PHOTH-graphene: a new 2D carbon allotrope with low barriers for Li-ion mobility.

The continued interest in 2D carbon allotropes stems from their unique structural and electronic characteristics, which are crucial for diverse applications. This work theoretically introduces PHOTH-Graphene (PHOTH-G), a novel 2D planar carbon allotrope formed by 4-5-6-7-8 carbon rings. PHOTH-G emerges as a narrow band gap semiconducting material with low formation energy, demonstrating good stability under thermal and mechanical conditions. This material has slight mechanical anisotropy with Young modulus and Poisson ratios varying between 7.08-167.8 GPa and 0.21-0.96. PHOTH-G presents optical activity restricted to the visible range. Li atoms adsorbed on its surface have a migration barrier averaging 0.38 eV.

What influences stroke survivors with physical disabilities to be physically active? A qualitative study informed by the Theoretical Domains Framework.

BACKGROUND: Although the benefits of regular physical activity (PA) after stroke are well established, many stroke survivors do not achieve recommended PA levels. To date, studies exploring determinants to PA have not used a behaviour change theory and focused on stroke survivors with physical disabilities. As a precursor to an intervention development study, we aimed to use the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) to identify factors influencing PA in stroke survivors with physical disabilities in Singapore. METHODS: Between November 2021 and January 2022, we conducted interviews with 19 community-dwelling stroke survivors with a weak arm and/or leg. An interview guide based on the TDF was developed. We analysed the data deductively by coding interview transcripts into the theoretical domains of the TDF, and then inductively by generating themes and belief statements. To identify relevant TDF domains, we prioritised the domains based on the frequencies of the belief statements, presence of conflicting belief statements and evidence of strong belief statements. RESULTS: Eight of the 14 TDF domains were relevant, and included environmental context and resources, knowledge, social influences, emotion, reinforcement, behavioural regulation, skills and beliefs about capabilities. The lack of access, suitable equipment and skilled help often limited PA participation at public fitness spaces such as parks, gyms and swimming pools (environmental context and resources). While a few stroke survivors expressed that they had the skills to engage in regular PA, most expressed not knowing how much and how hard to work, which exercises to do, which equipment to use and how to adapt exercises and equipment (knowledge and skills). This often left them feeling afraid to try new activities or venture out to new places for fear of the unknown or adverse events (e.g., falls) (emotion). For some, doing the activities in a group encourage them to get out and engage in PA (social influences). CONCLUSIONS: In stroke survivors with physical disabilities, environmental context and resources had a significant influence on PA participation, and this often had a spill over effect into other domains. Our results inform a complex behaviour change intervention to improve PA after stroke, and has implications for intervention design for people with physical disabilities.

Nursing interventions in palliative care in the intensive care unit: A systematic review.

CONTEXT: Patients in palliative care are found in different places where care is provided, including the intensive care environment with important role of the nursing staff. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this systematic review was to answer the following question: which nursing interventions are aimed to the palliative care patients who are in the intensive care unit (ICU). DATA SOURCES: US National Library of Medicine (PUBMED), Virtual Health Library (BVS), SciELO, The Cochrane Library (Cochrane) and Lilacs databases were used. DATA EXTRACTION: After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria in accordance with the PRISMA method, a total of 36 entries published between 2010 and 2020 were used. DATA ANALYSIS: The records extracted were analyzed from a qualitative approach, so no statistical analysis was carried out. RESULTS: The findings demonstrated that the interventions that focus on promoting the patient's autonomy and respect their needs on ICU involves effective communication, promoting shared decision with patient and family, individualize care for each patient including the family on the daily care and decisions, maintaining basic nursing care as hygiene and comfort and encouraging self-care, as well as the involvement of nursing palliative care specialists the care is important. Other interventions included promoting a continuing education program for the nursing staff and other professionals involved in caring for patients in palliative care at ICU. CONCLUSION: This review highlighted the need for specific nursing interventions aimed at palliative care patients at ICU to promote patient autonomy and the focus on patient needs, always sharing decisions with the patient and family. However, it showed that there is a need for the continuous training of the nursing staff because factors such as the nurses' lack of technical-scientific knowledge and, concomitantly, the absence of a standardized and specific intervention model linked to a bureaucratic system, make it difficult to carry out a specialized care for this type of patient.

Nephroprotective effect of exercise training in cisplatin-induced renal damage in mice: influence of training protocol.

Cisplatin is an effective antineoplastic agent, but its use is limited by its nephrotoxicity caused by the oxidative stress in tubular epithelium of nephrons. On the other hand, regular exercise provides beneficial adaptations in different tissues and organs. As with many drugs, dosing is extremely important to get the beneficial effects of exercise. Thus, we aimed to investigate the influence of exercise intensity and frequency on cisplatin-induced (20 mg/kg) renal damage in mice. Forty male Swiss mice were divided into five experimental groups (n=8 per group): 1) sedentary; 2) low-intensity forced swimming, three times per week; 3) high-intensity forced swimming, three times per week; 4) low-intensity forced swimming, five times per week; and 5) high-intensity forced swimming, five times per week. Body composition, renal structure, functional indicators (plasma urea), lipid peroxidation, antioxidant enzyme activity, expression of genes related to antioxidant defense, and inflammatory and apoptotic pathways were evaluated. Comparisons considered exercise intensity and frequency. High lipid peroxidation was observed in the sedentary group compared with trained mice, regardless of exercise intensity and frequency. Groups that trained three times per week showed more benefits, as reduced tubular necrosis, plasma urea, expression of CASP3 and Rela (NFkB subunit-p65) genes, and increased total glutathione peroxidase activity. No significant difference in Nfe2l2 (Nrf2) gene expression was observed between groups. Eight weeks of regular exercise training promoted nephroprotection against cisplatin-mediated oxidative injury. Exercise frequency was critical for nephroprotection.

Computational design of mechanically coupled axle-rotor protein assemblies.

Natural molecular machines contain protein components that undergo motion relative to each other. Designing such mechanically constrained nanoscale protein architectures with internal degrees of freedom is an outstanding challenge for computational protein design. Here we explore the de novo construction of protein machinery from designed axle and rotor components with internal cyclic or dihedral symmetry. We find that the axle-rotor systems assemble in vitro and in vivo as designed. Using cryo-electron microscopy, we find that these systems populate conformationally variable relative orientations reflecting the symmetry of the coupled components and the computationally designed interface energy landscape. These mechanical systems with internal degrees of freedom are a step toward the design of genetically encodable nanomachines.

Nephroprotective effect of exercise training in cisplatin-induced renal damage in mice: influence of training protocol

Cisplatin is an effective antineoplastic agent, but its use is limited by its nephrotoxicity caused by the oxidative stress in tubular epithelium of nephrons. On the other hand, regular exercise provides beneficial adaptations in different tissues and organs. As with many drugs, dosing is extremely important to get the beneficial effects of exercise. Thus, we aimed to investigate the influence of exercise intensity and frequency on cisplatin-induced (20 mg/kg) renal damage in mice. Forty male Swiss mice were divided into five experimental groups (n=8 per group): 1) sedentary; 2) low-intensity forced swimming, three times per week; 3) high-intensity forced swimming, three times per week; 4) low-intensity forced swimming, five times per week; and 5) high-intensity forced swimming, five times per week. Body composition, renal structure, functional indicators (plasma urea), lipid peroxidation, antioxidant enzyme activity, expression of genes related to antioxidant defense, and inflammatory and apoptotic pathways were evaluated. Comparisons considered exercise intensity and frequency. High lipid peroxidation was observed in the sedentary group compared with trained mice, regardless of exercise intensity and frequency. Groups that trained three times per week showed more benefits, as reduced tubular necrosis, plasma urea, expression of CASP3 and Rela (NFkB subunit-p65) genes, and increased total glutathione peroxidase activity. No significant difference in Nfe2l2 (Nrf2) gene expression was observed between groups. Eight weeks of regular exercise training promoted nephroprotection against cisplatin-mediated oxidative injury. Exercise frequency was critical for nephroprotection.

Vicilin from Anadenanthera colubrina Seeds: An alternative tool to combat Callosobruchus maculatus.

Vicilins are seed proteins, and they constitute 70-80% of the total protein in leguminous seeds; with amolecular mass between 150 and 190 kDa, they are composed of subunits without disulfide bridges, with high affinity for chitin-binding. They are also associated with seed defense against insect pests. The chitin-binding vicilin from Anadenanthera colubrina seeds was purified by ammonium sulfate, followed by affinity chromatography on a chitin column, molecular exclusion on Superdex 75 Tricorn in FPLC system and Phenomenex C8 chromatography in HPLC system. The A. colubrina vicilin, named AcV, is a tetrameric glycoprotein composed of 1.55% carbohydrates and molecular weight determined by SDS-PAGE, consisting of 70, 73, 43 and 41 kDa. The AcV homogeneity was confirmed in native PAGE, where it was observed to be a unique band with slow mobility in this gel, with approximately 230 kDa. AcV added to the Callosobruchus maculatus diet in the bioassays resulted in a strong effect on adult emergence (ED50 of 0.096%), and in larvae caused a marked reduction in mass (WD50 of 0.32%) and lethality (LD50 of 0.33%) (w:w). The digestibility of AcV was evaluated in vitro with the digestive enzymes of larvae of C. maculatus of fourth instar, showing major fragments of 10 and 30 kDa. AcV showed reactivity against the anti-EvV antibody from Erythrina velutina vicilin. The deleterious effects of AcV are likely to be associated with the chitin-binding fragments generated by proteolysis in the bruchid gut, similarly to that found for vicilins from other leguminous plant species, Enterolobium contortisiliquum and Vigna unguiculata. AcV might be a candidate protein for a possible bioinsecticidal control of the bruchid weevil, C. maculatus.

Meta-analysis of the effects of essential oil as an alternative to monensin in diets for beef cattle.

Additives used to improve feed efficiency of beef cattle on high-grain diets requires products that not only increase animal performance but also provide food safety for consumers. Since phytogenic additives such as essential oils (EO) are the main substitutes for monensin in the diet of cattle fed high-grain diets, this study aimed to evaluate, through meta-analysis, the effects of EO as an alternative to monensin in diets for beef cattle on feed intake, performance, carcass characteristics and ruminal fermentative parameters. Ten peer-reviewed publications with 27 treatment means were included in the data set. These effects were evaluated using random-effect models to examine the weighted mean differences (WMD) between EO treatment and control treatment (diets with monensin). Heterogeneity was explored by meta-regression and subgroup analysis. The substitution of EO for monensin did not affect methane production, ruminal pH values, average daily gain, feed efficiency or carcass weight. However, carcass dressing percentage (WMD = 0.38%; P = 0.03), ribeye area (WMD = 0.82 cm2; P < 0.0001) and subcutaneous fat thickness (WMD = 0.56 mm; P < 0.0001) values increased. Although the use of EO instead of monensin had no influence on the performance of beef cattle fed high-grain diets, the prevalence of hepatic abscesses increased 84.9% and the replacement of monensin by EO increased the risk ratio of hepatic abscess prevalence by 107%. Therefore, the use of EO in high-grain beef cattle diets was ineffective in protecting the liver against abscesses.

Genotype by environment interaction for Holstein cattle populations using autoregressive and within- and across-country multi-trait reaction norms test-day models.

The progenies of international bulls in diverse climatic conditions and management levels may lead to different expressions of their genetic potential resulting in a re-ranking of these bulls. Therefore, evaluate the presence of genotype by environment interaction (G×E) within and across countries is important to guide the decision-making on alternative selection strategies. Thus, a two-step reaction norm (RN) approach was used to investigate the presence of G×E in Portuguese and Brazilian Holstein cattle. In step 1, we performed a within-country genetic evaluation using an autoregressive model to obtain precorrected phenotypes and environmental gradients (herd test-day solutions, HTD levels). In step 2, the precorrected phenotypes were considered as two distinct traits in a bi-trait RN model to estimate variance components across HTD levels, genetic correlation between HTD levels in Portugal and Brazil, and RN of the estimated breeding values. Additionally, the genetic correlation between countries using a bi-trait random regression (RR) sire model was obtained. In step 1, genetic additive variance for milk yield (MY) in Portugal was 14.1% higher than in Brazil. For somatic cell score (SCS), the genetic additive variance in Portugal was 12.7% lower than in Brazil. Although similar heritability estimates for SCS were observed in both countries, MY heritabilities were 0.31 for Portugal and 0.23 for Brazil. Genetic correlations (SD) between both countries obtained using RR sire model were 0.78 (0.051) for MY and 0.75 (0.062) for SCS. In step 2, MY genetic correlations among HTD levels within countries were higher than 0.94 for Portugal and 0.98 for Brazil. Somatic cell score genetic correlations among HTD levels ranged from 0.70 to 0.99 for Portugal and from 0.84 to 0.99 for Brazil. The average (SD) of genetic correlation estimates between Portuguese and Brazilian HTD levels were 0.74 (0.009) for MY and 0.57 (0.060) for SCS. These results suggest the presence of G×E for MY and SCS of Holstein cattle between both countries. Although there was no indication of G×E between Brazilian herd environments, the low genetic correlation for SCS indicates potential re-ranking of bulls between extreme environmental gradient in Portugal. Overall, the results of this study evidence the importance of national and international genetic evaluation systems to assist dairy farmers in the selection of the best genotypes to obtain the expected returns from investments in imported semen and to realize genetic progress in dairy populations under local environmental conditions.

Exploring the use of residual variance for uniformity of body weight in meat quail lines using Bayesian inference.

1. Uniformity in animal products is an important aspect of the production system. Several studies have reported estimates of genetics on residual variance in different species, indicating that it could be exploited to improve uniformity by selection. Nevertheless, there are no reports about the possibilities of such a selection strategy in meat quail.2. Records of hatching weight (HW) and body weight at 42 days (W42) of female and male birds from two meat quail lines (UFV1 and UFV2) were analysed. A three-step genetic evaluation was used to investigate the effect of genetic variation on residual variance of HW and W42 in both lines. In Step 1, a single-trait model was fitted to the data. In Step 2, log-transformed squared estimated residuals (ln(ê2)) were evaluated for these traits. In Step 3, a multi-trait analysis was performed to estimate the genetic correlation between the additive genetic effects for HW, W42, and their respective ln(ê2).3. The heritability estimates ranged from 0.12 to 0.23 for HW and from 0.22 to 0.35 for W42. The estimated heritabilities for the residual part were low and ranged from 0.0003 to 0.02 for both traits, and the genetic coefficient of variation residual variance estimates ranged from 0.31 to 0.42 for HW and from 0.09 to 0.25 for W42. Genetic correlations between the means (HW and W42) and ln(ê2) values were both positive and did not differ from zero, indicating no association between mean and ln(ê2).4. In conclusion, the uniformity of HW and W42 could be improved by selecting for lower residual variance in both meat quail lines, but the accuracy of selection may be low due to low heritability for uniformity, mainly for W42.

Zymosan enhances in vitro phagocyte function and the immune response of mice infected with Paracoccidioides brasiliensis.

Paracoccidioides brasiliensis is the major etiologic agent of Paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM), the most frequent human deep mycosis in Latin America. It is proposed that masking of ß-glucan in P. brasiliensis cell wall is a critical virulence factor that contributes to the development of a chronic disease characterized by a long period of treatment, which is usually toxic. In this context, the search for immunomodulatory agents for therapeutic purposes is highly desirable. One strategy is to use pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) ligands to stimulate the immune response mediated by phagocytes. Here, we sought to evaluate if Zymosan, a ß-glucan-containing ligand of the PRRs Dectin-1/TLR-2, would enhance phagocyte function and the immune response of mice challenged with P. brasiliensis. Dendritic cells (DCs) infected with P. brasiliensis and treated with Zymosan showed improved secretion of several proinflammatory cytokines and expression of maturation markers. In addition, when cocultured with splenic lymphocytes, these cells induced the production of a potential protective type 1 and 17 cytokine patterns. In macrophages, Zymosan ensued a significant fungicidal activity associated with nitric oxide production and phagolysosome acidification. Importantly, we observed a protective effect of Zymosan-primed DCs delivered intranasally in experimental pulmonary PCM. Overall, our findings support the potential use of ß-glucan-containing compounds such as Zymosan as an alternative or complementary antifungal therapy. LAY SUMMARY: We report for the first time that Paracoccidioides brasiliensis-infected phagocytes treated with Zymosan (cell wall extract from bakers' yeast) show enhanced cytokine production, maturation, and fungal killing. Also, Zymosan-primed phagocytes induce a protective immune response in infected mice.

Control of the growth of Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris in industrialized orange juice using rosemary essential oil and nisin.

The use of rosemary essential oil (RO) and its combination with nisin (RO+N) in preventing the multiplication of Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris in orange juice was evaluated. The minimum inhibitory and bactericidal concentrations (MIC and MBC) for RO were both 125 µg ml-1 while RO+N displayed a synergistic effect. The use of RO and RO+N at concentrations of 1, 4 and 8× MIC in orange juice for 96 h was evaluated in terms of their sporicidal effectiveness. With regard to the action against A. acidoterrestris spores, RO at 8× MIC was sporostatic, whereas RO+N at 1× MIC was sporicidal. Morphological changes in the structure of the micro-organism after treatment were also observed by microscopy. Furthermore, flow cytometric analysis showed that most cells were damaged or killed after treatment. In general, the antioxidant activity after addition of RO+N decreased with time. The results demonstrate that using the combination of RO and nisin can prevent the A. acidoterrestris growth in orange juice.

Genomic ancestry and metabolic syndrome in individuals with type 1 diabetes from an admixed population: a multicentre, cross-sectional study in Brazil.

AIMS: To evaluate the relationship between self-reported colour-race, genomic ancestry, and metabolic syndrome in an admixed Brazilian population with type 1 diabetes. METHODS: We included 1640 participants with type 1 diabetes. The proportions of European, African and Amerindian genomic ancestries were determined by 46 ancestry informative markers of insertion deletion. Two different sets of analyses were performed to determine whether self-reported colour-race and genomic ancestry were predictors of metabolic syndrome. RESULTS: Metabolic syndrome was identified in 29.8% of participants. In the first model, the factors associated with metabolic syndrome were: female gender (odds ratio 1.95, P < 0.001); diabetes duration (odds ratio 1.04, P < 0.001); family history of type 2 diabetes (odds ratio 1.36, P = 0.019); and acanthosis nigricans (odds ratio 5.93, P < 0.001). Colour-race was not a predictive factor for metabolic syndrome. In the second model, colour-race was replaced by European genomic ancestry. The associated factors were: female gender (odds ratio 1.95, P < 0.001); diabetes duration (odds ratio 1.04, P < 0.001); family history of type 2 diabetes (odds ratio 1.39, P = 0.011); and acanthosis nigricans (odds ratio 6.12, P < 0.001). Physical exercise (≥3 times a week) was a protective factor (odds ratio 0.77, P = 0.041), and European genomic ancestry was not associated with metabolic syndrome but showed an odds ratio of 1.77 (P = 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Although a higher level of European genomic ancestry was observed among participants with metabolic syndrome in the univariate analysis, this association did not persist after multivariable adjustments. Further prospective studies in other highly admixed populations remain necessary to better evaluate whether the European ancestral component modulates the development of metabolic syndrome in type 1 diabetes.

Genetic diversity of Listeria monocytogenes serotype 1/2a strains collected in Brazil by Multi-Virulence-Locus Sequence Typing.

Listeria monocytogenes is an opportunistic pathogen with the ability to adapt to different environmental conditions, resulting in safety issues for food producers. Foods contaminated by L. monocytogenes can represent a risk if consumed by susceptible individuals such as elderly, pregnant women and the immunocompromised. The aim of this study was to evaluate the genetic diversity of a collection of L. monocytogenes isolated from different matrices in Brazil during the period of 1979-2015. A total of 51 L. monocytogenes serotype 1/2a strains isolated from clinical samples (n = 3) and food samples (n = 48) were characterized by Multi-Virulence-Locus Sequence Typing (MVLST). The strains were assigned to nine virulence types (VT): VT-11 (n = 3, 5·9%), VT-45 (n = 27, 52·9%), VT-59 (n = 11, 21·6%), VT-68 (n = 3, 5·9%), VT-94 (n = 2, 3·9%), VT-107 (n = 2, 3·9%), VT-184 (n = 1, 1·9%), VT-185 (n = 1, 1·9%) and VT-186 (n = 1, 1·9%); and four of them (VT-11, VT-45, VT-59 and VT-68) have already been associated with cases of listeriosis worldwide. The VT-11, VT-59 (Epidemic Clone V) and VT-186 were identified in blood culture samples, as well as in different classes of foods. It is recommended that the epidemiological surveillance agencies evaluate the risk that foods contaminated with L. monocytogenes VTs pose to susceptible populations.

Interference of sanitizers, NaCl and curing salts on Listeria monocytogenes adhesion and subsequent biofilm formation.

Listeria monocytogenes, a well-known foodborne pathogen and the causative agent of listeriosis, has the ability to persist in food processing environments due to its high adhesion ability in different surfaces, playing an important role in the food industry. The aim of this study was to assess how the main stressing conditions, usually observed in meat processing facilities (sanitizers, NaCl, curing salts), interfere in L. monocytogenes adhesion and biofilm formation. The isolates, representatives of different L. monocytogenes lineages (n = 6) were subjected to four different sanitizers (S1: quaternary ammonium; S2: peracetic acid, hydrogen peroxide and glacial acetic acid, S3: biguanide polyhexamethylene hydrochloride, S4: hydrogen peroxide) to verify adhesion ability and susceptibility based on minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). In addition, the isolates adhesion and biofilm were assessed up to 72 h under different conditions: sanitizers (MIC values), curing salts and NaCl (both at 5, 7·5, 10%), at different temperatures (4, 12 and 37°C). Despite the effectiveness of sanitizers, isolates presented higher biofilm development when compared to controls in the presence of quaternary ammonium (S1, 1: 1,024) at 4°C, over the tested time (P < 0·05). Furthermore, different responses were observed for the different L. monocytogenes strains tested, providing a better understanding of the persistence of this pathogen in the food processing facilities.

Utstein recommendation for emergency stroke care.

BACKGROUND: Recent advances in treatment for stroke give new possibilities for optimizing outcomes. To deliver these prehospital care needs to become more efficient. AIM: To develop a framework to support improved delivery of prehospital care. The recommendations are aimed at clinicians involved in prehospital and emergency health systems who will often not be stroke specialists but need clear guidance as to how to develop and deliver safe and effective care for acute stroke patients. METHODS: Building on the successful implementation program from the Global Resuscitation Alliance and the Resuscitation Academy, the Utstein methodology was used to define a generic chain of survival for Emergency Stroke Care by assembling international expertise in Stroke and Emergency Medical Services (EMS). Ten programs were identified for Acute Stroke Care to improve survival and outcomes, with recommendations for implementation of best practice. CONCLUSIONS: Efficient prehospital systems for acute stroke will be improved through public awareness, optimized prehospital triage and timely diagnostics, and quick and equitable access to acute treatments. Documentation, use of metrics and transparency will help to build a culture of excellence and accountability.

Evaluation of antitumor potential of cashew gum extracted from Anacardium occidentale Linn.

This study aims to determine the antitumor potential of cashew gum in vitro and in vivo. The cashew gum (CG) structure is similar to already showed in literature. The cytotoxicity effect of CG was performed by MTT assay, and B16-F10 melanoma model was used to evaluate antitumor effect. The tumor inhibition was calculated based on tumor weight. Hematological, histopathological, FTIR, oxidative stress and Western Blot analysis were performed to elucidate the mechanism of inhibition and toxic effects. As results, CG did not demonstrate cytotoxicity in vitro, however showed a significant tumor inhibition in vivo, with about 36.9 to 43% of reduction in tumor mass, with no toxicity to organs. Animals treated with CG did not show toxicity in normal tissues, FTIR spectrum and oxidative stress analysis of the tumor tissue indicated that CG cause tumor inhibition with the presence of apoptosis morphotype cells, without alterations in the levels of antioxidants components. In addition, it was observed that CG reduced the expression of γH2AX without changing the expression of caspase-3. With this, we can suggest that this polymer can assist in the anticancer activity and/or decrease the side effects of standard drugs used in treatment of cancer.

Do microplastics affect the zoanthid Zoanthus sociatus?

Microplastics (1 µm-5 mm), a ubiquitous and persistent marine pollutant, pose a severe threat to coral reefs when recently associated with physiological distress and increased diseases on corals. Studies conducted so far have only reported effects on scleractinian species. Knowledge about its effects on other corals (e.g. Order Zoantharia) remains uncovered, and responses at biochemical levels remain poorly documented. This study aimed to assess the potential effects induced by the presence of microplastics (1 and 10 mg L-1 low-density polyethylene, LDPE MP, or polyvinyl chloride, PVC MP) in the tropical and subtropical cosmopolitan species Zoanthus sociatus (order Zoantharia. Anthozoa: Hexacorallia), at organism level (survival and behaviour), endosymbionts (photosynthetic efficiency) and the cellular level (oxidative stress, detoxification capacity and energy metabolism). In a short-term exposure (96 h), this species was more sensitive to PVC MP. The presence of this polymer at a concentration of 10 mg L-1 caused a ten-fold higher adhesion to the coral epidermis, increased photosynthetic efficiency, lipid peroxidation, and antioxidant defences; without, however, inducing energetic costs. Although the observed physiological and biochemical effects did not compromise Z. sociatus survival in the short term, it does not rule out potential long-term (cumulative) effects that could endanger this and other physiologically similar species that underlie coral reefs.

Autoregressive single-step test-day model for genomic evaluations of Portuguese Holstein cattle.

The multiple-lactation autoregressive test-day (AR) model is the adopted model for the national genetic evaluation of dairy cattle in Portugal. Under this model, animals' permanent environment effects are assumed to follow a first-order autoregressive process over the long (auto-correlations between parities) and short (auto-correlations between test-days within lactation) terms. Given the relevance of genomic prediction in dairy cattle, it is essential to include marker information in national genetic evaluations. In this context, we aimed to evaluate the feasibility of applying the single-step genomic (G)BLUP to analyze milk yield using the AR model in Portuguese Holstein cattle. In total, 11,434,294 test-day records from the first 3 lactations collected between 1994 and 2017 and 1,071 genotyped bulls were used in this study. Rank correlations and differences in reliability among bulls were used to compare the performance of the traditional (A-AR) and single-step (H-AR) models. These 2 modeling approaches were also applied to reduced data sets with records truncated after 2012 (deleting daughters of tested bulls) to evaluate the predictive ability of the H-AR. Validation scenarios were proposed, taking into account young and proven bulls. Average EBV reliabilities, empirical reliabilities, and genetic trends predicted from the complete and reduced data sets were used to validate the genomic evaluation. Average EBV reliabilities for H-AR (A-AR) using the complete data set were 0.52 (0.16) and 0.72 (0.62) for genotyped bulls with no daughters and bulls with 1 to 9 daughters, respectively. These results showed an increase in EBV reliabilities of 0.10 to 0.36 when genomic information was included, corresponding to a reduction of up to 43% in prediction error variance. Considering the 3 validation scenarios, the inclusion of genomic information improved the average EBV reliability in the reduced data set, which ranged, on average, from 0.16 to 0.26, indicating an increase in the predictive ability. Similarly, empirical reliability increased by up to 0.08 between validation tests. The H-AR outperformed A-AR in terms of genetic trends when unproven genotyped bulls were included. The results suggest that the single-step GBLUP AR model is feasible and may be applied to national Portuguese genetic evaluations for milk yield.