Characterisation of the bending stiffness components of MDF panels from full-field slope measurements

This paper deals with the characterisation of bending stiffness components of medium density fibreboard (MDF) by carrying out a single plate bending test. The approach couples full-field slope measurements with an inverse identification method. MDF panels manufactured with different fractions of Eucalyptus fibres and sugarcane bagasse particles were used. The slope maps generated across the plate surface were measured by the deflectometry technique. The curvature fields of the deformed plate were reconstructed by numerical differentiation afterwards. The virtual fields method was then implemented for material parameter identification under the framework of Kirchhoff–Love plate bending theory. The elastic properties obtained from the proposed data reduction (i.e. simultaneous identification of modulus of elasticity, Poisson’s ratio and shear modulus) were compared with values determined from classical three-point bending tests and reported in the literature. The set of properties were found in relatively good agreement.     

Functional palatability enhancer improved growth,intestinal morphology,and hepatopancreas protease activity,replacing squid paste in white shrimp,Litopenaeus vannamei,diets

Squid visceral paste is a popular attractant and feeding stimulator supplement in shrimp feeds in China, but it often faces problems with fluctuating availability, cost, composition, and quality. An 8‐week experiment was performed to test a proprietary palatability enhancer as an alternative to squid paste in white shrimp feed. Seven diets were tested: a control diet with no supplementations; S1 and S3 diets supplemented with squid paste at 1 or 3%, respectively; S1+PE0.1 and S1+PE0.15 supplemented with both 1% squid paste and the palatability enhancer at either 0.1 or 0.15%, respectively; and finally PE0.1 and PE0.15 supplemented only with the palatability enhancer at 0.1 or 0.15%, respectively. The results showed a trend for increased feed intake and weight gain when squid paste was added to the diet compared to the control, but this was worsened by raising the inclusion level from 1 to 3%. The inclusion of the PE, in combination with squid paste or alone at 0.15%, led to a significantly higher growth, and a feeding stimulation effect was also indicated, with PE0.1 and PE0.15 having a higher feed intake than the control. A further beneficial effect was a significant increase in protease activity in the hepatopancreas in the S1+PE0.15, PE0.1, and PE0.15 treatments compared to the control. In addition, a significant increase in the height of the intestinal mucosal folds was observed in PE0.15, followed by PE0.1. The results demonstrated the potential to replace or reduce squid visceral paste in shrimp diets by supplementing with a PE with functional effects beyond feeding stimulation.     

How learning to read changes the cortical networks for vision and language

Does literacy improve brain function? Does it also entail losses? Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we measured brain responses to spoken and written language, visual faces, houses, tools, and checkers in adults of variable literacy (10 were illiterate, 22 became literate as adults, and 31 were literate in childhood). As literacy enhanced the left fusiform activation evoked by writing, it induced a small competition with faces at this location, but also broadly enhanced visual responses in fusiform and occipital cortex, extending to area V1. Literacy also enhanced phonological activation to speech in the planum temporale and afforded a top-down activation of orthography from spoken inputs. Most changes occurred even when literacy was acquired in adulthood, emphasizing that both childhood and adult education can profoundly refine cortical organization.     

Is the onset of septoria tritici blotch epidemics related to the local pool of ascospores?

To elucidate the early epidemic stages of septoria tritici blotch, especially the relationship between the onset of epidemics, the local availability of primary inoculum, and the presence of wheat debris, the early disease dynamics and airborne concentration in Zymoseptoria tritici ascospores were concomitantly assessed at a small spatiotemporal scale and over two years, using spore traps coupled with a qPCR assay. One plot, with the crop debris left, provided a local source of primary inoculum, while the other plot, without debris, lacked any. According to the assay's limits of detection, daily spore trap samples were classified as not detectable or not quantifiable, detectable, and quantifiable. The proportions of samples assigned to the different classes and numbers of spores in samples classified as quantifiable were significantly different between years, time periods (from November to March) and spore trap location (field with or without debris). The effect of year on the airborne ascospore concentration was high: 22 daily peaks with more than 230 ascospores m^?3 day^?1 were identified in the autumn of 2012/13, but none in the autumn of 2011/12. The local presence of wheat debris had no obvious effect on the amount of airborne ascospores or on the earliness of the two epidemics, especially in the year with high inoculum pressure (2012/13). These results suggest that the amount of primary airborne inoculum available in a wheat crop is not a limiting factor for the onset of an epidemic.     

A lactose-binding lectin from the marine sponge Cinachyrella apion (Cal) induces cell death in human cervical adenocarcinoma cells

Cancer represents a set of more than 100 diseases, including malignant tumors from different locations. Strategies inducing differentiation have had limited success in the treatment of established cancers. Marine sponges are a biological reservoir of bioactive molecules, especially lectins. Several animal and plant lectins were purified with antitumor activity, mitogenic, anti-inflammatory and antiviral, but there are few reports in the literature describing the mechanism of action of lectins purified from marine sponges to induce apoptosis in human tumor cells. In this work, a lectin purified from the marine sponge Cinachyrella apion (CaL) was evaluated with respect to its hemolytic, cytotoxic and antiproliferative properties, besides the ability to induce cell death in tumor cells. The antiproliferative activity of CaL was tested against HeLa, PC3 and 3T3 cell lines, with highest growth inhibition for HeLa, reducing cell growth at a dose dependent manner (0.5-10 μg/mL). Hemolytic activity and toxicity against peripheral blood cells were tested using the concentration of IC(50) (10 μg/mL) for both trials and twice the IC(50) for analysis in flow cytometry, indicating that CaL is not toxic to these cells. To assess the mechanism of cell death caused by CaL in HeLa cells, we performed flow cytometry and western blotting. Results showed that lectin probably induces cell death by apoptosis activation by pro-apoptotic protein Bax, promoting mitochondrial membrane permeabilization, cell cycle arrest in S phase and acting as both dependent and/or independent of caspases pathway. These results indicate the potential of CaL in studies of medicine for treating cancer.     

Phenological dynamics of the invasive plant Acacia longifolia in Portugal

Phenological shifts may play an important role in the success of invasive species. In the coastal regions of continental Portugal, Acacia longifolia is one of the most widespread invasive plants, but there are significant gaps in our understanding and interpretation of its phenology. This study is the first to investigate the phenological variation of A. longifolia and its association with climate in populations representing a temperature and precipitation gradient in mainland Portugal. The results highlighted significant variations in the vegetative (leaf initiation) and reproductive phenophases (bud formation, flowering and fruiting) among populations. Overall, leafing was observed throughout the year, bud formation occurred between summer and spring, anthesis between late winter and the beginning of spring, and fruiting started in late winter. Most of the reproductive phenophases varied across elevation or latitudinal gradients, with populations that were subjected to more stressful climatic conditions advancing their flowering and fruiting phenophases. The occurrence of each phenophase was strongly associated with the climatic conditions in the previous 5–12 months, suggesting that plants receive their phenological cues well in advance of their phenological response. Among climatic factors, temperature and irradiance were the most significant predictors of the phenological cycle of A. longifolia, but precipitation also exerted a greater influence on budding and flowering of the species. The phenological response of A. longifolia in a variety of sites represents an important step towards understanding how its phenology may react to the projected climate change in the Mediterranean region.     

Spineless cactus associated with Tifton hay or sugarcane bagasse may replace corn silage in sheep diets

The effect of the replacement of corn silage with spineless cactus associated with Tifton 85 hay or sugarcane bagasse was evaluated on the performance, body weight components and sheep meat quality. Twenty-one Santa Inês male sheep with initial body weight of 22.9 ± 2.9 kg were used. They were confined in individual stalls for 74 days receiving the following diets: corn silage + concentrate (CS); spineless cactus + Tifton 85 hay + concentrate (TH); spineless cactus + sugarcane bagasse + concentrate (SB). After the feedlot period, the animals were slaughtered and their body components were weighed and sampled. Data were submitted to Tukey’s test at 5% probability. The average daily gain (0.25 vs 0.14 kg), cold carcass weight (13.3 vs 13.7 kg), loin muscularity (0.6 vs 0.4 kg) and liver weight (0.7 vs. 0.5 kg) were higher (P < 0.05) for the TH diet when compared to that for the CS. The physical-chemical parameters of meat were not influenced (P > 0.05) by the treatments and presented about 20.1% of crude protein, 6.1% of crude fat and shear force of 2.0 kgf/cm². In complete diets for sheep, Tifton 85 hay associated with spineless cactus provides greater weight gain, cold carcass muscularity and organ weight when compared to those for animals fed with corn silage as exclusive roughage. Sugarcane bagasse associated with spineless cactus may replace corn silage in complete diets for sheep.     

Effect of chitosan on the preservation quality of sugarcane silage

We aimed to evaluate the effects of chitosan and microbial inoculant addition to sugarcane silage fermentation, gas and effluent losses, chemical composition, in situ dry matter (DM), neutral detergent fibre (NDF) degradation and aerobic stability. A completely randomized design with four treatments (n = 40) was performed. It was arranged in a 2 × 2 factorial scheme with chitosan [0 and 6 g/kg of sugarcane DM—1.66 g/kg of natural matter (NM)] and microbial inoculant (0 and 8 mg/kg on NM). Each g of inoculant contained 3.9 × 10¹⁰ UFC/g of Pediococcus acidilactici and 3.75 × 10¹⁰ UFC/g of Propionibacterium acidicipropionici. The addition of microbial inoculant increased lactic acid concentration in silos treated with chitosan. Furthermore, chitosan increased pH and tended to increase acetic acid of silage. In contrast, the inoculant decreased pH and acetic acid, besides increasing ethanol concentration. As chitosan addition increased DM recovery, inoculant addition decreased it. Chitosan decreased NDF and acid detergent fibre (ADF) level and increased DM degradation, while inoculant decreased DM content, DM and NDF degradation. In addition, chitosan improved the aerobic stability only in non‐inoculated silos. Thus, chitosan has a positive effect on silage fermentation, reducing fermentative losses, and improving silage chemical composition and degradation. Conversely, the addition of microbial inoculant negatively affected silage DM recovery, chemical composition, and its association with chitosan decreased the aerobic stability when compared to the exclusive use of chitosan.     

Trace metal distribution in pelagic fish species from the north-west African coast (Morocco)

International Aquatic Research - In the current study, ten elements contents (Fe, Zn, Mn, Cu, Cr, Co, Ni, Cd, Pb and Hg) have been measured in muscle and liver of four pelagic fish species...