Nitrogen and organic matter of volcanic ash soils of Santa Bárbara Association in Chile

Santa Bárbara association is a group of Andosols widely distributed on the western foothills of the Andes Mountains in the Central Valley of Chile from about 36° to 40° south latitude. The soils of this association may be divided into two groups—south and north—by the characteristics of soil organic matter, although they are much alike in morphology. The line of demarcation between the groups lies at about 38° south latitude.

The potential nitrogen fertility or , the content of easily decomposable organic nitrogen is greater in the south soils than in the north soils of which humic matter is at a more advanced stage of humification, as compared with that of the south soils. Dry summers have caused the north soils to lessen in their potential nitrogen fertility and to stimulate humification of organic matter, altering the organic matter in quantity as well as in nature. It is evident that the analysis of soil organic matter is an effectual measure for the characterization of Andosols, and hence for the classification of the soils.

It is very probable that a considerable water erosion has occurred in the soils of this association, transporting the fine soil particles from the mid-slope to the foot of the hills.     

Terrain analysis,erosion simulations,and sediment fingerprinting: a case study assessing the erosion sensitivity of agricultural catchments in the border of the volcanic plateau of Southern Brazil

Journal of Soils and Sediments - Erosion and its spatial distribution in three agricultural headwater catchments were assessed in the border of the volcanic plateau in Southern Brazil. We analyzed...     

The mosaic genome of warm-blooded vertebrates

Most of the nuclear genome of warm-blooded vertebrates is a mosaic of very long (much greater than 200 kilobases) DNA segments, the isochores; these isochores are fairly homogeneous in base composition and belong to a small number of major classes distinguished by differences in guanine-cytosine (GC) content. The families of DNA molecules derived from such classes can be separated and used to study the genome distribution of any sequence which can be probed. This approach has revealed (i) that the distribution of genes, integrated viral sequences, and interspersed repeats is highly nonuniform in the genome, and (ii) that the base composition and ratio of CpG to GpC in both coding and noncoding sequences, as well as codon usage, mainly depend on the GC content of the isochores harboring the sequences. The compositional compartmentalization of the genome of warm-blooded vertebrates is discussed with respect to its evolutionary origin, its causes, and its effects on chromosome structure and function.     

Formulation and Sensory Evaluation of Prosopis alba (Algarrobo) Pulp Cookies with Increased Iron and Calcium Dialyzabilities

Prosopis alba (algarrobo) is an important indigenous specie, which fruits are used as food and feed since ancient times. Cookies containing algarrobo pulp (AP) with increased iron and calcium availabilities were formulated and sensory evaluated. AP is preferred as food ingredient because of its high sugar content and pleasant flavour. Formulated cookies mean proximal composition was 8.9 g/100 g protein, 7.2 g/100 g dietary fiber, 25 g/100 g total sugar, and 18.5 g/100 g crude fat with iron and calcium contents 30 ppm and 340 ppm, respectively. Ascorbic (AA) and citric (CA) acids at different mM acid: mM Fe were added in order to increase mineral availabilities being evaluated by an in vitro method. Those ratios were 5:1 and 10:1 for AA:Fe whereas for CA:Fe were 50:1 and 100:1 and combinations of them. After chosen the best AA:Fe and CA:Fe ratios (5:1 and 50:1, respectively), sensory evaluation with trained sensory panel and a consumer acceptability test with one hundred and seventy untrained judges were carried out. Acceptability test showed that 77.65% of the people (<25 years old 41.76%, 25–50 years old 20.00% and>50 years old 15.89%) tasting final formulated cookies indicated that they “like very much” or “moderately like” and there were not consumers rejecting them.     

PML regulates apoptosis at endoplasmic reticulum by modulating calcium release

The promyelocytic leukemia (PML) tumor suppressor is a pleiotropic modulator of apoptosis. However, the molecular basis for such a diverse proapoptotic role is currently unknown. We show that extranuclear Pml was specifically enriched at the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and at the mitochondria-associated membranes, signaling domains involved in ER-to-mitochondria calcium ion (Ca(2+)) transport and in induction of apoptosis. We found Pml in complexes of large molecular size with the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor (IP(3)R), protein kinase Akt, and protein phosphatase 2a (PP2a). Pml was essential for Akt- and PP2a-dependent modulation of IP(3)R phosphorylation and in turn for IP(3)R-mediated Ca(2+) release from ER. Our findings provide a mechanistic explanation for the pleiotropic role of Pml in apoptosis and identify a pharmacological target for the modulation of Ca(2+) signals.     

Growth rate and age at boar exposure as factors influencing gilt puberty

The objective of this study was to verify whether pubertal estrus could be influenced by the growth rate and age of gilts at the onset of boar exposure. Gilts (n = 1486) were evaluated according to two groups of age at boar exposure (A = 130-149 d and B = 150-170 d) and three classes of growth rate (Low = 550–649 g/d; Intermediate = 650–725 g/d and High = 726–830 g/d). Gilts of groups A and B were, respectively, 142.6 ± 4.9 and 157.0 ± 5.1 days of age at the onset of boar exposure. Overall, 85% of gilts showed estrus within 40 days of boar exposure. Within group A gilts a higher (P < 0.05) cumulative percentage of estrus within 20 days of stimulation was observed in High than in Intermediate and Low growth rate gilts (59.7% vs. 48.7% vs. 48.2%; P < 0.05). Nevertheless, within group B there was no difference in the percentage of estrus among growth rate classes (63.8% vs. 67.3% vs. 63.7%, P > 0.05). Within group A, puberty was attained earlier in High than in Low growth rate gilts (159.6 vs. 164.8 days). However, age at puberty was not affected by growth rate, when gilts were exposed to boar in an older age (group B). Overall, age at puberty was positively associated with the age at the onset of boar exposure (r = 0.38; P < 0.0001) and the older the gilts were at boar exposure the lower was the interval (r = - 0.19; P < 0.0001) from stimulation to onset of puberty. In conclusion, successful stimulation of puberty can be obtained through an earlier exposure to boars in high growth rate gilts.     

LPS-induced sickness behavior is not affected by selenium but is switched off by psychogenic stress in rats

Veterinary Research Communications - Sickness behavior (SB) is considered part of the adaptive behavioral and neuroimmune changes that occur in response to inflammatory processes. However, SB is a...     

Multivariate Analyses for Determining the Association of Field Porcine Fertility With Sperm Motion Traits Analysed by Computer‐Assisted Semen Analysis and With Sperm Morphology

This study investigates the association of semen traits with boar fertility. The fertility outcome (farrowing rate – FR and total piglets born – TB) of 14 boars was obtained from a field trial conducted during 10 week of breeding period on a commercial farm using multiparous sows (n = 948) through single‐sire mating with 2 × 10⁹ motile sperm cells per artificial insemination (AI) dose. Sperm motion parameters, evaluated with computer‐assisted semen analysis system in raw and stored semen at 17°C for 240 h, in addition to morphological sperm defects, measured on the collection day, were included in the analysis to determine which semen traits were important to discriminate the fertility potential of ejaculates from these boars. The data underwent multivariate cluster, canonical and discriminant analyses. Four clusters of boars were formed based on fertility outcome. One boar, with the lowest FR and TB values (89.7% and 11.98), and two boars, with the highest FR and TB values (97.8% and 14.16), were placed in different clusters. The other boars were separated in two distinct clusters (four and seven boars), including boars with intermediate TB (12.64 and 13.22) but divergent values for FR (95.9% vs 91.8%). Semen traits with higher discriminatory power included total motility, progressive motility, amplitude of lateral head displacement and cytoplasmatic droplets. Through multivariate discriminant analysis, more than 80% of the 140 ejaculates were correctly classified into their own group, showing that this analysis may be an efficient statistical tool to improve the discrimination of potential fertility of boars. Nevertheless, the validation of the relationship between fertility and semen traits using this statistical approach needs to be performed on a larger number of farms and with a greater number of boars.