Weed Management Affects Pasture Productivity and Livestock Performance - Tropical Perspective

Weed competition in pastures has a great impact on livestock productivity, as, in addition to competing with forage, it interferes with animal grazing. Without question, weeds can compete with forage for water, space, light and nutrients. Weeds reduce the feed value of forage, decrease pasture carrying capacity, and can be toxic or unpalatable to livestock. For most weeds in pasture, the root system is robust, which contributes to the survival of these plants, affecting the development of the pasture. Due to the large number of seeds, they usually produce, they are very easily dispersed. In addition, when there are weeds in the pasture, cattle tend to select the grazing site, keeping away from species that can harm them. Productivity losses resulting from competition between forage and weeds are extensively studied by the scientific community, both from a qualitative and quantitative point of view. Studies show that there is a direct relationship between the period of coexistence of forage and weeds in a pasture that impacts biomass productivity

Managing Vegetation In Grassland Habitats To Enhance Livestock Or Wildlife Objectives

Sustainably stewarding grassland systems involves applying various practices to manipulate forage interactions with other plants, the environment, and grazing animals to meet resource manager objectives. These interactions can result in invasion or encroachment and increased abundance of weeds which hinder attainment of management objectives. Weeds influence the structure and function of pasture ecosystems whether forages are grown in improved pastures, rangeland, or grassland communities. They degrade pasture quality and reduce livestock performance by interfering with forage establishment, yield, and quality by competing for resources. Weeds reduce the feed value of forage, decrease pasture carrying capacity, and can be toxic or unpalatable to livestock. Managing weeds requires use of vegetation management tools that favor desirable forages. Herbicides can be a catalyst that expedite grassland renovation, improve the forage resource, and increase carrying capacity. Corteva Agriscience has a variety of herbicide products that provide superior control of herbaceous and woody weeds, while maintaining the desirable vegetation. These herbicides were designed and developed specifically for selective broadleaf weed control in rangeland, pastures, rights-of-way, non-cropland, and natural areas. Active ingredients historically used include aminopyralid, triclopyr, fluroxypyr, clopyralid, and picloram. Rinskor™ active and Arylex™ active are new herbicide active ingredients from Corteva Agriscience™ and are members of a unique synthetic auxin chemotype, the arylpicolinates (HRAC group O / WSSA group 4). Members of the arylpicolinate family demonstrate novel and differentiated characteristics in terms of use rate, spectrum, weed symptoms, environmental fate, and molecular interaction as compared to other auxin chemotypes. When applied as a stand-alone treatment or in various mixes these products are safe to desirable grass species and control key herbaceous and woody weeds in the genera Ambrosia, Acacia, Carduus, Centaurea, Cirsium, Mimosa, Prosopis, Ranunculus, Rumex, Sida, Solanum, Taraxacum, and more

ππ\pi\pi scattering S wave from the data on the reaction π−p→π0π0n\pi^-p\to\pi^0\pi^0n

The results of the recent experiments on the reaction $\pi^-p\to\pi^0\pi^0n$ performed at KEK, BNL, IHEP, and CERN are analyzed in detail. For the I=0 $\pi\pi$ S wave phase shift $\delta^0_0$ and inelasticity $\eta^0_0$ a new set of data is obtained. Difficulties emerging when using the physical solutions for the $\pi^0\pi^0$ S and D wave amplitudes extracted with the partial wave analyses are discussed. Attention is drawn to the fact that, for the $\pi^0\pi^0$ invariant mass, m, above 1 GeV, the other solutions, in principle, are found to be more preferred. For clarifying the situation and further studying the $f_0(980)$ resonance thorough experimental investigations of the reaction $\pi^-p\to\pi^0\pi^0n$ in the m region near the $K\bar K$ threshold are required.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figure

Best Practices for Building Interprofessional Telehealth: Report of a Conference

The Arizona Biomedical Research Centre (ABRC) has funded a series of workshops and conferences since 2016 to build the capacity of local, tribal, and state agencies, healthcare delivery organizations, and non-governmental organizations to engage in meaningful research related to health disparities. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of telehealth has dramatically increased, particularly in nursing, occupational therapy (OT), physical therapy (PT), and speech-language pathology (SLP). The purpose of this paper is to summarize the presentations and discussion from the conference titled “Telerehabilitation and Telepractice: An Interprofessional Conference to Build Connections and Best Practices,” held remotely on March 4-5, 2021. Terminology and concepts from the conference were debated, modified, and refined, based on an interprofessional audience. Presenters at the conference, all leaders in their field, discussed the current status of telehealth in their professions, including best practices, challenges, future trends, and research needs

Ultra-Widefield Imaging of the Retinal Macrovasculature in Parkinson Disease Versus Controls With Normal Cognition Using Alpha-Shapes Analysis

Purpose: To investigate retinal vascular characteristics using ultra-widefield (UWF) scanning laser ophthalmoscopy in Parkinson disease (PD).Methods: Individuals with an expert-confirmed clinical diagnosis of PD and controls with normal cognition without PD underwent UWF imaging (California, Optos). Patients with diabetes, uncontrolled hypertension, glaucoma, dementia, other movement disorders, or known retinal or optic nerve pathology were excluded. Images were analyzed using Vasculature Assessment and Measurement Platform for Images of the Retina (VAMPIRE-UWF; Universities of Edinburgh and Dundee, UK) software which described retinal vessel width gradient and tortuosity, vascular network fractal dimension, as well as alpha-shape analysis to further characterize vascular morphology [complexity (Opαmin) and spread (OpA)].Results: In the PD cohort, 53 eyes of 38 subjects, and in the control cohort, 51 eyes of 33 subjects were assessed. Eyes with PD had more tortuous retinal arteries in the superotemporal quadrant (p = 0.043). In eyes with PD, alpha-shape analysis revealed decreased OpA, indicating less retinal vasculature spread compared to controls (p = 0.032). Opαmin was decreased in PD (p = 0.044), suggesting increased vascular network complexity. No differences were observed in fractal dimension in any ROI.Conclusions: This pilot study suggests that retinal vasculature assessment on UWF images using alpha-shape analysis reveals differences in retinal vascular network spread and complexity in PD and may be a more sensitive metric compared to fractal dimension.Translational Relevance: Retinal vasculature assessment using these novel methods may be useful in understanding ocular manifestations of PD and the development of retinal biomarkers

Lixiviação de diuron, hexazinone e sulfometuron-methyl em formulação comercial e isoladamente em dois solos contrastantes

The objective of this research was to evaluate contrasting textures soils (clay and loamy sand) in the leaching of diuron + hexazinone + sulfometuron-methyl (1386.9 + 391 + 33.35 g ha-1) commercial formulation, and also hexazinone (391 g ha-1), diuron (1386.9 g ha-1) and sulfometuron-methyl (33.35 g ha-1), in soil columns mounted in PVC pipes. One day after the herbicide application, half of the columns received 40 mm of simulated rainfall and Ipomoea triloba weed was sown. At 21 and 30 days after sowing, it was accomplished the evaluation about percentage of weed control. For the clay texture soil, diuron + hexazinone + sulfometuron-methyl and hexazinone herbicides reached approximately 10 to 13 cm deep with 0 and 40 mm, respectively. In loamy sand texture soil, herbicides leaching was evident up to 20 cm deep, with 40 mm of precipitation. For diuron and sulfometuron-methyl herbicides, leaching tended to approach to clay texture soil with 40 mm and to loamy sand texture soil in the two simulated precipitations. Hexazinone and D+H+SMM were the herbicides that presented the highest trend to leaching, facilitated in loamy sand texture soil. Diuron and sulfometuron-methyl herbicides’ leaching was lower, fact that exposes hexazinone influence in the leaching of the evaluated commercial formulation. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7824/rbh.v11i2.172O objetivo desse trabalho foi avaliar a influência de texturas contrastantes (argilosa e areia franca) na lixiviação de diuron, hexazinone e sulfometuron-methyl em formulação comercial (D+H+SMM) e aplicados isoladamente, quando submetidos à 0 e 40 mm de simulação de precipitação. O experimento consistiu na aplicação de diuron + hexazinone + sulfometuron-methyl (1386,9 + 391 + 33,35 g ha-1), hexazinone (391 g ha-1), diuron (1386,9 g ha-1) e sulfometuron-methyl (33,35 g ha-1) em colunas de solo montadas em tubos de PVC. Um dia após a aplicação, metade das colunas recebeu simulação de precipitação de 40 mm e a planta daninha Ipomoea triloba foi semeada. Aos 21 e 30 dias após a semeadura foi feita avaliação de porcentagem de controle. Para o solo de textura argilosa, os herbicidas D+H+SMM e hexazinone chegaram a aproximadamente 10 e 13 cm de profundidade com 0 e 40 mm, respectivamente. No solo de textura arenosa, a lixiviação desses herbicidas foi evidente até os 20 cm de profundidade, com 40 mm de precipitação. Para os herbicidas diuron e sulfometuron-methyl as lixiviações tenderam a se aproximar para o solo de textura argilosa com 40 mm e para o solo de textura arenosa nas duas simulações de precipitação. Hexazinone e D+H+SMM foram os herbicidas que apresentaram maior tendência de lixiviação, facilitada no solo de textura arenosa. Já a lixiviação dos herbicidas diuron e sulfometuron-methyl foi baixa, o que expõe a influência do hexazinone na lixiviação da formulação comercial avaliada. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7824/rbh.v11i2.17

A microRNA Expression Profile as Non-Invasive Biomarker in a Large Arrhythmogenic Cardiomyopathy Cohort

Arrhythmogenic Cardiomyopathy (AC) is a clinically and genetically heterogeneous myocardial disease. Half of AC patients harbour private desmosomal gene variants. Although microRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as key regulator molecules in cardiovascular diseases and their involvement, correlated to phenotypic variability or to non-invasive biomarkers, has been advanced also in AC, no data are available in larger disease cohorts. Here, we propose the largest AC cohort unbiased by technical and biological factors. MiRNA profiling on nine right ventricular tissue, nine blood samples of AC patients, and four controls highlighted 10 differentially expressed miRNAs in common. Six of these were validated in a 90-AC patient cohort independent from genetic status: miR-122-5p, miR-133a-3p, miR-133b, miR-142-3p, miR-182-5p, and miR-183-5p. This six-miRNA set showed high discriminatory diagnostic power in AC patients when compared to controls (AUC-0.995), non-affected family members of AC probands carrying a desmosomal pathogenic variant (AUC-0.825), and other cardiomyopathy groups (Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy: AUC-0.804, Dilated Cardiomyopathy: AUC-0.917, Brugada Syndrome: AUC-0.981, myocarditis: AUC-0.978). AC-related signalling pathways were targeted by this set of miRNAs. A unique set of six-miRNAs was found both in heart-tissue and blood samples of AC probands, supporting its involvement in disease pathogenesis and its possible role as a non-invasive AC diagnostic biomarker

UNDERSTANDING THE SCALAR MESON qqˉq\bar q NONET

It is shown that one can fit the available data on the a0(980), f0(980), f0(1300) and K*0(1430) mesons as a distorted 0++ qq bar nonet using very few (5-6) parameters and an improved version of the unitarized quark model. This includes all light two-pseudoscalar thresholds, constraints from Adler zeroes, flavour symmetric couplings, unitarity and physically acceptable analyticity. The parameters include a bare uu bar or dd bar mass, an over-all coupling constant, a cutoff and a strange quark mass of 100 MeV, which is in accord with expectations from the quark model. It is found that in particular for the a0(980) and f0(980) the KK bar component in the wave function is large, i.e., for a large fraction of the time the qq bar state is transformed into a virtual KK bar pair. This KK bar component, together with a similar component of eta' pi for the a0(980) , and eta eta, eta eta' and eta' eta' components for the f0(980), causes the substantial shift to a lower mass than what is naively expected from the qq bar component alone. Mass, width and mixing parameters, including sheet and pole positions, of the four resonances are given, with a detailed pedagogical discussion of their meaning.Comment: 35 pages in plain latex (ZPC in press), 10 figures obtainable from the author ([email protected]) with regular mail or as a large PS fil

Fair play:Perceived fairness in crowdsourcing competitions and the customer relationship-related consequences

TeleRehab enables the rehabilitation services to be delivered in distance by providing information exchange between patient with disabilities and the clinical professionals. The readiness step in any adoption of healthcare services should always be one of the requirements for a successful implementation of an innovation. However, little scholarly has been undertaken to study its influence on TeleRehab and the various barrier factors that influence its adoption. This research explores the barrier factors that influence the readiness of healthcare institution to adopt TeleRehab. This paper presents a semi-structured interview involving 23 clinical professionals of a case study on the issues of TeleRehab readiness in one rehabilitation centre in Malaysia. By applying thematic analysis, the study uncovers seven barriers that affect the TeleRehab readiness. This includes barriers of no urgency to change, less awareness, less involvement in planning, not enough exposure on e-Healthcare knowledge, resistance to change, low usage of hardware and software, and less connectivity. The study contributes to both TeleRehab management and technology readiness research in hospitals

Metagenomic assessment of nitrate-contaminated mine wastewaters and optimization of complete denitrification by indigenous enriched bacteria

Nitrate contamination in water remains to be on the rise globally due to continuous anthropogenic activities, such as mining and farming, which utilize high amounts of ammonium nitrate explosives and chemical-NPK-fertilizers, respectively. This study presents insights into the development of a bioremediation strategy to remove nitrates (NO3−) using consortia enriched from wastewater collected from a diamond mine in Lesotho and a platinum mine in South Africa. A biogeochemical analysis was conducted on the water samples which aided in comparing and elucidating their unique physicochemical parameters. The chemical analysis uncovered that both wastewater samples contained over 120 mg/L of NO3− and over 250 mg/L of sulfates (SO42-), which were both beyond the acceptable limit of the environmental surface water standards of South Africa. The samples were atypical of mine wastewaters as they had low concentrations of dissolved heavy metals and a pH of over 5. A metagenomic analysis applied to study microbial diversities revealed that both samples were dominated by the phyla Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes, which accounted for over 40% and 15%, respectively. Three consortia were enriched to target denitrifying bacteria using selective media and then subjected to complete denitrification experiments. Denitrification dynamics and denitrifying capacities of the consortia were determined by monitoring dissolved and gaseous nitrogen species over time. Denitrification optimization was carried out by changing environmental conditions, including supplementing the cultures with metal enzyme co-factors (iron and copper) that were observed to promote different stages of denitrification. Copper supplemented at 50 mg/L was observed to be promoting complete denitrification of over 500 mg/L of NO3−, evidenced by the emission of nitrogen gas (N2) that was more than nitrous oxide gas (N2O) emitted as the terminal by-product. Modification and manipulation of growth conditions based on the microbial diversity enriched proved that it is possible to optimize a bioremediation system that can reduce high concentrations of NO3−, while emitting an environmentally-friendly N2 instead of N2O, that is, a greenhouse gas. Data collected and discussed in this research study can be used to model an upscale NO3− bioremediation system aimed to remove nitrogenous and other contaminants without secondary contamination