Soil uses during the sugarcane fallow period: influence on soil chemical and physical properties and on sugarcane productivity

The planting of diversified crops during the sugarcane fallow period can improve the chemical and physical properties and increase the production potential of the soil for the next sugarcane cycle. The primary purpose of this study was to assess the influence of various soil uses during the sugarcane fallow period on soil chemical and physical properties and productivity after the first sugarcane harvest. The experiment was conducted in two areas located in Jaboticabal, São Paulo State, Brazil (21º 14' 05'' S, 48º 17' 09'' W) with two different soil types, namely: an eutroferric Red Latosol (RLe) with high-clay texture (clay content = 680 g kg-1) and an acric Red Latosol (RLa) with clayey texture (clay content = 440 g kg-1). A randomized block design with five replications and four treatments (crop sequences) was used. The crop sequences during the sugarcane fallow period were soybean/millet/soybean, soybean/sunn hemp/soybean, soybean/fallow/soybean, and soybean. Soil use was found not to affect chemical properties and sugarcane productivity of RLe or RLa. The soybean/millet/soybean sequence improved aggregation in the acric Latosol.

Yellow-flowered lucerne : properties and influence on performance and reproduction of ewes

Selostus: Sirppimailanen astutettavien uuhien ruokinnassa

Magnetic microstructures from magnetic force microscopy and Monte Carlo simulation in CoFe-Ag-Cu granular films

CoFe-Ag-Cu granular films, prepared by rf sputtering, displayed magnetic domain microstructures for ferromagnetic concentrations above about 32% at, and below the percolation threshold. All samples have a fcc structure with an (111) texture perpendicular to the film plane. Magnetic force microscopy (MFM) showed a variety of magnetic domain microstructures, extremely sensitive to the magnetic history of the sample, which arise from the balance of the ferromagnetic exchange, the dipolar interactions and perpendicular magnetocrystalline anisotropy, MFM images indicate that in virgin samples, magnetic bubble domains with an out-of-plane component of the magnetization are surrounded by a quasicontinuous background of opposite magnetization domains. The application of a magnetic field in different geometries drastically modifies the microstructure of the system in the remanent state: i) for an in-plane field, the MFM images show that most of the magnetic moments are aligned along the film plane, ii) for an out-of-plane field, the MFM signal increases about one order of magnitude, and out-of-plane striped domains with alternating up and down magnetization are stabilized. Numerical simulations show that a variety of metastable domain structures (similar to those observed experimentally) can be reached, depending on magnetic history, in systems with competing perpendicular anisotropy, exchange and dipolar interactions.

A probabilistic approach to niche-based community models for spatial forecasts of assemblage properties and their uncertainties

Aim Conservation strategies are in need of predictions that capture spatial community composition and structure. Currently, the methods used to generate these predictions generally focus on deterministic processes and omit important stochastic processes and other unexplained variation in model outputs. Here we test a novel approach of community models that accounts for this variation and determine how well it reproduces observed properties of alpine butterfly communities. Location The western Swiss Alps. Methods We propose a new approach to process probabilistic predictions derived from stacked species distribution models (S-SDMs) in order to predict and assess the uncertainty in the predictions of community properties. We test the utility of our novel approach against a traditional threshold-based approach. We used mountain butterfly communities spanning a large elevation gradient as a case study and evaluated the ability of our approach to model species richness and phylogenetic diversity of communities. Results S-SDMs reproduced the observed decrease in phylogenetic diversity and species richness with elevation, syndromes of environmental filtering. The prediction accuracy of community properties vary along environmental gradient: variability in predictions of species richness was higher at low elevation, while it was lower for phylogenetic diversity. Our approach allowed mapping the variability in species richness and phylogenetic diversity projections. Main conclusion Using our probabilistic approach to process species distribution models outputs to reconstruct communities furnishes an improved picture of the range of possible assemblage realisations under similar environmental conditions given stochastic processes and help inform manager of the uncertainty in the modelling results

Preparation, properties and applications of wheat gluten edible films

Selostus: Syötävien gluteenikalvojen valmistus, ominaisuudt ja eräät käyttösovellukset

Peat properties and vegetation along different trophic levels on an afforested, fertilised mire

Tiivistelmä: Turpeen ominaisuudet ja kasvillisuus metsitetyn ja lannoitetun avosuon eri trofiatasoilla

High-resolution three-dimensional aortic magnetic resonance angiography and quantitative vessel wall characterization of different atherosclerotic stages in a rabbit model

PURPOSE: Atherosclerosis results in a considerable medical and socioeconomic impact on society. We sought to evaluate novel magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) angiography and vessel wall sequences to visualize and quantify different morphologic stages of atherosclerosis in a Watanabe hereditary hyperlipidemic (WHHL) rabbit model. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Aortic 3D steady-state free precession angiography and subrenal aortic 3D black-blood fast spin-echo vessel wall imaging pre- and post-Gadolinium (Gd) was performed in 14 WHHL rabbits (3 normal, 6 high-cholesterol diet, and 5 high-cholesterol diet plus endothelial denudation) on a commercial 1.5 T MR system. Angiographic lumen diameter, vessel wall thickness, signal-/contrast-to-noise analysis, total vessel area, lumen area, and vessel wall area were analyzed semiautomatically. RESULTS: Pre-Gd, both lumen and wall dimensions (total vessel area, lumen area, vessel wall area) of group 2 + 3 were significantly increased when compared with those of group 1 (all P < 0.01). Group 3 animals had significantly thicker vessel walls than groups 1 and 2 (P < 0.01), whereas angiographic lumen diameter was comparable among all groups. Post-Gd, only diseased animals of groups 2 + 3 showed a significant (>100%) signal-to-noise ratio and contrast-to-noise increase. CONCLUSIONS: A combination of novel 3D magnetic resonance angiography and high-resolution 3D vessel wall MRI enabled quantitative characterization of various atherosclerotic stages including positive arterial remodeling and Gd uptake in a WHHL rabbit model using a commercially available 1.5 T MRI system.

Report of the ECCO workshop on anti-TNF therapy failures in inflammatory bowel diseases: biological roles and effects of TNF and TNF antagonists.

This second section of the first ECCO pathogenesis workshop on anti-TNF therapy failures in inflammatory bowel diseases addresses the biological roles of TNFα and the effects and mechanisms of action of TNFα antagonists. Mechanisms underlying their failure, including induction of TNF-independent inflammatory pathways and phenomena of paradoxical inflammation are discussed.

Results from a prospective, randomized, controlled study evaluating the acceptability and effects of routine pre-IVF counselling.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate a model of routine pre-IVF counselling focusing on the narrative capacities of couples. The acceptability of counselling, the effects on emotional factors and the participants' assessments were considered. METHODS: The study included 141 consecutive childless couples preparing for their first IVF. Randomization was carried out through sealed envelopes attributing participants to counselled and non-counselled groups and was accepted by 100 couples. Another 12 couples refused randomization because they wanted counselling and 29 because they did not. Questionnaires including the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Beck Depression Inventory and assessments of help were mailed to couples before IVF and counselling, and after the IVF outcome. RESULTS: Counselling was accepted by 79% (112/141) of couples. There was no significant effect of counselling on anxiety and depression scores which were within normal ranges at both times. Counselling provided help for 86% (75/87) of initially non-demanding subjects and 96% (25/26) of those initially requesting a session. Help was noted in areas of psychological assistance, technical explanations and discussing relationships. CONCLUSIONS: This model of routine counselling centred on the narrative provides an acceptable form of psychological assistance for pre-IVF couples.

FADD adaptor and PEA-15/ERK1/2 partners in major depression and schizophrenia postmortem brains: Basal contents and effects of psychotropic treatments.

Enhanced brain apoptosis (neurons and glia) may be involved in major depression (MD) and schizophrenia (SZ), mainly through the activation of the intrinsic (mitochondrial) apoptotic pathway. In the extrinsic death pathway, pro-apoptotic Fas-associated death domain (FADD) adaptor and its non-apoptotic p-Ser194 FADD form have critical roles interacting with other death regulators such as phosphoprotein enriched in astrocytes of 15kDa (PEA-15) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK). The basal status of FADD (protein and messenger RNA (mRNA)) and the effects of psychotropic drugs (detected in blood/urine samples) were first assessed in postmortem prefrontal cortex of MD and SZ subjects (including a non-MD/SZ suicide group). In MD, p-FADD, but not total FADD (and mRNA), was increased (26%, n=24; all MD subjects) as well as p-FADD/FADD ratio (a pro-survival marker) in antidepressant-free MD subjects (50%, n=10). In contrast, cortical FADD (and mRNA), p-FADD, and p-FADD/FADD were not altered in SZ brains (n=21) regardless of antipsychotic medications (except enhanced mRNA in treated subjects). Similar negative results were quantified in the non-MD/SZ suicide group. In MD, the regulation of multifunctional PEA-15 (i.e., p-Ser116 PEA-15 blocks pro-apoptotic FADD and PEA-15 prevents pro-survival ERK action) and the modulation of p-ERK1/2 were also investigated. Cortical p-PEA-15 was not changed whereas PEA-15 was increased mainly in antidepressant-treated subjects (16-20%). Interestingly, cortical p-ERK1/2/ERK1/2 ratio was reduced (33%) in antidepressant-free when compared to antidepressant-treated MD subjects. The neurochemical adaptations of brain FADD (increased p-FADD and pro-survival p-FADD/FADD ratio), as well as its interaction with PEA-15, could play a major role to counteract the known activation of the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway in MD.