Vegetative growth response of beets and lettuce to stored human urine

ArticleIn this work, we present the experimental results of the effect of stored human urine (SHU) on the growth of beets (Beta vulgaris L) and lettuce (Lactuca sativaL). We apply different amounts of SHU according to the recommended dose of nitrogen, considering soil from farmland and vermiculite as substrates. The last allows us to determine with high precision the isolated effect of SHU over the vegetative development of beet plants, without considering other nutrients present in common soils. Experimental results demonstrate that the application of SHU has no significant effects on lettuce vegetative growth under our soil conditions. In contrast, SHU can be used successfully as a fertilizer of beets. The optimum dose was found at 120kgN ha-1and resulted in average dry weight of 125g. However, if the dose exceeds the optimum levels, the growth of the plant is inhibited. Beets fertilized with SHU does not pose any hygienic risk for human consumption. Our findings represent a promising alternative to propose expanding the use of SHU as fertilizer in medium-sized greenhouses and to provide benefits to families in rural areas, with little or no available water supplies

Esterase Cleavable 2D Assemblies of Magnetic Iron Oxide Nanocubes: Exploiting Enzymatic Polymer Disassembling to Improve Magnetic Hyperthermia Heat Losses

Here, we report a nanoplatform based on iron oxide nanocubes (IONCs) coated with a bioresorbable polymer that, upon exposure to lytic enzymes can be disassembled increasing the heat performances in comparison with the initial clusters. We have developed bi-dimensional (2D) clusters by exploiting benchmark iron oxide nanocubes as heat mediators for magnetic hyperthermia and a polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) copolymer, a biodegradable polymer produced by bacteria that can be digested by intracellular esterase enzymes. The comparison of magnetic heat performance of the 2D assemblies with 3D centro-symmetrical assemblies or single iron oxide nanocubes emphasize the benefit of the 2D assembly. On one hand, the heat losses of 2D assemblies dispersed in water are better than the 3D assemblies, but worse than for single nanocubes. On the other hand, when the bi-dimensional magnetic beads (2D-MNBs) are incubated with the esterase enzyme at a physiological temperature, their magnetic heat performances began to progressively increase. After 2 hours of incubation, specific absorption rate values of the 2D assembly double the ones of individually coated nanocubes. Such an increase can be mainly correlated to the splitting of the 2D-MNBs into smaller size clusters with a chain- like configuration containing few nanocubes. Moreover, 2D-MNBs exhibited non-variable-heat performances even after intentionally inducing their aggregation. Magnetophoresis measurements indicate a comparable response of 3D and 2D clusters to external magnets (0.3T) that is by far faster than that of single nanocubes. This feature is crucial for a physical accumulation of magnetic materials in the presence of magnetic field gradients. This system is the first example of a nanoplatform that, upon exposure to lytic enzymes, such as those present in a tumor environment, can be disassembled from the initial 2D-MNB organization to chain-like assemblies with clear improvement of the heat magnetic losses resulting in better heat dissipation performances. The potential application of 2D nano-assemblies based on the cleavable PHAs for preserving their magnetic losses inside cells will benefit hyperthermia therapies mediated by magnetic nanoparticles under alternating magnetic fields

Reasons for Institutionalization of People With Dementia: Informal Caregiver Reports From 8 European Countries

Objectives: To explore reasons for institutionalization of people with dementia according to informal caregivers as well as variation in reasons between countries. Design: An explorative cross-sectional study was conducted in 8 European countries. Setting: Per country, a minimum of 3 long term care facilities, offering care and accommodation as a package, participated in this study. Participating countries were selected to represent different geographic areas in Europe. Participants: Of the 791 informal caregivers involved in the RightTimePlaceCare project of people with dementia who were recently admitted to a long term care facility, 786 were included for this study. Measurements: As part of a semistructured interview, informal caregivers were asked the main reason for institutionalization in an open-ended question. Answers were categorized according to a conventional coding approach. All reasons were then quantified and tested. Results: Mainly patient-related reasons were stated, such as neuropsychiatric symptoms (25%), care dependency (24%), and cognition (19%). Neuropsychiatric symptoms were among the most often mentioned reasons in most countries. Besides patient-related reasons, caregiver burden and the inability of the informal caregiver to care for the patient were stated as reasons (both 15%). Further analyses showed countries differ significantly in reasons according to informal caregivers. Additionally, reasons were analyzed for spouses and child-caregivers, showing that spouses more often stated reasons related to themselves compared with child-caregivers. Conclusion: Multiple reasons contribute to the institutionalization for people with dementia, with several factors that may influence why there were country differences. Variation in the organization of dementia care and cultural aspects, or the relationship between the informal caregiver and person with dementia may be factors influencing the reasons. Because of a wide variation in reasons between countries, no one-size-fits-all approach can be offered to guide informal caregivers when facing the possibility of institutionalization of the person with dementia. (C) 2014 - American Medical Directors Association, Inc. All rights reserved

Distinctive phehotypes of Bradyrhizobium diazoefficiens transcriptional regulator (phaR) mutants grown on different carbon sources.

Resumen del poster presentado en: XVII Congreso Argentino de Microbiología General (SAMIGE). Córdoba, Argentina, 25-28 octubre 2022

CDMS, Supersymmetry and Extra Dimensions

The CDMS experiment aims to directly detect massive, cold dark matter particles originating from the Milky Way halo. Charge and lattice excitations are detected after a particle scatters in a Ge or Si crystal kept at ~30 mK, allowing to separate nuclear recoils from the dominating electromagnetic background. The operation of 12 detectors in the Soudan mine for 75 live days in 2004 delivered no evidence for a signal, yielding stringent limits on dark matter candidates from supersymmetry and universal extra dimensions. Thirty Ge and Si detectors are presently installed in the Soudan cryostat, and operating at base temperature. The run scheduled to start in 2006 is expected to yield a one order of magnitude increase in dark matter sensitivity.Comment: To be published in the proceedings of the 7th UCLA symposium on sources and detection of dark matter and dark energy in the universe, Marina del Rey, Feb 22-24, 200

Heavy quarkonium: progress, puzzles, and opportunities

A golden age for heavy quarkonium physics dawned a decade ago, initiated by the confluence of exciting advances in quantum chromodynamics (QCD) and an explosion of related experimental activity. The early years of this period were chronicled in the Quarkonium Working Group (QWG) CERN Yellow Report (YR) in 2004, which presented a comprehensive review of the status of the field at that time and provided specific recommendations for further progress. However, the broad spectrum of subsequent breakthroughs, surprises, and continuing puzzles could only be partially anticipated. Since the release of the YR, the BESII program concluded only to give birth to BESIII; the $B$-factories and CLEO-c flourished; quarkonium production and polarization measurements at HERA and the Tevatron matured; and heavy-ion collisions at RHIC have opened a window on the deconfinement regime. All these experiments leave legacies of quality, precision, and unsolved mysteries for quarkonium physics, and therefore beg for continuing investigations. The plethora of newly-found quarkonium-like states unleashed a flood of theoretical investigations into new forms of matter such as quark-gluon hybrids, mesonic molecules, and tetraquarks. Measurements of the spectroscopy, decays, production, and in-medium behavior of c\bar{c}, b\bar{b}, and b\bar{c} bound states have been shown to validate some theoretical approaches to QCD and highlight lack of quantitative success for others. The intriguing details of quarkonium suppression in heavy-ion collisions that have emerged from RHIC have elevated the importance of separating hot- and cold-nuclear-matter effects in quark-gluon plasma studies. This review systematically addresses all these matters and concludes by prioritizing directions for ongoing and future efforts.Comment: 182 pages, 112 figures. Editors: N. Brambilla, S. Eidelman, B. K. Heltsley, R. Vogt. Section Coordinators: G. T. Bodwin, E. Eichten, A. D. Frawley, A. B. Meyer, R. E. Mitchell, V. Papadimitriou, P. Petreczky, A. A. Petrov, P. Robbe, A. Vair

Search for composite and exotic fermions at LEP 2

A search for unstable heavy fermions with the DELPHI detector at LEP is reported. Sequential and non-canonical leptons, as well as excited leptons and quarks, are considered. The data analysed correspond to an integrated luminosity of about 48 pb^{-1} at an e^+e^- centre-of-mass energy of 183 GeV and about 20 pb^{-1} equally shared between the centre-of-mass energies of 172 GeV and 161 GeV. The search for pair-produced new leptons establishes 95% confidence level mass limits in the region between 70 GeV/c^2 and 90 GeV/c^2, depending on the channel. The search for singly produced excited leptons and quarks establishes upper limits on the ratio of the coupling of the excited fermio