פרסומים

Begomoviruses are vectored in a circulative persistent manner by the whitefly The insect ingests viral particles with its stylets. Virions pass along the food canal and reach the esophagus and the midgut. They cross the filter chamber and the midgut into the haemolymph, translocate into the primary salivary glands and are egested with the saliva into the plant phloem. Begomoviruses have to cross several barriers and checkpoints successfully, while interacting with would-be receptors and other whitefly proteins. The bulk of the virus remains associated with the midgut and the filter chamber. In these tissues, viral genomes, mainly from the tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) family, may be transcribed and may replicate. However, at the same time, virus amounts peak, and the insect autophagic response is activated, which in turn inhibits replication and induces the destruction of the virus. Some begomoviruses invade tissues outside the circulative pathway, such as ovaries and fat cells. Autophagy limits the amounts of virus associated with these organs. In this review, we discuss the different sites begomoviruses need to cross to complete a successful circular infection, the role of the coat protein in this process and the sites that balance between virus accumulation and virus destruction.

Abstract The recognition of treated wastewater (TWW) as an alternative water resource is expanding in areas with a shortage of freshwater (FW) resources. Today, most orchards in Israel are irrigated with TWW. While the benefits of using TWW for irrigation are apparent, evidence of its negative effects on soil, trees, and yield is accumulating. This study, performed in a commercial TWW-irrigated citrus orchard in central Israel, examined the effects of (1) soil-wettability decrease due to prolonged TWW irrigation on the spatial and temporal distribution of water content and associated chemical properties in the root zone; (2) the conversion of irrigation in half of the TWW-irrigated research plot to FW (2012) for soil reclamation. Electrical resistivity tomography surveys in the substantially water repellent soils revealed that water flow is occurring along preferential flow paths in both plots, leaving behind a considerably nonuniform water-content distribution. This was despite the gradual relief in soil water repellency measured in the FW plots. Four soil-sampling campaigns (spring and fall, 2014–2016), performed in 0–20 and 20–40 cm layers of the research plot, revealed bimodal gravimetrically measured water-content distribution. The preferential flow led to uneven chemical-property distribution, with substantially high concentrations in the dry spots, and lower concentrations in the wet spots along the preferential flow paths. The average salt and nutrient concentrations, which were initially high in both plots, gradually dispersed with time, as concentrations in the FW plots decreased. Nevertheless, the efficiency of reclaiming TWW soil by FW irrigation appears low.

Author summary Visceral leishmaniasis caused by the parasite Leishmania infantum is a neglected tropical disease transmitted from animal hosts to humans by sand fly bites. This potentially fatal disease affects thousands of people annually and threatens millions who live in disease risk areas. Domestic dogs are considered as the main reservoir of this parasite which can also cause a severe chronic canine disease. Allopurinol is the main drug used for long term treatment of this disease but it often does not eliminate infection in dogs. We have recently demonstrated that allopurinol resistant parasites can be isolated from naturally infected dogs that have developed clinical recurrence of disease during allopurinol treatment. In this study we aimed to see if resistance can be induced in susceptible parasite strains isolated from sick dogs by growing them in increasing drug concentrations under laboratory conditions. The changes in allopurinol susceptibility were measured and the impact of drug on parasite growth was monitored over 23 weeks. Induction of resistance was successful producing parasites 20-folds less susceptible to the drug. The pattern of change in drug susceptibility suggests that a genetic change is responsible for the increased resistance which is likely to mimic the formation of resistance in dogs.

One of the approaches to bypass the problem of electrode polarization in dielectric measurements is the free electrode method. The advantage of this technique is that, the probing electric field in the material is not supplied by contact electrodes, but rather by electromagnetic induction. We have designed an inductive dielectric analyzer based on a sensor comprising two concentric toroidal coils. In this work, we present an analytic derivation of the relationship between the impedance measured by the sensor and the complex dielectric permittivity of the sample. The obtained relationship was successfully employed to measure the dielectric permittivity and conductivity of various alcohols and aqueous salt solutions.

This book (by Palgrave Macmillan UK ) explores the experiences of people who struggled with fertility problems in sixteenth and seventeenth-century England. Motherhood was central to early modern women’s identity and was even seen as their path to salvation. To a lesser extent, fatherhood played an important role in constructing proper masculinity. When childbearing failed this was seen not only as a medical problem but as a personal emotional crisis. Infertility in Early Modern England highlights the experiences of early modern infertile couples: their desire for children, the social stigmas they faced, and the ways that social structures and religious beliefs gave meaning to infertility. It also describes the methods of treating fertility problems, from home-remedies to water cures. Offering a multi-faceted view, the book demonstrates the centrality of religion to every aspect of early modern infertility, from understanding to treatment. It also highlights the ways in which infertility unsettled the social order by placing into question the gendered categories of femininity and masculinity.

Abstract The main objective of the study was to test the benefits of compost and zeolite co-addition on the fertility of organic-rich Mediterranean soils. Previous pot study in greenhouse found that zeolites mixed with compost significantly improved potassium availability as well as exchangeable potassium capacity in the soils. To further test this finding, a field experiment was conducted using potato – Solanum tuberosum L., desiree cultivar in peat soils of the Hula Valley, Israel. Adhering to the protocol of the greenhouse experiments, the treatments included 5% compost addition with no zeolites, 2% zeolite addition without compost, co-addition of 5% compost mixed with 2% zeolites and control. We found that compost addition increased significantly the potatoes yield and the number of large tubers; however, the zeolite addition had no impact on yield. Co-addition of compost and zeolites did not improve total crop yield or number of large tubers compared with compost addition only. The results are consistent with nutrients availability (N, P, K) across the treatments. In a commercialized field using the experiment conditions, the 2% zeolite addition would amount to 18 ton of zeolites per hectare. Hence, we conclude that soil amendment with the tested zeolite might be beneficial to improve soil retention for cationic nutrients (e.g. K+) under high leaching systems such as plant culture in pots, but in the field with high loads of compost, its effect is minor.

Objective The aim of this study was to examine differences in fatty acid concentrations in colostrum of women with and without gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). The effect of GDM on fatty acid composition of colostrum is not fully understood, although rates of GDM are increasing globally. Methods A prospective case–control study was conducted of postpartum women with and without GDM. Gas chromatographic analysis was conducted to examine differences in colostral fatty acids of the colostrum samples of 29 women with and 34 without GDM. Results Analyses of the fatty acid composition revealed significantly higher concentrations of four essential ω-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids—γ-linolenic, eicosatrienoic, arachidonic, and docosatetraenoic—in the colostrum of GDM women compared with non-GDM women. Timing of collection influenced saturated medium chain fatty acid and monounsaturated fatty acid levels. Conclusions Differences in concentrations of ω-6 fatty acids but not in dietary linoleic fatty acid or ω-3 fatty acids suggest that altered concentrations are attributed to changes in specific endogenous metabolic pathways. Implications of higher concentrations of ω-6 fatty acids in the colostrum of women with GDM have yet to be determined. Timing of colostrum collection is critical in determining colostral fatty acid and metabolite concentrations.

Abstract The influence of the Schottky contact is studied for hole transport material (HTM) freeCH3NH3PbI3 perovskite solar cells (PSCs), by using drift-diffusion and small signal models. The basiccurrent-voltage and capacitance-voltage characteristics are simulated in reasonable agreement with experimentaldata. The build in potential of the finite CH3NH3PbI3 layer is extracted from a Mott-Schottkycapacitance analysis. Furthermore, hole collector conductors with work-functions of more than 5.5 eV areproposed as solutions for high efficiency HTM-free CH3NH3PbI3 PSCs.

ABSTRACT Previous studies demonstrated that in ovo photostimulation with monochromatic green light increases body weight and accelerates muscle development in broilers. The mechanism in which in ovo photostimulation accelerates growth and muscle development is not clearly understood. The objective of the current study was to define development of the somatotropic axis in the broiler embryo associated with in ovo green light photostimulation. Two-hundred-forty fertile broiler eggs were divided into 2 groups. The first group was incubated under intermittent monochromatic green light using light-emitting diode (LED) lamps with an intensity of 0.1 W\m2 at shell level, and the second group was incubated under dark conditions and served as control. In ovo green light photostimulation increased plasma growth hormone (GH) and prolactin (PRL) levels, as well as hypothalamic growth hormone releasing hormone (GHRH), liver growth hormone receptor (GHR), and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) mRNA levels. The in ovo photostimulation did not, however, increase embryo's body weight, breast muscle weight, or liver weight. The results of this study suggest that stimulation with monochromatic green light during incubation increases somatotropic axis expression, as well as plasma prolactin levels, during embryonic development.

This 12-month prospective randomized cluster trial of 20 dietitians in India compared usual care (UC) and evidence-based nutrition practice guideline (EBNPG) care for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Baseline, 6-month, and 12-month data from 238 patients were analyzed. EBNPG implementation was evaluated using the Ottawa Model for Knowledge Transfer. EBNPG and UC groups achieved significant hemoglobin A1C improvements. EBNPG-treated participants were significantly more likely to meet low-density lipoprotein, high-density lipoprotein, and triglyceride goals at 6 or 12 months. Dietitian dropout, implementation barriers, and undetermined EBNPG intervention fidelity are limitations. Future research should assess barriers/supports and degree of EBNPG use. © 2017 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.

This 12-month prospective randomized cluster trial of 20 dietitians in India compared usual care (UC) and evidence-based nutrition practice guideline (EBNPG) care for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Baseline, 6-month, and 12-month data from 238 patients were analyzed. EBNPG implementation was evaluated using the Ottawa Model for Knowledge Transfer. EBNPG and UC groups achieved significant hemoglobin A1C improvements. EBNPG-treated participants were significantly more likely to meet low-density lipoprotein, high-density lipoprotein, and triglyceride goals at 6 or 12 months. Dietitian dropout, implementation barriers, and undetermined EBNPG intervention fidelity are limitations. Future research should assess barriers/supports and degree of EBNPG use. © 2017 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.