Pasture management that considers pasture growth dynamics remains an open question. Conceptually, such management must allow for grazing only after the recuperation of the pasture between two ...separate timely grazing periods when pasture reaches optimum recovery, as per the first law of Voisin's rational grazing system. The optimum recovery period not only implies a pasture with better nutritional value and higher biomass yield but one that also reduces the production of enteric methane (CH4) to improve the grazing efficiency of cattle. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate three different recovery periods (RP) of mixed grasses on the grazing behaviour of heifers, as well as herbage selectivity, herbage yield and nutritional value, in vitro degradability and CH4 production. Based on these criteria, three pasture RPs of 24 (RP24), 35 (RP3) and 46 (RP46) days were evaluated in six blocks using a randomized block design. At each predetermined RP, samples of the pasture were taken before the animals were allowed to graze. Right after collecting the pasture samples, heifers accessed the pasture during 4 h consecutively for grazing simulation and behavioural observations. We also measured the bite rate of each animal. The pasture growing for 24 days had the highest biomass production, best nutritional value, best efficiency of in vitro CH4 relative emission (ml) per DM degraded (g) and bite rate of the three RPs. Heifers all selected their herbage, irrespective of RP, but with different nutritional value and higher in vitro degradability. However, this did not change the production of in vitro CH4. Considering the growth conditions of the area where the study was performed, we recommend the shorter RP24 as the most suitable during the summer season. The study's findings support the idea of management intervention to increase the quality of grazing systems.
Research regarding polyphenols has gained prominence over the years because of their potential as pharmacological nutrients. Most polyphenols are flavanols, commonly known as catechins, which are ...present in high amounts in green tea. Catechins are promising candidates in the field of biomedicine. The health benefits of catechins, notably their antioxidant effects, are related to their chemical structure and the total number of hydroxyl groups. In addition, catechins possess strong activities against several pathogens, including bacteria, viruses, parasites, and fungi. One major limitation of these compounds is low bioavailability. Catechins are poorly absorbed by intestinal barriers. Some protective mechanisms may be required to maintain or even increase the stability and bioavailability of these molecules within living organisms. Moreover, novel delivery systems, such as scaffolds, fibers, sponges, and capsules, have been proposed. This review focuses on the unique structures and bioactive properties of catechins and their role in inflammatory responses as well as provides a perspective on their use in future human health applications.
Objective. Estimates of treatment effects reported in placebo-controlled randomized trials are less subject to bias than those estimates provided by other study designs. The objective of this ...meta-analysis was to estimate the analgesic effects of treatments for non-specific low back pain reported in placebo-controlled randomized trials. Methods. Medline, Embase, Cinahl, PsychInfo and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials databases were searched for eligible trials from earliest records to November 2006. Continuous pain outcomes were converted to a common 0–100 scale and pooled using a random effects model. Results. A total of 76 trials reporting on 34 treatments were included. Fifty percent of the investigated treatments had statistically significant effects, but for most the effects were small or moderate: 47% had point estimates of effects of <10 points on the 100-point scale, 38% had point estimates from 10 to 20 points and 15% had point estimates of >20 points. Treatments reported to have large effects (>20 points) had been investigated only in a single trial. Conclusions. This meta-analysis revealed that the analgesic effects of many treatments for non-specific low back pain are small and that they do not differ in populations with acute or chronic symptoms.
Clupeiformes, such as sardines and herrings, represent an important share of worldwide fisheries. Among those, the European sardine (
, Walbaum 1792) exhibits significant commercial relevance. While ...the last decade showed a steady and sharp decline in capture levels, recent advances in culture husbandry represent promising research avenues. Yet, the complete absence of genomic resources from sardine imposes a severe bottleneck to understand its physiological and ecological requirements. We generated 69 Gbp of paired-end reads using Illumina HiSeq X Ten and assembled a draft genome assembly with an N50 scaffold length of 25,579 bp and BUSCO completeness of 82.1% (Actinopterygii). The estimated size of the genome ranges between 655 and 850 Mb. Additionally, we generated a relatively high-level liver transcriptome. To deliver a proof of principle of the value of this dataset, we established the presence and function of enzymes (Elovl2, Elovl5, and Fads2) that have pivotal roles in the biosynthesis of long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, essential nutrients particularly abundant in oily fish such as sardines. Our study provides the first omics dataset from a valuable economic marine teleost species, the European sardine, representing an essential resource for their effective conservation, management, and sustainable exploitation.
The pseudo-ilmenite structure ABO
3
have been increasingly highlighted in the optoelectronic area. Nanoparticles of undoped lithium niobates (LiNbO
3
) and codoped with rare earths (LiNbO
3
: Dy
3+/
...Tb
3+
) were synthesized by the solid-state reaction method and calcined in a controlled way. The properties and structural changes of niobates were evaluated from data obtained in XRD and Rietveld refinement. The SEM-FEG micrographs showed different morphologies obtained (cubes, plates, tetrahedrons and polyhedra) according to the variation of the doping and co-doping process. Optical properties were measured and studied based on the results obtained from the UV-Vis spectrophotometer and photoluminescence assays. The photoluminescence presented by LiNbO
3
was associated with the existence of superficial defects in the particles, i.e., centers of recombination of photogenerated charges favorable to the property. The effect of concentration of dopants was investigated in properties photoluminescence. Photometric measurements (CRI, purity, CCT, LER) were analyzed and a modulation of the emitted color as a function of the concentration of the dopants. According to the obtained results, LiNbO
3
: Dy
3+
/Tb
3+
presents itself as a material with great potential in optical device applications.
Graphical Abstract
The objective of this study was to analyse the global burden of disease attributable to undernutrition and high body mass index (BMI) in Brazil and its 27 states, as well as its association with the ...socio-demographic index (SDI) from 1990 to 2019.
This is an epidemiological time-series study.
This study analysed the undernutrition and high BMI estimated by the Global Burden of Disease study conducted from 1990 to 2019 for Brazil and its states, using the following metrics: absolute number of deaths, standardised mortality rate, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). This study also analysed the correlation between the percentage variation of mortality rates and SDI.
A decrease in the number of deaths (−75 %), mortality rate (−75.1 %), and DALYS (−72 %) attributable to undernutrition was found in Brazil and in all regions. As regarding the high BMI, an increase in the number of deaths was found (139.6 %); however, the mortality rate (−9.7) and DALYs (−6.4 %) declined in all regions, except in the North and Northeast regions, which showed an increase. A strong correlation was identified between undernutrition and high BMI with SDI.
Our study observed a double burden of malnutrition in Brazil, with a reduction in the burden of diseases due to malnutrition in Brazil and variation in the burden due to high BMI according to the socioeconomic status of the region. Public policies are necessary in order to guarantee the human right to a healthy and sustainable diet, together with food and nutrition security and a diminishing of social inequality.
In vertebrates, the essential fatty acids (FA) that satisfy the dietary requirements for a given species depend upon its desaturation and elongation capabilities to convert the C18 polyunsaturated ...fatty acids (PUFA), namely linoleic acid (LA, 18:2n-6) and α-linolenic acid (ALA, 18:3n–3), into the biologically active long-chain (C20–24) polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA), including arachidonic acid (ARA, 20:4n-6), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5n-3) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n-3). Recent studies have established that tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum), an important aquaculture-produced species in Brazil, is a herbivorous fish that can fulfil its essential FA requirements with dietary provision C18 PUFA LA and ALA, although the molecular mechanisms underpinning such ability remained unclear. The present study aimed at cloning and functionally characterizing genes encoding key desaturase and elongase enzymes, namely fads2, elovl5 and elovl2, involved in the LC-PUFA biosynthetic pathways in tambaqui. First, a fads2-like desaturase was isolated from tambaqui. When expressed in yeast, the tambaqui Fads2 showed Δ6, Δ5 and Δ8 desaturase capacities within the same enzyme, enabling all desaturation reactions required for ARA, EPA and DHA biosynthesis. Moreover, tambaqui possesses two elongases that are bona fide orthologs of elovl5 and elovl2. Their functional characterization confirmed that they can operate towards a variety of PUFA substrates with chain lengths ranging from 18 to 22 carbons. Overall our results provide compelling evidence that demonstrates that all the desaturase and elongase activities required to convert LA and ALA into ARA, EPA and DHA are present in tambaqui within the three genes studied herein, i.e. fads2, elovl5 and elovl2.
Display omitted
•Tambaqui Fads2 has Δ6, Δ5 and Δ8 desaturase capacities within the same enzyme.•Tambaqui possess both Elovl5 and Elovl2 enzymes enabling elongation of C18–22 PUFA substrates.•Tambaqui has desaturase and elongase activities required to biosynthesize ARA, EPA and DHA from dietary C18 precursors.
Long-chain (C20–24) polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA) are physiologically important nutrients for vertebrates including fish. Previous studies have addressed the metabolism of LC-PUFA in the ...Amazonian teleost tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum), an emerging species in Brazilian aquaculture, showing that all the desaturase and elongase activities required to convert C18 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) into LC-PUFA are present in tambaqui. Yet, elongation of very long-chain fatty acid 4 (Elovl4) proteins, which participate in the biosynthesis of very long-chain (>C24) saturated fatty acids (VLC-SFA) and very long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (VLC-PUFA), had not been characterized in this species. Here, we investigate the repertoire and function of two Elovl4 in tambaqui. Furthermore, we present the first draft genome assembly from tambaqui, and demonstrated the usefulness of this resource in nutritional physiology studies by isolating one of the tambaqui elovl4 genes. Our results showed that, similarly to other teleost species, two elovl4 gene paralogs termed as elovl4a and elovl4b, are present in tambaqui. Tambaqui elovl4a and elovl4b have open reading frames (ORF) of 948 and 912 base pairs, encoding putative proteins of 315 and 303 amino acids, respectively. Functional characterization in yeast showed that both Elovl4 enzymes have activity toward all the PUFA substrates assayed (18:3n-3, 18:2n-6, 18:4n-3, 18:3n-6, 20:5n-3, 20:4n-6, 22:5n-3, 22:4n-6 and 22:6n-3), producing elongated products of up to C36. Moreover, both Elovl4 were able to elongate 22:5n-3 to 24:5n-3, a key elongation step required for the synthesis of docosahexaenoic acid via the Sprecher pathway.
Display omitted
•Elovl4a and Elovl4b were identified and functionally characterized from tambaqui.•A low coverage draft genome assembly from tambaqui was produced.•Tambaqui Elovl4a and Elovl4b elongated products of up to C36.•Tambaqui Elovl4 enzymes contribute to DHA biosynthesis.
Sugar cane defensin 5 (Sd5) is a small antifungal protein, whose structure is held together by four conserved disulfide bridges. Sd5 and other proteins sharing a cysteine-stabilized α-β (CSαβ) fold ...lack a regular hydrophobic core. Instead, they are stabilized by tertiary contacts formed by surface-exposed hydrophilic and hydrophobic residues. Despite excessive cross-links, Sd5 exhibits complex millisecond conformational dynamics involving all secondary structure elements. We used Carr–Purcell–Meiboom–Gill (CPMG) NMR relaxation dispersion (RD) measurements performed at different temperatures and denaturant concentrations to probe brief excursions of Sd5 to a sparsely populated “excited” state. Temperature-dependent CPMG RD experiments reveal that the excited state is enthalpically unfavorable, suggesting a rearrangement of stabilizing contacts formed by surface-exposed side chains and/or secondary structure, while the experiments performed at different denaturant concentrations suggest a decrease in accessible surface area of Sd5 in the excited state. The measured backbone 15N chemical shift changes point to a global conformational rearrangement such as a potential α- to β-transition of the Sd5 α-helix or other major secondary structure reorganization and concomitant conformational changes in other parts of the protein. Overall, the emerging picture of Sd5 dynamics suggests this protein can populate two alternative well-ordered conformational states, with the excited conformer being more compact than the native state and having a distinct secondary structure and side-chain arrangements. The observation of an energetically unfavorable yet more compact excited state reveals a remarkable evolution of the CSαβ fold to expose and reorganize hydrophobic residues, which enables the creation of versatile binding sites.
Blue natural pigments are rare, especially among plants. However, flowering species that evolved to attract Hymenoptera pollinators are colored by blue anthocyanin-metal complexes. Plants lacking ...anthocyanins are pigmented by betalains but are unable to produce blue hues. By extending the π-system of betalains, we designed a photostable and metal-free blue dye named BeetBlue that did not show toxicity to human hepatic and retinal pigment epithelial cells and does not affect zebrafish embryonal development. This chiral dye can be conveniently synthesized from betalamic acid obtained from hydrolyzed red beetroot juice or by enzymatic oxidation of l-dopa. BeetBlue is blue in the solid form and in solution of acidified polar molecular solvents, including water. Its capacity to dye natural matrices makes BeetBlue the prototype of a new class of low-cost bioinspired chromophores suitable for a myriad of applications requiring a blue hue.
PDF
