The effect of potassium fertility levels on the uptake and utilization of potassium, calcium, and magnesium by corn inbreds and hybrids

The purpose of this investigation was to determine some of the effects different rates of potassium fertilization have on the uptake and utilization of potassium, calcium, and magnesium by com inbreds and hybrids. The relationships between the uptake of these chemical elements and yield, lodging, premature senscence, and stalk strength were also studied

Biodemography: Research prospects and directions

The purpose of this opinion report is to outline what I consider to be the most promising areas for future biodemographic research and to suggest ways in which the field can be moved forward. I discuss five major themes: i) biodemography of disability; ii) ecological, developmental, behavioral and evolutionary biodemography; iii) biodemography of sociality; iv) genomic and genetic biodemography; and v) biodemographic modeling and analysis. I consider the last two areas (genomics/genetics; modeling/analysis) as both stand-alone topics and cross-cutting concepts. At the end of the paper I present ideas for charting the future course including strengthening and expanding infrastructure, database and website development, organizing conferences, submitting new training grants, and integrating biodemography into teaching programs.biodemography, frailty, life span, longevity

Is anti-ageing therapy medical fiction?

The quest for an immortality elixir has been around for centuries. Is anti-ageing, regenerative medical intervention, still in the realm of science fiction? We’re not talking of cosmetic surgery here, obviously. Some scientists believe that human immortality is possible in the future. If all our tissues have stem cells for replacement of worn out ones, why do we age and die? Even if immortality is not ultimately possible, are there any recent advances in understanding ageing and deteriorating function at cellular level? Extending useful, healthy life without added strains on health systems, would be a significant medical advance.peer-reviewe

Being immortal: How to use free time in the search for survival

Los valores que promueven la salud física, la exaltación de la belleza y la conservación del cuerpo en su fuerza juvenil están cristalizándose cada vez más en la sociedad moderna. El cuidado del cuerpo, considerado como una carcasa necesaria para asegurar la supervivencia de nuestra identidad, se ha convertido en una búsqueda obsesiva que compromete la mayor parte de nuestra existencia. La intención de este trabajo es poner de relieve cómo el culto a la juventud, al cuerpo perfecto y a la educación sobre una nutrición adecuada, junto con el notable progreso de las ciencias biotecnológicas, se han convertido en hábitos diarios que requieren la mayor parte de nuestro tiempo libre y contribuyen a la alteración de la imagen del cuerpo considerado como el punto de apoyo de la existencia de la identidadThe values of promotion of physical well-being, of the exaltation of beauty and of the preservation of the body in its juvenile strength are increasingly crystallizing I n this modern society. The attention towards the care of the body, considered as a necessary shell to insure the survival of our identity, has become a truly obsessive search that engages much of our existence. The intention of this essay is to highlight how the cult of youth, of the perfect physical shape and of the appropriate nutritional education, together with the impressive progresses of biotechnological sciences, has become habits requiring much of our free time and contributing to the alteration of the image of the body, that is considered as the fulcrum of the identity-making existenc

Nature or nurture BMI and blood pressure at 90. Findings from the Belfast Elderly longitudinal free-living aging study Belfast

Hypertension is a key risk factor for stroke, cardiovascular disease and dementia. Although the link between weight, sodium and hypertension is established in younger people, little is known about their inter-relationship in people beyond 80 years of age. Associations between blood pressure, anthropometric indices and sodium were investigated in 495 apparently healthy, community-living participants (age 90, SD 4.8; range 80–106), from the cross-sectional Belfast Elderly Longitudinal Free-living Aging STudy (BELFAST) study. In age-sex-adjusted logistic regression models, blood pressure =140/90 mmHg significantly associated with body mass index (BMI) [odds ratio (OR)?=?1.28/ kg/m2], with weight (OR?=?1.22/kg) approaching significance (P?=?0.07). In further age-sex-adjusted models, blood pressure above the 120/80 mmHg normotensive reference value significantly associated with BMI (OR?=?1.44/kg/m2), weight (OR?=?1.36/kg), skin-fold-thickness (OR?=?1.33/mm) and serum sodium (OR?=?1.37 mmol/l). In BELFAST participants over 80 years old, blood pressure =140/90 mmHg is associated with BMI, in apparently similar ways to younger groups

A study of several methods to extend the shelf life of cut chrysanthemum morifolium

The effects of three growth retardants, Methyl-2-chloro-9-hydroxyfluorene-( 9)-carboxylate (Morphactine IT 3456) at 40 ppm, N-dimethyl amino succinamic acid (B 995) at 300 ppm, and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) at 50 ppm and controlled atmosphere storage, 5% oxygen in 95% nitrogen and 5% carbon dioxide in air, on shelf life of cut Chrysanthemum morifolium \u27Indianapolis\u27 were studied. The chrysanthemum flowers were held in the growth chamber at temperatures from 32 to 34 degrees F. with 1,000 foot candles of light intensity for six days while they were subjected to various treatments. After removal from the environator, all flowers were placed in tap water in open air in a room maintained at temperatures from 66 to 70 degrees F. with a light intensity of 20 foot candles. Flowers in IT 3456 treatment showed that this chemical maintained the quality of flowers for six days and delayed the control. B 995 did not show better results than the control, however, 2,4-D stimulated the physiological processes of chrysanthemum flowers causing early senescence. Neither decreased oxygen nor increased carbon dioxide levels showed to be of benefit

Autophagy in DNA Damage Response

DNA damage response (DDR) involves DNA repair, cell cycle regulation and apoptosis, but autophagy is also suggested to play a role in DDR. Autophagy can be activated in response to DNA-damaging agents, but the exact mechanism underlying this activation is not fully understood, although it is suggested that it involves the inhibition of mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1). mTORC1 represses autophagy via phosphorylation of the ULK1/2–Atg13–FIP200 complex thus preventing maturation of pre-autophagosomal structures. When DNA damage occurs, it is recognized by some proteins or their complexes, such as poly(ADP)ribose polymerase 1 (PARP-1), Mre11–Rad50–Nbs1 (MRN) complex or FOXO3, which activate repressors of mTORC1. SQSTM1/p62 is one of the proteins whose levels are regulated via autophagic degradation. Inhibition of autophagy by knockout of FIP200 results in upregulation of SQSTM1/p62, enhanced DNA damage and less efficient damage repair. Mitophagy, one form of autophagy involved in the selective degradation of mitochondria, may also play role in DDR. It degrades abnormal mitochondria and can either repress or activate apoptosis, but the exact mechanism remains unknown. There is a need to clarify the role of autophagy in DDR, as this process may possess several important biomedical applications, involving also cancer therapy