Driving south: a multi-gene phylogeny of the brown algal family Fucaceae reveals relationships and recent drivers of a marine radiation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Understanding the processes driving speciation in marine ecosystems remained a challenge until recently, due to the unclear nature of dispersal boundaries. However, recent evidence for marine adaptive radiations and ecological speciation, as well as previously undetected patterns of cryptic speciation is overturning this view. Here, we use multi-gene phylogenetics to infer the family-level evolutionary history of Fucaceae (intertidal brown algae of the northern Pacific and Atlantic) in order to investigate recent and unique patterns of radiative speciation in the genus <it>Fucus </it>in the Atlantic, in contrast with the mainly monospecific extant genera.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We developed a set of markers from 13 protein coding genes based on polymorphic cDNA from EST libraries, which provided novel resolution allowing estimation of ancestral character states and a detailed reconstruction of the recent radiative history. Phylogenetic reconstructions yielded similar topologies and revealed four independent trans-Arctic colonization events by Fucaceae lineages, two of which also involved transitions from hermaphroditism to dioecy associated with Atlantic invasions. More recently, reversion of dioecious ancestral lineages towards hermaphroditism has occurred in the genus <it>Fucus</it>, particularly coinciding with colonization of more extreme habitats. Novel lineages in the genus <it>Fucus </it>were also revealed in association with southern habitats. These most recent speciation events occurred during the Pleistocene glaciations and coincided with a shift towards selfing mating systems, generally southward shifts in distribution, and invasion of novel habitats.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Diversification of the family occurred in the Late-Mid Miocene, with at least four independent trans-Artic lineage crossings coincident with two reproductive mode transitions. The genus <it>Fucus </it>arose in the Pliocene but radiated within a relatively short time frame about 2.5 million years ago. Current species distributions of <it>Fucus </it>suggest that climatic factors promoted differentiation between the two major clades, while the recent and rapid species radiation in the temperate clade during Pleistocene glacial cycles coincided with several potential speciation drivers.</p

Caracterización química y cuantificación del rendimiento de extracción de pigmento en siete accesiones mexicanas de Bixa orellana

Achiote (Bixa orellana) is a plant used for obtaining a natural dye rich on carotenoids (mainly bixin and norbixin); it is also the plant species with the highest content of tocotrienols in nature. In the present work, the pigment extraction yield of seven Mexican accessions of Bixa orellana was quantified. Also color parameters and content of tocotrienols, tocopherols, norbixin, bixin, total phenolic compounds and antioxidant capacity were evaluated in the corresponding annatto extracts. The highest percentage of pigment extraction yield was obtained with KOH (4.84%). Accessions 43 (L*= 4.01 ± 0.79, C*= 7.33 ± 1.07, h= 25.76 ± 6.35) and 50 (L*= 3.17 ± 0.64, C*= 6.81 ± 0.53, h= 26.41 ± 4.41) had the lowest color values, meaning these accessions had a darker and redder color. Four accessions showed the highest content of bixin: accession 48 (3.1%), 45 (2.6%) 43 (2.4%) and 47 (2.2%). Accession 50 had showed the highest content of total phenolic compounds and of tocotrienols (T3), mainly the isoform δ-T3 (5.03 ± 0.64 mg g−1 Seed Dry Weight), as well as the highest antioxidant capacity.El achiote (Bixa orellana) es una planta utilizada para obtener un colorante natural rico en carotenoides (principalmente bixina y norbixina); además, es la especie vegetal con el mayor contenido de tocotrienoles. En este trabajo, se determinó el rendimiento de extracción de pigmento de siete accesiones mexicanas de Bixa orellana. También se evaluaron los parámetros de color y el contenido de tocotrienoles, tocoferoles, norbixina, bixina, compuestos fenólicos totales y la capacidad antioxidante en extractos de annato. El mayor porcentaje de rendimiento de extracción de pigmento fue obtenido con KOH (4.847905%). Las accesiones 43 (L*= 4.01 ± 0.79, C*= 7.33 ± 1.07, h= 25.76 ± 6.35) y 50 (L*= 3.17 ± 0.64, C*= 6.81 ± 0.53, h= 26.41 ± 4.41) presentaron los valores más bajos de los párametros de color, lo que significa que estas accesiones tuvieron un color más oscuro y más rojo. Cuatro accesiones mostraron el mayor contenido de bixina: accesión 48 (3.1%), 45 (2.6%) 43 (2.4%) and 47 (2.2%). La accession 50 mostró el mayor contenido de compuestos fenólicos totales y de tocotrienoles (T3), principalmente la isoforma δ-T3 (5.03 ± 0.64 mg g-1 Peso Seco), así como también la mayor capacidad antioxidante.Fil: Raddatz Mota, D.. Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana; MéxicoFil: Pérez Flores, L. J.. Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana; MéxicoFil: Carrari, Fernando Oscar. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Veterinarias y Agronómicas. Instituto de Biotecnología; ArgentinaFil: Insani, Ester Marina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Veterinarias y Agronómicas. Instituto de Biotecnología; ArgentinaFil: Asis, Ramón. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología; ArgentinaFil: Mendoza Espinoza, J. A.. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; MéxicoFil: Díaz de León Sánchez, F.. Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana; MéxicoFil: Rivera Cabrera, F.. Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana; Méxic

Differentiation in fitness-related traits in response to elevated temperatures between leading and trailing edge populations of marine macrophytes

The nature of species distribution boundaries is a key subject in ecology and evolution. Edge populations are potentially more exposed to climate-related environmental pressures. Despite research efforts, little is known about variability in fitness-related traits in leading (i.e., colder, high latitude) versus trailing (i.e., warmer, low latitude) edge populations. We tested whether the resilience, i.e. the resistance and recovery, of key traits differs between a distributional cold (Greenland) and warm (Portugal) range edge population of two foundation marine macrophytes, the intertidal macroalga Fucus vesiculosus and the subtidal seagrass Zostera marina. The resistance and recovery of edge populations to elevated seawater temperatures was compared under common experimental conditions using photosynthetic efficiency and expression of heat shock proteins (HSP). Cold and warm edge populations differed in their response, but this was species specific. The warm edge population of F. vesiculosus showed higher thermal resistance and recovery whereas the cold leading edge was less tolerant. The opposite was observed in Z. marina, with reduced recovery at the warm edge, while the cold edge was not markedly affected by warming. Our results confirm that differentiation of thermal stress responses can occur between leading and trailing edges, but such responses depend on local population traits and are thus not predictable just based on thermal pressures.FCT (Portuguese Science Foundation) [BIODIVERSA/0004/2015, PTDC/MAR-EST/6053/2014, UID/Multi/04326/2013, SFRH/BPD/63/03/2009, SFRH/BPD/107878/2015, SFRH/BD/74436/2010]; European Commission (ATP) [226248

ANÁLISE DA GLICEMIA E DA HIPOTENSÃO PÓS-EXERCÍCIO RESISTIDO E AERÓBIO EM INDIVÍDUOS NORMOTENSOS

A hipotensão pós-exercício e a queda glicêmica têm sido observadas em indivíduos hipertensos e normotensos e tem sido utilizado para tratamento não farmacológico da pressão arterial e da glicemia, desta maneira o presente estudo teve como objetivo analisar o efeito agudo sobre a hipotensão e glicemia após o exercício resistido e aeróbio. Participaram do estudo 30 homens jovens na média de 23,07 ± 4,25 anos de idade normotensos (75,17 ± 10,70 Kg) com IMC igual a 23,83 ± 2,34 Kg/m 2, os quais foram divididos randomicamente em dois grupos: Grupo A – o teste em esteira foram realizados testes de 15 minutos na velocidade de 85% do VO 2 máx; Grupo B - o protocolo do exercício resistido foram realizados em forma de circuito com cinco exercícios (agachamento, supino, rosca barra, remada inclinada e desenvolvimento) com carga de 60% de 1RM. A mensuração da pressão arterial sistólica (PAS) e a pressão arterial diastólica (PAD) foram mensuradas em repouso (pré 10’), ao final do exercício e na recuperação após o exercício (rec15’). A glicemia foi mensurada em cinco momentos: repouso (pré), momento 1, momento 2, ao final do exercício e 15 minutos após o exercício (rec15’). No exercício Aeróbio a PAS no momento Final, elevou-se significativamente em relação ao momento Pré (p = 0,002), no momento Rec15’ demonstrou queda significativa em comparação ao momento Final (p = 0,001) e ao momento Pré (p = 0,005). Não houve diferença estatisticamente significativa entre nenhum dos momentos tanto no exercício aeróbio quanto no exercício resistido (p 0,05) em relação às taxas glicêmicas e também não houve diferença estatística em nenhum dos parâmetros da pressão arterial sistêmica (PAS, PAD e PAM) entre o momento Pré e Final exercício para o exercício resistido (p 0,05), e para PAM houve diferença estatística significativa entre os dois protocolos de intervenção (p = 0,050), com diferença no momento Final (p = 0,005) e no momento Rec15’ (p = 0,027

Longitudinal study of patients with chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy in Brazil (SaMi-Trop project): a cohort profile.

PurposeWe have established a prospective cohort of 1959 patients with chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy to evaluate if a clinical prediction rule based on ECG, brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels, and other biomarkers can be useful in clinical practice. This paper outlines the study and baseline characteristics of the participants.ParticipantsThe study is being conducted in 21 municipalities of the northern part of Minas Gerais State in Brazil, and includes a follow-up of 2 years. The baseline evaluation included collection of sociodemographic information, social determinants of health, health-related behaviours, comorbidities, medicines in use, history of previous treatment for Chagas disease, functional class, quality of life, blood sample collection, and ECG. Patients were mostly female, aged 50-74 years, with low family income and educational level, with known Chagas disease for &gt;10 years; 46% presented with functional class &gt;II. Previous use of benznidazole was reported by 25.2% and permanent use of pacemaker by 6.2%. Almost half of the patients presented with high blood cholesterol and hypertension, and one-third of them had diabetes mellitus. N-terminal of the prohormone BNP (NT-ProBNP) level was &gt;300 pg/mL in 30% of the sample.Findings to dateClinical and laboratory markers predictive of severe and progressive Chagas disease were identified as high NT-ProBNP levels, as well as symptoms of advanced heart failure. These results confirm the important residual morbidity of Chagas disease in the remote areas, thus supporting political decisions that should prioritise in addition to epidemiological surveillance the medical treatment of chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy in the coming years. The São Paulo-Minas Gerais Tropical Medicine Research Center (SaMi-Trop) represents a major challenge for focused research in neglected diseases, with knowledge that can be applied in primary healthcare.Future plansWe will continue following this patients' cohort to provide relevant information about the development and progression of Chagas disease in remotes areas, with social and economic inequalities.Trial registration numberNCT02646943; Pre-results

Development and characterization of 35 single nucleotide polymorphism markers for the brown alga Fucus vesiculosus

We characterized 35 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers for the brown alga Fucus vesiculosus. Based on existing Fucus Expressed Sequence Tag libraries for heat and desiccation-stressed tissue, SNPs were developed and confirmed by re-sequencing cDNA from a diverse panel of individuals. SNP loci were genotyped using the SEQUENOM single base extension iPLEXTM system for multiplex assays on the MassARRAY platform, which uses matrix-assisted laser desorption/ ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) to discriminate allele-specific products. The SNP markers showed a wide range of variability among 16 populations from the south-west of the UK, northern Portugal and Morocco. The analysis of the information provided by these markers will be useful for studying population structure, historical demography and phylogeography of F. vesiculosus. They can also be used for the identification of genes and/or linked genomic regions potentially subject to selection in response to abiotic stressors like temperature extremes and desiccation intensity that vary across habitats and geographical range.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologi

Análisis de los niveles y grado de afectación por ruido ambiental al personal del Hospital Naval de Bocagrande de la ciudad de Cartagena.

La generación de sonidos en altos decibeles que comúnmente se denominan ruido, puede afectar la salud de quienes lo perciben. Los entes hospitalarios podrían padecer de esta problemática ocasionando todo tipo y malestares en la salud psicológica y física del personal vulnerable tales como: pacientes, niños, mujeres en estado de embarazo, adultos mayores, e incluso en familiares, visitantes y funcionarios. La incomodidad, la interrupción de actividades, pérdida total y/o parcial de la audición y el deterioro físico mental son unas de las consecuencias que se evidencian en la población mencionada, que, a su vez, requiere unas condiciones especiales durante su estadía en estos entes. Los centros hospitalarios, no son ajenos a los muchos efectos negativos sobre la salud y la conducta humana a nivel económico y social, que se ve afectada por los niveles de ruido que se emiten en ciertas zonas, superiores a los permisibles establecidos por la resolución 627 de 2006, en donde son categorizadas como Sectores de Tranquilidad y Silencio. La presente investigación se llevará a cabo en las instalaciones del Hospital Naval de Bocagrande de la ciudad de Cartagena, donde se determinarán los de niveles de presión sonora por ruido ambiental, con respecto a la resolución en mención, buscando establecer si sobrepasan los límites máximos permisibles; los factores externos e internos que lo generan y proponer posibles soluciones. Los análisis de los datos obtenidos, revelaron que los niveles de sonidos emitidos en el Hospital Bocagrande en la entrada y en el servicio de urgencias, en sus diferentes horarios y jornadas nocturnas de entresemana son más bajo en comparación con los niveles de sonido durante, llegando a analizar datos de hasta de 82 decibeles. En general, el hospital presenta por lo menos tres (3) puntos problemas de contaminación sonora tanto para entresemana como fin de semana para las jornadas diurnas y nocturnas que podrían afectar la salud delos pacientes, niños, mujeres en estado de embarazo, adultos mayores, e incluso en familiares, visitantes y funcionarios.The generation of sounds in high decibels that can commonly be used as noise, children, women, can affect the health of those who perceive it, the hospital entities, can suffer from this problem, causing all kinds of discomfort in the psychological and physical health of the personal. in pregnancy, elderly, and even relatives, visitors and officials. The discomfort, the interruption of activities, total and / or partial loss of hearing and physical mental deterioration are some of the consequences that are evident in the aforementioned population that in turn requires a special condition during their stay in these entities. Hospital centers are not immune to the many negative effects on health and human behavior at the economic and social level, which are affected by noise levels that are emitted in certain areas, higher than those allowed by resolution 627 of 2006, where they are categorized as Sectors of Tranquility and Silence. The present investigation was carried out in the facilities of the Naval Hospital of Bocagrande of the city of Cartagena, where the sound pressure levels for environmental noise were determined, with respect to the resolution in question, looking for a system to exceed the maximum permissible limits . , the external and internal factors that generate and propose possible solutions. The data of the demographic data in the Bocagrande hospital in the entrance and in the urgency in its different schedules and night days of week-week The sound levels are lower in comparison with the levels of sound during, arriving at data of analysis until of 82 decibels. In general, the hospital has at least three (3) points of noise pollution problems both for weekdays and for weekend days and nights that can affect the health of patients, children, women in pregnancy, older adults, and even in relatives, visitors and officials

Un sistema de Realidad Virtual distribuido basado en la gestión de recursos federados

The vast majority of distributed virtual environments use ad-hoc protocols to share resources and synchronize the interaction of multiple users on a shared virtual world. In this scenario, it is difficult to incorporate new interaction devices if they have not been taken into account from the beginning of the design of the virtual environment. This article shows how to manage virtual reality devices as federate resources in a virtual world using the standard architecture HLARTI. This approach has been used as a framework to build simulators for the training of operators in civil engineering.La gran mayoría de los entornos virtuales distribuidos utilizan protocolos ad-hoc para compartir recursos y sincronizar la interacción de varios usuarios sobre un mundo virtual común. En este escenario, es difícil incorporar nuevos dispositivos de interacción si desde el principio del diseño del entorno virtual no se han tenido en cuenta. En este artículo se muestra cómo gestionar dispositivos de Realidad Virtual como recursos federados en un mundo virtual utilizando la arquitectura estándar HLARTI. Esta aproximación se ha utilizado como marco de trabajo para construir simuladores para el entrenamiento de operarios en ingeniería civil