Outbreeding depression seems most

, 2005 and Dick et al., 2008). Outbreeding depression seems most likely to be a risk when high quantities of FRM are introduced from environments that are very different from the local one (Frankham et al., 2011). In light of current uncertainties, it is necessary to carefully weigh the risk

of outbreeding depression against the risk that on-going loss of genetic diversity poses to the long-term persistence of populations (McKay et al., 2005, Edmands, 2007 and Sgrò et al., 2011). The true risk of outbreeding depression in restoration activities should be tested through experimental research (Breed et al., 2013). Planning for the expected impacts AZD5363 in vitro of climate change complicates the choice of seed sources for restoration. Climate change will have a strong impact on many restoration sites (Hobbs et al 2009), yet currently few restoration practitioners appear to consider climate predictions in their design (Sgrò et al., 2011 and Bozzano et al., 2014). Degraded forest sites typically constitute tough environments for seedling establishment and growth. When the climate simultaneously becomes harsher, natural

or planted propagules experience even stronger selection pressure. Tree species generally have high genetic variation in adaptive traits, constituting latent adaptive potential which is expressed only when conditions change (Gamache and Payette, 2004, O’Neill et al., 2008, Doi et selleck compound al., 2009, Thompson et al., 2010, Mata et al., 2012 and Alfaro et al., 2014). Intuitively, the gene pool of surviving trees on sites that are already affected by climate change could provide useful seed sources for sites with conditions that are currently less extreme, but still nearing the edge of a species’ tolerance. This is because such residual trees may be better adapted to the extreme conditions. However, the identification and selection of appropriate sources of

FRM for a given restoration site should ideally be guided by the strength of the interaction between genotype performance and current and future environmental conditions (genotype-by-environment, Amylase G × E interactions), which are studied using multi-location progeny or provenance trials and climate modelling, respectively (Sgrò et al., 2011). Globally, some 700 tree species are subject to some level of improvement, including provenance and/or progeny testing (FAO, 2014). Such tests can help identify planting sources that are adapted to a particular site and the range within which reproductive material of a species can be moved without significant loss of adaptation (ecological tolerance limits).

Although the study was designed to sample unrelated individuals,

Although the study was designed to sample unrelated individuals, it appears that few family relationships are present

in such a large population sample. All the commercial multiplexes (PPY, PPY23 and Yfiler) and the redesigned RM Y-STR multiplexes (RMY1 and RMY2) tested in this study functioned well and efficiently generated genotyping data for all 2085 Dutch donors. Very little discordance (0.002%) was detected in our data set, which contained 19 Y-STR marker units that were present in multiple (two or three) kits. This might be due to little nucleotide variation in the areas around the targeted markers, or companies using similar primers. The percentage of unique haplotypes was 92.5% for the 23 marker units in PPY23, 98.4% for the 15 RM Protein Tyrosine Kinase inhibitor Y-STR

marker units, and it was even raised to 99.0% when all 36 marker units were combined, resulting in a very high discriminating power for Y-STR standards. This study was supported by a grant from the Netherlands Genomics Initiative/Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) within the framework of the Forensic Genomics Consortium Netherlands. Angiogenesis inhibitor We thank Kaye Ballantyne for her assistance in the haplotype diversity calculations. ”
“Because of a publication error, Figure 4 of the article titled “Effectiveness of Three Different Retreatment Techniques in Canals Filled With Compacted Gutta-Percha or Thermafil: A Scanning Electron Microscope Study” by Pirani et al published in J Endod 35:1433–1440, 2009, contained 2 identical images as parts A

and C. The journal regrets this error. Figure options Download full-size image Download high-quality image (356 K) Download as PowerPoint Resminostat slide ”
“El editor lamenta que este artículo es un duplicado accidental de un artículo que ya ha sido publicado en la revista Chest. 2009;136(2):433–9, http://dx.doi.org/10.1378/chest.09-0706. El artículo duplicado será retirado. ”
“School refusal (SR) behavior is a multi-faceted and heterogeneous problem set that affects children and adolescents (hereafter referred to as youth) across the age spectrum and is associated with serious health, educational, and legal/status outcomes (Kearney, 2008). SR behavior refers to any youth-initiated inexcusable absence and includes both truancy (illegal surreptitious absences linked to delinquency or academic problems that tend to occur without parental knowledge) and anxiety-based SR (resistance or poor attendance due to anxiety/distress that typically occurs with the knowledge of the parents; Egger, Costello, & Angold, 2003; Kearney, 2008). SR behavior can contribute to partial or whole day school absences, tardiness, missed class time (e.g., nurse or counselor visits), or other disruptions to the youth’s routine that affects attendance (e.g., morning tantrums, sleep difficulties, somatic complaints; King, Tonge, Heyne, & Ollendick, 2000).

4 indicated that HA dose-dependently increased reactivation of th

4 indicated that HA dose-dependently increased reactivation of the provirus in PMA-stimulated ACH-2 cells. In western blot analysis of the cells (Fig. 4A), levels of the p24 antigen as well as of p55, its precursor, were increased at 24 h after induction with PMA in the presence of HA. Similarly in ELISA analysis of culture supernatants, levels of the p24 antigen that reflect the p24 antigen and virions released from the cells (Fig. 4B) were increased at 24 h after induction, in dependence on the levels of HA. On the hand, HA alone was not found to stimulate reactivation of the HIV-1 provirus at any concentration tested (data not shown). In order to confirm the stimulatory effects of HA on the reactivation of the

latent provirus, we have used two clones of Jurkat learn more cells harboring HIV-1 “mini-virus” consisting of the HIV-1 LTR-Tat-IRES-EGFP-LTR. The two clones were previously shown Sotrastaurin cell line to differentially express EGFP and to contain different DNA modifications in the promoter region (Blazkova et al., 2009 and Jordan et al., 2003). In agreement with the results in ACH-2 cells, western blot analysis of EGFP (Fig. 5A) revealed a stimulatory effect of HA on EGFP expression in PMA-stimulated A2 and H12 Jurkat cells. The effect of HA alone on EGFP expression was also stimulatory, albeit weaker than that in combination with PMA. In both experiments, higher concentrations of HA (2.5 μl

of HA/ml and higher) were cytotoxic, as indicated by decreased levels of the house-keeping gene β-actin. The effects of HA and PMA on the expression of EGFP were also studied using flow cytometry (Fig. 5B, Supplementary data Table S1) and confirmed the results of western blot analysis. HA alone as well as in combination with PMA dose-dependently stimulated the expression

Bortezomib in vivo of EGFP. However, H12 cells revealed a higher background expression of EGFP than A2 cells. Again, the increased expression of EGFP inversely correlated with cell viability, with a significant increase of apoptosis at concentrations of HA 2.5 μl/ml and higher. Heme and hemin are well-established inducers of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1; Maines et al., 1986 and Wu and Wang, 2005), the enzyme degrading heme into carbon monooxide, biliverdin and Fe2+ (Tenhunen et al., 1969). The release of Fe2+ would catalyze production of the hydroxyl radical (Kruszewski, 2003), thus possibly leading to activation of the transcription factor NF-κB and reactivation of the HIV-1 provirus. Therefore, we have first determined the expression of HO-1 in ACH-2 cells. As demonstrated in Fig. 6A, HA induced a dose-dependent increase in HO-1 levels in the presence of PMA, i.e. under the conditions leading to the reactivation of HIV-1 provirus, while untreated cells revealed low background levels of HO-1 that were not affected by PMA alone. Consequently, we pretreated the cells with an anti-oxidative agent N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), precursor of the reduced glutathione (GSH). As shown in Fig.

Rats received a prophylactic dose of penicillin (30,000 IU) given

Rats received a prophylactic dose of penicillin (30,000 IU) given intramuscularly and a subcutaneous injection of the analgesic Ketoflex (ketoprofen 1%, 0.03 ml/rat) post-surgically.

After the surgery, the rats were maintained in individual box with free access of tap water and food pellets [Guabi rat chow (Paulínia, SP, Brazil)] for at least 7 days before the tests. To record pulsatile arterial pressure (PAP), mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR) in unanesthetized freely moving rats, one day before the tests, rats were anesthetized again with i.p. injection of ketamine (80 mg/kg of body wt) combined with xylazine (7 mg/kg of body wt) to receive a polyethylene tubing (PE-10 connected to PE-50; Clay Adams, Ulixertinib ic50 Parsippany, NJ, USA) inserted into the http://www.selleckchem.com/products/nu7441.html abdominal aorta through the femoral artery. Another polyethylene tubing was also inserted into the femoral vein for

drug administration. Both cannulas were tunneled subcutaneously to the back of the rats to allow access in unrestrained, freely moving rats. We have evidence that the animals recovery from the anesthesia and operative stress, because 1 day after the surgery the animals had normal drink and food intake and no impairment of motor activity. Although motor activity was not quantified, visual observation in their home cages and during handling revealed no apparent differences in reactivity or locomotion 1 day after the surgery. General anesthesia was induced with 5% Epigenetics inhibitor halothane in 100% oxygen. The rats received a tracheostomy and surgery was done under artificial ventilation with 1.4–1.5% halothane in 100% oxygen. All rats were subjected to the following previously described surgical procedures: femoral artery cannulation for arterial pressure measurement, femoral vein cannulation for administration of fluids and drugs, removal of the occipital bone and retracting the underlying dura mater for insertion of a pipette for microinjection into the medulla oblongata

via a dorsal transcerebellar approach (Moreira et al., 2005 and Moreira et al., 2006). All animals were bilaterally vagotomized to prevent any influence of artificial ventilation on phrenic nerve discharge (PND). The phrenic nerve was accessed by a dorsolateral approach after retraction of the right shoulder blade. In a group of rats (n = 7), used to test cardiorespiratory responses to hypercapnia, a complete baro- and peripheral chemoreceptor deafferentation was performed by sectioning the vagosympathetic trunks, the superior laryngeal nerves and the glossopharyngeal nerves (proximal to the junction with the carotid sinus nerves). Another rats (n = 6), used to test the cardiorespiratory responses to hypoxia, was a group of baro- and chemo-receptor intact rats, that had the vagi nerves carefully separated from the vagosympathetic trunk and selectively transected bilaterally.