Rosmarinus officinalis L. (Lamiaceae) is an aromatic plant widely popular mainly due to its uses in traditional medicine as an anti‐inflammatory, diuretic and antimicrobial, as well as in the ...prevention and treatment of diseases. These biological activities are mainly related to the presence of phenolic and terpenic compounds. This work reports a chemical profile analysis of extracts from leaves and calli of rosemary obtained by both pressurized liquid extraction and maceration. Chemical profiles were determined on calli extracts of 3, 6, 9, and 15 days of culture; chemical characterization and quantification of compounds was carried out using ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography‐mass spectrometry. A total of 53 metabolites were identified in callus and 47 compounds in leaf extracts, of which 25 correspond to phenolic compounds, mainly flavonoids and flavones, 13 terpenes that include phenolic terpenes and one diterpenolactone, two glycosides which correspond to 6‐O‐caffeoyl‐β‐D‐fructofuranosil‐(2→1)‐α‐D‐glucopyranoside and primulaverin, an aromatic compound identified as fenantrenone and a growth regulator 12‐hydroxy jasmonic acid. These results showed that undifferentiated rosemary cells accumulate the same compounds identified mainly in highly specialized tissues such as leaves. The plant cell culture supply the possibility of developing biotechnological processes to obtain compounds of commercial interest.
Increased adiposity and visceral obesity have been linked to adverse COVID-19 outcomes. The amount of epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) may have relevant implications given its proximity to the heart ...and lungs. Here, we explored the role of EAT in increasing the risk for COVID-19 adverse outcomes.
We included 748 patients with COVID-19 attending a reference center in Mexico City. EAT thickness, sub-thoracic and extra-pericardial fat were measured using thoracic CT scans. We explored the association of each thoracic adipose tissue compartment with COVID-19 mortality and severe COVID-19 (defined as mortality and need for invasive mechanical ventilation), according to the presence or absence of obesity. Mediation analyses evaluated the role of EAT in facilitating the effect of age, body mass index and cardiac troponin levels with COVID-19 outcomes.
EAT thickness was associated with increased risk of COVID-19 mortality (HR 1.18, 95% CI 1.01-1.39) independent of age, gender, comorbid conditions and BMI. Increased EAT was associated with lower SpO2 and PaFi index and higher levels of cardiac troponins, D-dimer, fibrinogen, C-reactive protein, and 4 C severity score, independent of obesity. EAT mediated 13.1% (95% CI 3.67-28.0%) and 5.1% (95% CI 0.19-14.0%) of the effect of age and 19.4% (95% CI 4.67-63.0%) and 12.8% (95% CI 0.03-46.0%) of the effect of BMI on requirement for intubation and mortality, respectively. EAT also mediated the effect of increased cardiac troponins on myocardial infarction during COVID-19.
EAT is an independent risk factor for severe COVID-19 and mortality independent of obesity. EAT partly mediates the effect of age and BMI and increased cardiac troponins on adverse COVID-19 outcomes.
The design of a flexible bus line plan Avila-Ordóñez, Elina; Tampère, Chris M.J.; Vanegas Peralta, Pablo ...
Expert systems with applications,
10/2022, Letnik:
203
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
•A Flexible Line Plan for bus services concept is presented.•Line plans adapted to unusual situations are created without affecting the usual line plan as much as possible.•Three techniques to select ...the lines to be modified and to design the new routes are presented.•The concept is tested on a benchmark and on a real network.
A conventional bus service has a line plan that consists of a set of lines with fixed routes designed to operate under normal conditions. Thus, the performance of the service depends on how stable those conditions are. This paper extends the traditional concept of a line plan to provide a high-quality service, even in case of announced events. We introduce the concept of a Flexible Line Plan where some of the usual lines are replaced with alternative lines that improve the service when the conditions change. Adaptations should only be made to a subset of the lines, ensuring that the changes minimize the inconvenience for the regular passengers and, at the same time, improve the total travel time. In this study, we present a heuristic called Alternative Line Heuristic (ALH), based on Genetic Algorithms, which automatically designs these alternative lines in a three-step process. The results of this approach are tested on both benchmark and real-sized networks and clearly show how our approach contributes to improving the bus service performance.
Jatropha curcas L. belongs to Euphorbiaceae family, and it synthesizes flavonoid and diterpene compounds that have showed antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antiviral, antimicrobial, ...antifungal and insecticide activity. Seeds of this plant accumulate phorbol esters, which are tigliane type diterpenes, reported as toxic and, depending on its concentration, toxic and non-toxic varieties has been identified. The aim of this work was to characterize the chemical profile of the extracts from seeds, leaves and callus of both varieties (toxic and non-toxic) of Jatropha curcas, to verify the presence of important compounds in dedifferentiated cells and consider the possibility of using these cultures for the massive production of metabolites. Callus induction was obtained using NAA (1.5 mg L.sup.-1 ) and BAP (1.5 mg L.sup.-1 ) after 21 d for both varieties. Thin layer chromatography analysis showed differences in compounds accumulation in callus from non-toxic variety throughout the time of culture, diterpenes showed an increase along the time, in contrast with flavonoids which decreased. Based on the results obtained through microQTOF-QII spectrometer it is suggested a higher accumulation of phorbol esters, derived from 12-deoxy-16-hydroxy-phorbol (m/z 365 M+H.sup.+ ), in callus of 38 d than those of 14 d culture, from both varieties. Unlike flavonoids accumulation, the MS chromatograms analysis allowed to suggest lower accumulation of flavonoids as the culture time progresses, in callus from both varieties. The presence of six glycosylated flavonoids is also suggested in leaf and callus extracts derived from both varieties (toxic and non-toxic), including: apigenin 6-C-alpha-L-arabinopyranosyl-8-C-beta-D-xylopyranoside (m/z 535 M+H.sup.+ ), apigenin 4'-O-rhamnoside (m/z 417 M+H.sup.+ ), vitexin (m/z 433 M+H.sup.+ ), vitexin 4'-O-glucoside-2"-O-rhamnoside (m/z 741 M+H.sup.+ ), vicenin-2 (m/z 595 M+H.sup.+ ), and vicenin-2,6"-O-glucoside (m/z 757 M+H.sup.+ ).
The allocation of water flowing through a river-with-reservoirs system to optimally meet spatially distributed and temporally variable demands can be conceived as a network flow optimization (NFO) ...problem and addressed by linear programming (LP). In this paper, we present an extension of the strategic NFO-LP model of our previous model to a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model to simultaneously optimize the allocation of water and the location of one or more new reservoirs; the objective function to minimize only includes two components (floods and water demand), whereas the extended LP-model described in this paper, establishes boundaries for each node (reservoir and river segments) and can be considered closer to the reality. In the MILP model, each node is called a “candidate reservoir” and corresponds to a binary variable (zero or one) within the model with a predefined capacity. The applicability of the MILP model is illustrated for the Machángara river basin in the Ecuadorian Andes. The MILP shows that for this basin the water-energy-food nexus can be mitigated by adding one or more reservoirs.
microRNAs (miRNAs) are short RNA molecules that control gene expression by silencing complementary mRNA. They play a crucial role in stress response in plants, including biotic stress. Some miRNAs ...are known to respond to bacterial infection in Arabidopsis thaliana but it is currently unknown whether these responses are conserved in other plants and whether novel species-specific miRNAs could have a role in defense.
This work addresses the role of miRNAs in the Manihot esculenta (cassava)-Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. manihotis (Xam) interaction. Next-generation sequencing was used for analyzing small RNA libraries from cassava tissue infected and non-infected with Xam. A full repertoire of cassava miRNAs was characterized, which included 56 conserved families and 12 novel cassava-specific families. Endogenous targets were predicted in the cassava genome for many miRNA families. Some miRNA families' expression was increased in response to bacterial infection, including miRNAs known to mediate defense by targeting auxin-responding factors as well as some cassava-specific miRNAs. Some bacteria-repressed miRNAs included families involved in copper regulation as well as families targeting disease resistance genes. Putative transcription factor binding sites (TFBS) were identified in the MIRNA genes promoter region and compared to promoter regions in miRNA target genes and protein coding genes, revealing differences between MIRNA gene transcriptional regulation and other genes.
Taken together these results suggest that miRNAs in cassava play a role in defense against Xam, and that the mechanism is similar to what's known in Arabidopsis and involves some of the same families.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Tagetes erecta is an asteraceous plant of industrial, ornamental and medicinal importance; its inflorescences have been used as a pigment source for food coloring, mainly for poultry skin and eggs. ...Nevertheless, there are few reports on plant regeneration or micropropagation, because unsuccesfull results in the plant’s reaction to the growth regulators, developing embryogenesis on Tagetes erecta. In this study, somatic embryogenesis was induced and plantlets of Tagetes erecta were regenerated. For induction of globular structures MS medium supplemented with 2,4-D (4.5 µM) and BAP (8.8 µM) was used; globular structures were transferred to MS medium with 45 g l－1 sucrose until the embryos maturation. Transmission electron microscopy showed characteristic subcellular structures of embryogenic callus. Somatic embryos were transferred to MS medium without plant growth regulators and whole plantlets were obtained. In vitro plants were successfully transplanted into a mixture of peat moss and vermiculite (1 : 1 v/v) under greenhouse conditions. In this study, somatic embryogenesis and plant regeneration system from foliar explants were established, an important requirement for performing genetic transformation events on Tagetes erecta.
Background: The properties of natural pigments, such as antioxidants,
functional,medical, and nutraceutical, have demonstrated the advantages
of these natural compounds over synthetic ones. Some ...products are
accepted only when they are pigmented with natural, food-quality
colorants: for example poultry products (manly marigold flower
extracts). Carotenoids such as â-carotene, â-criptoxanthin
and lutein are very attractive as natural food colorants due to their
antioxidant and pro-vitamin activities which provide additional value
to the target products. Marigold ( Tagetes erecta ) is an Asteraceous
ornamental plant native to Mexico, and it is also important as a
carotenoid source for industrial and medicinal purposes but nowadays
its production is destined mainly for ornamental purposes. Results:
Friable callus of T. erecta yellow flower (YF) and white flower (WF)
varieties was induced from leaf explants on Murashige and Skoog (MS)
medium supplemented with 9.0 ìM 4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid
(2,4-D) and 8.8 ìM benzyladenine (BA). Calluses developed from
both varieties were different in pigmentation. Extract characterization
from callus cultures was carried out by high-performance liquid
chromatography (HPLC). This analytical process detected several
carotenoids; the main pigments in extracts from YF callus were lutein
and zeaxanthin, whereas in the extracts of theWF callus the main
pigmentswere lutein, zeaxanthin, â-cryptoxanthin and
â-carotene. Callus cultures of T. erecta accumulated pigments even
after several rounds of subculture. Conclusions: WF callus appeared to
be a suitable candidate as a source of different carotenoids, and
tested varieties could represent an alternative for further studies
about in vitro pigment production.
The morphostructure of grain rice Morelos A-98 was characterized in five stages of physiological maturation, in order to generate morphometric information during the filling process. Micrographic ...images from optical and scanning electron microscopy coupled to a digital capture system were used. Images were digitally processed to measure different descriptors such as shape, fractal dimension, and surface texture. Results showed that, two weeks after anthesis, an accelerated grain filling was observed, particularly on those grains positioned in the distal panicle zone, compared to those located in the base of this one. As deposition of assimilates in the grain increased, the area and perimeter of the transversal cut of the grains also increased (P≤0.05); meanwhile, the rounded shape factor tended to increase as well (P≤0.05), while the elliptic shape factor decreased. As the dehydrated endosperm passed from “milky” to “doughy” stages, values of fractal dimension area and endosperm perimeter as well as surface texture values showed that grain borders tended to become smoother and that there was a greater structured endosperm area (P≤0.05).
The human body is a complex system maintained in homeostasis thanks to the interactions between multiple physiological regulation systems. When faced with physical or biological perturbations, this ...system must react by keeping a balance between adaptability and robustness. The SARS-COV-2 virus infection poses an immune system challenge that tests the organism's homeostatic response. Notably, the elderly and men are particularly vulnerable to severe disease, poor outcomes, and death. Mexico seems to have more infected young men than anywhere else. The goal of this study is to determine the differences in the relationships that link physiological variables that characterize the elderly and men, and those that characterize fatal outcomes in young men. To accomplish this, we examined a database of patients with moderate to severe COVID-19 (471 men and 277 women) registered at the "Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán" in March 2020. The sample was stratified by outcome, age, and sex. Physiological networks were built using 67 physiological variables (vital signs, anthropometric, hematic, biochemical, and tomographic variables) recorded upon hospital admission. Individual variables and system behavior were examined by descriptive statistics, differences between groups, principal component analysis, and network analysis. We show how topological network properties, particularly clustering coefficient, become disrupted in disease. Finally, anthropometric, metabolic, inflammatory, and pulmonary cluster interaction characterize the deceased young male group.
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