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Research on lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus L.) revealed a variety of active molecules and examined their biological characteristics. However, most of these studies were conducted on wild varieties, while cultivated plants were addressed less. This study aimed to characterize the biomolecules and biological activities of lemon grass growing under North African conditions in Morocco. Phenolic compound profiles of aqueous (AE), ethanol (EE), and methanol (ME) extracts and their fractions were obtained with steric exclusion chromatography on Sephadex G50 gel and identified by LC-MS/MS. Then, total polyphenols (TPC), flavonoids (TFC), and antioxidant activities (FRAP: scavenging value and TAC: Total Antioxidant Capacity) of the fraction were evaluated, as well as the antimicrobial activity. The obtained results showed that the ME contained eight major compounds (i.e., apigenine-7-O-rutinoside and myricitine-3-O-rutinoside). The AE showed the presence of five molecules (i.e., kaempferol-3-O-glucuronide), while EE showed the presence of three molecules (i.e., quercetine-3-O-rutinoside). Regarding the chemical characterization, the highest value of total phenolic content (TPC) was obtained in AE (25) (4.60 ± 0.29 mg/g), and the highest value of total flavonoid content (TFC) was obtained in ME (29) (0.7 ± 0.08 mg/g). Concerning the antioxidant activity, the highest FRAP was obtained in ME (29) (97.89%), and the highest total antioxidant capacity (TAC) was obtained in ME (29) (89.89%). Correlation between FRAP, TPC, and TFC was noted only in fractions of AE and ME. All tested extracts of C. citratus and their fractions showed a significant antimicrobial effect. The lowest minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was recorded for ME against E. coli. Extracts’ biological activities and their fractions were governed by their active molecules. These data are new and clarify a novel aspect of bioactive molecules in the extracts of cultivated C. citratus. Equally, throughout this research, we clarified the relationship between identified molecules and their biological properties, including antioxidant and anti-microbial activities, which is new for the study area. This study is suggested as a reference for comparative studies and other assays of other biological activities for the study plant.

Barley is indeed a versatile cereal crop, valued for its uses in food, animal feed, and increasingly in biofuel production. As interest grows in developing new barley genotypes that are better adapted to diverse environmental conditions and production systems, integrating agro-morphological evaluations with molecular marker analyses in barley breeding programs is essential for developing new genotypes. It is necessary to explore the genetic diversity of those germplasm to predicate their responses to targeted environments and regions. The current study explored the phenotypic and genotypic relations among Saudi advanced germplasm to facilitate the development of superior barley cultivars suitable for desert environments. Molecular microsatellites (SSR) markers revealed considerable wide genetic variation among Saudi germplasm and checks. Population structure analyses revealed four main groups. Those groups were validated using similarity analyses and coefficients. As well, principal components analysis (PCA) and heat map analyses separated the studied genotypes into four main groups. The improved Saudi germplasm, selected from the barley breeding program, revealed considerably wide genetic and phenotypic diversities, indicating the feasibility of selection to improve for semi-arid conditions. The improved line KSU-BR-C/G-2 had the highest grain yield and harvest index in the first season. Rihana/Lignee was followed by the KSU-BR-C/G-2 genotype, with a grain yield averaging 6734.07 (kg ha−1), in the first season. KSU-BR-88-29-10 yielded 20,000 kg ha−1 for biomass yield. In the second year, KSU-BR-30-7 had the highest biomass yield, with 27,037.04 kg ha−1.

Drought stress is one of the biggest hardships in wheat cultivation because of the strong negative relationship between water deficit and crop yields owing to a lower grain weight, a shorter grain-filling period, a slower grain-filling rate, and reduced grain quality. Genotype–environment interaction (GEN:ENV) generates hardships in selecting wheat genotypes and ideotypes due to biased genetic estimates. Diverse strategies have been proposed to respond to the urgent need for concurrent improvements in yield performance and stability. This study’s purpose was to appraise genetic variation and GEN:ENV effects on yield and yield components to discover drought-stress-tolerant genotypes and ideotypes. This study evaluated 20 genotypes in three consecutive seasons under non-stressful and drought-stress conditions in a total of six ENVs. The broad-sense heritability ranged from 0.54 to 0.82 based on expected mean squares and ranged from 0.60 to 0.90 based on plot mean, but in the other three ways, it was usually greater than 0.90. The high values of (σgen:env2) revealed the effect that broad-sense heritability has on the expression of traits. G01, G03, G06, G07, G08, G10, G12, G13, G16, G17, and G18 were stable genotypes for grain yield (GY), according to additive main effects and a multiplicative interaction biplot for the six ENVs. Based on scores in the weighted average of absolute scores biplot (WAASB), G02, G04, G05, G08, G10, and G18 were selected as stable and high-performance for GY, and they were all selected as the best genotype groups using the WAASB-GY superiority index. From the results obtained from principal component analysis and hierarchical clustering and from the tolerance discrimination indices, G02, G04, G05, G18, and G19 are genotypes that produce a suitable yield under non-stressful and drought-stress conditions. In essence, combining approaches that take into consideration stability and high performance can contribute significantly to enhancing the reliability of recommendations for novel wheat genotypes.

Polymorphisms in the cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) gene are known to be strongly associated with increased cardiovascular risk, primarily through their effects on the lipid profile and consequently on atherosclerotic risk. The acute heart rate response (AHRR) to physical activity is closely related to individual cardiovascular health. This study aimed to investigate the effect of CETP gene polymorphisms on AHRR. Our analysis examines the association of five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs; rs1532624, rs5882, rs708272, rs7499892, and rs9989419) and their haplotypes (H) in the CETP gene with AHRR in 607 people from the Hungarian population. Individual AHRR in the present study was assessed using the YMCA 3-min step test and was estimated as the difference between resting and post-exercise heart rate, i.e., delta heart rate (ΔHR). To exclude the direct confounding effect of the CETP gene on the lipid profile, adjustments for TG and HDL-C levels, next to conventional risk factors, were applied in the statistical analyses. Among the examined five SNPs, two showed a significant association with lower ΔHR (rs1532624—Cdominant: B = −8.41, p < 0.001; rs708272—Gdominant: B = −8.33, p < 0.001) and reduced the risk of adverse AHRR (rs1532624—Cdominant: OR = 0.44, p = 0.004; rs708272—Gdominant: OR = 0.43, p = 0.003). Among the ten haplotypes, two showed significant association with lower ΔHR (H3—CAGCA: B = −6.81, p = 0.003; H9—CGGCG: B = −14.64, p = 0.015) and lower risk of adverse AHRR (H3—CAGCA: OR = 0.58, p = 0.040; H9—CGGCG: OR = 0.05, p = 0.009) compared to the reference haplotype (H1—AGACG). Our study is the first to report a significant association between CETP gene polymorphisms and AHRR. It also confirms that the association of the CETP gene with cardiovascular risk is mediated by changes in heart rate in response to physical activity, in addition to its effect on lipid profile.

The low solubility and enhanced fixation of zinc (Zn) in semi-arid and dry climates limits Zn uptake in plants. Zn deficiency in soil impairs crop production and human health, necessitating agricultural biofortification. A pot experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of Zn and various types of manure on the Zn biofortification of lentils. The treatments, consisting of a control (Con), normal manure (NM), composted manure (CM), and acidified manure (AM), were applied under saline soil (EC 8.00 dS m−1) and non-saline soil (EC 1.48 dS m−1) conditions along with two levels of Zn, including Zn at 0 kg ha−1 (native soil Zn = 2.2 mg kg−1) and Zn at 25 kg ha−1 (62.2 mg Zn kg−1 soil was achieved). The AM was prepared by adding sulfur and sulfur-oxidizing bacteria to the composted manure. All the manures were applied at 1% (w/w), and ZnSO4 (33% Zn) was used as a Zn source. Lentil variety Masoor 2021 was cultivated as a test crop in five replications of each treatment arranged in a completely randomized design. Applying AM with Zn considerably increased the lentils’ growth, yield, and Zn content under saline and non-saline conditions. Under non-saline soils, the treatment of AM + Zn significantly promoted the Zn content in the root (132.5%), shoot (91.7%), grain (49.1%), root length (79.7%), plant height (33.7%), and SPAD value (29.9%). Under saline conditions, application of AM + Zn promoted uptake of Zn in the root (218.5%), Zn content in the shoot (175.7%), Zn accumulation in the grain (107.7%), root length (109.7%), plant height (37.8%), and SPAD value (52.8%) compared to the control. According to the results, lentils should be grown with AM and Zn to increase their growth, yield, and Zn content significantly. This is a cost-effective and sustainable way to combat Zn deficiency in lentils.

The Tarantula Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud is known for its high star formation activity. At its center lies the young massive star cluster R136, providing a significant amount of the energy that makes the nebula shine so brightly at many wavelengths. Recently, young massive star clusters have been suggested to also efficiently produce very high-energy cosmic rays, potentially beyond PeV energies. Here, we report the detection of very-high-energy γ -ray emission from the direction of R136 with the High Energy Stereoscopic System, achieved through a multicomponent, likelihood-based modeling of the data. This supports the hypothesis that R136 is indeed a very powerful cosmic-ray accelerator. Moreover, from the same analysis, we provide an updated measurement of the γ -ray emission from 30 Dor C, the only superbubble detected at TeV energies presently. The γ -ray luminosity above 0.5 TeV of both sources is (2–3) × 10 ^35 erg s ^−1 . This exceeds by more than a factor of 2 the luminosity of HESS J1646−458, which is associated with the most massive young star cluster in the Milky Way, Westerlund 1. Furthermore, the γ -ray emission from each source is extended with a significance of >3 σ and a Gaussian width of about 30 pc. For 30 Dor C, a connection between the γ -ray emission and the nonthermal X-ray emission appears likely. Different interpretations of the γ -ray signal from R136 are discussed.

Inappropriate management of land use systems is one of the main factors that leads to soil quality degradation and its quantification is crucial to their sustainable utilization planning. The objective of the research is to evaluate how various land-use systems, viz., natural forest, tree plantations of Tectona grandis, Terminalia bellirica, Swietenia macrophylla, Artocarpus hirsutus, Melia dubia based agroforestry system, horticulture (Mangifera indica) and agriculture systems impact the soil physicochemical and biological characteristics in semi-arid climatic conditions of India. Principal component analysis followed by linear and non-linear scoring methods was employed to compute the soil quality index (SQI). The soil attributes viz., dehydrogenase activity, acid phosphatase activity, soil available nitrogen, potassium, calcium, porosity, and soil available iron emerged as significant indicators for assessing the soil quality. Among different SQIs, non-linear weighted SQI can efficiently assess soil quality. Based on the non-linear weighted SQI, the order of the systems studied was natural forest (0.973) > Swietenia macrophylla (0.756) > agroforestry (0.737) > agriculture (0.556) > Tectona grandis (0.416) > Terminalia bellirica (0.373) > Artocarpus hirsutus (0.343) > Mangifera indica (0.208). The study concludes that converting natural forests into different land-use systems deteriorated the soil quality. Identifying soil indicators will help rapidly diagnose soil degradation, assess soil-based ecosystem services, and design appropriate land management practices in the future.

BackgroundThe present study aims to compare the mental rotation performance between two non-contact sports (i.e., badminton and volleyball) in different upright conditions (i.e., with and without dynamic balance).MethodsThirty-five female sports and physical education students voluntarily participated in the experiment, including fourteen specialists in badminton and twenty-one specialists in volleyball. The experiment involved a mental body rotation task with or without balance exercises on a wobble board.ResultsBadminton players outperformed volleyball players in the mental rotation tasks regardless of balance. More interestingly, the results revealed an overall decrease in reaction times when participants performed balance exercises simultaneously with mental rotation.DiscussionOur findings suggest that introducing dynamic balance on a wobble board has immediate beneficial effects on the mental rotation performance of female badminton and volleyball players. These findings are discussed in the context of sport specificities and cognitive processing framework.

In recent years, endovascular aneurysm repair has become the predominant method of managing abdominal aortic and common iliac artery aneurysms. Off-label use of different endovascular devices has allowed them to remain a viable option in many cases of atypical anatomy. Some studies have reported the use of iliac devices in an upside-down configuration when the common iliac artery aneurysm has a reverse-tapered morphology. However, the use of the Ovation iX (Endologix) limb in an upside-down configuration has not yet been reported. This limb offers a 14 mm distal end when inverted and offers good patency in the tortuous iliac morphology. This case report describes and illustrates the precise deployment of an inverted Ovation iX limb to treat an isolated common iliac artery aneurysm.

Abstract Climate changes and the related rise in the frequency of excessive weather proceedings have a strong influence on the physical, chemical, and hydrological processes in soils. Recently the investigators confirmed that the use of biological treatments and resources to overcome abiotic stress is fruitful. Thus, pomegranate peel extract (PPE) because of its high efficacy and/or compost application could improve soil characteristics, soil organic matter and nutrient status. This effect may be referred back to the enhancement in the plant antioxidative defense system against stress conditions. This experiment was done to study the influence of spraying wheat plants with pomegranate peel extract (PPE) with and/or without soil compost added under salt stress on some growth parameters and physiological aspects. Wheat plants were grown in the presence or absence of compost in the soil and foliar sprayed with PPE (600 and 1200 mg L-1) under salt irrigation (3000 and 6000 mg L-1). Growth and yield traits were decreased with salinity stress. High levels of PPE (1200 mg L-1) induced the highest values of osmoprotectants (Total soluble sugars, total soluble protein, proline and free amino acids) in both unstressed or salinity-stressed plants presence or absence compost. Using compost in soil for cultivating wheat plants and PPE spraying treatments increased growth traits photosynthetic pigments and yield components. Moreover, these treatments increased the accumulation of minerals content (N, P, K and Ca) in plants. In general, the results of correlation coefficients showed a significant strong positive relationship among measured yield traits and other tested parameters. The correlation between 1000-grain Wt. and grain Wt./spike (r = 0.94**) was the highest. Meanwhile, a strong negative correlation coefficient between Na% and all yield parameters was recorded. Compost adding to soil and spraying pomegranate peel extract is a successful method for increasing wheat growth, yield and improving the nutritional value of the produced grains under salt stress.

Chromium (Cr) is a toxic heavy metal and severely reduces plant growth. It commonly exists in two forms, i.e., Cr+3 and Cr+6. Due to the high solubility and oxidizing potential, Cr+6 is more dangerous and can be converted into a less toxic form of Cr+3 by different physicochemical and biological techniques. Nitrogen-fixing rhizobia promote the growth of leguminous plants through various direct and indirect mechanisms, and their efficiency can be enhanced by integrating them with various organic amendments. Biogas slurry (BGS) improves the physical properties of soil and serves as an organic source of nutrients for plants and microbes. Rhizobia can convert the metal into a less toxic state, whereas BGS can bind it and make it unavailable for plants. Therefore, the current experiment evaluated the effect of rhizobia and BGS on the growth and yield of mung bean in Cr-contaminated soil. It was observed that individual and combined application of rhizobia and BGS ameliorated the Cr-induced adverse effects on crop growth and yield attributes. Combined application yielded more significant results than their sole application and control under Cr stress. Moreover, a significant decline in Cr uptake by the plant was observed due to the integrated application of rhizobia and BGS compared to the control. The collaborative effect of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and BGS can be suitable for improving mung bean growth under Cr-contaminated sites.

AbstractThis research compares the use of the SAR (Sentinel-1) and Optical (Sentinel-2) sensors in identifying and mapping burnt and unburnt scars are rising during a bushfire in southeastern Australia and Margalla Hills, Islamabad, Pakistan, in 2019 and 2020. In order to evaluate the backscatter strength along with the Polarimetric decomposition portion, the C-band dual-polarized Sentinel-1 data was investigated to determine the magnitude of the burnt areas of forest cover in the study area. We could derive texture measurements from locally-based statistics using the Grey Level Co-occurrence Matrix (GLCM) and the backscatter coefficient. This was because of how well it picked up on differences in texture between burned and unburned scars. In contrast, Sentinel-2 optical remote sensing was employed to evaluate the extent of the burnt intensity levels for both regions utilizing the differential Normalized Burnt Ratio (dNBR). A Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Markov Random Field (MRF) classifier were utilized to investigate the study’s context. The ideal smoothing parameter is the result of incorporating the image’s spectral characteristics and spatial meaning. Sentinel-2 images were used as a foundation for both the test and training datasets, which were built from images of both unburned and burned areas broken down pixel by pixel. In both types, including spectral sensitivity and sensitivity of Polarimetric for the two groups identified after classification, the experimental findings showed a clear association between them. The algorithm’s efficiency was evaluated using the kappa coefficient and F-score calculation. Except for Sentinel-1 data in Pakistan, all fire areas have more than 0.80 accuracies. The highest precision of both Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 was also provided by the performance of users’ and producers’ accuracy. The entropy alpha decomposition helped define the target given by the H-a plane based on its physical properties. After the burn, the entropy and alpha values diminished and formed a pattern. However, the findings in this field validate the effectiveness of SAR sensors data and optical satellite in forest applications. The related sensitivity is highly dependent on the composition of the landscape, the geographical nature of the study area, and the severity of the burn.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) and acute kidney injury (AKI) are common, heterogeneous, and morbid diseases. Mechanistic characterization of CKD and AKI in patients may facilitate a precision-medicine approach to prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. The Kidney Precision Medicine Project aims to ethically and safely obtain kidney biopsies from participants with CKD or AKI, create a reference kidney atlas, and characterize disease subgroups to stratify patients based on molecular features of disease, clinical characteristics, and associated outcomes. An additional aim is to identify critical cells, pathways, and targets for novel therapies and preventive strategies. This project is a multicenter prospective cohort study of adults with CKD or AKI who undergo a protocol kidney biopsy for research purposes. This investigation focuses on kidney diseases that are most prevalent and therefore substantially burden the public health, including CKD attributed to diabetes or hypertension and AKI attributed to ischemic and toxic injuries. Reference kidney tissues (for example, living-donor kidney biopsies) will also be evaluated. Traditional and digital pathology will be combined with transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic analysis of the kidney tissue as well as deep clinical phenotyping for supervised and unsupervised subgroup analysis and systems biology analysis. Participants will be followed prospectively for 10 years to ascertain clinical outcomes. Cell types, locations, and functions will be characterized in health and disease in an open, searchable, online kidney tissue atlas. All data from the Kidney Precision Medicine Project will be made readily available for broad use by scientists, clinicians, and patients.

Abstract Background Health systems aim to provide a range of services to meet the growing demand of Dubai's heathcare system aims to provide a range of services to meet the growing demand of its population health needs and to ensure that standards of easy access, quality, equity and responsiveness are maintained. Dubai Health Authority (DHA) uses health services planning tools to assess the health needs of its population and sets priorities and effective regulatory strategies to achieve equilibrium of supply and demand of healthcare services and ensure adequate healthcare services are available, in terms of both quality and quantity. This study aims to measure the gap between demand and supply in health care services in Dubai at the baseline and to forecast the gap size and type (according to medical specialty, key medical planning units and geographical area) till 2030. The specific consequential aim includes identification of appropriate strategic directions for regulation, licensing, policies, insurance. Methodology The supply of healthcare services, professionals and medical equipment is captured through a census of all healthcare facilities licensed for practice in the Emirate of Dubai. The demand is estimated using a need based approach, where demand for episodes of medical care are estimated by age and gender and aligned to the internationally defined diagnosis related groups (IR-DGRs). The estimated episodes are then forecasted into the future, until 2030, using three scenarios of population growth (high, medium and low) for the emirate of Dubai. The captured supply and forecasted demand has been categorized into eight key health-planning units (KPUs) to allow for understanding of the population healthcare service needs by main service categories. Using a software for health services planning, a gap analysis between supply and demand is conducted till year 2030. Results The results revealed a current and expected undersupply and oversupply for some healthcare services by medical specialty and geographical area of the Emirate. By 2030, the largest gaps exists in acute beds, which would require 1,590 additional beds, for acute-same day beds, an additional 1575 beds, for outpatient consultation rooms, an additional 2,160 consultation rooms, for emergency department, an additional 107 emergency bays, and for long-term care and rehabilitation beds, an additional 675 beds. The top specialty needs for these categories include cardiology, orthopedics, rheumatology, psychiatry, pediatric medicine & surgery, gastroenterology, hematology & oncology, renal medicine, primary care, respiratory medicine, endocrinology, rehabilitation and long-term care. Conclusions There is an existing and growing requirement to support the healthcare services capacity needs for the top service lines and geographical areas with the largest gaps. Future licensing is required to ensure that new facilities are geographically distributed in a balanced way, and requests for licensing that create or augment oversupply should be avoided.

Anorexia nervosa and body dysmorphic disorder are often co-morbid and relate to distortions in the perception of self-appearance. It has been proposed that they should be placed in a new body image disorders category in the DSM. Dimensional perspectives suggest that clinical and sub-clinical manifestations of these psychopathologies reside on the same continuum. We explored the correlates of sub-clinical restrictive disordered eating, and sub-clinical body dysmorphia in 396 participants. Our online study tested how sub-clinical restrictive disordered eating, and body dysmorphia relate to self-perceived attractiveness, self-esteem, body-shame, body-pride, authentic and hubristic pride, and personality as described in revised reinforcement sensitivity theory. Body dysmorphia shared significantly stronger positive correlations than restrictive disordered eating with behavioral inhibition sensitivity, body-shame, and body-guilt, and significantly stronger negative correlations with self-esteem, and self-perceived attractiveness. Restrictive disordered eating and body dysmorphia were negatively correlated with authentic and hubristic pride. Hierarchical regression showed that reinforcement sensitivity explained more variance in body dysmorphia than in restrictive disordered eating (Model 1). Self-esteem and self-perceived attractiveness explained more of the additional variance in body dysmorphia than in restrictive disordered eating (Model 2), as did the addition of body-shame, body-pride, authentic and hubristic pride (Model 3). Sub-clinical restrictive disordered eating and body dysmorphia relate to several constructs that may be important in understanding the development and/or maintenance of two proposed body image disorders: anorexia nervosa and body dysmorphic disorder.

Drought stress is an important challenge to global food security and agricultural output, and dramatic and rapid climate change has made the problem worse, causing unexpected impacts on the growth, development, and yield of different plants. Understanding the biochemical, ecological, and physiological reactions to these pressures is essential for improved management. Carbon materials’ impacts on plants subjected to different stresses are still poorly studied. Thus, this study was carried out investigate the feasibility of applying carbon nanotubes (CNTs) (0, 20, and 40 mg/L) as a foliar treatment for mitigating the effect of water stress (100%, 75%, and 50% irrigation water, IW) on peanut plants growing in sandy soil through assessments of growth and productivity and some physiological and biochemical measurements. Exposure of peanuts to decreased irrigation water led to significant decreases in growth, yield, photosynthetic pigments, indole acetic acid (IAA), and some nutritional components in peanut seeds, but increased levels of osmolytes such as total soluble carbohydrates (TSS) and proline, in addition to free amino acids and phenolics. However, foliar spraying with CNTs could ameliorate the impacts of decreased irrigation water on growth and production via enhancing the studied physiological parameters, such as photosynthetic pigments, IAA, osmolytes, and phenolics. Furthermore, the application of carbon nanotubes improved the nutrient contents, as expressed by the oil yield, protein yield, total carbohydrates, antioxidant activities (DPPH), B-carotene, lycopene, and flavonoids in peanut seeds, either under normal or water stress conditions. The higher level of CNTs (40 mg/L) was more effective than the lower one (20 mg/L) at increasing the above-mentioned parameters. In conclusion, foliar treatment with carbon nanotubes has the ability to enhance peanut drought tolerance and increase its growth and productivity under sandy soil conditions.

The acute heart rate response (AHRR) to physical activity, which refers to the change in heart rate during and after exercise, has been associated with cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. Previous studies have shown that AHRR is significantly determined by genetics in addition to environmental and lifestyle factors. The aim of this study was to investigate the genetic background of AHRR by analysing ten single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) in 620 samples from the Hungarian population. The AHRR can be characterised as the difference between post-exercise and resting heart rate, i.e., the delta heart rate (ΔHR) defined by the YMCA 3 min step test, with a lower value indicating better cardiovascular fitness. The association of SNPs with ΔHR was analysed both separately and in combination using an optimised polygenic score (oPGS). The results showed that five SNPs (rs10252228, rs459465, rs6022999, rs8097348, and rs12405556) had at least nominally significant (p < 0.05) individual associations with ΔHR. After optimizing the PGS, a cumulative effect was observed for eight SNPs (rs6022999, rs12405556, rs459465, rs10252228, rs8097348, rs10887741, rs12612420, and rs7023003) that had a strong and statistically significant association with ΔHR (B = −2.51, 95% CI: −3.46–−1.76; p = 2.99 × 10−9). Of the four main domains of physical activity, the oPGS showed a significant positive association only with LTPA (B = 84.60; 95%CI: 25.23–143.98; p = 0.005). In conclusion, our results suggest that the SNPs we investigated influence individual leisure-time physical activity, mediated by their effects on the acute heart rate response.

Abstract Interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) mediates diverse functions in bone marrow-derived phagocytes, including phagocytosis and microbe destruction. This cytokine has also been detected at implantation sites under both physiological and pathological conditions in many different species. At these particular sites, the outermost embryonic cell layer in close contact with the maternal tissues, the trophoblast exhibits intense phagocytic activity. To determine whether IFN-gamma affects phagocytosis of mouse-trophoblast cells, ectoplacental cone-derived trophoblast was cultured and evaluated for erythrophagocytosis. Phagocytic activity was monitored ultrastructurally and expressed as percentage of phagocytic trophoblast in total trophoblast cells. Conditioned medium from concanavalin-A-stimulated spleen cells significantly enhanced trophoblast phagocytosis. This effect was blocked by pre-incubation with an anti-IFN-gamma neutralizing antibody. Introduction of mouse recombinant IFN-gamma (mrIFN-gamma) to cultures did not increase cell death, but augmented the percentage of phagocytic cells in a dose-dependent manner. Ectoplacental cones from mice deficient for IFN-gamma receptor alpha-chain showed a significant decrease of the phagocytosis, even under mrIFN-gamma stimulation, suggesting that IFN-gamma-induced phagocytosis are receptor-mediated. Reverse transcriptase-PCR analyses confirmed the presence of mRNA for IFN-gamma receptor alpha and beta-chains in trophoblast cells and detected a significant increase in the mRNA levels of IFN-gamma receptor beta-chain, mainly, when cultured cells were exposed to IFN-gamma. Immunohistochemistry and Western blot analyses also revealed protein expression of the IFN-gamma receptor alpha-chain. These results suggest that IFN-gamma may participate in the phagocytic activation of the mouse trophoblast, albeit the exact mechanism was not hereby elucidated. Protective and/or nutritional fetal benefit may result from this physiological response. In addition, our data also shed some light on the understanding of trophoblast tolerance to inflammatory/immune cytokines during normal gestation.

Adequate soil moisture around the root zone of the crops is essential for optimal plant growth and productivity throughout the crop season, whereas excessive as well as deficient moisture is usually detrimental. A field experiment was conducted on cotton (Gossipium hirsuttum) with three water regimes (viz. well-watered (control); rainfed after one post-sowing irrigation (1-POSI) and rainfed after two post-sowing irrigations (2-POSI)) in main plots and application of eight osmoprotectants in sub plots of Split plot design to quantify the loss of seed cotton yield (SCY) under high and mild moisture stress. The DSSAT-CROPGRO-cotton model was calibrated to validate the response of cotton crop to water stress. Results elucidated that in comparison of well watered (control) crop, 1-POSI and 2-POSI reduced plant height by 13.5–28.4% and lower leaf area index (LAI) by 21.6–37.6%. Pooled analysis revealed that SCY under control was higher by 1,127 kg ha−1 over 1-POSI and 597 kg ha−1 than 2-POSI. The DSSAT-CROPGRO-cotton model fairly simulated the cotton yield as evidenced by good accuracy (d-stat ≥ 0.92) along with lower root mean square error (RMSE) of ≤183.2 kg ha−1; mean absolute percent error (MAPE) ≤6.5% under different irrigation levels. Similarly, simulated and observed biomass also exhibited good agreement with ≥0.98 d-stat; ≤533.7 kg ha−1 RMSE; and ≤4.6% MAPE. The model accurately simulated the periodical LAI, biomass and soil water dynamics as affected by varying water regimes in conformity with periodical observations. Both the experimental and the simulated results confirmed the decline of SCY with any degree of water stress. Thus, a well calibrated DSSAT-CROPGRO-cotton model may be successfully used for estimating the crop performance under varying hydro-climatic conditions.

Lipid bilayers—the main matrix of cell membranes—are a paradigm of soft molecular assemblies whose properties have been evolutionarily optimized to satisfy the functional requirements of cells. For instance, lipid bilayers must be rigid enough to serve as the protective barrier between cells and their environment, yet fluid enough to enable the diffusion of proteins and molecular clusters necessary for biological functions. Inspired by their biological multifunctionality, lipid membranes have also been used as a central design element in many practical applications including artificial cells, drug nanocarriers, and biosensors. Whether biological or synthetic, lipid membranes often involve molecular or nanoscopic additives that modulate the membrane properties through various mechanisms. Hence, how lipid membranes respond to additives has justifiably drawn much attention in recent years. This review summarizes findings and observations on different classes of additives and their effects on structural, thermodynamic, elastic, and dynamical membrane properties that are central to biological function or synthetic membrane performance. The review primarily focuses on phospholipids as a major component of cell membranes and a widely used lipid type in synthetic membrane designs.

The ability to expand and activate natural Killer (NK) cells ex vivo has dramatically changed the landscape in the development of novel adoptive cell therapies for treating cancer over the last decade. NK cells have become a key player for cancer immunotherapy due to their innate ability to kill malignant cells while not harming healthy cells, allowing their potential use as an “off-the-shelf” product. Furthermore, recent advancements in NK cell genetic engineering methods have enabled the efficient generation of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-expressing NK cells that can exert both CAR-dependent and antigen-independent killing. Clinically, CAR-NK cells have shown promising efficacy and safety for treating CD19-expressing hematologic malignancies. While the number of pre-clinical studies using CAR-NK cells continues to expand, it is evident that solid tumors pose a unique challenge to NK cell-based adoptive cell therapies. Major barriers for efficacy include low NK cell trafficking and infiltration into solid tumor sites, low persistence, and immunosuppression by the harsh solid tumor microenvironment (TME). In this review we discuss the barriers posed by the solid tumor that prevent immune cell trafficking and NK cell effector functions. We then discuss promising strategies to enhance NK cell infiltration into solid tumor sites and activation within the TME. This includes NK cell-intrinsic and -extrinsic mechanisms such as NK cell engineering to resist TME-mediated inhibition and use of tumor-targeted agents such as oncolytic viruses expressing chemoattracting and activating payloads. We then discuss opportunities and challenges for using combination therapies to extend NK cell therapies for the treatment of solid tumors.