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Las pasturas anuales de invierno son componentes estratégicos de los sistemas agropecuarios en Uruguay. El objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar el efecto de la fijación biológica de N de leguminosas en una mezcla con raigrás anual en contraste con la adición de fertilizante nitrogenado. El diseño experimental fue un diseño de bloques completos al azar con arreglo factorial 2 x 2 de los tratamientos, con dos tipos de pasturas: a) pastura de raigrás anual (Lolium multiflorum L.), y b) pastura mezcla de raigrás anual con dos especies de leguminosas anuales (Trifolium resupinatum L. y Trifolium vesiculosum L.); y dos niveles de fertilización con N: a) sin fertilizante, y b) 64 kg N ha-1. Las pasturas fueron pastoreadas con novillos Holstein. En verano se realizó un cultivo de Setaria italica para evaluar los efectos de los tratamientos en la producción de biomasa de este. La biomasa acumulada de las pasturas de invierno incrementó significativamente con fertilización de N (P ≤ 0.01), con un incremento de 1277 ± 322.5 kg MS ha-1. La pastura mezcla fertilizada con N produjo un mayor índice de nutrición nitrogenada que la pastura de raigrás anual. La biomasa aérea de raigrás presentó un incremento con el agregado de N; sin embargo, en las pasturas monofíticas de raigrás hubo un aumento del 47% de malezas. La ganancia media diaria de los novillos incrementó con la incorporación de leguminosas, con un promedio en las pasturas mezclas de 1,01 kg PV día-1. La adición de fertilizante nitrogenado permitió una mayor carga animal y una mayor producción animal en invierno. No se encontró un efecto de los tratamientos en la biomasa acumulada de S. italica. La incorporación de leguminosas al raigrás anual permitió una mayor ganancia diaria de peso vivo por animal, pero no produjo un efecto adicional sobre el cultivo sucesor de verano.

Many of the studies in Campos grasslands focus on management aspects such as the control of herbage allowance, and application of nutrients and/or overseeding with legumes. However, there is little literature on how the Campos grassland resource is utilised, especially regarding the grazing pattern and the relationship between pasture quantity and quality on daily grazing activities. The study of the ingestive behaviour in species-rich and heterogeneous native grasslands during daylight hours, and understanding how animals prioritise quality or quantity of intake in relation to pasture attributes, are important to comprehend the ingestive-digestive processes modulating the energy intake of animals and to achieve a better grazing management. Therefore, the objective was to describe and quantify the daily grazing behaviour of growing cattle grazing native pasture with different structures as a result of different management practices, and study the relationship of pasture attributes and intake through multivariate analysis. The study was carried out at the Faculty of Agronomy, Paysandú, Uruguay. Treatments were native grassland, overseeding with Trifolium pratense and Lotus tenuis + phosphorus, and native pasture + nitrogen-phosphorus. Grazing activities were discriminated into grazing, searching (defined when animals take 1–2 bites in one feeding station and then change to another feeding station and so on), ruminating and idling. The probability of time allocated to each activity was continuously measured during daylight hours (0700–1930) and was related to pasture structure and forage quality using regression tree models, while the bite rate was determined every 2 h. The diurnal pattern of growing cattle showed grazing and searching sessions, followed by ruminating and idling sessions. The length of sessions (as the probability of time allocated to each activity) varied throughout the day. The grazing probability was greater during afternoon than morning and midday (0.74 vs 0.45 vs 0.46, respectively), and it was associated with higher bite rate (34.2 bites/min). Regression tree models showed different grazing, searching and ruminating strategies according to pasture attributes. During the morning, animals modified grazing, searching, ruminating and idling strategies according to bite rate, crude protein in diet and herbage allowance. At midday, they only adjusted ruminating and idling, while during afternoon sessions, grazing activities were modified by pasture quantity attributes such as herbage mass and herbage allowance. By controlling the herbage allowance, herbage mass and pasture height, animals prioritise quality in the morning and quantity in the afternoon, integrating and modifying the grazing-searching and ruminating-idling pattern.

Os efeitos dos herbicidas bentazon, metolachlor, trifluralin, imazethapyr, imazethapyr+lactofen, haloxyfop-methyl, glyphosate e chlorimuron-ethyl, testados em duas concentrações (duas e dez vezes a dose média recomendada por hectare), sobre a atividade microbiana foram estudados em amostras de solo que nunca haviam recebido tratamento com pesticidas. Como bioindicadores, utilizou-se a respiração microbiana, quantificando a emissão de CO2 aos 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 e 24 dias após incubação, a atividade da enzima desidrogenase e a hidrólise de diacetato de fluoresceína (FDA), aos 8 e 28 dias. Bentazon e a mistura de imazethapyr+lactofen na maior concentração e o haloxyfop-methyl nas duas concentrações apresentaram efeitos inibitórios na respiração edáfica, embora diferentes em época e duração do efeito. Nenhum dos tratamentos herbicidas afetou a hidrólise da FDA. A atividade da desidrogenase foi inibida, o que foi verificado em análise realizada aos oito dias,nas amostras de solo com alta concentração de bentazon e imazethapyr; no entanto, foi estimulada nos tratamentos com baixa concentração de metolachlor e imazethapyr e na maior concentração de glyphosate. A respiração basal e a atividade da desidrogenase mostraram maior sensibilidade na detecção de efeitos dos herbicidas sobre a microbiota do solo que as determinações da hidrólise de FDA. Apenas foi encontrada correlação significativa entre a atividade da desidrogenase e a respiração basal aos oito dias de incubação. Os resultados destacam a importância da consideração de múltiplos indicadores na avaliação dos efeitos de herbicidas na microbiota do solo.Effects of bentazon, metolachlor, trifluralin, imazethapyr, imazethapyr+lactofen, haloxyfop-methyl, glyphosate and chlorimuron-ethyl at rates of 2 and 10 times the equivalent commercial dose on soil microbial activity was evaluated in soil samples extracted from a field never treated before. Global soil microbe respiration, estimated by CO2 production at 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24 and 28 days of soil incubation and enzymatic activities (dehydrogenase and fluorescein diacetate hydrolysis) at 8 and 28 days were used as bioindicators. Bentazon and mixture imazethapyr+lactofen at the highest rate and haloxyfop-methyl at both rates, inhibited soil respiration although with differences in timing and duration. None of the herbicides affected FDA hydrolysis. Dehydrogenase activity was inhibited at 8 days of incubation with bentazon and imazethapyr at high rates but it was stimulated by metolachlor and imazethapyr at low rate and glyphosate at the highest rate. Herbicide effects on soil microbial activity was detected with higher sensitivity by global soil microbe respiration and dehydrogenase activity than by FDA hydrolysis. Only dehydrogenase activity and soil respiration estimations at 8 days of soil incubation had significant correlation. Results indicated the need of multiple estimations when evaluating herbicides effects on soil microbiota

This work is a first approach to the knowledge of insects and other aquatic macroinvertebrates of rice agroecosystems from eastern Uruguay. The composition of the groups collected may represent an approximation to the knowledge of the quality of water sources associated with Uruguayan rice production. Sampling of aquatic macroinvertebrates was carried out during the grain-filling stage in crops without insecticide use, in three localities of Treinta y Tres Department. In each crop, macroinvertebrates were collected with a Surber-type network at the inlet and outlet of water to and from the paddy field and a neighbouring control area. Differences in morphospecies composition were found according to the location and source of water. Insecta was the most represented class in macroinvertebrate samplings (41.5%). Diptera (59.9%), Hemiptera (16.3%) and Ephemeroptera (14.0%) were the most abundant orders within insects. The Richness and Shannon Diversity Indices were higher than those recorded for similar studies in Costa Rica, Italy and Australia., (Leticia Bao, Sebastián Martínez, Mónica Cadenazzi, Mónica Urrutia, Lucía Seijas, Enrique Castiglioni.)

Irrigation is an intensification technology to increase productivity in agricultural systems, but the impacts of irrigation on the environmental performance of crops are not well understood. We evaluated impacts on water use and quality of rainfed and irrigated systems for corn and soybean production in temperate South America using nonparametric ANOVA tests for small sample sizes. We modeled blue water footprint, ecotoxicity, N and P balance, and eutrophication potential for six farms producing corn and soybean in rainfed and irrigated systems in Uruguay. Crop yields were 5948 and 7862 kg ha -1 for corn and 2482 and 3423 kg ha -1 for soybean, under rainfed and irrigation, respectively. The average blue water footprint for irrigated systems was 264 m 3 ton -1 and zero for rainfed systems, with no difference between corn and soybean. The ecotoxicity was greater for soybean than for corn (1679 vs 325 CTUe kg -1 ) but there were no statistically significant differences in ecotoxicity between rainfed and irrigated systems. Based on Usetox methodology, insecticides had a greater ecotoxic effect (3.2 × 10 6 CTUe ha -1 ) than herbicides (7.3 × 10 4 CTUe ha -1 ), despite the lower doses applied (insecticides: 0.51 kg ha -1 ; herbicides: 6.83 kg ha -1 ). The aquatic eutrophication potential (based on Impact 2002 + methodology) among rainfed and irrigated systems presented no differences (29 vs 24 kgPO 4-eq ha -1 for corn and 19 vs 27 kgPO 4-eq ha -1 for soybean). The standardized environmental impacts for corn calculated per ha were similar than those per kg of grain when comparing rainfed vs irrigated systems. For soybean, however, standardized environmental impacts per ha were greater in the irrigated than in the rainfed systems, but were similar per kg of grain (except for water footprint). In summary, irrigation resulted in higher productivity and increased blue water footprint than rainfed, but in the set of farms analyzed it did not significantly increase inputs use, so no differences were detected in nutrient balance, eutrophication potential, or ecotoxicity. Soybeans had greater environmental impacts than corn in ecotoxicity and N excess per unit of area, but no statistically significant difference was found in the other indicators. These indicators may be useful as a predictive tool for resource management. Decision makers should consider the trade-offs between productivity, water use, and water quality when using irrigation for intensification of crop production., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The rice crop and associated ecosystems constitute a rich mosaic of habitats that preserve a rich biological diversity. Spiders are an abundant and successful group of natural predators that are considered efficient in the biocontrol of the major insect pests in agroecosystems. Spider diversity in different stages of the rice crop growth from eastern Uruguay was analysed. Field study was developed on six rice farms with rotation system with pasture, installed during intercropping stage as cover crop. Six rice crops distributed in three locations were sampled with pitfall and entomological vaccum suction machine. Sixteen families, representing six guilds, were collected. Lycosidae, Linyphiidae, Anyphaenidae and Tetragnathidae were the most abundant families (26%, 25%, 20% and 12%, respectively) and comprised more than 80% of total abundance. Other hunters (29%), sheet web weavers (25%) and ground hunters (24%) were the most abundant guilds. Species composition along different crop stages was significantly different according to the ANOSIM test. The results showed higher spider abundance and diversity along the crop and intercrop stages. This study represents the first contribution to the knowledge of spider diversity associated with rice agroecosystem in the country.

A growing body of evidence suggests that cancer stem cells (CSC) have the unique biological properties necessary for tumor maintenance and spreading, and function as a reservoir for the relapse and metastatic evolution of the disease by virtue of their resistance to radio- and chemo-therapies. Thus, the efficacy of a therapeutic approach relies on its ability to effectively target and deplete CSC. In this study, we show that CSC-enriched tumorspheres from breast cancer cell lines display an increased L-Ferritin uptake capability compared to their monolayer counterparts as a consequence of the upregulation of the L-Ferritin receptor SCARA5. L-Ferritin internalization was exploited for the simultaneous delivery of Curcumin, a natural therapeutic molecule endowed with antineoplastic action, and the MRI contrast agent Gd-HPDO3A, both entrapped in the L-Ferritin cavity. This theranostic system was able to impair viability and self-renewal of tumorspheres in vitro and to induce the regression of established tumors in mice. In conclusion, here we show that Curcumin-loaded L-Ferritin has a strong therapeutic potential due to the specific targeting of CSC and the improved Curcumin bioavailability, opening up the possibility of its use in a clinical setting.

In this study the effect of vacuum frying (VF) and traditional frying (TF) on oil degradation, fatty acid composition and alpha-tocopherol content was investigated. Two different refined sunflower oils were used: sunflower oil with high oleic acid content (HOSO) and sunflower oil with synthetic antioxidant (tertiary-butylhydroquinone) (TBHQ-SO). Oil degradation was monitored by measuring the free acidity (FFA), peroxide (PV), p-anisidine (p-AV),) total polar compounds (TPC) and oxidative stability (OE). Oils samples were taken every 4h of frying during 10 consecutive days. Values of FFA, p-AV, TPC using TBHQ-SO with traditional frying were (0.201, 207.0, 25.0) significantly higher than the obtained values with vacuum frying (0.073, 25.8, 11.2). The same parameters by using HOSO were (0.327, 82.0, 21.9) with traditional frying and (0.099, 33.3, 6.4) with vacuum frying. The EO was 2.44 and 7.95 with TBHQ-SO traditional and vacuum frying respectively, and with for HOSO 0.65 and 2.67, respectively. The polyunsaturated fatty acids percentage decreased in all treatments except in TBHQ-SOv. The alpha-tocopherol content decreased in all treatments at different rates. At the end of the frying processes the percentages of alpha-tocopherol reduction were TBHQ-SOv (4.90%), TBHQ-SOt (53.62%), HOSOv (96.87%), HOSOt (99.76%)., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)