Fat Hen Research Articles

Prevalence and allergens of allergic rhinitis in children and adolescents in Gwangju

Purpose: Allergic rhinitis (AR) is one of the most common childhood diseases in Korea. In this study, we aimed to investigate the prevalence and allergens of childhood AR in Gwangju. Methods: From April 2013 to September 2013 in Gwangju, skin prick test and questionnaire survey were performed targeting 2,330 children in total (350 kindergartners, 930 elementary school students, 589 middle school students, and 461 high school students). Results: The overall prevalence of AR was 23.5% (female 21.3%, male 26.1%). According to age groups, prevalence of AR was 14.9% (female 10.7%, male 19.8%) in kindergartners, 24.5% (female 18.8%, male 29.4%) in elementary school students, 23.3% (female 18.1%, male 27.6%) in middle school students, 26.2% (female 27.7%, male 23.2%) in high school students. The most common allergen was Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (79.7%), followed by Dermatophagoides farina (72.2%), birch (14.0%), alder (12.0%), Japanese hop (9.2%), Alternaria (8.9%), cat fur (7.2%), Japanese cedar (6.9%), ryegrass (6.6%), willow (6.0%), pine (5.4%), oak (4.9%), mugwort (4.3%), orchard grass (4.0%), sheep fescue (3.7%), fat hen (3.4%), ragweed (3.4%), and maple (3.4%). Conclusion: This research figures out the prevalence and the detailed allergens of AR in Gwangju children. We suggest that more vegetation data of Japanese cedar should be surveyed in recent future.

Epidemiology of allergic rhinitis in Korean children

Methods The subjects were 12,469 school students (6,440 girls and 6,029 boys) in 5 areas (Incheon city, Busan city, Gwangju city, Kyoungki-do, Choongchungbook-do) from 2011 to 2014. Allergic rhinitis have diagnosed with positive ‘current symptoms and sign for allergic rhinitis’ on Korean ISAAC questionnaire and 1 more than proven allergen by skin prick test. Elementary school students were tested for 20 common aeroallergens, whereas middle and high school students were tested for 25 allergens. The 27 allergens included Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, Dermatophagoides farinae, pollen (birch, alder, oak, Japanese cedar, pine, willow, elm, maple, bermuda grass, timothy grass, rye grass, orchard grass, meadow grass, vernal grass, mugwort, Japanese hop, fat hen, ragweed, and plantain), pets(dog and cat), and mold (Penicillium, Aspergillus, Cladosporium, and Alternaria).

Sensitization rates of airborne pollen and mold in children

PurposeAeroallergens are important causative factors of allergic diseases. Previous studies on aeroallergen sensitization rates investigated patients groups that had visited pediatric allergy clinics. In contrast, we investigated sensitization rates in a general population group of elementary school to teenage students in Incheon, Jeju, and Ulsan.MethodsAfter obtaining parental consent, skin-prick tests were performed on 5,094 students between March and June 2010. Elementary school students were tested for 18 common aeroallergens, whereas middle and high school students were tested for 25 allergens. The 25 allergens included Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, Dermatophagoides farinae, pollen (birch, alder, oak, Japanese cedar, pine, willow, elm, maple, Bermuda grass, timothy grass, rye grass, orchard grass, meadow grass, vernal grass, mugwort, Japanese hop, fat hen, ragweed, and plantain), and mold (Penicillatum, Aspergillus, Cladosporium, and Alternaria).ResultsThe sensitization rates in descending order were 25.79% (D. pteronyssinus), 18.66% (D. farinae), 6.20% (mugwort), and 4.07% (willow) in Incheon; 33.35% (D. pteronyssinus), 24.78% (D. farinae), 15.36% (Japanese cedar), and 7.33% (Alternaria) in Jeju; and 32.79% (D. pteronyssinus), 30.27% (D. farinae), 10.13% (alder), and 8.68% (birch) in Ulsan. The dust mite allergen showed the highest sensitization rate among the 3 regions. The sensitization rate of tree pollen was the highest in Ulsan, whereas that of Alternaria was the highest in Jeju. The ragweed sensitization rates were 0.99% in Incheon, 1.07% in Jeju, and 0.81% in Ulsan.ConclusionThe differences in sensitization rates were because of different regional environmental conditions and distinct surrounding biological species. Hence, subsequent nationwide studies are required.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi as (agro)ecosystem engineers

Symbiotic interactions have been shown to facilitate shifts in the structure and function of host plant communities. For example, parasitic plants can induce changes in plant diversity through the suppression of competitive community dominants. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi have also be shown to induce shifts in host communities by increasing host plant nutrient uptake and growth while suppressing non-mycorrhizal species. AM fungi can therefore function as ecosystem engineers facilitating shifts in host plant communities though the presumed physiological suppression of non-contributing or non-mycorrhizal plant species. This dichotomy in plant response to AM fungi has been suggested as a tool to suppress weed species (many of which are non-mycorrhizal) in agro-ecosystems where mycorrhizal crop species are cultivated. Rinaudo et al. (2010), this issue, have demonstrated that AM fungi can suppress pernicious non-mycorrhizal weed species including Chenopodium album (fat hen) while benefiting the crop plant Helianthus annuus (sunflower). These findings now suggest a future for harnessing AM fungi as agro-ecosystem engineers representing potential alternatives to costly and environmentally damaging herbicides.

Habitat Selection of the Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse and Sympatric Rodent Species

Abstract We evaluated interspecific habitat use within a salt marsh small mammal assemblage on Mare Island, Solano County, California, USA, from 1989 to 1992, with emphasis on the endangered salt marsh harvest mice (Reithrodontomys raviventris). We livetrapped small mammals during 125 trap sessions at 20 different areas throughout Mare Island for a total of 55,189 trap-nights. We captured the salt marsh harvest mouse 4,147 times; the house mouse (Mus musculus), 1,936 times; the California vole (Microtus californicus), 372 times; and the shrew (Sorex spp.), 117 times, among 12,927 captures. We captured fewer than 10 rats (Rattus spp.), and we did not capture any western harvest mice (Reithrodontomys megalotis) or deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus). We sampled vegetation characteristics at each trap location during 79 of 125 trap sessions for a total of 5,523 trap locations. During the summer, breeding, and fall seasons, habitats characterized by increased cover of forbs, particularly fat hen (Atriplex patu...

Structure of the Early Palaeozoic Cape River Metamorphics, Tasmanides of north Queensland: evaluation of the roles of convergent and extensional tectonics

The Early Palaeozoic Cape River Metamorphics consist mainly of psammitic gneiss and schist and occur as an extensive linear belt at the western margin of the Charters Towers Province 200 km southwest of Townsville in the northern Tasmanides. A prominent foliation (S2) is the main structure in the belt and is associated with tight to isoclinal folds, subparallel mineral and intersection lineations, and boudinaged pods of vein quartz and pegmatite. In the southwest, the main foliation is a crenulation cleavage (S2) related to D2 deformation. It overprints steeply dipping foliation (S1) formed in a D1 deformation but no associated folds have been found. Gently plunging, upright, open folds (D3 deformation) with axial planar S3 crenulation cleavage have affected the main foliation (S2). These deformations were associated with upper greenschist to lower amphibolite facies metamorphism. Amphibolite-grade orthogneiss containing S2 and S3, deformed granite and migmatite of the Fat Hen Creek Complex occurs in the northeast. In the southwest, the main foliation (S2) is folded around a map-scale, gently plunging synclinorium indicating that S2 formed with a subhorizontal orientation. In metamorphic rocks, the origin of widespread, intense subhorizontal foliation, usually associated with recumbent folds, has been considered problematic and in many cases is attributed to crustal extension. We relate the origin of D2 structures to subvertical shortening (i.e. extension) resulting in orientations that are strikingly divergent to those of upright D1 and D3 structures that were induced by compression. The proposed extensional event is poorly constrained in timing but it affected much of the Fat Hen Creek Complex, the oldest known phase of which is 493 Ma, and occurred prior to 40Ar/39Ar cooling ages at 423 – 409 Ma that also post-dated the D3 deformation.

Weed and crop discrimination using image analysis and artificial intelligence methods

Development of a visual method of discriminating between crop seedlings and weeds is an important and necessary step towards the automation of non-chemical weed control systems in agriculture, and towards the reduction in chemical use through spot spraying. Two methods were applied to recognise carrot ( Daucus carota L.) seedlings from those of ryegrass ( Lolium perenne) and Fat Hen ( Chenopodium album) using digital imaging. The first method involved the use of a simple morphological characteristic measurement of leaf shape (perimeter 2/area), which had varying effectiveness (between 52 and 74%) in discriminating between the two types of plant, with the variation dependent on plant size. The second involved a self-organising neural network more biologically plausible than many commonly used NN methods. While the latter did not give results as good as those required for commercial purposes, it showed that a neural network-based methodology exists which allows the system to learn and discriminate between species to an accuracy exceeding 75% without predefined plant descriptions being necessary.

Iron Age Cultigen? Experimental Return Rates for Fat Hen (Chenopodium album L.)

Archaeological finds of fat hen (Chenopodium album L.) from later prehistoric sites in Europe indicate that the plant was deliberately collected, perhaps even cultivated. Experiments are described involving the collection and processing of the plant, allowing the return rate to be calculated. The return rate is probably similar to that of cultivated cereals, which may produce more seed per unit area but require much more processing. Chenopodium album was therefore a viable potential cultigen.

Are there any links between Hop Japanese pollen and other weed pollens or food allergens on skin prick tests?

Recent investigations suggest that the importance of Hop Japanese pollen, which has been known as one of the major causative weed pollens, is increasing in this country. There have been few data dealing with the allergenic relationship between Hop J pollen and other food or inhalant allergens. Among 2909 patients who visited the Allergy Clinic of Ajou University Hospital, Suwon, Korea, 471 patients sensitized to Hop J, mugwort, or ragweed pollens on skin-prick test were enrolled. Positive rates to common inhalant or food allergens and their allergenic relationships with other pollens or food allergens were analyzed based upon skin-prick test results. The positive rates to sunflower, fat hen, nettle, grass (Bermuda, Orchard) and tree (alder, birch, and poplar) pollen were significantly higher in those sensitized to Hop J pollen than in those of negative responders (p < 0.05, respectively). No significant associations were noted with ragweed or mugwort pollen (p > 0.05, respectively). In regard to food-related allergens, an association was noted between Hop (Humulus lupulus) or celery allergens in those sensitized to Hop J pollen (p < 0.05, respectively). Hop J pollen may have possible links with celery, Hop, and sunflower pollens on skin-prick test. Further in vitro investigations will be needed to evaluate the possibility of cross-reacting components between them.

GM crops: bad or benign for biodiversity?

There is growing scientific, as well as environmental, interest in the possible long-term effects of GM-based agriculture on farmland biodiversity. Farmed landscapes, and their associated flora and fauna, are constantly changing with shifting economics and technological innovations. However, recent changes towards increasingly intensive systems have been linked with declines in bird, invertebrate and plant diversity. The question is will the introduction of GM crops accelerate this trend? In a new paper, Watkinson et al. focus on sugar beet that has been genetically modified to be tolerant to the broad-spectrum herbicide glyphosate and hence allow more effective weed control 1. They use a population model of fat hen Chenopodium album, a common weed in sugar beet, to determine the consequences of GM beet on the abundance of weed seeds and hence field use by skylarks Alauda arvensis, a common seed-eating farmland bird.

The analysis of phytoecdysteroids in single (preflowering stage) specimens of fat hen, Chenopodium album

AbstractA simple microextraction procedure together with an ecdysteroid‐specific radioimmunoassay (RIA) have been used to quantify the levels of phytoecdysteroid in small (&lt;50 mg dry wt.) samples of plant tissues during the development of Chenopodium album. The existence of a distinct concentration gradient of phytoecdysteroids within the aerial portions has been confirmed by the detailed analysis of ecdysteroid titres throughout single plants. Ecdysteroid concentration increased steadily up the main stem of the plant. This pattern was reflected in the main leaves and in the petioles associated with the main leaves. The ecdysteroid concentration in the growing tip was higher than those at the top of the stem or in the uppermost leaves. High concentrations were also present in the roots. The distinct concentration gradient characteristic of the main stem, associated leaves and growing tip recurred in each of the side‐shoots on a mature plant. The identity of the RIA‐positive material is essentially identical in most parts of the plant, being mainly 20‐hydroxyecdysone (20OHE) and polypodine B (PolB; 5β,20‐dihydroxyecdysone) with much smaller amounts of more polar and less polar unidentified compounds. In the oldest leaves, the contribution of 20OHE and PolB is reduced and new polar and apolar compounds are found, indicating that catabolism of phytoecdysteroids occurs as leaves begin to senesce.

The association of phytoecdysteroids with flowering in fat hen,Chenopodium album, and other members of the Chenopodiaceae

Very high concentrations of ecdysteroid are associated with flowering inChenopodium album. Highest concentrations are found in anthers, but significant levels are also found in the stamens, carpels and sepals. In contrast, pollen contains only low levels. The ecdysteroid profile is the same in anthers as in whole-plant extracts, with 20-hydroxyecdysone and polypodine B predominating. The results for flowers ofC. album are compared with the patterns determined for other chenopods (C. capitatum, C. polyspermum, C. anthelminticum, C. giganteum, C. quinoa andC. foliosum). The significance of these findings for plant-insect interactions and the relationship to the mode of plant pollination are discussed.

Modelling the effects of weeds on crop production

SummaryIn most quantitative studies on interplant competition, static regression models are used to describe experimental data. However, the generality of these models is limited. More mechanistic models for interplant competition, which simulate growth and production of species in mixtures on the basis of the underlying physiological processes, have been developed in the past decade. Recently, simulation models for competition between species for light and water were improved and a detailed version was developed for sugarbeet and fat hen (Chenopodium album L.). The model was validated with data sets of five field experiments, in which the effect of fat hen on sugarbeet production was analysed. About 98% of the variation in yield loss between the experiments (which ranged from –6 to 96%) could be explained with the model. Further analysis with the model showed that the period between crop and weed emergence was the main factor causing differences in yield loss between the experiments. Sensitivity analysis showed a strong interaction between the effect of the variables weed density and the period between crop and weed emergence on yield reduction. Different quantitative approaches to crop‐weed competition are discussed in view of their practical applicability. Simulations of experiments, where both the weed density and the period between crop and weed emergence were varied over a wide range, showed a close relation between relative leaf cover of the weeds shortly after crop emergence and yield loss. This relation indicates that relative leaf cover of the weeds accounts for both the effect of weed density and the period between crop and weed emergence. This relation has the potential to be developed into a powerful tool for weed‐control advisory systems.

Common Lambsquarters

Common lambsquarters or fat hen (Chenopodium album L. # CHEAL) was classified by Linneaus in 1753. The generic name is from the Greek chen, a goose, and pous or podos, a foot; the leaf shape of plants in this genus are reminiscent of goose feet. The goosefoot family, Chenopodiaceae, includes many vegetables: table beets, sugar beets, spinach, and mangold. The name ‘fat hen’, used for several plants of the Goosefoot family, was first published in English in 1795.

Les Contes de Cantorbéry. Second Part by Geoffroy Chaucer

STUDIES IN THE AGE OF CHAUCER maiden but in the process woke three Englishmen who thought he was a thief and pursued him. Other passages recall Chaucer even more strongly; with self-deprecation Dafydd presents himself as the object of ridicule of the girls he would love, and he relates how a magpie once garrulously lectured him for being an old man in love. Unlike Chaucer, however, Dafydd is fond of realistic portrayals of the wonders of nature; for the former Reynard is the sly voice of flattery, but for the latter he is a flash of amber in pursuit of a fat hen. Moreover, Dafydd rests secure in his sense of his own poetic achievement, while Chaucer, whoseEnglishmedium lacked the uninterrupted tradition and poetic status which Welsh had in Wales, could only toy with the posture of an "auctor." Still, the power of each writer's poetry is clear (Dafydd's satiric verses on the contemporary poet Rhys Meigen are "so involved and obscure in their range of abuse that it is not too difficult to credit the later story that the unfortunate victim fell down dead as the result of hearing them"; p. 62), as is their importance in their respective traditions; Chaucer inspired the "Chaucerians," and Dafydd was a model for contemporary and subsequent cywyddwyr, who variously describe him as pensaer yr ieithoedd ("architect of words"), pensaer gwingerdd ("architect of song"), and athro pawb ("everybody's teacher") (p. 160). This collection is part of a renaissance of sorts in Dafydd studies. All of the poems are now accessible to nonspecialists in Richard Loomis's excellent translation (Binghamton, N.Y., 1982), and a selection ofthe originals with accompanying translations are available in an edition by Bromwich herself (Penguin, 1986). "Gwell yw ystafell, os tyf," Dafydd observes; better is a room if it grows, and all these books will better any library which has room for them. TIM WILLIAM MACHAN Marquette University GEOFFROY CHAUCER. Les Contes de Cantorbery. SecondPart. Fascicle 9. Trans.Juliette de Caluwe-Dor. With the English text of the edition of John Hurt Fisher. Louvain-Paris: Editions Peeters, 1986. Pp. xii, 265. $8.00 paper. We may indeed welcome the appearance of the second volume (of a planned four) of]uliette de Caluwe-Dor's French translation of The Canter130 REVIEWS bury Tales. The close ties of Chaucer's Middle English with the French language make furthering the appreciation of his work among French speakers particularly feasible and desirable. Chaucer knew the language well, his English was imbued with the lexicon and usages, and many originals of his works were French. His Gallicism indeed is strong enough that Emile Legouis could with reason call The Canterbury Tales "un des plus remarquablesprolongements al'etranger de notre poesie nationale."1 The French affiliations suggest that Chaucer would be especially translata­ ble, and de Caluwe-Dor has previously testified that this is so: "Chaucer's English being often closer to French than to present day English (a.o., his vocabulary and sentence structure), in some cases I felt my task far lighter than if I had had to translate into English."2 The new volume seems particularly well suited to nurturing Anglicist proclivities of French students of medieval literature. Directed at readers who seek precise understanding of Chaucer's text, and taking up where the first volume leaves off, it presentsjuxta!ineare-line-by-line-translations ofthe prologues and tales of the Reeve, the Cook, the Man ofLaw, the Wife of Bath, the Friar, and the Summoner. It also has the Middle English from the Fisher edition on facing pages, a feature not present in volume 1. Both the parallel text and the fuller glosses placed on the same page with the text rather than in the back, make the second volume more usable than the first. In both volumes the translation is carefully executed and laudably functional. As de Caluwe-Dor declares in the introduction to volume 1 (p. iii), where a choice is necessary, she is willing to sacrifice brevity and grace for fidelitephilologique. At the same time, we know from her earlier declara­ tion thatfidelite is for her no simple matter; in particular, she sees finding...

An investigation into some causes of the differences of protein expressibility from leaf pulps

AbstractOn a laboratory scale, changes in expressibility of protein with age from leaf pulp of lucerne, amaranth, garden orache, sunflower, fat hen, dock and field beans were not closely correlated with changes of fibrous dry matter, cell robustness, pH or tannin content. However, for amaranth, garden orache and fat hen, a strong correlation was found between protein expressibility and the proportion of the total leaf water that was expressed. This suggests that expressibility from those species was determined more by the proportion of leaf water that was expressed as juice than by the concentration of protein in the juice. Interspecific differences of protein expressibility between fat hen, amaranth, sunflower, beans and pea, all at the same age, were strongly correlated with differences in leaf tannin content. However, garden orache was also examined and it did not fit the pattern established by the other crops. Therefore, the correlation exhibited by the other crops may not be general.

Chemical weed control in oil-seed poppy (Papaver somniferum)

Field experiments were conducted in north-west Tasmania to assess the herbicides diquat and nitrofen, used singly and in combination, for selective post-emergence weed control in oil-seed poppies (Papaver somniferum). The species of weeds infesting the crop influenced yield responses to the herbicides. In the absence of fat hen (Chenopodium album) and fumitory (Fumaria muralis), crop production increased linearly with rate of diquat. The highest rate of diquat (280 g ha-1) produced a yield that was not significantly different (P = 0.05) from the hand-weeded control. In the presence of these two weeds, linear yield responses to rates of both diquat and nitrofen were obtained. There was no significant interaction effect on crop yields between these two herbicides, but a mixture of both chemicals was required for effective weed control. The tolerance of the crop to the herbicides was measured in the absence of weed competition. No effects on crop yields were obtained, although some treatments retarded the growth of the crop and caused a significant (P = 0.05) reduction in the height of the crop at flowering.

Characterization of the components of plant cuticles in relation to the penetration of 2,4‐D

SUMMARYQuantitative comparisons were made of the components of the cuticles of leaves of plantain, fat hen, dandelion, dock, chickweed and forget‐me‐not. Hydrocarbons and triterpenoids were prominent in the surface wax of plantain; esters and alcohols in the other surface waxes. Polar compounds predominated in the cuticular waxes. Cuticle development in plantain, dandelion and chickweed was similar, but the cutins differed in the relative proportions of hydroxy‐fatty and fatty acid components. Sorption of 2,4‐D by the cuticular membrane was inversely related to the amount of cuticular wax. Hydrocarbons and an aldehyde fraction isolated from surface wax most effectively reduced the penetration of water in a model system.

Influence of weed hosts on the ecology of Verticillium dahliae in newly cultivated areas of the Namoi Valley, New South Wales

SUMMARYThe evidence suggests that Verticillium dahliae is not indigenous to the Namoi Valley, but was introduced, probably in weed seed, and then increased on the natural dicotylendonous weeds, from which it spread to introduced crops such as cotton. V. dahliae could have been introduced and disseminated as microsclerotia, which are plentiful in the woody fruits of noogoora burr (Xanthium pungens) and Bathurst burr (Xanthium spinosuni) and in achenes of saffron thistle (Carthamus lanatus). V. dahliae was isolated from the stem and tap root of twenty‐six of fifty‐four species of weeds growing in naturally infested soils. It was not isolated from four species recorded as hosts elsewhere. Fifteen native or introduced weed species are newly recorded hosts. V. dahliae also colonized the roots of many wilt‐immune species, but died on the roots of most plants without producing microsclerotia. The only wilt‐immune plants in which microsclerotia formed in the roots were fat hen (Chenopodium album), red root (Amaranihus macrocarpus) and Canadian flea‐bane (Erigeron canadensis) but these are reported as hosts elsewhere.

The Surface Structure of Leaves of Chenopodium album L.

Photomicrographs were used to study the surface structure of leaves of Chenopodium album L. (fat hen). The leaves have a silvery bloom which is a layer of small, separate spheres of average diameter 80 μ, transparent when turgid. Each globule is attached to the leaf by a capillary stalk and movement studies with eosin showed that they are linked by a continuous aqueous pathway. As leaves mature, the globules are less densely distributed; they collapse and are then readily detached from the surface. They contain inorganic material, silicates being a major constituent. They are stable to heat, cooling in liquid nitrogen or brief treatment with chloroform or surfactants. Probably, the globules are not entirely bounded by wax, and silicates may form a large part of the outer walls.