The effects of shrub encroachment on arthropod communities depend on grazing history

Unsustainable grazing is a major driver of biodiversity loss worldwide. Conservation actions such as grazing exclusion are effective strategies for halting such decline. However, we still know little how the long-term impact of grazing exclusion depends on plant–animal interactions such as those between encroaching unpalatable shrubs and ground arthropods. Here, we assessed how encroaching, unpalatable shrub species (Sarcopoterium spinosum) mediates the effects of grazing exclusion on the recovery of arthropod communities. We used a large-scale, long-term (15–25 years) grazing exclusion experiment complemented with local-scale treatments that consider the presence or absence of shrubs. We found that halting overgrazing supported the recovery of biodiversity in the long-term. Notably, the impacts of shrubs on arthropod diversity vary with grazing history. Shrubs decreased arthropod abundance by three folds, affecting particularly flies, butterflies, hymenopteran, and beetles in protected areas. Yet, shrubs had positive effects on animal diversity, particularly centipedes and millipeds in grazed areas. On the one hand, shrubs may enhance biodiversity recovery in overgrazed systems; on the other hand, shrubs may be detrimental in protected areas, in the absence of grazing. Understanding how plant–animal interactions vary with historical land-use change is key for biodiversity conservation and recovery and for integrated management of agroecosystems

Inclusion Complex Of S(-) Bupivacaine And 2-hydroxypropyl- β-cyclodextrin: Study Of Morphology And Cytotoxicity

Local anesthetics (LA) belong to a class of pharmacological compounds that attenuate or eliminate pain by binding to the sodium channel of excitable membranes, blocking the influx of sodium ions and the propagation of the nerve impulse. S (-) bupivacaine (S(-) bvc) is a local anesthetic of amino-amide type, widely used in surgery and obstetrics for sustained peripheral and central nerve blockade. This article focuses on the characterization of an inclusion complex of S(-) bvc in 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD). Differential scanning calorimetry, scanning electron microscopy and X-Ray diffraction analysis showed structural changes in the complex. In preliminary toxicity studies, the cell viability tests revealed that the inclusion complex decreased the toxic effect (p<0.001) produced by S(-) bvc. These results suggest that the S(-) bvc:HP-β-CD inclusion complex represents a promising agent for the treatment of regional pain.273207212Araújo, D.R., Cereda, C.M., Brunetto, G.B., Pinto, L.M.A., Santana, M.H., de Paula, E., Encapsulation of mepivacaine prolongs the analgesia provided by sciatic nerve blockade in mice (2004) Can J Anaesth, 51, pp. 566-572Araújo, D.R., Fraceto, L.F., Braga, A.F.A., de Paula, E., Drug-delivery systems for racemic bupivacaine (S50-R50) and bupivacaine enantiomeric mixture (S75-R25):cyclodextrins complexation effects on sciatic nerve blockade in mice (2005) Rev Bras Anestesiol, 55, pp. 316-328Araújo, D.R., Moraes, C.M., Fraceto, L.F., Braga, A.F.A., de Paula, E., Cyclodextrin-bupivacaine enantiomeric mixture (S75-R25) inclusion complex and intrathecal anesthesia in rats (2006) Rev Bras Anestesiol, 56, pp. 495-506Bibby, D., Davies, N.M., Tueker, I.G., Mechanisms by which cyclodextrins modify drug release from polymeric drug delivery systems (2000) Int J Pharm, 197, pp. 1-11Covino, B.G., Vassalo, H.G., (1976) Local anesthetics: Mechanisms of action and clinical use, , New York: Grune and Stratton;, 255pFoster, R.H., Markham, A., Levobupivacaine. A review of its pharmacology and use as a local anaesthetic (2000) Drugs, 59, pp. 551-579Grant, G.J., Bansinath, M., Liposomal delivery systems for local anesthetics (2001) Reg Anesth Pain Med, 26, pp. 61-63Gristwood, R.W., Cardiac and CNS toxicity of levobupivacaine: Strengths of evidence for advantage over bupivacaine (2002) Drug Saf, 25, pp. 153-163Hirayama, F., Uekama, K., Cyclodextrin-based controlled drug release system (1999) Adv Drug Deliv Rev, 36, pp. 125-141Huang, Y.F., Pryor, M.E., Mather, L.E., Veering, B.T., Cardiovascular and central nervous system effects of intravenous S-bupivacaine and bupivacaine in sheep (1998) Anesth Analg, 86, pp. 797-804Jong, R.H., (1994) Local anesthetics, , Springfield: CC. Thomas;, 325pKohata, S., Jyodi, K., Ohyoshi, A., Thermal decomposition of cyclodextrins (α -, β-, γ, and modified β-CyD) and of metal-(β-CyD) complex in the solid phase (1993) Thermochim Acta, 217, pp. 187-198Loftsson, T., Brewster, M.E., Pharmaceutical application of Cyclodextrin. 1. Drug solubilization and stabilization (1996) J Pharm Sci, 85, pp. 1017-1025Loukas, Y.L., Vraka, V., Gregoriadis, G., Novel non-acidic formulations of haloperidol complexed with beta-cyclodextrin derivatives (1997) J Pharm Biomed Anal, 16, pp. 263-268Mather, L.E., McCall, P., McNicol, P.L., Bupivacaine enantiomer pharmacokinetics after intercostal neural blockade in liver transplant patients (1995) Anesth Analg, 80, pp. 328-335Michaud, M., Icart, S., Determination of the substitution of hydroxypropylbetadex using fourier transform infrared spectrophotometry (2001) PharmEuropa, 13, pp. 714-716Naidu, N.B., Chowdary, K.P.R., Murthy, K.V.R., Satyanarayana, V., Hayman, A.R., Becket, G., Physicochemical characterization and dissolution properties of meloxicam-cyclodextrin binary systems (2004) J Pharm Biomed Anal, 35, pp. 75-86Pinto, L.M.A., Fraceto, L.F., Santana, M.H.A., Pertinhez, T.A., Oyama, S., de Paula, E., Physico-chemical characterization of benzocaine-β-cyclodextrin inclusion complexes (2005) J Pharm Biomed Anal, 39, pp. 956-963Ren, X., Xue, Y., Liu, J., Zhang, K., Zheng, J., Lou, G., Gou, C., Shen, J., A novel cyclodextrin-deri ved tellurium compound with glutathione peroxidase (2002) Chembiochem, 3, pp. 363-365Rose, J.S., Neal, J.M., Kopacz, D.J., Extended-duration analgesia: Update on microspheres and liposomes (2005) Reg Anesth Pain Med, 30, pp. 275-285Strichartz, G.R., Ritchie, J.M., (1987) Local anesthetics: Handbook of experimental pharmacology, , Berlin: Springer-Verlag;, 445pThompson, D.O., Cyclodextrin-enabling excipients: Their present and future use in pharmaceuticals (1997) Crit Rev Ther Drug Carrier Syst, 14, pp. 1-10

Cloning a new cytochrome P450 isoform (CYP356A1) from oyster Crassostrea gigas

Author Posting. © Elsevier B.V., 2008. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Marine Environmental Research 66 (2008): 15-18, doi:10.1016/j.marenvres.2008.02.010.We have cloned the full-length cDNA of the first member of a new cytochrome P450 (CYP) family from the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas. This new CYP gene was obtained based on an initial 331 bp fragment previously identified among the list of the differentially expressed genes in oysters exposed to untreated domestic sewage. The full-length CYP has an open reading frame of 1500 bp and based on its deduced aminoacid sequence was classified as a member of a new subfamily, CYP356A1. A phylogenetic analysis showed that CYP356A1 is closely related to members of the CYP17 and CYP1 subfamilies. Semiquantitative RT-PCR was performed to analyze the CYP356A1 expression in different tissues of the oyster (digestive gland, gill, mantle and adductor muscle). Results showed slightly higher CYP356A1 expression in digestive gland and mantle, than the other tissues, indicating a possible role of the CYP356A1 in the xenobiotic biotransformation and/or steroid metabolism.This work was supported by CNPq-Universal to ACDB. ACDB is recipient of Productivity Fellowship from CNPq

PYTHIA 6.4 Physics and Manual

The PYTHIA program can be used to generate high-energy-physics `events', i.e. sets of outgoing particles produced in the interactions between two incoming particles. The objective is to provide as accurate as possible a representation of event properties in a wide range of reactions, within and beyond the Standard Model, with emphasis on those where strong interactions play a role, directly or indirectly, and therefore multihadronic final states are produced. The physics is then not understood well enough to give an exact description; instead the program has to be based on a combination of analytical results and various QCD-based models. This physics input is summarized here, for areas such as hard subprocesses, initial- and final-state parton showers, underlying events and beam remnants, fragmentation and decays, and much more. Furthermore, extensive information is provided on all program elements: subroutines and functions, switches and parameters, and particle and process data. This should allow the user to tailor the generation task to the topics of interest.Comment: 576 pages, no figures, uses JHEP3.cls. The code and further information may be found on the PYTHIA web page: http://www.thep.lu.se/~torbjorn/Pythia.html Changes in version 2: Mistakenly deleted section heading for "Physics Processes" reinserted, affecting section numbering. Minor updates to take into account referee comments and new colour reconnection option