Biochars from animal wastes as alternative materials to treat colored effluents containing Basic Red 9

Bovine bones (BB) and fish scales (FS) were used as alternative precursors to produce biochars, which in turn, were applied for the removal of Basic Red 9 (BR9) from aqueous solutions. BB and FS were pyrolyzed generating a solid (biochars), a liquid (pyrolytic oils) and a gas fraction. All fractions were characterized to evaluate the pyrolysis process. The biochars presented different functional groups and a mesoporous structure with surface areas around 90 m2 g–1. Both biochars demonstrated potential to adsorb BR9, with maximum adsorption capacities of 49.5 (BB–biochar) and 52.3 mg g–1 (FS–biochar). Pyrolytic oils were composed mainly by palmitic acid (BB) and imidazolidinedione (FS), which are compounds with biological and antioxidant activity. Pyrolysis of BB generated CO2 while pyrolysis of FS generated H2. In summary, bovine bones and fish scales are promising precursors to concomitantly produce biochars with great adsorbent potential and oils with interesting characteristics

VLP-Based COVID-19 Vaccines: An Adaptable Technology against the Threat of New Variants.

Virus-like particles (VLPs) are a versatile, safe, and highly immunogenic vaccine platform. Recently, there are developmental vaccines targeting SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic affected humanity worldwide, bringing out incomputable human and financial losses. The race for better, more efficacious vaccines is happening almost simultaneously as the virus increasingly produces variants of concern (VOCs). The VOCs Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta share common mutations mainly in the spike receptor-binding domain (RBD), demonstrating convergent evolution, associated with increased transmissibility and immune evasion. Thus, the identification and understanding of these mutations is crucial for the production of new, optimized vaccines. The use of a very flexible vaccine platform in COVID-19 vaccine development is an important feature that cannot be ignored. Incorporating the spike protein and its variations into VLP vaccines is a desirable strategy as the morphology and size of VLPs allows for better presentation of several different antigens. Furthermore, VLPs elicit robust humoral and cellular immune responses, which are safe, and have been studied not only against SARS-CoV-2 but against other coronaviruses as well. Here, we describe the recent advances and improvements in vaccine development using VLP technology

Antimicrobial activity of Lafoensia pacari phenolics-containing extract against common bean phytopathogens.

Lafoensia pacari represents an alternative to control phytopathogens and common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) diseases. This study aimed to investigate the chemical composition of L. pacari phenolics-containing extract obtained from leaves and assess its in vitro and in vivo inhibitory activity against Curtobacterium flaccumfaciens pv. flaccumfaciens, Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. phaseoli, Xanthomonas fuscans subsp. fuscans,Xanthomonas sp., Colletotrichum lindemuthianum, Fusarium oxysporum and Macrophomina phaseolina. The microbial susceptibility screening and the extract?s potential to reduce the anthracnose severity and the common bacterial blight were examined. Eleven phenolic compounds were identified, eight of which were described for the first time in L. pacari leaves: gentisic, caffeic, p-coumaric, protocatechuic and vanillic acids, luteolin, naringenin and quercetin. The L. pacari extract completely inhibited bacterial growth at the concentration of 0.62-1.25 %, as well as the mycelial growth of the C. lindemuthianum (BRM 007626) isolate at the concentration of 5 % (v/v).Under greenhouse conditions, the extract led to the control of the common bacterial blight caused by X. axonopodis pv. phaseoli (BRM 25302) in the Pérola bean cultivar and to a low efficiency in the control of anthracnose caused by C. lindemuthianum (BRM 007447) in the IPA 7419 cultivar

Population structure and evidence for both clonality and recombination among Brazilian strains of the subgenus Leishmania (Viannia).

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Parasites of the subgenus Leishmania (Viannia) cause varying clinical symptoms ranging from cutaneous leishmaniases (CL) with single or few lesions, disseminated CL (DL) with multiple lesions to disfiguring forms of mucocutaneous leishmaniasis (MCL). In this population genetics study, 37 strains of L. (V.) guyanensis, 63 of L. (V.) braziliensis, four of L. (V.) shawi, six of L. (V.) lainsoni, seven of L. (V.) naiffi, one each of L. (V.) utingensis and L. (V.) lindenbergi, and one L. (V.) lainsoni/L. naiffi hybrid from different endemic foci in Brazil were examined for variation at 15 hyper-variable microsatellite markers. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The multilocus microsatellite profiles obtained for the 120 strains were analysed using both model- and distance-based methods. Significant genetic diversity was observed for all L. (Viannia) strains studied. The two cluster analysis approaches identified two principal genetic groups or populations, one consisting of strains of L. (V.) guyanensis from the Amazon region and the other of strains of L. (V.) braziliensis isolated along the Atlantic coast of Brazil. A third group comprised a heterogeneous assembly of species, including other strains of L. braziliensis isolated from the north of Brazil, which were extremely polymorphic. The latter strains seemed to be more closely related to those of L. (V.) shawi, L. (V.) naiffi, and L. (V.) lainsoni, also isolated in northern Brazilian foci. The MLMT approach identified an epidemic clone consisting of 13 strains of L. braziliensis from Minas Gerais, but evidence for recombination was obtained for the populations of L. (V.) braziliensis from the Atlantic coast and for L. (V.) guyanensis. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Different levels of recombination versus clonality seem to occur within the subgenus L. (Viannia). Though clearly departing from panmixia, sporadic, but long-term sustained recombination might explain the tremendous genetic diversity and limited population structure found for such L. (Viannia) strains

Induction of accessory corpus luteum in goats and sheep: From physiological basis to reproductive effects.

Abstract: The identification of ovarian follicular waves and associated hormonal milieux has revealed that dominant follicles of the ovulatory wave (OWDF) grow in a hormonal environment where there is an increasing predominance of estradiol, unlike first-wave dominant follicles (FWDF) and intermediate-wave dominant follicles (IWDF), which grow under increasing progesterone (P4) concentrations. The luteinizing hormone (LH) is considered the decisive gonadotropic hormone to direct whether a dominant follicle will (? LH) or will not (? LH) ovulate. Based on this, strategies have been developed to either increase endogenous LH (GnRH administration) or provide exogenous LH of porcine origin (pLH) or LH-like gonadotropins, such as human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). Such strategies are able to provide LH for final maturation, ovulation, and/or luteinization of the FWDF or IWDF, forming accessory corpora lutea (aCL). As a consequence, P4 increases and favors the establishment of pregnancy, particularly when P4 is the limiting factor for the success of the conceptus implantation and maintenance. In sheep and goats, previous studies have administered hCG five to seven days after the onset of estrus and revealed that FWDF positively respond to hCG administration by either forming aCLs and/or promoting hypertrofia of the original CL which, in turn, increases its luteal tissue area. Normally, P4 synthesis increases along with the increase in luteal tissue area. As a final and most desirable outcome, pregnancy and the birth of lambs/kids also increase. These concepts will be discussed in this review, focusing on aCL induction in sheep and goats. [Indução de corpo lúteo acessório em caprinos e ovinos: Das bases fisiológicas aos efeitos reprodutivos]. Resumo: A identificação das ondas foliculares ovarianas e de seu padrão hormonal revelou que os folículos ovarianos dominantes da onda ovulatória (FDOO) crescem em ambiente hormonal com predominância crescente de estradiol, diferentemente daqueles da primeira (FDPO) e das ondas foliculares intermediárias (FDOI), que crescem sob forte impacto da progesterona (P4). O hormônio luteinizante (LH) é considerado o hormônio gonadotrófico decisivo para direcionar se um folículo dominante ovulará (? LH) ou não (? LH). Estratégias foram desenvolvidas para aumentar o LH endógeno (administração de GnRH) ou fornecer LH exógeno de origem suína (pLH) ou, ainda, gonadotrofinas semelhantes ao LH, como gonadotrofina coriônica humana (hCG). Estas medidas são capazes de disponibilizar LH para maturação final, ovulação e/ou luteinização de FDPO ou FDOI, formando corpos lúteos acessórios (CLa). Como consequência, a P4 aumenta e favorece o estabelecimento da gestação, sobretudo em condições em que a P4 for o fator limitante para a implantação e manutenção embrionária. Em ovelhas e cabras, em diferentes estudos, a hCG foi administrada de cinco a sete dias após o início do estro e revelou que o FDPO responde positivamente à administração de hCG, formando CLa e/ou promovendo a hipertrofia do CL formado originalmente, aumentando a área luteal. O incremento da P4 normalmente acompanha o aumento de área do tecido luteal. Como efeito final e mais desejável, a gestação e o nascimento de cordeiros/cabritos também aumentam. Esses conceitos serão discutidos na presente revisão sobre indução de CLa em ovinos e cap.Anais do XXIV Congresso Brasileiro de Reprodução Animal (CBRA-2021) e VIII International Symposium on Animal Biology of Reproduction - Joint Meeting, Belo Horizonte, MG, 19 a 22 de outubro de 2021

Antifungal activity of Origanum vulgare and Rosmarinus officinalis phenolics- containing extracts against Colletotrichum lindemuthianum and in the suppression of anthracnose in common beans.

Oregano (Origanum vulgaris L.) and rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) may contribute to the control of anthracnose in common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). This study aimed to investigate the chemical composition of both extracts by LC-HRMS and their in vitro and in vivo inhibitory activity against C. lindemuthianum isolates. We evaluated the inhibition of mycelial growth, the inhibition of the conidia germination, the phytotoxicity of the extracts in bean detached leaves and the reduction of severity of anthracnose under greenhouse conditions. Ten phenolics were identified: caffeic, p-coumaric, ferulic, gallic, gentisic, protocatechuic and vanillic acids, and quercetin, luteolin and naringenin. Gentisic acid was not reported for these plants in the consulted literature. We verified the complete inhibition of the mycelium growth of C. lindemuthianum by both extracts at about 2% (oregano) and 3% (rosemary), the inhibition of spore germination was for rosemary: 100% and for oregano: 85%, at a concentration of 3% of extracts and no symptoms of phytotoxicity were observed in common bean leaves treated with them. Both extracts were efficient in reducing the severity of anthracnose caused by C. lindemuthianum BRM 007447 in BRS Campeiro and Perola cultivars, in preventive and curative modes. These extracts have shown promise in the practice of sustainable agriculture, under the experimental conditions used

An energy-stable time-integrator for phase-field models

We introduce a provably energy-stable time-integration method for general classes of phase-field models with polynomial potentials. We demonstrate how Taylor series expansions of the nonlinear terms present in the partial differential equations of these models can lead to expressions that guarantee energy-stability implicitly, which are second-order accurate in time. The spatial discretization relies on a mixed finite element formulation and isogeometric analysis. We also propose an adaptive time-stepping discretization that relies on a first-order backward approximation to give an error-estimator. This error estimator is accurate, robust, and does not require the computation of extra solutions to estimate the error. This methodology can be applied to any second-order accurate time-integration scheme. We present numerical examples in two and three spatial dimensions, which confirm the stability and robustness of the method. The implementation of the numerical schemes is done in PetIGA, a high-performance isogeometric analysis framework