A deep insight into the sialome of male and female aedes aegypti mosquitoes

Only adult female mosquitoes feed on blood, while both genders take sugar meals. Accordingly, several compounds associated with blood feeding (i.e. vasodilators, anti-clotting, anti-platelets) are found only in female glands, while enzymes associated with sugar feeding or antimicrobials (such as lysozyme) are found in the glands of both sexes. We performed de novo assembly of reads from adult Aedes aegypti female and male salivary gland libraries (285 and 90 million reads, respectively). By mapping back the reads to the assembled contigs, plus mapping the reads from a publicly available Ae. aegypti library from adult whole bodies, we identified 360 transcripts (including splice variants and alleles) overexpressed tenfold or more in the glands when compared to whole bodies. Moreover, among these, 207 were overexpressed fivefold or more in female vs. male salivary glands, 85 were near equally expressed and 68 were overexpressed in male glands. We call in particular the attention to C-type lectins, angiopoietins, female-specific Antigen 5, the 9.7 kDa, 12–14 kDa, 23.5 kDa, 62/34 kDa, 4.2 kDa, proline-rich peptide, SG8, 8.7 kDa family and SGS fragments: these polypeptides are all of unknown function, but due to their overexpression in female salivary glands and putative secretory nature they are expected to affect host physiology. We have also found many transposons (some of which novel) and several endogenous viral transcripts (probably acquired by horizontal transfer) which are overexpressed in the salivary glands and may play some role in tissue-specific gene regulation or represent a mechanism of virus interference. This work contributes to a near definitive catalog of male and female salivary gland transcripts from Ae. aegypti, which will help to direct further studies aiming at the functional characterization of the many transcripts with unknown function and the understanding of their role in vector-host interaction and pathogen transmission

Solid State NMR

The nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is a very powerful tool in the chemical characterization, both in solution and in solid state. With the development of NMR spectrometers more potent field, employing radio frequency pulse, provided the development of studies on materials, especially amorphous materials. Thus, there was a need to develop techniques to obtain spectra in solid state with high resolution in comparison to those obtained in solution. Therefore, the study of polymers and polymeric materials could be developed quickly as a result a lot of information about the structure-property could be obtained with more details. The use of NMR in the solid state has become particularly important in the study of amorphous materials, as well as in the study of crystal structures, and permits us to detect different constituents present in material. This chapter covers the basic solid-state NMR techniques that provide important information on sample molecular behavior because they are powerful and versatile tools to evaluate polymer and complex materials like nanomaterials

Site index for Prosopis alba plantations in the semi-arid chaco through mixed models

The classification of sites through curves of Site Index allows to predict the yield of the planted forests at a certain age of the stand and to plan cultural treatments. The goal of this research was to compare linear and non-linear models of fixed effects vs. mixed non-linear models to estimate the site index in plantations of Prosopis alba var Griseb in the irrigated area of the province of Santiago del Estero, Argentina using the guide curve method. The data used comes from temporary plots, permanent plots and growth data from the stem analysis of selected individuals based on their greater growth in height within the sampled areas. The registered variable for the evaluation of the site was the dominant Height (HD), defined as the average height of the 100 thickest trees per hectare. Considering that the source of data from repeated measurements on the same subject implies the presence of correlation and/or heteroscedasticity, it was proposed to evaluate statistical models that allow to properly representing the structure of the variance-covariance matrix, improving the accuracy in the adjustment. From the analysis of the results, it appears that the models non-linear mixed models have had better performance in the adjustment of the Site Index than linear and non-linear models of fixed effects. The most accurate model (smallest AIC and BIC) in the site index estimation was the mixed non-linear regression model of 'Gompertz', with structure of composite symmetry correlation and exponential heteroscedasticity.v.25 n.2 2019Fil: Senilliani, Maria Gracia. Universidad Nacional de Santiago del Estero. Facultad de Ciencias Forestales; ArgentinaFil: Bruno, Cecilia Ines. Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigaciones Agropecuarias. Unidad de Fitopatologia y Modelizacion Agricola. Grupo Vinculado Catedra de Estadistica y Biometria de la Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias de la Universidad Nacional de Cordoba Al Ufyma | Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Conicet - Cordoba. Unidad de Fitopatologia y Modelizacion Agricola. Grupo Vinculado Catedra de Estadistica y Biometria de la Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias de la Universidad Nacional de Cordoba Al Ufyma.; ArgentinaFil: Brassiolo, Miguel Marcelo. Universidad Nacional de Santiago del Estero. Facultad de Ciencias Forestales; Argentin

Different Roles of Sex Steroid Hormones in the Pathogenesis of Vascular Dysfunction and the Development of Cardiovascular Disease in Men and Women

In this review an overview of current literature on the topic of the relation between sex steroid hormones and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) is presented. The influence of the mentioned hormones on the three levels has been analyzed: their interaction with the blood vessel receptors, their modulation of the vascular function, and finally their role in the pathogenesis of CVDs. This review is focused not only on already known facts of the protective role of estrogens and the inceptive role of testosterone, but attempts to give examples of their opposite effects on vascular function and development of CVDs

Site index for Prosopis alba plantations in the semi-arid chaco through mixed models

The classification of sites through curves of Site Index allows to predict the yield of the planted forests at a certain age of the stand and to plan cultural treatments. The goal of this research was to compare linear and non-linear models of fixed effects vs. mixed non-linear models to estimate the site index in plantations of Prosopis alba var Griseb in the irrigated area of the province of Santiago del Estero, Argentina using the guide curve method. The data used comes from temporary plots, permanent plots and growth data from the stem analysis of selected individuals based on their greater growth in height within the sampled areas. The registered variable for the evaluation of the site was the dominant Height (HD), defined as the average height of the 100 thickest trees per hectare. Considering that the source of data from repeated measurements on the same subject implies the presence of correlation and/or heteroscedasticity, it was proposed to evaluate statistical models that allow to properly representing the structure of the variance-covariance matrix, improving the accuracy in the adjustment. From the analysis of the results, it appears that the models non-linear mixed models have had better performance in the adjustment of the Site Index than linear and non-linear models of fixed effects. The most accurate model (smallest AIC and BIC) in the site index estimation was the mixed non-linear regression model of 'Gompertz', with structure of composite symmetry correlation and exponential heteroscedasticity.v.25 n.2 2019Fil: Senilliani, Maria Gracia. Universidad Nacional de Santiago del Estero. Facultad de Ciencias Forestales; ArgentinaFil: Bruno, Cecilia Ines. Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigaciones Agropecuarias. Unidad de Fitopatologia y Modelizacion Agricola. Grupo Vinculado Catedra de Estadistica y Biometria de la Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias de la Universidad Nacional de Cordoba Al Ufyma | Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Conicet - Cordoba. Unidad de Fitopatologia y Modelizacion Agricola. Grupo Vinculado Catedra de Estadistica y Biometria de la Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias de la Universidad Nacional de Cordoba Al Ufyma.; ArgentinaFil: Brassiolo, Miguel Marcelo. Universidad Nacional de Santiago del Estero. Facultad de Ciencias Forestales; Argentin

Worldwide prevalence of anaemia, WHO Vitamin and Mineral Nutrition Information System, 1993-2005

Abstract Objective To provide current global and regional estimates of anaemia prevalence and number of persons affected in the total population and by population subgroup. Setting and design We used anaemia prevalence data from the WHO Vitamin and Mineral Nutrition Information System for 1993-2005 to generate anaemia prevalence estimates for countries with data representative at the national level or at the first administrative level that is below the national level. For countries without eligible data, we employed regression-based estimates, which used the UN Human Development Index (HDI) and other health indicators. We combined country estimates, weighted by their population, to estimate anaemia prevalence at the global level, by UN Regions and by category of human development. Results Survey data covered 48·8 % of the global population, 76·1 % of preschool-aged children, 69·0 % of pregnant women and 73·5 % of non-pregnant women. The estimated global anaemia prevalence is 24·8 % (95 % CI 22·9, 26·7 %), affecting 1·62 billion people (95 % CI 1·50, 1·74 billion). Estimated anaemia prevalence is 47·4 % (95 % CI 45·7, 49·1 %) in preschool-aged children, 41·8 % (95 % CI 39·9, 43·8 %) in pregnant women and 30·2 % (95 % CI 28·7, 31·6 %) in non-pregnant women. In numbers, 293 million (95 % CI 282, 303 million) preschool-aged children, 56 million (95 % CI 54, 59 million) pregnant women and 468 million (95 % CI 446, 491 million) non-pregnant women are affected. Conclusion Anaemia affects one-quarter of the world's population and is concentrated in preschool-aged children and women, making it a global public health problem. Data on relative contributions of causal factors are lacking, however, which makes it difficult to effectively address the proble

Artistic Activities in School as a Form of Spending Leisure Time of Primary School Students

Slobodno vrijeme kao fenomen suvremenoga doba pred učenike stavlja prostor odabira aktivnosti kojima će ga upotpuniti. Različiti načini provođenja slobodnoga vremena imaju i različit utjecaj na cjelovit dječji razvoj. Iz toga proizlazi i važnost kvalitetnog provođenja slobodnoga vremena, ali i odabira aktivnosti koje će dijete pohađati. Odabrane aktivnosti imaju funkciju odmora i razonode, ali i druge mnogo značajnije funkcije koje se vezuju uz stvaralaštvo i osobni razvoj. Škola kao odgojno-obrazovna ustanova trebala bi ponuditi učenicima različite mogućnosti provođenja slobodnog vremena, koje treba promišljeno planirati kroz školski kurikul od najranije dobi. Analizirajući školske kurikule osnovnih škola, uočava se veliki broj izvannastavnih aktivnosti koje se nude učenicima, ali i nekih drugih. Od posebnoga značaja umjetničke su aktivnosti koje od najranije školske dobi imaju svrhu poticanja razvoja različitih područja umjetničkoga stvaralaštva. Kod njihova planiranja izuzetno je važno ponuditi najšire mogućnosti poticanja plesne, glazbene, likovne i scenske umjetnosti te književnosti i novih medija vodeći se interdisciplinarnim pristupom. S ciljem analize umjetničkih aktivnosti kao oblika provođenja slobodnog vremena osnovnoškolaca, provedeno je empirijsko istraživanje anonimnim anketiranjem među učiteljima razredne nastave Splitsko-dalmatinske i Dubrovačko-neretvanske županije. Rezultati istraživanja, osim što ukazuju na mogućnosti provođenja slobodnog vremena kroz različite umjetničke aktivnosti u razrednoj nastavi, prikazuju i samoprocjene učiteljske kompetentnosti za poticanje učeničkoga umjetničkoga stvaralaštva. Također, utvrđene su i razlike u dobivenim rezultatima s obzirom na veličinu škole s obzirom na broj učenika.Leisure time as a phenomenon of the modern age enables students to choose the activities with which they will fill it. Different ways of spending leisure time have different effects on the overall development of children. Hence the importance of quality leisure time as well as the choice of activities that children will attend. Chosen activities enable rest and leisure, but they also have other much more important functions related to creativity and personal development. School as an educational institution should offer students various opportunities to spend their leisure time, which should be thoughtfully planned through the school curriculum from an early age. An analysis of primary school curricula reveals a large number of extracurricular and other activities offered to students. Especially important are artistic activities which, from the earliest school age, have the purpose of encouraging the development of various fields of artistic creation. When planning artistic activities, it is essential to offer the widest possibilities of encouraging dance, music, fine and performing arts, as well as literature and new media, guided by an interdisciplinary approach. Aiming to analyze artistic activities as a form of spending leisure time in primary school students, we conducted empirical research using an anonymous survey among primary school teachers in Split-Dalmatia County and Dubrovnik-Neretva County. In addition to indicating the possibilities of spending leisure time through various artistic activities in class teaching, the research results also show self-assessments of teacher competence to encourage students’ artistic creativity. Moreover, the differences in the obtained results were determined with regard to school size according to the number of students

Prokaryotic expression and characterization of the heterodimeric construction of ZnT8 and its application for autoantibodies detection in diabetes mellitus

Background: In the present work we described the recombinant production and characterization of heterodimeric construction ZnT8-Arg-Trp325 fused to thioredoxin using a high-performance expression system such as Escherichia coli. In addition, we apply this novel recombinant antigen in a non-radiometric method, with high sensitivity, low operational complexity and lower costs. Results: ZnT8 was expressed in E. coli as a fusion protein with thioredoxin (TrxZnT8). After 3 h for induction, recombinant protein was obtained from the intracellular soluble fraction and from inclusion bodies and purified by affinity chromatography. The expression and purification steps, analyzed by SDS-PAGE and western blot, revealed a band compatible with TrxZnT8 expected theoretical molecular weight (≈ 36.8 kDa). The immunochemical ability of TrxZnT8 to compete with [35S]ZnT8 (synthesized with rabbit reticulocyte lysate system) was assessed qualitatively by incubating ZnT8A positive patient sera in the presence of 0.2-0.3 μM TrxZnT8. Results were expressed as standard deviation scores (SDs). All sera became virtually negative under antigen excess (19.26-1.29 for TrxZnT8). Also, radiometric quantitative competition assays with ZnT8A positive patient sera were performed by adding TrxZnT8 (37.0 pM-2.2 μM), using [35S]ZnT8. All dose-response curves showed similar protein concentration that caused 50% inhibition (14.9-0.15 nM for TrxZnT8). On the other hand, preincubated bridge ELISA for ZnT8A detection was developed. This assay showed 51.7% of sensitivity and 97.1% of specificity. Conclusions: It was possible to obtain with high-yield purified heterodimeric construction of ZnT8 in E. coli and it was applied in cost-effective immunoassay for ZnT8A detection.Fil: Faccinetti, Natalia Ines. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Estudios de la Inmunidad Humoral Prof. Ricardo A. Margni. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Estudios de la Inmunidad Humoral Prof. Ricardo A. Margni; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Microbiología, Inmunología y Biotecnología; ArgentinaFil: Guerra, Luciano Lucas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Estudios de la Inmunidad Humoral Prof. Ricardo A. Margni. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Estudios de la Inmunidad Humoral Prof. Ricardo A. Margni; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Microbiología, Inmunología y Biotecnología; ArgentinaFil: Sabljic, Adriana Victoria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Estudios de la Inmunidad Humoral Prof. Ricardo A. Margni. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Estudios de la Inmunidad Humoral Prof. Ricardo A. Margni; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Microbiología, Inmunología y Biotecnología; ArgentinaFil: Bombicino, Silvina Sonia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Estudios de la Inmunidad Humoral Prof. Ricardo A. Margni. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Estudios de la Inmunidad Humoral Prof. Ricardo A. Margni; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Microbiología, Inmunología y Biotecnología; ArgentinaFil: Rovitto, Bruno David. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Estudios de la Inmunidad Humoral Prof. Ricardo A. Margni. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Estudios de la Inmunidad Humoral Prof. Ricardo A. Margni; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Microbiología, Inmunología y Biotecnología; ArgentinaFil: Iacono, Ruben Francisco. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Estudios de la Inmunidad Humoral Prof. Ricardo A. Margni. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Estudios de la Inmunidad Humoral Prof. Ricardo A. Margni; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Microbiología, Inmunología y Biotecnología; ArgentinaFil: Poskus, Edgardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Estudios de la Inmunidad Humoral Prof. Ricardo A. Margni. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Estudios de la Inmunidad Humoral Prof. Ricardo A. Margni; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Microbiología, Inmunología y Biotecnología; ArgentinaFil: Trabucchi, Aldana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Estudios de la Inmunidad Humoral Prof. Ricardo A. Margni. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Estudios de la Inmunidad Humoral Prof. Ricardo A. Margni; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Microbiología, Inmunología y Biotecnología; ArgentinaFil: Valdez, Silvina Noemi. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Estudios de la Inmunidad Humoral Prof. Ricardo A. Margni. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Estudios de la Inmunidad Humoral Prof. Ricardo A. Margni; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Microbiología, Inmunología y Biotecnología; Argentin

Visualización de la interacción genotipo-ambiente en gráficos biplots desde ensayos multiambientales con datos incompletos

Los modelos de efectos principales aditivos e interacción multiplicativa AMMI y SREG son usados para explorar la interacción genotipo×ambiente (GE) en ensayos multiambientales comparativos de genotipos. Usualmente son aplicados en contextos donde todos los genotipos son evaluados en todos los ambientes (datos completos) y la GE se explora via biplot análisis. Cuando GE se trata como efecto aleatorio con estructura de varianza covarianza FA (del inglés factor analytic), los parámetros de covarianza se relacionan con los scores de genotipo (G) y ambiente (E) que describen la interacción en los AMMI y SREG. Sin embargo, la visualización de los efectos GE no necesariamente es la obtenida en biplot AMMI o SREG bajo datos completos. El objetivo de este trabajo es comparar representaciones gráficas alternativas de la interacción GE en gráficos de dimensión reducida tipo biplot obtenidos desde distintos modelos en contexto de datos completos e incompletos. Se compararon biplots obtenidos desde modelos FA para la interacción GE bajo efecto fijos y bajo efectos aleatorios, usando Proc Mixed SAS y ASREML de R. Los biplots bajo la aproximación de efectos fijos y de efectos aleatorios GE del tipo FA con E aleatorio, mostraron patrones de interacción similares. Una ventaja importante de la obtención del biplot de interacción bajo el modelo mixto es la factibilidad de estimación en contextos de datos incompletos.Fil: Bruno, Cecilia Ines. Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigaciones Agropecuarias. Unidad de Fitopatologia y Modelizacion Agricola. Grupo Vinculado Catedra de Estadistica y Biometria de la Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias de la Universidad Nacional de Cordoba Al Ufyma | Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Conicet - Cordoba. Unidad de Fitopatologia y Modelizacion Agricola. Grupo Vinculado Catedra de Estadistica y Biometria de la Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias de la Universidad Nacional de Cordoba Al Ufyma.; ArgentinaFil: Balzarini, Monica Graciela. Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigaciones Agropecuarias. Unidad de Fitopatologia y Modelizacion Agricola. Grupo Vinculado Catedra de Estadistica y Biometria de la Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias de la Universidad Nacional de Cordoba Al Ufyma | Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Conicet - Cordoba. Unidad de Fitopatologia y Modelizacion Agricola. Grupo Vinculado Catedra de Estadistica y Biometria de la Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias de la Universidad Nacional de Cordoba Al Ufyma.; ArgentinaXVIII Congreso Latinoamericano de Genética; LIV Reunión Anual de la Sociedad de Genética de Chile; XLIX Congreso Argentino de Genética; VIII Congreso de la Sociedad Uruguaya de Genética; I Congreso Paraguayo de Genética y V Congreso Latinoamericano de Genética HumanaSantiago de ChileChileSociedad Argentina de Genétic