Phylogeny, biogeography and diversification patterns of side-necked turtles (Testudines: Pleurodira)

Pleurodires or side-necked turtles are today restricted to freshwater environments of South America, Africa– Madagascar and Australia, but in the past they were distributed much more broadly, being found also on Eurasia, India and North America, and marine environments. Two hypotheses were proposed to explain this distribution; in the first, vicariance would have shaped the current geographical distribution and, in the second, extinctions constrained a previously widespread distribution. Here, we aim to reconstruct pleurodiran biogeographic history and diversification patterns based on a new phylogenetic hypothesis recovered from the analysis of the largest morphological dataset yet compiled for the lineage, testing which biogeographical process prevailed during its evolutionary history. The resulting topology generally agrees with previous hypotheses of the group and shows that most diversification shifts were related to the exploration of new niches, e.g. littoral or marine radiations. In addition, as other turtles, pleurodires do not seem to have been much affected by either the Cretaceous– Palaeogene or the Eocene–Oligocene mass extinctions. The biogeographic analyses highlight the predominance of both anagenetic and cladogenetic dispersal events and support the importance of transoceanic dispersals as a more common driver of area changes than previously thought, agreeing with previous studies with other non-turtle lineages.Fil: Ferreira, Gabriel S.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; Brasil. Senckenberg Centre For Human Evolution And Palaeoenvironment; Alemania. Universität Tübingen; AlemaniaFil: Bronzati Filho, Mario. Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Geologie; AlemaniaFil: Langer, Max C.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Sterli, Juliana. Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Identificaçao e caracterizaçao de TcNUP-1, uma proteína de lâmina nuclear em Trypanosoma cruzi

Orientador: Stenio Perdigao FragosoTese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal do Paraná, Setor de Ciencias Biológicas, Programa de Pós-Graduaçao em Biologia Celular e Molecular. Defesa: Curitiba, 01/06/2006Inclui bibliografia e anexosÁrea de concentraçao: Biologia celular e molecularA lâmina nuclear é uma estrutura fibrilar protéica que está abaixo da membrana nuclear interna. Nos metazoários, as laminas são os componentes estruturais principais dessa estrutura e estão envolvidas em diversos processos nucleares. Os eucariotos que não possuem laminas apresentam proteínas distintas com funções homólogas. Recentemente foi identificada uma proteína com domínio coiled-coil em Trypanosoma brucei, NUP-1, como o componente filamentoso principal da lâmina nuclear. Entretanto, seu papel exato ainda não foi definido. Com a intenção de sugerir funções para a lâmina nuclear em tripanossomatídeos, nós caracterizamos uma proteína ortóloga à NUP-1 em Trypanosoma cruzi. A TcNUP-1 é uma proteína com alta massa molecular e domínios coiled-coil e que está localizada na periferia nuclear. Utilizando ensaio de imunoprecipitação de cromatina, nós identificamos alguns de seus sítios de ligação com o DNA. Após a análise das seqüências encontradas, pudemos observar uma associação clara com fragmentos de DNA contendo genes e pseudogenes da família das trans-sialidases, membros da família da proteína gp85 e seqüências relacionadas à SIRE, que estão comumente associadas às regiões subteloméricas dos cromossomos do T. cruzi. Baseados nos nossos resultados, nós sugerimos que TcNUP-1 é uma proteína estrutural responsável por ancorar as extremidades dos cromossomos ao envelope nuclear e que, portanto, apresenta um papel essencial na organização nuclear do T. cruziThe nuclear lamina is a structure lining the inner nuclear membrane. In metazoans, lamins are the primary structural components of nuclear lamina and are involved in several processes. Eukaryotes lacking lamins present distinct proteins with homologous functions. Recently it was identified a coiled-coil protein in Trypanosoma brucei, NUP-1, as the major filamentous component of its nuclear lamina. However, its precise role has not been defined. To shed light to this question, we characterized a homologous protein in Trypanosoma cruzi, TcNUP-1 and identified some of its in vivo DNA binding sites using chromatin immunoprecipitation assay (ChIP). We found a clear association of the TcNUP-1 with DNA sequences containing (pseudo)genes from the ts (trans- sialidase)-like family, members of gp85 gene family and sequences related to SIRE (short interspersed repetitive element), which are commonly associated to the subtelomeric region of the T. cruzi chromosomes. Based on our results, we suggest that TcNUP-1 is a structural protein having an essential role in nuclear organization by anchoring the ends of the T. cruzi chromosomes to the nuclear envelope

Slimmable Encoders for Flexible Split DNNs in Bandwidth and Resource Constrained IoT Systems

The execution of large deep neural networks (DNN) at mobile edge devices requires considerable consumption of critical resources, such as energy, while imposing demands on hardware capabilities. In approaches based on edge computing the execution of the models is offloaded to a compute-capable device positioned at the edge of 5G infrastructures. The main issue of the latter class of approaches is the need to transport information-rich signals over wireless links with limited and time-varying capacity. The recent split computing paradigm attempts to resolve this impasse by distributing the execution of DNN models across the layers of the systems to reduce the amount of data to be transmitted while imposing minimal computing load on mobile devices. In this context, we propose a novel split computing approach based on slimmable ensemble encoders. The key advantage of our design is the ability to adapt computational load and transmitted data size in real-time with minimal overhead and time. This is in contrast with existing approaches, where the same adaptation requires costly context switching and model loading. Moreover, our model outperforms existing solutions in terms of compression efficacy and execution time, especially in the context of weak mobile devices. We present a comprehensive comparison with the most advanced split computing solutions, as well as an experimental evaluation on GPU-less devices

Excerpts from the 6th Latin American Congress of Sedimentology

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Potenciais efeitos da mudança do clima sobre a hidrologia do Pantanal.

O Pantanal compreende uma área de aproximadamente 150.000 km2 na Bacia do Alto Paraguai (BAP), cujo relevo varia entre 80 e 200 m. A rede de planícies inundáveis do Pantanal está conectada com as planícies do Chaco paraguaio ao sul. Os rios de leitos rochosos nas adjacências de planalto tornam-se rios aluviais ao adentrar a planície pantaneira, a qual tem sido progressivamente preenchida por sedimentos carreados por este sistema de rios. As falhas são evidentes na morfologia da bacia, condicionada pela ocorrência de terrenos précambrianos na borda ocidental da bacia e a drenagem aluvial moderna dentro da bacia. A sedimentação ocorre em um extenso trato aluvial deposicional formado pela planície do Rio Paraguai e por vários leques fluviais.bitstream/item/151519/1/ADM161.pd

O rio Paraguai no megaleque do Nabileque, sudoeste do Pantanal Mato-Grossense, MS

The Nabileque fluvial fan is a Quaternary depositional system located along the southwestern border of the Pantanal, covering an area of approximately 9,100 km 2. It is a peculiar alluvial system because it is not associated with inflow from adjacent plateaus. The Nabileque megafan is formed by the Paraguay River at the exit of the Pantanal wetland, coalescing with the Pilcomayo megafan of the Chaco basin. A geomorphological zonation analysis was performed making use of remote sensing data with field verification. Most of the area is a vast alluvial plain made of Pleistocene deposits, whose surface is marked by the presence of an intricate network of distributary paleochannels. Areas blanketed by Pleistocene deposits are dissected by erosional streams and subject to frequent flooding events. The Paraguay River flows in a meander belt constrained by NE fractures associated with the Transbrasiliano Lineament, but deflects towards the SSE after the Negro River confluence composing the system's peripheral drainage. An abandoned meander belt is preserved within a remarkable N-S incised-valley that is interpreted as the ancient Paraguay River course. Processes of avulsion and river capture are suggested to explain the observed changes of the river course. The Nabileque River is an underfit stream within the incised-valley, cutting paleomeanders and point bars of the previous Paraguay River course.Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso do Sul, Jardim (MS)Departamento de Geologia Aplicada Instituto de Geociencias e Ciencias Exatas Universidade Estadual Paulista, Rio Claro (SP)Departamento de Geologia Aplicada Instituto de Geociencias e Ciencias Exatas Universidade Estadual Paulista, Rio Claro (SP

Avulsions Drive Ecosystem Services and Economic Changes in the Brazilian Pantanal Wetlands

The Pantanal wetland is a mosaic of landscapes that brings together rich biodiversity with the valuable activities of fishing, tourism and ranching. Human occupation and land use in the headwaters have intensified the rate of channel avulsions in the lower reaches of the largest megafan on the Taquari River. This study evaluates the long-term changes of landscapes in the active depositional lobe of the Taquari megafan from the perspective of local communities of pantaneiros. Maps derived from multiple decades of multispectral Landsat data have proven useful for studying land cover changes through the relationship between dry (terrestrial vegetation and soil/dry pastures) and humid landscapes (open waters, aquatic macrophytes and wet soils), as well as through Sankey diagrams and spatiotemporal mapping with Boolean operations according to the rate of dryland recovery. We found that dryland recovery associated with an older and smaller avulsion (known as Zé da Costa) is analogous to that of a most recent and much larger avulsion (known as Caronal), which is still ongoing and has greater importance due to the scale of the impacts. Land value and fish capture depreciate as the partial Caronal avulsion still evolves, increasing the likelihood of environmental conflicts. While pantaneiros no longer profit from ecosystem services of provision (e.g., livestock or fishing), dryland recovery may deliver quantifiable ecosystem services of regulation. The strengthening of partnerships among stakeholders and the implementation of environmental compensation mechanisms are central for the best management of the Pantanal\u27s megafans that ensure quality of life for all pantaneiros

Structural Blocks as Flood Control in Brazilian Pantanal

The Pantanal basin formation and evolution are not well known and explained. This work brings new information showing the structural control over the physical environment of the Pantanal, one of the most important regions all around the world due to its biodiversity. We used different data sets from remote sensing data, the first set is a corrected SRTM (shuttle radar topographic mission) altimetric data and the second is a map of the major lineaments of Pantanal extracted from photointerpretation of satellite images. Both sets were confronted with the official borderlines of Pantanal and to other two limits defined by phytogeography and remote sensing images. It is possible to show that there is a good match between the internal limits of Pantanal and the interpreted lineaments. The altitudes decrease from N to S and from E to W and the slope analysis shows that this declivity is not homogeneous on these directions. The height difference between adjacent blocks is about 3 or 4 meters. Moreover, different regions have different mean altitudes and slope, although the slope inside each block is homogeneous. Considering Pantanal as a Cenozoic active basin, this paper proposes that the neotectonic controls these blocks and so the water flow in the basin, which in turn controls the fauna and flora of the region

Structural Blocks as Flood Control in Brazilian Pantanal

The Pantanal basin formation and evolution are not well known and explained. This work brings new information showing the structural control over the physical environment of the Pantanal, one of the most important regions all around the world due to its biodiversity. We used different data sets from remote sensing data, the first set is a corrected SRTM (shuttle radar topographic mission) altimetric data and the second is a map of the major lineaments of Pantanal extracted from photointerpretation of satellite images. Both sets were confronted with the official borderlines of Pantanal and to other two limits defined by phytogeography and remote sensing images. It is possible to show that there is a good match between the internal limits of Pantanal and the interpreted lineaments. The altitudes decrease from N to S and from E to W and the slope analysis shows that this declivity is not homogeneous on these directions. The height difference between adjacent blocks is about 3 or 4 meters. Moreover, different regions have different mean altitudes and slope, although the slope inside each block is homogeneous. Considering Pantanal as a Cenozoic active basin, this paper proposes that the neotectonic controls these blocks and so the water flow in the basin, which in turn controls the fauna and flora of the region