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Sunflower ( Helianthus annuus L.), a vital crop for global vegetable oil production, encounters sustainability challenges in its cultivation. This study assesses the effects of incorporating a winter cover crop (CC), Avena sativa (L.), on the subsequent growth of sunflower crops and the vitality of their rhizosphere microbial communities over a two-year period. It examines the impact of two methods for suppressing winter CC-chemical suppression using glyphosate and mechanical suppression via rolling-both with and without the addition of phosphorus (P) starter fertilizer. These approaches are evaluated in comparison to the regional best management practices for sunflower cultivation, which involve a preparatory chemical fallow period and the subsequent application of starter P fertilizer. The methodology utilized Illumina sequencing for the analysis of rhizosphere bacterial 16S rRNA genes and fungal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) amplicons. Findings indicate a significant improvement (9-37%) in sunflower growth parameters (plant height, stem diameter, head diameter, and head dry weight) when cultivated after glyphosate-suppressed winter CC compared to the chemical fallows. Conversely, rolling of winter CC generally negatively affected sunflower growth. Rhizosphere bacterial communities following chemical suppression of winter CC showed greater Pielou's evenness, indicating a uniform distribution of species. In general, this treatment had more detrimental effects on beneficial sunflower rhizosphere bacteria such as Hymenobacter and Pseudarthrobacter than rolling of the winter CC, suggesting that the overall effect on sunflower growth may be mitigated by the redundancy within the bacterial community. As for fungal diversity, measured by the Chao-1 index, it increased in sunflowers planted after winter CC and receiving P fertilization, underscoring nutrient management's role in microbial community structure. Significant positive correlations between fungal diversity and sunflower growth parameters at the reproductive stage were observed ( r  = 0.41-0.72; p  < 0.05), highlighting the role of fungal communities in plant fitness. The study underscores the positive effects of winter CC inclusion and management for enhancing sunflower cultivation while promoting beneficial microbes in the crop's rhizosphere. We advocate for strategic winter CC species selection, optimization of mechanical suppression techniques, and tailored phosphorus fertilization of sunflower to foster sustainable agriculture., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Morales, Allegrini, Basualdo, Iocoli, Villamil and Zabaloy.)

Approaches to rapidly collecting global biodiversity data are increasingly important, but biodiversity blind spots persist. We organized a three-day Datathon event to improve the openness of local biodiversity data and facilitate data reuse by local researchers. The first Datathon, organized among microbial ecologists in Uruguay and Argentina assembled the largest microbiome dataset in the region to date and formed collaborative consortia for microbiome data synthesis., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

This paper proposes the transformation S→C→, where S is a digital gray-level image and C→ is a vector expressed through the textural space. The proposed transformation is denominated Vectorial Image Representation on the Texture Space (VIR-TS), given that the digital image S is represented by the textural vector C→. This vector C→ contains all of the local texture characteristics in the image of interest, and the texture unit T→ entertains a vectorial character, since it is defined through the resolution of a homogeneous equation system. For the application of this transformation, a new classifier for multiple classes is proposed in the texture space, where the vector C→ is employed as a characteristics vector. To verify its efficiency, it was experimentally deployed for the recognition of digital images of tree barks, obtaining an effective performance. In these experiments, the parametric value λ employed to solve the homogeneous equation system does not affect the results of the image classification. The VIR-TS transform possesses potential applications in specific tasks, such as locating missing persons, and the analysis and classification of diagnostic and medical images.

Power ultrasound and salt reduction effects on meat emulsions' physicochemical and rheological properties were determined. Therefore, meat emulsions with different NaCl concentrations (1, 1.5, 2, and 2.5%) were treated in an ultrasonic bath (40 kHz, 200 W, & 9.34 W/cm 2 ) at different times (0, 15, and 45 min). Results showed that salt reduction and ultrasound time significantly (p < 0.05) affected the cooking loss, water holding capacity, water activity, pH, color, hardness, viscosity, storage modulus (G'), loss modulus (G″), and phase angle δ. Meat emulsions with low salt content (1 and 1.5% NaCl) showed significantly higher values of cooking loss than standard emulsions (2.5% NaCl), while ultrasound duration of 15 min reduced the cooking loss (12 to 27%). Hardness, color, pH, and water activity (aw) decreased with salt reduction. Ultrasounds increased the hardness, viscosity, G', and G'' values in reduced-salt meat. The experimental data of apparent viscosity were properly fitted to the mathematical model of Ostwald-de-Waele. Ultrasound increased consistency (k) and decreased flow behavior index (n) in emulsions with 1.5 to 2.5% NaCl. Ultrasound at 15 min induced gelation in emulsions with 1.5 and 2.0% NaCl (40 and 20% NaCl reduction). The formulation with 2.0% NaCl was found to be the maximum concentration that did not sacrifice meat emulsion quality. When combined with 15 min of ultrasound, this formulation yielded results comparable to the standard formulation. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Results contribute to developing reduced-salt meat emulsions using power ultrasounds. Therefore, using ultrasounds allows for a 20% reduction in salt content while maintaining the quality of the meat emulsion., (© 2023 Institute of Food Technologists.)

In industrial applications based on texture classification, efficient and fast classifiers are extremely useful for quality control of industrial processes. The classifier of texture images has to satisfy two requirements: It must be efficient and fast. In this work, a texture unit is coded in parallel, and using observation windows larger than 3×3, a new texture spectrum called Texture Spectrum based on the Parallel Encoded Texture Unit (TS&#95;PETU) is proposed, calculated, and used as a characteristic vector in a multi-class classifier, and then two image databases are classified. The first database contains images from the company Interceramic ®® and the images were acquired under controlled conditions, and the second database contains tree stems and the images were acquired in natural environments. Based on our experimental results, the TS&#95;PETU satisfied both requirements (efficiency and speed), was developed for binary images, and had high efficiency, and its compute time could be reduced by applying parallel coding concepts. The classification efficiency increased by using larger observational windows, and this one was selected based on the window size. Since the TS&#95;PETU had high efficiency for Interceramic ®® tile classification, we consider that the proposed technique has significant industrial applications.

Armadillos are considered important reservoir hosts for Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas disease. The first report of T. cruzi infection in pichis (Zaedyus pichiy), a small armadillo species endemic to central Argentina and Chile, dates back to 1935. However, more recent reports on T. cruzi in this species are scarce. The objective of this study was to assess T. cruzi infection and parasite load in Z. pichiy from Mendoza Province, an area endemic to human Chagas disease. Blood samples were obtained in 2014-2016 from pichis from Lavalle (low Monte), Malargüe (Patagonian steppe), and San Carlos (ecotone) departments, Mendoza Province, Argentina. The detection and quantification of T. cruzi was performed through qPCR amplification using satellite primers. Of the 265 analyzed samples, 201 (76%) were positive for T. cruzi. Parasite loads varied between < 0.1-55.8 parasite-equivalents/mL (par-eq/mL), with a median of 1.1 par-eq/mL in quantifiable samples. The prevalence was similar in Malargüe and Lavalle (85-94%), but significantly lower in pichis from San Carlos (50%). Animals from Lavalle captured after hibernation had significantly higher parasite loads (median 2.0 par-eq/mL). In Malargüe, T. cruzi infection and parasite loads were significantly lower before than after hibernation in 2016. The high prevalence and low median parasite load suggest a chronic and persistent infection of T. cruzi in pichis. Regional differences and a marked increase in precipitation during 2015-2016 could have influenced annual and seasonal infection rates of this vector-borne disease., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Introduction: Allergen immunotherapy (AIT) brings along changes in the immune system, restoring dendritic cell function, reducing T2 inflammation and augmenting the regulatory cell activation. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections, interferes with the immune system causing immune suppression during the first phase and over-activation in more advanced disease. We decided to explore the interaction of both in a real-world observational trial., Methods: We registered COVID-19 outcomes in patients with allergic disorders in Latin America, treated with and without AIT. The registry was conducted during the first 1.3 years of the pandemic, with most of the data collected before COVID-19 vaccination was concluded in most countries. Data collection was anonymous via a web-based instrument. Ten countries participated., Results: 630/1095 (57.6%) of the included patients received AIT. Compared to patients without AIT, those treated with AIT had a reduced risk ratio (RR) for COVID-19 lower respiratory symptoms (RR 0.78, 95% CI: 0.6703-0.9024; p = 0.001662) and need for oxygen therapy (RR 0.65, 95% CI: 0.4217-0.9992; p = 0.048). In adherent patients on maintenance sublingual immunotherapy/subcutaneous immunotherapy (SLIT/SCIT) the RR reduction was larger [RR = 0.6136 (95% CI 0.4623-0.8143; p < 0.001) and RR: 0.3495 (95% CI 0.1822-0.6701; p < 0.005), respectively]. SLIT was slightly more effective (NS). We excluded age, comorbidities, level of health care attendance, and type of allergic disorder as confounders, although asthma was related to a higher frequency of severe disease. When analyzing patients with allergic asthma (n = 503) the RR reduction favoring AIT was more pronounced with 30% for lower respiratory symptoms or worse (RR 0.6914, 95% CI 0.5264 to 0.9081, p = 0.0087) and 51% for need of oxygen therapy or worse (RR 0.4868, 95% CI 0.2829-0.8376, p = 0.0082). Among severe allergic patients treated with biologics (n = 24) only 2/24 needed oxygen therapy. There were no critical cases among them., Conclusion: In our registry AIT was associated with reduced COVID-19 severity., Competing Interests: None of the authors has any direct COI related to the content of this manuscript., (© 2023 The Authors.)

A new graphical user interface (GUI) for the parsimony program TNT is presented that works under the Linux and Mac operating systems, as well as the Cygwin environment (which runs under Windows). The new interface is based on the GIMP Tool Kit, GTK (version 3). Formerly, only Windows versions of TNT had a GUI. The new interface improves upon the existing Windows GUI in several respects. These changes, together with several additions to the program since the publication of version 1.5, warrant a change in minor version, thus moving from version 1.5 to 1.6. Among the most notable improvements are the possibility to access graphical user dialogs by means of simple commands, to easily save trees in SVG format ("Scalable Vector Graphics") directly from any tree-diagram being displayed, and to manage analyses in parallel (using multiple processors, by means of the PVM system or "Parallel Virtual Machine"), as well as a generally more stable and consistent behaviour. As the binaries for the new version are compiled as native 64-bit applications, this removes the limitations for accessing large amounts of memory in the previous GUI Windows interface (which is a 32-bit application)., (© 2023 Willi Hennig Society.)

Sprouts, mainly from cereals, legumes, and some pseudo-cereals, are rich in nutrients and contain biocompounds, making them attractive for consumption. This research study aimed to develop treatments with UV-C light in soybean and amaranth sprouts and evaluate their effect on biocompounds content, compared with chlorine treatments. UV-C treatments were applied at distances of 3 and 5 cm and times of 2.5, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 30 min, whereas chlorine treatments were applied as immersion in solutions at 100 and 200 ppm for 15 min. Phenolics and flavonoid content were higher in UV-C-treated sprouts than in those treated with chlorine solutions. Ten biocompounds were identified in soybean sprouts, with increasing in apigenin C-glucoside-rhamnoside (105%), apigenin 7-O-glucosylglucoside (237%), and apigenin C-glucoside malonylated (70%) due to UV-C application (3 cm, 15 min); for amaranth sprouts, five biocompounds were identified, with higher contents of p-coumaroylquinic acid (17.7%) after UV-C treatment (3 cm, 15 min). The best treatment to achieve the highest bioactive compounds concentration was UV-C at a distance of 3 cm for 15 min, without significant modification on the color parameters, Hue and chroma. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: UV-C can be used to increase the biocompound content in amaranth and soybean sprouts. Nowadays, there is UV-C equipment available for industrial applications. In this way, sprouts may be maintained as fresh through this physical technology, and they will retain or increase the concentration of health-related compounds., (© 2023 Institute of Food Technologists.)

BACKGROUND Endometriosis is a chronic inflammatory disease caused by endometrial tissue that grows outside the uterus. Deep endometriosis surgery is associated with considerable rates of complications, although such rates are lower in surgical procedures carried out by expert surgical teams. This report details a case of a rare but life-threatening complication in the postoperative period following 72 h of endometriosis surgery: a giant subcapsular hepatic hematoma, which was successfully managed conservatively. CASE REPORT Here we describe the case of a 39-year-old woman with deep endometriosis with ureteral, ovarian, and intestinal involvement requiring multidisciplinary surgery. She presented with severe anemia, respiratory distress, and oliguria 72 h postoperatively. A 3-phase computed tomography (CT) scan revealed a giant intrahepatic subcapsular hematoma (180×165×50 mm) lateral to the right hepatic lobe, which was managed conservatively. The patient evolved favorably and the hematoma was reduced (77×16 mm) in a follow-up CT scan performed 5 months later. CONCLUSIONS Giant liver hematoma is a rare, life-threatening complication. The current experience relating to its management remains largely limited owing to the rarity of the condition and paucity of published cases. Actually, we found no articles on hepatic hematoma in the context of endometriosis surgery. Early diagnosis and treatment are essential to reduce the patient's risk of death. Imaging diagnosis plays an essential role.

Phylogenetic inference, which involves time-consuming calculations, is a field where parallelization can speed up the resolution of many problems. TNT (a widely used program for phylogenetic analysis under parsimony) allows parallelization under the PVM system (Parallel Virtual Machine). However, as the basic aspects of the implementation remain unpublished, few studies have taken advantage of the parallelization routines of TNT. In addition, the PVM system is deprecated by many system administrators. One of the most common standards for high performance computing is now MPI (Message Passing Interface). To facilitate the use of the parallel analyses offered by TNT, this paper describes the basic aspects of the implementation, as well as a port of the parallelization interface of TNT into MPI. The use of the new routines is illustrated by reanalysis of seven significant datasets, either recent phylogenomic datasets with many characters (up to 2,509,064 characters) or datasets with large numbers of taxa (up to 13,921 taxa). Versions of TNT including the MPI functionality are available at: http://www.lillo.org.ar/phylogeny/tnt/., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The transmission cycles of Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas disease, include a wide variety of mammals and hematophagous triatomine insects. Infection with this blood parasite has been confirmed in many armadillo species; however, information on infection in Zaedyus pichiy, a small armadillo that inhabits areas endemic to Chagas disease, is scarce. Our objective was to determine the infection frequency and parasite load of T. cruzi in 49 wild Z. pichiy confiscated dead from poachers in Mendoza, Argentina, 2010-2017. We detected T. cruzi DNA in 32 of 49 armadillos (65%) using real-time PCR, confirming infection with T. cruzi in a high proportion of confiscated pichis. No differences were found related to sex, age, or ecoregion origin of the assessed pichis. Parasite loads ranged between <0.1 and 8.88 parasite equivalents/microgram cardiac tissue. Additional studies on the infection status of Z. pichiy are needed to determine their role in the maintenance of the sylvatic transmission cycle and the potential zoonotic risk from hunted pichis., (© Wildlife Disease Association 2023.)

The relationship between ecology and morphology is a cornerstone of evolutionary biology, and quantifying variation across environments can shed light on processes that give rise to biodiversity. Three morphotypes of the Steller's Jay ( Cyanocitta stelleri ) occupy different ecoregions in western North America, which vary in climate and landcover. These morphotypes (Coastal, Interior, Rocky Mountain) differ in size, plumage coloration, and head pattern. We sampled 1080 Steller's Jays from 68 populations (plus 11 outgroups) to address three main questions using data on morphology, plumage, genetics (mtDNA, microsatellites), and ecological niches: (1) How do phenotypic and genetic traits vary within and among populations, morphotypes, and ecoregions? (2) How do population-level differences in Steller's Jays compare with other sister species pairs of North American birds? (3) What can we infer about the population history of Steller's Jays in relation to past climates, paleoecology, and niche evolution? We found substantial morphological, genetic, and ecological differentiation among morphotypes. The greatest genetic divergence separated Coastal and Interior morphotypes from the Rocky Mountain morphotype, which was associated with warmer, drier, and more open habitats. Microsatellites revealed additional structure between Coastal and Interior groups. The deep mtDNA split between Coastal/Interior and Rocky Mountain lineages of Steller's Jay (ND2 ~ 7.8%) is older than most North American avian sister species and dates to approximately 4.3 mya. Interior and Rocky Mountain morphotypes contact across a narrow zone with steep clines in traits and reduced gene flow. The distribution of the three morphotypes coincides with divergent varieties of ponderosa pine and Douglas fir. Species distribution models support multiple glacial refugia for Steller's Jays. Our integrative dataset combined with extensive geographic sampling provides compelling evidence for recognizing at least two species of Steller's Jay., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (© 2022 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Twenty-five percent of cases of endometrial cancer appear in women with unfulfilled reproductive desires . An adequate selection of patients and a close hysteroscopic follow-up to monitor the endometrial response to the levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system (LNG-IUS) may be a valid and safe option for these patients . This is a case series and review of the literature study. We included eight patients diagnosed of complex endometrial hyperplasia with atypia (CEHA) or stage 1AG1 well-differentiated endometrial cancer without myometrial invasion who desired to get pregnant and opted for a conservative treatment. Follow-up was performed with hysteroscopy and directed biopsy at 3, 6 and 12 months. Of the 854 cases of complex endometrial hyperplasia with atypia (CEHA)/endometrial cancer were diagnosed, 2.3% were candidates for conservative management. We obtained a favourable regression of 71.2% at 6 months and 57% at one year with hormonal treatment. Conservative treatment in complex endometrial hyperplasia with atypia (CEHA)/low-grade endometrial cancer in reproductive age patients with a strong desire for pregnancy is feasible.

Meat is a nutrient-rich matrix for human consumption. However, it is also a suitable environment for the proliferation of both spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms. The growing demand to develop healthy and nutritious meat products with low fat, low salt and reduced additives and achieving sanitary qualities has led to the replacement of the use of synthetic preservatives with natural-origin compounds. However, the reformulation process that reduces the content of several important ingredients (salt, curing salts, etc.), which inhibit the growth of multiple microorganisms, greatly compromises the stability and safety of meat products, thus posing a great risk to consumer health. To avoid this potential growth of spoiling and/or pathogenic microorganisms, numerous molecules, including organic acids and their salts; plant-derived compounds, such as extracts or essential oils; bacteriocins; and edible coatings are being investigated for their antimicrobial activity. This review presents some important compounds that have great potential to be used as natural antimicrobials in reformulated meat products.

In recent years, consumer perception about the healthiness of meat products has changed. In this scenario, the meat industry and the scientific and technological areas have put their efforts into improving meat products and achieving healthier and functional formulations that meet the demands of today's market and consumers. This article aims to review the current functional fermented meat products, especially on sausage development. Firstly, an emphasis is given to reducing and replacing traditional ingredients associated with increased risk to consumer's health (sodium, fat, and nitrites), adding functional components (prebiotics, probiotics, symbiotics, and polyphenols), and inducing health benefits. Secondly, a look at future fermented sausages is provided by mentioning emerging strategies to produce innovative healthier and functional meat products. Additional recommendations were also included to assist researchers in further development of healthier and functional sausages.

The inclusion of winter cover crops (WCC) in no-till (NT) systems in replacement of bare fallow is a promising alternative to improve soil health and consequently, contribute to environmental sustainability of agricultural systems. This review provides a comprehensive evaluation of the effects of the use of WCC in rotation with summer cash crops under NT systems on the soil microbiome versus bare fallows. A systematic literature search was conducted to evaluate the impact of WCC on microbial parameters indicative of abundance, activity and diversity. Twenty-two papers were selected based on seven combined criteria. The results of this review show that enzyme activities in soil are enhanced with the inclusion of WCC in the rotation, particularly those that include legumes and mix of species. In general, more than half of the analyzed papers report higher microbial biomass in soils with WCC than in bare fallow. Interestingly, the effects of WCC on microbial parameters are independent of the duration of the experiments. However, more basic research is necessary to reduce the heterogeneity of the studies and to better understand the complexity of the interactions between WCC and the soil microbiome., (Copyright © 2021 Asociación Argentina de Microbiología. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)