Shifting abundances of communities associated with nitrogen cycling in soils promoted by sugarcane harvest systems

Sugarcane cultivation supports Brazil as one of the largest world sugar and ethanol producer. In order to understand the impact of changing sugarcane harvest from manual to mechanized harvest, we studied the effect of machinery traffic on soil and consequently soil compaction upon soil microbial communities involved in nitrogen cycling. The impact of sugarcane harvest was dependent on soil depth and texture. At deeper soil layers, mechanized harvesting increases the abundance of nitrogen fixers and denitrifying communities (specifically nosZ clade I and II) while manual harvesting increases the abundance of ammonia oxidizers (specifically AOA) and increases denitrifying communities (nosZ clade I and II) on top and at intermediate depth. The effect of change on the harvest system is more evident on sandy soil than on clay soil, where soil indicators of compaction (bulk density and penetration resistance) were negatively correlated with soil microorganisms associated with the nitrogen cycle. Our results point to connections between soil compaction and N transformations in sugarcane fields, besides naming biological variables to be used as proxies for alterations in soil structure.     

The effect of Amaryllidaceae alkaloids haemanthamine and haemanthidine on cell cycle progression and apoptosis in p53-negative human leukemic Jurkat cells

Plants from the Amaryllidaceae family have been shown to be a promising source of biologically active natural compounds of which some selected are currently in pre-clinical development. Regardless of interesting pioneer works, little is known about Amaryllidaceae alkaloids that have shown promising anti-cancer activities. The crinane group of the Amaryllidaceae, including haemanthamine and haemanthidine, was amongst the first of these compounds to exhibit an interesting cytotoxic potential against cancer cell lines. However, the mechanism of cytotoxic and anti-proliferative activity is not yet entirely clear. The primary objectives of the current study were to investigate the effects of haemanthamine and haemanthidine on the induction of apoptosis and the cell cycle regulatory pathway in p53-null Jurkat cells. Results indicate that haemanthamine and haemanthidine treatment decreases cell viability and mitochondrial membrane potential, leads to a decline in the percentage of cells in the S phase of the cell cycle, induces apoptosis detected by Annexin V staining and increases caspase activity. Dose dependent apoptosis was cross verified by fluorescence and bright field microscopy through Annexin V/propidium iodine staining and morphological changes which characteristically attend programmed cell death. The apoptotic effect of haemanthamine and haemanthidine on leukemia cells is more pronounced than that of gamma radiation. Contrary to gamma radiation, Jurkat cells do not completely halt the cell cycle 24 h upon haemanthamine and haemanthidine exposure. Both Amaryllidaceae alkaloids accumulate cells preferentially at G1 and G2 stages of the cell cycle with increased p16 expression and Chk1 Ser345 phosphorylation. Concerning the pro-apoptotic effect, haemanthidine was more active than haemanthamine in the Jurkat leukemia cell line.     

Intracellular Development of Enterocytozoon, A Unique Microsporidian Found in the Intestine of AIDS Patients

Enterocytozoon was 1st described in 1985, in an AIDS patient with intestinal malabsorption and diarrhea. Since then, additional cases of infection with this organism have been observed, but only in individuals with AIDS and malabsorption. Intestinal tissue biopsies were obtained from a 45-year-old man prior to AIDS diagnosis, again nine months later and then at autopsy two months later. When the biopsies were examined electron microscopically, both sets contained the microsporidian parasite. However, the 2nd intestinal biopsy, when wasting was much more severe, contained infection in almost every small intestinal enterocyte examined. The parasite was actively developing, allowing us to detail its life cycle. The parasite is apansporoblastic, polysporous and has characteristics not previously reported in the Microsporida: (1) an electron lucent inclusion not usually seen in Microsporida is prominent and always present; (2) extremely elongated sausage-shaped nuclei occur in the proliferative phase of parasite development; (3) the polar tube development uniquely involves the production of electron dense discs, yet results in the formation of a typical spore; and (4) polar tube development occurs prior to the final division of the multi-nucleate sporont. On the basis of these characteristics, we are placing this genus in a new family, Enterocytozoonidae, n. fam.     

Coping with drought: diapause plasticity in katydid eggs at high,mid-, and low elevations

1. Semi-arid rangeland productivity is limited by precipitation, and yet droughts are projected to increase in frequency and duration with unknown impacts on insect populations. As some katydids prolong diapause and remain in an egg bank as a blastoderm for multiple growing seasons, is it possible that drought could prolong diapause and promote outbreaks by synchronising embryonic development and hatching of Mormon crickets, Anabrus simplex, after moisture is restored? 2. In this study, a high-elevation Wyoming population (WY) was compared with a mid-elevation Idaho (ID) and a low-elevation Oregon population (OR). It was predicted that eggs from the drier ID and OR habitats would be more tolerant of desiccation. Developmental state and water loss of eggs were measured after drought treatments, and when moisture was restored. 3. The two drier treatments had significantly more WY eggs prolonging diapause until after drought ended compared with the two wetter treatments. Whether WY eggs developed in the second or subsequent warm periods was independent of drought treatments. Significantly fewer OR embryos developed in the driest treatment compared with the others, whereas almost all ID eggs developed irrespective of the drought treatment. 4. In conclusion, Mormon crickets can delay embryonic development to improve drought tolerance. Although drought did not synchronise development and hatching, diapause plasticity allowed insects to cope and await more favourable conditions. 5. Unexpectedly, eggs from WY (the highest, wettest site) were more tolerant, because postponing development resulted in less water loss than in developed embryos. OR egg loss was also reduced by prolonging diapause, relative to ID, which developed in even the driest conditions.     

Phenotypic and genetic relationships between growth and feed intake curves and feed efficiency and amino acid requirements in the growing pig

Improvement of feed efficiency in pigs has been achieved essentially by increasing lean growth rate, which resulted in lower feed intake (FI). The objective was to evaluate the impact of strategies for improving feed efficiency on the dynamics of FI and growth in growing pigs to revisit nutrient recommendations and strategies for feed efficiency improvement. In 2010, three BWs, at 35±2, 63±9 and 107±7 kg, and daily FI during this period were recorded in three French test stations on 379 Large White and 327 French Landrace from maternal pig populations and 215 Large White from a sire population. Individual growth and FI model parameters were obtained with the InraPorc^R software and individual nutrient requirements were computed. The model parameters were explored according to feed efficiency as measured by residual feed intake (RFI) or feed conversion ratio (FCR). Animals were separated in groups of better feed efficiency (RFI⁻ or FCR⁻), medium feed efficiency and poor feed efficiency. Second, genetic relationships between feed efficiency and model parameters were estimated. Despite similar average daily gains (ADG) during the test for all RFI groups, RFI⁻ pigs had a lower initial growth rate and a higher final growth rate compared with other pigs. The same initial growth rate was found for all FCR groups, but FCR⁻ pigs had significantly higher final growth rates than other pigs, resulting in significantly different ADG. Dynamic of FI also differed between RFI or FCR groups. The calculated digestible lysine requirements, expressed in g/MJ net energy (NE), showed the same trends for RFI or FCR groups: the average requirements for the 25% most efficient animals were 13% higher than that of the 25% least efficient animals during the whole test, reaching 0.90 to 0.95 g/MJ NE at the beginning of the test, which is slightly greater than usual feed recommendations for growing pigs. Model parameters were moderately heritable (0.30±0.13 to 0.56±0.13), except for the precocity of growth (0.06±0.08). The parameter representing the quantity of feed at 50 kg BW showed a relatively high genetic correlation with RFI (0.49±0.14), and average protein deposition between 35 and 110 kg had the highest correlation with FCR (−0.76±0.08). Thus, growth and FI dynamics may be envisaged as breeding tools to improve feed efficiency. Furthermore, improvement of feed efficiency should be envisaged jointly with new feeding strategies.     

Design and Analysis of Field Experiments Incorporating Local and Remote Effects of Treatments

Design and analysis of field experiments in the presence of local and remote treatment effects are considered. The design criteria are optimality and balance for estimating local and remote effects. A nonlinear model, where remote effects are assumed to be proportional to the local effects, has been discussed.     

Relative efficiency of unequal versus equal cluster sizes in cluster randomized trials using generalized estimating equation models

There is growing interest in conducting cluster randomized trials (CRTs). For simplicity in sample size calculation, the cluster sizes are assumed to be identical across all clusters. However, equal cluster sizes are not guaranteed in practice. Therefore, the relative efficiency (RE) of unequal versus equal cluster sizes has been investigated when testing the treatment effect. One of the most important approaches to analyze a set of correlated data is the generalized estimating equation (GEE) proposed by Liang and Zeger, in which the “working correlation structure” is introduced and the association pattern depends on a vector of association parameters denoted by ρ. In this paper, we utilize GEE models to test the treatment effect in a two‐group comparison for continuous, binary, or count data in CRTs. The variances of the estimator of the treatment effect are derived for the different types of outcome. RE is defined as the ratio of variance of the estimator of the treatment effect for equal to unequal cluster sizes. We discuss a commonly used structure in CRTs—exchangeable, and derive the simpler formula of RE with continuous, binary, and count outcomes. Finally, REs are investigated for several scenarios of cluster size distributions through simulation studies. We propose an adjusted sample size due to efficiency loss. Additionally, we also propose an optimal sample size estimation based on the GEE models under a fixed budget for known and unknown association parameter (ρ) in the working correlation structure within the cluster.