Agronomic strategies to enhance the early vigor and yield of maize. Part I: the role of seed applied biostimulant, hybrid and starter fertilization on rhizosphere bacteria profile and diversity.

The sustainable intensification of maize-based systems may reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and the excessive use of non-renewable inputs. Considering the key role that the microbiological fertility has on crop growth and resilience, it is worth of interest studying the role of cropping system on the rhizosphere bacterial communities, that affect soil health and biological soil fertility. In this work we monitored and characterized the diversity and composition of native rhizosphere bacterial communities during the early growth phases of two maize genotypes of different early vigor, using a nitrogen (N)-phosphorus (P) starter fertilization and a biostimulant seed treatment, in a growth chamber experiment, by polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis of partial 16S rRNA gene and amplicon sequencing.

Agronomic strategies to enhance the early vigor and yield of maize part II: the role of seed applied biostimulant, hybrid, and starter fertilization on crop performance.

Maize cropping systems need to be re-designed, within a sustainable intensification context, by focusing on the application of high-use efficiency crop practices, such as those that are able to enhance an early plant vigor in the first critical growth stages; such practices could lead to significant agronomic and yield benefits. The aim of this study has been to evaluate the effects of the cultivation of hybrids with superior early vigor, of the distribution of starter fertilizers at sowing, and of the seed application of biostimulants on promoting plant growth and grain yield in full factorial experiments carried out in both a growth chamber and in open fields. The greatest benefits, in terms of plant growth enhancement (plant height, biomass, leaf area) and cold stress mitigation, were detected for the starter fertilization, followed by the use of an early vigor hybrid and a biostimulant seed treatment.

Greenland Ice Core Record of Last Glacial Dust Sources and Atmospheric Circulation.

Abrupt and large-scale climate changes have occurred repeatedly and within decades during the last glaciation. These events, where dramatic warming occurs over decades, are well represented in both Greenland ice core mineral dust and temperature records, suggesting a causal link. However, the feedbacks between atmospheric dust and climate change during these Dansgaard-Oeschger events are poorly known and the processes driving changes in atmospheric dust emission and transport remain elusive.

Possible role of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and associated bacteria in the recruitment of endophytic bacterial communities by plant roots.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) represent an important group of root symbionts, given the key role they play in the enhancement of plant nutrition, health, and product quality. The services provided by AMF often are facilitated by large and diverse beneficial bacterial communities, closely associated with spores, sporocarps, and extraradical mycelium, showing different functional activities, such as N fixation, nutrient mobilization, and plant hormone, antibiotic, and siderophore production and also mycorrhizal establishment promotion, leading to the enhancement of host plant performance. The potential functional complementarity of AMF and associated microbiota poses a key question as to whether members of AMF-associated bacterial communities can colonize the root system after establishment of mycorrhizas, thereby becoming endophytic.

Rapid decomposition of geological samples by ammonium bifluoride (NH HF ) for combined Hf-Nd-Sr isotope analyses.

Rationale: Complete decomposition of silicate rock matrices is crucial in determining their isotopic compositions, but acid dissolution in a high-pressure steel-jacketed bomb, which has been the only powerful, effective technique thus far, is time-consuming and expensive. Rock dissolution using ammonium bifluoride (ABF), as described here, is a viable alternative.

Methods: Geological reference materials (GRMs) were digested using ABF in closed Teflon beakers at temperatures of 220/230°C in a convection oven and subsequently treated with HNO .

Mars-Relevant Field Experiences in Morocco: The Importance of Spatial Scales and Subsurface Exploration.

During field work at the Ibn Battuta Mars analogue sites, two research questions were analyzed: (1) How do we identify sampling sites using remote and local imaging and (2) what kind of information can be gained from shallow subsurface exploration? While remote images help in targeting field activities in general, the connection between observations at different spatial scales for different rocky desert terrain types is not well established; in this, focused comparison of remote in situ images of well-selected analogues would help a great deal. Dried up lake beds as discerned in remotely acquired data may not show signatures of past water activity, while shallow subsurface exploration could reveal the lacustrine period. Acquisition of several satellite images of the same terrain under different geometries would help to support the planning of such in situ work.

Ice-volume-forced erosion of the Chinese Loess Plateau global Quaternary stratotype site.

The International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) utilises benchmark chronostratigraphies to divide geologic time. The reliability of these records is fundamental to understand past global change. Here we use the most detailed luminescence dating age model yet published to show that the ICS chronology for the Quaternary terrestrial type section at Jingbian, desert marginal Chinese Loess Plateau, is inaccurate.

Coupled European and Greenland last glacial dust activity driven by North Atlantic climate.

Centennial-scale mineral dust peaks in last glacial Greenland ice cores match the timing of lowest Greenland temperatures, yet little is known of equivalent changes in dust-emitting regions, limiting our understanding of dust-climate interaction. Here, we present the most detailed and precise age model for European loess dust deposits to date, based on 125 accelerator mass spectrometry C ages from Dunaszekcső, Hungary. The record shows that variations in glacial dust deposition variability on centennial-millennial timescales in east central Europe and Greenland were synchronous within uncertainty.

Indicators and Methods to Understand Past Environments from ExoMars Rover Drills.

Great advances are expected during the analysis of drilled material acquired from 2 m depth by ExoMars rover, supported by the comparison to local context, and the joint use of different instruments. Textural information might be less detailed relatively to what is usually obtained at outcrops during classical geological field work on the Earth, partly because of the lack of optical imaging of the borehole wall and also because the collected samples are crushed. However sub-mm scale layering and some other sedimentary features might be identified in the borehole wall observations, or in the collected sample prior to crushing, and also at nearby outcrops.

Dimensional complexity of the EEG in subcortical stroke--a case study.

The conventional electrophysiological methods used for the analysis of the functional characteristics of the nervous system are not able to grasp its non-linear and random features. Of the methods based on the application of chaos-theory the correlation dimension analysis can be used to quantify the complexity of the analyzed signal, such as the electroencephalogram (EEG). The new version (point-correlation dimension, PD2) was used in this study, which is more accurate than the other, currently used algorithms.