Potential productivity of fibre hemp in southern Europe

Summary Hemp cultivation is not new to the southern regions, but cultivated area is decreasing. Recently, there has been a rediscovery of this crop, as a result of requests from the producers of natural fibres.The paper synthesizes the studies recently set up in southern Italy, with the goal of evaluating the adaptation and the yield of recent genotypes and of new agronomic techniques. The study demonstrates that, with the exception of the monoicious cultivars, the new genotypes of hemp are adapted to the environmental conditions of the Mediterranean Europe, reaching productive standards not lower than those obtained in other environments.The use of irrigation is indispensable for overcoming the prolonged water deficit which hemp is subject to during its cultivation cycle. A good irrigation practice consists in the partial satisfaction of the water requirements. The experimental evidence indicates that the best productive results are obtained with the reintegration of 66% of the water lost through evapotranspiration.A further saving in water is obtained with the anticipation of the sowing period, with, however, a loss in productive potential.Hemp can be considered, in all respects, a species to reintroduce in the current cultivation systems of southern Europe. It will be possible to increase its potential provided that breeding supplied new varieties, more tolerant to low temperatures (in order to anticipate the sowing time), and able to obtain economically profitable yields with the use of limited irrigation.     

Inhibition of Key Enzymes Linked to Obesity by Preparations From Mediterranean Dietary Plants: Effects on α-Amylase and Pancreatic Lipase Activities

One of the most important strategy in the treatment of obesity includes the development of nutrient digestion and absorption inhibitors. Inhibition of digestive enzymes is one of the most widely studied mechanisms used to determine the potential efficacy of natural products as hypolipidemic and hypoglycaemic agents. In vitro studies here reported were performed to evaluate the inhibitory activity of five species (as hydroalcoholic extracts) of edible plants from Calabria region (Italy) on amylase and lipase by monitoring the hydrolysis of p-NPC and the hydrolysis of glycoside bonds in digestible carbohydrate foods. The formulation obtained from Clematis vitalba L. exhibited the strongest inhibitory effect on pancreatic lipase (IC₅₀?=?0.99 mg/ml) and on α-amylase (IC₅₀?=?31.52 μg/ml). In order to explore metabolome production HPTLC analysis of the extracts was performed, revealing the predominance of (±)-catechin, caffeic acid and chlorogenic acid in C. vitalba formulation at concentration of 23.18?±?3.14, 13.63?±?0.65 and 18.88?±?0.76 mg/g, respectively. GC/MS analysis was used to identify fatty acids and terpene composition.     

Breakdown of cortical effective connectivity during sleep

When we fall asleep, consciousness fades yet the brain remains active. Why is this so? To investigate whether changes in cortical information transmission play a role, we used transcranial magnetic stimulation together with high-density electroencephalography and asked how the activation of one cortical area (the premotor area) is transmitted to the rest of the brain. During quiet wakefulness, an initial response (approximately 15 milliseconds) at the stimulation site was followed by a sequence of waves that moved to connected cortical areas several centimeters away. During non-rapid eye movement sleep, the initial response was stronger but was rapidly extinguished and did not propagate beyond the stimulation site. Thus, the fading of consciousness during certain stages of sleep may be related to a breakdown in cortical effective connectivity.     

Global Hierarchical Gene Diversity Analysis Suggests the Fertile Crescent Is Not the Center of Origin of the Barley Scald Pathogen Rhynchosporium secalis

A total of 1,366 Rhynchosporium secalis isolates causing scald on barley, rye, and wild barley (Hordeum spontaneum) were assayed for restriction fragment length polymorphism loci, DNA fingerprints, and mating type, to characterize global genetic structure. The isolates originated from 31 field populations on five continents. Hierarchical analysis revealed that more than 70% of the total genetic variation within regions was distributed within a barley field. At the global level, only 58% of the total genetic variation was distributed within fields, while 11% was distributed among fields within regions, and 31% was distributed among regions. A significant correlation was found between genetic and geographic distance. These findings suggest that gene flow is common at the local level while it is low between regions on the same continent, and rare between continents. Analyses of multilocus associations, genotype diversity, and mating type frequencies indicate that sexual recombination is occurring in most of the populations. We found the highest allele richness in Scandinavia followed by Switzerland. This suggests that R. secalis may not have originated at the center of origin of barley, the Fertile Crescent, nor in a secondary center of diversity of barley, Ethiopia.