To address international food security concerns and sustain a growing global population, global agricultural output needs to increase by 70% by the year 2050. Current agricultural techniques to ...increase crop yields, specifically the application of chemicals, have resulted in a wide range of negative impacts on the environment and human health. The maintenance of good quality soil organic matter, a key concern in tropical countries such as India, requires a steady input of organic residues to maintain soil fertility. A tree with many uses, Leucaena leucocephala, has attracted much attention over the past decades. As per our literature review, no research has been conducted examining Leucaena leucocephala leaves for their fungal decomposition and their use as green manure. A study of the fungal colonization of Leucaena leucocephala leaves at various stages of decomposition was conducted to get an insight into which fungi play a critical role in the decomposition process. In total, fifty-two different species of fungi were isolated. There was an increase in the percentage of fungus occurrences as the leaves senesced and then finally decomposed. Almost all decomposition stages were characterized by a higher percentage occurrence of Deuteromycetes (75.47%) and by a lower rate of Ascomycetes (9.43%). A gradual increase of basidiomycetes such as unidentified sclerotia and Rhizoctonia solani was seen as the leaves senesced and finally decomposed. In the moist chamber, Didymium nigripes was the only Myxomycete isolated from completely decomposed leaves. In the present study, on average, there were more fungi in wet seasons than in the dry seasons.
Sustainable horticultural practices address the global issues of food security, pest and disease management, soil health, water pollution, depletion of biodiversity, etc. with environment–friendly ...approaches. Increasingly, the adoption of such strategies is benefitting agricultural production including that in orchards. Even though several Integrated Pest Management (IPM), disease, and weed management strategies have been in use for the control of pests, diseases, and weeds in apple orchards, they are still not the most favored methods of control. There are various economic and acceptance concerns regarding their use, particularly in developing nations. A more sustainable system for apple orchards management, thus, should be adopted.
Here, we review various management methodologies, including the sustainable biocontrol methods, employed in the apple orchards. Reviewing these methods, we draw attention towards integrating sustainable IPM methodologies with biocontrol strategies like the use of pest-resistant cultivars, employing natural parasites and enemies of apple pests, use of agro-based pesticides, integration of technological advances that can provide real-time data to farmers and orchard scouting leading to the development of sustainable management of apple orchards. Such systems will not only reduce dependence on chemical control methods but will also minimize ecotoxicity. We also draw parallels from the biocontrol methods adopted in sustainable agri-production in other fruit orchards to suggest strategies that can be employed for sustainable apple production.
In order to simulate radiation damages in tungsten, potential plasma facing materials in future fusion reactors, surrogate approach of heavy ion irradiation on polycrystalline tungsten is employed. ...Tungsten specimen is irradiated with gold heavy ions of energy 120 MeV at different fluences. Positron annihilation lifetime measurements are carried out on pristine and ion beam irradiated tungsten specimens. The variation in positron annihilation lifetime in ion irradiated specimens confirms evolution of vacancy clusters under heavy ion irradiation. The pristine and irradiated tungsten specimens have also been characterized for their microstructural, structural, electrical, thermal, and mechanical properties. X-ray diffractograms of irradiated tungsten specimens show structural integrity of polycrystalline tungsten even after irradiation. Nevertheless, the increase in microstrain, electrical resistivity and microhardness on irradiation indicates creation of lattice damages inside polycrystalline tungsten specimen. On the other hand, the thermal diffusivity has not change much on heavy ion irradiation. The induction of damages in metallic tungsten is mainly attributed to high electronic energy loss, which is 40 keV/nm in present case as obtained from SRIM program. Although, concomitant effect of nuclear losses on damage creation cannot be ignored. It is believed that the energy received by the electronic system is being transferred to the atomic system by electron-phonon coupling. Eventually, elastic nuclear collisions and the transfer of energy from electronic to atomic system via inelastic collision is leading to significant defect generation in tungsten lattice.
•Simulation of neutron damage in W using 120 MeV Au+7 ion irradiation has been employed.•The induction of damages is attributed to high electronic energy losses.•Positron annihilation lifetime measurements confirm induction of bulk damages.•The physical properties of damaged tungsten have been investigated.
Activation of sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor 1 (S1PR1) plays a key role in repairing endothelial barrier function. We addressed the role of phosphorylation of the three intracellular tyrosine ...residues of S1PR1 in endothelial cells in regulating the receptor responsiveness and endothelial barrier function regulated by sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P)-mediated activation of S1PR1. We demonstrated that phosphorylation of only Y143 site was required for S1PR1 internalization in response to S1P. Maximal S1PR1 internalization was seen in 20 min but S1PR1 returned to the cell surface within 1 h accompanied by Y143-dephosphorylation. Cell surface S1PR1 loss paralleled defective endothelial barrier enhancement induced by S1P. Expression of phospho-defective (Y143F) or phospho-mimicking (Y143D) mutants, respectively, failed to internalize or showed unusually high receptor internalization, consistent with the requirement of Y143 in regulating cell surface S1PR1 expression. Phosphorylation of the five S1PR1 C-terminal serine residues did not affect the role of Y143 phosphorylation in signaling S1PR1 internalization. Thus, rapid reduction of endothelial cell surface expression of S1PR1 subsequent to Y143 phosphorylation is a crucial mechanism of modulating S1PR1 signaling, and hence the endothelial barrier repair function of S1P.
Abstract Drawing from insights from communication science and behavioral economics, the University of Pennsylvania Telehealth Research Center of Excellence (Penn TRACE) is designing and testing ...telehealth strategies with the potential to transform access to care, care quality, outcomes, health equity, and health-care efficiency across the cancer care continuum, with an emphasis on understanding mechanisms of action. Penn TRACE uses lung cancer care as an exemplar model for telehealth across the care continuum, from screening to treatment to survivorship. We bring together a diverse and interdisciplinary team of international experts and incorporate rapid-cycle approaches and mixed methods evaluation in all center projects. Our initiatives include a pragmatic sequential multiple assignment randomized trial to compare the effectiveness of telehealth strategies to increase shared decision-making for lung cancer screening and 2 pilot projects to test the effectiveness of telehealth to improve cancer care, identify multilevel mechanisms of action, and lay the foundation for future pragmatic trials. Penn TRACE aims to produce new fundamental knowledge and advance telehealth science in cancer care at Penn and nationally.
Mitochondrial disorders are clinically and genetically heterogeneous, with variants in mitochondrial or nuclear genes leading to varied clinical phenotypes. TAMM41 encodes a mitochondrial protein ...with cytidine diphosphate-diacylglycerol synthase activity: an essential early step in the biosynthesis of phosphatidylglycerol and cardiolipin. Cardiolipin is a mitochondria-specific phospholipid that is important for many mitochondrial processes. We report three unrelated individuals with mitochondrial disease that share clinical features, including lethargy at birth, hypotonia, developmental delay, myopathy, and ptosis. Whole exome and genome sequencing identified compound heterozygous variants in TAMM41 in each proband. Western blot analysis in fibroblasts showed a mild oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) defect in only one of the three affected individuals. In skeletal muscle samples, however, there was severe loss of subunits of complexes I–IV and a decrease in fully assembled OXPHOS complexes I–V in two subjects as well as decreased TAMM41 protein levels. Similar to the tissue-specific observations on OXPHOS, cardiolipin levels were unchanged in subject fibroblasts but significantly decreased in the skeletal muscle of affected individuals. To assess the functional impact of the TAMM41 missense variants, the equivalent mutations were modeled in yeast. All three mutants failed to rescue the growth defect of the Δtam41 strains on non-fermentable (respiratory) medium compared with wild-type TAM41, confirming the pathogenicity of the variants. We establish that TAMM41 is an additional gene involved in mitochondrial phospholipid biosynthesis and modification and that its deficiency results in a mitochondrial disorder, though unlike families with pathogenic AGK (Sengers syndrome) and TAFAZZIN (Barth syndrome) variants, there was no evidence of cardiomyopathy.
TAMM41 is essential in the biosynthesis of cardiolipin, a mitochondrial-specific phospholipid. We identified segregating TAMM41 gene variants in three independent subjects with neuromuscular involvement characterized by mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) defects and decreased cardiolipin levels in muscle. This report highlights the importance of lipid homeostasis for normal mitochondrial function.
Aim: The aim of this study is to comparatively evaluate “internal limiting membrane (ILM) blue (0.025% brilliant blue G (BBG) +4% polyethylene glycol” and “Brilliant Peel (0.025% BBG + heavy water)” ...in idiopathic full-thickness macular hole (FTMH) surgery with respect to anatomical and functional outcome and surgical ease of ILM peeling. Materials and Methods: It was a prospective comparative study. Thirty patients with idiopathic FTMH selected for pars-plana vitrectomy with ILM peeling were included in the study. Cataract extraction was combined with vitrectomy if cataract was significant. Fifteen eyes underwent ILM peeling with ILM blue – Group 1 and fifteen eyes with Brilliant Peel – Group 2. The adequacy of ILM staining was noted intraoperatively. All patients followed up next day, at 1 week, 6 weeks, and 3 months. Macular hole closure rate and gain in visual acuity (VA) and contrast sensitivity (CS) were noted. Statistical Analysis: Student's t-test was used to assess the baseline numeric differences among groups. Repeated measures ANOVA was used to assess VA improvement over time in each group. Chi-square test was used to compare two groups in terms of stage of macular hole. Means test was used to check the effect of lens status in visual recovery. Results: Both groups were well matched in demographic data, baseline VA, stage of macular hole, and percentage of eyes undergoing simultaneous cataract extraction. Macular hole closed in 100% of eyes. Mean pre- and postoperative logMAR best-corrected VA was 0.80 and 0.40 in ILM blue group and 0.993 and 0.527 in the Brilliant Peel group. VA improvement was clinically and statistically significant in both ILM blue (P = 0.004) and Brilliant Peel (P = 0.003) groups. The groups did not differ from each other at 3 months in terms of gain in VA (P = 0.291) and CS. Intraoperatively, both the dyes stained the ILM well. Conclusion: ILM peeling with ILM blue and Brilliant Peel dyes showed comparable intraoperative staining and good postoperative anatomic and functional outcome.
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Pulmonary inflammation and severe edema developing post‐sepsis are the main hallmarks of Acute Lung Injury (ALI). We have shown that tamoxifen‐induced endothelial‐specific deletion of ...FAK led to disruption of lung vascular barrier and generation of pro‐inflammatory cytokines mimicking early phase of ALI. In this study, we addressed the role of microRNA (miR)‐150 in regulating lung inflammation downstream of FAK based on the tenet that the plasma level of mir‐150 were found to be decreased in septic patients. FAK deleted mice lungs showed markedly suppressed miR‐150 expression in miR‐microarray. We confirmed these findings in EC‐FAK
−/−
lungs and FAK‐depleted human endothelial cells (ECs) using mir‐150 specific primers. Furthermore, we show that in WT mice, miR‐150 expression decreased following LPS‐induced lung injury and subsequently was restored during resolution of lung inflammation. However, in miR‐150
−/−
mice, LPS persistently induced edema formation. These findings were recapitulated in WT mice where alteration of miR‐150 activity modulated edema formation and inflammation. We identified interleukin‐1R‐associated kinase‐2 (IRAK2), a critical mediator LPS‐induced inflammation, as a downstream effector of mir‐150. We showed augmented IRAK2 levels in EC‐FAK
−
/
−
and miR‐150
−/−
mice lungs as well as FAK knock down ECs. The IRAK2 3′UTR luciferase reporter assay confirmed it as a miR150 target. Our results demonstrate a critical role of miR‐150 downstream of FAK in dampening pulmonary inflammation by targeting IRAK2.
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