Caracterização da plataforma e do talude continentais do Estado da Bahia, a partir da análise de agrupamento dos dados sedimentológicos e da microfauna de foraminíferos

This study aimed to characterize the continental shelf and slope of the State of Bahia, based on the multivariate analysis applied to sediments data and the foraminifers’ microfauna. Thirty-eight samples from the bottom sediment surface were analyzed, which were processed in accordance with the standard methodology for sediment studies (grain size and composition) and microfaunal analysis. From the sediment fraction used for the foraminifers’ micro fauna analysis, the first 300 tests were randomly sorted and identified. For the multivariate analysis, it was used species that have at the same time frequency of occurrence higher than 50% (constant) and relative frequency greater than 5% (major) in, at least, two samples. The methodology consisted in the application of the technique of multivariate grouping in which it was set the squared Euclidean distance defined as a metric formation of groups, applying the methods Ward’s and k-Means. A cluster analysis of species (R mode) was performed based on the absolute frequency data for each different bathymetric range. Then, a cluster analysis was applied between the samples (Q mode) based on the percent of sediment present in each sample. The dendograms data integration, generated by the multivariate analysis, revealed that siliciclastic sands predominate in the inner and middle continental shelves, carbonate gravelly sands dominated in the outer shelf and carbonate muddy sands were the major sediment type found in the continental slope. The distribution of Archaias angulatus and Peneroplis proteus was closely related to the occurrence of siliciclastic sands, while the Discorbis mira was associated with carbonate sands, and Cassidulina laevigata and Cibicides pseudoungerianus were associated to carbonate muddy sands. The distribution of Amphistegina lessonii, Amphistegina gibbosa and especially Peneroplis carinatus was associated with the sediments from the transition between siliciclastic and carbonate sands. The planktonic Globigerinoide ruber was particularly found in carbonate muddy sands located farther from the coast.Esse trabalho teve como objetivo caracterizar a plataforma e o talude continentais do Estado da Bahia, a partir da análise multivariada aplicada aos dados de sedimento e da microfauna de foraminíferos. Trinta e oito amostras de sedimento da superfície do fundo foram analisadas e processadas de acordo com a metodologia padrão para estudos sedimentológicos (granulometria e composição) e microfaunísticos. Na fração destinada à análise da microfauna de foraminíferos foram triadas e identificadas as primeiras trezentas testas. Para a realização da análise multivariada foram utilizadas as espécies que possuíam, ao mesmo tempo, frequência de ocorrência maior que 50 % (constantes) e frequência relativa maior que 5% (principais) em pelo menos duas amostras. A metodologia consistiu na aplicação da técnica de agrupamento em que foi definida a distância euclidiana ao quadrado como métrica de formação dos grupos, utilizando os métodos Ward e k-Médias. Uma análise de agrupamento das espécies (modo R) foi realizada, a partir dos dados de frequência absoluta, para os diferentes intervalos batimétricos. Em seguida, foi aplicada uma análise de agrupamento entre as amostras (modo Q), a partir dos teores de sedimento presentes em cada amostra. A integração dos dados, a partir dos dendrogramas gerados pela análise multivariada, revelou que nas plataformas interna e média predominou areia siliciclástica; na plataforma externa areia carbonática cascalhosa e no talude areia carbonática lamosa. As espécies Archaias angulatus e Peneroplis proteus, apresentaram distribuição estreitamente relacionada com areia siliciclástica, a distribuição de Discorbis mira esteve associada com areia carbonática e Cassidulina laevigata e Cibicides pseudoungerianus foram associadas com areia carbonática lamosa. Amphistegina lessonii, Amphistegina gibbosa e, principalmente, Peneroplis carinatus apresentaram distribuição relacionada com sedimentação em área de transição entre areia siliciclástica e areia carbonática. Globigerinoide ruber, planctônica, foi encontrada principalmente em sedimento do tipo areia carbonática lamosa, localizado mais distante da costa

Abnormalities of sodium handling and of cardiovascular adaptations during high salt diet in patients with mild heart failure.

BACKGROUND: Sodium retention and hormonal activation are fundamental hallmarks in congestive heart failure. The present study was designed to assess the ability of patients with asymptomatic to mildly symptomatic heart failure and no signs or symptoms of congestion to excrete ingested sodium and to identify possible early abnormalities of hormonal and hemodynamic mechanisms related to sodium handling. METHODS AND RESULTS: The effects of a high salt diet (250 mEq/day for 6 days) on hemodynamics, salt-regulating hormones, and renal excretory response were investigated in a balanced study in 12 untreated patients with idiopathic or ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy and mild heart failure (NYHA class I-II, ejection fraction < 50%) (HF) and in 12 normal subjects, who had been previously maintained a 100 mEq/day NaCl diet. In normal subjects, high salt diet was associated with significant increases of echocardiographically measured left ventricular end-diastolic volume, ejection fraction, and stroke volume (all P < .001) and with a reduction of total peripheral resistance (P < .001). In addition, plasma atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) levels increased (P < .05), and plasma renin activity and aldosterone concentrations fell (both P < .001) in normals in response to salt excess. In HF patients, both left ventricular end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes increased in response to high salt diet, whereas ejection fraction and stroke volume failed to increase, and total peripheral resistance did not change during high salt diet. In addition, plasma ANF levels did not rise in HF in response to salt loading, whereas plasma renin activity and aldosterone concentrations were as much suppressed as in normals. Although urinary sodium excretions were not significantly different in the two groups, there was a small but systematic reduction of daily sodium excretion in HF, which resulted in a significantly higher cumulative sodium balance in HF than in normals during the high salt diet period (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: These results show a reduced ability to excrete a sodium load and early abnormalities of cardiac and hemodynamic adaptations to salt excess in patients with mild heart failure and no signs or symptoms of congestion

Avaliação de híbridos de sorgo para seleção de resistência ao pulgão-da-cana-de-açúcar.

O objetivo do presente estudo, desenvolvido pelo Programa de Melhoramento Genético da Embrapa Milho e Sorgo, é selecionar cultivares de sorgo com resistência ao M. sacchari.Evento híbrido

Seleção de cultivares de sorgo granífero em ensaio de valor de cultivo e uso em Sete Lagoas-MG.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar e identificar cultivares de sorgo com potencial comercial para a região de Sete Lagoas-MG.Evento online

Heterosis and inbreeding depression in grain sorghum hybrids.

This study aimed to estimate the heterosis, heterobeltiosis, and inbreeding depression in grain sorghum hybrids. Twenty-five hybrids were evaluated in two seasons. The evaluated traits were days to flowering (FL), plant height (PH), grain yield (GY), and thousand grains mass (M1000). The contrast tested were F1 hybrids vs. check cultivars, F1 hybrids vs. parental lines, and F1 hybrids vs. F2 hybrids. The hybrids 1167048, 1099044, 1170017, and 1169054 had a five-day less flowering time than their parental lines. The hybrid 1170017 had a high grain yield (6.23 t ha-1) with 43.55% of heterobeltiosis. The diversity between lines was narrow. However, hybrids with higher grain yield, heterosis, and heterobeltiosis showed higher genetic distances from their parental lines. The inbreeding depression between F1 vs. F2 was 30%, indicating that using F1 hybrids seeds is worthwhile

Inhibition of histone methyltransferase DOT1L silences ER alpha gene and blocks proliferation of antiestrogen-resistant breast cancer cells

Breast cancer (BC) resistance to endocrine therapy results from constitutively active or aberrant estrogen receptor alpha (ER alpha) signaling, and ways to block ERa pathway in these tumors are sought after. We identified the H3K79 methyltransferase DOT1L as a novel cofactor of ER alpha in BC cell chromatin, where the two proteins colocalize to regulate estrogen target gene transcription. DOT1L blockade reduces proliferation of hormone-responsive BC cells in vivo and in vitro, consequent to cell cycle arrest and apoptotic cell death, with widespread effects on ER-dependent gene transcription, including ER alpha and FOXA1 gene silencing. Antiestrogen-resistant BC cells respond to DOT1L inhibition also in mouse xenografts, with reduction in ER alpha levels, H3K79 methylation, and tumor growth. These results indicate that DOT1L is an exploitable epigenetic target for treatment of endocrine therapy-resistant ER alpha-positive BCs

Congenital hyperinsulinism and novel KDM6A duplications - resolving pathogenicity with genome and epigenetic analyses

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Oxford University Press via the DOI in this recordData availability: Restrictions apply to the availability of some or all data generated or analyzed during this study to preserve patient confidentiality or because they were used under license. The corresponding author will on request detail the restrictions and any conditions under which access to some data may be provided. The KDM6A variants reported in this study were uploaded to Decipher database (https://www.deciphergenomics.org/). Sequencing data can be used to identify individuals and are therefore available only through collaboration to experienced teams working on approved studies examining the mechanisms, cause, diagnosis and treatment of diabetes and other beta cell disorders. Requests for collaboration will be considered by a steering committee following an application to the Genetic Beta Cell Research Bank (https://www.diabetesgenes.org/current-research/genetic-beta-cell-research-bank/). Contact by email should be directed to S. Flanagan ([email protected]). We used the Genome Reference Consortium Human Build 37 (GRCh37) to annotate genetic data (accession number GCF_000001405.13). Details of this assembly are provided at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/assembly/GCF_000001405.13/CONTEXT: Hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia (HI) can be the presenting feature of Kabuki syndrome (KS), which is caused by loss-of-function variants in KMT2D or KDM6A. As these genes play a critical role in maintaining methylation status in chromatin, individuals with pathogenic variants have a disease-specific epigenomic profile -an episignature. OBJECTIVE: We evaluated the pathogenicity of three novel partial KDM6A duplications identified in three individuals presenting with neonatal-onset HI without typical features of KS at the time of genetic testing. METHODS: Three different partial KDM6A duplications were identified by routine targeted next generation sequencing for HI and initially classified as variants of uncertain significance (VUS) as their location, and hence their impact on the gene, was not known. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) was undertaken to map the breakpoints of the duplications with DNA methylation profiling performed in two individuals to investigate the presence of a KS-specific episignature. RESULTS: WGS confirmed the duplication in proband 1 as pathogenic as it caused a frameshift in the normal copy of the gene leading to a premature termination codon. The duplications identified in probands 2 and 3 did not alter the reading frame and therefore their significance remained uncertain after WGS. Subsequent DNA methylation profiling identified a KS-specific episignature in proband 2 but not in proband 3. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings confirm a role for KDM6A partial gene duplications in the etiology of KS and highlight the importance of performing in-depth molecular genetic analysis to properly assess the clinical significance of VUS's in the KDM6A gene.Wellcome TrustNational Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR)European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology (ESPE)Foundation for Paediatric ResearchDiabetes UKBreakthrough T1