Carbon dioxide (CO
2
) is considered one of the main greenhouse effect gases and contributes significantly to global climate change. In Brazil, the agricultural areas offer an opportunity to mitigate ...this effect, especially with the sugarcane crop, since, depending on the management system, sugarcane stores large amounts of carbon, thereby removing it from the atmosphere. The CO
2
production in soil and its transport to the atmosphere are the results of biochemical processes such as the decomposition of organic matter and roots and the respiration of soil organisms, a phenomenon called soil CO
2
emissions (FCO
2
). The objective of the study was to investigate the use of neural networks with backpropagation algorithm to predict the spatial patterns of soil CO
2
emission during short periods in sugarcane areas. FCO
2
values were collected in three commercial crop areas in the São Paulo state, southeastern Brazil, registered through the LI-8100 system during the years 2008 (Motuca), 2010 (Guariba city), and 2012 (Pradópolis), in the period after the mechanical harvesting (green cane). A neural network multilayer perceptron with a backpropagation algorithm was applied to estimate the FCO
2
in 2012, using data from 2008 and 2010 as training for the neural network. The neural network initially presented a mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of 18.3852 and a coefficient of determination (
R
2
) of 0.9188. Data obtained from the observed and estimated values of FCO
2
present moderate spatial dependence, and it is observed from the maps of the spatial pattern of the CO
2
flow that the results from the neural network show considerable similarity to the observed data. The model results identify the higher and lower characteristics in sample points of CO
2
emissions and produce an overestimation of the range of spatial dependence (0.45 m) and an underestimation of the interpolated values in the field (
R
2
= 0.80; MAPE = 12.0591), when compared to the actual soil CO
2
emission values. Therefore, the results indicate that the artificial neural network provides reliable estimates for the evaluation of FCO
2
from data of the soil’s physical and chemical attributes and describes the spatial variability of FCO
2
in sugarcane fields, thereby contributing to the reduction of uncertainties associated with FCO
2
accountings in these areas.
Mastoparans are cationic peptides with multifunctional pharmacological properties. Mastoparan‐R1 and mastoparan‐R4 were computationally designed based on native mastoparan‐L from wasps and have ...improved therapeutic potential for the control of bacterial infections. Here, we evaluated whether these peptides maintain their activity against Escherichia coli strains under a range of salt concentrations. We found that mastoparan‐R1 and mastoparan‐R4 preserved their activity under the conditions tested, including having antibacterial activities at physiological salt concentrations. The overall structure of the peptides was investigated using circular dichroism spectroscopy in a range of solvents. No significant changes in secondary structure were observed (random coil in aqueous solutions and α‐helix in hydrophobic and anionic environments). The three‐dimensional structures of mastoparan‐R1 and mastoparan‐R4 were elucidated through nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, revealing amphipathic α‐helical segments for Leu3‐Ile13 (mastoparan‐R1) and Leu3‐Ile14 (mastoparan‐R4). Possible membrane‐association mechanisms for mastoparan‐R1 and mastoparan‐R4 were investigated through surface plasmon resonance and leakage studies with synthetic POPC and POPC/POPG (4:1) lipid bilayers. Mastoparan‐L had the highest affinity for both membrane systems, whereas the two analogs had weaker association, but improved selectivity for lysing anionic membranes. This finding was also supported by molecular dynamics simulations, in which mastoparan‐R1 and mastoparan‐R4 were found to have greater interactions with bacteria‐like membranes compared with model mammalian membranes. Despite having a few differences in their functional and structural profiles, the mastoparan‐R1 analog stood out with the highest activity, greater bacteriostatic potential, and selectivity for lysing anionic membranes. This study reinforces the potential of mastoparan‐R1 as a drug candidate.
Mastoparans are cationic peptides with multifunctional pharmacological properties. Two molecules, mastoparan‐R1 and mastoparan‐R4, derived from wasp toxin, exhibit antimicrobial activity against bacteria. These nontoxic peptides hold promise as potential new drugs. Here, we have performed structural and functional characterization of these molecules and we report exciting findings for addressing infections caused by antibiotic‐resistant bacteria and developing a model for novel, targeted antibacterial compounds.
The present study was conducted to characterize the major proteome of ovarian follicular fluid from locally-adapted, “Canindé” goats in the northeast of Brazil. Eight estrous cycling goats received a ...hormonal treatment consisting of medroxyprogesterone acetate, D-cloprostenol and FSH. Fluid was collected by laparoscopy from small (<3mm), medium (3–4mm) and large (>4mm) follicles and then, proteins were analyzed by 2-D SDS-PAGE and tandem mass spectrometry. Thirty-six proteins were identified in the goat follicular fluid, including albumin, immunoglobulins, ceruloplasmin, complement factor B, alpha-1B-glycoprotein precursor, serotransferrin, complement C3 and serpins, among others. Albumin and immunoglobulins were the most abundant proteins. Protein concentrations were similar in the fluid from small (45.3±3.1mg/mL), medium (44.2±3.3mg/mL) and large follicles (45.1±2.3mg/mL). The intensities of spots identified in 2-D gels as serotransferrin, zinc-alpha-2-glycoprotein-like, complement factor B and complement protein C3 differed (P<0.05) among follicle categories. The amount of serotransferrin was greater in the medium than small follicles (P<0.05). Content of zinc-alpha-2-glycoprotein-like, complement factor B and complement C3 was greater (P<0.05) in the fluid of large follicles than in medium follicles. Based on gene ontology, the major molecular functions associated with goat follicular fluid proteins were binding and catalytic activity, while the main biological processes were related to regulation, cellular processing, location and the immune system. In conclusion, the major proteome of the follicular fluid from goats subjected to hormonal stimulation was elucidated in the present study. Also, molecules associated with follicle development are potential biomarkers of oocyte competence were prevalent.
Brazil has experienced an unprecedented epidemic of Zika virus (ZIKV), with ~30,000 cases reported to date. ZIKV was first detected in Brazil in May 2015, and cases of microcephaly potentially ...associated with ZIKV infection were identified in November 2015. We performed next-generation sequencing to generate seven Brazilian ZIKV genomes sampled from four self-limited cases, one blood donor, one fatal adult case, and one newborn with microcephaly and congenital malformations. Results of phylogenetic and molecular clock analyses show a single introduction of ZIKV into the Americas, which we estimated to have occurred between May and December 2013, more than 12 months before the detection of ZIKV in Brazil. The estimated date of origin coincides with an increase in air passengers to Brazil from ZIKV-endemic areas, as well as with reported outbreaks in the Pacific Islands. ZIKV genomes from Brazil are phylogenetically interspersed with those from other South American and Caribbean countries. Mapping mutations onto existing structural models revealed the context of viral amino acid changes present in the outbreak lineage; however, no shared amino acid changes were found among the three currently available virus genomes from microcephaly cases. Municipality-level incidence data indicate that reports of suspected microcephaly in Brazil best correlate with ZIKV incidence around week 17 of pregnancy, although this correlation does not demonstrate causation. Our genetic description and analysis of ZIKV isolates in Brazil provide a baseline for future studies of the evolution and molecular epidemiology of this emerging virus in the Americas.
1. Understanding the relationships between trait diversity, species diversity and ecosystem functioning is essential for sustainable management. For functions comprising two trophic levels, trait ...matching between interacting partners should also drive functioning. However, the predictive ability of trait diversity and matching is unclear for most functions, particularly for crop pollination, where interacting partners did not necessarily co-evolve. 2. World-wide, we collected data on traits of flower visitors and crops, visitation rates to crop flowers per insect species and fruit set in 469 fields of 33 crop systems. Through hierarchical mixed-effects models, we tested whether flower visitor trait diversity and/or trait matching between flower visitors and crops improve the prediction of crop fruit set (functioning) beyond flower visitor species diversity and abundance. 3. Flower visitor trait diversity was positively related to fruit set, but surprisingly did not explain more variation than flower visitor species diversity. 4. The best prediction of fruit set was obtained by matching traits of flower visitors (body size and mouthpart length) and crops (nectar accessibility of flowers) in addition to flower visitor abundance, species richness and species evenness. Fruit set increased with species richness, and more so in assemblages with high evenness, indicating that additional species of flower visitors contribute more to crop pollination when species abundances are similar. 5. Synthesis and applications. Despite contrasting floral traits for crops world-wide, only the abundance of a few pollinator species is commonly managed for greater yield. Our results suggest that the identification and enhancement of pollinator species with traits matching those of the focal crop, as well as the enhancement of pollinator richness and evenness, will increase crop yield beyond current practices. Furthermore, we show that field practitioners can predict and manage agroecosystems for pollination services based on knowledge of just a few traits that are known for a wide range of flower visitor species.
•miR-629-3p, miR-1202 and miR-1225-5p are involved in GABAergic pathways.•miR-629-3p, miR-1202 and miR-1225-5p are hyper-expressed in epilepsy patients’ blood.•miR-629-3p, miR-1202 and miR-1225-5p ...are potential diagnostic biomarkers of MTLE-HS.•miR-1202 may be a potential surgery prognose biomarker in amygdala of MTLE-HS cases.
Mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) is a symptomatic epilepsy syndrome clinically characterized by high prevalence, pharmacoresistance, good surgical prognosis and hippocampal sclerosis (HS); however, no singular criteria can be considered sufficient for the MTLE-HS diagnosis. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding molecules that act as important gene-expression regulators at post-transcriptional level. Evidences on the involvement of miRNAs in epilepsy pathogenesis as well as their potential to be employed as biomarkers claim for investigations on miRNAs’ applicability as epilepsy diagnosis and prognosis biomarkers. Consequently, the present study aimed to evaluate the applicability of three specific miRNAs as biomarkers of diagnosis and surgical outcomes in adult patients with MTLE-HS.
Hippocampus, amygdala and blood samples from 20 patients with MTLE-HS were analyzed, 10 with favorable surgical prognosis (Engel I) and 10 with unfavorable surgical prognosis (Engel III-IV). For the control groups, hippocampus and amygdala from necropsy and blood samples from healthy individuals were adopted. The miRNAs expression analysis was performed using Real-Time Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction for miRNAs highlighted from microarray as being involved in GABAergic neurotransmission.
The miRNAs miR-629-3p, miR-1202 and miR-1225-5p were found to be hyper-expressed in MTLE-HS patients’ blood.
Our data suggest the existence of three circulating miRNAs (miR-629-3p, miR-1202 and miR-1225-5p) that could possibly act as additional tools in the set of factors that contribute to MTLE-HS diagnose.
Large gaps in reef distribution may hinder the dispersal of marine organisms, interrupting processes vital to the maintenance of biodiversity. Here we show the presence and location of extensive reef ...habitats on the continental shelf between the Amazon Reef System (ARS) and the Eastern Brazilian Reef System (ERS), two reef complexes off eastern South America. Formations located 20-50 m deep include both biogenic and geogenic structures. The presence of diverse reef assemblages suggests the widespread occurrence of rocky substrates below 50 m. These habitats represent an expansion of both the ARS and ERS and the closure of the only remaining large-scale gap (~ 1000 km) among West Atlantic reef environments. This indicates that the SW Atlantic harbors a single, yet heterogeneous, reef system that stretches for about 4000 km, and thus, represents one of the largest semi-continuous tropical marine ecosystems in the world.
ABSTRACTFerreira-Júnior, JB, Benine, RPC, Chaves, SFN, Borba, DA, Martins-Costa, HC, Freitas, EDS, Bemben, MG, Vieira, CA, and Bottaro, M. Effects of static and dynamic stretching performed before ...resistance training on muscle adaptations in untrained men. J Strength Cond Res XX(X)000–000, 2019—This study evaluated the effects of dynamic and static stretching (SS) performed before resistance training on biceps femoris hypertrophy and knee flexor strength gains in untrained young men. Forty-five untrained young men (age, 21.2 ± 0.5 years; mass, 72.2 ± 5.6 kg; height, 178 ± 1 cm) were randomly assigned to 1 of the 3 groups(a) 80 seconds of SS (n = 14); (b) 80 seconds of dynamic stretching (DS, n = 13); or (c) control group (CON, n = 18) in which subjects performed no stretching before exercise. Both SS and DS were performed before resistance exercise. Resistance training consisted of 4 sets of 8–12 repetition maximum of seated leg curl exercise 2 days per week for 8 weeks, with a period of at least 48 hours between sessions. Unilateral biceps femoris muscle thickness (MT) and maximal isometric strength (MIS) of the knee flexors were measured 1 week before training and 1 week after the last training session. There were significant increases in MIS (SS = 13.9 ± 10.3 kgf; DS = 10.2 ± 13.1 kgf; CON = 12.7 ± 7.6 kgf; p < 0.05) and MT (SS = 6.0 ± 3.5 mm; DS = 6.7 ± 4.1 mm; CON = 5.7 ± 3.0 mm; p < 0.05) with no significant differences across groups (p > 0.05). Additionally, all groups demonstrated moderate effect sizes for MIS (1.27–1.4), and DS was the only group that had a large effect size for MT increases (DS = 2.18; SS = 1.35; CON = 0.92). In conclusion, 80 seconds of SS and DS did not induce any additional muscular adaptations to resistance training in untrained young men.
•Decentralised sewage monitoring was used to assess COVID-19 prevalence.•Relative prevalence index (RPI) was proposed to assess severity of pandemic in different regions.•Decay of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in ...sewage was estimated based on modelling.•Monitored areas had different peak length, week of peak occurrence, number of peaks.•The most vulnerable regions in the city were the hardest hit by the pandemic.
Brazil has become one of the epicentres of the COVID-19 pandemic, with cases heavily concentrated in large cities. Testing data is extremely limited and unreliable, which restricts health authorities’ ability to deal with the pandemic. Given the stark demographic, social and economic heterogeneities within Brazilian cities, it is important to identify hotspots so that the limited resources available can have the greatest impact. This study shows that decentralised monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in sewage can be used to assess the distribution of COVID-19 prevalence in the city. The methodology developed in this study allowed the identification of hotspots by comprehensively monitoring sewers distributed through Belo Horizonte, Brazil's third largest city. Our results show that the most vulnerable neighbourhoods in the city were the hardest hit by the pandemic, indicating that, for many Brazilians, the situation is much worse than reported by official figures.
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Six novel yeast species, Starmerella camargoi f.a., sp. nov., Starmerella ilheusensis f.a., sp. nov., Starmerella litoralis f.a., Starmerella opuntiae f.a., sp. nov., sp. nov., Starmerella roubikii ...f.a., sp. nov. and Starmerella vitae f.a, sp. nov. are proposed to accommodate 19 isolates recovered from ephemeral flowers or bees in Brazil, Costa Rica and Belize. Sequence analysis of the ITS-5.8S region (when available) and the D1/D2 domains of the large subunit of the rRNA gene showed that the six novel yeasts are phylogenetically related to several species of the Starmerella clade. The type strains are Starmerella camargoi f.a., sp. nov. UFMG-CM-Y595
(=CBS 14130
; Mycobank number MB 822640), Starmerella ilheusensis f.a., sp. nov. UFMG-CM-Y596
(=CBS CBS14131
; MB 822641), Starmerella litoralis f.a., sp. nov. UFMG-CM-Y603
(=CBS14104
; MB 822642), Starmerella opuntiae f.a., sp. nov. UFMG-CM-Y286
(=CBS 13466
; MB 822643), Starmerella roubikii f.a., sp. nov. UWOPS 01-191.1 (=CBS 15148; MB 822645) and Starmerella vitae f.a., sp. nov. UWOPS 00-107.2 (=CBS 15147
; MB 822646). In addition, 25 species currently assigned to the genus Candida are reassigned formally to the genus Starmerella.
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