Coastal risk mitigation by green infrastructure in Latin America

This paper aims to highlight the prevailing experiences of Latin America and to clarify what ‘green infrastructure’ entails in addition to describing seven case studies from a range of coastal ecosystems (wetlands, coastal dunes, beaches and coral reefs) at scales varying from local to regional. The case studies are categorised according to their degree of naturalness (nature-based, engineered ecosystems, soft engineering, ecologically enhanced hard infrastructure and de-engineering). Generally, the implementation of green infrastructure projects aims to increase resilience, enhance the provision of ecosystem services, recover biodiversity, reduce the negative effects of hard infrastructure and implement corrective measures. The greatest benefits of these projects relate to the creation of multi-functional spaces, which often combine the above advantages with improved opportunities for recreation and/or economic activities. It is hoped that this paper will disseminate the experience in green infrastructure among academics and practitioners and stimulate wider adoption of green infrastructure projects and good practices

Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms Underlying the Strong Neonatal IL-12 Response of Lamb Mesenteric Lymph Node Cells to R-848

International audienceabsen

A SNAP-Tagged Derivative of HIV-1—A Versatile Tool to Study Virus-Cell Interactions

Fluorescently labeled human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) derivatives, combined with the use of advanced fluorescence microscopy techniques, allow the direct visualization of dynamic events and individual steps in the viral life cycle. HIV proteins tagged with fluorescent proteins (FPs) have been successfully used for live-cell imaging analyses of HIV-cell interactions. However, FPs display limitations with respect to their physicochemical properties, and their maturation kinetics. Furthermore, several independent FP-tagged constructs have to be cloned and characterized in order to obtain spectral variations suitable for multi-color imaging setups. In contrast, the so-called SNAP-tag represents a genetically encoded non-fluorescent tag which mediates specific covalent coupling to fluorescent substrate molecules in a self-labeling reaction. Fusion of the SNAP-tag to the protein of interest allows specific labeling of the fusion protein with a variety of synthetic dyes, thereby offering enhanced flexibility for fluorescence imaging approaches

Comportamento da pressão arterial em homens pré-hipertensos participantes em um programa regular de natação

INTRODUÇÃO: A natação tem sido recomendada como tipo de atividade física para a prevenção, tratamento e controle da hipertensão arterial. OBJETIVO: Analisar os efeitos da prática regular de natação sobre a pressão arterial de adultos pré-hipertensos. MÉTODOS: A amostra foi composta por 36 homens pré-hipertensos divididos em dois grupos: Experimental - GE (n=24, 40,60±9,36 anos) e Controle - GC (n=12, 40,57±8,05 anos). O GE realizou um programa regular de natação, com três sessões semanais de 45 min, durante 12 semanas, enquanto o GC não alterou seus hábitos alimentares e permaneceu sem praticar atividade física no período. O procedimento estatístico utilizado para verificar as diferenças entre as médias antes e depois de 12 semanas do programa regular de natação foi o teste-t de Student. O estudo admitiu o nível de p < 0.05 para a significância estatística. RESULTADOS: O grupo GE apresentou diferenças estatisticamente significativas nas variáveis analisadas quando comparadas com o GC, tanto na pressão arterial sistólica, PAS (Δ = - 5,89 mmHg, p = 0,00), como na pressão arterial diastólica, PAD (Δ = - 5,15mmHg, p = 0,00). CONCLUSÃO: Os resultados mostram que um programa regular de natação provoca reduções significativas na pressão arterial em repouso em homens pré-hipertensos