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Background and Objectives: The efficacy of COVID‐19 convalescent plasma (CP) associates with high titres of antibodies. ConPlas‐19 clinical trial showed that CP reduces the risk of progression to severe COVID‐19 at 28 days. Here, we aim to study ConPlas‐19 donors and characteristics that associate with high anti‐SARS‐CoV‐2 antibody levels. Materials and Methods: Four‐hundred donors were enrolled in ConPlas‐19. The presence and titres of anti‐SARS‐CoV‐2 antibodies were evaluated by EUROIMMUN anti‐SARS‐CoV‐2 S1 IgG ELISA. Results: A majority of 80.3% of ConPlas‐19 donor candidates had positive EUROIMMUN test results (ratio ≥1.1), and of these, 51.4% had high antibody titres (ratio ≥3.5). Antibody levels decline over time, but nevertheless, out of 37 donors tested for an intended second CP donation, over 90% were still EUROIMMUN positive, and nearly 75% of those with high titres maintained high titres in the second sample. Donors with a greater probability of developing high titres of anti‐SARS‐CoV‐2 antibodies include those older than 40 years of age (RR 2.06; 95% CI 1.24–3.42), with more than 7 days of COVID‐19 symptoms (RR 1.89; 95% CI 1.05–3.43) and collected within 4 months from infection (RR 2.61; 95% CI 1.16–5.90). Male donors had a trend towards higher titres compared with women (RR 1.67; 95% CI 0.91–3.06). Conclusion: SARS‐CoV‐2 CP candidate donors' age, duration of COVID‐19 symptoms and time from infection to donation associate with the collection of CP with high antibody levels. Beyond COVID‐19, these data are relevant to inform decisions to optimize the CP donor selection process in potential future outbreaks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding competitive interactions is essential to properly inform management strategies, in particular in the context of livestock‐wildlife conflict across a degraded land, such as the case of wild guanacos in Patagonia. Guanacos are historically perceived by ranchers as livestock's main competitors, and there is a growing demand for reducing their numbers. However, both competition theory and available evidence suggest a more complex interaction than the one assumed by the current management approach. This study aimed to test the occurrence of competitive exclusion of guanacos by domestic sheep at intra‐ranch scale. We assessed the spatial segregation of guanacos and sheep and compared guanaco occupancy patterns within a sheep ranch with those recorded within an adjacent protected area free from livestock. The probability of a group of herbivores being sheep instead of guanacos increased in bottom valleys and smaller paddocks and decreased as the distance to water increased. These results agree with the expected patterns of sheep habitat use resulting from physiological restrictions and grazing behaviour. Occupancy patterns within the ranch showed a higher proportion of guanacos in ridges, away from water sources and in larger paddocks, opposing those observed in the sheep‐free area where guanacos occupied mostly bottom valleys, irrespective of the distance to water. Areas used consistently by guanacos showed a higher per cent cover of preferred forage and basal‐plant cover, indicating a better range condition than those used predominately by sheep. Our results add to the solid body of evidence on spatial segregation of these species at coarser spatial scales, support the competitive exclusion of guanacos by sheep and suggest that intra‐ranch coexistence is possible because guanacos occupy areas underused or inaccessible to sheep. Under these conditions, it is unlikely that guanaco culling will improve sheep production and the empirical verification of the assumptions underlying current management initiatives becomes crucial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a recently published paper, Oliva et al. concluded that domestic grazing pressure across Patagonian rangelands approached carrying capacity due to decades of stock adjustment, but that guanaco overpopulation may have altered that balance. The authors argued that unless guanaco numbers are controlled, they will reduce forage available for domestic stock and will negatively affect rangelands. We consider that the herbivore‐stock analysis presented is inaccurate and deserves revision, and that the stated conclusions lack empirical support.When the spatial distribution of herbivores is accounted for in the Oliva et al. analysis, domestic stock is far above carrying capacity, indicating that domestic overgrazing continues.Theoretical and empirical evidence on bottom‐up regulation and competitive exclusion challenges the supposed guanaco overpopulation and the hypothetical reduction of forage available for livestock.Even if guanaco numbers are reduced, grassland degradation and production losses will continue because their main drivers, domestic overstock and heterogeneous grazing, are still operating.Synthesis and applications. Oversimplified models with poor ecological insight can lead to erroneous conclusions and misguide management decisions. The incorrect inference that Patagonian domestic stock is adjusted to carrying capacity could help to consolidate current domestic overgrazing by reducing incentives to improve livestock management practices. Regarding guanacos, a controversial species in an unfavourable context, control‐oriented harvest without a clear justification threatens populations' viability and genuine attempts of productive diversification. Addressing relevant ecological processes, such as niche partitioning, competitive exclusion and population regulation, is essential to correctly assess joint carrying capacity in multi‐herbivore systems, as well as to identify the true factors driving degradation processes and to optimize rangeland use on a sustainable basis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: While abscisic acid (ABA) is known as a hormone produced by plants through the carotenoid pathway, a small number of phytopathogenic fungi are also able to produce this sesquiterpene but they use a distinct pathway that starts with the cyclization of farnesyl diphosphate (FPP) into 2Z,4E‐α‐ionylideneethane which is then subjected to several oxidation steps. To identify the sesquiterpene cyclase (STC) responsible for the biosynthesis of ABA in fungi, we conducted a genomic approach in Botrytis cinerea. The genome of the ABA‐overproducing strain ATCC58025 was fully sequenced and five STC‐coding genes were identified. Among them, Bcstc5 exhibits an expression profile concomitant with ABA production. Gene inactivation, complementation and chemical analysis demonstrated that BcStc5/BcAba5 is the key enzyme responsible for the key step of ABA biosynthesis in fungi. Unlike what is observed for most of the fungal secondary metabolism genes, the key enzyme‐coding gene Bcstc5/Bcaba5 is not clustered with the other biosynthetic genes, i.e., Bcaba1 to Bcaba4 that are responsible for the oxidative transformation of 2Z,4E‐α‐ionylideneethane. Finally, our study revealed that the presence of the Bcaba genes among Botrytis species is rare and that the majority of them do not possess the ability to produce ABA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Global warming is negatively affecting the environment of the planet. This situation has led to the development of international standards, such as the International Organisation for Standardization's DIS 14064‐1 and the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Standard, both of which measure corporate carbon footprints. These standards provide guidelines that can be applied to different organizational sectors. However, these are not sufficient for controlling the reduction of carbon emissions, because although they propose the use of indicators, they do not explicitly define them. In addition, in the case of emissions from wastewater treatment, they only suggest that the emissions associated with this process be considered. In the present study, an eight‐step, unified methodology based on these two international standards is proposed, focusing on direct emissions. Moreover, the step‐by‐step to data collection, calculations, and the required indicators to control the emissions are defined. The first scope considers direct emissions from sources that are owned or controlled by the company. Methane generation measurement from wastewater treatment has been included in the methodology within Scope 1, as it is the second most polluting gas after carbon dioxide, both of which give rise to global warming. The proposed methodology was tested as a case study in one of the most important companies in the food sector in Colombia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, there is a growing availability of biodegradable industrial materials intended to food contact applications whose service life behavior needs to be further investigated. This article is focused on the degradation of two materials based on polylactic acid. The correlation between the rate of degradation and the amount of trapped degradation products was investigated applying three characterization techniques in parallel, namely rheology, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI). The rate of degradation was studied through the evaluation of their rheological properties and calculation of the number of average molecular weights, and weight-average molecular weights. Water-soluble oligomers and lactic acid were quantified by HPLC-ultraviolet. Changes in cyclic and linear oligomers were monitored by MALDI-time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Specimens of 4-mm thickness of each biopolymer were subjected to hydrolysis in deionized water up to 6 months at two temperatures, simulating service conditions of food packaging. The diminution in viscosity and consequently in molecular weight distribution (20-60%) showed the degradation of the molecular structure of both polylactic acids. The chain scission was followed through the increasing values of lactic acid and hydrolyzed oligomers (twofold to eightfold), and the predominant signal of the linear oligomers over the cyclic ones with aging. Rheology, HPLC, and MALDI showed to be complementary tools to better understand the changes in the molecular structure. The obtained results showed the necessity of adding suitable stabilizers for each particular food packaging application. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study on the efficiency of natural antioxidants from agri-food industry wastes as long-term antioxidants for polypropylene (PP) is reported. Special attention is paid to the usage of vegetal wastes as a source of natural antioxidants such as alternatives to synthetic long-term antioxidants. The potential of the lignin-derived fractions generated during autoydrolysis processing of lignocellulosic agricultural, forestal, and food wastes was assessed. The measurements of oxidation induction time were used for obtaining information on long-term antioxidant effectiveness, showing the protective effect of natural extracts. The protective effect was improved in combinations of natural extracts with 0.1% and 0.2% of Irgafos 168 (short-term antioxidant) besides a synergistic effect was exhibited when 0.4% of Irgafos 168 is added. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quercus forest regeneration is limited by different factors, post-dispersal predation being one of the most critical stages. We analysed seed removal of four coexisting Quercus species ( Q. ilex, Q. suber, Q. faginea and Q. pyrenaica) in a Mediterranean forest located in Southern Spain. Marked and weighed acorns from each of the species were placed in experimental units with or without exclusion of large herbivores and in two microhabitat types ( Q. ilex shade or open). Acorn removal was monitored for 120 days in order to test the effect of exclusion of large herbivore and microhabitat type on seed removal rates and species selection. Interestingly, the results of microhabitat and species selection differed depending on the presence of large herbivores. Removal was faster in sites without exclusion, where most seeds (≈85%) disappeared during the first 9 days. In these sites, no differences in seed removal were found between different microhabitats, but seeds of two species, those with higher seed mass ( Q. suber and Q. pyrenaica) were most preferred. However, under exclusion of large herbivores, seed removal was affected by the microhabitat, this being greater in Q. ilex shaded microhabitats, which showed a higher structural diversity. Also, species selection was completely different under exclusion of large herbivores, and seeds of Q. ilex and Q. faginea were removed faster. These results highlight the importance of large herbivore activity on seed removal and its effect on microhabitat and species selection. Therefore, specific selection by seed consumers may modify seedling recruitment and may have an important influence on the relative abundance of coexisting Quercus species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

( Headache 2011;51:632-636) Seventeenth-century English closets were books containing a wide repertoire of household supplies targeted at female readers. Such volumes typically included medical recipes, as early modern women also used to be responsible for preserving and restoring the health of relatives and close neighbors. A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen (Sir Hugh Platt, 1608), in particular, incorporates 13 medicinal remedies devised for the therapeutic management of 3 different types of headaches: head-ache, migraine and pain in the head. This article historically contextualizes the text, offers a valid classification of headaches in 17th-century England, and describes the composition of the homemade pharmaceutical forms recommended to female caregivers, the guidelines for administration and its potential pain-relieving effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Density functional theory and molecular dynamics (MD) calculations were used to evaluate electronic structure properties in a series of nanotubes with smallest possible diameters (both types: armchair and zigzag), and the corresponding chiral nanotubes (8,m) for 0 ≤ m ≤ 8. The calculations were performed considering a length of 16.5 Å. We evaluated a set of 26 combinations of dual nanotubes (armchair/armchair, zigzag/zigzag, armchair/zigzag, and zigzag/armchair), where the first label corresponds to the outer tube. We extended our study with nine additional systems of double‐walled carbon nanotubes (DWCNT) with semiconductor nature. In this regard, we gave insight into the semiconductive or metallic nature inherited to the dual tubes. DWCNT systems were possible to construct by maintaining a radial distance of 3.392 Å for the armchair/armchair arrangement and 3.526 Å for the zigzag/zigzag type. It was considered as a reference, the interplanar distance of graphite (3.350 Å). Electronic transport calculations were also performed on selected DWCNT systems in order to understand the role played by the different symmetries under study. It was evidenced that the electronic structure nature of the systems rules the ability to transport electrons through the DWCNT interface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]