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Background and aims Rice is prone to Cd uptake under aerobic soil conditions primarily due to the OsNramp5 Mn transport pathway. Unlike Cd, Mn availability in rice paddies decreases as redox potential increases. We tested whether increasing Mn concentrations in solution would decrease Cd accumulation in rice through competition between Mn and Cd for uptake and/or suppression of OsNramp5 expression. Methods Rice was grown to maturity under Mn concentrations that spanned three orders of magnitude (0.30 to 37 μM) that corresponded to free Mn 2+ activities of 10 –7.9 to 10 –5.0  M while free Cd 2+ activity was held as constant as achievable (10 –10.2 to 10 –10.4  M). Plant biomass and elemental concentrations were measured in roots and shoots at each stage. Fold changes in the expression of OsNramp5 , OsCd1 , OsHMA3 , OsCCX2 , and OsYSL6 genes in vegetative and grain-filling stages of rice plants were determined. Results Competition between Mn and Cd for root uptake and accumulation in shoots was observed at the highest concentration of Mn tested. OsNramp5 expression was significantly higher in rice plants at the vegetative stage compared to the grain-filling stage, while OsCd1 and OsHMA3 showed the opposite. Solution Mn concentrations previously thought to be tolerable by rice grown to the vegetative stage led to Mn toxicity as plants matured. Conclusions Mn competes with Cd during uptake into rice with OsNramp5 expression unaffected. Different translocation paths may occur for Mn and Cd within the rice plant and over the rice life cycle, with OsCCX2 correlated with shoot Cd concentration.

BackgroundIn response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a national lockdown was introduced on 23 March 2020. In the following weeks, emergency departments in the UK reported a reduction in attendances. We aimed to explore the incidence of emergency calls across North East England, as well as the number of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) deaths.MethodsData were collected for all patients who contacted North East Ambulance Service between 4 March 2019–2 June 2019 and 2 March 2020–31 May 2020 suffering stroke, ST elevation myocardial infarction, allergy, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, falls, intoxication, seizure, sepsis, acute coronary syndrome and OHCA.ResultsThere were a reduction in incidence of calls, excluding OHCA, resulting in ambulance activation during the pandemic compared with same period in 2019, 16 743 versus 19 639, respectively (−14.74%). The decline in calls was partially reversed by the end of May 2020. Incidence of OHCA at the time of the national lockdown had increased by 13.79% with a peak increase of 73.56% in the second week in April 2020. OHCA deaths peaked in the first 2 weeks in April 2020, 95.65% and 90.07%, respectively, but by the end May 2020, incidence of OHCA and OHCA deaths had returned to prelockdown levels.ConclusionIncidence of emergency calls were reduced during the pandemic compared with 2019. There was a rise in incidence of OHCA and OHCA deaths during the same period; however, these changes appear transient. Further research is required to understand patient behaviour towards seeking help during the pandemic and the long-term consequences of not doing so.

Rice is a staple food and primary source of calories for much of the world. However, rice can be a dietary source of toxic metal(loid)s to humans, and its cultivation creates atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions and requires high water use. Because rice production consumes a significant amount of natural resources and is a large part of the global agricultural economy, increasing its sustainability could have substantial societal benefits. There are opportunities for more sustainable field production through a combination of silicon (Si) management and conservation irrigation practices. As a Si-rich soil amendment, rice husks can limit arsenic and cadmium uptake, while also providing plant vigor in drier soil conditions. Thus, husk addition and conservation irrigation may be more effective to attenuate the accumulation of toxic metal(loid)s, manage water usage and lower climate impacts when implemented together than when either is implemented separately. This modified field production system would take advantage of rice husks, which are an underutilized by-product of milled rice that is widely available near rice farm sites, and have ~10% Si content. Husk application could, alongside alternate wetting and drying or furrow irrigation management, help resolve multiple sustainability challenges in rice production: (1) limit arsenic and cadmium accumulation in rice; (2) minimize greenhouse gas emissions from rice production; (3) decrease irrigation water use; (4) improve nutrient use efficiency; (5) utilize a waste product of rice processing; and (6) maintain plant-accessible soil Si levels. This review presents the scientific basis for a shift in rice production practices and considers complementary rice breeding efforts. It then examines socio-technical considerations for how such a shift in production practices could be implemented by farmers and millers together and may bring rice production closer to a bio-circular economy. This paper's purpose is to advocate for a changed rice production method for consideration by community stakeholders, including producers, millers, breeders, extension specialists, supply chain organizations, and consumers, while highlighting remaining research and implementation questions.

Silicon (Si) is one of the beneficial plant mineral nutrients which is known to improve biotic and abiotic stress resilience and productivity in several crops. However, its beneficial role in underutilized or “orphan” crop such as tef [ Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter ] has never been studied before. In this study, we investigated the effect of Si application on tef plant performance. Plants were grown in soil with or without exogenous application of Na 2 SiO 3 (0, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, and 5.0 mM), and biomass and grain yield, mineral content, chlorophyll content, plant height, and expression patterns of putative Si transporter genes were studied. Silicon application significantly increased grain yield (100%) at 3.0 mM Si, and aboveground biomass yield by 45% at 5.0 mM Si, while it had no effect on plant height. The observed increase in grain yield appears to be due to enhanced stress resilience and increased total chlorophyll content. Increasing the level of Si increased shoot Si and Na content while it significantly decreased the content of other minerals including K, Ca, Mg, P, S, Fe, and Mn in the shoot, which is likely due to the use of Na containing Si amendment. A slight decrease in grain Ca, P, S, and Mn was also observed with increasing Si treatment. The increase in Si content with increasing Si levels prompted us to analyze the expression of Si transporter genes. The tef genome contains seven putative Si transporters which showed high homology with influx and efflux Lsi transporters reported in various plant species including rice. The tef Lsi homologs were deferentially expressed between tissues (roots, leaves, nodes, and inflorescences) and in response to Si, suggesting that they may play a role in Si uptake and/or translocation. Taken together, these results show that Si application improves stress resilience and yield and regulates the expression of putative Si transporter genes. However, further study is needed to determine the physiological function of the putative Si transporters, and to study the effect of field application of Si on tef productivity.

Silicon (Si) is one of the beneficial plant mineral nutrients which is known to improve biotic and abiotic stress resilience and productivity in several crops. However, its beneficial role in underutilized or \"orphan\" crop such as tef [Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter] has never been studied before. In this study, we investigated the effect of Si application on tef plant performance. Plants were grown in soil with or without exogenous application of Na2SiO3 (0, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, and 5.0 mM), and biomass and grain yield, mineral content, chlorophyll content, plant height, and expression patterns of putative Si transporter genes were studied. Silicon application significantly increased grain yield (100%) at 3.0 mM Si, and aboveground biomass yield by 45% at 5.0 mM Si, while it had no effect on plant height. The observed increase in grain yield appears to be due to enhanced stress resilience and increased total chlorophyll content. Increasing the level of Si increased shoot Si and Na content while it significantly decreased the content of other minerals including K, Ca, Mg, P, S, Fe, and Mn in the shoot, which is likely due to the use of Na containing Si amendment. A slight decrease in grain Ca, P, S, and Mn was also observed with increasing Si treatment. The increase in Si content with increasing Si levels prompted us to analyze the expression of Si transporter genes. The tef genome contains seven putative Si transporters which showed high homology with influx and efflux Lsi transporters reported in various plant species including rice. The tef Lsi homologs were deferentially expressed between tissues (roots, leaves, nodes, and inflorescences) and in response to Si, suggesting that they may play a role in Si uptake and/or translocation. Taken together, these results show that Si application improves stress resilience and yield and regulates the expression of putative Si transporter genes. However, further study is needed to determine the physiological function of the putative Si transporters, and to study the effect of field application of Si on tef productivity.Silicon (Si) is one of the beneficial plant mineral nutrients which is known to improve biotic and abiotic stress resilience and productivity in several crops. However, its beneficial role in underutilized or \"orphan\" crop such as tef [Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter] has never been studied before. In this study, we investigated the effect of Si application on tef plant performance. Plants were grown in soil with or without exogenous application of Na2SiO3 (0, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, and 5.0 mM), and biomass and grain yield, mineral content, chlorophyll content, plant height, and expression patterns of putative Si transporter genes were studied. Silicon application significantly increased grain yield (100%) at 3.0 mM Si, and aboveground biomass yield by 45% at 5.0 mM Si, while it had no effect on plant height. The observed increase in grain yield appears to be due to enhanced stress resilience and increased total chlorophyll content. Increasing the level of Si increased shoot Si and Na content while it significantly decreased the content of other minerals including K, Ca, Mg, P, S, Fe, and Mn in the shoot, which is likely due to the use of Na containing Si amendment. A slight decrease in grain Ca, P, S, and Mn was also observed with increasing Si treatment. The increase in Si content with increasing Si levels prompted us to analyze the expression of Si transporter genes. The tef genome contains seven putative Si transporters which showed high homology with influx and efflux Lsi transporters reported in various plant species including rice. The tef Lsi homologs were deferentially expressed between tissues (roots, leaves, nodes, and inflorescences) and in response to Si, suggesting that they may play a role in Si uptake and/or translocation. Taken together, these results show that Si application improves stress resilience and yield and regulates the expression of putative Si transporter genes. However, further study is needed to determine the physiological function of the putative Si transporters, and to study the effect of field application of Si on tef productivity.

Plants interact directly with their surroundings, extracting nutrients and water from the subsurface to support growth and development of the plant. Through the roots, plants also exude and uptake numerous chemicals. Many of the pathways can also be used by environmental contaminants to be translocated to above ground plant tissues. Such uptake of contaminants has proven useful in remediation and phytoscreening – the use of plants to delineate contaminant plumes. Sampling of trees at contaminated field sites has been used to identify areas of groundwater contaminated with a variety of chlorinated solvents. The use of plants as contaminant biosensors requires understanding of their interactions with the environment. Meteorological variables result in fluctuating water and contaminant fluxes through plants, manifested by seasonal trends in contaminant concentrations in tree trunks. While the application of phytoscreening for chlorinated solvents has been successful, numerous other organic contaminants may be candidates. Chemical properties such as hydrophobicity, molecular weight, and hydrogen bonding were shown to explain uptake of organic compounds by plants. Beyond organic compounds, potential exists for phytoscreening of inorganics. One example is perchlorate, a soluble oxyanion readily available to plant roots. A greenhouse study showed proportional response of tree sap perchlorate concentrations to dosing solution perchlorate. At a field site, perchlorate in tree cores generally reflected areas of groundwater perchlorate contamination. Collectively, phytoscreening is a low-impact, sustainable approach to plume delineation viable for a wide range of environmental contaminants.

The impending Euro 7 regulation will impose strict limits on brake particulate matter (PM) emissions from new light-duty vehicles, driving manufacturers to explore alternative rotor materials and/or surface treatments. This paper evaluates the friction and wear emission performance of both a laser-clad grey cast iron (GCI) rotor surface and a plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) treated aluminium surface compared to that of an uncoated GCI. Tests were conducted on a small-scale tribometer rig, which was specially adapted to measure airborne emissions while emulating the standard Worldwide harmonised Light vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP). The laser-clad coating was applied via extreme high-speed laser cladding to form an initial 430 L stainless steel layer, followed by a topcoat of 80/20 vol% 430L steel/TiC, both layers being c.100 micron thick. The PEO treatment applies a c.50 micron alumina coating to both a wrought and cast alloy, the latter being more suitable for the manufacture of full-size vented brake rotors. Results show that all rotor materials achieved a satisfactory coefficient of friction (CoF) against suitable low-metallic pad material, although the CoF for the wrought PEO-Al alloy was significantly higher at c.0.65 compared with c.0.50 for the other materials. The gravimetric wear of all the coated rotor surfaces after 8 WLTP cycles was almost undetectable, and pad wear was also significantly reduced. This improved wear resistance led to significant reductions in PM emissions, with the PM10 levels of the uncoated GCI reduced by around 75% for the laser-clad GCI and PEO wrought Al alloy, and by about 60% for the PEO cast Al alloy. When extrapolated to a full-sized passenger vehicle, the results indicated that both the laser-clad GCI and PEO-treated surfaces have the potential to meet the current Euro 7 emissions targets.

Schlafen proteins are produced in response to interferon signalling, which can be activated by retroviral infection; this study shows that human schlafen 11 inhibits the late stages of HIV-1 production by binding non-specifically to tRNAs, thus preventing the expression of viral proteins. Schlafen 11 targets HIV-1 codons Schlafen proteins are produced in response to interferon signalling, which can be activated by retroviral infection. This study by Michael David and colleagues identifies an antiviral mechanism within the innate immune response in which human schlafen 11 (SLFN11) inhibits viral protein synthesis in cells infected with HIV-1 by means of codon-bias discrimination. SLFN11 is shown to inhibit the late stages of virus production by preventing the expression of viral proteins. It achieves this by binding non-specifically to transfer RNAs; because viral genes have a higher level of rare codons than do the host's genes, translation of viral proteins is preferentially affected. In mammals, one of the most pronounced consequences of viral infection is the induction of type I interferons, cytokines with potent antiviral activity. Schlafen ( Slfn ) genes are a subset of interferon-stimulated early response genes (ISGs) that are also induced directly by pathogens via the interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF3) pathway 1 . However, many ISGs are of unknown or incompletely understood function. Here we show that human SLFN11 potently and specifically abrogates the production of retroviruses such as human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1). Our study revealed that SLFN11 has no effect on the early steps of the retroviral infection cycle, including reverse transcription, integration and transcription. Rather, SLFN11 acts at the late stage of virus production by selectively inhibiting the expression of viral proteins in a codon-usage-dependent manner. We further find that SLFN11 binds transfer RNA, and counteracts changes in the tRNA pool elicited by the presence of HIV. Our studies identified a novel antiviral mechanism within the innate immune response, in which SLFN11 selectively inhibits viral protein synthesis in HIV-infected cells by means of codon-bias discrimination.

We present a multiproxy geochemical analysis of two cores recovered from the Indus Shelf spanning the Early Holocene to Recent (<14 ka). Indus‐23 is located close to the modern Indus River, while Indus‐10 is positioned ∼100 km further west. The Holocene transgression at Indus‐10 was over a surface that was strongly weathered during the last glacial sea level lowstand. Lower Holocene sediments at Indus‐10 have higherεNdvalues compared to those at the river mouth indicating some sediment supply from the Makran coast, either during the deposition or via reworking of older sediments outcropping on the shelf. Sediment transport from Makran occurred during transgressive intervals when sea level crossed the mid shelf. The sediment flux from non‐Indus sources to Indus‐10 peaked between 11 ka and 8 ka. A hiatus at Indus‐23 from 8 ka until 1.3 ka indicates non‐deposition or erosion of existing Indus Shelf sequences. HigherεNdvalues seen on the shelf compared to the delta imply reworking of older delta sediments in building Holocene clinoforms. Chemical Index of Alteration (CIA), Mg/Al and Sr isotopes are all affected by erosion of detrital carbonate, which reduced through the Holocene. K/Al data suggest that silicate weathering peaked ca. 4–6 ka and was higher at Indus‐10 compared to Indus‐23. Fine‐grained sediments that make up the shelf have geochemical signatures that are different from the coarser grained bulk sediments measured in the delta plain. The Indus Shelf data highlight the complexity of reconstructing records of continental erosion and provenance in marine settings. Key Points Some widely used geochemical proxies not suitable for weathering Reworking is an important process in the Indus region Continental shelves not necessarily good places for continental weathering

Cerebral malaria is a potentially lethal disease, which is caused by excessive inflammatory responses to Plasmodium parasites. Here we use a newly developed transgenic Plasmodium berghei ANKA ( PbA Ama1 OVA ) parasite that can be used to study parasite-specific T cell responses. Our present study demonstrates that Ifnar1 -/- mice, which lack type I interferon receptor-dependent signaling, are protected from experimental cerebral malaria (ECM) when infected with this novel parasite. Although CD8 + T cell responses generated in the spleen are essential for the development of ECM, we measured comparable parasite-specific cytotoxic T cell responses in ECM-protected Ifnar1 -/- mice and wild type mice suffering from ECM. Importantly, CD8 + T cells were increased in the spleens of ECM-protected Ifnar1 -/- mice and the blood-brain-barrier remained intact. This was associated with elevated splenic levels of CCL5, a T cell and eosinophil chemotactic chemokine, which was mainly produced by eosinophils, and an increase in eosinophil numbers. Depletion of eosinophils enhanced CD8 + T cell infiltration into the brain and increased ECM induction in PbA Ama1 OVA -infected Ifnar1 -/- mice. However, eosinophil-depletion did not reduce the CD8 + T cell population in the spleen or reduce splenic CCL5 concentrations. Our study demonstrates that eosinophils impact CD8 + T cell migration and proliferation during PbA Ama1 OVA -infection in Ifnar1 -/- mice and thereby are contributing to the protection from ECM.