This article identifies irrigated row-crop farmer factors associated with the adoption of water conserving practices. The analysis is performed on data from a survey of irrigators in Mississippi. Regression results show that the number of irrigated acres, years of education, perception of a groundwater problem, and participation in conservation programs are positively associated with practice adoption; while number of years farming, growing rice, and pumping cost are negatively associated with adoption. However, not all factors are statistically significant for all practices. Survey results indicate that only a third of growers are aware of groundwater problems at the farm or state level; and this lack of awareness is related to whether farmers noticed a change in the depth-to-water distance in their irrigation wells. This evidence is consistent with a report to Congress from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that recommends policies promoting the use of: (1) more efficient irrigation technology and practices and (2) precision agriculture technologies, such as soil moisture sensors and irrigation automation.

A method for calibrating models of agricultural production and resource use presented by Howitt [1] for policy analysis is proposed to leverage multidisciplinary agricultural research at the National Center for Alluvial Aquifer Research (NCAAR). An illustrative example for Sunflower County, MS is presented to show how plot-level research can be extended to draw systemic region or basin wide implications. A hypothetical improvement in yields for dryland soybean varieties is incorporated to the model and shown to have a positive impact on aquifer outcomes and producer profits. The example illustrates that a change in one practice-crop combination can have system-wide impacts as evidenced by the change in acreages for all crops and practices.

The common dry bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is a nutrient dense food produced globally as a major pulse crop for direct human consumption, and is an important source of protein and micronutrients for hundreds of millions of people across Latin America, the Caribbean and Sub-Saharan Africa. Beans require large amounts of heat energy and time to cook, deterring consumers worldwide from purchasing beans. In regions where consumers rely on expensive fuelwood for food preparation, the yellow bean is often marketed as fast cooking. A Yellow Bean Panel (YBP) was assembled to explore the cooking time and health benefits of the five major seed types within the yellow bean market class (Amarillo, Canary, Manteca, Mayocoba, Njano) over two field seasons. This study shows how the Manteca yellow bean possess a fast cooking phenotype, which could serve a genetic resource for introducing fast cooking properties into a new generation of dry beans with cooking times < 20 minutes when pre-soaked and < 80 minutes unsoaked. Nutritional evaluation revealed fast cooking yellow beans have high iron retention (>80%) after boiling. An in vitro digestion/Caco-2 cell culture bioassay revealed a strong negative association between cooking time and iron bioavailability in the YBP (r values > -0.73). When either pre-soaked or left unsoaked the highest iron bioavailability scores were measured in the fast cooking Manteca genotypes providing evidence that this yellow market class is worthy of germplasm enhancement through the added benefit of improved iron quality after cooking.

Mushroom cultivation vastly improves the yield of mushrooms under optimized, controlled conditions, but may be susceptible to opportunistic colonization by pest species that can establish themselves, as well as the pathogens and pests they may transmit. Here we describe our investigation into the bacterial communities of adult Lycoriella ingenua (Diptera: Sciaridae) and Megaselia halterata (Diptera: Phoridae) collected from button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) production houses in Pennsylvania. We collected adult flies and sequenced the hypervariable v4 region of the bacterial 16S rRNA using the Illumina MiSeq. The most abundant bacterial genus detected in both species was Wolbachia, but phylogenetic analysis revealed that the infections are from different clades. Future studies include the characterization of Wolbachia infections on fly behavior and biology, comparison of microbial diversity of fly species colonizing wild mushrooms, and other microbiota that may contribute to the success of certain pest fly species.

The development of antimicrobial resistance to conventional antibiotics is a major global health challenge. Infections caused by multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacteria have been named one of the most urgent global health threats. Considerable efforts are devoted to developing new antibiotic drugs and investigating the mechanism of antibiotic resistance. Recently, Anti-Microbial Peptides (AMPs) have emerged as a new platform for the target and design of novel drug resistant anti-microbial agents promising a new therapeutic strategy. AMPs are rapid, potent, possess an unusually broad spectrum of activity, and have shown efficacy as topical agents. Unlike traditional therapeutics that interfere with essential bacterial enzymes, AMPs interact with microbial membranes through electrostatic interactions and physically damage cell integrity. However, naturally occurring AMPs have limited selectivity and modest efficacy. Therefore, recent efforts have focused on the development of synthetic AMP analogs as suitable drug targets. This work explores the development of novel antimicrobial agents which mimic the structure of graft-copolymers and mirror the mode of action of an AMP. Chitosan-graft-polypeptide side chains are synthesized by the ring-opening polymerization of N-carboxyanhydrides of L-lysine and L-leucine initiated from the functional groups of chitosan. The derivatives with random- and block-copolymer side chains are explored as drug targets. These graft copolymer systems exhibit activity against clinically significant pathogens and disrupt biofilm formation. This work highlights the potential of chitosan-graft-polypeptide structures in biomedical applications.

This investigation aimed to knowledge of the presence of Brucella spp .in the samples from Babylon province and the relationship with environmental factors. The seasonal collection of animal soil samples for various villages in the middle, south, and north of Babylon province, Hilla City, Iraq, with physicochemical parameters (air and soil temperature, pH, EC, TDS, salinity, TOC), as well as heavy metals (Fe, Cu, Cd, and Pb). The results showed the presence of Brucella species in some of soil samples and its percentage varies according to the four seasons, where the highest percentage of Brucella spp. was in summer season and the lowest in winter season and these percentages were related to seasonal environmental indicators. After sending the positive bacterial samples isolated from the soil for sequencing analysis, it was found that the bacterial samples isolated from the soil have new strains recorded in Genbank as following: five strains for Brucella intermedia and one strain for Brucella rhizosphaerae, Also, phylogenetic analysis was for the drawing of phylogenetic tree and the determination of phylogenetic relationship for Knowledge the degree of convergence between species and their source. Through our research, we concluded that proportion of Brucella spp. presence in summer was high and also environmental factors which included (Air and Soil temperature, pH, EC, TDS and Salinity) were high, except TOC was lower in summer season whereas heavy metals for Cu, Fe, Cd were lower in summer except Pb was high. This indicated that differences of seasons affect to Brucella ratio in soil. The findings of sequencing for the bacterial samples from soil demonstrated that B. intermedia was found in both the spring and fall seasons while B.rhizosphaerae found in the spring season , These types of Brucella had genetic variations. Also concluded that during phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA sequences indicated that B.intermedia was nearest to Pakistan and other strain of B.intermedia was nearest to Russia while B.rhizosphaerae was nearest to Ukraine and Pakistan.

Due to their well-defined plasmonic properties, gold nanorods (GNRs) can be fabricated with optimal light absorption in the near-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum, which make them suitable for cancer-related theranostic applications. However, their controversial safety profile, as a result of surfactant stabilization during synthesis, limits their clinical translation. We report a facile method to improve GNR biocompatibility through the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). GNRs (120 x 40 nm) were synthesized through a seed-mediated approach, using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as a cationic surfactant to direct the growth of nanorods and stabilize the particles. Post-synthesis, SDS was used as an exchange ligand to modify the net surface charge of the particles from positive to negative while maintaining rod stability in an aqueous environment. GNR cytotoxic effects, as well as the mechanisms of their cellular uptake, were examined in two different cancer cell lines, Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) and HeLa cells. We not only found a significant dose-dependent effect of GNR treatment on cell viability but also a time-dependent effect of GNR surfactant charge on cytotoxicity over the two cell lines. Our results promote a better understanding of how we can mediate the undesired consequences of GNR synthesis byproducts when exposed to a living organism, which so far has limited GNR use in cancer theranostics.

In order to better understand the extent to which global climate variability is linked to the frequency and intensity of heat waves and overall changes in temperature throughout the United States (US), correlations between long-term monthly mean, minimum, and maximum temperatures measured at sites throughout the contiguous US and low-frequency variability of multiple climate indices (CIs) are analyzed over the period 1948 to 2018 using correlation analysis. The Pearson’s correlation coefficient is used to assess correlation strength, while Leave-One-Out Cross-Validation and a bootstrapping technique (p-value) are used to address potential serial and spurious correlation and assess the significance of each correlation. Three parameters defined the sliding windows over which surface temperature and CI values were averaged: window size, lag time between the temperature and CI windows, and the beginning month of the temperature window. A 60-month sliding window size and 0 lag time resulted in the strongest correlations overall; beginning months were optimized on an individual site basis. Strong (r &gt;= 0.60) and significant (p-value &lt;= 0.05) correlations were identified. The Western Hemisphere Warm Pool (WHWP) and El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) exhibited the strongest links to temperatures in the western US, tropical Atlantic sea surface temperatures to temperatures in the central US, the WHWP to temperatures throughout much of the eastern US, and atmospheric patterns over the northern Atlantic to temperatures in the Northeast and Southeast. The final results were compared to results from previous studies focused on precipitation and coastal sea levels. Regional consistency was found regarding links between the northern Atlantic and overall weather and coastal sea levels in the Northeast and Southeast as well as on weather in the upper Midwest. Though the MJO and WHWP revealed dominant links with precipitation and temperature, respectively, throughout the West, ENSO revealed consistent links to sea levels and surface temperatures along the West Coast. These results help focus future research regarding specific mechanisms of climate variability that appear the exhibit strong links to US regional weather and sea level variability and prediction.

The international literature shows a polarised debate on the impacts of climate change on migration. Some studies find a positive linkage, whereas others find a negative one. It is, without a doubt, a complex process better considered case-specific. There is no available information on the relationship between climate change and migration in Colombia, despite past research exploring each of these subjects independently. This study intends explicitly to investigate this linkage gap. Consequently, this paper's essential contribution is that it builds a bridge between climate change scenarios and migratory science for the first time in Colombia. Despite their limitations, the theoretical and methodological framework suggested by IOM (2009b pp. 86, Section B, Chapter II) is demonstrated in this study to be very valid since it provides a methodology to predict where future flows will occur (based on past evidence). The methodological approaches of SLA and NELM explained in section A in the IV Chapter are also valuable for analysing and approaching this study's conclusions. The primary conclusions of this study indicate that the "Coffee Region," Valle, and Atlantic (or Caribbean Coast) provinces that mainly send emigrants to Spain and the US are the key internal regions responsible for most of the international migration from Colombians. The same areas are especially vulnerable to the impacts of upcoming climate change in the A1B scenario produced by the IDEAM (2010) for 2040 and 2100. Thus, future flows of migrants are expected from these regions (2040-2100). However, issues such as visa requirements or the costs associated with migration constitute international barriers to this flow. The sensitivity of these regions can also be associated with internal migration flows, more armed conflict, and forced displacement in a cyclical process. Theoretically, a resurgence of Colombia's armed conflict and displacement due to climate change can be expected. However, the need for empirical studies in Colombia to support this analysis is imperative and is the most crucial recommendation arising from this study.

While a raft of existing Chinese literature examines the associations between the outbreak of the pandemic and students’ mental health, rarely do Chinese studies assess the nuanced relationships between digital learning, parenting, and students’ mental health since the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Such a rarely discussed topic has substantial scholarly value as mismanagement of digital learning and parenting, such as the exposure to cyberbullying and negative parenting during the public health crisis, could add substantial, unforeseeable psychological burdens for Chinese students. In this article, the author applied a systematic review to find all relevant Chinese literature that contains the words “digital learning”, “children/adolescents”, “mental health”, and “parenting” published since January 2020. As such a complex topic has rarely been addressed in Chinese contexts, the author was only able to find four related scholarly articles. The author summarises the arguments and empirical findings to explore the nuanced relationships between a) digitalisation, isolation, parenting, and children’s mental health, b) parenting, teacher-student relationships, and students’ mental health, and c) maternal and paternal parenting styles.

This study examines the association between dietary saturated fatty acid (SFA) intake and leukocyte telomere length (LTL) using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999-2002. Telomeres, protective repeats of DNA at the ends of chromosomes, play a crucial role in cellular aging. Their length is shortened over time and is influenced by various factors, one of which is diet. The present study's objective was to evaluate whether increased SFA consumption is associated with shorter LTL. The analysis, conducted on a large, nationally representative sample of 6646 adults, revealed an inverse association between dietary SFAs and LTL. When examined further, this association was found to be significant in women, but not in men. Serum C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were tested as a potential mediator in this relationship, but no such mediation was found. These findings support the role of dietary factors in modulating cellular aging. However, further research is warranted to elucidate the underlying mechanisms driving the overall association, as well as the gender-specific effects observed.

Exisitng studies argue life chances are, in part, vertically reproduced. Such a statement is applicable to the Chinese contexts as, but not limited to, parental hukou status, to some extent, determines the life chances their children receive. In this essay, the author would like to introduce human capital theory (HCT) and educational signalling theory (EST), and assess how the applications of each of these two models can enrich the understanding of vertical reproduction of individuals’ social mobility opportunities. The author would also present the limitations of each of these two models when addressing relevant Chinese contexts.

The construction industry, characterized by high energy use and carbon emissions, necessitates a thorough and accurate life cycle assessment (LCA). This review investigates how building information modeling (BIM) software can streamline the LCA process to improve both efficiency and precision. Although BIM has considerable potential, challenges remain, such as issues with software interoperability and a lack of standardized options for BIM-integrated LCA tools. The review also evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of various BIM software, LCA tools, and energy consumption tools, and highlights case studies of BIM-LCA integration. It provides a critical analysis of methods and techniques for BIM-LCA integration and data exchange, including the import of bills of quantities, Industry Foundation Classes (IFC), the use of BIM viewers, direct LCA calculations with BIM plugins, and calculations using LCA plugins. The study concludes with future outlooks, aiming to direct the development of improved LCA tools that offer better integration with BIM software, which is crucial for advancing sustainable construction practices.

Lactic acid (LA) is a significant byproduct in Baijiu fermentation, with both D(-)-lactic acid (D(-)-LA) and L-lactic acid (L(+)-LA) being present due to the diverse microbial metabolism involved. L(+)-LA, a key industrial raw material, is metabolizable by humans, unlike D(-)-LA. This study aims to isolate microorganisms from fermented grains that preferentially produce L(+)-LA and apply these strains to Baijiu fermentation processes. We analyzed 106 commercially available Baijiu samples, along with fermented grains, yellow water, and Baijiu samples from 10 Baijiu factories, confirming the coexistence of D(-)-LA and L(+)-LA in fermentation products. Notably, a strong correlation was found between L(+)-LA in fermented grains and L-ethyl lactate (L(+)-EL) in Baijiu. Microbial community analysis revealed that Lactobacillus and Bacillus were the dominant bacterial groups, with a succession of microbial communities throughout fermentation. Two strains, A6 and B12, identified as Bacillus licheniformis and Bacillus cereus, respectively, were isolated for their high selectivity in L(+)-LA production. Both strains demonstrated a high yield of L(+)-LA in fermentation tests. Incorporating these strains into both liquid- and solid-state fermentation systems markedly increased the proportion of L(+)-EL relative to total ethyl lactate in Baijiu. This study successfully isolated and applied L(+)-LA-producing strains to fermentation models, offering a practical strategy for increasing L(+)-LA content in Baijiu.

Minimal access cardiac surgery appears to be the future. It is increasingly desired by cardiologists and demanded by patients who perceive superiority. Minimal access coronary artery revascularisation has been increasingly adopted throughout the world. Here we review the history of minimal access coronary revascularization and see that it is almost as old as the history of cardiac surgery. Modern minimal access coronary revascularization takes a variety of forms – namely minimal access direct coronary artery bypass grafting (MIDCAB), hybrid coronary revascularisation (HCR) and totally Endoscopic Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (TECAB). It is noteworthy that there is significant variation in nomenclature and approaches for minimal access coronary surgery and this truly presents a challenge to comparing the different methods. However, these approaches are increasing in frequency and proponents demonstrate clear advantages for their patients. The challenge that remains, as for all areas of surgery, is demonstrating superiority of these techniques over tried and tested open techniques which is very difficult. There is a paucity of randomized controlled trials to help answer this question, and the future of minimal access coronary revascularisation to some extent is dependent on such trials. Thankfully some are underway and the results eagerly anticipated.

Poso regency, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, has a coastal area that has marine tourism potential to be developed. It is expected that marine tourism can bring socio-economic impact to the com-munity. This research was conducted with the objective of assessing the suitability of the area to be developed as a marine and coastal tourism site to provide benefits to the coastal community. Hydrodynamic model will be used in this research as coastal area mapping. As an approach, Analysis Hierarchy Process (AHP) is utilized whose parameters consist of depth, coast type, coast width, brightness, current speed, water base materials, observation of dangerous biota and availability of fresh water. Based on the overall mapping area of 98,644 ha, the research results show that the area that can be utilized is 7,979 ha with a very suitable category, while there is an area of 1,045 ha which can still be classified in the appropriate category.

p53 is among the most frequently mutated tumor suppressor genes given its prevalence in >50% of all human cancers, including high grade serous endometrial cancers and ovarian cancers. In addition to loss of tumor suppression function, many mutated p53 (Mutp53) proteins acquire gain-of-function (GOF) activities as oncogenes to promote cancer progression, which manifest through aberrant expression of p53. As we have come to see, statins induce CHIP-mediated degradation of mutp53 by blocking the interaction between mutp53 and DNAJA1. Therefore, targeting critical downstream pathways of mutp53 provides an alternative strategy for treating cancers expressing mutp53. In this review, we summarize recent advances with Wee1 inhibitors and mevalonate pathway inhibitors, particularly statins, regarding their use in gynecological cancers with p53 mutations.

Climate change-induced events amplify existing social, political, economic, infrastructural and environmental concerns in many Global South cities, and perhaps no city is more vulnerable than Bangladesh’s capital of Dhaka. Climate-induced rural-urban migration is a profound concern, and Dhaka’s political leaders have embraced technology-based innovation as a solution pathway. This article explores the societal impact of Dhaka’s innovation environment strategies for climate change adaptation and mitigation. Employing a case study qualitative methodology, our three findings expand knowledge about innovation-urban climate mitigation as understood by Dhaka-based entrepreneurs: First, the most effective innovations were not the most technologically advanced, but those with the highest degree of participant ownership. Second, gaps between recipient, corporate and governmental understandings of effective mitigation and adaptation harmed projects, and were driven by different definitions of risk and competing understandings of vulnerability. Third, even the most technical climate adaptation measures were inherently political in their application. We discuss how to better position urban climate innovation infrastructures in Bangladesh and beyond, including developing a better recognition of innovation lifecycles for urban climate adaptation and widening our definitions of ‘innovation’ to better incorporate more effective and inclusive climate adaptation solutions.

The past few decades have been characterized by a growing body of profit-seeking public service areas with the understanding that profit-seeking organizations will deliver public services more efficiently than government can. These sectors include, but are not limited to, health care, corrections and education. Governments have created quasi markets to attract private providers of services in these sectors, with varying results. Organizational economics has provided the primary explanation for quasi markets, but questions about the sought-for efficiencies actually realized through these markets persist. We integrate resource dependence theory and organizational economics to provide a more comprehensive explanation of the persistence of quasi markets.

Accurate measurement of solid precipitation (S) has a critical importance for proper understanding of the Earth’s hydrological cycle, validation of emerging technologies and weather prediction models, and developing parameterizations of severe weather elements such as visibility (Vis). However, measuring S is still a challenging problem mainly because of wind effects. The wind effects are normally mitigated by using a Double-Fence Automated Reference (DFAR) system to reduce the wind speed (Ug). To contribute towards addressing some of these issues we have analyzed data sets collected at a site located in Southern Ontario, Canada using several instruments. The instruments include two Geonor gauges, one placed inside a DFAR (SDFAR) and the other inside a double Alter shield (DASG), a Pluvio2 gauge inside a single Alter shield (SASP), a HotPlate, a PARSIVEL2 Disdrometer that measures S and fall velocity (V), and a FD12P senor that measures S and type and Vis. The results show that for the Ug observed in this study (Ug &lt; 6 ms-1), both DASG and SASP have similar collection efficiency (CE) of near 70%. The transfer functions (TF) for DASG and SASP as a function of Ug and also Ug, and V have been derived. The TF for the DASG that includes both Ug and V showed better agreement with observation than just Ug alone. The S measured using all the other instruments were correlated well with SDFAR, but the PARSIVEL2 and FD12P overestimated and underestimated the snow amount respectively as compared the SDFAR. However, the HotPlate captured similar amount of S as the SDFAR. According to this study, the SDFAR showed good correlation with Vis.

COVID-19 differential spread and impacts across regions is a major focus for researchers and policy makers. Africa has attracted tremendous attention due to predictions of catastrophic impacts that have not yet materialized. Early in the pandemic, the seemingly low African case count was largely attributed to low testing and case reporting. However, there is also reason to consider that many African countries got out ahead of the virus early on. Factors explaining low spread include early government mandated lockdowns, community-wide actions, population distribution, social contacts, and ecology of human habitation. While recent data from seroprevalence studies posit more extensive circulation of the virus, continuing low COVID-19 burden may be explained by the demographic pyramid, prevalence of pre-existing conditions, trained immunity, genetics, and broader sociocultural dynamics. Though all these prongs contribute to the observed profile of COVID-19 in Africa, some provide stronger evidence than others. This review is important to expand what is known about the differential impacts of pandemics enhancing scientific understanding and gearing appropriate public health responses. Also, highlighting potential lessons the world may draw from Africa for global health on assumptions regarding deadly viral pandemics given its long experience with infectious diseases.

Abstract: Safety issues related to the electrification of more electric aircraft (MEA) need to be addressed because of the increasing complexity of aircraft electrical power systems and the growing number of safety-critical sub-systems that need to be powered. Managing the energy storage systems and the flexibility in the load-side plays an important role in preserving the system’s safety when facing an energy shortage. This paper presents a system-level centralized operation management strategy based on model predictive control (MPC) for MEA to schedule battery systems and exploit flexibility in the demand-side while satisfying time-varying operational requirements. The proposed online control strategy aims to maintain energy storage (ES) and prolong the battery life cycle, while minimizing load shedding, with fewer switching activities to improve devices lifetime and to avoid unnecessary transients. Using a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) formulation, different objective functions are proposed to realize the control targets, with soft constraints improving the robustness of the model. Besides, an evaluation framework is proposed to analyze the effects of various objective functions and the prediction horizon on system performance, which provides the designers and users of MEA and other complex systems with new insights into operation management problem formulation.

An oceanic radar altimeter such as TOPEX/Poseidon (T/P) is typically for observing elevation changes over the open oceans or large inland lakes/rivers, with limited applications over solid earth due to its large footprint and susceptibility to waveform contamination and slope effect. Here we demonstrate that it is possible to construct a long-term time series of glacier elevation change from T/P-series radar altimeters over two flat surfaces near a glacier terminus and an icefield (Sites A and B, with slopes of 2° and 0.8°) in Mt. Tanggula, Tibet, at elevations over 5400 m. We retracked radar waveforms using the subwaveform threshold algorithm, selected quality altimeter data (1/4 of the original) with nearly the same slope and adjusted the original elevations by fitting with a time-varying, 2nd order surface. The glacier elevation changes at the two sites from T/P (1993–2002) show seasonal elevation oscillations with linear rates at about −3 m/year and abnormal seasonal changes around the 1997–98 El Niño. Site A is over a deep valley in southern Tanggula. Its elevation dropped about 30 m over 1993–2002 (from T/P) and the glacier almost disappeared by 2016 (from altimeters and satellite images). Despite the sporadic Jason-2 and Jason-3 altimeter data, we also derived long-term rates of glacier elevation change over 1993–2017. Landsat-derived glacier area and elevation changes near the two sites confirm the rapid glacier thinning from the altimeters. The glacier meltwater near Site A supplied increasing source water to Chibuzhang Co west of Mt. Tanggula, contributing partially to its accelerated rising lake level. The glacier thinning at Site B (icefield) was correlated with the increased discharge of the Tuotuo River in eastern Mt. Tanggula, a source region of the Yangtze River. The successful detection of glacier thinning at the two sites shows that T/P-series altimeters can serve as a virtual station at a flat glacier spot to monitor long-term glacier elevation changes in connection to climate change. This virtual station concept is particularly useful for inaccessible glaciers, but its implementation faces two challenging issues: increasing the volume of quality altimeter data and improving the ranging accuracy over a targeted mountain glacier spot.

Significance: Cellular redox processes are highly interconnected, yet not in equilibrium, and governed by a wide range of biochemical parameters. Technological advances continue refining how specific redox processes are regulated, but broad understanding of the dynamic interconnectivity between cellular redox modules remains limited. Systems biology investigates multiple components in complex environments and can provide integrative insights into the multi-faceted cellular redox state. This review describes the state of the art in redox systems biology as well as provides an updated perspective and practical guide for harnessing thousands of cysteine sensors in the redoxome for multi-parameter characterization of cellular redox networks. Recent Advances: Redox systems biology has been applied to genome-scale models and large public datasets, challenged common conceptions and provided new insights that complement reductionist approaches. Advances in public knowledge and user-friendly tools for proteome-wide annotation of cysteine sentinels can now leverage cysteine redox proteomics datasets to provide spatial, functional, and protein structural information. Critical Issues: Careful consideration of the analytical approaches is needed to broadly characterize the systems level properties of redox signaling networks and be experimentally feasible. The cysteine redoxome is an informative focal point since it integrates many aspects of redox biology. The mechanisms and redox modules governing cysteine redox regulation, cysteine oxidation assays, proteome-wide annotation of the biophysical and biochemical properties of individual cysteines, and their clinical application are discussed. Future Directions: Investigating the cysteine redoxome at a systems level will uncover new insights into the mechanisms of selectivity and context-dependence of redox signaling networks.

Abstract: Laryngoscopy for tracheal intubation has been developed for many decades. Among various conventional laryngoscopes, videolaryngoscopes (VL) have been applied in different patient populations, including difficult airways. The safety and effectiveness of VL have been repeatedly studied in both normal and difficult airways. The superiority of VL then has been observed and is advocated as the standard of care. In contrast to laryngoscopy, the development of video-assisted intubating stylet (VS, also named as styletubation) has been noticed two dec-ades ago. Since then, sporadic clinical experiences of use have appeared in literature. In this re-view article, we presented our vast use experiences of the styletubation (more than 55,000 pa-tients since 2016). We found this technique is swift (the time to intubate: from 3 s to 10 s), smooth (first-attempt success rate: 100%), safe (no airway complications), and easy (high subjective satis-faction and fast learning curve for the novice trainees) in both normal and difficult airway sce-narios. We therefore propose styletubation technique can be feasibly applied as universal rou-tine use for tracheal intubation.

Tick-borne tularemia was first described in 1924. Nearly 100 years later, questions remain about the tick vector(s) that pose(s) the greatest risk for transmitting Francisella tularensis (Ft), the causative agent of tularemia. Additionally, few studies have identified genes/proteins required for Ft to infect, persist, and replicate in ticks. To answer questions about vector competence and Ft transmission by ticks, we infected Dermacentor variabilis (Dv), Amblyomma americanum (Aa), and Haemaphysalis longicornis (Hl; invasive species from Asia) ticks with Ft, finding that although Aa ticks initially become infected with 1-log higher Ft, Ft replicated more robustly in Dv ticks, and did not persist in Hl ticks. In transmission studies, both Dv and Aa ticks efficiently infected naïve mice, causing disease in 57% and 46% of those mice, respectively. We identified a putative Ft chitinase, FTL1793, generated a FTL1793 mutant, and found that FTL1793 was deficient in tick infection, persistence, and replication in ticks. Recombinant FTL1793 exhibited chitinase activity in vitro, suggesting that this chitinase may provide an alternative energy source for Ft in ticks. Taken together, Dv ticks appear to pose a greater risk for harboring and transmitting tularemia and FTL1793 plays a major role in promoting tick infections by Ft.

In eastern part of Ethiopia groundnut is very commonly intercropped with sorghum. Even though intercropping of sorghum with groundnut is practiced in the eastern part of Ethiopia the population density at what ratio should not be known. Therefore determining the population ratio is found to be crucial to draw management options. The study was conducted at two locations at Fadis (on station) and Babile (sub- station). Sorghum variety (Teshale) and groundnut (Fetene) were used as planting materials. All agronomic data were collected and analyzed by using GenStat software. Significant different were obtained among the treatments. The research result showed that, there were significance difference for both sorghum and ground nut yield per hectare in the years (2014 and 2015) among treatments. The result over time(in 2014 and 2015) at Fadis and Erer showed that the highest sorghum and groundnut yield per hectare were obtained/harvested from the intra row spacing of 25cmx20cm and 30cmx20cm intercropping sorghum with ground nut system with (1.27 and 1.31) respectively. The highest LER (1.31) and highest GMV (10218.00 ETBr/ha) were obtained from the intercropping of 30cmx20cm (Sorghum & groundnut). Clearly showed that, with intercropping of sorghum and Groundnut, it is possible to produce additional yield of sorghum without significant reduction in groundnut yield. As a result of this, the intra spacing of the main crop (sorghum) 25cm and 30cm and for the subsidiary crop (groundnut) 20cm was recommended for further production in the study areas of eastern Harerghe zone and similar agro-ecologies.

The resistance of cancer cell subpopulations, including cancer stem cell (CSC) populations, to apoptosis-inducing chemotherapeutic agents is a key barrier to improved outcomes for cancer patients. The cationic amphiphilic drug hexamethylene amiloride (HMA) has been previously demonstrated to efficiently kill bulk breast cancer cells independent of tumor subtype or species, but acts poorly toward non-transformed cells derived from multiple tissues. Here we demonstrate that HMA is similarly cytotoxic toward breast CSC-related subpopulations that are resistant to conventional chemotherapeutic agents, but poorly cytotoxic toward normal mammary stem cells. HMA inhibits the sphere-forming capacity of FACS-sorted human and mouse mammary CSC-related cells in vitro, specifically kills tumor but not normal mammary organoids ex vivo, and inhibits metastatic outgrowth in vivo, consistent with CSC suppression. Moreover, HMA inhibits viability and sphere formation by lung, colon, pancreatic, brain, liver, prostate and bladder tumor cell lines, suggesting that its effects may be applicable to multiple malignancies. Mechanistically, HMA elicits the permeabilization of the limiting lysosomal membrane, a hallmark feature of the lysosome-dependent cell death pathway. Our observations expose a key vulnerability intrinsic to cancer stem cells, and point to novel strategies for the exploitation of cationic amphiphilic drugs in cancer treatment.

Tussilago farfara L. is a traditional medicinal plant valued for its potentially health-promoting metabolites. Its herbal raw material has been recognized and used since ancient times and continues to be widely used in traditional medicine. Introducing these plants to in vitro cultivation is a challenging task, but once the protocol is developed, such cultures can provide an abundant and inexhaustible source of plant material. In this study, we report the successful induction and growth of vigorous T. farfara L. callus in vitro. Callus induction was achieved on solid media in darkness, whereas it appeared inefficient under light conditions and in suspension culture. We present a detailed description of callus growth kinetics, morphological analysis, photosynthetic activity and biochemical parameters (including protein content and photosynthetic pigments) supported by histological studies. Furthermore, we observed potential for organogenesis and somatic embryogenesis. This method for in vitro propagation of T. farfara, along with callus culture maintenance, offers a wide range of applications in pharmacy and could benefit the environment by minimizing the depletion of natural populations of this species.

The introduction of tenofovir-derived prodrugs has revolutionised the prevention and management of HIV, which has coincided with 23% reduction in new HIV incidences globally. To date, there are two formulations of tenofovir-derived nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI): tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/emtricitabine (TDF/FTC) and tenofovir alafenamide fumarate/emtricitabine (TAF/FTC). Although these prodrugs have shown favourable safety profile, their effects on cardiovascular health are differ from one another: TDF/FTC exhibits potential lipid-lowering effect, TAF/FTC demonstrates potential lipid-inducing effect, which is a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. However, this issue has not been previously elucidated, especially among the marginalised populations [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) and men who have sex with men (MSM)] who are likely be the main users of these prodrugs. This is of clinically significance as the cardiovascular health in these populations is often overlooked, in addition to a lack of appropriate cardiovascular risk prediction algorithm. Therefore, this review aims to (1) highlight the cardiovascular risks of tenofovir-derived prodrugs in the marginalized populations, and also to (2) establish the importance of having a cardiovascular risk prediction model that is specific to this particular populations so that their health management could be more comprehensive.

The present study deals with the transplantation of mature Argan trees (Argania spinosa L. Skeels) and focuses on optimizing survival rates depending on the seasons, the type of shoot pruning applied to the trees and preconditioning treatments consisting of root pruningand watering for a few months before transplanting. So far, the transplantation of this species at the adult stage has not received enough attention in spite of its ecological and socio-economic importance for the regions where it thrives. The results obtained show that transplanting in summer, autumn and winter resulted in survival rates exceeding 50%. The Argan trees transplanted in spring hardly achieved 10% survival. However, the total cutback of the crown induced survival improvement that reached a rate greater than 70% for summer, autumn and winter, and 50% for spring. Watering alone or combined with root pruning for 6 months helped improve the recovery rate but only when carried out in autumn with transplantation in spring. On the other hand, when these pre-treatments were applied in the spring to transplant the trees in summer, the recovery rate was not improved.

Complete digraphs are referred to in the combinatorics literature as tournaments. We consider a family of semi-simplicial complexes, that we refer to as ``tournaplexes'', whose simplices are tournaments. In particular, given a digraph G, we associate with it a ``flag tournaplex'' which is a tournaplex containing the directed flag complex of G, but also the geometric realisation of cliques that are not directed. We define several types of filtrations on tournaplexes, and exploiting persistent homology, we observe that flag tournaplexes provide finer means of distinguishing graph dynamics than the directed flag complex. We then demonstrate the power of these ideas by applying them to graph data arising from the Blue Brain Project's digital reconstruction of a rat's neocortex.

The aim of this research was to test recent developments in the use of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) to map pasture biomass yield and nutrient status, across a selected range of field sites throughout the rangelands of Queensland. Improved pasture management begins with an understanding of the state of the resource base, UAV based methods can potentially achieve this at improved spatial and temporal scales. This study developed predictive models of both pasture yield and pasture nutrient status. An automated pasture height surface modelling technique was developed, tested and used along with field site measurements of pasture yields, to predict further estimates across each field site. Both prior knowledge and automated predictive modelling techniques were employed to predict pasture yield and nutrition. Pasture height surface modelling was assessed against field measurements using a rising plate meter, results reported correlation coefficients (R2) ranging from 0.2 to 0.4 for both woodland and grassland field sites. Accuracy of the predictive modelling was determined from further field measurements of pasture yield and on average indicated an error of 0.8 t ha-1 in grasslands and 1.3 t ha-1 in mixed woodlands across both modelling approaches. Correlation analyses between measures of pasture quality, acid detergent fibre and crude protein (ADF, CP), and spectral reflectance data indicated the visible red (651 nm) and red-edge (759 nm) regions were highly correlated (ADF R2 = 0.9 and CP R2 = 0.5 mean values). These findings agreed with previous studies linking specific absorption features with grass chemical composition. These results conclude that the practical application of such techniques, to efficiently and accurately map pasture yield and quality, is possible at the field site scale, however further research is needed, in particular further field sampling of both yield and nutrient elements across such a diverse landscape, with the potential to scale up to a satellite platform for broader scale monitoring.

This document describes the theoretical basis of the algorithms used to determine properties of snow and ice from the measurements of the Ocean and Land Color Instrument (OLCI) onboard Sentinel-3 satellites within the Pre-operational Sentinel-3 snow and ice products (SICE) project: http://snow.geus.dk/. The code used for the SICE retrieval and its documentation can be found at https://github.com/GEUS-SICE/pySICE. The algorithms were developed after the work from Kokhanovsky et al. (2018, 2019, 2020).

Multicomponent reactions (MCRs) have been used for more than a century; since their discovery in 1850 by Strecker. To date, MCRs route is regarded as a beneficial strategy due to its capacity to quickly produce molecular diversity and structural complexity of interest for a variety of applications. Despite having famous MRCs such as the Ugi, Passerini, Biginelli, and Hantzsch, this re-view portrays the importance of MCRs in the synthesis of desired products towards applications such as medicinal purposes, sustainable chemistry, and polymerisation. MCRs provide ad-vantages such as reducing the number of sequential multiple reactions to one step, atom economy, recyclable catalysts, mild conditions, preventing waste and reduce solvent use.

The dorsal column nuclei complex (DCN-complex) includes the dorsal column nuclei (DCN, referring to the gracile and cuneate nuclei collectively), external cuneate, X, and Z nuclei, and the median accessory nucleus. The DCN are organised by both somatotopy and modality, and have a diverse range of afferent inputs and projection targets. The functional organisation and connectivity of the DCN implicate them in a variety of sensorimotor functions, beyond their commonly accepted role in processing and transmitting somatosensory information to the thalamus, yet this is largely underappreciated in the literature. To consolidate insights into their sensorimotor functions, this review examines the morphology, organisation, and connectivity of the DCN and their associated nuclei. First, we briefly discuss the receptors, afferent fibres, and pathways involved in conveying tactile and proprioceptive information to the DCN. Next, we review the modality and somatotopic arrangements of the remaining constituents of the DCN-complex. Finally, we examine and discuss the functional implications of the myriad of DCN-complex projection targets throughout the diencephalon, midbrain, and hindbrain, in addition to their modulatory inputs from the cortex. The organisation and connectivity of the DCN-complex suggest that these nuclei should be considered a complex integration and distribution hub for sensorimotor information.

Rare diseases are characterized by a wide diversity of signs and symptoms and vary not only from disease to disease, but also from person to person, and living with a disease leads patients to peculiar experiences and treatments, without limits of time and space, as they extend to various environments and relationships of their lives. The objective of this study is the theoretical interaction between Value Co-creation (VC) and the Stakeholder Theory (ST) with the Shared Decision Making (SDM) health care theory. It is configured as a multiparadigmatic proposal by enabling the analysis of multiple perspectives of different stakeholders in health care. Thus, Co-created Decision Making (CDM) emerges in a logic dominated by service, with emphasis on intangible aspects and the interactivity of the relationships. It goes beyond the clinical office and the doctor-patient relationships, as studied in SDM, extending to all environments and interactions that add value to the patient's treatment. It was concluded that the essence of this new theory proposed here is neither in patient-centered care nor in patient self-care, but in co-created relationships with and between stakeholders in both directions, including non-health care environments that are important to the patient, such as relationships with friends, family, other patients with the same disease, social media, public policies, and the practice of pleasurable activities.

Streptococcus pneumoniae is the causative agent of a multitude of diseases and further study into its pathogenies is vital. The pneumococcus is genetically malleable and several tools are available to manipulate this pathogen. In this study, we attempted to utilize one such tool, the Sweet Janus cassette, to replace the capsule locus with other capsule loci in our strain background and found that the efficiency of allelic replacement was low and the number of revertant false-positive colonies was high. We determined that the capacity to recombine capsule varied by the initial isolated colony, suggesting that frequency of reversion is dependent on the bacterial cell line. Alternative selection markers may further expand the application of Sweet Janus. We created novel cassettes that utilized chlorinated phenylalanine as an alternative counter-selection agent in conjunction with the Janus or Sweet Janus cassette, providing a new dual or triple selection marker. Moreover, we created cassettes that do not require engineered resistance in the background strain, including both single and dual selection markers. We were able to utilize all constructs in allelic replacement of the capsule loci. These novel constructs provide a new means for generating gene deletions in S. pneumoniae that expand experimental applications.

We use a regional scale photochemical transport model to investigate the surface concentrations and column integrated amounts of ozone (O3) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) during a pollution event that occurred in the St. Louis metropolitan region in 2012. These trace gases will be two of the primary constituents that will be measured by TEMPO (Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution), an instrument on a geostationary platform, which will result in a dataset that has hourly temporal resolution during the daytime and ~4 km spatial resolution. Although air quality managers are most concerned with surface concentrations, satellite measurements provide a quantity that reflects a column amount, which may or may not be directly relatable to what is measured at the surface. Our model results provide reasonably good agreement with observed surface O3 concentrations (correlation coefficients ranging from 0.69 to 0.87 at each of the nine monitoring stations in the St. Louis region), which is the only trace gas dataset that can be used for verification. The model shows that a plume of O3 extends downwind from St. Louis and contains an integrated amount of ozone of ~ 16 Dobson Units (DU; 1 DU = 2.69 x 1016 molecules cm-2), an amount lower than what was observed during two massive pollution episodes in the 1980s. Based on the smaller isolatable emissions coming from St. Louis, this quantity is not unreasonable, but may also reflect the reduction of photochemical ozone production due to the implementation of emission controls that have gone into effect since the 1980s.

This study focuses on the potential medicinal properties of Campsis radicans L. extracts and its aim is to investigate the antioxidant and antiproliferative effects of these extracts on the human colon adenocarcinoma cell line (HT-29). Cytotoxic activity in the HT-29 cell line was evaluated, and the 3-dimensional structures of phenolic compounds were obtained using the GC-MS method. Docking simulations were performed with AutoDock Vina, targeting proteins that are crucial in the apoptotic pathway (Bax, Bcl-2, and Caspase-3). Drug similarities and ADMET estimates of the phenolic compounds were obtained from databases. The highest antioxidant activity of Campsis radicans L. plant was observed in ethanol and water extracts, with notable inhibition capacities. While the total phenolic content was highest in ethanol, water, and ether extracts respectively the total flavonoid content was highest in ethanol, then ether, and water extracts. Certain elements were undetectable in mineral determination, and others exceeded the toxic doses for plants. The water extract exhibited dose-dependent cytotoxic activity in the HT-29 cell line, with an IC50 value of 4.47 mg/mL. Molecular docking results revealed the binding of phenolic molecules to the active sites of apoptotic pathway proteins. The findings suggest that Campsis radicans L. plant possesses cytotoxic properties, significant phenolic and flavonoid content, and a high antioxidant capacity. These properties make it a potential candidate for treatment use, emphasizing its potential therapeutic value in the HT-29 cell line. Further research and exploration on the identified phenolic compounds could contribute to the development of novel therapeutic agents.

Scrub typhus threatens one billion people in the Asia-Pacific area and cases have emerged outside this region. It is caused by infection with any of the multitude of strains of the bacterium, Orientia tsutsugamushi. A vaccine that affords heterologous protection and a commercially available molecular diagnostic assay are lacking. Herein, we determined that the nucleotide and translated amino acid sequences of outer membrane protein A (OmpA) are highly conserved among 51 O. tsutsugamushi isolates. Molecular modeling revealed the predicted tertiary structure of O. tsutsugamushi OmpA to be very similar to that of the phylogenetically related pathogen, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, including the location of a helix that contains residues functionally essential for A. phagocytophilum infection. PCR primers were developed that amplified ompA DNA from all O. tsutsugamushi strains, but not from negative control bacteria. Using these primers in quantitative real-time PCR enabled sensitive detection and quantitation of O. tsutsugamushi ompA DNA from organs of mice that had been experimentally infected with the Karp or Gilliam strains. The high degree of OmpA conservation among O. tsutsugamushi strains evidences its potential to serve as a molecular diagnostic target and justifies its consideration as a candidate for developing a broadly protective scrub typhus vaccine.

Callus induction (CI) is the critical trait for the transformation of desirable genes in plants. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) analysis was conducted on the rice germplasm of 110 diverse indica rice accessions. Three tissue culture media, including B5, MS, and N6, were used for CI in those rice panels. Seven quantitative trait loci (QTLs) on chromosomes 2, 6, 7, and 11 were found to confer a CI percentage in these three media. For the B5 medium, one QTL (qCI-B5-Chr6) was identified on the rice chromosome 6. For the MS medium, two QTLs were identified on the rice chromosomes 2 and 6 (qCI-MS-Chr2 and qCI-MS-Chr6, respectively). For the N6 medium, four QTLs were identified on the rice chromosomes 6, 7, and 11 (qCI-N6-Chr6.1, qCI-N6-Chr6.2, qCI-N6-Chr7, and qCI-N6-Chr11, respectively). Fifty-five genes were identified within the haplotype blocks corresponding to these QTLs. Thirty-one genes showed haplotypes associated with different CI in those media. The qCI-B5-Chr6 was located in the same region as the qCI-N6-Chr6.2. The caleosin-related family protein was identified in this region. Analysis of the gene-based haplotype reveals the association of this gene with different CI in both B5 and N6 media, suggesting that the gene may play a critical role in the CI mechanism. Moreover, several genes, including the beta-tubulin, the zinc finger proteins, the RNP-1 domain-containing protein, and the Lysophosphatidic acid acyltransferase, were associated with different CI in the N6 media. Results from this study provide insight into the potential QTLs and candidate genes for callus induction in rice that will fulfill the understanding of the physiological and biochemical processes involved in callus formation, which is an essential tool in the molecular breeding of rice.

Long-term, multi-decade research on planted tree survival in urban settings is sparse. One understudied urban environment is highway rights-of-way (ROW), lands adjacent to high-speed, unsignalized roadways. We conducted a re-inventory of tree planting cohort in northern Illinois, U.S. on a 48 km-long highway near Chicago which were 10-, 21-, and 30-years old to evaluate long-term patterns of survival and diversity. Using each randomly selected planting site along the highway as a unit of observation and analysis, we compared the number of trees documented in record drawing to the number of trees currently alive to determine percent survival. We evaluated 224 planting sites which originally contained 2,944 trees and collected data about the planting site location. For the oldest cohort, 26% of trees were still alive in 2018 (median survival by species = 16%, Q1 = 0%, Q3 = 48%), while 31% of the 21-year-old cohort (med. = 6%, Q1 = 0%, Q3 = 47%) and 86% of the 10-year-old cohort were still alive (med. = 85%, Q1 = 74%, Q3 = 96%). The survival of the 21- and 30-year-old cohort matches urban tree survival estimates by other researchers, while the 10-year-old survival is higher than expected. The only planting location characteristic that significantly affected survival was traffic islands (areas between the highway and entrance/exit ramps). Species with low drought tolerance were less likely to be alive for the 10-year-old cohort. Waterlogging tolerant species were more likely to be alive in the 10-year-old cohort. Since some species in the 21- and 30-year-old cohorts had very low survival, the tree species richness and diversity s in study areas declined between the initial record drawings and reinventory. This study demonstrates the challenges of maintaining long-term survival and diversity in the highway ROW and emphasizes the importance of species selection.

Pigmented corn is a gramineae food of great biological, cultural and nutritional importance for many Latin American countries, with more than 250 breeds in the American continent. It confers a large number of health benefits due to its diverse and abundant bioactive compounds. In this narrative review we decided to organize the information on the nutrients, bioactive compounds and phytochemicals present in pigmented corn, as well as their effects on human health. Phenolic compounds and anthocyanins are some of the most studied and representative compounds in these grasses, with a wide range of health properties, mainly the reduction of prooxidant molecules. Carotenoids are a group of molecules belonging to the terpenic compounds, present in a large number of pigmented corn breeds, mainly the yellow ones, whose biological activity incorporates a wide spectrum. Bioactive peptides can be found in abundance in corn, having very diverse biological effects that include analgesic, opioid, antihypertensive, etc. activity. Other compounds with biological activity found in pigmented corn are resistant starches, some fatty acids, phytosterols, policosanols, phospholipids, ferulic acid and phlobaphenes, as well as a great variety of vitamins, elements, and fibers. This review aims to disseminate and integrate the existing knowledge on compounds with biological activity in pigmented corn, in order to promote their research, interest and use by scientists, nutrition professionals, physicians, industries and the general population.

The aim of this research is to expand recent developments in the mapping of pasture yield with remotely piloted aircraft systems to that of satellite-borne imagery. Up to date, spatially explicit and accurate information of the pasture resource base is needed for improved climate-adapted livestock rangeland grazing. This study developed deep learning predictive models of pasture yield, as total standing dry matter in tonnes per hectare (TSDM(tha−1)), from field measurements and both remotely piloted aircraft systems and satellite imagery. Repeated remotely piloted aircraft system structure measurements derived from structure from motion photogrammetry, provided measures of pasture biomass from many overlapping high-resolution images. Repeated remotely piloted aircraft system measures throughout a growing season, were modelled with persistent photosynthetic pasture responses from various Planet Dove high spatial resolution satellite image-derived vegetation indices. Pasture height modelling as an input to the modelling of yield was assessed against terrestrial laser scanning and reported correlation coefficients (R2) from 0.3 to 0.8 for both a coastal grassland and inland woodland pasture. Accuracy of the predictive modelling from both the remotely piloted aircraft system and the Planet Dove satellite image estimates of pasture yield ranged from 0.8 to 1.8 TSDM(tha−1). These results indicated that the practical application of repeated remotely piloted aircraft system derived measures of pasture yield can, with some limitations, be scaled-up to satellite-borne imagery to provide more temporally and spatially explicit measures of the pasture resource base.

Metal powder bed fusion (PBF) additive manufacturing (AM) builds metal parts layer by layer upon a substrate material. The strength of this interface between substrate and printed material is important to characterize, especially in applications where the substrate is retained and included in the finished part. This paper studied the tensile and torsional strengths of wrought and additively manufactured (through PBF) SS316L and compared them to specimens composed of half wrought material and half PBF material. The PBF specimens consistently exhibited higher strength and lower ductility than the wrought specimens. The hybrid PBF/wrought specimens performed similarly to the wrought material. In no specimens did any failure appear to occur at or near the interface between wrought substrate and PBF material. In addition, most of the deformation in the PBF/wrought specimens appeared to be limited to the wrought portion of the specimens. These results are consistent with microscopy showing smaller grain size in the PBF material, which often leads to increased strength in SS316L due to the Hall-Petch relationship.

Lactobacilli are considered an inexhaustible source of potentially bioactive substances; indeed, several products from their metabolism are known to have immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory activity. Recently, we demonstrated that cell-free supernatants (CFS) obtained from Lactobacillus (L.) acidophilus, L. plantarum, L. rhamnosus and L. reuteri can impair Candida pathogenic potential in an in vitro model of epithelial vaginal infection. This effect could be ascribed to a direct effect of living lactobacilli on Candida virulence and to the production of metabolites which are able to impair fungal virulence. In the present work, stemming from those data, we deepened our knowledge on the CFS from these 4 lactobacilli by performing a metabolomic analysis to better characterize their composition. By using an untargeted metabolomic approach, we detected consistent differences in the metabolites produced by these four different lactobacilli. Interestingly, L. rhamnosus showed the most peculiar metabolic profile. Specifically, after a hierarchical clustering analysis in positive and negative ionization mode, L. rhamnosus showed a specific area of significant overexpressed metabolites that strongly differed from the same area in other lactobacilli. In this area, inosine was identified among the overexpressed metabolites of L. rhamnosus. This molecule has been described to have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-infective and neuroprotective properties. The biological significance of its overproduction by L. rhamnosus might be important in its probiotic and/or postbiotic activity.

This review examines the effects of lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea L.) on general and oral health. The effects of lingonberry are based on the vitamins, minerals, fibers and polyphenolic compounds it contains. Lingonberry's bioactive substances have a diverse range of antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antiproteolytic, anticarcinogenic and antioxidant properties. Research results suggest that lingonberries can have a positive effect on human health. Berries, lingonberry juice/lingonberry nectar/fermented lingonberry juice and polyphenol fractions have been used in clinical studies. Lingonberries balance post-meal blood sugar, free fatty acids and insulin levels. Fermented lingonberry juice reduces Streptococcus mutans, Candida and periodontal pathogen counts, but is probiotic because it favors growth of Lactobacilli. In addition, it increases saliva secretion and thus lowers the risk of oral infections. It lowers the clinical parameters of periodontitis and the active matrix metalloprotease-8, reducing the low-grade inflammation associated with periodontal diseases. More studies on humans are needed.

Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) significantly affect the lives of patients and increase the risk of hospital stay and amputation. We suggest a remote-monitoring platform for better DFU care. This system uses digital health metrics (scaled from 0 to 10, where higher scores indicate a greater risk of slow healing) to provide a comprehensive overview through a visual interface. The platform features smart offloading devices that capture behavioral metrics such as offloading adherence, daily steps, and cadence. Coupled with remotely measurable frailty and phenotypic metrics, it offers an in-depth patient profile. Additional demographic data, wound characteristics, and clinical parameters, such as cognitive function, were integrated, contributing to a comprehensive risk factor profile. We evaluated the feasibility of this platform with 124 DFU patients over 12 weeks; 39% experienced unfavorable outcomes such as dropout, adverse events, or non-healing. Digital biomarkers were benchmarked (0-10), categorized into low, medium, and high risk for unfavorable outcomes, and visually represented using color-coded radar plots. The initial results of case reports illustrate the value of this holistic visualization to pinpoint the underlying risk factors for unfavorable outcomes, including a high number of steps, poor adherence, and cognitive impairment. Although future studies are needed to validate the effectiveness of this visualization in personalizing care and improving wound outcomes, early results in identifying risk factors for unfavorable outcomes are promising.

The Lagrangian and Eulerian structure and dynamics of a strong wind event in the Tokar Gap region are described using a WRF model hindcast for 2008. Winds in the Tokar Gap reach 25 m s-1 and remain coherent as a jet far out over the Red Sea, whereas equally strong wind jets occurring in neighboring gaps are attenuated abruptly by a jump-like hydraulic transition that occur just offshore of the Sudan coast. The transition is made possible by the supercritical nature of the jets, which are fed by air that spills down from passes at relatively high elevation. By contrast, the spilling flow in the ravine-like Tokar Gap does not become substantially supercritical and therefore does not undergo a jump, and also carries more total horizontal momentum. The Tokar Wind Jet carries some air parcels across the Red Sea and into Saudi Arabia, whereas air parcel trajectories in the neighboring jets ascend as they cross through the jumps, then veer sharply to the southeast and do not cross the Red Sea. The mountain parameter Nh/U is estimated to lie in the rage 1.0-4.0 for the general region, a result roughly consistent with a primary gap jet having a long extension, and supercritical jets spilling down from higher elevation passes. The strong event is marked by the formation of a cyclonic cell near the upstream entrance to the Tokar Gap, a feature absent from the more moderate events that occur throughout the summer. The cell contains descending air parcels that are fed into the primary and secondary jets. An analysis of the Bernoulli function along air parcel trajectories reveals an approximate balance between the loss of potential energy and gain of internal energy and pressure, with surprisingly little contribution from kinetic energy, along the path of the descending flow. All jets attain the critical wind speed nominally required to loft dust into the atmosphere, though only the Tokar Gap has a broad, delta region with plentiful deposits of silt.

The purpose of this study was to identify potential causes of violence and crime in informal settlements and residents’ strategies for response and prevention to these issues, as perceived by women living in Mathare informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya. A total of 55 in-depth interviews were conducted with women living in the informal settlement in 2015-2016. A modified grounded theory approach was used to guide data collection and analysis. The most common contributor to violence and crime identified by women in Mathare informal settlement was idle youth, but leadership and government challenges, corruption and/or inadequacy of police, community barriers, tribalism, and lack of protective infrastructure also emerged as contributing factors. Despite facing many economic, environmental, and day-to-day challenges, women in Mathare identified violence and crime as predominant issues; thus, developing effective response and prevention strategies to these issues in informal settlements is paramount. Women suggest there are many strategies and initiatives to reduce and prevent violence and crime in informal settlements, but also identified barriers to implementing them. Findings suggest there is a need for trust-building between formal and informal organizations and institutions, systems of accountability, and long-term investment to foster sustainable and effective violence and crime response and interventions in these settlements.

Miscanthus holds a great potential in the frame of the bioeconomy and yield prediction can help improving Miscanthus logistic supply chain. Breeding programs in several countries are attempting to produce high-yielding Miscanthus hybrids better adapted to different climates and end-uses. Multispectral images acquired from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in Italy and in the UK in 2021 and 2022 were used to investigate the feasibility of high-throughput phenotyping (HTP) of novel Miscanthus hybrids for yield prediction and crop traits estimation. An intercalibration procedure was performed using simulated data from the PROSAIL model to link vegetation indices (VIs) derived from two different multispectral sensors. Random forest algorithm estimated with good accuracy yield traits (light interception, plant height, green leaf biomass and standing biomass) using VIs time series and predicted yield using peak descriptor derived from VIs time series with 2.3 Mg DM ha-1 of RMSE. The study demonstrates the potential of UAVs multispectral in HTP applications and in yield prediction for providing important information needed to increase sustainable biomass production.

Background: As long-lived organisms, urban trees often encounter development and redevelopment activities in close proximity during their lifespans. These activities can damage tree roots, often through methods like root severing during trenching or excavation. Methods: In 2017, we simulated trenching damage on mature Quercus virginiana Mill. trees at three different distances from the base (3x, 6x, and 12x the stem diameter). After five years, we revisited these trees to assess root regrowth based on the cut root's cross-sectional area (CSA) and distance from the base. Results: We observed regrowth in all but 38 (6.7%) of the 557 cut roots revisited. The lack of regrowth in some roots was not associated with our original treatments, the CSA of the roots at the time of trenching, or distance between the cut root end and the trunk (minimum P-value = 0.841). On average, the observed CSA of the regrowth was 22.2% of the original root's CSA. Only our original trenching treatments significantly predicted the level of regrowth observed five years after pruning (P-value = 0.024). Discoloration due to root pruning was minimal. Conclusion: In summary, our findings indicate that root systems require many years to recover from trenching damage. Increasing the distance between trenching activities and trees may have a minor effect on root regrowth but primarily helps reduce initial stress on the tree.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is increasingly recognized as a complex metabolic disorder that manifests in genetically susceptible women following a range of negative exposures to nutritional and environmental factors related to contemporary lifestyle. The hypothesis that PCOS phenotypes are derived from a mismatch between ancient genetic survival mechanisms and modern lifestyle practices is supported by a diversity of research findings. The proposed evolutionary model of the pathogenesis of PCOS incorporates evidence related to evolutionary theory, genetic studies, in-utero developmental epigenetic programming, transgenerational inheritance, metabolic features including insulin resistance, obesity and the apparent paradox of lean phenotypes, reproductive effects and subfertility, the impact of the microbiome and dysbiosis, endocrine disrupting chemical exposure, and the influence of lifestyle factors such as poor quality diet and physical inactivity. Based on these premises, the diverse lines of research are synthesized into a composite evolutionary model of the pathogenesis of PCOS. It is hoped that this model will assist clinicians and patients to understand the importance of lifestyle interventions in the prevention and management of PCOS and provide a conceptual framework for future research. It is appreciated that this theory represents a synthesis of the current evidence and that it is expected to evolve and change over time.

L-Theanine, a unique non-protein amino acid, is an important bioactive component of green tea. Previous studies have shown that L-theanine has many potent health benefits, such as anti-anxiety effect, regulation of immune response, relaxing neural tension, reducing oxidative damage. However, little is known concerning whether L-theanine can improve the clearance of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) damage in organisms. Here, we reported that L-theanine treatment increased ATP production and improved mitochondrial morphology to extend the lifespan of UVC-exposed nematodes. Mechanistic investigations showed that L-theanine treatment enhanced the removal of mtDNA damage and extended lifespan by activating autophagy, mitophagy, mitochondrial dynamics, and mitochondrial unfolded protein response (UPRmt) in UVC-exposed nematodes. In addition, L-theanine treatment also up-regulated the expression of genes related to mitochondrial energy metabolism in UVC-exposed nematodes. Our study provided a theoretical basis for the possibility that tea drinking may prevent mitochondrial related diseases.

Psyllids (Hemiptera: Psylloidea) can transmit the phloem restricted bacterium ‘Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum’ (Lso). In Europe, Lso causes severe losses to carrot and represents a threat to the potato industry. A rising concern of Lso transmission from carrot to potato and within potato has driven the need for monitoring populations of psyllid species that could serve as vectors on both crops, which would provide a fundamental understanding of the epidemiology of this pathogen. Different sampling methods were used to survey populations of psyllid species in commercial carrot and potato fields in Central and Eastern mainland Spain from 2015 to 2017. Two psyllid species, Bactericera trigonica and Bactericera nigricornis were found to be mainly associated with carrot and potato crops. In carrot fields the most abundant species was B. trigonica occurring from crop emergence to harvest, whereas in potato crops the most abundant psyllid species was B. nigricornis. The maximum psyllid population occurred between June and October its timing depending on the field location. Since B. nigricornis was found on both carrot and potato and is the only psyllid species able to feed and breed on both these crops in Europe, there is the potential risk of Lso transmission from carrot to potato

The study findings revealed significant variability in various wood properties among different genetic families, although the static modulus of elasticity did not exhibit significant differences between the chosen genetic families. All measured wood properties decreased from the bottom to the top of the model trees. Wood hardness displayed a moderately negative correlation with wood density and weak correlations with MOE and MOR. Given the weak correlations between wood hardness and other wood mechanical properties, it is suggested that the MOEdyn would be a more suitable trait for genetic studies.

Fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption benefits the health of populations, particularly those in East and Southeast Asian countries, which have undergone an unprecedented change in their food environments in the last decade. This current systematic review is the first to study determinants—facilitators, barriers, and moderators—associated with FV consumption in East and Southeast Asia. In a search of the literature, we consulted five electronic academic databases of English peer-reviewed papers published between 2010 and 2020 and found 31 studies. Results of these studies show that individuals strongly perceive FVs as being higher quality and safe and trust in their benefits, and food businesses with modernized systems have significantly fostered the consumption of FVs. A main barrier to FV consumption, however, is financial concerns, exacerbated by food businesses with FV unavailability and urbanization-induced FV price inflation and dietary patterns. Further hindering FV consumption are demographics and shopping patterns. The fragmented and conditionalized findings of the 31 studies require standardized FV consumption measurements. Unlike the impact of FV consumption determinants and their interactions in Western countries, those in Asia, particularly countries other than China, have been substantially understudied. Therefore, as the research gaps in studies of food environments and FV consumption in East and Southeast Asia urgently demand scholarly attention, this paper proposes recommendations that favour the consumption of FVs.

Kamchatka berries (Lonicera caerulea L.) are known for their high content of phenolic compounds or vitamins, which is reflected in their antibacterial, detoxifying and anti-inflammatory properties. They are used in the production of jams, juices, wines and as natural dye. A bioferment was prepared from the pomace of the Kamchatka berry varieties Aurora and Indigo Gem and the strains Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Lacticaseibacillus paracasei, which was used to prepare a cosmetic preparation with a concentration of 5% in accordance with the guidelines of the COSMOS certification body. Conducted physico-chemical and organoleptic analyses and bioactive profile characterisation (UHPLC-DAD and UHPLC-ESI-MS/MS). The results showed that the presence of caffeic acid 4.47 ± 0.07 mg/100g was detected after fermentation of Kamchatka berry pomace. Vitamin C content increased by 141% after fermentation of Kamchatka berry pomace. The results of stability tests showed that in the process of physicochemical analysis of cosmetic preparation with bioferment of Kamchatka berry pomace the pH should oscillate in the range of 4.38-4.76 ± 0.01. Stability tests showed that the cosmetic should be protected from high temperatures and UV radiation and proved that the product is stable under changing conditions, resulting in lower transport and storage costs.

Many protein expression systems are primary utilised to produce a single, specific recombinant protein. In contrast, most biological processes such as virus assembly rely upon a complex of several interacting proteins rather than the activity of a sole protein. The high complexity of the baculovirus genome, coupled with a multiphase replication cycle incorporating distinct transcriptional steps, made it the ideal system to manipulate for high-level expression of a single or co-expression of multiple foreign proteins within a single cell. We have developed and utilised a series of recombinant baculovirus systems to unravel the sequential assembly process of a complex non-enveloped model virus, Bluetongue virus (BTV). The high protein yields expressed by the baculovirus system not only facilitated structure-function analysis of each viral proteins but were also advantageous to crystallography studies and supported the first atomic level resolution of a recombinant viral protein, the major BTV capsid protein. Further, the formation of recombinant double-shelled virus-like particles (VLPs) provided insights into the structure-function relationships among the four major structural proteins of the BTV whilst also representing a potential candidate for a viral vaccine. The baculovirus multi-gene expression system facilitated the study of structurally complex viruses (both non-enveloped and enveloped viruses) and heralded in a new generation of viral vaccines.

Spontaneous tumours in higher plants can develop depending on plant genotype without any pathogen invasion. Spontaneous tumour formation on the taproots is consistently observed in certain inbred lines of radish (Raphanus sativus var. radicula Pers.). In this work, we have sequenced the genomes of two closely related radish inbred lines that differ in their ability to spontaneously form tumours. We have identified numerous single nucleotide variants (amino acid substitutions, insertions or deletions) that are likely to be associated with the spontaneous tumour formation. Furthermore, we performed the identification of CLE and WOX genes the genomic sequences of the radish inbred lines and, as a result, identified two unique radish CLE genes which probably encode proteins with multiple CLE domains. The results obtained provide a basis for investigating the mechanisms of plant tumour formation and also for future genetic and genomic studies of radish.

Berberis vulgaris (L.) has remarkable ethnopharmacological properties and is widely used in traditional medicine. The present study investigates B. vulgaris stem bark (Berberidis cortex) by extraction with 50% ethanol. The main secondary metabolites were quantified, resulting in a polyphenols content of 17.6780 ± 3.9320 mg Eq Tannic acid / 100 g extract, phenolic acids amount of 3.3886 ± 0.3481 mg Eq Chlorogenic acid / 100 g extract and 78.95 µg/g berberine. The dried hydro-ethanolic extract (BVE) was thoroughly analyzed using Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography coupled with High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry (UHPLC–HRMS/MS) and HPLC and 40 bioactive phenolic constituents were identified. Then, the antioxidant potential of BVE was evaluated using three methods; our results could explain the protective effects of Berberidis cortex EC50FRAP = 0.1398 mg/mL, IC50ABTS = 0.0442 mg/mL, IC50DPPH = 0.2610 mg/mL compared to ascorbic acid (IC50 = 0.0165 mg/mL). Next, the acute toxicity and teratogenicity of BVE and Berberine - Berberine sulfate hydrate (BS) - investigated on Daphnia sp reported significant BS toxicity after 24 h; BVE revealed considerable toxicity after 48 hours and induced embryonic developmental delays. Finally, the anticancer effects of BVE and BS were evaluated on different tumor cell lines after 24 and 48 hours of treatments. The MTS assay evidenced a dose- and time-dependent antiproliferative activity, higher on BS than BVE. The strongest diminution of tumor cell viability was recorded on breast (MDA-MB-231), colon (LoVo) cancer, and OSCC (PE/CA-PJ49) cell lines after 48 h of exposure (IC50 &lt; 100 µg/mL). However, no cytotoxicity was reported on normal epithelial cells (HUVEC) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HT-29) cell lines. Extensive data analysis supports our results, showing a significant correlation between the BVE's concentration, phenolic compounds content, antioxidant activity, exposure time, and the viability rate of various normal cells and cancer cell lines.

Background: Smoking is disproportionately prevalent among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australian peoples, with 39% of Indigenous Australians aged over 15 years smoking daily. Efforts to reduce this high prevalence include culturally focused media campaigns, designed using community consultation, highlighting the need to determine how such health messaging is received by smokers. This study aimed to examine Indigenous Australian smokers’ reactions to a culturally focused anti-smoking mass media campaign—'Give up Smokes’. Methods: Intercept surveying across health services and events used recorded demographics, smoking status, quit attempts, smoking health effects, anti-smoking campaign recall, social support, and campaign reactions. Participants rated campaign images in five domains: 1) whether it made them stop and think; 2) personal relevance; 3) believability of design and message; 4) prompting concern about smoking; and 5) motivation towards quitting. Cluster analysis was used to segment smoker types. Results: Smoking health effects knowledge was high, and did not differ by quit readiness, attempts, or social support. Cessation support access was higher among those with greater readiness to quit. Social smoking behaviour and confidence to support others quitting did not significantly differ between participants, however importance of others quitting did. Quit readiness, attempts, and social support were associated with reaction to campaign design, but not message recall. Four types of smokers were described, using smoking characteristics, who differed in campaign message reactions. Conclusions: Strategies using campaign-exposed smoker characteristics to inform culturally focused health promotion are discussed in relation to four identified types of smokers.

Background: This study tested the hypothesis that treatment of symptomatic, partial-thickness rotator cuff tear (sPTRCT) with fresh, uncultured, unmodified, autologous adipose derived regenerative cells (UA-ADRCs) isolated from lipoaspirate at the point of care is safe and more effective than corticosteroid injection. Methods: Subjects aged between 30 and 75 years with sPTRCT who did not respond to physical therapy treatments for at least six weeks were randomly assigned to receive a single injection of an average 11.4×10⁶ UA-ADRCs (in 5 mL liquid; mean cell viability: 88%) (n=11; modified intention-to-treat (mITT) population) or a single injection of 80 mg of methylprednisolone (40 mg/ml; 2 mL) plus 3 mL of 0.25% bupivacaine (n=5; mITT population), respectively. Safety and efficacy were assessed using the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons Standardized Shoulder Assessment Form (ASES), RAND Short Form-36 Health Survey and pain visual analogue scale (VAS) at baseline (BL) as well as three weeks (W3), W6, W9, W12, W24, W32, W40 and W52 post treatment. Fat-saturated T2 weighted magnetic resonance imaging of the shoulder was performed at BL as well as at W24 and W52 post treatment. Results: No severe adverse events related to the injection of UA-ADRCs were observed in the 12 months post treatment. The risks connected with treatment of sPTRCT with UA-ADRCs were not greater than those connected with treatment of sPTRCT with corticosteroid injection. However, one subject in the corticosteroid group developed a full rotator cuff tear during the course of this pilot study. Despite the small number of subjects in this pilot study, those in the UA-ADRCs group showed statistically significantly higher mean ASES total scores at W24 and W52 post treatment than those in the corticosteroid group (p < 0.05). Discussion: This pilot study suggests that the use of UA-ADRCs in subjects with sPTRCT is safe and leads to improved shoulder function without adverse effects. To verify the results of this initial safety and feasibility pilot study in a larger patient population, a randomized controlled trial on 246 patients suffering from sPTRCT is currently ongoing.

Bangladesh faces significant wheat grain deficiency compared to its demand due to the lengthy process (10-12 years) required to release a variety through a conventional breeding approach. Traditional breeding methods involve several years of various types of crosses between male and female parents and/or progenies, along with recurrent selection-crossing to obtain a homozygous line (F₁ to F₆ generations) with desired traits within almost 10 years. The double haploid (DH) method is also a time-saving, easier, and more reliable technique to achieve the desired traits in homozygous lines within 2-3 years. DH lines were produced by crossing two F₁ hybrids of spring wheat with maize. 0.1% solution of colchicine was applied to produce DH of F₂ progeny of wheat in the study. 80.8% (340) of the 421 pollinated florets from the two F₁ wheat hybrids were produced as green parthenocarpic caryopses (GPCs) (F₂). 35 of the 70 rescued embryos (or 20.6% of the GPCs) germinated. The germinated embryos regenerated 10 haploid green plants (14.3% of total embryos). After being applied colchicine, 8 of the regenerated haploid (H₁) plants made it. Out of the 8 plants that made it through, only one developed homozygous double haploid seed (DH₁ seed). These seeds were multiplied to produce DH₂, used in the preliminary yield in the next year. The results demonstrated the potential of this method to produce a homozygous line within a short period (2-3 years) by doubling the haploid line generated through pollination of spring bread wheat F₁ with maize.

In many European countries over the last decades, arable fields dominate agriculture landscapes, leading to a very intensive land-use practices. This reason seems to be the main cause of popula-tions declines for numerous farmland species, including the European hare (Lepus europaeus Pallas, 1778). The Research institute for Animal Production (National Agricultural and Food Centre, Luzianky, Slovakia) has been engaged in a long monitoring project (project currently run-ning), collecting certain indicators of hare population dynamics during hunting season since 1987 to 2023 in the Slovak Danubian Lowland. In the same macro-area (Čiližská Radvaň and Lehnice) a study was conducted on the influence of permanent semi-natural vegetation in relation to re-cruitment, population density and production. The whole monitored period was aggregated into 5-years intervals (for a total of 7 time-intervals), with the aim of analyzing the brown hare popu-lation dynamics. Spring hare density in the Danubian Lowland is currently 20.8 hares/km2, with harvests of 4.6 hares/km2. During all the monitoring period, bag’s animals have been examined following the regular hunting operations for the purpose of age determination (weight of eye lenses), sex ratio and productivity. The results of our analysis showed that the proportion of juve-nile in bag (PYB) among those shot varied from 37.0 % of the last 5-years interval (2018-2023), to a maximum of 51.0 % in interval of years 1998-2002. On total average there were 1.86 juveniles per adult female (r). The proportion of adult females in gamebag varied from 22.58 % (years in-terval 1992-1997) to 31.26 % (years interval 2018-2023). Sex-ratio (SI; males : females) among shot hares showed a value of 0.50, ranged from 0.48 in the period 2008-2012 to 0.52 in the first observed period (years 1987-1991) and in the last one (years 2018-2023). Average weight of shot hares was 4.04 kg (juveniles 3.83 kg, adults 4.27 kg, adult males 4.21 kg and females 4.32 kg). There was a large positive effect of set-aside with special mixtures, created for hares in large-scale farmed agrarian landscape, on hare density, bag and recruitment. In model hunting grounds with such set-asides increased the spring stock by 25 %, bag by 100 % and recruitment by 20 %. This study reveals that the management of European brown hare is not sustainable, and the population is decreasing. It is proved through the decline of harvest hares and by population dynamics parameters. Environmental improvements lead to the stabilization and increasing of requested parameters.

The number of animals bred, raised, and slaughtered each year is on the rise, resulting in increasing impacts to welfare. Farmed animals are also becoming more diverse, ranging from pigs to bees. The diversity and number of species farmed invites questions about how best to allocate currently limited resources towards safeguarding and improving welfare. This is of the utmost concern to animal welfare funders and effective altruism advocates, who are responsible for targeting the areas most likely to cause harm. For example, is tail docking worse for pigs than beak trimming is for chickens in terms of their pain, suffering, and general experience? Or are the welfare impacts equal? Answering these questions requires making an interspecies welfare comparison; a judgment about how good or bad different species fare relative to one another. Here, we outline and discuss an empirically-based methodology that aims to improve our ability to make interspecies welfare comparisons by investigating welfare range, which refers to how good or bad animals can fare. We begin our proposal with a theory of welfare. We operationalize that theory of welfare by identifying metrics that are defensible proxies for measuring welfare, including cognitive, affective, behavioral, and neuro-biological measures. We assign differential weights to those proxies that reflect their evidential value for the determinants of welfare, such as the “Delphi'' structured deliberation method with a panel of experts. Then we review the evidence and score its quality to ascertain whether a particular taxa may possess the proxies in question to construct a taxa-level welfare range profile. Finally, we use a Monte Carlo simulation to generate an overall estimate of comparative welfare range relative to our hypothetical index species - humans. Interspecies welfare comparisons will help facilitate empirically informed decision-making to streamline the allocation of resources and to ultimately better prioritize and improve animal welfare.

The Simplified Spherical Harmonic (SPN) approximation was first introduced as a three-dimensional (3-D) extension of the plane-geometry Spherical Harmonic (PN) equations. A third order SPN (SP3) solver, recently implemented in the Nodal Expansion Method (NEM), has shown promising performance in the reactor core neutronics simulations. This work is focused on the development and implementation of the transport corrected interface and boundary conditions in NEM SP3 solver, following recent published work on the rigorous SPN theory for piecewise homogeneous regions. A streamlined procedure has been developed to generate the flux zero and second order/moment discontinuity factors (DFs) of the generalized equivalence theory to eliminate the error introduced by pin-wise homogenization. Moreover, several color set models with varying size and configuration are later explored for their capability of generating DFs that can produce results equivalent to that using the whole-core homogenization model for more practical implementations. The new developments are tested and demonstrated on the C5G7 benchmark. The results show that the transport corrected SP3 solver shows general improvements to power distribution prediction compared to the basic SP3 solver with no DFs or only zero order/moment DFs. The complete equivalent calculations using the DFs can almost reproduce transport solutions with high accuracy. The use of equivalent parameters from larger size color set models show better prediction in the whole-core calculations. By coupling different color set models DFs can offer the best accuracy at both eigenvalues and power distributions.

We present a robust, fresh-frozen approach to immunohistochemistry (IHC), without committing the tissue to IHC via fixation and cryopreservation while maintaining long-term storage, using LiCor-based infrared (IR) quantification for sensitive assessment of TH in immunoreacted mid-brain sections for quantitative comparison across studies. In fresh-frozen tissue stored up to 1 year prior to IHC reaction, we found our method to be highly sensitive to rotenone treatment in 3-month-old Sprague-Dawley rats, and correlated with a significant decline in rotarod laten-cy-to-fall measurement by approximately 2.5 fold. The measured midbrain region revealed a 31% lower TH signal when compared to control (p<0.01 by t test, n=5). Bivariate analysis of in-tegrated TH counts versus rotarod latency-to-fall indicates a positive slope and modest but sig-nificant correlation of R2=0.68 (p<0.05, n=10). These results indicate this rapid, instrument-based quantification method by IR detection successfully quantifies TH levels in rat brain tissue, while taking only 5 days from euthanasia to data output. This approach also allows for the identifica-tion of multiple targets by IHC with the simultaneous performance of downstream molecular analysis within the same animal tissue, allowing for the use of fewer animals per study.

Targeted enrichment of ultraconserved elements (UCE) has emerged as a promising tool for inferring evolutionary history in many taxa, with utility ranging from phylogenetic and phylogeographic questions at deep time scales to population level studies at shallow time scales. However, the methodology can be daunting for beginners. Our goal is to introduce UCE phylogenomics to a wider audience by summarizing recent advances in arthropod research, and to familiarize readers with background theory and steps involved. We define terminology used in association with the UCE approach, evaluate current laboratory and bioinformatic methods and limitations, and, finally, provide a roadmap of steps in the UCE pipeline to assist phylogeneticists in making informed decisions as they employ this powerful tool. By facilitating increased adoption of UCE in phylogenomics studies that deepen our comprehension of the function of these markers across widely divergent taxa, we aim to ultimately improve understanding of the arthropod tree of life.

Cannabis has long been used for its medicinal and psychoactive properties. With the relatively new adoption of formal medicinal cannabis regulations worldwide, the study of cannabinoids, both endogenous and exogenous, has similarly flourished in more recent decades. In particular, research investigating the role of cannabinoids in regeneration and neurodevelopment has yielded promising results in vertebrate models. However, regeneration-competent vertebrates are few, whereas a myriad of invertebrate species have been established as superb models for regeneration. As such, this review aims to provide a comprehensive summary of the endocannabinoid system, with a focus on current advances in the area of endocannabinoid system contributions to invertebrate neurodevelopment and regeneration.

The clinical application of collagen-based biomaterials is expanding rapidly, especially in tissue engineering and cosmetics. While oral supplements and injectable skin boosters are popular for enhancing skin health, clinical evidence supporting their effectiveness remains limited. Injectable products show potential in revitalizing skin, but safety concerns persist due to challenges in sterilization and the risk of biological contamination. Traditional methods of sterilization (heat and irradiation) can denature collagen. This study addresses these issues by introducing a novel technique: double filtration and low-temperature steam sterilization of a collagen gel. In vitro tests document sterility and confirm that the collagen structure remained intact without modification. An in vivo study found no adverse effects in rats or significant lesions at the implantation site over 13 weeks. These results suggest that this novel method to process collagen gels is a safe and effective skin booster. Advanced processing methods are likely to mitigate safety risks associated with injectable collagen products, though further research is needed to validate their biological effectiveness and clinical benefits.

Numerous varieties of Capsicum annuum L. with multiple valuable traits, such as adaptation to biotic and abiotic stress factors, can be found in south-east Romania, well known for vegetable cultivation and an important area of biodiversity conservation. To obtain useful information toward a sustainable agriculture, management and conservation of local pepper varieties, we analyzed the genetic diversity and we did deep molecular characterization using Whole Genome Resequencing (WGS) for variant/mutation detection. The pepper varieties used in the present study were registered by VRDS in the ISTIS catalog between 1974 and 2019 and maintained in conservative selection, however, no studies have been published yet using WGS analysis in order to characterize this specific germplasm. The genome sequences, annotation and alignments provided in this study offer essential resources for genomic research as well as for future breeding efforts using the C. annuum local varieties.

Around one billion people live in informal settlements, globally, including over half of Nairobi, Kenya’s three million residents. The purpose of this study was to explore women’s fear of victimization within Mathare, an informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya and how fear of victimization influences behavior. Fifty-five in-depth interviews were conducted with women in 2016. A modified grounded theory approach guided data collection and analysis. Findings suggest fear of victimization is a serious concern in informal settlements. Women have found ways to adopt their behaviors that allow them to continue to function and protect their children despite fearing victimization, but at a potential cost to their health and well-being. Thus, there is a critical need for more research focused on social, economic, structural, community, infrastructure, technological, and individual strategies to prevent violence, enhance residents’ sense of safety, and, subsequently, minimize women’s fear of victimization in informal settlements.

Background: Breast cancer and other neoplasms, such as acute lymphocytic leukaemia, are a severe hazard to public health globally. L-glutamine-degrading enzymes are required for the treatment of malignancies such as acute lymphocytic leukemia and breast cancer. L-glutaminase, an amidohydrolase, has been shown to be an effective chemotherapeutic tool for treating a variety of malignancies. The aim of the study: Molecular characterization is used in the study and production of bacterial L- glutaminase as an anticancer agent from a variety of Egyptian soil locales. The type of the study: Screening experimental study. Methodology: In the current study, many bacterial isolates were tested on mineral L-glutamine agar selective medium (MGA) to evaluate if they generated L-glutaminase. The most effective positive bacterial isolates that produce L-glutaminase, however, were discovered by morphological and biochemical analysis. The primary positive isolate producing L-glutaminase was also identified utilizing molecular detection by 16S rRNA sequencing homology technique. The properties of bacteria-produced L- glutaminase were investigated. The anticancer activity was assessed with an MTT assay. Results: Sole bacterial isolates that only needed L-glutamine for metabolic nitrogen grew well on MGA. The optimal conditions for producing positive bacterial isolates were pH 7.4 and 37 ̊C. The morphological and biochemical investigations of soil samples from diverse soil conditions in Egypt revealed that Bacillus subtilis subsp. niger (ATCC 9372) was the primary positive bacterial isolate producing L-glutaminase. At a pH of 7.4 and a temperature of 37 °C, the activators KCL, ZnSO4, FeSO4, K2HPO4, and MgSO4 offered ideal conditions for defining L-glutaminase production. L-glutaminase from Bacillus subtilis was detected to be a highly bioavailable and efficient anticancer treatment. The original yield [productivity] from MGA was 6.3 U/ml, but invitro coupled transcription and translation production raised it to 89± 1 U/ml. L-glutaminase had a molecular mass of approximately 36 kDa. The purification of L-glutaminase resulted total activity of 21,883 ± 15.67 (U), specific activity of 379.14 ± 7.35 (U/mg of protein), and purification fold of 1.82 ± 3.06. The enzymatic activators Ni2+ and Mg 2+ increased L-glutaminase activity by 20%, 27%, respectively. The compound showed significant anticancer activity (IC50 = 38.72, 8.6, 6.41, 19.02, 49.83, and 9.45 μg/ml) against cancer cell lines from the liver (HepG-2), colon (HCT- 116), breast (MCF-7), lung (A-549), lymphocytic (CCL-120), and cervical (Hela). The kinetic parameters Km and Vmax were 15.2^ 10 -3 M and 119.86 μmol/ml/min, indicating a higher affinity for the substrate. The enzyme demonstrated high efficacy at pH 6.5 and temperature 35. The enzyme was thermostable at 58 ̊C for 1 hour. Conclusion: Acute lymphocytic leukemia and breast cancer are two instances of auxotrophic malignancies for which L-glutamine is the sole metabolic source, and Bacillus subtilis- derived L-glutaminase was a suitable enzyme in their treatment.

Background: The World Health Organization identifies lung and prostatic cancers as solid tumors with significant global lethality, both being auxotrophic cancers for L-arginine aminoacid. The aim of the study: The study aims to detect L-arginase-expressing bacteria from various soil environments in Egypt using 16S rRNA and characterize its anticancer activity. Methodology: A hundred samples of Egyptian grassland soil were gathered at a depth of 11–20 cm, close to wheat mills. Using fast plate assay screening and spectrophotometric analysis, the presence of bacteria generating L-arginase was verified. The major soil bacterial isolates were identified by morphological characterization, biochemical responses, and 16SrRNA sequencing methods. The anticancer activity of the test enzyme was assessed using MTT assay. Results: On the MAA medium, only the bacterial isolates capable of using L-arginine as the only metabolic source for carbon and nitrogen were cultivated. Bacillus cereus DSM 360 was shown to be the prevailing bacterial isolate generating L-arginase using molecular detection and biochemical reactions. When Co+2, Ni+2, and Mn+2 metal ions were present as co-factors, bacterial L-arginase demonstrated remarkable anticancer action against auxotrophic tumors for L-arginine. The total protein content was 0.349 mg, while total enzyme activity was 8.174 U with 61% enzyme recovery. As well as the specific activity reached 23.4212 U/mg. Using the mass spectrometer, the molecular weight of the bacterial L-arginase was revealed to be 37 KDa. The bacterial L-arginase's IC50 values were 3.12 U/ml for the lung cancer cell line, 3.91 U/ml for prostatic cancer cell line, 0.91 U/ml for acute promyelocytic leukemia cancer cell line and 2.73 U/ml for kidney cancer cell line. The enzyme under test showed kinetic characteristics of 7.36 mmol/l and 6.14 μmol/min for Km and Vmax, respectively. The half-life time (T1/2) was 90.17 min at 50°С, while being 86.53 min at 60°С. The test enzyme was thermostable at 60°С for 1 hour. Conclusion: The study showed a potential strategy by identifying and determining a newly discovered bacterial L-arginase enzyme as an anticancer agent in Egypt's soil settings.

The composition simplex (N, P, K, Ca, and Mg) of the leaf is the main scores used by different approaches like the Diagnosis and Recommendation Integrated System and Compositional Nutrient Diagnosis to study the nutrient interactions and balance in plant leaves. However, the application and validation of these concepts to grain composition remains unexplored. Contrary to foliar analysis's early intervention for nutrient deficiency detection and correction, applying this approach to seeds assesses diverse cultivars' potential, enabling anticipation of their adaptation to climate conditions and informed selection for future crops. In the present study, a collected database of more than 924 scores including the grain yield (kg ha-1) and the nutrient composition (mg kg-1) of different corn varieties is used to develop a novel nutrient-based diagnostic approach to identify reliable markers of nutrient imbalance. A 'nutrient signature' model is proposed based on the impact of the environ-mental conditions on the nutrient indices and composition (N, P, K, Ca, and Mg) of the corn grains. The yield threshold used to differentiate between low and high-yielding subpopulations is established at 12.000 kg ha-1and the global nutrient imbalance index (GNII) of 2.2 is determined using the chi-square distribution function and vali-dated by the Cate-Nelson partitioning method, which correlated yield data distribution with the GNII. Therefore, the nutrient compositions were classified into highly balanced (GNII ≤ 1.6), balanced (1.6 < GNII ≤ 2.2), and imbalanced (GNII > 2.2). In addition, we found that the Xgboost model's predictive accuracy for GNII is signif-icantly affected by soil pH, organic matter, and rainfall. These results pave the way for adapted agricultural practices by providing insights into the nutrient dynamics of corn grains under varying environmental conditions.

In insects, Adipokinetic hormone is the primary hormone responsible for the mobilization of stored energy. While a growing body of evidence has solidified role of Adipokinetic hormone (AKH) in modulating the physiological and behavioral responses to metabolic stress, little is known about the upstream endocrine circuit that directly regulates AKH release. We evaluated the AKH-producing cell (APC) transcriptome to identify potential regulatory elements controlling APC activity, and found that a number of receptors show consistent expression levels, including all known dopamine receptors and the Pigment Dispersing Factor receptor (PDFR). We tested the consequences of targeted genetic knockdown and found that AKH expression of RNAi elements corresponding to each dopamine receptor caused a significant reduction in survival under starvation. In contrast, PDFR knockdown significantly extended lifespan under starvation whereas expression of a tethered PDF in APCs resulted in a significantly shorter lifespan. These manipulations caused various changes in locomotor activity under starvation. We used live-cell imaging to evaluate the acute effects of the ligands for these receptors on APC activation. Dopamine application led to a transient increase in intracellular calcium in a sugar-dependent manner. Furthermore, co-application of dopamine and ecdysone led to a complete loss of this response, suggesting that these two hormones act antagonistically. We also found that PDF application led to an increase in cAMP in APCs, and that this response was dependent on expression of the PDFR in APCs. Together these results suggest a complex circuit in which multiple hormones act on APCs to modulate metabolic state.

Amidst worsening climate change, drought stress imperils global agriculture, jeopardizing crop yields and food security, necessitating urgent exploration of sustainable methods like biopriming, harnessing beneficial microorganisms to bolster plant resilience. Recent research has revealed diverse biological compounds with versatile applications produced by Schizophyllum commune, rendering this fungus as a promising contender for biopriming applications. For the first time this study aimed to investigate,the potential of S. commune exo- (EPSH) and intra-PSH (IPSH), isolated from two strains: Italian (ITA) and Serbian (SRB) under submerged cultivation, in enhancing the resilience of Pisum sativum L. seeds through biopriming technique. Testing of seed quality of bioprimed, hydroprimed, and unprimed seeds was done using a germination test, under optimal and drought conditions. In optimal conditions, the IPSH SRB increased germination energy by 5.50% compared to the control, while the highest percentage of germination (94.70%) was shown after biopriming with PSH isolated from the ITA strain. Additionally, all assessed treatments resulted in a boost in seedling growth and biomass accumulation, where the ITA strain demonstrated greater effectiveness in optimal conditions, whereas the SRB strain showed superiority in drought conditions. The drought tolerance indices increased significantly in response to all examined treatments during the drought, with EPSH ITA (23.00%) and EPSH SRB (24.00%) demonstrating the greatest effects. Results demonstrate a significant positive influence of fungal PSH, indicating their potential as biopriming agents and offers insights into novel strategies for agricultural resilience in the face of changing environmental conditions.

According to statistics from the Food and Agriculture Organization, the world population will increase to about 91 million (Asia 51 million, Africa 19 million). A rise in the world’s population means an increased need for food. However, climate change has caused desertification and unpredictable weather, creating problems in the supply and demand of food. Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) is an alternative to solving the food problem, as it is one of the world’s most important food crops, especially in developing countries. The tuberous roots of sweet potato are usually used as staple food, animal feed, industrial material, or raw material for alcohol production. In the future, more variations of sweet potato will be needed for breeding this crop. Recently, molecular markers developed for sweet potato have demonstrated good potential for use in genetic selection. In this study, a cDNA library was constructed from the total RNA of sweet potato leaves. A total of 789 copies of the cDNA were cloned in Escherichia coli by employing the pGEM-T Easy vector. Sequencing was carried out by Solgent Co. (Korea). As many as 579 expressed sequence tag–simple sequence repeat (EST-SSR) markers were designed (73.38%) from the known cDNA nucleotide base sequences. The lengths of the developed EST-SSR markers ranged from 100 to 499 bp (average length 238 bp). Their motif sequence types were varied, with most being dinucleotides and pentanucleotides, and the most commonly found motifs were CAGAAT (29.0%) and TCT (2.8%). Based on these SSR-containing sequences, 619 pairs of high-quality SSR primers were designed using WebSat and Primer3web. The total number of primers designed was 144. Polymorphism was evident in 82 EST-SSR markers among 20 Korean sweet potato cultivars tested and in 90 EST-SSR markers in the two parents of a mapping population, Yeseumi and Annobeny. In this study, the hexaploid sweet potato (2n = 6x = 90) EST-SSR markers were developed in the absence of full-sequence data. Moreover, by acting as a molecular tag for particular traits, the EST-SSR marker can also simultaneously identify information about the corresponding gene. These EST-SSR markers will allow the molecular analysis of sweet potato to be done more efficiently. Thus, we can develop high-quality sweet potato while overcoming the challenges from climate change and other unfavorable conditions.

Mineral nutrition is essential for plant growth and interaction of plants with biotic and abiotic stresses. Mango twig-tip dieback (MTTD) is a new type of mango decline, but its impact on the trees’ mineral nutrition is unknown. This study was conducted to determine the effect of MTTD infection on the nutrient status, balance, and resorption efficiency (RE) of mango. Leaf nutrient concentrations and deviation from the optimum percentage (DOP) indices of ‘Kensington Pride’ (KP) mango trees with low (LD) and high (HD) levels of MTTD infections were analyzed to compare the foliar nutrition status and nutrient balance between the LD and HD trees. Moreover, the nutrient resorption efficiency of MTTD-infected dried leaves (RE_D) was compared with the resorption efficiency of healthy (RE_S) leaves of KP mangoes. The concentrations of the total Ca, Mg, Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn were lower in the HD trees than in the LD trees. But the total K content was higher in the HD trees, and its DOP index was sufficient, while the total K concentration was low and deficient level in LD trees. Moreover, DOP indices for total Ca, Mn, and Zn were less deficient in LD trees than in HD trees, and overall nutrient imbalances were exacerbated in HD trees. RE_D was significantly lower than RE_S for the total N, P, S, Cu, Fe, and Zn but significantly higher than RE_S for K. The study underscores the significant influence of MTTD on the mineral nutrition of KP mangoes, revealing distinct nutrient variations between trees with low and high MTTD infection levels. These findings have important implications for mango crop management, emphasizing the need for targeted nutrient interventions to address imbalances induced by MTTD and enhance the overall health and resistance of mango trees against MTTD infection.

In this paper, we propose an imagined speech-based brain wave pattern recognition using deep learning. Multiple features were extracted concurrently from eight-channel Electroencephalography (EEG) signals. To obtain classifiable EEG data with fewer number of sensors, we placed the EEG sensors on carefully selected spots on the scalp. To decrease the dimensions and complexity of the EEG dataset and to avoid overfitting during the deep learning algorithm, we utilized the wavelet scattering transformation. A low-cost 8-channel EEG headset was used with MATLAB 2023a to acquire the EEG data. The Long-Short Term Memory Recurrent Neural Network (LSTM-RNN) was used to decode the identified EEG signals into four audio commands: Up, Down, Left, and Right. Wavelet scattering transformation was applied to extract the most stable features by passing the EEG dataset through a series of filtration processes. Filtration has been implemented for each individual command in the EEG datasets. The proposed imagined speech-based brain wave pattern recognition approach achieved a 92.50% overall classification accuracy. This accuracy is promising for designing a trustworthy imagined speech-based Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) future real-time systems. For better evaluation of the classification performance, other metrics were considered, and we obtained 92.74%, 92.50% and 92.62% for precision, recall, and F1-score, respectively.

Chronic wounds remain a significant clinical challenge, necessitating the exploration of novel therapeutic agents. Sedum telephium L. (syn. Hylotelephium telephium (L.) H. Ohba) leaf juice, known for its traditional medicinal uses, was evaluated for its wound healing properties. This study aimed to chemically characterize the leaf juice and assess its efficacy in promoting wound healing in vitro. Fresh leaves were collected and processed to obtain the juice, which was analyzed for polyphenols, flavonoids, polysaccharides, and proteins. Key bioactive compounds, including flavonols such as kaempferol glycosides and quercetin glycosides, were identified. The juice and its polysaccharidic fraction were tested on human keratinocytes (HaCaT) and fibroblasts (HFF-1) to assess cell viability, wound closure, and the production of growth factors and pro-collagen I. Our results indicated that the whole juice significantly enhanced wound closure in both cell types, with a marked increase in fibroblast growth factor (FGF) and LAP(TGF-β1) production in keratinocytes, highlighting its potential mechanisms of action. The polysaccharidic fraction alone showed limited efficacy, emphasizing the importance of the complete phytocomplex. These findings suggest that Sedum telephium L. represents a promising candidate in the setting of skin regeneration and repair.

An open source computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solver has been incorporated into the WindNinja modeling framework widely used by wildland fire managers as well as researchers and practitioners in other fields, such as wind energy, wind erosion, and search and rescue. Here we describe incorporation of the CFD solver and evaluate its performance compared to the conservation of mass (COM) solver in WindNinja and previously published large-eddy simulations (LES) for three field campaigns conducted over isolated terrain obstacles of varying terrain complexity: Askervein Hill, Bolund Hill, and Big Southern Butte. We also compare the effects of two important model settings in the CFD solver and provide guidance on model sensitivity to these settings. Additionally, we investigate the computational mesh and difficulties regarding terrain representation. Two important findings from this work are: (1) the choice of discretization scheme for advection has a significantly larger effect on the simulated winds than the choice of turbulence model and (2) CFD solver predictions are significantly better than the COM solver predictions at windward and lee side observation locations, but no difference was found in predicted speed-up at ridgetop locations between the two solvers.

L-gulonolactone oxidase enzyme (GULO) catalyzes the last step of L-ascorbic acid (vitamin C) biosynthesis. This enzymatic activity is lost in primates. The full-length rat GULO has been previously produced in plants and demonstrated to be active. In this study, we compare activity of two variants of GULO produced in Escheriachia coli cells, full-length rat GULO (fGULO) and its C-terminal catalytic domain (cGULO). The expression and purification of the recombinant proteins were optimised and their biological activity was confirmed by two methods, the GULO activity assay in the protein extracts and the ‘in-gel’ staining for GULO activity. Both variants of recombinant GULO were biologically active in both assays. However, cGULO is more promising than fGULO for ascorbic acid production because it is more efficiently produced by bacteria.

The continued success of any conventional sweet potato breeding program is limited to knowledge of the inheritance of the traits studied, such as flesh color and tuberous root shape, because it is difficult to fractionate color frequencies by visual separation. The objective was to understand the mode of inheritance of these genetic traits. The crossing blocks were established at the Research Institute of Tropical Roots and Tuber Crops (INIVIT-Cuba). Eight parental genotypes of known compatibility were selected, with contrasting phenotypic characteristics to develop seg-regating populations. To express color objectively, the CIE L*a*b* color space was used (L*: lumi-nosity; a* and b*: chromatic coordinates), in addition, four morphometric variables associated with the shape and dimensions of the tuberous roots were evaluated. From 2419 reciprocal cross-es, 2045 botanical seeds and 1764 seedlings were obtained. Incomplete dominance of the white and purple flesh colors over the orange color was observed, as well as transgressive segregation for purple, orange and white flesh colours, and for the shape of the tuberous roots. The results al-lowed to propose a genetic model of biparental crosses to improve the flesh color of I. batatas, as well as a predictive formula of the progenies to be selected.

The integration of connected autonomous vehicles into the transportation system introduces significant enhancements in driving experience and convenience. Yet, it simultaneously raises important concerns regarding the security and privacy of passenger data. As individuals increasingly depend on these connected vehicles, particularly rental cars with advanced infotainment systems, safeguarding their personal information becomes a paramount imperative, presenting significant challenges that must be addressed to maintain user trust and comply with privacy regulations. This paper investigates risks associated with personal information stored in connected vehicle technology, emphasizing the importance of robust security and privacy practices. In the advent of cyber threats and the need for data protection, we examine a risk management framework (RMF) as suggested by NIST, which aims to address these quintessential concerns preemptively. Our research moves beyond the limitations of manual safeguarding methods, supporting the necessity for an advanced automated technical solution. To address these issues, we introduce and meticulously assess the efficacy of “Vehicle Inactive Profile Removal” (VIPR), an innovative technical solution conceived to actively eliminate the risks and potential oversights that stem from the prevalent tendency of renters to leave personal data unerased in the infotainment systems of rented connected vehicles. We provide a thorough evaluation of VIPR through various scenarios, including vehicle return to a rental depot, subsequent rentals, and ridesharing contexts. Our proof of concept includes an array of experiments to demonstrate how VIPR proficiently and autonomously removes previous renters’ “Inactive” profiles from a simulated infotainment system. The results highlight how VIPR constitutes a critical step towards enhancing the privacy and security of personal data, thereby promoting a safer, more responsible use of connected vehicle technology in society.

Ever since Varela and Maturana proposed the concept of autopoiesis as the minimal requirement for life, there has been a focus on cellular systems that erect topological boundaries to separate themselves from their surrounding environment. Here we reconsider whether the existence of such a spatial boundary is strictly necessary for self-producing entities. This work presents a novel computational model of a minimal autopoietic system inspired by dendrites and molecular dynamics simulations in three-dimensional space. A series of simulation experiments where the metabolic pathways of a particular autocatalytic set are successively inhibited until autocatalytic entities that could be considered autopoietic are produced. These entities maintain their distinctness in an environment containing multiple identical instances of the entities without the existence of a topological boundary. This gives rise to the concept of a metabolic boundary which manifests as emergent self-selection criteria for the processes of self-production without any need for unique identifiers. However, the adoption of such a boundary comes at a cost, as these autopoietic entities are less suited to their simulated environment than their autocatalytic counterparts. Finally, this work showcases a generalized metabolism-centered approach to the study of autopoiesis that can be applied to both physical and abstract systems alike.

Dengue infection is one of the most important vector-borne diseases worldwide and is a significant public health problem in the tropics. Mosquito control continues to be the primary approach to reducing the disease burden and the dengue virus (DENV) spread. Aside from the traditional larviciding and adulticiding interventions, autodissemination using pyriproxyfen-treated (AD-PPF) ovitraps is one of the promising methods to complement existing vector control strategies. Our paper assessed the efficacy of AD-PPF in reducing DENV infection in two barangays in Parañaque City. Using saliva samples from the participants from both the control and intervention sites, we collected the seroprevalence data for three months in each of the two years. Spatial analysis was conducted to determine hotspot areas and identify DENV infection distributions across the trial periods. Results showed that the intervention site was identified as having clustering of DENV infection in Month 0 of Year 1 and shifted to random dispersion of dengue cases at the end of Month 3 in Year 2. The disappearance of the clustering of the intervention site translates to a decrease in the cases of DENV infection relative to the control site. Furthermore, we also identified that DENV infection transmission occurs at a small-scale level that did not go beyond 86 meters. In conclusion, AD-PPF is suggested to be an effective strategy and may be used as an additional vector control approach, albeit in its short-term implementation.

Primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pPCI) has revolutionized the prognosis of ST-segment ele-vation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and is the gold standard treatment. As a result of its success, the number of pPCI centres has expanded worldwide. Despite decades of advancements, clinical outcomes in STEMI patients have plateaued. Out-of-hospital car-diac arrest and cardiogenic shock remain a major cause of high in-hospital mortality, whilst the growing burden of heart failure in long-term STEMI survivors presents a growing problem. Many elements aiming to optimize STEMI treatment are still subject to debate or lack sufficient evidence. This review provides an overview of the most contentious current issues in pPCI in STEMI patients, with an emphasis on unresolved questions and persistent challenges.

Camelina (Camelina sativa L.) is an oilseed with potential for use as a raw material in second-generation biofuels. Camelina has a seed yield of up to 2380 kg ha^-1 and contains around 45% fatty acids. Selection of a suitable site is critical for production optimization. The objective of this study was to determine Chilean agro-climatic suitability for establishing camelina as a productive alternative. Climate and soil requirements and geographical restraints were evaluated for the species, considering the climatological characteristics of its regions of origin, as well as regions where camelina is successfully grown in the rest of the world. The variables considered include factors (maximum temperatures of the warmest month, water deficits, and degree days) and limitations (altitude, geomorphology, and current land use), which permitted the evaluation of the national territory for a certain level of suitability. It was determined that 1.3% of the national territory (960,664 ha) has some degree of suitability for camelina adoption. Between the Biobío and Los Lagos regions, 49.0% of land (471,203 ha) is in the category of without thermic restrictions, with mild water restrictions, and mild soil restrictions or without information, which can be used for camelina production. The Los Ríos region had 21.4% surface area (321,176 ha) with some level of suitability for camelina, the most suitable region to establish this crop in Chile.

Limited observational studies have described the relationship between sleep duration and overall diet. The present study investigated the association between sleep duration at weekdays and empirically derived dietary patterns in a nationally representative sample of UK adults, aged 19-64 years old, participating in the 2008-2012 UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey Rolling Programme. Survey members completed between three to four days of dietary records. Sleep duration at weekdays was categorised into tertiles to reflect short, normal and long sleep duration. Social jetlag was calculated as the difference between sleep duration at weekends and weekdays. The association between sleep duration/ social jetlag and dietary patterns, derived by principal components analysis, was assessed regressing diet on sleep whilst accounting for the complex survey design and adjusting for relevant confounders. Survey members in the highest tertile of sleep duration had on average 0.45 (95% CI -0.78, -0.12) lower healthy dietary pattern score compared to middle tertile (p =0.007). There was an inverted u-shaped association between social jetlag and a healthy dietary pattern, such that when sleep at weekends exceeded weekday sleep by 1h 45min, scores for indicating a healthy dietary pattern declined (p =0.005). In conclusion, long sleep duration at weekdays and an increased social jetlag are associated with a lower healthy dietary pattern score. Further research is required to address factors influencing dietary patterns in long sleepers.

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a severe and chronic disease characterized by increased pulmonary vascular resistance and remodeling often precipitating right-sided heart dysfunction and death. Although the condition is progressive and incurable, current therapies for the disease focus on multiple different drugs and general supportive therapies to manage symptoms and prolong survival, ranging from medications more specific to pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) to exercise training. Moreover, there are multiple studies exploring novel experimental drugs and therapies including unique neurostimulation, to help better manage the disease. Here we provide a narrative review focusing on current PH treatments that target multiple underlying biochemical mechanisms, including but not limited to imbalances in vasoconstrictor-vasodilator and autonomic nervous system function, inflammation, and bone morphogenic protein (BMP) signaling. We also focus on the potential of novel therapies for managing PH, focusing on multiple types of neu-rostimulation including acupuncture. Lastly, we also touch upon the disease’s different subgroups, clinical presentations and prognosis, diagnostics, demographics, and cost.

A substantial amount of phosphorus (P) in soil is not readily available for plant uptake. Certain species may enhance P availability from poorly soluble P forms. This research aimed to compare the P solubilization capacity of the soil of two Lupine species, L. albus, and L. angustifolius, with a control crop of oats (Avena strigosa L.). Plants were planted in pots in four soils with varying texture, organic matter content, acidity, and P availability. Phosphorus solubilization capacity was assessed on variations of P availability (PBray1) at four points in time, comparing soils with lupine to oat-containing soils and their baseline values. At harvest, measurements of plant shoot biomass included their shoot dry weight and some nutrient concentrations such as P, nitrogen (N), manganese (Mn), and lupine nitrogen fixation. Compared to soils containing oats, lupine soils significantly increased PBray1 concentrations; increments ranged from 0.9 to 5.4 mg kg-1, depending on species, sampling time, and soil type. Lupine-induced soil acidification did not fully explain this P increase., As a proxy measurement of organic acid exudation, Manganese concentration was high in both lupine species' shoot biomass; however, these legumes had divergent Mn accumulation responses to soil acidity and P availability. Nitrogen fixed quantity varied with Lupine species (105-240 mg pot-1) and soil type (60-240 mg pot-1). Lupinus albus had a higher ability to mobilize non-labile P and provide N through biological N fixation (BNF), positioning it as a suitable crop for diversifying Uruguay's agricultural crop rotation systems.

High Brassicaceae consumption reduces the risk of developing several cancer types, probably due to their glucosinolate amount. Extracts from Sinapis nigra L. and Sinapis alba L. have been obtained from leaves and seeds under different conditions using ethanol/water mixtures because well accepted by food industry. The EtOH/H2O 8:2 mixture gives better yields in glucosinolate amounts from grinded seeds, mainly sinalbin in S. alba and sinigrin in S. nigra. The highest antiproliferative activity in both non-tumour and tumour cell lines was induced by S. alba seeds extract. To evaluate whether Sinapis spp effect was only due to glucosinolate content or it was influenced by the extracts’ complexity, cells were treated with extracts or glucosinolates, in the presence of myrosinase. Pure sinigrin did not modify cell proliferation, while pure sinalbin was less effective than the extract. The addition of myrosinase increased the antiproliferative effects of the S. nigra extract and sinigrin. Antiproliferative activity was correlated to MAPKs modulation, which was cell and extract-dependent. Cell-cycle analysis evidenced a proapoptotic effect of S. alba on both tumour cell lines and of S. nigra only on HCT 116. Both extracts showed good antimicrobial activity in disc diffusion tests and on ready-to-eat fresh salad. These results underline the potential effects of Sinapis spp in chemoprevention and food preservation.

Cultivated adlay or Job’s tear (Coix lacryma-jobi L.) is an important food crop having numerous therapeutic and nutraceutical health benefits. Our study aimed to determine nutrients, minerals, fatty acid composition, and functional groups of seven wild Adlay accessions (brown, black, yellow, grey, green, off-white, and purple) to find out their scope as cereal crops using simple, rapid, and modern analytical techniques. Results revealed variations among bulk densities, specific densities, percent empty spaces, and corresponding grain counts per 10g of sample are valuable characteristics in distinguishing the accessions. Contents of fat, protein, ash, and fibre were found to be comparable to cultivated Adlay. Brown adlay was measured with the highest protein, fat, and fibre contents, 15.82%, 4.76% and 2.37%, respectively. Phosphorus, potassium, calcium, and sodium ranged 0.3% - 2.2%, whereas boron, iron, copper, zinc, and manganese were in the range 1.6mg/kg - 20.8mg/kg. Wild adlay triglyceride composition constituted of polyunsaturated fatty acids as primary fraction followed by olein and palmitic acid as prominent fatty acids. Distinguishing functional groups expressed infra-red frequencies in narrow bands and fingerprint region of proteins associated with out-of-plane region evident structural differences among adlay accessions. Frequency of functional groups in seven accessions indicated black genotype promising for varietal development.

Rosemary is one of the most important medicinal plants for natural therapy due to its multiple pharmacological properties, such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective, antiproliferative, antitumor, hepato- and nephroprotective, hypolipidemic, hypocholesterolemic, antihypertensive, anti-ischemic, hypoglycemic, radioprotective, antimicrobial, antiviral, antiallergic, wound healing. Our study reports for the first time, over a 12-month period, the identification and quantification of polyphenols and the investigation of the antioxidant and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitory activity of the Rosmarinus officinalis L. species harvested at flowering from the flora of southwestern Romania (Oltenia Region). Identification and quantification of polyphenolic acids was made by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (UHPLC/MS). Total phenolic content was determined using the spectrophotometric method. In situ antioxidant and anticholinesterase activity was evaluated using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and AChE inhibitory assay, respectively, on high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) plates. DPPH radical scavenging activity was also assessed spectrophotometrically. The results revealed significant correlations between specific polyphenolic compounds and the measured biological activities, understanding the role of seasonal variations and providing insights into the optimal harvesting times and medicinal benefits of rosemary. Our research brings new information on the phytochemical profile of R. officinalis, as a natural source of polyphenols with antioxidant and AChE inhibitory properties.

Surface finishing is challenging for additively manufactured components with complex geometries. Magnetic abrasive finishing (MAF) is a promising surface finishing technology that can refine the surface quality of components with complex shapes produced by additive manufacturing. However, there is insufficient study regarding the impact of MAF on microstructure-property relationships for additively manufactured builds, which is critical for evaluating the mechanical performance. Furthermore, although MAF is usually used as the final step of post-processing, it remains unclear whether adjusting the sequence between MAF and other processes, e.g., heat treatment, can potentially improve the mechanical performance. In this work, the effects of MAF on the microstructure and mechanical property evolution of Inconel 718 superalloys made by laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) were studied. The application of MAF was found to significantly reduce the surface roughness of alloys and refine the grain size of aged samples. Moreover, MAF is able to increase the elongation of materials, which can be further influenced by the sequence of MAF and different heat treatments. The highest elongation can be achieved when MAF is performed between homogenization and aging processes. This work demonstrated a promising solution to improving the performance of LPBF Inconel 718 by combining MAF and heat treatment, which provides new perspectives on the post-processing development of additively manufactured alloys for advanced mechanical properties.

Groundwater is becoming increasingly important in the Pacific Northwest of the USA due to declining snowpack volumes and shifts in precipitation type and timing, all connected with climate change. The Upper Williamson Basin of the Klamath Watershed is a groundwater dominated watershed with massive fluctuations in year-to-year streamflow volumes over the past four decades, including the complete absence of any live flow for several years. The precise relationship between groundwater and streamflow in the basin has been difficult to assess due to a limited number of monitoring wells and significant gaps in the water level time history. To address this challenge, we use a novel imputation technique that leverages Earth observations and machine learning to impute gaps in water level records. We use these more complete datasets to compute a groundwater storage change time series for the basin. We show that groundwater storage is highly correlated to streamflow and that groundwater storage is correlated to rainfall with a three- to four-year delay that appears variable depending on groundwater storage volumes. The tools and relationships we present make it possible for water managers to estimate when streamflows will return to the basin and be more informed to support better management.

Berberis vulgaris L. (Berberidaceae) is a shrub that has been widely used in European folk medicine as an anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial agent. The purpose of our study was to elucidate the mechanisms of antiproliferative action of the plant’s methanolic root extract (BVR) against colon cancer cells. Cytotoxicity and pro-apoptotic activity were determined in human colon adenocarcinoma cell lines (LS180 and HT-29) and control colon epithelial CCD841 CoN cells. According to the MTT assay, after 48 h of cell exposure, the IC50 values were as follows: 4.3; 46.1 and 50.2 µg/mL for LS180, HT-29, and CCD841 CoN cells, respectively, showing the greater sensitivity of cancer cells to BVR. The Cell Death Detection ELISAPLUS kit demonstrated that BVR induced programmed cell death only against HT-29 cells. RT-qPCR with relative quantification method showed significant changes in the expression of genes related to apoptosis in both colon cancer cell lines. The genes BCL2L1 (126.84-366.66%), BCL2L2 (277.08-330.12%), CASP3 (180.36-261.36%) and CASP9 (158.08-213.46%) had significantly elevated expression, while BCL2 (23.08-52.06%) had reduced expression. Furthermore, in a panel of antioxidant tests, BVR showed positive effects (63.93±0.01, 122.92±0.01, and 220.29±0.02 mg Trolox equivalents (TE)/g in the DPPH•, ABTS•+ and ORAC assays, respectively). In the lipoxygenase (LOX) inhibition test, BVR revealed 62,60±0.87% of enzyme inhibition. The chemical composition of BVR was determined using UHPLC-UV-CAD-MS/MS analysis and confirmed the presence of several known alkaloids, including berberine, as well as other alkaloids and two derivatives of hydroxycinnamic acid (ferulic and sinapic acid hexosides). This is the first such extensive assessment of the biological activity of BVR. The results are very promising and encourage for the use of BVR as a comprehensive chemopreventive agent (anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and pro-apoptotic) in colorectal cancer.