However, it was lower than those described for pectins from apple

However, it was lower than those described for pectins from apple pomace (82%; Min et al., 2011), Akebia trifoliata var. australis peel (80% and 71%; Jiang et al., 2012) and creeping fig seeds (78–88%; Liang et al., 2012). However, it was observed by Jiang et al.

(2012) that pectins obtained under the same conditions had different uronic acid contents depending on the extractant. These authors observed that pectin obtained with hydrochloric acid had higher uronic acid contents (80%) than had that obtained with citric acid (71%). Fig. 2A shows the HPSEC elution profiles of fractions GHW-II and GHW-IIET. The GHW-IIET fraction showed a remarkable reduction of the peak around 38 min as compared to the native fraction (GHW-II). The main peak

of the GHW-IIET fraction was observed around 48 min, and this peak could Fulvestrant research buy correspond to the pectic polysaccharide. Fraction GHW-IIET was then subjected to ultrafiltration (0.1 μm) to yield fraction GHW-IIETF. The monosaccharide composition of fraction GHW-IIETF was similar to that of GHW-IIET (Table 2). After ultrafiltration, HPSEC analysis showed a unimodal profile for fraction GHW-IIETF with a molar mass of 157,788 g/mol (Fig. 2). To allow the identification of the uronic acid units using GC-MS, fraction GHW-IIETF was subjected to the process of click here carboxy-reduction with NaBD4 to obtain the neutral glycosidic units that correspond to acidic sugar. After hydrolysis and derivatization, the carboxy-reduced sample showed an increase of Gal of approximately seven times when compared

to GHW-IIETF fraction, confirming, as expected, the presence of galacturonic acid (GalA). The presence of GalA was also confirmed, based on the fragments containing 6,6-dideuteriomethylene that had two additional mass units, such as m/z 75, 219, 261, and 291. The low Rha:GalA ratio suggests that the pectin fraction isolated from guarana powder consists predominantly of a linear homogalacturonan chain. According to the monosaccharide composition, the SPTLC1 branched regions are primarily linked to arabinan side chains. These results are similar to those obtained for pectins of sunflower (Miyamoto & Chang, 1992), lemon albedo (Ros, Schols, & Voragen, 1998), prickly pear fruit skin (Habibi, Heyraud, Mahrouz, & Vignon, 2004) and apple pomace (Min et al., 2011). However, they differ from those for pectins of quince (Forni, Penci, & Pollesello, 1994), spent hops (Oosterveld, Voragen, & Schols, 2002), butter squash fruit (O’Donoghue and Somerfield, 2008), cupuassu pulp (Vriesmann & Petkowicz, 2009) and cacao pod husks (Vriesmann et al., 2011), whose neutral side chains are mainly galactans or arabinogalactans. GHW-IIETF was examined using 13C-NMR spectroscopy (Fig. 2B). Resonances of δ 100.0 and 99.

After each step, seeds were gently washed with distilled water th

After each step, seeds were gently washed with distilled water three times. All procedures were performed aseptically

in a laminar hood. To induce adventitious roots, cotyledons separated from sterilized stratified seeds were cultured on a solid Schenk and Hildebrandt (SH) medium containing 2.0 mg/L indole butyric acid, 3% sucrose, and 0.23% Gelrite. After 1 month, induced adventitious Ribociclib roots were separated from cotyledon explants and cultured again for secondary growth on the same medium. Then, the roots were transferred to a 30 mL liquid SH medium supplemented with 3.0 mg/L indole butyric acid and 5% sucrose, and maintained on a rotary PD0332991 nmr shaker (100 rpm) at 25°C in the dark. For further mass production, 12 g fresh adventitious roots in suspension culture were inoculated into a 2 L airlift balloon-type bioreactor (Biopia, Korea) containing 1 L of the same SH medium as that used for liquid suspension culture (Fig. 1). The medium was replaced with a fresh medium after 2 weeks, and 4 weeks

later, 12 g adventitious roots were subcultured into a new bioreactor. After 10 days of cultivation, the subcultured adventitious roots were used for total RNA extraction with the Plant RNeasy mini kit (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany), according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Approximately 2 μg total RNA from each cultivar was used for sequencing on the Illumina platform after the quality and quantity were checked using spectrophotometry. Paired-end reads with an average

length of 101 bp were generated for CP and CS using the Illumina Hiseq2000 platform. Library construction and sequencing were performed by the National Instrumentation Center and Environmental Management (NICEM), Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea. Acesulfame Potassium The sequence data generated in this study have been deposited in the Short Read Archive (SRA) of the NCBI under the accession number SRA061905. The sequencing reads underwent various stringent quality controls, such as filtering of high-quality reads and removal of reads with an adaptor or primer-contaminated sequence using the NGS QC toolkit [17]. All de novo assemblies were performed on a server with 48 cores and 512 GB random access memory. Publicly available transcriptome and genome assemblers were used to assemble the paired-end reads. Among the transcriptome assemblers, the open source program, Oases [18] (version: 0.2.06; http://www.ebi.ac.uk/∼zerbino/oases), which uploads a preliminary assembly produced by Velvet, was validated for k-mer optimization. Various assembly parameters were also examined to yield statistically as well as biologically significant results.

French PubMed PMID: 24210238 “
“Les essais cliniques, les a

French. PubMed PMID: 24210238 “
“Les essais cliniques, les analyses systématiques et les lignes directrices comparent les effets bénéfiques et les effets

non bénéfiques constatés à la suite d’interventions. Pourtant, on constate souvent que diverses études traitant d’un même sujet particulier ne font pas appel aux mêmes critères d’évaluation, ce qui complique la formulation de conclusions utiles sur le plan clinique dans le cadre d’une analyse visant un groupe d’études [1]. Cette problématique a récemment été mise en évidence par une analyse systématique ayant porté sur les interventions qui visent la prévention de l’accouchement pré-terme : cette analyse a constaté que, dans le cadre de 103 essais randomisés, pas moins de selleck compound 72 critères d’évaluation différents ont été signalés [2]. De plus en plus de

chercheurs cliniques reconnaissent que cette variabilité nuit à la synthèse méthodique des données probantes et s’entendent INCB024360 pour affirmer que la mise en œuvre d’un ensemble standardisé et consensuel de critères d’évaluation (un « ensemble de critères d’évaluation de base ») pour tous les essais relevant d’un domaine clinique particulier s’avère requise [1]. Puisque le manque actuel d’uniformité en matière de critères d’évaluation nuit gravement à l’évolution de notre spécialité, les rédacteurs en chef de plus de 60 revues spécialisées du domaine de la santé des femmes (Annexe 1) ont uni leurs forces en vue de soutenir l’initiative Core Outcomes in Women’s Health (CROWN). Ils sont au nombre de N-acetylglucosamine-1-phosphate transferase cinq : • former un consortium de toutes les revues spécialisées traitant d’obstétrique-gynécologie et de disciplines connexes en vue de promouvoir l’utilisation d’ensembles de critères d’évaluation de base dans tous les domaines de notre spécialité ; L’obtention d’un consensus s’avère nécessaire pour la détermination

d’un ensemble de critères d’évaluation bien définis, pertinents et réalistes pour tous les essais qui traitent de troubles de santé particuliers relevant du domaine de l’obstétrique-gynécologie, tels que l’accouchement pré-terme, l’incontinence, l’infertilité et les problèmes menstruels. Compte tenu de la multitude des sous-spécialités ainsi sollicitées, la tâche est ardue. La répétition des mêmes activités peut être évitée en travaillant en collaboration avec l’initiative Core Outcome Measures in Effectiveness Trials (COMET), laquelle s’affaire à déterminer des ensembles de données de base pour toutes les spécialités médicales [3]. La production d’ensembles de critères d’évaluation de base fiables nécessitera la participation des patientes, des professionnels de la santé, des chercheurs, des représentants de l’industrie et des organismes de réglementation, en plus de nécessiter l’utilisation de méthodes de consensus robustes sur le plan scientifique [1].

The red ginseng has a direct inhibitory effect on platelet aggreg

The red ginseng has a direct inhibitory effect on platelet aggregation in in vivo antithrombotic and ex vivo antiplatelet models, and this could correlate with its ability to increase NO production. It has been reported that the saponin fraction of Korean red ginseng enhances the formation of citrulline from exogenously added arginine, which activates NOS, and purified ginsenosides from ginseng enhanced the release of NO from endothelial cells of the rat aorta. Korean red ginseng also shows a significant protective effect on arterial thrombosis in

vivo, which may be due to antiplatelet activity rather than anticoagulation activity, and this result suggests that red ginseng intake may be beneficial for individuals with high risks of thrombosis and CVDs  [70], [71] and [72]. Dihydroginsenoside Rg3 potently inhibited platelet aggregation through the modulation of downstream signaling components such as cyclic adenosine monophosphate and extracellular signal-regulated www.selleckchem.com/products/Bleomycin-sulfate.html kinase 2 [73]. Protopanaxadiol or protopanaxatriol-type ginsenosides have a complicated effect on hemin-induced hemolysis, which depends on the interaction between the sugar moieties at different positions [74]. Post-treatment with P. notoginseng significantly reduced the lipopolysaccharide-mediated microcirculatory disturbance by inhibiting

adherence of leukocytes to the venular wall, degranulation of mast cells, and the release of cytokines [75]. A total of seven ginsenosides, namely Rg6, F4, Rk3, Rh4, Rs3, Rs4, and Rs5, isolated from processed ginseng were evaluated for their effects on platelet aggregation Galunisertib mw induced by adenosine diphosphate (ADP), collagen, arachidonic acid, and U46619 (thromboxane A2 mimetic drug). The acetylated ginsenosides such as Rs3, Rs4, and Rs5 only had mild effects on aggregation induced by four stimulators. Some of the ginsenosides including Rg6, F4, Rh4, Rs3, and Rs5 showed negligible effects

on ADP and collagen-induced platelet aggregation [76]. There are some synergistic interactions P-type ATPase between Korean red ginseng and warfarin in patients with cardiac valve replacement. Korean red ginseng could be used with close monitoring and under appropriate instruction in patients who take warfarin during cardiac valve replacement. Because such patients could take higher amounts of Korean red ginseng along with warfarin, this combination can also be applied in cardiac valve treatment [77]. Coronary perfusion flow of isolated heart can be increased by total ginsenosides, which also protected heart tissues from ischemia/reperfusion injury. This effect of total ginsenosides is mediated by activation of PI3K/Akt-eNOS signaling and NO production [78]. These results suggest that ginseng has a potent antithrombotic effect in vivo, which may be due to the antiplatelet activity rather than the anticoagulation activity, and that ginseng intake may be beneficial for individuals with high risks of thrombosis and CVDs.

Local topography influences mixed conifer distribution within cli

Local topography influences mixed conifer distribution within climate regions and elevation zones, with mixed conifer often inhabiting drainages or north aspects in areas otherwise supporting drier forest. Precipitation in mixed conifer forests usually is about 30–100 cm annually but can exceed 100 cm mainly in the western Sierra Nevada, Klamath, and other mountains closest to the Pacific coast ( Appendix A). Snow is common, selleck often providing an important source of early growing

season moisture. Summers characteristically are dry, excepting areas receiving late-summer monsoonal storms. Tree species vary by region, with dominants commonly including P. ponderosa, A. concolor, Pseudotsuga menziesii (Douglas-fir), and Pinus lambertiana (sugar pine). Historical

forest structure generally was characterized by mostly (>50%) open areas without tree canopy and interspersed clumps and individuals of trees ( Hagmann et al., 2013 and Reynolds et al., 2013). Tree densities historically ranged from ca. tens to hundreds per hectare among regions and sites within regions ( North et al., 2007, Fulé et al., 2009 and Reynolds et al., 2013). Physiognomy of understories currently varies broadly from shrubby, grassy, or forb-dominated, to sparsely vegetated with extensive O horizons ( Gruell, 1983 and Fites-Kaufman et al., 2007). Mixed conifer forests are dynamic and shaped SB431542 by disturbance, with long-term evolutionary development

providing a baseline for comparing characteristics of present forest (Covington et al., 1994). Anderson et al. (2008), for instance, reported temporal development of mixed conifer forest in the Jemez Mountains, New Mexico: Picea parkland inhabited the area 14,000 years ago after the glacial period, P. ponderosa colonized by ca. 11,500 years ago during a warmer climate, and with increased moisture by 6400 years ago, mixed conifer forest arose resembling present tree composition (P. menziesii, A. concolor, P. ponderosa, and others). Charcoal influx sharply increased after 4600 years ago, suggesting a long history of fire, and consistent with a more recent tree-ring-derived fire interval of 35 years from 1624 to 1902 ( Anderson et al., 2008). Many second mixed-conifer forests sustained fires at least as frequent (often <10-year return intervals) as those in P. ponderosa forests, but longer return intervals (including longer than 50 years) could occur in moister forest or where topography limited fire spread, and during climatic periods unfavorable to fire spread. Mixed-severity fire regimes, consisting mostly of low-intensity surface fire punctuated by more severe surface fire or patches of crown fire ( Fulé et al., 2003), have been broadly reported in mixed conifer forests from Mexico ( Minnich et al., 2000) through the U.S. to Canada ( Heyerdahl et al., 2012). Seasonality of fire varied from spring/summer ( Fulé et al.

Otherwise, there is very little the therapist can do to be of ass

Otherwise, there is very little the therapist can do to be of assistance but call 911. Orienting the client to call prior to escalation of suicidal impulses and nonsuicidal self-injurious acts is an important step in shaping future skillful, effective behaviors. Baddeley (2007) has stated that when emotional arousal becomes too high, no new learning can occur. Thus, as emotional arousal increases, the ability to take in, profit from, and effectively use feedback decreases. When orienting clients to DBT, it is important to also explain that most people are unable to effectively take in and use feedback when emotional levels are high. This communicates to the client that

they are not being punished for escalation but rather are encouraged to selleck chemicals llc call when coaching is likely to be most successful. Below is a vignette that demonstrates how clinicians can orient clients to this first function of DBT phone coaching. THERAPIST: What I would like to do is describe for you the first function or goal of after hours telephone coaching. ABT-263 cost Related to the first function in phone coaching is the 24-hour rule. While instructing the client to call prior to the crisis is designed to reinforce skillful behavior, the 24-hour rule is designed to extinguish unskillful behavior.

During phone coaching orientation, clients are informed that they are explicitly forbidden to call their therapists after a nonsuicidal self-injurious act until a 24-hour time period has elapsed. Clients should be informed that the goal of phone coaching is to assist clients in managing emotions without acting impulsively. Given that nonsuicidal self-injury serves to reduce emotional pain, calling after a nonsuicidal self-injurious event is unnecessary given that the client has already reduced their emotional Phosphoglycerate kinase response (Linehan, 1993). While not the desired outcome, the client has already solved the problem, albeit unskillfully, thus the therapist must be mindful not to reinforce the unskillful behavior. While these clients may obtain relief from extreme psychological pain, some will experience guilt and shame after a nonsuicidal self-injurious

act. These individuals may call after a nonsuicidal self-injurious event to seek reassurance and/or absolution from their therapist. By talking to a client after a nonsuicidal self-injurious behavior has occurred, here again, the therapist may inadvertently reinforce the very behavior they are seeking to eliminate. On occasion a client who has already engaged in a nonsuicidal self-injurious behavior may call. Concerns often arise for clinicians about what to do if a client has violated the 24-hour rule. While data are limited in this area, the one study conducted on frequency and topology of DBT phone coaching reported no occurrences in which the 24-hour rule was violated, suggesting that this behavior is rare (Limbrunner et al., 2011).

However, respiratory insufficiency is not associated with death o

However, respiratory insufficiency is not associated with death of mice infected with Western equine encephalitis virus (WEEV), which suggests that respiratory insufficiency is the physiological mechanism of death for a subset of encephalitides, but not all. Since respiratory insufficiency is a good predictor as to which individuals may die, suppression of MV might be used as a trigger to employ therapies to prevent death, which otherwise might not be indicated. EMG of the diaphragm has been valuable in establishing the neurological cause of respiratory insufficiency. Selleckchem BMS754807 Early in development of the procedure, electrodes attached to near the predicted motor

plates of the diaphragm and exiting the dorsal skin of the animal allowed for measurements of EMG over time in alert, non-anesthetized hamsters (Morrey et al., 2010). This procedure is surgically involved, but has yielded data to indicate

that WNV-infected mice develop diaphragmatic EMG suppression as compared to sham-infected animals. The diaphragmatic EMG readout was further developed in anesthetized mice to eliminate variability of behavior in alert animals (Wang et al., 2013b). Bilateral vagotomy is performed on ventilated isoflorane-anesthetized mice to abolish mechanoreceptor feedback. In these mice, diaphragmatic EMG signals are not detected. The middle EMG tracing of each selleck inhibitor mouse in Fig. 5 shows the absence of diaphragmatic EMG signals in vagotomized mice infected with WNV, WEEV, and sham. When the anesthetized mice are then exposed to hypercapnia at 7% CO2, the chemoreceptor cells in the medulla oblongata signal innervation of the diaphragm and are detected by EMG (bottom tracings, Fig. 5). The WNV-infected mouse (#594) with confirmed respiratory

insufficiency as detected by plethysmography Adenosine does not show any EMG signal, as compared to sham- and WEEV-infected mice that had robust EMG signals of the diaphragm in response to hypercapnia. The loss of diaphragmatic EMGs for WNV is consistent with loss of plethysmography results (Fig. 4). Essentially, anesthetized WNV-, POWV-, and NSV-infected animals, but not WEEV-infected animals, are not able to neurologically compensated for hypercapnia (Morrey et al., 2012). Another respiratory neurological deficit in phrenic neurons is detected with the use of the same optogenetics transgenic mice expressing ChR2 in their spinal cords as employed to measure motor function deficits in Fig. 2. Since the ChR2 is expressed from the choline acetyltransferase promoter, the function of phrenic neurons in the cervical cord controlling the innervation of the diaphragm can be monitored in infected mice (Wang et al., 2013b). When the cervical cord (C4–5) neurons are illuminated with fiber optics, EMG activation can be detected in the diaphragms of sham-infected mouse #170 (Fig. 6).

They transmit this afferent information via the superior branch o

They transmit this afferent information via the superior branch of the internal laryngeal nerve, and genioglossus premotoneurons

located near the obex mediate the reflex (Chamberlin et al., 2007). This is an important reflex, as activation of the hypoglossal muscles caused by a pressure drop should counteract a pharyngeal collapse (Eckert et al., 2007b, Horner et al., 1991 and Malhotra et al., 2000). Under physiological conditions this mechano-sensory pathway, as well as central nervous system components that are not involved in the reflex, contribute to the phasic genioglossus contraction during inspiration (Chamberlin et al., 2007, Fogel et al., 2001, Horner, 2000, Susarla et al., 2010 and van Lunteren, 1993). Importantly, the reflex activation of the genioglossus during these pressure drops is dramatically reduced or even suppressed during sleep, a finding that is of great significance in understanding OSA because a reduced activation could promote Dabrafenib nmr a pharyngeal collapse (Wheatley et al., 1993). Hypoxia and hypercapnia initiated chemoreflexes VX-809 purchase are known to contribute to the regulation of ventilation (Fig. 1), and a high gain in any of these chemosensory loops could contribute to breathing instabilities (White, 2005). The following lines of evidence suggest that the arterial chemoreflex is augmented in

OSA subjects: (a) brief hyperoxic exposure, which inhibits chemoreceptor activity, reduces blood pressure in OSA patients but not in control subjects (Narkiewicz et al., 1998), (b) the hypoxic ventilatory response, a hallmark response of the chemoreflex, is augmented in OSA subjects compared to controls (Hedner et al., 1992), and (c) activation of muscle sympathetic nerve activity by apneas is more pronounced in OSA subjects compared to controls (Smith et al., 1996). Development of altered chemosensory reflexes in OSA is further supported by studies using intermittent hypoxia (IH), the hallmark manifestation of recurrent apnea. Rodents exposed to chronic IH showed: (a) enhanced carotid body sensitivity to hypoxia, and (b) a progressive increase Gefitinib supplier in baseline carotid body sensory activity,

a phenomenon termed sensory long-term facilitation (sLTF) (Pawar et al., 2008, Peng et al., 2003, Peng et al., 2006, Peng et al., 2009, Peng and Prabhakar, 2004 and Rey et al., 2004). The subnuclei of the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS, Fig. 1), especially the commissural part of the NTS (cNTS), receive inputs from the carotid body (Chitravanshi and Sapru, 1995 and Zhang and Mifflin, 1993). Neuronal activity in cNTS is regulated by various neurotransmitters, including glutamate, an excitatory amino acid transmitter, and dopamine, an inhibitory biogenic amine. Chronic IH up regulates GluR2/3 glutamate receptor subunit expression in cNTS (Costa-Silva et al., 2012) and down regulates tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) expression, the rate-limiting enzyme in dopamine (DA) synthesis (Gozal et al., 2005 and Kline et al., 2002).

e , category-plus-stem, recognition) The present findings are al

e., category-plus-stem, recognition). The present findings are also consistent with behavioral and neuroimaging work showing that retrieval-induced forgetting is accomplished via executive control. Alectinib manufacturer For example, Román et al. (2009) found that giving participants a concurrent updating task during retrieval practice reduced retrieval-induced forgetting, presumably because the task interfered with the executive processes

necessary for inhibition. Furthermore, Kuhl et al. (2007) found that the prefrontal regions previously shown to be involved in the detection and resolution of interference are activated during retrieval practice. Moreover, the extent to which activation in these regions declined over retrieval practice trials predicted later retrieval-induced forgetting that a participant eventually exhibited. Kuhl et al. (2007) argued that activity in these regions was reduced for these subjects because they had inhibited the non-target items that were causing interference, thus reducing demands on cognitive buy Nutlin-3a control. Finally, it should be noted that although SSRT has been shown to be a reliable measure of the ability to overcome distraction and prevent unwanted and inappropriate responses (e.g., Logan et al., 1997 and Verbruggen et al., 2004), there is also evidence

that it—and other measures of response inhibition—are not strongly associated with the ability to resist proactive interference in memory (e.g., Friedman & Miyake, 2004). This latter finding, at first blush, may seem at odds with the present results and more generally with findings Casein kinase 1 pointing to common neural systems engaged by memory and motor inhibition (for examples, see Anderson & Huddleston, 2011; Anderson & Hanslmayr, 2014). An intriguing possibility that may contribute to this discrepancy is that the role of response inhibition in resisting

proactive interference may be better estimated by the aftereffects of a mechanism acting to resist proactive interference than it is by one’s overall ability to resist proactive interference. This may be particularly true when those aftereffects are measured in a way that reduces correlated costs and benefits problems, as argued here, a potentially fruitful possibility that should be explored in future research. The present research examined the correlated costs and benefits problem, a theoretically important issue in inhibitory control. By addressing this problem in the context of memory retrieval, the present findings help to clarify the processes that contribute to a particular memory phenomenon—retrieval-induced forgetting—and address its relation to inhibitory control processes in cognition more broadly. Critically, these findings support the operation of a common inhibition process that contributes to controlling memories and motor responses.

Row B, for example, refers to a period of overall disintensificat

Row B, for example, refers to a period of overall disintensification, yet may have led to a reduction of ground cover by grazing. Material evidence can help to evaluate the table in one of three ways. An understanding of process geomorphology rooted in regional fieldwork allows us to judge the strength of the logical connections between the ultimate and proximate causes. Settlement surveys allow us to judge whether the distribution of abandoned fields and villages matches the spatial pattern implied by a particular row. The dating of stratified deposits produced by land degradation, if of sufficient resolution, allows us to rule out NVP-BGJ398 solubility dmso some of the rows.

My fieldwork did not target the historical era in particular. It aimed to recover evidence of changing land

use from the arrival of the first farmers at ca. 1000BC to the present day. One of its conclusions is that land degradation was widespread and severe at different times during the prehispanic era, with most documented examples falling between 400BC and AD1000. It demonstrates that by Conquest, Tlaxcalan farmers were familiar with the consequences of land degradation, and had devised some ways of coping with it. Agricultural terracing was one of them. Excavations at La Laguna (Borejsza et al., 2008) disentangled the sequence of construction, use, and abandonment of different generations of terracing by combining stratigraphy, artifact analysis, and dating by radiocarbon and OSL. The terraces had no relation to the main occupations this website of the site, which are Formative (Borejsza and Carballo, in press). These resulted, however, in the exposure of tepetates, which for the next millennium remained sparsely vegetated and developed new soil profiles only in areas

of moderate gradient. The slopes were restored to cultivation when tepetates were buried under the GABA Receptor fills of stone-faced terraces during the Middle or Late Postclassic. They probably belonged to barrios of the Otomi community of Hueyactepec, abandoned in the wake of 16th C. diseases ( Table 3). After some disintegration of terraces, the area was restored to cultivation once again during the Colonial period, but this time by means of metepantles. By the 18th C. farming was in the hands of the laborers of a nearby hacienda. Erosion has washed out many older berms, but their silted up ditches are preserved. The most recent generation of metepantles went out of cultivation in the 1970s, as the estate was turned over to pasture to breed cattle for bullfights. The most commonly cited rationales for building terraces are preventing erosion or improving the retention of water (Donkin, 1979, 34; Doolittle, 2000, 254–64; Wilken, 1987). The stone-faced terraces and the metepantles at La Laguna likely met these functions once developed, but both started out as devices that allowed to reclaim land degraded long ago.