Abiotic Degradation of Glyphosate into Aminomethylphosphonic Acid in the Presence of Metals

Glyphosate [<i>N</i>-phosphono-methylglycine (PMG)] is the most used herbicide worldwide, particularly since the development of transgenic glyphosate-resistant (GR) crops. Aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) is the main glyphosate metabolite, and it may be responsible for GR crop damage upon PMG application. PMG degradation into AMPA has hitherto been reckoned mainly as a biological process, produced by soil microorganisms (bacteria and fungi) and plants. In this work, we use density functional calculations to identify the vibrational bands of PMG and AMPA in surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) and attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR–FTIR) spectra experiments. SERS shows the presence of AMPA after glyphosate is deposited from aqueous solution on different metallic surfaces. AMPA is also detected in ATR–FTIR experiments when PMG interacts with metallic ions in aqueous solution. These results reveal an abiotic degradation process of glyphosate into AMPA, where metals play a crucial role

The effect of climate change on avian offspring production: A global meta-analysis

Climate change affects timing of reproduction in many bird species, but few studies have investigated its influence on annual reproductive output. Here, we assess changes in the annual production of young by female breeders in 201 populations of 104 bird species (N = 745,962 clutches) covering all continents between 1970 and 2019. Overall, average offspring production has declined in recent decades, but considerable differences were found among species and populations. A total of 56.7% of populations showed a declining trend in offspring production (significant in 17.4%), whereas 43.3% exhibited an increase (significant in 10.4%). The results show that climatic changes affect offspring production through compounded effects on ecological and life history traits of species. Migratory and larger-bodied species experienced reduced offspring production with increasing temperatures during the chick-rearing period, whereas smaller-bodied, sedentary species tended to produce more offspring. Likewise, multi-brooded species showed increased breeding success with increasing temperatures, whereas rising temperatures were unrelated to reproductive success in single-brooded species. Our study suggests that rapid declines in size of bird populations reported by many studies from different parts of the world are driven only to a small degree by changes in the production of youn

Stem cell mobilization in patients wuth newly diagnosed multiple myeloma after lenalidomide induction therapy

Lenalidomide has raised concerns regarding its potential impact on the ability to collect stem cells for autologous stem cell transplantation, especially after prolonged exposure. The use of cyclophosphamide plus granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) to mobilize peripheral blood stem cells may overcome this concern. In newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM) patients, we investigated the influence of lenalidomide on stem cell collection. In a prospective study, 346 patients received four cycles of lenalidomide-dexamethasone (Rd). Stem cells were mobilized with cyclophosphamide and G-CSF. Patients failing to collect a minimum of 4 7 10 6 CD34 +/kg cells received a second mobilization course. After mobilization, a median yield of 8.7 7 10 6 CD34 +/kg was obtained from patients receiving Rd induction. After first mobilization, inadequate yield was observed in 21% of patients, whereas only 9% of patients failed to collect the target yield after the second mobilization attempt. In conclusion, we confirm that a short induction with lenalidomide allowed sufficient stem cells collection to perform autologous transplantation in 91% of newly diagnosed patients