Reduced fertilization supplemented with Bacillus safensis RGM 2450 and Bacillus siamensis RGM 2529 promotes tomato production in a sustainable way.

The rising demand for vegetables has driven the adoption of greenhouse cultivation to guarantee high yields and quality of fresh produce year-round. Consequently, this elevates the demand for fertilizers, whose costs are progressively escalating. Bacillus safensis RGM 2450 and Bacillus siamensis RGM 2529 are plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR). The combination of these strains exhibited synergistic activity in stimulating the growth and seedling hydration of tomatoes. In this study, the effects of inoculation with a RGM 2450 plus RGM 2529 formulation were evaluated under 66% and 100% fertilization programs in tomato crops under greenhouse conditions. Fertilization programs (66% and 100%) with or without commercial biostimulants were used as control treatments. In this assay, the NPK percentage in the plant tissue, tomato average weight, tomato average weight per harvest, tomato diameter, and changes in the colonization, structure, and diversity of the bacterial rhizosphere were measured. The 100% and 66% fertilization programs supplemented with the RGM 2529 plus RGM 2450 formulation increased the average weight of tomatoes per harvest without statistical difference between them, but with the other treatments. The 66% fertilization with RGM 2450 plus RGM 2529 increased between 1.5 and 2.0 times the average weight of tomatoes per harvest compared to the 66% and 100% fertilizations with and without commercial biostimulant treatments, respectively. This study represents the first report demonstrating that the application of a formulation based on a mixture of B. siamensis and B. safensis in a fertilization program reduced by 33% is equivalent in productivity to a conventional fertilization program for tomato cultivation, achieving an increase in potential plant growth-promoting rizobacteria of the genus Flavobacterium. Therefore, the adoption of a combination of these bacterial strains within the framework of a 66% inorganic fertilization program is a sustainable approach to achieving greater tomato production and reducing the environmental risks associated with the use of inorganic fertilization.

Resolution of Hydronephrosis and Pain to Predict Stone Passage for Patients With Acute Renal Colic.

OBJECTIVE: To study patients who presented to the Emergency Department with acute renal colic to determine if resolution of hydronephrosis and pain accurately predicts stone passage on follow-up CT. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a secondary analysis of a multicenter prospective randomized clinical trial of patients diagnosed by computed tomography (CT) scan with a symptomatic ureteral stone < 9 mm in diameter. Participants were followed after randomization to evaluate for analgesic use and to assess stone passage and hydronephrosis on a repeat CT scan obtained at 29-36 days. RESULTS: Four-hundred-three patients were randomized in the original study and patients were included in this analysis if they did not have surgery for stone removal and had a CT scan and information on pain medication at follow-up (N = 220). Hydronephrosis was detected in 181 (82%) on initial CT. At follow-up CT, 43 (20%) participants had a persistent ureteral stone. Of these patients, 36 (84%) had no pain, 26 (60%) did not have hydronephrosis, and 23 (53%) had neither pain nor hydronephrosis. Resolution of hydronephrosis was associated with stone passage (RR 4.6, 95% CI 1.9, 11.0), while resolution of pain was not (RR 1.1, 95% CI 0.9, 1.4). CONCLUSION: In patients with urinary stone disease, stone passage is associated with resolution of hydronephrosis but not resolution of pain. In patients with persistent ureteral stones, neither pain nor hydronephrosis are consistently present. These findings have important implications on follow-up imaging of patients with urinary stone disease.

Biogeography of Argylia D. Don (Bignoniaceae): Diversification, Andean Uplift and Niche Conservatism.

Andean uplift and the concomitant formation of the Diagonal Arid of South America is expected to have promoted species diversification through range expansions into this novel environment. We evaluate the evolution of Argylia, a genus belonging to the Bignoniaceae family whose oldest fossil record dates back to 49.4 Ma. Today, Argylia is distributed along the Andean Cordillera, from 15°S to 38.5°S and from sea level up to 4,000 m.a.s.l. We ask whether Argylia's current distribution is a result of a range expansion along the Andes Cordillera (biological corridor) modulated by climatic niche conservatism, considering the timing of Andean uplift (30 Ma - 5 Ma). To answer this question, we reconstructed the phylogenetic relationships of Argylia species, estimated divergence times, estimated the realized climatic niche of the genus, reconstructed the ancestral climatic niche, evaluated its evolution, and finally, performed an ancestral range reconstruction. We found strong evidence for climatic niche conservatism for moisture variables, and an absence of niche conservatism for most of the temperature variables considered. Exceptions were temperature seasonality and winter temperature. Results imply that Argylia had the capacity to adapt to extreme temperature conditions associated with the Andean uplift and the new climatic corridor produced by uplift. Ancestral range reconstruction for the genus showed that Argylia first diversified in a region where subtropical conditions were already established, and that later episodes of diversification were coeval with the of Andean uplift. We detected a second climatic corridor along the coastal range of Chile-Peru, the coastal lomas, which allowed a northward range expansion of Argylia into the hyperarid Atacama Desert. Dating suggests the current distribution and diversity of Argylia would have been reached during the Late Neogene and Pleistocene.

Evolution of Climatic Related Leaf Traits in the Family Nothofagaceae.

The current relationship between leaf traits and environmental variables has been widely used as a proxy for climate estimates. However, it has been observed that the phylogenetic relationships between taxa also influence the evolution of climatic related leaf traits, implying that the direct use of the physiognomy-climate relation should be corrected by their ancestor-descendant relations. Here, we analyze the variation of 20 leaf traits during the evolution of 27 species in the Gondwana family Nothofagaceae. We evaluate whether the evolution of these traits is exclusively associated with past climate variations or whether they are restricted by phylogenetic relationships. Our results indicate that four leaf traits, associated with size and shape, had consistently a phylogenetic independent evolution, suggesting adaptive variation with the environment. While three of the traits, presented consistently phylogenetic signal and fit a Brownian motion or Ornstein-Uhlenbeck model of evolution, suggesting that the evolution of these traits is restrained by phylogenetic relationships and implying that phylogenetic corrections should be made for the family Nothofagaceae to use them as climatic proxy. Finally, this study highlights the importance of evaluating the evolutionary history of climatic related leaf traits before conducting paleoclimate estimates.

Sexual dysfunction risk and associated factors in young Peruvian university women.

INTRODUCTION: Information regarding sexual dysfunction risk among young Latin American women is limited. AIM: Assess female sexual dysfunction (FSD) risk and associated factors in young Peruvian university women. METHODS: This was a nested case-control study, using the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI). Cases were defined as women with total FSFI scores at or below 26.55 (increased FSD risk). Demographic characteristics, gynecologic aspects, body mass index, mood disorders, substance abuse, and issues related to the couple, were also evaluated. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary end point was assessment of FSD risk and associated factors. RESULTS: A total of 625 women were surveyed of which 409 (65.4%) were sexually active. The average total FSFI score was 27.2 ± 4.3. Overall, 39.9% were at higher risk for FSD. Multivariate analysis using a binary logistic regression model found that male premature ejaculation (odds ratios [OR]=2.47, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.27-4.77), oral emergency contraception use (OR=1.87, 95% CI: 1.04-3.38), good partner relationship (OR=0.24, 95% CI: 0.12-0.49), and length of relationship (≥3 years; OR=0.025, 95% CI: 0.013-0.05) were factors independently associated to a higher FSD risk (goodness of fit P=0.39). CONCLUSION: In this young university female population, FSD risk was high and associated to male and female factors.