Growing towards disparity: geometric morphometrics reveals sexual and allometric differences in Aparasphenodon brunoi (Anura: Hylidae: Lophyohylinae) head shape

Sexual dimorphism and allometry feature is the main categories of intraspecific variation found in the animal kingdom, and techniques such as Geometric Morphometrics are effective to investigate variations in shape. Considering that many vertebrates exhibit substantial allometry and sexual dimorphism, we test the hypotheses that (1) Aparasphenodon brunoi displays ontogenetic and static allometry; and that (2) there is sexual dimorphism in head shape in this species. We analyzed 75 specimens of A. brunoi from Parque Nacional da Restinga de Jurubatiba and found significant ontogenetic and static allometries in head shape, as well as sexual dimorphism after size correction. Regarding sexual dimorphism, females tend to have larger heads, besides slightly anteriorly positioned nostrils, smaller eyes, larger canthal ridges, narrower and longer frontoparietal ridges, and larger and laterally shifted squamosal ridges. We discuss the relevance of head morphology variation in the species, as well as the presumed consequences on the species fitness.Dimorfismo sexual e alometria são as principais categorias de variação intraespecífica encontradas em metazoários e técnicas como a Morfometria Geométrica são eficazes para investigar variações na forma. Considerando que muitos vertebrados exibem considerável alometria e dimorfismo sexual, testamos as seguintes hipóteses: (1) Aparasphenodon brunoi exibe alometria ontogenética e estática; e (2) existe dimorfismo sexual na forma da cabeça nesta espécie. Analisamos 75 espécimes de A. brunoi do Parque Nacional da Restinga de Jurubatiba e encontramos alometrias ontogenética e estática significativas na forma da cabeça, além de dimorfismo sexual após a correção do tamanho. Em relação ao dimorfismo sexual, as fêmeas tendem a ter cabeças maiores, além de narinas ligeiramente posicionadas mais anteriormente, olhos menores, cristas cantais maiores, cristas frontoparietais mais estreitas e mais longas e cristas esquamosais maiores e deslocadas lateralmente. Discutimos a relevância da variação da morfologia da cabeça na espécie, bem como as consequências presumidas na aptidão da mesma.Asociación Herpetológica Argentin

Growing towards disparity: geometric morphometrics reveals sexual and allometric differences in Aparasphenodon brunoi (Anura: Hylidae: Lophyohylinae) head shape

Sexual dimorphism and allometry feature is the main categories of intraspecific variation found in the animal kingdom, and techniques such as Geometric Morphometrics are effective to investigate variations in shape. Considering that many vertebrates exhibit substantial allometry and sexual dimorphism, we test the hypotheses that (1) Aparasphenodon brunoi displays ontogenetic and static allometry; and that (2) there is sexual dimorphism in head shape in this species. We analyzed 75 specimens of A. brunoi from Parque Nacional da Restinga de Jurubatiba and found significant ontogenetic and static allometries in head shape, as well as sexual dimorphism after size correction. Regarding sexual dimorphism, females tend to have larger heads, besides slightly anteriorly positioned nostrils, smaller eyes, larger canthal ridges, narrower and longer frontoparietal ridges, and larger and laterally shifted squamosal ridges. We discuss the relevance of head morphology variation in the species, as well as the presumed consequences on the species fitness.Dimorfismo sexual e alometria são as principais categorias de variação intraespecífica encontradas em metazoários e técnicas como a Morfometria Geométrica são eficazes para investigar variações na forma. Considerando que muitos vertebrados exibem considerável alometria e dimorfismo sexual, testamos as seguintes hipóteses: (1) Aparasphenodon brunoi exibe alometria ontogenética e estática; e (2) existe dimorfismo sexual na forma da cabeça nesta espécie. Analisamos 75 espécimes de A. brunoi do Parque Nacional da Restinga de Jurubatiba e encontramos alometrias ontogenética e estática significativas na forma da cabeça, além de dimorfismo sexual após a correção do tamanho. Em relação ao dimorfismo sexual, as fêmeas tendem a ter cabeças maiores, além de narinas ligeiramente posicionadas mais anteriormente, olhos menores, cristas cantais maiores, cristas frontoparietais mais estreitas e mais longas e cristas esquamosais maiores e deslocadas lateralmente. Discutimos a relevância da variação da morfologia da cabeça na espécie, bem como as consequências presumidas na aptidão da mesma.Asociación Herpetológica Argentin

Growing towards disparity: geometric morphometrics reveals sexual and allometric differences in Aparasphenodon brunoi (Anura: Hylidae: Lophyohylinae) head shape

Sexual dimorphism and allometry feature is the main categories of intraspecific variation found in the animal kingdom, and techniques such as Geometric Morphometrics are effective to investigate variations in shape. Considering that many vertebrates exhibit substantial allometry and sexual dimorphism, we test the hypotheses that (1) Aparasphenodon brunoi displays ontogenetic and static allometry; and that (2) there is sexual dimorphism in head shape in this species. We analyzed 75 specimens of A. brunoi from Parque Nacional da Restinga de Jurubatiba and found significant ontogenetic and static allometries in head shape, as well as sexual dimorphism after size correction. Regarding sexual dimorphism, females tend to have larger heads, besides slightly anteriorly positioned nostrils, smaller eyes, larger canthal ridges, narrower and longer frontoparietal ridges, and larger and laterally shifted squamosal ridges. We discuss the relevance of head morphology variation in the species, as well as the presumed consequences on the species fitness.Dimorfismo sexual e alometria são as principais categorias de variação intraespecífica encontradas em metazoários e técnicas como a Morfometria Geométrica são eficazes para investigar variações na forma. Considerando que muitos vertebrados exibem considerável alometria e dimorfismo sexual, testamos as seguintes hipóteses: (1) Aparasphenodon brunoi exibe alometria ontogenética e estática; e (2) existe dimorfismo sexual na forma da cabeça nesta espécie. Analisamos 75 espécimes de A. brunoi do Parque Nacional da Restinga de Jurubatiba e encontramos alometrias ontogenética e estática significativas na forma da cabeça, além de dimorfismo sexual após a correção do tamanho. Em relação ao dimorfismo sexual, as fêmeas tendem a ter cabeças maiores, além de narinas ligeiramente posicionadas mais anteriormente, olhos menores, cristas cantais maiores, cristas frontoparietais mais estreitas e mais longas e cristas esquamosais maiores e deslocadas lateralmente. Discutimos a relevância da variação da morfologia da cabeça na espécie, bem como as consequências presumidas na aptidão da mesma.Asociación Herpetológica Argentin

Avaliação de cultivares superprecoces de milho na safra 2009/2010, em Dourados, MS

Trabalho também publicado no Livro de resumos

Avaliação de cultivares de milho na safra 2009/2010, em Dourados, MS.

Trabalho também publicado no Livro de resumos

Composição química na palha do milho e no solo em função do cultivo de milho solteiro e consorciado com Brachiaria ruziziensis.

FERTBIO 2010

Sun-Graphyne: A New 2D Carbon Allotrope with Dirac Cones

Due to the success achieved by graphene, several 2D carbon-based allotropes were theoretically predicted and experimentally synthesized. Here, we propose a new 2D carbon allotrope named Sun-Graphyne (S-GY). We used density functional theory and reactive molecular dynamics simulations to investigate its mechanical, structural, electronic, and optical properties. The results showed that S-GY exhibits good dynamical and thermal stabilities. Its formation energy and elastic moduli are -8.57 eV/atom and 262.37 GPa, respectively. S-GY is a semi-metal and presents two Dirac cones in its band structure. This material is transparent, and its intense optical activity is limited to the infrared region. Remarkably, the band structure of S-GY remains practically unchanged at even moderate strain regimes. As far as we know, this is the first 2D carbon allotrope to exhibit this behaviour.Comment: 17 pages, and 11 figure

Using Landsat 8 image time series for crop mapping in a region of Cerrado, Brazil.

Abstract: The objective of this research is to classify agricultural land use in a region of the Cerrado (Brazilian Savanna) biome using a time series of Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) from Landsat 8 OLI. Phenological metrics extracted from EVI time series, a Random Forest algorithm and data mining techniques are used in the process of classification. The area of study is a region in the Cerrado in a region of the municipality of Casa Branca, São Paulo state, Brazil. The results are encouraging and demonstrate the potential of phenological parameters obtained from time series of OLI vegetation indices for agricultural land use classification

Effect of cis-9, trans-11 conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) on the metabolism profile of breast cancer cells determined by H HR-MAS NMR spectroscopy

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), a fatty acid found in ruminant food products, has been associated with anticarcinogenic activity. However, its effect on cancer metabolism is unclear. In this paper we evaluated the effects of cis-9, trans-11 CLA on the metabolic profile of MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells using high-resolution magic angle spinning (HR-MAS) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The NMR spectra showed that phosphocholine level, a cancer malignance biomarker, was reduced in both cells treated with CLA, but the reduction was more pronounced in MCF-7 cells. The NMR spectra also showed that CLA has opposite effect on MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 acetone metabolism. Acetone signal has been observed in the spectra of MDA-MB-231 control cells, but not in the spectra of the cells treated with 50 and 100 µM CLA. Conversely, the acetone signal is very small or not observed in the NMR spectra of MCF-7 control cells and in cells treated with 50 µM of CLA, but is very strong in the spectra of the cells treated with 100 µM of CLA. Therefore, this CLA concentration is causing a ketosis in MCF-7 cells by inducing the use of fatty acids as an energy source or by reducing acetone catabolism. These results indicate that CLA interfere in the metabolism of both cells. However, the strongest effect has been observed on the metabolism of MCF-7 cells cultivated in the presence of 100 µM CLA. Therefore, CLA could be a potential anticarcinogenic drug, especially for cells with positive estrogen receptor, such as MCF-7

Exploring the Elastic Properties and Fracture Patterns of Me-Graphene Monolayers and Nanotubes through Reactive Molecular Dynamics Simulations

Me-graphene (MeG) is a novel two-dimensional (2D) carbon allotrope. Due to its attractive electronic and structural properties, it is important to study the mechanical behavior of MeG in its monolayer and nanotube topologies. In this work, we conducted fully atomistic reactive molecular dynamics simulations using the Tersoff force field to investigate their mechanical properties and fracture patterns. Our results indicate that Young's modulus of MeG monolayers is about 414 GPa and in the range of 421-483 GPa for the nanotubes investigated here. MeG monolayers and MeGNTs directly undergo from elastic to complete fracture under critical strain without a plastic regime.Comment: 10 pages, 01 table, and 05 figure