Growth of PB 260 Clone (Hevea Brasiliensis (Willd. Ex a. Juss.) Muell-Arg.) in Different Potting Media and Fertilization Scheme

Rubber is an important commodity for Indonesia. Currently, a problem encountered in the propagation of rubber planting materials is the availability of ideal soils with optimum nutrition as the planting medium. Peat can be used as a growing medium but it still has weaknesses such as high level of acidity and poor in nutrient content. This study was aimed to assess the performance of rubber budded stump grown on modified potting medium and applied with different forms and rates of fertilizers. The nursery experiment consisted of 17 treatments and arranged in a randomized complete block design. After rubber nursery stage, the performance of the rubber budded stump were also monitored in the field for 10 months. Results showed that mixture of peat and soil with the application of recommended rate of solid or liquid fertilizer produced rubber budded stump with bigger stem diameter and taller plants. The potting medium stimulated early root development which led to higher nutrient uptake. These budded stump also performed better in field, showed higher leaf nutrient concentration after 6 months and produced bigger stem diameter after 10 months

Distinct fos-expressing neuronal ensembles in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex mediate food reward and extinction memories

In operant learning, initial reward-associated memories are thought to be distinct from subsequent extinction-associated memories. Memories formed during operant learning are thought to be stored in “neuronal ensembles.” Thus, we hypothesize that different neuronal ensembles encode reward- and extinction-associated memories. Here, we examined prefrontal cortex neuronal ensembles involved in the recall of reward and extinction memories of food self-administration.Wefirst trained rats to lever press for palatable food pellets for 7 d (1 h/d) and then exposed them to 0, 2, or 7 daily extinction sessions in which lever presses were not reinforced. Twenty-four hours after the last training or extinction session, we exposed the rats to either a short 15 min extinction test session or left them in their homecage (a control condition). We found maximal Fos (a neuronal activity marker) immunoreactivity in the ventral medial prefrontal cortex of rats that previously received 2 extinction sessions, suggesting that neuronal ensembles in this area encode extinction memories. We then used the Daun02 inactivation procedure to selectively disrupt ventral medial prefrontal cortex neuronal ensembles that were activated during the 15 min extinction session following 0 (no extinction) or 2 prior extinction sessions to determine the effects of inactivating the putative food reward and extinction ensembles, respectively, on subsequent nonreinforced food seeking 2 d later. Inactivation of the food reward ensembles decreased food seeking, whereas inactivation of the extinction ensembles increased food seeking. Our results indicate that distinct neuronal ensembles encoding operant reward and extinction memories intermingle within the same cortical area

Productivity of three sugarcane cultivars under dry and drip irrigated management

O objetivo neste trabalho foi estudar o efeito da tecnologia de irrigação por gotejamento, em cultivares de cana-de-açúcar, em dois ciclos de produção (cana-planta e cana-soca). O delineamento experimental utilizado foi o de blocos ao acaso, com quatro repetições, constituídos pela combinação de três cultivares de cana-de-açúcar: RB867515; RB855536 e SP80-3280, e dois manejos da cultura: sistema de irrigação por gotejamento subterrâneo e sistema de sequeiro, totalizando seis tratamentos. O primeiro ciclo teve duração de 336 dias, ocorrendo precipitação de 1.480 mm. O volume de água disponibilizado pelo sistema de irrigação por gotejamento foi de 400 mm, totalizando 1.880 mm. O segundo ciclo teve duração de 365 dias, cujo volume de água por meio de precipitação foi de 1.394 mm; somados aos 320 mm fornecidos pelo sistema de irrigação, totalizaram 1.714 mm. Ocorreu interação entre manejo e cultivar para as variáveis: produtividade de colmos (TCH) e produtividade de açúcar (TPH) em que a maior diferença foi observada para a cultivar SP80-3280. As cultivares apresentaram respostas diferenciadas na eficiência de utilização da água. No manejo irrigado por gotejamento houve elevação de 24% na produtividade de colmos e de 23% na produtividade de açúcar, em relação ao manejo de sequeiro.This study aimed to evaluate the effect of drip irrigation technology in different sugarcane varieties in two crop cycles (plant cane and ratoon). The experimental design was in completly randomized blocks, in split-plot with four replications, constituted by three sugarcane genotypes: RB867515; RB855536 and SP80-3280 and two crop management: drip irrigation system and rainfed system, totalizing six treatments. The first cycle lasted for 336 days, with rainfall of 1,480 mm. The volume of water provided by the system of drip irrigation was 400 mm, totaling 1,880 mm. The second cycle lasted for 365 days, the volume of water through rainfall was 1,394 mm, added to 320 mm provided by the system of irrigation, totaled 1,714 mm. Interaction between management and cultivars was found significant for the variables: productivity of stalks (TCH) and sugar yield (TPH), in which the largest difference was observed for cultivar SP80-3280. There was significant response to drip irrigation, on average the increase of production of stalks and sugar was 24 and 23%, respectively

The essential oil of Brazilian pepper, Schinus terebinthifolia Raddi in larval control of Stegomyia aegypti (Linnaeus, 1762)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The ability of mosquitoes of the genus <it>Aedes </it>and its allies, such as <it>Stegomyia</it>, to transmit diseases such as dengue and yellow fever, makes them important in public health. This study aims to evaluate the use of the essential oil of Brazilian pepper in biological control of by assessing and quantifying the larvicidal effect against <it>S. aegypti</it>, the only available access to dengue control, and test its risk of genotoxicity with <it>Salmonella typhimurium </it>as an indicator of safety for its environmental use.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The density of the oil was 0.8622 g mL^-1. Gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry revealed six major constituents: δ-3-carene (55.43%), α-pinene (16.25%), sylvestrene (10.67%), germacrene D (2.17), β-myrcene (1.99%), and isoterpinolene (1.4%). The minimum inhibitory dose to larvae development was 862.20 μg mL^-1. The median lethal dose (LD₅₀) of the essential oil for larvae was between the concentrations of 172.44-344.88 μg mL^-1. There was no mutagenic risk for the essential oil, since there were no biochemical or morphological changes in <it>S. typhimurium </it>after exposure to the essential oil.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The minimum inhibitory essential oil concentration and the median lethal dose pointed to the value of the use of water dispersions of Brazilian pepper essential oil as an environmental safe natural larvicidal for <it>S. aegypti</it>.</p

Land Suitability Evaluation of Abandoned Tin-mining Areas for Agricultural Development in Bangka Island, Indonesia

Kepulauan Bangka Belitung, Indonesia is one of the tin mineral-producer in the world. Agricultural crops could be a wise option for the reclamation since abandoned tin-mining lands have a high potency to be used as agricultural lands. This study was aimed to evaluate of the land/soil characteristics of abandoned tin-mining areas and to establish land suitability of the land area for agriculture used to formulate appropriate land development measures and amelioration strategies for utilization of mined areas for crop production. The land evaluation was conducted by comparing the land characteristics in every type of abandoned tin-mining areas with its crop requirements. The current suitability showed that in general food crops, vegetable crops, fruit crops, and industrial crops were consider as not suitable (N). Spice and medicinal crops [pepper (Piper nigrum L.) and citronella (Andropogoh nardus L. Rendle)] were consider as not suitable (N), while the Jatropha (Jatropha curcas L.) and Kemiri Sunan (Aleurites moluccana L. Willd) crops were considered as marginally suitable (S3) in abandoned tin-mining areas. The forest crops and forage crops were considered as marginally suitable (S3). The water availability, soil texture, and low soil fertility were considered as the limiting factors of all crops to get optimum production. For agricultural development, the soil physical and chemical properties of abandoned tin-mining land must be improved through integrated farming

Ectima gangrenoso, manifestación cutánea infrecuente de una infección por diversos agentes

El ectima gangrenoso es un trastorno infeccioso infrecuente clásicamente relacionado a bacteriemia, descrito principalmente en poblaciones inmunodeprimidas. El agente más comúnmente relacionado es Pseudomonas aeruginosa, sin embargo, se han descrito otras etiologías bacterianas, hongos filamentosos y levaduras. Su patogénesis está dada por la invasión de la pared de los vasos sanguíneos, causando trombosis arterial y venosa, desencadenando necrosis de epidermis y tejidos subdérmicos. Clínicamente, se manifiesta como máculas, vesículas o pústulas hemorrágicas que evolucionan a úlceras de superficie necrótica rodeadas por un halo eritematoso característico, habitualmente en un contexto clínico de sepsis. El diagnóstico de este cuadro es clínico, sin embargo, el estudio microbiológico es clave en la identificación del agente etiológico y un posterior tratamiento dirigido. En su manejo es esencial una alta sospecha clínica y el inicio de tratamiento antibiótico en forma precoz. La duración del tratamiento es variable y en algunos casos debe asociarse a debridación quirúrgica. El pronóstico es variable dependiendo de múltiples factores: estado inmunológico, agente etiológico, presencia de sepsis y el tiempo de inicio de tratamiento

REPORTES CLINICOS: INFECCION RINOSINUSAL PROBADA POR Aspergillus flavus Y PROBABLE INFECCION PULMONAR POR Emericella nidulans EN PACIENTES INMUNODEPRIMIDOS

En los ultimos 20 años la incidencia de aspergilosis invasiva ha aumentado  entre 5 y 10 veces, presentando una mortalidad que varía desde un 60 a 98% dependiendo de su localización, enfermedad de base(inmunodepresión), diagnóstico y tratamiento precoz. A pesar que se ha logrado un importante avance en estos dos últimos decenios, aproximadamente un 50% de los casos se diagnostican post mortem. Se reportan dos casos de aspergilosis (probada y probable) en pacientesinmunodeprimidos de 21 y 44 años respectivamente. El primer caso corresponde a una infección rinosinusal en una paciente con leucemia linfoblastica, con un cuadro clínico caracterizado por aumento de volumen facial  izquierdo, compromiso progresivo del estado general yequímosis en región periorbitaria. La endoscopia nasal detectó abundante secreción y tejido friable amarillento sugerente de infección micótica. Las muestras de tejidos enviadas al laboratorio para exámen directo y cultivos arrojaron presencia de hifas en la mucosa y crecimientoabundante de Aspergillus flavus. Se inició terapia con itraconazol, cambiándose posteriormente a voriconazol, con respuesta favorable y disminución del dolor y volumen facial. Sin embargo, la paciente fallece al 10º día del ingreso debido a su mal estado general, avance de la falla medular y posterior insuficiencia respiratoria. El segundo caso corresponde a una probable infección pulmonar en una paciente con cáncer de mama en tratamiento quimioterápico. La paciente ingresó conel diagnóstico de neutropenia febril y probable neumonia de etiología bacteriana, fue tratada con antimicrobianos tanto en el hospital comunal como en el de base. Sin embargo, presentó una evolución tórpida, cursando posteriormente con hemoptisis, insuficiencia respiratoriay compromiso de conciencia. Se tomaron muestras de secreción endotraqueal las que fueron enviadas para estudio bacteriológico(TBC) y micológico, además de hemo y urocultivos. Los resultados de los examenes efectuados fueron negativos, excepto todos los cultivosmicológicos que tempranamente (4 días) detectaron un amplio crecimiento de Aspergillus (Emericella) nidulans. Al momento del informe micológico la paciente había fallecido en el hospital base

COPROPHILOUS FUNGAL COMMUNITY OF WILD RABBIT IN A PARK OF A HOSPITAL (CHILE): A TAXONOMIC APPROACH

During year 2005-through 2006 a study on coprophilous fungal communities present in wild rabbit dung was carried out in the park of a regional hospital (V Region, Chile), 21 samples in seven months under two seasonable periods (cold and warm) being collected. Sixty species and 44 genera as a total were recorded in the sampling period, 46 species in warm periods and 39 in the cold ones. Major groups were arranged as follows: Zygomycota (11,6 %), Ascomycota (50 %), associatedmitosporic genera (36,8 %) and Basidiomycota (1,6 %). Ascomycetes genera having the highest occurrence were: Chaetomium (5), Saccobolus and Sordaria (3) Podospora, Schizothecium and Sporormiella (2). Constant and dominant species were : Chaetomium cuniculorum, Ch.murorum, Coprinus spp., Iodophanus carneus, Pilaira anomala, Schizothecium tetrasporum, Sordaria humana, Sporormiella teretispora and Stilbella fimetaria. Under a taxonomic approach focused on the majority of meiosporic fungi (Ascomycota), the presence of newrecords of fungi for Chile is emphasized: Fusariella hughesii, Neurospora caulospora, Pleuroascus nicholsonii, Rhytidospora bispora, Saccobolusglobuliferellus, among others.