Seasonal changes in leaf nutrient concentration of male and female hardy kiwifruit grown in Oregon

Leaf nutrient concentration of hardy kiwifruit [Actinidia arguta var. arguta (Siebold and Zucc.) Planch. ex Miq.] was evaluated throughout two growing seasons (2008-2009) for determinate and indeterminate shoots of female ('Ananasnaya') and male vines. While research has been conducted on the more commonly grown fuzzy kiwifruit (A. chinensis var. deliciosa C.F.Liang & A.R.Ferguson), little is known about the nutrient requirements, leaf tissue sufficiency levels, or optimum time and method of leaf sampling in hardy kiwifruit. The objectives of this study were to determine whether leaf sampling should be conducted based on phenology or calendar date, and to identify best practices for sampling. Leaves were sampled from determinate and indeterminate shoot types separately from male and female vines every 2 weeks from mid-May to late October, starting when flower buds reached 6 mm in diameter and finishing after fruit harvest. Leaf nutrient concentration varied by year, plant gender, and shoot type for many nutrients and sampling dates. Key plant developmental stages were 2 weeks earlier in 2009 than 2008 despite fewer cumulative growing degree days (GDD) at each phenological stage in 2009, except at harvest when there were more GDD in 2009. Patterns of change in nutrient concentration were similar between years, and did not always match the 2-week shift in phenology. Female vines had higher concentrations of N, K, S, Cu, and Zn early in the season, but were similar to males later in the season. For other nutrients, including P, Mg, Ca, Fe, and Mn, females had consistently higher leaf concentrations across the whole season. Shoot type affected the concentration of many nutrients in both female and male vines for many sampling dates, but generally followed the same pattern of change through the season. The currently recommended leaf sampling time for kiwifruit vines in the northern hemisphere is August. While there were phenological differences between years, calendar-based sampling in mid-to late-August provided a better window of relative stability for most nutrients than phenology-based sampling for female vines. When compared to existing available standards for fuzzy kiwifruit, the hardy kiwifruit in this study often fell outside of the recommended ranges and, for B, into the excessive range, suggesting revisions to nutrient standards for hardy kiwifruit in Oregon may be appropriate

Assessment of winter injury of grapevines in Oregon

Published June 1992. Facts and recommendations in this publication may no longer be valid. Please look for up-to-date information in the OSU Extension Catalog: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalo

Microbial fuel cells: a green and alternative source for bioenergy production

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) represents one of the green technologies for the production of bioenergy. MFCs using microalgae produce bioenergy by converting solar energy into electrical energy as a function of metabolic and anabolic pathways of the cells. In the MFCs with bacteria, bioenergy is generated as a result of the organic substrate oxidation. MFCs have received high attention from researchers in the last years due to the simplicity of the process, the absence in toxic by-products, and low requirements for the algae growth. Many studies have been conducted on MFC and investigated the factors affecting the MFC performance. In the current chapter, the performance of MFC in producing bioenergy as well as the factors which influence the efficacy of MFCs is discussed. It appears that the main factors affecting MFC’s performance include bacterial and algae species, pH, temperature, salinity, substrate, mechanism of electron transfer in an anodic chamber, electrodes materials, surface area, and electron acceptor in a cathodic chamber. These factors are becoming more influential and might lead to overproduction of bioenergy when they are optimized using response surface methodology (RSM)

An Australian longitudinal pilot study examining health determinants of cardiac outcomes 12 months post percutaneous coronary intervention

Background Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is a very common revascularisation procedure for coronary artery disease (CAD). The purpose of this study was to evaluate cardiac outcomes, health related quality of life (HRQoL), resilience and adherence behaviours in patients who have undergone a PCI at two time points (6 and 12 months) following their procedure. Methods A longitudinal pilot study was conducted to observe the cardiac outcomes across a cohort of patients who had undergone a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Participants who had undergone PCI 6 months prior were invited. Those participants who met the inclusion criteria and provided consent then completed a telephone survey (time point 1). These participants were then contacted 6 months later (i.e. 12 months post-intervention, time point 2) and the measures were repeated. Results All patients (n = 51) were recorded as being alive at time point 1. The multiple model indicated that controlling for other factors, gender was significantly associated with a linear combination of outcome measures (p = 0.004). The effect was moderate in magnitude (partial-η2 = 0.303), where males performed significantly better than females 6 months after the PCI procedure physically and with mood. Follow-up univariate ANOVAs indicated that gender differences were grounded in the scale measuring depression (PHQ9) (p = 0.005) and the physical component score of the short form measuring HRQoL (SF12-PCS) (p = 0.003). Thirteen patients were lost to follow-up between time points 1 and 2. One patient was confirmed to have passed away. The pattern of correlations between outcome measures at time point 2 revealed statistically significant negative correlation between the PHQ instrument and the resilience scale (CD-RISC) (r = -0.611; p < 0.001); and the physical component score of the SF-12 instrument (r = -0.437; p = 0.054). Conclusions Men were performing better than women in the 6 months post-PCI, particularly in the areas of mood (depression) and physical health. This pilot results indicate gender-sensitive practices are recommended particularly up to 6 months post-PCI. Any gender differences observed at 6 month appear to disappear at 12 months post-PCI. Further research into the management of mood particularly for women post-PCI is warranted. A more detailed inquiry related to access/attendance to secondary prevention is also warranted

Fenologia e produção de cultivares de amoreira-preta em sistema agroecológico.

A amoreira-preta é uma espécie de exploração recente no Brasil. Nos últimos ano, s tem sido dada especial atenção ao cultivo orgânico ou agroecológico dessa espécie. O objetivo deste trabalho foi verificar o comportamento fenológico e produtivo das cultivares de amora-preta ‘Tupy’, ‘Guarani’, ‘Caingangue’, ‘Cherokee’ e ‘Brazos’, e das seleções denominadas ‘seleção 97’ e ‘seleção 787’ na região de Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul(RS), em sistema agroecológico. O trabalho foi realizado na Estação Experimental de Cascata (EEC), Embrapa Clima Temperado. As plantas foram dispostas no pomar, em blocos varietais aleatórios, com 10 plantas por genótipo, perfazendo quatro linhas com duas cultivares por linha. Foram observadas as datas de início da floração e fim da floração, início e final de colheita, massa (gramas) e número de frutos por planta, teor de sólidos solúveis totais (ºBrix), produção média por planta (g pl-1) e produtividade estimada por hectare (kg ha-1). Para análise das características dos frutos, a média de cada ano de avaliação (três) foi considerada como uma repetição. Na região de Pelotas-RS, é viável o cultivo agroecológico de amoreira-preta. Não há diferenças de produção, produtividade, número de frutos e teores de sólidos solúveis totais entre os genótipos estudados

EEG Microstate Analysis in Drug-Naive Patients with Panic Disorder

Patients with panic disorder (PD) have a bias to respond to normal stimuli in a fearful way. This may be due to the preactivation of fear-associated networks prior to stimulus perception. Based on EEG, we investigated the difference between patients with PD and normal controls in resting state activity using features of transiently stable brain states (microstates). EEGs from 18 drug-naive patients and 18 healthy controls were analyzed. Microstate analysis showed that one class of microstates (with a right-anterior to left-posterior orientation of the mapped field) displayed longer durations and covered more of the total time in the patients than controls. Another microstate class (with a symmetric, anterior-posterior orientation) was observed less frequently in the patients compared to controls. The observation that selected microstate classes differ between patients with PD and controls suggests that specific brain functions are altered already during resting condition. The altered resting state may be the starting point of the observed dysfunctional processing of phobic stimuli

Height and timing of growth spurt during puberty in young people living with vertically acquired HIV in Europe and Thailand.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to describe growth during puberty in young people with vertically acquired HIV. DESIGN: Pooled data from 12 paediatric HIV cohorts in Europe and Thailand. METHODS: One thousand and ninety-four children initiating a nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor or boosted protease inhibitor based regimen aged 1-10 years were included. Super Imposition by Translation And Rotation (SITAR) models described growth from age 8 years using three parameters (average height, timing and shape of the growth spurt), dependent on age and height-for-age z-score (HAZ) (WHO references) at antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation. Multivariate regression explored characteristics associated with these three parameters. RESULTS: At ART initiation, median age and HAZ was 6.4 [interquartile range (IQR): 2.8, 9.0] years and -1.2 (IQR: -2.3 to -0.2), respectively. Median follow-up was 9.1 (IQR: 6.9, 11.4) years. In girls, older age and lower HAZ at ART initiation were independently associated with a growth spurt which occurred 0.41 (95% confidence interval 0.20-0.62) years later in children starting ART age 6 to 10 years compared with 1 to 2 years and 1.50 (1.21-1.78) years later in those starting with HAZ less than -3 compared with HAZ at least -1. Later growth spurts in girls resulted in continued height growth into later adolescence. In boys starting ART with HAZ less than -1, growth spurts were later in children starting ART in the oldest age group, but for HAZ at least -1, there was no association with age. Girls and boys who initiated ART with HAZ at least -1 maintained a similar height to the WHO reference mean. CONCLUSION: Stunting at ART initiation was associated with later growth spurts in girls. Children with HAZ at least -1 at ART initiation grew in height at the level expected in HIV negative children of a comparable age

Tongue control and its implication in pronunciation training

International audiencePronunciation training based on speech production techniques illustrating tongue movements is gaining popularity. However, there is not sufficient evidence that learners can imitate some tongue animation. In this paper, we argue that although controlling tongue movement related to speech is not such an easy task, training with visual feedback improves its control. We investigated human awareness of controlling their tongue body gestures. In a first experiment, participants were asked to perform some tongue movements composed of two sets of gestures. This task was evaluated by observing ultrasound imaging of the tongue recorded during the experiment. No feedback was provided. In a second experiment, a short session of training was added where participants can observe ultrasound imaging in real time of their own tongue movements. The goal was to increase their awareness of their tongue gestures. A pretest and posttest were carried out without any feedback. The results suggest that without a priori knowledge, it is not easy to finely control tongue body gestures. The second experiment showed that we gained in performance after a short training session and this suggests that providing visual feedback, even a short one, improves tongue gesture awareness

Animal Models of Dyssynchrony

Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is an important therapy for patients with heart failure and conduction pathology, but the benefits are heterogeneous between patients and approximately a third of patients do not show signs of clinical or echocardiographic response. This calls for a better understanding of the underlying conduction disease and resynchronization. In this review, we discuss to what extent established and novel animal models can help to better understand the pathophysiology of dyssynchrony and the benefits of CRT