Source Apportionment of PM10 as a Tool for Environmental Sustainability in Three School Districts of Lecce (Apulia)

Air pollution is a great threat to the sustainable development of the world; therefore, the improvement of air quality through the identification and apportionment of emission sources is a significant tool to reach sustainability. Single particle analysis, by means of a scanning electron microscope equipped with X-ray energy dispersive analysis (SEM-EDS), was used to identify the morphological and chemical properties of the PM10 particles in order to identify and quantify the main emission sources in three areas of Lecce, a city in the Apulia region of southern Italy. This type of characterization has not yet been performed for the Lecce site, but it is of particular importance to identify, based on the shape of the particles, the natural sources from the anthropogenic sources that are responsible for the serious health effects of the inhabitants. Three primary schools located in peripheral areas of the city were chosen for the sampling: “School 1” (A site), “School 2” (B site), and “School 3” (C site) to carry out a study of the air quality. The A site is characterized by a greater presence of calcium sulphates probably due both to construction activities present during sampling and to reactions between Ca particles and the sulfur present in the atmosphere. At the C site, there is a relative numerical abundance of different groups of particles that present, in the EDS spectrum, an enrichment in sulfur. At the B site, the number of particle groups is intermediate compared to that of the other two sites. With the source apportionment technique, ten emission sources were identified: combustion, soot, industry, soil, carbonates, sea salt, calcium sulfates, SIA, biological particles, and others. In PM10, the three sites are more affected by the soil source, with an effect greater than 60%

Molecular responses to cadmium exposure in two contrasting durum wheat genotypes

Cadmium is a heavy metal that can be easily accumulated in durum wheat kernels and enter the human food chain. Two near-isogenic lines (NILs) with contrasting cadmium accumulation in grains, High-Cd or Low-Cd (H-Cd NIL and L-Cd NIL, respectively), were used to understand the Cd accumulation and transport mechanisms in durum wheat roots. Plants were cultivated in hydroponic solution, and cadmium concentrations in roots, shoots and grains were quantified. To evaluate the molecular mechanism activated in the two NILs, the transcriptomes of roots were analyzed. The observed response is complex and involves many genes and molecular mechanisms. We found that the gene sequences of two basic helix–loop–helix (bHLH) transcription factors (bHLH29 and bHLH38) differ between the two genotypes. In addition, the transporter Heavy Metal Tolerance 1 (HMT-1) is expressed only in the low-Cd genotype and many peroxidase genes are up-regulated only in the L-Cd NIL, suggesting ROS scavenging and root lignification as active responses to cadmium presence. Finally, we hypothesize that some aquaporins could enhance the Cd translocation from roots to shoots. The response to cadmium in durum wheat is therefore extremely complex and involves transcription factors, chelators, heavy metal transporters, peroxidases and aquaporins. All these new findings could help to elucidate the cadmium tolerance in wheat and address future breeding programs

Pengaruh Terapi Relaksasi Otot Progresif Jenis Tension Relaxation Terhadap Penurunan Skor Depresi pada Lansia Di UPT Pelayanan Sosial Lanjut Usia Pandaan Kabupaten Pasuruan

Latar Betakang-Depresi merupakan salah satu gangguan mental yang dimungkinkan muncul pada lansia, ketika lansia tidak dapat segera beradaptasi dengan berbagai perubahan yang terjadi akibat proses penuaan. Salah satu pendekatan yang dapat dilakukan dalam menurunkan skor depresi lansia adalah melalui psikoterapi dengan menggunakan terapi relaksasi otot progresif jenis Tension Relaxation. Tujuan-Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh terapi relaksasi otot progresif jenis tension relaxation terhadap penurunan skor depresi lansia. Metode-Desain penelitian yang digunakan adalah dengan Quasi-experimental dengan Rancangan Rangkaian Waktu (Times Series Design). Sarnpel penelitian ini adalah lansia dengan depresi di UPT Pelayanan Sosial Lanjut Usia Pandaan. Sampel dipilih menggunakan teknik pengambilan sampel non probability sampling dengan cara total sampling. Jumlah sampel yang diambil sebanyak 10 orang lansia. Hasil-Penelitian ini menunjukkan adanya penurunan pada nilai mean skor depresi lansia, dimana diperoleh mean pretest sebesar 10,9 sedangkan mean posttest I dan 2 menurun menjadi 6,4 dan 5,7. ierdasarkan uji hipotesa menggunakan uji repeated ANOVA (parametrik) dengan tingkat kepercayaan 95% didapatkan nilai signifikansi 0,000 (p<0,05), sehingga dapat diartikan bahwa terapi relaksasi otot progresif berpengaruh secara signifikan terhadap terjadinya penurunan skor depresi lansia di UPT Pelayanan Sosial Lanjut Usia Pandaan. Rekomendasi-Peneliti menyarankan kepada instansi tersebut untuk dapat menggunakan terapi relaksasi otot progresif pada lansianya yang mengalami gangguan depresi. Kata kunci-Relaksasi otot progresif, tension relaxation, depresi, lansia

Plant MYB Transcription Factors: Their Role in Drought Response Mechanisms

Water scarcity is one of the major causes of poor plant performance and limited crop yields worldwide and it is the single most common cause of severe food shortage in developing countries. Several molecular networks involved in stress perception, signal transduction and stress responses in plants have been elucidated so far. Transcription factors are major players in water stress signaling. In recent years, different MYB transcription factors, mainly in Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. but also in some crops, have been characterized for their involvement in drought response. For some of them there is evidence supporting a specific role in response to water stress, such as the regulation of stomatal movement, the control of suberin and cuticular waxes synthesis and the regulation of flower development. Moreover, some of these genes have also been characterized for their involvement in other abiotic or biotic stresses, an important feature considering that in nature, plants are often simultaneously subjected to multiple rather than single environmental perturbations. This review summarizes recent studies highlighting the role of the MYB family of transcription factors in the adaptive responses to drought stress. The practical application value of MYBs in crop improvement, such as stress tolerance engineering, is also discussed

Toward Scalable Content Generation for Gamified mHealth Interventions:The Evaluation of LLM-Generated Goals on User Engagement

Gamified mHealth applications are increasingly used to promote healthy behavior change, yet low participant engagement remains a challenge. Personalized content has shown promise in increasing engagement, however, creating personalized content is a time-consuming task. Generative Artificial Intelligence models, particularly Large Language Models, offer a potential solution with their ability to quickly generate relevant content. In this study, we aim to evaluate the impact of LLM-generated content on participant engagement in health interventions using gamified mHealth applications. A total of 73 students and staff members of a university participated in a health intervention and were assigned into groups receiving either LLM-generated goals or predetermined goals. Engagement and perceived intrinsic motivation were measured and compared between the two groups. The results show no significant difference in engagement or perceived intrinsic motivation between participants receiving LLM-generated goals and those receiving predetermined goals. LLM-generated goals did not significantly negatively impact participant engagement and could therefore possibly offer a time-efficient approach to scalable content generation for mHealth applications.</p

Atlas of the clinical genetics of human dilated cardiomyopathy

[Abstract] Aim. Numerous genes are known to cause dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). However, until now technological limitations have hindered elucidation of the contribution of all clinically relevant disease genes to DCM phenotypes in larger cohorts. We now utilized next-generation sequencing to overcome these limitations and screened all DCM disease genes in a large cohort. Methods and results. In this multi-centre, multi-national study, we have enrolled 639 patients with sporadic or familial DCM. To all samples, we applied a standardized protocol for ultra-high coverage next-generation sequencing of 84 genes, leading to 99.1% coverage of the target region with at least 50-fold and a mean read depth of 2415. In this well characterized cohort, we find the highest number of known cardiomyopathy mutations in plakophilin-2, myosin-binding protein C-3, and desmoplakin. When we include yet unknown but predicted disease variants, we find titin, plakophilin-2, myosin-binding protein-C 3, desmoplakin, ryanodine receptor 2, desmocollin-2, desmoglein-2, and SCN5A variants among the most commonly mutated genes. The overlap between DCM, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), and channelopathy causing mutations is considerably high. Of note, we find that >38% of patients have compound or combined mutations and 12.8% have three or even more mutations. When comparing patients recruited in the eight participating European countries we find remarkably little differences in mutation frequencies and affected genes. Conclusion. This is to our knowledge, the first study that comprehensively investigated the genetics of DCM in a large-scale cohort and across a broad gene panel of the known DCM genes. Our results underline the high analytical quality and feasibility of Next-Generation Sequencing in clinical genetic diagnostics and provide a sound database of the genetic causes of DCM.Hôpitaux de Paris; PHRC AOM0414

Roughing, semi-finishing and finishing of laser surface modified nickel bonded NbC and WC inserts for grey cast iron (GCI) face-milling

An attempt to improve the machining performance of NbC-Ni cutting inserts by rapid pulse electric current sintering (PECS), TiC and Mo2C additions and laser surface modification (LSM) was done. Use of a nickel binder and additions TiC and Mo2C to liquid phase sintered (LPS) NbC based samples led to comparable hardness (> 13 GPa) and KIC (~10 MPa.m1/2) to LPS WC-Co/Ni samples. The laser surface modification (LSM) technique produced a ~2.5 μm thick self-carbide coating, increasing the surface hardness of all the samples. Laser surface modification was done to improve abrasion and attrition wear resistance. Face-milling of grade 17 grey cast iron (BS 1452/GG35) was conducted at 100–500 m/min cutting speeds (vc) and 0.25–1.5mm depths of cut (ap). The insert wear was measured after every pass, and analyzed by annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy (ADF-STEM). During roughing, WC-Co based inserts had the lowest flank wear rate (FWR) values, with the WC-10Co (LPS) insert having a FWR of 10.15 μm/min after 20 min cutting time. However, during semifinishing and finishing, NbC-4TiC-12Ni (PECS) and NbC-4Mo2C-4TiC-12Ni (PECS) inserts had the lowest FWR values, showing up to six times longer tool life than the WC-Co (LPS) inserts based inserts and 12 times longer life than the WC-Ni based inserts. Generally, LSM improved the NbC inserts' tool life, reducing the FWR values in all NbC based inserts in all cutting tests

A meta-analysis of comparative transcriptomic data reveals a set of key genes involved in the tolerance to abiotic stresses in rice

Several environmental factors, such as drought, salinity, and extreme temperatures, negatively affect plant growth and development, which leads to yield losses. The tolerance or sensitivity to abiotic stressors are the expression of a complex machinery involving molecular, biochemical, and physiological mechanisms. Here, a meta-analysis on previously published RNA-Seq data was performed to identify the genes conferring tolerance to chilling, osmotic, and salt stresses, by comparing the transcriptomic changes between tolerant and susceptible rice genotypes. Several genes encoding transcription factors (TFs) were identified, suggesting that abiotic stress tolerance involves upstream regulatory pathways. A gene co-expression network defined the metabolic and signalling pathways with a prominent role in the differentiation between tolerance and susceptibility: (i) the regulation of endogenous abscisic acid (ABA) levels, through the modulation of genes that are related to its biosynthesis/catabolism, (ii) the signalling pathways mediated by ABA and jasmonic acid, (iii) the activity of the \u201cDrought and Salt Tolerance\u201d TF, involved in the negative regulation of stomatal closure, and (iv) the regulation of flavonoid biosynthesis by specific MYB TFs. The identified genes represent putative key players for conferring tolerance to a broad range of abiotic stresses in rice; a fine-tuning of their expression seems to be crucial for rice plants to cope with environmental cues

Comparative Leaf and Root Transcriptomic Analysis of two Rice Japonica Cultivars Reveals Major Differences in the Root Early Response to Osmotic Stress

Background Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is one of the most important crops cultivated in both tropical and temperate regions and is characterized by a low water-use efficiency and a high sensitivity to a water deficit, with yield reductions occurring at lower stress levels compared to most other crops. To identify genes and pathways involved in the tolerant response to dehydration, a powerful approach consists in the genome-wide analysis of stress-induced expression changes by comparing drought-tolerant and drought-sensitive genotypes. Results The physiological response to osmotic stress of 17 japonica rice genotypes was evaluated. A clear differentiation of the most tolerant and the most sensitive phenotypes was evident, especially after 24 and 48 h of treatment. Two genotypes, which were characterized by a contrasting response (tolerance/sensitivity) to the imposed stress, were selected. A parallel transcriptomic analysis was performed on roots and leaves of these two genotypes at 3 and 24 h of stress treatment. RNA-Sequencing data showed that the tolerant genotype Eurosis and the sensitive genotype Loto mainly differed in the early response to osmotic stress in roots. In particular, the tolerant genotype was characterized by a prompt regulation of genes related to chromatin, cytoskeleton and transmembrane transporters. Moreover, a differential expression of transcription factor-encoding genes, genes involved in hormone-mediate signalling and genes involved in the biosynthesis of lignin was observed between the two genotypes. Conclusions Our results provide a transcriptomic characterization of the osmotic stress response in rice and identify several genes that may be important players in the tolerant response