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Carotenoids are health-promoting metabolites in livestock and human diets. Some important crops have been genetically modified to increase their content. Although the usefulness of transgenic plants to alleviate nutritional deficiencies is obvious, their social acceptance has been controversial.

Here, we demonstrate an alternative biotechnological strategy for carotenoid fortification of edible fruits in which no transgenic DNA is involved. A viral RNA vector derived from zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV) was modified to express a bacterial phytoene synthase (crtB), and inoculated to zucchini (Cucurbita pepo L.) leaves nurturing pollinated flowers. After the viral vector moved to the developing fruit and expressed crtB, the rind and flesh of the fruits developed yellow-orange rather than green color. Metabolite analyses showed a substantial enrichment in health-promoting carotenoids, such as α- and β-carotene (provitamin A), lutein and phytoene, in both rind and flesh.

Although this strategy is perhaps not free from controversy due to the use of genetically modified viral RNA, our work does demonstrate the possibility of metabolically fortifying edible fruits using an approach in which no transgenes are involved.

Although this strategy is perhaps not free from controversy due to the use of genetically modified viral RNA, our work does demonstrate the possibility of metabolically fortifying edible fruits using an approach in which no transgenes are involved.Sarcoptic mange is considered an emerging disease-causing countless epizootics and significantly affecting wild mammals worldwide. The vicuña (Vicugna vicugna) is a medium-sized South American wild camelid inhabiting Andean ecosystems, where several populations are live-sheared by Andean peasant communities as a way of providing an economic income to the people while promoting vicuña conservation. Institutions and scientists have shown concern for the impact and extent of sarcoptic mange in several vicuña populations across their range, as well as the lack of consistent knowledge about this disease in the species. Here, we perform a review about sarcoptic mange distribution throughout the vicuña's native range, evidence of effects of age and sex, the modes of transmission and the veterinary treatments employed. The review retrieved a few scientific papers, but found several reports and academic studies mostly considered as 'grey literature'. Mange was recorded across the entire native vicuña range (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru). Mange prevalence varied across vicuña studies (up to 60% prevalence in some populations) and severely affected a number of populations, being an important source of mortality. Mange was reported as more frequent in adults than in offspring. The modes of mange transmission remain unclear, although direct transmission between infected and healthy animals seems to be the most likely, including the transmission between domestic camelids and vicuñas. Regarding the treatments employed, ivermectin was the most frequently used. We further identified several gaps in knowledge and point to future research lines, which seek to promote both species conservation and the maintenance of live-shearing vicuñas under sustainable approaches in low-income Andean peasant communities.A multileaf collimator (MLC), virtual-cone treatment technique has been commissioned for trigeminal neuralgia (TGN) at Tri-Cities Cancer Center (TCCC). This novel technique was initially developed at the University of Alabama in Birmingham (UAB); it is designed to produce a spherical dose profile similar to a fixed, 5-mm conical collimator distribution. Treatment is delivered with a 10-MV flattening-filter-free (FFF) beam using a high-definition MLC on a Varian Edge linear accelerator. Absolute dose output and profile measurements were performed in a 20 × 20 × 14 cm3 solid-water phantom using an Exradin W2 scintillation detector and Gafchromic EBT3 film. Dose output constancy for the virtual cone was evaluated over 6 months using an Exradin A11 parallel plate chamber. The photo-neutron dose generated by these treatments was assessed at distances of 50 and 100 cm from isocenter using a Ludlum Model 30-7 Series Neutron Meter. TGN treatments at TCCC have been previously delivered at 6-MV FFF using a 5-mm stereotactic cone. To assess the dosimetric impact of using a virtual cone, eight patients previously treated for TGN with a 5-mm cone were re-planned using a virtual cone. Seven patients have now been treated for TGN using a virtual cone at TCCC. Patient-specific quality assurance was performed for each patient using Gafchromic EBT-XD film inside a Standard Imaging Stereotactic Dose Verification Phantom. The commissioning results demonstrate that the virtual-cone dosimetry, first described at UAB, is reproducible on a second Edge linear accelerator at an independent clinical site. The virtual cone is a credible alternative to a physical, stereotactic cone for the treatment of TGN at TCCC.Covalent organic frameworks with tunable porous crystallinity and outstanding stability have exhibited fascinating pretreatment performance as ideal extraction media. Herein, the β-ketoenamine-linked TpPa-1 synthesized by 1,3,5-triformylphloroglucinol and paraphenylenediamine was employed as the absorbent for online micro-solid phase extraction of trace bisphenols combined with high-performance liquid chromatography detection. A series of characterizations indicated that the TpPa-1 possessed large surface areas, high stability, and hydrophobicity. The main experimental parameters affecting the extraction efficiency were optimized in detail. Compared with four commercial sorbents, the TpPa-1 exhibited superior enrichment capacity for extracting bisphenols. Under the optimum conditions, the established method demonstrated a wide linear range and high sensitivity with the limit of detection ranging from 0.05-0.06 μg/L. Furthermore, the developed method was successfully applied to determine bisphenols in plastic samples. Bisphenol A was actually detected in a transparent box with a concentration of 0.31 μg/g, and the recoveries of the four bisphenols in the plastic samples were 80.5-116% with the relative standard deviation less than 9.2%. Such performance was attributed to recognition affinity, including the π-π affinity, hydrophobic effect, and hydrogen bond. These results demonstrated that TpPa-1 possessed great potential to be an excellent pretreatment medium for online separation and analysis of trace analytes in complex samples.Fungi that invade plant inner tissues without inducing disease symptoms are known as fungal endophytes. They represent a promising and tremendous reservoir of natural products with valuable biological potentials for application in medicine, agriculture and industry. Among the numerous existing endophytic fungi, Aspergillus strains constitute one of the most prolific sources of secondary metabolites with diverse chemical classes and interesting biological activities. This review covers the literature of the year 2020, reporting the isolation of 202 compounds obtained from more than 10 different endophytic Aspergillus species associated with different host plants. Analysis and interpretation of the collected data revealed that chemical investigation of endophytes belonging to the genus Aspergillus may greatly contribute to the discovery of potential drug leads. The isolated metabolites were chemically various and exhibited diverse biological activities such as antibacterial, anti-cancer, anti-plasmodial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, immunosuppressive and antifungal activities. Moreover, adoption of advanced technology in molecular biology together with modern chemical tools is anticipated to improve the discovery of new biopharmaceuticals from this valuable microbial world in the future.The yttrium organic framework (Y0.89 Tb0.10 Eu0.01 )6 (BDC)7 (OH)4 (H2 O)4 (BDC=benzene-1,4-dicarboxylate) is hydrothermally stable up to at least 513 K and thermally stable in air in excess of 673 K. The relative intensities of luminescence of Tb3+ and Eu3+ are governed by Tb3+ -to-Eu3+ phonon-assisted energy transfer and Tb3+ -to-ligand back transfer and are responsible for the differing temperature-dependent luminescence of the two ions. This provides a ratiometric luminescent thermometer in the 288-573 K temperature range, not previously seen for MOF materials, with a high sensitivity, 1.69±0.04 % K-1 at 523 K. In aqueous conditions, loosely bound H2 O can be replaced by D2 O in the same material, which modifies decay lifetimes to yield a quantitative luminescent D2 O sensor with a useful sensitivity for practical application.With better biocompatibility, bioresorbable poly (L-lactic acid) (PLLA) helical stents are expected to replace the commonly used metallic stents. However, due to the great difference between the material properties of PLLA and those of metals, the current research results on mechanical properties of stents will not be applicative. In this article, the effects of i on the radial compression performance and bending stiffness of PLLA helical stents were systematically studied, and the effect of temperature on the radial compression performance of the helical stent was investigated. The findings obtained indicate that the reduction of initial pitch angle and initial diameter can enhance the radial compression performance. The reduction of initial pitch angle and the increase of initial diameter can weaken the bending stiffness of the helical stent. Moreover, the increase of temperature will reduce the radial stiffness and peak compression force of the helical stent. A favorable agreement between the theoretical and experimental results of radial compression properties was found in stents with the initial pitch angle between 14° and 21° and all initial diameters. This work can provide suggestions for the use of the theoretical formula in structure design of the helical stent.A new isovaleryl-monoterpene, pleurotusin A (1), and a new cyclopentenone derivative, pleurotusin B (7), together with five related known terpenoids (2-6), were isolated from the coculture broth of two edible fungi, Pleurotus ostreatus SY10 and Pleurotus eryngii SY302. The absolute configurations of 1 and 7 were elucidated by comprehensively using the density functional theory calculation of NMR and ECD data, DP4+ probability analysis, Mo2 (OAc)4 -based CD experiment and optical rotation. The antimicrobial activities of these compounds except for the unstable compound 7, were evaluated against two types of human-pathogenic fungi, Candida albicans and Cryptococcus neoformans, and three types of human-pathogenic bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Shigella sp. Compound 1 displayed moderate activity against S. aureus with an MIC50 value of 90.3 μM. In addition, the antioxidant activities of high-yielding 2-6 were tested using DPPH, and compound 4 showed moderate activity with an EC50 value of 573 μM.Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) offer a convenient means for capturing, transporting, and releasing small molecules. read more Their rational design requires an in-depth understanding of the underlying non-covalent host-guest interactions, and the ability to easily and rapidly pre-screen candidate architectures in silico. In this work, we devised a recipe for computing the strength and analysing the nature of the host-guest interactions in MOFs. By assessing a range of density functional theory methods across periodic and finite supramolecular cluster scale we find that appropriately constructed clusters readily reproduce the key interactions occurring in periodic models at a fraction of the computational cost. Host-guest interaction energies can be reliably computed with dispersion-corrected density functional theory methods; however, decoding their precise nature demands insights from energy decomposition schemes and quantum-chemical tools for bonding analysis such as the quantum theory of atoms in molecules, the non-covalent interactions index or the density overlap regions indicator.