Efectos del distanciamiento entre hileras de plantas sobre la productividad de maní en cultivares con hábitos de crecimiento contrastante

Diversos factores frecuentemente impiden la siembra del maní en fechas tempranas, implicando la exposición del cultivo ante ambientes atenuados de oferta ambiental (temperatura y radiación). Una estrategia para mitigar dicha desventaja, consiste en acortar el distanciamiento entre hileras para potenciar la captura de recursos. Resultados de estudios previos son ambiguos (Gardner y Auma, 1989; Lanier et al., 2004) y han sido obtenidos en otras latitudes, condiciones ambientales (e.g., climáticas y edáficas) y genotipos disímiles a las de Argentina, lo cual limita la extrapolación de aquellos resultados hacia la región manisera. Por consecuencia, se realizó un experimento cuyo objetivo fue determinar la producción de biomasa y rendimiento en cultivares de hábito de crecimiento contrastantes, ante variaciones en el distanciamiento entre hileras de plantas.INTA. Centro Regional Córdoba. EEA Manfredi.Fil: Haro Juarez, Ricardo Javier. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Manfredi. Grupo Manejo de Cultivo; ArgentinaFil: Carrega, Willians C. Universidade Estadual Paulista. Faculdade de Ciencias Agrárias e Veterinárias; BrasilFil: Gabutto, Franco. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias; ArgentinaFil: Rubio, Diego. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias; ArgentinaFil: Bardeggia, Franco. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias; ArgentinaFil: Bonetto, Matías. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias; Argentin

PROYECTO FIGARO: PLATAFORMA PARA LA GESTIÓN INTEGRAL Y EFICIENTE DEL RIEGO

[EN] Water and energy consumptions at plot level irrigation are issues of broad interest with an important environmental and economic impact. The solution to this double challenge requires the implementation of “precise irrigation”. In this work is shown the under developing software system FIGARO (Flexible and PrecIse IrriGation PlAtform to Improve FaRm Scale Water PrOductivity), which is part of a project co-funded by the European Commission under the 7th Framework Programme, in the scope of “Precision technologies to improve irrigation management and increase water productivity in major water-demanding crops in Europe” (KBBE.2012.1.1-03). The aim is to develop a tool to support decision-making for end users that let them perform irrigation scheduling with the aim of reducing water, energy and fertilizers consumptions, as well as yield crop is maximized. Implementation and validation of the FIGARO platform is being performed in several countries with different crops and weather conditions. First results in the year 2014, in citrus and grapevine crops, suggest increases in water productivity with savings close to 30% of water and 36% of energy at Water User Association level.[ES] El consumo de agua y energía en el ámbito del riego en parcela es una cuestión de amplio interés y consecuencias para el medio ambiente y la economía. La solución a este doble reto exige la implantación del denominado “riego de precisión”. En el presente trabajo se presenta la plataforma informática en desarrollo FIGARO (Flexible and PrecIse IrriGation PlAtform to Improve FaRm Scale Water PrOductivity), la cual forma parte de un proyecto financiado por la Unión Europea dentro del 7º Programa Marco, en el ámbito “Precision technologies to improve irrigation management and increase water productivity in major water-demanding crops in Europe” (KBBE.2012.1.1-03). El objetivo principal es desarrollar una herramienta de soporte a la toma de decisiones, que permita a los agricultores realizar programaciones de riego dirigidas a reducir el uso de agua, energía y fertilizantes, a la vez que se maximiza la productividad de las cosechas. La puesta en marcha y validación de la plataforma FIGARO se está llevado a cabo en diferentes países, con cultivos y condiciones climáticas diversas. Los primeros resultados de la campaña de 2014 en cultivos de cítrico y vid, sugieren incrementos de la productividad del agua con ahorros próximos al 30% de agua y del 36% de energía a nivel de comunidad de regantes.Este trabajo ha sido financiado por Unión Europea dentro del 7º Programa Marco, en el ámbito “Precision technologies to improve irrigation management and increase water productivity in major water-demanding crops in Europe” (KBBE.2012.1.1-03).Martínez Gimeno, M.; Martínez Alzamora, F.; Jiménez Bello, MÁ.; Royuela Tomás, Á.; Manzano Juarez, J.; Intrigliolo Molina, DS. (2015). PROYECTO FIGARO: PLATAFORMA PARA LA GESTIÓN INTEGRAL Y EFICIENTE DEL RIEGO. En XXXIII CONGRESO NACIONAL DE RIEGOS. Valencia 16-18 junio de 2015. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/CNRiegos.2015.1457OC

Resistance against two lytic phage variants attenuates virulence and antibiotic resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

BackgroundBacteriophage therapy is becoming part of mainstream Western medicine since antibiotics of clinical use tend to fail. It involves applying lytic bacteriophages that self-replicate and induce cell lysis, thus killing their hosts. Nevertheless, bacterial killing promotes the selection of resistant clones which sometimes may exhibit a decrease in bacterial virulence or antibiotic resistance.MethodsIn this work, we studied the Pseudomonas aeruginosa lytic phage φDCL-PA6 and its variant φDCL-PA6α. Additionally, we characterized and evaluated the production of virulence factors and the virulence in a Galleria mellonella model of resistant mutants against each phage for PA14 and two clinical strains.ResultsPhage φDCL-PA6α differs from the original by only two amino acids: one in the baseplate wedge subunit and another in the tail fiber protein. According to genomic data and cross-resistance experiments, these changes may promote the change of the phage receptor from the O-antigen to the core lipopolysaccharide. Interestingly, the host range of the two phages differs as determined against the Pseudomonas aeruginosa reference strains PA14 and PAO1 and against nine multidrug-resistant isolates from ventilator associated pneumonia.ConclusionsWe show as well that phage resistance impacts virulence factor production. Specifically, phage resistance led to decreased biofilm formation, swarming, and type III secretion; therefore, the virulence towards Galleria mellonella was dramatically attenuated. Furthermore, antibiotic resistance decreased for one clinical strain. Our study highlights important potential advantages of phage therapy’s evolutionary impact that may be exploited to generate robust therapy schemes

Evaluating Case-Base Maintenance algorithms

© . This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in [Knowledge-Based Systems].he success of a Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) system closely depends on its knowledge-base, named the case-base. The life cycle of CBR systems usually implies updating the case-base with new cases. However, it also implies removing useless cases for reasons of efficiency. This process is known as Case-Base Maintenance (CBM) and, in recent decades, great efforts have been made to automatise this process using different kind of algorithms (deterministic and non-deterministic). Indeed, CBR system designers find it difficult to choose from the wealth of algorithms available to maintain the case-base. Despite the importance of such a key decision, little attention has been paid to evaluating these algorithms. Although classical validation methods have been used, such as Cross-Validation and Hold-Out, they are not always valid for non-deterministic algorithms. In this work, we analyse this problem from a methodological point of view, providing an exhaustive review of these evaluation methods supported by experimentation. We also propose a specific methodology for evaluating Case-Base Maintenance algorithms (the αβ evaluation). Experiment results show that this method is the most suitable for evaluating most of the algorithms and datasets studied

The quality of vital statistics for studying perinatal health: the spanish case

Background: Birthweight and gestational age are key indicators for perinatal health obtained through the birth certificate. Knowing the validity of birth certificate data is crucial when identifying needs and evaluating birth outcomes. In Spain, vital information is reported by parents and is not checked for consistency with any hospital document. Therefore, to perform a validation study and describe the variables associated with misreporting is essential to improve the quality of birth certificates. Methods: A database was created using birth information from hospital medical records that were individually linked with the Spanish National Institute of Statistics (INE) birth certificate files. Measures of reliability and validity were used to compare the data from the two sources. Logistic regression models were adjusted to model the odds of being misreported in birthweight and gestational age, controlling for relevant variables. Results: INE overestimated the prevalence of birthweight and gestational age. The degree of agreement between the two sources was good for most gestational age groups (Kappa = 0.74), very good for the very preterm (Kappa = 0.85) and very good also for all categories of birthweight (Kappa = 0.88). Misreporting was significantly higher among immigrants, unmarried mothers and girls. Being a preterm birth increased the odds of being declared with errors in gestational age; having low birthweight and missing information on gestational age were associated with misreporting birthweight. Conclusions: The reliability of INE information could be greatly improved if hospitals included birthweight and gestational age on the document provided to parents for registering the birth

Monitoring elderly people at home with temporal Case-Based Reasoning

© . This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in [Knowledge-Based Systems].This paper presents a study of why and how Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) can be used in the long term to help elderly people living alone in a Smart Home. The work focuses on the need to manage the temporal dimension and how the system must be maintained. The proposal involves the integration of a CBR system in a commercial Smart Home architecture that includes sensors, data communication and data integration. The CBR system analyses the daily activity at home as temporal event sequences, using temporal edit distance to identify the most similar cases. Most common Case-Based Maintenance (CBM) algorithms adapted to the temporal problem (t-CNN, t-RENN, t-ICF, t-DROP1 and t-RCFP) are used to reduce the number of cases in the case base in order to contribute to its long term maintenance. The experiments carried out analyse the effect of different temporal CBM algorithms in common risk scenarios (waking up during the night, falls and falls with loss of consciousness). Data experiments are generated synthetically based on real behaviour patterns of 12 hours’ and 24 hours’ duration. Algorithms are compared using a paired t-test analysis. The results show that the algorithms t-CNN and t-DROP1 are able to create case-bases that statistically present the same average results as the original case-base but with a 10–20% in size. Algorithms t-ICF, t-RCFP and t-RENN can build similar case-bases to the original with a 10–50% size reduction, although they are not totally equivalent since they have significantly different average results than the original case-base. Finally, algorithm t-RENN does not significantly reduce the size of the case-base because it commonly deletes cases describing abnormal scenarios. We demonstrate that the proposed temporal CBR system is able to detect the different proposed risk scenarios when there is a large number of cases. That is, the CBR systems are useful in the long term. Experiments indicate that the temporal CBM algorithms analysed are able to reduce case-bases successfully to detect abnormal scenarios. However, success in creating a maintained case-base equivalent to the original depends on the number of cases

Epidemiological survey and risk factors associated with Paslahepevirus balayani in equines in Europe

Paslahepevirus balayani (HEV) is an important emerging zoonotic virus in Europe. Although domestic pigs and wild boar are the main reservoirs of this pathogen, susceptibility to this virus has been confirmed in a growing number of animal species, including equines. However, their role in the epidemiology of this virus remains poorly understood. Our aim was to assess HEV circulation and identify potential risk factors associated with exposure in equid species in different European countries. A total of 596 equines, including 496 horses, 63 donkeys and 37 mules/hinnies bred in four European countries (Spain, Italy, United Kingdom and Ireland) were sampled. Thirty-three animals (5.5%; 95%CI: 3.7-7.4) had anti-HEV antibodies. Seropositivity was found in 4.6% of horses, 11.1% of donkeys and 8.1% of mules/hinnies tested. By country, 6.3%, 5.4%, 5.0% and 4.0% of the equines sampled in Spain, Italy, United Kingdom and Ireland, respectively, were seropositive, respectively. Statistical analysis showed that "species" and "drinking water from ponds and streams" were potential risk factors associated with HEV seropositivity in equines in Europe. HEV RNA was not detected in any (0.0%; 95%CI: 0.0-1.8) of the 202 equines tested. Our results provide evidence of a low, spatially homogeneous and widespread viral circulation that is not equal across species in equid populations in the European countries analyzed and indicate that these species appear to play a limited role in the epidemiology of this virus. Further studies are required to elucidate the differences in seroprevalence between donkeys, mules/hinnies and horses and to determine the risk of zoonotic transmission of this pathogen from equid species

Assessing irrigation performance in a citrus irrigation district using geographic information systems and remote sensing data

[EN] In order to asses water use in large areas, the most widely used method for estimating crops water requirements is the FAO approach, which takes into account: i) climatic variables included in the reference evapotranspiration and II) the crop type, characterized by the crop coefficient (Kc). In citrus trees, Kc is mostly functionof the tree ground covers (GC). In large areas, tree ground covers (GC) can be estimated by means of remote sensing tools, and once tree water needs are calculated, this information can be implemented in geographic information systems. The present work summarizes some of the research conducted in order to determine citrus irrigation performance in a large irrigated area in Valencia, Spain. It is first described how tree ground covers (GC) can be obtained by using image analysis tools applied to multispectral images. Tree water needs are obtained and they are compared with the real water applications for a case study of a citrus water use association. The results obtained allowed to conclude that the tools developed might be useful for estimating water needs in large areas and improving irrigation efficiency showing some of the deficiencies currently found in irrigation management of collective water networks[IT] Al fine di valutare il consumo idrico su larga scala, il metodo più diffuso per stimare il fabbisogno idrico di una coltura è quello proposto dalla FAO, che considera: i) tutte le variabili climatiche comprese nel calcolo dell¿ evapotraspiarazione e ii) la coltura, caratterizzata da un coefficiente colturale (Kc). Negli agrumi, Kc è particolarmente legato al grado di copertura del suolo da parte della chioma (GC). Su larga scala, GC può essere stimato ricorrendo a strumenti di telerilevamento, e una volta calcolato il fabbisogno idrico della coltura, questa informazione può essere utilizzata all¿interno di sistemi GIS. Il presente lavoro riassume alcuni studi svolti per determinare le performance irrigue negli agrumi in una vasta area irrigata nella zona di Valencia, Spagna. Per prima cosa viene descritto come la copertura del suolo da parte della chioma possa essere ottenuta utilizzando strumenti di analisi delle immagini multispettrali. Il fabbisogno idrico della pianta ottenuto con questo metodo viene quindi confrontato con i reali consumi idrici della coltura per uno specifico caso di studio svolto. I risultati permettono di concludere che questi strumenti possono essere utili per la stima del fabbisogno idrico su larga scala ed aumentare l¿efficienza irrigua mostrando alcune carenze attualmente presenti nella gestione dell¿irrigazione delle reti idriche collettiveJiménez Bello, MÁ.; López Pérez, E.; Manzano Juarez, J.; Palau Estevan, CV.; Royuela Tomás, Á.; Intrigliolo Molina, DS. (2015). Assessing irrigation performance in a citrus irrigation district using geographic information systems and remote sensing data. Italian Journal of Agrometeorology. 3:104-109. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/91894S104109

Role of quorum sensing in bacterial infections

<p>Quorum sensing (QS) is cell communication that is widely used by bacterial pathogens to coordinate the expression of several collective traits, including the production of multiple virulence factors, biofilm formation, and swarming motility once a population threshold is reached. Several lines of evidence indicate that QS enhances virulence of bacterial pathogens in animal models as well as in human infections; however, its relative importance for bacterial pathogenesis is still incomplete. In this review, we discuss the present evidence from <i>in vitro</i> and <i>in vivo</i> experiments in animal models, as well as from clinical studies, that link QS systems with human infections. We focus on two major QS bacterial models, the opportunistic Gram negative bacteria <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i> and the Gram positive <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i>, which are also two of the main agents responsible of nosocomial and wound infections. In addition, QS communication systems in other bacterial, eukaryotic pathogens, and even immune and cancer cells are also reviewed, and finally, the new approaches proposed to combat bacterial infections by the attenuation of their QS communication systems and virulence are also discussed.</p&gt

Exploiting Quorum Sensing Inhibition for the Control of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa and Acinetobacter Baumannii Biofilms

<p>Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii are two of the main bacteria responsible for nosocomial infections; both organisms are resistant to several classes of antibiotics making their infections very difficult to treat. Moreover, they possess a remarkable ability to form biofilms, which further enhances their antimicrobial resistance. Both organisms coordinate their formation of biofilms and their expression of virulence factors through quorum sensing, a system that regulates gene expression at high cell densities and that plays a key role in the establishment of bacterial infections. Hence, interfering with these quorum-sensing systems has been proposed as an alternative to traditional antibiotics for the eradication of bacterial infections. In this review, we describe the quorum sensing systems of both organisms, the way they coordinate the formation of biofilms, the recent advances in biofilm disruption by quorum sensing interference, and the advantages and limitations of the implementation of these novel therapeutic options in the clinic.</p&gt