Yield, forage quality, residue nitrogen and nitrogen fixation of different forage legumes

Fixed nitrogen accumulated by legumes is the main nitrogen source for organic farming systems. Knowledge about the amount of fixed nitrogen, its pathways into forage yield, crop residues, soil-N and yield formation of the following crop is needed for designing crop rotations. In a field experiment conducted in Northern Germany differently managed (cut, mulched) legumes (red clover, alfalfa, white clover) in pure stands and in mixture with a companion grass (Lolium perenne) have been grown to determine Yield, forage-quality, N2-fixation and residue nitrogen. Cropped grass/legume reached higher N2-fixation than mulched. While green manure grass/legume left up to 296 kg ha-1 of N in mulch, stubble and roots on the field, most cropped grass/legume mixtures left less than 120 kg N ha-1 in crop residues. Cropped swards showed higher N2-fixation than the mulched mixtures. Swards with red clover or alfalfa reached higher legume contents and harvestable biomass than swards with white clover. Conclusions The results show that biomass production, forage yields, residue nitrogen and N fixation of grass/legume mixtures can be influenced by various combinations of legume species and management. The factors listed have to be considered carefully when planning crop rotations

Ice skating promotes postural control in children

High fall rates causing injury and enormous financial costs are reported for children. However, only few studies investigated the effects of balance training in children and these studies did not find enhanced balance performance in postural (transfer) tests. Consequently, it was previously speculated that classical balance training might not be stimulating enough for children to adequately perform these exercises. Therefore, the aim of this study is to evaluate the influence of ice skating as an alternative form of balance training. Volunteers of an intervention (n = 17; INT: 13.1 ± 0.4 years) and a control group (n = 13; CON: 13.2 ± 0.3 years) were tested before and after training in static and dynamic postural transfer tests. INT participated in eight sessions of ice skating during education lessons, whereas CON participated in normal physical education. Enhanced balance performance was observed in INT but not in CON when tested on an unstable free-swinging platform (P P < 0.001). This is the first study showing significantly enhanced balance performance after ice skating in children. More importantly, participating children improved static and dynamic balance control in postural tasks that were not part of the training

Low PTH Levels in Adolescents With Anorexia Nervosa

Introduction: Patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) experience medical complications including impaired bone metabolism, increased fracture rate, kidney stones and chronic renal failure. However, the mechanisms of such complications are not fully understood. Healthy adolescents have been shown to have higher PTH levels when compared with pre-pubertal children and adults. Given the importance of central measures of calcium and vitamin D metabolism in bone and kidney health, 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) and parathyroid hormone (PTH) have been extensively investigated in patients with AN, however none of the previous studies accounted for age-specific reference ranges for PTH. The aim of this study was to investigate central measures of calcium and vitamin D metabolism in adolescents with newly diagnosed AN using age-specific reference ranges and to determine whether any significant abnormalities required further study. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 61 adolescents (mean age = aged 15.2 ± 1.56 years) with newly diagnosed AN, referred to a tertiary center over a period of 2 years. Demographic, auxiological, and nutrient (vitamin D and calcium) intake data was obtained. Central measures of calcium and vitamin D metabolism in blood and urine were investigated. PTH results were compared with age-specific reference ranges from the Canadian Laboratory Initiative on Pediatric Reference Intervals (CALIPER). Descriptive statistics and correlation analysis were performed. Results: Low PTH levels were observed in 35% of the cohort. Overall, serum calcium, phosphate and 25OHD were within the reference range. Using loess curves, PTH had a significant negative and non-linear correlation with 25OHD with an inflection point at a 25OHD level of 100 nmol/l, above which the association was no longer present. Correlation analysis did not show a significant association between PTH and total or corrected serum calcium, urine calcium/creatinine (Ca/Cr) ratio, total dietary calcium intake, magnesium or Tanner staging. Conclusion: PTH levels were reduced in approximately a third of adolescents with AN. This observation has not been reported given the universal usage of reference ranges that covers all ages. This finding may unmask a potential role for reduced PTH levels in the pathogenesis of kidney stones and bone phenotype in patients with AN

Towards quantitative prediction of proteasomal digestion patterns of proteins

We discuss the problem of proteasomal degradation of proteins. Though proteasomes are important for all aspects of the cellular metabolism, some details of the physical mechanism of the process remain unknown. We introduce a stochastic model of the proteasomal degradation of proteins, which accounts for the protein translocation and the topology of the positioning of cleavage centers of a proteasome from first principles. For this model we develop the mathematical description based on a master-equation and techniques for reconstruction of the cleavage specificity inherent to proteins and the proteasomal translocation rates, which are a property of the proteasome specie, from mass spectroscopy data on digestion patterns. With these properties determined, one can quantitatively predict digestion patterns for new experimental set-ups. Additionally we design an experimental set-up for a synthetic polypeptide with a periodic sequence of amino acids, which enables especially reliable determination of translocation rates.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, submitted to J. Stat. Mech. (Special issue for proceedings of 5th Intl. Conf. on Unsolved Problems on Noise and Fluctuations in Physics, Biology & High Technology, Lyon (France), June 2-6, 2008

Ertragsleistung und Rutingehalte verschiedener Buchweizensorten unter ökologischen Anbaubedingungen

Buckwheat is an ancient traditional food and medicinal plant. In this study we investigated grain yield and rutin content of common (Bamby, Lileja, Hruszowska) and tataric (Lifago) buckwheat varieties under organic farming conditions at different N levels. Grain yield and rutin content were not significantly affected by the factors ‘year’ and ‘N-supply’. However, strong effects of the factor ‘variety’ could be determined. The tataric buckwheat Lifago showed highest grain and rutin yields compared to the common buckwheat varieties. Due to the rutin related bitter taste Lifago buckwheat is rather useful for medical application than for basic food. Converting rutin into less bitter active substance quercetin during processing as well as cross-breeding of common buckwheat x wild type buckwheat might be alternatives for basic food application. Since we found no effect of additional N-supply, buckwheat is well suited for low input farming systems like organic farming

Audits and inspections of pharmacovigilance systems in Russia

The implementation of pharmacovigilance activities is impossible in isolation from compliance with the quality requirements of medicines and the activities of pharmaceutical and medical organizations throughout the pharmaceutical practice, as well as without access to sales plans, sales results and full relevance of information on drug conditions in all markets and in all cases of application. Properly conducted audit or inspection evaluation of the pharmacovigilance system makes it possible to identify and prevent drug safety problems at all stages of its life cycle.The aim. Development of a risk-based strategy for planning and passing audits and inspections of the pharmacovigilance system for the subsequent creation of effective programs for assessing the pharmacovigilance system on its basis.Material and methods. The study used structurallogical, empirical methods, general logical methods of scientific knowledge, methods of generalization and extrapolation.Results. The plans and results of audits and inspections of pharmacovigilance systems of Russian and foreign pharmaceutical organizations and their pharmacovigilance vendors were analyzed. A risk-based strategy and a checklist for planning internal and external audits of pharmacovigilance systems of Russian pharmaceutical organizations and their vendors for pharmacovigilance have been developed and recommendations for training internal auditors of pharmacovigilance systems and audit teams have been developed for them.Conclusion. Risk assessment indicators adapted for Russia have been developed, according to which Russian pharmaceutical organizations and their pharmacovigilance vendors can assess the likelihood of the risk of priority inclusion in the plan of Russian inspections of pharmacovigilance systems for compliance with the requirements of the good pharmacovigilance practice of the Eurasian Economic Union. Recommendations were prepared for the executive management and pharmacovigilance specialists of Russian pharmaceutical organizations in terms of assessing regulatory risks for the quality system of the pharmacovigilance system, planning and conducting audits; evaluating the relationship of pharmacovigilance with other good practices and with information from the plans and results of the organization as a whole. The indicators adapted for Russia for assessing the compliance of the pharmacovigilance system with the rules of the NPF EAEU are given

Alcoóis lineares em solos arqueológicos da Amazônia.

Pôster

Pflanzen für die Gesundheit-Vorstellung eines neuen interdisziplinären Forschungsprojektes zum ökologischen Anbau von Arzneipflanzen

Ecologically grown medicinal plants containing bioactive compounds hold great poten-tial as high-value niche crops for farmers. However, the way to grow these plants differs from traditional crops. Growing techniques, harvest methods and postharvest handling of the raw material plays a crucial role regarding the quality of the raw material that the farmers can offer. The purpose of a new research project financed by EU-Interreg IIIA programme is among other things to carry out production, harvest and processing experiments with plants containing bioactive plant compounds that hold a preventive effect toward diabetes II. One of the project´s goals is to draw up cultivation instructions for the primary producers to use when cultivating the plants in question. Examples of the plants that are being examined in the project are Goat´s Rue (Galega officinalis) and Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum)