Dissecting grapevine graft incompatibility with particular reference to its early detection and underlying causes

"Grafting is an ancient agricultural method widely practice already in Greek and Roman times and consists in the joining of two different plant parts, the scion (shoot) and the rootstock (roots), in a way in which they will develop and functioning as a single plant. Over time, grafting evolved from a way of propagating plants to using them to improve their characteristics. For instance, Vitis vinifera are grafted since the middle of the 19th century onto American grapevine rootstocks to exploit their resistance to the Phylloxera, which would otherwise be lethal for European vines. One important aspect of grafting is graft incompatibility which refers to the early or later failure of the graft union which delays rootstock breeding selection and causes losses to farmers and nurseries.(...)

DIGITAL STORYTELLING FOR PEOPLE WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES: AN INTERMEDIATE LANGUAGE FOR EXECUTABLE REPRESENTATIONS

Many approaches to the definition of animated story exist, but a good “one size fits all” solution is difficult to adopt and implement. Software for the creation of simple animated stories is often more complex than necessary. Moreover, usually, it is not possible to personalize the functionalities provided by the User Interface to the specific users’ needs. This, in turn, affects the effectiveness of such software. To address these problems, we defined, implemented, and tested a methodology to simplify the process of designing software for animated stories. We defined an Intermediate Language (IL) that abstracts basic concepts useful for the description of a story. The components and concepts of the IL were inspired by the Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) and the Scratch language. To validate our approach, we applied it to the design and implementation of an app for storytelling. The app we created permits to define the story by means of a simple graphical language; then, a first translation module generates an IL representation; finally, a second translation module produces a Scratch executable file. We tested our app with subjects with intellectual disability. Psychologists supervised the experiments and observed improvements in subjects’ vocal expression, attention level and narration quality

Avaliação das práticas de gestão da rega e da fertilização nas hortas urbanas de Lisboa: experimentação e modelação. Contributos para uma agricultura urbana ambientalmente sustentável

Mestrado em Engenharia Agronómica - Instituto Superior de AgronomiaThis work aims to study the water and nitrogen (N) related processes in several Urban Gardens of Lisbon and to find alternative management practices in order to minimize the N losses. The applied methodology integrates field experiments and modeling. Five allotments were selected as case studies and characterized in terms of soils and agricultural management practices. The water and N related processes were modeled with RZWQM2. After calibration, RZWQM2 accurately simulated the evolution of the N profiles after the summer and winter fertilization events. The water and N budgets highlight the Granja’s soils leaching potential, estimating an annual drainage of 261 mm and 300 mm for each allotment, containing 230.3 and 359.8 mg L-1 NO3 -. The Ajuda system does not show significant leaching, but the N accumulated below the root zone is high (324 and 518 Kg N-NO3 ha-1). The proposed alternative practices are: control the irrigation frequency by using tensiometers; prepare the organic compost aiming for a C/N within the desired range; fraction the chemical fertilizer applications, or even to discontinue it in the conventional plots due to the adequate soil fertility. Also, given the variability of urban farm management, the quantification of water/N budgets by modeling is suggeste

Early detection of grapevine graft incompatibility: insights into translocated and virus-induced incompatibility

In vineyards to control phylloxera (Daktulosphaira vitifolia Ficth) attacks in Vitis vinifera L., heterografted vines are planted using American vines hybrids as rootstocks. However, graft incompatibilities can affect grape yield and plant longevity. Thus, to identify early graft incompatibility factors, we established in vitro micrografting protocols coupled with histology and histochemistry analysis in grapevine graft combinations of known compatibility behavior. The histochemical characterization of the graft union revealed irregular cell arrangement, slower vascular differentiation, persistence of the necrotic layer, accumulation of starch, and lower differentiation of phloem cells in hetero- compared to homografts, indicating the presence of translocated incompatibility symptoms. We highlight the utility of evaluating the graft interface cellular arrangement and starch content via calcofluor and I2KI staining, respectively, as allowed to identify the graft combinations with lower graft success. Wounded and grafted Syrah plantlets pointed out an impaired sucrose distribution in these plants and levels of Grapevine Rupestris Stem Pitting associated Virus (GRSPaV) infections correlated with graft (un)-success in two Syrah clones micrografted onto 110-Ritcher rootstock. Furthermore, silencing GRSPaV before grafting increased graft success rates. We propose that grapevine graft incompatibility is mainly a virus-induced phenomenon that can arise even in certified plants

A new clonal propagation protocol develops quality root systems in chestnut

Technical NoteThere is, at the present time, a great demand for chestnut rootstocks with improved resistance to Phytophthora cinnamomi Rands in the nurseries. New genotypes are emerging from European chestnut breeding programs and the production of thriving plants to restore old orchards with low yields due to a high incidence of diseases, namely root rot, is necessary. Micropropagation is a useful technique for clonal propagation. Nevertheless, in vitro culture propagation is genotype-dependent. Consequently, the existing protocols may demonstrate poor reproducibility and low e cacy. Thus, the need to contribute to the development of new micropropagation protocols suitable for large production of emerging genotypes. As a contribution to fill this gap, a three-step protocol was developed by using new combinations of Murashige & Skoog, Woody Plant, and adapted modified Melin-Norkrans media in di erent stages of the propagation process. About 90% of shoots were rooted, and after three months of acclimatization, 85% of these plants survived and were capable of continuous growth in the field. Currently, this protocol is being used in the production of several hybrid genotypes (with improved resistance to P. cinnamomi), selected from our ongoing breeding program and also in Castanea sativa Mill. and Castanea crenata Siebold and Zucc. speciesinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Religion between State and Society

In contrast to mainstream historiography, secularisation was not a distinct process in nineteenth-century Europe, since the century was a period of religious revival. In the late nineteenth century, in spite of weakening church attendance and rising agnosticism brought on by urbanisation and migration, religion remained attractive for the middle class and social movements related to church membership emerged in politics. In this chapter the diversity of religion in Europe is treated. The author distinguishes between hierarchical and nonhierarchical types of Christian churches, and between four religious regions in Europe. This situation had effects on the relationship between state and religion

Models to Evaluate the Role of Stress in Periodontal Disease

We evaluated the association of stress, distress, and coping behaviors with periodontal disease in 1,426 subjects, aged 25 to 74, in Erie County, NY. Demographic characteristics, medical and dental history, and tobacco and alcohol consumption, as well as clinical assessments of supragingival plaque, subgingival flora, gingival bleeding, calculus, probing depth, clinical attachment level (CAL), and radiographic alveolar bone loss (ABL) were obtained for each subject. Subjects also completed a set of 5 psychosocial instruments that measured life events, daily strains, hassles and uplifts, distress, and coping behaviors. Internal consistencies of all subscales on the instruments were high, with Cronbach’s alpha ranging from 0.88 to 0.99. Logistic regression indicated that financial strain was significantly associated with greater attachment and alveolar bone loss (OR 1.70; 95% CI, 1.09–2.65; and 1.68; 95% CI, 1.20–2.37, respectively) after adjusting for age, gender, and smoking. When those with financial strain were stratified with respect to coping behaviors, it was found that those who exhibited high emotion‐focused coping (inadequate coping) had an even higher risk of having more severe attachment loss (OR 2.24; 95% CI, 1.15–4.38) and alveolar bone loss (OR 1.91; 95% CI, 1.15–3.17) than those with low levels of financial strain within the same coping group, after adjustment for age, gender, and cigarette smoking. After further adjusting for number of visits to the dentist, those with financial strain who were high emotion‐focused copers still had higher levels of periodontal disease based on CAL (OR 2.12; 95% CI, 1.07–4.18). In contrast, subjects with high levels of financial strain who reported high levels of problem‐based coping (good coping) had no more periodontal disease than those with low levels of financial strain. Salivary cortisol levels were higher in a test group exhibiting severe periodontitis, a high level of financial strain, and high emotion‐focused coping, as compared to a control group consisting of those with little or no periodontal disease, low financial strain, and low levels of emotion‐focused coping (11.04 ± 4.4 vs. 8.6 ± 4.1 nmol/L salivary cortisol, respectively). These findings suggest that psychosocial measures of stress associated with financial strain are significant risk indicators for periodontal disease in adults. Further prospective studies are needed to help establish the time course of stress, distress, and inadequate coping on the onset and progression of periodontal disease, as well as to evaluate the mechanisms by which stress exerts its effects on periodontal infections. Ann Periodontol 1998;3:288–302.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142261/1/aape0288.pd

Assessing and enhancing migration of human myogenic progenitors using directed iPS cell differentiation and advanced tissue modelling

Muscle satellite stem cells (MuSCs) are responsible for skeletal muscle growth and regeneration. Despite their differentiation potential, human MuSCs have limited in vitro expansion and in vivo migration capacity, limiting their use in cell therapies for diseases affecting multiple skeletal muscles. Several protocols have been developed to derive MuSC-like progenitors from human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells (hiPSCs) to establish a source of myogenic cells with controllable proliferation and differentiation. However, current hiPSC myogenic derivatives also suffer from limitations of cell migration, ultimately delaying their clinical translation. Here we use a multi-disciplinary approach including bioinformatics and tissue engineering to show that DLL4 and PDGF-BB improve migration of hiPSC-derived myogenic progenitors. Transcriptomic analyses demonstrate that this property is conserved across species and multiple hiPSC lines, consistent with results from single cell motility profiling. Treated cells showed enhanced trans-endothelial migration in transwell assays. Finally, increased motility was detected in a novel humanised assay to study cell migration using 3D artificial muscles, harnessing advanced tissue modelling to move hiPSCs closer to future muscle gene and cell therapies

Prevalence of endotoxemia after surgery and its association with ICU length of stay

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this observational study was to investigate the prevalence of endotoxemia after surgery and its association with ICU length of stay. METHODS: 102 patients admitted to a university ICU after surgery were recruited. Within four hours of admission, functional data were collected and APACHE II severity score calculated. Arterial blood samples were taken and endotoxemia was measured by chemiluminescence (Endotoxin Activity (EA)). Patients were stratified according to their endotoxin levels (low, intermediate and high) and according to their surgical procedures. Differences between endotoxin levels were assessed by ANOVA, accepting P < 0.05 as significant. Data are expressed as mean +/- SD. RESULTS: EA levels were low in 68 (66%) patients, intermediate in 17 (17%) and high in 17 (17%). Age (61 +/- 17 years) and APACHE II score 8.3 +/- 3.7 (P = 0.542) were not significantly different in the three EA groups. Functional parameters on admission were similar between EA groups: white blood cells 11093 +/- 4605 cells/mm3 (P = 0.385), heart rate 76 +/- 16 bpm (P = 0.898), mean arterial pressure 88.8 +/- 13.6 mmHg (P = 0.576), lactate 1.18 +/- 0.77 mmol/L (P = 0.370), PaO2/FiO2 383 +/- 109 mmHg (P = 0.474). Patients with high levels of EA were characterized by longer length of stay in the ICU: 1.9 +/- 3.0 days in the low EA group, 1.8 +/- 1.4 days in intermediate and 5.2 +/- 7.8 days in high group (P = 0.038). CONCLUSIONS: 17% of our patients were characterized by high levels of endotoxemia as assessed by EA assay, despite their low level of complexity on admission. High levels of endotoxin were associated with a longer ICU length of stay