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Traits are inherent properties of organisms, but how are they defined for organismal networks such as mycorrhizal symbioses? Mycorrhizal symbioses are complex and diverse belowground symbioses between plants and fungi that have proved challenging to fit into a unified and coherent trait framework. We propose an inclusive mycorrhizal trait framework that classifies traits as morphological, physiological, and phenological features that have functional implications for the symbiosis. We further classify mycorrhizal traits by location – plant, fungus, or the symbiosis – which highlights new questions in trait-based mycorrhizal ecology designed to charge and challenge the scientific community. This new framework is an opportunity for researchers to interrogate their data to identify novel insights and gaps in our understanding of mycorrhizal symbioses. Applying trait-based approaches to ecological research on mycorrhizal symbioses broadens ecological inferences, but there is no single unified framework to unite disparate language, terminology, and methods across the many multidisciplinary scientists studying mycorrhizas. We propose an inclusive framework for trait-based mycorrhizal ecology aimed to stimulate scientists around the world to collect and use more mycorrhizal trait data, particularly in understudied areas. This would widen our understanding regarding the ecological role of mycorrhizal symbioses at individual, species, community, and ecosystem scales. Analyzing how mycorrhizal symbioses fit within existing trait definitions highlights significant theoretical and empirical knowledge gaps, novel questions, and new research directions to improve our understanding of trait-based mycorrhizal ecology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this report is to develop a consensus for Canadian national guidelines specific to a tele-medicine approach to screening for diabetic retinopathy (DR) using evidence-based and clinical data. Canadian Tele-Screening Grading Scales for DR and diabetic macular edema (DME) were created primarily based on severity grading scales outlined by the International Clinical Diabetic Retinopathy Disease Severity Scale (ICDR) and the Scottish DR Grading Scheme 2007. Other grading scales used in international screening programs and the clinical expertise of the Canadian Retina Research Network members and retina specialists nationwide were also used in the creation of the guidelines. National Tele-Screening Guidelines for DR and DME with and without optical coherence tomography (OCT) images are proposed. These outline a diagnosis and management algorithm for patients presenting with different stages of DR and/or DME. General guidelines detailing the requirements for imaged retina fields, image quality, quality control, and follow-up care and the role of visual acuity, pupil dilation, OCT, ultra-wide-field imaging, and artificial intelligence are discussed. Tele-retina screening can help to address the need for timely and effective screening for DR, whose prevalence continues to rise. A standardized and evidence-based national approach to DR tele-screening has been proposed, based on DR/DME grading using two 45° image fields or a single widefield or ultra-wide-field image, preferable use of OCT imaging, and a focus on local quality control measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mycorrhizas face unique anthropogenic stressors in urban environments, but the factors influencing their abundance in cities remains comparatively unstudied. Using green roofs as a model system, we built a conceptual model outlining the biotic and abiotic factors influencing arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal abundance in cities. We then tested this model and its multiple causal hypotheses with structural equation modeling using plant, soil, and AM fungal abundance measurements from 60 plots across 12 green roofs in Chicago, USA. The best direct predictor of AM fungal abundance was not plant cover, plant richness, or soil nutrients, but instead green roof age, suggesting temporal accumulation of AM fungal propagules in degraded urban environments. Soil P had the strongest total effect on AM fungal abundance both directly and via indirect promotion of plant cover. This study highlights knowledge gaps and challenges to studying the urban ecology of AM fungi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Highlights • Nd-Dy-Fe-Co-B magnetic nanoparticles was synthesized by mechanochemical method. • Dy was homogeneously distributed in the synthesized Nd-Dy-Fe-Co-B nanoparticles. • H c increased from 8.8–17.5 kOe when x increases from 0–0.5 in (Nd 1-x Dy x) 2 (Fe,Co) 14 B NPs. • Coercivity of these nanoparticles were dominated by reversed domain nucleation. Abstract (Nd 1-x Dy x) 2 (Fe,Co) 14 B magnetic nanoparticles, in a range of Dy content from 0 to 0.6, were synthesized by a mechanochemical process. The influence of Dy substitution on the crystal structure and magnetic properties were studied. With increasing Dy content, the coercivity of (Nd 1-x Dy x) 2 (Fe,Co) 14 B particles first doubled from 8.8 kOe (x = 0) to a high value of 17.8 kOe (x = 0.5), further increase of Dy content led to a slightly lower coercivity of 17.5 kOe (x = 0.6). (Nd 0.8 Dy 0.2) 2 (Fe,Co) 14 B particles exhibited good thermal stability, with a thermal coefficient of remanence (α) of -0.053% and thermal coefficient of coercivity (β) of -0.348%. Reduced spin-reorientation temperatures (T SR) of 105 K – 115 K were observed for (Nd 1-x Dy x) 2 (Fe,Co) 14 B, for x in the range of 0 to 0.2, making these compositions more attractive for cryogenic applications. Detailed analysis of the temperature dependent magnetic properties revealed that coercivity was controlled by nucleation of reversed magnetic domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Thermal management technology based on the magnetocaloric effect offers several advantages over conventional gas compression cooling. The efficiency of magnetic cooling systems can be much higher than conventional gas based cooling technologies. Additionally, ozone layer depleting chemicals are not used and there is reduced noise and vibrations. Iron and manganese based magnetocaloric materials (MCM) are promising due to the challenges surrounding the use of conventional rare earth based MCM. We review the recent progress in the development of iron and manganese based MCM. The magnetic phase transitions, processing techniques, performance, as well as applications of these materials are discussed. Critical analysis to determine the critical exponents and phase transition behavior of these MCM, using modified Arrot plot, critical isotherm plots, the Kouvel-Fisher method, Landau theory and the Bean-Rodbell model, is also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Varying the Al content, strongly influences the microstructure, magnetic and microhardness of additively manufactured Al x (CoFeNi) (x = 0, 10, 30) complex concentrated alloys (CCA). Compared to the single FCC phase of CoFeNi, the hierarchical FCC/L1 2 +BCC/B2 heterostructure of heat treated Al 10 (CoFeNi) CCA displayed substantially improved saturation magnetization, Curie temperature and microhardness. However, there was no significant change in the properties of heat treated CoFeNi and Al 30 (CoFeNi) CCA. These findings can be rationalized via thermodynamic modelling of the phase stability. We have demonstrated the feasibility of exploiting additive manufacturing for rapidly screening and developing novel high-performance alloys for next generation rotating electrical machines. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neck dissection is routine for the management of cancers of the head and neck. Knowledge of anatomical variants in the carotid artery system at various levels of dissection should prevent inadvertent injury to major blood vessels, which can cause massive bleeding. We report a rare 180° sharp bend in the cervical course of the internal carotid artery at level II, which we found during a modified neck dissection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The distribution of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal abundance and diversity across multiple scales, and the factors that drive spatial patterns, remains largely unknown in arid ecosystems. We examined multiple measures of AM fungal abundance, as well as spore diversity and community composition, at microsite (1 m 2 ), local (1 ha), and regional (5000 ha) scales in semiarid shrublands. At the microsite scale, hyphae, spores, and glomalin-related soil protein were more abundant underneath shrub canopies, but unvegetated shrub interspaces had similar amounts of viable propagules, spore diversity, and spore community composition compared to canopies. Significant local and regional scale variation in abundance, diversity, and community composition were correlated with variation in soil organic matter, climate, and soil phosphorus concentration. We observed high alpha, beta, and gamma spore diversity and significant spatial autocorrelation of communities. This study demonstrates how multiple indicators of Glomeromycotan abundance and diversity vary differentially in natural systems and how soil and climate factors are important drivers of spatial patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of mechanical alloying (MA) and spark plasma sintering (SPS) processing parameters on the microstructure, magnetic and mechanical properties of Finemet (Fe 73.5 Cu 1 Nb 3 Si 13.5 B 9) type alloys was investigated. Finemet alloy powder was obtained via mechanical alloying of elemental powders for 30 h, 60 h, 90 h, and 120 h with ball to powder ratio (BPR) of 10:1 and 15:1. The milled powders were consolidated using the SPS process. The XRD patterns confirm the presence of the α-Fe 3 Si phase in all Finemet alloys, also broadening of the (110) peak of α-Fe 3 Si was observed with increasing milling time. The microhardness of Finemet alloys increases with increase in milling time primarily due to a decrease in grain size. All samples show good saturation magnetization (M s), 120h sample exhibiting the highest M s of 166 emu/g, however coercivity increases with increasing milling time. Additionally, α-Fe 3 Si crystal size decreases with increasing the BPR primarily due to higher impact energy. • Fe–Si–B–Cu–Nb/Finemet alloys processed via mechanical alloying followed by SPS. • Finemet alloy powder milled for 120 h Exhibited partial amorphous structure. • Microhardness of Finemet alloys increases with decreasing crystallite size. • Finemet alloy MA'd for 120hrs. Exhibited excellent soft magnetic behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Additive manufacturing (AM) is an attractive process to manufacture net shape, complex, engineering components with minimum waste; however, it has been largely applied to structural materials. AM of functional materials, such as magnetic materials, has received much less attention. Magnetic materials are of high and growing interest in an extremely wide range of applications, e.g., electronic devices, rotating electrical machines, electric vehicles, wind turbines, magnetic cooling, electromagnetic shielding microphones, mobiles, laptops, etc. The processing of functional materials by AM can result in novel magnetic components with improved performance and lower processing cost, motivating the present review on AM of magnetic materials. We review commonly used AM techniques, their working principles, and applications to magnetic materials. We discuss the use of the laser engineering net shaping (LENS) process to produce soft and hard magnets. This technique can also be readily employed to process compositionally graded structures for accelerated materials development through combinatorial/high throughput investigations. Such graded structures can exhibit a wide range of functional and structural properties. The structural and magnetic properties of AM processed Fe-Si, Ni-Fe, Fe-Co, soft magnetic composites, soft magnetic oxides, magnetic shape memory alloys, magnetocaloric alloys as well as high entropy alloys are described. AM of hard magnetic materials, including Alnico, Sm-Co, Nd-Fe-B and Ce-Co alloys is elucidated. The current and future trends in this area are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iron-based soft magnetic alloys (FeSiB, FeSiBNb, FeSiBCu, and FeSiBNbCu (Finemet)) have been fabricated via mechanical alloying followed by spark plasma sintering (SPS) process. FeSiB alloy powder was obtained by high energy ball milling of an elemental blend Fe, Si, and B powders. The effect of milling time on crystallite size and phase transformation was studied. Additionally, FeSiBCu, FeSiBNb, and FeSiBCuNb alloy powders were milled to study the effect of Cu and Nb on phase transformation, mechanical, and magnetic behavior. The mechanically alloyed powders were sintered via SPS process to achieve full densification. The microhardness and magnetic permeability of sintered FeSiB alloys were found to be increased monotonically with milling time primarily due to the smaller crystallite size and more uniform microstructure. Interestingly, the alloying of Cu or (and) Nb to FeSiB resulted in higher saturation magnetization and lower coercivity mainly due to large volume fraction of α-Fe 3 Si nanocrystals. Overall, these alloys exhibit reasonably good soft magnetic behavior along with excellent microhardness. Mechanical alloying followed by spark plasma sintering opens up a new avenue of processing amorphous-nanocrystalline alloys into bulk shape with good mechanical and magnetic properties. • Iron-based soft magnetic alloys processed by mechanical alloying followed by SPS. • Microhardness of alloys increases with increasing milling time. • Crystallite size of iron-based alloys decreases with increasing milling time. • All alloys exhibited good saturation magnetization and lower coercivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soft magnetic alloys produced by additive manufacturing (AM) typically exhibit inferior magnetic properties compared to conventionally processed counterparts. The present study shows that the saturation magnetization and coercivity of the equiatomic ternary CoFeNi complex concentrated alloy (CCA), processed using the laser engineered net shaping (LENS) additive manufacturing (AM) technique, is identical to that of conventionally cast and thermo-mechanically processed samples. Further, the LENS processed alloy exhibits higher yield strength and marginally lower ductility compared to conventionally processed alloys. LENS processed CoFeNi exhibited an excellent combination of soft magnetic and mechanical properties, relevant, e.g., to high speed electrical machines. Image, graphical abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The soft magnetic behavior of laser directed energy deposited CoCr x FeNi (x = 0 - 24 at.% Cr) alloys has been investigated as a function of chromium content. The saturation magnetization of these CoCr x FeNi alloys monotonically decreased with increasing concentration of Cr, and exhibited paramagnetic behavior at room temperature for equiatomic CoCrFeNi alloy composition. Similarly, the Curie temperature (T c) of the ferromagnetic CoFeNi alloy linearly decreased with Cr content, while the paramagnetic equiatomic alloy indicated a ferromagnetic transition temperature of 94 K. Interestingly, all the as-deposited alloys exhibited coercivity values less than 2 Oe irrespective of the Cr content. The results indicate that the magnetic behavior of the ferromagnetic CoFeNi alloy can be systematically tuned with addition of antiferromagnetic Cr, and the additive manufacturing route was successful in rapid processing alloys of any desired composition, in a high throughput manner, with negligible chemical variation. These findings are promising for the fabrication of components for applications demanding gradient magnetic coatings and alloys. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is considerable interest in magnetic materials which also possess good mechanical properties. Hence, the effect of Ti/Al ratio on the microstructure, mechanical and magnetic properties of (FeCoNi) 90 Ti 10- x Al x complex concentrated alloys (CCA) was investigated. An increase in the Ti/Al ratio in these CCA enhanced chemical ordering and substantially improved selected mechanical and magnetic properties. As the Ti/Al ratio changed from 10 to 0, the ductility increased from 7.5 to close to 50 %, the saturation magnetization (M s) increased from 115.2 to 136.7 emu/g, and the coercivity (H c) decreased from 17.9 to 4.2 Oe. The Fe 30 Co 30 Ni 30 Ti 5 Al 5 alloy exhibit higher UTS×EL value than available soft magnetic materials and has relatively higher M s and lower H c compared with other CCA. These results provide a methodology to modulate the chemical order in the Fe-Co-Ni system by Al and Ti additions and synergistically tune the mechanical and magnetic properties for high performance rotating electrical machine applications. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Soil erosion and subsequent degradation has been a contributor to societal collapse in the past and is one of the major expressions of desertification in arid regions. The revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE) models soil lost to water erosion as a function of climate erosivity (the degree to which rainfall can result in erosion), topography, soil erodibility, and land use/management. The soil erodibility factor (K) is primarily based upon inherent soil properties (those which change slowly or not at all) such as soil texture and organic matter content, while the cover/management factor (C) is based on several parameters including biological soil crust (BSC) cover. We examined the effect of two more precise indicators of BSC development, chlorophyll a and exopolysaccharides (EPS), upon soil stability, which is closely inversely related to soil loss in an erosion event. To examine the relative influence of these elements of the C factor to the K factor, we conducted our investigation across eight strongly differing soils in the 0.8millionha Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. We found that within every soil group, chlorophyll a was a moderate to excellent predictor of soil stability (R 2 =0.21–0.75), and consistently better than EPS. Using a simple structural equation model, we explained over half of the variance in soil stability and determined that the direct effect of chlorophyll a was 3× more important than soil group in determining soil stability. Our results suggest that, holding the intensity of erosive forces constant, the acceleration or reduction of soil erosion in arid landscapes will primarily be an outcome of management practices. This is because the factor which is most influential to soil erosion, BSC development, is also among the most manageable, implying that water erosion in drylands has a solution. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Perinatal antidepressant exposure disrupts sociability and reduces preference for social novelty in mice. • Perinatal antidepressant-induced social deficits are exhibited by juvenile mice, and persist into young adulthood. • Reduced monoamine oxidase gene expression is found in the brains of mice exposed to antidepressant perinatally. Perinatal antidepressant drug exposure increases risk for autism spectrum disorder, yet the molecular and neurobehavioral effects of maternal antidepressant drug use on offspring remain poorly understood. In this study, we administered the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) fluoxetine non-invasively to female mice throughout gestation and early lactation, and then examined social interaction behaviors in offspring. In addition, we measured whole brain gene expression levels of monoamine oxidase A (MAOA), the primary metabolizing enzyme for serotonin. We found deficits in sociability and social novelty-seeking behavior in the juvenile offspring of SSRI-treated mice, and these behaviors persisted into young adulthood. Furthermore, we found decreased MAOA expression in the brains of offspring of SSRI-treated mice. Our findings suggest that exposure to antidepressants during the prenatal and early postnatal period may negatively affect social development. Moreover, reduced MAOA expression may play a role in the mechanistic pathway linking SSRI exposure and behavioral deficits symptomatic of autism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Highlights • Microwave processing used to synthesize Dy-Nd-Fe-Co-B magnetic particles. • Uniform distribution of Dy within the particle. • The coercivity increased significantly when Dy content increased. • Highest (BH) max of 12.6 MGOe obtained at x = 3 Dy content. • Thermal coefficients improved with increasing Dy content. • Nucleation of the reverse domains is the controlling coercive mechanism. Abstract Nd-Fe-B based magnets possess the largest energy product and are essential in numerous cutting-edge applications. We report the bottom up, energy efficient, cost effective microwave synthesis of Dy alloyed Nd 2 (Fe,Co) 14 B magnetic nanoparticles. The process included microwave combustion to synthesize Nd-Dy-Fe-Co-B mixed oxides, followed by the reduction of these oxides by CaH 2. The influence of Dy substitution on both room temperature and temperature dependent magnetic properties were investigated. For (Nd 12 Dy 3)-(Fe 67 Co 10)-B 8 alloy, (BH) max was found to be as high as 12.6 MGOe. The coercivity increased significantly, from 8 kOe to 14.5 kOe, as Dy content increased from x = 0 to x = 9. The thermal coefficient of remanence (α) and thermal coefficient of coercivity (β) were also determined, it was found that thermal stability increased for higher Dy content. Analysis of temperature dependent magnetic properties and comparison with modeling results showed that the dominant coercivity reversal mechanism of these particles was nucleation of reversed magnetic domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In north-western India, maize-based systems are being advocated as an alternative to rice-based systems to address the issues of resource degradation, particularly declining water tables and climate-change-induced variability in rainfall and temperature. Conservation agriculture (CA) based best-bet crop management practices may increase crop and water productivity, while conserving and sustaining natural resources. In a 6-year study of conservation agriculture experiment established in 2008, we have evaluated the performance of CA-based management practices [permanent bed (PB) and zero tillage (ZT)] and conventional till (CT) for four intensified irrigated maize systems [maize-wheat-mungbean (MWMb), maize-chickpea- Sesbania green manure (MCS), maize-mustard-mungbean (MMuMb) and maize-maize- Sesbania (MMS)]. Significant (P < 0.05) tillage and cropping system interactions were observed for system productivity. Agronomic performance (yield attributes) of all the crops (except wheat) grown in sequence with maize was maximum with ZT, however wheat outperformed on PB over ZT and CT. In the initial two years, higher system productivity (maize equivalent yield) was recorded in PB (8.2–8.5 Mg ha −1 ), while from third year onwards ZT registered maximum productivity (11.3–12.9 Mg ha −1 ).The system glucose equivalent yield increased by 0.6 Mg ha −1 under ZT and PB compared to CT. Economic profits from maize-based rotations were invariably higher either in MMuMb or MWMb systems, while in terms of glucose equivalent yield, MMS and MWMb rotation were highest. Synergistic effects of summer legumes (mungbean and Sesbania ) after winter legume/oilseed/cereal were observed on yield of individual crop vis-a - vis system productivity and irrigation water use. ZT and PB practices reduced the irrigation water requirement by 40–65 ha-mm and 60–98 ha-mm, respectively compared to CT system, resulted enhanced system water productivity by 19.4% equally under both ZT and PB. Net profit from the maize-based systems under ZT was up to 31% higher with 72$ ha −1 lower production cost compared to CT. Results from our study showed that adoption of CA based tillage practices in MMuMb and MWMb system for sustainable increase of crop and water productivity in north-western region of India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]