A new species of Nassarius (Gastropoda, Nassariidae) from Canopus Bank, off Northeast Brazil

Nassarius levis sp. nov. is described from Canopus Bank, off Ceará, Northeast Brazil, based on shell morphology. It differs from other Brazilian species of the genus in having a more elongate shell, with a weakly developed parietal shield and a notably smooth surface. This last trait has not yet been described among the Western Atlantic Nassarius, but it is common to other congeners from the Eastern Atlantic, such as Nassarius elatus (Gould, 1845) and the Indo-Pacific, such as Nassarius excellens (Kuroda & Habe, 1961).Nassarius levis sp. nov. é descrita para o banco de Canopus, estado do Ceará, Brasil com base na morfologia da concha. Difere das outras espécies locais por apresentar uma concha mais alongada, com um escudo parietal pouco desenvolvido e uma superfície notavelmente lisa. Essa última característica ainda não foi descrita entre as espécies de Nassarius do Atlântico oeste, mas é comum a outros congêneres do Atlântico leste, como Nassarius elatus (Gould, 1845) e Indo-Pacífico, como Nassarius excellens (Kuroda & Habe, 1961)

First record of Hastula hastata (Gmelin, 1791) (Mollusca: Conoidea: Terebridae) from Trindade Island, a southwestern Atlantic oceanic island off Brazil

The terebrid gastropod Hastula hastata (Gmelin, 1791) is reported for the first time from Trindade Island, off southeastern Brazil. The new record extends the known geographic range of the species ca. 1,167 km eastward from Vitória, Espírito Santo state

Nuevo mapa de subregiones trigueras argentinas y de otros cereales invernales 2021

Mapa adoptado por el Comité de Cereales de Invierno (CCI), la Comisión Nacional de Semillas (CONASE) y el Instituto Nacional de Semillas (INASE). Luego de 69 años se actualizó el Mapa de Subregiones Trigueras Argentinas y de otros cereales invernales.EEA BalcarceFil: Abbate, Pablo Eduardo. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce; Argentina.Fil: Abbate, Pablo Eduardo. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; Argentina.Fil: Abbate, Pablo Eduardo. Ministerio de Agricultura, Ganadería y Pesca. Instituto Nacional de Semillas. Comisión Nacional de Semillas; Argentina.Fil: Miralles, Daniel. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía; Argentina.Fil: Miralles, Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina.Fil: Miralles, Daniel. Ministerio de Agricultura, Ganadería y Pesca. Instituto Nacional de Semillas. Comisión Nacional de Semillas; Argentina.Fil: Ballesteros, Alberto. Ministerio de Agricultura, Ganadería y Pesca. Instituto Nacional de Semillas. Comisión Nacional de Semillas; Argentina

Metabolic Modulation Predicts Heart Failure Tests Performance

The metabolic changes that accompany changes in Cardiopulmonary testing (CPET) and heart failure biomarkers (HFbio) are not well known. We undertook metabolomic and lipidomic phenotyping of a cohort of heart failure (HF) patients and utilized Multiple Regression Analysis (MRA) to identify associations to CPET and HFBio test performance (peak oxygen consumption (Peak VO2), oxygen uptake efficiency slope (OUES), exercise duration, and minute ventilation-carbon dioxide production slope (VE/VCO2 slope), as well as the established HF biomarkers of inflammation C-reactive protein (CRP), beta-galactoside-binding protein (galectin-3), and N-terminal prohormone of brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP)). A cohort of 49 patients with a left ventricular ejection fraction \u3c 50%, predominantly males African American, presenting a high frequency of diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension were used in the study. MRA revealed that metabolic models for VE/VCO2 and Peak VO2 were the most fitted models, and the highest predictors’ coefficients were from Acylcarnitine C18:2, palmitic acid, citric acid, asparagine, and 3-hydroxybutiric acid. Metabolic Pathway Analysis (MetPA) used predictors to identify the most relevant metabolic pathways associated to the study, aminoacyl-tRNA and amino acid biosynthesis, amino acid metabolism, nitrogen metabolism, pantothenate and CoA biosynthesis, sphingolipid and glycerolipid metabolism, fatty acid biosynthesis, glutathione metabolism, and pentose phosphate pathway (PPP). Metabolite Set Enrichment Analysis (MSEA) found associations of our findings with pre-existing biological knowledge from studies of human plasma metabolism as brain dysfunction and enzyme deficiencies associated with lactic acidosis. Our results indicate a profile of oxidative stress, lactic acidosis, and metabolic syndrome coupled with mitochondria dysfunction in patients with HF tests poor performance. The insights resulting from this study coincides with what has previously been discussed in existing literature thereby supporting the validity of our findings while at the same time characterizing the metabolic underpinning of CPET and HFBio

Molecular Predictors of Anakinra Treatment Success in Heart Failure Patients with Reduced Ejection Fraction

Background. Kineret (Anakinra) is an interleukin-1 antagonist that is under investigation for its novel clinical application treating patients that have heart failure with reduced (\u3c50%) ejection fraction (HFrEF). A prior study from our group indicated that Anakinra may restore heart function by addressing dysregulations in HFrEF metabolic pathways. Herein, we attempt to elicit Anakinra’s effects on both metabolome and lipidome. Methods. Lipids and metabolites that had previously been quantified by mass spectrometry (MS) from patients (n=49) who had ≥2 mg/L of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) were mTIC normalized and transformed. We conducted a stepwise Linear Discriminant Analysis (r- LDA) to test Anakinra (2 and 12 weeks) vs placebo for separation from combined baseline. Metabolic pathway analysis was performed with Fisher’s exact test algorithm for detection of over-represented and enriched analytes. Univariate analysis (one tailed t-test p\u3c0.05) compared placebo and Anakinra after 12-weeks for effect(s). Metaboanalyst 4.0, JMP Pro 14.0, and a proprietary package in R (version 3.4.4) were the software for all analyses and data wrangling. Results. Analytes such as acylcarnitines C10:0 and C16:0 and hsCRP showed significant improvements after 12 weeks of Anakinra, leading to improved mitochondrial function, reduced inflammation, and overall better health outcomes. Statistically significant (p\u3c0.05) pathways including the citrate cycle, cysteine and methionine metabolism, galactose metabolism among others were associated with treatment. Conclusions. We were able to determine significant alterations to metabolomic and lipidomic concentrations after 12 weeks of Anakinra therapy. Our biochemical analyses verifies that Anakinra did improve heart function within our HFrEF pilot cohort.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/gradposters/1081/thumbnail.jp

Time-Efficient Black Blood RCA Wall Imaging at 3T Using Improved Motion Sensitized Driven Equilibrium (iMSDE): Feasibility and Reproducibility

The aim of this study was to explore the feasibility and reproducibility of a time-efficient coronary vessel wall measurement approach using an improved motion-sensitized driven equilibrium (iMSDE) pulse sequence.In this study, the iMSDE pulse sequence was first optimized and then applied on a group of healthy volunteers (N = 10) to evaluate its feasibility of vessel wall visualization. The same technique was also applied on a separate group of volunteers (N = 19) for a reproducibility study by scanning the same subject in two separate sessions. The iMSDE sequence was found to provide good coronary vessel wall delineation. It was also found to provide reproducible coronary vessel wall diameter and thickness measurements in both proximal and middle segments of the right coronary artery.The feasibility and reproducibility of iMSDE based coronary vessel wall imaging were demonstrated for the first time, paving the way for further testing in a clinical environment for fast and accurate coronary artery disease detection

Nassarius foveolatus (Gastropoda, Nassariidae), a new record of an exotic species in Brazil

Exotic species are those that occur in an area beyond their natural limit and they are considered invasive when they cause harm to the economy, environment, or human health. In coastal environments, ballast water and inlays on the hull and other parts of vessels are the main ways of introducing invasive aquatic alien species. Nassarius foveolatus (Dunker, 1847) is native from the Central and East Indian Ocean to the East China Sea. The first specimens (empty shells) of N. foveolatus were collected manually on November 11, 2017 on the Rocio footbridge, located in the Paranaguá Estuarine Complex, on the coast of the State of Paraná, southern Brazil. Posteriorly, live specimens were collected in other localities of this bay. It is already possible to infer that the specimens of N. foveolatus occur together with the native specimens of N. vibex (Say, 1822), having the same niche. As previously only N. vibex existed in that place, at least a displacement of this native species has been occurred. However, certainly future ecological studies may confirm this displacement and additional consequences to the local ecosystem, as nassariids can be predators and scavengers. Control procedures should be also greatly implemented

Strength of Correlations in a Silver Based Cuprate Analogue

AgF2 has been proposed as a cuprate analogue which requires strong correlation and marked covalence. On the other hand, fluorides are usually quite ionic and 4d transition metals tend to be less correlated than their 3d counterparts, which calls for further scrutiny. We combine valence band photoemission and Auger-Meitner spectroscopy of AgF and AgF2 together with computations in small clusters to estimate values of the Ag 4d Coulomb interaction U 4d and charge-transfer energy. Based on these values, AgF2 can be classified as a charge-transfer correlated insulator according to the Zaanen-Sawatzky-Allen classification scheme. Thus, we confirm that the material is a cuprate analogue from the point of view of correlations, suggesting that it should become a high-temperature superconductor if metallization is achieved by doping. We present also a computation of the Hubbard U in density functional "+U" methods and discuss its relation to the Hubbard U in spectroscopies.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figure