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Query: UMLS:C0851184 (thinning)
 11,252 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Mechanical harvesting and industrial processing of fibre hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) require uniformity of stem length and weight. In 1991 and 1992 we carried out field experiments to investigate the effects of soil nitrogen level (80 and 200 kg ha-1N) and row width (12.5, 25 and 50 cm) on the variability of weight and height in hemp plants. The crops were sampled 5 times between early June and early September. Row width did not affect size variability. At final harvest coefficients of variation (CV) of both weight and height were about 1.5 times higher at 200 than at 80 kg ha-1N. Distributions of dry weight were positively skewed at all sampling dates except the first, with skewness larger at 200 than at 80 kg ha-1N. Distributions of height were negatively skewed at all sampling dates except the first at 80 kg ha-1N. At 200 kg ha-1N they changed from negative skewness during the first part of the growing season to negative kurtosis in the second part of the growing season. More suppressed plants were present at 200 than at 80 kg ha-1N. Contrary to most published results, we did not find a reduction of CV of weight nor of CV of height at the onset of self-thinning. Suppressed hemp plants can survive relatively well in the low-light environment under the canopy. Sexual dimorphism contributed to variability of height and weight, but the effects were smaller than those of nitrogen fertilization. The ratio of female to male plants was higher at 200 than at 80 kg ha-1N, as a result of a shift in sex-ratio within the population of suppressed plants. As suppressed plants were much more slender than dominating plants, self-thinning eliminated the most slender individuals in a hemp crop. However, the presence of many more heavy individuals of low slenderness at 200 than at 80 kg ha-1 N was probably the major cause of the difference in slenderness between 200 and 80 kg ha-1 N.
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PMID:Nitrogen fertilization and sex expression affect size variability of fibre hemp (Cannabis sativa L.). 2830 94

Cannabis is associated with increased risk for severe mental illness and is commonly used among individuals with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. In this study we investigated associations between cannabis use and brain structures among patients with schizophrenia or bipolar disorders. Magnetic resonance imaging scans were obtained for 77 schizophrenia and 55 bipolar patients with a history of cannabis use (defined as lifetime use >10 times during one month or abuse/dependence), and 97 schizophrenia, 85 bipolar disorder patients and 277 healthy controls without any previous cannabis use. Cortical thickness, cortical surface area and subcortical volumes were compared between groups. Both hypothesis-driven region-of-interest analyses from 11 preselected brain regions in each hemisphere and exploratory point-by-point analyses were performed. We tested for diagnostic interactions and controlled for potential confounders. After controlling for confounders such as tobacco use and alcohol use disorders we found reduced cortical thickness in the caudal middle frontal gyrus compared to non-user patients and healthy controls. The findings were not significant when patients with co-morbid alcohol and illicit drug use were excluded from the analyses, but onset of cannabis use before illness onset was associated with cortical thinning in the caudal middle frontal gyrus. To conclude, we found no structural brain changes associated with cannabis use among patients with severe mental illness, but the findings indicate excess cortical thinning among those who use cannabis before illness onset. The present findings support the understanding that cannabis use is associated with limited brain effects in schizophrenia as well as bipolar disorder.
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PMID:Cortical thickness, cortical surface area and subcortical volumes in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder patients with cannabis use. 2925 57

Cannabis use is rising, yet there is poor understanding of biological processes that might link chronic cannabis use to brain structural abnormalities. To lend insight into this topic, we examined white matter microstructural integrity and gray matter cortical thickness/density differences between 89 individuals with cannabis dependence (CD) and 89 matched controls (64 males, 25 females in each group) from the Human Connectome Project. We tested whether cortical patterns for expression of genes relevant for cannabinoid signaling (from Allen Human Brain Atlas postmortem tissue) were associated with spatial patterns of cortical thickness/density differences in CD. CD had lower fractional anisotropy than controls in white matter bundles innervating posterior cingulate and parietal cortex, basal ganglia, and temporal cortex. The CD group also had significantly less gray matter thickness and density in precuneus, relative to controls. Sibling-pair analysis found support for causal and graded liability effects of cannabis on precuneus structure. Spatial patterns of gray matter differences in CD were significantly associated with regional differences in monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL) expression in postmortem brain tissue, such that regions with higher MAGL expression (but not fatty-acid amide hydrolase or FAAH) were more vulnerable to cortical thinning. In sum, chronic cannabis use is associated with structural differences in white and gray matter, which was most prominent in precuneus and associated white matter tracts. Regions with high MAGL expression, and therefore with potentially physiologically restricted endogenous cannabinoid signaling, may be more vulnerable to the effects of chronic cannabis use on cortical thickness.
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PMID:Brain structural changes in cannabis dependence: association with MAGL. 3169 65