EFFECTIVENESS OF DIQUAT, BOTH ISOLATED AND ASSOCIATED WITH COPPER SOURCES IN CONTROLLING THE Hydrilla verticillata SUBMERGED MACROPHYTES AND ANKISTRODESMUS Gracilis microphyte

ABSTRACT The goal of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of diquat, both isolated and associated with copper sources (oxychloride and hydroxide) in controling the H. verticillata submerged macrophyte and the A. gracilis microalgae. For this purpose, 10.0 cm H. verticillata young branches and 300 mL of A. gracilis culture were used. The experiments were performed in laboratory and the tested diquat concentrations were: 0.1; 0.2; 0.4; 0.8; 1.2; and 1.8 mg L-1, either isolated or added with 1.0% copper oxychlorideand hydroxide, as well as a control sample. On day 3, 7, 11, 21 and 30 after application, phytotoxicity signs were evaluated and on day 60 after application, green and dry biomass production and plant length were measured. To obtain dry mass, plants remained in a greenhouse with forced air circulation at 65.0 oC, until constant weight. On day 1, 7, 15, 21, 30, 45 and 60 after application, the concentration of chlorophyll a in the water was assessed. The herbicide diquat used alone or in combination with sources copper oxychloride and hydroxide was effective in the control of H. verticillata and microalgae A. gracilis

Whole-genome sequencing reveals host factors underlying critical COVID-19

Critical COVID-19 is caused by immune-mediated inflammatory lung injury. Host genetic variation influences the development of illness requiring critical care1 or hospitalization2,3,4 after infection with SARS-CoV-2. The GenOMICC (Genetics of Mortality in Critical Care) study enables the comparison of genomes from individuals who are critically ill with those of population controls to find underlying disease mechanisms. Here we use whole-genome sequencing in 7,491 critically ill individuals compared with 48,400 controls to discover and replicate 23 independent variants that significantly predispose to critical COVID-19. We identify 16 new independent associations, including variants within genes that are involved in interferon signalling (IL10RB and PLSCR1), leucocyte differentiation (BCL11A) and blood-type antigen secretor status (FUT2). Using transcriptome-wide association and colocalization to infer the effect of gene expression on disease severity, we find evidence that implicates multiple genes—including reduced expression of a membrane flippase (ATP11A), and increased expression of a mucin (MUC1)—in critical disease. Mendelian randomization provides evidence in support of causal roles for myeloid cell adhesion molecules (SELE, ICAM5 and CD209) and the coagulation factor F8, all of which are potentially druggable targets. Our results are broadly consistent with a multi-component model of COVID-19 pathophysiology, in which at least two distinct mechanisms can predispose to life-threatening disease: failure to control viral replication; or an enhanced tendency towards pulmonary inflammation and intravascular coagulation. We show that comparison between cases of critical illness and population controls is highly efficient for the detection of therapeutically relevant mechanisms of disease

Quantal Potential Fields around Individual Active Zones of Amphibian Motor-Nerve Terminals

AbstractThe release of a quantum from a nerve terminal is accompanied by the flow of extracellular current, which creates a field around the site of transmitter action. We provide a solution for the extent of this field for the case of a quantum released from a site on an amphibian motor-nerve terminal branch onto the receptor patch of a muscle fiber and compare this with measurements of the field using three extracellular electrodes. Numerical solution of the equations for the quantal potential field in cylindrical coordinates show that the density of the field at the peak of the quantal current gives rise to a peak extracellular potential, which declines approximately as the inverse of the distance from the source at distances greater than about 4μm from the source along the length of the fiber. The peak extracellular potential declines to 20% of its initial value in a distance of about 6μm, both along the length of the fiber and in the circumferential direction around the fiber. Simultaneous recordings of quantal potential fields, made with three electrodes placed in a line at right angles to an FM1–43 visualized branch, gave determinations of the field strengths in accord with the numerical solutions. In addition, the three electrodes were placed so as to straddle the visualized release sites of a branch. The positions of these sites were correctly predicted on the basis of the theory and independently ascertained by FM1–43 staining of the sites. It is concluded that quantal potential fields at the neuromuscular junction that can be measured with available recording techniques are restricted to regions within about 10μm of the release site

In-situ nitrogen removal from the eutrophic water by microbial-plant integrated system

Objective: This study was to assess the influence of interaction of combination of immobilized nitrogen cycling bacteria (INCB) with aquatic macrophytes on nitrogen removal from the eutrophic waterbody, and to get insight into different mechanisms involved in nitrogen removal. Methods: The aquatic macrophytes used include Eichhornia crassipes (summer-autumn floating macrophyte), Elodea nuttallii (winter-growing submerged macrophyte), and nitrogen cycling bacteria including ammonifying, nitrosating, nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria isolated from Taihu Lake. The immobilization carriers materials were made from hydrophilic monomers 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate (HEA) and hydrophobic 2-hydroxyethyl methylacrylate (HEMA). Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the roles of macrophytes combined with INCB on nitrogen removal from eutrophic water during different seasons. Results: Eichhornia crassipes and Elodea nuttallii had different potentials in purification of eutrophic water. Floating macrophyte+bacteria (INCB) performed best in improving water quality (during the first experiment) and decreased total nitrogen (TN) by 70.2%, nitrite and ammonium by 92.2% and 50.9%, respectively, during the experimental period, when water transparency increased from 0.5 m to 1.8 m. When INCB was inoculated into the floating macrophyte system, the populations of nitrosating, nitrifying, and denitrifying bacteria increased by 1 to 2 orders of magnitude compared to the un-inoculated treatments, but ammonifying bacteria showed no obvious difference between different treatments. Lower values of chlorophyll a, COD(Mn), and pH were found in the microbial-plant integrated system, as compared to the control. Highest reduction in N was noted during the treatment with submerged macrophyte+INCB, being 26.1% for TN, 85.2% for nitrite, and 85.2% for ammonium at the end of 2nd experiment. And in the treatment, the populations of ammonifying, nitrosating, nitrifying, and denitrifying bacteria increased by 1 to 3 orders of magnitude, as compared to the un-inoculated treatments. Similar to the first experiment, higher water transparency and lower values of chlorophyll a, COD(Mn) and pH were observed in the plant+INCB integrated system, as compared to other treatments. These results indicated that plant-microbe interaction showed beneficial effects on N removal from the eutrophic waterbody