First record of epicadus trituberculatus (Taczanowski, 1872) (araneae, thomisidae, stephanopinae) in the Brazilian Northeast

We present the first record of Epicadus trituberculatus (Taczanowski, 1872) from the Northeast Region of Brazil. The new record is based on six specimens observed in two areas of montane semi-deciduous tropical forest located in two municipalities: Guaramiranga and Pacatuba, Ceará state, Brazil. Of the six specimens observed we collected manually only three to preserve as voucher material. In Brazil, E. trituberculatus has a wide distribution range, which extends from the Atlantic Forest, Amazon, and Cerrado biomes and the Pampa ecoregion. With the new record there are currently six known species of Epicadus in northeastern Brazil155937940CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQCOORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIOR - CAPESFUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESPnão temnão temnão temThis study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brasil(CAPES), Finance Code 001 (G.A. Villanueva-Bonilla). We were also financially supported by the Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia dos Hymenoptera Para-sitoides (HYMPAR/Sudeste – CNPq/FAPESP/CAPES), and FUNCAP– BPI proc. BP3- 00139-00186.01.00/18 (research grants to J.F. Sobczak

Aquisição Domiciliar De Refrigerantes E De Biscoitos Reduz O Efeito De Uma Intervenção De Promoção De Frutas E Hortaliças

This study examines the influence of increasing household availability of sodas and cookies on the effects of an intervention to promote the consumption of fruits and vegetables. The study analyzed data from 70 families living in low-income communities in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, selected in a stratified probabilistic sample, and who completed a 30-day food record before and after the intervention. The intervention contributed to a significant increase in the household availability of fruit and vegetables (+2.7 p.p.; 95%CI: 1.5; 4.0), contrary to the trend towards stagnation of such availability in the general population in Brazil. Meanwhile, the purchase of sodas and cookies, which was not the intervention’s target, mirrored the upward trend in the consumption of these products (+5.8 p.p.; 95%CI: 3.3; 8.4). Families that increased their purchase of sodas and cookies showed lower increases, or even decreases, in the purchase of fruits and vegetables (p < 0.05), and had nearly fourfold lower odds of experiencing any increase in the household availability of fruits and vegetables. © 2017, Fundacao Oswaldo Cruz. All rights reserved.333FAPERJ, Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de JaneiroMinistério da Saúd

Selective disruption of Tcf7l2 in the pancreatic β cell impairs secretory function and lowers β cell mass.

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is characterized by β cell dysfunction and loss. Single nucleotide polymorphisms in the T-cell factor 7-like 2 (TCF7L2) gene, associated with T2D by genome-wide association studies, lead to impaired β cell function. While deletion of the homologous murine Tcf7l2 gene throughout the developing pancreas leads to impaired glucose tolerance, deletion in the β cell in adult mice reportedly has more modest effects. To inactivate Tcf7l2 highly selectively in β cells from the earliest expression of the Ins1 gene (∼E11.5) we have therefore used a Cre recombinase introduced at the Ins1 locus. Tcfl2(fl/fl)::Ins1Cre mice display impaired oral and intraperitoneal glucose tolerance by 8 and 16 weeks, respectively, and defective responses to the GLP-1 analogue liraglutide at 8 weeks. Tcfl2(fl/fl)::Ins1Cre islets displayed defective glucose- and GLP-1-stimulated insulin secretion and the expression of both the Ins2 (∼20%) and Glp1r (∼40%) genes were significantly reduced. Glucose- and GLP-1-induced intracellular free Ca(2+) increases, and connectivity between individual β cells, were both lowered by Tcf7l2 deletion in islets from mice maintained on a high (60%) fat diet. Finally, analysis by optical projection tomography revealed ∼30% decrease in β cell mass in pancreata from Tcfl2(fl/fl)::Ins1Cre mice. These data demonstrate that Tcf7l2 plays a cell autonomous role in the control of β cell function and mass, serving as an important regulator of gene expression and islet cell coordination. The possible relevance of these findings for the action of TCF7L2 polymorphisms associated with Type 2 diabetes in man is discussed

Adsorption of ketoprofen and paracetamol and treatment of a synthetic mixture by novel porous carbon derived from Butia capitata endocarp

In this work, endocarp of the species Butia capitata was employed as precursor material to prepare a novel activated carbon with intrinsic properties to remove ketoprofen and paracetamol from water efficiently. The activated carbon presented a predominantly microporous structure, with an average pore diameter of 1.23 nm, a total pore volume of 0.449 cm3 g−1, and a high specific surface area, 820 m2 g−1. The adsorption kinetics showed a rapid initial decay for both pharmaceuticals, with the system entering equilibrium after 120 min for ketoprofen and 180 min for paracetamol. The pseudo-second-order model presented the best fit for ketoprofen and the Elovich model for paracetamol. The adsorption equilibrium data show that temperature can increase or decrease the adsorption capacity, being found a maximum adsorption capacity of 108.79 and 100.60 mg g−1 for the ketoprofen and paracetamol, respectively. The Freundlich and Langmuir models presented the best statistical adjustments for the adsorption of ketoprofen and paracetamol, respectively. The thermodynamic analysis confirmed an endothermic process for ketoprofen (ΔH0 = 11.98 kJ mol−1) and exothermic for paracetamol (ΔH0 = -13.37 kJ mol−1). The recycle tests revealed that the adsorbent has an average decrease for removal percentage of only 1.88 % for ketoprofen and 1.57 % for paracetamol. Estimations costs indicate that the price of 1 kg of activated carbon costs is 2.39 USD at minimum. Last, the material presented a highly efficient adsorptive activity to treat a synthetic mixture containing several pharmaceutical compounds and salts, reaching 84.82% removal

Gravitational Collapse of Phantom Fluid in (2+1)-Dimensions

This investigation is devoted to the solutions of Einstein's field equations for a circularly symmetric anisotropic fluid, with kinematic self-similarity of the first kind, in $(2+1)$-dimensional spacetimes. In the case where the radial pressure vanishes, we show that there exists a solution of the equations that represents the gravitational collapse of an anisotropic fluid, and this collapse will eventually form a black hole, even when it is constituted by the phantom energy.Comment: 10 page

Primers microssatélites validados em tilápia do nilo no gene da aromatase cerebral (Cyp19b)

Aromatase cytochrome P450 is an enzyme that is responsible for a key step in the biosynthesis of estrogens, which is linked to reproduction. This enzyme is a product of the gene Cyp19 and catalyzes the formation of estrogen from androgen. Estrogen is essential for the development of the gonads and various other physiological processes, ranging from normal growth to reproductive behavior. This study aimed at validation of primers for&nbsp; microsatellite locus in the regulatory region of gene Cyp19b in Oreochromis niloticus. Thirty samples of three strains were&nbsp; analyzed: Chitralada and Supreme from larviculture Aquabel, and GIFT from the State University of Maring&aacute; (Paran&aacute;, Brazil). After extraction of DNA, the samples were subjected to PCR using primers designed to flank a microsatellite region. After confirmation of amplification, the samples were subjected to electrophoretic separation in the apparatus Origins&nbsp; (Elchrom Scientific, USA) to identify the alleles. A polymorphism in the regulatory region of Cyp19b was identified in the three strains. Three alleles, ranging from 123 to 141 bp, were observed. The primers for amplification of microsatellite in the regulatory region of gene Cyp19b were efficient and, therefore, they may be used for identification of mutations in this region in typical microsatellite analysis.&nbsp; Studies are being conducted to correlate the effect of temperature with the alleles observed in the animals sampled and the resulting sex ratio.A aromatase citocromo P450 &eacute; uma enzima que &eacute; respons&aacute;vel por um passo chave na bioss&iacute;ntese de estrog&ecirc;nio que est&aacute; ligado &agrave; reprodu&ccedil;&atilde;o. Esta enzima &eacute; um produto do gene Cyp19 e catalisa a forma&ccedil;&atilde;o de estrog&ecirc;nio a partir de androg&ecirc;nio. O estrog&ecirc;nio &eacute; essencial para o desenvolvimento das g&ocirc;nadas e diversos processos fisiol&oacute;gicos, que v&atilde;o desde o crescimento normal at&eacute; o comportamento reprodutivo. Este estudo teve como objetivo a valida&ccedil;&atilde;o de primers para locus microssat&eacute;lite presente na regi&atilde;o regulat&oacute;ria do gene Cyp19b de Oreochromis niloticus. Trinta amostras de tr&ecirc;s linhagens: Chitralada e Supreme da larvicultura Aquabel e GIFT da Universidade Estadual de Maring&aacute; &ndash; PR foram analisadas. Ap&oacute;s a extra&ccedil;&atilde;o de DNA as amostras foram submetidas a PCR utilizando os primers desenhados para flanquear a regi&atilde;o microssat&eacute;lite. Ap&oacute;s a confirma&ccedil;&atilde;o da amplifica&ccedil;&atilde;o as amostras foram submetidas &agrave; separa&ccedil;&atilde;o eletrofor&eacute;tica no aparato Origins&nbsp; (Elchrom Scientific, USA) para identifica&ccedil;&atilde;o dos alelos. Foi verificada a exist&ecirc;ncia um polimorfismo na regi&atilde;o promotora de&nbsp; Cyp19b&nbsp; nas tr&ecirc;s linhagens. Observamos tr&ecirc;s alelos, variando entre 123 e 141 pb. Os primers para a amplifica&ccedil;&atilde;o de microssat&eacute;lite na regi&atilde;o regulat&oacute;ria do gene Cyp19b foram eficientes e, portanto, seu uso para identifica&ccedil;&atilde;o de muta&ccedil;&otilde;es nesta regi&atilde;o pode ser empregada na an&aacute;lise t&iacute;pica de microssat&eacute;lite. Estudos est&atilde;o sendo conduzidos para correlacionar o efeito da temperatura com os alelos observados nos animais amostrados e a propor&ccedil;&atilde;o de sexo resultante.&nbsp