Ecosystem services potential and soil conservation policies with emphasis on degraded pastures in Brazil

Different global agendas have discussed the role of soils in mitigating and reducing global problems related to climate change,food security,biodiversity and erosion,among others.With this in mind,the aim was to draw up an overview of the main soil agendas in Europe and Brazil,analysing their impact on the establishment of legal frameworks for soil use and conservation.In Brazil,pastures are seen as an important alternative for converting degraded areas into ecosystem services.To this end,a literature review was carried out using databases on the Scopus,Web of Science,Science Direct and Scielo platforms,as well as consulting documents from the European Union Missions in Horizon Europe and Brazilian legislation on the subject.In a pilot river basin,the Potential for Conservation Use(PCU)method was applied,which is used in Brazil to assess the impacts of different uses on the natural capital of soils,serving as a metric to guide public soil conservation policies.It was concluded that,on the European scene,discussions on soils have taken place in an integrated and organised way,with actions to mobilise different players in society.In Brazil,even though there are important legal frameworks,actions are still restricted and disjointed,pointing to the need for progress in soil governance.In both scenarios,there is a need for scientifically validated metrics at regional scales that can contribute to a harmonised database capable of subsidising the development of efficient public policies to advance soil conservation at a global level.

HIM_(1) AND HIM4, TWO MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES POTENTIALLY USEFUL FOR AUTOLOGOUS BONE MARROW TRANSPLANTATION IN CHRONIC MYELOGENOUS LEUKEMIA

We developed two complement-fixing MoAbsHIMand HIM(murine)that were specifically reac-tive with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) cells.They were capable of fixing human or rabbit com-plement and suitable for CML cells purging of re-mission marrow from CML patients.HIMreactedwith majority leukemic cells form 7 out of 10 CMLpatients by complement-mediated cytotoxicity(C’MC)assay(positive cells 80%—90%),HIMreacted withmajority CML cells from 4 out of 5 CML by C’MCassay(positive cells 80%—90%).Treatment withHIMor HIMand human C’was capable of lysing97% of K562,U937,HL-60 and CML cells in a 20fold excess of unrelated cells by indirect FITC+EBstain.Using limited dilution culture,incubation withHIMand C’produced 1.5 logs inhibition of growthin K562 cells,and 1.9 logs in U937 cells,and withHIMand C’produced 2.9 logs inhibition in HL-60cells and 3.0 logs in U937 cells.Both MoAbs cocktailwas shown 1.8 logs in K562 cells and 3.2 logs in U937cells.They were no suppression on the growth o

Potential of the use of an antioxidant compound to promote peripheral nerve regeneration after injury

The peripheral nervous system is a vital part of the body because it transfers information to coordinate all actions.Peripheral nerve injuries are detrimental to the proper function of this system and can cause loss of sense and movement.It is of utmost importance to research approaches to the treatment of peripheral nerve damage because such injuries can drastically change a person’s life,

Functional evaluation using several evoked spinal cord potentials in elderly patients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy

BACKGROUND ： The recordings of evoked spinal cord potentials following epidural spinal cord stimulation are thought to be generated by volleys traversing the dorsal column pathway, and it may not directly reflect conduction defects in corticospinat tracts of cervical spinal cord. To our knowledge there has been few report using several evoked spinal cord potentials in function evaluation of the cervical spinal cord in eldedy patients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy （CSM）. OBJECTIVE： To investigate the function states of the cervical spinal cord in elderly patients with CSM and explore its pathophysictogic mechanism. DESIGN： Case observation SETTING ： Department of Orthopedics for the aged, Shenzhen Pingle Hospital of Orthopedics. Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Yamaguchi University School of Medicine. PARTICIPANTS ： A total of 23 eldedy patients with CSM who received treatment in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Yamaguchi University School of Medicine of Japan from January 2003 to February 2004 were enrolled in this study. Inclusive criteria： ① Multiple intervertebral levels of cervical spinal cord compression confirmed by MRI, e.g. 3 or more than 3 levels of compressin. ② Age ≥ 70 years old. ③ Numbness and sensory disturbance in the upper limbs and showed hyperreflexia in the lower limbs. Exclusive criteria： Patients with abnormal motor and sensory nerve conduction velocities in both upper and lower limbs were excluded. METHODS： Evoked spinal cord potentials （ESCPs） following transcranial electric stimulation （TCE-ESCPs）, epidural spinal cord stimulation （SpinaI-ESCPs） and median nerve stimulation （MN-ESCPs） were recorded in 23 patients from posterior epidural space intreoperatively. The abnormalities of TCE-ESCPs were defined as attenuation of amplitude of the D wave. The most cranial intervertebral level showing abnormal TCE-ESCPs with a marked reduction in size of the negative peak （reduction of over 50%） was considered as the upper level of the spinal cord lesion with respect to the corticospinal tract in white matter. The abnormalities of SpinaI-ESCPs were defined as marked reduction in the size of negative peak （reduction of over 50%）. The most caudal intervertebral level showing abnormal SpinaI-ESCPs was considered as the lower level of the spinal cord lesion with respect to the dorsal column pathway in white matter. The abnormalities of MN-ESCPs were defined as attenuation of the N13 amplitude,which was considered as the lesion level of the spinal cord with respect to the dorsal horn in gray matter. Radiological investigation： Lateral view of plain X-ray films was obtained in flexion and extension of the cervical spine. Instability of the cervical intervertebral level was determined as horizontal displacement of the vertebral body of over 3 mm. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES ： The results of examination of TCE-ESCPs, SpinaI-ESCPs and MN-ESCPs in el- dedy patients with CSM. RESULTS： The 23 eldedy patients with CSM were participated in the result analysis. ①TCE-ESCPs： The impairment of the corticospinal tract in white matter at single intervertebral level was revealed in 18 of 23 patients by recordings of TCE-ESCPs （sensitivity 78%）. In the 18 patients, the lesion level was shown at the up- per cervical segment in 14 patients （C3-4n=10 and C4-5n=4）, and at the lower cervical segment in 4 patients （C5-6n=4）. ②Spinal-ESCPs： The impairment of the dorsal column pathway of white matter at single intervertebral level was revealed in 17 of 23 patients, by recordings of Spinal-ESCPs （sensitivity 74%）. In the 17 patients, the lesion level was presented at the upper cervical segment in 14 patients （C3-4n=10 and C4-5n=4）, and at the lower cervical segment in 3 patients （C5-6 n=3）. ③MN-ESCPs： All patients revealed abnormal MN-ESCPs at one or more intervertebral levels （sensitivity 100%）. The impairment at single intervertebral level was demonstrated in 17 patients, and the impairment at multiple intervertebral levels was shown in 4 patients （3 patients at the C3-4, C4-4, and C5-4~6, and one patient at the C4-5, C5-6, and C6-7）. ④Radiological findings： The Instability of the intervertebral level at the C3-4 or C4-5 motion segment was seen in 15 patients, with a total of 20 levels, and where 10 were at the C3-4 intervertebral level and 5 were at the C3-4, C4-5 intervertebral level. CONCLUSION ： The results suggest that in most elderly patients with CSM who have multiple intervertebral level compressions of the cervical spinal cord on MRI, white matter is impaired at the single cervical intervertebral level, and not only the dorsal column pathway, but also the corticospinal tract can be affected. Combined the findings of radiography, the excessive motion and instability of the C3-4 or C4-5 intervertebral level plays an important role in inducing the long tract lesion in elderly patients with CSM.

Ab initio studies on the electronic structure of the complexes containing Mo——S bond using relativistic effective core potentials

An ab initio calculation was performed on the electronic structures of MoS,MoS_4^(2-) and Mo_2S_2 using relativistic effective core potential(RECP)for molybdenum,and non-relativistic ECP for sulfur.We predicted that the equilibrium bond length and the dissociation energy of MoS in ground state are 3.89 a.u.and 4.67 eV,respectively,and that the bond is a triple-bond.The ground state of MoS_4^(2-) in Td symmetry is ~1A_1 and π-bonding dominates σ-donation in the molybdenum- sulfur interaction.The Mo_2S_2 is a model contracted from bi-nuclear sulfur-bridged clusters,and the bonding orbitals 1 b_(1u),1b_1g and 1b_2g make the dominant contribution to the stabilization of sulfur- bridged species.