Hydrogen peroxide in micropropagation of Lilium: A comparison with a traditional methodology

The micropropagation of Lilium longiflorum requires adequate equipment which may not be afforded by small laboratories or producers. In this work we compared traditional methodology with a protocol that included easily available elements to sterilize materials and culture media, together with addition of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) into the nutrient media as chemical sterilizer. A series of H2O2 concentrations (0.005, 0.010, 0.015 and 0.020% p/v) was used to control contamination during in vitro establishment and subsequent cultivation; the explant organogenic response was also examined and compared to the traditional micropropagation technique. The level of culture contamination was within acceptable limits in all treatments, though it was higher in the H2O2 treatments (40%) compared to the traditional methodology (20%). There were not significant differences in the number of bulblets per explant, and at the end of the multiplication phase, bulblets from 0.02% H2O2 treatment had greater biomass than from other treatments, indicating a beneficial effect. These bulblets also had a higher relative growth ratio with respect to the traditional method when cultivated for an additional period and showed the highest average bulblet fresh weight. It is expected that this higher bulblet mass would result in better performance during ex vitro cultivation.Fil: Curvetto, Nestor Raul. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida; ArgentinaFil: Marinangeli, Pablo Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida; ArgentinaFil: Mockel, Gabriela Carolina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida; Argentin

Relationship of seed vigor among grain sorghum hybrids and field establishment

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1969 M6Master of Scienc

Cardiac troponin I but not cardiac troponin T adheres to polysulfone dialyser membranes in an in vitro haemodialysis model: explanation for lower serum cTnI concentrations following dialysis.

BACKGROUND: Elevated serum cardiac troponin T (cTnT) and I (cTnI) can occur in patients with chronic kidney disease. Differences in cTn concentrations between cTnT and cTnI have been reported but the mechanism of such discrepancy has not been investigated. This study investigates the clearance of cTn with the aid of an in vitro model of haemodialysis (HD). METHODS: Serum was obtained before and after a single session of dialysis from 53 patients receiving HD and assayed for cTnT and cTnI. An in vitro model of the dialysis process was used to investigate the mechanism of clearance of cTn during HD. RESULTS: Serum cTnI was significantly lower (p=0.043) following a session of HD whereas cTnT concentrations were similar to those obtained before HD. Using an in vitro model of dialysis, it was demonstrated that cTnI is not dialysed from the vascular compartment but adheres to the dialyser membrane. CONCLUSIONS: The adherence of cTnI to the dialyser membrane is responsible for the observed decrease in serum cTnI following a session of dialysis. The adherence of cTnT or T-I-C complex to the dialyser membrane could not be demonstrated and supports the observation that pre-HD and post-HD serum concentrations of cTnT are similar

Atrial fibrillation impairs the diagnostic performance of cardiac natriuretic peptides in dyspneic patients. results from the BACH Study (Biomarkers in ACute Heart Failure)

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of atrial fibrillation (AF) on the performance of mid-region amino terminal pro-atrial natriuretic peptide (MR-proANP) in comparison with the B-type peptides (BNP and NT-proBNP) for diagnosis of acute heart failure (HF) in dyspneic patients. Background: The effects of AF on the diagnostic and prognostic performance of MR-proANP in comparison with the B type natriuretic peptides have not been previously reported. Methods: A total of 1,445 patients attending the emergency department with acute dyspnea had measurements taken of MR-proANP, BNP, and NT-proBNP values on enrollment to the BACH trial and were grouped according to presence or absence of AF and HF. Results: AF was present in 242 patients. Plasma concentrations of all three peptides were lowest in those with neither AF nor HF and AF without HF was associated with markedly increased levels (p < 0.00001). HF with or without AF was associated with a significant further increment (p < 0.00001 for all three markers). Areas under receiver operator characteristic curves (AUCs) for discrimination of acute HF were similar and powerful for all peptides without AF (0.893 to 0.912; all p < 0.001) with substantial and similar reductions (0.701 to 0.757) in the presence of AF. All 3 peptides were independently prognostic but there was no interaction between any peptide and AF for prediction of all-cause mortality. Conclusions: AF is associated with increased plasma natriuretic peptide (MR-proANP, BNP and NT-proBNP) levels in the absence of HF. The diagnostic performance of all three peptides is impaired by AF. This warrants consideration of adjusted peptide thresholds for diagnostic use in AF and mandates the continued search for markers free of confounding by AF

Natural User Interface for Roombots

Roombots (RB) are self-reconfigurable modular robots designed to study robotic reconfiguration on a structured grid and adaptive locomotion off grid. One of the main goals of this platform is to create adaptive furniture inside living spaces such as homes or offices. To ease the control of RB modules in these environments, we propose a novel and more natural way of interaction with the RB modules on a RB grid, called the Natural Roombots User Interface. In our method, the user commands the RB modules using pointing gestures. The user's body is tracked using multiple Kinects. The user is also given real-time visual feedback of their physical actions and the state of the system via LED illumination electronics installed on both RB modules and the grid. We demonstrate how our interface can be used to efficiently control RB modules on simple point-to-point grid locomotion and conclude by discussing future extensions

A Novel Siglec-4 Derived Spacer Improves the Functionality of CAR T Cells Against Membrane-Proximal Epitopes

A domain that is often neglected in the assessment of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) functionality is the extracellular spacer module. However, several studies have elucidated that membrane proximal epitopes are best targeted through CARs comprising long spacers, while short spacer CARs exhibit highest activity on distal epitopes. This finding can be explained by the requirement to have an optimal distance between the effector T cell and target cell. Commonly used long spacer domains are the CH2-CH3 domains of IgG molecules. However, CARs containing these spacers generally show inferior in vivo efficacy in mouse models compared to their observed in vitro activity, which is linked to unspecific Fcγ-Receptor binding and can be abolished by mutating the respective regions. Here, we first assessed a CAR therapy targeting membrane proximal CD20 using such a modified long IgG1 spacer. However, despite these mutations, this construct failed to unfold its observed in vitro cytotoxic potential in an in vivo model, while a shorter but less structured CD8α spacer CAR showed complete tumor clearance. Given the shortage of well-described long spacer domains with a favorable functionality profile, we designed a novel class of CAR spacers with similar attributes to IgG spacers but without unspecific off-target binding, derived from the Sialic acid-binding immunoglobulin-type lectins (Siglecs). Of five constructs tested, a Siglec-4 derived spacer showed highest cytotoxic potential and similar performance to a CD8α spacer in a CD20 specific CAR setting. In a pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma model, a Siglec-4 spacer CAR targeting a membrane proximal (TSPAN8) epitope was efficiently engaged in vitro, while a membrane distal (CD66c) epitope did not activate the T cell. Transfer of the TSPAN8 specific Siglec-4 spacer CAR to an in vivo setting maintained the excellent tumor killing characteristics being indistinguishable from a TSPAN8 CD8α spacer CAR while outperforming an IgG4 long spacer CAR and, at the same time, showing an advantageous central memory CAR T cell phenotype with lower release of inflammatory cytokines. In summary, we developed a novel spacer that combines cytotoxic potential with an advantageous T cell and cytokine release phenotype, which make this an interesting candidate for future clinical applications

Classification of Grassland Successional Stages Using Airborne Hyperspectral Imagery

Plant communities differ in their species composition, and, thus, also in their functional trait composition, at different stages in the succession from arable fields to grazed grassland. We examine whether aerial hyperspectral (414–2501 nm) remote sensing can be used to discriminate between grazed vegetation belonging to different grassland successional stages. Vascular plant species were recorded in 104.1 m2 plots on the island of Öland (Sweden) and the functional properties of the plant species recorded in the plots were characterized in terms of the ground-cover of grasses, specific leaf area and Ellenberg indicator values. Plots were assigned to three different grassland age-classes, representing 5–15, 16–50 and >50 years of grazing management. Partial least squares discriminant analysis models were used to compare classifications based on aerial hyperspectral data with the age-class classification. The remote sensing data successfully classified the plots into age-classes: the overall classification accuracy was higher for a model based on a pre-selected set of wavebands (85%, Kappa statistic value = 0.77) than one using the full set of wavebands (77%, Kappa statistic value = 0.65). Our results show that nutrient availability and grass cover differences between grassland age-classes are detectable by spectral imaging. These techniques may potentially be used for mapping the spatial distribution of grassland habitats at different successional stages

Agrowaste compost as a component of substrates for ornamental plants

En la formulación de sustratos para plantas ornamentales en contenedores existe un compromiso entre las características físicoquímicas y biológicas, los costos y el impacto ambiental por el uso de turba. Una forma de optimizar esta relación es utilizando componentes locales. Este trabajo propone la elaboración de un sustrato en base a turba Sphagnum y perlita, complementado con compost de residuos agropecuarios regionales como posible reemplazo de un sustrato comercial. Se comparó el crecimiento y desarrollo de plantas de Impatiens walleriana y Antirrhinum majus L. en contenedores con diferentes sustratos: comercial (SC), turba/perlita 9/1 (TP), compost puro (C), y cuatro mezclas TP/C (v:v): 8/2, 6/4, 4/6 y 2/8. Los parámetros evaluados fueron: área foliar, número de flores y biomasa acumulada para Impatiens walleriana y altura de planta, nudos por planta, contenido de clorofila (SPAD), porcentaje de floración estimado y biomasa acumulada para Antirrhinum majus L. Se realizó la caracterización físicoquímica de los sustratos evaluados, observándose que la principal limitante de incorporar compost es el incremento en la conductividad eléctrica y en el pH, pero que con buen manejo permite incrementar su proporción en las mezclas. El tratamiento TP/C 8/2 obtuvo los mejores resultados entre las mezclas, superando significativamente al resto. No se encontraron diferencias significativas con el sustrato comercial para la mayor a de los parámetros medidos en ambas especies ornamentales. El tratamiento TP/C8/2 es la opción más económica y sustentable debido a la reducción del uso de turba y al aprovechamiento de residuos.The formulation of substrates for ornamental plants in containers implicates a compromise between physicochemical and biological characteristics, costs, andenvironmental impact for the use of peat. A way to optimize this relationship is by using local components. This work proposes the elaboration of a substrate based on Sphagnum peat and perlite, complemented with compost from regional agricultural residues as a possible replacement for a commercial substrate. The growth and development of Impatiens walleriana and Antirrhinum majus L. plants were compared in containers with different substrates: commercial (SC), peat/perlite 9/1 (TP), pure compost (C), and four TP/C mixtures (v:v): 8/2, 6/4, 4/6 and 2/8. The parameters evaluated in Impatiens walleriana were foliar area, number of flowers and accumulated biomass and in Antirrhinum majus L., plant height, nodes per plant, chlorophyll content (SPAD), estimated flowering percentage and accumulated biomass. A physicochemical characterization was carried out for the substrates, and it showed that the main limitation of incorporating compost is the increase of electric conductivity and pH, but with good management it is possible to increase its proportion in the mixtures. The TP/C 8/2 treatment obtained the best results among the mixtures, significantly exceeding the rest. No significant differences were found with the commercial substrate for most of the parameters measured in both ornamental species. The TP/C 8/2 treatment is the more economical and sustainable option due to the reduction in the use of peat and the recovery of wastes.Fil: Gutierrez, Agustina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida; ArgentinaFil: Orden, Luciano. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Agronomía; ArgentinaFil: Postemsky, Pablo Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida; ArgentinaFil: Iocoli, Gastón Alejandro. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Agronomía; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida; ArgentinaFil: Mockel, Gabriela Carolina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida; ArgentinaFil: Marinangeli, Pablo Alejandro. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Agronomía; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida; Argentin

Agrowaste compost as a component of substrates for ornamental plants

En la formulación de sustratos para plantas ornamentales en contenedores existe un compromiso entre las características físicoquímicas y biológicas, los costos y el impacto ambiental por el uso de turba. Una forma de optimizar esta relación es utilizando componentes locales. Este trabajo propone la elaboración de un sustrato en base a turba Sphagnum y perlita, complementado con compost de residuos agropecuarios regionales como posible reemplazo de un sustrato comercial. Se comparó el crecimiento y desarrollo de plantas de Impatiens walleriana y Antirrhinum majus L. en contenedores con diferentes sustratos: comercial (SC), turba/perlita 9/1 (TP), compost puro (C), y cuatro mezclas TP/C (v:v): 8/2, 6/4, 4/6 y 2/8. Los parámetros evaluados fueron: área foliar, número de flores y biomasa acumulada para Impatiens walleriana y altura de planta, nudos por planta, contenido de clorofila (SPAD), porcentaje de floración estimado y biomasa acumulada para Antirrhinum majus L. Se realizó la caracterización físicoquímica de los sustratos evaluados, observándose que la principal limitante de incorporar compost es el incremento en la conductividad eléctrica y en el pH, pero que con buen manejo permite incrementar su proporción en las mezclas. El tratamiento TP/C 8/2 obtuvo los mejores resultados entre las mezclas, superando significativamente al resto. No se encontraron diferencias significativas con el sustrato comercial para la mayor a de los parámetros medidos en ambas especies ornamentales. El tratamiento TP/C8/2 es la opción más económica y sustentable debido a la reducción del uso de turba y al aprovechamiento de residuos.The formulation of substrates for ornamental plants in containers implicates a compromise between physicochemical and biological characteristics, costs, andenvironmental impact for the use of peat. A way to optimize this relationship is by using local components. This work proposes the elaboration of a substrate based on Sphagnum peat and perlite, complemented with compost from regional agricultural residues as a possible replacement for a commercial substrate. The growth and development of Impatiens walleriana and Antirrhinum majus L. plants were compared in containers with different substrates: commercial (SC), peat/perlite 9/1 (TP), pure compost (C), and four TP/C mixtures (v:v): 8/2, 6/4, 4/6 and 2/8. The parameters evaluated in Impatiens walleriana were foliar area, number of flowers and accumulated biomass and in Antirrhinum majus L., plant height, nodes per plant, chlorophyll content (SPAD), estimated flowering percentage and accumulated biomass. A physicochemical characterization was carried out for the substrates, and it showed that the main limitation of incorporating compost is the increase of electric conductivity and pH, but with good management it is possible to increase its proportion in the mixtures. The TP/C 8/2 treatment obtained the best results among the mixtures, significantly exceeding the rest. No significant differences were found with the commercial substrate for most of the parameters measured in both ornamental species. The TP/C 8/2 treatment is the more economical and sustainable option due to the reduction in the use of peat and the recovery of wastes.Fil: Gutierrez, Agustina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida; ArgentinaFil: Orden, Luciano. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Agronomía; ArgentinaFil: Postemsky, Pablo Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida; ArgentinaFil: Iocoli, Gastón Alejandro. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Agronomía; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida; ArgentinaFil: Mockel, Gabriela Carolina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida; ArgentinaFil: Marinangeli, Pablo Alejandro. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Agronomía; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida; Argentin