Limiting factors for the establishment of <i>Cordia dodecandra</i> A.DC. and <i>Bixa orellana</i> L. on semi-arid calcareous soils in Yucatan, Mexico

In Northern Yucatan, huge areas of abandoned sisal plantations, now assigned to the communities, require agroforestry management strategies that take into account the high spatial variability of soil, the lack of surface water, and the generation of income for farmers. To meet this challenge, an experimental plantation with the indigenous multi-purpose tree species Cordia dodecandra A.DC. (Siricote) for production of fruits and highly valuable timber and the food coloring crop Bixa orellana L. (Achiote) was established. The objective was to investigate the relationship between nutrient and water availability on the two dominant soils as limiting factors for growth of the two species and for nutrient uptake of C. dodecandra. A total of 184 circles of four m diameter were planted with eight plants, each with four C. dodecandra and four B. orellana on red Cambisol and black Leptosol. Seven fertilizer treatments were applied in minus-one-trials (complete fertilizer minus N, P, K, Mn, and Zn), with three irrigation levels. An additional treatment consisted in the inoculation of seedlings with exotic VA mycorrhizae. The irrigation levels were defined as regular irrigation during the dry season, sporadic irrigation at the peak of dry season only, and a non-irrigated control. C. dodecandra trees from homegardens were used as a reference for the evaluation of foliar nutrient levels of C. dodecandra seedlings. Results show that on calcareous semi-arid Yucatan soils, nutrient-water interactions and the availability of P, K, and Mn limited growth of C. dodecandra. Growth on Cambisol with adequate water supply was limited by low availability of P, K, and Mn. On Leptosol with adequate water supply, low K availability was a growth-limiting factor. When water was scarce, low P availability had a significant impact on growth on both soils. Our data indicate the importance of P-Zn interactions for nutrient uptake of C. dodecandra. The application of P fertilizer interfered with Zn uptake, while Zn applications had a negative impact on foliar P levels. Foliar nutrient concentrations of C. dodecandra trees in homegardens indicated a potential deficiency of P, Zn and Mn. On the experimental area, foliar Mn and Zn levels on both soils were at the lower limit for adequate growth. Nitrogen did not seem to be a growth-limiting element on none of the two soils. Inoculation of C. dodecandra with a mixture of Glomus mosseae, Glomus intraradices and Glomus deserticola reduced both survival as well as growth of seedlings. The dominant influence on survival and growth of B. orellana was water availability during the dry season. Although water availability had a major impact on growth of C. dodecandra as well, survival during the dry season of this species was high (between 93 and 96%) regardless of irrigation. C. dodecandra established and grew well on both soils with only sporadic irrigation during the dry season. C. dodecandra seems to be suitable as a major component of agroforestry systems in Northern Yucatan, providing farmers a promising management option for degraded sisal plantation lands. The planting of B. orellana is recommended if regular irrigation during the first dry season is feasible. The inoculation of seedlings with exotic VA mycorrhizae is not advisable. The impact of low availability of P, K, and of the micronutrients Zn and Mn on plant growth and yields should be investigated further in order to develop measures for mitigation of low nutrient availability on Yucatan soils.Wachstumslimitierende Faktoren beim Anbau von Cordia dodecandra A.DC. und Bixa orellana L. auf semi-ariden kalkhaltigen Böden in Yukatan, Mexiko Im Norden Yukatans befinden sich weitgehend unbewirtschaftete Flächen ehemaliger Sisalplantagen im Besitz der Gemeinden. Für diese sind Rekultivierungsstrategien gefragt, die die hohe räumliche Bodenvariabilität, das limitierte Wasserangebot und den Mangel an Einkommensmöglichkeiten für die Bauern berücksichtigen. Aufgrund dessen wurde eine Versuchsplantage mit der heimischen Baumart Cordia dodecandra A.DC. (Siricote) und dem Busch Bixa orellana L. (Achiote) angelegt. Während die Samen von B. orellana Lebensmittelfarbstoff liefern, produziert C. dodecandra Früchte und Wertholz. Das Ziel war die Erforschung der Bedeutung von Nährstoff-Wasser-Interaktionen für die Nährstoffaufnahme von C. dodecandra sowie für das Wachstum beider Spezies auf den zwei dominanten Bodentypen der Region. Auf rotem Cambisol und schwarzem Leptosol wurden insgesamt 184 Kreise von 4 m Durchmesser mit je 4 Individuen von C. dodecandra und B. orellana bepflanzt. 7 Düngervarianten wurden als substraktive Mischungen (Komplettdünger minus N, P, K, Mn und Zn) appliziert. Für die Dauer der Trockenzeit wurden 3 Bewässerungsstufen definiert: Regelmäßige, sporadische sowie keine Bewässerung. Zusätzlich wurde eine Anzahl Setzlinge vor dem Pflanzen mit exotischen VA Mykorrhizen inokuliert. C. dodecandra aus Hausgärten dienten als Referenz für die Bewertung der Blattnährstoffwerte der Versuchsplantage. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass sich in Nord-Yukatan Nährstoff-Wasser-Interaktionen und die Verfügbarkeit von P, K und Mn je nach Bodentyp limitierend auf das Wachstum von C. dodecandra auswirken. Bei Bewässerung während der Trockenzeit wurde das Wachstum auf Cambisol durch die geringe Verfügbarkeit von P, K und Mn begrenzt, während sich auf Leptosol allein die geringe Verfügbarkeit von K wachstumslimitierend auswirkte. Bei fehlender Bewässerung hatte die geringe Phosphorverfügbarkeit auf beiden Böden eine limitierende Wirkung. Phosphor-Zink-Interaktionen beeinflussten die Nährstoffaufnahme beider Elemente. Blattnährstoffgehalte von C. dodecandra in Hausgärten wiesen auf einen potentiellen Mangel an P, Zn und Mn hin. Auch auf der Versuchsfläche waren die Mangan- und Zinkgehalte der Blätter auf beiden Böden gering. Die Stickstoffversorgung hatte auf keinem der Böden eine wachstumslimitierende Wirkung. Die Wasserverfügbarkeit während der Trockenzeit war der Haupteinflussfaktor für das Überleben und das Wachstum von B. orellana. Im Gegensatz dazu wurde zwar das Wachstum der C. dodecandra Setzlinge, nicht aber ihre Überlebensrate während der Trockenzeit (zwischen 93 und 96%) von den Bewässerungsstufen beeinflusst. C. dodecandra erzielte mit geringem Bewässerungsaufwand auf beiden Böden hohe Wachstumsraten. Die Inokulation von C. dodecandra mit einer Mischung aus Glomus mosseae, Glomus intraradices und Glomus deserticola verringerte sowohl das Überleben als auch das Wachstum der Setzlinge. Die Baumart C. dodecandra bietet gute Voraussetzungen für den erfolgreichen Einsatz in Agroforstsystemen im Norden Yukatans. Der Anbau von B. orellana wird nur bei ausreichend gewährleisteter Bewässerung empfohlen. Der Einsatz von exotischen VA Mykorrhiza ist nicht ratsam. Die weitere Erforschung der Verfügbarkeit von P, K, Zn und Mn wird zur Entwicklung von nachhaltigen Maßnahmen zur Verbesserung der Nährstoffversorgung empfohlen

Increasing the Traceability Through Targeted Data Acquisition for Given Product Process Combinations

AbstractToday's manufacturing companies are faced with the challenge to achieve a high adherence to delivery dates under volatile market demands and to achieve a high efficiency of the order to delivery process. This challenging situation can only be handled with the help of an optimal alignment of the production, the production planning as well as the production controlling processes. Sufficient and high quality information from the production are the major basis for successfully mastering the tasks of production planning and control. With the help of the approach proposed in this paper, companies can start setting up a targeted data acquisition concept for their product process combination. It helps them, amongst other things, preventing production problems and responding rapidly to fluctuating customer needs

Age Differences in Behavior and PET Activation Reveal Differences in Interference Resolution in Verbal Working Memory

Older adults were tested on a verbal working memory task that used the item-recognition paradigm. On some trials of this task, response-conflict was created by presenting test-items that were familiar but were not members of a current set of items stored in memory. These items required a negative response, but their familiarity biased subjects toward a positive response. Younger subjects show an interference effect on such trials, and this interference is accompanied by activation of a region of left lateral prefrontal cortex. However, there has been no evidence that the activation in this region is causally related to the interference that the subjects exhibit. In the present study, we demonstrate that older adults show more behavioral interference than younger subjects on this task, and they also show no reliable activation at the same lateral prefrontal site. This leads to the conclusion that this prefrontal site is functionally involved in mediating resolution among conflicting responses or among conflicting representations in working memory

Evolution of prokaryotic SPFH proteins

BACKGROUND: The SPFH protein superfamily is a diverse family of proteins whose eukaryotic members are involved in the scaffolding of detergent-resistant microdomains. Recently the origin of the SPFH proteins has been questioned. Instead, convergent evolution has been proposed. However, an independent, convergent evolution of three large prokaryotic and three eukaryotic families is highly unlikely, especially when other mechanisms such as lateral gene transfer which could also explain their distribution pattern have not yet been considered.To gain better insight into this very diverse protein family, we have analyzed the genomes of 497 microorganisms and investigated the pattern of occurrence as well as the genomic vicinity of the prokaryotic SPFH members. RESULTS: According to sequence and operon structure, a clear division into 12 subfamilies was evident. Three subfamilies (SPFH1, SPFH2 and SPFH5) show a conserved operon structure and two additional subfamilies are linked to those three through functional aspects (SPFH1, SPFH3, SPFH4: interaction with FtsH protease). Therefore these subgroups most likely share common ancestry. The complex pattern of occurrence among the different phyla is indicative of lateral gene transfer. Organisms that do not possess a single SPFH protein are almost exclusively endosymbionts or endoparasites. CONCLUSION: The conserved operon structure and functional similarities suggest that at least 5 subfamilies that encompass almost 75% of all prokaryotic SPFH members share a common origin. Their similarity to the different eukaryotic SPFH families, as well as functional similarities, suggests that the eukaryotic SPFH families originated from different prokaryotic SPFH families rather than one. This explains the difficulties in obtaining a consistent phylogenetic tree of the eukaryotic SPFH members. Phylogenetic evidence points towards lateral gene transfer as one source of the very diverse patterns of occurrence in bacterial species

Age Differences in the Frontal Lateralization of Verbal and Spatial Working Memory Revealed by PET

Age-related decline in working memory figures prominently in theories of cognitive aging. However, the effects of aging on the neural substrate of working memory are largely unknown. Positron emission tomography (PET) was used to investigate verbal and spatial short-term storage (3 sec) in older and younger adults. Previous investigations with younger subjects performing these same tasks have revealed asymmetries in the lateral organization of verbal and spatial working memory. Using volume of interest (VOI) analyses that specifically compared activation at sites identified with working memory to their homologous twin in the opposite hemisphere, we show pronounced age differences in this organization, particularly in the frontal lobes: In younger adults, activation is predominantly left lateralized for verbal working memory, and right lateralized for spatial working memory, whereas older adults show a global pattern of anterior bilateral activation for both types of memory. Analyses of frontal subregions indicate that several underlying patterns contribute to global bilaterality in older adults: most notably, bilateral activation in areas associated with rehearsal, and paradoxical laterality in dorsolateral prefrontal sites (DLPFC; greater left activation for spatial and greater right activation for verbal). We consider several mechanisms that could account for these age differences including the possibility that bilateral activation reflects recruitment to compensate for neural decline

Retinoic Acid Can Enhance Conversion of Naive into Regulatory T Cells Independently of Secreted Cytokines

It has been reported that retinoic acid (RA) enhances regulatory T (T reg) cell conversion by inhibiting the secretion of cytokines that interfere with conversion. This report shows that these conclusions provide a partial explanation at best. First, RA not only interfered with cytokine secretion but also with the ability of these cytokines to inhibit T reg cell conversion of naive T cells. Furthermore, RA enhanced conversion even in the absence of inhibitory cytokines. The latter effect depended on the RA receptor α (RARα) but did not require Smad3, despite the fact that RA enhanced Smad3 expression. The RARα1 isoform was not essential for RA-dependent enhancement of transforming growth factor β–driven conversion, suggesting that conversion can also be mediated by RARα2. Interleukin (IL)-6 strongly reduced RARα expression levels such that a deficiency of the predominant RARα1 isoform leaves too little RARα2 for RA to inhibit the generation of Th17 cells in the presence of IL-6

The comparative effectiveness of migraine preventive drugs: a systematic review and network meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE: While there are several trials that support the efficacy of various drugs for migraine prophylaxis against placebo, there is limited evidence addressing the comparative safety and efficacy of these drugs. We conducted a systematic review and network meta-analysis to facilitate comparison between drugs for migraine prophylaxis. METHODS: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL, and clinicaltrials.gov from inception to August 13, 2022, for randomized trials of pharmacological treatments for migraine prophylaxis in adults. Reviewers worked independently and in duplicate to screen references, extract data, and assess risk of bias. We performed a frequentist random-effects network meta-analysis and rated the certainty (quality) of evidence as either high, moderate, low, or very low using the GRADE approach. RESULTS: We identified 74 eligible trials, reporting on 32,990 patients. We found high certainty evidence that monoclonal antibodies acting on the calcitonin gene related peptide or its receptor (CGRP(r)mAbs), gepants, and topiramate increase the proportion of patients who experience a 50% or more reduction in monthly migraine days, compared to placebo. We found moderate certainty evidence that beta-blockers, valproate, and amitriptyline increase the proportion of patients who experience a 50% or more reduction in monthly migraine days, and low certainty evidence that gabapentin may not be different from placebo. We found high certainty evidence that, compared to placebo, valproate and amitriptyline lead to substantial adverse events leading to discontinuation, moderate certainty evidence that topiramate, beta-blockers, and gabapentin increase adverse events leading to discontinuation, and moderate to high certainty evidence that (CGRP(r)mAbs) and gepants do not increase adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: (CGRP(r)mAbs) have the best safety and efficacy profile of all drugs for migraine prophylaxis, followed closely by gepants.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Emergence of New Norovirus Variants on Spring Cruise Ships and Prediction of Winter Epidemics

A reporting system could provide early warning

European Headache Federation (EHF) consensus on the definition of effective treatment of a migraine attack and of triptan failure

BACKGROUND: Triptans are migraine-specific acute treatments. A well-accepted definition of triptan failure is needed in clinical practice and for research. The primary aim of the present Consensus was to provide a definition of triptan failure. To develop this definition, we deemed necessary to develop as first a consensus definition of effective treatment of an acute migraine attack and of triptan-responder. MAIN BODY: The Consensus process included a preliminary literature review, a Delphi round and a subsequent open discussion. According to the Consensus Panel, effective treatment of a migraine attack is to be defined on patient well-being featured by a) improvement of headache, b) relief of non-pain symptoms and c) absence of adverse events. An attack is considered effectively treated if patient's well-being, as defined above, is restored within 2 hours and for at least 24 hours. An individual with migraine is considered as triptan-responder when the given triptan leads to effective acute attack treatment in at least three out of four migraine attacks. On the other hand, an individual with migraine is considered triptan non-responder in the presence of failure of a single triptan (not matching the definition of triptan-responder). The Consensus Panel defined an individual with migraine as triptan-resistant in the presence of failure of at least 2 triptans; triptan refractory, in the presence of failure to at least 3 triptans, including subcutaneous formulation; triptan ineligibile in the presence of an acknowledged contraindication to triptan use, as specified in the summary of product characteristics. CONCLUSIONS: The novel definitions can be useful in clinical practice for the assessment of acute attack treatments patients with migraine. They may be helpful in identifying people not responding to triptans and in need for novel acute migraine treatments. The definitions will also be of help in standardizing research on migraine acute care.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio