Nicosulfuron is an ingredient in photosynthesis-inhibiting herbicides and has been widely used in corn post-emergence weed control. In the current study, a pair of sister lines, HK301 (nicosulfuron-tolerence, NT) and HK320 (nicosulfuron-sensitive, NS), was used to study the effect of nicosulfuron in sweet maize seedlings on C4 photosynthetic enzymes and non-enzymatic substances, expression levels of key enzymes, and chloroplast structure. Nicosulfuron was sprayed at the four-leaf stage, and water was sprayed as a control. After nicosulfuron treatment, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC), NADP-malic dehydrogenase (NADP-MDH), NADP-malic enzyme (NADP-ME), pyruvate orthophosphate dikinase (PPDK), and ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) activities of NT were significantly higher than those of NS. Compared to NT, malate, oxaloacetic acid, and pyruvic acid significantly decreased as exposure time increased in NS. Compared to NS, nicosulfuron treatment significantly increased the expression levels of PEPC, NADP-MDH, NADP-ME, PPDK, and Rubisco genes in NT. Under nicosulfuron treatment, chloroplast ultrastructure of NS, compared to that of NT, nicosulfuron induced swelling of the chloroplast volume and reduced starch granules in NS. In general, our results indicate that in different resistant sweet maize, C4 photosynthetic enzymes activity and key genes expression play a critical role in enhancing the adaptability of plants to nicosulfuron stress at a photosynthetic physiological level.Polybrominated diphenyl ethers are known to be toxic and impair thyroid function. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms are not well understood. We constructed a female Sprague-Dawley rat model to evaluate the role of endoplasmic reticulum stress, apoptosis and autophagy in 2,2',4,4'-tetrabromodiphenylether (PBDE-47) induced thyroid toxicity. In the brain development spurt period (postnatal day 10), rats were treated with PBDE-47 (0, 1, 5, 10 mg/kg bw, i.g). Two addition groups were administered with 4-Phenylbutyric acid, an endoplasmic reticulum stress modulator, to reverse PBDE-47-induced thyroid toxicity. Our results demonstrated that PBDE-47 significantly decreased serum thyroid stimulating hormone levels, induced histologic changes in thyroid tissues, increased the percentage of cell apoptosis and expression levels of C/EBP-homologous protein, caspase 3, glucose-regulated protein 78, inositol-requiring enzyme 1, and autophagy-related proteins Beclin1 and 1A/1B-light chain 3. Besides of decreased serum thyroid stimulating hormone levels, all these changes were reversed by 4-Phenylbutyric acid. Taken together, these data indicate that, PBDE-47 damages the thyroid tissues by triggering endoplasmic reticulum stress, apoptosis and autophagy.The disposal of untreated sanitary sewage in the soil has several consequences for human health and leads to environmental risks; thus, it is necessary investigating, monitoring and remediating the affected sites. The aims of the current study are to evaluate ecotoxicological effects on Eisenia andrei earthworms exposed to soil subjected to sources of sanitary sewage discharge and to investigate whether prevention values established by the Brazilian legislation for soil quality, associated with the incidence of chemical substances in it, are satisfactory enough to assure the necessary quality for different organisms. Earthworms' behavior, reproduction, acetylcholinesterase activity, catalase, superoxide dismutase and malondialdehyde levels were evaluated. The reproduction and behavior of earthworms exposed to sanitary sewage were adversely affected. Increased superoxide dismutase and catalase activity acted as antioxidant defense mechanism. Significantly increased lipid peroxidation levels and acetylcholinesterase activity inhibition have indicated lipid peroxidation in cell membrane and neurotransmission changes, respectively. Results have confirmed that sanitary sewage induced oxidative stress in earthworms. In addition, based on biochemical data analysis, the integrated biomarker response (IBR) has evidenced different toxicity levels in earthworms between the investigated points. Finally, results have indicated that effluents released into the soil, without proper treatment, lead to contaminant accumulation due to soil saturation and it can hinder different processes and biological development taking place in the soil. In addition, the current study has shown that physical-chemical analyses alone are not enough to assess soil quality, since it is also requires adopting an ecotoxicological approach. Brazilian legislation focused on soil quality must be revised and new guiding values must be proposed.A 66-year-old right-handed female medical doctor suffered two consecutive cardioembolic strokes, initially affecting the right frontal lobe and the right insula, followed by a lesion in the left temporal lobe. The patient presented with distinctive phenomenology of general auditory agnosia with anosognosia for the deficit. She did not understand verbal requests and her answers to oral questions were fluent but unrelated to the topic. However, she was able to correctly answer written questions, name objects, and fluently describe their purpose, which is characteristic for verbal auditory agnosia. She was also unable to recognise environmental sounds or to recognise and repeat any melody. These inabilities represent environmental sound agnosia and amusia, respectively. Surprisingly, she was not aware of the problem, not asking any questions regarding her symptoms, and avoiding discussing her inability to understand spoken language, which is indicative of anosognosia. The deficits in our patient followed a distinct pattern of recovery. The verbal auditory agnosia was the first to resolve, followed by environmental sound agnosia. Amusia persisted the longest. The patient was clinically assessed from the first day of symptom onset and the evolution of symptoms was video documented. We give a detailed account of the patient's behaviour and provide results of audiological and neuropsychological evaluations. We discuss the anatomy of auditory agnosia and anosognosia relevant to the case. This case study may serve to better understand auditory agnosia in clinical settings.  https://www.selleckchem.com/products/VX-770.html  It is important to distinguish auditory agnosia from Wernicke's aphasia, because use of written language may enable normal communication.