Development of a Basement Membrane Substitute Incorporated Into an Electrospun Scaffold for 3D Skin Tissue Engineering

yesA major challenge in the production of 3D tissue engineered skin is the recreation of the basement membrane region to promote secure attachment and yet segregation of keratinocytes from the dermal substitute impregnated with fibroblasts. We have previously shown that simple electrospun scaffolds provide fibres on which the cells attach, proliferate, and self-sort into epithelium and dermis. In a development of this in this study tri-layered scaffolds were then electrospun from poly L-lactic acid and poly hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate. In these a central layer of the scaffolds comprising nano-porous/nano-fibrous poly hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate fibres was interwoven into the bulk micro-porous poly L-lactic acid microfibers to mimic the basement membrane. Keratinocytes and fibroblasts seeded onto these scaffolds and cultured for 2 weeks showed that neither cell type was able to cross the central nano-porous barrier (shown by SEM, and fluorescence monitoring with CellTracker™) while the micro-fibrous poly L-lactic acid provided a scaffold on which keratinocytes could create an epithelium and fibroblasts could create a dermal substitute depositing collagen. Although cells did not penetrate this barrier the interaction of cells was still evident-essential for epithelial development

Farmers deserve credit for contributing to the weed surveys

Weed surveys were carried out in the PRODIVA project during 2015-2016 with a smooth collaboration with farmers. More than 200 fields were surveyed in six countries around the Baltic Sea. In addition to the weed observations in spring cereal fields we collected information about the farming practices in organic cropping

Viljelijöillä tärkeä rooli rikkakasvikartoitusten partnerina

PRODIVA-hankkeen (”Crop diversification and weeds”, 2015-2018,Core Organic Plus –ohjelma) tutkimusryhmät ovat keränneet yhdessä viljelijöiden kanssa tietoa, miten eri maissa noudatettavat luonnonmukaisen tuotannon viljelykäytännöt vaikuttavat rikkakasvilajistoon ja rikkakasveista aiheutuviin haittoihin. Posterissa kuvataan maatiloilta saatavan tiedon merkitystä kasvinsuojelututkimukselle

Problematic weed species in spring sown cereals around the Baltic Sea - an expert database.

Implications - Specific annual and perennial weeds are a perpetual challenge in the process of tuning up sustainable Organic production. To utilize the perspective of agro-biodiversity would both improve crop yields as well as conserve the ecosystem services of this agriculture system. The successful use of crop diversity strategies provides an additional tool in the toolbox of the farmers, giving them a) an overview of problematic weed species and b) the opportunity to plan their crop diversity based weed management over the course of years in the future

Problematic weed species in organic arable agriculture around the Baltic Sea - an expert database

Weeds are a perpetual challenge in Organic agriculture. However, they serve multiple ecosystem services and a low competitive weed cover can be tolerated. Adding to this, is the fact that only a few species prove problematic for both the crop and the farmer. The international PRODIVA project researches the effect of crop diversity strategies on the diversity of weed communities, hypothesizing that by increasing the weed diversity, the development of problematic weeds will mitigated. A preparatory study was conducted to list the most problematic weed species in spring sown cereals in the countries involved with PRODIVA. For this a literature review was conducted in all participating countries, collecting local sources including grey literature. This was combined with the opinion of local extension services and other weed experts. From this a list of 10 most problematic weeds was deducted for each country. We found both annual and perennial species to be mentioned as problematic. A majority of the more problematic species were shared between countries, such as Cirsium arvensis, Elitrigia repens and Chenopodium album. Still, all countries revealed to have individual weed challenges as well. These findings are published as a folder that will be available to local stakeholders

Team-up crop diversification and weed management: PRODIVA. Better utilization of crop diversification for weed management in North European organic arable cropping systems.

The research-network PRODIVA focuses on a better utilization of crop diversification for weed management in North European arable cropping systems. The goal is to maintain diverse arable weed vegetation that is manageable in the long-term and could fulfil other necessary system-functions including support of beneficial organisms. The partners in PRODIVA will synthesize knowledge from terminated and running research projects and set-up selected new experiments on cover crops and variety resp. crop mixtures. Moreover, we will interact with partners from farming practice and extension services in organic agriculture. Regional fields will be surveyed for weeds to safeguard the relevance of the experimental research. Current cropping practices and their influence on weed pressure and weed diversity will be identified. The project will involve relevant stakeholders from the participating countries to assist in targeting the undertaken research. Project structure, aims and research methods will be presented. Though PRODIVA has a primary focus on arable cropping systems in Organic Farming we are convinced that within the EU-legislative framework of IPM all arable farming systems can profit from the results. Neither are crop diversification methods restricted to Organic Farming, nor can IWM (Integrated Weed Management) be successfully implemented without respecting the role of weeds in agro-ecosystems. The project “PRODIVA - Crop diversification and weeds“ is supported within the ERA-net CORE Organic Plus transnational programmes (Project ID 1381)

Geograficzne rozmieszczenie ważnych gatunków chwastów - Aktualny stan wiedzy w zakresie zachwaszczenia zbóż w rolnictwie ekologicznym Rejonu Morza Bałtyckiego

Chwasty stanowią źródło różnorodności biologicznej terenów rolniczych, tworzą siedliska i są źródłem pokarmu dla innych organizmów, jednakże z perspektywy produkcji �w rolnictwie ekologicznym zawsze stanowiły duże wyzwanie. Kilka grup gatunków chwastów, ze względu na specyficzne gospodarowanie ekologicznym systemem rolniczym, naturalnie się dostosowało. Może to oddziaływać mocno konkurencyjnie na rośliny uprawne i wymagać dużej ilości nakładów w usunięciu i/lub ograniczeniu ich rozprzestrzeniania. W niniejszej ulotce opisano najbardziej uciążliwe gatunki chwastów w zbożach jarych uprawianych �w gospodarstwach ekologicznych w rejonie Morza Bałtyckiego, w oparciu o istniejącą literaturę oraz informacje dostarczone przez służby doradcze. Przedstawiono i omówiono występowanie gatunków chwastów w poszczególnych krajach oraz zaproponowano system ich klasyfikacji. Badania prowadzono w ramach międzynarodowego projektu „PRODIVA”, w obszarze programu CORE Organic, którego zainteresowaniem badawczym jest między innymi interakcja roślin uprawnych i bioróżnorodności chwastów �w Rolnictwie Ekologicznym. Kraje uczestniczące to: Dania, Finlandia, Niemcy, Łotwa, Polska i Szwecja

From practice to science and back – knowledge and information chains in PRODIVA

To organize and manage the dissemination process has become a general task within international projects. Within the project PRODIVA (Crop diversification and weed management) we organized these chains as returning cascades between practice (advisors and farmers) and scientists in the Baltic area. A network of farmers was created in each participating region. We collected and used practical knowledge about dominating weed species in Organic spring cereal production. This data can be compared with monitored weeds in the regions. Together with the monitored weeds management data was collected on-farm. Relating this data to the results of experimentally investigated crop diversification tools, being subsidiary crops in the rotation, crop mixtures and variety mixtures show existing overlaps and gaps. Success stories of farms implementing crop diversification links the results in a way most suitable for direct dissemination from farm-to-farm

From practice to science and back – knowledge and information chains in PRODIVA

To organize and manage the dissemination process has become a general task within international projects. Within the project PRODIVA (Crop diversification and weed management) we organized these chains as returning cascades between practice (advisors and farmers) and scientists in the Baltic area. A network of farmers was created in each participating region. We collected and used practical knowledge about dominating weed species in Organic spring cereal production. This data can be compared with monitored weeds in the regions. Together with the monitored weeds management data was collected on-farm. Relating this data to the results of experimentally investigated crop diversification tools, being subsidiary crops in the rotation, crop mixtures and variety mixtures show existing overlaps and gaps. Success stories of farms implementing crop diversification links the results in a way most suitable for direct dissemination from farm-to-farm