Anticholinesterase-induced amnesia and its temporal aspects

Injection of the anticholinesterase drug diisopropyl fluorophosphate into the hippocampi of rats, 30 minutes after escape learning, produces partial amnesia with full recovery 5 days after injection. No such amnesia is produced if the injection takes place 3 days after learning. However, with injections 5 days after learning there is again an effect, and at 14 days amnesia is complete though no normal forgetting occurs within this period.     

Effect of seawater concentration on the productivity and nutritional value of annual Salicornia and perennial Sarcocornia halophytes as leafy vegetable crops

The halophyte Salicornia was recently introduced as a fresh vegetable crop that thrives in extreme salt conditions. Two annual Salicornia and two perennial Sarcocornia ecotypes were investigated for yield production and nutritional value in response to different seawater concentrations in the irrigation solution. A harvest schedule based on a three-week cycle gave better productivity than a two-week or a four-week cycle. Total yield declined with increasing percentage of seawater above 50% in the irrigation water, however annual plants had always ca 2–3-fold higher fresh biomass in comparison to their perennial counterparts. Increased percentages of seawater in the irrigation solution had the following effects on ion concentrations in the shoots: no change in Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺, a slight increase in K⁺, and marked elevations in Na⁺ and Cl⁻. Importantly, total polyphenol, β-carotene and ureides, all known for their antioxidant capacities, rose with increasing seawater percentage, findings that indicated improved nutritional values for Salicornia and Sarcocornia irrigated with high concentrations of seawater. Impressively, both the annual Salicornia and the perennial Sarcocornia ecotypes exhibited high total shoot lipid contents of up to 2.41 and 2.06 mg g⁻¹ fresh weight, respectively, which included an omega-3 fraction of 47.6 and 41.2% of the total fatty acid content. Moreover, the high fatty acid content of the annual Salicornia ecotype was not significantly affected by increasing seawater concentrations. In this study, we thus demonstrated the feasibility of cultivating Salicornia and Sarcocornia by applying a multiple harvest system and 100% percentages of seawater in the irrigation water generating economic yields with high nutritional value. The findings also showed that Salicornia and Sarcocornia leafy vegetables may attract additional interest as an alternative source of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids for human consumption, even when the crop irrigated solely with seawater.     

Effects of day length on flowering and yield production of Salicornia and Sarcocornia species

Salicornia is a new vegetable crop that can be irrigated with highly saline water, even at salt concentrations equivalent to full-strength seawater. During leafy vegetable cultivation, the onset of the reproductive phase is an undesired phenomenon that reduces yield and quality and prevents year-round cultivation. Knowledge about the regulation of floral induction in the members of the tribe Salicornieae, however, is lacking. To establish year-round cultivation, we studied the flower induction of five Salicornia and two Sarcocornia varieties. Plants were grown under two day lengths, 13.5 h and 18 h, and harvested by a repetitive harvest regime. A 13.5-h day length prevented flower induction in the Israeli Salicornia varieties, but a longer day length was required to prevent flower induction in two species originating from more northern latitudes. The onset of the reproductive phase under suboptimal short day length conditions severely reduced vegetative growth and yields in Salicornia. In Sarcocornia, the repetitive harvest regime prevented flowering, making it a promising candidate for year-round cultivation. Irrigating the plants with full-strength seawater (electrical conductivity 48 dS m⁻¹) vs. water with moderate salinity (electrical conductivity 10 dS m⁻¹) did not change the general flowering pattern of the studied Salicornieae members.     

Aphids detect approaching predators using plant-borne vibrations and visual cues

Journal of Pest Science - Aphids (Hemiptera: Aphididae) have a repertoire of defensive behaviors against insect predators and parasitoids that includes kicking, twitching, walking away and dropping...     

The stomach signals satiety

Inflatable pyloric cuffs and stomach tubes were implanted in rats. With the cuff inflated and a valve to limit intragastric pressure to that accompanying normal satiety, they drank only as much when they had been deprived of food for 12 hours as without inflation of the cuff. However, they overdrank with the cuff inflated when they had been water deprived for 12 hours. When 10 ml of milk was withdrawn from the stomach with the cuff inflated, compensatory drinking occurred. Further, compensatory drinking also occurred when milk escaped from the stomach into the duodenum. Satiety signals thus arise from the stomach.     

Dynamics of phosphorus phytoavailability in soil amended with stabilized sewage sludge materials

Reducing the environmental risk of soluble P loss from sludge-amended soils is essential for increasing soils capacity to utilize sewage sludge beneficially. Fresh dewatered anaerobically digested sewage sludge (FSS), stabilized with ferrous sulphate (FeSul–SS), calcium oxide (CaO–SS) and aluminum sulphate (alum–SS), each at three chemical-to-FSS ratios, or by composting (BSC), was applied to alluvial soil at rates of 150 and 300 mg P kg^? 1 soil. Changes in P phytoavailability in comparison to KH₂PO₄-amended soil were probed during 100 days of incubation by a P-bioassay and were compared to the concentration of water-soluble P (WSP) and Olsen-P. P phytoavailability was notably linked to the incubation duration and the stabilization process. In general, P phytoavailability at equal P-addition rates was KH₂PO₄ > > alum–SS > BSC ≥ FSS > CaO–SS > > FeSul–SS; and it was positively related to the added P rates, although with quite different patterns among the various sludge products. The concentration of inorganic WSP (WSP_i) extracted from the soil increased following the application of FSS or BSC, and additional P mineralization further increased its concentration during incubation. In contrast, in most cases the chemically stabilized sludges, especially the FeSul–SS, showed considerably reduced inorganic WSP concentrations relative to the untreated soil. The total WSP, Olsen-P and organic WSP (WSP_o) positively correlated to P phytoavailability, indicating that WSP_o plays a role in plant P utilization in these soils. It is concluded that all the chemically stabilized sewage sludge studied effectively controlled WSP_i in soil while still supplying P to support plant growth.