Comparative effect of the fungicide Prochloraz-Mn on Agaricus bisporus vegetative-mycelium and fruit-body cell walls

Fungicides to control mycopathogens of commercial Agaricus bisporus, a mushroom cultivated for human consumption, are a major field of study, since these chemicals are toxic to both the host and its fungal parasites. The fungicide Prochloraz-Mn, used at its LD50 for A. bisporus, partially inhibited protein biosynthesis in the vegetative mycelial cell walls of this mushroom and caused significant changes in cell-wall polysaccharide structure, as deduced by methylation analysis and gas liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (GLC-MS). Furthermore, the aggregated mycelial walls showed distinct alterations in their overall chemical composition following the administration of Prochloraz-Mn at the LD50 and the LD50 ×1000. As expected, GLC-MS studies indicated that the latter dose caused more appreciable differences in polysaccharide structure. The decrease in mushroom crop yields obtained from industrial cultures treated with Prochloraz-Mn to control V. fungicola infection depended on the dose of the fungicide employed, whereas fruit-body morphology was only slightly affected at the highest Prochloraz-Mn concentration used. [Int Microbiol 2004; 7(4):277-281

From the Body to the City: Rethinking Our Territories from Collective Research with Social Cartography

[ES] En tiempos urbanos nuestros cuerpos han sido desconectados de su medio natural. Nuestros hogares han invisibilizado desigualdades estructurales. Nuestra individualidad ha roto lazos comunitarios y poco a poco hemos perdido nuestra capacidad de actuar para el bien común. Ante tal escenario, es necesario desarrollar metodologías innovadoras desde procesos de investigación colectiva capaces de reconectar a las futuras generaciones con las problemáticas y desigualdades de nuestros territorios. Somos territorio y el territorio es el reflejo de las personas que somos. En este sentido, el presente artículo pretende explorar la experiencia de innovación pedagógica desarrollada desde la investigación colectiva con cartografía social junto con el alumnado de 4º de Primaria del ceip Vicente Gaos de la ciudad de Valencia. El proceso es una iniciativa piloto impulsada por el Instituto de Gestión de la Innovación y del Conocimiento ¿ Ingenio (csic ¿ upv) y la maestra tutora de la clase, que han participado activamente en el co-diseño y facilitación de la cartografía social. La experiencia pretende conectar al alumnado con el territorio, desde la reflexión-acción sobre sus propios cuerpos, hogares y ciudad, con el fin de facilitar el desarrollo de habilidades, aptitudes y capacidades para el ejercicio del derecho a la ciudad hacia el desarrollo humano y sostenible.[EN] En temps urbans els nostres cossos han estat desconnectats del seu medi natural. Els nostres llars han invisibilitzat desigualtats estructurals. La nostra individualitat ha trencat llaços comunitaris i poc a poc hem perdut la nostra capacitat d¿actuar per al bé comú. Davant aquest escenari, cal desenvolupar metodologies innovadores des de processos d¿investigació col·lectiva capaços de reconnectar les futures generacions amb les problemàtiques i desigualtats dels nostres territoris. Som territori i el territori és el reflex de les persones que som. En aquest sentit, el present article pretén explorar l¿experiència d¿innovació pedagògica desenvolupada des de la investigació col·lectiva amb cartografia social juntament amb l¿alumnat de 4t de Primària del ceip Vicente Gaos de la ciutat de València. El procés és una iniciativa pilot impulsada per l¿Institut de Gestió de la Innovació i del Coneixement - Ingenio (csic - upv) i la mestra tutora de la classe, que han participat activament en el co-disseny i facilitació de la cartografia social. L¿experiència pretén connectar l¿alumnat amb el territori, des de la reflexió-acció sobre els seus propis cossos, llars i ciutat, per tal de facilitar el desenvolupament d¿habilitats, aptituds i capacitats per a l¿exercici del dret a la ciutat cap al desenvolupament humà i sostenible.[EN] In the urban era our bodies have been disconnected from their natural environment. Our homes have made structural inequalities invisible. Our individuality has broken community ties, and we have gradually lost our ability to act for the common good. Given this scenario, innovative methodologies must be developed from collective research processes that can reconnect future generations with the problems and inequalities of our territories. We are territory and the territory is the reflection of the people we are. The present article follows this line to explore the experience of a pedagogical innovation developed through collective research using social mapping with year 4 pupils at the Vicente Gaos infant and primary school in Valencia. The process is a pilot initiative promoted by the Institute for Innovation and Knowledge Management - Ingenio (csic - upv) and the class tutor, who played an active part in co-designing and facilitating the social mapping project. The aim of the experience is to connect the students with the territory, by reflection-action on their own bodies, homes and city, to facilitate the development of skills, aptitudes and capacities with which to exercise the right to the city and promote human and sustainable development.Leivas-Vargas, M.; Boni Aristizábal, A.; Mendoza Crespo, M. (2017). Del cuerpo a la ciudad: repensando nuestros territorios desde la investigación colectiva con cartografía social. Kultur. 4(8):169-190. doi:10.6035/Kult-ur.2017.4.8.6S1691904

The burden of dengue in children by calculating spatial temperature : A methodological approach using remote sensing techniques

Funding: This research received no external funding Data Availability Statement: The authors encourage collaboration and use of the data by other re- searchers. Data are stored on the server in Mexico, and researchers interested in using the data for scientific purposes should contact the project leader Oliver Mendoza-Cano.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Trends in the medical repatriation of Filipino seafarers: a ten year study of a Philippine maritime shipping company (OSM Maritime)

Background: Seafarers, confronted with unique health challenges, occasionally necessitate medical repatriation.This study examines the trends in medical repatriation cases among Filipino seafarers employedby OSM Maritime shipping company over a 10-year period from 2013 to 2022.Materials and methods: Medical records of OSM Maritime seafarers were reviewed, obtaining causes forand dates of medical repatriation. International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) was utilised to classifyrepatriation cases. Proportion of repatriation cases were calculated and their annual trends were analysed.Results: Our findings reveal that the majority of repatriation cases are attributed to injury/trauma (19.91%),musculoskeletal (18.40%), gastrointestinal (16.56%), cardiovascular (8.77%), infectious (6.82%),and genitourinary conditions (5.30%). Significantly, the study identifies a declining trend in the proportionof cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, and genitourinary conditions in annual repatriation cases, particularlyin ischaemic heart conditions, cholelithiasis, cholecystitis, and urinary calculus.Conclusions: These results emphasize the critical need for multisectoral collaboration to enhance seafarers’health and well-being. Prioritizing comprehensive care programmes, ensuring safe working conditions,and exploring holistic healthcare initiatives are essential steps to enhance seafarers’ occupational health

Basin-wide variation in tree hydraulic safety margins predicts the carbon balance of Amazon forests

Funding: Data collection was largely funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) project TREMOR (NE/N004655/1) to D.G., E.G. and O.P., with further funds from Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brasil (CAPES, finance code 001) to J.V.T. and a University of Leeds Climate Research Bursary Fund to J.V.T. D.G., E.G. and O.P. acknowledge further support from a NERC-funded consortium award (ARBOLES, NE/S011811/1). This paper is an outcome of J.V.T.’s doctoral thesis, which was sponsored by CAPES (GDE 99999.001293/2015-00). J.V.T. was previously supported by the NERC-funded ARBOLES project (NE/S011811/1) and is supported at present by the Swedish Research Council Vetenskapsrådet (grant no. 2019-03758 to R.M.). E.G., O.P. and D.G. acknowledge support from NERC-funded BIORED grant (NE/N012542/1). O.P. acknowledges support from an ERC Advanced Grant and a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award. R.S.O. was supported by a CNPq productivity scholarship, the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP-Microsoft 11/52072-0) and the US Department of Energy, project GoAmazon (FAPESP 2013/50531-2). M.M. acknowledges support from MINECO FUN2FUN (CGL2013-46808-R) and DRESS (CGL2017-89149-C2-1-R). C.S.-M., F.B.V. and P.R.L.B. were financed by Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brasil (CAPES, finance code 001). C.S.-M. received a scholarship from the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq 140353/2017-8) and CAPES (science without borders 88881.135316/2016-01). Y.M. acknowledges the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and ERC Advanced Investigator Grant (GEM-TRAITS, 321131) for supporting the Global Ecosystems Monitoring (GEM) network (gem.tropicalforests.ox.ac.uk), within which some of the field sites (KEN, TAM and ALP) are nested. The authors thank Brazil–USA Collaborative Research GoAmazon DOE-FAPESP-FAPEAM (FAPESP 2013/50533-5 to L.A.) and National Science Foundation (award DEB-1753973 to L. Alves). They thank Serrapilheira Serra-1709-18983 (to M.H.) and CNPq-PELD/POPA-441443/2016-8 (to L.G.) (P.I. Albertina Lima). They thank all the colleagues and grants mentioned elsewhere [8,36] that established, identified and measured the Amazon forest plots in the RAINFOR network analysed here. The authors particularly thank J. Lyod, S. Almeida, F. Brown, B. Vicenti, N. Silva and L. Alves. This work is an outcome approved Research Project no. 19 from ForestPlots.net, a collaborative initiative developed at the University of Leeds that unites researchers and the monitoring of their permanent plots from the world’s tropical forests [61]. The authros thank A. Levesley, K. Melgaço Ladvocat and G. Pickavance for ForestPlots.net management. They thank Y. Wang and J. Baker, respectively, for their help with the map and with the climatic data. The authors acknowledge the invaluable help of M. Brum for kindly providing the comparison of vulnerability curves based on PAD and on PLC shown in this manuscript. They thank J. Martinez-Vilalta for his comments on an early version of this manuscript. The authors also thank V. Hilares and the Asociación para la Investigación y Desarrollo Integral (AIDER, Puerto Maldonado, Peru); V. Saldaña and Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonía Peruana (IIAP) for local field campaign support in Peru; E. Chavez and Noel Kempff Natural History Museum for local field campaign support in Bolivia; ICMBio, INPA/NAPPA/LBA COOMFLONA (Cooperativa mista da Flona Tapajós) and T. I. Bragança-Marituba for the research support.Tropical forests face increasing climate risk1,2, yet our ability to predict their response to climate change is limited by poor understanding of their resistance to water stress. Although xylem embolism resistance thresholds (for example, Ψ50) and hydraulic safety margins (for example, HSM50) are important predictors of drought-induced mortality risk3-5, little is known about how these vary across Earth's largest tropical forest. Here, we present a pan-Amazon, fully standardized hydraulic traits dataset and use it to assess regional variation in drought sensitivity and hydraulic trait ability to predict species distributions and long-term forest biomass accumulation. Parameters Ψ50 and HSM50 vary markedly across the Amazon and are related to average long-term rainfall characteristics. Both Ψ50 and HSM50 influence the biogeographical distribution of Amazon tree species. However, HSM50 was the only significant predictor of observed decadal-scale changes in forest biomass. Old-growth forests with wide HSM50 are gaining more biomass than are low HSM50 forests. We propose that this may be associated with a growth-mortality trade-off whereby trees in forests consisting of fast-growing species take greater hydraulic risks and face greater mortality risk. Moreover, in regions of more pronounced climatic change, we find evidence that forests are losing biomass, suggesting that species in these regions may be operating beyond their hydraulic limits. Continued climate change is likely to further reduce HSM50 in the Amazon6,7, with strong implications for the Amazon carbon sink.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Fungal Systematics and Evolution: FUSE 8

In this 8th contribution to the Fungal Systematics and Evolution series published by Sydowia, the authors formally describe 11 species: Cortinarius caryae, C. flavolilacinus, C. lilaceolamellatus, C. malodorus, C. olivaceolamellatus, C. quercophilus, C. violaceoflavescens, C. viridicarneus, Entoloma meridionale (Agaricales), Hortiboletus rupicapreus (Boletales), and Paraglomus peruvianum (Paraglomerales). The following new country records are reported: Bolbitius callistus (Agaricales) from Russia and Hymenoscyphus equiseti (Helotiales) from Sweden. Hymenoscyphus equiseti is proposed as a new combination for Lanzia equiseti, based on ITS and LSU sequence data in combination with morphological study

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Worldwide trends in hypertension prevalence and progress in treatment and control from 1990 to 2019: a pooled analysis of 1201 population-representative studies with 104 million participants.

BACKGROUND: Hypertension can be detected at the primary health-care level and low-cost treatments can effectively control hypertension. We aimed to measure the prevalence of hypertension and progress in its detection, treatment, and control from 1990 to 2019 for 200 countries and territories. METHODS: We used data from 1990 to 2019 on people aged 30-79 years from population-representative studies with measurement of blood pressure and data on blood pressure treatment. We defined hypertension as having systolic blood pressure 140 mm Hg or greater, diastolic blood pressure 90 mm Hg or greater, or taking medication for hypertension. We applied a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate the prevalence of hypertension and the proportion of people with hypertension who had a previous diagnosis (detection), who were taking medication for hypertension (treatment), and whose hypertension was controlled to below 140/90 mm Hg (control). The model allowed for trends over time to be non-linear and to vary by age. FINDINGS: The number of people aged 30-79 years with hypertension doubled from 1990 to 2019, from 331 (95% credible interval 306-359) million women and 317 (292-344) million men in 1990 to 626 (584-668) million women and 652 (604-698) million men in 2019, despite stable global age-standardised prevalence. In 2019, age-standardised hypertension prevalence was lowest in Canada and Peru for both men and women; in Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, and some countries in western Europe including Switzerland, Spain, and the UK for women; and in several low-income and middle-income countries such as Eritrea, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Solomon Islands for men. Hypertension prevalence surpassed 50% for women in two countries and men in nine countries, in central and eastern Europe, central Asia, Oceania, and Latin America. Globally, 59% (55-62) of women and 49% (46-52) of men with hypertension reported a previous diagnosis of hypertension in 2019, and 47% (43-51) of women and 38% (35-41) of men were treated. Control rates among people with hypertension in 2019 were 23% (20-27) for women and 18% (16-21) for men. In 2019, treatment and control rates were highest in South Korea, Canada, and Iceland (treatment >70%; control >50%), followed by the USA, Costa Rica, Germany, Portugal, and Taiwan. Treatment rates were less than 25% for women and less than 20% for men in Nepal, Indonesia, and some countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Oceania. Control rates were below 10% for women and men in these countries and for men in some countries in north Africa, central and south Asia, and eastern Europe. Treatment and control rates have improved in most countries since 1990, but we found little change in most countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Oceania. Improvements were largest in high-income countries, central Europe, and some upper-middle-income and recently high-income countries including Costa Rica, Taiwan, Kazakhstan, South Africa, Brazil, Chile, Turkey, and Iran. INTERPRETATION: Improvements in the detection, treatment, and control of hypertension have varied substantially across countries, with some middle-income countries now outperforming most high-income nations. The dual approach of reducing hypertension prevalence through primary prevention and enhancing its treatment and control is achievable not only in high-income countries but also in low-income and middle-income settings. FUNDING: WHO