Fractal signature as a rotational modulation and stellar noise classifier based on the active Kepler stars

In this study, we report on the analysis of 701 stars in a solar vicinity defined in three categories namely subsolar, solar, and supersolar with rotation periods between 1 and 70 days, based on rotational modulation signatures inferred from time series from the Kepler mission's Public Archives. In our analysis, we performed an initial selection based on the rotation period and position in the period-H diagram, where H denotes the Hurst exponent extracted from fractal analysis. To refine our analysis, we applied a fractal approach known as the R/S method, taking into account the fluctuations of the features associated with photometric modulation at different time intervals and the fractality traces that are present in the time series of our sample. In this sense, we computed the so-called Hurst exponent for the referred stars and found that it can provide a strong discriminant of rotational modulation and background noise behavior, going beyond what can be achieved with solely the rotation period itself. Furthermore, our results emphasize that the rotation period of stars is scaled by the exponent H which increases following the increase in the rotation period. Finally, our approach suggests that the referred exponent may be a powerful rotational modulation and noise classifier.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures, submitted to BJ

Chicano Women in Celebration: analysis of the socio-cultural relations of leisure in the Feast of Pau Chicano Colony, in Santa Bárbara do Pará

As festividades são muito mais do que encontros para divertimento e distração da rotina. Elas constituem uma forma de atuação social que possibilita o encontro de indivíduos, bem como a formação de grupos sociais, fortalecendo, direta e indiretamente, a identidade e a cultura daqueles que participam delas e da comunidade que as acolhe. Dentro da área de estudos do Turismo, o lazer representa um campo de investigação que abrange muito mais do que o senso comum denomina como tempo livre, descanso e/ou divertimento. O lazer, nessa perspectiva, faz parte do desenvolvimento pessoal e social, podendo até ser considerado uma reivindicação da cidadania de um povo. Desse modo, as festividades, entendidas a partir desse campo de estudo, podem ser examinadas como um espaço-tempo de interação social, em que laços culturais são (re)criados, bem como transformados. Por isso, o Turismo, concebido como prática social e não como ação apenas mercadológica, pode contribuir para entender as festividades em suas potencialidades socioculturais. Partindo desses pressupostos, este estudo teve, como objetivo, investigar a relação do lazer e do turismo na Festividade de São Raimundo Nonato, conhecida popularmente como Festa do Pau, realizada no segundo final de semana de setembro de todos anos desde 1952, na Colônia Chicano, situada na região metropolitana de Belém do Pará, dentro do município de Santa Bárbara. Essa festividade foi escolhida dadas as suas particularidades socioculturais, como: (a) ela é realizada prioritariamente por mulheres residentes da Colônia Chicano, mas aceita a participação de mulheres externas a essa comunidade; (b) tem caráter religioso (em prol de uma promessa cristã), mas utiliza instrumentos profanos para a sua execução (elementos fálicos; bebidas alcóolicas; músicas populares; dentre outros); (c) é tradicional, isto é, os costumes do festejo são passados de mãe para filha, mas todo ano tem variações em execução. Como se nota, é uma festividade que rompe com paradigmas patriarcais ao colocar o gênero feminino à frente em sua realização, bem como prevê a comunhão entre elementos do sagrado e do profano, entendidos estes como ações e instrumentos mundanos e aqueles como atos e símbolos religiosos. Essas características são observadas pelo viés teórico do Lazer e do Turismo neste estudo a partir das pesquisas de diferentes autores relacionados às duas áreas. Para tanto, partiu-se de uma metodologia que utilizou o método qualitativo, com a combinação da pesquisa bibliográfica, documental e empírica. O método utilizado foi o estudo de caso, e as principais técnicas a utilizadas foram a observação participante e a análise de conteúdo, a partir da coleta de dados in loco, entrevistas e relatos. Os principais resultados que podem ser apontados em relação à Festividade de São Raimundo Nonato são que se trata de um evento comunitário que reúne diversos nichos sociais, transformando as relações entre os indivíduos para além e aquém do mero divertimento, sendo, inclusive, um tipo de afirmação social, em especial do público feminino. Isso também permite visualizar que o lazer pode ser um indutor da cidadania que não se restringe ao poder público, nem precisa necessariamente dele para se consolidarFestivities are more than just fun and distracting encounters. They constitute a form of social action that enables the encounter of individuals, as well as the formation of social groups, directly and indirectly strengthening the identity and culture of those who participate in them and the community that welcomes them. Within the area of tourism studies, leisure represents a field of research that encompasses much more than what common sense calls free time, rest and/or fun. Leisure, in this perspective, is part of personal and social development, and may even be considered a claim of citizenship of a people. In this way, festivals, understood from this field of study, can be examined as a space-time of social interaction, in which cultural bonds are (re)created as well as transformed. For this reason, tourism, conceived as social practice and not as market-only action, can contribute to understand the festivities in their socio-cultural potentialities. Based on these assumptions, this study aims to investigate the relationship between leisure and tourism in the Festival of São Raimundo Nonato, popularly known as \"Stick Party, held in the second weekend of September of all years since 1952, in Chicano Colony, located in the metropolitan area of Belém do Pará, within the municipality of Santa Bárbara. This festivity was chosen due to its socio-cultural particularities as: (a) it is carried out primarily by women residents of the Chicano Colony, but accepts the participation of women external to this community; (b) it has a religious character (in favor of a Christian promise), but uses profane instruments for its execution (phallic elements, alcoholic drinks, popular music, among others); (c) is traditional, that is, the customs of the celebration are passed from mother to daughter, but every year there are variations running. As we can see, it is a festivity that breaks with the patriarch\'s paradigms by placing the feminine gender ahead in its realization, as well as foresees the communion between elements of the sacred and the profane, understood as mundane actions and instruments and those, as acts and symbols religious. These characteristics are observed by the theoretical bias of Leisure and Tourism in this study from the researches of different authors related to the two areas. For this, it is based on a methodology that uses the qualitative method, with the combination of bibliographical, documentary and empirical research. The method used will be a case study and the main techniques to be used are participant observation and data collection in loco, through photographs, interviews and reports. The research has relevance in the area of leisure and tourism because the Festival of São Raimundo Nonato is an event that brings together various social niches, transforming relations between individuals beyond, mere fun, and is even a kind of social affirmation, in particular the female audience. This also exposes that leisure can be an inducer of citizenship that is not restricted to the Public Power, nor does it necessarily need to consolidate i

Chicano Women in Celebration: analysis of the socio-cultural relations of leisure in the Feast of Pau Chicano Colony, in Santa Bárbara do Pará

As festividades são muito mais do que encontros para divertimento e distração da rotina. Elas constituem uma forma de atuação social que possibilita o encontro de indivíduos, bem como a formação de grupos sociais, fortalecendo, direta e indiretamente, a identidade e a cultura daqueles que participam delas e da comunidade que as acolhe. Dentro da área de estudos do Turismo, o lazer representa um campo de investigação que abrange muito mais do que o senso comum denomina como tempo livre, descanso e/ou divertimento. O lazer, nessa perspectiva, faz parte do desenvolvimento pessoal e social, podendo até ser considerado uma reivindicação da cidadania de um povo. Desse modo, as festividades, entendidas a partir desse campo de estudo, podem ser examinadas como um espaço-tempo de interação social, em que laços culturais são (re)criados, bem como transformados. Por isso, o Turismo, concebido como prática social e não como ação apenas mercadológica, pode contribuir para entender as festividades em suas potencialidades socioculturais. Partindo desses pressupostos, este estudo teve, como objetivo, investigar a relação do lazer e do turismo na Festividade de São Raimundo Nonato, conhecida popularmente como Festa do Pau, realizada no segundo final de semana de setembro de todos anos desde 1952, na Colônia Chicano, situada na região metropolitana de Belém do Pará, dentro do município de Santa Bárbara. Essa festividade foi escolhida dadas as suas particularidades socioculturais, como: (a) ela é realizada prioritariamente por mulheres residentes da Colônia Chicano, mas aceita a participação de mulheres externas a essa comunidade; (b) tem caráter religioso (em prol de uma promessa cristã), mas utiliza instrumentos profanos para a sua execução (elementos fálicos; bebidas alcóolicas; músicas populares; dentre outros); (c) é tradicional, isto é, os costumes do festejo são passados de mãe para filha, mas todo ano tem variações em execução. Como se nota, é uma festividade que rompe com paradigmas patriarcais ao colocar o gênero feminino à frente em sua realização, bem como prevê a comunhão entre elementos do sagrado e do profano, entendidos estes como ações e instrumentos mundanos e aqueles como atos e símbolos religiosos. Essas características são observadas pelo viés teórico do Lazer e do Turismo neste estudo a partir das pesquisas de diferentes autores relacionados às duas áreas. Para tanto, partiu-se de uma metodologia que utilizou o método qualitativo, com a combinação da pesquisa bibliográfica, documental e empírica. O método utilizado foi o estudo de caso, e as principais técnicas a utilizadas foram a observação participante e a análise de conteúdo, a partir da coleta de dados in loco, entrevistas e relatos. Os principais resultados que podem ser apontados em relação à Festividade de São Raimundo Nonato são que se trata de um evento comunitário que reúne diversos nichos sociais, transformando as relações entre os indivíduos para além e aquém do mero divertimento, sendo, inclusive, um tipo de afirmação social, em especial do público feminino. Isso também permite visualizar que o lazer pode ser um indutor da cidadania que não se restringe ao poder público, nem precisa necessariamente dele para se consolidarFestivities are more than just fun and distracting encounters. They constitute a form of social action that enables the encounter of individuals, as well as the formation of social groups, directly and indirectly strengthening the identity and culture of those who participate in them and the community that welcomes them. Within the area of tourism studies, leisure represents a field of research that encompasses much more than what common sense calls free time, rest and/or fun. Leisure, in this perspective, is part of personal and social development, and may even be considered a claim of citizenship of a people. In this way, festivals, understood from this field of study, can be examined as a space-time of social interaction, in which cultural bonds are (re)created as well as transformed. For this reason, tourism, conceived as social practice and not as market-only action, can contribute to understand the festivities in their socio-cultural potentialities. Based on these assumptions, this study aims to investigate the relationship between leisure and tourism in the Festival of São Raimundo Nonato, popularly known as \"Stick Party, held in the second weekend of September of all years since 1952, in Chicano Colony, located in the metropolitan area of Belém do Pará, within the municipality of Santa Bárbara. This festivity was chosen due to its socio-cultural particularities as: (a) it is carried out primarily by women residents of the Chicano Colony, but accepts the participation of women external to this community; (b) it has a religious character (in favor of a Christian promise), but uses profane instruments for its execution (phallic elements, alcoholic drinks, popular music, among others); (c) is traditional, that is, the customs of the celebration are passed from mother to daughter, but every year there are variations running. As we can see, it is a festivity that breaks with the patriarch\'s paradigms by placing the feminine gender ahead in its realization, as well as foresees the communion between elements of the sacred and the profane, understood as mundane actions and instruments and those, as acts and symbols religious. These characteristics are observed by the theoretical bias of Leisure and Tourism in this study from the researches of different authors related to the two areas. For this, it is based on a methodology that uses the qualitative method, with the combination of bibliographical, documentary and empirical research. The method used will be a case study and the main techniques to be used are participant observation and data collection in loco, through photographs, interviews and reports. The research has relevance in the area of leisure and tourism because the Festival of São Raimundo Nonato is an event that brings together various social niches, transforming relations between individuals beyond, mere fun, and is even a kind of social affirmation, in particular the female audience. This also exposes that leisure can be an inducer of citizenship that is not restricted to the Public Power, nor does it necessarily need to consolidate i

OVERFRAG: An overlapping DNA fragments generator for molecular cloning and synthetic biology

DNA synthesis and homologous recombination can be used to simplify molecular cloning and to make synthetic biology easily accessible (M.J. Czar et al., 2009). However, the design of overlapping DNA fragments to construct large molecules is time-consuming and requires verification of several parameters to ensure that fragment synthesis is attainable, given the restrictions found in chemical synthesis of DNA. OVERFRAG is a web-based tool that generates overlapping DNA fragments to assemble either in yeast cells by Gap Repair (H. Ma et al., 1987) or in vitro by (D.G. Gibson et al., 2009) and In-Fusion (B. Zhu et al., 2007) methods. The fragments generated are suitable for chemical synthesis and molecular assembly. Some possible uses include cDNA cloning, design of chimeric antibodies and synthetic biology applications. Web tool is freely available at http://www.each.usp.br/digiampietri/overfrag. Keywords: Gap repair, DNA fragments assembly, Homologous recombination, Synthetic biology, Web too

Participação da mulher no processo eleitoral municipal: o caso do Município de Mesquita-RJ (2000-2016)

O objetivo do presente artigo visa levantar a participação feminina no processo de representação eleitoral no Município de Mesquita RJ, a partir da verificação, ao longo dos anos, em eleições do referido município que, durante o recorte temporal compreendido entre 2000 a 2016, há pouca ou nenhuma existência de participação feminina, ocupantes dos cargos políticos oferecidos pelo município. Propõe-se verificar se de fato, ocorrem diferenças entre a igualdade de gênero, pois diante de tais fatos, utilizamos em nossas metodologias a verificação de pesquisas documentais, exploratórias e bibliográficas e pesquisas quantitativas e qualitativas através de questionários respondidos tanto pela população local da cidade como de suas atuais representantes ocupantes dos cargos políticos, trabalhos de diversos autores acerca do assunto e comparativos com informações do referencial teórico, resultou em apresentar, ao longo desses 16 anos de existência dessa cidade, a situação participativa feminina nas políticas públicas pertencentes à cidade, visto que, tais resultados encontrados, nos mostram o quanto é relevante para a área de gestão pública municipal a pesquisa científica sobre a representação feminina ao longo desse recorte temporal

Site-directed mutagenesis and structural modeling of Coq10p indicate the presence of a tunnel for coenzyme Q6 binding

Coq10p is a protein required for coenzyme Q function, but its specific role is still unknown. It is a member of the START domain superfamily that contains a hydrophobic tunnel implicated in the binding of lipophilic molecules. We used site-directed mutagenesis, statistical coupling analysis and molecular modeling to probe structural determinants in the Coq10p putative tunnel. Four point mutations were generated (coq10-K50E, coq10-L96S, coq10-E105K and coq10-K162D) and their biochemical properties analysed, as well as structural consequences. Our results show that all mutations impaired Coq10p function and together with molecular modeling indicate an important role for the Coq10p putative tunnel. (C) 2010 Federation of European Biochemical Societies. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.CNPqConselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)FAPES

RTG1-and RTG2-dependent retrograde signaling controls mitochondrial activity and stress resistance in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Mitochondrial retrograde signaling is a communication pathway between the mitochondrion and the nucleus that regulates the expression of a subset of nuclear genes that codify mitochondrial proteins, mediating cell response to mitochondrial dysfunction. in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the pathway depends on Rtg1p and Rtg3p, which together form the transcription factor that regulates gene expression, and Rtg2p, an activator of the pathway. Here, we provide novel studies aimed at assessing the functional impact of the lack of RTG-dependent signaling on mitochondrial activity. We show that mutants defective in RTG-dependent retrograde signaling present higher oxygen consumption and reduced hydrogen peroxide release in the stationary phase compared to wild-type cells. Interestingly, RTG mutants are less able to decompose hydrogen peroxide or maintain viability when challenged with hydrogen peroxide. Overall, our results indicate that RTG signaling is involved in the hormetic induction of antioxidant defenses and stress resistance. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Pro-Reitoria de Pesquisa da Universidade de São Paulo (PRPUSP)Univ São Paulo, Dept Bioquim, BR-05508900 São Paulo, SP, BrazilUniv São Paulo, Escola Artes Ciencias & Humanidades, BR-03828000 Ermelino Matarazzo, SP, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Bioquim, BR-04044020 Vila Clementino, SP, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Bioquim, BR-04044020 Vila Clementino, SP, BrazilFAPESP: 2012/50500-7FAPESP: 2010/519016CNPq: 471162/2012-4FAPESP: 2013/07937-8Web of Scienc

Structure and function of interleukin-22 and other members of the interleukin-10 family

The IL-10 family of cytokines is comprised of IL-10, IL-19, IL-20, IL-22, IL-24, IL-26, and IFN-lambda s (IL-28A, IL-28B, and IL-29). The IL-10 family members bind to shared class II cytokine receptor chains that associate in various combinations in heterodimeric complexes. Upon interleukin/receptor complex formation, these proteins switch on the Jak/STAT pathway and elicit pleiotropic biological responses whose variety sharply contrasts with their structural similarities. IL-10 family members are involved in several human diseases and health conditions and hence their structural analyses may provide valuable information to design specific therapeutic strategies. In this review, we describe the human interleukin-10 family of cytokines, focusing on their structures and functions, with particular attention given to IL-22 and IL-10. We report on the recently published structures of IL-10 cytokine family members and their complexes with cognate transmembrane and soluble receptors as well as on interleukin physiology and physiopathology

Functional mapping of Rtg2p residues involved in retrograde signaling and aging.

<p><b>(A)</b> Retrograde signaling determinants map. This map reflects the gene expression of the reporter <i>CIT2-LacZ</i> in the mutant strains grown on YNBD. Red color represents the residues whose β-galactosidase activity was similar to the <i>rtg2</i>Δ strain, in which the retrograde response is not activated. Blue color shades indicates the expression observed in <i>RTG2-N113A</i>, <i>RTG2-G161A</i> and <i>RTG2-Q165A</i> mutants that show, respectively 21, 32 and 65% of the wild type expression (the darker blue the higher the level of gene expression). <b>(B)</b> Map of Rtg2p lifespan determinants identified with <i>RTG2</i> point mutants grown on YPD. N-terminal Rtg2p mutants are divided into three different groups in respect to their longevity phenotype. Mutants showing longevity similar to the wild type are shown in yellow, those similar to <i>rtg2</i>Δ in magenta and the long-lived mutants in green. <b>(C)</b> Map of Rtg2p lifespan determinants found in <i>RTG2</i> ρ⁰ point mutants grown on YPR. N-terminal Rtg2p mutants are divided into two different groups in respect to their longevity phenotype. Mutants showing longevity similar to the WT ρ⁰ are shown in deepteal, those whose RLS was markedly increased are in palegreen; and in paleyellow; the residue E106 whose mutations are in both groups (E106H is long-lived whereas Q165E is short-lived). Residues are displayed in space filling representation and left panels are the same model as right panels rotated 90°clockwise around <i>y</i> axis.</p