A novel aspect of essential oils: Coating seeds with thyme essential oil induces drought resistance in wheat

Coating seeds with biostimulants is among the promising approaches in crop production to increase crop tolerance to drought stress. In this study, we evaluated the potential of coating durum wheat seeds of the cultivar 'Karim' with thyme essential oil on enhancing seed germination and seedling growth, and on plant growth promotion and induction of drought resistance. Coated seeds were pre-germinated, grown in hydroponics, and grown in pots under controlled well-watered and progressive water/nutrient stress conditions. Seed coating with thyme oil increased germination rate and enhanced seedling growth development in hydroponics. In the pot experiment, thyme oil increased, when well watered, root and shoot development, chlorophyll, nitrogen balance index (NBI), abscisic acid (ABA), anthocyanins and flavonoids in leaves, decreased nitrogen isotope composition (δ15N) and increased carbon isotope composition (δ13C) of shoots. Increasing water/nutrient stress in control plants induced higher accumulation of ABA and anthocyanins coupled with a transient decrease in chlorophyll and NBI, a decrease in shoot and root development, the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), shoot C content, δ15N, and an increase in δ13C, revealing the avoidance strategy adopted by the cultivar. Thyme oil had the potential to enhance the avoidance strategy by inducing roots elongation, reducing the loss of shoot and roots dry matter and chlorophyll, maintaining balanced NBI, an decreasing anthocyanins, flavonoids, and δ13C via maintaining lower ABA-mediated-stomatal closure. Thyme oil increased shoot N content and δ15N indicating preferential uptake of the 15N enriched NH4+. Coating seeds with thyme oil is suggested as a promising alternative approach to improve plant's water and nutrient status and to enhance drought resistance

Exploring the potential of Meyerozyma guilliermondii on physiological performances and defense response against Fusarium Crown Rot on Durum Wheat

Coating seeds with bio-control agents is a potentially effective approach to reduce the usage of pesticides and fertilizers applied and protect the natural environment. This study evaluated the effect of seed coating with Meyerozyma guilliermondii, strain INAT (MT731365), on seed germination, plant growth and photosynthesis, and plant resistance against Fusarium culmorum, in durum wheat under controlled conditions. Compared to control plants, seed coating with M. guilliermondii promoted the wheat growth (shoot and roots length and biomass), and photosynthesis and transpiration traits (chlorophyll, ɸPSII, rates of photosynthesis and transpiration, etc.) together with higher nitrogen balance index (NBI) and lower flavonols and anthocyanins. At 21 days post infection with Fusarium, M. guilliermondii was found to reduce the disease incidence and the severity, with reduction rates reaching up to 31.2% and 30.4%, respectively, as well as to alleviate the disease damaging impact on photosynthesis and plant growth. This was associated with lower ABA, flavonols and anthocyanins, compared to infected control. A pivotal function of M. guilliermondii as an antagonist of F. culmorum and a growth promoter is discussed

Cognitive performance in euthymic patients with bipolar disorder vs healthy controls : a neuropsychological investigation

Objectives: Cognitive impairment may affect patients with Bipolar Disorder (BD) beyond the acute episodes, qualifying as a potential endophenotype. However, which cognitive domains are specifically affected in euthymic patients with BD and the potential influence of confounding factors (e.g., age and concomitant pharmacological treatment) are still a matter of debate. The present study was, therefore, conducted to assess cognitive performance across specific domains in euthymic bipolar patients, not older than 50 years (to avoid potential age-related bias) versus healthy controls (HCs). Methods: A cognitive task battery, including the Wisconsin Card Test, Span Attention Test, Tower of London, Trail Making Test, Verbal Fluency Test, Matrices Scores and N-Back, was administered to 62 subjects (30 bipolar patients and 32 matched HCs) and differences between the groups analyzed. Results: Bipolar patients performed significantly worse than HCs in the Span Forward task, in the expression of Verbal Fluency Test (Category) and in the N-Back task (all p<.05), with marginal differences between BD I and BD II patients. Conclusion: The present study pointed out significant differences in terms of cognitive performance between euthymic bipolar patients and HCs, supporting the notion that specific cognitive functions may remain impaired even after the resolution of the acute episodes in subjects suffering from BD. Future studies on larger samples are warranted to confirm the present results and further explore potential differences in cognitive impairment across specific bipolar subtypes

Is the Charcot and Bernard case (1883) of loss of visual imagery really based on neurological impairment?

INTRODUCTION. The Charcot and Bernard case of visual imagery, Monsieur X, is a classic case in the history of neuropsychology. Published in 1883, it has been considered the first case of visual imagery loss due to brain injury. Also in recent times a neurological valence has been given to it. However, the presence of analogous cases of loss of visual imagery in the psychiatric field have led us to hypothesise functional origins rather than organic. METHODS. In order to assess the validity of such an inference, we have compared the symptomatology of Monsieur X with that found in cases of loss of visual mental images, both psychiatric and neurological, presented in literature. RESULTS. The clinical findings show strong assonances of the Monsieur X case with the symptoms manifested over time by the patients with functionally based loss of visual imagery. CONCLUSION. Although Monsieur X's damage was initially interpreted as neurological, reports of similar symptoms in the psychiatric field lead us to postulate a functional cause for his impairment as well

Amnesia lacunare post-crimine, problemi di verifica, considerazioni etiche e implicazioni processuali

Le amnesie circoscritte al contesto di omicidi volontari sono state variamente riportate con stime che vanno dal 10 al 70%. Gran parte dei clinici ed esperti forensi sono scettici circa la possibilit\ue0 che gli autori di un omicidio possano sviluppare un\u2019amnesia post-crimine veritiera. Tuttavia, alcune recenti verifiche strumentali tramite le tecniche IAT (Implicit Association Test) e TARA (Timed Antagonistic Response Alethiometer) che indagano la memoria implicita riferita al fatto/reato del soggetto esaminato mediante registrazione dei tempi di reazione, indicano la possibilit\ue0 che l\u2019autore di un reato d\u2019impeto possa manifestare una genuina amnesia lacunare psicogena. Questo lavoro riporta i risultati ottenuti con le tecniche di lie-detection, IAT e TARA, in due imputati accusati rispettivamente di omicidio e tentato omicidio. Mediante i risultati ottenuti viene avvalorata l\u2019ipotesi di un\u2019amnesia genuina post-crimine. Tali evidenze dimostrano che nonostante l\u2019amnesia lacunare psicogena sia un sintomo spesso oggetto di simulazione nel contesto giudiziario, \ue8 necessario che i periti prima di concludere in modo affrettato ed eticamente non accettabile per un\u2019amnesia simulata, indaghino mediante moderne procedure neuroscientifiche la genuinit\ue0 dell\u2019amnesia post-crimine. La dimostrazione di una reale amnesia lacunare post-crimine ha implicazioni processuali che riguardano da un lato la capacit\ue0 di stare a giudizio e dall\u2019altro la responsabilit\ue0 penale. L\u2019imputato accusato di un omicidio che non pu\uf2 ricordare l\u2019evento criminoso potrebbe non riuscire a prender parte in modo significativo alla sua difesa e quindi potrebbe essere considerato non capace di subire processo. D\u2019altro canto l\u2019evidenza di un\u2019amnesia post crimine potrebbe ridurre la responsabilit\ue0 penale dell\u2019imputato qualora venga dimostrato che l\u2019amnesia lacunare sia dovuta ad uno stato dissociativo, vale a dire la particolare situazione clinica in cui si manifesta un\u2019improvvisa perdita di memorie autobiografiche personali e del senso dell\u2019identit\ue0 personale durante l\u2019atto delittuoso

La perdita dell'immagine mentale visiva tra neurologia e psichiatria : una rivisitazione critica del caso di Charcot e Bernard del 1883

Objectives: The Charcot and Bernard case of visual imagery, Monsieur X, is a classic case in the history of neuropsychology. Published in 1883, it has been considered the first case of visual imagery loss due to brain injury. Also in recent times a neurological valence has been given to it. However, the presence of analogous cases of loss of visual imagery in the psychiatric field have led us to hypothesize psychogenic origins rather than organic. Methods: In order to assess the validity of such an inference, we have compared the symptomatology of Monsieur X with that found in cases of loss of visual mental images, both psychiatric and neurological, presented in literature. Results: The clinical findings show strong assonances of the Monsieur X case with the symptoms manifested over time by the patients with psychogenic loss of visual imagery. Conclusions: Although Monsieur X's damage was initially interpreted as neurological, reports of similar symptoms in the psychiatric field lead us to postulate a psychogenic cause for his impairment as well