What evidence exists relating the impact of different grassland management practices to soil carbon in livestock systems? A systematic map protocol.

Background: Grasslands are essential for providing vital resources in the livestock sector and delivering invaluable ecosystem services such as biodiversity and soil carbon (C) sequestration. Despite their critical importance, these ecosystems face escalating threats from human disturbances, human degradation, and climate change, compromising their ability to effectively stock C. Restoring degraded grasslands emerges as a pragmatic and cost-effective approach to tackling climate change.

Human Neutrophils Couple Nitric Oxide Production and Extracellular Trap Formation in Allergic Asthma.

Nitric oxide (NO) is increased in the airways and serum of patients with allergic asthma, suggesting an important role in asthma. NO production has been widely attributed to the canonical inducible NO synthase. Much effort has been made to inhibit this enzyme, with two outcomes: no asthma improvement and partial NO reduction, suggesting the involvement of an inducible NO synthase-independent source.

Grazing livestock move by Lévy walks: Implications for soil health and environment.

Grazing livestock plays an important role in the context of food security, agricultural sustainability and climate change. Understanding how livestock move and interact with their environment may offer new insights on how grazing practices impact soil and ecosystem functions at spatial and temporal scales where knowledge is currently limited. We characterized daily and seasonal grazing patterns using Global Positioning System (GPS) data from two grazing strategies: conventionally- and rotationally-grazed pastures.

Response of soil health indicators to dung, urine and mineral fertilizer application in temperate pastures.

Healthy soils are key to sustainability and food security. In temperate grasslands, not many studies have focused on soil health comparisons between contrasting pasture systems under different management strategies and treatment applications (e.g.

GeoHealth: Geographic Information System for Health Management and Clinical, Epidemiological and Translational Research.

This project aims to develop a system for clinical, epidemiological and translational research capable of associating contextual variables and geospatial data with clinical patient information. The GeoHealth system will include a section to perform exploratory analysis that will help identify risk factors to optimize clinical decision making.

Empiric antibiotics for community-acquired pneumonia in adult patients: a systematic review and a network meta-analysis.

Objective: The main aim of this network meta-analysis is to identify the empiric antibiotic (Em-ATB) with the highest probability of being the best (HPBB) in terms of (1) cure rate and (2) mortality rate in hospitalised patients with community acquired pneumonia (CAP) .

Method: Inclusion criteria: (1) adult patients (>16 years old) diagnosed with CAP that required hospitalisation; (2) randomised to at least two different Em-ATBs, (3) that report cure rate and (4) are written in English or Spanish.

Exclusion Criteria: (1) ambiguous antibiotics protocol and (2) published exclusively in abstract or letter format.

Implications of afforestation vs. secondary succession for soil properties under a semiarid climate.

Afforestation or secondary succession after cropland abandonment are different strategies to restore soil ecosystem services such as nutrient cycling, soil conservation, and carbon sequestration. However, the studies on the effects on soil-property dynamics after land-use changes are limited in semiarid regions. In this context, an experimental area with a semiarid climate allowed the assessment and comparison of physicochemical soil properties (soil organic C [SOC], soil total N [TN], available P [AP], available K [AK], cation-exchange capacity [CEC], bulk density [BD], pH, available water-holding capacity [AWHC], and C:N ratio) after Pinus halepensis afforestation and secondary succession following agriculture abandonment in 1994.

Exciton Transfer and Emergent Excitonic States in Oppositely-Charged Conjugated Polyelectrolyte Complexes.

Photosynthetic organisms have mastered the use of "soft" macromolecular assemblies for light absorption and concentration of electronic excitation energy. Nature's design centers on an optically inactive protein-based backbone that acts as a host matrix for an array of light-harvesting pigment molecules. The pigments are organized in space such that excited states can migrate between molecules, ultimately delivering the energy to the reaction center.

Epidemiology and clinical impact of infection in patients awaiting heart transplantation.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the epidemiology and clinical impact of infections in patients awaiting heart transplantation.

Methods: We evaluated all patients considered for a heart transplant in our center over a period of 18 months over a period of 18 months from 2007 to 2009. The patients were followed up for 8 months or until death, transplant, or loss to follow-up.

Deficient long-term response to pandemic vaccine results in an insufficient antibody response to seasonal influenza vaccination in solid organ transplant recipients.

Background: Little is known about the long-term antibody response to the 2009-H1N1 vaccine in solid organ transplant recipients (SOTR) and its clinical repercussion on the efficacy of following 2010-2011 influenza vaccine.

Methods: We performed a multicenter prospective study in SOTR receiving one dose of the nonadjuvant 2010-2011 seasonal influenza vaccine and determined the immunological response at 5 weeks after vaccination.

Results: One hundred SOTR were included.

The effect of challenge method on methacholine-induced changes in sensitivity and air trapping.

Background: The methacholine challenge test performed with the tidal breathing method induces a greater fall in FEV(1) than the dosimeter method; however, the effect of the challenge method on methacholine-induced fall in FVC has not been investigated.

Objective: To determine the influence of the challenge method on methacholine-induced changes in FEV(1) and FVC.

Methods: Airway responsiveness to methacholine was determined by dosimeter method and tidal breathing method in 37 subjects with suspected asthma.

Depressive symptoms and migraine comorbidity among pregnant Peruvian women.

Background: Migraine and depression are known to be comorbid conditions in non-pregnant women and men. However, the migraine-depression comorbidity among pregnant women, particularly women in developing countries has not been evaluated. Therefore, we evaluated the migraine-depressive symptom relationship in a large cohort of pregnant Peruvian women.

Scanning of Y-chromosome azoospermia factors loci using real-time polymerase chain reaction and melting curve analysis.

Objective: To develop a novel method to scan AZF loci looking for microdeletions.

Design: Molecular method development.

Setting: Men undergoing reproductive techniques in a private fertility unit.

1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D(3) increases striatal GDNF mRNA and protein expression in adult rats.

Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) has been postulated as a possible candidate for therapeutic treatment in Parkinson's disease (PD). Recent in vitro data suggest that 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 [1,25(OH)(2)D(3)] treatment may enhance GDNF mRNA expression. In the present study, using semiquantitative RT-PCR and Western blot, we have shown that 1,25(OH)(2)D(3) administration intraperitoneally, significantly increases GDNF mRNA and protein levels in the striatum of adult rats.

Ontogenesis of the vitamin D receptor in rat heart.

1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D(3) through its receptor (vitamin D receptor; VDR) has important physiological effects such as calcium transport and cell growth and differentiation. Although the VDR is present in a variety of cell lines as well as in numerous tissues, including rat and human heart, no data are available about the presence of VDR in heart at different steps of rat life. In this study we evaluated the VDR expression using RT-PCR and immunohistochemical techniques in fetal (17, 18 and 20 gestational days), neonatal (4 and 8 days) and adult rat heart.

Localization of a negative vitamin D response sequence in the human growth hormone gene.

1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D(3) [1,25(OH)(2) D(3)] exerts its biological effects by binding to the vitamin D receptor (VDR), which binds in turn to the vitamin D response elements located in the target gene's promoter. We have previously demonstrated that VDR binds in vitro with high affinity to the 5'-flanking sequence of the human growth hormone (hGH) gene. In this study, we analyzed the response to 1,25(OH)(2) D(3) of hGH-promoter constructs introduced by transfection into the MCF-7 human adenocarcinoma cell line.