CoronaVac is an inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine that has been rolled out in several low and middle-income countries including Brazil, where it was the mainstay of the first wave of immunization of ...healthcare workers and the elderly population. We aimed to assess the T cell and antibody responses of vaccinated individuals as compared to convalescent patients. We detected IgG against SARS-CoV-2 antigens, neutralizing antibodies against the reference Wuhan SARS-CoV-2 strain and used SARS-CoV-2 peptides to detect IFN-g and IL-2 specific T cell responses in a group of CoronaVac vaccinated individuals (N = 101) and convalescent (N = 72) individuals. The frequency among vaccinated individuals, of whom 96% displayed T cell and/or antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2, is comparable to 98.5% responses of convalescent individuals. We observed that among vaccinated individuals, men and individuals 55 years or older developed significantly lower anti-RBD, anti-NP and neutralization titers against the Wuhan strain and antigen-induced IL-2 production by T cells. Neutralizing antibody responses for Gamma variant were even lower than for the Wuhan strain. Even though some studies indicated CoronaVac helped reduce mortality among elderly people, considering the appearance of novel variants of concern, CoronaVac vaccinated individuals above 55 years old are likely to benefit from a heterologous third dose/booster vaccine to increase immune response and likely protection.
Innovation is required on many fronts in agriculture, not only to improve nutrient use efficiency but also to mitigate the effects of climate change. Our previous studies presented the high agronomic ...efficiency of an experimental phosphate fertilizer using a biochar‐matrix, called ‘BioFert’. However, the efficiency of BioFert for soil carbon sequestration goals has not yet been evaluated. We incubated BioFert and initial raw sugarcane‐biochar over 56 days in two soils (i.e., Ferralsol and Alisol) and measured the total CO2 and δ13C‐CO2 to quantify the contribution of native soil organic matter, sugarcane‐biochar, or BioFert to carbon mineralization. There was no significant difference in cumulative CO2 release between BioFert and the control (without carbon addition), and BioFert was less mineralized than carbon from sugarcane‐biochar regardless of soil type. In addition, accelerated aging by thermal oxidation of these carbon sources revealed that more than 80% of BioFert‐carbon was prevented from accelerated mineralization, while sugarcane‐biochar achieved ~80% of carbon mineralization. The residual solids after oxidation were analysed by X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy and indicated aliphatic/aromatic and carboxylic chemical bonds on the BioFert surface, which might offer new cation exchange sites over time. We conclude that BioFert is not only a phosphate fertilizer with high phosphorus use efficiency but also a stable source of carbon for soil carbon sequestration purposes.
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•Integrative analysis unveils the relationships of once considered conspecific butterflies.•Mitochondrial and nuclear markers clearly distinguish Lycaena tityrus from L. bleusei.•Both ...taxa are sister species having diverged circa 4.8 Mya.•Morphological analyses separate them and unveil more layers of diversity in the group.•L. bleusei and L. tityrus respond differently to environmental variables.
The comparison of closely related taxa is cornerstone in biology, as understanding mechanisms leading up to differentiation in relation to extant shared characters are powerful tools in interpreting the evolutionary process. Hotspots of biodiversity such as the west-Mediterranean, where many lineages meet are ideal grounds to study these processes. We set to explore the interesting example of Sooty Copper butterflies: widespread Eurasian Lycaena tityrus (Poda, 1761) comes into contact in Iberia with closely related and local endemic, L. bleusei (Oberthür, 1884), which hasn’t always been considered a distinct species. An integrative analysis was designed, combining the use of extensive molecular data (five genes), geometric morphometrics analyses, verified and up-to-date distribution data, and environmental niche modelling, aimed at deciphering their true relationship, their placement within European Lycaena and trace their evolutionary history. We revealed several levels of differentiation: L. bleusei and L. tityrus appear to be reciprocally monophyletic independent gene-pools, distinct in all genes analysed, having mutually diverged 4.8 Ma ago. L. tityrus but not L. bleusei, further displays a genetic structure compatible with several glacial refugia, where populations assignable to infraspecific taxa surface. Conversely, L. bleusei shows a loss in mtDNA diversity in relation to nuDNA. Morphological analyses differentiate both species according to size and shape but also discriminate strong seasonal and sexual traits and a geographical phenotype segregation in L. tityrus. Finally, updated distribution and its modelling for current and glacial timeframes reveal both species respond differently to environmental variables, defining a mostly parapatric distribution and an overlapping belt where sympatry was recovered. During the last glacial maximum, a wider expansion in L. bleusei distribution explains current isolated populations. Our study highlights the importance of gathering several lines of evidence when deciphering the relationships between closely related populations in the fringe of cryptic species realm.
Key message
RNA-seq of
Vitis
during early stages of bud development, in male, female and hermaphrodite flowers, identified new
loci
outside of annotated gene models, suggesting their involvement in ...sex establishment.
The molecular mechanisms responsible for flower sex specification remain unclear for most plant species. In the case of
V. vinifera
ssp.
vinifera
, it is not fully understood what determines hermaphroditism in the domesticated subspecies and male or female flowers in wild dioecious relatives (
Vitis vinifera
ssp.
sylvestris
). Here, we describe a de novo assembly of the transcriptome of three flower developmental stages from the three
Vitis vinifera
flower types. The validation of de novo assembly showed a correlation of 0.825. The main goals of this work were the identification of
V. v. sylvestris
exclusive transcripts and the characterization of differential gene expression during flower development. RNA from several flower developmental stages was used previously to generate Illumina sequence reads. Through a sequential de novo assembly strategy one comprehensive transcriptome comprising 95,516 non-redundant transcripts was assembled. From this dataset 81,064 transcripts were annotated to
V. v. vinifera
reference transcriptome and 11,084 were annotated against
V. v. vinifera
reference genome. Moreover, we found 3368 transcripts that could not be mapped to
Vitis
reference genome. From all the non-redundant transcripts that were assembled, bioinformatics analysis identified 133 specific of
V. v. sylvestris
and 516 transcripts differentially expressed among the three flower types. The detection of transcription from areas of the genome not currently annotated suggests active transcription of previously unannotated genomic
loci
during early stages of bud development.
Recurrence of COVID-19 in recovered patients has been increasingly reported. However, the immune mechanisms behind the recurrence have not been thoroughly investigated. The presence of neutralizing ...antibodies (nAbs) in recurrence/reinfection cases suggests that other types of immune response are involved in protection against recurrence. Here, we investigated the innate type I/III interferon (IFN) response, binding and nAb assays and T-cell responses to severe acute respiratory distress syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) with IFN gamma (IFN
) enzyme-linked spot assay (ELISPOT) in three pairs of young adult monozygotic (MZ) twins with previous confirmed COVID-19, one of them presenting a severe recurrence four months after the initial infection. Twin studies have been of paramount importance to comprehend the immunogenetics of infectious diseases. Each MZ twin pair was previously exposed to SARS-CoV-2, as seen by clinical reports. The six individuals presented similar overall recovered immune responses except for the recurrence case, who presented a drastically reduced number of recognized SARS-CoV-2 T-cell epitopes on ELISPOT as compared to her twin sister and the other twin pairs. Our results suggest that the lack of a broad T-cell response to initial infection may have led to recurrence, emphasizing that an effective SARS-CoV-2-specific T-cell immune response is key for complete viral control and avoidance of clinical recurrence of COVID-19.
Sugarcane (
Saccharum officinarum
L.) straw is a promising feedstock for bioelectricity and cellulosic ethanol in Brazil, but some straw is also needed to sustain nutrient cycling and crop yields. A ...literature review and two field studies were conducted to quantify above-ground macronutrient accumulation by sugarcane. Five straw removal scenarios using different amounts of biomass and nutrient composition data of top (green) and bottom (dry) leaves were constructed to estimate fertilizer requirements associated with straw removal in central southern Brazil. Calculated straw removal for five scenarios (S1 to S5) was 3.5, 7, 3, 6, and 12 Mg ha
−1
, respectively. By removing 12 Mg ha
−1
of straw (S5), the potential N, P, K, Ca, Mg, and S removal was 69, 7, 92, 45, 16, and 14 kg ha
−1
, respectively. It represents a nutrient (NPK) replacement cost of US$ 90.00 ha
−1
or US$ 7.60 per Mg of removed straw. The scenario analysis shows that less-impacting strategies are those that maintain top leaves in the field and harvesting only bottom leaves (S1 and S2), whereas total removal (S5) could double NPK-fertilizer consumption in sugarcane fields by 2050. Our findings provide stakeholder guidelines for improved straw management, establish an economic value for accumulated plant nutrients, and promote both socio-economic and environmental benefits of more sustainable bioenergy production in Brazil.
The present study aimed to evaluate the influence of holding the chair handles during the assessment of older women’s knee flexion and extension isokinetic and isometric strength. Of 57 older women ...(≥60 years) selected from a convenience sample for this research, 23 were randomly chosen to perform the tests twice for reliability analyses. Each participant performed maximal isokinetic knee extension and flexion at 60°/s and 180°/s angular velocities and isometric tests under two conditions: (a) holding the lateral handle of the chair (HOLD) and (b) supporting the hands on the shoulders with the arms crossed (i.e., not holding the handle NHOLD). Participants performed significantly better in the HOLD compared with the NHOLD condition. Slightly lower intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC = 0.870–0.956) were noted for the HOLD than for the NHOLD condition (ICC = 0.900–0.981) so that the HOLD performance on Days 1 and 2 was different on some measures. Owing to the higher reliability coefficients in the NHOLD condition, results suggest that, when assessing knee strength in older women, the evaluee should place their hands over their shoulders with arms crossed in front of the chest (NHOLD) to maximize assessment reliability (reproducibility of performance).
Concept design is an early and crucial phase in product development where the general concept of a product is created. In this stage, various aspects of the product are considered, such as usability ...and technical performance, among others. Product design and development are currently a well-established area of knowledge, and academia is increasingly including its fundamentals in regular curricula, especially in the areas of engineering, design, and marketing. At the same time, industrial players recognize the potential of the method for i. responding successfully to market uncertainty and speed; ii. improving the knowledge available and the systematization of creative processes; and iii. ensuring that the decision process is explicit and well documented. Nevertheless, only a few studies demonstrating the concept design procedure in detail are available in the literature. In this paper, we thus present a detailed case study concerning the design of portable thermal slippers, so as to demonstrate the application of structured procedures and systematic approaches to concept design, and providing a pedagogical review of methods and tools to support the analysis and decisions along the several steps of the concept design procedure. The particular case study here addressed resulted from the collaboration between an academic institution and a company operating in the home footwear industry, with the design team including elements from both sides.
Tomeleri, CM, Ribeiro, AS, Nunes, JP, Schoenfeld, BJ, Souza, MF, Schiavoni, D, Junior, PS, Cavaglieri, CR, Cunha, PM, Venturini, D, Barbosa, DS, and Cyrino, ES. Influence of resistance training ...exercise order on muscle strength, hypertrophy, and anabolic hormones in older women: a randomized controlled trial. J Strength Cond Res 34(11): 3103-3109, 2020-The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of resistance training (RT) exercise order on muscle strength, hypertrophy, and anabolic hormones in older women. Forty-four older women were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups: a nonexercise control group (CON, n = 15) and two RT groups that performed a 12-week RT program in a multijoint to single-joint order (MJ-SJ, n = 14), or in a single-joint to multijoint order (SJ-MJ, n = 15). The RT protocol (3×/week) encompassed 8 exercises, with 3 sets of 10-15 repetitions performed per exercise. One repetition maximum tests were used to evaluate muscle strength; dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry was used to estimate lean soft tissue. Both training groups showed significant and similar increases in muscle strength (MJ-SJ = 16.4%; SJ-MJ = 12.7%) and mass (MJ-SJ = 7.5%; SJ-MJ = 6.1%), whereas there were no significant changes in testosterone and insulin-like growth factor 1. The results suggest that both approaches are similarly effective in eliciting morphofunctional improvements in older women.
Guanabara Bay, a natural tropical embayment in Southeast Brazil adjacent to Rio de Janeiro, is important to the Brazilian economy as it provides areas for shipping, industry, recreation, and tourism. ...But commercial and residential urban development in the watershed results in water quality degradation. In Guanabara Bay, strong water quality gradients as a function of inputs and tidal flushing were evident. In the watershed, the urban and industrial areas degraded stream water quality, and the best water quality was in the upstream, rural areas. Steps have been initiated to collect or contain litter (ecoboats and ecobarriers) and reduce sewage discharge (sewage treatment plants). In spite of this, urban development continues to degrade Guanabara Bay ecosystem health. Large-scale international events hosted by Rio de Janeiro have brought widespread attention to Guanabara Bay pollution issues. Management actions have been identified to improve Guanabara Bay ecosystem health, including establishing a strong governance structure, restoring water quality in the rivers, bay and beaches, restoring habitats in Guanabara Bay and its watershed, and mitigating for climate change impacts. An ecosystem health report card was generated using monitoring data with stakeholder engagement for both Guanabara Bay and its watershed. The scientifically rigorous and transparent report card process can be used to track Guanabara Bay restoration progress.
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