Effect of three larval diets on the development of the armyworm, Spodoptera latifascia Walker, 1856 (Noctuidae, Lepidoptera)

Some biological effects of feeding larvae of the armyworm Spodoptera latifascia with leaves of three plant species (cotton, soybean and lettuce) have been studied. Some indicative measurements were utilized to determine the host suitability of these three plant species. Cotton leaves (Gossypium hirsutum) were found to be better than soybean (Glycine max) for the development and growth of this insect. Lettuce leaves (Lactuca sativa) were incapable of sustaining this insect. Moreover, the stress of the latter diet was associated with a latent microbial disease, a mixed infection caused by Vairimorpha sp. and a nuclear polyhedrosis virus (NPV). Cotton leaves can be recommended as a suitable diet for mass rearing of this insect species. Due to recent outbreks of S. latifascia observed in the States of São Paulo, Santa Catarina and Paraná and because of the frequent applications of wide spectrum chemical insecticides, it can be expected that this insect will soon become one of the important pests threatening cotton and other economic plantations in Brazil.17718

EU-Funded Telemedicine Projects – Assessment of, and Lessons Learned From, in the Light of the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic

The SARS-CoV-2 health emergency has demonstrated the need for developing structured telemedicine systems to protect citizens from the spread of the virus. Thereby, their importance and the necessity to tailor their diffusion at large scale for providing services both at a distance and in time has been shown. For these reasons, the European Union advocates the digital transition of health systems for the next 5 years. The main aim of this work is to revisit the telemedicine research projects financed by European Community during the period 2000-2020 with particular respect to the results derived from their application. The analysis showed that some integration of tele-care and tele-health could be obtained with tele-monitoring systems and the implementation of Electronic Personal Record (EPR). Furthermore, telemedicine allows enhancing health care in critical environments, to protect health and life of the most vulnerable patients, and to encourage cross-border dialogue. The criteria of “from distance” and “timely delivered” are granted, but the effectiveness of the overall offered services highly depends on the availability and the quality of the input data. Unfortunately, this remains a relevant problem in the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

Inhibition of the Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors by Cobra Venom α-Neurotoxins: Is There a Perspective in Lung Cancer Treatment?

Nicotine exerts its oncogenic effects through the binding to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) and the activation of downstream pathways that block apoptosis and promote neo-angiogenesis. The nAChRs of the α7 subtype are present on a wide variety of cancer cells and their inhibition by cobra venom neurotoxins has been proposed in several articles and reviews as a potential innovative lung cancer therapy. However, since part of the published results was recently retracted, we believe that the antitumoral activity of cobra venom neurotoxins needs to be independently re-evaluated

Novel self-assembling cyclic peptides with reversible supramolecular nanostructures

Self-assembly peptides (SAPs) are an important class of hydrogels used in nanomedicine for tissue repair and neural regeneration. Due to their unique properties, SAPs may be used in a wide range of applications but some limitations, such as low bioavailability and rapid hydrolysis degradation, need to be overcome. Here, we describe the synthesis and characterization of two novel cyclic SAPs without the use of d/l-alternating amino acids, showing a reversible transition of their supramolecular nanostructures, from nanotubes/nanofibers into nanovesicles/nanospheres. The investigation, characterization and optimization are performed using atomic force microscopy (AFM), attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy, Raman analysis, circular dichroism (CD), and rheology measurements. Also, in vitro cell viability assays show negligible toxicity of the representative optimized cyclic SAP towards human neural stem cells (hNSCs). Our results suggest that linear SAP theoretical background can be applied to develop cyclic SAPs, with important implications in the scalable fabrication of inter-changeable nanostructures, as well as for biomedical applications, including tissue regeneration, drug-delivery, drug-design, sensing, imaging, and size selectivity

Quest for barley canopy architecture genes in the hortillus population and whealbi germplasm collection

Barley grains are predominantly used for animal feed and malting, and breeding traditionally focused on increase of grain yield by partitioning biomass from straw to grains. The increasing demand for renewable energy sources makes straw, and specially barley straw characterized by the largest content of carbohydrates among the cereals, a valuable product for its potential conversion into biofuels and other products. The BarPLUS project aims at finding genes, alleles and candidate lines related to barley canopy architecture and photosynthesis, to maximize barley biomass and yield (https://barplus.wordpress.com/). In this framework, our research group focuses on identifying genes and alleles controlling tillering, leaf size and leaf angle traits in barley by exploiting both induced and natural allelic variation. Using a forward genetics approach, we screened the HorTILLUS population (Szurman-Zubrzycka et al., 2018) under both field and controlled conditions, identifying 5 mutants with increased tillering and/or erect leaves. After crossing with four reference cultivars, pools of F2 wild-type and mutant plants were selected to map and identify the underlying genes by exome sequencing (Mascher et al., 2014). In parallel, TILLING of the HorTILLUS population identified four lines carrying mutations in the LBO (Lateral branching oxidoreductase) gene involved in tiller number. In order to explore also natural genetic variation, we are taking advantage of the \u2018WHEALBI\u2019 germplasm collection, which includes 403 exome sequenced diverse accessions (BustosKorts et al., 2019): a field trial on a subset of 240 lines (Fiorenzuola d\u2019Arda, Italy) allowed us to conduct a preliminary genome wide association study based on high-throughput phenotyping for leaf angle (PocketPlant3D smartphone app) and quantitative image-analysis for leaf size. Results will be compared with those from a greenhouse experiment on the same 240 accessions to analyze a wide range of morphological traits and identify associated markers and genomic regions

Naturally Occurring Variants of Human Α9 Nicotinic Receptor Differentially Affect Bronchial Cell Proliferation and Transformation

Isolation of polyadenilated mRNA from human immortalized bronchial epithelial cell line BEP2D revealed the presence of multiple isoforms of RNA coded by the CHRNA9 gene for α9 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR). BEP2D cells were homozygous for the rs10009228 polymorphism encoding for N442S amino acid substitution, and also contained mRNA coding for several truncated isoforms of α9 protein. To elucidate the biologic significance of the naturally occurring variants of α9 nAChR, we compared the biologic effects of overexpression of full-length α9 N442 and S442 proteins, and the truncated α9 variant occurring due to a loss of the exon 4 sequence that causes frame shift and early termination of the translation. These as well as control vector were overexpressed in the BEP2D cells that were used in the assays of proliferation rate, spontaneous vs. tobacco nitrosamine 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK)-induced cellular transformation, and tumorigenicity in cell culture and mice. Overexpression of the S442 variant significantly increased cellular proliferation, and spontaneous and NNK-induced transformation. The N442 variant significantly decreased cellular transformation, without affecting proliferation rate. Overexpression of the truncated α9 significantly decreased proliferation and suppressed cellular transformation. These results suggested that α9 nAChR plays important roles in regulation of bronchial cell growth by endogenous acetylcholine and exogenous nicotine, and susceptibility to NNK-induced carcinogenic transformation. The biologic activities of α9 nAChR may be regulated at the splicing level, and genetic polymorphisms in CHRNA9 affecting protein levels, amino acid sequence and RNA splicing may influence the risk for lung cancer

Multiple Integrated Non-clinical Studies Predict the Safety of Lentivirus-Mediated Gene Therapy for \u3b2-Thalassemia

Gene therapy clinical trials require rigorous non-clinical studies in the most relevant models to assess the benefit-to-risk ratio. To support the clinical development of gene therapy for \u3b2-thalassemia, we performed in vitro and in vivo studies for prediction of safety. First we developed newly GLOBE-derived vectors that were tested for their transcriptional activity and potential interference with the expression of surrounding genes. Because these vectors did not show significant advantages, GLOBE lentiviral vector (LV) was elected for further safety characterization. To support the use of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) transduced by GLOBE LV for the treatment of \u3b2-thalassemia, we conducted toxicology, tumorigenicity, and biodistribution studies in compliance with the OECD Principles of Good Laboratory Practice. We demonstrated a lack of toxicity and tumorigenic potential associated with GLOBE LV-transduced cells. Vector integration site (IS) studies demonstrated that both murine and human transduced HSCs retain self-renewal capacity and generate new blood cell progeny in the absence of clonal dominance. Moreover, IS analysis showed an absence of enrichment in cancer-related genes, and the genes targeted by GLOBE LV in human HSCs are well known sites of integration, as seen in other lentiviral gene therapy trials, and have not been associated with clonal expansion. Taken together, these integrated studies provide safety data supporting the clinical application of GLOBE-mediated gene therapy for \u3b2-thalassemia

Large-angle production of charged pions by 3 GeV/c - 12 GeV/c protons on carbon, copper and tin targets

A measurement of the double-differential $\pi^{\pm}$ production cross-section in proton--carbon, proton--copper and proton--tin collisions in the range of pion momentum 100 \MeVc \leq p < 800 \MeVc and angle 0.35 \rad \le \theta <2.15 \rad is presented. The data were taken with the HARP detector in the T9 beam line of the CERN PS. The pions were produced by proton beams in a momentum range from 3 \GeVc to 12 \GeVc hitting a target with a thickness of 5% of a nuclear interaction length. The tracking and identification of the produced particles was done using a small-radius cylindrical time projection chamber (TPC) placed in a solenoidal magnet. An elaborate system of detectors in the beam line ensured the identification of the incident particles. Results are shown for the double-differential cross-sections at four incident proton beam momenta (3 \GeVc, 5 \GeVc, 8 \GeVc and 12 \GeVc)