Micropropagació de Ficus Elàstica cv. Robusta: efecte de les concentracions hormonals en els medis de multiplicació

Peer Reviewe

Pesticide dose based on canopy characteristics in apple trees: Reducing environmental risk by reducing the amount of pesticide while maintaining pest and disease control efficacy

Although many different designed air-assisted sprayers can be used for pesticide application in apple orchards, the lack of adequate adjustments according to specific crop characteristics leads to application inefficiencies and failures. To evaluate the spray coverage and biological efficacy of different application techniques combined with an alternative dosage adjustment based on tree row volume (TRV), field tests with five different techniques were carried out at three crop stages on a commercial apple orchard. The results showed that conventional mist-blower with a high application volume (800 L ha-1) exhibited an excessive coverage with a high risk of contamination at the early crop stage (BBCH19), whereas other treatments using different application techniques, with a reduced volume rate and pesticide dose of 75%, were equivalent with good uniformity, revealing the great importance of suitable adjustment for the sprayers. For the middle and late stages (BBCH64 and 75), the orchard sprayer equipped with vertical booms provided the maximum coverage, and the pneumatic sprayer achieved significantly higher impacts density, which revealed their advantages and high efficiency for dense apple trees. The newly developed multi-fan sprayer and pneumatic sprayer achieved consistent coverage during the entire crop stage, independent of the changes in canopy structure (TRV). This indicates that a suitable setting and adjustment of the sprayer can contribute to a consistent spray quality. In general, benefiting from these new spraying technologies, an average reduction of 60.7% in pesticide dose and volume rate were achieved within the entire season, maintaining the same threshold of pest and disease control as that of the higher reference dose normally applied. These results demonstrate the importance of an alternative dose adjustment method to meet the requirements of the Farm to Fork strategy.Postprint (author's final draft

Advanced spraying systems to improve pesticide saving and reduce spray drift for apple orchards

New spraying systems embedded with different technologies have been developed for pesticide application in 3D crops. However, while applied to specific tree crops, the potential spray drift mitigation for advanced spraying systems needs to be classified due to the great variability of spray equipment and canopy structure. Here a precision spraying system was developed and compared with two typical spraying systems (conventional system, optimized system following the best management practices) for the applied volume/pesticide and spray drift in an apple orchard at two growth stages following the ISO22866-2005 protocol. Compared to the conventional system, the other two advanced systems significantly reduced the amount of ground drift (>60%) at most of the sampling distances at the growth stage BBCH 72, while the precision system demonstrated the best drift mitigation (57.3% reduction) at the stage BBCH 99. For the airborne drift, a remarkable drift reduction was also achieved with the two advanced systems. Specifically, the optimized spraying system exhibited a drift reduction by approximately 80% at the first growth stage, and the precision application demonstrated its considerable advantages in minimizing drift loss for the sparse canopy at the stage BBCH 99. Moreover, the saving of applied volume/pesticide was achieved by 12% with the optimized system and 43% with the precision system. This study revealed the necessity and prospect of the advanced spraying systems to reduce the environmental contamination and health risk from pesticide applications in fruit tree production.This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 773718 (OPTimised Integrated pest Management for precise detection and control of plant diseases in perennial crops and open-field vegetables, www.optima-h2020.eu). Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

COVID-19 severity is related to poor executive function in people with post-COVID conditions

Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer NaturePatients with post-coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) conditions typically experience cognitive problems. Some studies have linked COVID-19 severity with long-term cognitive damage, while others did not observe such associations. This discrepancy can be attributed to methodological and sample variations. We aimed to clarify the relationship between COVID-19 severity and long-term cognitive outcomes and determine whether the initial symptomatology can predict long-term cognitive problems. Cognitive evaluations were performed on 109 healthy controls and 319 post-COVID individuals categorized into three groups according to the WHO clinical progression scale: severe-critical (n¿=¿77), moderate-hospitalized (n¿=¿73), and outpatients (n¿=¿169). Principal component analysis was used to identify factors associated with symptoms in the acute-phase and cognitive domains. Analyses of variance and regression linear models were used to study intergroup differences and the relationship between initial symptomatology and long-term cognitive problems. The severe-critical group performed significantly worse than the control group in general cognition (Montreal Cognitive Assessment), executive function (Digit symbol, Trail Making Test B, phonetic fluency), and social cognition (Reading the Mind in the Eyes test). Five components of symptoms emerged from the principal component analysis: the “Neurologic/Pain/Dermatologic” “Digestive/Headache”, “Respiratory/Fever/Fatigue/Psychiatric” and “Smell/ Taste” components were predictors of Montreal Cognitive Assessment scores; the “Neurologic/Pain/Dermatologic” component predicted attention and working memory; the “Neurologic/Pain/Dermatologic” and “Respiratory/Fever/Fatigue/Psychiatric” components predicted verbal memory, and the “Respiratory/Fever/Fatigue/Psychiatric,” “Neurologic/Pain/Dermatologic,” and “Digestive/Headache” components predicted executive function. Patients with severe COVID-19 exhibited persistent deficits in executive function. Several initial symptoms were predictors of long-term sequelae, indicating the role of systemic inflammation and neuroinflammation in the acute-phase symptoms of COVID-19.” Study Registration: www.ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier NCT05307549 and NCT05307575.This research was supported by the Agency for Management of University and Research Grants (AGAUR) from the Generalitat de Catalunya (Pandemies, 202PANDE00053) and La Marató de TV3 Foundation (202111-30-31-32).Peer ReviewedArticle signat per 16 autors/es: Mar Ariza, Neus Cano, Bàrbara Segura, Ana Adan, Núria Bargalló, Xavier Caldú, Anna Campabadal, Maria Angeles Jurado, Maria Mataró, Roser Pueyo, Roser Sala‑Llonch, Cristian Barrué, Javier Bejar, Claudio Ulises Cortés on behalf of NAUTILUS Project Collaborative Group, Maite Garolera Carme JunquéPostprint (published version

Neuropsychological Impairment in Post-COVID condition individuals with and without cognitive complaints

One of the most prevalent symptoms of post-COVID condition is cognitive impairment, which results in a significant degree of disability and low quality of life. In studies with large sample sizes, attention, memory, and executive function were reported as long-term cognitive symptoms. This study aims to describe cognitive dysfunction in large post-COVID condition individuals, compare objective neuropsychological performance in those post-COVID condition individuals with and without cognitive complaints, and identify short cognitive exams that can differentiate individuals with post-COVID symptoms from controls. To address these aims, the Nautilus project was started in June 2021. During the first year, we collected 428 participants' data, including 319 post-COVID and 109 healthy controls (18-65 years old) from those who underwent a comprehensive neuropsychological battery for cognitive assessment. Scores on tests assessing global cognition, learning and long-term memory, processing speed, language and executive functions were significantly worse in the post-COVID condition group than in healthy controls. Montreal Cognitive Assessment, digit symbol test, and phonetic verbal fluency were significant in the binomial logistic regression model and could effectively distinguish patients from controls with good overall sensitivity and accuracy. Neuropsychological test results did not differ between those with and without cognitive complaints. Our research suggests that patients with post-COVID conditions experience significant cognitive impairment and that routine tests like the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, digit symbol, and phonetic verbal fluency test might identify cognitive impairment. Thus, the administration of these tests would be helpful for all patients with post-COVID-19 symptoms, regardless of whether cognitive complaints are present or absent

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Memòria tècnica de vegetació i reg del projecte executiu d'adeqüació de la Pça d'accès a Sant Pau

Col·laboració tècnica en els apartats de vegetació i reg amb un equip d'arquitectura que ha desenvolupat el projecte executi

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MencióPostprint (published version