•Inhibition of anaerobic digestion processes reduces performance and stability.•Inhibiting levels vary widely, likely due to differences in microbial communities.•Diverse molecular tools are ...elucidating inhibitor impacts on the AD microbiome.•Advancements in real-time tracking of microbial community dynamics are needed.
Inhibition of anaerobic digestion (AD) due to perturbation caused by substrate composition and/or operating conditions can significantly reduce performance. Such perturbations could be limited by elucidating microbial community response to inhibitors and devising strategies to increase community resilience. To this end, advanced molecular methods are increasingly being applied to study the AD microbiome, a diverse community of microbial populations with complex interactions. This literature review of AD inhibition studies indicates that inhibitory concentrations are highly variable, likely stemming from differences in community structure or activity profile and previous exposure to inhibitors. More recent molecular methods such as ‘omics’ tools, substrate mapping, and real-time sequencing are helping to unravel the complexity of AD inhibition by elucidating physiological and ecological significance of key microbial populations. The AD community must strive towards developing predictive abilities to avoid system failure (e.g., real-time tracking of an indicator species) to improve resilience of AD systems.
Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) is a facultative halophyte of great value, and World Health Organization has selected this crop, which may assure future food and nutritional security under ...changing climate scenarios. However, germination is the main critical stage of quinoa plant phenology affected by salinity. Therefore, two experiments were conducted to improve its performance under salinity by use of saponin seed priming. Seeds of cv. Titicaca were primed in seven different solutions with varying saponin concentrations (i.e. 0%, 0.5%, 2%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 25% and 35%), and then, performances of primed seeds were evaluated based on mean germination time and final germination percentage in germination assays (0 and 400 mM NaCl stress). Saponin solutions of 10%, 15% and 25% concentration were found most effective priming tools for alleviating adverse effects of salt stress during seed germination. Performances of these primed seeds were further evaluated in pot study. At six‐leaf stage, plants were irrigated with saline water having either 0 or 400 mM NaCl. The results indicated that saline irrigation significantly decreased the growth, physiology and yield of quinoa, whereas saponin priming found operative in mitigating the negative effects of salt stress. Improved growth, physiology and yield performance were linked with low ABA concentration, better plant water (osmotic and water potential) and gas relations (leaf photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance), low Na+ and high K+ contents in leaves. Our results suggest that saponin priming could be used as an easy‐operated and cost‐effective technology for sustaining quinoa crop growth on salt‐affected soils.
A climate‐proof cropping system is a system which is able to mitigate the effects of climate change, which often are unpredictable and extreme. The special issue is related to the subject of ...improving cropping systems in the Mediterranean region, which is one of the regions in the world facing most severe consequences of climate changes, under influence of multiple abiotic stresses. These stresses are becoming even more pronounced under changing climate, resulting in drier conditions, increasing temperatures and greater variability, causing desertification. This topic has been addressed in the EU FP7 project entitled ‘Sustainable water use securing food production in dry areas of the Mediterranean region (SWUP‐MED)’ working on climate‐proof cropping systems in Morocco, Syria, Turkey and southern Europe, collaborating with UK, Denmark and Australia. The results are valid for other parts of the world, where Mediterranean climate is found, such as Western Australia and Western Chile, and in many dry areas of Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
Drought and salinity reduce crop productivity especially in arid and semi‐arid regions, and finding a crop which produces yield under these adverse conditions is therefore very important. Quinoa ...(Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) is such a crop. Hence, a study was conducted in field lysimeters to investigate the effect of salinity and soil–drying on radiation use efficiency, yield and water productivity of quinoa. Quinoa was exposed to five salinity levels (0, 10, 20, 30 and 40 dS m−1) of irrigation water from flower initiation onwards. During the seed‐filling phase the five salinity levels were divided between two levels of irrigation, either full irrigation (FI; 95 % of field capacity) or non‐irrigated progressive drought (PD). The intercepted photosynthetically active radiation was hardly affected by salinity (8 % decrease at 40 dS m−1) and did not differ significantly between FI and PD. Radiation use efficiency of dry matter was similar between salinity levels and between FI and PD. In line with this, no negative effect of severe salinity and soil–drying on total dry matter could be detected. Salinity levels between 20 and 40 dS m−1 significantly reduced the seed yield by ca. 33 % compared with 0 dS m−1 treatment owing to a 15–30 % reduction in seed number per m2, whereas the seed yield of PD was 8 % less than FI. Consequently, nitrogen harvested in seed was decreased by salinity although the total N‐uptake was increased. Both salinity and drought increased the water productivity of dry matter. Increasing salinity from 20 to 40 dS m−1 did not further decrease the seed number per m2 and seed yield, which shows that quinoa (cv. Titicaca) acclimated to saline conditions when exposed to salinity levels between 20 and 40 dS m−1.
Potassium, a moderately volatile element, shows presolar isotopic heterogeneity in meteorites.
Potassium (K) and other moderately volatile elements are depleted in many solar system bodies relative ...to CI chondrites, which closely match the composition of the Sun. These depletions and associated isotopic fractionations were initially believed to result from thermal processing in the protoplanetary disk, but so far, no correlation between the K depletion and its isotopic composition has been found. Our new high-precision K isotope data correlate with other neutron-rich nuclides (e.g.,
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Ni and
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Cr) and suggest that the observed
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K variations have a nucleosynthetic origin. We propose that K isotope anomalies are inherited from an isotopically heterogeneous protosolar molecular cloud, and were preserved in bulk primitive meteorites. Thus, the heterogeneous distribution of both refractory and moderately volatile elements in chondritic meteorites points to a limited radial mixing in the protoplanetary disk.
Background
Roux‐en‐Y gastric bypass (RYGB) causes extensive changes in gastrointestinal anatomy and leads to reduced appetite and large weight loss, which partly is due to an exaggerated release of ...anorexigenic gut hormones.
Methods
To examine whether the altered passage of foods through the gastrointestinal tract after RYGB could be responsible for the changes in gut hormone release, we studied gastrointestinal motility with a scintigraphic technique as well as the secretion of the gut hormones glucagon‐like peptide (GLP)‐1 and peptide YY3‐36 (PYY3‐36) in 17 patients>1 year after RYGB and in nine healthy control subjects.
Key Results
At meal completion, a smaller fraction of liquid and solid radiolabeled marker was retained in the pouch of RYGB patients than in the stomach of control subjects (P = 0.002 and P < 0.001, respectively). Accordingly, pouch emptying in patients was faster than gastric emptying in control subjects (P < 0.001 and P = 0.004, respectively liquid and solid markers). For the solid marker, small intestinal transit was slower in patients than control subjects (P = 0.034). Colonic transit rate did not differ between the groups. GLP‐1 and PYY3‐36 secretion was increased in patients compared to control subjects and fast pouch emptying of the liquid marker was associated with high gut hormone secretion.
Conclusions & Inferences
After RYGB, the bulk of foods pass without hindrance into the small intestine, while the small intestinal transit is prolonged. The rapid exposure of the gut epithelium contributes to the exaggerated release of GLP‐1 and PYY3‐36 after RYGB.
Quinoa is a potential new seed crop for protein feed and human consumption in Europe, with tolerance to a range of abiotic stresses. For this purpose the study was planned to analyse the effect of ...important agronomic strategies like nitrogen level, N application strategy, row spacing and harvest time on yield and quality of quinoa. The experiments took place in the field of the experimental station of the Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen. Three levels of organic nitrogen from slurry was used (60, 120 and 180 kg N ha−1), supplied either all at once at sowing, or split between sowing and beginning of the reproductive phase. The effect of row spacing and harvest time was studied by harvesting seeds at seed maturity, which occurred 2–3 weeks prior to the mechanical harvest by threshing, and a couple of months after. Yield increased significantly (P ≤ 0.05) with an application up to 180 kg N ha−1, reaching 2200 kg ha−1. Increasing N also caused a significantly increased seed weight (up to 3.3 mg) and protein content (up to 17 %). N level did not affect number and amount of weeds. Split application with part of the N applied at bud formation did not have a significant effect on yield. Delayed harvest had a negative influence on seed weight, whereas protein content was stable after harvesting even a month after seed maturity. A late harvest significantly reduced seed germination, being reduced by 50 % after a 2‐month delay. A conclusion from this study is that both yield and protein content of seed can be manipulated by N level and application strategy. Harvest time is important for securing a high seed quality measured as seed germination, seed weight and protein content. A fast germination of quinoa is an important characteristic demonstrating that the crop has good possibilities for being well‐established in the field when free from weeds at the time of sowing. The choice of row spacing is important and depends on weed control method. Weed control strategy should be developed based on modern precision tools.
Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) greatly improves glycaemic control in morbidly obese patients with type 2 diabetes, in many even before significant weight loss. Understanding the responsible ...mechanisms may contribute to our knowledge of the pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes and help identify new drug targets or improve surgical techniques. This review summarises the present knowledge based on pathophysiological studies published during the last decade. Taken together, two main mechanisms seem to be responsible for the early improvement in glycaemic control after RYGB: (1) an increase in hepatic insulin sensitivity induced, at least in part, by energy restriction and (2) improved beta cell function associated with an exaggerated postprandial glucagon-like peptide 1 secretion owing to the altered transit of nutrients. Later a weight loss induced improvement in peripheral insulin sensitivity follows.
To identify factors contributing to the variation in weight loss after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB).
Cross-sectional study of patients with good (excess body mass index lost (EBL) >60%) and poor ...weight loss response (EBL <50%) >12 months after RYGB and a lean control group matched for age and gender.
Sixteen patients with good weight loss response, 17 patients with poor weight loss response, and eight control subjects were included in the study. Participants underwent dual energy X-ray absorptiometry scan, indirect calorimetry and a 9 h multiple-meal test with measurements of glucose, insulin, total bile acids (TBA), glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-1, peptide YY3-36 (PYY), cholecystokinin (CCK), ghrelin, neurotensin and pancreatic polypeptide (PP) as well as assessment of early dumping and appetite.
Suppression of hunger was more pronounced in the good than the poor responders in response to the multiple-meal test (P=0.006). In addition, the good responders had a larger release of GLP-1 (P=0.009) and a greater suppression of ghrelin (P=0.037) during the test, whereas the postprandial secretion of CCK was highest in the poor responders (P=0.005). PYY, neurotensin, PP and TBA release did not differ between the RYGB-operated groups. Compared with control subjects, patients had exaggerated release of GLP-1 (P<0.001), PYY (P=0.008), CCK (P=0.010) and neurotensin (P<0.001). Early dumping was comparable in the good and poor responders, but more pronounced than in controlled subjects. Differences in resting energy expenditure between the three groups were entirely explained by differences in body composition.
Favorable meal-induced changes in hunger and gut hormone release in patients with good compared with poor weight loss response support the role of gut hormones in the weight loss after RYGB.
The aim of this cross-sectional survey of 2232 women and 1336 men (age range 20-91 yr) was to investigate individual risk factors for hip joint osteoarthritis (OA).
Standardized, weight-bearing ...pelvic radiographs were evaluated. Radiological hip joint OA was defined as minimum joint space width (JSW) </=2.0 mm. Hip dysplasia was evaluated according to common radiographic indices. Radiographic findings were correlated to general health and lifestyle information obtained at baseline examinations and questionnaires. The study focused on age; self-reported hip pain, occupational exposure to repeated daily lifting, body mass index, smoking and hip dysplasia.
Hip dysplasia (HD) prevalence ranged from 5.4-12.8% depending on the radiographic index applied. Hip OA prevalence was 1.0-2.5% in subjects <60 yr of age and 4.4-5.3% in subjects >/=60 yr of age. Of factors entered into logistic regression analyses, only age (P<0.001 for right hips and P<0.001 for left hips) and hip dysplasia (P<0.001 for right hips and P = 0.004 for left hips) were significantly associated with hip OA prevalence in women. In men, only hip dysplasia was associated with hip OA prevalence, P<0.001 in right hips and P = 0.001 in left hips.
Of the individual risk factors investigated in this study, only age and hip dysplasia were associated with the development of hip osteoarthritis.
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