Récord en Brasil, caída en Argentina : cosechas contrastantes de soja en América del Sur

Los países sudamericanos, que representan alrededor del 55% del suministro mundial de soja, están experimentando expectativas de cosecha variables en este ciclo agrícola. Mientras Brasil está a punto de romper un récord en la producción de soja, Argentina tendrá su peor cosecha en más de dos décadas. Los contrastes en los rendimientos resultan de los efectos de La Niña. Se espera que la producción de soja de América del Sur supere la del año anterior, pero en menor medida de lo que se pensó inicialmente. Las consecuencias de una mayor cosecha de soja en América del Sur, combinadas con el potencial de una mayor cosecha de soja en EEUU en el otoño, podrían tender a empujar los precios a la baja, una tendencia que ya es evidente en el mercado de materias primas en 2023, que podría volverse más pronunciada en los próximos meses.EEA PergaminoFil: Colussi, Joana. Universidad de Illinois. Departamento de Economía Agrícola y del Consumidor; Estados UnidosFil: Schnitkey, Gary. Universidad de Illinois. Departamento de Economía Agrícola y del Consumidor; Estados UnidosFil: Paulson, Nick. Universidad de Illinois. Departamento de Economía Agrícola y del Consumidor; Estados UnidosFil: Cabrini, Silvina M. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Pergamino. Área de Economía y Sociología; ArgentinaFil: Paolilli, María Cecilia. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Pergamino. Economía y Sociología Rural; ArgentinaFil: Fillat, Francisco Antonio. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Pergamino. Economía y Sociología; Argentin

Assessment of body composition in spinal cord injury: A scoping review.

The objective of this scoping review was to map the evidence on measurement properties of body composition tools to assess whole-body and regional fat and fat-free mass in adults with SCI, and to identify research gaps in order to set future research priorities. Electronic databases of PubMed, EMBASE and the Cochrane library were searched up to April 2020. Included studies employed assessments related to whole-body or regional fat and/or fat-free mass and provided data to quantify measurement properties that involved adults with SCI. All searches and data extractions were conducted by two independent reviewers. The scoping review was designed and conducted together with an expert panel (n = 8) that represented research, clinical, nutritional and lived SCI experience. The panel collaboratively determined the scope and design of the review and interpreted its findings. Additionally, the expert panel reached out to their professional networks to gain further stakeholder feedback via interactive practitioner surveys and workshops with people with SCI. The research gaps identified by the review, together with discussions among the expert panel including consideration of the survey and workshop feedback, informed the formulation of future research priorities. A total of 42 eligible articles were identified (1,011 males and 143 females). The only tool supported by studies showing both acceptable test-retest reliability and convergent validity was whole-body dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA). The survey/workshop participants considered the measurement burden of DXA acceptable as long as it was reliable, valid and would do no harm (e.g. radiation, skin damage). Practitioners considered cost and accessibility of DXA major barriers in applied settings. The survey/workshop participants expressed a preference towards simple tools if they could be confident in their reliability and validity. This review suggests that future research should prioritize reliability and validity studies on: (1) DXA as a surrogate 'gold standard' tool to assess whole-body composition, regional fat and fat-free mass; and (2) skinfold thickness and waist circumference as practical low-cost tools to assess regional fat mass in persons with SCI, and (3) females to explore potential sex differences of body composition assessment tools. Registration review protocol: CRD42018090187 (PROSPERO)

Cae producción de trigo en Argentina, mientras alcanza récord en Brasil

Brasil ha tenido una cosecha récord de trigo en la temporada 2022-2023. Según la Compañía Nacional de Abastecimiento(Conab), agencia de estadísticas y suministro de alimentos de este país, se registra la mayor área sembrada de los últimos 32 años. La cosecha histórica también es consecuencia de condiciones climáticas ideales que se traducen en altos rendimientos. Por el contrario, se proyecta que Argentina tenga la cosecha más baja en siete años debido a la severa sequía y las heladas poco comunes en los meses de octubre y noviembre. Este artículo presenta una descripción general de la producción de trigo en el año comercial actual en Argentina y Brasil, las principales naciones productoras de trigo en Sudamérica.EEA PergaminoFil: Colussi, Joana. Universidad de Illinois. Departamento de Economía Agrícola y del Consumidor; Estados UnidosFil: Schnitkey, Gary. Universidad de Illinois. Departamento de Economía Agrícola y del Consumidor; Estados UnidosFil: Paulson, Nick. Universidad de Illinois. Departamento de Economía Agrícola y del Consumidor; Estados UnidosFil: Cabrini, Silvina M. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Pergamino. Área de Economía y Sociología; ArgentinaFil: Paolilli, María Cecilia. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Pergamino. Desarrollo Rural; ArgentinaFil: Fillat, Francisco Antonio. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Pergamino. Economía y Sociología; Argentin

Male Choice in the Stream-Anadromous Stickleback Complex

Studies of mating preferences and pre-mating reproductive isolation have often focused on females, but the potential importance of male preferences is increasingly appreciated. We investigated male behavior in the context of reproductive isolation between divergent anadromous and stream-resident populations of threespine stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus, using size-manipulated females of both ecotypes. Specifically, we asked if male courtship preferences are present, and if they are based on relative body size, non-size aspects of ecotype, or other traits. Because male behaviors were correlated with each other, we conducted a principal components analysis on the correlations and ran subsequent analyses on the principal components. The two male ecotypes differed in overall behavioral frequencies, with stream-resident males exhibiting consistently more vigorous and positive courtship than anadromous males, and an otherwise aggressive behavior playing a more positive role in anadromous than stream-resident courtship. We observed more vigorous courtship toward smaller females by (relatively small) stream-resident males and the reverse pattern for (relatively large) anadromous males. Thus size-assortative male courtship preferences may contribute to reproductive isolation in this system, although preferences are far from absolute. We found little indication of males responding preferentially to females of their own ecotype independent of body size

TMEM106B is a genetic modifier of frontotemporal lobar degeneration with C9orf72 hexanucleotide repeat expansions

Hexanucleotide repeat expansions in chromosome 9 open reading frame 72 (C9orf72) have recently been linked to frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and may be the most common genetic cause of both neurodegenerative diseases. Genetic variants at TMEM106B influence risk for the most common neuropathological subtype of FTLD, characterized by inclusions of TAR DNA-binding protein of 43 kDa (FTLD-TDP). Previous reports have shown that TMEM106B is a genetic modifier of FTLD-TDP caused by progranulin (GRN) mutations, with the major (risk) allele of rs1990622 associating with earlier age at onset of disease. Here, we report that rs1990622 genotype affects age at death in a single-site discovery cohort of FTLD patients with C9orf72 expansions (n = 14), with the major allele correlated with later age at death (p = 0.024). We replicate this modifier effect in a 30-site international neuropathological cohort of FTLD-TDP patients with C9orf72 expansions (n = 75), again finding that the major allele associates with later age at death (p = 0.016), as well as later age at onset (p = 0.019). In contrast, TMEM106B genotype does not affect age at onset or death in 241 FTLD-TDP cases negative for GRN mutations or C9orf72 expansions. Thus, TMEM106B is a genetic modifier of FTLD with C9orf72 expansions. Intriguingly, the genotype that confers increased risk for developing FTLD-TDP (major, or T, allele of rs1990622) is associated with later age at onset and death in C9orf72 expansion carriers, providing an example of sign epistasis in human neurodegenerative disease

Rare coding variants in PLCG2, ABI3, and TREM2 implicate microglial-mediated innate immunity in Alzheimer's disease

We identified rare coding variants associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in a 3-stage case-control study of 85,133 subjects. In stage 1, 34,174 samples were genotyped using a whole-exome microarray. In stage 2, we tested associated variants (P<1×10-4) in 35,962 independent samples using de novo genotyping and imputed genotypes. In stage 3, an additional 14,997 samples were used to test the most significant stage 2 associations (P<5×10-8) using imputed genotypes. We observed 3 novel genome-wide significant (GWS) AD associated non-synonymous variants; a protective variant in PLCG2 (rs72824905/p.P522R, P=5.38×10-10, OR=0.68, MAFcases=0.0059, MAFcontrols=0.0093), a risk variant in ABI3 (rs616338/p.S209F, P=4.56×10-10, OR=1.43, MAFcases=0.011, MAFcontrols=0.008), and a novel GWS variant in TREM2 (rs143332484/p.R62H, P=1.55×10-14, OR=1.67, MAFcases=0.0143, MAFcontrols=0.0089), a known AD susceptibility gene. These protein-coding changes are in genes highly expressed in microglia and highlight an immune-related protein-protein interaction network enriched for previously identified AD risk genes. These genetic findings provide additional evidence that the microglia-mediated innate immune response contributes directly to AD development

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Effects of DNA supercoiling on chromatin architecture

Disruptions in chromatin structure are necessary for the regulation of eukaryotic genomes, from remodelling of nucleosomes at the base pair level through to large-scale chromatin domains that are hundreds of kilobases in size. RNA polymerase is a powerful motor which, prevented from turning with the tight helical pitch of the DNA, generates over-wound DNA ahead of itself and under-wound DNA behind. Mounting evidence supports a central role for transcription-dependent DNA supercoiling in disrupting chromatin structure at all scales. This supercoiling changes the properties of the DNA helix in a manner that substantially alters the binding specificity of DNA binding proteins and complexes, including nucleosomes, polymerases, topoisomerases and transcription factors. For example, transient over-wound DNA destabilises nucleosome core particles ahead of a transcribing polymerase, whereas under-wound DNA facilitates pre-initiation complex formation, transcription factor binding and nucleosome core particle association behind the transcribing polymerase. Importantly, DNA supercoiling can also dissipate through DNA, even in a chromatinised context, to influence both local elements and large chromatin domains. We propose a model in which changes in unconstrained DNA supercoiling influences higher levels of chromatin organisation through the additive effects of DNA supercoiling on both DNA-protein and DNA-nucleosome interactions. This model links small-scale changes in DNA and chromatin to the higher-order fibre and large-scale chromatin structures, providing a mechanism relating gene regulation to chromatin architecture in vivo