Response of different sowing densities on agronomic parameters in the cultivation of mejen corn in Tabasco, Mexico

ABSTRACT Objective: To evaluate the response of planting densities on agronomic parameters in native Mejen maize from the State of Tabasco, Mexico. Design/methodology/approach: A randomized complete block design with four repetitions was used, where the treatments were: T1: 0.25 m between plants and two seeds per blow (80,000 plants ha-1), T2: 0.50 m between plants and three seeds per blow. blow (60,000 plants ha-1), T3: 0.75 m between plants and four seeds per blow (53,333 plants ha-1) and (T4: 1 m between plants and five seeds per blow (50,000 plants ha-1) The variables were: height of plant without male flower (APSFM, cm), of ear (AM, cm), dry biomass of plant, bracts and rachis (ton ha-1), number of bracts, rows per ear , grain per row and grain per ear, and grain yield (GY, ton ha-1). Results: It was shown that the morphological response of the plants, ears and GY was influenced by the planting densities. The treatment of 80,000 plants ha-1 expressed a GY of 4.75 ton ha-1 higher than the regional average of 1.94 t ha-1 in traditional systems in Tabasco. Limitations on study/implications: The native maize architecture allows the use of high densities to increase productivity. Findings/conclusions: It was shown that despite obtaining a lower number of grains per ear in the treatments with greater planting distances, this is compensated by the higher number of plants per row by obtaining higher grain yields. Keywords: ear, bracts, rachis, grain yield, rows.Objective: To evaluate the response of sowing densities on agronomic parameters in the native mejen corn. Design/Methodology/Approach: A randomized complete block design with four repetitions was used for the treatments: T1 (0.25 m between plants and two seeds per hole (80,000 plants ha-1)), T2 (0.50 m between plants and three seeds per hole (60,000 plants ha-1)), T3 (0.75 m between plants and four seeds per hole (53,333 plants ha-1)), and T4 (1 m between plants and five seeds per hole (50,000 plants ha-1)). The following variables were determined: plant height without male flower (PHWMF, cm), ear size (ES, cm), plant, bracts, and rachis dry biomass (t ha-1); number of bracts, rows per ear, grain per row, grains per ear, and grain yield (GY, t ha-1). Results: Sowing densities influence the morphological response of plants, ears, and GY. The treatment with 80,000 plants ha-1 recorded a GY of 4.75 t ha-1 in traditional systems in Tabasco —greater than the regional average of 1.94 t ha-1. Study Limitations/Implications: The architecture of native corn allows an increase in productivity, as a result of the use of high densities. Findings/Conclusions: Although treatments with greater sowing distances obtained a lower number of grains per ear, this phenomenon is compensated by the greater number of plants per row that leads to higher grain yields

Procurement and characterization of cellulose nanocrystals from cassava bagasse (Manihot esculenta Crantz)

ABSTRACT Objective: Obtaining and characterizing cellulose nanocrystals from cassava bagasse. Design/methodology/approach: Cellulose nanocrystals were obtained from cassava bagasse by acid hydrolysis (HCI), ultrasonication, centrifugation, dialysis, deep freezing and lyophilization. The cassava bagasse and the cellulose nanocrystals obtained were physiochemically characterized by Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy with Coupled Elemental Analysis (SEM-EDS). As an additional technique, Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) was used. Results: The analyzes performed show that the cellulose obtained was type Iβ. This study reports a percentage of crystallinity of cassava bagasse cellulose of 37.1%, increasing the percentage to 48% of crystallinity in cellulose nanocrystals. The diameters of the cassava bagasse fibers were reported to be 2 μm and their elemental composition (SEM-EDS) mainly constituted by carbon (C), oxygen (O) and traces of (N). The morphology observed through AFM of the nanocrystals of cassava bagasse (Manihot esculenta) was rod-shaped, with a helical appearance without residual charge, with diameters between 8.7 and 9.3 nm. Limitations on study/implications: The acid hydrolysis process showed a low percentage of crystallinity, although higher than other works reported for cassava bagasse. Findings/conclusions: The results obtained show the possibility of obtaining cellulose nanocrystals from cassava bagasse ().    Objective: To procure and characterize cellulose nanocrystals from cassava bagasse. Design/methodology/approach: Cellulose nanocrystals were obtained from cassava bagasse by acid hydrolysis (HCI), ultrasonication, centrifugation, dialysis, deep freezing and lyophilization. The cassava bagasse and the cellulose nanocrystals obtained were physicochemically characterized by Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy with Coupled Elemental Analysis (SEM-EDS). As an additional technique, Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) was used. Results: The analyses performed show that the cellulose obtained was type Iβ. This study reports a percentage of crystallinity of the cassava bagasse cellulose of 37.1%, increasing the percentage to 48% crystallinity in cellulose nanocrystals. The diameters of the cassava bagasse fibers were reported to be 2 μm and their elemental composition (SEM-EDS) mainly constituted by carbon (C), oxygen (O) and traces of nitrogen (N). The morphology observed through AFM of the nanocrystals of cassava bagasse (Manihot esculenta) was rod-shaped, with helicoidal appearance without residual charge, with diameters between 8.7 and 9.3 nm. Limitations on study/implications: The acid hydrolysis process showed a low percentage of crystallinity, although higher than other works reported for cassava bagasse. Findings/conclusions: The results obtained confirm the possibility of obtaining cellulose nanocrystals from cassava bagasse (Manihot esculenta)

Dietary diversity and Depression: Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses in Spanish adult population with Metabolic Syndrome. Findings from PREDIMED-PLUS Trial.

Objective: To examine the cross-sectional and longitudinal (2-year follow-up) associations between Dietary Diversity (DD) and depressive symptoms. Design: An energy-adjusted Dietary Diversity Score (DDS) was assessed using a validated food-frequency questionnaire and was categorized into quartiles (Q). The variety in each food group was classified into 4 categories of diversity (C). Depressive symptoms were assessed with Beck Depression Inventory-II (Beck II) questionnaire and depression cases defined as physician-diagnosed or Beck II>=18. Linear and logistic regression models were used. Setting: Spanish older adults with Metabolic Syndrome. Participants: A total of 6625 adults aged (55-75 years) from the PREDIMED-Plus study with overweight or obesity and MetS. Results: Total DDS was inversely and statistically significantly associated with depression in the cross-sectional analysis conducted; Odds Ratio (OR) Q4 vs Q1= 0.76 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.64, 0.90). This was driven by high diversity compared to low diversity (C3 vs. C1) of vegetables [OR (95%CI) = 0.75 (0.57, 0.93)], cereals [OR (95%CI) = 0.72 (0.56-0.94)] and proteins [OR (95%CI) = 0.27 (0.11, 0.62)]. In the longitudinal analysis, there was no significant association between the baseline DDS and changes in depressive symptoms after 2 y- of follow-up, except for DD in vegetables C4 vs C1= [β (95%CI) = 0.70 (0.05, 1.35)]. Conclusions: According to our results, DD is associated with the presence of depressive symptoms but eating more diverse does not seem to reduce the risk of future depression. Additional longitudinal studies (with longer follow-up period) are needed to confirm these findings

Complement component C4 structural variation and quantitative traits contribute to sex-biased vulnerability in systemic sclerosis

Altres ajuts: Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER), "A way of making Europe".Copy number (CN) polymorphisms of complement C4 play distinct roles in many conditions, including immune-mediated diseases. We investigated the association of C4 CN with systemic sclerosis (SSc) risk. Imputed total C4, C4A, C4B, and HERV-K CN were analyzed in 26,633 individuals and validated in an independent cohort. Our results showed that higher C4 CN confers protection to SSc, and deviations from CN parity of C4A and C4B augmented risk. The protection contributed per copy of C4A and C4B differed by sex. Stronger protection was afforded by C4A in men and by C4B in women. C4 CN correlated well with its gene expression and serum protein levels, and less C4 was detected for both in SSc patients. Conditioned analysis suggests that C4 genetics strongly contributes to the SSc association within the major histocompatibility complex locus and highlights classical alleles and amino acid variants of HLA-DRB1 and HLA-DPB1 as C4-independent signals

Treatment with tocilizumab or corticosteroids for COVID-19 patients with hyperinflammatory state: a multicentre cohort study (SAM-COVID-19)

Objectives: The objective of this study was to estimate the association between tocilizumab or corticosteroids and the risk of intubation or death in patients with coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) with a hyperinflammatory state according to clinical and laboratory parameters. Methods: A cohort study was performed in 60 Spanish hospitals including 778 patients with COVID-19 and clinical and laboratory data indicative of a hyperinflammatory state. Treatment was mainly with tocilizumab, an intermediate-high dose of corticosteroids (IHDC), a pulse dose of corticosteroids (PDC), combination therapy, or no treatment. Primary outcome was intubation or death; follow-up was 21 days. Propensity score-adjusted estimations using Cox regression (logistic regression if needed) were calculated. Propensity scores were used as confounders, matching variables and for the inverse probability of treatment weights (IPTWs). Results: In all, 88, 117, 78 and 151 patients treated with tocilizumab, IHDC, PDC, and combination therapy, respectively, were compared with 344 untreated patients. The primary endpoint occurred in 10 (11.4%), 27 (23.1%), 12 (15.4%), 40 (25.6%) and 69 (21.1%), respectively. The IPTW-based hazard ratios (odds ratio for combination therapy) for the primary endpoint were 0.32 (95%CI 0.22-0.47; p < 0.001) for tocilizumab, 0.82 (0.71-1.30; p 0.82) for IHDC, 0.61 (0.43-0.86; p 0.006) for PDC, and 1.17 (0.86-1.58; p 0.30) for combination therapy. Other applications of the propensity score provided similar results, but were not significant for PDC. Tocilizumab was also associated with lower hazard of death alone in IPTW analysis (0.07; 0.02-0.17; p < 0.001). Conclusions: Tocilizumab might be useful in COVID-19 patients with a hyperinflammatory state and should be prioritized for randomized trials in this situatio

Mortality from gastrointestinal congenital anomalies at 264 hospitals in 74 low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries: a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study

Summary Background Congenital anomalies are the fifth leading cause of mortality in children younger than 5 years globally. Many gastrointestinal congenital anomalies are fatal without timely access to neonatal surgical care, but few studies have been done on these conditions in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared outcomes of the seven most common gastrointestinal congenital anomalies in low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries globally, and identified factors associated with mortality. Methods We did a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of patients younger than 16 years, presenting to hospital for the first time with oesophageal atresia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, intestinal atresia, gastroschisis, exomphalos, anorectal malformation, and Hirschsprung’s disease. Recruitment was of consecutive patients for a minimum of 1 month between October, 2018, and April, 2019. We collected data on patient demographics, clinical status, interventions, and outcomes using the REDCap platform. Patients were followed up for 30 days after primary intervention, or 30 days after admission if they did not receive an intervention. The primary outcome was all-cause, in-hospital mortality for all conditions combined and each condition individually, stratified by country income status. We did a complete case analysis. Findings We included 3849 patients with 3975 study conditions (560 with oesophageal atresia, 448 with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, 681 with intestinal atresia, 453 with gastroschisis, 325 with exomphalos, 991 with anorectal malformation, and 517 with Hirschsprung’s disease) from 264 hospitals (89 in high-income countries, 166 in middleincome countries, and nine in low-income countries) in 74 countries. Of the 3849 patients, 2231 (58·0%) were male. Median gestational age at birth was 38 weeks (IQR 36–39) and median bodyweight at presentation was 2·8 kg (2·3–3·3). Mortality among all patients was 37 (39·8%) of 93 in low-income countries, 583 (20·4%) of 2860 in middle-income countries, and 50 (5·6%) of 896 in high-income countries (p<0·0001 between all country income groups). Gastroschisis had the greatest difference in mortality between country income strata (nine [90·0%] of ten in lowincome countries, 97 [31·9%] of 304 in middle-income countries, and two [1·4%] of 139 in high-income countries; p≤0·0001 between all country income groups). Factors significantly associated with higher mortality for all patients combined included country income status (low-income vs high-income countries, risk ratio 2·78 [95% CI 1·88–4·11], p<0·0001; middle-income vs high-income countries, 2·11 [1·59–2·79], p<0·0001), sepsis at presentation (1·20 [1·04–1·40], p=0·016), higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score at primary intervention (ASA 4–5 vs ASA 1–2, 1·82 [1·40–2·35], p<0·0001; ASA 3 vs ASA 1–2, 1·58, [1·30–1·92], p<0·0001]), surgical safety checklist not used (1·39 [1·02–1·90], p=0·035), and ventilation or parenteral nutrition unavailable when needed (ventilation 1·96, [1·41–2·71], p=0·0001; parenteral nutrition 1·35, [1·05–1·74], p=0·018). Administration of parenteral nutrition (0·61, [0·47–0·79], p=0·0002) and use of a peripherally inserted central catheter (0·65 [0·50–0·86], p=0·0024) or percutaneous central line (0·69 [0·48–1·00], p=0·049) were associated with lower mortality. Interpretation Unacceptable differences in mortality exist for gastrointestinal congenital anomalies between lowincome, middle-income, and high-income countries. Improving access to quality neonatal surgical care in LMICs will be vital to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 of ending preventable deaths in neonates and children younger than 5 years by 2030

Bone Marrow-Derived Mononuclear Cell Transplants Decrease Retinal Gliosis in Two Animal Models of Inherited Photoreceptor Degeneration

Inherited photoreceptor degenerations are not treatable diseases and a frequent cause of blindness in working ages. In this study we investigate the safety, integration and possible rescue effects of intravitreal and subretinal transplantation of adult human bone-marrow-derived mononuclear stem cells (hBM-MSCs) in two animal models of inherited photoreceptor degeneration, the P23H-1 and the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) rat. Immunosuppression was started one day before the injection and continued through the study. The hBM-MSCs were injected in the left eyes and the animals were processed 7, 15, 30 or 60 days later. The retinas were cross-sectioned, and L- and S- cones, microglia, astrocytes and M&uuml;ller cells were immunodetected. Transplantations had no local adverse effects and the CD45+ cells remained for up to 15 days forming clusters in the vitreous and/or a 2&ndash;3-cells-thick layer in the subretinal space after intravitreal or subretinal injections, respectively. We did not observe increased photoreceptor survival nor decreased microglial cell numbers in the injected left eyes. However, the injected eyes showed decreased GFAP immunoreactivity. We conclude that intravitreal or subretinal injection of hBM-MSCs in dystrophic P23H-1 and RCS rats causes a decrease in retinal gliosis but does not have photoreceptor neuroprotective effects, at least in the short term. However, this treatment may have a potential therapeutic effect that merits further investigation

Effectiveness of Ritonavir-Boosted Protease Inhibitor Monotherapy in Clinical Practice Even with Previous Virological Failures to Protease Inhibitor-Based Regimens.

Journal Article;BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Significant controversy still exists about ritonavir-boosted protease inhibitor monotherapy (mtPI/rtv) as a simplification strategy that is used up to now to treat patients that have not experienced previous virological failure (VF) while on protease inhibitor (PI) -based regimens. We have evaluated the effectiveness of two mtPI/rtv regimens in an actual clinical practice setting, including patients that had experienced previous VF with PI-based regimens. METHODS This retrospective study analyzed 1060 HIV-infected patients with undetectable viremia that were switched to lopinavir/ritonavir or darunavir/ritonavir monotherapy. In cases in which the patient had previously experienced VF while on a PI-based regimen, the lack of major HIV protease resistance mutations to lopinavir or darunavir, respectively, was mandatory. The primary endpoint of this study was the percentage of participants with virological suppression after 96 weeks according to intention-to-treat analysis (non-complete/missing = failure). RESULTS A total of 1060 patients were analyzed, including 205 with previous VF while on PI-based regimens, 90 of whom were on complex therapies due to extensive resistance. The rates of treatment effectiveness (intention-to-treat analysis) and virological efficacy (on-treatment analysis) at week 96 were 79.3% (CI95, 76.8-81.8) and 91.5% (CI95, 89.6-93.4), respectively. No relationships were found between VF and earlier VF while on PI-based regimens, the presence of major or minor protease resistance mutations, the previous time on viral suppression, CD4+ T-cell nadir, and HCV-coinfection. Genotypic resistance tests were available in 49 out of the 74 patients with VFs and only four patients presented new major protease resistance mutations. CONCLUSION Switching to mtPI/rtv achieves sustained virological control in most patients, even in those with previous VF on PI-based regimens as long as no major resistance mutations are present for the administered drug.Ye

Baseline patients’ characteristics.

<p>Baseline patients’ characteristics.</p