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Abstract Because of their low embodied energy, recyclable nature, abundance of raw materials, and limited environmental impact, unstabilized adobes and earth mortars are preferred as earth building materials (EBMs). An ideal range of clay, sand, and Atterberg limits is recommended by earth building standards and references to create strong (≥2 MPa) unstabilized EBMs. But fulfilling these conditions does not guarantee the creation of robust earth materials. Prior research has suggested using surface area and cation exchange capacity to determine whether soils might generate strong EBMs.; they have also recognized the role of friction, particle interlock and bond strength in influencing the compressive strength. Nevertheless, no standard soil compositional parameter has been found in recent research to produce strong unstabilized EBMs (compressive strengths ≥2 MPa). A new soil compositional parameter known as the “C/S ratio”—where C and S stand for the clay and sand contents—was identified through the analysis of data on unstabilized adobes and earth mortars from six different countries. The compressive strengths of earth building materials are controlled by this parameter. The dry density and compressive strength of the unstabilized EBMs were altered by changes in soil structure brought about by variations in C/S ratios. Earth blocks with compressive strengths ≥2 MPa are produced from soils with C/S ratios between 0.35 and 1.6. To classify EBMs into distinct porosity groups, a dry density-based system is suggested.

Objective: The need for reinstitution of intensive care unit (ICU) care (“recidivism”) in post-cardiac surgery patients is associated with increased morbidity, mortality, resource use, and healthcare costs. Recidivism is propounded as a quality indicator of ICU care. There is a paucity of studies from India regarding cardiac surgical ICU readmissions, their outcomes, and risk factors. Methods: Nested case-control study including 1,711 consecutive adult patients who underwent cardiac surgery over a two-year period at a tertiary care institute. The patients were grouped into recidival (R) and control (C) groups. The reasons for readmission, outcomes, and predictive risk factors were analyzed. Results: Fifty-four of 1,711 (3.1%) patients were readmitted to ICU, main reasons being cardiac arrhythmias (24, 41%), pericardial effusion (9, 15.2%), and infection (8, 13.5%). Readmission was significantly higher for valvular interventions (39 patients, 24.3%, mitral valve 25 patients) than coronary artery bypass grafting (13, 10.6%), P value 0.003*. On multivariate analysis, EuroSCORE 2 (>5), age, surgical reexploration, postoperative pulmonary complications, and infections were independently associated with a need for ICU readmission. The mortality rate among the readmitted patients was 7.4% compared to 1.4% overall mortality. The mean total postoperative length of stay was significantly longer for recidival patients (17.6 ± 14 days vs 7.6 ± 2.4 days; P < 0.0001). Conclusions: Recidivism is associated with longer hospital stay, suboptimal outcomes as well higher risk of mortality. Postoperative cardiac dysrhythmia was the most common cause of recidivism in our cohort. Early identification of patients at risk for recidivism and timely management of cardiopulmonary complications can translate to better outcomes.

Background The purpose of the study was to assess the obstacles faced by diabetes patients in their self-care and determine the factors associated with these obstacles. The management of diabetes mellitus (DM) extends beyond the clinician’s efforts, with the responsibility of the care also being shared by the patient to achieve better treatment outcomes and prevent complications. Self-care management is the most important part of DM treatment, which includes diet, regular exercise, blood glucose monitoring, medication and foot care. Methods A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 107 type 2 DM patients aged >18 years using the Diabetes Obstacles Questionnaire-30. Patients scoring a mean response score >3 were considered to have an obstacle. We included age, gender, socioeconomic status (SES), duration of DM and blood glucose levels as factors for regression analysis and a P value Results A large majority (64.5%, n = 69) of our participants were aged above 55 years and belonged to lower socio-economic status (65.4%, n = 70). Family history of DM was present in 41% (n=44) of the participants. The median duration of DM among the participant was 10 (4 – 7) years. In our study, the participants faced obstacles for two items in the domains: Support from Friends & Family (mean score: 3.73) and Knowledge of the Disease (mean score: 3.58). A multinominal regression analysis revealed SES was predictive of participants who could not understand information from literature with a P. value of 0.002 (OR: 3.65, CI: 1.60-8.338). Conclusion The two major obstacles to self-management practices that were identified were in the domains of Support from Friends and Family, and Knowledge of the Disease. Socioeconomic status was identified to be a predictive factor associated with the participants who are not able to understand information from the literature.

Abstract Introduction Previable premature rupture of membrane (PV‐PROM) is a complex clinical situation posing considerable risks to the foetus. There is an extreme paucity of management options and clear guidelines in the literature for this dismal situation. This is the first report on usage of a novel combination of cellular therapeutic agents in a case of PROM. This study reports the earliest gestational age at which a case of spontaneous PV‐PROM (sPV‐PROM) has been successfully dealt by active management and, the longest period of continuation of pregnancy in a singleton sPV‐PROM for a total of 149 days. Objective To study the benefit of Intraamniotic Injection of PRF and PRP (IFPRP) in an index case of PV‐PROM. Design This is a case report of a 26‐year‐old woman with a recurrent, sPV‐PROM at 14 weeks 2 days with a previous pregnancy loss due to PV‐PROM at 18 weeks managed in a private reproductive health hospital in Mysore, India. Methods Our subject underwent an elective cervical stitch at 14 weeks. She had confirmed, repeated episodes of leak after 30 h of the procedure. Apart from aggressive management to control infection with vaginal asepsis, an Intraamniotic injection of 9 mL of autologous PRF and 4.5 mL of PRP was done under ultrasound guidance. The pregnancy was monitored closely for signs of infection and foetal wellbeing. Results The amniotic fluid leak stopped immediately after IFPRP for 36 h. After two more bouts of small leak, it stopped completely. She delivered a healthy baby of 3.4 kg at 35 weeks 4 days. The mother and baby did well postnatally. Conclusion Our protocol for fixing the leak is simple, easy to use, and can be done in resource‐poor settings which we consider is a big advantage. Further studies are needed to explore its potential in treating PROM.

Objective: The purpose of this research is to estimate the effectiveness of non-laser surgery and laser surgery in the management of periodontitis. Methods: One hundred participants with a chronic periodontitis diagnosis participated in a randomized controlled experiment. Two cohorts of patients were created: Cohort B underwent non-laser surgery and Cohort A underwent laser surgery. Pre- and postoperative assessments were conducted at 3, 6, and 12 months for clinical criteria such as “pocket depth (PD), gingival index (GI), and clinical attachment level (CAL)”. Results: There was a noticeable improvement in clinical parameters following both laser and non-laser operations. However, laser surgery showed superior results in terms of decreased PD and raised CAL. Conclusion: In conclusion, compared to non-laser surgery, laser surgery seems to be a more successful treatment option for periodontitis. Larger sample sizes and longstanding follow-up are required for future research in order to validate these results and evaluate the longstanding sustainability of the treatment effects.

Variations of upper limb arteries are common and there are many reports about this subject. We report multiple variations in arterial pattern of upper extremity, which were encountered in a single cadaver.

Abstract A new hybrid ultrasound luminescent chemical imaging technique is described along with a pH sensor to image chemical concentrations at the surface of implanted medical devices. The purpose is to detect and study local biochemistry during infection. The sensor comprises a mechanoluminescent film (SrAl2O4:Eu, Dy microphosphors embedded in a biocompatible polymer film) and a pH indicator dye. A focused ultrasound beam generates green luminescence at the ultrasound focal point. By pulsing the ultrasound ON and OFF, the modulated luminescence can be distinguished from persistent luminescence, for high spatial resolution imaging. A red fluorescent dye and the pH indicator dye bromothymol blue are added to the coating to modulate the red‐light transmittance via pH dependent absorbance. Acidosis is observed as an increase in red luminescence intensity in spectroscopy and imaging. The films are sensitive to biologically relevant changes in pH (6.0–8.0) and can be imaged through optically scattering media to mimic tissue. The images have a knife edge spatial resolution of ≈3 mm through optically scattering phantoms, limited by the focused ultrasound spot size. This novel technique may permit the elucidation of implant infection at the implant surface and can be further developed for the measurement of other relevant chemical species in the future.

Abstract Schizophrenia is a chronic neuropsychiatric disorder that causes distinct structural alterations within the brain. We hypothesize that deep learning applied to a structural neuroimaging dataset could detect disease-related alteration and improve classification and diagnostic accuracy. We tested this hypothesis using a single, widely available, and conventional T1-weighted MRI scan, from which we extracted the 3D whole-brain structure using standard post-processing methods. A deep learning model was then developed, optimized, and evaluated on three open datasets with T1-weighted MRI scans of patients with schizophrenia. Our proposed model outperformed the benchmark model, which was also trained with structural MR images using a 3D CNN architecture. Our model is capable of almost perfectly (area under the ROC curve = 0.987) distinguishing schizophrenia patients from healthy controls on unseen structural MRI scans. Regional analysis localized subcortical regions and ventricles as the most predictive brain regions. Subcortical structures serve a pivotal role in cognitive, affective, and social functions in humans, and structural abnormalities of these regions have been associated with schizophrenia. Our finding corroborates that schizophrenia is associated with widespread alterations in subcortical brain structure and the subcortical structural information provides prominent features in diagnostic classification. Together, these results further demonstrate the potential of deep learning to improve schizophrenia diagnosis and identify its structural neuroimaging signatures from a single, standard T1-weighted brain MRI.

Highlights High Coulombic efficiency of over 99% for dendrite-free K||Cu cell after 820 cycles. Year-scale-cycling performance of organic PTCDI cathode over 2,100 cycles. Flexible device demonstration such as fibre cell still could operate when cut into three fibre cells.

The arterial pattern of the human body is one of the systems that show a large number of variations. Many reports are available regarding variations of common carotid, external and internal carotid arteries and branches of external carotid artery. We describe a very rare case of lateral position of external carotid artery. The external carotid artery was lateral to the internal carotid artery at the bifurcation of the common carotid artery. The clinical importance of this variation is discussed.

Memory formation depends on neural activity across a network of regions, including the hippocampus and broader medial temporal lobe (MTL). Interactions between these regions have been studied indirectly using functional MRI, but the bases for interregional communication at a cellular level remain poorly understood. Here, we evaluate the hypothesis that oscillatory currents in the hippocampus synchronize the firing of neurons both within and outside the hippocampus. We recorded extracellular spikes from 1854 single- and multi-units simultaneously with hippocampal local field potentials (LFPs) in 28 neurosurgical patients who completed virtual navigation experiments. A majority of hippocampal neurons phase-locked to oscillations in the slow (2–4 Hz) or fast (6–10 Hz) theta bands, with a significant subset exhibiting nested slow theta × beta frequency (13–20 Hz) phase-locking. Outside of the hippocampus, phase-locking to hippocampal oscillations occurred only at theta frequencies and primarily among neurons in the entorhinal cortex and amygdala. Moreover, extrahippocampal neurons phase-locked to hippocampal theta even when theta did not appear locally. These results indicate that spike-time synchronization with hippocampal theta is a defining feature of neuronal activity in the hippocampus and structurally connected MTL regions. Theta phase-locking could mediate flexible communication with the hippocampus to influence the content and quality of memories.

The solid electrolyte interface (SEI) is vital to the stability of alkali metal‐ion battery anodes. However, conventional SEIs that lack elasticity will be damaged during the anode's repeated volume expansion, such as in potassium‐ion battery anodes, ultimately resulting in cell failure. Herein, a low‐content additive (pigment green 7, 0.07 wt%) in a conventional carbonate electrolyte to create a reticular elastic SEI with excellent uniformity and good chemical stability is employed. As a result, long‐lasting K||K symmetric cell (over 1400 h), enhanced graphite anode (500 cycles with 97.9% capacity retention), and stabilized perylene‐3,4:9,10‐tetracarboxydiimide cathode (1200 cycles with 82.8% capacity retention) are achieved. Furthermore, the matched graphite||perylene‐3,4:9,10‐tetracarboxydiimide full cell operates stably for more than 200 cycles. This work provides a novel avenue into the rational design of elastic SEIs for advanced anodes.

Gladiolus is a popular commercial flower crop among top ten cut flowers of international trade. In order to improve the rate of multiplication, eleven gladiolus varieties with three nutrient regimes (N1- 96:18:108, N2-128:24:144 and N3-160:30:180 ppm of NPK) were evaluated under aeroponics system. The results revealed that different varieties and nutrient regimes had significant influence on plant growth, corm and cormel production. Among the genotypes, Arka Naveen recorded maximum plant height (109.44 cm), on par with Arka Amar (104.77 cm). The genotype Arka Amar (1.89) recorded highest number of corms per plant, on par with Arka Ranjini (1.78), Arka Aayush (1.44), Arka Naveen (1.44) and Arka Shobha (1.67). However, number of cormels were recorded highest in Arka Aayush (1.67), on par with Arka Amar (1.67) and Arka Ranjini (1.44). Among the nutrient regimes, N2 (128:24:144 ppm NPK) registered maximum plant height (85.44 cm), on par with N3 (160:30:180 ppm NPK) (77.42 cm). The number of corms (1.39) and cormels (3.56) per plant were recorded highest in N2 (128:24:144 ppm of NPK). The genotype Arka Manorama did not produce cormels under aeroponics system. Gladiolus varieties Arka Amar, Arka Aayush and Arka Naveen were found as best suited under aeroponic system for better corm multiplication under the nutrient regime of N2 (128:24:144 ppm of NPK).

Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) are indispensable materials for spectral and optical phenomena, prepared by a chemical precipitation method. We studied their properties resulting from different dopants in the nanoscale. The samples' structure, texture, energy band, and photoluminescence were examined using XRD, TEM, FTIR, PL, and UV–VIS spectroscopy. XRD shows the single hexagonal Wurtzite with crystallite sizes from 10.1 to 17.8 nm and the spherical shape particles. The octahedral sites at 470–489 cm−1 and the tetrahedral sites at 616 cm−1 were observed in the FTIR studies. PL showed a wider bandgap, better UV emission, and decreased defect density of the Fe doped than that of the pristine one. Fe-doped ZnO NPs are more active than pristine ZnO NPs for their quenching or absorbing properties, indicating their antibiotic properties.

Introduction A “reproducibility crisis” has afflicted the recent medical literature, affecting 75‐89% of major reported findings. An important cause of the inability to replicate results is hypothesizing after the results are known (HARKing): presenting a post hoc hypothesis according with findings as if it were a confirmed a priori hypothesis. Meeting abstract instructions may affect the frequency of HARKing. Methods We tested the hypothesis that, compared with abstract instructions NOT indicating a "hypothesis" should be stated, instructions indicating THAT a "hypothesis" should be stated would increase the proportion of abstracts judged by field content experts to exhibit HARKing. [Hypothesis pre‐registered at AsPredicted.org (#5019)]. We analyzed randomly sampled abstracts from 4 International Stroke Conference (ISC) meeting years with highly forceful (2015), moderately forceful (2017), and non‐forceful (2013 and 2022) requirements for statement of a “hypothesis” in abstract preparation instructions, regardless of whether a hypothesis statement was appropriate (confirmatory science) or inappropriate (exploratory science). Results The 163 abstracts (39 to 43 in each meeting year) equally sampled the 14‐17 ISC topic categories. Explicit “hypothesis” statements were more common in the highly and moderately forceful instruction years (30% and 27%) than in the non‐forceful instruction years (9% and 13%) (p = 0.006). Among the total 32 hypothesis statements, 81% were deemed falsifiable, and 19% non‐falsifiable. None (0%) of hypotheses were stated as pre‐registered prior to study conduct. Overall, 59% (19/32) of the hypothesis statements were adjudicated by two independent content experts as likely to be hypothesizing after the results were known (HARKing). HARKing was more common in the highly and moderately forceful instruction years (20% and 15%) than the non‐forceful instruction years (9% and 3%) (p = 0.03). Conclusion Abstract preparation instructions requiring the use of a hypothesis statement promoted hypothesizing after the results are known, with HARKing present in 1 out of every 5 meeting abstracts. To improve reproducibility of neurovascular research studies, appropriate meeting abstract preparation instructions are desirable, recommending hypothesis statements only for the small proportion of stroke studies that are of confirmatory, rather than exploratory, design.

The large radius of potassium ions inevitably destabilizes the crystal structure of the cathode material in potassium-ion batteries, leading to capacity degradation. Here, authors demonstrate that phase-engineered amorphous vanadium oxide alleviates large volume variation and improves electrochemical behaviour.

Aims: The intraoral microbiota has a high potential to undergo dysbiosis, causing inflammatory changes with respect to the tissues surrounding either a natural tooth or an implant. Thus, the longevity of implant prosthesis depends on a thorough implant decontamination protocol. Among all the techniques available for doing so, laser is garnering increasing popularity, owing to minimal bleeding, high efficiency, and faster healing. However, limited literature exists regarding the superiority of lasers over chlorhexidine (CHX), the indisputable gold standard antibacterial chemical agent. The aim of this study was to compare the percentage of bacterial reduction of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans from implant healing abutments post red diode laser therapy versus 0.2% CHX treatment. Settings and Design: The current study had an ex vivo, observational, case–control design. Materials and Methods: Patients reporting for the second stage of the implant surgery were taken as the source of data and the healing abutments, the clinical samples. Eleven patients were chosen with one intraoral implant serving as the test site for laser treatment and another, the control site for CHX treatment. Microbiological analysis was performed via quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction to compare the bacterial reduction percentage after each treatment. Statistical Analysis Used: Repeated measures ANOVA and independent sample t test were used. Results: The mean bacterial viability of the test group (laser) was 1.2%–1.6%, and 0.6%–1.4% for the control group (CHX). The former caused a mean bacterial reduction of 96.1% while the latter, 96.3%. Both the treatments caused a highly statistically significant reduction of viable bacterial counts (P = 0.001). However, when compared, there was no statistically significant difference in the bacterial reduction, when compared in between the two (P = 0.902). Conclusion: Laser treatment is at par with chemical implant surface decontamination. It can help bypass the complications of CHX and revolutionize the protocols for implant surface decontamination.

Background The purpose of the study was to assess the obstacles faced by diabetes patients in their self-care and determine the factors associated with these obstacles. The management of diabetes mellitus (DM) extends beyond the clinician’s efforts, with the responsibility of the care also being shared by the patient to achieve better treatment outcomes and prevent complications. Self-care management is the most important part of DM treatment, which includes diet, regular exercise, blood glucose monitoring, medication and foot care. Methods A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 107 type 2 DM patients aged >18 years using the Diabetes Obstacles Questionnaire-30. Patients scoring a mean response score >3 were considered to have an obstacle. We included age, gender, socioeconomic status (SES), duration of DM and blood glucose levels as factors for regression analysis and a P value Results A large majority (64.5%, n = 69) of our participants were aged above 55 years and belonged to lower socio-economic status (65.4%, n = 70). Family history of DM was present in 41% (n=44) of the participants. The median duration of DM among the participant was 10 (4 – 7) years. In our study, the participants faced obstacles for two items in the domains: Support from Friends & Family (mean score: 3.73) and Knowledge of the Disease (mean score: 3.58). A multinominal regression analysis revealed SES was predictive of participants who could not understand information from literature with a P. value of 0.002 (OR: 3.65, CI: 1.60-8.338). Conclusion The two major obstacles to self-management practices that were identified were in the domains of Support from Friends and Family, and Knowledge of the Disease. Socioeconomic status was identified to be a predictive factor associated with the participants who are not able to understand information from the literature.

China aster [Callistephus chinensis (L.) Nees] is a flowering annual mainly cultivated for loose flower and cut flower, bedding and pot culture. To assess the genetic diversity, 42 genotypes were evaluated for fourteen quantitative traits. The genotypes were found to be highly variable for the traits such as plant height, plant spread, flower stalk length, 100 flower weight, number of flowers per plant, weight of flowers per plant and flower yield per hectare. However, low variability was recorded for vase life and shelf life. The genotypes were broadly grouped into two clusters, which were further divided into cluster 1a, 1b and cluster 2a, 2b, respectively. All the genotypes in cluster 1a were vigorous and medium flowering, whereas, genotypes in cluster 1b were tall, erect, vigorous and late flowering. The cluster 2a comprises of the genotypes with short stature, small flower and early flowering, however, cluster 2b contains only two genotypes. In principal component analysis (PCA) PC1 was highly correlated to flower yield, weight of flowers/plant, flower stalk length and plant height and PC2 was highly positively correlated to shelf life and vase life and negatively correlated to 100 flower weight. The results suggested that the existing variation in China aster genotypes could be used for the development of trait-specific novel genotypes.

One of the strategies to combat micronutrient malnutrition is by developing biofortified common bean lines (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) capable of tolerating different stress conditions. In this study, the adaptive responses of different biofortified bean lines grown under combined stress of acidic soil and high-temperatures were evaluated in the Colombian Amazon. A total of 247 common bean lines from the Mesoamerican gene pool were used to determine the adaptive response in terms of phenological, physiological, and agronomic behavior under combined stress conditions. The lines tested were obtained from different single crosses, double crosses, and backcrosses between different bean materials, of which 146 were obtained from F4 families with high iron (Fe) content in seed and 99 common bean lines from F5 families. Different bean lines had grain yields (GY) higher than 1400 kg ha−1 from the F5 (lines: 859, 805, 865, and 657) and F4 (lines: 2853 and 2796) families. The superior performance of these lines was related to a higher photosynthate partitioning that has allowed an increase in pod formation (pod partitioning index, PPI) from the canopy biomass (CB) and grain filling (pod harvest index, PHI; harvest index, HI), resulting in higher values of GY. Values of GY were correlated with CB (r = 0.36), PPI (r = 0.6), PHI (r = 0.68), and HI (r = 0.8, p < 0.001). This increase in agronomic performance is due to a greater allocation of energy to the photosynthetic machinery (ΦII) and its dissipation in the form of heat (ΦNPQ), with increases in the leaf temperature difference (LTD). Based on the results obtained, six biofortified lines of common bean (lines F5: 859, 805, 865, and 657; lines F4: 2853 and 2796) showed traits of tolerance to combined stress and can serve as progenitors to increase Fe and Zn concentration in the seeds of lines that tolerate the combined stress from acidic soil and high temperature in the Colombian Amazon region.

IntroductionLaser-induced photodamage is a robust method for investigating retinal pathologies in small animals. However, aiming of the photocoagulation laser is often limited by manual alignment and lacks real-time feedback on lesion location and severity. Here, we demonstrate MURIN: MUltimodal Retinal Imaging and Navigated-laser-delivery, a multimodality OCT and SLO ophthalmic imaging system with an image-guided scanning laser lesioning module optimized for the murine retina. The proposed system enables targeting of focal and extended area lesions under OCT guidance to benefit visualization of photodamage response and the precision and repeatability of laser lesion models of retinal injury.MethodsMURIN optics were optimized for simultaneous near-infrared and visible wavelength imaging/laser lesioning. Custom LabView control software was developed to steer the photocoagulation laser and automatically deliver laser pulses to targets-of-interest. In vivo retinal imaging was performed in transgenic Müller glia-tdTomato reporter mice (Rlbp1:CreER; Rosaai14, 5 animals, 10 eyes) and microglia-GFP/Müller glia-tdTomato reporter mice (Cx3cr1GFP; Rlbp1:CreER; Rosaai14, 9 animals, 15 eyes) to visualize cellular changes in the retina after laser lesion delivery.ResultsReal-time MURIN imaging concurrent with laser lesioning allowed us to visualize lesion formation dynamics and any corresponding changes in retinal morphology. We observe increasing fluorescence photoconversion on SLO and scattering contrast on OCT. Significant morphological changes are visible on MURIN after high-severity photodamage. OCT cross-sections show the spatial extent of the lesions contract over time from diffusion areas of increased scattering to granular scatterers and corresponding SLO images show a radial pattern surrounding severe focal lesions, which may be a result of a change in Müller cell shape or orientation in response to injury. The inner plexiform layer is distorted and increased RPE thickness and scattering are observed, all of which are confirmed on corresponding hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) histology and differential interference contrast (DIC) microscopy.DiscussionMURIN as a unique imaging platform that enables combined SLO and OCT imaging with an integrated image-guided laser lesioning module. This technology has clear benefits over existing multimodal imaging and laser lesioning systems by enabling simultaneous multimodal imaging, independent and precise control of Iridex laser pulse parameters and patterns, and real-time OCT and SLO visualization of lesion formation.

Phosphorus (P) is one of the essential macronutrients for plant growth and development, and it is an integral part of the major organic components, including nucleic acids, proteins and phospholipids. Although total P is abundant in most soils, a large amount of P is not easily absorbed by plants. Inorganic phosphate (Pi) is the plant-available P, which is generally immobile and of low availability in soils. Hence, Pi starvation is a major constraint limiting plant growth and productivity. Enhancing plant P efficiency can be achieved by improving P acquisition efficiency (PAE) through modification of morpho-physiological and biochemical alteration in root traits that enable greater acquisition of external Pi from soils. Major advances have been made to dissect the mechanisms underlying plant adaptation to P deficiency, especially for legumes, which are considered important dietary sources for humans and livestock. This review aims to describe how legume root growth responds to Pi starvation, such as changes in the growth of primary root, lateral roots, root hairs and cluster roots. In particular, it summarizes the various strategies of legumes to confront P deficiency by regulating root traits that contribute towards improving PAE. Within these complex responses, a large number of Pi starvation-induced (PSI) genes and regulators involved in the developmental and biochemical alteration of root traits are highlighted. The involvement of key functional genes and regulators in remodeling root traits provides new opportunities for developing legume varieties with maximum PAE needed for regenerative agriculture.

IntroductionPrevious research has shown increased productivity amongst sown grass pastures compared to native savanna pastures by year-round grazing for fattening of adult and young Brahman (Bos indicus)-bred cattle in the well-drained native savanna ecosystem of the Colombian Orinoquía. But there is limited information on the carbon footprint (CF) of commercial young-Brahman heifers and steers reared throughout life on well-managed Brachiaria decumbens Stapf pastures.MethodsThe present study characterized growth, lifetime enteric methane (CH4) emissions, carcass carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-eq) CH4 efficiency intensities (i.e., emissions per kg of product), and estimated the overall CF of young cattle grazing B. decumbens pastures subject to a range of daily liveweight gains (DLWGs; 0.428 – 0.516 kg) and fattening framework (405 – 574 kg). Weaning data from seven consecutive calving seasons in a commercial Brahman breeding herd continuously grazed on B. decumbens were integrated with a Microsoft Excel® dynamic greenhouse gas emission (GHGE) simulation of stockers-yearlings, and seven fattening, and processing scenarios.ResultsThe model predicted that heifers subject to low and high DLWGs (0.428 vs 0.516 kg) and steers (0.516 kg) may be successfully fattened without supplementation assuming that animals had access to a well-managed grass pasture. Depending on the fattening strategy, kg CO2-eq CH4/kg edible protein values ranged from 66.843 to 87.488 ± 0.497 for heifers and from 69.689 to 91.291 ± 0.446 for steers.DiscussionAssuming that forage on offer is at least 1,500-2,000 kg of dry matter/ha during the rainy season, all the simulated systems showed potential for C neutrality and net-zero C emission when considering GHGEs from the soil, pasture, and animal components vs the estimated soil C capture over seven seasons. However, under a more optimistic scenario, these beef systems could accomplish substantial net gains of soil C, over the period for which field data are available. Overall, this study projects the positive impact of the design of plausible fattening strategies on grasslands for improving cattle productivity and reducing emission intensities with concomitant increases in technical efficiency.