Growth, water relations and ion accumulation in Phlomis purpurea plants under water deficit and salinity

The effect of different levels of water deficit and salinity on physiological and morphological alterations in Phlomis purpurea plants was studied to evaluate their adaptability to such conditions. P. purpurea plants growing under greenhouse conditions were subjected to four irrigation treatments between November and May 2008: control (C, 1 dS m-1), moderate water deficit (MWD, 1dS m-1, 60% of the control), severe water deficit (SWD, 1 dS m-1, 40% of the control) and saline (S, 4 dS m-1). Aerial dry weight decreased with salinity, response that was more marked in the water deficit treatments, especially SWD. Stem diameter and leaf number were similarly reduced in both water deficit treatments, while leaf area also decreased in saline treated plants. Throughout the experiment, plant height was similar in both control and saline treated plants and was inhibited 10 weeks after application of the deficit irrigation onwards. Only at the end of the experiment were there significant differences in plant height between all treatments. Plants irrigated with saline water had higher Na+ concentrations in their leaves than in their roots and shoots, while Cl- concentrations were similar in leaves and roots, suggesting some resistance to the movement of the latter ions from root to shoots. The accumulation of salt in the leaves was associated with osmotic adjustment, which maintained midday leaf turgor in saline treated plants. However, no osmotic adjustment was observed in plants submitted to water stress. The results indicate that the effect of osmotic stress due to water deficit was more severe than the toxic effect of salt.This work was supported by the projects: CICYT (AGL 2008-05258-C02-1-2), CDTI (IDI-20070868) and Convenio de la Consejería de Agricultura y Agua de la Región de Murcia-UPCT-CEBAS, 2008.Peer Reviewe

Growth, Evapotranspiration and Mineral Content of Gerbera Under Combined Salinity and Excess Boron

Gerbera is a very important plant widely grown for cut flowers. To check the influence of salinity and boron excess in nutrient solution, nine treatments as factorial combination of three sodium chloride (NaCl) (1, 15 and 30 mM) and three boron (B) (0.1, 1 and 2 mM) concentrations in the nutrient solution were applied during the gerbera cultivation. The effects of experimental treatments on gerbera growth, flowering and the interaction in morphological and nutritional aspects were tested. The formation of leaves, stems and flowers, flower dry mass and evapotranspiration (ET) were more negatively affected when plants were irrigated with 2 mM B than with 0.1 mM B concentration. High levels of boron (1 and 2 Mm) in nutrient solution resulted in leaf chlorosis and necrosis. The severity of leaf burn was correlated with leaf B content. Salinity acted as a protector against boron content in leaves and flowers at 1 Mm B. However, at the 2 Mm B in nutrient solution, leaf B accumulation was not reduced by the presence of NaCl but also increased with the increased levels of salinity. The external levels of boron used in this study, which were found to be the highest in the literature, and the high sensitivity of gerbera to boron, suggested that boron acted as the dominant factor. Lower external boron concentrations would be needed to establish to what extent salinity would be able to mitigate the negative effects of boron

Growth, Evapotranspiration and Mineral Content of Gerbera Under Combined Salinity and Excess Boron

AbstractGerbera is a very important plant widely grown for cut flowers. To check the influence of salinity and boron excess in nutrient solution, nine treatments as factorial combination of three sodium chloride (NaCl) (1, 15 and 30 mM) and three boron (B) (0.1, 1 and 2 mM) concentrations in the nutrient solution were applied during the gerbera cultivation. The effects of experimental treatments on gerbera growth, flowering and the interaction in morphological and nutritional aspects were tested. The formation of leaves, stems and flowers, flower dry mass and evapotranspiration (ET) were more negatively affected when plants were irrigated with 2 mM B than with 0.1 mM B concentration. High levels of boron (1 and 2 Mm) in nutrient solution resulted in leaf chlorosis and necrosis. The severity of leaf burn was correlated with leaf B content. Salinity acted as a protector against boron content in leaves and flowers at 1 Mm B. However, at the 2 Mm B in nutrient solution, leaf B accumulation was not reduced by the presence of NaCl but also increased with the increased levels of salinity. The external levels of boron used in this study, which were found to be the highest in the literature, and the high sensitivity of gerbera to boron, suggested that boron acted as the dominant factor. Lower external boron concentrations would be needed to establish to what extent salinity would be able to mitigate the negative effects of boron

Detecting security attacks in cyber-physical systems: a comparison of Mule and WSO2 intelligent IoT architectures

The Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm keeps growing, and many different IoT devices, such as smartphones and smart appliances, are extensively used in smart industries and smart cities. The benefits of this paradigm are obvious, but these IoT environments have brought with them new challenges, such as detecting and combating cybersecurity attacks against cyber-physical systems. This paper addresses the real-time detection of security attacks in these IoT systems through the combined used of Machine Learning (ML) techniques and Complex Event Processing (CEP). In this regard, in the past we proposed an intelligent architecture that integrates ML with CEP, and which permits the definition of event patterns for the real-time detection of not only specific IoT security attacks, but also novel attacks that have not previously been defined. Our current concern, and the main objective of this paper, is to ensure that the architecture is not necessarily linked to specific vendor technologies and that it can be implemented with other vendor technologies while maintaining its correct functionality. We also set out to evaluate and compare the performance and benefits of alternative implementations. This is why the proposed architecture has been implemented by using technologies from different vendors: firstly, the Mule Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) together with the Esper CEP engine; and secondly, the WSO2 ESB with the Siddhi CEP engine. Both implementations have been tested in terms of performance and stress, and they are compared and discussed in this paper. The results obtained demonstrate that both implementations are suitable and effective, but also that there are notable differences between them: the Mule-based architecture is faster when the architecture makes use of two message broker topics and compares different types of events, while the WSO2-based one is faster when there is a single topic and one event type, and the system has a heavy workload.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and the European Union FEDER Funds [grant numbers FPU 17/02007, RTI2018-093608-B-C33, RTI2018-098156-B-C52 and RED2018-102654-T] . This work was also supported by the JCCM [grant number SB-PLY/17/180501/000353] and the Research Plan from the University of Cadiz and Grupo Energetico de Puerto Real S.A. under project GANGES [grant number IRTP03' UCA] . The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Physiological mechanisms involved in the recovery of euonymus and laurustinus subjected to saline waters

The scarcity of water has frequently led to saline water being reused for the irrigation of ornamental shrubs. However, before the use of such waters can be expanded, the salt tolerance and other characteristics of the ornamentals involved, need to be considered along with their capacity to recover after salinity exposure. For this reason, Euonymus japonica (euonymus) and Viburnum tinus (laurustinus) plants were submitted for twenty weeks to three irrigation treatments applied at 100% water holding capacity: Control (EC<0.9dSm-1); NaCl solution, NaCl (EC: 4dSm-1); and wastewater, WW (EC: 4dSm-1). This was followed by a recovery period of eight weeks, when all the plants were watered in the control irrigation conditions. The results showed that biomass, leaf number and total leaf area of plants subjected to the saline treatments were lower than in the control at the end of both periods in both species. However, after recovery, only euonymus showed lower growth parameters than those observed in the saline period. The highest Na+ and Cl- concentrations were observed in saline plants at the end of saline period for both species, and were higher in shoots than in roots. The opposite was observed for the K+/Na+ and the Ca2+/Na+ ratios. In Laurustinus, the Ψstem did not diminish in the wastewater-irrigated plants with respect to the control, maintaining osmotic adjustment and a high Ψt, even after recovery, whereas in euonymus this did not occur at the end of recovery period. In both species the Pn and gs were similarly reduced during the saline exposure period. However, the recovery of gas exchange in laurustinus irrigated with wastewater might be closely related to the better water status of these plants. Although the aesthetic value and growth decreased in the plants of both species, the chemical properties of the waters applied had different effects in each case, especially as regards the capacity to recover from salinity. These results underline the importance to studying the physiological mechanisms involved in the recovery of plants. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.This work was supported by the projects: CICYT (AGL 2008-05258-CO2-1-2-AGR and AGL 2011-30022-CO2-01-02) and Fundación Séneca (15356/PI/10).Peer Reviewe

Protective effects of arbuscular mycorrhizae on laurustinus plants irrigated with treated wastewater under field conditions

The combined effect of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and two kinds of reclaimed water was evaluated on the physiological behavior, leaf nutrition and aesthetic value of laurustinus plants. AMF satisfactorily colonized the laurustinus roots, enhanced the structure of soil, increased beneficial nutrients and decreased toxic ions in leaves, stimulated flowering and enhanced the water status of the plants irrigated with reclaimed water. AMF not only ameliorated the negative effects of reclaimed water with high salinity, but also had a positive effect in well watered plants.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (AGL 2011‐30022‐C02‐ 01‐02) and Fundación Séneca (15356/PI/10)

A Zebrafish Model of Neurotoxicity by Binge-Like Methamphetamine Exposure

Hyperthermia is a common confounding factor for assessing the neurotoxic effects of methamphetamine (METH) in mammalian models. The development of new models of methamphetamine neurotoxicity using vertebrate poikilothermic animals should allow to overcome this problem. The aim of the present study was to develop a zebrafish model of neurotoxicity by binge-like methamphetamine exposure. After an initial testing, zebrafish was exposed to 40 mg/L of METH for 48h, and the effects on the brain monoaminergic profile, locomotor, anxiety-like and social behaviors as well as on the expression of key genes of the catecholaminergic system were determined. A concentration- and time-dependent decrease in the brain levels of dopamine (DA), norepinephrine (NE) and serotonin (5-HT) was found in METH-exposed fish. A significant hyperactivity was found during the first hour of exposure followed 3h after by a positive geotaxis and negative scototaxis in the novel tank and in the light/dark paradigm, respectively. Moreover, the behavioral phenotype in the treated fish was consistent with social isolation. At transcriptional level, th1 and slc18a2 (vmat2) exhibited a significant increase after 3h of exposure, whereas the expression of gfap, a marker of astroglial response to neuronal injury, was strongly increased after 48h exposure. However, no evidences of oxidative stress were found in the brain of the treated fish. Altogether, this study demonstrates the suitability of the adult zebrafish as a model of METH-induced neurotoxicity and provides more information about the biochemical and behavioral consequences of METH abuse

Bacterial antigen translocation and age as BMI-independent contributing factors on systemic inflammation in NAFLD patients

Background & Aims Low‐grade systemic inflammation is a crucial landmark in NAFLD favouring disease progression and comorbidities. We evaluated the input of circulating bacterial antigens on systemic markers of inflammation in NAFLD patients. Patients & Methods Multicenter cross‐sectional study including consecutive patients with biopsy‐proven NAFLD. Demographic, metabolic and fibrosis‐related variables were collected. Circulating bacterial antigens were quantified in blood. Toll‐like receptor SNPs were genotyped. Serum cytokine levels were evaluated. Peripheral blood mononuclear cell response to bacterial antigens was evaluated in vitro. Results Three hundred and fifteen patients from five Spanish hospitals were distributed by BMI. At least, one bacterial antigenic type was found in 66 patients with BMI 30 (77.3%) (P = .014). HOMA‐IR was significantly higher in the presence of circulating antigens among patients with BMI < 30. NASH and significant fibrosis in non‐obese patients were more frequent in the presence of at least two circulating antigenic types. Allelic frequencies of TLR variants were similar to controls and did not affect clinical or laboratory parameters. Pro‐inflammatory cytokines were significantly increased in patients with bacterial antigens, regardless of BMI. TLR gene and protein expression levels were significantly increased in PBMCs from patients with bacterial antigens. Antigen concentrations independently influenced TNF‐α and IL‐6, in both BMI subgroups of patients. Age independently influenced TNF‐α and IL‐6 in non‐obese patients, and TNF‐α in obese patients. Conclusion Serum circulating bacterial antigens as well as age were BMI‐independent factors related to increased systemic inflammation in NAFLD and provides insight on the multifaceted sources of inflammation in these patients.This work has been funded by grants PI16/0967 and PI17/0535 from Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain, and PROMETEO 2016/001 from Generalitat Valenciana, Valencia, Spain. IGH was recipient of a Young Investigator Grant by CIBERehd, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain

Effect of different quality irrigation water on the growth, mineral concentration and physiological parameters of Viburnum tinus plants

Treated wastewater may be considered an alternative source of water and fertilizer nutrients for landscape plants. However, NaCl, the principal compound in this water, can be detrimental to plants. Viburnum tinus plants were submitted for 4 months to 4 irrigation treatments with water from different sources: control (Control) (EC < 0.9 dS m-1); NaCl solution (NaCl) (EC = 4 dS m-1); irrigation water normally used in the area (IW) (EC = 1.2-1.8 dS m-1) and reclaimed water (RW) (EC = 4 dS m-1). During a recovery period of two months, all the plants were irrigated with the control water. The results showed that biomass was affected in NaCl, IW and RW treatments, both leaf area and height decreased at the end of saline period. These changes were more pronounced in the NaCl treatment, which also caused a decrease in stem diameter and root/shoot ratio. The similar growth alterations founded after the recovery period showed that salts continued to be present in the substrate. Compared with the control, NaCl and RW plants showed a greater rate of Na+ and Cl- absorption by roots. Stem water potential was mainly affected by the NaCl treatment in the last weeks of the saline period. Through the experiment, the stomatal conductance and photosynthesis values were the lowest in plants that received the highest amount of salts, especially NaCl treatment which was the only treatment that did not recover at the end of experiment. Plants of the IW treatment showed slight changes in stomatal conductance and photosynthetic rate with respect to the control, although the reduction in the growth and size of these plants suggests that slight increases in EC could be very toxic for this species. Hence, using different sources of water with similar EC, (NaCl and RW) it is important to know the exact composition, since the toxic effects produced by high concentrations of Na+ and Cl- might be offset by the effect of other ions like magnesium, potassium and phosphorus. In the physicochemical analysis of water, the highest concentrations of these ions were observed in RW and as consequence, their concentrations in plants were not reduced by the Na+ and Cl- effect, phosphorus even increased, improving the plant nutritional balance.This work was supported by the projects: CICYT (AGL 2008- 05258-CO2-1-2- AGR and AGL 2011-30022-CO2-01-02), Fundación Séneca (15356/PI/10) and Vías y Construcción, S. A. (CDTI IDI-20101191).Peer Reviewe

Repeated administration of N-ethyl-pentedrone induces increased aggression and impairs social exploration after withdrawal in mice

N-ethyl-pentedrone (NEPD, 2-(ethylamino)-1-phenyl-1-pentanone) is one of the latest synthetic cathinone derivatives that emerged into the illicit drug market. This drug has psychostimulant properties and has been related with several intoxications and even fatalities. However, information about the consequences of its acute and repeated consumption is lacking. Thus, the aim of our study was to investigate the behavioral effects after both acute and repeated NEPD exposure as well as the neurochemical changes. Male OF1 mice were treated with an acute dose (1, 3 or 10 mg/kg, i.p.) or received repeated injections of these doses (twice/day, 5 days) of NEPD. Shortly after drug-exposure or during drug-withdrawal, anxiety-like behavior, aggressiveness, social interaction, depressive-like symptoms, body weight and temperature were assessed. Also, monoamine synthesis enzymes, levels of neurotransmitters and their precursors and main metabolites, as well as ΔFosB, were determined in striatum and prefrontal cortex from post-mortem tissue. Acute administration of NEPD induced anxiolytic effects and reduced social exploration whereas during withdrawal after repeated administration the anxiolytic effect had vanished, and the reduced social exploration was still present and accompanied with increased aggressive behavior. Moreover, NEPD (10 mg/kg) induced slight hyperthermia and reduced weight gain during the repeated administration, whereas increased locomotor activity and lack of depressive symptoms were found during withdrawal. This was accompanied by increased plasma corticosterone and decrease in striatal dopamine. Finally, the long-lasting and robust increase in ΔFosB levels found in striatum after NEPD chronic exposure suggests a high risk of dependence. The increased aggressivity and locomotor activity, together with this potential of inducing dependence justify a warning about the risks of consumption of NEPD if translated to humans. Keywords: Addiction; Aggressive behavior; Monoamine levels; N-ethyl-pentedrone; Synthetic cathinones