Glutamic acid reshapes the plant microbiota to protect plants against pathogens

Background Plants in nature interact with other species, among which are mutualistic microorganisms that affect plant health. The co-existence of microbial symbionts with the host contributes to host fitness in a natural context. In turn, the composition of the plant microbiota responds to the environment and the state of the host, raising the possibility that it can be engineered to benefit the plant. However, technology for engineering the structure of the plant microbiome is not yet available. Results The loss of diversity and reduction in population density of Streptomyces globisporus SP6C4, a core microbe, was observed coincident with the aging of strawberry plants. Here, we show that glutamic acid reshapes the plant microbial community and enriches populations of Streptomyces, a functional core microbe in the strawberry anthosphere. Similarly, in the tomato rhizosphere, treatment with glutamic acid increased the population sizes of Streptomyces as well as those of Bacillaceae and Burkholderiaceae. At the same time, diseases caused by species of Botrytis and Fusarium were significantly reduced in both habitats. We suggest that glutamic acid directly modulates the composition of the microbiome community. Conclusions Much is known about the structure of plant-associated microbial communities, but less is understood about how the community composition and complexity are controlled. Our results demonstrate that the intrinsic level of glutamic acid in planta is associated with the composition of the microbiota, which can be modulated by an external supply of a biostimulant.

On An Invisible Architecture: An Antidote To Ocularcentric Space

<div>Invisible; something that is unseen, unnoticed, or ignored. Related to the awareness or recognition of an object as opposed to its actual presence, the problem with the invisible is the unknowingness of its very existence. While our bodies occupy diverse spatial conditions, they absorb a variety of visible and invisible information through the senses. As the geography of our increasingly digitized urban landscape creates conditions of solitude and alienation, the other senses become suppressed, manifested through our obsession with the eye, vision, and image. Identifying the non-place and its effect on inhabitants will serve as a point of departure in exploring the potentials for an architecture to become invisible — that is, for a space to exist beyond our infatuation with its aesthetic or visual character. Designing an atlas for the senses between the urban and natural context of Toronto and its ravines, this thesis aims to reintroduce architectural meaning through the body’s sensorial apparatus. In progressing beyond our current</div><div>ocularcentric state, we can use the senses as perceptual mechanisms to begin a dialogue addressing the non-place-ness of urbanity. In doing so, architecture becomes more relatable, engendering new spatial, perceptual, and emotional relationships within the memory of space.</div>

On An Invisible Architecture: An Antidote To Ocularcentric Space

<div>Invisible; something that is unseen, unnoticed, or ignored. Related to the awareness or recognition of an object as opposed to its actual presence, the problem with the invisible is the unknowingness of its very existence. While our bodies occupy diverse spatial conditions, they absorb a variety of visible and invisible information through the senses. As the geography of our increasingly digitized urban landscape creates conditions of solitude and alienation, the other senses become suppressed, manifested through our obsession with the eye, vision, and image. Identifying the non-place and its effect on inhabitants will serve as a point of departure in exploring the potentials for an architecture to become invisible — that is, for a space to exist beyond our infatuation with its aesthetic or visual character. Designing an atlas for the senses between the urban and natural context of Toronto and its ravines, this thesis aims to reintroduce architectural meaning through the body’s sensorial apparatus. In progressing beyond our current</div><div>ocularcentric state, we can use the senses as perceptual mechanisms to begin a dialogue addressing the non-place-ness of urbanity. In doing so, architecture becomes more relatable, engendering new spatial, perceptual, and emotional relationships within the memory of space.</div>

Nematode Interactions on Beetle Hosts Indicate a Role of Mouth-Form Plasticity in Resource Competition

Competition is rampant across kingdoms, arising over potential mates, food resources, and space availability. When faced with opponents, phenotypic plasticity proffers organisms indispensable advantageous strategies to outcompete rivals. This tactic is especially crucial on decaying insect hosts as myriad microbes and numerous nematodes struggle to establish thriving populations and ensure resource availability for future generations. Scarab beetles and their associated nematode symbionts on La Réunion Island have provided exceptional systems to study complicated cross-phylum interactions in soil, and recently we have identified a previously unexplored beetle host, Gymnogaster bupthalma, to be reliably co-infested with diplogastrids Pristionchus mayeri and Acrostichus spp. These nematodes maintain the capacity to plastically respond to environmental conditions by developing disparate mouth forms, a strict bacterial-feeding morph or an omnivorous morph that enables predation on other nematodes. In addition, under stressful settings these worms can enter an arrested development stage called dauer, non-feeding dispersal larvae that resume development into reproducing adults when conditions improve. By investigating this beetle-nematode system in a natural context, we uncovered a novel Pristionchus strategy, wherein dauer dispersal from the carcass is gradual and a reproducing population is sustained. Remarkably, usually preferential-bacterial morph P. mayeri develop as predators in populations dense with competitors.

Cardiovascular ultrasound implementation for a pragmatic approach to the diabetic patient

The tailoring of the management of diabetes is the fundamental task of the diabetologist who requires very different skills to guarantee the best diagnostic path and the best treatment for patients. To enrich the range of “measures” necessary for this customization process, it is now possible to use a tool that is now accessible to everyone: the ultrasound machine. Through some simple ultrasound scans, using a minimum amount of time, it is possible to acquire useful information for correct patient stratification and for a rational therapeutic approach, as recommended by the guidelines. The path for the certification of the skills of the diabetologist expert in the management of cardiovascular complications could be the natural context for the placement of these techniques. KEY WORDS diabetes mellitus; cardiovascular complications; tailoring of therapy; echocolordoppler; echocardiography.

CULTURAL LANDSCAPES OF THE NORTHEASTERN PRIAZOV REGION AND THE DON DELTA IN THE EARLY IRON AGE: PROBLEMS OF STUDY AND PROTECTION

Дельты крупных рек с глубокой древности были зонами интенсивных этнокультурных контактов, в эпоху античности – эпицентрами активных цивилизационных процессов. Ярким примером является территория северо-восточного Приазовья, расположенная на стыке обширных природно-географических зон и крупных историко-географических территорий. Проблемы изучения и сохранения ценного природного и историко-культурного территориального комплекса региона являются актуальными на протяжении многих лет. Настоящее исследование посвящено изучению влияния природных и антропогенных факторов на процесс развития ландшафтов северо-восточного Приазовья в раннем железном веке на основе анализа археологических и литологических материалов прибрежных районов Краснодарского края и Ростовской области. Результаты данных естественнонаучных исследований, проведенных за последние годы, позволяют восстановить процессы трансформации природного облика северо-восточного Приазовья и Нижнего Подонья, начиная с эпохи среднего голоцена, в том числе – представить в общих чертах среду обитания и природный контекст, в котором существовали поселения бронзового – раннего железного века региона. Since ancient times, the deltas of large rivers were zones of intense ethnocultural contacts; in the era of antiquity, they have been the epicenters of active civilizational processes. A striking example is the territory of the northeastern Azov region, located at the junction of vast natural and geographical zones and large historical and geographical territories. The problems of studying and preserving the valuable natural, historical and cultural territorial complex of the region have been relevant for many years. This study is devoted to the study of the influence of natural and anthropogenic factors on the development of landscapes in the northeastern Azov region in the early Iron Age based on the analysis of archaeological and lithological materials of the coastal regions of Krasnodar Territory and Rostov Region. The results of these natural scientific studies carried out in recent years make it possible to restore the processes of transformation of the natural appearance of the northeastern Azov and Lower Don regions, starting from the Middle Holocene, including – to provide an outline of the habitat and the natural context in which the Bronze settlements existed – early Iron Age region.

Persona in spe. Anthropological and Theodical Aspects of Hope

I intend to reflect on three phenomena that are revealed in the personal experience of hope: (1) hope distinguishes a person from the natural context, but it does so through nature, i.e., based on desires rooted in human nature; (2) hope is not only inscribed in the existential situation of human being, but also expresses the very meaning of human transcendence: the person transcends themself, because they live the hope of fulfillment in the transcendent reality; hope is a foretaste of a higher, more perfect life; (3) hope is a person’s deeply experienced expectation of love, that is, of someone who loves. The above phenomena require a justification, which is the answer to the question “what is the reason for experiencing hope?”. Carrying out analyses on the basis of the modernized metaphysics of the person, I refer primarily to the concept of personal acts, to the concept of religiosity as an essential property of the person and to elements of the concept of love. The conclusions of these analyses indicate the necessity of accepting the real existence of the object of human hope, since personal life essentially goes beyond contingency, towards wholeness in the form of union with Someone who loves.

Pedagogía verde para la formación de seres crí­ticos y reflexivos

The advancement of science and technology has modified the lifestyle, implanting superficial recreation sites away from the natural environment, education must center the student within the natural context to generate environmental awareness and form critical and reflective beings. Present real alternatives that promote interaction with the natural environment and generate meaningful learning. This article was based on qualitative research through a bibliographic review, the most relevant articles were selected, the results were obtained from indexed journals, mainly in Google Scholar. Green pedagogy aims to transform the social and cultural context by adding nature as the central axis of education; For this, various researchers present real alternatives to bring the natural environment closer to the social one, trying to contrast the damage caused to the planet. Several researchers try to generate environmental awareness, analyze the socio-historical context and present alternatives that stop the damage caused to the Earth, to produce a significant change within society, for this it is necessary to intervene in education and to shape actions, thoughts and ways of proceeding of students in a conscious, direct and real way.

Feasibility and Effectiveness of a Parent-Mediated In-Home Feeding Intervention for Families With Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Date Presented Accepted for AOTA INSPIRE 2021 but unable to be presented due to online event limitations. The purpose of the study was to examine the effectiveness of a parent-mediated, in-home feeding intervention (parent training, direct intervention, and parent coaching) over 6 months for families with children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The findings support preliminary evidence that the intervention improves eating skills and mealtime behaviors in children with ASD and the need for more targeted feeding interventions for children with ASD that involve the parents in the natural context of the home. Primary Author and Speaker: Karla Ausderau Additional Authors and Speakers: Brittany St John, Libby Hladik, Shannon Kant, Jessica Muesbeck, and Holly Romaniak

Epigenetic rewriting at centromeric DNA repeats leads to increased chromatin accessibility and chromosomal instability

Background Centromeric regions of human chromosomes contain large numbers of tandemly repeated α-satellite sequences. These sequences are covered with constitutive heterochromatin which is enriched in trimethylation of histone H3 on lysine 9 (H3K9me3). Although well studied using artificial chromosomes and global perturbations, the contribution of this epigenetic mark to chromatin structure and genome stability remains poorly known in a more natural context. Results Using transcriptional activator-like effectors (TALEs) fused to a histone lysine demethylase (KDM4B), we were able to reduce the level of H3K9me3 on the α-satellites repeats of human chromosome 7. We show that the removal of H3K9me3 affects chromatin structure by increasing the accessibility of DNA repeats to the TALE protein. Tethering TALE-demethylase to centromeric repeats impairs the recruitment of HP1α and proteins of Chromosomal Passenger Complex (CPC) on this specific centromere without affecting CENP-A loading. Finally, the epigenetic re-writing by the TALE-KDM4B affects specifically the stability of chromosome 7 upon mitosis, highlighting the importance of H3K9me3 in centromere integrity and chromosome stability, mediated by the recruitment of HP1α and the CPC. Conclusion Our cellular model allows to demonstrate the direct role of pericentromeric H3K9me3 epigenetic mark on centromere integrity and function in a natural context and opens interesting possibilities for further studies regarding the role of the H3K9me3 mark.