Psychophysiological and cognitive effects of strawberry plants on people in isolated environments

In manned deep-space exploration,extremely isolated environments may adversely affect the mood and cognition of astronauts.Horticultural plants and activities have been proven to be effective in improving their physical,psychological,and cognitive states.To assess the effects of applying horticultural plants and activities in isolated environments,this study investigated the influence of viewing strawberry plants on the mood of people in a laboratory experiment as indicated by heart rate,salivary cortisol,and psychological scales.The results showed that heart rate and salivary cortisol were significantly decreased after viewing strawberry plants for 15 min.“Tension”and“confusion”scored using the Profile of Mood States negative mood subscales,and anxiety levels measured using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory scale were also significantly reduced.This study further explored the impact of viewing strawberry plants on cognition.A notable reduction of the subjects’reaction time after 15-min plant viewing was observed.Based on these findings,a long-duration isolated experiment in a bioregenerative life support system—“Lunar Palace I”—was conducted.A similar trend was obtained that crew members’mood states were improved by viewing the strawberry plants,but no significant change was observed.This study provided some experimental evidence for the benefits of interacting with strawberry plants in isolated environments.

An enriched environment reduces hippocampal inflammatory response and improves cognitive function in a mouse model of stroke

An enriched environment is used as a behavio ral intervention therapy that applies sensory,motor,and social stimulation,and has been used in basic and clinical research of va rious neurological diseases.In this study,we established mouse models of photothrombotic stroke and,24 hours later,raised them in a standard,enriched,or isolated environment for 4 weeks.Compared with the mice raised in a standard environment,the cognitive function of mice raised in an enriched environment was better and the pathological damage in the hippocampal CA1 region was remarkably alleviated.Furthermore,protein expression levels of tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 6,nuclear factorκB p65,interleukin-6,and tumor necrosis factorα,and the mRNA expression level of tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 6 were greatly lower,while the expression level of miR-146a-5p was higher.Compared with the mice raised in a standard environment,changes in these indices in mice raised in an isolated environment were opposite to mice raised in an enriched environment.These findings suggest that different living environments affect the hippocampal inflammatory response and cognitive function in a mouse model of stro ke.An enriched environment can improve cognitive function following stroke through up-regulation of miR-146a-5p expression and a reduction in the inflammatory response.

Psychological Issues in Simulated Space Missions:What We Learn From Chinese Crew

Inspired by the mysteries of the universe,humans have been exploring outer space since the 1950s.Proceeding from I-day(Shenzhou 5)to 6-month(Shenzhou 15)missions,one of the perspectives of Chinese space exploration has shifted from not just how to safely survive but to how to healthily live in outer space.In current review,we introduce some common psychological stressors during space missions and how researchers simulate these stressors on the ground firstly.Then,we briefly introduce classic and state-of-the-art measurements and tools used in measuring the mental state of crew members.Self-reporting questionnaires,behavioral observations,and computerized tests are widely used as measurement strategies in this field.We discuss,respectively,how challenging missions negatively and positively affect crew members.As psychological issues are sensitive to individual and cultural backgrounds,we focus on Chinese crew members and potential cultural differences.Finally,we propose some potential future directions this research could evolve based on previous findings.

Environmental siblings of black agents of human chromoblastomycosis

Agents of human chromoblastomycosis,a skin disease almost exclusively caused by members of the order Chaetothyriales,are assumed to be traumatically inoculated into the skin with sharp environmental materials such as plant thorns or wooden splinters carrying the respective opportunist.In the supposition that such fungi should have their main habitat in the environment,we investigated the occurrence of black fungi in living areas of patients with chromoblastomycosis.In South America Fonsecaea agents are prevalent as agents of the disease,while also related Cladophialophora species,known from other types of skin infections,are known from the continent.Ninety environmental isolates were preliminarily selected as possible agents of chromoblastomycosis,based on morphology.Judging from ITS sequence data isolates were attributed to the genera Cladophialophora,Cyphellophora,Exophiala,Fonsecaea,Phialophora,and Veronaea.A total of 45 fungi morphologically identified as Fonsecaea or Cladophialophora isolated from debris and thorns of living prickly plants in Brazil were processed for taxonomic studies.Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the isolates indeed belonged to the Chaetothyriales,but only rarely an agent of chromoblastomycosis was concerned;only two strains of F.pedrosoi and one F.monophora were isolated from debris plants.The remaining isolates belonged to hitherto unknown molecular siblings of Fonsecaea.Two novel taxa are introduced.

Advanced approach for antifungal susceptibility and characterization of resistance properties in clinical and environmental isolates of Cryptococcus species complex

Background:Meningitis due to Cryptococcus neoformans/gattii is a fatal infection affecting immunocompromised population worldwide.Amphotericin B(AmB),fluconazole(FLC)and 5-flucytosine are the drugs of choice to treat the infection.We studied antifungal susceptibility pattern of clinical and environmental cryptococcal species using newer approach and analyze their resistant characteristics.Methods:Eighty clinical(54 C.neoformans and 26 C.gattii)and 18 environmental(14 C.neoformans and 4 C.gattii)isolates were subjected to antifungal susceptibility testing by automated(VITEK2C)method.Minimum inhibitory concentrations(MIC)were analyzed statistically.Genomic DNA of FLC resistant isolates was extracted and amplified to detect presence of CnAFR1 gene.Results:C.neoformans showed 1.85%and 21.4%AmB resistance,and 1.85%and 28.5%FLC-resistance,whereas C.gattii showed 25%and 50%FLC-resistance among clinical and environmental isolates respectively.MIC values were significantly(p<0.05)different for the isolates from 2 sources.CnAFR1 gene sequence analysis revealed phylogenetic relationship among the resistant isolates.Conclusions:This pioneering study provides an insight into the sensitivity patterns of clinical and environmental cryptococcal isolates from south India.The recent emergence of AmB-resistance may transpire as a challenge for the clinicians.As the clinical and environmental isolates are phylogenetically evolved from CnAFR1 gene of Filobasidiella neoformans,the resistance is most probably an inherent attribute.This study emphasizes the need for speciation and antifungal susceptibility testing of cryptococcal isolates from clinical sources to institute appropriate antifungal therapy and to reduce the mortality and morbidity.

Temperature and precipitation,but not geographic distance,explain genetic relatedness among populations in the perennial grass Festuca rubra

Aims Knowledge of genetic structure of natural populations and its determinants may provide key insights into the ability of species to adapt to novel environments.In many genetic studies,the effects of climate could not be disentangled from the effects of geographic proximity.We aimed to understand the effects of temperature and moisture on genetic diversity of populations and separate these effects from the effects of geographic distance.We also wanted to explore the patterns of distribution of genetic diversity in the system and assess the degree of clonality within the populations.We also checked for possible genome size variation in the system.Methods We studied genetic variation within and among 12 populations of the dominant grass Festuca rubra distributed across a unique regional-scale climatic grid in western Norway,Europe and explored the importance of temperature,precipitation and geo-graphic distance for the observed patterns.We also explored the distribution of genetic diversity within and among popula-tions,identified population differentiation and estimated degree of clonality.The analyses used microsatellites as the genetic marker.The analyses were supplemented by flow cytometry of all the material.Important Findings All the material corresponds to hexaploid cytotype,indicating that ploidy variation does not play any role in the system.The results indicate that temperature and precipitation were better predictors of genetic relatedness of the populations than geographic distance,suggesting that temperature and precipitation may be important determinants of population differentiation.In addition,precipitation,alone and in interaction with temperature,strongly affected population genotypic diversity suggesting increased clonality towards the coldest and especially the coldest wettest climates.At the same time,individuals from the coldest and wettest climates also had the high-est individual genetic diversity,suggesting that only the most hetero-zygous individuals survive under these harsh climates.Most of the genetic variation was distributed within populations,suggesting that most populations have sufficient genetic diversity to adapt to novel climatic conditions.The alpine populations,i.e.populations which are likely the most endangered by climate change,however,lack this potential due to the high levels of clonality as detected in our study.