Search Results (62)

Botryosphaeria dieback, caused by species of Botryosphaeriaceae, causes significant economic losses by infecting pruning wounds in vineyards and fruit trees. Previous studies have shown that pruning wounds constitute the main entry point for Botryosphaeriaceae and that isolates from different fruit hosts can infect these tissues regardless of origin. This study assessed the temporal susceptibility of Vitis vinifera pruning wounds in four cultivars (Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Merlot, and Sauvignon Blanc) to six Botryosphaeriaceae isolates from different fruit hosts (grapevine, apple, blueberry, and walnut) under greenhouse and field conditions in central Chile. Pruning wounds were inoculated at 1, 15, 30, 45, and 60 d after pruning, and lesion length and wound infection (%) were evaluated. Both variables decreased with increasing wound age in greenhouse and field trials. Wounds were most susceptible during the first 15 d after pruning, with a marked reduction thereafter, although susceptibility persisted up to 60 d. Neofusicoccum parvum and N. arbuti showed the highest aggressiveness. All isolates were able to infect pruning wounds regardless of host of origin. These results indicate that pruning wounds remain susceptible for an extended period and highlight the importance of considering both wound age and cross-host inoculum sources in disease management strategies. Full article

Background/Objectives: Approximately 53.4 million U.S. adults aged 50 or older have low bone mass, yet male bone health remains under-researched. This study evaluated the effects of one year of prune supplementation on bone health in older men susceptible to, or with, osteopenia. Methods: A total of 59 men (aged 55–80 years) were randomly assigned to one of three groups: 100 g prunes, 50 g prunes, or 0 g prunes (control; multivitamin only) daily, with each group also receiving 450 mg elemental calcium and 800 IU vitamin D₃ via a multivitamin. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (Lunar model DXA; GE Healthcare, CA, USA) scans and blood samples were collected at baseline, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months. Results: No significant changes were observed in total bone mineral density (BMD) or lumbar spine BMD over one year. There were no significant changes in C-reactive protein (CRP). Osteoprotegerin (OPG) decreased significantly in all groups; however, the decrease was significantly greater in the control group compared to the levels in both prune groups. Sclerostin (SOST) significantly increased over time within all groups. Tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase-5b (TRAP5b) increased in all groups, albeit in the control group, it increased significantly more over time compared to the increase in the 100 g group. Conclusions: Overall, prune supplementation, regardless of dosing, did not increase total or lumbar BMD or aid in maintaining bone density beyond the levels achieved by Ca++ and vitamin D₃ supplementation in older men susceptible to, or with, osteopenia (with a negative T-score down to –2.5 standard deviations (SD) below the mean). Although between-group differences were observed in select secondary biomarkers (OPG, TRAP5b), these did not correspond to detectable changes in BMD and should therefore be considered exploratory rather than directly indicative of clinical bone benefit. Additional research is needed to fully understand the effects of prunes on bone metabolism in men. Full article

Background: Recent studies suggest that prunes are one of the most effective fruits for preventing and reversing bone loss. Objectives: The purpose of the present systematic review was to summarize the evidence from the randomized controlled studies on the effect of prunes on bone health in humans and to pool the results in a meta-analysis. The hypothesis of the present review was that bone mineral density of the pulled intervention group would be higher than that of the control group. Methods: We conducted a systematic review of randomized controlled studies with a three-level mixed-effects meta-analysis. Results: Of two hundred and eighty-four studies that were initially identified in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science using the search words, eleven papers (747 participants) were considered eligible. The effect of prune intervention in postmenopausal women was borderline significant at the lumbar spine, with BMD slightly higher in the intervention group (SMD [95% CI] = 1.30 [−0.03, 2.63]; I² = 98%; p < 0.001). No significant differences were observed at other individual BMD sites. Heterogeneity across studies was high for all measured sites. The difference between the intervention and control groups in the levels of bone formation and resorption markers was not significant. The risk of bias of the included randomized controlled studies, assessed by the RoB v.2 tool, was low. Conclusions: Our meta-analysis provides preliminary evidence of modest skeletal benefits associated with consumption of 50–100 g of prunes, particularly at the lumbar spine, a trabecular-rich site. However, the overall body of research remains limited. Full article

The high penetration of distributed renewable energy in rural microgrids imposes severe physical-layer fluctuations, weak information-layer communication, and limited computing-layer resources. These triple constraints create a fundamental tension: high-precision forecasting and real-time scheduling are required, yet edge devices face severe resource limitations. To resolve this, we present an edge-deployable energy management system (EMS) that achieves forecasting–scheduling co-optimization. We first propose an Adaptive Gated Dual-stream Network (AGDN), which employs a feature-dimension gated fusion mechanism to overcome the limitations of the local dependency strengths of Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) and the global perception capabilities of Transformer models under volatile rural conditions. This approach achieves a Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) of 4.2% for load forecasting, outperforming baseline models by a significant margin. Next, we introduce a Prediction Uncertainty-Guided Quantum-Inspired Optimization (PUG-QIO) algorithm that adaptively maps prediction confidence intervals to quantum rotation angles, enabling deep integration of forecasting and scheduling and yielding an energy utilization rate of 93.2%. Finally, a Temporal Sensitivity-Aware Differentiated Pruning (TSADP) strategy is developed to maintain forecasting accuracy under a 63% parameter compression, overcoming the deployment barrier for high-precision models on edge devices. A 30-day field trial confirms that the proposed system meets the stringent rural requirements across four critical dimensions: forecasting accuracy, real-time responsiveness, lightweight architecture, and economic viability. Overall, the proposed system satisfies four key rural requirements: forecasting accuracy (MAPE = 4.2%), real-time response (≤10 s), lightweight deployment (memory < 500 MB), and economic viability (27.3% fuel cost reduction). Full article

Over two years, a randomized complete block field trial tested deficit irrigation [I: 70% ETc; NI] and ammonium nitrate [N₀, N₆₀, N₁₂₀; 0, 60, 120 kg N ha⁻¹] application in two northern Greece winegrape vineyards of cv. ‘Xinomavro’ (XM) and cv. ‘Cabernet Sauvignon’ (CS). Leaf-blade δ¹⁵N was measured at berry set, bunch closure, veraison, and technological maturity; berry-juice (must) δ¹⁵N at technological maturity and dormant cane δ¹⁵N in winter were also determined. In the first year, δ¹⁵N was additionally measured in petioles, unripe berries, trunks, and roots, along with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) colonization of fine roots. Fertilization increased δ¹⁵N in leaf blades and canes, whereas berry-juice δ¹⁵N responded weakly and inconsistently. Irrigation marginally lowered cane δ¹⁵N; cane δ¹⁵N varied between years, and berry-juice δ¹⁵N showed the highest variability across treatments. At berry set, intravine discrimination was evident: young berries and leaf blades were enriched, while fine roots and woody tissues were depleted. Root δ¹⁵N responses differed between cultivars and depended on AMF colonization in XM. Leaf and cane δ¹⁵N were positively related to vine N status, yield, and pruning weight but negatively to agronomic N-use efficiency indices. These findings indicate that δ¹⁵N serves as an integrative proxy of N cycling processes and fertilizer-use efficiency in vineyards, with potential implications for the assessment and optimization of sustainable vineyard management practices in the context of climate change. Full article

This study compares conventional spur pruning and sap-flow respectful spur pruning, applied at four pruning dates (October, December, January, March), on grapevine ecophysiology, yield, and grape quality in Priorat (Spain) during an exceptionally hot, dry vintage. Although sap-flow respectful pruning has expanded rapidly in commercial vineyards, its performance has not been rigorously evaluated. The trial was conducted in Mas Perinet’s Mas Vell vineyard on Grenache Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon. Pruning date was more critical than method for delaying veraison relative to peak summer heat—especially in Grenache Noir, where late pruning delayed veraison by 16 days. In Cabernet Sauvignon, leaf surface temperature was generally similar between treatments, except for RP-CS, which showed lower temperatures. Multi-year trials are needed to assess the cumulative effects of sap-flow respectful pruning on sap-flow architecture and wood health. These results support late pruning as an immediate adaptation to warming in Priorat, with pruning method as a longer-term strategy requiring further study. Full article

Plum pox virus (PPV) is one of the most destructive pathogens affecting stone fruit trees. It causes sharka disease and severe yield losses. The genetically modified plum cultivar ‘HoneySweet’ was developed to provide long-lasting resistance to PPV via RNA interference. Long-term field trials of ‘HoneySweet’ have been conducted in the Czech Republic since 2001, involving the artificial inoculation of the cultivar with PPV alone, and with apple chlorotic leaf spot virus (ACLSV) and prune dwarf virus (PDV) in combination. This study evaluates the impact of viral infection on tree growth after 24 years in the field. Growth parameters—trunk cross-sectional area (TCSA) and canopy volume—were measured and analysed using ANOVA and Tukey’s test. The results show that infected trees exhibit significantly reduced growth compared to non-infected controls, with the strongest inhibition observed in trees inoculated with PPV + PDV + ACLSV. The presence of ACLSV had the most pronounced negative effect on growth, while PDV did not significantly influence tree vigour. These findings emphasise the importance of using virus-free rootstocks and certified planting material to prevent growth suppression in HoneySweet orchards. Full article

Electric vehicle charging stations (EVCSs) are critical interfaces between urban mobility and distribution grids and are increasingly exposed to false data that can mislead operations and degrade voltage quality. This study proposes a defense-planning framework that models how cyber manipulation propagates to physical impacts in a coupled transport–power system. The interaction is modeled as a tri-level defender–attacker–operator problem in which a defender hardens a subset of charging stations, an attacker forges measurements and demand, and an operator redispatches resources to keep the system secure. We solve this problem with a method that embeds corrective operation into the evaluation and uses improved implicit enumeration (IIE) with pruning to identify a small set of high-value stations to protect with far fewer trials than an exhaustive search. On a benchmark feeder coupled to a road network, protecting a few traffic-critical stations restores compliance with voltage limits under tested attack levels while requiring roughly an order of magnitude fewer evaluations than complete enumeration. Sensitivity analysis shows that the loss of reactive power from PV inverters (PV VARs) harms voltage profiles more than an equivalent reduction in distributed storage, indicating that maintaining local reactive capability reduces the number of stations that must be hardened to meet a given voltage target. These results guide utilities and city planners to prioritize protection at traffic-critical EVCSs and co-plan local Volt/VAR capability, achieving code-compliant voltage quality under adversarial conditions with markedly lower planning effort. Full article

Rootstock mother fields supply the cuttings used in the grafted grapevine propagation process, and their productivity is essential for the nursery production. In southern Europe, mother fields are usually managed with a ground-level pruning system, which provides high yields but increases sanitary and management risks. Dense canopies favour humid microclimates and large pruning wounds increase the incidence of trunk diseases. Trellis systems have been proposed as alternatives to mitigate these risks, but their productive performance remains unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the vegetative growth of three vertical trellis systems: elevated crown, alternate crown, and vertical axis, in two rootstock mother fields, and to compare their cutting productivity with that of the traditional ground-level system once the trellis vines were fully established. The trial was conducted from 2022 to 2024 in a commercial rootstock mother field in Soria, Spain, using two Vitis berlandieri × V. rupestris hybrids (110 Richter and 140 Ruggeri). The experimental design consisted of three trellis systems arranged in four replicates of 12 vines each, following a randomised block design. Pruning weight increased significantly with vine age but was unaffected by trellis system. Cutting yield differed between rootstocks, with 140 Ruggeri producing about twice as many cuttings as 110 Richter. The comparison between trellis and ground-level systems showed that the former increased labour requirements and reduced cutting yields. Although trellis systems challenge their adoption for commercial rootstock propagation under the dry-summer conditions of this study, their potential to reduce fungal disease incidence and improve canopy management may offer advantages in a transition towards a more sustainable nursery process. Full article

Cold climate viticulture is challenged by climatic variability, including increased frost risk, shorter growing seasons, and unpredictable weather events that impact vine productivity and grape quality. Global warming is altering traditional viticulture zones, prompting the exploration of new regions for grape cultivation, the selection of climate-resilient cultivars, and the implementation of adaptive practices. This review synthesizes recent advances in adaptive viticulture practices and plant growth regulator applications, highlighting novel molecular and physiological insights on cold stress resilience and berry quality. Key strategies include delayed winter pruning to mitigate frost damage, osmoprotectant application to improve freeze tolerance, and canopy management techniques (cluster thinning and defoliation) to enhance berry ripening and wine composition. Their effectiveness depends on vineyard microclimate, soil properties and variety-specific physiological response. Cover cropping is examined for its role in vine vigor regulation, improving soil microbial diversity, and water retention, though its effectiveness depends on soil type, participation patterns, and vineyard management practices. Recent transcriptomic and metabolomic studies have provided new regulatory mechanisms in cold stress adaptation, highlighting the regulatory roles of abscisic acid, brassinosteroids, ethylene, and salicylic acid in dormancy induction, oxidative stress response, and osmotic regulation. Reflective mulch technologies are currently examined for their ability to enhance light interception, modulating secondary metabolite accumulation, improving technological maturity (soluble solids, pH, and titratable acidity) and enhancing phenolic compounds content. The effectiveness of these strategies remains highly site-specific, influenced by variety selection and pruning methods particularly due to their differences on sugar accumulation and berry weight. Future research should prioritize long-term vineyard trials to refine these adaptive strategies, integrate genetic and transcriptomic insights into breeding programs to improve cold hardiness, and develop precision viticulture tools tailored to cold climate vineyard management. Full article

Many olive orchards are rainfed and located on poor and sloping soil. Tillage is the most common soil management system, leaving the soil vulnerable to erosion. Pruning is a frequently used field operation in olive orchards that generates biomass; thus, pruning residue can be shredded and used as mulch to cover and nourish the soil. Several strategies using pruning residue mulch and spontaneous groundcovers were established to study their effect on controlling runoff, erosion and soil organic carbon (SOC) loss under simulated rainfall. The simulation trials were conducted under two different intensity rainfalls: high-intensity rainfall and medium-intensity rainfall, which averaged 36.8 and 16.4 mm/h, respectively. A tillage system was compared to spontaneous vegetation using two doses of pruning residue mulch, 10 and 30 t/ha, and a mixture of 10 t/ha of pruning residue applied on spontaneous vegetation. Runoff was reduced to a higher degree with spontaneous groundcovers as infiltration was favoured. Soil loss was reduced by more than 95% and SOC loss by more than 85% regarding tillage with any type of groundcover for both rainfall intensities. Spontaneous vegetation with a pruning residue mulch system kept the soil protected to a greater degree against erosive processes, making the system more sustainable. Full article

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common disorder of gut–brain interaction, with a multifactorial pathophysiology involving gut–brain axis dysregulation, visceral hypersensitivity, microbiota imbalance, and immune dysfunction. Traditional IBS management emphasizes dietary modifications and pharmacologic therapies. However, increasing attention has been directed toward functional foods, nutraceuticals, and herbal remedies due to their potential to target IBS pathophysiological mechanisms with favorable safety profiles. This clinical review explores the role of these adjunctive therapies, evaluating evidence from preclinical and clinical studies. Functional foods such as kiwifruit, prunes, and rye bread demonstrate benefits in bowel habit regulation through fiber content and microbiota modulation. Nutraceuticals like peppermint oil, palmitoylethanolamide, and herbal mixtures exhibit anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, and analgesic effects. Prebiotics provide substrate-driven microbiota changes, although dosage is key, as given their fermentative properties, when used at high dosages, they can exacerbate symptoms in some individuals. Probiotics and postbiotics offer microbiota-based interventions with promising symptom relief in IBS subtypes, although factors for personalized treatment still need to be further elucidated. These strategies highlight a paradigm shift in IBS management, integrating diet-based therapies with evolving nutraceutical options to improve patient outcomes. Despite promising findings, challenges in standardizing definitions, mechanisms, and safety profiles still remain. Rigorous, large-scale trials to validate the therapeutic potential of these interventions are needed, to enhance the benefits of these compounds with an individualized treatment approach. Full article

The urgent need for sustainable strategies to mitigate climate change has spurred the development of efficient carbon sequestration methods with minimal greenhouse gas emissions, presenting promising opportunities to produce biochar and, with this bioproduct, enhance crop productivity. Therefore, this research aimed to evaluate the carbon footprint produced by the low-temperature slow pyrolysis of biomass obtained from the pruning residues of four tree species present in parks and gardens of the southern Andean region of Ecuador. An electric reactor (ER), powered by 44 solar panels of 535 W each, was used to perform the pyrolysis process at 350 °C over four hours. For each species—Persea americana, Polylepis spp., Acacia spp., and Prunus salicifolia—three replicates of the process were conducted using 1.5 kg of biomass per trial. The results showed that Acacia spp. residues produced biochar with higher bulk density (0.303 g/cm³), organic matter (82.85%), total organic carbon (71.21%), oxygen (27.84%), C/N ratio (120.69), and potassium (459.12 ppm). The biochar produced from Prunus salicifolia exhibited the highest levels of pollutant gas emissions and carbon footprint (5.93 × 10⁻⁶ ton∙m⁻³ CO₂ eq and 0.001067 ton∙m⁻³ CO₂ eq, respectively). In contrast, the biochar produced from Polylepis spp. was the least polluting (0.001018 ton∙m⁻³ CO₂ eq), highlighting its potential as a source for biochar production from tree species found in the southern Andean region of Ecuador. Meanwhile, the pyrolysis of Persea americana (avocado) resulted in very low gas emissions, although it exhibited the second-highest carbon footprint due to the high energy consumption associated with the process. In conclusion, this study identified Persea americana and Polylepis spp. as the best options for biochar production through pyrolysis, positioning them as viable alternatives for developing sustainable strategies to mitigate climate change. Full article

The European hazelnut is a temperate nut crop, often managed as a multi-stemmed shrub due to its natural aptitude to produce several suckers at the base of the stump, depending on variety. Traditional hazelnut-growing regions such as Italy, Turkey, and Spain typically adopt this architecture, while other hazelnut-producing countries such as the USA, France, and Chile increasingly use single-trunk systems to facilitate orchard management. Multi-stemmed plants allow gradual renewal through sucker selection but may lead to excessively dense canopies, reducing the effectiveness of pest and disease control, increasing biennial bearing, and lowering nut yields in vigorous cultivars. In order to drive the ongoing enlargement of hazelnut cultivation, attempts in designing high-density (HD), and more occasionally super-high-density (SHD), hazelnut orchards are on-going, although these are poorly explored in terms of suitable plant training systems, such that, sometimes, multi-stemmed plant shapes are used; otherwise, single-trunk solutions are adopted. In order to explore new hazelnut planting and training solutions focused on sustainable intensification, a trial was established in 2019 in central Italy to evaluate the eligibility of three training systems (treatment A: regular four-stemmed shrub; treatment B: single-trunk sapling; treatment C: traditional multi-stemmed shrub), applied on unpruned three-year-old plants of the hazelnut cultivar Nocchione, planted in the HD approach (740 plant ha⁻¹). Over five growing seasons (2019–2023), measurements included pruned wood removed, yield, vigor, yield efficiency, nut and kernel traits, and incidence of the main commercial defects. In general, treatment A outperformed other plant-shaping systems, maintaining high yield levels particularly in the two last growing seasons, and showing a mean kernel/nut ratio of 37.7 and a low incidence of defects. Treatment B achieved the highest yield efficiency in 2023 but had lower overall yields. Treatment A demonstrated the most balanced performance, combining high nut quality and stable production, making it the most promising plant training system for HD hazelnut orchards with planting densities above 700 plants per hectare. Future research will assess the long-term adaptability of this plant training system under varying environmental and management conditions. Full article

To enhance the sustainability of marginal olive and dairy farms in the Sorrento peninsula, two separate crossover trials were conducted on two farms in the area to evaluate olive pruning residue (OlPr) and olive mill leaves (OlLes) as forage sources for lactating cows. Each trial lasted six weeks and consisted of two treatment periods, each including a 15-day adaptation phase followed by a 6-day measurement phase. During the measurement phase, milk production, feed intake, and olive residue consumption were assessed for two homogeneous cow groups: one receiving a ration supplemented with olive by-products and the other receiving a control diet. The olive-supplemented groups exhibited higher dry matter intake and roughage consumption (hay + olive residue) compared to the control groups. The intake of OlLes was about 30% higher than that of OlPr. Compared to the respective control, milk from OlLe-fed cows a had higher fat content and a higher fat-to-protein ratio, a more favorable fatty acid composition in terms of higher monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acid contents, a reduced atherogenic index, and a saturated-to-unsaturated ratio. Likely due to the lower level of olive by-product ingestion, only marginal differences were observed in milk fatty acid composition of cows fed OlPr compared to the control. We conclude that the use of OlLes in dairy cow diets may represent a promising strategy for improving milk quality, promoting a more circular agricultural system, reducing reliance on external feed inputs, and mitigating the environmental impact of both olive and milk production. Full article