Real-case application of mycorrhizal inoculums on Capsicum annuum L. var. longum cv. Szegedi and Kalocsai

The aim of this study was to test the use of commercially available arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) inoculant Symbivit, amixture of six species of Glomus spp., in spice pepper field cultivation. The inoculants containing arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF)was able to establish a symbiosis in the rhizosphere of pepper plants and mycorrhizal inoculation increased fresh and dry weights ofshoots of spice pepper cv. Szegedi and only fresh weight of Kalocsai type. There were no significant differences in the root weightsdue to treatment only in fresh weight of Kalocsai pepper type. Treated plants of both variants exhibited an increase in cumulative cropproduction compared with control non-treated plants and the growth response of pepper was higher for var. Szegedi than var. Kalocsai.Mycorrhizal inoculation had a great positive effect on external hyphal length of AMF also showing differences in that between Kalocsaiand Szegedi variants. The root colonization showed seasonality by treated and non-treated plants. The lowest degree of colonizationwas observed in June in general and colonization percent increased during vegetative development and there was a slight decrease atharvesting. In conclusion, it can be stated that inoculation with Symbivit containing mycorrhizal fungi could be an integral part of spicepepper production

Real-case application of mycorrhizal inoculums on Capsicum annuum L. var. longum cv. Szegedi and Kalocsai

The aim of this study was to test the use of commercially available arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) inoculant Symbivit, a mixture of six species of Glomus spp., in spice pepper field cultivation. The inoculants containing arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) was able to establish a symbiosis in the rhizosphere of pepper plants and mycorrhizal inoculation increased fresh and dry weights of shoots of spice pepper cv. Szegedi and only fresh weight of Kalocsai type. There were no significant differences in the root weights due to treatment only in fresh weight of Kalocsai pepper type. Treated plants of both variants exhibited an increase in cumulative crop production compared with control non-treated plants and the growth response of pepper was higher for var. Szegedi than var. Kalocsai. Mycorrhizal inoculation had a great positive effect on external hyphal length of AMF also showing differences in that between Kalocsai and Szegedi variants. The root colonization showed seasonality by treated and non-treated plants. The lowest degree of colonization was observed in June in general and colonization percent increased during vegetative development and there was a slight decrease at harvesting. In conclusion, it can be stated that inoculation with Symbivit containing mycorrhizal fungi could be an integral part of spice pepper production

Short GSM mobile phone exposure does not alter human auditory brainstem response

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There are about 1.6 billion GSM cellular phones in use throughout the world today. Numerous papers have reported various biological effects in humans exposed to electromagnetic fields emitted by mobile phones. The aim of the present study was to advance our understanding of potential adverse effects of the GSM mobile phones on the human hearing system.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) was recorded with three non-polarizing Ag-AgCl scalp electrodes in thirty young and healthy volunteers (age 18–26 years) with normal hearing. ABR data were collected before, and immediately after a 10 minute exposure to 900 MHz pulsed electromagnetic field (EMF) emitted by a commercial Nokia 6310 mobile phone. Fifteen subjects were exposed to genuine EMF and fifteen to sham EMF in a double blind and counterbalanced order. Possible effects of irradiation was analyzed by comparing the latency of ABR waves I, III and V before and after genuine/sham EMF exposure.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Paired sample t-test was conducted for statistical analysis. Results revealed no significant differences in the latency of ABR waves I, III and V before and after 10 minutes of genuine/sham EMF exposure.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The present results suggest that, in our experimental conditions, a single 10 minute exposure of 900 MHz EMF emitted by a commercial mobile phone does not produce measurable immediate effects in the latency of auditory brainstem waves I, III and V.</p

Structural and Functional Hierarchy in Photosynthetic Energy Conversion—from Molecules to Nanostructures

Basic principles of structural and functional requirements of photosynthetic energy conversion in hierarchically organized machineries are reviewed. Blueprints of photosynthesis, the energetic basis of virtually all life on Earth, can serve the basis for constructing artificial light energy-converting molecular devices. In photosynthetic organisms, the conversion of light energy into chemical energy takes places in highly organized fine-tunable systems with structural and functional hierarchy. The incident photons are absorbed by light-harvesting complexes, which funnel the excitation energy into reaction centre (RC) protein complexes containing redox-active chlorophyll molecules; the primary charge separations in the RCs are followed by vectorial transport of charges (electrons and protons) in the photosynthetic membrane. RCs possess properties that make their use in solar energy-converting and integrated optoelectronic systems feasible. Therefore, there is a large interest in many laboratories and in the industry toward their use in molecular devices. RCs have been bound to different carrier matrices, with their photophysical and photochemical activities largely retained in the nano-systems and with electronic connection to conducting surfaces. We show examples of RCs bound to carbon-based materials (functionalized and non-functionalized single- and multiwalled carbon nanotubes), transitional metal oxides (ITO) and conducting polymers and porous silicon and characterize their photochemical activities. Recently, we adapted several physical and chemical methods for binding RCs to different nanomaterials. It is generally found that the P(+)(Q(A)Q(B))(−) charge pair, which is formed after single saturating light excitation is stabilized after the attachment of the RCs to the nanostructures, which is followed by slow reorganization of the protein structure. Measuring the electric conductivity in a direct contact mode or in electrochemical cell indicates that there is an electronic interaction between the protein and the inorganic carrier matrices. This can be a basis of sensing element of bio-hybrid device for biosensor and/or optoelectronic applications

Separation of electrophysiologically distinct neuronal populations in the rat hippocampus for neuropharmacological testing under in vivo conditions

Microiontophoresis combined with extracellular spike recording is an excellent method for investigating local neuropharmacological effects under in vivo conditions. However, its application has recently become relatively rare in neuroscience research. Now, we aimed to revisit microiontophoresis and demonstrate that it provides valuable data about the pharmacophysiology of neurons and local neuronal networks, in vivo. Extracellular recordings were performed through the central recording channel of multibarrel carbon-fiber microelectrodes in the CA1 pyramidal layer of the hippocampus of anesthetized rats, while N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) was locally administrated by means of microiontophoresis through the surrounding micropipettes of the microelectrode. Various separation procedures were used to distinguish putative pyramidal cells and interneurons. Quality of separation was verified by electrophysiological parameters. After the delivery of NMDA in the vicinity of the examined neurons, firing rate of putative pyramidal cells was increased with a significantly higher grade then that of putative interneurons. The present results in line with previous data indicate that pyramidal cells are more responsive to pharmacological manipulation through NMDA receptors, also confirming the reliability of the separation of different types of neurons in in vivo microiontophoretic experiments

Automatic detection of trustworthiness of the face: A visual mismatch negativity study

Recognizing intentions of strangers from facial cues is crucial in everyday social interactions. Recent studies demonstrated enhanced event-related potential (ERP) responses to untrustworthy compared to trustworthy faces. The aim of the present study was to investigate the electrophysiological correlates of automatic processing of trustworthiness cues in a visual oddball paradigm in two consecutive experimental blocks. In one block, frequent trustworthy (p = 0.9) and rare untrustworthy face stimuli (p = 0.1) were briefly presented on a computer screen with each stimulus consisting of four peripherally positioned faces. In the other block stimuli were presented with reversed probabilities enabling the comparison of ERPs evoked by physically identical deviant and standard stimuli. To avoid attentional effects participants engaged in a central detection task. Analyses of deviant minus standard difference waveforms revealed that deviant untrustworthy but not trustworthy faces elicited the visual mismatch negativity (vMMN) component. The present results indicate that adaptation occurred to repeated unattended trustworthy (but not untrustworthy) faces, i.e., an automatic expectation was elicited towards trustworthiness signals, which was violated by deviant untrustworthy faces. As an evolutionary adaptive mechanism, the observed fast detection of trustworthiness-related social facial cues may serve as the basis of conscious recognition of reliable partners

Automatic detection of trustworthiness of the face: A visual mismatch negativity study

Recognizing intentions of strangers from facial cues is crucial in everyday social interactions. Recent studies demonstrated enhanced event-related potential (ERP) responses to untrustworthy compared to trustworthy faces. The aim of the present study was to investigate the electrophysiological correlates of automatic processing of trustworthiness cues in a visual oddball paradigm in two consecutive experimental blocks. In one block, frequent trustworthy (p = 0.9) and rare untrustworthy face stimuli (p = 0.1) were briefly presented on a computer screen with each stimulus consisting of four peripherally positioned faces. In the other block stimuli were presented with reversed probabilities enabling the comparison of ERPs evoked by physically identical deviant and standard stimuli. To avoid attentional effects participants engaged in a central detection task. Analyses of deviant minus standard difference waveforms revealed that deviant untrustworthy but not trustworthy faces elicited the visual mismatch negativity (vMMN) component. The present results indicate that adaptation occurred to repeated unattended trustworthy (but not untrustworthy) faces, i.e., an automatic expectation was elicited towards trustworthiness signals, which was violated by deviant untrustworthy faces. As an evolutionary adaptive mechanism, the observed fast detection of trustworthiness-related social facial cues may serve as the basis of conscious recognition of reliable partners