The Effect of Pseudomonas fluorescens and Pseudomonas putida on Some Soil Biological Properties and Plant Growth Indices of Wheat under Salt Stress

In order to study the effect of Pseudomonas fluorescens and P. putida on some soil biological properties and growth indices of wheat under salt stress and some of soil chemical and biological indices, a factorial experiment based on completely randomized design with three replications was conducted. The factors were salinity at four levels, control, 6, 8 and 10 dS/m, and inoculation with plant growth promoting rhizobacteria at three level, including no-inoculation, inoculation with Pseudomonas putida and inoculation with Pseudomonas fluorescens. The results showed that soil salinity significantly decreased plant yield parameters such as root volume, root fresh and dry weight, shoot fresh and dry weight, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll and also the inoculation with Pseudomonas bacteria significantly increased these indices. Also, there was a significant difference between two Pseudomonas strains, however in general it was not possible to precisely compare two bacteria. On the other hand, the results showed that with increasing the salinity level, factors of soil biological properties such as microbial biomass carbon, basal respiration and substrate-induced respiration reduced and the use of bacteria has increased these traits. Regarding the soil biological indices that increased with the inoculation, it can be concluded that the inoculation indirectly increased soil biological indices by affecting plant growth and yield. Therefore, in the saline conditions plant growth promoting rhizobacteria could be used to directly increase plant growth and yield by plant promoting mechanisms and indirectly increase soil fertility condition and plant nutrition by increasing soil biological indices

Investigating the effect of vocational education and training on rural women’s empowerment

peer reviewedThis research is an attempt to identify the most important dimensions of vocational education and training (VET) on empowering rural women, a topic that has received less attention. The present study is a quantitative, non-experimental, applied, survey research, whose statistical population includes rural women and girls who participated in VET classes. The research tool was a researcher-designed questionnaire. The reliability and validity of the research tool using a pilot test and calculating Cronbach’s alpha, AVE, and CR coefficients were shown to indicate the high capability of the research tool to collect data. The results showed that among the four dimensions of VET, the role of content and educator was more than other dimensions and these dimensions of training had improved the economic empowerment of rural women, which was often at the lowest level. The conceptual framework presented can be used as a guide to achieving sustainable development goals of the millennium; and should be considered at the national and international levels. The paper makes an impact on the growing body of knowledge by emphasizing on more important dimensions of education; which can be effective for the empowerment of women, especially in the economic dimension. In the existing studies on empowering rural women, none of them examined the effect of all different components of education on women’s overall empowerment, which are among the innovations of the present study and should be considered in future planning

Systemic ablation of Camkk2 impairs metastatic colonization and improves insulin sensitivity in TRAMP mice : Evidence for cancer cell-extrinsic CAMKK2 functions in prostate cancer

Despite early studies linking calcium-calmodulin protein kinase kinase 2 (CAMKK2) to prostate cancer cell migration and invasion, the role of CAMKK2 in metastasis in vivo remains unclear. Moreover, while CAMKK2 is known to regulate systemic metabolism, whether CAMKK2’s effects on whole-body metabolism would impact prostate cancer progression and/or related comorbidities is not known. Here, we demonstrate that germline ablation of Camkk2 slows, but does not stop, primary prostate tumorigenesis in the TRansgenic Adenocarcinoma Mouse Prostate (TRAMP) genetic mouse model. Consistent with prior epidemiological reports supporting a link between obesity and prostate cancer aggressiveness, TRAMP mice fed a high-fat diet exhibited a pronounced increase in the colonization of lung metastases. We demonstrated that this effect on the metastatic spread was dependent on CAMKK2. Notably, diet-induced lung metastases exhibited a highly aggressive neuroendocrine phenotype. Concurrently, Camkk2 deletion improved insulin sensitivity in the same mice. Histological analyses revealed that cancer cells were smaller in the TRAMP;Camkk2−/− mice compared to TRAMP;Camkk2+/+ controls. Given the differences in circulating insulin levels, a known regulator of cell growth, we hypothesized that systemic CAMKK2 could promote prostate cancer cell growth and disease progression in part through cancer cell-extrinsic mechanisms. Accordingly, host deletion of Camkk2 impaired the growth of syngeneic murine prostate tumors in vivo, confirming nonautonomous roles for CAMKK2 in prostate cancer. Cancer cell size and mTOR signaling was diminished in tumors propagated in Camkk2-null mice. Together, these data indicate that, in addition to cancer cell-intrinsic roles, CAMKK2 mediates prostate cancer progression via tumor-extrinsic mechanisms. Further, we propose that CAMKK2 inhibition may also help combat common metabolic comorbidities in men with advanced prostate cancer

Hypoxia as a therapy for mitochondrial disease

Defects in the mitochondrial respiratory chain (RC) underlie a spectrum of human conditions, ranging from devastating inborn errors of metabolism to aging. We performed a genome-wide Cas9-mediated screen to identify factors that are protective during RC inhibition. Our results highlight the hypoxia response, an endogenous program evolved to adapt to limited oxygen availability. Genetic or small-molecule activation of the hypoxia response is protective against mitochondrial toxicity in cultured cells and zebrafish models. Chronic hypoxia leads to a marked improvement in survival, body weight, body temperature, behavior, neuropathology, and disease biomarkers in a genetic mouse model of Leigh syndrome, the most common pediatric manifestation of mitochondrial disease. Further preclinical studies are required to assess whether hypoxic exposure can be developed into a safe and effective treatment for human diseases associated with mitochondrial dysfunction.National Institute of Mental Health (U.S.) (Grant 5DP1-MH100706)National Institute of Mental Health (U.S.) (Grant 1R01-MH110049)National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke (U.S.) (Grant 5R01DK097768-03

Inter-Center Collaboration at the ICRISAT Sahelian Center

Sustainable agriculture to feed the growing populations in West Africa has become an issue of major concern. Improved management of natural resources is necessary to effect long-term gains in productivity. This requires the adoption of more integrated approaches to agricultural production that consider the coexistence and dependence of man, trees, crops, and livestock. Various aspects of the strategic, applied, and adaptive research of six international agricultural research centers (IARCs) and the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC) at the ICRISAT Sahelian Center (ISC) in Niger that aim to improve the productivity of the millet-based cropping systems are described. ICRISAT coordinates this ecoregional activity in effective partnership with the appropriate national agricultural research systems (NARS) established through network mechanisms already operational within each IARC. Results of the past decade's cooperative activities are presented

Assessment of fractal dimension and geometrical characteristics of the landslides identified in North of Tehran, Iran

The aim of the presented study is to assess the fractal dimension (D) and the geometrical characteristics (length and width) of the landslides identified in North of Tehran, Iran. At first, the landslide locations (528 landslides) were identified by interpretation of aerial photographs, satellite images and field surveys, and then to calculate the fractal dimension (D), we used the computer programming named as FRACEK. In the next step, geometrical characteristics of each landslide such as length (L) and width (W) were calculated by ArcGIS software. The landslide polygons were digitized from the mentioned landslide inventory map and rotated based on movement direction. The fractal dimension for all landslides varied between 1.665 and 1.968. Subsequently, the relationship between the length/width ratios and theirs fractal D values for 528 landslides was calculated. The results showed that correlation coefficients (R), which are different regression models such as exponential, linear, logarithmic, polynomial, and power, between D and L/W ratio are relatively high, respectively (0.75, 0.75, 0.76, 0.78, and 0.75). It can be concluded that the fractal dimension values and geometry characteristics of landslides would be useful indices for the management of hazardous areas, susceptible slopes, land use planning, and landslide hazard mitigation

Transient Sperm Starvation Improves the Outcome of Assisted Reproductive Technologies

To become fertile, mammalian sperm must undergo a series of biochemical and physiological changes known as capacitation. These changes involve crosstalk between metabolic and signaling pathways and can be recapitulated in vitro. In this work, sperm were incubated in the absence of exogenous nutrients (starved) until they were no longer able to move. Once immotile, energy substrates were added back to the media and sperm motility was rescued. Following rescue, a significantly higher percentage of starved sperm attained hyperactivated motility and displayed increased ability to fertilize in vitro when compared with sperm persistently incubated in standard capacitation media. Remarkably, the effects of this treatment continue beyond fertilization as starved and rescued sperm promoted higher rates of embryo development, and once transferred to pseudo-pregnant females, blastocysts derived from treated sperm produced significantly more pups. In addition, the starvation and rescue protocol increased fertilization and embryo development rates in sperm from a severely subfertile mouse model, and when combined with temporal increase in Ca2+ ion levels, this methodology significantly improved fertilization and embryo development rates in sperm of sterile CatSper1 KO mice model. Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) does not work in the agriculturally relevant bovine system. Here, we show that transient nutrient starvation of bovine sperm significantly enhanced ICSI success in this species. These data reveal that the conditions under which sperm are treated impact postfertilization development and suggest that this “starvation and rescue method” can be used to improve assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) in other mammalian species, including humans.Fil: Navarrete, Felipe A.. University of Massachussets; Estados UnidosFil: Aguila, Luis. University of Massachussets; Estados UnidosFil: Martin Hidalgo, David. University of Massachussets; Estados Unidos. Universidad de Extremadura ; EspañaFil: Tourzani, Darya A.. University of Massachussets; Estados UnidosFil: Luque, Guillermina Maria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Fundación de Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Ardestani, Goli. University of Massachussets; Estados UnidosFil: Garcia Vazquez, Francisco A.. Universidad de Murcia; EspañaFil: Levin, Lonny R.. Cornell University; Estados UnidosFil: Buck, Jochen. Cornell University; Estados UnidosFil: Darszon, Alberto. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Instituto de Biología; MéxicoFil: Buffone, Mariano Gabriel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Fundación de Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Mager, Jesse. University of Massachussets; Estados UnidosFil: Fissore, Rafael A.. University of Massachussets; Estados UnidosFil: Salicioni, Ana M.. University of Massachussets; Estados UnidosFil: Gervasi, María G.. University of Massachussets; Estados UnidosFil: Visconti, Pablo E.. University of Massachussets; Estados Unido

Municipal solid waste management under Covid-19: Challenges and recommendations

Covid-19 is proving to be an unprecedented disaster for human health, social contacts and the economy worldwide. It is evident that SARS-CoV-2 may spread through municipal solid waste (MSW), if collected, bagged, handled, transported or disposed of inappropriately. Under the stress placed by the current pandemic on the sanitary performance across all MSW management (MSWM) chains, this industry needs to re-examine its infrastructure resilience with respect to all processes, from waste identification, classification, collection, separation, storage, transportation, recycling, treatment and disposal. The current paper provides an overview of the severe challenges placed by Covid-19 onto MSW systems, highlighting the essential role of waste management in public health protection during the ongoing pandemic. It also discusses the measures issued by various international organisations and countries for the protection of MSWM employees (MSWEs), identifying gaps, especially for developing countries, where personal protection equipment and clear guidelines to MSWEs may not have been provided, and the general public may not be well informed. In countries with high recycling rates of MSW, the need to protect MSWEs' health has affected the supply stream of the recycling industry. The article concludes with recommendations for the MSW industry operating under public health crisis conditions