Search

This paper focuses on using a novel approach to assess the statistical variability of management data from an aerobic thermophilic biological plant (AWTP) utilizing a fluidized bed biological reactor. A proper statistical characterization of full-scale thermophilic biological systems, in fact, may inform process optimization in the light of a future automation of treatment plants. We present a case study that spans the period from 2018 to 2023 and encompasses various high-strength aqueous waste (AW) in continuous mode. Key aspects of the proposed analytical approach include: (i) utilizing advanced descriptive statistics, such as violin graphs, to depict the variability of monitored parameters over five years; (ii) conducting correlation analyses (Spearman and Pearson correlation matrices) specifically focusing on nitrogenous forms within the AW; (iii) applying multivariate statistical analysis to assess the correlation between pollutants released and the plant's energy and oxygen consumption; and (iv) reconstructing parameter trends by considering periodic and random components, thus enhancing the understanding of the system's behavior over time. The findings presented in this paper offer valuable insights into the performance and optimization of AWTPs, potentially leading to a proper planning of the loads and consequent feeding of the plants. If properly enacted, our approach may provide a significant contribution to the field of aqueous waste management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The African Swine Fever Virus (ASFV) is a DNA virus belonging to the Asfivirus genus and Asfarviridae family. In recent years, ASF has grown to be a significant concern for the pig industry worldwide. The ever-growing handling of ASFV pathological material in laboratories, for either diagnostic or research activities, requires particular caution to avoid accidental virus release from laboratories with consequent detrimental economic and environmental effects. This paper aims to describe the Italian National Reference Laboratory (NRL) efforts to develop a biological containment tool for ASF laboratories and animal facilities. The easy-to-apply recommendations focusing on the risk assessment system and internal audits used for enhancing Italian biosafety and biosecurity measures are reported. The African Swine Fever Virus (ASFV) is a DNA virus of the Asfarviridae family, Asfivirus genus. It is responsible for massive losses in pig populations and drastic direct and indirect economic impacts. The ever-growing handling of ASFV pathological material in laboratories, necessary for either diagnostic or research activities, requires particular attention to avoid accidental virus release from laboratories and its detrimental economic and environmental effects. Recently, the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/689 of 17 December 2019 repealed the Commission Decision of 26 May 2003 reporting an ASF diagnostic manual (2003/422/EC) with the minimum and supplementary requirements for ASF laboratories. This decision generated a regulatory gap that has not been addressed yet. This paper aims to describe the Italian National Reference Laboratory (NRL) efforts to develop an effective and reliable biological containment tool for ASF laboratories and animal facilities. The tool consists of comprehensive and harmonized structural and procedural requirements for ASF laboratories and animal facilities that have been developed based on both current and repealed legislation, further entailing a risk assessment and internal audit as indispensable tools to design, adjust, and improve biological containment measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the integration of biotechnology and information technology within the pharmaceutical industry, developing a multidimensional digital health framework tailored for this sector. Utilizing the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) research model, we design a health service platform that amalgamates biotechnology, information technology, and digital technology to enhance the capacity building of pharmaceutical associations in Anhui Province. This platform facilitates the efficient collection, analysis, and application of biological data, enabling precise health management services tailored to the needs of the pharmaceutical industry. The architecture of this information system is crafted to cater to the digital health requirements of the pharmaceutical industry, focusing on improving performance and user satisfaction within industry associations. Experimental validation of the platform reveals an average response time of 145.125ms, ensuring rapid user feedback. The platform achieves a satisfaction rate of 98.3% regarding the richness of health concept knowledge, with high satisfaction rates across other evaluative metrics as well. The results confirm that the multidimensional digital health service platform is effectively applicable to the pharmaceutical sector within Anhui's industry associations. It demonstrates significant potential to support the development of personnel capacities within member enterprises, proving its value in fostering a more informed and capable pharmaceutical industry workforce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2010, work has been underway to curate and catalogue the historical documentation archive of the Verbania Pallanza section of the CNR Water Research Institute, located on the shores of Lake Maggiore in the Italian subalpine area. Italian limnology took its first steps here in the first half of the 1900s with the activity of Marco De Marchi. It then developed professionally from 1938 with the foundation of the Italian Institute of Hydrobiology, based in De Marchi's villa in Verbania Pallanza. The curation of the archives dating from these earliest times to the present has been done with professional archivist technicians from the Archival Superintendence and in collaboration with researchers from the Institute. The archived documents include those from the first phase of the organization of the Institute, as well as those derived from scientific and administrative activities and exchanges with the Ministry of Education. The documents also cover activities at a second section of the Institute, located in an ancient historical residence in Varenna, on the shores of Lake Como. The archive has a photographic section, which includes a series of photographic glass plates, digitized to allow for current use, containing photos of the Institute's environments and laboratories at different times through its history. A third section of the archive consists of around 50 interviews with aquatic scientists on topics related to research projects carried out in the past. A further section concerns the recording of about 150 seminars on environmental research carried out in the institute between 2015 and 2020. The main research topics considered concern physical, chemical and biological limnology, with particular attention to Lake Maggiore, Lake Orta (severely polluted in the past due to industrial waste), and high-altitude lakes in the Alps. The Institute also houses a library dedicated to environmental issues and some miscellaneous papers by the most important scholars of freshwater science in Italy, with publications starting from the second half of the nineteenth century. Other collections of archival interest are a museum of field and laboratory instruments, and a collection of biological samples, mainly plankton, collected in various Italian lakes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plants are highly sensitive organisms and can indeed benefit from specific sound signals in multi-layered processes. Scientific evidences have shown the potential applications of sound wave treatment in plant biology. However, there are some limitations to sound wave treatment that must be overcome. We still do not understand how do plants initially perceive and recognize sound signals, which is very critical to maximize the effectiveness of the use of sound treatment from practical viewpoint. Proper setup of sound treatment equipment and detailed understanding and evaluation of the effects of selected frequencies and intensities along with sound exposure times are also very crucial during sound treatment. More experimental studies with different models need to be done in a multidisciplinary approach toward establishing suitable mechanism for sound treatment application in agriculture production. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of findings associated with potential effects of audible sound waves including music on different biological, physiological and biochemical processes in plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unmasking the subtleties of the immune system requires both a comprehensive knowledge base and the ability to interrogate that system with intimate sensitivity. That task, to a considerable extent, has been handled by an iterative expansion in flow cytometry methods, both in technological capability and also in accompanying advances in informatics. As the field of fluorescence-based cytomics matured, it reached a technological barrier at around 30 parameter analyses, which stalled the field until spectral flow cytometry created a fundamental transformation that will likely lead to the potential of 100 simultaneous parameter analyses within a few years. The simultaneous advance in informatics has now become a watershed moment for the field as it competes with mature systematic approaches such as genomics and proteomics, allowing cytomics to take a seat at the multi-omics table. In addition, recent technological advances try to combine the speed of flow systems with other detection methods, in addition to fluorescence alone, which will make flow-based instruments even more indispensable in any biological laboratory. This paper outlines current approaches in cell analysis and detection methods, discusses traditional and microfluidic sorting approaches as well as next-generation instruments, and provides an early look at future opportunities that are likely to arise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Clinical laboratories provide diagnostic testing services to support the effective delivery of care in today's complex healthcare systems. Processing clinical material and the use of chemicals or radiation presents potential hazard to laboratory workers, from both biological and chemical sources. Nevertheless, the laboratory should be a safe workplace if the identification of possible hazards, clear guidelines, safety rules and infection prevention and control (IPC) precautions are applied and followed. The main aim of this systematic review was to identify, critically appraise and synthesise the research evidence to gain a clear explanation of the implementation and knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of IPC guidelines among hospital laboratory staff. Methods: For this systematic review we searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, Scopus and CINAHL (EBSCO), PubMed, grey literature, reference lists and citations for studies published between database inception and November, 2021. All qualitative, quantitative and mixed-methods studies whose aim was to explore risk perception and KAP of IPC guidelines among laboratory staff in any healthcare setting were included, without language or date restrictions. Evidence was narratively synthesised into group of themes. The quality of the evidence was assessed with Joanna Briggs Institutes Critical Appraisal Tools. Results: After the full-text screening, a total of 34 articles remained and were included in the final review. Thirty papers were considered to be of high quality and the remaining four were considered to be of low quality. The available evidence shows that there was good knowledge, good attitudes and moderate immunisation status, but there was still poor practice of IPC precautions and an inadequate level of training among laboratory workers. Conclusion: There is a gap among KAP related to the implementation of IPC guidelines, which indicates that laboratory staff may be at high risk of acquiring infections in the workplace. These findings suggest that training (including IPC precautions, safety policies, safety equipment and materials, safety activities, initial biohazard handling, ongoing monitoring and potential exposure) of laboratory staff to increase their knowledge about IPC precautions could improve their use of these precautions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In vitro culture of muscle stem cells on a large scale could bring light to the treatment of muscle-related diseases. However, the current work related to muscle stem cell culture is still only performed in specialized biological laboratories that are very much limited by manual experience. There are still some difficulties to achieve an automated culture of complex morphological cells in terms of live cell observation and morphological analysis. In this paper, a set of bright-field cell in situ imaging devices is designed to perform non-contact and invasive imaging of muscle precursor cells in vitro, and a neural network structured lightweight unsupervised semantic segmentation algorithm is proposed for the acquired images to achieve online extraction of cell regions of interest without manual annotation and pre-training. The algorithm first uses a graph-based super-pixel segmentation to obtain a coarse segmentation, then aggregates the coarse segmentation results with the help of Laplace operators as a reference to a four-layer convolutional neural network (CNN). The CNN parameters learn to refine the boundaries of the cells which helps the final segmentation accuracy and mean intersection–merge ratio reach 88% and 77%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comprehensive understanding of evolution is essential to full and meaningful engagement with issues facing societies today. Yet this understanding is challenged by lack of acceptance of evolution as well as misconceptions about how evolution works that persist even after student completion of college-level life science courses. Recent research has suggested that active learning strategies, a focus on science as process, and directly addressing misconceptions can improve students' understanding of evolution. This paper describes an innovative, inquiry-based laboratory curriculum for introductory biological anthropology employing these strategies that was implemented at West Chester University (WCU) in 2013–2016. The key objectives were to help students understand how biological anthropologists think about and explore problems using scientific approaches and to improve student understanding of evolution. Lab activities centered on scenarios that challenged students to solve problems using the scientific method in a process of guided inquiry. Some of these activities involved application of DNA techniques. Formative and summative learning assessments were implemented to measure progress toward the objectives. One of these, a pre- and post-course evolution concepts survey, was administered at WCU (both before and after the implementation of the new curriculum) and at three other universities with more standard introductory biological anthropology curricula. Evolution survey results showed greater improvement in understanding from pre- to post-course scores for WCU students compared with students at the comparison universities (p <.001). WCU students who took the inquiry-based curriculum also had better understanding of evolution at the post-course period than WCU students who took the course prior to implementation of the new curriculum (p <.05). In-class clicker assessments demonstrated improved understanding of evolution concepts (p <.001) and scientific method (p <.05) over the course of individual labs. Two labs that involved applying DNA methods received the highest percentage ratings by students as 'very useful' to understanding important concepts of evolution and human variation. WCU student ratings of their confidence in using the scientific method showed greater improvement pre- to post-course during the study period as compared with the earlier, pre-implementation period (p <.05). The student-centered biological anthropology laboratory curriculum developed at WCU is more effective at helping students to understand general and specific concepts about evolution than are more traditional curricula. This appears to be directly related to the inquiry-based approach used in the labs, the emphasis on knowledge and practice of scientific method, directly addressing misconceptions about evolution, and a structure that involves continual reinforcement of correct concepts about evolution and human variation over the semester. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, an update of the species of the genus Eucera Scopoli, 1770, subgenus Tetralonia Spinola, 1838 from Sardinia is reported, based on data collection as well as on recent survey carried out at Gennargentu Massif. Seven species are recorded, four of which are newly added: Eucera fulvescens (Giraud, 1863), E. gennargentui sp. nov. Nobile, Catania & Bella, E. julliani (Pérez, 1879), and E. nana (Morawitz, 1873). The new species, Eucera (Tetralonia) gennargentui Nobile, Catania & Bella is described from the high altitude of Gennargentu Massif. Details on distributions, host plants, and other biological aspects are given for each species treated. The taxonomic comparison of the taxa belonging to the subgenus Tetralonia from Sardinia, including E. gennargentui sp. nov., are discussed taking into account both morphological and COI barcode sequences. An identification key to Eucera (Tetralonia) species from Sardinia is also provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a multi-orifice hydrodynamic cavitator (HC) has been applied as an effective device for water reclamation. Municipal wastewater after mechanical and biological treatment has been applied as a medium. The effectiveness of using this device has been evaluated on the basis on the microbiological indicators. Moreover, optimization of operating parameters was evaluated. Two experiments with different inlet pressure of 0.4 and 0.6 MPa were performed. The samples for analyses were taken at the following time intervals: 0, 15, 30, 60 and 90 min. The application of HC reactor provided the effective destruction of microorganisms, thus allowing for subsequent use of reclaimed water. With regard to Escherichia coli and Coliform bacteria destruction, the longest time of 90 min and higher pressure of 0.6 MPa might be considered as the most advantageous conditions to perform cavitation. In both cases, the microbes were deactivated in over 50%. In the case of Enterococci, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and colony count, more beneficial results were found at lower pressure of 0.4 MPa and 90 min. Therein, the high level of microorganisms destruction was achieved varied between 81 and 92%. The applied HC allowed for selecting optimal operating parameters and process control through the application of gauge system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play an important role in regulating biological activities and their prediction is significant for exploring biological processes. Long short-term memory (LSTM) and convolutional neural network (CNN) can automatically extract and learn the abstract information from the encoded RNA sequences to avoid complex feature engineering. An ensemble model learns the information from multiple perspectives and shows better performance than a single model. It is feasible and interesting that the RNA sequence is considered as sentence and image to train LSTM and CNN respectively, and then the trained models are hybridized to predict lncRNAs. Up to present, there are various predictors for lncRNAs, but few of them are proposed for plant. A reliable and powerful predictor for plant lncRNAs is necessary. Results: To boost the performance of predicting lncRNAs, this paper proposes a hybrid deep learning model based on two encoding styles (PlncRNA-HDeep), which does not require prior knowledge and only uses RNA sequences to train the models for predicting plant lncRNAs. It not only learns the diversified information from RNA sequences encoded by p-nucleotide and one-hot encodings, but also takes advantages of lncRNA-LSTM proposed in our previous study and CNN. The parameters are adjusted and three hybrid strategies are tested to maximize its performance. Experiment results show that PlncRNA-HDeep is more effective than lncRNA-LSTM and CNN and obtains 97.9% sensitivity, 95.1% precision, 96.5% accuracy and 96.5% F1 score on Zea mays dataset which are better than those of several shallow machine learning methods (support vector machine, random forest, k-nearest neighbor, decision tree, naive Bayes and logistic regression) and some existing tools (CNCI, PLEK, CPC2, LncADeep and lncRNAnet). Conclusions: PlncRNA-HDeep is feasible and obtains the credible predictive results. It may also provide valuable references for other related research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL; Colorado, USA) is the site for many research projects spanning decades, taxa, and research fields from ecology to evolutionary biology to hydrology and beyond. Climate is the focus of much of this work and provides important context for the rest. There are five major sources of data on climate in the RMBL vicinity, each with unique variables, formats, and temporal coverage. These data sources include (1) RMBL resident billy barr, (2) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), (3) the United States Geological Survey (USGS), (4) the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and (5) Oregon State University's PRISM Climate Group. Both the NOAA and the USGS have automated meteorological stations in Crested Butte, CO, ~10 km from the RMBL, while the USDA has an automated meteorological station on Snodgrass Mountain, ~2.5 km from the RMBL. Each of these data sets has unique spatial and temporal coverage and formats. Despite the wealth of work on climate‐related questions using data from the RMBL, previous researchers have each had to access and format their own climate records, make decisions about handling missing data, and recreate data summaries. Here we provide a single curated climate data set of daily observations covering the years 1975–2022 that blends information from all five sources and includes annotated scripts documenting decisions for handling data. These synthesized climate data will facilitate future research, reduce duplication of effort, and increase our ability to compare results across studies. The data set includes information on precipitation (water and snow), snowmelt date, temperature, wind speed, soil moisture and temperature, and stream flows, all publicly available from a combination of sources. In addition to the formatted raw data, we provide several new variables that are commonly used in ecological analyses, including growing degree days, growing season length, a cold severity index, hard frost days, an index of El Niño‐Southern Oscillation, and aridity (standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index). These new variables are calculated from the daily weather records. As appropriate, data are also presented as minima, maxima, means, residuals, and cumulative measures for various time scales including days, months, seasons, and years. The RMBL is a global research hub. Scientists on site at the RMBL come from many countries and produce about 50 peer‐reviewed publications each year. Researchers from around the world also routinely use data from the RMBL for synthetic work, and educators around the United States use data from the RMBL for teaching modules. This curated and combined data set will be useful to a wide audience. Along with the synthesized combined data set we include the raw data and the R code for cleaning the raw data and creating the monthly and yearly data sets, which facilitate adding additional years or data using the same standardized protocols. No copyright or proprietary restrictions are associated with using this data set; please cite this data paper when the data are used in publications or scientific events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The presented research developed during the period between the years 2015-2016 in an apple trees orchard in the Sibiel village (Sibiu county). The purpose of the study was the identification of the entomofauna in the studied agroecosystem, the establishing of the pest attack gravity, the estimation of the pest and the suggestion of solutions. They were applied the following research methods: the direct observation on plant, the collecting of the entomological material and the attacked organs of the plants, the using of the entomological glass and the using of the photography. The application of the integrate protection and the using of the measures and means for prevention and curative treatments against the pest, on could help to obtain an important result, that represent the number one technological factor in the fruit-trees growing practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although Japanese encephalitis virus genotype Ib (JEV GIb) has replaced JEV GIII as the dominant genotype in endemic areas of Asia, no JEV GIb has been isolated from JE cases and natural mosquitoes at the same time in an outbreak of JE. In this study, we conducted virological and molecular biological laboratory tests on JE case samples (serum/cerebrospinal fluid) and locally collected mosquito samples from the 2018 JE outbreak in Ningxia, China. The result of JEV IgM antibody detection showed that 96% (67/70) of the suspected cases were laboratory-confirmed JE cases. Of the mosquitoes collected from local environments, 70% (17400/24900) were Culex tritaeniorhynchus of which 4.6% (16 /348 of the pools tested) were positive for JEV, other mosquitoes were negative. JEVs isolated from both the human cases and C. tritaeniorhynchus specimens belong to JEV GIb and are in the same evolutionary clade according to molecular evolution analyses. JEV GIb was detected simultaneously from specimens of JE cases and mosquito samples collected in nature in this study, suggesting that the JE outbreak that occurred in Ningxia in 2018 was due to infection of JEV GIb. Author summary: Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is recognized as an important encephalitis pathogen all over the world. Its genotype is divided into GI-V. In recent years, JEV GIb (a temperate genotype) has gradually replaced GIII as the prevalent strain in JE endemic areas. Although JEV GIb originated from tropical Asia along with JEV GIa, it has rapidly spread for its advantages in wintering and infecting vectors. Although there have been epidemics caused by JEV GI and GIII, there have been no reports of a JE outbreak caused by JEV GIb alone in northeastern Asia. However, a JE outbreak occurred in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in northern China in summer 2018 which was the first outbreak in Ningxia in recent decades. This paper presents a series of laboratory and field studies of this outbreak. The strain isolated from JE cases as well as JEV detected in Culex tritaeniorhynchus collected from local areas in nature all belonged to JEV GIb and were in the same evolutionary clade. This is the first report of a JE outbreak caused by JEV GIb infection in northeastern Asia (latitude 35 ° 14'– 39 ° 23' N, longitude 104 ° 17'– 107 ° 39' E), which used to be a low endemic area of JEV GIII. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, long work hours and overtime work have become a social problem in Japan. Therefore, attention is focused on improving the work style in Japan. In particular, there is a demand for improving the efficiency of desk work. In this paper, we aim to clarify the relationship between work and concentration, and the influence of interruptions on the concentration state and the number of working hours (work time) to realize appropriate time allocation in desk work. In the experiment, staff members of the Toyama prefectural office were recruited as subjects to obtain data on the work times and concentration state. We use a device called Spire to determine the concentration state. Spire can acquire respiration information. As a result, it was found to be necessary to continue work for 10 min or more in order to achieve high concentration and work efficiency. However, it was found that if concentration was not attained within 10 min from the start of work, it was necessary to interrupt the work. It was also found that interruption did not affect the work time or concentration state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organizing information objective is to disseminate the information objects effectively to the users. It is a complex but important task that uses elements such as the form and informational content of documents. Organized information is a prerequisite for an efficient organization. The goal of this study is to discuss the proposal of developing a system to organize protocol information from biological laboratories capable of managing protocol data. Research laboratories are examples of organizations that have a diverse and complex set of data that must be well organized. Their flow of information needs to be mapped identifying people, information sources, technology used as well as products and services. In this paper we describe the development of the FluxP system to organize information on protocols from a Biology Research Laboratory -- The Animal Venoms and Toxins Laboratory (LVTA) from Federal University of Minas Gerais - Brazil. The following methodological procedures were adopted: technical visits, construction of a tool to manage the protocols (FluxP forms), categorization of the protocols used in the LVTA and experimental tests with 3 LVTA researchers. As a result, we highlight some features like: FluxP is able to manage protocol data making it simple to store and retrieve protocols to aid in the experimental work, increasing the reliability of experiments and helping reduce experimental errors. By establishing a central repository for protocols FluxP prevents protocols from being misplaced or lost and by categorizing them it makes simple to retrieve protocols based on keywords. The system is currently being used by LVTA to manage a collection of 50 protocols, and can be easily adapted for other laboratories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Together with his colleague Helmut Besl, he prepared the I Colour Atlas of Poisonous Fungi i (Bresinsky & Besl [5], 1999), a most useful and well-illustrated book for pharmacists, physicians, and biologists. His first publications date from 1960 with a paper on a plant disease caused by I Sclerotinia ricini i , while his last major contribution to mycology was the book revising I Phyllosticta i prepard with Huub van der Aa (van der Aa & Vanev [10]; see (54) above). Huub van der Aa at 80 years Graph: Huub van der Aa in 2002. Andreas Bresinsky's 80th Graph: Andreas Bresinsky at the Nanhua Mushroom Market in Yunnan, China, in August 2014, with Ganoderma sinense. [Extracted from the article]

While many sources of contamination in chemical and biological laboratories are well understood and known, some are less so. To quantify the magnitude of the potential contamination of solutions by zinc in common laboratory syringes, a study was conducted on solutions stored in rubber-containing syringes in which the rubber was catalyzed by zinc. This study identified specific factors contributing to contamination from laboratory syringes, including the syringe brand, time, solution type, and pH. Two common syringe brands, Covidien and BD, were tested, and three time durations, 0 days, 1 day, and 14 days, were examined. The solutions tested included sucrose and tartaric acid, representing both covalent and ionic species. Additionally, this study employed a pH range of 2 to 13 to further explore zinc contamination across a wide range of conditions and factors. The zinc concentration from the syringes was measured using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The results, which ranged from less than 20 to over 600 μg L−1, revealed increased zinc concentration at both extreme pH values, while remaining lower but measurable at neutral pH levels. Zinc contamination is important to study because its contamination in laboratory syringes could interfere with the detection of other elements, further skew laboratory data, unexpectedly catalyze reactions, and lead to inconsistencies in experimental conditions. This study further emphasizes the broader significance of understanding pollutants within laboratory settings. The findings highlight the intricate dynamics of zinc contamination, stressing the need for the control of environmental factors and the broad dissemination of lesser-known sources. Recognizing the potential impact of contaminants like zinc is crucial, as it not only influences analytical accuracy, but also mirrors the wider concern of pollutants compromising scientific integrity in diverse experimental conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Vitae (01214004) is the property of Universidad de Antioquia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Motivation Learning associations of traits with the microbial composition of a set of samples is a fundamental goal in microbiome studies. Recently, machine learning methods have been explored for this goal, with some promise. However, in comparison to other fields, microbiome data are high-dimensional and not abundant; leading to a high-dimensional low-sample-size under-determined system. Moreover, microbiome data are often unbalanced and biased. Given such training data, machine learning methods often fail to perform a classification task with sufficient accuracy. Lack of signal is especially problematic when classes are represented in an unbalanced way in the training data; with some classes under-represented. The presence of inter-correlations among subsets of observations further compounds these issues. As a result, machine learning methods have had only limited success in predicting many traits from microbiome. Data augmentation consists of building synthetic samples and adding them to the training data and is a technique that has proved helpful for many machine learning tasks. Results In this paper, we propose a new data augmentation technique for classifying phenotypes based on the microbiome. Our algorithm, called TADA, uses available data and a statistical generative model to create new samples augmenting existing ones, addressing issues of low-sample-size. In generating new samples, TADA takes into account phylogenetic relationships between microbial species. On two real datasets, we show that adding these synthetic samples to the training set improves the accuracy of downstream classification, especially when the training data have an unbalanced representation of classes. Availability and implementation TADA is available at https://github.com/tada-alg/TADA. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of virtual laboratories is growing as companies and educational institutions try to expand their reach, cut costs, increase student understanding, and provide more accessible hands on training for future scientists. Many new higher education initiatives outsource lab activities so students now perform them online in a virtual environment rather than in a classroom setting, thereby saving time and money while increasing accessibility. In this paper we explored whether the learning and motivational outcomes of interacting with a desktop virtual reality (VR) science lab simulation on the internet at home are equivalent to interacting with the same simulation in class with teacher supervision. A sample of 112 (76 female) university biology students participated in a between-subjects experimental design, in which participants learned at home or in class from the same virtual laboratory simulation on the topic of microbiology. The home and classroom groups did not differ significantly on post-test learning outcome scores, or on self-report measures of intrinsic motivation or self-efficacy. Furthermore, these conclusions remained after accounting for prior knowledge or goal orientation. In conclusion, the results indicate that virtual simulations are learning activities that students can engage in just as effectively outside of the classroom environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Guihaia is the property of Guihaia Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Conservation Science in Cultural Heritage / Quaderni di Scienza della Conservazione is the property of Salvatore Lorusso and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Arachnology Letters / Arachnologische Mitteilungen is the property of Arachnologische Gesellschaft e.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Egyptian Academic Journal of Biological Sciences. B, Zoology is the property of Egyptian Academic Journal of Biological Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Food Research & Development is the property of Food Research & Development Editorial Department and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Arab Journal of Plant Protection is the property of Arab Society for Plant Protection and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Course-embedded research experiences (CUREs) are increasingly being used to engage a large number of students in undergraduate research. By involving external clients in the course, students can work on novel projects while still in a structured environment. Students can continue to work on the project independently for the client the next semester and beyond if they choose. In a time of tight budgets, course supplies can be used to generate preliminary results for clients, who in this case were often faculty on our campus. In this paper we report our results using this approach both from the student and client perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of investigations whose aim was to describe the influence of the pressure difference level on the ability of contaminants migration between neighbouring rooms in dynamic conditions associated with door swing. The analysis was based on airflow visualization made with cold smoke, which simulated the heavy contaminants. The test room was pressurized to a specific level and then the door was opened to observe the trail of the smoke plume in the plane of the door. The door was opened in both directions: to the positively and negatively pressurized room. This study focuses on the visualization of smoke plume discharge and an uncertainty analysis is not applicable. Unlike other studies which focus on the analysis of pressure difference, the present study looks at the contaminants which are heavier than air and on “pumping out” the contaminants by means of door swing. Setting the proper level of pressure difference between the contaminated room and the neighbouring rooms can prove instrumental in ensuring protection against toxic contaminants migration. This study helped to establish the threshold of pressure difference necessary to reduce migration of heavy contaminants to neighbouring rooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper is devoted to the problem of creating highly reliable power supply systems for spacecrafts intended for long-term autonomous flights. Within its framework, the problem of synthesizing a control system for solar arrays is being solved. To solve this problem, a mathematical model of a solar panel was compiled, and a study of its static and dynamic characteristics was carried out. It was found that when the solar panel is controlled using a shunt switch with pulse-width modulation, resonance phenomena appear in the system, leading to an unacceptable change in the polarity of voltages on the photocells. The operating conditions of the solar panels, which exclude the occurrence of the indicated alternating voltages, are found, and appropriate recommendations are given for the choice of the quantization frequency in the system. On the basis of the recommendations received, the transition to a quasi-continuous representation of the control system was carried out, and a graphic-analytical synthesis of the controller providing the required quality indicators of the system was carried out. To ensure the survivability of the power supply system, a method is proposed for the hierarchical organization of the interaction of solar panels, which reproduces the homeostatic properties of biological structures in the system. This property is provided by automatic transfer of control to subsequent levels of the hierarchy as the energy resources of the previous levels are exhausted. In addition, selective control is applied only to that part of the total generated power, which is sufficient to counter the current disturbing influences on the system. This approach to control prevents cascading failures in the system. The paper presents simulation models on which all theoretical positions and methods proposed in the work are tested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyamines are small organic compounds found in all living organisms. According to the high degree of positive charge at physiological pH, they interact with negatively charged macromolecules, such as DNA, RNA, and proteins, and modulate their activities. In plants, polyamines, some of which are presented as a conjugated form with cinnamic acids and proteins, are involved in a variety of physiological processes. In recent years, the study of plant polyamines, such as their biosynthetic and catabolic pathways and the roles they play in cellular processes, has flourished, becoming an exciting field of research. There is accumulating evidence that polyamine oxidation, the main catabolic pathway of polyamines, may have a potential role as a source of hydrogen peroxide. The papers in this Special Issue highlight new discoveries and research in the field of plant polyamine biology. The information will help to stimulate further research and make readers aware of the link between their own work and topics related to polyamines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plants produce a wide variety of secondary metabolites, including compounds with biological activities that could be used for the treatment of human diseases. In the present study, we examined the putative production of bioactive molecules in the legume plant Lotus japonicus, which engages into symbiotic relationships with beneficial soil microorganisms. To monitor the production of secondary metabolites when the plant develops beneficial symbiotic relationships, we performed single and double inoculations with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and nitrogen-fixing Rhizobium bacteria. Plant extracts from non-inoculated and inoculated plants were chemically characterized and tested for anti-proliferative, apoptotic, and anti-inflammatory effects on human HEK-293 cells. Both shoot and root extracts from non-inoculated and inoculated plants significantly reduced the HEK-293 cell viability; however, a stronger effect was observed when the root extracts were tested. Shoot and root extracts from Rhizobium-inoculated plants and shoot extracts from AMF-inoculated plants showed apoptotic effects on human cells. Moreover, both shoot and root extracts from AMF-inoculated plants significantly reduced TNFα-induced NF-κB transcriptional activity, denoting anti-inflammatory activity. These results suggest that symbiotic L. japonicus plants are enriched with metabolites that have interesting biological activities and could be further explored for putative future use in the pharmaceutical sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the limitations of the traditional treatment technology of leachate, based on the principles of reaction kinetics and analysis of biological treatment technology, and conducts a comparative study of the synchronization experiments of a sequential batch enhanced pre-treatment reactor without sludge retention (SBER for short), sequential batch reactor (SBR for short), and continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR for short). It has been confirmed that the SBER has higher and more stable pre-treatment efficiency for organic matter and nutrients, significantly improves the biodegradability and nutrient ratio of pre-treatment, and creates favorable conditions for subsequent aerobic biological treatment. The further orthogonal test confirmed that dissolved oxygen (DO for short), hydraulic retention time (HRT for short), pH, and sequencing period were significant influencing factors on the treatment efficiency of the SBER, and the optimal operating parameters of the SBER were obtained: aeration time (Ta for short) = 8 h/d, HRT = 4 d, pH = 8.0, and sequencing period (Ts) = 6 h. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Ekologija is the property of Lithuanian Academy of Sciences Publishers and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Invasive slugs generate significant problems in the area of horticultural and agricultural production. Despite the multitude of methods to reduce the pest population, including preventive, mechanical, agrotechnical, cultivation, biological, and chemical treatments, no effective plant protection strategy has been developed so far. In this paper, a solution based on modified non-woven fabric with bioactive molluscicidal properties using the extract of tansy flower, metaldehyde, and abamectin (Vertigo® 018 EC) was proposed. All modified mats show significant anti-slug properties in comparison to control, and molluscicidal properties depend on the type of active substance. Non-woven modified with commonly used metaldehyde demonstrated fast action against slugs and presents the highest efficiency. The effectiveness of non-woven mats with Vertigo® 018 EC is lower than for the mats with metaldehyde but higher than for the mats modified with tansy flower extract. The proposed solution will enable removing and neutralization of molluscicide from the fields, after the efficient pest control, according to circular economy principles. Moreover, it may allow for better control of the molluscicide release to the environment in comparison to widely used pellets, and contribute to the virtual protection of plants against invasive slugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses teaching college-level freshman science as an inquiry process as required by the "National Science Education Standards" and presents a vertebrate anatomy laboratory which uses a guided inquiry approach. The five student objectives for the vertebrate dissection laboratory are given with the resulting experience for the laboratory is assessment of the student's ability to identify anatomical structures and a research paper will focus on comparing the similarities and differences between the vertebrates and why the differences exist. The procedure for the laboratory which takes place over three weeks is given. It is suggested to review the American Psychological Association style of writing and citing references before assigning the research paper.

Over the recent decades, the escalating expenses associated with energy provision alongside the implementation of rigorous ecological regulations have engendered a noteworthy concern pertaining to energy consumption within the water sector. The reduction of energy consumption and the improvement of effluent quality to meet more stringent discharge limits pose significant challenges for wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Most of the energy consumption in WWTPs is attributed to aeration, especially in secondary treatment processes where microorganisms rely on a significant supply of oxygen to sustain their life activities and degrade pollutants. This paper reviews the common secondary treatment processes (oxygen ditch, biological aerated filter, sequential batch reactor, membrane bioreactor) and their energy consumption, and examines the energy consumption and efficiency of aeration in WWTPs in different countries and regions. To address the high energy consumption of aeration, methods for energy saving and consumption reduction are discussed from three aspects: aerator design, mass transfer enhancement, and aeration control strategies. The aerator assumes a pivotal function in determining the characteristics of gas-liquid distribution characteristics in the reactor, which then affects the mass transfer. Mass transfer enhancement in the reactor can improve the oxygen transport efficiency between gas, liquid, and activated sludge. Based on the actual operation conditions, aeration control strategies can adjust the aeration rate to provide accurate air supply and achieving dissolved oxygen (DO) control, thereby reducing the high energy consumption caused by excess aeration. Finally, this study proposes research directions for optimizing the aeration process in WWTPs, including investigating the mechanism of DO transfer to microorganisms, exploring novel oxygen supply modes, and improving energy management of plant-wide consumption to enhance the plant's energy self-sufficiency. Future WWTPs should be low-energy, high-efficiency, intelligent, and environmentally friendly to address the energy shortages and accommodate the large-scale development and unmanned operation of WWTPs. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes and evaluates a major renovation of a human anatomy and physiology lab for allied health students. A Howard Hughes Medical Institute award funded an extensive collaboration between faculty involved in teaching the course and faculty with expertise in industrial and furniture design. The resulting physical lab has unique features designed to improve work in groups, student movement, and integration of computers with wet laboratories. The anatomy curriculum was switched from fetal pig dissections to the use of human cadavers, computer animations, and plastic models. An inquiry approach was integrated into the physiology curriculum. Student attitude surveys suggest that the physical and curricular changes resulted in a significant increase in student learning. An experiment designed to specifically test the effect of new vs. old equipment did not support a benefit to new equipment independent of changes in the lab physical environment and curriculum. Because the improvements in student attitude surveys occurred in the physiology but not the anatomy labs, we suggest that at least a portion of the increase is due to the institution of the inquiry approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soon after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, narratives about U.S.-funded biological weapons laboratories in Ukraine began circulating in both Russian and U.S. news. We sought to characterize news media coverage of this topic and to understand potential differences in coverage between different news sources. 401 news media items from Russian and U.S. news sources covering Ukrainian biological laboratories between February 24 and March 24, 2022 were analyzed for content and framing tactics based on theories of risk perception, persuasion, and misinformation/disinformation. Results showed strong differences between U.S. mainstream news coverage and Russian news coverage and similarities between U.S. hyper-partisan right (HPR) news coverage and Russian news coverage. Differences between U.S. HPR and Russian coverage of the topic were also found. Findings indicate that the U.S. HPR media ecosystem serves as an important amplifier of Russian strategic narratives about U.S. cooperative biological research. Moreover, findings suggest that U.S. HPR news sources have become sophisticated purveyors of false information, capable of applying the Russian "firehose of falsehoods" model more forcefully than Russians themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teodorico Borgognoni was born in Lucca in 1205 and was appointed bishop of Bitonto and Cervia in 1262 and 1270. Following his father, he learned the art of surgery and collected relevant recipes in his most important work, entitled Cyrurgia seu filia principis. Among the disciplines reported in this work, the most interesting and innovative is anesthesia. The recipes in this field contribute to Borbognoni's consideration as the forerunner of modern anesthesia. Such recipes have been reported in other manuscripts from the Middle Ages, like Manuscript No. 1939. In the present work, we investigate the traditional preparations handed down in this manuscript, focusing on type of preparation and botanical ingredients. The results highlight that exploited ingredients can be divided into three groups: the first comprises plants already known for their narcotic effects, the second includes ingredients acting as an adjuvant for absorption or reducing the metabolism, and the last group includes ingredients not associated with biological activity to explain their presence in anesthetic recipes. This third group is of particular interest for future biological investigations. Our goal is to rekindle attention to the work of Teodorico Borgognoni on traditional preparation for anesthetic purposes: a topic often underestimated by ethnobotanical surveys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The subfamily Acastinae contains a diverse group of barnacles that are obligate symbionts of sponges and alcyonacean and antipatharian corals. Integrating morphological and genetic (COI) data to compare against known species, this paper reports on nine species of sponge-inhabiting barnacles of the subfamily Acastinae, including three undescribed species (Acasta caveata sp. nov., Euacasta acutaflava sp. nov., and E. excoriatrix sp. nov.) and three species previously not recorded in Australian waters (A. sandwichi, Pectinoacasta cancellorum, and P. sculpturata). The new species are distinguished from similar species by a suite of morphological characters as well as genetic distances. A lectotype for Pectinoacasta cancellorum is designated. Sponge hosts were identified for all specimens where possible and are represented by 19 species from eight families and five orders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prunella vulgaris L. (PV) is a well-known renewable drug resource full of different groups of biologically active substances with a wide range of pharmacological actions and applications in medicine. In this review, we present an updated comprehensive overview of the botany, extracting methods, chemical composition, and pharmacological activity of different parts of PV extracts. As a result of this review, it was found that chemical composition of PV depends on various factors ranging from the part of the plant to the method of extraction. We also highlight extraction methods that have not been previously used for obtaining PV extracts and may have high scientific interest. With this review, we hope to guide present and future professionals and provide possible previously unexplored areas to find new solutions associated with PV plant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bulgarian Rosa damascena Mill. is has been known since ancient times for its high-quality oil, hydrosol, and other aromatic products. Rose hydrosol has various biological activities, but no research on its anticytotoxic/antigenotoxic effects exists. This study aimed to assess its defense potential against the genotoxin N-methyl-N′-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine and to test its cytotoxic/genotoxic activity in plant and human lymphocyte test systems. Endpoints for cytotoxicity (mitotic index and nuclear division index) and genotoxicity (chromosome aberration and micronuclei) were used. Hydrosol was applied as a single treatment in concentrations ranging from 3% to 20% (4 h) to assess its cytotoxic and genotoxic effects. Its protective potential against MNNG was tested by applying an experimental scheme involving (i) conditioning treatment with non-toxic or slightly toxic concentrations of hydrosol, followed by genotoxin challenge (50 μg/mL) with a 4 h intertreatment time and (ii) treatment with hydrosol and mutagen with no time between the treatments. Hydrosol induces low cytotoxicity and clastogenicity, demonstrating cytoprotective/genoprotective effects against the mutagen in both applied test systems. The hydrosol defense potential was expressed by a more than twofold reduction in both chromosomal aberrations and micronuclei and by enhancing the mitotic activity compared with that of the mutagen, regardless of the experimental conditions. The results are promising for further hydrosol applications in pharmaceutical and medical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Practical-based laboratory instruction represents a substantial component of education in biological anthropology, a multidisciplinary field concerned with investigating human evolution, biology, and behaviour from an evolutionary perspective. The efficacy of online practical laboratory classes using 3D models as part of the mode of delivery, as compared to traditional face-to-face learning, is poorly understood in the field of biological anthropology despite an increased uptake of online learning and the potential benefits of embracing this delivery modality. We present the preliminary findings of an ongoing study exploring the effectiveness of online practical training using 3D resources in biological anthropology. Through a participant survey of undergraduate and postgraduate osteology and palaeoanthropology students (n = 27) from an Australian university, we assess (1) whether differences in teaching modality impact student comprehension of practical concepts and (2) whether student perceptions of learning vary between in-person and online teaching modalities. Our results show that there are no significant differences in test of knowledge scores between online and in-person in either biological anthropology sub-discipline. However, in-person students experienced an increased feeling of learning relative to the online students in our combined discipline and osteology-only cohorts. Feeling of learning scores were statistically significantly lower among the online osteology cohort relative to palaeoanthropology students. Our preliminary results suggest that online labs using 3D models may be an effective means of teaching practical skills in biological anthropology, although student perceptions of learning may be negatively impacted. Feelings of learning are also variable across sub-disciplines, suggesting a need for more nuanced investigations into the efficacy of online learning. Larger sample sizes are required to confirm these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Botanica Serbica is the property of University of Belgrade, Institute of Botany & Botanical Garden Jevremovac and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Lyophilization is a common method used for stabilizing biological samples prior to storage or to concentrate extracts. However, it is possible that this process may alter the metabolic composition or lead to the loss of metabolites. In this study, the performance of lyophilization is investigated in the example of wheat roots. To this end, native and 13C-labelled, fresh or already lyophilized root samples, and (diluted) extracts with dilution factors up to 32 and authentic reference standards were investigated. All samples were analyzed using RP-LC-HRMS. Results show that using lyophilization for the stabilization of plant material altered the metabolic sample composition. Overall, 7% of all wheat metabolites detected in non-lyophilized samples were not detected in dried samples anymore, and up to 43% of the remaining metabolites exhibited significantly increased or decreased abundances. With respect to extract concentration, less than 5% of the expected metabolites were completely lost by lyophilization and the recovery rates of the remaining metabolites were slightly reduced with increasing concentration factors to an average of 85% at an enrichment factor of 32. Compound annotation did not indicate specific classes of wheat metabolites to be affected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As primarily sessile organisms, plants often show a non-random spatial distribution of genotypes over distance. This process known as fine-scale spatial genetic structure (FSGS) has been suggested through systematic reviews to depend on life form, mating system, and pollen and seed dispersal vectors, while there is no consensus on its behaviour due to external factors, such as anthropogenic habitat changes. By conducting a systematic review and global meta-analysis of empirical FSGS studies, we aimed to evaluate how anthropogenic habitat fragmentation and degradation influence the strength of FSGS in plant populations by means of the Sp statistic. Moreover, we tested how pollination and seed dispersal vectors contribute to the variation of the Sp statistic. We retrieved 243 FSGS studies from 1960 to 2020 of which only 65 were informative for the systematic review. Most empirical studies comprised outcrossers (84%) and trees (67%), with few herbs (23%) and scarce annual species (2%). In weighted meta-analyses for 116 plant populations (31 studies), we did not detect significant effects in the magnitude of effect sizes for the Sp statistic among undisturbed, degraded and fragmented habitats. Results showed significant effects for seed dispersal vectors, but not for pollination. Overall, we observed high variation among the effect sizes (not related to the goodness-of-fit of mixed models) of habitat status, pollination and seed dispersal categories, which precludes identifying biological trends on the Sp statistic. More empirical studies are needed that contrast multiple plant populations in disturbed versus undisturbed habitats, and by increasing the taxonomic groups, such as herbs and annual plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zebrafish are common experimental models used in biological studies that are bred and raised in laboratory settings. Published studies, anecdotal evidence, and industry practices are variable and offer conflicting suggestions on maximizing reproductive success, particularly regarding sex ratios and segregating males and females before spawning. This study identified conditions that promote maximum reproductive success (clutch probability and average clutch size) in zebrafish. Clutch probability was higher when females were seven to ten months old and bred in groups with equal sex ratios and an artificial spawning substrate in the winter or spring. Clutch size was significantly larger when females were seven to ten months old, outnumbered by males, and bred with an artificial spawning substrate. Optional spawning substrates (marbles and plants) improved reproductive success, whereas other parameters had no impact. These data support the implementation of simple steps that reliably maximize reproductive success of laboratory zebrafish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Hymenoptera encompass a large group of insects with different habits, ranging from phytophagy to parasitic/predatory lifestyles. This is also true in the superfamily Cynipoidea, where phytophagy becomes highly specialized towards the exploitation of specific plant tissues (i.e., buds), leading to the induction of galls. In this paper, we investigated the organization of antennal and ovipositor sensory structures in the chestnut gall wasp, Dryocosmus kuriphilus. This insect became a major threat to chestnut production in Italy in the last 15 years. We investigated only females (this is a parthenogenetic species with thelytoky), and on the antennae we found several sensilla with the clear functional specialization to different groups of stimuli, with almost no overlapping among each sensilla. Similarly, specialization was also found on the ovipositor where groups of gustatory and mechanoreceptive sensilla were observed. This information represents an advancement in the knowledge of this pest, which may be useful to understand the biological role of plant derived chemical cues or to implement new control methods. Dryocosmus kuriphilus is a gall-inducing insect, which can cause significant damage on plants of the genus Castanea Mill., 1754. Antennae and ovipositor are the main sensory organs involved in the location of suitable oviposition sites. Antennal sensilla are involved in the host plant location, while ovipositor sensilla assess the suitability of the ovipositional bud. On both organs, diverse sensillar organs are present. Here, the distribution and ultrastructural organization of the sensilla were investigated by scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The antennae of D. kuriphilus are filiform and composed of 14 antennomeres, with the distal flagellomere bearing the highest number of sensilla. On the antennae, 6 sensilla types were found; sensilla chaetica, campaniformia, coeloconica-I, coeloconica-II, trichoidea and placoidea. The sensilla placoidea and trichoidea were the most abundant types. On the external walls of the ovipositor, gustatory and mechanoreceptive sensilla were observed. Internally, the egg channel hosted two additional sensory structures. The putative functional role of each sensilla in the context of insect's ecology is discussed as well as the ovipositional mechanism used by this insect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]