Autophagy Modulation by Viral Infections Influences Tumor Development

Autophagy is a self-degradative process important for balancing cellular homeostasis at critical times in development and/or in response to nutrient stress. This is particularly relevant in tumor model in which autophagy has been demonstrated to have an important impact on tumor behavior. In one hand, autophagy limits tumor transformation of precancerous cells in early stage, and in the other hand, it favors the survival, proliferation, metastasis, and resistance to antitumor therapies in more advanced tumors. This catabolic machinery can be induced by an important variety of extra- and intracellular stimuli. For instance, viral infection has often been associated to autophagic modulation, and the role of autophagy in virus replication differs according to the virus studied. In the context of tumor development, virus-modulated autophagy can have an important impact on tumor cells’ fate. Extensive analyses have shed light on the molecular and/or functional complex mechanisms by which virus-modulated autophagy influences precancerous or tumor cell development. This review includes an overview of discoveries describing the repercussions of an autophagy perturbation during viral infections on tumor behavior.

Analysis and prognosis of bitter acids content in Czech hop varieties – year 2020 and long-term comparisons and trends

The article deals with the harvest forecast of the content of bitter acids in Czech hop varieties harvested in 2020. This is presented in the context of long-term trends in the content and composition of bitter acids analogues and the stability of the varietal characteristics in the aforementioned harvest. This analysis is usually available at the end of the calendar year. 180 hop samples were analysed using EBC 7.7 (HPLC) method. The α-acids content in the most important variety of Saaz (3.65% in dry matter) was 12.8% rel. higher than in the 2019 harvest and 4.2% rel. higher than the 28-year average. The α-acids content in Saaz Late (3.23%), Sladek (7.9%), Kazbek (6.4%) and Agnus (12.4%) was significantly higher than both the long-term averages for the varieties and the harvest of 2019. The Premiant (8.0%) variety was close to the long-term average. The ratio of α-/β-acids, the relative content of cohumulone and the relative content of colupulone were consistent with long-term averages of the tested varieties. It was confirmed that the harvest forecast provides timely information on the α-acids content of the given harvest, the results being in good agreement with the values of the final evaluation of all harvested hops.

Postharvest storage of three chayote (Sechium edule (Jacq.) Sw.) varieties

The consumer demand for chayote (Sechium edule (Jacq.) Sw.) fruits has increased in recent years, virens levis being the most important variety, although other chayote varieties are gaining importance such as nigrum xalapensis and n. spinosum. However, the postharvest behavior of these varieties is different, so it is important to evaluate the factors that limit the shelf life of each variety. Therefore, in this study, fruits of each variety from the Mexican National Germplasm Bank of Sechium edule were used. The following fruit quality variables were evaluated: weight loss, humidity (%), color, chlorophyll, titratable acidity, total soluble solids (TSS), total sugars, and stomatal characteristics. In addition, the storage potential of each variety was evaluated for two weeks at different temperatures, 7°, 13° (85% RH) and 24 °C (60% RH), with the application of 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP). The variables evaluated were viviparism, disease severity, weight loss, dehydration and chilling injury (CI). The fruits of n. xalapensis and n. spinosum have a higher content of chlorophylls and carotenoids, but similar contents of TSS, acidity and total sugars than v. levis fruits. The use of 1-MCP reduced viviparism in all varieties, and the severity of blisters was higher in v. levis. The fruits of the three varieties presented severe CI when stored at 7 °C but the most susceptible to dehydration and diseases severity is n. spinosum.

Rhagoletis cingulata (cherry fruit fly).

R. cingulata (listed on EPPO A2 list) is a severe pest of cherries. It is closely connected to its host plants Prunus avium, P. cerasi, P. serotina, P. mahaleb and P. emarginata. Prunus mahaleb is native in warm locations of Southern and Central Europe. It is used as rootstock for tart cherries and as ornamental plant. In Germany R. cingulata appears 3-4 weeks later than the native species R. cerasi, and due to this attacks late cherry varieties, mainly tart cherries, e.g. the economic important variety "Schattenmorellen". This has been proven by fruit samples, from which pupae were obtained and in the following year R. cingulata adults emerged (species confirmed by Dr. Allen Norrbom, Systematic Entomology Laboratory, USDA). Infestation levels in tart cherries amounted to more than 20%.

Impact of PP Impurities on ABS Tensile Properties: Computational Mechanical Modelling Aspects

Recycling of plastics is hindered by their important variety and strong incompatibility. However, sorting technologies bear costs and meet limits. Very high purities (<2 wt%) are difficult to reach. Yet, such rates may be detrimental to functional properties. In this work, an ABS matrix (major plastic in Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipments) was filled with 4 wt% of PP to mimic impurities in ABS after recycling. PP-g-MA was introduced in the blend to improve the compatibility. A finite element model was developed from the mechanical behavior of each component. ABS and PP were individually characterized from tensile tests instrumented with photomechanics and their behaviors were modelled through a set of numerical parameters (elasto-visco-plasticity with a Gurson’s criterion behavior). Comparison between the determinist model results and the experimental data (strength, volumetric variation) shows that this type of modelling could be a predictive tool in order to anticipate composite mechanical properties and to understand micromechanisms of deformation (damage, cavitation). The main result is that PP introduced at 4 wt% into ABS does not alter the static mechanical properties despite polymers incompatibility. The addition of PP-g-MA modifies the local properties and possibly conduct to a premature breakage of the polymer blend.

La commercializzazione del vino e dell’olio in Italia settentrionale attraverso lo studio dei daziari tardomedievali

The contribution reconstructs the wine and oil trade in Northern Italy, starting from the analysis of late medieval tariff books. The tariff books of the major cities are characterised by a wide range of wine products, which included Greek wines, but also wines traded regionally. Olive oil together with linseed oil constitutes the most important variety among cooking oils.

Criminal Event Ontology Population and Enrichment using Patterns Recognition from Text

Thousands of criminal events are reported in newspapers and social networks every day. They describe violent acts that include actors, places, times, causes and any information concerning them. Verbal and nominal phrases are used to characterize and expose criminal events, which employ an important variety of natural language structures in the newspapers. In addition, causes, times and spaces of criminal events, use linguistic phrases to represent them in text. All of them need to be extracted as a pattern recognition process in order to extract criminal events from text and the information that concerns them. The extracted events, as a knowledge base, are very useful for information retrieval tasks. Therefore, this paper presents an approach based on pattern recognition in order to extract criminal events from Spanish text, by populating and enriching an ontology model. Ontology population and enrichment involve the instantiation of criminal events and their cause relationships. An evaluation process is carried out with a set of manually tagged newspapers with categories of specific events, and shows promising results.

Selection and RAPD analysis of Pseudomonas ssp. isolates able to improve biological viability of potato seed tubers

Indoleacetic acid (IAA) producing Pseudomonas isolates from the rhizosphere of maize (Q4 and Q20), alfalfa (Q1 and Q16) and wild red clover (B25) were selected for the investigation of their effect on the biological vitality of the potato seed tubers. The production of IAA ranged from 4.09 to 15.9 ? gmL- 1 after 24h of cultivation and 4.08 to 26.4 ? gmL-1 after 48h of cultivation. The molecular comparison by RAPD analysis also was done. RAPD patterns of selected Pseudomonas spp. isolates obtained by BC318, AF14, SPH 1 and AP 10 primers demonstrated the suitability of RAPD method in distinguishing a high variability among the four isolates (44 to 68%). The effect on the biological viability of potato (industrially important variety Pirol) was observed during the seven weeks of sprouting at the temperature of 18-20?C. Potato tubers treated by the selected isolates formed slightly lower number of sprouts, but statistically higher mean length - up to 129.9% higher than the control. The mean sprouting capacity was 64.5% higher than a control. Obtained results suggested positive effects of selected IAA producing Pseudomonas isolates on the length of potato tubers and sprouting capacity as the parameters which define biological viability.