Modelling diverse root density dynamics and deep nitrogen uptake — a simple approach

We present a 2-D model for simulation of root density and plant nitrogen (N) uptake for crops grown in agricultural systems, based on a modification of the root density equation originally proposed by Gerwitz and Page in J Appl Ecol 11:773–781, (1974). A root system form parameter was introduced to describe the distribution of root length vertically and horizontally in the soil profile. The form parameter can vary from 0 where root density is evenly distributed through the soil profile, to 8 where practically all roots are found near the surface. The root model has other components describing root features, such as specific root length and plant N uptake kinetics. The same approach is used to distribute root length horizontally, allowing simulation of root growth and plant N uptake in row crops. The rooting depth penetration rate and depth distribution of root density were found to be the most important parameters controlling crop N uptake from deeper soil layers. The validity of the root distribution model was tested with field data for white cabbage, red beet, and leek. The model was able to simulate very different root distributions, but it was not able to simulate increasing root density with depth as seen in the experimental results for white cabbage. The model was able to simulate N depletion in different soil layers in two field studies. One included vegetable crops with very different rooting depths and the other compared effects of spring wheat and winter wheat. In both experiments variation in spring soil N availability and depth distribution was varied by the use of cover crops. This shows the model sensitivity to the form parameter value and the ability of the model to reproduce N depletion in soil layers. This work shows that the relatively simple root model developed, driven by degree days and simulated crop growth, can be used to simulate crop soil N uptake and depletion appropriately in low N input crop production systems, with a requirement of few measured parameters

The metastasis associated protein S100A4: role in tumour progression and metastasis

The metastasis associated protein S100A4 is a small calcium binding protein that is associated with metastatic tumors and appears to be a molecular marker for clinical prognosis. Below we discuss its biochemical properties and possible cellular functions in metastasis including cell motility, invasion, apoptosis, angiogenesis and differentiation

ps1 17 lupus nephritis severely reduced urinary dnase i levels reflect loss of renal dnase i disease progression and may reduce the need for renal biopsies

Loss of renal DNase I leads to progression of lupus nephritis. Therefore, we determined if loss of renal DNase I reflects a concurrent loss of urinary DNase I, and whether absence of urinary DNase I predicts disease progression, which thus may reduce the need for renal biopsies. Here, mouse renal DNase I mRNA was determined by qPCR, whereas mouse and human DNase I protein and DNase I endonuclease activity levels were determined by Western blots, and gel and radial zymography assays, respectively, during different stages of the murine and human forms of the disease. Cellular localization of DNase I was analysed by immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, confocal microscopy and immune electron microscopy. We further compared DNase I levels in human native and transplanted kidneys to determine if the disease depended on autologous renal genes, or whether the nephritic process proceeded also in transplanted kidneys. We also analysed if DNase I levels in urine samples reflected expression levels in the kidneys, and if the mouse data were translatable to humans. The data indicates that silencing of the renal DNase I gene expression level relates to serious progression of lupus nephritis in murine, human native, and transplanted kidneys. Notably, silencing of renal DNase I correlates with loss of DNase I protein and endonuclease activity in the urine samples. Thus, urinary DNase I levels reflects the renal DNase I expression and activity levels, and may therefore be used as a marker of lupus nephritis disease progression and reduce the need for renal biopsies

Understanding psychiatric institutionalization: a conceptual review

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

Coping Mediates the Association Between Type D Personality and Perceived Health in Chinese Patients with Coronary Heart Disease

Background: Increasing evidence show that Type D personality is a risk factor for morbidity, mortality, and quality of life of patients with coronary vascular disease. Few studies examined coping as a potential behavioral mechanism to explain the harmful effect of Type D personality. Purpose: This study examined the association between Type D personality, coping, and perceived health among Chinese patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). Methods: One hundred seventeen CHD patients completed the assessments on Type D personality, coping, perceived severity of CHD, and morale. Results: There was no difference on severity of coronary artery stenosis between Type D and non-Type D patients. Compared to the non-Type D patients, the Type D patients perceived higher severity of CHD (5.31±2.41 versus 4.45±2.17, p<0.05) and lower morale (12.67±4.71 versus 15.00±4.43, p<0.05), and used less confrontation (16.90±5.39 versus 20.88±4.95, p<0.001) and more acceptance-resignation coping (10.16±3.50 versus 8.35±3.48, p<0.05). Mediation analyses showed that confrontation coping mediated the association between Type D personality and perceived severity of disease, and acceptance-resignation coping mediated the association between Type D personality and morale after controlling for age, gender, and clinical variables. Conclusion: The Type D patients used maladaptive coping in response to disease. These coping strategies fully mediated the association between Type D personality and perceived health. Implications for integrating coping training into the intervention for patients with a Type D personality are discussed. © 2010 The Author(s).published_or_final_versionSpringer Open Choice, 21 Feb 201

Immunological analysis of a Lactococcus lactis-based DNA vaccine expressing HIV gp120

For reasons of efficiency Escherichia coli is used today as the microbial factory for production of plasmid DNA vaccines. To avoid hazardous antibiotic resistance genes and endotoxins from plasmid systems used nowadays, we have developed a system based on the food-grade Lactococcus lactis and a plasmid without antibiotic resistance genes. We compared the L. lactis system to a traditional one in E. coli using identical vaccine constructs encoding the gp120 of HIV-1. Transfection studies showed comparable gp120 expression levels using both vector systems. Intramuscular immunization of mice with L. lactis vectors developed comparable gp120 antibody titers as mice receiving E. coli vectors. In contrast, the induction of the cytolytic response was lower using the L. lactis vector. Inclusion of CpG motifs in the plasmids increased T-cell activation more when the E. coli rather than the L. lactis vector was used. This could be due to the different DNA content of the vector backbones. Interestingly, stimulation of splenocytes showed higher adjuvant effect of the L. lactis plasmid. The study suggests the developed L. lactis plasmid system as new alternative DNA vaccine system with improved safety features. The different immune inducing properties using similar gene expression units, but different vector backbones and production hosts give information of the adjuvant role of the silent plasmid backbone. The results also show that correlation between the in vitro adjuvanticity of plasmid DNA and its capacity to induce cellular and humoral immune responses in mice is not straight forward

Prostate involvement during sexually transmitted infections as measured by prostate-specific antigen concentration

Background:We investigated prostate involvement during sexually transmitted infections by measuring serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) as a marker of prostate infection, inflammation, and/or cell damage in young, male US military members.Methods:We measured PSA before and during infection for 299 chlamydia, 112 gonorrhoea, and 59 non-chlamydial, non-gonococcal urethritis (NCNGU) cases, and 256 controls.Results:Chlamydia and gonorrhoea, but not NCNGU, cases were more likely to have a large rise (⩾40%) in PSA than controls (33.6%, 19.1%, and 8.2% vs 8.8%, P<0.0001, 0.021, and 0.92, respectively).Conclusion:Chlamydia and gonorrhoea may infect the prostate of some infected men

Mortality among Patients with Cleared Hepatitis C Virus Infection Compared to the General Population: A Danish Nationwide Cohort Study

BACKGROUND: The increased mortality in HCV-infected individuals partly stems from viral damage to the liver and partly from risk-taking behaviours. We examined mortality in patients who cleared their HCV-infection, comparing it to that of the general population. We also addressed the question whether prognosis differed according to age, substance abuse (alcohol abuse and injection drug use) and comorbidity. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Patients with cleared HCV-infection were categorized into one of 8 groups according to age (20-39 years or 40-69 years) and patient characteristics (no substance abuse/no comorbidity; substance abuse/no comorbidity; no substance abuse/comorbidity; and substance abuse/comorbidity). For each patient, 4 age- and gender-matched individuals without substance abuse or comorbidity were selected from the general population, comprising a total of 8 comparison cohorts. We analyzed 10-year survival and used stratified Cox Regression analysis to compute mortality rate ratios (MRRs), comparing mortality between the 8 patient groups and the comparison cohorts, adjusting for personal income. Among patients without substance abuse or comorbidity, those aged 40-69 years had the same mortality as the comparison cohort (10-year survival: 95% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 93%-97%), MRR: 1.3 (95% CI: 0.8-2.3)), whereas those aged 20-39 years had higher mortality than the comparison cohort (10-year survival: 93% versus 99%, MRR: 5.7 (95% CI: 2.3-14.0). For both age categories, substance abuse and comorbidity decreased survival and increased MRRs. Patients aged 40-69 years with substance abuse and comorbidity suffered from substantial mortality (MRR: 12.5 (95% CI: 5.1-30.6)). CONCLUSIONS: Mortality in patients aged 40-69 years with cleared HCV-infection is comparable to individuals without HCV, provided they have no substance abuse or comorbidity. Any substance abuse and/or comorbidity not captured in the registries used for our study could explain the increased mortality in patients aged 20-39 years without documented substance abuse or comorbidity

Comparative in situ analyses of cell wall matrix polysaccharide dynamics in developing rice and wheat grain

Cell wall polysaccharides of wheat and rice endosperm are an important source of dietary fibre. Monoclonal antibodies specific to cell wall polysaccharides were used to determine polysaccharide dynamics during the development of both wheat and rice grain. Wheat and rice grain present near synchronous developmental processes and significantly different endosperm cell wall compositions, allowing the localisation of these polysaccharides to be related to developmental changes. Arabinoxylan (AX) and mixed-linkage glucan (MLG) have analogous cellular locations in both species, with deposition of AX and MLG coinciding with the start of grain filling. A glucuronoxylan (GUX) epitope was detected in rice, but not wheat endosperm cell walls. Callose has been reported to be associated with the formation of cell wall outgrowths during endosperm cellularisation and xyloglucan is here shown to be a component of these anticlinal extensions, occurring transiently in both species. Pectic homogalacturonan (HG) was abundant in cell walls of maternal tissues of wheat and rice grain, but only detected in endosperm cell walls of rice in an unesterified HG form. A rhamnogalacturonan-I (RG-I) backbone epitope was observed to be temporally regulated in both species, detected in endosperm cell walls from 12 DAA in rice and 20 DAA in wheat grain. Detection of the LM5 galactan epitope showed a clear distinction between wheat and rice, being detected at the earliest stages of development in rice endosperm cell walls, but not detected in wheat endosperm cell walls, only in maternal tissues. In contrast, the LM6 arabinan epitope was detected in both species around 8 DAA and was transient in wheat grain, but persisted in rice until maturity

The Professional Solution to the College Bubble

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