Molecular diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in onion roots from organic and conventional farming systems in the Netherlands

Diversity and colonization levels of naturally occurring arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in onion roots were studied to compare organic and conventional farming systems in the Netherlands. In 2004, 20 onion fields were sampled in a balanced survey between farming systems and between two regions, namely, Zeeland and Flevoland. In 2005, nine conventional and ten organic fields were additionally surveyed in Flevoland. AMF phylotypes were identified by rDNA sequencing. All plants were colonized, with 60% for arbuscular colonization and 84% for hyphal colonization as grand means. In Zeeland, onion roots from organic fields had higher fractional colonization levels than those from conventional fields. Onion yields in conventional farming were positively correlated with colonization level. Overall, 14 AMF phylotypes were identified. The number of phylotypes per field ranged from one to six. Two phylotypes associated with the Glomus mosseae-coronatum and the G. caledonium-geosporum species complexes were the most abundant, whereas other phylotypes were infrequently found. Organic and conventional farming systems had similar number of phylotypes per field and Shannon diversity indices. A few organic and conventional fields had larger number of phylotypes, including phylotypes associated with the genera Glomus-B, Archaeospora, and Paraglomus. This suggests that farming systems as such did not influence AMF diversity, but rather specific environmental conditions or agricultural practice

Digital filter implementation over FPGA platform with LINUX OS

AbstractThe embedded processors on FPGA's are a good tool to specific propose works. In this work we present how the FPGA is used to apply a Sobel filter to a set of images, also the step needed to set-up the entire system is described. An embedded processor, with a Linux distribution implemented is used to run a special compilation of C filter program, the filter is compared with the results obtained with a PC running the same filter, in the embedded system all the process runs in the FPGA and the exit file can be accessed by ftp or http server embedded into the Linux system

Early Interfaced Neural Activity from Chronic Amputated Nerves

Direct interfacing of transected peripheral nerves with advanced robotic prosthetic devices has been proposed as a strategy for achieving natural motor control and sensory perception of such bionic substitutes, thus fully functionally replacing missing limbs in amputees. Multi-electrode arrays placed in the brain and peripheral nerves have been used successfully to convey neural control of prosthetic devices to the user. However, reactive gliosis, micro hemorrhages, axonopathy and excessive inflammation currently limit their long-term use. Here we demonstrate that enticement of peripheral nerve regeneration through a non-obstructive multi-electrode array, after either acute or chronic nerve amputation, offers a viable alternative to obtain early neural recordings and to enhance long-term interfacing of nerve activity. Non-restrictive electrode arrays placed in the path of regenerating nerve fibers allowed the recording of action potentials as early as 8 days post-implantation with high signal-to-noise ratio, as long as 3 months in some animals, and with minimal inflammation at the nerve tissue-metal electrode interface. Our findings suggest that regenerative multi-electrode arrays of open design allow early and stable interfacing of neural activity from amputated peripheral nerves and might contribute towards conveying full neural control and sensory feedback to users of robotic prosthetic devices

Local and external factors affecting the photodegradation of 4N,N \u27-dimethylamino-4 \u27 nitrostilbene polymer films

The photodegradation of the electro-optic chromophore 4N,N\u27-dimethylamino-4\u27nitrostilbene was investigated as a function of wavelength, temperature, local atmosphere, and local molecular environment, i.e., attached as a side chain to a polymer or dissolved as a guest in a host polymer

Prescripció farmacèutica segura (PREFASEG)

L'Organització Mundial de la Salut, mitjançant el seu programa especial "Aliança Mundial per a la Seguretat del Pacient", ha posat a l'agenda de les diferents organitzacions sanitàries de tot el món la seguretat clínica dels pacients en un lloc molt destacat. ..

Disease networks identify specific conditions and pleiotropy influencing multimorbidity in the general population

Multimorbidity is an emerging topic in public health policy because of its increasing prevalence and socio-economic impact. However, the age- and gender-dependent trends of disease associations at fine resolution, and the underlying genetic factors, remain incompletely understood. Here, by analyzing disease networks from electronic medical records of primary health care, we identify key conditions and shared genetic factors influencing multimorbidity. Three types of diseases are outlined: "central", which include chronic and non-chronic conditions, have higher cumulative risks of disease associations; "community roots" have lower cumulative risks, but inform on continuing clustered disease associations with age; and "seeds of bursts", which most are chronic, reveal outbreaks of disease associations leading to multimorbidity. The diseases with a major impact on multimorbidity are caused by genes that occupy central positions in the network of human disease genes. Alteration of lipid metabolism connects breast cancer, diabetic neuropathy and nutritional anemia. Evaluation of key disease associations by a genome-wide association study identifies shared genetic factors and further supports causal commonalities between nervous system diseases and nutritional anemias. This study also reveals many shared genetic signals with other diseases. Collectively, our results depict novel population-based multimorbidity patterns, identify key diseases within them, and highlight pleiotropy influencing multimorbidity

Immunosuppressive Minimization Strategies in Kidney Transplantation

The long-term graft survival in renal transplantation results is still controversial, the toxicity and adverse reactions of the immunosuppressive drugs are implicated, as well as cellular and humoral antigen-specific immune mechanisms; therefore, different strategies for adapting immunosuppression are used to reduce the complications associated with the use of these drugs. Calcineurin inhibitors (CNI) require an adequate dose-dependent concentration leading to the appearance of drug-related adverse reactions. The variability in the required dose of CNI leads to minimization strategies that do not result in a higher acute rejection (AR) incidence when compared to other immunosuppressive agents. Early steroid withdrawal is another strategy, although with an increase in AR, but without an impact on the function and survival of the renal graft. The reduction of mycophenolate mofetil to 1.5 g/day seems to be a therapeutic option, decreasing the infectious, hematological and gastrointestinal adverse reactions. Finally, alemtuzumab, bortezomib, belatacept and cellular therapies are in the search for the new treatments, whose premise is the induction of donor-specific nonresponse in the context of operational tolerance or mixed chimerism. The use of adapted and adequate immunosuppression has led to variable results and some are very encouraging; however, they must be validated with experimental studies