Sulfur and lime affect soil pH and nutrients in a sandy Pinus taeda nursery

Two pH experiments were conducted at a sandy, bareroot loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) nursery in Texas. A sulfur trial (0, 813, 1626, 2439 kg ha-1 of elemental sulfur) was installed to determine if lowering soil pH would result in nutrient toxicity symptoms and affect seedling morphology. Although soil acidity in the sulfur study ranged from pH 3.9 to pH 5.0, none of the treatments resulted in micronutrient toxicity and none affected height growth, root-collar diameter, root mass, shoot mass or the root-mass ratio (root dry mass/total dry mass). Acidifying soil with sulfur increased leaching of calcium, potassium, magnesium, manganese and zinc but there was no effect on seedling morphology. The objective of the liming trial (0, 813, 1626, 3252 kg ha-1 of dolomitic lime) was to determine if increasing alkalinity would result in an iron deficiency and reduce seedling growth. As expected, applying lime increased the calcium and magnesium levels but had no effect on soil levels of iron, phosphorus, potassium, sulfur, zinc and sodium. However, the root-mass ratio was reduced by applications of dolomitic lime (pH ranged from 5.3 to 6.0). Differences in soil properties (i.e. plot location) had a greater effect on seedling morphology than lime applications. Foliage levels of manganese and boron were reduced by the highest rate of lime and sulfur, respectively

Dissociating memory accessibility and precision in forgetting

Forgetting involves the loss of information over time; however, we know little about what form this information loss takes. Do memories become less precise over time, or do they instead become less accessible? Here we assessed memory for word–location associations across four days, testing whether forgetting involves losses in precision versus accessibility and whether such losses are modulated by learning a generalizable pattern. We show that forgetting involves losses in memory accessibility with no changes in memory precision. When participants learned a set of related word–location associations that conformed to a general pattern, we saw a strong trade-off; accessibility was enhanced, whereas precision was reduced. However, this trade-off did not appear to be modulated by time or confer a long-term increase in the total amount of information maintained in memory. Our results place theoretical constraints on how models of forgetting and generalization account for time-dependent memory processes. Protocol registration: The stage 1 protocol for this Registered Report was accepted in principle on 4 June 2019. The protocol, as accepted by the journal, can be found at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4368464.v1

Immunoglobulin, glucocorticoid, or combination therapy for multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children: a propensity-weighted cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), a hyperinflammatory condition associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection, has emerged as a serious illness in children worldwide. Immunoglobulin or glucocorticoids, or both, are currently recommended treatments. METHODS: The Best Available Treatment Study evaluated immunomodulatory treatments for MIS-C in an international observational cohort. Analysis of the first 614 patients was previously reported. In this propensity-weighted cohort study, clinical and outcome data from children with suspected or proven MIS-C were collected onto a web-based Research Electronic Data Capture database. After excluding neonates and incomplete or duplicate records, inverse probability weighting was used to compare primary treatments with intravenous immunoglobulin, intravenous immunoglobulin plus glucocorticoids, or glucocorticoids alone, using intravenous immunoglobulin as the reference treatment. Primary outcomes were a composite of inotropic or ventilator support from the second day after treatment initiation, or death, and time to improvement on an ordinal clinical severity scale. Secondary outcomes included treatment escalation, clinical deterioration, fever, and coronary artery aneurysm occurrence and resolution. This study is registered with the ISRCTN registry, ISRCTN69546370. FINDINGS: We enrolled 2101 children (aged 0 months to 19 years) with clinically diagnosed MIS-C from 39 countries between June 14, 2020, and April 25, 2022, and, following exclusions, 2009 patients were included for analysis (median age 8·0 years [IQR 4·2-11·4], 1191 [59·3%] male and 818 [40·7%] female, and 825 [41·1%] White). 680 (33·8%) patients received primary treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin, 698 (34·7%) with intravenous immunoglobulin plus glucocorticoids, 487 (24·2%) with glucocorticoids alone; 59 (2·9%) patients received other combinations, including biologicals, and 85 (4·2%) patients received no immunomodulators. There were no significant differences between treatments for primary outcomes for the 1586 patients with complete baseline and outcome data that were considered for primary analysis. Adjusted odds ratios for ventilation, inotropic support, or death were 1·09 (95% CI 0·75-1·58; corrected p value=1·00) for intravenous immunoglobulin plus glucocorticoids and 0·93 (0·58-1·47; corrected p value=1·00) for glucocorticoids alone, versus intravenous immunoglobulin alone. Adjusted average hazard ratios for time to improvement were 1·04 (95% CI 0·91-1·20; corrected p value=1·00) for intravenous immunoglobulin plus glucocorticoids, and 0·84 (0·70-1·00; corrected p value=0·22) for glucocorticoids alone, versus intravenous immunoglobulin alone. Treatment escalation was less frequent for intravenous immunoglobulin plus glucocorticoids (OR 0·15 [95% CI 0·11-0·20]; p<0·0001) and glucocorticoids alone (0·68 [0·50-0·93]; p=0·014) versus intravenous immunoglobulin alone. Persistent fever (from day 2 onward) was less common with intravenous immunoglobulin plus glucocorticoids compared with either intravenous immunoglobulin alone (OR 0·50 [95% CI 0·38-0·67]; p<0·0001) or glucocorticoids alone (0·63 [0·45-0·88]; p=0·0058). Coronary artery aneurysm occurrence and resolution did not differ significantly between treatment groups. INTERPRETATION: Recovery rates, including occurrence and resolution of coronary artery aneurysms, were similar for primary treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin when compared to glucocorticoids or intravenous immunoglobulin plus glucocorticoids. Initial treatment with glucocorticoids appears to be a safe alternative to immunoglobulin or combined therapy, and might be advantageous in view of the cost and limited availability of intravenous immunoglobulin in many countries. FUNDING: Imperial College London, the European Union's Horizon 2020, Wellcome Trust, the Medical Research Foundation, UK National Institute for Health and Care Research, and National Institutes of Health

Multiple trace theory of human memory: computational, neuroimaging, and neuropsychological results

ABSTRACT: Hippocampal-neocortical interactions in memory have typically been characterized within the ‘‘standard model’ ’ of memory consolidation. In this view, memory storage initially requires hippocampal linking of dispersed neocortical storage sites, but over time this need dissipates, and the hippocampal component is rendered unnecessary. This change in function over time is held to account for the retorgrade amnesia (RA) gradients often seen in patients with hippocampal damage. Recent evidence, however, calls this standard model into question, and we have recently proposed a new approach, the ‘‘multiple memory trace’ ’ (MMT) theory. In this view, hippocampal ensembles are always involved in storage and retrieval of episodic information, but semantic (gist) information can be established in neocortex, and will survive damage to the hippocampal system if enough time has elapsed. This approach accounts more readily for the very long RA gradients often observed in amnesia. We report the results of analytic and connectionist simulations that demonstrate the feasibility of MMT. We also report a neuroimaging study showing that retrieval of very remote (25-year-old) memories elicits as much activation in hippocampus as retrieval of quite recent memories. Finally, we report new data from the study of patients with temporal lobe damage, using more sensitive measures than previously the case, showing that deficits in both episodic and spatial detail can bed observed even for very remote memories. Overall, these findings indicate that the standard model of memory consolidation, which views the hippocampus as having only a temporary role in memory, is wrong. Instead, the data support the view that for episodic and spatial detail the hippocampal system is always necessary. Hippocampus 2000;10:352–368

Update 2018: 18F-FDG PET/CT and PET/MRI in Head and Neck Cancer

There are recent advances, namely, a standardized method for reporting therapy response (Hopkins criteria), a multicenter prospective cohort study with excellent negative predictive value of F-18-FDG PET/CT for N0 clinical neck, a phase III multicenter randomized controlled study establishing the value of a negative posttherapy F-18-FDG PET/CT for patient management, a phase II randomized controlled study demonstrating radiation dose reduction strategies for human papilloma virus-related disease, and Food and Drug Administration approval of nivolumab for treatment of recurrent head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Effect of <i>Leptographium terebrantis</i> on Foliage, New Root Dynamics, and Stemwood Growth in a Loblolly Pine (<i>Pinus taeda</i> L.) Plantation

The course of the bark beetle-vectored fungus, Leptographium terebrantis S. J. Barras and T. J. Perry, in stemwood growth loss of declining pines in the southeastern United States was assessed in a 13-year-old loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) plantation near Eufaula, Alabama, U.S.A. Using stem inoculation as a surrogate for root infection, we hypothesized that L. terebrantis infection impairs sapwood function and thus limits the tree leaf area (AL), new root production, and stemwood growth. Sterile toothpicks colonized by L. terebrantis at varying inoculum densities was used to elicit host growth responses. In the third year after inoculation, the root pathogen reduced the foliage moisture content, whole-tree leaf area (AL), the ratio of AL to tree sapwood area (AS), and stemwood growth in trees receiving the high inoculation treatment relative to those receiving the low or medium inoculation treatments, or the wound or control treatments after seven months of water deficit. The absence of a similar response to water deficit among trees that were noninoculated, wounded, or inoculated at the low or medium densities suggests that, in the loblolly pine–L. terebrantis pathosystem at our study site, the physiological stress caused by water deficit and the high inoculum density was required for the pathogen to elicit a stemwood growth loss. Thus, in loblolly pine forests of the southeastern United States, where climate and soil conditions yield prolonged periods of physiological stress, the presence of L. terebrantis has the potential to reduce stand volume and widen the gap between the predicted and actual stemwood production

Effect of Leptographium terebrantis on Foliage, New Root Dynamics, and Stemwood Growth in a Loblolly Pine (Pinus taeda L.) Plantation

The course of the bark beetle-vectored fungus, Leptographium terebrantis S. J. Barras and T. J. Perry, in stemwood growth loss of declining pines in the southeastern United States was assessed in a 13-year-old loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) plantation near Eufaula, Alabama, U.S.A. Using stem inoculation as a surrogate for root infection, we hypothesized that L. terebrantis infection impairs sapwood function and thus limits the tree leaf area (AL), new root production, and stemwood growth. Sterile toothpicks colonized by L. terebrantis at varying inoculum densities was used to elicit host growth responses. In the third year after inoculation, the root pathogen reduced the foliage moisture content, whole-tree leaf area (AL), the ratio of AL to tree sapwood area (AS), and stemwood growth in trees receiving the high inoculation treatment relative to those receiving the low or medium inoculation treatments, or the wound or control treatments after seven months of water deficit. The absence of a similar response to water deficit among trees that were noninoculated, wounded, or inoculated at the low or medium densities suggests that, in the loblolly pine&ndash;L. terebrantis pathosystem at our study site, the physiological stress caused by water deficit and the high inoculum density was required for the pathogen to elicit a stemwood growth loss. Thus, in loblolly pine forests of the southeastern United States, where climate and soil conditions yield prolonged periods of physiological stress, the presence of L. terebrantis has the potential to reduce stand volume and widen the gap between the predicted and actual stemwood production

Assessment of energy-efficient appliances: A review of the technologies and policies in India's residential sector

The promotion of energy efficiency has been at the forefront of the energy policy agenda. New technological inventions and increasing environmental concerns related to contemporary energy policy are the main drivers of the adoption of more energy‐efficient appliances in domestic sector. Additionally, the mandatory star labeling program and incentive design mechanisms are also raising awareness and motivation for their use, thus contributing to the reduction of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Sustainable energy policies generally pursue programs aiming for energy efficiency among domestic appliances. In India there are currently nine domestic electrical appliances/end‐uses certified with star labeling programs, in particular lighting sources, refrigerators, air conditioners, water heaters, televisions, computers, washing machines, ceiling fans, and water pumps. This study reviews main issues affecting selection of energy‐efficient technologies in India's domestic sector highlighting the main challenges impacting design of energy efficiency policies and programs in the country.FCT/Portugal, Grant/Award Number: SFRH/BD/52308/201