Mixed cropping systems for control of weeds and pests in organic oilseed crops

Agricultural advantages of mixed cropping are gained from biological effects like light competition offering weed-suppressing capacities, or by diversification of plant covers to break development cycles of pests. These effects were measured in a two-year project on mixed cropping with organic oilseed crops. It was found that weeds can be efficiently suppressed in organic linseed (Linum usitatissivum) grown in combination with wheat (Triticum aestivum) or false flax (Camelina sativa). Linseed growth was, however, impaired. In organic pea production (Pisum sativum) also, growing the crop as a mixture with false flax led to a significant decrease of weed population. Either culture showed a balanced plant development. In winter rape (Brassica napus) there were suggestions that infestation by insect pests can be directly reduced in mixtures with cereals or legumes and that parasitoids of insect pests are supported

The ATPase mechanism of myosin and actomyosin

Myosins are a large family of molecular motors that use the common P-loop, Switch 1 and Switch 2 nucleotide binding motifs to recognize ATP, to create a catalytic site than can efficiently hydrolyze ATP and to communicate the state of the nucleotide pocket to other allosteric binding sites on myosin. The energy of ATP hydrolysis is used to do work against an external load. In this short review I will outline current thinking on the mechanism of ATP hydrolysis and how the energy of ATP hydrolysis is coupled to a series of protein conformational changes that allow a myosin, with the cytoskeleton track actin, to operate as a molecular motor of distinct types; fast movers, processive motors or strain sensors. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

Ultrafast lithium diffusion in bilayer graphene

Solids that simultaneously conduct electrons and ions are key elements for the mass transfer and storage required in battery electrodes. Single-phase materials with a high electronic and high ionic conductivity at room temperature are hard to come by, and therefore multiphase systems with separate ion and electron channels have been put forward instead. Here we report on bilayer graphene as a single-phase mixed conductor that demonstrates Li diffusion faster than in graphite and even surpassing the diffusion of sodium chloride in liquid water. To measure Li diffusion, we have developed an on-chip electrochemical cell architecture in which the redox reaction that forces Li intercalation is localized only at a protrusion of the device so that the graphene bilayer remains unperturbed from the electrolyte during operation. We performed time-dependent Hall measurements across spatially displaced Hall probes to monitor the in-plane Li diffusion kinetics within the graphene bilayer and measured a diffusion coefficient as high as 7 × 10 -5 â €...cm 2 s -1

Fingerprints Indicating Superior Properties of Internal Interfaces in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Thin-Film Solar Cells

Growth of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) absorbers under Cu-poor conditions gives rise to incorporation of numerous defects into the bulk, whereas the same absorber grown under Cu-rich conditions leads to a stoichiometric bulk with minimum defects. This suggests that CIGS absorbers grown under Cu-rich conditions are more suitable for solar cell applications. However, the CIGS solar cell devices with record efficiencies have all been fabricated under Cu-poor conditions, despite the expectations. Therefore, in the present work, both Cu-poor and Cu-rich CIGS cells are investigated, and the superior properties of the internal interfaces of the Cu-poor CIGS cells, such as the p-n junction and grain boundaries, which always makes them the record-efficiency devices, are shown. More precisely, by employing a correlative microscopy approach, the typical fingerprints for superior properties of internal interfaces necessary for maintaining a lower recombination activity in the cell is discovered. These are a Cu-depleted and Cd-enriched CIGS absorber surface, near the p-n junction, as well as a negative Cu factor (∆β) and high Na content (>1.5 at%) at the grain boundaries. Thus, this work provides key factors governing the device performance (efficiency), which can be considered in the design of next-generation solar cells

Probing Exfoliated Graphene Layers and Their Lithiation with Microfocused X-rays

X-ray diffraction is measured on individual bilayer and multilayer graphene single-crystals and combined with electrochemically induced lithium intercalation. In-plane Bragg peaks are observed by grazing incidence diffraction. Focusing the incident beam down to an area of about 10 μm × 10 μm, individual flakes are probed by specular X-ray reflectivity. By deploying a recursive Parratt algorithm to model the experimental data, we gain access to characteristic crystallographic parameters of the samples. Notably, it is possible to directly extract the bi/multilayer graphene c-axis lattice parameter. The latter is found to increase upon lithiation, which we control using an on-chip peripheral electrochemical cell layout. These experiments demonstrate the feasibility of in situ X-ray diffraction on individual, micron-sized single crystallites of few- and bilayer two-dimensional materials

Sex-specific association of cardiovascular drug doses with adverse outcomes in atrial fibrillation.

OBJECTIVES Sex differences occur in atrial fibrillation (AF), including age at first manifestation, pathophysiology, treatment allocation, complication rates and quality of life. However, optimal doses of cardiovascular pharmacotherapy used in women with AF with or without heart failure (HF) are unclear. We investigated sex-specific associations of beta-blocker and renin-angiotensin system (RAS) inhibitor doses with cardiovascular outcomes in patients with AF or AF with concomitant HF. METHODS We used data from the prospective Basel Atrial Fibrillation and Swiss Atrial Fibrillation cohorts on patients with AF. The outcome was major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs), including death, myocardial infarction, stroke, systemic embolisation and HF-related hospitalisation. Predictors of interest were spline (primary analysis) or quartiles (secondary analysis) of beta-blocker or RAS inhibitor dose in per cent of the maximum dose (reference), in interaction with sex. Cox models were adjusted for demographics, comorbidities and comedication. RESULTS Among 3961 patients (28% women), MACEs occurred in 1113 (28%) patients over a 5-year median follow-up. Distributions of RAS inhibitor and beta-blocker doses were similar in women and men. Cox models revealed no association between beta-blocker dose or RAS inhibitor dose and MACE. In a subgroup of patients with AF and HF, the lowest hazard of MACE was observed in women prescribed 100% of the RAS inhibitor dose. However, there was no association between RAS dose quartiles and MACE. CONCLUSIONS In this study of patients with AF, doses of beta-blockers and RAS inhibitors did not differ by sex and were not associated with MACE overall

Mid-term changes in cognitive functions in patients with atrial fibrillation: a longitudinal analysis of the Swiss-AF cohort

Background: Longitudinal association studies of atrial fibrillation (AF) and cognitive functions have shown an unclear role of AF-type and often differ in methodological aspects. We therefore aim to investigate longitudinal changes in cognitive functions in association with AF-type (non-paroxysmal vs. paroxysmal) and comorbidities in the Swiss-AF cohort. Methods: Seven cognitive measures were administered up to five times between 2014 and 2022. Age-education standardized scores were calculated and association between longitudinal change in scores and baseline AF-type investigated using linear mixed-effects models. Associations between AF-type and time to cognitive drop, an observed score of at least one standard deviation below individual's age-education standardized cognitive scores at baseline, were studied using Cox proportional hazard models of each cognitive test, censoring patients at their last measurement. Models were adjusted for baseline covariates.Results2,415 AF patients (mean age 73.2 years; 1,080 paroxysmal, 1,335 non-paroxysmal AF) participated in this Swiss multicenter prospective cohort study. Mean cognitive scores increased longitudinally (median follow-up 3.97 years). Non-paroxysmal AF patients showed smaller longitudinal increases in Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST), Cognitive Construct Score (CoCo)and Trail Making Test part B (TMT-B) scores vs. paroxysmal AF patients. Diabetes, history of stroke/TIA and depression were associated with worse performance on all cognitive tests. No differences in time to cognitive drop were observed between AF-types in any cognitive test. Conclusion: This study indicated preserved cognitive functioning in AF patients, best explained by practice effects. Smaller practice effects were found in non-paroxysmal AF patients in the DSST, TMT-B and the CoCo and could indicate a marker of subtle cognitive decline. As diabetes, history of stroke/TIA and depression—but not AF-type—were associated with cognitive drop, more attention should be given to risk factors and underlying mechanisms of AF

Mid-term changes in cognitive functions in patients with atrial fibrillation: a longitudinal analysis of the Swiss-AF cohort.

BACKGROUND Longitudinal association studies of atrial fibrillation (AF) and cognitive functions have shown an unclear role of AF-type and often differ in methodological aspects. We therefore aim to investigate longitudinal changes in cognitive functions in association with AF-type (non-paroxysmal vs. paroxysmal) and comorbidities in the Swiss-AF cohort. METHODS Seven cognitive measures were administered up to five times between 2014 and 2022. Age-education standardized scores were calculated and association between longitudinal change in scores and baseline AF-type investigated using linear mixed-effects models. Associations between AF-type and time to cognitive drop, an observed score of at least one standard deviation below individual's age-education standardized cognitive scores at baseline, were studied using Cox proportional hazard models of each cognitive test, censoring patients at their last measurement. Models were adjusted for baseline covariates. RESULTS 2,415 AF patients (mean age 73.2 years; 1,080 paroxysmal, 1,335 non-paroxysmal AF) participated in this Swiss multicenter prospective cohort study. Mean cognitive scores increased longitudinally (median follow-up 3.97 years). Non-paroxysmal AF patients showed smaller longitudinal increases in Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST), Cognitive Construct Score (CoCo)and Trail Making Test part B (TMT-B) scores vs. paroxysmal AF patients. Diabetes, history of stroke/TIA and depression were associated with worse performance on all cognitive tests. No differences in time to cognitive drop were observed between AF-types in any cognitive test. CONCLUSION This study indicated preserved cognitive functioning in AF patients, best explained by practice effects. Smaller practice effects were found in non-paroxysmal AF patients in the DSST, TMT-B and the CoCo and could indicate a marker of subtle cognitive decline. As diabetes, history of stroke/TIA and depression-but not AF-type-were associated with cognitive drop, more attention should be given to risk factors and underlying mechanisms of AF

Subclinical thyroid function and cardiovascular events in patients with atrial fibrillation

Objective: To evaluate if subclinical thyroid dysfunction is associated with cardiovascular (CV) risk in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). Methods: Swiss-AF is a prospective cohort of community-dwelling participants aged ≥ 65 years with AF. Primary outcome was a composite endpoint of CV events (myocardial infarctions, stroke/transitory ischemic events, systemic embolism, heart failure (HF) hospitalizations, CV deaths). Secondary outcomes were component endpoints, total mortality, and AF-progression. Exposures were thyroid dysfunction categories, TSH and fT4. Sensitivity analyses were performed for amiodarone use, thyroid hormones use, and competing events. Results: 2415 patients were included (mean age: 73.2 years; 27% women). 196 (8.4%) had subclinical hypothyroidism and 53 (2.3%) subclinical hyperthyroidism. Subclinical thyroid dysfunction was not associated with CV events, during a median follow-up of 2.1 years (max 5 years): age- and sex-adjusted hazard ratio (adjHR) of 0.99 (95% CI: 0.69-1.41) for subclinical hypothyroidism and 0.55 (95% CI: 0.23-1.32) for subclinical hyperthyroidism. Results remained robust following multivariable adjustment and sensitivity analyses. In euthyroid patients, fT4 levels were associated with an increased risk for the composite endpoint and HF (adjHR: 1.46, 95% CI: 1.04-2.05; adjHR: 1.70, 95% CI: 1.08-2.66, respectively, for the highest quintile vs the middle quintile). Results remained similar following multivariable adjustment and remained significant for HF in sensitivity analyses. No association between subclinical thyroid dysfunction and total mortality or AF-progression was found. Conclusions: Subclinical hypothyroidism was not associated with increased CV risk in AF patients. Higher levels of fT4 with normal TSH were associated with a higher risk for HF