Search

Fruits are micronutrient-rich sources which are often underrepresented in children's diets. More insights into the determinants of children's fruit consumption are needed to improve nutrition education in Teso South Sub-County, Kenya. A multiphase mixed method study was applied among 48 farm households with children 0-8 years of age. A market survey together with focus group discussions were used to design a formative research approach including qualitative and quantitative data collection methods. The unavailability of fruits and the inability to plant fruit trees in the homesteads were the main challenges to improve fruit consumption behaviour, although a number of different fruit species were available on the market or in households. Perceived shortage of fruits, financial constraints to purchase fruits and taste were important barriers. Fruits as snacks given between meals was perceived as helpful to satisfy children. The mean number of fruit trees in the homesteads was positively associated with fruit consumption. Field trials are needed to test how best fruit trees within home gardens and on farms can be included, acknowledging limited space and constraints of households with young children. This should be combined with nutrition education programs addressing perceptions about the social and nutrient value of fruits for children.

Intensive land use with inappropriate land management is directly degrading South Asian uplands. A field trial was carried out on the uplands of Western Thailand with a 25% slope to examine the effect of land use management on soil loss for sustainable crop production during two consecutive years (2010–2011). Various cropping systems with soil conservation practices were compared to maize sole cropping (MSC). Results revealed that soil loss was at a minimum in the intercropping system of maize-chili-hedgerows with minimum tillage and fertilization that was 50% to 61% and 60% to 81% less than MSC and the bare soil plot during both years, respectively. Yield advantage was at its maximum, as indicated by the highest land equivalent ratios of 1.28 and 1.21 during 2010 and 2011, respectively, in maize-chili-hedgerows-intercropping with minimum tillage and fertilization. The highest economic returns (5925 and 1058 euros ha−1 during 2010 and 2011, respectively) were also obtained from maize-chili-hedgerows-intercropping with minimum tillage and fertilization. Chili fresh fruit yield was maximum in the chili alone plot during both years due to the greater area under cultivation compared with intercropping. Maize-chili-hedgerows with minimum tillage and fertilization reduced soil loss and increased land productivity and net returns, indicating its promising features for sustainable crop production on uplands.

We present the early installment of the third Gaia data release, Gaia EDR3, consisting of astrometry and photometry for 1.8 billion sources brighter than magnitude 21, complemented with the list of radial velocities from Gaia DR2. Gaia EDR3 contains celestial positions and the apparent brightness in G for approximately 1.8 billion sources. For 1.5 billion of those sources, parallaxes, proper motions, and the (G_BP-G_RP) colour are also available. The passbands for G, G_BP, and G_RP are provided as part of the release. For ease of use, the 7 million radial velocities from Gaia DR2 are included in this release, after the removal of a small number of spurious values. New radial velocities will appear as part of Gaia DR3. Finally, Gaia EDR3 represents an updated materialisation of the celestial reference frame (CRF) in the optical, the Gaia-CRF3, which is based solely on extragalactic sources. The creation of the source list for Gaia EDR3 includes enhancements that make it more robust with respect to high proper motion stars, and the disturbing effects of spurious and partially resolved sources. The source list is largely the same as that for Gaia DR2, but it does feature new sources and there are some notable changes. The source list will not change for Gaia DR3. Gaia EDR3 represents a significant advance over Gaia DR2, with parallax precisions increased by 30 percent, proper motion precisions increased by a factor of 2, and the systematic errors in the astrometry suppressed by 30--40 percent for the parallaxes and by a factor ~2.5 for the proper motions. The photometry also features increased precision, but above all much better homogeneity across colour, magnitude, and celestial position. A single passband for G, G_BP, and G_RP is valid over the entire magnitude and colour range, with no systematics above the 1 percent level.

[Context] Gaia Early Data Release 3 (Gaia EDR3) contains results for 1.812 billion sources in the magnitude range G = 3-21 based on observations collected by the European Space Agency Gaia satellite during the first 34 months of its operational phase. [Aims] We describe the input data, the models, and the processing used for the astrometric content of Gaia EDR3, as well as the validation of these results performed within the astrometry task. [Methods] The processing broadly followed the same procedures as for Gaia DR2, but with significant improvements to the modelling of observations. For the first time in the Gaia data processing, colour-dependent calibrations of the line- and point-spread functions have been used for sources with well-determined colours from DR2. In the astrometric processing these sources obtained five-parameter solutions, whereas other sources were processed using a special calibration that allowed a pseudocolour to be estimated as the sixth astrometric parameter. Compared with DR2, the astrometric calibration models have been extended, and the spin-related distortion model includes a self-consistent determination of basic-angle variations, improving the global parallax zero point. [Results] Gaia EDR3 gives full astrometric data (positions at epoch J2016.0, parallaxes, and proper motions) for 1.468 billion sources (585 millionwith five-parameter solutions, 882 million with six parameters), and mean positions at J2016.0 for an additional 344 million.Solutions with five parameters are generally more accurate than six-parameter solutions, and are available for 93% of the sources brighter than the 17th magnitude. The median uncertainty in parallax and annual proper motion is 0.02-0.03 mas at magnitude G = 9-14, and around 0.5 mas at G = 20. Extensive characterisation of the statistical properties of the solutions is provided, including the estimated angular power spectrum of parallax bias from the quasars., This work was financially supported by the European Space Agency (ESA) in the framework of the Gaia project; the German Aerospace Agency (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V., DLR) through grants 50QG0501, 50QG0601, 50QG0901, 50QG1401 and 50QG1402; the Spanish Ministry of Economy (MINECO/FEDER, UE) through grants ESP2016-80079-C2-1-R, RTI2018-095076-B-C21 and the Institute of Cosmos Sciences University of Barcelona (ICCUB, Unidad de Excelencia “María de Maeztu”) through grants MDM-2014-0369 and CEX2019-000918-M; the Swedish National Space Agency (SNSA/Rymdstyrelsen); and the United Kingdom Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC), the United Kingdom Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), and the United Kingdom Space Agency (UKSA) through the following grants to the University of Bristol, the University of Cambridge, the University of Edinburgh, the University of Leicester, the Mullard Space Sciences Laboratory of University College London, and the United Kingdom Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL): PP/D006511/1, PP/D006546/1, PP/D006570/1, ST/I000852/1, ST/J005045/1, ST/K00056X/1, ST/K000209/1, ST/K000756/1, ST/L006561/1, ST/N000595/1, ST/N000641/1, ST/N000978/1, ST/N001117/1, ST/S000089/1, ST/S000976/1, ST/S001123/1, ST/S001948/1, ST/S002103/1, and ST/V000969/1.

Arid and semi-arid regions are characterized by high temperature and low rainfall, leading to degraded agricultural soils of alkaline calcareous nature with low organic matter contents. Less availability of indigenous nutrients and efficacy of applied fertilizers are the major issues of crop production in these soils. Biochar application, in combination with plant growth promoting rhizobacteria with the ability to solubilize nutrients, can be an effective strategy for improving soil health and nutrient availability to crops under these conditions. Experiments were planned to evaluate the impact of biochar obtained from different sources in combination with acid-producing, nutrient-solubilizing Bacillus sp. ZM20 on soil biological properties and growth of maize (Zea mays L.) crops under natural conditions. Various biochar treatments, viz. wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) straw biochar, Egyptian acacia (Vachellia nilotica L.) biochar, and farm-yard manure biochar with and without Bacillus sp. ZM20, were used along with control. Soil used for pot and field trials was sandy loam in texture with poor water holding capacity and deficient in nutrients. Results of the pot trial showed that fresh and dry biomass, 1000 grain weight, and grain yield was significantly improved by application of biochar of different sources with and without Bacillus sp. ZM20. Application of biochar along with Bacillus sp. ZM20 also improved soil biological properties, i.e., soil organic matter, microbial biomass carbon, ammonium, and nitrate nitrogen. It was also observed that a combined application of biochar with Bacillus sp. ZM20 was more effective than a separate application of biochar. The results of wheat straw biochar along with Bacillus sp. ZM20 were better as compared to farm-yard manure biochar and Egyptian acacia biochar. Maximum increase (25.77%) in grain yield was observed in the treatment where wheat straw biochar (0.2%) was applied in combination with Bacillus sp. ZM20. In conclusion, combined application of wheat straw biochar (0.2%) inoculated with Bacillus sp. ZM20 was the most effective treatment in improving the biological soil properties, plant growth, yield, and quality of maize crop as compared to all other treatments.

Composite agricultural systems with permanent maize cultivation in the uplands and irrigated rice in the valleys are very common in mountainous Southeast Asia. The soil loss and fertility decline of the upland fields is well documented, but little is known about reallocation of these sediments within the landscape. In this study, a turbidity-based linear mixed model was used to quantify sediment inputs, from surface reservoir irrigation water and from direct overland flow, into a paddy area of 13 hectares. Simultaneously, the sediment load exported from the rice fields was determined. Mid-infrared spectroscopy was applied to analyze sediment particle size. Our results showed that per year, 64 Mg ha−1 of sediments were imported into paddy fields, of which around 75 % were delivered by irrigation water and the remainder by direct overland flow during rainfall events. Overland flow contributed one third of the received sandy fraction, while irrigated sediments were predominantly silty. Overall, rice fields were a net sink for sediments, trapping 28 Mg ha−1 a−1 or almost half of total sediment inputs. As paddy outflow consisted almost exclusively of silt- and clay-sized material, 24 Mg ha−1 a−1 of the trapped amount of sediment was estimated to be sandy. Under continued intensive upland maize cultivation, such a sustained input of coarse material could jeopardize paddy soil fertility, puddling capacity and ultimately also food security of the inhabitants of these mountainous areas. Preventing direct overland flow from entering the paddy fields, however, could reduce sand inputs by up to 34 %.

Load estimates are more informative than constituent concentrations alone, as they allow quantification of on- and off-site impacts of environmental processes concerning pollutants, nutrients and sediment, such as soil fertility loss, reservoir sedimentation and irrigation channel siltation. While statistical models used to predict constituent concentrations have been developed considerably over the last few years, measures of uncertainty on constituent loads are rarely reported. Loads are the product of two predictions, constituent concentration and discharge, integrated over a time period, which does not make it straightforward to produce a standard error or a confidence interval. In this paper, a linear mixed model is used to estimate sediment concentrations. A bootstrap method is then developed that accounts for the uncertainty in the concentration and discharge predictions, allowing temporal correlation in the constituent data, and can be used when data transformations are required. The method was tested for a small watershed in Northwest Vietnam for the period 2010–2011. The results showed that confidence intervals were asymmetric, with the highest uncertainty in the upper limit, and that a load of 6262 Mg year−1 had a 95 % confidence interval of (4331, 12 267) in 2010 and a load of 5543 Mg an interval of (3593, 8975) in 2011. Additionally, the approach demonstrated that direct estimates from the data were biased downwards compared to bootstrap median estimates. These results imply that constituent loads predicted from regression-type water quality models could frequently be underestimating sediment yields and their environmental impact.

BackgroundLow phosphorus availability limits crop production in alkaline calcareous soils in semi-arid regions including Pakistan. Phosphate solubilizing bacteria may improve crop growth on alkaline calcareous soils due to their ability to enhance P availability.MethodsTwenty rhizobacterial isolates (Q1–Q20) were isolated from rhizosphere of cotton and characterized for their growth promoting attributesin vitro. The selected phosphate solubilizing isolates were further screened for their ability to improve cotton growth under axenic conditions (jar trial). The phosphorus solubilization capacities of selected strains were quantified and these strains were identified through 16S rDNA sequencing.ResultsIsolates Q2, Q3, Q6, Q7, Q8, Q13 and Q14 were able to solubilize phosphate from insoluble sources. Most of these isolates also possessed other traits including catalase activity and ammonia production. The growth promotion assay showed that Q3 was significantly better than most of the other isolates followed by Q6. Maximum root colonization (4.34 × 106cfu g−1) was observed in case of isolate Q6 followed by Q3. The phosphorus solubilization capacities of these strains were quantified, showing a maximum phosphorus solubilization by Q3 (optical density 2.605 ± 0.06) followed by the Q6 strain. The strain Q3 was identified asBacillus subtilis(accession #KX788864) and Q6 asPaenibacillussp. (accession #KX788865) through 16S rDNA sequencing.DiscussionThe bacterial isolates varied in their abilities for different growth promoting traits. The selected PGPRBacillus subtilisstrain Q3 andPaenibacillussp. strain Q6 have multifarious growth promoting traits including ability to grow at higher EC and pH levels, and phosphorus solubilizing ability. These strains can efficiently colonize cotton roots under salt affected soils and help plants in phosphorus nutrition. It is concluded that both strains are potential candidates for promoting cotton growth under alkaline conditions, however further investigation is required to determine their potential for field application.

Gaia Data Release 2 (Gaia DR2) contains results for 1693 million sources in the magnitude range 3 to 21 based on observations collected by the European Space Agency Gaia satellite during the first 22 months of its operational phase. We describe the input data, models, and processing used for the astrometric content of Gaia DR2, and the validation of these results performed within the astrometry task. Some 320 billion centroid positions from the pre-processed astrometric CCD observations were used to estimate the five astrometric parameters (positions, parallaxes, and proper motions) for 1332 million sources, and approximate positions at the reference epoch J2015.5 for an additional 361 million mostly faint sources. Special validation solutions were used to characterise the random and systematic errors in parallax and proper motion. For the sources with five-parameter astrometric solutions, the median uncertainty in parallax and position at the reference epoch J2015.5 is about 0.04 mas for bright (G, 25 pages, 29 figures. Special A&A issue on Gaia Data Release 2

Utilizing QCD sum rules, we extract the temperature dependences of the spectral properties of the pseudo-scalar and scalar D mesons regarded as chiral partners. Besides the masses also decay constants are analyzed as the D meson yields in heavy-ion collisions may be sensitive to their altered decay properties in an ambient strongly interacting medium. Our findings are ($i$) a decreasing scalar D meson mass for growing temperatures while its pseudo-scalar partner meson seems hardly affected, which is in qualitative agreement with hadronic model calculations; ($ii$) inferring an equally weak temperature dependence of the pseudo-scalar D meson decay properties the decreasing residua and decay constants of the scalar particle point towards partial chiral restoration. As a bonus of our analysis in the pseudo-scalar sector we determine the pseudo-scalar decay constant at vanishing temperature. Due to the connection to particular leptonic branching fractions this decay constant is of great interest allowing for the determination of the off-diagonal CKM matrix element $|V_{cd}|$ at zero temperature., Comment: 25 pages, 11 figures

Exploiting an interplay of the Bethe-Salpeter equation enabling us to regard mesons as bound states of quark and antiquark and the Dyson-Schwinger equation controlling the dressed quark propagator, we amend existing studies of quarkonia by a comprehensive description of open-flavour mesons composed of all conceivable combinations of quark flavour. Employing throughout a fixed set of model parameters, we predict some basic characteristics of these mesons, i.e., their masses, leptonic decay constants and corresponding in-hadron condensates entering in a generalized formulation of the Gell-Mann-Oakes-Renner relation., Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures, contributed to "QCD@Work 2018 - International Workshop on Quantum Chromodynamics: Theory and Experiment" (25 - 28 June 2018, Matera, Italy)

Open-flavour meson studies are the necessary completion to any comprehensive investigation of quarkonia. We extend recent studies of quarkonia in the Dyson-Schwinger-Bethe-Salpeter-equation approach to explore their results for all possible flavour combinations. Within the inherent limitations of the setup, we present the most comprehensive results for meson masses and leptonic decay constants currently available and put them in perspective with respect to experiment and other approaches., 38 pages, 26 figures, 2 tables, revised according to reviewer comments

QCD sum rules serve as tools to investigate changing hadronic properties in a hot and/or dense nuclear medium. The role of chiral symmetry breaking and restoration effects in a medium can be addressed also in the heavy-light meson sector. Thus, we consider Weinberg sum rules which refer to chiral partner mesons composed of a light and a heavy quark., Comment: Contribution to the SQM15 conference, Dubna, Russia. To appear in the proceedings

Since the dawn of mankind people explore the cornucopia of the plant kingdom to obtain food, feed, fiber, and fuel. Worldwide, the total number of higher plants is estimated to be 270,000 species. About 43% of them are crops, cultivated plants, and their wild relatives, nowadays being classified as plant genetic resources for food and agriculture. Throughout the history only 7000 species representing almost 2.5% of the total were cultivated by mankind in the one or other way [1].

The planned experiments at FAIR enable the study of medium modifications of $D$ and $B$ mesons in (dense) nuclear matter. Evaluating QCD sum rules as a theoretical prerequisite for such investigations encounters heavy-light four-quark condensates. We utilize an extended heavy-quark expansion to cope with the condensation of heavy quarks., Contribution to the MESON2014 conference, Krak\'ow, Poland. To appear in the proceedings

In a covariant Bethe-Salpeter-equation approach and with a rainbow-ladder truncated model of QCD, we investigate the use of an effective interaction with the goal of reproducing QCD phenomenology. We extend previous studies and present results for ground and excited meson states in the bottomonium and charmonium systems, where the results are surprisingly good for most states. In addition, we formulate a critical outlook on states with exotic quantum numbers as well as the light-quark domain., 9 pages, 7 figures, re-revised version incorporating reviewer comments

In view of the mass spectrum of heavy mesons in vacuum the analytical properties of the solutions of the truncated Dyson-Schwinger equatio for the quark propagator within the rainbow approximation are analysed in some detail. In Euclidean space, the quark propagator is not an analytical function possessing, in general, an infinite number of singularities (poles) which hamper to solve the Bethe-Salpeter equation. However, for light mesons (with masses M_{q\bar q} = 1 GeV, the poles of propagators of u,d and s quarks fall within the integration domain of the Bethe-Salpeter equation. Nevertheless, it is established that for meson masses up to M_{q\bar q}~=3 GeV only the first, mutually complex conjugated, poles contribute to the solution. We argue that, by knowing the position of the poles and their residues, a reliable parametrisation of the quark propagators can be found and used in numerical procedures of solving the Bethe-Salpeter equation. Our analysis is directly related to the future physics programme at FAIR with respect to open charm degrees of freedom., 24 pages, 15 eps-figures

This chapter briefly summarizes the causes and consequences of soil erosion, before presenting examples of effective soil conservation technologies (SCT), such as contour-based cropping, cover crops, mulching and geo-textiles, and based on case studies from northern Thailand and northern Vietnam. Depending on site conditions, a soil erosion reduction of 30–60 % in the first year after establishment and up to 72–98 % by the third year was observed in these studies when compared to local farmers’ practices. In north-east Thailand, maize grain yields increased from 1.5 and 3.2 Mg ha−1, to 3.8 and 5.5 Mg ha−1 under minimum tillage und relay cropping. The study in north-western Vietnam revealed that although the majority of farmers were aware of soil erosion mitigation methods, adoption rates of the promoted soil conservation technologies remained low. These technologies compete for land and labor resources with the main cropping activities, in particular highly profitable commercial maize cultivation, incurring high opportunity costs. Based on these case studies, we conclude that innovative approaches to soil conservation require a change in land use systems, not just the adoption of conventional SCT in the existing systems. The integration of plant and animal production in the uplands should be promoted that allows farmers to benefit from urban-based economic growth on the one hand, such as through the exploitation of niche markets for high-value meat, while being environmentally sustainable on the other. The improved integration of animal husbandry with plant production systems could make feed producing soil conservation options more attractive to farmers, which could be further stimulated by introducing payment for environmental services (PES) schemes.

This article explores how the causes and impacts of a flood event as perceived by local people shape immediate responses and future mitigation efforts in mountainous northwest Vietnam. Local flood perception is contrasted with scientific perspectives to determine whether a singular flood event will trigger adjustments in mitigation strategies in an otherwise rarely flood-affected area. We present findings from interdisciplinary research drawing on both socioeconomic and biophysical data. Evidence suggests that individual farmers’ willingness to engage in flood mitigation is curbed by the common perception that flooding is caused by the interplay of a bundle of external factors, with climatic factors and water management failures being the most prominent ones. Most farmers did not link the severity of flooding to existing land use systems, thus underlining the lack of a sense of personal responsibility among farmers for flood mitigation measures. We conclude that local governments cannot depend on there being a sufficient degree of intrinsic motivation among farmers to make them implement soil conservation techniques to mitigate future flooding. Policy makers will need to design measures to raise farmers’ awareness of the complex interplay between land use and hydrology and to enhance collective action in soil conservation by providing appropriate incentives and implementing coherent long-term strategies.

Based on QCD sum rules we explore the consequences of a scenario for the ρ meson, where the chiral symmetry breaking condensates are set to zero whereas the chirally symmetric condensates remain at their vacuum values. This clean-cut scenario causes a lowering of the ρ spectral moment by about 120 MeV. The complementarity of mass shift and broadening is discussed. A simple parametrization of the ρ spectral function leads to a width of about 280 MeV if no shift of the peak position is assumed.

Recently, in Hilger et al. (2011) [1] QCD sum rules for chiral partners in the open-charm meson sector have been presented at nonzero baryon net density or temperature up to and including mass dimension 5. Referring to this, details concerning the cancelation of infrared divergences are presented and important technical and conceptional ingredients for an incorporation of four-quark condensates beyond factorization and of other mass dimension 6 condensates are collected., Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, conference proceeding

QCD sum rules for chiral partners in the open-charm meson sector are presented at nonzero baryon net density or temperature. We focus on the differences between pseudo-scalar and scalar as well as vector and axial-vector D mesons and derive the corresponding Weinberg type sum rules. This allows for the identification of such QCD condensates which drive the non-degeneracy of chiral partners in lowest order of the strong coupling alpha_s and which therefore may serve as "order parameters" for chiral restoration (or elements thereof)., 24 pages, 4 figures

Employing QCD sum rules the in-medium modifications of scalar charm mesons in a cold nuclear matter environment are estimated. The mass splitting of D*-D*-bar is quantified., Talk given at QCD 10, Montpelier, France, 27.06.-05.07.2010

Open charm mesons (pseudo-scalar and scalar as well as axial-vector and vector) propagating or resting in nuclear matter display an enhanced sensitivity to the chiral condensate. This offers new prospects to seek for signals of chiral restoration, in particular in p-A and p-bar-A reactions as envisaged in first-round experiments by the CBM and PANDA collaborations at FAIR. Weinberg type sum rules for charming chiral partners are presented, and the distinct in-medium modifications of open-charm mesons are discussed. We also address the gluon condensates near Tc and their impact on QCD sum rules., 6 pages, 7 figures, conference proceedings

The mass spectrum of heavy pseudoscalar mesons, described as quark-antiquark bound systems, is considered within the Bethe-Salpeter formalism with momentum-dependent masses of the constituents. This dependence is found by solving the Schwinger-Dyson equation for quark propagators in rainbow-ladder approximation. Such an approximation is known to provide both a fast convergence of numerical methods and accurate results for lightest mesons. However, as the meson mass increases, the method becomes less stable and special attention must be devoted to details of numerical means of solving the corresponding equations. We focus on the pseudoscalar sector and show that our numerical scheme describes fairly accurately the $\pi$, $K$, $D$, $D_s$ and $\eta_c$ ground states. Excited states are considered as well. Our calculations are directly related to the future physics programme at FAIR., Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures; Based on materials of the contribution "Relativistic Description of Two- and Three-Body Systems in Nuclear Physics", ECT*, October 19-23, 2009

The QCD sum rule approach to the in-medium behavior of hadrons is discussed for omega meson, nucleon and D meson. Emphasis is devoted to the impact of four-quark condensates and to order parameters of spontaneous symmetry breaking., Invited talk at International School of Nuclear Physics, 29th Course, Quarks in Hadrons and Nuclei, Erice, Sicily, 16 - 24 Sep 2007

The in-medium behavior of the nucleon spectral density including self-energies is revisited within the framework of QCD sum rules. Special emphasis is given to the density dependence of four-quark condensates. A complete catalog of four-quark condensates is presented and relations among them are derived. Generic differences of such four-quark condensates occurring in QCD sum rules for light baryons and light vector mesons are discussed., Version accepted for publication: corrected typos, minor changes based on referee comments included, reference added

Spectral properties of hadrons in nuclear matter are treated in the framework of QCD sum rules. The influence of the ambient strongly interacting medium is encoded in various condensates. Especially, the structure of different four-quark condensates and their density dependencies in light quark systems are exemplified for the omega meson and the nucleon., Contribution to Quark Confinement and the Hadron Spectrum VII, 02.-07.09.2006, Ponta Delgada, Portugal

Purpose: The aim of this study is the development of a three-dimensional multicellular spheroid cell culture model for the longitudinal comparative and large-scale screening of cancer cell proliferation with noninvasive molecular imaging techniques under controlled and quantifiable conditions. Procedures: The human glioblastoma cell line Gli36 Delta EGFR was genetically modified to constitutively express the fluorescence protein mCherry, and additionally labeled with iron oxide nanoparticles for high-field MRI detection. The proliferation of aggregates was longitudinally monitored with fluorescence imaging and correlated with aggregate size by light microscopy, while MRI measurements served localization in 3D space. Irradiation with gamma-rays was used to detect proliferational response. Results: Cell proliferation in the stationary three-dimensonal model can be observed over days with high accuracy. A linear relationship of fluorescence intensity with cell aggregate size was found, allowing absolute quantitation of cells in a wide range of cell amounts. Glioblastoma cells showed pronounced suppression of proliferation for several days following high-dose gamma-irradiation. Conclusions: Through the combination of two-dimensional optical imaging and 3D MRI, the position of individual cell aggregates and their corresponding light emission can be detected. This allows an exact quantification of cell proliferation, with a focus on very small cell amounts (below 100 cells) using high resolution noninvasive techniques as a well-controlled basis for further cell transplantation studies.

Contour hedgerow intercropping systems have been proposed to reduce run-off and control soil erosion on steep agricultural land. However, competition for water and nutrients between crops and associated hedgerows may reduce the overall performance of these systems. ERT measurements conducted in Thailand showed that the soils of our experimental plots were very heterogeneous both along the slope as with depth. This observation highlighted some constraints of the ERT method for soil moisture monitoring in the field. Nevertheless, the data indeed revealed contrasting water depletion patterns under monocropping and intercropping systems, which could also be related to plant parameters.