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Luffa operculata (L.) is a native Brazilian biome plant used for the treatment of respiratory diseases. Although Brazil’s flora comprises 67% of the world’s plants, only 8% of Brazilian plant species are studied each year. The studies indicate that climate change in tropical biomes intensifies the increase in salinized areas by about 10% per year for several reasons, including high temperatures, low rainfall and high evapotranspiration rates, due to surface water scarcity. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the germination behavior and vigor of L. operculata seeds submitted to saline stress at different temperatures. To simulate salt stress conditions, sodium chloride was applied at 0.0; 3.0; 6.0; 9.0 and 12.0 dS m-1, at 25, 30, 35, 20-30 °C, with treatments distributed in a 5 x 4 factorial scheme (five levels of osmotic potential and four temperatures), using four replications. The seeds were then evaluated concerning water content, germination tests, first counts, germination speed index and seedling root and shoot lengths. At 30 and 35 °C, the seed germination and vigor of L. operculata were less affected up to an osmotic potential of 9.0 dS m-1, where it is considered a moderate salinity tolerance. At 35 ºC, the germination uniformity was reduced to 98 and 93% by applying the 6 and 9 dS m-1 solutions, respectively. For the same temperature, the germination velocity remained 6.09 (IVG) until the saline potential of 9.0 dS m-1

Kinesin and dynein are two types of ATP-dependent mechanochemical motors that are involved in the transport of a variety of cytoplasmic cargos along microtubule fibers, the regulation of microtubule stability and the maintenance of centrosome integrity. Besides being responsible for both the maintenance of cell morphology and physiological functions, kinesins also play important roles in cell division, cell motility, spindle assembly, chromosome aggregation and separation. Although its role might be different in different types of cancer, some KIFS have been known to play a role in many types of cancer development, and they have also been pointed as interacting with viruses during viral infection, notably during viral egress. With an ongoing need for novel anti-retroviral treatments, these findings open the way for further studies with this motor protein, aiming the development of new and more efficient treatment strategies for chronic diseases such as AIDS caused by these fast-mutating viruses. This article presents an overview of KIF4 structure and functions and focus on its interactions with the Gag retroviral polyprotein during retroviral infection. Moreover, we draw attention to KIFs clinical potential as a therapeutic target to block retroviral infections by interfering with the production of new viral particles through microtubules destabilization.

As the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic hit Portugal, it forced the country to reintroduce lockdown measures due to hospitals reaching their full capacities. Under these circumstances, environmental contamination by SARS-CoV-2 in different areas of one of Portugal’s major Hospitals was assessed between 21 January and 11 February 2021. Air samples (n = 44) were collected from eleven different areas of the Hospital (four COVID-19 and seven non-COVID-19 areas) using Coriolis® μ and Coriolis® Compact cyclone air sampling devices. Surface sampling was also performed (n = 17) on four areas (one COVID-19 and three non-COVID-19 areas). RNA extraction followed by a one-step RT-qPCR adapted for quantitative purposes were performed. Of the 44 air samples, two were positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA (6575 copies/m3 and 6662.5 copies/m3, respectively). Of the 17 surface samples, three were positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA (200.6 copies/cm2, 179.2 copies/cm2, and 201.7 copies/cm2, respectively). SARS-CoV-2 environmental contamination was found both in air and on surfaces in both COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 areas. Moreover, our results suggest that longer collection sessions are needed to detect point contaminations. This reinforces the need to remain cautious at all times, not only when in close contact with infected individuals. Hand hygiene and other standard transmission-prevention guidelines should be continuously followed to avoid nosocomial COVID-19.

In this study, biodegradable films produced with starch, citric pectin, and functionalized with antioxidant compounds from feijoa (Acca sellowiana (Berg) Burret) were in situ applied for the conservation of ground beef, bread, and grapes. The results demonstrated that the films produced were an excellent source of stable antioxidant compounds, with antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli, Salmonella, and Shigella. The bioactive films based on biological macromolecules positively stabilized the polyunsaturated fatty acids and deterioration reactions in ground beef. The release of bioactive compounds from the films was responsible for inhibiting molds and yeasts in bread, increasing their shelf life for 30 days of storage. The application of film coating and packaging in grapes increased postharvest conservation and maintained steady physicochemical characteristics. Therefore, the innovative films produced can release bioactive compounds with antioxidant and antimicrobial activity, and consequently, can be proposed as an effective material for food conservation, increasing the shelf life of perishable food products.

Environmental factors play a key role in the zoonotic transmission of emerging pathogenic viruses as mankind is constantly disturbing wildlife's ecosystems usually by cutting down forests to build human settlements or by catching wild animals for food, which deprives the viruses of their natural hosts and gives them opportunity to infect humans. In December 2019, a new coronavirus emerged from bats and was named SARS-CoV-2 by the International Committee for Taxonomy of Viruses, and the disease it causes named COVID-19 by the World Health Organization. Disease outbreaks such as SARS in 2002–2003, MERS in 2012 and the current COVID-19 pandemic are the result of higher mutation rates of coronaviruses and their unique capacity for genetic recombination, resulting in adaptations that make them more suitable to cross the species barriers and infect other species. This ability for host switching and interspecies infection is often attributed to the great diversity of these viruses, which is a result of viral and host factors such as the low fidelity of their RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, the high frequency of their homologous RNA recombination, and the adaptation of the S protein to bind host receptors like the angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) in the case of SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2, and dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DDP4) in MERS-CoV. This review presents an overview of the zoonotic transmission of SARS, MERS and COVID-19, focusing on the viral, host and environmental factors that favor the spillover of these viruses into humans, as well as the biological and ecological factors that make bats the perfect animal reservoir of infection for these viruses., Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image, Highlights • Environmental factors play a key role in the zoonotic transmission of emerging. • Ability for host switching and interspecies infection is often attributed. • Bats are the main reservoir hosts for a lot of coronaviruses like SARS-CoV-2. • SARS-CoV-2 uses the same ACE2 cell receptor and entry mechanism as SARS-COV-1.

Producción Científica, Coronavirus disease 19, or COVID-19, is an infection associated with an unprecedented worldwide pandemic caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which has led to more than 215 million infected people and more than 4.5 million deaths worldwide. SARS-CoV-2 cell infection is initiated by a densely glycosylated spike (S) protein, a fusion protein, binding human angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (hACE2), that acts as the functional receptor through the receptor binding domain (RBD). In this article, the interaction of hACE2 with the RBD and how fusion is initiated after recognition are explored, as well as how mutations influence infectivity and immune response. Thus, we focused on all structures available in the Protein Data Bank for the interaction between SARS-CoV-2 S protein and hACE2. Specifically, the Delta variant carries particular mutations associated with increased viral fitness through decreased antibody binding, increased RBD affinity and altered protein dynamics. Combining both existing mutations and mutagenesis studies, new potential SARS-CoV-2 variants, harboring advantageous S protein mutations, may be predicted. These include mutations S13I and W152C, decreasing antibody binding, N460K, increasing RDB affinity, or Q498R, positively affecting both properties.

(1) Background: Toxoplasma gondii is an important zoonosis and one of the major causes of abortion in sheep worldwide. (2) Methods: We performed a 2-year longitudinal serological anti-T. gondii IgG screening on a cohort of a spatially confined population of a Portuguese autochthonous sheep breed in central Portugal. (3) Results: From the screening of the 2015 and 2016 sera, an increase of seroprevalence was observed (57.7% (95% CI: 49.9–65.3%) versus 69.1% (95% CI: 61.5–75.9), from 2015 and 2016, respectively) (p = 0.031). (4) Conclusions The present study is the first to provide prospective data on the anti-T. gondii serological status of a sheep cohort in Portugal, showing an increase in the occurrence of T. gondii. There is a need to provide a clearer understanding of T. gondii epidemiology in Portugal, ideally by implementing monitoring programs on sentinel herds, not only due to the high impact of T. gondii on animal health but also for it being a zoonosis.

Little is known about contaminated surfaces as a route of transmission for SARS-CoV- 2 and a systematic review is missing and urgently needed to provide guidelines for future research studies. As such, the aim of the present study was to review the current scientific knowledge and to summarize the existing studies in which SARS-CoV-2 has been detected in inanimate surfaces. This systematic review includes studies since the emergence of SARS-CoV-2, available in PubMed/MEDLINE and Scopus. Duplicate publications were removed, and exclusion criteria was applied to eliminate unrelated studies, resulting in 37 eligible publications. The present study provides the first overview of SARS-CoV-2 detection in surfaces. The highest detection rates occurred in hospitals and healthcare facilities with COVID-19 patients. Contamination with SARS-CoV-2 on surfaces was detected in a wide range of facilities and surfaces. There is a lack of studies performing viability testing for SARS-CoV-2 recovered from surfaces, and consequently it is not yet possible to assess the potential for transmission via surfaces., Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image

Few licensed drugs and vaccines are available concerning COVID-19, a disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2). Furthermore, numerous recent SARS-COV-2 variants of have arisen globally, demonstrating the need to develop broadly protective interventions for different coronavirus strains. Polyphenols are the largest class of natural bioactive compounds, categorized as flavonoids (catechins, quercetin and kaempferol) and non-flavonoids (gallic acid and resveratrol), and these compounds have been described as effective antiviral agents. This is because they can inhibit coronavirus enzymes, blocking replication and infection. The present short manuscript aimed to summarize and report the current evidence from well-known powerful flavonoid (catechin, quercetin, and kaempferol) and non-flavonoid (gallic acid and resveratrol) polyphenols obtained from plant extracts that inhibit coronavirus strains in in vitro models or by computer modeling. The knowledge of strategies beyond conventional treatments may be helpful in the development of new coronavirus drugs, treatments/medicines, or formulations.

open access article Dihydromyricetin (DHM) dramatically improved the quality of life for Streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats and significantly increased the activity of antioxidant enzymes in the liver. Moreover, DHM successfully ameliorated diabetes-induced liver damage by suppression of apoptosis in the liver, as indicated by the decreased levels of Bax and cleaved caspase-3. In diabetic rats, the levels of tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-1β in the liver were significantly increased. However, the administration of DHM (100–400 mg/kg/day) for 6 weeks restored the cytokine levels to their normal values in a dose-dependent manner in diabetic rats by the regulation of nuclear factor-kappa B signaling pathway. In addition, DHM significantly induced 5' AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) phosphorylation and decreased MyD88, TLR4, p38, GSK-3β protein expression levels in the liver of diabetic rats. In conclusion, DHM could improve STZ-induced liver impairment by preventing oxidative stress, apoptosis, and inflammation.

The Atlantic Forest is recognized as a biome rich in biodiversity. Cambuci trees (Campomanesia phaea) produce fruits that may be consumed as both fresh and processed forms but are still underutilized. The aim of this study was to describe the physicochemical characteristics and bioactive compounds in cambuci fruits from Brazilian Atlantic Forest, located at Natividade da Serra-SP, Brazil. Cambuci fruits of the fifty-nine accessions were characterized according to fresh weight, pulp yield, peel percentage, longitudinal and transversal diameters (LD and TD, respectively), pH, soluble solids content (SSC), titratable acidity (TA), SSC/TA ratio, ascorbic acid, total phenolic compounds content, and antioxidant activity using the DPPH assay. The soluble solids contents varied from 5.10 °Brix to 11.00 °Brix. The titratable acidity varied from 1.29 to 2.90 g citric acid 100 g-1. Ascorbic acid content was of 31.12 to 139.38 mg 100 g-1. Total phenolic compounds varied from 330.5 mg GAE 100 g-1 to 3,526.04 mg GAE 100 g-1. The antioxidant activity was of 65.03 µmol Trolox g-1 fruit pulp (fresh weight) to 199.78 µmol Trolox g-1 fruit pulp (fresh weight), a factor of 6.7 difference between the extremes. These results showed cambuci fruits presented as rich source of ascorbic acid, total phenolic compounds, and with high antioxidant capacity.

Weight loss is important to improve asthma control in obese patients; however, patients have a great difficulty to lose weight and the role of exercise remains unknown. Aim: To evaluate the role of exercise training in a weight loss program on asthma control. Methods: 55 obese asthmatics wererandomly assigned to either weight-loss program+exercise (WL+E group) or weight-loss program+sham exercise (WL+S group) (2xweek, 3 months). Asthma control (ACQ), body composition, peakVO 2 , lung function, FeNO and inflammatory biomarkers were assessed before and after interventions. Results: Compared with WL+S, patients who exercised improved the clinical control (-0.9±0.8 vs. -0.3±0.8score), peakVO 2 (3.3±1.5 vs. 0.4±1.6ml/kg/min), had greater weight loss (6.8±3.5 vs. 3.1±2.6 %body weight), reduced IL-6 and FeNO and increased anti-inflammatory biomarkers IL-10 and adiponectin (p 2 (ACQ=0.06+(0.07*%weight loss)-(0.15*peakVO 2 )). The increase in peakVO 2 was associated with the decrease in fat mass (r=-0.7) and increase in lean mass (r=0.5). Decrease in fat mass was associated with increase in FVC (r=-0.6), IL-6 (r=0.5) and FeNO (r=0.5) while increase in lean mass was associated with change in IL-6 (r=-0.4), FeNO (r=0.4) and IL-10 (r=0.4). Increase in peakVO 2 was associated with adiponectin (r=0.6), IL-6 (r=-0.6), FeNO (r=-0.7) and IL-10 (r=0.6) (p Conclusions: Weight loss contributes to improve asthma control by increasing lung function while physical fitness modulates inflammatory and anti-inflammatory pathways in obese asthmatics.

Background: Recent guidelines for pulmonary rehabilitation establish the importance of strategies to increase daily life physical activity (DLPA) for patients with respiratory diseases, especially for obese asthmatics whose lack of fitness contributes to impair asthma symptoms. However, interventions to increase DLPA in these patients remains unknown. Aim: To assess the effect of exercise training and a weight-loss program to improve DPLA and asthma clinical control in obese asthmatics. Methods: 51 obese asthmatics under optimized medication were randomly assigned into two groups: nutritional and psychological program (NP=25) or exercise training + NP program (ET+NP=26), twice a week for 3 months. Before and after interventions, it was assessed DLPA using accelerometers ( Actigraph GT3X), aerobic potency through cardiopulmonary exercise testing and asthma clinical control using ACQ. Results: After 3 months, only the ET+NP group significantly increased daily number of steps (2897±2171 vs. 1063±1502 steps/day) and aerobic capacity (3.2±1.5 vs. 0.8±2.0 VO2 ml/kg/min), reduced body weight (6.8±3.5% vs. 3.1±2.6%) and improved asthma control (0.8±0.6 vs0.3±0.7score) compared to NP (p

Background: Asthma is a chronic obstructive airway disease with high prevalence in obese subjects. During exercise, the dynamic hyperinflation (DH) has been described in both non-asthmatics obese and patients with obstructive airway disease; however, remain unknown the presence of DH in obese asthmatics. Aim: To assess if airway resistance (Raw) and obesity are involved in the DH in asthmatics. Methods: 48 moderate or severe asthmatics either with grade II obesity (OB;BMI≥35kg/m 2 ) or non obese subjects (NOB;BMI≤24,9kg/m 2 ) were evaluated on 3 distinct days when they performed a cardiopulmonary exercise test to quantify peak VO 2 (day 1) and a submaximal exercise test (75% of maximum load) to assess DH (day 2). Anthropometric measurement and pulmonary function tests were also evaluated (day 3).T-test was used to compare the continuous variables and chi-square test to compare the categorical ones. Results: OB asthmatics had a lower expiratory reserve volume (35±23 vs. 62±40% of pred.) and greater FEV 1 /FVC (74±8 vs . 68±9) compared with NOB, respectively (p vs. 4%, respectively; p vs. 12%(p vs. 0.79% compared to NOB with lower Raw. Conclusion: Our results suggest that airway resistance and obesity are independent factors for the occurrence of DH in asthmatics.

Obese asthmatics have worse clinical control and health status despite an optimized medical treatment. Surgical treatment is successful to weight-loss and improves asthma control; however, the benefits of nonsurgical interventions remains unknown. Aim: To assess the effect of exercise for weight-loss on asthma control, airway inflammation and psychosocial morbidity in obese asthmatics. Methods: 55 obese asthmatics under optimized medication were randomly assigned to 2 groups: nutritional and psychological program (NP=27) or exercise training + NP program (ET+NP=28), 2xW for 3 months. Asthma clinical control (ACQ), quality of life (AQLQ), fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO), levels of anxiety, depression (HAD) and daily asthma symptoms were assessed before and after interventions. Results: After 3 months, ET+NP group reduced body weight (6.8±3.5% vs. 3.1±2.6%), improved clinical control (0.8±0.6 vs.0.3±0.7score), AQLQ (1.2±1.0 vs . 0.5±1.0score) and asthma free-day symptoms (14.5±9.6 vs. 8.2±11.9) compared to NP (p