Nutritional properties of Tempranillo grapevine leaves are affected by clonal diversity, mycorrhizal symbiosis and air temperature regime.

Tempranillo grapevine is widely cultivated in Spain and other countries over the world (Portugal, USA, France, Australia, and Argentina, among others) for its wine, but leaves are scarcely used for human or animal nutrition. Since high temperatures affect quality of fruits and leaves in grapevine and the association of Tempranillo with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) enhances the antioxidant properties of berries and leaves, we assessed the effect of elevated air temperature and mycorrhization, separately or combined, on the nutritional properties of Tempranillo leaves at the time of fruit harvest. Experimental assay included three clones (CL-260, CL-1048, and CL-1089) and two temperature regimes (24/14 °C or 28/18 °C day/night) during fruit ripening. Within each clone and temperature regime there were plants not inoculated or inoculated with AMF. The nutritional value of leaves increased under warming climate: elevated temperatures induced the accumulation of minerals, especially in CL-1089; antioxidant capacity and soluble sugars also increased in CL-1089; CL-260 showed enhanced amounts of pigments, and chlorophylls and soluble proteins increased in CL-1048. Results suggested the possibility of collecting leaves together with fruit harvest with different applications of every clone: those from CL-1089 would be adequate for an energetic diet and leaves from CL-260 and CL-1048 would be suitable for culinary processes. Mycorrhization improved the nutritional value of leaves by enhancing flavonols in all clones, hydroxycinnamic acids in CL-1089 and carotenoids in CL-260.

Mycorrhizal symbiosis affects ABA metabolism during berry ripening in Vitis vinifera L. cv. Tempranillo grown under climate change scenarios.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis is a promising tool for improving the quality of grapes under changing environments. Therefore, the aim of this research was to determine if the ability of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) to enhance phenolic content (specifically, anthocyanins) in a climate change framework could be mediated by alterations in berry ABA metabolism during ripening. The study was carried out on fruit-bearing cuttings of cv. Tempranillo (CL-1048 and CL-1089) inoculated (+M) or not (-M) with AMF. Two experimental designs were implemented. In the first experiment +M and -M plants were subjected to two temperatures (24/14 °C or 28/18 °C (day/night)) from fruit set to berry maturity. In the second experiment, +M and -M plants were subjected to two temperatures (24/14 °C or 28/18 °C (day/night)) combined with two irrigation regimes (late water deficit (LD) and full irrigation (FI)). At 28/18 °C AMF contributed to an increase in berry anthocyanins and modulated ABA metabolism, leading to higher ABA-GE and 7'OH-ABA and lower phaseic acid (PA) in berries compared to -M plants. Under the most stressful scenario (LD and 28/18 °C), at harvest +M plants exhibited higher berry anthocyanins and 7´OH-ABA and lower PA and dihydrophaseic acid (DPA) levels than -M plants. These findings highlight the involvement of ABA metabolism into the ability of AMF to improve some traits involved in the quality of grapes under global warming scenarios.

Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Symbiosis as a Promising Resource for Improving Berry Quality in Grapevines Under Changing Environments.

Climate change and their resulting impacts are becoming a concern for winegrowers due to the high socioeconomic relevance of the winemaking sector worldwide. In fact, the projected climate change is expected to have detrimental impacts on the yield of grapevines, as well as on the quality and properties of grapes and wine. It is well known that arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) can improve the nutritional quality of edible parts of crops and play essential roles in the maintenance of host plant fitness under stressed environments, including grapevines. The future scenarios of climate change may also modify the diversity and the growth of AMF in soils as well as the functionality of the mycorrhizal symbiosis. In this review, we summarize recent research progress on the effects of climate change on grapevine metabolism, paying special attention to the secondary compounds involved in the organoleptic properties of grapes and wines and to the levels of the phytohormones implied in the control of berry development and fruit ripening. In this context, the potential role of AMF for maintaining fruit quality in future climate change scenarios is discussed.

Management of peri-operative anaemia in a patient with rare alloantibodies scheduled for oesophagectomy. / Manejo de la anemia perioperatoria en paciente con aloanticuerpos programada para esofagectomía.

A description is presented on the management of a patient with an oesophageal neoplasm scheduled for oesophagectomy. Alloantibodies were detected during a blood components reservation procedure, which made it almost impossible to obtain compatible blood. Peri-operative anaemia management or "Patient Blood Management" should be routinely performed in all patients at transfusion risk. This strategy has been considered as one of the actions to bear in mind in fast-track surgery or enhanced recovery after surgery.

Increased nutritional value in food crops.

Modern agriculture and horticulture must combine two objectives that seem to be almost mutually exclusive: to satisfy the nutritional needs of an increasing human population and to minimize the negative impact on the environment. These two objectives are included in the Goal 2 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of the United Nations: 'End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture'. Enhancing the nutritional levels of vegetables would improve nutrient intake without requiring an increase in consumption. In this context, the use of beneficial rhizospheric microorganisms for improving, not only growth and yield, but also the nutrient quality of crops represents a promising tool that may respond to the challenges for modern agriculture and horticulture and represents an alternative to the genetic engineering of crops. This paper summarizes the state of the art, the current difficulties associated to the use of rhizospheric microorganisms as enhancers of the nutritional quality of food crops as well as the future prospects.

Growth, photosynthetic acclimation and yield quality in legumes under climate change simulations: an updated survey.

Continued emissions of CO2, derived from human activities, increase atmospheric CO2 concentration. The CO2 rise stimulates plant growth and affects yield quality. Effects of elevated CO2 on legume quality depend on interactions with N2-fixing bacteria and mycorrhizal fungi. Growth at elevated CO2 increases photosynthesis under short-term exposures in C3 species. Under long-term exposures, however, plants generally acclimate to elevated CO2 decreasing their photosynthetic capacity. An updated survey of the literature indicates that a key factor, perhaps the most important, that characteristically influences this phenomenon, its occurrence and extent, is the plant source-sink balance. In legumes, the ability of exchanging C for N at nodule level with the N2-fixing symbionts creates an extra C sink that avoids the occurrence of photosynthetic acclimation. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi colonizing roots may also result in increased C sink, preventing photosynthetic acclimation. Defoliation (Anthyllis vulneraria, simulated grazing) or shoot cutting (alfalfa, usual management as forage) largely increases root/shoot ratio. During re-growth at elevated CO2, new shoots growth and nodule respiration function as strong C sinks that counteracts photosynthetic acclimation. In the presence of some limiting factor, the legumes response to elevated CO2 is weakened showing photosynthetic acclimation. This survey has identified limiting factors that include an insufficient N supply from bacterial strains, nutrient-poor soils, low P supply, excess temperature affecting photosynthesis and/or nodule activity, a genetically determined low nodulation capacity, an inability of species or varieties to increase growth (and therefore C sink) at elevated CO2 and a plant phenological state or season when plant growth is stopped.

Methodological advances: using greenhouses to simulate climate change scenarios.

Human activities are increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration and temperature. Related to this global warming, periods of low water availability are also expected to increase. Thus, CO2 concentration, temperature and water availability are three of the main factors related to climate change that potentially may influence crops and ecosystems. In this report, we describe the use of growth chamber - greenhouses (GCG) and temperature gradient greenhouses (TGG) to simulate climate change scenarios and to investigate possible plant responses. In the GCG, CO2 concentration, temperature and water availability are set to act simultaneously, enabling comparison of a current situation with a future one. Other characteristics of the GCG are a relative large space of work, fine control of the relative humidity, plant fertirrigation and the possibility of light supplementation, within the photosynthetic active radiation (PAR) region and/or with ultraviolet-B (UV-B) light. In the TGG, the three above-mentioned factors can act independently or in interaction, enabling more mechanistic studies aimed to elucidate the limiting factor(s) responsible for a given plant response. Examples of experiments, including some aimed to study photosynthetic acclimation, a phenomenon that leads to decreased photosynthetic capacity under long-term exposures to elevated CO2, using GCG and TGG are reported.

An analysis of select emerging executive skills in perinatally HIV-1-infected children.

This study examined the effect of perinatal HIV-1 infection on emerging executive skills in children (n = 161) ages 8 to 12 years. HIV-positive (n = 76) and HIV-negative (n = 85) children were eligible to participate. The HIV-positive children included those who had experienced a CDC Class C event (greater severity, n = 22) and those who were HIV-positive but who had not experienced a CDC Class C event (less severity, n = 54). Measures of emerging executive functions completed by the children included subtests from the Developmental Neuropsychological Assessment (NEPSY), the Trail-Making Test-Part B, and a subtest from the Woodcock-Johnson Battery-Revised. Ratings of executive functions were obtained from caretakers using the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functions. Generalized estimating equations methods, discriminate analyses, and global deficit score analyses were performed to determine whether differences emerged between the three clinical groups while using strict controls. The present results revealed significant group differences in unadjusted mean scores measuring executive functioning. However, such differences did not remain statistically significant when moderating variables were taken into consideration in the models. The apparent deficit in executive functioning for the HIV-positive children was found to be largely due to differential psychosocial and environmental factors rather than HIV disease and its severity, and in this cohort, the effects of HIV-1 infection on emerging executive functions appeared to be negligible when controlling for treatment and moderating psychosocial variables.

Colonisation by Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and maintenance of clinical remission in patients with ulcerative colitis.

BACKGROUND: Although incrimination of the intestinal microbiota in the pathogenesis of IBD is widely accepted, few data are available about the role of specific bacteria. Potentially, Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, bacteria with anti-inflammatory properties, might be deficient in ulcerative colitis (UC). AIM: To quantify F. prausnitzii in the faecal microbiota of UC patients in remission and determine its relationship with relapse. METHODS: A cross-sectional study included 116 UC patients in remission, 29 first-degree relatives and 31 healthy controls. A subset of eighteen patients, recruited during the first month of remission, underwent a 1-year follow-up. Total bacteria and F. prausnitzii were measured by quantitative Real Time PCR (qPCR, copies/g). Calprotectin was determined as inflammatory index (µg/g). RESULTS: We found that F. prausnitzii was reduced in patients (median, IQR: 1.4 × 108 , 5.1 × 107-4.5 × 108) and relatives (1.7 × 108, 9.3 × 107-5.1 × 108) vs. controls (6.5 × 108, 3.7 × 108-1.6 × 109, P < 0.0001). Moreover, low counts of F. prausnitzii were associated with less than 12 months of remission (8.0 × 107, 2.0 × 107-3.5 × 108 vs. 2.1 × 108, 1.0 × 108-7.9 × 108, P < 0.001) and more than 1 relapse/year (8.0 × 107, 3.2 × 107-3.8 × 108 vs. 1.9 × 108, 6.8 × 107-6.0 × 108, P < 0.01). When patients were followed up, F. prausnitzii increased steadily until reaching similar levels to those of controls if remission persisted (2.9 × 108, 9.3 × 106-1.2 × 109; calprotectin: 76, 19-212), whereas it remained low if patients relapsed (2.2 × 108, 1.4 × 106-3.3 × 108; calprotectin: 1760, 844-3662 P < 0.05 vs. controls). CONCLUSIONS: Defective gut colonisation by F. prausnitzii occurred in UC patients during remission and in their unaffected relatives. The recovery of the F. prausnitzii population after relapse is associated with maintenance of clinical remission.

Thermotolerance responses in ripening berries of Vitis vinifera L. cv Muscat Hamburg.

Berry organoleptic properties are highly influenced by ripening environmental conditions. In this study, we used grapevine fruiting cuttings to follow berry ripening under different controlled conditions of temperature and irradiation intensity. Berries ripened at higher temperatures showed reduced anthocyanin accumulation and hastened ripening, leading to a characteristic drop in malic acid and total acidity. The GrapeGen GeneChip® combined with a newly developed GrapeGen 12Xv1 MapMan version were utilized for the functional analysis of berry transcriptomic differences after 2 week treatments from veraison onset. These analyses revealed the establishment of a thermotolerance response in berries under high temperatures marked by the induction of heat shock protein (HSP) chaperones and the repression of transmembrane transporter-encoding transcripts. The thermotolerance response was coincident with up-regulation of ERF subfamily transcription factors and increased ABA levels, suggesting their participation in the maintenance of the acclimation response. Lower expression of amino acid transporter-encoding transcripts at high temperature correlated with balanced amino acid content, suggesting a transcriptional compensation of temperature effects on protein and membrane stability to allow for completion of berry ripening. In contrast, the lower accumulation of anthocyanins and higher malate metabolization measured under high temperature might partly result from imbalance in the expression and function of their specific transmembrane transporters and expression changes in genes involved in their metabolic pathways. These results open up new views to improve our understanding of berry ripening under high temperatures.

Effects of nitrogen source and water availability on stem carbohydrates and cellulosic bioethanol traits of alfalfa plants.

Symbiotic association of legumes with rhizobia frequently results in higher photosynthesis and soluble carbohydrates in comparison with nitrate-fed plants, which might improve its potential for biomass conversion into bioethanol. A greenhouse experiment was conducted to examine the effects of nitrogen source and water availability on stem characteristics and on relationships between carbohydrates, phenolic metabolism activity and cell wall composition in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L. cv. Aragón). The experiment included three treatments: (1) plants fed with ammonium nitrate (AN); (2) plants inoculated with rhizobia (R); and (3) plants inoculated with rhizobia and amended with sewage sludge (RS). Two levels of irrigation were imposed: (1) well-watered and (2) drought stress. Under well-watered conditions, nitrogen-fixing plants have increased photosynthesis and stem fermentable carbohydrate concentrations, which result in higher potential for biomass conversion to bioethanol than in AN plants. The latter had higher lignin due to enhanced activities of phenolic metabolism-related enzymes. Under drought conditions, the potential for bioethanol conversion decreased to a similar level in all treatments. Drought-stressed nitrogen-fixing plants have high concentrations of fermentable carbohydrates and cell wall cellulose, but ammonium nitrate-fed plants produced higher plant and stem biomass, which might compensate the decreasing stem carbohydrates and cellulose concentrations.

Demographic projection of high-elevation white pines infected with white pine blister rust: a nonlinear disease model.

Matrix population models have long been used to examine and predict the fate of threatened populations. However, the majority of these efforts concentrate on long-term equilibrium dynamics of linear systems and their underlying assumptions and, therefore, omit the analysis of transience. Since management decisions are typically concerned with the short-term (< 100 years), asymptotic analyses could lead to inaccurate conclusions or, worse yet, critical parameters or processes of ecological concern may go undetected altogether. We present a stage-structured, deterministic, nonlinear, disease model which is parameterized for the population dynamics of high-elevation white pines in the face of infection with white pine blister rust (WPBR). We evaluate the model using newly developed software to calculate sensitivity and elasticity for nonlinear population models at any projected time step. We concentrate on two points in time, during transience and at equilibrium, and under two scenarios: a regenerating pine stand following environmental disturbance and a stand perturbed by the introduction of WPBR. The model includes strong density-dependent effects on population dynamics, particularly on seedling recruitment, and results in a structure favoring large trees. However, the introduction of WPBR and its associated disease-induced mortality alters stand structure in favor of smaller stages. Populations with infection probability (beta) > or = 0.1 do not reach a stable coexisting equilibrium and deterministically approach extinction. The model enables field observations of low infection prevalence among pine seedlings to be reinterpreted as resulting from disease-induced mortality and short residence time in the seedling stage. Sensitivities and elasticities, combined with model output, suggest that future efforts should focus on improving estimates of within-stand competition, infection probability, and infection cost to survivorship. Mitigating these effects where intervention is possible is expected to produce the greatest effect on population dynamics over a typical management timeframe.

Congenital cytomegalovirus infection in fraternal twins: a longitudinal case study examining neurocognitive and neurobehavioral correlates.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is the most ubiquitous member of the herpes virus family and is the leading cause of congenital (vertical) infection in newborns (Fowler, Stagno, & Pass, 2003; Llorente, Steigmeyer, Cooper, Rivers, & Gazley, 2011; Noyola et al., 2000; Steigmeyer & Llorente, 2010). CMV is related to the group of viruses capable of causing more pernicious infectious diseases, such as chicken pox (Santos de Barona, 1998). Although the virus generally remains dormant, individuals whose symptoms are clinically apparent often are dramatically affected. Common symptomatic characteristics of the virus include microcephaly, jaundice, liver-spleen infections, pneumonia, cardiac anomalies, chorioretinitis, vision loss, sensory-neural hearing loss, mental retardation, and mononucleosis (Demmler, 1991; Kashden, Frison, Fowler, Pass, & Boll, 1998; Noyola et al., 2000; Pass, 2005; Santos de Barona). The prognosis of individuals with CMV is highly variable, and the prognosis of individuals with congenital CMV can usually be determined based on the extent of infection at birth. The purpose of this investigation is to present longitudinal results of neuropsychological evaluation of two dizygotic twin sets (one twin of each set is asymptomatic CMV-positive and the other is uninfected) who were reared in the same environment. In addition, the present findings are discussed within the context of emerging murine and other animal analogues of CMV as well as within the extant CMV literature.

Effects of early maternal docosahexaenoic acid intake on neuropsychological status and visual acuity at five years of age of breast-fed term infants.

OBJECTIVE: We previously reported better psychomotor development at 30 months of age in infants whose mothers received a docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) (22:6n-3) supplement for the first 4 months of lactation. We now assess neuropsychological and visual function of the same children at 5 years of age. STUDY DESIGN: Breastfeeding women were assigned to receive identical capsules containing either a high-DHA algal oil (∼200 mg/d of DHA) or a vegetable oil (containing no DHA) from delivery until 4 months postpartum. Primary outcome variables at 5 years of age were measures of gross and fine motor function, perceptual/visual-motor function, attention, executive function, verbal skills, and visual function of the recipient children at 5 years of age. RESULTS: There were no differences in visual function as assessed by the Bailey-Lovie acuity chart, transient visual evoked potential or sweep visual evoked potential testing between children whose mothers received DHA versus placebo. Children whose mothers received DHA versus placebo performed significantly better on the Sustained Attention Subscale of the Leiter International Performance Scale (46.5 ± 8.9 vs 41.9 ± 9.3, P < .008) but there were no statistically significant differences between groups on other neuropsychological domains. CONCLUSIONS: Five-year-old children whose mothers received modest DHA supplementation versus placebo for the first 4 months of breastfeeding performed better on a test of sustained attention. This, along with the previously reported better performance of the children of DHA-supplemented mothers on a test of psychomotor development at 30 months of age, suggests that DHA intake during early infancy confers long-term benefits on specific aspects of neurodevelopment.

Relationship between photosynthetic capacity, nitrogen assimilation and nodule metabolism in alfalfa (Medicago sativa) grown with sewage sludge.

Sewage sludge has been used as N fertilizer because it contains some of inorganic N, principally as nitrate and ammonium ions. However, sewage sludge addition to legumes could result in impaired nodule metabolism due to the presence of inorganic N from sludge. A greenhouse experiment was conducted to examine the effects of sewage sludge on growth, photosynthesis, nitrogen assimilation and nodule metabolism in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L. cv. Aragón). Plants were grown in pots with a mixture of perlite and vermiculite (2:1, v/v). The experiment included three treatments: (1) plants inoculated with rhizobia and amended with sewage sludge at rate of 10% (w/w) (RS); (2) plants inoculated with rhizobia without any amendment (R); and (3) non-inoculated plants fed with ammonium nitrate (N). N(2)-fixing plants had lower growth and sucrose phosphate synthase activity but higher photosynthesis than nitrate-fed plants because they compensated the carbon cost of the rhizobia. However, sewage sludge-treated plants evidenced a loss of carbon sink strength due to N(2) fixation by means of decreased photosynthetic capacity, leaf chlorophylls and N concentration in comparison to untreated plants. Sewage sludge did no affect nodulation but decreased nodule enzyme activities involved in carbon and N metabolisms that may lead to accumulation of toxic N-compounds.

Premisas para la elaboraciónde una herramienta para valorarla calidad de vida en las personasmayores / Prerequisites for the development of a tool to assess the quality of life in the elderly

El interés por la calidad de vida ha existido desde tiemposinmemorables. Sin embargo, la aparición del concepto y lapreocupación por su evaluación sistemática y científica esrelativamente reciente. La idea, que comienza a popularizarseen la década de los años 60 del siglo XX, se ha convertidohoy en un concepto utilizado en ámbitos muy diversos, comola salud, la educación, la economía, la política y el mundode los servicios en general. Pero aún existe una falta deconsenso sobre la definición del constructo. La calidad de vidatiene una dimensión objetiva y otra subjetiva. Ésta últimaestá estrechamente vinculada a la satisfacción con la vidaexperimentada por las personas mayores tanto desde unpunto de vista sincrónico como diacrónico, y tiene caráctermultidimensional, complejidad y coyunturalidad. Las principalesdificultades para la construcción de instrumentosque valoren la calidad de vida de las personas mayores sepresentan desde las vías conceptual, metodológica e instrumental.No obstante, el término calidad de vida debe empaparlas intervenciones sobre estos grupos de edad, por lo queofrecemos algunas recomendaciones para su elaboración

Interest in quality of life has existed since timeimmemorial, however, the emergence of the concept assuch, and concern for the systematic and scientificevaluation of it is relatively recent. The idea, which beginsto become popular in the 60s, has now become a conceptused in very diverse areas such as health, education,economics, politics and the world of services in general.But in the twenty-first century, there remains a lack ofconsensus on the definition of the concept. The quality oflife has an objective and a subjective dimension. The latteris closely linked to life satisfaction experienced by theelderly both from a synchronic point of view as diachronic,and is considered multidimensional, complex andsituational. The main difficulties for the construction ofinstruments to assess quality of life of older people from thestreet presents conceptual, methodological andinstrumental. However, the term quality of lifeinterventions should soak these age groups, so we offer somerecommendations for its development (AU)

Influence of media and testing methodology on susceptibility to tigecycline of Enterobacteriaceae with reported high tigecycline MIC.

The tigecycline susceptibility of six different Enterobacteriaceae strains with reported high tigecycline MICs was determined in quintuplicate by four methodologies using Mueller-Hinton agar and broth from six manufacturers. The MICs determined by Etest were a >or=1-fold dilution lower than those determined by broth microdilution and agar dilution, with the highest modal values given by agar dilution. The highest modal MICs were obtained using Oxoid medium, and the lowest inhibition zone values (disc diffusion) were obtained using Oxoid and bioMérieux media. The lowest MICs were obtained by Etest using Difco or Merck media.

Sewage sludge application can induce changes in antioxidant status of nodulated alfalfa plants.

A greenhouse experiment was conducted to investigate the oxidative stress produced by sewage sludge addition on nodulated alfalfa (Medicago sativa L. cv. Aragón) plants. Two types of sludge were incorporated into substrate: anaerobic mesophilic digested (AM) and autothermal thermophilic aerobic digested (ATAD) sludge. Pots without sludge but with inoculated plants were used as control treatment for comparison. Results showed that sludge amended plants had increased tissue accumulation of heavy metals that induced oxidative stress. This is characterized by induction of the antioxidant enzymatic activities and alterations in the redox state of ascorbate. ATAD sludge application produced a reduction in nodulation, increased nodule antioxidant enzyme activities and decreased ascorbate/dehydroascorbate ratio. As a consequence, nodules of ATAD treatment suffered from oxidative damages as evidenced by high malondialdehyde levels. By contrast, AM application enhanced plant growth and no deleterious effects on nodulation were found. Nodules developed in AM sludge had increased antioxidant enzyme activities, ascorbate/dehydroascorbate ratio and improved capacity for thiol synthesis. Results clearly showed that nodulated alfalfa performed better in AM than in ATAD sludge and suggest that differential response appears to be mediated by plant ability to thiol synthesis and to maintenance of a more equilibrated antioxidant status.