Sex differences in entrapment in a multinational sample: a network analysis perspective.

Background: The concept of entrapment has been highlighted as a transdiagnostic element that manifests itself in disorders such as depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. Although research has been conducted in different contexts independently, a comprehensive multi-country study to assess gender differences in entrapment through network analysis has not yet been carried out. The objective of this study was to evaluate the entrapment network in men and women at the multinational level. Methods: A sample of 2,949 participants, ranging in age from 18 to 73 years from six countries (Germany, Iran, Spain, Slovakia, El Salvador, and Peru), was considered. They completed the entrapment scale. A network analysis was performed for both men and women to identify the connectivity between indicators and the formation of clusters and domains, in addition to the centrality assessment in both sex groups. Results: The study findings revealed the presence of a third domain focused on external interpersonal entrapment in the network of men and women. However, in relation to the interconnectivity between domains, variations were evidenced in both networks, as well as in centrality, it was reported that men present a greater generalized entrapment in various aspects of life, while women tend to experience a more focused entrapment in expressions of intense emotional charge. Conclusion: The multinational study identified variations in the structure of entrapment between genders, with three domains (internal, external, and external-interpersonal) and differences in the interaction of indicators and groupings, as well as discrepancies in centrality.

Intratumoral delivery of the chitin-derived C100 adjuvant promotes robust STING, IFNAR, and CD8+ T cell-dependent anti-tumor immunity.

Stimulator of IFN genes (STING) is a promising target for adjuvants utilized in in situ cancer vaccination approaches. However, key barriers remain for clinical translation, including low cellular uptake and accessibility, STING variability necessitating personalized STING agonists, and interferon (IFN)-independent signals that can promote tumor growth. Here, we identify C100, a highly deacetylated chitin-derived polymer (HDCP), as an attractive alternative to conventional STING agonists. C100 promotes potent anti-tumor immune responses, outperforming less deacetylated HDCPs, with therapeutic efficacy dependent on STING and IFN alpha/beta receptor (IFNAR) signaling and CD8+ T cell mediators. Additionally, C100 injection synergizes with systemic checkpoint blockade targeting PD-1. Mechanistically, C100 triggers mitochondrial stress and DNA damage to exclusively activate the IFN arm of the cGAS-STING signaling pathway and elicit sustained IFNAR signaling. Altogether, these results reveal an effective STING- and IFNAR-dependent adjuvant for in situ cancer vaccines with a defined mechanism and distinct properties that overcome common limitations of existing STING therapeutics.

Psychometric evidence of the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II): an item response theory analysis in university students from Chile.

BACKGROUND: Experiential avoidance (EA) is a psychological mechanism associated with several mental health disorders and is regarded as a relevant target by third-generation cognitive behavioral therapies. It has been mainly assessed through self-report questionnaires, and the AAQ-II is the most used tool. Its psychometric evidence has been mostly tested through the classical test theory (CTT) and very scarcely assessed through Item Response Theory (IRT). METHODS: We used the Graded Response Model to examine its psychometric properties in Spanish-speaking university students (n = 1503; women = 995 (66.2%), mean age = 19.29, SD = 2.45). We tested whether the empirical data fit the model's predictions and estimated the dispersion of persons and items along the experiential avoidance continuum. Moreover, we examined category probability curves to identify the response probability of each answer. Likewise, an item-person map was made where the measurement of persons and items, both on the same scale and along the experiential avoidance continuum, could be observed jointly. Finally, we tested the gender invariance of the scale. RESULTS: We found that the values of the individuals and the items were in the established range to be considered an adequate measure of EA. Additionally, we observed high discrimination indices for all items. The current version with seven answer options could not be optimal and should be tested in future studies. Finally, we found evidence of differential functioning by gender in one of the seven items of the instrument. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that the AAQ-II is a suitable tool for measuring EA and accurately classifying and differentiating EA levels in university students.

Extreme fire weather in Chile driven by climate change and El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO).

A string of fierce fires broke out in Chile in the austral summer 2023, just six years after the record-breaking 2017 fire season. Favored by extreme weather conditions, fire activity has dramatically risen in recent years in this Andean country. A total of 1.7 million ha. burned during the last decade, tripling figures of the prior decade. Six of the seven most destructive fire seasons on record occurred since 2014. Here, we analyze the progression during the last two decades of the weather conditions associated with increased fire risk in Central Chile (30°-39° S). Fire weather conditions (including high temperatures, low humidity, dryness, and strong winds) increase the potential for wildfires, once ignited, to rapidly spread. We show that the concurrence of El Niño and climate-fueled droughts and heatwaves boost the local fire risk and have decisively contributed to the intense fire activity recently seen in Central Chile. Our results also suggest that the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean variability modulates the seasonal fire weather in the country, driving in turn the interannual fire activity. The signature of the warm anomalies in the Niño 1 + 2 region (0°-10° S, 90° W-80° W) is apparent on the burned area records seen in Central Chile in 2017 and 2023.

Rational design of polymer-based particulate vaccine adjuvants.

Vaccination is considered one of the major milestones in modern medicine, facilitating the control and eradication of life-threatening infectious diseases. Vaccine adjuvants are a key component of many vaccines, serving to steer antigen-specific immune responses and increase their magnitude. Despite major advances in the field of adjuvant research over recent decades, our understanding of their mechanism of action remains incomplete. This hinders our capacity to further improve these adjuvant technologies, so addressing how adjuvants induce and control the induction of innate and adaptive immunity is a priority. Investigating how adjuvant physicochemical properties, such as size and charge, exert immunomodulatory effects can provide valuable insights and serve as the foundation for the rational design of vaccine adjuvants. Most clinically applied adjuvants are particulate in nature and polymeric particulate adjuvants present advantages due to stability, biocompatibility profiles, and flexibility in terms of formulation. These properties can impact on antigen release kinetics and biodistribution, cellular uptake and targeting, and drainage to the lymphatics, consequently dictating the induction of innate, cellular, and humoral adaptive immunity. A current focus is to apply rational design principles to the development of adjuvants capable of eliciting robust cellular immune responses including CD8+ cytotoxic T-cell and Th1-biased CD4+ T-cell responses, which are required for vaccines against intracellular pathogens and cancer. This review highlights recent advances in our understanding of how particulate adjuvants, especially polymer-based particulates, modulate immune responses and how this can be used as a guide for improved adjuvant design.

Exploring the potential of the halotolerant bacterial strain Bacillus subtilis LN8B as an ecofriendly sulfide collector for seawater flotation.

AIM: To assess the effectiveness of Bacillus subtilis strain LN8B as a biocollector for recovering pyrite (Py) and chalcopyrite (CPy) in both seawater (Sw) and deionized water (Dw), and to explore the underlying adhesion mechanism in these bioflotation experiments. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The bioflotation test utilized B. subtilis strain LN8B as the biocollector through microflotation experiments. Additionally, frother methyl isobutyl carbinol (MIBC) and conventional collector potassium amyl xanthate (PAX) were introduced in some experiments. The zeta potential (ZP) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was employed to explore the adhesion mechanism of Py and CPy interacting with the biocollector in Sw and Dw. The adaptability of the B. subtilis strain to different water types and salinities was assessed through growth curves measuring optical density. Finally, antibiotic susceptibility tests were conducted to evaluate potential risks of the biocollector. RESULTS: Superior outcomes were observed in Sw where Py and CPy recovery was ∼39.3% ± 7.7% and 41.1% ± 5.8%, respectively, without microorganisms' presence. However, B. subtilis LN8B potentiate Py and CPy recovery, reaching 72.8% ± 4.9% and 84.6% ± 1.5%, respectively. When MIBC was added, only the Py recovery was improved (89.4% ± 3.6%), depicting an adverse effect for CPy (81.8% ± 1.1%). ZP measurements indicated increased mineral surface hydrophobicity when Py and CPy interacted with the biocollector in both Sw and Dw. FTIR revealed the presence of protein-related amide peaks, highlighting the hydrophobic nature of the bacterium. The adaptability of this strain to diverse water types and salinities was assessed, demonstrating remarkable growth versatility. Antibiotic susceptibility tests indicated that B. subtilis LN8B was susceptible to 23 of the 25 antibiotics examined, suggesting it poses minimal environmental risks. CONCLUSIONS: The study substantiates the biotechnological promise of B. subtilis strain LN8B as an efficient sulfide collector for promoting cleaner mineral production. This effectiveness is attributed to its ability to induce mineral surface hydrophobicity, a result of the distinct characteristics of proteins within its cell wall.

First report of canker caused by Cytospora sorbicola on Sweet Cherry (Prunus avium) in Chile.

Chile leads cherry exports in the southern hemisphere with a total of 415.315 t exported in the 2022 to 2023 season (IQonsulting, 2023). Cytospora canker, produced by Cytospora spp., causes destructive infections and limit the productivity of sweet cherry orchards (Luo et al. 2019). This study was focused on isolating Cytospora strains to identify and characterize the species present in sweet cherry. During the period 2019-2022, ten samples of stem or branch presenting canker, dieback, gummosis or dead buds, were collected from sweet cherry cultivars 'Skeena', 'Lapins', 'Santina', 'Sweetheart', and 'Regina', in the regions Ñuble and O'Higgins, Chile. Five mm pieces from the necrotic wood margins of the samples were rinsed with sterile deionized water, placed on potato dextrose agar (PDA, Difco) and incubated at 20±2 ºC for 5 days. One isolate was recovered from each sample, resulting in ten Cytospora-like strains. Single hyphal tips were transferred onto PDA plates and all isolates were deposited in the Chilean Collection of Microbial Genetic Resources (CChRGM). Colonies grown on PDA reached 89 mm in diameter in 10 d at 25 °C, showing irregular margin, lacking aerial mycelium, initially off-white to cream that turned greenish gray in the center, which darkens with age. After 20 days of culturing on pine needle agar (Chen et al. 2015), isolates produced conidiomata pycnidial, semi-immersed, black, and subglobose (362)445-555(681)×(357)528-700(1053) µm (n=10), generating amber slimy conidia masses; Conidiophores were phialidic, cylindrical, aseptate, hyaline (6.77)9-10.04(12.88)×(0.82)1.1-1.28(1.99) µm (n = 30); conidia were abundant, allantoid, hyaline to light brown, aseptate (3.39)4.28-4.57(5.36)×(0.69)0.96-1.09(1.47) µm (n = 30) (Supplementary Figure 1). No sexual morph was observed. With the exception of the strain RGM 3390, all the isolates shared morphological characters to the descriptions of Cytospora sorbicola Norphanph., Bulgakov, T. C. Wen & K. D. Hyde (Norphanphoun et al. 2017). Isolates were identified at species level, by sequencing DNA regions described by Pan et al. (2020): ITS1-5.8S-ITS2, LSU; act, tef-1α, and tub2 with the exception of the RBP2, because this region could not be amplified in seven out of ten isolates. The consensus tree included the concatenated sequences of the ten isolates and those of reference Cytospora species reported by Ilyukhin et al. (2023) using a maximum likelihood analysis with the tool IQ-TREE webserver. MLSA confirmed the taxonomic affiliation of nine of the isolates with C. sorbicola and one isolate with Cytospora sp. (RGM 3390), that might represent a novel species (Supplementary Figure 2). The isolates RGM 3399 and RGM 3400, were selected randomly for pathogenicity tests. Inoculations were performed on 2-year-old sweet cherry cv. 'Lapins' grow in pots in a greenhouse at 26±6°C. Seven plants per isolate were cut to about 6-cm length from the main stem, and inoculated onto fresh cuts with 5-mm mycelium PDA plugs of 5-d-old culture and wrapped in moist sterile cotton and parafilm to keep moisture. Six plants were inoculated with non-colonized PDA agar plugs as control. The average canker length 3 months after inoculation was 3.1 and 0.8 cm, for RGM 3389 and RGM 3400, respectively (Supplementary Figure 1). Symptomatic twigs were incubated in moist chambers at 20±2 ºC for 10 d, resulting in the re-isolation of Cytospora strains that produced pycnidia and conidia structures in agreement with C. sorbicola. Both strains were reidentified to fulfill Koch's postulates, control twigs remained asymptomatic and no fungus was isolated from these twigs. This is the first report of C. sorbicola causing canker on sweet cherry in Chile. Our findings suggest that this species could be the most recurrent in cherry in central Chile, coinciding with it found in California where C. sorbicola has been described as the main causal agent of Cytospora canker of stone fruits in California (Lawrence et al. 2018).

Callus Type, Growth Regulators, and Phytagel on Indirect Somatic Embryogenesis of Coffee (Coffea arabica L. var. Colombia).

Coffee is a crop of global relevance. Indirect somatic embryogenesis has allowed plants of different coffee genotypes to be massively regenerated. The culture medium composition can affect the calli characteristics that are generated and their ability to form somatic embryos. This research aimed to determine the influence of the type of callus, growth regulators, and phytagel concentration on the embryogenic capacity of the Colombia variety. Leaf explants were cultured on Murashige and Skoog medium with 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) (0.5-1.0 mg L-1), benzylaminopurine (BAP, 1.0 mg L-1), and phytagel (2.3-5.0 g L-1). The explants generated two types of calli: friable (beige, soft, watery, easy disintegration, polyhedral parenchyma cells) and compact (white, hard, low water content, difficult disintegration, elongated parenchyma cells). About 68% of the total callus generated was compact; this type of callus produced a greater number of embryos (71.3) than the friable one (29.2). The number of differentiated embryos was significantly affected by the concentration of phytagel; higher concentrations (5.0 g L-1) resulted in larger quantities (73.7). The highest number of embryos (127.47) was obtained by combining 1.0 mg L-1 2,4-D, 1.0 mg L-1 BAP, 5.0 g L-1 phytagel, and compact callus.

Ground-based measurements of the weather-driven sky radiance distribution in the Southern Hemisphere.

The angular distribution of the sky radiance determines the energy generation of solar power technologies as well as the ultraviolet (UV) doses delivered to the biosphere. The sky-diffuse radiance distribution depends on the wavelength, the solar elevation, and the atmospheric conditions. Here, we report on ground-based measurements of the all-sky radiance at three sites in the Southern Hemisphere across a transect of about 5,000 km: Santiago (33°S, a mid-latitude city of 6 million inhabitants with endemic poor air quality), King George Island (62°S, at the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, one of the cloudiest regions on Earth), and Union Glacier (79°S, a snow-covered glacier in the vast interior of Western Antarctica). The sites were strategically selected for studying the influence of urban aerosols, frequent and thick clouds, and extremely high albedo on the sky-diffuse radiance distribution. Our results show that, due to changing site-specific atmospheric conditions, the characterization of the weather-driven sky radiance distribution may require ground-based measurements.

A Protocol for the Automatic Construction of Highly Curated Genome-Scale Models of Human Metabolism.

Genome-scale metabolic models (GEMs) have emerged as a tool to understand human metabolism from a holistic perspective with high relevance in the study of many diseases and in the metabolic engineering of human cell lines. GEM building relies on either automated processes that lack manual refinement and result in inaccurate models or manual curation, which is a time-consuming process that limits the continuous update of reliable GEMs. Here, we present a novel algorithm-aided protocol that overcomes these limitations and facilitates the continuous updating of highly curated GEMs. The algorithm enables the automatic curation and/or expansion of existing GEMs or generates a highly curated metabolic network based on current information retrieved from multiple databases in real time. This tool was applied to the latest reconstruction of human metabolism (Human1), generating a series of the human GEMs that improve and expand the reference model and generating the most extensive and comprehensive general reconstruction of human metabolism to date. The tool presented here goes beyond the current state of the art and paves the way for the automatic reconstruction of a highly curated, up-to-date GEM with high potential in computational biology as well as in multiple fields of biological science where metabolism is relevant.

Mental health and religiosity: the role of experiential avoidance in the symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress

Several studies have considered religiosity to be a protective factor against several mental health difficulties. However, other studies suggest the opposite, that is, that religiosity is a risk factor associated with psychological symptoms. In this context, there are no studies that evaluate this relationship considering the role of experiential avoidance, which is a predictive transdiagnostic variable of various mental health disorders. This study evaluated the relationship between experiential avoidance, attitudes toward religion, and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress in a sample of believers using a non-experimental cross-sectional design in the city of Valdivia, Chile. Results indicate that experiential avoidance is positively related to symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress, being the only predictor variable of the three symptomatic dimensions. Engaging in regular religious practice was not associated with religious literalness or experiential avoidance, while religious literalism was negatively associated with stress. Finally, Evangelicals showed a more regular religious practice than Catholics, while Catholics showed a higher index of religious literality; however, these differences were not associated with mental health. The clinical implications of these results are discussed (AU)

Berry species and crop management approaches affect species diversity and abundance of predatory mites (Acari: Phytoseiidae).

Berries comprise an economically important group of crops. Knowledge about their arthropod pests and biological control agents is important in the development of more efficient integrated pest management programs. Identification of potential biocontrol agents based solely on morphological attributes may be difficult and so molecular techniques should be incorporated. Here we studied the species diversity of predatory mites in the family Phytoseiidae, and how this diversity is affected by the berry species and crop management approaches, specifically pesticide application regimes. We sampled 15 orchards in the State of Michoacán, Mexico. Sites were selected based on berry species and pesticide regimes. Mite identification was achieved by combining morphological attributes and molecular techniques. Phytoseiidae diversity was compared amongst blackberry, raspberry and blueberry. Subsequently we studied the effect of berry species and pesticide regime on the abundance of the most prevalent phytoseiid species. We identified 11 species of phytoseiid mites. The greatest species diversity was found in raspberry, followed by blackberry and then blueberry. The most abundant species were Typhlodromalus peregrinus and Neoseiulus californicus. The abundance of T. peregrinus was significantly affected by pesticide application but not by berry species. In contrast, abundance of N. californicus was significantly affected by berry species but not by pesticide regime.

Active and Passive Facilitation Tendencies at Work Towards Sexy and Professional Women: The Role of Stereotypes and Emotions.

Stereotypes have important social consequences, such as promoting female discrimination in the workplace, which depends on how women are categorized. Extending prior work, here we analyze how two important female subgroups, women who are categorized as professional or sexy women, are evaluated on key dimensions of stereotype content (morality, sociability, and competence), positive and negative emotions, and facilitation behavioral tendencies (active and passive). To this end, we adapted a previous scale of facilitation tendencies to the working environment. Furthermore, we aim to explore the mechanism involved in carrying out helping behaviors towards each subgroup of women in the workplace. In order to fulfill these goals, 201 participants (Mage = 28.88, SD = 12.25; 66.2% women) were randomly assigned to evaluate a woman categorized as either sexy or professional on the mentioned variables. Results show that women categorized as sexy are devalued compared to those categorized as professionals. We also found that competence has a driving role in predicting more active facilitation tendencies towards a woman categorized as professional than a woman categorized as sexy via positive emotions. These findings have implications for the career development of women.

Novel Harzia ixtarensis Fungus on Annona cherimola Fruit in Mexico and Its Synergistic Relationship with Colletotrichum fragariae.

Since 2005 in Íxtaro, Michoacán, symptoms of Harzia infection have been observed on immature Annona cherimola fruit with Colletotrichum fragariae-induced anthracnose lesions and mummified fruit. This study aimed to identify the Harzia sp. and evaluate its pathogenicity. Four isolates were obtained from fruit exhibiting symptoms, cultured in four types of agar under various conditions, and characterized based on concatenated internal transcribes spacer (ITS) + large subunit and ITS + small subunit sequences. Additionally, the isolates were compared with two CBS species (two-type strains and two isolates) of Harzia patula and H. tenella under the same conditions as the Harzia isolates, and all known Harzia spp. in culture were included in two phylogenetic analyses. H. ixtarensis sp. nov. was proposed. Compared with H. patula CBS isolate 121524 which was the most closely phylogenetically related species, H. ixtarensis was characterized by slower colony growth (white to salmonish-beige), different percentages of two forms of conidia (elongated and globose; unicellular and hyaline to subhyaline), and smaller conidia. The conidia mainly germinated with two hyaline tubes without an appressorium. In situ inoculations (1 × 106 ml-1 conidia suspension) of fruit showed that fruit with wounds developed larger lesions than those without wounds. Harzia inoculation on anthracnose lesions (induced by prior inoculation with C. fragariae) produced larger anthracnose lesions than C. fragariae alone. When C. fragariae or H. ixtarensis was inoculated alone, the lesion size was 51 and 99% smaller, respectively, indicating synergy between C. fragariae and H. ixtarensis. Thus, H. ixtarensis may have a parasitic-synergistic and necrotrophic lifestyle, and exhibited symptoms on anthracnose lesions.

Clockwise rotation of perspective view improves spatial recognition of complex environments in aging.

Deciphering the human spatial cognition system involves the development of simple tasks to assess how our brain works with shapes and forms. Prior studies in the mental rotation field disclosed a clockwise rotation bias on how basic stimuli are perceived and processed. However, there is a lack of a substantial scientific background for complex stimuli and how factors like sex or aging could influence them. Regarding the latter point, it is well known that our spatial skills tend to decline as we grow older. Hence, the hippocampal system is especially sensitive to aging. These neural changes underlie difficulties for the elderly in landmark orientation or mental rotation tasks. Thus, our study aimed to check whether the effect of clockwise and anticlockwise rotations in the spatial recognition of complex environments could be modulated by aging. To do so, 40 young adults and 40 old adults performed the ASMRT, a virtual spatial memory recognition test. Results showed that young adults outperformed old adults in all difficulty conditions (i.e., encoding one or three boxes positions). In addition, old adults were affected more than young adults by rotation direction, showing better performance in clockwise rotations. In conclusion, our study provides evidence that aging is particularly affected by the direction of rotation. We suggest that clockwise bias could be linked with the cognitive decline associated with aging. Future studies could address this with brain imaging measures.

Scale of psychological pain: Spanish adaptation of the Psychache Scale in young adults.

INTRODUCTION: Psychological pain is understood as an intolerable and disturbing mental state characterized by an internal experience of negative emotions. This study was aimed at making a Spanish adaptation of the Psychache Scale by Holden and colleagues in a sample of young adults. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The scale evaluates psychological pain as a subjective experience. It is composed of 13 items with a Likert-type response format. Following the guidelines of the International Tests Commission for the adaptation of the test, we obtained a version conceptually and linguistically equivalent to the original scale. Through an online questionnaire, participants completed the psychological pain scale along with other scales to measure depression (BDI-II), hopelessness (Beck's scale of hopelessness) and suicide risk (Plutchik suicide risk scale). The participants were 234 people (94 men, 137 women and three people who identified as a different sex) from 18 to 35 years old. RESULTS: The EFA showed a one-factor solution, and the FCA revealed adequate indexes of adjustment to the unifactorial model. It also showed good reliability of the test scores. The evidence of validity of the scale in relation to the other variables showed high, positive and statistically significant correlations with depression, hopelessness, suicidal ideation and suicidal risk. CONCLUSION: In summary, this Spanish adaptation of the Psychache Scale could contribute to improving the evaluation of both the patient with suicide risk and the effectiveness of psychological therapy, as well as suicidal behaviour prevention and intervention.

[Psychometric properties of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7) scale in Chilean adolescents]. / Propiedades psicométricas de la escala Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-Item (GAD-7) en una muestra comunitaria de adolescentes en Chile.

BACKGROUND: The Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7) scale is widely used for the assessment of generalized anxiety disorder. AIM: To adapt the GAD-7 to the Chilean adolescent population and to evaluate its psychometric properties. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The GAD-7 was adapted and administered to 2,022 adolescents between 13 and 19 years of age, recruited from eight schools in the northern area of Santiago, Chile. Other self-report instruments were used to assess depressive symptoms and health-related quality of life. The one factor structure and invariance by sex were examined using Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Its reliability and validity based on its relationship with other variables were assessed. RESULTS: The one-factor structure and invariance by sex were confirmed. The results showed an adequate internal reliability (Cronbach's alpha = 0.86, Spearman-Brown coefficient = 0.82). As expected, significant correlations were observed with measures of depressive symptoms and health-related quality of life. Higher scores were observed in women than in men. CONCLUSIONS: The Chilean version adapted for adolescents of the GAD-7 has good psychometric properties. Thus, it may be a useful and valid instrument for the assessment of generalized anxiety disorder in adolescents in Chile.

First report of Colletotrichum fioriniae causing anthracnose fruit rot on Vaccinium corymbosum in Chile.

Vaccinium corymbosum L. is the most cultivated blueberry species in Chile. Chilean fruits typically take up to 50 days to reach oversea markets; therefore, controlling post-harvest pathogens is of outmost importance to maintain international food safety and quality standards. In February 2019, the Microbial Genetic Resources Bank at INIA received fruits of V. corymbosum cv. 'Brigitta Blue' from Mariquina (-39.567869, -72.992461), located in the southern Chilean blueberry production zone, for post-harvest disease diagnosis. Asymptomatic fruits were incubated in moist-chambers at 25 °C with light/darkness cycles of 12 h. After 5 d, some fruits showed sunken areas and small surface wounds that exudated orange masses of conidia; under the epidermis, gray acervuli were also detected. After 15d, these fruits became dehydrated, mummified, and covered by mycelia, all characteristic symptoms of anthracnose (Wharton and Schilder 2008). In Chile, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides has, thus far, been the only causal agent of anthracnose reported in blueberry (Lara et al. 2003). Conidia exudated from the diseased fruit were inoculated on potato-dextrose agar (PDA) and incubated at 25 °C for 7 d. The resulting colony was predominantly cottony with gray aerial mycelium, displaying masses of pale orange conidia; on the reverse side, the colony was a pink-reddish color. Under a microscope, conidia were hyaline, fusiform to elliptic in shape, and displaying guttulate of 12.2±1.2 × 4.17±0.3 µm (n=30), characteristics coinciding with those described for Colletotrichum fioriniae (Pennycook 2017; Shivas and Tan 2009) (Supplementary Figure 1). The isolate was deposited in the Chilean Collection of Microbial Genetic Resources (CChRGM) as RGM 3330. Genomic DNA extraction of RGM 3330 and phylogenetic analyses were carried out according to Cisterna-Oyarce et al. (2022). A multi-locus sequencing analysis was carried out using five genetic markers. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS), glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (gapdh), actin (act), and chitin synthase 1 (chs-1) were PCR-amplified following Damm et al. (2012) and -tubulin (tub) following Glass and Donaldson (1995). Sequences were deposited in GenBank (ON364141 for ITS and ON369167-70 for tub, act, chs-1, and gapdh, respectively) (Sayers et al. 2021). A BLAST analysis carried out in SequenceServer (Priyam et al. 2019), using a custom database of sequences retrieved from Damm et al. (2012) and Liu et al. (2020), showed that all genetic markers were 100% identical to those of C. fioriniae CBS 128517T (ITS (540/540 identities), gapdh (249/249), act (245/245), and chs-1 (274/274)), except for tub, which shared 99.8% of its identities (416/417) with this species. Maximum likelihood phylogenetic estimation clustered RGM 3330 with C. fioriniae strains CBS 128517T and CBS 126526 with 100% bootstrap support (Supplementary Figure 1). Koch's postulates were carried out with asymptomatic fruits of V. corymbosum cv. 'Brigitta Blue'. Prior to inoculation, fruits were surface-sterilized for 10 s in 70% ethanol, 3 s in 1% NaOCl, 10 s in 70% ethanol, rinsed three times with sterile distilled water, and subsequently placed in moist-chambers. Two groups of three repetitions of 20 fruits each were sprayed with 9 × 106 conidia/mL of RGM 3330 for the first group and with sterile distilled water for the control. After 5 d at 25 °C with light/darkness cycles of 12 h, only fruits sprayed with the conidial solution developed symptoms of anthracnose and the re-isolated fungi were identical in morphology to RGM 3330. This is the first report of C. fioriniae in blueberry in Chile. References Cisterna-Oyarce, V., Carrasco-Fernández, J., Castro, J. 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Colletotrichum fioriniae comb. & stat. nov., resolving a nomenclatural muddle. Mycotaxon 132:149-152. Priyam, A., Woodcroft, B. J., Rai, V., Moghul, I., Munagala, A., Ter, F., Chowdhary, H., Pieniak, I., Maynard, L. J., Gibbins, M. A., Moon, H., Davis-Richardson, A., Uludag, M., Watson-Haigh, N. S., Challis, R., Nakamura, H., Favreau, E., Gómez, E. A., Pluskal, T., Leonard, G., Rumpf, W., and Wurm, Y. 2019. Sequenceserver: a modern graphical user interface for custom BLAST databases. Mol. Biol. Evol. 36:2922-2924. Sayers, E. W., Cavanaugh, M., Clark, K., Pruitt, K. D., Schoch, C. L., Sherry, S. T., and Karsch-Mizrachi, I. 2021. GenBank. Nucleic Acids Res. 49:D92-D96. Shivas, R. G., and Tan, Y. P. 2009. A taxonomic re-assessment of Colletotrichum acutatum, introducing C. fioriniae comb. et stat. nov. and C. simmondsii sp. nov. Fungal Divers. 39:111-122. Wharton, P., and Schilder, A. 2008. Novel infection strategies of Colletotrichum acutatum on ripe blueberry fruit. Plant Pathol. 57:122-134. Supplementary material Supplementary Figure 1: Isolation and identification of Colletotrichum fioriniae RGM 3330 from blueberry fruits cv. 'Brigitta Blue' from Chile. (A) A fruit showing anthracnose; (B) colony of Colletotrichum fioriniae RGM 3330 growing on PDA; (C) microscopic observation of the conidia (100x magnification; bar=10 µm); (D) phylogenetic tree resulting from a maximum likelihood analysis of combined sequence data from ITS, act, chs-1, gapdh, and tub regions for Colletotrichum acutatum species complex, number in the nodes represent ultrafast bootstrap values.

Psychosocial Variables and Healthcare Resources in Patients with Fibromyalgia, Migraine and Comorbid Fibromyalgia and Migraine: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Fibromyalgia and migraine frequently coexist. We aimed to compare the burden caused by fibromyalgia (FM), migraine (M) and comorbid fibromyalgia and migraine (FM + M) by assessing psychosocial variables and the use of healthcare resources. A survey was posted to the websites of different patients' associations. It included sociodemographic data, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, the Insomnia Severity Index, the EuroQOL-5D-5L and a questionnaire evaluating the use of healthcare resources during the past six months. In total, 139 FM patients, 169 M patients and 148 FM + M patients participated in the survey. Mean depression and insomnia scores were clinically relevant in every group and significantly higher in FM + M (16.3 ± 5.4 for depression, 18.5 ± 5.6 for insomnia) than in FM (14.3 ± 5.7 for depression, 16.8 ± 5.5 for insomnia) or M (11.7 ± 5.4 for depression, 13.1 ± 5.9 for depression), where p < 0.001 in both cases. Suicidal ideation was frequent in every group, but significantly more frequent in FM + M (63% vs. 45% in FM and 35% in M; p < 0.001). EQ-5D-5L (0.656 ± 0.1 in FM + M, 0.674 ± 0.1 in FM, 0.827 ± 0.1 in M, p < 0.001) and EQ-5D-5L VAS scores (38.2 ± 21.9 in FM + M, 45.6 ± 21.8 in FM, 63.5 ± 23.7 in M, p < 0.00) were lower than the reported mean population values and the lowest in FM + M. FM and FM + M used more healthcare resources than M. It is concluded that the psychosocial burden was high in the three samples. FM and FM + M had a more relevant impact on patients' wellbeing and required more medical attention than M. The burden caused by FM + M was higher than in both individual diseases.