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lutide against diabetes.Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) are of multidisciplinary scientific interest due to their exceptional physicochemical properties and a broad range of applications. However, they are considered potentially toxic nanoparticles when they accumulate in the environment. Given their ability to oxidize resistant polymers, mycorremediation with lignocellulolytic fungi are suggested as biological alternatives to the mineralization of MWCNTs. Hence, this study involves the ability of two fungi specie to MWCNTs biotransformation by laccase and peroxidases induction and evaluation in vivo of its toxicity using Caenorhabditis elegans worms as a model. Results showed that the fungi Penicillium chrysogenum and Pleurotus ostreatus were capable to grow on media with MWCNTs supplemented with glucose or lignin. Activities of lignin-peroxidase, manganese-peroxidase, and laccase in cultures of both fungi were induced by MWCNTs. Raman, FTIR spectroscopy, HR-TEM, and TGA analyses of the residue from the cultures of both fungi revealed structural modifications on the surface of MWCNTs and its amount diminished, correlating the MWCNTs structural modifications with the laccase-peroxidase activities in the fungal cultures. Results indicate that the degree of toxicity of MWCNTs on the C. elegans model was enhanced by the structure modification associated with the fungal ligninolytic activity. The toxic effect of MWCNTs on the in vivo model of worms reveals the increment of reactive oxygen species as a mechanism of toxicity. Findings indicate that the MWCNTs can be subject in nature to biotransformation processes such as the fungal metabolism, which contribute to modify their toxicity properties on susceptible organisms and contributing to environmental elimination.

The chimeric leaves of

var.

are composed of normal green parts (Grs) and albino white parts (Whs). Although the underlying mechanism of albinism in

var.

leaves is not fully understood, it is likely associated with the chlorophyll (Chl) biosynthesis. In this biosynthetic process, porphobilinogen deaminase (PBGD) plays a crucial role by catalyzing the conversion of porphobilinogen (PBG) to uroporphyrinogen III (Urogen III). Therefore, its encoding gene

was investigated here in association with Chl biosynthesis and albinism in chimeric

var.

leaves.

The Chl content, main Chl biosynthesis precursor content, and main enzyme activity were determined and compared between the Whs and Grs of

var.

leaves. In addition,

was cloned and its transcriptional expression and prokaryotic protein expression were analyzed. Furthermore, RNAi-mediated silencing of

was produced and assessed in tobacco plants.

The concentration of Chl a and Chl b in the Grs was significantly higher than that in tre substantially less green with significantly reduced hemC expression and Chl content, as well as reduced PBGD enzyme activity and significantly decreased content of Chl biosynthesis precursors from Urogen III onwards. Our results suggest that the absence of hemC expression reduces the enzyme activity of PBGD, which blocks the transition of PBG to Urogen III, and in turn suppresses Chl synthesis leading to the pale-green leaf color. Therefore, we suggest that AbhemC plays an important role in Chl synthesis and may be an important factor in the albinism of A. comosus var. bracteatus leaves.Pre-eclampsia (PE) accompanying acute liver and kidney injury has remained a master cause of both fetal and maternal mortality and morbidity. Vasoactive mediators, oxidative stress and inflammatory imbalanceshave an important role in PE pathogenesis. Apelin is an adipokine that improves endothelial dysfunction; has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects; moreover, its level reduced during PE. This study aimed to explore the effects of apelin-13 administration on preeclampsia-associated renal dysfunction and proteinuria. Thirty-three pregnant female rats were divided into three groups; group 1 (normal pregnant rats), group 2 (preeclamptic rats); where rats were injected subcutaneously with 75 mg L-NAME/ kg body weight/day beginning from 9th to 20th day of pregnancy andgroup 3 (apelin-13 treated preeclamptic rats); In which L-NAME-induced preeclamptic rats were subcutaneously injected with 6 × 10-8 mol apelin-13/kg body weight/twice daily starting from 6th to 20th day of pregnancy. In all groups, mean arterial blood pressure, total urine protein, serum urea, creatinine, nitric oxide (NO), endothelin-1 (ET-1), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and malondialdhyde (MDA) were measured. Histopathological examination of kidney tissues was also done. preeclamptic rats showed significantly increased mean arterial blood pressure, total urine proteins, serum urea, creatinine, ET-1, IL-6, and MDA, but revealed a significantly decreased serum NO level. On the other hand, apelin treatment significantly improved these parameters together with amelioration of kidney histoarchitecture in the treated group. In conclusion, apelin may be a potentially curative candidate for prohibiting kidney damage and have a therapeutic benefit in PE rat models.The quality of field crop establishment is an indicator of the productivity and yield quality of a given crop. Several biotic and abiotic factors, as well as cropping practices, affect the quality of field crop establishment. More specifically to soybean, recent studies quantified pre-emergence seedling losses and identified the associated causes of non-emergence. However, little is known about post-emergence seedling damage, mainly due to vertebrate pests, which represent an important problem for growers. A 2-year field observation was conducted to quantify near- and post-emergence seedling damage due to vertebrate pests. The common wood pigeon (Columba palumbus) and the European hare (Lepus europaeus) were associated with this kind of damage. The characteristic damage due to the common wood pigeon consisted of either partially-damaged cotyledons during emergence or completely uprooted seedlings at emergence. In contrast, damage due to the European hare consisted of chewed seedling or seedling parts. There was significant effect of year (p less then 0.001) on the final rates of post-emergence seedling damage due to the wood pigeon but not on those due to the European hare. Epacadostat concentration The final rates of post-emergence damage due to the wood pigeon were higher (32% for 2018 and 22% for 2020) compared with those owing to the European hare (18% for 2018 and 17% for 2020). The severity of damage due to vertebrate pests was related to the type of seedling damage that, in turn, affected the capacity of soybean to compensate for post-emergence seedling damage.Microbes play fundamental roles in shaping natural ecosystem properties and functions, but do so under constraints imposed by their viral predators. However, studying viruses in nature can be challenging due to low biomass and the lack of universal gene markers. Though metagenomic short-read sequencing has greatly improved our virus ecology toolkit-and revealed many critical ecosystem roles for viruses-microdiverse populations and fine-scale genomic traits are missed. Some of these microdiverse populations are abundant and the missed regions may be of interest for identifying selection pressures that underpin evolutionary constraints associated with hosts and environments. Though long-read sequencing promises complete virus genomes on single reads, it currently suffers from high DNA requirements and sequencing errors that limit accurate gene prediction. Here we introduce VirION2, an integrated short- and long-read metagenomic wet-lab and informatics pipeline that updates our previous method (VirION) to furthey assembled through inclusion of long-reads, and 22% of the top 10% most abundant virus populations derived from assembly of long-reads. Viral populations unique to VirION2 assemblies had significantly higher microdiversity means, which may explain why short-read virome approaches failed to capture them. These findings suggest the VirION2 sample prep and workflow can help researchers better investigate the virosphere, even from challenging low-biomass samples. Our new protocols are available to the research community on protocols.io as a 'living document' to facilitate dissemination of updates to keep pace with the rapid evolution of long-read sequencing technology.

Personality disorders are frequently associated with insomnia and depression, but little is known about the inter-relationships among these variables. Therefore, this study examined these inter-relationships and the possible mediating effect of insomnia on the association between specific personality pathologies and depression severity.

There were 138 study participants, including 69 individuals with depression and 69 healthy controls. The main variables were measured by the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale-24 (HAMD-24), Athens Sleep Insomnia Scale (AIS), and the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire (PDQ-4+). Multivariate linear regression and mediation analysis were conducted.

With the exception of the antisocial personality score, all the PDQ-4+ scores and AIS scores were significantly higher in the depression group than in the healthy control group (

< 0.001). In the total sample, all personality pathology scores (

< 0.001), except the antisocial personality score, had significant positive as the impact of specific personality pathology and insomnia should be considered.

Borderline personality, passive-aggressive personality, and insomnia tend to increase the severity of depression, and the effect of borderline and passive-aggressive personality on depression severity may be partially mediated by insomnia. This is the first study to report these findings in a Chinese sample, and they may help researchers to understand the pathways from specific personality pathologies to the psychopathology of depression better, which should be useful for designing interventions to relieve depression severity, as the impact of specific personality pathology and insomnia should be considered.

The associations among maternal depressive symptoms (MDS), mother-child interactions and early child development are poorly understood. This study aimed to explore the role of mother-child interactions on the associations between MDS and child development.

A cross-sectional study with a multistage sampling method was conducted in rural areas of Central and Western China. MDS, child development outcomes (communication, gross motor function, fine motor function, problem solving and personal social skills) and mother-child interactions were assessed by The Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale, the Chinese version of the Ages and Stages Questionnaires and the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, respectively. Regression-based statistical mediation and moderation were conducted using the PROCESS macro for SPSS.

A total of 2,548 participants (mothers 1,274; children 1,274) were included in our analyses. MDS was negatively associated with child development outcomes and mother-child interactions partly mediatedtive studies.

Our results suggest the important role of mother-child interactions on the associations between MDS and early childhood development. Due to the cross-sectional design of this study, these associations require further investigation in prospective studies.