ALBERT

Description: Tryptase is a tetrameric serine protease located within the secretory granules of mast cells. In the secretory granules, tryptase is stored in complex with negatively charged heparin proteoglycans and it is known that heparin is essential for stabilizing the enzymatic activity of tryptase. However, recent findings suggest that enzymatically active tryptase also can be found in the nucleus of murine mast cells, but it is not known how the enzmatic activity of tryptase is maintained in the nuclear milieu. Here we hypothesized that tryptase, as well as being stabilized by heparin, can be stabilized by DNA, the rationale being that the anionic charge of DNA could potentially substitute for that of heparin to execute this function. Indeed, we showed that double-stranded DNA preserved the enzymatic activity of human β-tryptase with a similar efficiency as heparin. In contrast, single-stranded DNA did not have this capacity. We also demonstrated that DNA fragments down to 400 base pairs have tryptase-stabilizing effects equal to that of intact DNA. Further, we showed that DNA-stabilized tryptase was more efficient in degrading nuclear core histones than heparin-stabilized enzyme. Finally, we demonstrated that tryptase, similar to its nuclear localization in murine mast cells, is found within the nucleus of primary human skin mast cells. Altogether, these finding reveal a hitherto unknown mechanism for the stabilization of mast cell tryptase, and these findings can have an important impact on our understanding of how tryptase regulates nuclear events.

Description: The asexual propagation of clonal crops has allowed cultivation of superior selections for thousands of years. With time, some clones deteriorate from genetic and epigenetic changes. Non-infectious bud-failure (NBF) in cultivated almond (Prunus dulcis) is a commercially important age-related disorder that results in the failure of new vegetative buds to grow in the spring, with dieback of terminal shoots, witches-brooming of surviving buds, and deformed bark (roughbark). The incidence of NBF increases with clone age, including within individual long-lived trees as well as nursery propagation lineages. It is not associated with any infectious disease agents. Consequently, nursery practices emphasize the establishment of foundation-mother blocks utilizing propagation-wood selected from proven and well-monitored propagation-lineages. Commercial propagation utilizes axillary shoot buds through traditional budding or grafting. This study examines NBF development using basal epicormic buds from individual trees of advanced age as an alternative source of foundation stock. Results show the age-related progression of NBF is suppressed in these epicormic meristems, possibly owing to their unique origins and ontogeny. NBF development in commercial orchards propagated from foundation blocks established from these sources was similarly dramatically suppressed even over the 10- to 20-year expected commercial orchard-life. Foundation-stock stability can be further maintained through appropriate management of propagation source-trees, which requires accurate knowledge of meristem origin and development.

Description: In California, a significant percentage of the pistachio acreage is in the San Joaquin Valley on saline and saline-sodic soils. However, irrigation management practices in commercial pistachio production are based on water-use information developed nearly two decades ago from experiments conducted in non-saline orchards sprinkler-irrigated with good quality water. No information is currently available that quantify the effect of salinity or combined salinity and sodicity on water use of micro-irrigated pistachio orchards, even though such information would help growers schedule irrigations and control soil salinity through leaching. To fill this gap, a field research study was conducted in 2016 and 2017 to measure the actual evapotranspiration (ETa) from commercial pistachio orchards grown on non-saline and saline-sodic soils in the southern portion of the San Joaquin Valley of California. The study aimed at investigating the functional relations between soil salinity/sodicity and tree performance, and understanding the mechanisms regulating water-use reduction under saline and saline-sodic conditions. Pistachio ETa was measured with the residual of energy balance method using a combination of surface renewal and eddy covariance equipment. Saline and saline-sodic conditions in the soil adversely affected tree performance with different intensity. The analysis of field data showed that ETa, light interception by the tree canopy, and nut yield were highly and linearly related (r2 〉 0.9). Moving from non-saline to saline and saline-sodic conditions, the canopy light interception decreased from 75% (non-saline) to around 50% (saline) and 30% (saline-sodic), and ETa decreased by 32% to 46% relative to the non-saline orchard. In saline-sodic soils, the nut yield resulted around 50% lower than that of non-saline orchard. A statistical analysis performed on the correlations between soil physical-chemical parameters and selected tree performance indicators (ETa, light interception, and nut yield) revealed that the sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) adversely affected tree performance more than the soil electrical conductivity (ECe). Results suggest that secondary effects of sodicity (i.e., degradation of soil structure, possibly leading to poor soil aeration and root hypoxia) might have had a stronger impact on pistachio performance than did salinity in the long term. The information presented in this paper can help pistachio growers and farm managers better tailor irrigation water allocation and management to site-specific orchard conditions (e.g., canopy features and soil-water salinity/sodicity), and potentially lead to water and energy savings through improved irrigation management practices.

Description: Reflectance spectroscopy allows cost-effective and rapid mineral characterisation, addressing mineral exploration and mining challenges. Shortwave (SWIR), mid (MIR) and thermal (TIR) infrared reflectance spectra are collected in a wide range of environments and scales, with instrumentation ranging from spaceborne, airborne, field and drill core sensors to IR microscopy. However, interpretation of reflectance spectra is, due to the abundance of potential vibrational modes in mineral assemblages, non-trivial and requires a thorough understanding of the potential factors contributing to the reflectance spectra. In order to close the gap between understanding mineral-diagnostic absorption features and efficient interpretation of reflectance spectra, an up-to-date overview of major vibrational modes of rock-forming minerals in the SWIR, MIR and TIR is provided. A series of scripts are proposed that allow the extraction of the relative intensity or wavelength position of single absorption and other mineral-diagnostic features. Binary discrimination diagrams can assist in rapidly evaluating mineral assemblages, and relative abundance and chemical composition of key vector minerals, in hydrothermal ore deposits. The aim of this contribution is to make geologically relevant information more easily extractable from reflectance spectra, enabling the mineral resources and geoscience communities to realise the full potential of hyperspectral sensing technologies.

Description: Mining has been embedded in the public consciousness as a dirty, non-innovative, outdated and environmentally harmful industry. Proper education, especially the academic one, becomes crucial to successfully change this image. This article depicts the initial assumptions of the international project Master in Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Technology Integration in Mining (MEITIM), co-financed by EIT Raw Materials, that aims to diagnose the current state of Polish higher education in the field of mining at, among others, the Wroclaw University of Science and Technology (WUST), concerning the experience of the Technical University of Madrid (UPM) and Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT). The MEITIM project allowed identifying the directions of necessary changes in the didactic process as an indispensable set of skills and knowledge for a future mining graduate. Such activities are dictated by many guidelines and arrangements, among others, at the level of the European Commission or key industry institutions such as the International Council on Mining and Metals. These are key competencies that require significant changes in university curricula supporting sustainable development goals in innovative mining. The authors show that there is a link between the condition of the mining industry in Poland, its reputation, and the number of people who want to study mining.