Soil organic matter and fertility of anthropogenic dark earths (Terra Preta de Índio) in the Brazilian Amazon basin

Fertility properties, total C (Ctot), and chemical soil organic matter fractions (fulvic acid fraction - FA, humic acid fraction - HA, humin fraction - H) of anthropogenic dark earths (Terra Preta de Índio) of the Amazon basin were compared with those of Ferralsols with no anthropogenic A horizon. Terra Preta soils had a higher fertility (pH: 5.1-5.4; Sum of bases, SB: 8.93-10.33 cmol c kg-1 , CEC: 17.2-17.5 cmol c kg-1 , V: 51-59 %, P: 116-291 mg kg-1) and Ctot (44.6-44.7 g kg-1) than adjacent Ferralsols (pH: 4.4; SB: 2.04 cmol c kg-1, CEC: 9.5 cmol c kg-1, V: 21 %, P 5 mg kg-1, C: 37.9 g kg-1). The C distribution among humic substance fractions (FA, HA, H) in Terra Preta soils was also different, as shown by the ratios HA:FA and EA/H (EA=HA+FA) (2.1-3.0 and 1.06-1.08 for Terra Preta and 1.2 and 0.72 for Ferralsols, respectively). While the cation exchange capacity (CEC), of Ferralsols correlated with FA (r = 0.97), the CEC of Terra Preta correlated with H (r = 0.82). The correlation of the fertility of Terra Preta with the highly stable soil organic matter fraction (H) is highly significant for the development of sustainable soil fertility management models in tropical ecosystems.

Friday Facts, December 18, 2009, Vol. 44

Bureau of Nutrition and Health Promotion part of the Iowa Department of Public Health produces of weekly newsletter about the Iowa WIC Program for the State of Iowa citizen.

Friday Facts, December 10, 2010, Vol. 82

Bureau of Nutrition and Health Promotion part of the Iowa Department of Public Health produces of weekly newsletter about the Iowa WIC Program for the State of Iowa citizen.

Persistence of a biocontrol Pseudomonas inoculant as high populations of culturable and non-culturable cells in 200-cm-deep soil profiles

Little is known about the ecology of soil inoculants used for pathogen biocontrol, biofertilization and bioremediation under field conditions. We investigated the persistence and the physiological states of soil-inoculated Pseudomonas protegens (previously Pseudomonas fluorescens) CHA0 (108 CFU g−1 surface soil) in different soil microbial habitats in a planted ley (Medicago sativa L.) and an uncovered field plot. At 72 days, colony counts of the inoculant were low in surface soil (uncovered plot) and earthworm guts (ley plot), whereas soil above the plow pan (uncovered plot), and the rhizosphere and worm burrows present until 1.2 m depth (ley plot) were survival hot spots (105-106 CFU g−1 soil). Interestingly, strain CHA0 was also detected in the subsoil of both plots, at 102-105 CFU g−1 soil between 1.8 and 2 m depth. However, non-cultured CHA0 cells were also evidenced based on immunofluorescence microscopy. Kogure's direct viable counts of nutrient-responsive cells showed that many more CHA0 cells were in a viable but non-culturable (VBNC) or a non-responsive (dormant) state than in a culturable state, and the proportion of cells in those non-cultured states depended on soil microbial habitat. At the most, cells in a VBNC state amounted to 34% (above the plow pan) and those in a dormant state to 89% (in bulk soil between 0.6 and 2 m) of all CHA0 cells. The results indicate that field-released Pseudomonas inoculants may persist at high cell numbers, even in deeper soil layers, and display a combination of different physiological states whose prevalence fluctuates according to soil microbial habitats.

Transient Ischemic Dilation (TID) ratio measurement during Rb-82 cardiac PET: Comparison between three different software packages.

Background: TIDratio indirectly reflects myocardial ischemia and is correlated with cardiacprognosis. We aimed at comparing the influence of three different softwarepackages for the assessment of TID using Rb-82 cardiac PET/CT. Methods: Intotal, data of 30 patients were used based on normal myocardial perfusion(SSS<3 and SRS<3) and stress myocardial blood flow 2mL/min/g)assessed by Rb-82 cardiac PET/CT. After reconstruction using 2D OSEM (2Iterations, 28 subsets), 3-D filtering (Butterworth, order=10, ωc=0.5), data were automatically processed, and then manually processed fordefining identical basal and apical limits on both stress and rest images.TIDratio were determined with Myometrix®, ECToolbox® and QGS®software packages. Comparisons used ANOVA, Student t-tests and Lin concordancetest (ρc). Results: All of the 90 processings were successfullyperformed. TID ratio were not statistically different between software packageswhen data were processed automatically (P=0.2) or manually (P=0.17). There was a slight, butsignificant relative overestimation of TID with automatic processing incomparison to manual processing using ECToolbox® (1.07 ± 0.13 vs 1.0± 0.13, P=0.001)and Myometrix® (1.07 ± 0.15 vs 1.01 ± 0.11, P=0.003) but not using QGS®(1.02 ±0.12 vs 1.05 ± 0.11, P=0.16). The best concordance was achieved between ECToolbox®and Myometrix® manual (ρc=0.67) processing.Conclusion: Using automatic or manual mode TID estimation was not significantlyinfluenced by software type. Using Myometrix® or ECToolbox®TID was significantly different between automatic and manual processing, butnot using QGS®. Software package should be account for when definingTID normal reference limits, as well as when used in multicenter studies. QGS®software seemed to be the most operator-independent software package, whileECToolbox® and Myometrix® produced the closest results.

Friday Facts, June 10, 2011, Vol. 105

Bureau of Nutrition and Health Promotion part of the Iowa Department of Public Health produces of weekly newsletter about the Iowa WIC Program for the State of Iowa citizen.

Validation of the DRAGON Score in 12 Stroke Centers in Anterior and Posterior Circulation.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The DRAGON score predicts functional outcome in the hyperacute phase of intravenous thrombolysis treatment of ischemic stroke patients. We aimed to validate the score in a large multicenter cohort in anterior and posterior circulation. METHODS: Prospectively collected data of consecutive ischemic stroke patients who received intravenous thrombolysis in 12 stroke centers were merged (n=5471). We excluded patients lacking data necessary to calculate the score and patients with missing 3-month modified Rankin scale scores. The final cohort comprised 4519 eligible patients. We assessed the performance of the DRAGON score with area under the receiver operating characteristic curve in the whole cohort for both good (modified Rankin scale score, 0-2) and miserable (modified Rankin scale score, 5-6) outcomes. RESULTS: Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.84 (0.82-0.85) for miserable outcome and 0.82 (0.80-0.83) for good outcome. Proportions of patients with good outcome were 96%, 93%, 78%, and 0% for 0 to 1, 2, 3, and 8 to 10 score points, respectively. Proportions of patients with miserable outcome were 0%, 2%, 4%, 89%, and 97% for 0 to 1, 2, 3, 8, and 9 to 10 points, respectively. When tested separately for anterior and posterior circulation, there was no difference in performance (P=0.55); areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve were 0.84 (0.83-0.86) and 0.82 (0.78-0.87), respectively. No sex-related difference in performance was observed (P=0.25). CONCLUSIONS: The DRAGON score showed very good performance in the large merged cohort in both anterior and posterior circulation strokes. The DRAGON score provides rapid estimation of patient prognosis and supports clinical decision-making in the hyperacute phase of stroke care (eg, when invasive add-on strategies are considered).

Linssinpoistoleikkaus fakoemulsifikaatiomenetelmällä

Summary: Phacoemulsification of the lens

Accelerated Microstructure Imaging via Convex Optimization (AMICO) from diffusion MRI data.

Microstructure imaging from diffusion magnetic resonance (MR) data represents an invaluable tool to study non-invasively the morphology of tissues and to provide a biological insight into their microstructural organization. In recent years, a variety of biophysical models have been proposed to associate particular patterns observed in the measured signal with specific microstructural properties of the neuronal tissue, such as axon diameter and fiber density. Despite very appealing results showing that the estimated microstructure indices agree very well with histological examinations, existing techniques require computationally very expensive non-linear procedures to fit the models to the data which, in practice, demand the use of powerful computer clusters for large-scale applications. In this work, we present a general framework for Accelerated Microstructure Imaging via Convex Optimization (AMICO) and show how to re-formulate this class of techniques as convenient linear systems which, then, can be efficiently solved using very fast algorithms. We demonstrate this linearization of the fitting problem for two specific models, i.e. ActiveAx and NODDI, providing a very attractive alternative for parameter estimation in those techniques; however, the AMICO framework is general and flexible enough to work also for the wider space of microstructure imaging methods. Results demonstrate that AMICO represents an effective means to accelerate the fit of existing techniques drastically (up to four orders of magnitude faster) while preserving accuracy and precision in the estimated model parameters (correlation above 0.9). We believe that the availability of such ultrafast algorithms will help to accelerate the spread of microstructure imaging to larger cohorts of patients and to study a wider spectrum of neurological disorders.

Sleep deprivation (SD) on focal brain ischemia in the rat : effects of different SD protocols

Sleep-wake disturbances are frequently observed in stroke patients and are associated with poorer functional outcome. Until now the effects of sleep on stroke evolution are unknown. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effects of three sleep deprivation (SD) protocols on brain damages after focal cerebral ischemia in a rat model. Permanent occlusion of distal branches of the middle cerebral artery was induced in adult rats. The animals were then subjected to 6h SD, 12h SD or sleep disturbances (SDis) in which 3 x 12h sleep deprivation were performed by gentle handling. Infarct size and brain swelling were assessed by Cresyl violet staining, and the number of damaged cells was measured by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) staining. Behavioral tests, namely tape removal and cylinder tests, were performed for assessing sensorimotor function. In the 6h SD protocol, no significant difference (P > 0.05) was found either in infarct size (42.5 ± 30.4 mm3 in sleep deprived animals vs. 44.5 ± 20.5 mm3 in controls, mean ± s.d.), in brain swelling (10.2 ± 3.8 % in sleep deprived animals vs. 11.3 ± 2.0 % in controls) or in number of TUNEL-positive cells (21.7 ± 2.0/mm2 in sleep deprived animals vs. 23.0 ± 1.1/mm2 in controls). In contrast, 12h sleep deprivation increased infarct size by 40 % (82.8 ± 10.9 mm3 in SD group vs. 59.2 ± 13.9 mm3 in control group, P = 0.008) and number of TUNEL-positive cells by 137 % (46.8 ± 15/mm in SD group vs. 19.7 ± 7.7/mm2 in control group, P = 0.003). There was no significant difference (P > 0.05) in brain swelling (12.9 ± 6.3 % in sleep deprived animals vs. 11.6 ± 6.0 % in controls). The SDis protocol also increased infarct size by 76 % (3 x 12h SD 58.8 ± 20.4 mm3 vs. no SD 33.8 ± 6.3 mm3, P = 0.017) and number of TUNEL-positive cells by 219 % (32.9 ± 13.2/mm2 vs. 10.3 ± 2.5/mm2, P = 0.008). Brain swelling did not show any difference between the two groups (24.5 ± 8.4 % in SD group vs. 16.7 ± 8.9 % in control group, p > 0.05). Both behavioral tests did not show any concluding results. In summary, we demonstrate that sleep deprivation aggravates brain damages in a rat model of stroke. Further experiments are needed to unveil the mechanisms underlying these effects.

Crescimento inicial da cultura da soja em Latossolo Bruno com diferentes graus de compactação

A compactação do solo é um dos principais fatores que altera a qualidade do solo e o crescimento das culturas. O objetivo deste trabalho foi determinar o grau de compactação que restringe o crescimento da cultura da soja num Latossolo Bruno alumínico típico. O experimento foi realizado em casa de vegetação. O solo utilizado foi coletado no município de Guarapuava, PR, na camada de 0-20 cm. Esse possuía 570 g kg-1 de argila, 370 g kg-1 de silte e 60 g kg-1 de areia. Foi compactado para obtenção das densidades do solo de 0,90; 0,96; 1,02; 1,08; 1,14; 1,20; e 1,27 kg dm-3, correspondendo a graus de compactação entre 75 e 105 %, que foram determinados pela relação entre a densidade do solo atual e a densidade do solo máxima, obtida pelo ensaio de Proctor Normal. Durante o período de cultivo da soja avaliaram-se o crescimento radicular e a parte aérea, além da evapotranspiração diária. Aos 60 dias após a emergência, determinou-se a massa seca da parte aérea e das raízes. Qualquer aumento no grau de compactação acima de 75 % reduz o crescimento das raízes na camada compactada; entretanto, as raízes não crescem quando o grau de compactação é igual ou superior a 105 %. Quando o grau de compactação é superior a 82 %, a altura das plantas diminui e quando é superior a 87 e 93 % reduz respectivamente a massa da matéria seca da parte aérea e a evapotranspiração. Assim, o grau de compactação restritivo à cultura da soja depende do atributo que está sendo avaliado.

Multippeli myelooma : koiran harvinainen syöpätauti

Summary: Multiple myeloma - an uncommon canine neoplastic disease