Sweet Corn Can Use Fertilizers, Too

Sweet corn yields can be increased with fertilizers. This article reports the results of a study to find out the best method of applying fertilizers, how much to apply and the value of hill applications made of planting time

Effects of Amphetamine on Striatal Dopamine Release, Open-Field Activity, and Play in Fischer 344 and Sprague–Dawley Rats

Previous work from our laboratories has shown that juvenile Fischer 344 (F344) rats are less playful than other strains and also appear to be compromised in dopamine (DA) functioning. To determine whether the dysfunctional play in this strain is associated with deficits in the handling and delivery of vesicular DA, the following experiments assessed the extent to which F344 rats are differentially sensitive to the effects of amphetamine. When exposed to amphetamine, striatal slices obtained from F344 rats showed a small increase in unstimulated DA release when compared with slices from Sprague–Dawley rats; they also showed a more rapid high K+-mediated release of DA. These data provide tentative support for the hypothesis that F344 rats have a higher concentration of cytoplasmic DA than Sprague–Dawley rats. When rats were tested for activity in an open field, F344 rats presented a pattern of results that was consistent with either an enhanced response to amphetamine (3 mg/kg) or a more rapid release of DA (10 mg/kg). Although there was some indication that amphetamine had a dose-dependent differential effect on play in the two strains, play in F344 rats was not enhanced to any degree by amphetamine. Although these results are not consistent with our working hypothesis that F344 rats are less playful because of a deficit in vesicular release of DA, they still suggest that this strain may be a useful model for better understanding the role of DA in social behavior during the juvenile period

Caracterização molecular dos isolados 344 e 1644 de Bacillus thuringiensis (Berliner), eficazes no controle da lagarta-do-cartucho Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith).

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Molecular characterization of the Bacillus thuringiensis (BERLINER) strains 344 and 1644, efficient against fall armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. SMITH).

Bacillus thuringiensis (Berliner) strains 344 and 1644 belonging to the CNPMS/Embrapa (Maize and Sorghum National Research Center) Microorganism Bank, located in Sete Lagoas, MG, showed to be highly efficient in controlling fall armyworm, Spodotpera frugiperda (J.E. Smith). Strains 344 and 1644 were isolated from soil samples originated from Iguassu Falls and Rolândia, respectively, Paraná State, Brazil. While strain 344 harbors cry1Ab, cry1B, cry1E and cry1Fb genes, strain 1644 showed cry1B, cry1C, and cry1D and cry1Fb genes. The strain 344 crystal has bipyramidal shape and showed LC50 equal to 8.21 x 106 spores/mL. Strain 1644 has cuboid crystal and showed LC50 equal to 2.07 x 106 spores/mL. Comparative analysis of protein profile, plasmid and amplification with primers ERIC allowed the differentiation of the evaluated strains

Hierarchical Virtual Screening of Potential New Antibiotics from Polyoxygenated Dibenzofurans against Staphylococcus aureus Strains

Supplementary Materials: The following supporting information can be downloaded at: https: //www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/ph16101430/s1, Table S1. Spatial Coordinates of the Pharmacophoric Model.Staphylococcus aureus is a microorganism with high morbidity and mortality due to antibiotic-resistant strains, making the search for new therapeutic options urgent. In this context, computational drug design can facilitate the drug discovery process, optimizing time and resources. In this work, computational methods involving ligand- and structure-based virtual screening were employed to identify potential antibacterial agents against the S. aureus MRSA and VRSA strains. To achieve this goal, tetrahydroxybenzofuran, a promising antibacterial agent according to in vitro tests described in the literature, was adopted as the pivotal molecule and derivative molecules were considered to generate a pharmacophore model, which was used to perform virtual screening on the Pharmit platform. Through this result, twenty-four molecules were selected from the MolPort® database. Using the Tanimoto Index on the BindingDB web server, it was possible to select eighteen molecules with greater structural similarity in relation to commercial antibiotics (methicillin and oxacillin). Predictions of toxicological and pharmacokinetic properties (ADME/Tox) using the eighteen most similar molecules, showed that only three exhibited desired properties (LB255, LB320 and LB415). In the molecular docking study, the promising molecules LB255, LB320 and LB415 showed significant values in both molecular targets. LB320 presented better binding affinity to MRSA (−8.18 kcal/mol) and VRSA (−8.01 kcal/mol) targets. Through PASS web server, the three molecules, specially LB320, showed potential for antibacterial activity. Synthetic accessibility (SA) analysis performed on AMBIT and SwissADME web servers showed that LB255 and LB415 can be considered difficult to synthesize and LB320 is considered easy. In conclusion, the results suggest that these ligands, particularly LB320, may bind strongly to the studied targets and may have appropriate ADME/Tox properties in experimental studies

Cluster Production in Quark-Hadron Phase Transition

The problem of cluster formation and growth in first-order quark-hadron phase transition in heavy-ion collisions is considered. Behaving as Brownian particles, the clusters carry out random walks and can encounter one another, leading to coalescence and breakup. A simulation of the process in cellular automaton suggests the possibility of a scaling distribution in the cluster sizes. The experimental determination of the cluster-size distribution is urged as a means to find a clear signature of phase transition.Comment: 12 pages + 1 figure. Report # OITS-517. To be published in Phys. Rev. Lett. 71, xxx (1994