Can ceylon leadwort (Plumbago zeylanica L.) acclimate to lead toxicity? - studies of photosynthetic apparatus efficiency

Ceylon leadwort (Plumbago zeylanica) is ornamental plant known for its pharmacological properties arising from the abundant production of various secondary metabolites. It often grows in lead polluted areas. The aim of presented study was to evaluate the survival strategy of P. zeylanica to lead toxicity via photosynthetic apparatus acclimatization. Shoots of P. zeylanica were cultivated on media with different Pb concentrations (0.0, 0.05, and 0.1 g Pb∙l−1). After a four-week culture, the efficiency of the photosynthetic apparatus of plants was evaluated by Chl a fluorescence measurement, photosynthetic pigment, and Lhcb1, PsbA, PsbO, and RuBisCo protein accumulation, antioxidant enzymes activity, and chloroplast ultrastructure observation. Plants from lower Pb concentration revealed no changes in photosynthetic pigments content and light-harvesting complex (LHCII) size, as well as no limitation on the donor side of Photosystem II Reaction Centre (PSII RC). However, the activity and content of antioxidant enzymes indicated a high risk of limitation on the acceptor side of Photosystem I. In turn, plants from 0.1 g Pb∙l−1 showed a significant decrease in pigments content, LHCII size, the amount of active PSII RC, oxygen-evolving complex activity, and significant remodeling of chloroplast ultrastructure indicated limitation of PSII RC donor side. Obtained results indicate that P. zeylanica plants acclimate to lead toxicity by Pb accumulation in roots and, depending on Pb concentration, by adjusting their photosynthetic apparatus via the activation of alternative (cyclic and pseudocyclic) electron transport pathways

Stem photosynthesis : a key element of grass pea (Lathyrus sativus L.) acclimatisation to salinity

Grass pea (Lathyrus sativus) is a leguminous plant of outstanding tolerance to abiotic stress. The aim of the presented study was to describe the mechanism of grass pea (Lathyrus sativus L.) photosynthetic apparatus acclimatisation strategies to salinity stress. The seedlings were cultivated in a hydroponic system in media containing various concentrations of NaCl (0, 50, and 100 mM), imitating none, moderate, and severe salinity, respectively, for three weeks. In order to characterise the function and structure of the photosynthetic apparatus, Chl a fluorescence, gas exchange measurements, proteome analysis, and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) analysis were done inter alia. Significant differences in the response of the leaf and stem photosynthetic apparatus to severe salt stress were observed. Leaves became the place of harmful ion (Na+) accumulation, and the efficiency of their carboxylation decreased sharply. In turn, in stems, the reconstruction of the photosynthetic apparatus (antenna and photosystem complexes) activated alternative electron transport pathways, leading to effective ATP synthesis, which is required for the efficient translocation of Na+ to leaves. These changes enabled efficient stem carboxylation and made them the main source of assimilates. The observed changes indicate the high plasticity of grass pea photosynthetic apparatus, providing an effective mechanism of tolerance to salinity stress

Legal Education at a Crossroads: Innovation, Integration, and Pluralism Required!

We conclude in this Article that expanded practice-based, experiential education will provide foundational learning for the successful transition from law student to law practice, and that clinical education (in-house clinics, hybrid clinics, and externships) is crucial to the preparation of competent, ethical law graduates who are ready to become professionals. We urge law schools to require each graduate complete a minimum of twenty-one experiential course credits over the three years of law school, including at least five credits in law clinics or externships. Twenty-one required credits (or roughly 25 percent of the eighty-three required credits for graduation from an American Bar Association (ABA)-approved law school) would bring legal education closer to, although still below, the experiential and clinical education course requirements of other professions

Curriculum Data Deep Dive: Identifying Data Literacies in the Disciplines

Objective: Evaluate and examine Data Literacy (DL) in the supported disciplines of four liaison librarians at a large research university. Methods: Using a framework developed by Prado and Marzal (2013), the study analyzed 378 syllabi from a two-year period across six departments—Criminal Justice, Geography, Geology, Journalism, Political Science, and Sociology—to see which classes included DLs. Results: The study was able to determine which classes hit on specific DLs and where those classes might need more support in other DLs. The most common DLs being taught in courses are Reading, Interpreting, and Evaluating Data, and Using Data. The least commonly taught are Understanding Data and Managing Data skills. Conclusions: While all disciplines touched on data in some way, there is clear room for librarians to support DLs in the areas of Understanding Data and Managing Data

Procjena učinka nitriranja plazmom titanovih legura za primjenu u medicini

The surface layers obtained on selected titanium alloys, used in medicine, by the nitriding under glow discharge condition were investigated. The results concern of: α- titanium alloy Grade 2 and α + β alloys Grade 5 and Grade 5 ELI nitrided in temperature below 873 K. The nitriding experiments were performed in a current glow-discharge furnace JON-600 with assisting of unconventional methods. After nitriding surface layers were characterised by surface microhardness measurements, chemical depth profiles, microhardness depth profiles and wear resistance tests.Istraživan je površinski sloj dobiven nitriranjem pri toplinskim postupcima odabranih titanovih legura, a koje se rabe u medicini. Rezultati se odnose na α-titanovu leguru 2. stupnja i α + β legure 5. stupnja i 5. stupnja ELI nitriranim na temperaturama ispod 873 K. Pokusi nitriranja su provedeni u prolaznoj toplinskoj peći JON-600 primjenom nekonvencijalnih metoda. Poslije nitriranja površinski slojevi su karakterizirani mjerenjem površinske tvrdoće, te po presjecima dubinski kemijski i mikrotvrdoće te otpor na trošenje

Etiology of severe childhood pneumonia in the Gambia, West Africa, determined by conventional and molecular microbiological analyses of lung and pleural aspirate samples.

Molecular analyses of lung aspirates from Gambian children with severe pneumonia detected pathogens more frequently than did culture and showed a predominance of bacteria, principally Streptococcus pneumoniae, >75% being of serotypes covered by current pneumococcal conjugate vaccines. Multiple pathogens were detected frequently, notably Haemophilus influenzae (mostly nontypeable) together with S. pneumoniae

Antibodies to Enteroviruses in Cerebrospinal Fluid of Patients with Acute Flaccid Myelitis.

Acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) has caused motor paralysis in >560 children in the United States since 2014. The temporal association of enterovirus (EV) outbreaks with increases in AFM cases and reports of fever, respiratory, or gastrointestinal illness prior to AFM in >90% of cases suggest a role for infectious agents. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from 14 AFM and 5 non-AFM patients with central nervous system (CNS) diseases in 2018 were investigated by viral-capture high-throughput sequencing (VirCapSeq-VERT system). These CSF and serum samples, as well as multiple controls, were tested for antibodies to human EVs using peptide microarrays. EV RNA was confirmed in CSF from only 1 adult AFM case and 1 non-AFM case. In contrast, antibodies to EV peptides were present in CSF of 11 of 14 AFM patients (79%), significantly higher than controls, including non-AFM patients (1/5 [20%]), children with Kawasaki disease (0/10), and adults with non-AFM CNS diseases (2/11 [18%]) (P = 0.023, 0.0001, and 0.0028, respectively). Six of 14 CSF samples (43%) and 8 of 11 sera (73%) from AFM patients were immunoreactive to an EV-D68-specific peptide, whereas the three control groups were not immunoreactive in either CSF (0/5, 0/10, and 0/11; P = 0.008, 0.0003, and 0.035, respectively) or sera (0/2, 0/8, and 0/5; P = 0.139, 0.002, and 0.009, respectively).IMPORTANCE The presence in cerebrospinal fluid of antibodies to EV peptides at higher levels than non-AFM controls supports the plausibility of a link between EV infection and AFM that warrants further investigation and has the potential to lead to strategies for diagnosis and prevention of disease