Nutrição de tithonia diversifolia e atributos do solo adubado com biofertilizante em sistema irrigado

The fertilization with biofertilizer associated with the use of irrigation favors nutrient uptake by plants and soil chemical properties; however, these effects are little studied in Tithonia diversifolia in semiarid regions. This study evaluated the effect of doses of bovine biofertilizer and irrigation on accumulation of nutrients in the leaves of Tithonia diversifolia plants and on soil chemical attributes. The study was carried out from December 3, 2014 to November 28, 2015, and arranged in a 2 x 5 factorial scheme, consisting of five doses of bovine biofertilizer (0, 40, 80, 120 and 160 m3 ha-1), combined with and without irrigation. The experiment was set in a randomized block design, using three replicates. Irrigation promoted increased accumulation of N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S, Zn, Fe, Mn, Cu and B in leaves of Tithonia diversifolia in the first cutting. However, the high bicarbonate concentration in the irrigation water and the occurrence of rainfall during the second crop increased the accumulation of Cu in the leaves of Tithonia diversifolia under rainfed condition, compared with irrigated plants. The increase in biofertilizer doses contributed to the increment of base saturation and the contents of organic matter, P and K in soil201110081013Associada ao uso de irrigação, a adubação com biofertilizante favorece a absorção de nutrientes pelas plantas e as propriedades químicas dos solos, porém tais efeitos são pouco estudados no cultivo de Tithonia diversifolia em regiões semiáridas. Avaliaram-se os efeitos de doses de biofertilizante bovino e da irrigação no acúmulo foliar de nutrientes em plantas de Tithonia diversifolia e nos atributos químicos do solo. O estudo foi conduzido entre 3 de dezembro de 2014 e 28 de novembro de 2015 e distribuído em esquema fatorial 5 x 2, consistindo de cinco doses de biofertilizante bovino (0, 40, 80, 120 e 160 m3 ha-1), combinado com e sem irrigação. O delineamento estatístico do experimento foi em blocos casualizados com três repetições. A irrigação promoveu aumento no acúmulo de N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S, Zn, Fe, Mn, Cu e B em folhas de Tithonia diversifolia no primeiro corte; entretanto, a alta concentração de bicarbonato na água de irrigação e a presença de chuvas durante o segundo cultivo aumentaram o acúmulo de Cu nas folhas de Tithonia diversifolia em sequeiro quando comparado às plantas irrigadas. O aumento das doses de biofertilizante contribuiu para o incremento da saturação por base e do teor de matéria orgânica, P e K no sol

Is Metabolic syndrome truly a risk factor for male lower urinary tract symptoms or just an epiphenomenon?

To define whether the association of male lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and metabolic syndrome (MS) is real or simply an epiphenomenon, 490 male adults (mean age 58 ± 9 years) underwent International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), physical and prostate digital examinations, blood analysis, and urinary tract transabdominal ultrasound with prostate volume measurement. Mild, moderate, and severe LUTS were found in 350 (71.4%), 116 (23.7%), and 24 (4.9%) patients, respectively. MS was present in 198 (40.4%) patients, representing 37.4% (131 of 350) of those with mild LUTS, 46.5% (54 of 116) of those with moderate, and 54.1% (13 of 24) of those with severe. The odds ratio of MS having moderate or severe LUTS was 2.1. MS was more common in older age, higher body mass index, and larger prostate size. Moderate and severe LUTS were more frequent in older age, lower levels of high density cholesterol, and higher blood pressure. Older age and body mass index had significant relative risk for lower urinary tract symptoms and only age remained independent factor for LUTS on multivariate analysis. Our results suggest that the association of male LUTS, prostate volume, and MS might be coincidental and related to older age2014sem informaçã

Integration of miRNA and mRNA expression profles reveals microRNA-regulated networks during muscle wasting in cardiac cachexia

Cardiac cachexia (CC) is a common complication of heart failure (HF) associated with muscle wasting and poor patient prognosis. Although different mechanisms have been proposed to explain muscle wasting during CC, its pathogenesis is still not understood. Here, we described an integrative analysis between miRNA and mRNA expression profiles of muscle wasting during CC. Global gene expression profiling identified 1,281 genes and 19 miRNAs differentially expressed in muscle wasting during CC. Several of these deregulated genes are known or putative targets of the altered miRNAs, including miR-29a-3p, miR-29b-3p, miR-210-5p, miR-214, and miR-489. Gene ontology analysis on integrative mRNA/miRNA expression profiling data revealed miRNA interactions affecting genes that regulate extra-cellular matrix (ECM) organization, proteasome protein degradation, citric acid cycle and respiratory electron transport. We further identified 11 miRNAs, including miR-29a-3p and miR-29b-3p, which target 21 transcripts encoding the collagen proteins related to ECM organization. Integrative miRNA and mRNA global expression data allowed us to identify miRNA target genes involved in skeletal muscle wasting in CC. Our functional experiments in C2C12 cells confirmed that miR-29b down-regulates collagen genes and contributes to muscle cell atrophy. Collectively, our results suggest that key ECM-associated miRNAs and their target genes may contribute to CC in HF

Rarity of monodominance in hyperdiverse Amazonian forests.

Tropical forests are known for their high diversity. Yet, forest patches do occur in the tropics where a single tree species is dominant. Such "monodominant" forests are known from all of the main tropical regions. For Amazonia, we sampled the occurrence of monodominance in a massive, basin-wide database of forest-inventory plots from the Amazon Tree Diversity Network (ATDN). Utilizing a simple defining metric of at least half of the trees ≥ 10 cm diameter belonging to one species, we found only a few occurrences of monodominance in Amazonia, and the phenomenon was not significantly linked to previously hypothesized life history traits such wood density, seed mass, ectomycorrhizal associations, or Rhizobium nodulation. In our analysis, coppicing (the formation of sprouts at the base of the tree or on roots) was the only trait significantly linked to monodominance. While at specific locales coppicing or ectomycorrhizal associations may confer a considerable advantage to a tree species and lead to its monodominance, very few species have these traits. Mining of the ATDN dataset suggests that monodominance is quite rare in Amazonia, and may be linked primarily to edaphic factors

Interhemispheric Interactions between the Human Primary Somatosensory Cortices

In the somatosensory domain it is still unclear at which processing stage information reaches the opposite hemispheres. Due to dense transcallosal connections, the secondary somatosensory cortex (S2) has been proposed to be the key candidate for interhemispheric information transfer. However, recent animal studies showed that the primary somatosensory cortex (S1) might as well account for interhemispheric information transfer. Using paired median nerve somatosensory evoked potential recordings in humans we tested the hypothesis that interhemispheric inhibitory interactions in the somatosensory system occur already in an early cortical processing stage such as S1. Conditioning right S1 by electrical median nerve (MN) stimulation of the left MN (CS) resulted in a significant reduction of the N20 response in the target (left) S1 relative to a test stimulus (TS) to the right MN alone when the interstimulus interval between CS and TS was between 20 and 25 ms. No such changes were observed for later cortical components such as the N20/P25, N30, P40 and N60 amplitude. Additionally, the subcortically generated P14 response in left S1 was also not affected. These results document the existence of interhemispheric inhibitory interactions between S1 in human subjects in the critical time interval of 20–25 ms after median nerve stimulation

Combined search for the quarks of a sequential fourth generation

Results are presented from a search for a fourth generation of quarks produced singly or in pairs in a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5 inverse femtobarns recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2011. A novel strategy has been developed for a combined search for quarks of the up and down type in decay channels with at least one isolated muon or electron. Limits on the mass of the fourth-generation quarks and the relevant Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix elements are derived in the context of a simple extension of the standard model with a sequential fourth generation of fermions. The existence of mass-degenerate fourth-generation quarks with masses below 685 GeV is excluded at 95% confidence level for minimal off-diagonal mixing between the third- and the fourth-generation quarks. With a mass difference of 25 GeV between the quark masses, the obtained limit on the masses of the fourth-generation quarks shifts by about +/- 20 GeV. These results significantly reduce the allowed parameter space for a fourth generation of fermions.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO