Cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata) Development in Time: How Differential Parenchyma Tissue Growth Affects Leafy Head Formation.

This study aims to categorize the morphological changes during cabbage (B. oleracea ssp. capitata) development, seedling, rosette, folding, and heading, and to elucidate the cellular mechanisms of the leaf curvature, essential for the formation of the leafy head. We followed the growth of two cabbage cultivars with distinct head shapes (round and pointed) and one non-heading collard cultivar; we phenotyped the size and volume of the whole plant as well as the size, shape, and curvature of the leaves during growth. By integrating these phenotypic data, we determined the four vegetative stages for both cabbages. The histological phenotypes of microtome sections from five distinct leaf positions of the rosette, folding, and heading leaves at two timepoints during leaf growth were quantified and revealed variations in cellular parameters among leaf types, between leaf positions, and between the adaxial and abaxial sides. We identified two synergistic cellular mechanisms contributing to the curvature of heading leaves: differential growth across the leaf blade, with increased growth at the leaf's center relative to the margins; and the increased expansion of the spongy parenchyma layer compared to the palisade parenchyma layer, resulting in the direction of the curvature, which is inwards. These two processes together contribute to the typical leafy heads of cabbages.

The Role of Swelling in the Regulation of OPA1-Mediated Mitochondrial Function in the Heart In Vitro.

Optic atrophy-1 (OPA1) plays a crucial role in the regulation of mitochondria fusion and participates in maintaining the structural integrity of mitochondrial cristae. Here we elucidate the role of OPA1 cleavage induced by calcium swelling in the presence of Myls22 (an OPA1 GTPase activity inhibitor) and TPEN (an OMA1 inhibitor). The rate of ADP-stimulated respiration was found diminished by both inhibitors, and they did not prevent Ca2+-induced mitochondrial respiratory dysfunction, membrane depolarization, or swelling. L-OPA1 cleavage was stimulated at state 3 respiration; therefore, our data suggest that L-OPA1 cleavage produces S-OPA1 to maintain mitochondrial bioenergetics in response to stress.

Crosstalk between adenine nucleotide transporter and mitochondrial swelling: experimental and computational approaches.

Mitochondrial metabolism and function are modulated by changes in matrix Ca2+. Small increases in the matrix Ca2+ stimulate mitochondrial bioenergetics, whereas excessive Ca2+ leads to cell death by causing massive matrix swelling and impairing the structural and functional integrity of mitochondria. Sustained opening of the non-selective mitochondrial permeability transition pores (PTP) is the main mechanism responsible for mitochondrial Ca2+ overload that leads to mitochondrial dysfunction and cell death. Recent studies suggest the existence of two or more types of PTP, and adenine nucleotide translocator (ANT) and FOF1-ATP synthase were proposed to form the PTP independent of each other. Here, we elucidated the role of ANT in PTP opening by applying both experimental and computational approaches. We first developed and corroborated a detailed model of the ANT transport mechanism including the matrix (ANTM), cytosolic (ANTC), and pore (ANTP) states of the transporter. Then, the ANT model was incorporated into a simple, yet effective, empirical model of mitochondrial bioenergetics to ascertain the point when Ca2+ overload initiates PTP opening via an ANT switch-like mechanism activated by matrix Ca2+ and is inhibited by extra-mitochondrial ADP. We found that encoding a heterogeneous Ca2+ response of at least three types of PTPs, weakly, moderately, and strongly sensitive to Ca2+, enabled the model to simulate Ca2+ release dynamics observed after large boluses were administered to a population of energized cardiac mitochondria. Thus, this study demonstrates the potential role of ANT in PTP gating and proposes a novel mechanism governing the cryptic nature of the PTP phenomenon.

Cardiopulmonary Imaging Utilization and Findings among Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients in Latin America: (From "RIMAC: Registry IMAging Cardiopulmonary among Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients in LATAM").

Objectives: Describe the use and findings of cardiopulmonary imaging-chest X-ray (cX-ray), echocardiography (cEcho), chest CT (cCT), lung ultrasound (LUS), and/or cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (cMRI)-in COVID-19 hospitalizations in Latin America (LATAM). Background: There is a lack of information on the images used and their findings during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in LATAM. Methods: Multicenter, prospective, observational study of COVID-19 inpatients, conducted from March to December 2020, from 12 high-complexity centers, in nine LATAM countries. Adults (>18 years) with at least one imaging modality performed, followed from admission until discharge and/or in-hospital death, were included. Results: We studied 1,435 hospitalized patients (64% males) with a median age of 58 years classified into three regions: Mexico (Mx), 262; Central America and Caribbean (CAC), 428; and South America (SAm), 745. More frequent comorbidities were overweight/obesity, hypertension, and diabetes. During hospitalization, 58% were admitted to the ICU. The in-hospital mortality was 28%, and it was highest in Mx (37%).The most frequent images performed were cCT (61%), mostly in Mx and SAm, and cX-ray (46%), significant in CAC. The cEcho was carried out in 18%, similarly among regions, and LUS was carried out in 7%, with a higher frequently in Mx. Abnormal findings on the cX-ray were peripheral or basal infiltrates, and in cCT abnormal findings were the ground glass infiltrates, more commonly in Mx. In LUS, interstitial syndrome was the most abnormal finding, predominantly in Mx and CAC.Renal failure was the most prevalent complication (20%), predominant in Mx and SAm. Heart failure developed in 13%, predominant in Mx and CAC. Lung thromboembolism was higher in Mx while myocardial infarction was in CAC.Logistic regression showed associations of abnormal imaging findings and their severity, with comorbidities, complications, and evolution. Conclusions: The use and findings of cardiopulmonary imaging in LATAM varied between regions and had a great impact on diagnosis and prognosis.

Genetic dissection of morphological variation in rosette leaves and leafy heads in cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata).

KEY MESSAGE: Correlations between morphological traits of cabbage rosette leaves and heads were found. Genome-wide association studies of these traits identified 50 robust quantitative trait loci in multiple years. Half of these loci affect both organs. Cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata) is an economically important vegetable crop cultivated worldwide. Cabbage plants go through four vegetative stages: seedling, rosette, folding and heading. Rosette leaves are the largest leaves of cabbage plants and provide most of the energy needed to produce the leafy head. To understand the relationship and the genetic basis of leaf development and leafy head formation, 308 cabbage accessions were scored for rosette leaf and head traits in three-year field trials. Significant correlations were found between morphological traits of rosette leaves and heads, namely leaf area with the head area, height and width, and leaf width with the head area and head height, when heads were harvested at a fixed number of days after sowing. Fifty robust quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for rosette leaf and head traits distributed over all nine chromosomes were identified with genome-wide association studies. All these 50 loci were identified in multiple years and generally affect multiple traits. Twenty-five of the QTL were associated with both rosette leaf and leafy head traits. We discuss thirteen candidate genes identified in these QTL that are expressed in heading leaves, with an annotation related to auxin and other phytohormones, leaf development, and leaf polarity that likely play a role in leafy head development or rosette leaf expansion.

High Hydrostatic Pressure to Increase the Biosynthesis and Extraction of Phenolic Compounds in Food: A Review.

Phenolic compounds from fruits and vegetables have shown antioxidant, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, among other beneficial properties for human health. All these benefits have motivated multiple studies about preserving, extracting, and even increasing the concentration of these compounds in foods. A diverse group of vegetable products treated with High Hydrostatic Pressure (HHP) at different pressure and time have shown higher phenolic content than their untreated counterparts. The increments have been associated with an improvement in their extraction from cellular tissues and even with the activation of the biosynthetic pathway for their production. The application of HHP from 500 to 600 MPa, has been shown to cause cell wall disruption facilitating the release of phenolic compounds from cell compartments. HPP treatments ranging from 15 to 100 MPa during 10-20 min at room temperature have produced changes in phenolic biosynthesis with increments up to 155%. This review analyzes the use of HHP as a method to increase the phenolic content in vegetable systems. Phenolic content changes are associated with either an immediate stress response, with a consequent improvement in their extraction from cellular tissues, or a late stress response that activates the biosynthetic pathways of phenolics in plants.

Neurophysiological Intraoperative Monitoring in the Elderly.

INTRODUCTION: Intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM) is widely used to prevent nervous system injury during surgeries in elderly patients. However, there are no studies that describe the characteristics and changes in neurophysiological tests during the IONM of patients aged 60 years and older. The study aims to describe and compare IONM changes during surgeries in adult patients aged 18 to 59 years with those aged 60 years and older. METHODS: We performed a comparative retrospective study of patients aged 18 to 59 years versus those 60 aged years and older who underwent IONM during 2013 to 2018 in Mexico City. Sociodemographic characteristics were recorded and compared. Intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring techniques, their changes, and surgical procedures for both groups were analyzed and compared using descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney U, Fisher, and χ2 tests. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values were calculated. RESULTS: In total, 195 patients were analyzed: 104 patients, 68.63 ± 6.54 years old (elderly group) and 91 patients, 42.3 ± 10.5 years old (younger group). No differences were found in the rates of signal change during IONM between the group of elderly patients and the younger group. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values were 80%, 99%, 80%, and 99%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Elderly patients have a similar rate of changes in IONM signals compared with younger patients during heterogeneous surgeries guided by IONM.

Overexpression of a putative nitrate transporter (StNPF1.11) increases plant height, leaf chlorophyll content and tuber protein content of young potato plants.

Nitrate (NO3-) fertilisers are commonly used to improve the yield and quality of most non-legume crops such as potato (Solanum tuberosum L.). Root cells absorb nitrate from the soil using plasma membrane-bound transporters. In this study, we overexpressed a putative nitrate transporter from potato (StNPF1.11) to study its effect on the level of tuber protein content in potato. At 10 weeks after planting, overexpression of StNPF1.11 increased the mean level of protein content of all n = 23 transformants by 42% compared with the wild-type control. The level of chlorophyll content in leaves (from upper and lower plant parts) also increased for several individuals at 10 weeks. Tuber yield (fresh) was not structurally impaired; however, the mean tuber dry matter content of the transformants was reduced by 3-8% at 19 weeks. At 19 weeks, an overall increase in protein content was not clearly observed. Throughout plant development, half of the transformants were taller than the control. A basic understanding of the mechanisms that regulate plant nitrogen uptake, transport and utilisation, enable the development of tools to improve both crop nutrition and crop quality that are needed to enhance the viability and sustainability of future plant production systems.

Trends and the Economic Effect of Asbestos Bans and Decline in Asbestos Consumption and Production Worldwide.

Although some countries have reduced asbestos consumption and instituted bans, other countries continue to produce and consume asbestos even as asbestos-related deaths mount and the associated societal costs are high. Asbestos production and consumption has declined globally; the number of bans has increased; and the speed at which countries have tapered off consumption has increased. Using country-level data, we study the economic impact of historical changes in the production and use of asbestos. We compare changes in gross domestic product (GDP) following the enactment of asbestos bans. We do not find any significant effect on GDP following an asbestos ban. In a regional case study, we compare changes in GDP and employment with changes in asbestos production. Regional-level data revealed a temporary employment decline at the local level that was then reversed.

Асбест: экономическая оценка запретов и сокращения производства и потребления

В глобальном масштабе асбестовая индустрия сокращается, по мере того как страны вводят запрет на асбест и освобождаются от асбестовой зависимости. В настоящей публикации анализируются экономические последствия снижения производства и потребления асбеста, а также введения запрета на его применение. По данным на уровне стран, негативных экономических последствий не отмечается. Поскольку значение асбеста для экономики стран, производящих/потребляющих его в настоящее время, примерно такое же, как и там, где асбест запрещен, по результатам анализа можно предполагать, что внутренний валовой продукт этих стран также заметно не пострадает от запрета или сокращения потребления/производства асбеста. Кроме того, продолжение применения асбеста влечет за собой значительные затраты на медицинскую помощь, проведение очистных работ, покрытие судебных издержек и компенсационные выплаты.

Asbestos: economic assessment of bans and declining production and consumption

The global asbestos industry is shrinking as countries have increasingly banned and moved away from reliance on asbestos. This publication assesses the economic impact of declines in asbestos production and consumption and banning of asbestos use. According to country-level data, no negative economic impact is observed. Since the importance of asbestos to the economies of current producer/consumer countries is similar to that of other countries that have already banned its use, this analysis suggests that countries currently consuming/producing asbestos would not experience an observable effect on gross domestic product from a ban on or a decline in asbestos consumption/production. In addition, the continued use of asbestos carries substantial costs related to health, remediation and litigation.

Optimización del registro de muerte por enfermedad renal crónica en las comunidades agrícolas de América Central / Optimization of registry of deaths from chronic kidney disease in agricultural communities in Central America

En varios países centroamericanos se observa que el número de muertes por enfermedad renal crónica asociada a causas no tradicionales (ERCnt) entre trabajadores del campo continúa creciendo y existe un subregistro. Se presenta el resultado de un proceso de consenso coordinado por la Organización Panamericana de la Salud/Organización Mundial de la Salud (OPS/OMS), el Centro para el Control de Enfermedades de los Estados Unidos (CDC) y la Sociedad Latinoamericana de Nefrología e Hipertensión Arterial (SLANH). Este consenso busca aumentar la probabilidad de detectar y registrar las muertes por estas causas. Se reconoció el impacto negativo que tiene la falta de un instrumento estandarizado y la baja capacitación que se tiene en la profesión médica para un registro adecuado de la o las causas de muerte. Como resultado del consenso, se propone el uso de un código de la Lista para Propósitos Especiales (de manera temporaria) dentro de la Clasificación Internacional de Enfermedades (CIE-10), continuar con la promoción del uso del instrumento internacional estandarizado de la OMS para el registro de causas y eventos antecedentes relacionados con la muerte, aumentar el entrenamiento de los médicos responsables por el llenado del certificado de defunción, la realización de acciones para aumentar la completitud y calidad de la información de mortalidad, un algoritmo de decisión para facilitar la selección de la ERCnt como causa específica de muerte, presentando el papel que debieran tener los diferentes mecanismos regionales y subregionales en la región de las Américas para mejorar la situación del registro de mortalidad por ERC y ERCnt.

Several Central American countries are seeing continued growth in the number of deaths from chronic kidney disease of nontraditional causes (CKDnT) among farm workers and there is underreporting. This report presents the results of a consensus process coordinated by the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Latin American Society of Nephrology and Hypertension (SLANH). This consensus seeks to increase the probability of detecting and recording deaths from these causes. There has been recognition of the negative impact of the lack of a standardized instrument and the lack of training in the medical profession for adequate registration of the cause or causes of death. As a result of the consensus, the following has been proposed: temporarily use a code from the Codes for Special Purposes in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10); continue to promote use of the WHO international standardized instrument for recording causes and preceding events related to death; increase training of physicians responsible for filling out death certificates; take action to increase the coverage and quality of information on mortality; and create a decision tree to facilitate selection of CKDnT as a specific cause of death, while presenting the role that different regional and subregional mechanisms in the Region of the Americas should play in order to improve CKD and CKDnT mortality records.

[Optimization of registry of deaths from chronic kidney disease in agricultural communities in Central America]. / Optimización del registro de muerte por enfermedad renal crónica en las comunidades agrícolas de América Central.

Several Central American countries are seeing continued growth in the number of deaths from chronic kidney disease of nontraditional causes (CKDnT) among farm workers and there is underreporting. This report presents the results of a consensus process coordinated by the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Latin American Society of Nephrology and Hypertension (SLANH). This consensus seeks to increase the probability of detecting and recording deaths from these causes. There has been recognition of the negative impact of the lack of a standardized instrument and the lack of training in the medical profession for adequate registration of the cause or causes of death. As a result of the consensus, the following has been proposed: temporarily use a code from the Codes for Special Purposes in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10); continue to promote use of the WHO international standardized instrument for recording causes and preceding events related to death; increase training of physicians responsible for filling out death certificates; take action to increase the coverage and quality of information on mortality; and create a decision tree to facilitate selection of CKDnT as a specific cause of death, while presenting the role that different regional and subregional mechanisms in the Region of the Americas should play in order to improve CKD and CKDnT mortality records.

Chromium and ruthenium-doped zinc oxide thin films for propane sensing applications.

Chromium and ruthenium-doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Cr) and (ZnO:Ru) thin solid films were deposited on soda-lime glass substrates by the sol-gel dip-coating method. A 0.6 M solution of zinc acetate dihydrate dissolved in 2-methoxyethanol and monoethanolamine was used as basic solution. Chromium (III) acetylacetonate and Ruthenium (III) trichloride were used as doping sources. The Ru incorporation and its distribution profile into the films were proved by the SIMS technique. The morphology and structure of the films were studied by SEM microscopy and X-ray diffraction measurements, respectively. The SEM images show porous surfaces covered by small grains with different grain size, depending on the doping element, and the immersions number into the doping solutions. The sensing properties of ZnO:Cr and ZnO:Ru films in a propane (C3H8) atmosphere, as a function of the immersions number in the doping solution, have been studied in the present work. The highest sensitivity values were obtained for films doped from five immersions, 5.8 and 900, for ZnO:Cr and ZnO:Ru films, respectively. In order to evidence the catalytic effect of the chromium (Cr) and ruthenium (Ru), the sensing characteristics of undoped ZnO films are reported as well.