Allelopathic interference of Populus deltoides with some winter season crops

Abstract -The performance of some winter season crops, namely Triticum aestivum, Lens culinaris, Phaseolus mungo, Avena sativa, Trifolium alexandrinum, Brassica juncea and Helianthus annuus was studied in association with Populus deltoides under alley cropping practice in two sets of fields in Punjab, North India. In one, the parent soil was retained (S p ), while in the other, the parent soil was replaced with soil collected from an area devoid of P. deltoides trees (S r ). Germination, plant height and biomass of the crops at 30 and 60 days after sowing (DAS) were reduced by 10 to 30% in both the P. deltoides fields compared to the ones without trees (S c ). The observed reduction was more pronounced in S p fields than in S r fields. Maximum reduction was observed in the case of B. juncea and least in T. alexandrinum. Germination and seedling growth of all the test crops except A. sativa and T. aestivum was found to be significantly reduced in response to the aqueous leachates of P. deltoides leaves. Likewise, the seedling length and dry weight of L. culinaris and T. aestivum were significantly reduced in litter amended soil. Litter and soil from P. deltoides fields were found to be rich in phytotoxic phenolics, the amount of which was more in S p fields compared to S r and control fields (S c ). Based on the study, the observed reductions could be attributed to the allelopathic interference of the tree with the crops through the release of phytotoxic phenolics from leaves and litter, which are continuously added to the soil. Dans l'un des groupes le sol d'origine a été conservé (S p ), tandis que dans l'autre il a été remplacé par un sol prélevé dans un endroit dépourvu de peupliers (S r ). La germination, la taille des plantes et la biomasse des cultures 30 et 60 jours après le semis ont été réduites de 10 à 30 % dans les deux groupes de champs comparativement aux champs sans peupliers (S c ). La réduction observée était plus forte dans les champs S p que dans les S r . La réduction maximum a eu lieu pour les cultures de B. juncea et, à un moindre degré, pour T. alexandrinum. Des filtrats aqueux de feuilles de P. deltoides ont réduit significativement la germination et la croissance des pousses de toutes les cultures testées, à l'exception de A. sativa et T. aestivum. De même, la longueur des pousses et le poids sec des cultures de L. culinaris et T. aestivum ont été significativement réduits dans le sol amendé par de la litière. Nous avons trouvé que la litière et le sol des champs de P. deltoides sont riches en substances phénoliques phytotoxiques ; les quantités sont plus importantes dans les champs S p que dans les S r et les témoins (S c ). Selon cette étude les réductions observées peuvent être attribuées à l'interfé-rence allélopathique du peuplier avec les cultures par l'intermédiaire de substances phénoliques phytotoxiques provenant des feuilles et de la litière, qui s'incorporent continuellement au sol

Small Quadrupole Deformation for the Dipole Bands in 112In

High spin states in $^{112}$In were investigated using $^{100}$Mo($^{16}$O, p3n) reaction at 80 MeV. The excited level have been observed up to 5.6 MeV excitation energy and spin $\sim$ 20$\hbar$ with the level scheme showing three dipole bands. The polarization and lifetime measurements were carried out for the dipole bands. Tilted axis cranking model calculations were performed for different quasi-particle configurations of this doubly odd nucleus. Comparison of the calculations of the model with the B(M1) transition strengths of the positive and negative parity bands firmly established their configurations.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figures, 2 table

Extremely large anthropogenic-aerosol contribution to total aerosol load over the Bay of Bengal during winter season

Ship-borne observations of spectral aerosol optical depth (AOD) have been carried out over the entire Bay of Bengal (BoB) as part of the W-ICARB cruise campaign during the period 27 December 2008–30 January 2009. The results reveal a pronounced temporal and spatial variability in the optical characteristics of aerosols mainly due to anthropogenic emissions and their dispersion controlled by local meteorology. The highest aerosol amount, with mean AOD<sub>500</sub>>0.4, being even above 1.0 on specific days, is found close to the coastal regions in the western and northern parts of BoB. In these regions the Ångström exponent is also found to be high (~1.2–1.25) indicating transport of strong anthropogenic emissions from continental regions, while very high AOD<sub>500</sub> (0.39±0.07) and α<sub>380–870</sub> values (1.27±0.09) are found over the eastern BoB. Except from the large α<sub>380–870</sub> values, an indication of strong fine-mode dominance is also observed from the AOD curvature, which is negative in the vast majority of the cases, suggesting dominance of an anthropogenic-pollution aerosol type. On the other hand, clean maritime conditions are rather rare over the region, while the aerosol types are further examined through a classification scheme based on the relationship between α and <i>d</i>α. It was found that even for the same α values the fine-mode dominance is larger for higher AODs showing the strong continental influence over the marine environment of BoB. Furthermore, there is also an evidence of aerosol-size growth under more turbid conditions indicative of coagulation and/or humidification over specific BoB regions. The results obtained using OPAC model show significant fraction of soot aerosols (~6 %–8 %) over the eastern and northwestern BoB, while coarse-mode sea salt particles are found to dominate in the southern parts of BoB

Highlighting the Compound Risk of COVID-19 and Environmental Pollutants Using Geospatial Technology

The new COVID-19 coronavirus disease has emerged as a global threat and not just to human health but also the global economy. Due to the pandemic, most countries affected have therefore imposed periods of full or partial lockdowns to restrict community transmission. This has had the welcome but unexpected side effect that existing levels of atmospheric pollutants, particularly in cities, have temporarily declined. As found by several authors, air quality can inherently exacerbate the risks linked to respiratory diseases, including COVID-19. In this study, we explore patterns of air pollution for ten of the most affected countries in the world, in the context of the 2020 development of the COVID-19 pandemic. We find that the concentrations of some of the principal atmospheric pollutants were temporarily reduced during the extensive lockdowns in the spring. Secondly, we show that the seasonality of the atmospheric pollutants is not significantly affected by these temporary changes, indicating that observed variations in COVID-19 conditions are likely to be linked to air quality. On this background, we confirm that air pollution may be a good predictor for the local and national severity of COVID-19 infections.The authors acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Government, Grant RTI2018-354 094336-B-I00 (MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE), the Spanish Carlos III Health Institute, COV 20/01213, and the Basque Government, Grant IT1207-19

Attribute Specific Impacts of Stated Non-Attendance in Choice Experiments

In this paper, we generalise existing approaches to the treatment of stated attribute non‐attendance data in discrete choice experiments by allowing attribute specific impacts. We implement this approach by employing an extended hierarchical Bayes logit model specification. To illustrate this approach, we consider data collected to examine Indian consumers’ preferences for traditional aromatic rice varieties. Our results regarding stated attribute non‐attendance reveal that, our new approach shrinks marginal utilities of non‐attenders substantially compared to stated attenders, with significant differences in the shrinkage between some of the attributes. In addition, our results reveal the way in which non‐attendance of attributes interact with each other and the impact that this has on the distribution of willingness to pay estimates

Identification of chemokine receptors as potential modulators of endocrine resistance in oestrogen receptor–positive breast cancers

Introduction Endocrine therapies target oestrogenic stimulation of breast cancer (BC) growth, but resistance remains problematic. Our aims in this study were (1) to identify genes most strongly associated with resistance to endocrine therapy by intersecting global gene transcription data from patients treated presurgically with the aromatase inhibitor anastrazole with those from MCF7 cells adapted to long-term oestrogen deprivation (LTED) (2) to assess the clinical value of selected genes in public clinical data sets and (3) to determine the impact of targeting these genes with novel agents. Methods Gene expression and Ki67 data were available from 69 postmenopausal women with oestrogen receptor–positive (ER+) early BC, at baseline and 2 weeks after anastrazole treatment, and from cell lines adapted to LTED. The functional consequences of target genes on proliferation, ER-mediated transcription and downstream cell signalling were assessed. Results By intersecting genes predictive of a poor change in Ki67 with those upregulated in LTED cells, we identified 32 genes strongly correlated with poor antiproliferative response that were associated with inflammation and/or immunity. In a panel of LTED cell lines, C-X-C chemokine receptor type 7 (CXCR7) and CXCR4 were upregulated compared to their wild types (wt), and CXCR7, but not CXCR4, was associated with reduced relapse-free survival in patients with ER+ BC. The CXCR4 small interfering RNA variant (siCXCR4) had no specific effect on the proliferation of wt-SUM44, wt-MCF7 and their LTED derivatives. In contrast, siCXCR7, as well as CCX733, a CXCR7 antagonist, specifically suppressed the proliferation of MCF7-LTED cells. siCXCR7 suppressed proteins associated with G1/S transition and inhibited ER transactivation in MCF7-LTED, but not wt-MCF7, by impeding association between ER and proline-, glutamic acid– and leucine-rich protein 1, an ER coactivator. Conclusions These data highlight CXCR7 as a potential therapeutic target warranting clinical investigation in endocrine-resistant BC

Recommendations for the nutrition management of phenylalanine hydroxylase deficiency

The effectiveness of a phenylalanine-restricted diet to improve the outcome of individuals with phenylalanine hydroxylase deficiency (OMIM no. 261600) has been recognized since the first patients were treated 60 years ago. However, the treatment regime is complex, costly, and often difficult to maintain for the long term. Improvements and refinements in the diet for phenylalanine hydroxylase deficiency have been made over the years, and adjunctive therapies have proven to be successful for certain patients. Yet evidence-based guidelines for managing phenylalanine hydroxylase deficiency, optimizing outcomes, and addressing all available therapies are lacking. Thus, recommendations for nutrition management were developed using evidence from peer-reviewed publications, gray literature, and consensus surveys. The areas investigated included choice of appropriate medical foods, integration of adjunctive therapies, treatment during pregnancy, monitoring of nutritional and clinical markers, prevention of nutrient deficiencies, providing of access to care, and compliance strategies. This process has not only provided assessment and refinement of current nutrition management and monitoring recommendations but also charted a direction for future studies. This document serves as a companion to the concurrently published American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics guideline for the medical treatment of phenylalanine hydroxylase deficiency