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Copyright of HNO is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The European rabbit plays a major role in seed dispersal in its native environment. We evaluated its ecological interactions with plants through the dispersal of seeds by endozoochory in two invaded arid ecotones of Argentina. We found 855 whole seeds in 1283 fecal pellets, belonging to one non-native (Sesuvium portulacastrum) and five native plants (Arjona sp., Fabiana denudata, Frankenia juniperoides, Lycium chilensis, Poa sp.). Our results indicate that the European rabbit is a legitimate disperser of F. juniperoides, L. chilensis, and S. portulacastrum by the consumption and dissemination of viable seeds. Contrastingly, the rabbit is an illegitimate disperser of Arjona sp., F. denudata, and Poa sp. Our study identifies new interactions between an invasive herbivore and sympatric plants in the arid ecosystems of Argentina. We put forth that the mutualistic interaction between the European rabbit and both native and non-native plants highlights the complexity of trophic networks in invaded environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of HNO is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of HNO is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Objectives: We have previously shown that treatment with intranasal sodium citrate may be beneficial in post-infectious olfactory dysfunction. Sodium citrate reduces free intranasal calcium and is, therefore, thought to prevent calcium-mediated feedback inhibition at the level of the olfactory receptor. We aimed to determine whether treatment with a 2-week course of intranasal sodium citrate improves quantitative olfactory function in patients with post-infectious impairment. We also aimed to determine whether sodium citrate is beneficial in treating qualitative olfactory dysfunction. Methods: We performed a prospective, controlled study. Patients applied intranasal sodium citrate solution to the right nasal cavity for 2 weeks. The left nasal cavity was untreated and, therefore, acted as an internal control. Monorhinal olfactory function was assessed using the "Sniffin' Sticks" composite 'TDI' score, before and after treatment. The presence of parosmia and phantosmia was also assessed. Results: Overall, there was a significant increase in TDI after treatment (using the best of right and left sides). Treatment with sodium citrate did not significantly improve quantitative olfactory function, compared to control. The proportion of patients reporting parosmia did not change significantly after treatment. However, there was a significant reduction in the proportion of patients reporting phantosmia, at the end of the study period. Conclusions: Treatment with intranasal sodium citrate for a period of 2 weeks does not appear to improve quantitative olfactory function in patients with post-infectious impairment, compared to control. It may, however, be beneficial in treating phantosmia, which should be further addressed in future work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The wild boar (Sus scrofa) is considered an ecosystem engineer. It roots up the ground looking for forage, generating patches of different sizes and without vegetation. Studies of wild boar's impact on vegetation can be addressed in two contrasting ways: short-term effects (immediately after boar's disturbance) and long-term effects. Short-term studies in the Monte Desert of Argentina showed that wild boar rooting modifies soil properties, reduces plant cover, and decreases plant richness and diversity. The objective of this study was to analyse the vegetation response in a desert ecosystem after 11 yr of wild boar disturbance establishing a replicated experiment of medium and large-sized animal's exclusion. In this long-span study, time was the most important variable to predict the cover of different plant life forms and richness in disturbed soils. Herb cover was higher in disturbed soils, with grasses and woody species showing the opposite. Over the long-term, wild boar positively affect alpha diversity and richness, while the species turnover (rate of species replacement) was only influenced by the replacement of herbs. Disturbed soils were mainly dominated by annual species with a relatively high (60%) extent of species turnover. These vegetation changes throughout time are influenced by the occurrence of unexpectedly high rainy episodes, and probably by the system's own fragility of Monte Desert. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herbivore and plant invasions can modify the structure and functioning of ecosystems through positive interactions that facilitate their mutual establishment. An important consequence of the feeding behaviour of rabbits is that they can play a key role in seed dispersal by endozoochory. We examined the diet and potential for dispersing Rosa rubiginosa and R. canina (Rosa spp.) of European rabbits introduced in a semiarid protected area of Argentina. We found entire seeds in 100% of the samples of Rosa spp. analysed (n = 11, 187 pellets). Our results indicate that the passage of Rosa spp. seeds through the digestive tract of rabbits (64%) did not diminish their viability in comparison to the seeds taken directly from fruits (66%) (χ2 = 0.09, p > 0.05). This study has identified new positive interactions between an invasive mammal and two invasive plants, a finding that suggests that these invader complexes could have a reciprocal effect on one another, which would potentially aid their invasive process in a semiarid protected area of Argentina. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Olfaction is a highly emotionally charged sense and contributes to our quality of life, which olfactory impairment or dysosmia thus strongly impacts. The aim of the present study was to examine how olfactory deficits alter eating behavior, which is a pillar of health and well-being. Methods: Patients with quantitative smell impairment and control participants were asked to perform a series of chemosensory tasks: odor identification and ratings of odor intensity, pleasantness, familiarity, irritation, and edibility. They also filled out a detailed food questionnaire. Results: Results showed significant decrease in olfactory function in smell-impaired patients. Although no significant consequences of dysosmia were found for most aspects of food preferences and culinary habits, the patients were less attracted than controls by novel foods and tended to experience less pleasure when eating. They also used significantly more condiments such as sugar, mayonnaise, or sour cream to make their dishes tasty. Conclusions: Olfactory impairment has a clear effect on certain aspects of eating behavior. Implications: These findings highlight the compensatory mechanisms that go along with dysosmia. This also reflects the patients' attempts to restore part of the lost flavor and its hedonic component through non-olfactory cues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Habitat partitioning is considered one of the main mechanisms of coexistence among small mammals. This is especially evident in arid environments where resources are particularly scarce. Habitat characteristics such as vegetation heterogeneity and complexity are expected to increase species coexistence, increasing the number of microhabitats that can be occupied by species with different requirements. The Andean foothills can be considered as an ecotone between the Monte and Altoandina phytogeographic provinces as they harbor species from both. Consequently more species are thought to coexist in this area. The objectives of this study were to assess the macro- and microhabitat selection of the small mammal assemblage inhabiting the Andean foothills during wet and dry season and to determine how animals segregate environmental resources to ensure their coexistence. We found that habitat selection occurs at both scales in the Andean foothills. Two species, Eligmodontia moreni and Phyllotis xanthophygus, were capable of distinguishing among macrohabitat types, whereas all species showed habitat selection at the microhabitat scale. We registered selection during both seasons, with some overlap of resource selection during the wet season and the greatest segregation of microhabitat resources during the dry season. Therefore, this work evidence that the assembly of small mammals is sensitive to habitat structure especially in dry seasons where resources are constraints due to arid conditions of Andean foothills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The wild boar is an invasive ecosystem engineer in Argentina that has lacked sufficient basic information to determine applied actions. The current distribution, impacts and management of this species were analyzed using the expert opinion surveys of protected area managers. The boar is widely distributed and occupies most of Argentina's terrestrial ecoregions. Moreover, its populations are common, and its abundance is growing in most of the protected areas. Boars were recorded mostly in wetlands, forest and shrublands. Managers also reported a wide range of negative impacts, which included soil disturbance, vegetation damage and animal predation. Several control method types are used and in most protected areas, more than one are applied, but hunting was the most used technique. However, the effectiveness of control methods was low, suggesting the need of an urgent plan to define coordinated management actions to minimize the negative impacts of this species and also to prevent its expansion into new areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The wild boar is an invasive mammal in Argentina that generates habitat alteration, predation, and competition that threaten several native species due to its flexible and broad diet and its rooting behavior. We evaluated the diet of wild boar in El Palmar National Park (EPNP), assessing its composition, seasonality, and importance of baiting. Vegetable matter represented the major component of the diet, where corn was the most abundant food item, which is used as bait to hunt wild boars. Animal remains were also abundant and mostly consisted of birds. Wild boar diet exhibited marked seasonality that seems related to food availability, such as the occurrence of fruits in summer. Currently, the importance of bait in the diet could support and complement the diet of wild boar and improve their reproduction triggering the population growth. Also, the impacts on native biodiversity may be hidden due to the constant food subsidy of corn. We recommend the implementation of other control methods such as hunting with dogs or traps and the use of alternative baits, as odor baits, to avoid the supplemental feeding, or finally, if corn baiting is continuous, we suggest regulating their quantity and frequency. Further studies on wild boar diet and baiting methods should be conducted due to its multiple implications on wild boar populations and native ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We used sap flow and trunk diameter measurements for assessing water stress in a high-density 'Arbequina' olive orchard with control trees irrigated to replace 100 % of the crop water needs, and 60RDI and 30RDI trees, in which irrigation replaced ca. 60 and 30 % of the control, respectively. We calculated the daily difference for both tree water consumption ( $$ D_{{E_{\text{p}} }} $$) and maximum trunk diameter ( D) between RDI trees and control trees. The seasonal dynamics of $$ D_{{E_{\text{p}} }} $$ agreed reasonably well with that of the stem water potential. We identified peculiarities on the response $$ D_{{E_{\text{p}} }} $$ to changes in water stressing conditions, which must be taken into account when using the index. An analysis of the water stress variability in the orchard is required for choosing the instrumented trees. The reliability of the D index was poorer than that of $$ D_{{E_{\text{p}} }} $$. The maximum daily shrinkage (MDS) was not a reliable water stress indicator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of two deficit irrigation (DI) strategies on fruit and oil production and quality in a 12-year-old 'Arbequina' olive orchard with 238 trees ha was evaluated. The T1 treatment was a sustained DI regime (65% ETc, 2-3 irrigation events per week). The T2 treatment was a low-frequency DI (increasing stress/rewatering cycles, which consisted in withholding irrigation until fruit shrivelling and then applying a recovery irrigation providing the same amount of water that supplied in T1 for that period). As compared to full irrigation, both strategies reduced fruit production and increased the variability of fruit ripening, but favoured oil extraction. Free acidity, peroxide value, K, K and sensory quality of oil were not affected by DI. Furthermore, carotenoid, chlorophyll, phenol, and oleic contents increased. The greatest phenol content and bitterness index were found in oil from T2 trees. Later harvesting caused sensory quality and tocopherol losses, although the oil synthesized in DI olives increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The wild boar (Sus scrofa) is an exotic agent of disturbance that arrived in the Ñacuñán Reserve of Argentina in the 1980s. When foraging, the wild boar overturns extensive areas of soil leaving them bare of vegetation. Knowledge is scarce about the boar''s impact on vegetation composition and soil properties in the Monte Desert, Argentina. The objective of our study was to determine the short terms effects of wild boar rooting on vegetation and on soil physical, chemical and microbiological properties. Our results indicate that rooting activities significantly reduced the plant cover of herbs, perennial grasses and shrubs, and decreased plant richness and diversity. Disturbed soils showed less compaction, more moisture, a low C/N ratio, and high content of mineral nitrogen. These new soil characteristics could be responsible for a reduced plant cover and less soil bulk density, which could increase soil degradation by wind erosion. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We present a perturbative treatment to find the surface plasmon polariton modes corresponding to the free oscillations of the electromagnetic field on a cylindrical periodic interface that separates a conventional dielectric medium and a metamaterial with arbitrary values of the constitutive parameters. The method is used to investigate how a shallow sinusoidal corrugation affects the propagation constants and the electromagnetic field distributions of the modes obtained for a flat interface. We provide numerical results which are in complete agreement with the results obtained from the study of the complementary scattering problem, as well as showing field distributions radically different from those obtained for the well known case of corrugated metals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We evaluated three approaches for scheduling irrigation in wine grape vineyards and in olive, apple and Asian pear tree orchards, based on sap flow measurements and models of plant transpiration. In the first approach, we analysed how the shape of the sap-flow profile changed in response to root-zone soil water conditions and potential evaporative demand. The second approach was based on a transpiration ratio, as defined from the actual daily water use of a target plant divided by the potential daily water use of similar-sized plants under non-limiting soil water conditions (“well-irrigated” plants). Values of the actual plant water use were always determined from measured sap flow. Two independent methods were assessed for the calculation of potential plant water use; either sap flow was measured in well-irrigated plants or we used a leaf-area based model of plant transpiration. On some occasions water stress was found to modify the shape of the sap velocity profile. However, most of the time the velocity profile was found to be an insensitive indicator for triggering irrigation. The transpiration ratio method, using measured sap flow in well-irrigated plants, was more useful for irrigation scheduling, at least for the two species (i.e. olive and grape) that were investigated here. Nonetheless, realization of such an approach in a commercial orchard may not be practical due to problems associated with irrigation management e.g. excessive vegetative growth may occur on the reference plants over time. Besides, irrigating the orchard to maintain non-limiting soil water conditions is not always the best option for water and nutrient management. The alternative transpiration ratio method based on a leaf-area based model of plant water use, yielded the best results. Modelled transpiration rates always provided reliable information not only for well-irrigated plants, but also for deficit-irrigated plants. This result lends support to the use of the method for irrigation scheduling of vineyard and orchard trees. However, the use of models does require detailed microclimate data as well as a user-friendly technique to quantify plant leaf area. From a practical viewpoint the method should encompass the spatial variability of the soil and plants within the orchard. Accurate quantification of these factors is a cornerstone of precision horticulture and such information would help to minimise risks associated with insufficient as well as excessive irrigation applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to test the effects of an antioxidant-supplemented beverage on exercise-induced oxidative stress in moderately trained cyclists. A double-blind study was conducted in moderately trained cyclists. They were randomly allocated to receive either an antioxidant (13 subjects) or a placebo (13 subjects) 15 min pre-exercise (30 ml.kg−1) and during a 90 min constant-load test (30 ml.kg−1.15 min−1) on a bicycle ergometer at 70% $${\dot{{\it V}}}{\text{O}}_{2\max}.$$ The supplemented beverage contained black grape (81 g/l), raspberry (93 g/l) and red currant (39 g/l) concentrates, and its total antioxidant capacity, measured by the ABTS.+ technique, was 0.41 mM Trolox. No significant difference from basal to post-exercise period was detected for plasma TBARS in either the placebo group or the group receiving the antioxidant supplemented beverage. Post-exercise carbonyls decreased by 29% in the group receiving antioxidants, and the pattern of change was significantly different between antioxidant and placebo conditions. The urinary excretion of 8-OHdG increased significantly by 21% in the placebo group. Again differences in the pre- to post-exercise change were significant between both conditions These results suggest that in moderately trained cyclists, antioxidant supplementation counters oxidative stress induced by a 90 min exercise at 70% $${\dot{{\it V}}}{\text{O}}_{2\max}.$$ [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epomediol is a terpenoid compound that has been reported to reverse 17alpha-ethinylestradiol-induced cholestasis and to have a choleretic effect related to the biliary secretion of epomediol glucuronide. The aim of this study was to investigate the contribution of changes in bile acid metabolism to epomediol-induced effects on bile formation. Twenty-four-hour bile collections were performed in animals that had received intraperitoneal epomediol for five days at 100 mg/kg daily. Epomediol-treated rats had a 24% larger bile acid pool and 28% greater bile acid synthesis than controls when measured by the "washout" technique. There was no change in the fractional turnover rate and the cycling frequency of the pool. Both basal bile flow and bile acid secretion were significantly increased (+42% and +74%, respectively). Linear regression analysis between bile flow and bile acid secretion revealed that both bile acid-dependent fraction and bile acid-independent fraction were significantly increased (+40 and +27, respectively), with no change in the choleretic capacity of bile acids. Cholesterol secretion was increased by 42%, but there were no significant differences in phospholipid secretion. Cholesterol 7alpha-hydroxylase and HMG-CoA reductase activities were significantly higher in epomediol-treated rats (+39% and +97%, respectively). The activities of NADPH-cytochrome c reductase and aniline hydroxylase were also significantly elevated (+26% and +64%, respectively). It is concluded that epomediol treatment expands the bile acid pool through an enhanced bile acid synthesis. Choleresis induced by the drug is partly related to the increase in bile acid secretion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Styrene was polymerized using combined systems of diphenylzinc, PhZn, and metallocene compounds activated by methylaluminoxane, MAO. From the various metallocenes employed bis (indenyl) zirconium dichloride, IndZrCl, [isopropyl (cyclopentadienyl) (1-fluorenyl)] zirconiumdichloride, i-Pr (Flu) (Cp) ZrCl, and bis (cyclopentadienyl) titanium dichloride, CpTiCl, produced the larger amounts of polymer. PhZn-CpTiCl-MAO system gave polystyrene, PSt, whose DSC analysis indicated a major endotherm peak at 256°C. A butanone insoluble fraction of the polymer was separated from the crude PSt. The proportion of insoluble polymer depends on the metallocene employed and on the conversion to polymer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although opportunistic infections after bone marrow transplantation (BMT) are very common, only five cases of Pseudallescheria boydii infection have been reported in the literature, two of which were autopsy findings. A case of Scedosporium apiospermum infection after BMT, treated initially with amphotericin B (total dose of 2.5 g) and then with itraconazole (for 25 days), is reported here. When the patient failed to improve, Scedosporium apiospermum pneumonia was diagnosed and therapy was changed. The patient was treated successfully with miconazole (600 mg/8h for 32 days) and ketoconazole (200 mg/8h for 7 days) plus surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]