Search

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 Recently, the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/689 of 17 December 2019 repealed the Commission Decision of 26 May 2003 reporting an ASF diagnostic manual (2003/422/EC) with the minimum and supplementary requirements for ASF laboratories.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procedural requirements for ASF laboratories and animal facilities that have been developed based on both current and repealed legislation, further entailing a risk assessment and internal audit as indispensable tools to design, adjust, and improve biological containment measures.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 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]

β-lactamases are hydrolytic enzymes that inactivate the β-lactam ring of antibiotics such as penicillins and cephalosporins. The major diversity of studies carried out until now have mainly focused on the characterization of β-lactamases recovered among clinical isolates of Gram-positive staphylococci and Gram-negative enterobacteria, amongst others. However, only some studies refer to the detection and development of β-lactamases carriers in healthy humans, sick animals, or even in strains isolated from environmental stocks such as food, water, or soils. Considering this, we proposed a 10-week laboratory programme for the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology laboratory for majors in the health, environmental, and agronomical sciences. During those weeks, students would be dealing with some basic techniques such as DNA extraction, bacterial transformation, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), gel electrophoresis, and the use of several bioinformatics tools. These laboratory exercises would be conducted as a mini research project in which all the classes would be connected with the previous ones. This curriculum was compared in an experiment involving two groups of students from two different majors. The new curriculum, with classes linked together as a mini research project, was taught to a major in Pharmacy and an old curriculum was taught to students from environmental health. The results showed that students who were enrolled in the new curriculum obtained better results in the final exam than the students who were enrolled in the former curriculum. Likewise, these students were found to be more enthusiastic during the laboratory classes than those from the former curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biosafety laboratories are specialized in handling dangerous microorganisms, but there are cases where contaminants are leaked due to improper handling and other reasons. Therefore, an in-depth understanding of the pattern of infection after a laboratory spill can help laboratory personnel get out of danger as soon as possible and avoid the occurrence of infection events. In this paper, we take the COVID-19 virus outbreak in recent years as an example to explore the probability of infection of laboratory personnel under different circumstances. The study used computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to predict the change of contaminant concentration over time in a typical laboratory, and then analyzed the relationship between contaminant concentration and infection probability by using a metrological response model, and calculated the infection probability of indoor personnel over time in the presence or absence of obstacles in the laboratory and the different locations of contaminant leakage, respectively. The results showed that the probability of personnel infection remained basically stable after 8 min of contaminant leakage; at the same time, the probability of infection was higher when the contaminant source was located below the exhaust vent than in other locations; and the probability of illness was lower in laboratories with obstacles than in laboratories without obstacles under the same conditions. This finding is helpful for laboratory layout design. [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]

Pollution caused by inorganic compounds is an emerging threat due to their persistence in the environment. The fate of inorganic pollutants or heavy metals is greatly influenced by the physical, chemical and biological processes that occur within the environment, specifically in the soil system. Although some inorganic compounds are essential for biological systems in trace amounts, a high concentration of these compounds causes adverse effects on the biological systems. Phytoremediation is a green approach to remediate inorganic compounds via various mechanisms. Considering the ability of plant species to adapt and withstand the extreme environmental conditions in heavy metal–contaminated soils, the application of underutilised plant species to remediate the inorganic pollutants is worth to be exploring. This review paper aims to reveal the potential of underutilised plant species as phytoremediators to clean up inorganic pollutants present in the environment. The bioremediation mechanisms found in the underutilised plant species and the benefits of using these plant species are described. This paper also includes a description of a few successful commercial applications of certain underutilised plant species in remediating a number of inorganic pollutants with the challenges encountered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information about several papers discussed at the 2003 World Conference on Natural Resource Modeling that was held on June 17-19 at the Duke University Marine Laboratory in Beaufort, North Carolina is presented. Its theme was Quantifying, Monitoring, and Modeling Ecosystem Health and Sustainability. The featured speakers include Rolfe Leary, Francis M. Fujioka, and Ram Oren.

Wastewater treatment plants operate with water flows and characteristics different from those considered in the design stage, the most common differences being found in carbon concentrations that are lower than those of the design, nitrogen concentrations higher than those considered and a disadvantageous C:N:P ratio. This fact means that, during the entire period of operation, decisions are needed leading to wastewater treatment process optimization. The present paper deals with methods of regulating for a nitrification and simultaneous denitrification biological reactor, based on the determinations made for nitrogen concentrations, dissolved oxygen, pH, blowing speed and results obtained related to the treatment efficiency. The analysis proves that the necessary wastewater treatment efficiency is obtained by balancing the nitrification and denitrification processes accompanied by the reduction of energy consumption through recovering oxygen from nitrates, which can be controlled by blowing speed and detecting the operation mode between sequential or continuous ones. Interpretations and conclusions can support operators in finding solutions to optimize the undertaken process. [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]

Purpose: Open-access mega-journals (OAMJs), which apply a peer-review policy based solely on scientific soundness, elicit opposing views. Sceptical authors believe that OAMJs are simply an easy target to publish uninteresting papers that would not be accepted in more selective traditional journals. The purpose of this paper is to investigate any differences in scholars' considerations of OAMJs by analysing the productivity and impact of Spanish authors in Biology and Medicine who publish in PLOS ONE. Design/methodology/approach: Scopus was used to identify the most prolific Spanish authors in Biology and Medicine between 2013 and 2017 and to determine their publication patterns in PLOS ONE. Any differences in terms of citation impact between Spanish authors who publish frequently in PLOS ONE and the global Spanish output in Biology and Medicine were measured. Findings: Results show a moderate correlation between the total number of articles published by prolific authors in Biology and Medicine and the number of articles they publish in PLOS ONE. Authors who publish frequently in PLOS ONE tend to publish more frequently than average in Quartile 1 and Top 10 per cent impact journals and their articles are more frequently cited than average too, suggesting that they do not submit to PLOS ONE for the purpose of gaining easier publication in a high-impact journal. Research limitations/implications: The study is limited to one country, one OAMJ and one discipline and does not investigate whether authors select PLOS ONE for what they might regard as their lower quality research. Originality/value: Very few studies have empirically addressed the implications of the soundness-based peer-review policy applied by OAMJs. [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]

The Running the European Network of biological and retrospective dosimetry (RENEB) network of laboratories has a range of biological and physical dosimetry assays that can be deployed in the event of a radiation incident to provide exposure assessment. To maintain operational capability and provide training, RENEB runs regular inter-laboratory comparison (ILC) exercises. The RENEB ILC2021 was carried out with all the biological and physical dosimetry assays employed in the network. The focus of this paper is to evaluate the results from 6 laboratories that took part using the gamma-H2AX radiation-induced foci assay. For two laboratories this was their first RENEB ILC. Blood samples were homogenously exposed to 240 kVp X rays (1 Gy/min) to provide calibration data, (0–4 Gy), and a few weeks later three blind coded test samples, (0, 1.2 and 3.5 Gy) were prepared. All samples were allowed a 2 h repair time at 37°C before being transported, on ice packs, to the participating laboratories. On arrival, the samples were processed, scored either manually or automatically for gamma-H2AX foci and dose estimates for the 3 blind coded samples sent to the organizing laboratory. The temperature of samples during transit and the time taken to report the dose estimates were recorded. Subsequent examination of the data from each laboratory used the doses estimates to assign triage categories to the samples. After receipt of the samples, the quickest report of dose estimates was 4.6 h. Analysis of variance revealed that the laboratory carrying out the assay had a significant effect on the foci yield (P < 0.001) for the calibration data, but not on the dose estimates of the blind coded samples (P = 0.101). All laboratories correctly identified the unirradiated and irradiated samples, although the dose estimates for the latter tended to under-estimate the dose. Two participants seriously under-estimated the dose for the highly exposed sample, which resulted in the sample being placed in the lowest triage category not the highest. However, this under-estimation resulted from the samples not remaining cold during shipment, due to a delay in transit and was not related to the experience of the participating laboratory. Overall, the RENEB network laboratories have demonstrated it is possible to quickly identify a recent whole-body acute exposure using the gamma-H2AX assay within the conditions of the ILC. In addition, an ILC provides a useful training and harmonization exercise for laboratories. [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]

Copyright of Experimental Technology & Management is the property of Experimental Technology & Management 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 Journal of East China University of Science & Technology is the property of Journal of East China University of Science & Technology 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.)

The efficiencies of light-harvesting complexes in biological systems can be much higher than the current efficiencies of artificial solar cells. In this paper, we therefore propose and analyze an energy transport mechanism which employs adiabatic passages between the states of an artificially designed antenna molecular system to significantly enhance the conversion of incoming light into internal energy. It is shown that the proposed transport mechanism is relatively robust against spontaneous emission and dephasing, while also being able to take advantage of collective effects. Our aim is to provide new insight into the energy transport in molecular complexes and to improve the design of solar cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, three new species of eriophyoid mites belonging to the subfamily Nothopodinae from Guangxi are described and illustrated. They are Nothopoda maesae sp. nov. collected on Maesa perlaria (Lour.) Merr. (Myrsinaceae), Nothopoda camelliae sp. nov. collected on Camellia oleifera Abel (Theaceae), and Nothopoda nepalense sp. nov. collected on Alnus nepalensis D. Don (Betulaceae). All the species are vagrants on the lower leaf surface, causing no apparent damage to their host plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Micropipette tips are currently among the most used disposable devices in bioresearch and development laboratories. Their main application is the fractionation of solutions. New functionalities have recently been added to this device, widening their applications. This paper analyzed disposable micropipette tips as reagent holders of PCR reagents. PCR has become a prevalent and often indispensable technique in biological laboratories for various applications, such as the detection of coronavirus and other infectious diseases. A functional micropipette tip was implemented to simplify PCR analysis and reduce the contamination chances of deoxynucleotides and specific primers. This disposable device is prepared by tip coating processes of reagents, using polyvinyl alcohol polymer and additives. The coated layer is optimized to load and release PCR reagents efficiently. As a proof of concept, we show that the detection of Bordetella pertussis, the etiological agent of whooping cough whose diagnostic relies on PCR, can be quickly done using practical-functional tips. This device is an excellent example of testing the functionality and contribution of molecular diagnostic PCR tips. Key points: • Functional micropipette tips are prepared by coating with dNTPs and primers. • Functional tips are used to replace dNTPs and primers in the PCR master mix. • PCR diagnostic of Bordetella pertussis is performed using functional tips. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, there has been a rather acrimonious debate on matters concerning the biology of invasive species, some as fundamental as the definition and what constitutes an invasive species. However, an abiding commonality of all invasive species is the fact that they have all moved away from their native ranges to newer and often non-native ranges. In plants, Lantana camara has shifted from its native South American range distribution to most other parts of the world. In animals, the African giant snail has dispersed from Africa to most parts of Asia. What do such niche shifts signify about the nature and quality of the habitats to which the invasive species have moved? In this paper, using the classical niche paradigm, we analyse if niche shifts of thirty-three of the world's top invasive species constitute just moving from one habitat to another similar habitat somewhere on the earth (home away from home) or that they have moved to totally new habitats (different from their native home). Surprisingly, our results show that for 90% of the world's top invasive species, movements have been largely restricted to homes away from home, rather than into alien homes. This clearly indicates the potential inertia that species might face in moving out of their fundamental niche. We discuss these results in the context of the overall debate on invasion biology and how niche conservatism may have played a role in dampening the rates of invasion. [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]

Understanding emergent collective phenomena in biological systems is a complex challenge due to the high dimensionality of state variables and the inability to directly probe agent-based interaction rules. Therefore, if one wants to model a system for which the underpinnings of the collective process are unknown, common approaches such as using mathematical models to validate experimental data may be misguided. Even more so, if one lacks the ability to experimentally measure all the salient state variables that drive the collective phenomena, a modeling approach may not correctly capture the behavior. This problem motivates the need for model-free methods to characterize or classify observed behavior to glean biological insights for meaningful models. Furthermore, such methods must be robust to low dimensional or lossy data, which are often the only feasible measurements for large collectives. In this paper, we show that a model-free and unsupervised clustering of high dimensional swarming behavior in midges (Chironomus riparius), based on dynamical similarity, can be performed using only two-dimensional video data where the animals are not individually tracked. Moreover, the results of the classification are physically meaningful. This work demonstrates that low dimensional video data of collective motion experiments can be equivalently characterized, which has the potential for wide applications to data describing animal group motion acquired in both the laboratory and the field. [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, we present the formulation and a method for solving the problem of freezing living biological tissue with a flat circular cryoapplicator. The model is a two-dimensional boundary-value problem of Stefan type with nonlinear heat sources of a special type that provide the actually observed spatial localization of the temperature field. Some results of computer simulation are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to study the bio-decomposition of bioreactor landfill waste, simulation experiment of different ways of landfill and decomposition stage was conducted. We analyzed decomposition processes of organic matter in different decomposition stages. The landfill can be divided into two types in bioreactor: stratified landfill and non-stratified landfill, each group having four waste decomposition reaction stages. By collecting the reaction gas and leachate in each stage, methane production, pH, moisture content and volatile solids were measured, and the pattern of bio-decomposition was obtained. The results showed that with the gradual deepening of organic matter decomposition in waste, the methane production rate and the pH value of leachate will change greatly. The weight percentage of the biodegradable material gradually decreased and the average moisture content of waste increased from 54.6% to 70.2%. The content of volatile solids in waste decreased from 89% to 51%. [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]

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are both non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) and their interactions play important roles in biological processes. Computational methods, such as machine learning and various bioinformatics tools, can predict potential miRNA–lncRNA interactions, which is significant for studying their mechanisms and biological functions. A growing number of RNA interaction predictors for animal have been reported, but they are unreliable for plant due to the differences of ncRNAs in animal and plant. It is urgent to build a reliable plant predictor, especially for cross-species. This paper proposes an ensemble deep learning model based on multi-level information enhancement and greedy fuzzy decision (PmliPEMG) for plant miRNA–lncRNA interaction prediction. The fusion complex features, multi-scale convolutional long short-term memory networks, and attention mechanism are adopted to enhance the sample information at the feature, scale, and model levels, respectively. An ensemble deep learning model is built based on a novel method (greedy fuzzy decision) which greatly improves the efficiency. The multi-level information enhancement and greedy fuzzy decision are verified to have the positive effects on prediction performance. PmliPEMG can be applied to the cross-species prediction. It shows better performance and stronger generalization ability than state-of-the-art predictors and may provide valuable references for related research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The biological process in a conventional wastewater treatment plant is one of the largest consumers of energy in wastewater treatment technology. The biological process can use from about 50% to 90% of the electricity used by a treatment plant (depending on its size and technological solutions used), while the cost of energy used can be up to 15–49% of the total costs of an installation. In Slobozia Wastewater Treatment plant, the energy consumption and operational costs were very high, due to the use of surface aerators in the biological tanks. In order to optimize the biological treatment and energy consumption, the present paper analyses the replacement of surface aeration with a fixed grid aeration system with membrane diffusers. By using a fine bubble aeration – lobe blower system, optimized regarding number of diffusers, aeration grids sizing, membrane material, membrane perforations size, blower motor power, the energy consumption in a wastewater treatment plant was considerably reduced and the oxygen transfer efficiency (SAE kgO2/kWh) was increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines Chen Ziying, an American-trained Chinese biologist and his prewar efforts to bring his Woods Hole experience from the United States to China between 1930 and 1936. I argue that the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) appears as a prominent American scientific institution in the twentieth century among visiting Chinese students and scholars who were drawn to the American approach of building world-class seaside laboratories to facilitate marine biological study while cultivating a collaborative culture via songs of biology. Chen was one of the leading US-trained Chinese scientists who aspired to the international trend of developing coastal biology in the early twentieth century and was determined to modernize China's discipline-building of biology with the construction of marine research facilities similar to the MBL. I show that Chen's efforts of bringing the MBL practice to China took place at a time when science in China was overshadowed by the impulse of nationalism. Despite the nationalistic rhetoric, Chen was able to establish a Chinese connection with Woods Hole by introducing the MBL cultural practices of songs with biological significance. Lyrics from popular biological songs such as "It's a Long Way from Amphioxus" and "Songs of Amoy" reflect not just Darwinian themes but also a transnational connection between American and Chinese biologists in Republican-era China––a period in modern Chinese history that is often characterized by soaring sentiments of nationalism. This paper sets out to reconsider the interplay of scientific nationalism and scientific internationalism in shaping marine science in modern China, as well as to reflect on the meanings of value-laden terms such as "nationalism" and "foreignness" and their conceptual impacts on writing the historiography of biology in twentieth-century China. [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]

Over the last 30 years, a number of biological treatment processes have emerged for treating high‐strength ammonia liquors arising from the dewatering of anaerobic digestate. The AMTREAT® process was the first process to become established and recognised as a viable and reliable process to treat these high‐strength ammonia liquors. The process is a high‐rate activated sludge plant supplied by ACWA Services Ltd. The first full‐scale plant was installed in 1995, treating centrate produced when dewatering anaerobically digested sludge. The process is a compact, high‐rate ammonia treatment system, which has a relatively small footprint compared to conventional activated sludge treatment processes. Originally designed to fully nitrify dewatering ammonia liquors by controlling the environmental conditions of the treatment reactor, the process has evolved first to include alkalinity recovery and subsequently to offer total nitrogen removal. This paper discusses the development of the AMTREAT® process from its initial development in 1992, to the modern day third generation plants which achieve typical achieve ammonia removal exceeding 99% and total nitrogen removal in excess of 80%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advances in animal welfare science have led to a high number of studies published for farm, laboratory and zoo animals, with a huge breadth of innovative topic areas and methodologies. This paper investigates the different approaches used to undertake welfare research in farm, laboratory and zoo animals due to the variety of constraints that each group brings. We also set recommendations to how groups can support each other in moving forwards to reduce animal suffering and promote a life worth living, a goal that all parties aim to achieve. We propose that researchers develop more collaborations across species, in particular to focus on the applied component of animal welfare and utilizing positive welfare indicators; facilitate knowledge transfer and share good practice worldwide; and accept small n based studies that can still be scientifically robust and provide individual-based steps into advances in our knowledge. Ultimately, we need to be progressing animal welfare science to a point beyond legislative needs, and ensure that "high animal welfare" becomes an additional mission statement for all animal-based industries. [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]

As it is common practice for laboratories to store patient samples for a predefined period, allowing clinicians to request additional tests on previously collected samples, knowledge about sample stability is indispensable for the laboratorian. A common approach to estimating the maximum storage time is to use a discrete study design, measuring the analyte of interest at various time-points and then checking for significant differences with the help of a statistical test, such as Student's t-test, Wilcoxon's test or an analysis of variance (ANOVA) test. Because only discrete time intervals are considered, stability data can just be approximated. Alternatively, a continuous study design, as described by the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) for performing stability experiments for in vitro diagnostic reagents, can also be adopted by the clinical laboratory to evaluate the stability of biological samples. The major advantage of this approach is that it allows laboratories to define individual stability limits for different medical situations and offers more flexibility when choosing time-points for measurements. The intent of this paper is to demonstrate the evaluation of sample stability in the clinical laboratory with a continuous study design implemented with linear or non-linear regression analysis. Appropriate statistical modeling and acceptance criteria are presented, stability functions are described briefly, and checking the overall validity of the results is discussed. [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]

The world's oceans are often perceived as barriers that separate countries. To counter these divisions and improve protection of ocean resources, marine protected area (MPA) managers have formed alliances that bridge jurisdictional boundaries to share strategies and resources with other protected areas.The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries has embraced this sister site approach to connect MPA management based on ecological and cultural links. Designed to strengthen the management of ecologically and culturally connected areas, these relationships between protected areas serve as catalysts for effective stewardship of the ocean's biological resources and show the important benefits of transnational cooperation.This paper summarizes the lessons from over a decade of sister site partnerships, including case studies from Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary and four sites in the Caribbean working together to protect a shared population of humpback whales; the Gulf of Mexico Sister Site Network being developed by the USA, Mexico, and Cuba; Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument and Rapa Nui in Chile; and broader collaboration among MPAs in the USA and Chile on the Pacific coast. [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]

The potential of bacterial contamination is commonly seen in biological and clinical laboratory surfaces, creating a need to detect the presence of bacteria on a surface. Various bacterial species have been found to naturally exist on surfaces, including Escherichia coli, Salmonella Typhimurium, and Staphylococcus aureus that were investigated in this study. Bacterial presence was identified from laboratory surfaces using a smartphone and low-cost components without culturing or staining. Autofluorescence from bacteria was quantified using a 405 nm LED as an excitation light source. A low-cost acrylic film could isolate the autofluorescence emission. ImageJ was used to process and analyze the images and quantify the emitted autofluorescence signal. This imaging platform successfully detected the presence of all three bacterial species from the heavily used laboratory surfaces. A trend of decreasing fluorescence signal was observed with decreasing bacterial concentration, and the limit of detection was 104 CFU cm−2. It could also distinguish from tap water, protein (bovine serum albumin), and NaCl solutions. This preliminary work emphasizes the ability to detect autofluorescence signals of bacteria and non-microbial surface contaminants using a cost-effective and straightforward imaging platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, various substrates for increasing the production of biomethane are increasingly exploring. The effect of such substrates on methanogenesis is investigated mainly in small volume digesters. However, operating acetogenic biogas plants depending on substrates combinations and monitoring of microbial communities in the anaerobic digesters located in the Czech Republic have never been studied yet. The variation in the distribution of main acetogenic genera in eight biogas plants based on different input substrates ratio was studied. The genera composition was identified by sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. In total, 33 genera of this group of microorganisms were found out. The highest percentage (30.2%) of acetogens compared to other biogas plants was observed in Modřice biogas plant with the input substrate biological sludge and primary sludge (50/50, w/w %). The smallest percentage (1.14%) and variation in the distribution of acetogenic microorganisms was found in Čejč biogas plant, with the input substrate maize silage and liquid pig manure (80/20, w/w %). For the biogas plant operator it would be important to know the composition of a consortium of anaerobic microorganisms that are present in anaerobic digesters (in two regions in the Czech Republic) processing different input combinations of a raw material. This paper characterizes the effect of the input raw materials on the variation in the distribution of the microbial community. [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]

Increasing numbers of studies in the past few decades have demonstrated vertically‐oriented nanoneedles arrays (NNAs) as innovative tools to interrogate and manipulate biological cells, where the needles are inserted into the cells as functional probes for high‐throughput detection and biomolecule delivery. However, majority of these studies use mammalian cells: leaving NNA application to plant cells still in its infancy and largely unexplored. This paper highlights our contributions in exploring the utility of NNAs to microalgae – a diverse group of aquatic, photosynthetic organisms studied intensively as bio‐factories for producing high‐value‐added products such as fuels and pharmaceuticals. Microalgal strain development processes have long suffered from the hard cell wall that surrounds the cell and inhibits delivery of foreign materials into the cell. Conically‐shaped, metallic NNAs were developed with template synthesis that successfully penetrate through the cell wall barrier and achieve material injection – using the widely studied model microalga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Earlier works from mammalian cells are introduced and discussed to clarify the framework established in this field, while recent studies of both mammalian and microalgal cells are also referenced to examine the trends, challenges, and future perspectives of NNA application to microalgae. [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.)

This paper is based both on my empirical experience, related to the implementation of artistic projects in biological laboratories, and on theoretical consideration. It focuses on the cultural and biological meaning of liminality. First, I introduce the idea of liminality derived from anthropology, and more precisely from the theory of the trigeminal structure of ritual as formulated by Arnold van Gennep and developed by Victor Turner. Then, to those anthropological theories pertaining to culture I add the voice of Susan Merill Squier, who draws attention to the fact that technological changes around our corporeality should affect the expansion of liminality and its biological significance. Finally, I refer to her concept of the existence of liminal beings − non-human agents living in the area of the in-between, between any current form of embodiment and a future one. In Squier's opinion in being humans we become liminal while coexistence with liminal beings can help us to pass this important bio cultural ritual. I would like to post the question: what does this coexistence look like? Can bio art create an opportunity for this coexistence? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]