Can Sustained Deficit Irrigation Save Water and Meet the Quality Characteristics of Mango?

Mango is one of the most cultivated tropical fruits worldwide and one of few drought-tolerant plants. Thus, in this study the effect of a sustained deficit irrigation (SDI) strategy on mango yield and quality was assessed with the aim of reducing irrigation water in mango crop. A randomized block design with four treatments was developed: (i) full irrigation (FI), assuring the crop’s water needs, and three levels of SDI receiving 75%, 50%, and 33% of irrigation water (SDI75, SDI50, and SDI33). Yield, morphology, color, titratable acidity (TA), total soluble solids (TSS), organic acids (OA), sugars, minerals, fiber, antioxidant activity (AA), and total phenolic content (TPC) were analyzed. The yield was reduced in SDI conditions (8%, 11%, and 20% for SDI75, SDI50, and SDI33, respectively), but the irrigation water productivity was higher in all SDI regimes. SDI significantly reduced the mango size, with SDI33 generating the smallest mangoes. Peel color significantly changed after 13 days of ripening, with SDI75 being the least ripe. The TA, AA, and citric acid were higher in SDI75, while the TPC and fiber increased in all SDI levels. Consequently, SDI reduced the mango size but increased the functionality of samples, without a severe detrimental effect on the yield

Functional polymorphisms in genes of the Angiotensin and Serotonin systems and risk of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: AT1R as a potential modifier

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Angiotensin and serotonin have been identified as inducers of cardiac hypertrophy. DNA polymorphisms at the genes encoding components of the angiotensin and serotonin systems have been associated with the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, including left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We genotyped five polymorphisms of the <it>AGT</it>, <it>ACE</it>, <it>AT1R</it>, <it>5-HT2A</it>, and <it>5-HTT </it>genes in 245 patients with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM; 205 without an identified sarcomeric gene mutation), in 145 patients with LVH secondary to hypertension, and 300 healthy controls.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We found a significantly higher frequency of <it>AT1R </it>1166 C carriers (CC+AC) among the HCM patients without sarcomeric mutations compared to controls (p = 0.015; OR = 1.56; 95%CI = 1.09-2.23). The <it>AT1R </it>1166 C was also more frequent among patients who had at least one affected relative, compared to sporadic cases. This allele was also associated with higher left ventricular wall thickness in both, HCM patients with and without sarcomeric mutations.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The 1166 C <it>AT1R </it>allele could be a risk factor for cardiac hypertrophy in patients without sarcomeric mutations. Other variants at the <it>AGT</it>, <it>ACE</it>, <it>5-HT2A </it>and <it>5-HTT </it>did not contribute to the risk of cardiac hypertrophy.</p

Epidometría, basada en análisis de imagen y apoyada en un SIG

Se describe un procedimiento para estudiar variables epidométricas de grosor en secciones de árboles en los que los incrementos anuales son muy reducidos, haciendo uso de un Sistema de Información Geográfica (SIG) para obtener datos precisos sobre el modelo de crecimiento en grosor. La aplicación del método a un caso concreto se ha realizado en pinsapos considerados como regeneración consolidada a la espera en los que se ha podido analizar con precisión la edad y la evolución del crecimiento en grosor

Trabajo global y desigualdades en el mercado laboral

La globalización neoliberal fomentó una paradójica tensión entre las supuestas tendencias hacia la homogeneización y uniformización social, y la aparición de nuevas desigualdades sociales. La sociedad actual, lejos de experimentar las consecuencias del llamado fin del trabajo, expresa sus efectos en cuanto a las formas de gestión laboral promovidas, la flexibilización, la desregulación de relaciones laborales y la pérdida de calidad de las ocupaciones. En este entorno, resulta incluso contradictorio que los conceptos de empleo y desempleo hayan perdido sus significados clásicos ante el aumento del trabajo asalariado socialmente desprotegido y precario, la desaparición de las modalidades salariales convencionales, la expansión del trabajo independiente, autónomo o por cuenta propia, y la emergencia de ocupaciones cada vez más heterogéneas y desigualmente rentables que afectan a gran parte de la fuerza de trabajo, en particular, a la social y demográficamente más vulnerable, dando lugar a nuevas modalidades de desigualdad social y pobreza

Oncolytic DNX-2401 virus for pediatric diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma

Background: Pediatric patients with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) have a poor prognosis, with a median survival of less than 1 year. Oncolytic viral therapy has been evaluated in patients with pediatric gliomas elsewhere in the brain, but data regarding oncolytic viral therapy in patients with DIPG are lacking. Methods: We conducted a single-center, dose-escalation study of DNX-2401, an oncolytic adenovirus that selectively replicates in tumor cells, in patients with newly diagnosed DIPG. The patients received a single virus infusion through a catheter placed in the cerebellar peduncle, followed by radiotherapy. The primary objective was to assess the safety and adverse-event profile of DNX-2401. The secondary objectives were to evaluate the effect of DNX-2401 on overall survival and quality of life, to determine the percentage of patients who have an objective response, and to collect tumor-biopsy and peripheral-blood samples for correlative studies of the molecular features of DIPG and antitumor immune responses. Results: A total of 12 patients, 3 to 18 years of age, with newly diagnosed DIPG received 1×1010 (the first 4 patients) or 5×1010 (the subsequent 8 patients) viral particles of DNX-2401, and 11 received subsequent radiotherapy. Adverse events among the patients included headache, nausea, vomiting, and fatigue. Hemiparesis and tetraparesis developed in 1 patient each. Over a median follow-up of 17.8 months (range, 5.9 to 33.5), a reduction in tumor size, as assessed on magnetic resonance imaging, was reported in 9 patients, a partial response in 3 patients, and stable disease in 8 patients. The median survival was 17.8 months. Two patients were alive at the time of preparation of the current report, 1 of whom was free of tumor progression at 38 months. Examination of a tumor sample obtained during autopsy from 1 patient and peripheral-blood studies revealed alteration of the tumor microenvironment and T-cell repertoire. Conclusions: Intratumoral infusion of oncolytic virus DNX-2401 followed by radiotherapy in pediatric patients with DIPG resulted in changes in T-cell activity and a reduction in or stabilization of tumor size in some patients but was associated with adverse events. (Funded by the European Research Council under the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program and others; EudraCT number, 2016-001577-33; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT03178032.)