Experiences with and benefits of the inspection of air-assisted sprayers from the fruit- and winegrowers’ point of view

Until the 1960s pesticides were applied with a spray gun connected to a long hose or directly to the tank and operated by a worker standing on a platform. This technique was gradually replaced by airassisted sprayers.The purchase of three sprayer test facilities in 1991 signified the start of a new era in pesticide application:• The ejection rate of the individual nozzles as well as the distribution pattern of the liquid could be measured and optimized on a vertical test stand by adjusting the nozzles or adding additional ones. • The ceramic nozzles were replaced by hollow-cone nozzles, which allowed for the first time to calculate the exact amount of liquid per hectare and tree height based on various parameters such as driving speed, spray pressure, number of open nozzles and nozzle output volume. The amount of water was reduced from 500 l/m tree height and hectare to 166 – 100 l. • The efficacy of the pesticides was increased and spray drift reduced, which brings about economic and ecological benefits. • Up to the year 1997 sprayer calibration was optional. Since then, a sprayer calibration in 5-year intervals has become a condition for participation in the South Tyrolean IP-programme. This also facilitates the observance of the GobalGAP control points and Compliance Criteria regarding application equipment.Since 2011 the South Tyrolean sprayer manufacturers and fruit- and winegrowers have been able to measure and optimize the air blast and emission pattern. Thereby we hope to further reduce spray drift and increase the efficacy of the pesticides. A properly calibrated sprayer enables the fruit- and winegrowers to observe more easily the regulations for the distances to residential and public buildings as well as pastures enacted by the South Tyrolean Provincial Government and AGRIOS in 2011. We trust that the South Tyrolean fruit- and winegrowers will have no difficulties in complying with the Directive 2009/128/EC on the sustainable use of pesticides with regard to application techniques and sprayer calibration

Islets of Langerhans Are Protected from Inflammatory Cell Recruitment during Reperfusion of Rat Pancreas Grafts

Background: Ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury plays a pivotal role in the development of graft pancreatitis, with ischemia time representing one of its crucial factors. However, it is unclear, whether exocrine and endocrine tissue experience similar inflammatory responses during pancreas transplantation (PTx). This study evaluated inflammatory susceptibilities of islets of Langerhans (ILH) and exocrine tissue after different preservation periods during early reperfusion. Methods: PTx was performed in rats following 2 h (2h-I) or 18 h (18h-I) preservation. Leukocyte-endothelial cell interactions (LEI) were analyzed in venules of acinar tissue and ILH in vivo over 2 h reperfusion. Nontransplanted animals served as controls. Tissue samples were analyzed by histomorphometry. Results: In exocrine venules leukocyte rolling predominated in the 2h-I group. In the 18h-I group, additionally, high numbers of adherent leukocytes were found. Histology revealed significant edema formation and leukocyte extravasation in the 18h-I group. Notably, LEI in postcapillary venules of ILH were significantly lower. Leukocyte rolling was only moderately enhanced and few leukocytes were found adherent. Histology revealed minor leukocyte extravasation. Conclusion: Ischemia time contributes decisively to the extent of the I/R-injury in PTx. However, ILH have a significantly lower susceptibility towards I/R, even when inflammatory reactions in adjacent exocrine tissue are evident. Copyright (C) 2010 S. Karger AG, Base

Topological solitons in highly anisotropic two dimensional ferromagnets

e study the solitons, stabilized by spin precession in a classical two--dimensional lattice model of Heisenberg ferromagnets with non-small easy--axis anisotropy. The properties of such solitons are treated both analytically using the continuous model including higher then second powers of magnetization gradients, and numerically for a discrete set of the spins on a square lattice. The dependence of the soliton energy $E$ on the number of spin deviations (bound magnons) $N$ is calculated. We have shown that the topological solitons are stable if the number $N$ exceeds some critical value $N_{\rm{cr}}$. For $N < N_{\rm{cr}}$ and the intermediate values of anisotropy constant $K_{\mathrm{eff}} <0.35J$ ($J$ is an exchange constant), the soliton properties are similar to those for continuous model; for example, soliton energy is increasing and the precession frequency $\omega (N)$ is decreasing monotonously with $N$ growth. For high enough anisotropy $K_{\mathrm{eff}} > 0.6 J$ we found some fundamentally new soliton features absent for continuous models incorporating even the higher powers of magnetization gradients. For high anisotropy, the dependence of soliton energy E(N) on the number of bound magnons become non-monotonic, with the minima at some "magic" numbers of bound magnons. Soliton frequency $\omega (N)$ have quite irregular behavior with step-like jumps and negative values of $\omega$ for some regions of $N$. Near these regions, stable static soliton states, stabilized by the lattice effects, exist.Comment: 17 page

Laminarina e zolfo nel contenimento dell'oidio del melo in Trentino

Negli anni 2022 e 2023 è stata condotta in Trentino una sperimentazione di campo per valutare la laminarina, induttore di resistenza nelle piante, nel contenimento dell’oidio del melo. Le prove sono state realizzate in un meleto della cv Gala con un disegno sperimentale a blocchi randomizzati. La laminarina (Vacciplant®), applicata con un intervallo di tempo tra 7 e 10 giorni, è stata confrontata con zolfo (Thiopron®) e la sua miscela con zolfo. Tutte le tesi sono state confrontate tra loro e con una strategia di difesa standard basata su fungicidi di sintesi attualmente registrati su melo. In entrambi gli anni di prova, al rilievo finale, la tesi testimone non trattata mostrava la quasi totalità delle foglie colpite (&gt;90%) con valori elevati di gravità (57% nel 2022, 78% nel 2023). La laminarina in miscela con zolfo, similarmente alla tesi standard chimica, ha sempre garantito i migliori valori di efficacia (46% diffusione e 11% gravità nel 2022, 35% e 10% nel 2023). L’impiego in fitoiatria della laminarina quale induttore di resistenza, potrebbe contribuire a differenziare l’approccio alla difesa antioidica del melo. Sarà necessario raccogliere ulteriori evidenze sperimentali per ottimizzarne l’utilizzo in pieno campoIn 2022 and 2023 a field trial was carried out to evaluate laminarin, a natural elicitor of the plant defence, against apple powdery mildew. The trial was settled in an apple orchard of Gala cultivar. The experiment design was a randomized block with five treatments; laminarin (Vacciplant®) with timing of 7-10 days, and sulfur (Thiopron®) both used alone, their tank mixture, a synthetic fungicides-based protection strategy and an untreated. At the end of experiments, the untreated suffered heavy damages on leaves by powdery mildew with incidence values higher than 90% in both years and severity of 57% in 2022 and 78% in 2023 respectively. The mixture of laminarin and sulfur scored the higher protection results in a similar way to chemical products. Laminarin as elicitor in inducing resistance in plants could contribuite to realize a different type of approach in crop protection. It will be necessary to acquire more evidence to better understand their utilization in the fiel

Explanation and Elaboration Document for the STROBE-Vet Statement: Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology—Veterinary Extension

The STROBE (Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology) statement was first published in 2007 and again in 2014. The purpose of the original STROBE was to provide guidance for authors, reviewers and editors to improve the comprehensiveness of reporting; however, STROBE has a unique focus on observational studies. Although much of the guidance provided by the original STROBE document is directly applicable, it was deemed useful to map those statements to veterinary concepts, provide veterinary examples and highlight unique aspects of reporting in veterinary observational studies. Here, we present the examples and explanations for the checklist items included in the STROBE-Vet Statement. Thus, this is a companion document to the STROBE-Vet Statement Methods and process document, which describes the checklist and how it was developed

Optimizing SNR for multi-metabolite hyperpolarized carbon-13 MRI using a hybrid flip-angle scheme

Purpose: To improve the SNR of hyperpolarized carbon-13 MRI of [1-13C]pyruvate using a multispectral variable flip angle (msVFA) scheme in which the spectral profile and flip angle vary dynamically with time. Methods: Each image acquisition in a time-resolved imaging experiment used a unique spectrally varying RF pulse shape for msVFA. Therefore, the flip angle for every acquisition was optimized for pyruvate and each of its metabolites to yield the highest SNR across the acquisition. Multispectral VFA was compared with a spectrally varying constant flip-angle excitation model through simulations and in vivo. A modified broadband chemical shift-encoded gradient-echo sequence was used for in vivo experiments on six pregnant guinea pigs. Regions of interest placed in the placentae, maternal liver, and maternal kidneys were used as areas for SNR measurement. Results: In vivo experiments showed significant increases in SNR for msVFA relative to constant flip angle of up to 250% for multiple metabolites. Conclusion: Hyperpolarized carbon-13 imaging with msVFA excitation produces improved SNR for all metabolites in organs of interest

Soliton-Magnon Scattering in Two-Dimensional Isotropic Ferromagnets

It is studied the scattering of magnons by the 2d topological Belavin-Polyakov soliton in isotropic ferromagnet. Analytical solutions of the scattering problem are constructed: (i) exactly for any magnon wave vectors for the partial wave with the azimuthal number m=1 (translational mode), and (ii) in the long- and short-wave limits for the rest modes. The magnon mode frequencies are found for the finite size magnets. An effective equation of the soliton motion is constructed. The magnon density of states, connected with the soliton-magnon interaction, is found in a long-wave approximation.Comment: 4 pages, REVTe

Magnetron sputter deposition of Ta2O5-SiO2 quantized nanolaminates

Quantized nanolaminates are a type of optical metamaterials, which were discovered only recently. Their feasibility was demonstrated by atomic layer deposition and ion beam sputtering so far. In this paper, we will report on the successful magnetron sputter deposition of quantized nanolaminates based on Ta2O5-SiO2. We will describe the deposition process, show results and material characterization of films deposited in a very wide parameter range. Furthermore, we will show how quantized nanolaminates deposited by magnetron sputtering were used in optical interference coatings such as antireflection and mirror coatings

Quality of anticholinergic burden scales and their impact on clinical outcomes: a systematic review.

Older people are at risk of anticholinergic side effects due to changes affecting drug elimination and higher sensitivity to drug's side effects. Anticholinergic burden scales (ABS) were developed to quantify the anticholinergic drug burden (ADB). We aim to identify all published ABS, to compare them systematically and to evaluate their associations with clinical outcomes. We conducted a literature search in MEDLINE and EMBASE to identify all published ABS and a Web of Science citation (WoS) analysis to track validation studies implying clinical outcomes. Quality of the ABS was assessed using an adapted AGREE II tool. For the validation studies, we used the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale and the Cochrane tool Rob2.0. The validation studies were categorized into six evidence levels based on the propositions of the Oxford Center for Evidence-Based Medicine with respect to their quality. At least two researchers independently performed screening and quality assessments. Out of 1297 records, we identified 19 ABS and 104 validations studies. Despite differences in quality, all ABS were recommended for use. The anticholinergic cognitive burden (ACB) scale and the German anticholinergic burden scale (GABS) achieved the highest percentage in quality. Most ABS are validated, yet validation studies for newer scales are lacking. Only two studies compared eight ABS simultaneously. The four most investigated clinical outcomes delirium, cognition, mortality and falls showed contradicting results. There is need for good quality validation studies comparing multiple scales to define the best scale and to conduct a meta-analysis for the assessment of their clinical impact