Integrating Beef and Cotton Production Reduces Irrigation Needs in the Texas Southern High Plains

The Texas High Plains is a semiarid agricultural region located in the central south plains of the United States. This area exemplifies semiarid regions where water is becoming scarce. Crop production depends heavily on irrigation primarily from the Ogallala aquifer at non-sustainable rates of use. Irrigated monoculture cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) is the dominant crop but grazing livestock in this once vast grassland is re-emerging as the aquifer declines. Environmental benefits of integrated crop and livestock systems have been suggested. We compared a cotton monoculture with an integrated cotton-forage-beef stocker steer system over 10 yr to determine effects on irrigation water use, profitability, and other measures of sustainability. Long-term systems research can reveal dynamic changes that short term studies fail to capture and can provide opportunities to improve ecosystem function and sustainability (Allen et al. 2008)

Riego de tomate bajo invernadero con agua marina desalinizada y reutilización de drenajes

Poster presentado al XXXVII Congreso Nacional de Riegos, celebrado en Don Benito del 4 al 6 de Junio de 2019 y organizada por la Asociación Española de Riegos y Drenajes y la Universidad de ExtremaduraEvaluación agronómica y fisiológica del cultivo de tomate en hidropónico y en suelo enarenado, regado con AMD y mezclada con aguas salobres de diferente salinidad.Programa LIFE+ de la Unión Europea: Proyecto LIFE16-ENV-ES-00034

Relevamiento de cítricos del Noroeste Argentino (NOA) para la detección de Xylella fastidiosa, agente causal de CVC

La clorosis variegada de los cítricos (CVC), causada por la bacteria Xylella fastidiosa subsp.  pauca, afecta  principalmente naranja Valencia, Pera, Hamlin y Natal. Se detectó en Brasil en 1987 y en la Argentina, en 1984 en Misiones y 1990 en Corrientes, ambas provincias del Noreste Argentino (NEA). En el NOA, si bien no se han observado síntomas sospechosos, no existían hasta el presente reportes de análisis de muestras en laboratorio. Considerando el antecedente de detección de la bacteria en hojas asintomáticas de cítricos en Misiones, se realizó un relevamiento para determinar si X. fastidiosaestá presente en los cítricos del NOA. Personal de la EEAOC y SENASA recorrió lotes de naranja Valencia y limón de Tucumán, Salta, Jujuy y Catamarca, cuyas plantas tenían tres a diez años de edad, rango óptimo para detectar CVC. En cada lote se inspeccionó el 50% de las plantas y se extrajeron muestras de hojas del 10% del total de plantas del mismo. Se recolectaron 4186 muestras, 2277 procedentes de Salta y Jujuy (767 de limón, 1444 de naranja, 65 de mandarina y 1 de pomelo), 65 de Catamarca (18 de limón y 47 de naranja) y 1844 de Tucumán (1106 de limón, 733 de naranja dulce y 5 de mandarina). Se analizaron las muestras por PCR con los cebadores específicos para la bacteria (CVC-1 y 272-2i). Todas las muestras analizadas resultaron negativas. Hasta el presente no hay evidencias de que la bacteria causante del CVC esté presente en los cítricos del NOA.Fil: Fogliata, G. M.. Gobierno de Tucumán. Ministerio de Desarrollo Productivo. Estación Experimental Agroindustrial Obispo Colombres; ArgentinaFil: Acosta, M. E.. Gobierno de Tucumán. Ministerio de Desarrollo Productivo. Estación Experimental Agroindustrial Obispo Colombres; ArgentinaFil: Martinez, C. V.. Gobierno de Tucumán. Ministerio de Desarrollo Productivo. Estación Experimental Agroindustrial Obispo Colombres; ArgentinaFil: Rojas, A, A.. Gobierno de Tucumán. Ministerio de Desarrollo Productivo. Estación Experimental Agroindustrial Obispo Colombres; ArgentinaFil: Sanchez, Leandro Arturo. Gobierno de Tucumán. Ministerio de Desarrollo Productivo. Estación Experimental Agroindustrial Obispo Colombres; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales Microbiológicos; Argentina2º Congreso Argentino De FitopatologíaMar del PlataArgentinaAsociación Argentina de Fitopatólogo

Design and development of a multiplex microsatellite panel for the genetic characterisation and diversity assessment of domestic turkey (Meleagris gallopavo gallopavo)

Domestic turkey production generally utilises only a few genetically improved lines, and local breeds are severely endangered as a result. Furthermore, the genetic resources of domestic turkeys have not been properly investigated, which could, ultimately, lead to the extinction of local breeds and negatively affect their corresponding genetic diversity and environmental adaptation. Although, several microsatellite markers have been designed for mapping and quantitative trait locus analysis, there is no standard panel of markers for genetic characterisation or genetic diversity assessment. Accordingly, the present study aimed to develop a set of polymorphic microsatellite markers that could be used for international turkey population studies. Thirty-nine microsatellites were selected based on polymorphism, DNA sequence and chromosome position, as well as on amplification efficiency, success rate and the absence of nonspecific amplification. The markers were screened using 105 DNA samples from local turkey breeds from Mexico, the United States, Italy, Brazil, Egypt and Spain. A total of 401 alleles were identified, with a mean number of alleles per marker of 10.28 \ub1 4.25. All microsatellites were polymorphic, with at least four alleles and no more than 19 alleles. Furthermore, allelic richness ranged from 3.810 to 17.985, mean heterozygosity ranged from 0.452 \ub1 0.229 to 0.667 \ub1 0.265, polymorphic information content values ranged from 0.213 (MNT264) to 0.850 (RHT0024) and the mean Fis value was 0.322. Overall, the panel was highly polymorphic and exhibited moderate Hardy\u2013Weinberg disequilibrium, thereby indicating its value as a tool for biodiversity and population structure studies that could play an important role in promoting the conservation of local turkey breeds.Highlights Important genetic resources reside within indigenous turkey populations. These are linked to historic heritage production values and breeds. It is important to preserve this heritage and genetic diversity, which threatens to be lost as production systems focus on production characteristics. Microsatellite markers, even though, they are now replaced by single nucleotide polymorphism automatic genotyping platforms in many fields of genetics, remain a viable alternative thanks to their cheapness and simplicity of study which makes them particularly useful when the population to be studied lacks information of the prior genetic structure

Renormalization of the QED of self-interacting second order spin 1/2 fermions

We study the one-loop level renormalization of the electrodynamics of spin 1/2 fermions in the Poincar\'e projector formalism, in arbitrary covariant gauge and including fermion self-interactions, which are dimension four operators in this framework. We show that the model is renormalizable for arbitrary values of the tree level gyromagnetic factor g within the validity region of the perturbative expansion, \alpha g^2 << 1. In the absence of tree level fermion self-interactions, we recover the pure QED of second order fermions, which is renormalizable only for |g|=2. Turning off the electromagnetic interaction we obtain a renormalizable Nambu-Jona-Lasinio-like model with second order fermions in four space-time dimensions.Comment: 32 pages, 9 figures. Published versio

In vivo modeling of patient genetic heterogeneity identifies new ways to target cholangiocarcinoma.

L. Boulter was funded by The Wellcome Trust (207793/Z/17/Z), AMMF (2016/108, 2017/115), and Cancer Research UK (C52499/A27948). L. Boulter is also supported by an MRC university grant to the MRC Human Genetics Unit

Quarkonium production in high energy proton-proton and proton-nucleus collisions

We present a brief overview of the most relevant current issues related to quarkonium production in high energy proton-proton and proton-nucleus collisions along with some perspectives. After reviewing recent experimental and theoretical results on quarkonium production in pp and pA collisions, we discuss the emerging field of polarisation studies. Thereafter, we report on issues related to heavy-quark production, both in pp and pA collisions, complemented by AA collisions. To put the work in a broader perspective, we emphasize the need for new observables to investigate quarkonium production mechanisms and reiterate the qualities that make quarkonia a unique tool for many investigations in particle and nuclear physics.Comment: Overview for the proceedings of QUARKONIUM 2010: Three Days Of Quarkonium Production in pp and pA Collisions, 29-31 July 2010, Palaiseau, France; 34 pages, 30 figures, Late

Worker remittances and the global preconditions of ‘smart development’

With the growing environmental crisis affecting our globe, ideas to weigh economic or social progress by the ‘energy input’ necessary to achieve it are increasingly gaining acceptance. This question is intriguing and is being dealt with by a growing number of studies, focusing on the environmental price of human progress. Even more intriguing, however, is the question of which factors of social organization contribute to a responsible use of the resources of our planet to achieve a given social result (‘smart development’). In this essay, we present the first systematic study on how migration – or rather, more concretely, received worker remittances per GDP – helps the nations of our globe to enjoy social and economic progress at a relatively small environmental price. We look at the effects of migration on the balance sheets of societal accounting, based on the ‘ecological price’ of the combined performance of democracy, economic growth, gender equality, human development, research and development, and social cohesion. Feminism in power, economic freedom, population density, the UNDP education index as well as the receipt of worker remittances all significantly contribute towards a ‘smart overall development’, while high military expenditures and a high world economic openness are a bottleneck for ‘smart overall development’

Relationships between cardiorespiratory fitness/muscular strength and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose uptake in brown adipose tissue after exposure to cold in young, sedentary adults

Humans have metabolically active brown adipose tissue (BAT). However, what is the relation between exercise or physical activity with this tissue remains controversial. Therefore, the main aim of the present study is to examine whether cardiorespiratory fitness and muscular strength are associated with brown adipose tissue (BAT) volume and activity after exposure to cold in young, sedentary adults. Cardiorespiratory fitness was determined in 119 young, healthy, sedentary adults (68% women, age 21.9 ± 2.1 years, body mass index 25 ± 4.8 kg/m2) via the maximum treadmill exercise test, and their muscular strength assessed by the handgrip strength test and the 1-repetition maximum bench and leg press tests. Some days later, all subjects were exposed to 2 h of personalized exposure to cold and their cold-induced BAT volume and activity determined by a combination of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography and computed tomography scan. Cardiorespiratory fitness was associated with neither the BAT volume nor BAT activity (P ≥ 0.05). However, handgrip strength with respect to lean body mass was positively (though weakly) associated with BAT activity as represented by the 18F-FDG mean standardised uptake value (SUV) (β = 3.595, R2 = 0.039, P = 0.031) and SUVpeak value (β = 15.314, R2 = 0.037, P = 0.035). The above relationships remained after adjusting for several confounders. No other associations were found. Handgrip strength with respect to lean body mass is positively associated with BAT activity (SUVmean and SUVpeak) in young adults after exposure to cold - but only weakly. Further studies are needed to reveal the relationship between muscular fitness and human BAT characteristics.This study was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness via the Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria del Instituto de Salud Carlos III (PI13/01393), Retos de la Sociedad (DEP2016-79512-R) and European Regional Development Funds (ERDF), the Spanish Ministry of Education (FPU13/04365 and FPU14/04172), the Fundación Iberoamericana de Nutrición (FINUT), the Redes Temáticas de Investigación Cooperativa RETIC (Red SAMID RD16/0022), the AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation, the University of Granada Plan Propio de Investigación 2016 -Excellence actions: Unit of Excellence on Exercise and Health (UCEES) - and Plan Propio de Investigación 2018 - Programa Contratos-Puente, and the Junta de Andalucía, Consejería de Conocimiento, Investigación y Universidades (ERDF: SOMM17/6107/UGR)