Planting Green: Potential Benefits and Disadvantages of Planting Corn into Live Cereal Rye Cover Crop

Although cover crops are typically terminated 2–4 weeks prior to cash crop planting, there may be situations where late-burndown or planting into a living cover crop (planting green) may be necessary or even beneficial. This experiment investigated the effect of cover crop termination date on corn (Zea mays) yield and the presence of beneficial insects. Three different termination dates were tested: 4 weeks prior to planting (brown), 7 to 14 days prior to planting (green-brown), and at planting (green), as well as a check treatment with no cover crop planted. The site year by termination date interaction was significant for cover crop biomass and thus each year was analyzed separately. Preliminary results of sentinel prey assessments indicate no significant difference in the presence of beneficial insects in the systems. However, there was a significant yield decrease in treatments where corn was planted into a green cover crop in both 2021 and 2022. Cover crop yields in 2022 were 50% lower than those observed in 2021. The control and planting brown treatments resulted in significantly higher yields than the planting green-brown and green treatments in 2022

Mania induzida por antibióticos: antibiomania: a propósito de um caso clínico

Nos últimos anos têm sido descritos diversos casos de episódios maníacos induzidos pela administração de antibióticos, síndrome que alguns autores designaram de “Antibiomania”. Os autores, com base num caso clínico pretendem fazer uma revisão do tema, mecanismos de acção e formas de intervenção em casos de mania induzida por antibióticos. Espera‑se assim, que os médicos estejam alerta da sua existência, quadro clínico e reversibilidade

Foliar treatments as a strategy to control iron chlorosis in orange trees

Different foliar treatments were applied to evaluate the recovery of iron chlorosis of orange trees (Citrus sinensis (L.) Osb. cv. 'Valencia late') grown on a calcareous soil. The treatments were: Fe (II) sulphate (500 mg Fe L-1), sulphuric acid (0.5 mM H2SO4), Fe (III)-chelate (Hampiron 654 GS, 120 mg Fe L-1) and distilled water as a control. The recovery from iron chlorosis was evaluated with the SPAD-502 apparatus and the values converted to total chlorophyll concentration. The effects of treatments on the mineral composition of leaves and flowers, and the size and quality of fruits were evaluated. The residual effect of treatments was also evaluated one year later. In orange trees, the use of frequent foliar sprays with Fe was able to alleviate Fe chlorosis and prevented yield and quality losses caused by Fe chlorosis. Compared with the control, sprays of Fe (II) sulphate led to higher concentrations of chlorophyll, Fe and Zn in leaves and flowers at the end of the experimental period, and significantly improved fruit size and quality. Leaf Fe concentration increased after the sulphuric acid spray, but this treatment did not affect fruit quality parameters. The mineral composition of flowers and leaves was correlated with some fruit quality parameters obtained one year later. These results suggest that foliar sprays with Fe could help to avoid fruit quality losses caused by Fe chlorosis in citrus orchards

Use of technology radiation as a method of reducing the microorganism and conservation postharvest of caja during storage

The caja fruit (Spondias spp.) are among the species considered exotic presents excellent view of economic exploitation to the Northeast of Brazil. However, contamination by microorganisms is a major factor in postharvest losses of fruits and other cultivated in Brazilian territory. Use of ionizing radiation aiming to reduce the use of pesticide products in pest control and microorganisms phytopathological and maintaining the quality of agricultural products has been studied by several researchers of postharvest fruit. This technology meets the requirements of food safety imposed by the various organs of public health. In order to evaluate the action of ionizing radiation on agents phytopathological and the effects on the quality of postharvest of caja fruits when stored under temperature of shelf, the experiment was conducted with application of doses 1.0 and 2.0 kGy, dose zero as fruit control, and storage under temperature of 23°C for twelve days. Control fruit had higher contamination by microorganisms phytopathological throughout the storage period. Analysis of total soluble solids, total titratable acidity, hydrogen potential, soluble solids/titratable acidity ratio, ascorbic acid and color of the flesh have suffered minor variations between the different doses studied.Keywords: Conservation; caja fruit; gamma radiation; postharvest storage; microorganism spoilage

Development of a new chitosan hydrogel for wound dressing

Wound healing is a complex process involving an integrated response by many different cell types and growth factors in order to achieve rapid restoration of skin architecture and function. The present study evaluated the applicability of a chitosan hydrogel (CH) as a wound dressing. Scanning electron microscopy analysis was used to characterize CH morphology. Fibroblast cells isolated from rat skin were used to assess the cytotoxicity of the hydrogel. CH was able to promote cell adhesion and proliferation. Cell viability studies showed that the hydrogel and its degradation by-products are noncytotoxic. The evaluation of the applicability of CH in the treatment of dermal burns in Wistar rats was performed by induction of full-thickness transcutaneous dermal wounds. Wound healing was monitored through macroscopic and histological analysis. From macroscopic analysis, the wound beds of the animals treated with CH were considerably smaller than those of the controls. Histological analysis revealed lack of a reactive or a granulomatous inflammatory reaction in skin lesions with CH and the absence of pathological abnormalities in the organs obtained by necropsy, which supported the local and systemic histocompatibility of the biomaterial. The present results suggest that this biomaterial may aid the re-establishment of skin architecture

Asteroids' physical models from combined dense and sparse photometry and scaling of the YORP effect by the observed obliquity distribution

The larger number of models of asteroid shapes and their rotational states derived by the lightcurve inversion give us better insight into both the nature of individual objects and the whole asteroid population. With a larger statistical sample we can study the physical properties of asteroid populations, such as main-belt asteroids or individual asteroid families, in more detail. Shape models can also be used in combination with other types of observational data (IR, adaptive optics images, stellar occultations), e.g., to determine sizes and thermal properties. We use all available photometric data of asteroids to derive their physical models by the lightcurve inversion method and compare the observed pole latitude distributions of all asteroids with known convex shape models with the simulated pole latitude distributions. We used classical dense photometric lightcurves from several sources and sparse-in-time photometry from the U.S. Naval Observatory in Flagstaff, Catalina Sky Survey, and La Palma surveys (IAU codes 689, 703, 950) in the lightcurve inversion method to determine asteroid convex models and their rotational states. We also extended a simple dynamical model for the spin evolution of asteroids used in our previous paper. We present 119 new asteroid models derived from combined dense and sparse-in-time photometry. We discuss the reliability of asteroid shape models derived only from Catalina Sky Survey data (IAU code 703) and present 20 such models. By using different values for a scaling parameter cYORP (corresponds to the magnitude of the YORP momentum) in the dynamical model for the spin evolution and by comparing synthetics and observed pole-latitude distributions, we were able to constrain the typical values of the cYORP parameter as between 0.05 and 0.6.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A, January 15, 201

Expression of IL-23/Th17-related cytokines in basal cell carcinoma and in the response to medical treatments

Several immune-related markers have been implicated in basal cell carcinoma (BCC) pathogenesis. The BCC inflammatory infiltrate is dominated by Th2 cytokines, suggesting a specific state of immunosuppression. In contrast, regressing BCC are characterized by a Th1 immune response with IFN-γ promoting a tumor suppressive activity. IL-23/Th17-related cytokines, as interleukin (IL)-17, IL-23 and IL-22, play a significant role in cutaneous inflammatory diseases, but their involvement in skin carcinogenesis is controversial and is poorly investigated in BCC. In this study we investigated the expression of IFN-γ, IL-17, IL-23 and IL-22 cytokines in BCC at the protein and mRNA level and their modulation during imiquimod (IMQ) treatment or photodynamic therapy (PDT). IFN-γ, IL-17, IL-23 and IL-22 levels were evaluated by immunohistochemistry and quantitative Real Time PCR in 41 histopatho-logically-proven BCCs (28 superficial and 13 nodular) from 39 patients. All BCC samples were analyzed at baseline and 19 of 41 also during medical treatment (9 with IMQ 5% cream and 10 with MAL-PDT). Association between cytokines expression and clinico-pathological variables was evaluated. Higher levels of IFN-γ, IL-17, IL-23 and IL-22 were found in BCCs, mainly in the peritumoral infiltrate, compared to normal skin, with the expression being correlated to the severity of the inflammatory infiltrate. IFN-γ production was higher in superficial BCCs compared to nodular BCCs, while IL-17 was increased in nodular BCCs. A significant correlation was found between IFN-γ and IL-17 expression with both cytokines expressed by CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells. An increase of all cytokines occurred during the inflammatory phase induced by IMQ and at the early time point of PDT treatment, with significant evidence for IFN-γ, IL-23, and IL-22. Our results confirm the role of IFN-γ and support the involvement of IL-23/Th17-related cytokines in BCC pathogenesis and in the inflammatory response during IMQ and MAL-PDT treatments

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) nanomachines: mechanisms for fluoroquinolone and glycopeptide recognition, efflux and/or deactivation

In this review, we discuss mechanisms of resistance identified in bacterial agents Staphylococcus aureus and the enterococci towards two priority classes of antibiotics—the fluoroquinolones and the glycopeptides. Members of both classes interact with a number of components in the cells of these bacteria, so the cellular targets are also considered. Fluoroquinolone resistance mechanisms include efflux pumps (MepA, NorA, NorB, NorC, MdeA, LmrS or SdrM in S. aureus and EfmA or EfrAB in the enterococci) for removal of fluoroquinolone from the intracellular environment of bacterial cells and/or protection of the gyrase and topoisomerase IV target sites in Enterococcus faecalis by Qnr-like proteins. Expression of efflux systems is regulated by GntR-like (S. aureus NorG), MarR-like (MgrA, MepR) regulators or a two-component signal transduction system (TCS) (S. aureus ArlSR). Resistance to the glycopeptide antibiotic teicoplanin occurs via efflux regulated by the TcaR regulator in S. aureus. Resistance to vancomycin occurs through modification of the D-Ala-D-Ala target in the cell wall peptidoglycan and removal of high affinity precursors, or by target protection via cell wall thickening. Of the six Van resistance types (VanA-E, VanG), the VanA resistance type is considered in this review, including its regulation by the VanSR TCS. We describe the recent application of biophysical approaches such as the hydrodynamic technique of analytical ultracentrifugation and circular dichroism spectroscopy to identify the possible molecular effector of the VanS receptor that activates expression of the Van resistance genes; both approaches demonstrated that vancomycin interacts with VanS, suggesting that vancomycin itself (or vancomycin with an accessory factor) may be an effector of vancomycin resistance. With 16 and 19 proteins or protein complexes involved in fluoroquinolone and glycopeptide resistances, respectively, and the complexities of bacterial sensing mechanisms that trigger and regulate a wide variety of possible resistance mechanisms, we propose that these antimicrobial resistance mechanisms might be considered complex ‘nanomachines’ that drive survival of bacterial cells in antibiotic environments