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The use of plant-based indicators and other conventional means to detect the level of water stress in crops may be challenging, due to their difficulties in automation, their arduousness, and their time-consuming nature. Non-contact and non-destructive sensing methods can be used to detect the level of water stress in plants continuously and to provide automatic sensing and controls. This research aimed at determining the viability, efficiency, and swiftness in employing the commercial Workswell WIRIS Agro R infrared camera (WWARIC) in monitoring water stress and scheduling appropriate irrigation regimes in mandarin plants. The experiment used a four-by-three randomized complete block design with 80−100% FC water treatment as full field capacity and three deficit irrigation treatments at 70−75% FC, 60−65% FC, and 50−55% FC. Air temperature, canopy temperature, and vapor pressure deficits were measured and employed to deduce the empirical crop water stress index, using the Idso approach (CWSI(Idso)) as well as baseline equations to calculate non-water stress and water stressed conditions. The relative leaf water content (RLWC) of mandarin plants was also determined for the growing season. From the experiment, CWSI(Idso) and CWSI were estimated using the Workswell Wiris Agro R infrared camera (CWSIW) and showed a high correlation (R2 = 0.75 at p < 0.05) in assessing the extent of water stress in mandarin plants. The results also showed that at an altitude of 12 m above the mandarin canopy, the WWARIC was able to identify water stress using three modes (empirical, differential, and theoretical). The WWARIC’s color map feature, presented in real time, makes the camera a suitable device, as there is no need for complex computations or expert advice before determining the extent of the stress the crops are subjected to. The results prove that this novel use of the WWARIC demonstrated sufficient precision, swiftness, and intelligibility in the real-time detection of the mandarin water stress index and, accordingly, assisted in scheduling irrigation.

To optimize crop water consumption and adopt water-saving measures such as precision irrigation, early identification of plant water status is critical. This study explores the effectiveness of estimating water stress in choy sum ( Brassica chinensis var. parachinensis ) grown in pots in greenhouse conditions using Crop Water Stress Index (CWSI) and crop vegetation indicators to improve irrigation water management. Data on CWSI and Spectral reflectance were collected from choy sum plants growing in sandy loam soil with four different soil field capacities (FC): 90-100% FC as no water stress (NWS); 80-90% FC for light water stress (LWS); 70-80% FC for moderate water stress (MWS); and 60-70% FC for severe water stress (SWS). With four treatments and three replications, the experiment was set up as a completely randomized design (CRD). Throughout the growing season, plant water stress tracers such as leaf area index (LAI), canopy temperature (Tc), leaf relative water content (LRWC), leaf chlorophyll content, and yield were measured. Furthermore, CWSI estimated from the Workswell Wiris Agro R Infrared Camera (CWSI W ) and spectral data acquisition from the Analytical Spectral Device on choy sum plants were studied at each growth stage. NDVI, Photochemical Reflectance Index positioned at 570 nm (PRI570), normalized PRI (PRInorm), Water Index (WI), and NDWI were the Vegetation indices (VIs) used in this study. At each growth stage, the connections between these CWSI W , VIs, and water stress indicators were statistically analyzed with R 2 greater than 0.5. The results revealed that all VIs were valuable guides for diagnosing water stress in choy sum. CWSI W obtained from this study showed that Workswell Wiris Agro R Infrared Camera mounted on proximal remote sensing platform for assessing water stress in choy sum plant was rapid, non-destructive, and user friendly. Therefore, integrating CWSI W and VIs approach gives a more rapid and accurate approach for detecting water stress in choy sum grown under greenhouse conditions to optimize yield by reducing water loss and enhancing food security and sustainability.

Drought and water scarcity due to global warming, climate change, and social development have been the most death-defying threat to global agriculture production for the optimization of water and food security. Reflectance indices obtained by an Analytical Spectral Device (ASD) Spec 4 hyperspectral spectrometer from tomato growth in two soil texture types exposed to four water stress levels (70-100% FC, 60-70% FC, 50-60% FC, and 40-50% FC) was deployed to schedule irrigation and management of crops' water stress. The treatments were replicated four times in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) in a 2 × 4 factorial experiment. Water stress treatments were monitored with Time Domain Reflectometer (TDR) every 12 h before and after irrigation to maintain soil water content at the desired (FC%). Soil electrical conductivity (Ec) was measured daily throughout the growth cycle of tomatoes in both soil types. Ec was revealing a strong correlation with water stress at R 2 above 0.95 p < 0.001. Yield was measured at the end of the end of the growing season. The results revealed that yield had a high correlation with water stress at R 2 = 0.9758 and 0.9816 p < 0.01 for sandy loam and silty loam soils, respectively. Leaf temperature (LT °C), relative leaf water content (RLWC), leaf chlorophyll content (LCC), Leaf area index (LAI), were measured at each growth stage at the same time spectral reflectance data were measured throughout the growth period. Spectral reflectance indices used were grouped into three: (1) greenness vegetative indices; (2) water overtone vegetation indices; (3) Photochemical Reflectance Index centered at 570 nm (PRI 570 ), and normalized PRI (PRInorm). These reflectance indices were strongly correlated with all four water stress indicators and yield. The results revealed that NDVI, RDVI, WI, NDWI, NDWI 1640 , PRI 570 , and PRInorm were the most sensitive indices for estimating crop water stress at each growth stage in both sandy loam and silty loam soils at R 2 above 0.35. This study recounts the depth of 858 to 1640 nm band absorption to water stress estimation, comparing it to other band depths to give an insight into the usefulness of ground-based hyperspectral reflectance indices for assessing crop water stress at different growth stages in different soil types.

The goal of this research is to use a WORKSWELL WIRIS AGRO R INFRARED CAMERA (WWARIC) to assess the crop water stress index (CWSI W ) on tomato growth in two soil types. This normalized index (CWSI) can map water stress to prevent drought, mapping yield, and irrigation scheduling. The canopy temperature, air temperature, and vapor pressure deficit were measured and used to calculate the empirical value of the CWSI based on the Idso approach (CWSI Idso ). The vegetation water content (VWC) was also measured at each growth stage of tomato growth. The research was conducted as a 2 × 4 factorial experiment arranged in a Completely Randomized Block Design. The treatments imposed were two soil types: sandy loam and silt loam, with four water stress treatment levels at 70-100% FC, 60-70% FC, 50-60% FC, and 40-50% FC on the growth of tomatoes to assess the water stress. The results revealed that CWSI Idso and CWSI W proved a strong correlation in estimating the crop water status at R 2 above 0.60 at each growth stage in both soil types. The fruit expansion stage showed the highest correlation at R 2 = 0.8363 in sandy loam and R 2 = 0.7611 in silt loam. VWC and CWSI W showed a negative relationship with a strong correlation at all the growth stages with R 2 values above 0.8 at p < 0.05 in both soil types. Similarly, the CWSI W and yield also showed a negative relationship and a strong correlation with R 2 values above 0.95, which indicated that increasing the CWSI W had a negative effect on the yield. However, the total marketable yield ranged from 2.02 to 6.8 kg plant -1 in sandy loam soil and 1.75 to 5.4 kg plant -1 in silty loam soil from a low to high CWSI W . The highest mean marketable yield was obtained in sandy loam soil at 70-100% FC (0.0 < CWSI W ≤ 0.25), while the least-marketable yield was obtained in silty loam soil 40-50% FC (0.75 < CWSI W ≤ 1.0); hence, it is ideal for maintaining the crop water status between 0.0 < CWSI W ≤ 0.25 for the optimum yield. These experimental results proved that the WWARIC effectively assesses the crop water stress index (CWSI W ) in tomatoes for mapping the yield and irrigation scheduling.

Severe injuries are frequently accompanied by hemorrhagic shock and harbor an increased risk for complications. Local or systemic inflammation after trauma/hemorrhage may lead to a leaky intestinal epithelial barrier and subsequent translocation of gut microbiota, potentially worsening outcomes. To evaluate the extent with which trauma affects the gut microbiota composition, we performed a post hoc analysis of a murine model of polytrauma and hemorrhage. Four hours after injury, organs and plasma samples were collected, and the diversity and composition of the cecal microbiome were evaluated using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Although cecal microbial alpha diversity and microbial community composition were not found to be different between experimental groups, norepinephrine support in shock animals resulted in increased alpha diversity, as indicated by higher numbers of distinct microbial features. We observed that the concentrations of proinflammatory mediators in plasma and intestinal tissue were associated with measures of microbial alpha and beta diversity and the presence of specific microbial drivers of inflammation, suggesting that the composition of the gut microbiome at the time of trauma, or shortly after trauma exposure, may play an important role in determining physiological outcomes. In conclusion, we found associations between measures of gut microbial alpha and beta diversity and the severity of systemic and local gut inflammation. Furthermore, our data suggest that four hours following injury is too early for development of global changes in the alpha diversity or community composition of the intestinal microbiome. Future investigations with increased temporal-spatial resolution are needed in order to fully elucidate the effects of trauma and shock on the gut microbiome, biological signatures of inflammation, and proximal and distal outcomes.

Previous studies demonstrate that Mycobacterium vaccae NCTC 11659 ( M. vaccae ), a soil-derived bacterium with anti-inflammatory and immunoregulatory properties, is a potentially useful countermeasure against negative outcomes to stressors. Here we used male C57BL/6NCrl mice to determine if repeated immunization with M. vaccae is an effective countermeasure in a "two hit" stress exposure model of chronic disruption of rhythms (CDR) followed by acute social defeat (SD). On day -28, mice received implants of biotelemetric recording devices to monitor 24-h rhythms of locomotor activity. Mice were subsequently treated with a heat-killed preparation of M. vaccae (0.1 mg, administered subcutaneously on days -21, -14, -7, and 27) or borate-buffered saline vehicle. Mice were then exposed to 8 consecutive weeks of either stable normal 12:12 h light:dark (LD) conditions or CDR, consisting of 12-h reversals of the LD cycle every 7 days (days 0-56). Finally, mice were exposed to either a 10-min SD or a home cage control condition on day 54. All mice were exposed to object location memory testing 24 h following SD. The gut microbiome and metabolome were assessed in fecal samples collected on days -1, 48, and 62 using 16S rRNA gene sequence and LC-MS/MS spectral data, respectively; the plasma metabolome was additionally measured on day 64. Among mice exposed to normal LD conditions, immunization with M. vaccae induced a shift toward a more proactive behavioral coping response to SD as measured by increases in scouting and avoiding an approaching male CD-1 aggressor, and decreases in submissive upright defensive postures. In the object location memory test, exposure to SD increased cognitive function in CDR mice previously immunized with M. vaccae . Immunization with M. vaccae stabilized the gut microbiome, attenuating CDR-induced reductions in alpha diversity and decreasing within-group measures of beta diversity. Immunization with M. vaccae also increased the relative abundance of 1-heptadecanoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine, a lysophospholipid, in plasma. Together, these data support the hypothesis that immunization with M. vaccae stabilizes the gut microbiome, induces a shift toward a more proactive response to stress exposure, and promotes stress resilience., Competing Interests: CL serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of Immodulon Therapeutics, Ltd., is cofounder and Chief Scientific Officer of Mycobacteria Therapeutics Corporation, serves as an unpaid scientific consultant with Aurum Switzerland AG and serves at a member of the faculty of the Integrative Psychiatry Institute, Boulder, Colorado, United States. KPW has received research support from the National Institutes of Health, the Pac-12 Conference, and SomaLogic, Inc. outside of this work; consulting fees from or served as a paid member of scientific advisory boards for the Sleep Disorders Research Advisory Board – National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and CurAegis Technologies, Circadian Therapeutics, Ltd.; and has received speaker/educational/travel consultant honorarium fees from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, American College of Chest Physicians, American College of Sports Medicine, American Diabetes Association, Associated Professional Sleep Societies, Kellogg Company, and The European Association for the Study of Obesity. The remaining 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 © 2021 Foxx, Heinze, González, Vargas, Baratta, Elsayed, Stewart, Loupy, Arnold, Flux, Sago, Siebler, Milton, Lieb, Hassell, Smith, Lee, Appiah, Schaefer, Panitchpakdi, Sikora, Weldon, Stamper, Schmidt, Duggan, Mengesha, Ogbaselassie, Nguyen, Gates, Schnabel, Tran, Jones, Vitaterna, Turek, Fleshner, Dorrestein, Knight, Wright and Lowry.)

There is growing interest in using canopy temperature (Tc), including crop water Stress index (CWSI), for irrigation management. However, Tc varies greatly in one day, while soil water content (SWC) varies little, which may lead to different conclusions on whether irrigation is needed based on CWSI at different times. For this end, Tc of winter wheat was continuously monitored, and the data of such environmental factors as atmospheric temperature and soil water content (SWC) were simultaneously collected. CWSI was calculated based on empirical formulation and Tc and CWSI were generalized based on the normalization formulation. The correlation SWC between Tc and CWSI before and after generalization was compared and error analysis was based on SWC theoretical formula. The results showed: (1) the accuracy of SWC retrieval by Tc and CWSI increased firstly and then decreased with time during the day. The optimal time for Tc monitoring SWC was between 10:00 ~ 16:00 (R2 > 0.72) and the optimal time for CWSI monitoring SWC was between 9:00 ~ 18:00 (R2 > 0.69). (2) CWSI and Tc were mapped based on the relationship between crop water stress and soil water deficit and normalized canopy temperature expressions characterized the relationship between crop water stress and soil water deficit. (3) The accuracy of inversion of SWC by mapping Tc from 18:00 ~ 8:00 is increased from 0.5 ~ 0.6 to 0.7 ~ 0.8; the accuracy of soil water content inversion by mapping CWSI from 18:00 ~ 8:00 was improved from 0.2 ~ 0.4 to 0.4 ~ 0.6. (4) The theoretical expression of SWC deduced based on CWSI also proves that considering the relationship between crop water stress and soil water deficit change can effectively reduce the relative error from 30 to 5% in the morning and evening. This study contributes to the understanding of the reason why the correlation between Tc and SWC varies greatly during the day and solves the time-limited problem of thermal infrared remote sensing monitoring of crop water stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diploid species with desirable traits among wheat's wild relatives have a high potential for crop modification. DNA methylation is one of the significant epigenetic alterations that is linked to the pattern of gene expression and contributes to genetic instability. The coupled restriction enzyme digestion-random amplification technique and five randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) primers were used to study methylation changes in two Einkorn wheat genotypes, including H9 (collected from Ravansar region) and S10 (collected from Sanandaj region) and four soil water availability treatments included control, mild, moderate and severe stress (irrigation at 100%, 75%, 50% and 25% of field capacity, respectively) in two stages (14 days after water deficiency and 14 days after re-watering). The experiment was laid out as a 4 × 2 × 2 factorial experiment within a completely randomized design replicated three times. Measured physiological traits included relative leaf water content (RWC), maximum photochemical efficiency of photosystem II (Fv/Fm), and stomatal conductance. The results showed that the lowest RWC, Fv/Fm, and stomatal conductance were related to the severe stress treatment. RWC and Fv/Fm were significantly lower in moisture stress compared to the re-watering stage. Additionally, the S10 genotype demonstrated greater drought tolerance than H9. In reaction to severe water deprivation, distinct methylation patterns were seen in different replications of each treatment. This could be because every plant reacts to stress and epigenetic modifications differently. After the stress was removed from the segments that had changed their methylation patterns as a result of water shortage, the majority of them went back to how they had been before the stress, indicating that methylation alterations in the genome are reversible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To quickly and accurately obtain the moisture status of grape plants at the field scale, the treatments included three irrigation levels i.e. W3 (100%M, M as the irrigation quota), W2 (75% M) and W1 (50%M) and four fertilizer application rates i.e. F0 (0 kg/hm2), F1 (324 kg/hm2), F2 (486 kg/hm2) and F3 (648 kg/hm2). Grape leaf water content (LWC) was monitored nondestructively by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) carrying multispectral (MS), visible light (RGB) and thermal infrared (TIR) cameras to extract band reflectance (BR), canopy coverage (CC) and canopy temperature (T) information, respectively. Using BR (included six bands: B, R, G, RE, NIR800, and NIR900), CC and T and their combinations as input variables brought into the partial least squares (PLS), random forest (RF), support vector machine (SVM) and extreme learning machine (ELM) algorithms. The prediction models for grape LWC were established by using four machine learning algorithms, and the optimal combination of variables was finally determined. The results represented that (1) the model built with BR + CC + T as predictor variables under different water treatments was better than other combinations of variables, with the coefficient of determination (R2) above 0.69 and the relative root mean square error (RRMSE) less than 2.5%; (2) modeling the LWC of grapes at different fertility periods based on the combination of BR + CC + T, the R2 ranged from 0.51 to 0.78 at the shoot-growing, anthesis, and fruit-inflating stages; (3) the top three important variables were T, NIR800, and NIR900 in the shoot-growing, anthesis, and fruit-inflating stages, while the top three important variables were RE, B, and T in the fruit-inflating stage. In summary, UAV multimodal data fusion has good application in predicting the LWC of grapes using RF algorithm modeling during the different growth stages. This study can supply a technical support for precise management of vineyard water regime using a UAV platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trauma and toxic substances are connected in several aspects. On the one hand, toxic substances can be the reason for traumatic injuries in the context of accidental or violent and criminal circumstances. Examples for the first scenario is the release of toxic gases, chemicals, and particles during house fires, and for the second scenario, the use of chemical or biological weapons in the context of terroristic activities. Toxic substances can cause or enhance severe, life-threatening trauma, as described in this review for various chemical warfare, by inducing a tissue trauma accompanied by break down of important barriers in the body, such as the blood-air or the blood-gut barriers. This in turn initiates a "vicious circle" as the contribution of inflammatory responses to the traumatic damage enhances the macro- and micro-barrier breakdown and often results in fatal outcome. The development of sophisticated methods for detection and identification of toxic substances as well as the special treatment of the intoxicated trauma patient is summarized in this review. Moreover, some highly toxic substances, such as the protein toxins from the pathogenic bacterium Clostridioides (C.) difficile, cause severe post-traumatic complications which significantly worsens the outcome of hospitalized patients, in particular in multiply injured trauma patients. Therefore, novel pharmacological options for the treatment of such patients are necessarily needed and one promising strategy might be the neutralization of the toxins that cause the disease. This review summarizes recent findings on the molecular and cellular mechanisms of toxic chemicals and bacterial toxins that contribute to barrier breakdown in the human body as wells pharmacological options for treatment, in particular in the context of intoxicated trauma patients. "trauma-toxicology" comprises concepts regrading basic research, development of novel pharmacological/therapeutic options and clinical aspects in the complex interplay and "vicious circle" of severe tissue trauma, barrier breakdown, pathogen and toxin exposure, tissue damage, and subsequent clinical complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crop water stress index (CWSI) has been widely used in soil moisture monitoring. However, the influence of the time lag effect between canopy temperature and air temperature on the accuracy of soil moisture monitoring with different CWSI models has not been further investigated. Therefore, based on the continuous record of canopy temperature and air temperature, this study explored the influence of canopy-air temperature hysteresis on the diagnosis of soil moisture with three CWSI models (CWSIT—theoretical, CWSIE—empirical, CWSIH—hybrid). The results show (1) the peak time of canopy temperature was ahead of that of air temperature, and the lag time varied under different soil moisture conditions. When the soil moisture was seriously deficient, the lag time decreased. However, from jointing-heading period to filling-ripening period, the lag time became longer. (2) The values of CWSIT, CWSIE, and CWSIH decreased when the time lag effect was considered. In jointing-heading period, heading-filling period, and filling-ripening period, CWSIT had the highest accuracy in soil moisture monitoring without the consideration of the time lag effect. When the time lag effect was considered, the monitoring accuracy of CWSIE and CWSIH was greatly improved and higher than that of CWSIT, while that of CWSIT was reduced. The findings provided a basis for further improving the accuracy of soil moisture monitoring with CWSI models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Disruption of intestinal barrier caused by intestinal ischemia due to hemorrhagic shock is associated with the pathogenesis of multiple organ dysfunction (MOD) after severe trauma. Mesenteric lymph (ML) plays an important role as a route for transporting inflammatory mediators, including lipids. Postbiotics, such as 10-hydroxy-cis-12-octadecenoic acid (HYA), have received much attention as a treatment option. However, the relationship between postbiotics and MOD has yet to be clarified. The aim of the present study was to analyze lipid metabolites derived from gut microbiota in the intestinal ischemia-reperfusion (IR) rat model., Methods: Male Sprague-Dawley rats underwent laparotomy, and their ML duct and superior mesenteric artery were exposed. The superior mesenteric artery was clamped for 60 minutes, followed by 120 minutes of reperfusion. The ML and the plasma were collected before and after intestinal IR. Lipids were extracted from plasma and ML, and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry was performed., Results: The concentration of linoleic acid in plasma samples was not different before and after IR; however, the linoleic acid concentration in the ML samples increased after intestinal IR. Eicosapentaenoic acids and docosahexaenoic related to linoleic acids showed similar changes with IR-induced increase in the ML. The concentration of HYA, a linoleic acid-derived bioactive metabolite produced by gut bacteria, was high in ML samples, while that in plasma samples was low. The relative increase rate of HYA in ML samples after IR was higher than that of the plasma samples (the ML samples: relative increase, 3.23 ± 1.36; the plasma samples: relative increase, 0.95 ± 0.35; n = 3, p = 0.048)., Conclusion: The present study demonstrated increased linoleic acids and high concentrations of HYA, lipid metabolites derived from gut bacteria in the ML after intestinal IR. These findings may contribute to clarifying the relation between gut microbiota and MOD after severe trauma., (Copyright © 2023 American Association for the Surgery of Trauma.)