A Toxicological and Ecotoxicological Assay Based on Mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis) Hemocytes Motility.

Hemocytes are the circulating immune-competent cells in bivalve mollusks and play a key role in several important functions of cell-mediated innate immunity. During the early stages of the immune response, hemocytes actively migrate to the site of infection. This inherent motility is a fundamental characteristic of these cells.

Effects of an Extreme Weather Event on Primate Populations.

Objectives: With contemporary, human-induced climate change at a crisis point, extreme weather events (e.g., cyclones, heatwaves, floods) are becoming more frequent, intense, and difficult to predict.

A review on emerging pharmaceutical residues in Ethiopia: occurrence, ecotoxicological aspects, and regulatory concerns.

Background: Pharmaceuticals are expected to improve human and animal health, but improper management and regulation have led to adverse effects such as reproductive disorders, antibiotic resistance, and biodiversity loss in ecosystems. Their presence in the environment poses significant risks, including a reduction in biodiversity, reproductive issues, and the development of antimicrobial resistance. This review aims to examine the occurrence and sources of pharmaceuticals in the environment and their ecotoxicological and regulatory aspects, with a focus on Ethiopia.

Immunological memory in a teleost fish: common carp IgM B cells differentiate into memory and plasma cells.

From ancient cold-blooded fishes to mammals, all vertebrates are protected by adaptive immunity, and retain immunological memory. Although immunologists can demonstrate these phenomena in all fish, the responding cells remain elusive, without the tools to study them nor markers to define them. Fundamentally, we posited that it is longevity that defines a memory cell, like how it is antibody production that defines a plasma cell.

Tree community, vegetation structure and aboveground carbon storage in Atlantic tropical forests of Cameroon.

Understanding Atlantic tropical forests' ecological dynamics and carbon storage potential in Cameroon is crucial for guiding sustainable management and conservation strategies. These forests play a significant role in carbon sequestration and biodiversity conservation. This study aimed to fill existing knowledge gaps by characterising plant communities, assessing the vegetation structure, and quantifying the potential of carbon stocks.

Influence of inoculation and phosphorus fertilizer application on phenology, yield components and grain yield of bambara groundnut genotypes.

In sub-Saharan Africa, the parasitic is seriously threatening Bambara groundnuts, farmers to suffer yield losses of up to 100 %. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of phosphorus (P) application and inoculation on Bambara groundnut genotypes for growth and reproductive phrase. The experiment was conducted in 2020 at the Henderson Research Station in Mazowe, Zimbabwe in a 2 × 2 × 26 factorial design with 26 genotypes arranged in a completely randomized design (CRD) with four replications, two P rates (0 and 20 kg ha-) and two levels of inoculation (with and without ).

Meta-analyses reveal climate change impacts on an ecologically and economically significant oyster in Australia.

Global oceans are warming and acidifying because of increasing greenhouse gas emissions that are anticipated to have cascading impacts on marine ecosystems and organisms, especially those essential for biodiversity and food security. Despite this concern, there remains some skepticism about the reproducibility and reliability of research done to predict future climate change impacts on marine organisms. Here, we present meta-analyses of over two decades of research on the climate change impacts on an ecologically and economically valuable Sydney rock oyster, .

The wild bees (Hymenoptera, Apoidea, Anthophila) of the urban nature reserves of Rome (Italy, Latium): a preliminary survey.

Background: Urbanisation is a global phenomenon responsible for negative processes in natural ecosystems, such as degradation, loss of habitat and fragmentation. Large urban green areas could, however, represent shelter for animal species, promoting biodiversity conservation. Urban green spaces can also provide useful habitats for threatened species.

The evolution and genetic basis of a functionally critical skull bone, the parasphenoid, among Lake Malawi cichlids.

Adaptive radiation, whereby a clade pairs rapid speciation with rapid phenotypic evolution, can result in an uneven distribution of biodiversity across the Metazoan tree. The cichlid fishes of East Africa have undergone multiple adaptive radiations within the major rift lakes. Cichlid radiations are marked by divergence across distinct habitat gradients producing many morphological and behavioural adaptations.

TraitTrainR: accelerating large-scale simulation under models of continuous trait evolution.

Motivation: The scale and scope of comparative trait data are expanding at unprecedented rates, and recent advances in evolutionary modeling and simulation sometimes struggle to match this pace. Well-organized and flexible applications for conducting large-scale simulations of evolution hold promise in this context for understanding models and more so our ability to confidently estimate them with real trait data sampled from nature.

Results: We introduce , an R package designed to facilitate efficient, large-scale simulations under complex models of continuous trait evolution.

The earliest large carpenter bee () and its adhering pollen (Araliaceae, Theaceae).

The association of pollinators with their host plants is a critical element of ecosystem functioning and one that is usually determined indirectly in the fossil record from specific morphological traits of flowers or putative pollinating animals. The exceptionally fine preservation at Messel, Germany, offers an excellent source of data on pollen from fossil flowers as well as preserved adhering to insects as direct evidence of their association with specific floral lineages. Here, we report on pollen recovered from the body and legs of a large carpenter bee (Apidae: Xylocopinae: Xylocopini) from the Eocene of Messel.

Toxicity and anti-inflammatory effects of Eleutherine bulbosa (Miller) Urb, ethanolic extract, in zebrafish (Danio rerio).

Introduction: Eleutherine bulbosa (Miller) Urb, popularly known as "marupa-zinho", is frequently used in traditional medicine for treating various diseases, including hypertension, ulcers, constipation, and intestinal infection. However, there is little scientific knowledge available regarding the pharmacological effects of this species. Thus in vivo and in silico phytochemical studies are required to establish whether this plant has these effects.

Short communication: Exploring gastrointestinal tract nemabiomes in captive ungulates at the SANBI National Zoological Gardens: A next-generation sequencing baseline approach.

Gastrointestinal tract (GIT) nematode infections have a significant negative impact on the well-being and productivity of animals. While it is common for a host to be co-infected with multiple species of nematode parasites simultaneously, there is a lack of effective tools to study the composition of these complex parasite communities. We describe the application of the "nemabiome" amplicon sequencing to study parasitic GIT nematode communities in captive wildlife at the National Zoological Garden, South African National Biodiversity Institute.

Phylogenetic inferences reveal multiple intra- and interhost genetic diversity among bat rabies viruses circulating in northeastern Brazil.

Background: Rabies, a lethal viral zoonotic disease, remains a significant global public health concern. In northeastern Brazil, in particular, its epidemiology is complex and dynamic, characterized by the presence of several reservoirs associated with human rabies infection.

Methods: This study, conducted from June 2022 to July 2023, was part of a passive epidemiological surveillance initiative under Brazil's National Rabies Surveillance Program.

Science × art: spotlighting unconventional collaborations.

Science × art collaborations can effectively convey scientific insights to a wide audience. Throughout history, art has interpreted the natural world, offering vast, underexplored sources of biodiversity data. These artistic efforts also hold potential as valuable tools for understanding biodiversity.

Seroprevalence and risk factors for Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus exposure among febrile patients in northern Tanzania.

Background: Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever is a tick-borne zoonotic disease that may be severe and is present in many African countries. We aimed to understand the seroprevalence and risk for Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus in Tanzania by testing archived serum samples from patients enrolled in a prospective cohort study.

Methods: We prospectively enrolled febrile inpatients and outpatients from 2012 through 2014 at two referral hospitals in northern Tanzania.

Differential bioaccumulation and histopathological changes induced by iron oxide nanoparticles and ferric chloride in the neotropical snail Biomphalaria glabrata.

Iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) are prominent in nanomedicine, cosmetics, and environmental applications. However, their increasing production, use, and release into the environment raises concerns about their potential risks to aquatic life and human health. This study aimed to evaluate the bioaccumulation, as concentration of small, medium and large iron aggregates in the digestive tubules, histopathological changes, and inflammatory responses in the freshwater snail Biomphalaria glabrata following chronic exposure to gluconic-acid functionalized IONPs (GLA-IONPs) compared to their dissolved counterpart (FeCl).

Optimizing Biochar-Based Column Filtration Systems for Enhanced Pollutant Removal in Wastewater Treatment: A Preliminary Study.

This study aims to test the efficiency of biochar-based substrates in removing chemical and bacteriological pollutants from wastewater and to determine the optimal percentage of biochar (BC) to implement for large-scale filters (e.g., constructed wetlands).

Developmental Programming: Sex-specific Effects of Prenatal Exposure to a Real-Life Mixture of Environmental Chemicals on Liver Function and Transcriptome in Sheep.

Humans are chronically exposed to a mixture of environmental chemicals (ECs), many with metabolic and endocrine disrupting potential, contributing to non-communicable disease burden. Understanding the effects of chronic exposure to low-level mixtures of ECs requires an animal model that reflects real-world conditions, lags behind studies on single ECs. Biosolids, from wastewater treatment, offers a real-life model to investigate the developmental health risks from EC mixtures.

LncRNA HOTAIR regulates the expression of MRP1 gene through the mir-6807-5p/Egr1 axis to affect the multidrug resistance of lung cancer cells.

Multi-drug resistance-associated protein 1 (MRP1) plays critical roles in the multi-drug resistance (MDR) of cancer cells, LncRNA HOTAIR is closely related to MDR in lung cancer, however, the effects of HOTAIR on MRP1 expression and MDR in lung cancer cells (A549/DDP) remain unknown. In this study, the effects of HOTAIR on MRP1 gene expression and MDR in A549/DDP cells were monitored. LncRNA HOTAIR was upregulated in A549/DDP cells, and overexpression of HOTAIR promoted MRP1 expression and MDR development.

Isolation optimization and screening of halophilic enzymes and antimicrobial activities of halophilic archaea from the high-altitude, hypersaline Da Qaidam Salt lake, China.

Aim: The aim of this study is to increase the diversity of culturable halophilic archaea by comparing various isolation conditions and to explore the application of halophilic archaea for enzyme-producing activities and antimicrobial properties.

Methods And Results: We systematically compared the isolation performance of various archaeal and bacterial media by isolating halophilic archaea from the Da Qaidam Salt Lake, a magnesium sulfate subtype hypersaline lake on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China, using multiple enrichment culture and gradient dilution conditions. A total of 490 strains of halophilic archaea were isolated, which belonged to five families and 11 genera within the order Halobacteriales of the class Halobacteria of the phylum Euryarchaeota.

Phytoremediation of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS): Insights on plant uptake, omics analysis, contaminant detection and biomass disposal.

The unique properties of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have driven their pervasive use in different industrial applications, leading to substantial environmental pollution and raising critical concerns about the long-term impacts on ecosystem and human health. To tackle the global challenge of PFAS contamination, there is an urgent need for sustainable and efficient remediation strategies. Phytoremediation has emerged as a promising eco-friendly approach with the potential to mitigate the spread of these persistent contaminants.

How does forest fertilization influence tree productivity of boreal forests? An analysis of data from commercial forestry across Sweden.

Forest fertilization is a forest management practice that is often claimed to increase productivity in boreal forests. Although regarded as an efficient way to increase profitability, it is also costly, and associated with risks such as biodiversity loss and nitrogen leaching from the soil. To be both cost-efficient and sustainable, potential enhanced productivity due to fertilization should be balanced against the adverse environmental impact.

Resource recovery from wastewater treatment: Effects of water reuse and slow-release fertilizers on faba bean within Palermo University (Italy) case study.

The wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) must be transformed into Water Resource Recovery Facilities (WRRFs) in view of a more sustainable approach focusing on the circular economy concept. Different to WWTPs, the WRRFs have as a major goal not only the wastewater treatment to meet the legislation limits but also the recovery of resources such as: treated water for water reuse, carbon, nutrients, biopolymers etc. In view of boosting the WRRFs application in the real WWTs, a WRRF at Palermo University (UNIPA) has been built within the EU project: Achieving Wider-Uptake of Water Smart Solutions.

Diversity and antimicrobial resistance profiles of Mycobacterium avium complex clinical isolates in Thailand based on whole genome comparative analysis.

The Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) is a group of closely related nontuberculous mycobacteria that can cause various diseases in humans. In this study, genome sequencing, comprehensive genomic analysis, and antimicrobial susceptibility testing of 66 MAC clinical isolates from King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand were carried out. Whole-genome average nucleotide identity (ANI) revealed the MAC species distribution, comprising 54 (81.