Ecological risk assessment of glyphosate and its possible effect on bacterial community in surface sediments of a typical shallow Lake, northern China.

Glyphosate is a widely used herbicide worldwide and its prevalent presence in aquatic ecosystems poses a threat to living organisms. This study evaluated potential ecological risk of glyphosate to sediment-dwelling organisms and assessed the probable effect of glyphosate on structure and predicated function of sediment-attached bacterial communities from a large shallow lake in northern China based on 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing. Results suggested that glyphosate showed a medium to high concentration (up to 8.63 mg/kg) and chronic risk to sediment-dwelling organisms (10% samples exhibiting medium to high risk quotient), especially in sites nearby farmland and residential areas in August. Bacterial community identification based on 16S rRNA sequence indicated some species of dominant phylum Proteobacteria and Campilobacterota (e.g., Steroidobacteraceae, Thiobacillus, Gallionellaceae, Sulfurimonadaceae) were stimulated while some species of dominant phylum Actinobacteriota, Acidobacteriota and Firmicutes (e.g., Nocardioidaceae, Microtrichales, Vicinamibacteraceae, Paenisporosarcina) were inhibited by glyphosate accumulation. The stimulating species were related to sulfur-oxidizing, sulfate-, iron-, or nitrate-reducing bacteria; The inhibiting species were related to plant bacterial endophytes, polyphosphate-accumulating organisms (PAOs) and denitrifers. Correspondingly, promoted bacterial metabolic functions of "sulfite respiration", "nitrogen respiration", "aromatic compound degradation" and "nitrification" but suppressed "cellulolysis", "manganese oxidation", "anoxygenic photoautotrophy S oxidizing" and "nitrate denitrification" were predicated on functional annotation of prokaryotic taxa. Although these results could only partly suggest the impacts of glyphosate on the bacterial communities due to the lack of actual results from control experiments, the identified Steroidobacteraceae could be thought as a bioindicator in the future mechanism study for the ecological effect and bioremediation of glyphosate. This work intends to arise the concern about the depletion of biodiversity and bacterial metabolic functions with contribution of glyphosate in part in eutrophic lakes.

Influence of single nucleotide polymorphisms in factor VIII and von Willebrand factor genes on plasma factor VIII activity: the ARIC Study.

Factor VIII (FVIII) functions as a cofactor for factor IXa in the contact coagulation pathway and circulates in a protective complex with von Willebrand factor (VWF). Plasma FVIII activity is strongly influenced by environmental and genetic factors through VWF-dependent and -independent mechanisms. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the coding and promoter sequence in the FVIII gene have been extensively studied for effects on FVIII synthesis, secretion, and activity, but impacts of non-disease-causing intronic SNPs remain largely unknown. We analyzed FVIII SNPs and FVIII activity in 10,434 healthy Americans of European (EA) or African (AA) descent in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study. Among covariates, age, race, diabetes, and ABO contributed 2.2%, 3.5%, 4%, and 10.7% to FVIII intersubject variation, respectively. Four intronic FVIII SNPs associated with FVIII activity and 8 with FVIII-VWF ratio in a sex- and race-dependent manner. The FVIII haplotypes AT and GCTTTT also associated with FVIII activity. Seven VWF SNPs were associated with FVIII activity in EA subjects, but no FVIII SNPs were associated with VWF Ag. These data demonstrate that intronic SNPs could directly or indirectly influence intersubject variation of FVIII activity. Further investigation may reveal novel mechanisms of regulating FVIII expression and activity.

Como e por que as desigualdades sociais fazem mal à saúde / How and why social inequalities are bad for health

Entrevista de Renato Farias a Rita Barradas Barata, trouxe a questão da desigualdade e os fatos condicionantes que levam o indivíduo a um comportamento sadio ou nocivo à sua saúde. As escolhas individuais do homem passam por processos de mediação que provocam desigualdades sociais - o homem e as pré-condições familiares, econômicas., culturais, políticas e históricas que evidenciam seu comportamento e sua saúde. O homem é produto de seu meio? o que condiciona o homem a comportamentos sadios ou nocivos? As sociedades que apresentam taxas menores de desigualdades tê mais saúde? Como minimizar os problemas de saúde? Saúde: responsabilidade do homem ou do Estado? O sistema de saúde no Brasil reconhece tais desigualdades na nossa sociedade?...

As pestes do século XX / Pests of the twentieth century

Entrevista de Renato Farias a Dilene Raimundo do Nascimento, autora do livro: As pestes do século XX: tuberculose e aids no Brasil, uma história comparada, e o pesquisador Luiz Otávio Ferreira. Trata de um estudo comparado entre duas doenças que assolaram o país no século XX: a tuberculose, que, à época da epidemia (no início do século), era tida como uma doença misteriosa e incurável, despertando na população diversos tipos de medos, medos que tinham a ver com a medicina; e a AIDS, doença do início dos anos 80 que deixou os meios científico e social perplexos por seu aspecto misterioso, incompreensível e inexplicável ao conhecimento vigente. Programa Ciência e Letras...

Tendências da Universidade / Trends in University

Tendências da Universidade aborda questões relacionadas ao que se espera da universidade no século XXI. Debate novas tendências do trinômio "ensino-pesquisa-extensão", o financiamento para os projetos universitários, os novos paradigmas diante das novas tecnologias e o compromisso com a sociedade. (Programa Unidiversidade)...