Acacia Pharma (United Kingdom)

This study aimed to analyze a period of intense Low-Level Jets (LLJ) in southern Brazil that occurred in a year of intense El Nino-South Oscillation signal. Observational data were collected by radiosonde data carried out at Salgado Filho airport, which measured values of the order of 30 ms-1 in intensity at 700/750 meters in height and a predominant direction of 270 degrees. The LLJ’s are horizontal vortices in the low-level turbulence process, optimizing the transport of energy and water vapor at the mesoscale; they are low-cost energy structures with maximum transport efficiency. In general, their modeling by numerical models at high resolution is difficult because they have a thin layer with a small thickness of the order of 50 meters and have a non-linear nature in the turbulence processes. However, global reanalysis models, in general, cannot represent the optimization effects in the turbulent process performed by LLJ. However, there is a tendency to represent the magnitude of the wind modulus, an approximation of this value by the current state of the art in global reanalysis modeling in models, in this case, the maximum wind. This implies that global models generally underestimate flows at low levels, in general, as they do not represent the optimization effects associated with LLJ. In this case study, we tried to use an extreme situation of occurrence of LLJ for analysis, therefore, the regional climate model RegCM-4.9 in high spatial resolution was used to simulate the period from May to June 1997. The analyses were concentrated in June 1997. The initialization and boundary conditions were used from the EC-EARTH historical of the Earth system model based on the operational seasonal forecast system of the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). It was observed that the simulation result could significantly underestimate the wind intensity and the processes associated with the LLJ with the initialization model, with low information resolution, the global initialization models do not have adequate resolution for this type of simulation.

A Acacia mangium é uma espécie florestal da família das leguminosas com potencial de desenvolvimento na região Centro-Oeste do Brasil. Usada em sistemas agroflorestais, recuperação de áreas degradadas e na integração lavoura-pecuária-floresta, destaca-se pelo uso madeireiro e energético, pela boa capacidade de fixação de nitrogênio, além de ser uma ótima fornecedora de néctar às abelhas, propiciando, assim, a promoção da apicultura em seus plantios. Apesar da importância da espécie, trabalhos de avaliação e seleção de genótipos adaptados ao bioma Cerrado Mato-Grossense são incipientes na literatura. Para isso, estudou-se a possibilidade de ganhos genéticos para diâmetro da altura do peito (DAP) por dois ciclos sucessivos de seleção em plantios localizados em uma propriedade no munícipio de Barra do Garças, MT. No primeiro ciclo de seleção, nos anos de 2012 e 2013, foram amostradas 304 plantas de dois talhões cujo as médias e desvios padrões foram de 5,26 ± 1,95 e 7,73 ± 2,63 cm respectivamente, com valores máximos de 11,0 e 14,5cm. Neste primeiro ciclo 100 plantas matrizes foram selecionadas na população, sendo que estas representavam entre 5 a 25% das plantas superiores. Os ganhos estimados ficaram entre 10 e 15% para DAP neste primeiro ciclo. O segundo ciclo de avaliação foi realizado em 70 famílias de meios-irmãos oriundas das matrizes do primeiro ciclo de seleção. Nestas famílias de meios-irmãos foram realizadas medidas de altura de planta (ALT) aos três meses de idade e diâmetro (DAP) aos 24 meses de idade. As herdabilidades encontradas nestas famílias de meios-irmãos foram de 32 e 22% para ALT e DAP, respectivamente. Os caracteres ALT e DAP apresentaram correlações fenotípicas e genéticas equivalentes a 0,8 e 1,0 respectivamente. A seleção das melhores famílias (50%, 30% e 10%) para altura (ALT) promoveu ganhos indiretos em diâmetro (DAP) de 15,4%, 24,5% e 40,9%, respectivamente. Já a seleção direta em DAP foram estimados ganhos de 19,9%, 30,5% e 45,5%. As estimativas de herdabilidades para os caracteres estudados com base nas médias de famílias de meios-irmãos evidenciam condições favoráveis para seleção, sendo que a seleção sobre a altura da planta possibilita maiores estimativas de ganhos em relação ao caráter DAP.

<p>Groundwater resources in African drylands are important sources of freshwater but are under pressure due to population growth and climate change. It is therefore increasingly important that groundwater resources are managed in a sustainable way. Development of IWRM plans are ongoing in (semi-)arid African countries with support from national governments, NGOs and consultancies. This presentation aims to highlight two case studies in which bio-geophysical and socio-economic data were combined to assist in the Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) process: 1) catchment-scale Water Infrastructure Assessment (WIA) in Sudan and 2) assessment of pathways towards sustainable groundwater use in African drylands. Per case study lessons learned and recommended approaches are provided.</p><p>In IWRM intervention planning for semi-arid regions a local increase in available water resources is sought after, which can be found in the better use of excess runoff. A balance between water demand and water resources on community level is key and a prerequisite for implementing durable and inclusive interventions that last. The IWRM process starts with a strong knowledge base. In practice, however, the development of a good knowledge base is not simple. Challenges arise in collecting, processing, and mapping results. With hydrogeology, a 3D situation is translated to 2D maps. Socio-economic data are often stored based on administrative boundaries and need corrections for hydrological source-area delineation and seasonal and interannual variations. Population density and water demand change over seasons, following crop cycles and livestock migration patterns. Looking at local water availability, rainfall and surface water flows are becoming more variable and less reliable. Therefore, assessment of the rainfall regime and corresponding behaviour and movements of people and livestock is key. For WIAs, yields and usage are often averaged, thus disregarding seasonal changes, even though shallow wells and reservoirs regularly become depleted outside the rainy season. The Sudan case study presents an improved approach for a WIA, that is adaptable and can be applied in semi-arid environments in Africa and elsewhere, in which seasonality and socio-economic dynamics were taken into account.</p><p>Both hydrogeologic and socio-economic conditions tend to be quite location-specific. This makes developing a simple blueprint for integrated groundwater management impossible. However, by translating local conditions into regional advice, strategic pathways were developed for the drylands of Africa[1] to support IWRM. The zonal hydrogeological and socio-economic setting determined the main groundwater issues and the potential sustainability strategies. The sustainability pathways describe potential sets of strategies that can be effective in moving towards sustainable groundwater resources development and use. While these pathways provide insight into regional differences within the African drylands, these cannot be used at local scales. Tailor-made approaches are necessary. In these assessments, remote sensing provides opportunities. Gridded datasets of population density are of great value in water demand assessments on a larger scale. Participatory stakeholder processes also provide opportunities, including group interviews for development of community calendars providing useful information on the occurrence and frequency of natural hazards and water demand.</p><div> <p>[1] Gevaert et al. 2020, Towards sustainable groundwater use in the African drylands</p> </div><table><tbody><tr><td> <p> </p> </td> </tr></tbody></table><div> </div>

Objetivou-se identificar o melhor tipo de recipiente e ambiente para crescimento e produção de mudas de Acacia mangium Willd. O delineamento experimental foi o inteiramente casualizado em esquema fatorial 2 x 3 em dois ambientes de cultivo (coberto com plástico filme e com tela Sombrite® 50%) e três tipos de recipientes (tubetes de 120, 290 e 820 cm³), com 21 repetições cada. Avaliou-se: primeira contagem de emergência, emergência total, índice de velocidade de emergência, altura de plantas, diâmetro do caule das plantas, matéria fresca e seca da parte aérea e raiz, índice de qualidade de Dickson e índice relativo de clorofila. Os resultados foram submetidos à análise de variância e as médias comparadas pelo teste de Tukey a 5% de probabilidade. Para as análises estatísticas utilizou-se o programa R Core Team. As mudas produzidas em ambiente coberto com plástico filme e no tubete de 820 cm3 apresentaram os melhores resultados.

Objective: The aim of this study is to verify the effects of consuming proanthocyanidins derived from acacia bark on improving blood pressure and blood circulation in healthy Japanese adult subjects. Methods: This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-comparison study involving 66 healthy Japanese adults. Subjects were allocated into either acacia or placebo group (n = 33 each) using a random number generator. Subjects consumed six tablets/day of either acacia bark extract tablets or placebo for 12 weeks. The primary outcome was the measured value of sitting systolic blood pressure at 12 weeks, whereas the secondary outcomes were sitting systolic and diastolic blood pressures, superoxide dismutase activity in blood, and blood flow.Results: The number of subjects analyzed as full analysis set was 33 (20 men and 13 women) in the Acacia group and 31 (23 men and 8 women) in the placebo group. Compared with the placebo group, the measured values and changes from baseline at 4, 8, and 12 weeks of the sitting systolic blood pressure were significantly lower in the Acacia group. Furthermore, “the ratio of the number of subjects whose sitting systolic blood pressure <130 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure ≤89 mmHg at 12 weeks” of the Acacia group was significantly higher than that of the placebo group. No adverse event was observed. Conclusions: Proanthocyanidins derived from acacia bark showed a hypotensive effect. Trial registration: UMIN-CTR: UMIN000039416. Foundation: Acacia-No-Ki Co., Ltd. Keywords: Acacia bark extract, Proanthocyanidins, Systolic blood pressure, Diastolic blood pressure

Quantitative and qualitative measures of fish health and welfare are essential for management of both wild capture and aquaculture species. These measures include morphometric body condition indices, energetic condition and aquaculture operational welfare indicators (OWIs). Measures vary in ease of measurement (and may require destructive sampling), and it is critical to know how well they correlate with fish health and welfare so appropriate management decisions can be based on them. Lumpfish (Cyclopterus lumpus) is a new farming species that needs nondestructive OWIs to be developed and validated. In this study, we developed a C. lumpus fin damage score. Four different body condition indexes based on individual weight relative to either length-weight relationships or relative to other fish in its local environment were tested (using model selection) as predictors of individual fin damage. Results showed severity of fin damage was predicted by small size relative to the other individuals in the tank or cage. Body condition based on length-weight relationship was not found to predict fin damage, indicating that using established indices from fisheries or from other species would not predict welfare risks from fin damage. Implications are that especially in hatchery conditions grading will improve the condition index, and is expected to mitigate fin damage, but that low weight at length was not of use in predicting fin damage. Model selection to choose between a suite of possible indices proved powerful and should be considered in other applications where an easily measured index is needed to correlate with other health measures.

Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) remain significant clinical problems, especially in the delayed phase (24-120h after chemotherapy). Amisulpride is a dopamine D2/D3-receptor antagonist previously shown to be an effective intravenous antiemetic. We conducted a randomised, double-blind study to characterise the dose response of oral amisulpride in delayed phase CINV. Chemotherapy-naïve patients receiving cisplatin ≥ 70mg/m2 or an anthracycline-cyclophosphamide regimen for breast cancer received, on day 1, 20mg amisulpride and 8-16mg ondansetron intravenously followed, once daily on days 2-4, by 10, 20 or 40mg oral amisulpride or placebo. A control group receiving standard three-drug prophylaxis was enrolled for assay sensitivity purposes. The primary endpoint was complete response (CR), defined as no emesis or rescue medication use, in the delayed phase. Three hundred eighteen subjects were evaluable per protocol. CR rate (24-120h) was 20% with placebo and 46% with 10mg amisulpride (p = 0.006 after multiplicity adjustment); in the three-drug control group, it was 59%. Emesis, nausea and 0-120-h CR rate were significantly improved with 10mg amisulpride compared to placebo. Higher doses of amisulpride were not more effective than 10mg. In patients with acute phase CR, delayed phase CR rate was 44% for placebo, 75% for 10mg amisulpride (p = 0.022) and 70% for the 3-drug control. No significant differences were seen between groups in safety parameters. Amisulpride 10mg orally is safe and superior to placebo at preventing delayed CINV caused by highly emetogenic chemotherapy. NCT01857232.

Para tema dos dois trabalhos encomendados a serem apresentados nessa 25a . Reunião Anual da Anped, nosso GT - Trabalho e Educação – indicou a necessidade de dar continuidade às nossas discussões sobre a construção do nosso campo de estudos, questão que já mereceu de outros colegas, tais como Miguel Arroyo, Acácia Küenzer, Iracy Picanço, Eunice Trein, Gaudêncio Frigotto, dentre outros, importantes reflexões.