Effect of diethyl maleate on the toxicity of essential oil from Citrus reticulata fruit peels to Tribolium castaneum Herbst under laboratory conditions

Certain compounds of plants, essential oils, with insecticidal properties have been considered as alternatives to chemical pesticides for pest control in recent years. In this study, the synergistic effect of diethyl maleate (DEM) on the toxicity of Citrus reticulata Blanco (Rutaceae) peel essential oil against a stored-product insect pest, i.e. red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum Herbst (Tenebrionidae) adults was studied. DEM [one part], combined with acetone [two parts], was applied on T. castaneum adults. Five concentrations of essential oil from C. reticulata were tested. Three replicates and 30 adult insects/replicate/each concentration were used. LC₅₀ values after 24 and 48?h of exposure were 33.8 and 28.2?μl/l air, respectively. Combination of the essential oil from C. reticulata with the synergist DEM after 24 and 48?h of exposure decreased the corresponding LC₅₀ values to 18.1 and 12.2?μl/l air, respectively. These results revealed that DEM can considerably improve the potency of essential oil from C. reticulata and maybe applied successfully in the stored-product pest control programmes.     

Selected contribution: Ventilatory response to CO2 in high-altitude natives and patients with chronic mountain sickness.

The ventilatory responses to CO(2) of high-altitude (HA) natives and patients with chronic mountain sickness (CMS) were studied and compared with sea-level (SL) natives living at SL. A multifrequency binary sequence (MFBS) in end-tidal Pco(2) was employed to separate the fast (peripheral) and slow (central) components of the chemoreflex response. MFBS was imposed against a background of both euoxia (end-tidal Po(2) of 100 Torr) and hypoxia (52.5 Torr). Both total and central chemoreflex sensitivity to CO(2) in euoxia were higher in HA and CMS subjects compared with SL subjects. Peripheral chemoreflex sensitivity to CO(2) in euoxia was higher in HA subjects than in SL subjects. Hypoxia induced a greater increase in total chemoreflex sensitivity to CO(2) in SL subjects than in HA and CMS subjects, but peripheral chemoreflex sensitivity to CO(2) in hypoxia was no greater in SL subjects than in HA and CMS subjects. Values for the slow (central) time constant were significantly greater for HA and CMS subjects than for SL subjects.     

Phosphoproteomics Profiling of Nonsmall Cell Lung Cancer Cells Treated with a Novel Phosphatase Activator

Activation of protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) is a promising anticancer therapeutic strategy, as this tumor suppressor has the ability to coordinately downregulate multiple pathways involved in the regulation of cellular growth and proliferation. In order to understand the systems‐level perturbations mediated by PP2A activation, we carried out mass spectrometry‐based phosphoproteomic analysis of two KRAS mutated non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines (A549 and H358) treated with a novel small molecule activator of PP2A (SMAP). Overall, this permitted quantification of differential signaling across over 1600 phosphoproteins and 3000 phosphosites. Kinase activity assessment and pathway enrichment implicate collective downregulation of RAS and cell cycle kinases in the case of both cell lines upon PP2A activation. However, the effects on RAS‐related signaling are attenuated for A549 compared to H358, while the effects on cell cycle‐related kinases are noticeably more prominent in A549. Network‐based analyses and validation experiments confirm these detailed differences in signaling. These studies reveal the power of phosphoproteomics studies, coupled to computational systems biology, to elucidate global patterns of phosphatase activation and understand the variations in response to PP2A activation across genetically similar NSCLC cell lines.     

Changes in respiratory control during and after 48h of isocapnic and poikilocapnic hypoxia in humans

Ventilatory acclimatization tohypoxia is associated with an increase in ventilation under conditionsof acute hyperoxia(E_hyperoxia) and an increase in acute hypoxic ventilatory response (AHVR). Thisstudy compares 48-h exposures to isocapnic hypoxia( protocol I) with 48-hexposures to poikilocapnic hypoxia ( protocolP) in 10 subjects to assess the importance ofhypocapnic alkalosis in generating the changes observed in ventilatoryacclimatization to hypoxia. During both hypoxic exposures,end-tidal PO₂ was maintained at60 Torr, with end-tidal PCO₂ held at the subject's prehypoxic level( protocol I) or uncontrolled( protocol P).E_hyperoxiaand AHVR were assessed regularly throughout the exposures.E_hyperoxia(P < 0.001, ANOVA) and AHVR(P < 0.001) increased during thehypoxic exposures, with no significant differences betweenprotocols I andP. The increase inE_hyperoxiawas associated with an increase in slope of theventilation-end-tidal PCO₂ response(P < 0.001) with no significantchange in intercept. These results suggest that changes in respiratorycontrol early in ventilatory acclimatization to hypoxiaresult from the effects of hypoxia per se and not the alkalosisnormally accompanying hypoxia.

     

Life cycle assessment of castor-based biorefinery: a well to wheel LCA

Purpose

Diminishing fossil resources and environmental concerns associated with their vast utilization have been in focus by energy policy makers and researchers. Among the different scenarios put forth to commercialize biofuels, various biorefinery concepts have aroused global interests because of their ability in converting biomass into a spectrum of marketable products and bioenergies. This study was aimed at developing different novel castor-based biorefinery scenarios for generating biodiesel and other co-products, i.e., ethanol and biogas. In these scenarios, glycerin, heat, and electricity were also considered as byproducts. Developed scenarios were also compared with a fossil reference system delivering the same amount of energy through the combustion of neat diesel.

Materials and methods

Life cycle assessment (LCA) was used to investigate the environmental consequences of castor biodiesel production and consumption with a biorefinery approach. All the input and output flows from the cultivation stage to the combustion in diesel engines as well as changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) were taken into account. Impact 2002+ method was used to quantify the environmental consequences.

Results and discussion

The LCA results demonstrated that in comparison with the fossil reference system, only one scenario (i.e., Sc-3 with co-production of significant amounts of biodiesel and biomethane) had 16% lower GHG emissions without even considering the improving effect of SOC. Moreover, resource damage category of this scenario was 50% lower than that of neat diesel combustion. The results proved that from a life cycle perspective, energy should be given priority in biorefineries because it is essential for a biorefinery to have a positive energy balance in order to be considered as a sustainable source of energy. Despite a positive effect on energy and GHG balances, these biorefineries had negative environmental impacts on the other damage categories like Human Health and Ecosystem Quality.

Conclusions

Although biorefineries offer unique features as promising solutions for mitigating climate change and reducing dependence on fossil fuels, the selection of biomass processing options and management decisions can affect the final results in terms of environmental evaluations and energy balance. Moreover, if biorefineries are focused on transportation fuel production, a great deal of effort should still be made to have better environmental performance in Human Health and Ecosystem Quality damage categories. This study highly recommends that future studies focus towards biomass processing options and process optimization to guarantee the future of the most sustainable biofuels.

     

In vitro evaluation of phenolic and osmolite compounds,ionic content,and antioxidant activity in safflower (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Carthamus tinctorius</Emphasis> L.) under salinity stress

Carthamus tinctorius L., rich in antioxidant compounds, is a herbal medicine. Biochemical mechanisms of adaptation to salinity stress in safflower are still poorly understood at the cellular level. For this purpose, callus cultures of four different genotypes of safflower were used in this study to evaluate changes in their biochemical (ionic content, proline, and glycine betaine), total phenolics content (TPC), total flavonoids content (TFD), antioxidant responses (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl: DPPH assay and carotenoid content), and lipid peroxidation (malon dialdehyde content: MDA) under salinity stress. The calluses derived from hypocotyls were exposed to in vitro salt stress at different concentrations of sodium chloride (0, 100, 200, and 300 mM). A reducing trend was observed in K⁺ and carotenoid reserves of the calluses with increasing NaCl concentration while an increasing trend was observed in Na⁺ content, proline, MDA, TPC, TFD, and DPPH activity under the same conditions. Callus glycine betaine content was found to decrease in the medium containing 100 mM NaCl but increased beyond this concentration up to 300 mM NaCl. Positive and significant correlations were recognized between DPPH and total phenolics as well as DPPH and total flavonoid contents, demonstrating that phenolics are the main contributors to the potential antioxidant activity of safflower at the cellular level. Overall, the salt-tolerant genotypes of Mex.2-137 and Mex.2-138 were found capable of being processed for the production of secondary metabolites via NaCl elicitation.     

Inhibition of MEK/ERK signalling pathway promotes erythroid differentiation and reduces HSCs engraftment in ex vivo expanded haematopoietic stem cells

The MEK/ERK pathway is found to be important in regulating different biological processes such as proliferation, differentiation and survival in a wide variety of cells. However, its role in self‐renewal of haematopoietic stem cells is controversial and remains to be clarified. The aim of this study was to understand the role of MEK/ERK pathway in ex vivo expansion of mononuclear cells (MNCs) and purified CD34⁺ cells, both derived from human umbilical cord blood (hUCB). Based on our results, culturing the cells in the presence of an inhibitor of MEK/ERK pathway—PD0325901 (PD)—significantly reduces the expansion of CD34⁺ and CD34⁺ CD38^? cells, while there is no change in the expression of stemness‐related genes (HOXB4, BMI1). Moreover, in vivo analysis demonstrates that PD reduces engraftment capacity of ex vivo expanded CD34⁺ cells. Notably, when ERK pathway is blocked in UCB‐MNCs, spontaneous erythroid differentiation is promoted, found in concomitant with increasing number of burst‐forming unit‐erythroid colony (BFU‐E) as well as enhancement of erythroid glycophorin‐A marker. These results are in total conformity with up‐regulation of some erythroid enhancer genes (TAL1, GATA2, LMO2) and down‐regulation of some erythroid repressor genes (JUN, PU1) as well. Taken together, our results support the idea that MEK/ERK pathway has a critical role in achieving the correct balance between self‐renewal and differentiation of UCB cells. Also, we suggest that inhibition of ERK signalling could likely be a new key for erythroid induction of UCB‐haematopoietic progenitor cells.