Yield sensing technologies for perennial and annual horticultural crops: a review

Yield maps provide a detailed account of crop production and potential revenue of a farm. This level of details enables a range of possibilities from improving input management, conducting on-farm experimentation, or generating profitability map, thus creating value for farmers. While this technology is widely available for field crops such as maize, soybean and grain, few yield sensing systems exist for horticultural crops such as berries, field vegetable or orchards. Nevertheless, a wide range of techniques and technologies have been investigated as potential means of sensing crop yield for horticultural crops. This paper reviews yield monitoring approaches that can be divided into proximal, either direct or indirect, and remote measurement principles. It reviews remote sensing as a way to estimate and forecast yield prior to harvest. For each approach, basic principles are explained as well as examples of application in horticultural crops and success rate. The different approaches provide whether a deterministic (direct measurement of weight for instance) or an empirical (capacitance measurements correlated to weight for instance) result, which may impact transferability. The discussion also covers the level of precision required for different tasks and the trend and future perspectives. This review demonstrated the need for more commercial solutions to map yield of horticultural crops. It also showed that several approaches have demonstrated high success rate and that combining technologies may be the best way to provide enough accuracy and robustness for future commercial systems

Genome-wide analysis of mitochondrial DNA copy number reveals loci implicated in nucleotide metabolism, platelet activation, and megakaryocyte proliferation

Mitochondrial DNA copy number (mtDNA-CN) measured from blood specimens is a minimally invasive marker of mitochondrial function that exhibits both inter-individual and intercellular variation. To identify genes involved in regulating mitochondrial function, we performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) in 465,809 White individuals from the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE) consortium and the UK Biobank (UKB). We identified 133 SNPs with statistically significant, independent effects associated with mtDNA-CN across 100 loci. A combination of fine-mapping, variant annotation, and co-localization analyses was used to prioritize genes within each of the 133 independent sites. Putative causal genes were enriched for known mitochondrial DNA depletion syndromes (p = 3.09 × 10(–15)) and the gene ontology (GO) terms for mtDNA metabolism (p = 1.43 × 10(–8)) and mtDNA replication (p = 1.2 × 10(–7)). A clustering approach leveraged pleiotropy between mtDNA-CN associated SNPs and 41 mtDNA-CN associated phenotypes to identify functional domains, revealing three distinct groups, including platelet activation, megakaryocyte proliferation, and mtDNA metabolism. Finally, using mitochondrial SNPs, we establish causal relationships between mitochondrial function and a variety of blood cell-related traits, kidney function, liver function and overall (p = 0.044) and non-cancer mortality (p = 6.56 × 10(–4)). SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00439-021-02394-w

HIV-1 Efficient Entry in Inner Foreskin Is Mediated by Elevated CCL5/RANTES that Recruits T Cells and Fuels Conjugate Formation with Langerhans Cells

Male circumcision reduces acquisition of HIV-1 by 60%. Hence, the foreskin is an HIV-1 entry portal during sexual transmission. We recently reported that efficient HIV-1 transmission occurs following 1 h of polarized exposure of the inner, but not outer, foreskin to HIV-1-infected cells, but not to cell-free virus. At this early time point, Langerhans cells (LCs) and T-cells within the inner foreskin epidermis are the first cells targeted by the virus. To gain in-depth insight into the molecular mechanisms governing inner foreskin HIV-1 entry, foreskin explants were inoculated with HIV-1-infeceted cells for 4 h. The chemokine/cytokine milieu secreted by the foreskin tissue, and resulting modifications in density and spatial distribution of T-cells and LCs, were then investigated. Our studies show that in the inner foreskin, inoculation with HIV-1-infected cells induces increased CCL5/RANTES (1.63-fold) and decreased CCL20/MIP-3-alpha (0.62-fold) secretion. Elevated CCL5/RANTES mediates recruitment of T-cells from the dermis into the epidermis, which is blocked by a neutralizing CCL5/RANTES Ab. In parallel, HIV-1-infected cells mediate a bi-phasic modification in the spatial distribution of epidermal LCs: attraction to the apical surface at 1 h, followed by migration back towards the basement membrane later on at 4 h, in correlation with reduced CCL20/MIP-3-alpha at this time point. T-cell recruitment fuels the continuous formation of LC-T-cell conjugates, permitting the transfer of HIV-1 captured by LCs. Together, these results reveal that HIV-1 induces a dynamic process of immune cells relocation in the inner foreskin that is associated with specific chemokines secretion, which favors efficient HIV-1 entry at this site

Carte des possessions françoises et angloises dans le Canada, et partie de la Louisiane, 1756.

Scale ca. 1:3,900,000.Hand colored.Relief shown pictorially.From Louis Charles Desnos' Atlas général. 1767-[69]LC Maps of North America, 1750-1789, 70Includes map extension entitled "Supplement pour les possessions françoises et angloises au sud de la Louisiane. Gravé par Chambon.

Peristicta guarellae sp. nov. from Brazil (Odonata: Protoneuridae)

Peristicta guarellae sp. nov. (holotype: Brazil, Paraná State, Exc. 399/col. 3, stream in km 50 of Curitiba-Ponta Grossa route [BR 376], about 25◦2008 S, 49◦5115 W, 21 November 1971, N. D. Santos leg., deposited in the Collection of Museu Nacional, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro?, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) is described and illustrated.An identification key for males of Peristicta (excluding P. lizeria Navás), comparisons and comments on other species of the genus are presented.Peristicta guarellae sp. nov. (holótipo: Brasil, Paraná, Exc. 399/col. 3, riacho no km 50 da Rodovia Curitiba-Ponta Grossa (BR 376), aproximadamente 25°20′08″ S, 49°51′15″ W, 21 de novembro de 1971, N. D. Santos leg., depositado na Coleção do Museu Nacional, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil) é descrita e ilustrada. Uma chave de identificação para os machos de Peristicta (excluindo P. lizeria Navás), comparações e comentários sobre as outras espécies do gênero são apresentados.Fil: Anjos Dos Santos, Danielle. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia "san Juan Bosco". Facultad de Ciencias Naturales - Sede Esquel. Departamento de Biología. Laboratorio de Investigaciones En Ecología y Sistemática Animal; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Nacional Patagónico; ArgentinaFil: Pessacq, Pablo. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia "San Juan Bosco". Facultad de Ciencias Naturales - Sede Esquel. Departamento de Biología. Laboratorio de Investigaciones en Ecología y Sistemática Animal; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Nacional Patagónico; Argentin

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among persons living in homeless shelters in France

International audienceCOVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is frequent and can constitute a barrier to the dissemination of vaccines once they are available. Unequal access to vaccines may also contribute to socioeconomic inequalities with regard to COVID-19. We studied vaccine hesitancy among persons living in homeless shelters in France between May and June 2020 (n = 235). Overall, 40.9% of study participants reported vaccine hesitancy, which is comparable to general population trends in France. In multivariate regression models, factors associated with vaccine hesitancy are: being a woman (OR = 2.55; 95% CI 1.40–4.74), living with a partner (OR = 2.48, 95% CI 1.17–5.41), no legal residence in France (OR = 0.51, 95% CI 0.27–0.92), and health literacy (OR = 0.38, 95% CI 0.21, 0.68). Our results suggest that trends in vaccine hesitancy and associated factors are similar among homeless persons as in the general population. Dissemination of information on vaccine risks and benefits needs to be adapted to persons who experience severe disadvantage