Grain legumes differ in nitrogen accumulation and remobilisation during seed filling.

n grain legumes, the N requirements of growing seeds are generally greater than biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) and soil N uptake during seed filling, so that the N previously accumulated in the vegetative tissues needs to be redistributed in order to provide N to the seeds. Chickpea, field bean, pea, and white lupin were harvested at flowering and maturity to compare the relative contribution of BNF, soil N uptake, and N remobilisation to seed N. From flowering to maturity, shoot dry weight increased in all crops by approximately 50%, root did not appreciably change, and nodule decreased by 18%. The amount of plant N increased in all crops, however in field bean (17 g m−2) it was about twice that in chickpea, pea, and lupin. The increase was entirely due to seeds, whose N content at maturity was 26 g m−2 in field bean and 16 g m−2 in chickpea, pea, and lupin. The seed N content at maturity was higher than total N accumulation during grain filling in all crops, and endogenous N previously accumulated in vegetative parts was remobilised to fulfil the N demand of filling seeds. Nitrogen remobilisation ranged from 7 g m−2 in chickpea to 9 g m−2 in field bean, and was crucial in providing N to the seeds of chickpea, pea, and lupin (half of seed N content) but it was less important in field bean (one-third). All the vegetative organs of the plants underwent N remobilisation: shoots contributed to the N supply of seeds from 58% to 85%, roots from 11% to 37%, and nodules less than 8%. Improving grain legume yield requires either reduced N remobilisation or enhanced N supply, thus, a useful strategy is to select cultivars with high post-anthesis N2 fixation or add mineral N at flowering

Cadmium uptake and translocation in durum wheat varieties differing in grain-Cd accumulation

Wheat grain products are the primary source of dietary Cd-intake for humans. Since varieties differ markedly in grain-Cd accumulation, efforts are needed to find traits associated with low, or high, accumulation. Two durum wheat varieties, selected in a field screening as low (Creso) and high (Svevo) grain-Cd accumulating, were grown on soil spiked with 1.5, 3 and 4.5 mg Cd/kg. Growth patterns, Cd uptake and translocation were investigated at heading and maturity. Cadmium did not affect plant growth and grain yield, but grain-Cd concentration always exceeded the permissible limit of 0.2 mg Cd/kg, and was approximately double in Svevo than in Creso. At maturity, total Cd-uptake increased linearly with supply in Creso, from 13 to 23 μg/plant, and was approximately 18 μg/plant, irrespective of Cd level, in Svevo. Partitioning to shoot was higher in Svevo than in Creso, both at heading and maturity. We suggest that reduced plant height, high root to shoot biomass ratio during vegetative growth and elevated post-heading dry matter accumulation promoted Cd accumulation into grain. Since these traits are common to modern wheat varieties, risks of grain Cd-contamination can increase in the future

Hepatitis C Virus Infection: Evidence for an Association With Type 2 Diabetes

An increased prevalence of type 2 diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance has been consistently found in liver cirrhosis from any cause (1–3). Less clear is whether hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is associated with type 2 diabetes in the absence of cirrhosis. Several reports have claimed a specific association between HCV infection and type 2 diabetes, but in most instances, patients were a mixture of cases with cirrhosis and hepatitis (4–6). Two clinic-based studies found an excess of type 2 diabetes in noncirrhotic HCV+ (NC-HCV+) patients compared with patients with chronic hepatitis of other origin (7–9), but another large study could not detect it (10). Furthermore, one clinic-based small study found a specific association with type 2 diabetes in NC-HCV+ patients (11) compared with a general population sample. The aim of this study was to establish the prevalence and clinical phenotype of type 2 diabetes in a large series of NC-HCV+ patients. A sample of the general population or patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related noncirrhotic chronic hepatitis (NC-HBV+) was used as control subjects. From January 1995 to December 2001, 564 NC-HCV+ patients were consecutively examined at our center (none had been previously treated with interferon). Diagnosis of HCV infection was based on abnormal serum aminotransferases levels of >6 months' duration and positive testing for serum anti-HCV markers and

Effect of preceding crop on the agronomic and economic performance of durum wheat in the transition from conventional to reduced tillage

Preceding crop greatly affects the agronomic and economic performance of durum wheat, but its interaction with tillage intensity was scarcely investigated at the early transition from conventional to reduced tillage. This work was aimed at studying how preceding crop determines the performance of durum wheat during the early transition from conventional to reduced tillage. To this end, the effect of four preceding crops (sunflower, durum wheat, alfalfa and maize) in interaction with two tillage systems without inversion (RT1 – chisel ploughing, disking twice, and harrowing and RT2 – disking twice and harrowing) and a conventional tillage (CT – mouldboard ploughing, disking twice, and harrowing) was studied on durum wheat in two years of cultivation. The effect of preceding crop on grain yield and yield components of durum wheat was different depending on tillage intensity, and this effect varied depending on the year of cultivation. Grain yield increased by 1.1–4.2 t ha−1 with the increase of the intensity of tillage in both years and all preceding crops, with the only exception of wheat crop following sunflower in 2009–2010 and following maize in 2010–2011. RT2 decreased wheat grain yield when compared with RT1 only with alfalfa as preceding crop. Differences in grain yield among tillage systems and crops preceding wheat in both years were mainly due to variations of mean kernel weight and number of spikes per unit area. The profitability of durum wheat varied according to the year of cultivation, the preceding crop and the tillage system. Overall, in both years profitability was lowest and negative following wheat under reduced tillage system, while it was highest and positive following alfalfa under CT. Reduced growth of durum wheat with reduced tillage systems was mainly consequence of weeds and volunteers plants development and nitrogen availability in soil resulting from nutrient immobilization. It can be concluded that potential yield penalties in durum wheat in the transition from conventional to reduced tillage can be alleviated by an appropriate selection of preceding crops

Remobilization of Dry Matter, Nitrogen and Phosphorus in Durum Wheat as Affected by Genotype and Environment

Field studies were carried out to determine dry matter (DM), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) assimilation until anthesis and DM, N and P remobilization during grain filling in wheat. Twentyfive durum wheat (Triticum durum L.) varieties were grown in Tuscany at Grosseto and at Arezzo. At Grosseto 76% of DM was assimilated during pre-anthesis while at Arezzo the amount was 81%. At Grosseto 44% and at Arezzo 35% of N was accumulated until anthesis, while 33% of P was stored until anthesis in both localities. Cultivar differences in DM and N remobilization were positively related to pre-anthesis dry matter and N content at anthesis (r > 0.74). Environmental contraints on carbon, N and P availability in the plant are crucial factors in determining grain yield and N and P content in grain, affecting both accumulation and remobilization. In the low rainfall site of Grosseto, most of the grain yield originated from dry matter accumulation, while in the wetter environment of Arezzo remobilization and accumulation contributed equally to grain yield. Conversely, at Grosseto grain N content relied most on remobilization and at Arezzo remobilization and accumulation contributed equally. Finally, at Grosseto and at Arezzo accumulation of P was the main source of grain P content

The practical management of non traumatic cerebral haemorrhage in the acute phase: a call to action

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Cadmium Uptake and Translocation in Durum Wheat Varieties Differing in Grain-Cd Accumulation

Wheat grain products are the primary source of dietary Cd-intake for humans. Since varieties differ markedly in grain-Cd accumulation, efforts are needed to find traits associated with low, or high, accumulation. Two durum wheat varieties, selected in a field screening as low (Creso) and high (Svevo) grain-Cd accumulating, were grown on soil spiked with 1.5, 3 and 4.5 mg Cd/kg. Growth patterns, Cd uptake and translocation were investigated at heading and maturity. Cadmium did not affect plant growth and grain yield, but grain-Cd concentration always exceeded the permissible limit of 0.2 mg Cd/kg, and was approximately double in Svevo than in Creso. At maturity, total Cd-uptake increased linearly with supply in Creso, from 13 to 23 μg/plant, and was approximately 18 μg/plant, irrespective of Cd level, in Svevo. Partitioning to shoot was higher in Svevo than in Creso, both at heading and maturity. We suggest that reduced plant height, high root to shoot biomass ratio during vegetative growth and elevated post-heading dry matter accumulation promoted Cd accumulation into grain. Since these traits are common to modern wheat varieties, risks of grain Cd-contamination can increase in the future

Efficacy and safety of new oral anticoagulants in prophylaxis and treatment of venous thromboembolism

One of the main innovation emerged in recent years in the field of venous thromboembolism (VTE) has been represented by the clinical development and marketing of new oral anticoagulant agents used for prophylaxis and acute treatment. These drugs are represented by direct thrombin inhibitors (anti-factor IIa) and the direct inhibitors of activated factor X (anti-Xa). The main achievement of these new agents is represented by their ease of use without laboratory monitoring or dose adjustment. Dabigatran (anti-factor IIa), rivaroxaban, and apixaban (anti-Xa) are in advanced phase of clinical development with concluded phase III trials. Up to now the results of efficacy and safety of phase III clinical trials are available, while phase IV studies are currently ongoing. Overall, the phase III clinical trials showed the non inferiority of new oral anticoagulants in VTE prophylaxis of patients undergone to major orthopedic surgery, such as hip and knee arthroplasty, compared to conventional prophylaxis represented by subcutaneous low molecular weight heparin with similar safety. Moreover dabigatran has shown to be not inferior when compared to warfarin for the prevention of six months VTE recurrences, with a significative lower incidence of bleedings. Awaiting the results of many other ongoing phase III trials, since now it is possible to think that, in the next future, new oral anticoagulants will be widely diffused in clinical practice for their ease of use and feasibility. In this review the Authors analyse the available results of phase III clinical trials for dabigatran, rivaroxaban and apixaban, focusing on the antithrombotic endpoints for prevention and treatment of VTE and the bleeding risk. Moreover synthesis of ongoing trials will be displayed

The intracerebral haemorrhage associated to oral anticoagulant therapy: the practical management of urgent reversal therapy

Intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) represents the most feared complication of therapy with vitamin K antagonists (VKA), so-called oral anticoagulant therapy (OAT). This is a real emergency in clinical practice, being burdened by high mortality, morbidity and residual functional disability. In recent years, there have been widespread indications for the correct management of VKA associated ICH. The urgent OAT reversal represents the cornerstone of VKA associated ICH therapy. The knowledge of these guidelines is of fundamental importance in clinical practice. The urgent OAT reversal could stop the hematoma enlargement which is considered one of the main risk factor of poor outcome in this clinical setting. The aim of urgent OAT reversal is bringing the INR (International Normalized Ratio) to values ≤ 1.4. It is possible by using prothrombin complex concentrate (PCC), fresh frozen plasma (FFP), recombinant activated factor VII (raFVII) together with vitamin K1 intravenous infusion. In this article the Authors review the practical management of urgent OAT reversal in patients suffering for VKA related ICH