Tan Color Research Articles

Characteristics of pyrophyllite and hydrothermal alteration at Argotirto area, Malang Regency, East Java, Indonesia

Abstract Argotirto area located in South Malang, East Java province, has abundant non-metallic mineral resources, e.g., pyrophyllite. The presence of pyrophyllite indicates that the area has undergone hydrothermal alteration processes. This research aims to determine characteristics of pyrophyllite and hydrothermal alteration at Argotirto and its surrounding area. The methods used in this research comprises geological and hydrothermal alteration mapping, thin section and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses from rock samples. There are five lithological units from the oldest to the youngest, namely altered basalt, altered andesite breccia, altered dacite intrusion, altered dacitic tuff breccia, and limestone units. In hand specimen, pyrophyllite has white to tan colour, massive and waxy/soapy textures. Furthermore, in thin section, pyrophyllite selectively replaces feldspar phenocrysts or it is disseminated in the matrix and intergrown with quartz. In the research area, there are four alteration zones, such as pyrophyllite-dickite-sericite-illite, pyrophyllite-vermiculite-alunite-tridymite, pyrophyllite-cristobalite-sericite-illite-smectite, and pyrophyllite-halloysite-sericite-illite zones. According to hydrothermal alteration mineral assemblages, it can be interpreted that those minerals are formed at low pH (approximately pH 4-5) and relatively low temperatures (100-<250°C).

Death From Hanging ; A Case Report

The cause of death in cases of hanging is often due to pressure on the neck blood vessels, causing a lack of blood that carries oxygen to the brain. Because asphyxia is a process, overall in the body there will usually be general signs that are almost the same for all cases / causes. Asphyxia is a term often used to describe the cessation of effective respiration or absence of pulsation which is also used in all cases of hanging. By definitionAsphyxia is reduced oxygen saturation in the blood and tissues causing death. A case was reported to the Department of Forensic Medicine and Medicolegal Science FK USU from East Medan. A known corpse has been examined, male sex, circumcised, medium stature, body length 176 cm, tan skin color, straight hair, black mixed with gray hair. From the results of external and internal examinations, theory and the discussion above, it can be concluded thatthe cause of death of the victim was suffocation due to pressure on the neck due to the victims body weight which prevented air from entering the respiratory tract due to hanging. Review The medicolegal aspect of this case is due to ones own actions (suicide).

First Evidence of Fowl Adenovirus Induced Inclusion Body Hepatitis in Chicken in Bangladesh.

The livestock sector contributes 1.90% to the GDP in Bangladesh during 2021-22. Poultry is one of the important subsectors struggling with diseases. Fowl adenoviruses (FAdVs) cause numerous diseases resulting in economic losses to the poultry industry worldwide. Several FAdV serotypes cause inclusion body hepatitis in chicken. Although FAdV infection was suspected, there was no confirmatory report from Bangladesh. The study was conducted to investigate the FAdV infection and antibodies in chicken. A total of 50 samples, each composed of liver and spleen, were collected from different chickens of Gazipur, Dinajpur, and Panchagarh district. Each location belongs to A, B, and C poultry zones of Bangladesh, respectively. Viruses were detected by real-time PCR and conventional PCR. Blood samples (n = 303) were collected at the beginning and after the recovery from infection and tested by indirect ELISA. Sequencing of PCR products was done for serotyping and phylogenetic analysis. Clinical signs were observed including anorexia, drowsiness, ruffled feathers, reduced body weight, lack of uniformity, and high mortality (15-25%). Enlarged friable liver with yellow to tan color mottled with the focal soft area, fluid in pericardial sac, swollen and hemorrhagic kidneys, enlarged congested spleen and pancreas, etc. were found on postmortem examination. FAdVs were detected in 90% of the flocks except commercial layer flock from Dinajpur. Three serotypes, namely, 8b (70%), 11 (10%), and 5 (10%) were detected. Anti-FAdV antibody was detected in 80% flocks at the beginning of infection and in 90% of the flocks after recovery from infection. The antibody titer increases significantly (p < 0.05) after recovery from infection. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the Bangladeshi FAdVs have close identity with viruses from Asia, Europe, and South and North America. These findings suggested that several introductions of FAdVs were taken place in Bangladesh. To combat the disease, vaccination along with maintenance of biosecurity is essential.

Phenotypic Characterization of Indigenous Kachhi Sheep Breed

For the evaluation of the phenotypic and morphometric characteristics of Kachhi sheep, a total of 300 adult Kachhi sheep (female240 and male 60) were selected from different study areas (Hyderabad, Matiary, Mirpurkahs, Sanghar, Umerkot and Thaparkar) of Sindh province. Among all the study areas majority of male and female Kachhi sheep physically possessed plain white coat with black and brown (tan) color, compact body shape, coarse type wool, convex face profile, roman nose, small pendulous ears, sloppy rump, dark colored hooves, and small cylindrical tail, compact udder. Moreover, majority of male and female sheep were noted with wattles, remarkably few cases of female and male Kachhi sheep were detected with deviated Morphometric characters. Average live body weight and linear body measurements (chest girth, body length, height at withers, facial length, ear length, head width and tail length) of both sexes, at Matiary area were observed comparatively (P&lt;0.05) higher, followed by Hyderabad, Sanghar, Mirpurkhas, Umerkot and Tharparkar vicinities of Sindh. However, statistical (P&lt;0.05) differences were recorded in the morphometric traits between male and female Kachhi sheep among all the selected vicinities of Sindh province.

‘S16‐14730C’: A high‐yielding conventional soybean cultivar with indeterminate growth habit and multiple disease resistance adapted to the Mid‐South

Abstract‘S16‐14730C’ (Reg. no. CV‐546, PI 699632) is a conventional maturity group (MG) IV (relative maturity, 4.7) soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] cultivar released by the University of Missouri–Fisher Delta Research Center breeding program in 2020. It has an indeterminate growth habit, averaging 89 cm in height with a 2.1 lodging score. Plants have purple flowers, tawny pubescence, and tan pod wall color, and seeds have black hilum and 402.8 g kg–1 of protein and 224.0 g kg–1 of oil concentrations. S16‐14730C underwent extensive yield testing and disease evaluation from 2017 to 2020 over a total of 104 environments across 12 states. During the USDA uniform trials in 2018 and 2019, S16‐14730C yielded 4,192 kg ha–1, equivalent to 99 and 108% of the best checks and overall check mean, respectively. S16‐14730C shows resistance to stem canker and soybean cyst nematode (SCN) HG type 2.5.7 (race 1) and HG type 5.7 (race 3) and moderate resistance to SCN HG type 1.2.5.7 (race 2), southern root‐knot nematode, peanut root‐knot nematode, and charcoal rot. It is susceptible to reniform nematode and phytophthora root rot. S16‐14730C may serve as an excellent choice in regions where a late MG IV conventional line is in demand.

Registration of ‘S16‐15170C’ soybean: A high‐yielding indeterminate maturity group V cultivar with wide adaptability and multiple disease resistance

AbstractWith the rise of novel specialty markets and changes in consumers’ preferences, the demand for high‐yielding, non‐genetically modified (non‐GM) soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] cultivars has been steadily increasing over the last decade. Interest from growers in non‐GM soybean cultivars has also increased because they may benefit from premium prices, reduced seed costs, and flexible farming systems. To meet this growing demand, the University of Missouri–Fisher Delta Research, Extension, and Education Center soybean breeding team has developed and released ‘S16‐15170C’ (Reg. no. CV‐550, PI 699900), a high‐yielding conventional soybean cultivar with multiple disease resistance and broad adaptation to the Southern states. S16‐15170C has an indeterminate growth habit and white flowers, gray pubescence, and tan pod wall color. This soybean cultivar has been extensively tested across 12 states from 2017 to 2020 and has outyielded commercial checks in 48 out of 78 environments, with the average yield being 102.7% of checks overall. S16‐15170C is resistant to soybean cyst nematode, stem canker, frogeye leaf spot, sudden death syndrome, brown stem rot, and phytophthora root rot. The combination of high yielding potential, broad adaptability, and multiple disease resistance in a non‐GM genetic background makes S16‐15170C a suitable soybean cultivar choice for growers adopting an alternative farming system and maximizing potential returns during the season.

Occurrence of Volutella Blight Caused by Pseudonectria foliicola on Boxwood in Tennessee.

Boxwood (Buxus sp. L.) is a very popular evergreen shrub in the United States which is widely used as landscape plant and fresh greenery. Boxwood 'Green velvet' (B. sinica var. insularis x B. sempervirens) plants grown in field condition exhibiting Volutella blight symptoms were found in a commercial nursery in Warren Co., Tennessee in May 2019. Leaves appeared red, brown or tan color on affected plants. Waxy, salmon pink colored fruiting bodies (sporodochia) were observed underneath the affected leaves using a hand lens (Figure 1). Leaf drop was also observed on plants. Black lesions under the bark were observed in some of the plants. The disease severity (percentage leaf area diseased) was nearly 40% and the disease incidence was nearly 30% of 1,000 plants. Infected leaf and stem tissues collected from four symptomatic plants were surface sterilized with 70% ethanol and washed with sterile distilled water. Culturing the infected leaf and stem pieces, 5-mm in size, on potato dextrose agar (PDA) consistently yielded white fluffy aerial mycelium growth with scattered salmon-color slimy masses of conidia forming from sporodochia after 10 days incubation at 25°C in a 12-h fluorescent light and dark cycle. A total of two isolates (FBG2020_396 and FBG2020_405) were hyphal tip purified on PDA. The conidia (n = 50) were hyaline, aseptate, fusiform to ellipsoidal measuring average of 7.8 × 3.3 μm (range: 4.84 to 13.2 μm × 2.2 to 4.64 μm). To confirm the pathogen identity, total DNA was extracted using UltraClean Microbial DNA Isolation Kit (MO BIO Laboratories, Inc., Carlsbad, CA) directly from a 5-day old culture of isolates (FBG2020_396 and FBG2020_405) on PDA. The ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer region (ITS), β-tubulin (tub2) and part of 28S large ribosomal subunit (LSU) regions were amplified by PCR using the primer pairs ITS 5/ITS 4, T1/BTb2 and LR0R/LR5, respectively (Glass and Donaldson 1995; O'Donnell and Cigelnik 1997; Rehner and Samuels 1994; Vilgalys and Hester 1990; White et al. 1990). Newly generated sequences - GenBank/NCBI acc. nos. MW459251, MW465902 (ITS), MW464656, MW464657 (tub2) and MW459255, MW465903 (LSU) were 100% identical to Pseudonectria foliicola L. Lombard & Crous ex-type (CBS 123190) sequences KM231776, KM232035 and NG_058095, respectively. To complete Koch's postulates, six boxwood 'Green velvet' plants grown in 10 cm square pots (containing 40% coarse sand and 60% ground pine bark) were inoculated by spraying conidial suspension of P. foliicola [FBG2020_396 (1 × 105 conidia/mL)] obtained from 2-wk-old PDA cultures. Plants were covered with clear plastic humidity domes for 3 days and then they were maintained in a growth chamber at 25°C and 60% RH in a 12-h fluorescent light and dark cycle. Six control boxwood plants were maintained in the same environment without pathogen introduction. Pathogenicity test was conducted twice. After 10 days, typical symptoms of Volutella blight developed on the inoculated plants and microscopic examination revealed the same pathogen morphology as the original isolate. Pseudonectria foliicola was consistently re-isolated from leaves and stems. All control boxwood plants remained symptom-free and P. foliicola was not isolated from the leaves or stems. Pseudonectria foliicola causing Volutella blight has been reported on B. sempervirens in Czech Republic (Spetik et al. 2020), New Zealand (Lombard et al. 2015); Buxus sp. in Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina and Washington (Salgado-Salazar et al. 2019). To our knowledge, this is the first report of Volutella blight of boxwood caused by P. foliicola in Tennessee. Pseudonectria foliicola is an opportunistic pathogen and infects weak, stressed, and injured boxwood plants/cuttings (Rivera et al. 2018). This pathogen could cause a serious economic loss to boxwood nursery growers, as it can significantly affect the ornamental value of boxwood plants and fresh greenery. Integration of sanitation practices with other disease management strategies such as biorational products and reduced-risk fungicides will be necessary for limiting the spread of pathogen and successful management of P. foliicola on boxwood in both field and postharvest conditions.

Overexpression of PIF4 affects plant morphology and accelerates reproductive phase transitions in soybean

AbstractPhytochrome‐interacting factor 4 acts as a signalling hub for integrating multiple environmental cues like light and temperature. While the function of PIF4 in the model plant Arabidopsis has been studied, there is limited knowledge regarding the role of PIF4 in agronomically important legume crop soybean. Here, we employed a constitutive overexpression approach to functionally characterise a soybean PIF4 homolog, GmPIF4b in a determinate short‐day cultivar, Bragg. Multiple sequence alignment of seven soybean PIF4 homologs (GmPIF4a‐g) with Arabidopsis PIF4 revealed the presence of an active phytochrome‐binding (APB) domain in the N‐terminal region of six soybean PIF4 homologs. Cis‐elements related to plant hormone biosynthesis, stress response, meristem and endosperm gene expression were located in the promoter region of soybean PIF4s. Interestingly, transgenic soybean plants carrying 35s::GmPIF4b::polyA construct showed reduced plant height, reduced leaf surface area, decreased branching, early flowering and faster transition from full‐bloom flowering stage to full maturity stage without any decline in yield. Further, pod colour of transgenic soybean plants changed to dark brown, whereas wild‐type plants showed tan or light brown pod colour. Clear hilum was observed in seeds obtained from transgenic plants as opposed to the dark or black hilum of wild‐type seeds. Transcripts of soybean florigens GmFT2a and GmFT5a were also elevated in transgenic plants. Collectively, our results suggest that GmPIF4b overexpression could affect phenotypes related to plant morphology and reproductive stages in soybean, and can be used as a gene target for soybean improvement programmes to ensure future food security.

Phenotypic characterization of sheep populations in Tahtay Maichew district, Northern Ethiopia

Eighteen quantitative measurements and fourteen qualitative characteristics taken from 306 adult sheep (57 rams and 249 ewes) were used to characterize sheep populations of district, Ethiopia. Most traits showed significant variation by zone, sex and age groups with higher values generally recorded for rams as compared to ewes. Middle age group animals displayed highest values for several traits, reflecting the optimal production age. zone affected ewes more than rams. The highland sheep height at withers, widest shoulder points and longest hair, indicative of adaptation to their environment. Qualitative characteristics of the studied sheep populations such as tail shape, plain coat color pattern, skin, hairy fiber and the absence of horn, toggle, ruff and beard suggest that they constitute a previously sheep breed. Tan coat color differentiated high and midland sheep from lowland sheep where white and brown colors were dominant. Canon bone length, height at withers and tail length were the three most important variables used in discriminating the sheep populations. On average 66% of the animals could be classified into their respective zone. Our data suggest that highland sheep populations are distantly related to lowland sheep, while midland sheep are more closely related to lowland sheep. It can be concluded that breeding programs specific to each zone need to be designed for sustainable utilization and conservation of the studied sheep populations. Furthermore, molecular based studies might allow further characterization of Ethiopian sheep breeds.

Dealing with a case of suspected ‘petfishing’

![Graphic][1] Alex Brugman is a veterinary medicine student at the University of Bristol. She is interested in small animal practice, but is also thinking of doing a masters degree in...

Farmers’ production constraints, perceptions and preferences of cowpeas in Buhera district, Zimbabwe

Many smallholder farmers face crop production constraints, especially under rapidly changing climatic conditions. A survey was carried out to assess farmers’ production constraints, traits, and preferred cowpea varieties. A semi-structured questionnaire was used in a survey of Buhera District, Zimbabwe, in March and April of 2018. Women farmers dominated the survey as they were 52% of the surveyed population, while men occupied 48% of the total population. Eighty-three percent of farmers cited the shortage, unavailability, and cost of fertiliser. Sixteen per cent of farmers acknowledged that they do not have access to quality seeds, and 1% cited labour as the major constraint in cowpea production. Cowpea yield varied from 100 to 500 kg/ha. However, 48% of farmers harvested 200 kg/ha.As for abiotic factors, farmers ranked heat (86%), drought (10%), and soil fertility (4%) as the most important abiotic factors.Ninety-one percent of farmers ranked rust as the most destructive disease, while 2% ranked storage rot, 1% ranked anthracnose, and 1% ranked downy mildew. Eighty-one percent of farmers cited aphids as the main pests, while 3% ranked thrips, 3% ranked legume borers, and 2% ranked pod borers as other pests.Fifty-two percent of farmers preferred varieties that are resistant to diseases such as rust, whereas 48% were not concerned about diseases.As for qualitative traits, 50% of farmers had no specific colour preference, 32% preferred white colour, 14% preferred brown colour, 3% preferred red colour, and 1% preferred tan colour. For quantitative traits, such as grain size, pod size, plant height, and head size, the preferences of farmers varied. Ninety-nine percent of the farmers interviewed preferred cowpea varieties that are bred for drought tolerance, as Buhera District is frequented by intermittent droughts. Farmers’ experience in growing cowpeas ranged from 5 to 30 years. The top ranked accessions were CBC1, IT 18, and Chibundi Chitsvuku,while the least ranked was Kangorongondo. Identified constraints to cowpea farming included lack of education,insect pests, diseases, drought, weeds, harvesting difficulties and a lack of agriculture extension advice. The survey showed that there is a need to breed for biotic factors such as pests and diseases and abiotic factors such as drought and moisture stress.

Linking marine core lithofacies and mineral and grain-size compositions on the Baffin Island margin: changes in provenance and transport

ABSTRACT We evaluate the linkages between lithofacies and mineral composition of late Quaternary sediments along the Baffin Slope for cores 2013029 64, 74, and 77. Four major lithofacies were identified: diamicton (L1), laminated red-brown mud (L2), tan carbonate mud (L3), and brown bioturbated mud (L4). In addition, gold-brown mud (L2a) beds were identified within red-brown mud throughout the Baffin margin and a thin, locally distributed light gray mud (L2b), also identified within red-brown mud, was localized to the Home Bay region. A classification decision tree (CDT) correctly predicted ∼ 87% of the lithofacies based on five binary choices based on the estimated weight %s of (in order): quartz, kaolinite, plagioclase, iron oxides, and smectites. The detrital tan carbonate (DC) minerals, calcite and dolomite, did not appear in the chosen CDT solution although this lithofacies is easily recognized in cores because of its tan color and the facies is well predicted in the CDT. The addition of grain size did not substantially improve the prediction of the lithofacies although it did change the % importance of the minerals in the CDT.

РАЗРАБОТКА ЛАБОРАТОРНОЙ УСТАНОВКИ ДЛЯ СУШКИ ЛИЧИНОК МУХИ HERMETIA ILLUCENS В ВИБРООЖИЖЕННОМ СЛОЕ

One of the modern and promising areas for the disposal of food waste and agricultural waste from plant and animal origin is the use of larvae of Black stratiomys flies (Hermetia illucens) with the subsequent receipt of them high-quality natural protein feed for livestock, poultry, aquaculture, etc. Use larvae in live frozen and dried state. Drying allows you to increase the shelf life and get a more concentrated feed. However, most drying methods are characterized by high energy intensity of the process with varying degrees of preservation of the properties of the feedstock. One of the methods for drying larvae is drying in a vibro-fluidized bed in an infrared field generated by a gas mixture. To implement this method, a laboratory setup has been developed. A closed perforated container with larvae, which performs vertical vibrations, is installed in the working chamber. The oscillation frequency is selected depending on the degree of drying. At the bottom of the chamber is a gas infrared generator fed by a propane-butane mixture from a cylinder. To create a steady flow, an exhaust fan is installed in the upper part of the working chamber. Temperature control in the upper and lower parts of the working area is carried out by thermocouples. During the experiments, the drying regimes and the rate of moisture evaporation were clarified. The moisture content of the dried material was measured over the entire drying period. The energy consumption for moisture evaporation was controlled. As a result, the energy intensity and productivity of the heat and moisture transfer process are determined. The larvae of Black stratiomys flies dried by this method have a dense texture, a homogeneous structure, and a tan color.

Identification of germplasm lines for diversification of dual-purpose sorghums

Characterization and evaluation of germplasm is a pre-requisite for diversifying the genetic base in breeding populations. Preliminary evaluation of 642 germplasm lines for 25 traits at MPUAT, Udaipur during 2014 rainy season led to the identification of promising germplasm lines for each of the traits. Looking into the climatic pattern of the region, early flowering, dual-purpose lines with terminal drought tolerance are preferred. The germplasm lines IC 484464, IC 484889 and IC 240866 were found promising. The principal components analysis clearly showed that the entire variation in the 642 sorghum germplasm lines cannot be explained on the basis of few characters though glume covering, plant height and the number of leaves explained the variation in PC I explaining 19.5% of the total variability. Trait association showed that the yield enhancement in Udaipur location representing zone III, can be brought about by breeding for early flowering, terminal drought tolerance (non-senescence), bold grain, medium height, and tan plant colour background, apart from other significantly associated traits.

Small-scale heterogeneity of trace metals including rare earth elements and yttrium in deep-sea sediments and porewaters of the Peru Basin, southeastern equatorial Pacific

Abstract. Due to its remoteness, the deep-sea floor remains an understudied ecosystem of our planet. The patchiness of existing data sets makes it difficult to draw conclusions about processes that apply to a wider area. In our study we show how different settings and processes determine sediment heterogeneity on small spatial scales. We sampled solid phase and porewater from the upper 10 m of an approximately 7.4×13 km2 area in the Peru Basin, in the southeastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, at 4100 m water depth. Samples were analyzed for trace metals, including rare earth elements and yttrium (REY), as well as for particulate organic carbon (POC), CaCO3, and nitrate. The analyses revealed the surprisingly high spatial small-scale heterogeneity of the deep-sea sediment composition. While some cores have the typical green layer from Fe(II) in the clay minerals, this layer is missing in other cores, i.e., showing a tan color associated with more Fe(III) in the clay minerals. This is due to varying organic carbon contents: nitrate is depleted at 2–3 m depth in cores with higher total organic carbon contents but is present throughout cores with lower POC contents, thus inhibiting the Fe(III)-to-Fe(II) reduction pathway in organic matter degradation. REY show shale-normalized (SN) patterns similar to seawater, with a relative enrichment of heavy REY over light REY, positive LaSN anomaly, negative CeSN anomaly, and positive YSN anomaly and correlate with the Fe-rich clay layer and, in some cores, also correlate with P. We therefore propose that Fe-rich clay minerals, such as nontronite, as well as phosphates, are the REY-controlling phases in these sediments. Variability is also seen in dissolved Mn and Co concentrations between sites and within cores, which might be due to dissolving nodules in the suboxic sediment, as well as in concentration peaks of U, Mo, As, V, and Cu in two cores, which might be related to deposition of different material at lower-lying areas or precipitation due to shifting redox boundaries.

A deletion spanning the promoter and first exon of the hair cycle-specific ASIP transcript isoform in black and tan rabbits.

Black and tan animals have tan-coloured ventral body surfaces separated by sharp boundaries from black-coloured dorsal body surfaces. In the at mouse mutant, a retroviral 6kb insertion located in the hair cycle-specific promoter of the murine Asip gene encoding agouti signalling protein causes the black and tan phenotype. In rabbits, three ASIP alleles are thought to exist, including an at allele causing a black and tan coat colour that closely resembles the mouse black and tan phenotype. The goal of our study was to identify the functional genetic variant causing the rabbit at allele. We performed a WGS-based comparative analysis of the ASIP gene in one black and tan and three wt agouti-coloured rabbits. The analysis identified 75 at -associated variants including an 11kb deletion. The deletion is located in the region of the hair cycle-specific ASIP promoter and thus in a region homologous to the site of the retroviral insertion causing the at allele in mice. We observed perfect association of the genotypes at this deletion with the coat colour phenotype in 49 rabbits. The comparative analysis and the previous knowledge about the regulation of ASIP expression suggest that the 11kb deletion is the most likely causative variant for the black and tan phenotype in rabbits.

A novel TYRP1 variant is associated with liver and tan coat colour in Lancashire Heelers.

A novel TYRP1 variant is associated with liver and tan coat colour in Lancashire Heelers.

Galling in &lt;i&gt;Actinidia &lt;/i&gt;spp. seedlings

Several Actinidia spp. genotypes exhibit crown gall-like symptoms in both roots and canes. Galls form on roots and pruning wounds of canes. Investigations were undertaken to determine if an Agrobacterium species was responsible for gall formation in the Actinidia spp. material. Macerated galls were plated onto King’s B and various selective Agrobacterium agars, e.g. 1A and Roy &amp; Sasser media. Bacterial isolates were tested by PCR for the presence of tumour-inducing (Ti) plasmids. Isolates that tested positive for the Ti plasmid were subsequently tested for pathogenicity by inoculation onto cut carrot discs, Nicotiana glutinosa and Solanum lycopersicum, and assessed for gall formation. Bacterial isolates that tested positive by PCR for the Ti plasmid were an orange tan colour on selective medium 1A, and clear with a red centre on the Roy &amp; Sasser medium. Galls formed on cut carrots, S. lycopersicum and N. glutinosa after inoculation of Ti-positive bacterial isolates. Initial results indicate that an Agrobacterium species is associated with the formation of galls in Actinidia seedlings. However, biochemical characterisation and confirmation of Koch’s postulates using Actinidia species are needed for verification of this result.

Archaeobotanical evidence for early utilization of cockleburs (Xanthium strumarium L., Asteraceae) in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China

Recently, the burs of Xanthium strumarium L. were discovered at the Yuergou site (400–200 cal BC) in the Turpan Basin of northwestern China. These burs were hard and medicated with tan or gray color. Compared with previous findings of cockleburs remains in China, the present discoveries of X. strumarium are much larger in terms of the number recovered (138 burs). These represent the most abundant finds of cockleburs (X. strumarium) from archaeological contexts in China directly dating to around 250 cal BC. Moreover, it is interesting that most of these cockleburs were broken with their seeds missing as modern experimental results performed here indicate that they were likely opened by humans with a knife. The cockleburs were likely used as a common medicinal resource and provide us with a glimpse of the wild plant use and daily practices of the ancient inhabitants of the Turpan Basin.

CARACTERÍSTICAS SOCIODEMOGRÁFICAS DE PACIENTES COM LEISHMANIOSE TEGUMENTAR AMERICANA

Introdução: A leishmaniose tegumentar americana é uma zoonose presente em todos os estados brasileiros. Causada por protozoário do gênero Leishmania e transmitida pela picada de diferentes espécies de flebotomíneos infectados. Objetivo: Descrever as características sociodemográficas dos pacientes acometido por leishmaniose tegumentar americana. Método: pesquisa de campo, descritiva exploratória, de abordagem quantitativa, que utilizou dados secundários do Sistema de Informação de Agravos de Notificação (SINAN) e da secretária de saúde do estado do Acre, no período de 2007 a 2015. Resultados: a maioria dos pacientes com leishmaniose tinha entre 10 a 39 anos (64,60%), composta de homens (71,20%), de cor parda (75,10%), baixas proporções observadas de casos de LTA na população com educação superior incompleta (0,80%) ou educação superior completa (1,40%), e a maior proporção de casos com baixa escolaridade (31,80%), maior ocorrência na população residente em áreas rurais (60,40%), entre estudantes (15,70%), seguido por agricultores (15,40%), donas de casa (4,20%) e pecuaristas (3,700%). Conclusão: determinantes sociais como baixa escolaridade, morar em zona rural, exercer atividades nas matas, está em idade economicamente ativa estão relacionadas as maiores proporções de casos. Portanto, os profissionais das equipes de saúde devem, com olhar crítico sobre a realidade, realizar intervenções preventivas e de acompanhamento aos pacientes com condições mais vulneráveis, indicadas nesse estudo, a fim de promover um desfecho mais favorável na evolução da doença.