Fostering sustainable water use in almond (Prunus dulcis Mill.) orchards in a semiarid Mediterranean environment

This work examines the long-term effects of deficit-irrigation (DI) practices in almond crop (Prunus dulcis Mill.) in agronomical and physiological terms. The trial was conducted during four-year monitoring period (2014–2017), in an experimental orchard (SW Spain), subjected to three irrigation regimes; i) a full-irrigation treatment (F_I), which received 100% of crop evapotranspiration (ET_C); ii) a regulated-deficit irrigation (RDI₅₀), which received 50% of ET_C during the kernel-filling period; and iii) a low-frequency deficit irrigation (LFDI), that was subjected to continuous periods of irrigation-restriction defined in terms of threshold values of leaf-water potential (Ψ_leaf) during the kernel-filling period. During the water stress period, there were monitored Ψ_leaf, stomatal conductance (g_s) and canopy temperature (T_C). Significant improvements in terms of water-use efficiency were found, as no differences in terms of yield between F_I and LFDI were found, leading to the conclusion that significant water savings (between 27 and 40%) can be achieved without compromising the yield. Moreover, threshold values of Ψ_leaf and thermal indicators were defined which will allow establishing future irrigation scheduling without compromising almond yield, especially when DI strategies are being applied.     

Neurogenic inflammation in the upper digestive tract of the mule duck: effect of a chemical algogen and force-feeding

1.?The objectives were to quantify the presence of neurogenic inflammation in 4 regions of the upper digestive tract of anaesthetised ducks (post-pharynx, pseudo-crop, transition between the pseudo-crop and the proventriculus, and proventriculus) after application of HCl stimulation of up to 4?M in the pseudo-crop.

2.?The second objective was to quantify the presence of neurogenic inflammation in the same digestive tract regions as mentioned above during 4 feeding periods of foie gras production (rearing, preparation to force-feeding, and second and last meals of the force-feeding period).

3.?Extravasation increased above a HCl stimulation threshold of 2?M. Furthermore, more extravasation was observed in the proventriculus compared to the other regions (P?

4.?Highest extravasation responses were observed in the proventriculus and the pseudo-crop at the end of the preparation period, and in the proventriculus after the second forced meal, compared with the rearing period (P?

5.?Such a kinetic could be indicative of a relative mildness of the irritant components associated with this feeding practice.     

Dephytinization of wheat bran by fermentation with bakers' yeast,incubation with barley malt flour and autoclaving at different pH levels

Wheat bran is an important source of dietary fiber but also contains considerable amounts of phytic acid, which is known to impair mineral absorption. The present study was conducted to investigate the phytic acid reduction in coarse and fine wheat bran by fermentation with the different levels of bakers' yeast (3, 6 and 9%) for 8 h at 30 °C, incubation with the different levels of barley malt flour (2.5, 5.0, 7.5 and 10.0%) for 8 h at pH 5.2 and 55 °C, and autoclaving at the different pH levels (pH 5.0, 4.5, 4.0 and 3.5) adjusted with acetic acid for 2 h. The phytic acid content of the wheat bran was effectively reduced by all treatments, and the phytic acid lost was in the range of 88.4–96.9%. Without addition of yeast or malt flour, or autoclaving without pH adjustment, the phytic acid content of the bran samples was reduced at most to 44.9% of the initial amounts under the investigated conditions. Increasing the concentration of yeast or malt flour or decreasing the pH towards 3.5 did not enhance the phytic acid reduction. The most reduction occurred after 2 h of yeast fermentation and malt flour incubation, and after 30 min of autoclaving, which made up 92–98% of the total phytic acid loss. Extending the treatment periods contributed nominally to further increase in the phytic acid reduction, and the rate of the phytic acid loss decreased progressively.     

Chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan-4: a biomarker and a potential immunotherapeutic target for canine malignant melanoma

Chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan-4 (CSPG4), also known as high molecular weight-melanoma associated antigen (HMW-MAA), is a membrane-bound chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan highly expressed by human melanoma cells. This phylogenetically conserved tumour antigen plays an important biological role in human melanoma, where it is used as a marker to diagnose forms with unusual characteristics, such as desmoplastic melanoma, and to detect melanoma cells in lymph nodes and peripheral blood, and as a target for immunotherapy because of its restricted distribution in normal tissues. To identify suitable targets to develop novel approaches of treating canine melanoma, CSPG4 was studies to see whether it is expressed in canine malignant melanomas. Immunohistochemical staining of 65 canine malignant melanomas with an anti-human CSPG4-specific antibody detected CSPG4 in 37 cases (56.9%). Positive staining was more frequent, albeit not significantly, in amelanotic compared to melanotic tumours and was statistically associated with tumours having both melanin and the epithelioid histotype. The frequency of CSPG4 expression was similar to that of other melanoma antigens used as diagnostic markers for canine malignant melanoma, such as Melan A and the protein recognized by the PNL2 monoclonal antibody. The results suggest that CSPG4 constitutes a new potential immunohistochemical marker of canine malignant melanoma and may represent an immunotherapeutic target as in humans.     

Water use and fruit yield of mango (Mangifera indica L.) grown in a subtropical Mediterranean climate

Mango (Mangifera indica L.) is one of the most important fruit crops in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. On the coast of Granada and Malaga (SE Spain), irrigated subtropical fruit species have been introduced and cultivated on terraces with a considerable economic importance as the only European production region. The subtropical fruit production in this zone is possible with intensive irrigation on terraces, which are economically more profitable than traditional rainfed crops (almond and olive), which have been replaced or abandoned. A 2-year monitoring period was conducted using drainage lysimeters to determine the crop coefficients (Kc) and fruit yield in mango (Mangifera indica L. cv. Osteen) orchards. Also, some quality parameters such as titratable acidity, total soluble solids, and vitamin C were evaluated under these conditions. The averaged Kc values of mango trees varied within production cycle of 0.43, 0.67, and 0.63 at flowering, fruit set, and fruit growth, respectively. In this study, the fruit yield under full water requirements (100% ET_C) averaged 24.1 kg tree^?1, amounting to 21.2 kg ha^?1 mm^?1 in terms of water-use efficiency. The quality parameters of the mango fruits harvested in the study area were satisfactory. Thus, this study highlights the need to optimize the irrigation-water use according to actual mango requirements, thereby achieving more sustainable Mediterranean subtropical farming in orchard terraces.