Structural differences of cell walls in earlywood and latewood of Pinus sylvestris and their contribution to biomass recalcitrance

Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) is an evergreen coniferous tree with wide distribution and good growth performance in a range of habitats. Therefore, wood from P. sylvestris is produced in many managed forests and is frequently used in industry. Despite the importance of pine wood, we still do not fully understand its molecular structure what limits improvements in its processing. One of the basic features leading to variation in wood properties is the presence of earlywood and latewood which form annual growth rings. Here, we characterise biochemical traits that differentiate cell walls of earlywood and latewood in Scots pine. We discover that latewood is less recalcitrant to enzymatic digestion, with galactoglucomannan showing particularly pronounced difference in accessibility. Interestingly, characterisation of lignin reveals a higher proportion of coniferaldehydes in pine latewood and suggests the presence of a different linkage landscape in this wood type. With complementary analysis of wood polysaccharides this enabled us to propose the first detailed molecular model of earlywood and latewood and to conclude that the variation in lignin structure is likely the main determinant of differences in recalcitrance observed between the two wood types in pine. Our discoveries lay the foundation for improvements in industrial processes that use pine wood since we show clear pathways for increasing the efficiency of enzymatic processing of this renewable material. Our work will help guide future breeding of pine trees with desired timber properties and can help link molecular structure of softwood cell walls to function of the different types of xylem in conifers

Design of a Planting Module for an Automatic Device for Forest Regeneration

Forest regeneration by means of seedlings grown in container nurseries is usually performed manually with the use of the standard dibble bar or the tube dibble. Manual placement of a large number of seedlings in the soil requires a lot of work. Manual removal of the soil cover and digging the soil in spots with a diameter of 0.4 m requires, under average conditions, about 38 man-hours/ha, while planting with a dibble bar requires about 34 man-hours/ha. Additional work time is needed to carry seedlings over an area that is being afforested. At present, forestry does not have automatic planters that would enable the establishment of forest cultures. The aim of the paper is to present the concept of an autonomous robot and an innovative technology of performing forest regeneration and afforestation of former agricultural and reclaimed areas. The paper also presents the design solutions of the key working unit, which is a universal, openable dibble, cooperating with a three-toothed shaft to prepare a planting spot. The solution proposed enables continuous operation of the machine, i.e. without the need to stop the base vehicle

Overexpression of miR-128 specifically inhibits the truncated isoform of NTRK3 and upregulates BCL2 in SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Neurotrophins and their receptors are key molecules in the regulation of neuronal differentiation and survival. They mediate the survival of neurons during development and adulthood and are implicated in synaptic plasticity. The human neurotrophin-3 receptor gene <it>NTRK3 </it>yields two major isoforms, a full-length kinase-active form and a truncated non-catalytic form, which activates a specific pathway affecting membrane remodeling and cytoskeletal reorganization. The two variants present non-overlapping 3'UTRs, indicating that they might be differentially regulated at the post-transcriptional level. Here, we provide evidence that the two isoforms of <it>NTRK3 </it>are targeted by different sets of microRNAs, small non-coding RNAs that play an important regulatory role in the nervous system.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We identify one microRNA (miR-151-3p) that represses the full-length isoform of <it>NTRK3 </it>and four microRNAs (miR-128, miR-485-3p, miR-765 and miR-768-5p) that repress the truncated isoform. In particular, we show that the overexpression of miR-128 - a brain enriched miRNA - causes morphological changes in SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells similar to those observed using an siRNA specifically directed against truncated <it>NTRK3</it>, as well as a significant increase in cell number. Accordingly, transcriptome analysis of cells transfected with miR-128 revealed an alteration of the expression of genes implicated in cytoskeletal organization as well as genes involved in apoptosis, cell survival and proliferation, including the anti-apoptotic factor <it>BCL2</it>.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results show that the regulation of <it>NTRK3 </it>by microRNAs is isoform-specific and suggest that neurotrophin-mediated processes are strongly linked to microRNA-dependent mechanisms. In addition, these findings open new perspectives for the study of the physiological role of miR-128 and its possible involvement in cell death/survival processes.</p

A new approach to ticagrelor-based de-escalation of antiplatelet therapy after acute coronary syndrome. A rationale for a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, investigator-initiated, multicenter clinical study

© 2021 Via Medica. This article is available in open access under Creative Common Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/The risk of ischemic events gradually decreases after acute coronary syndrome (ACS), reaching a stable level after 1 month, while the risk of bleeding remains steady during the whole period of dual antiplatelet treatment (DAPT). Several de-escalation strategies of antiplatelet treatment aiming to enhance safety of DAPT without depriving it of its efficacy have been evaluated so far. We hypothesized that reduction of the ticagrelor maintenance dose 1 month after ACS and its continuation until 12 months after ACS may improve adherence to antiplatelet treatment due to better tolerability compared with the standard dose of ticagrelor. Moreover, improved safety of treatment and preserved anti-ischemic benefit may also be expected with additional acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) withdrawal. To evaluate these hypotheses, we designed the Evaluating Safety and Efficacy of Two Ticagrelor-based De-escalation Antiplatelet Strategies in Acute Coronary Syndrome — a randomized clinical trial (ELECTRA-SIRIO 2), to assess the influence of ticagrelor dose reduction with or without continuation of ASA versus DAPT with standard dose ticagrelor in reducing clinically relevant bleeding and main-taining anti-ischemic efficacy in ACS patients. The study was designed as a phase III, randomized, multicenter, double-blind, investigator-initiated clinical study with a 12-month follow-up.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Early administration of LEvosimendan in Patients witH decompensAted chroNic hearT failure (ELEPHANT) study. Rationale and protocol of the study

Dobutamine and levosimendan are both indicated for inotropic support in acute decompensated heart failure (HF). The study aimed to assess the impact of early administration of levosimendan (first iv therapeutic approach) versus dobutamine (first iv therapeutic approach) on in-hospital treatment expenses and clinical outcomes in patients with decompensated chronic HF. The ELEPHANT study was designed as a phase III, multicentre, randomized 1:1, double-blind, active-controlled trial that will include patients admitted to the hospital due to HF decompensation. Co-primary endpoints were defined as total in-hospital expenses/survivor and duration of hospitalization/survivor. Secondary efficacy endpoints: on the last day of hospitalization: occurrence of treatment side effects, body weight change during hospitalization, BNP change during hospitalization, in-hospital mortality, additional levosimendan administration due to the ineffectiveness of the initial treatment. Patients will be randomized 1:1 to the active group receiving continuous infusion 24 h of levosimendan 0.1 μg/kg/min or to the control group receiving continuous infusion 24 h of dobutamine 3 μg/kg/min. After the enrolment of 20 patients, results analysis will be performed (pilot phase — single centre). Based on this analysis conducted according to the intention-to-treat principle, the final population size will be defined. The multicentre phase of the study will be initiated after the pilot phase

A global spectral library to characterize the world's soil

Soil provides ecosystem services, supports human health and habitation, stores carbon and regulates emissions of greenhouse gases. Unprecedented pressures on soil from degradation and urbanization are threatening agro-ecological balances and food security. It is important that we learn more about soil to sustainably manage and preserve it for future generations. To this end, we developed and analyzed a global soil visible-near infrared (vis-NIR) spectral library. It is currently the largest and most diverse database of its kind. We show that the information encoded in the spectra can describe soil composition and be associated to land cover and its global geographic distribution, which acts as a surrogate for global climate variability. We also show the usefulness of the global spectra for predicting soil attributes such as soil organic and inorganic carbon, clay, silt, sand and iron contents, cation exchange capacity, and pH. Using wavelets to treat the spectra, which were recorded in different laboratories using different spectrometers and methods, helped to improve the spectroscopic modelling. We found that modelling a diverse set of spectra with a machine learning algorithm can find the local relationships in the data to produce accurate predictions of soil properties. The spectroscopic models that we derived are parsimonious and robust, and using them we derived a harmonized global soil attribute dataset, which might serve to facilitate research on soil at the global scale. This spectroscopic approach should help to deal with the shortage of data on soil to better understand it and to meet the growing demand for information to assess and monitor soil at scales ranging from regional to global. New contributions to the library are encouraged so that this work and our collaboration might progress to develop a dynamic and easily updatable database with better global coverage. We hope that this work will reinvigorate our community's discussion towards larger, more coordinated collaborations. We also hope that use of the database will deepen our understanding of soil so that we might sustainably manage it and extend the research outcomes of the soil, earth and environmental sciences towards applications that we have not yet dreamed of