Nest site selection by sea turtles

The distribution of 38 nests of loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) on beaches on Sanibel and Captiva islands, south-western Florida (26°26\u27N 82°16\u27W), and of 70 first digging attempts by green turtles (Chelonia mydas) on Ascension Island (7°57\u27S 14°22\u27W), was quantified. For loggerhead turtles on Sanibel and Captiva, nests were clumped close to the border between the open sand and the supra-littoral vegetation that backed the beaches. This spatial pattern of nests was closely reproduced by assuming simply that turtles crawled a random distance above the most recent high water line prior to digging. In contrast, green turtles on Ascension Island clumped their first digging attempts on the uneven beach above the springs high water line, crawling up to 80 m to reach this beach zone

Monitoring the Crosstalk Between the Estrogen Receptor and Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 with PET

Purpose: Ovarian cancer (OC) leads to poor survival rates mainly due to late stage detection and innate or acquired resistance to chemotherapy. Thus, efforts have been made to exploit the estrogen receptor (ER) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) to treat OC. However, patients eventually become resistant to these treatments as well. HER2 overexpression contributes to the acquired resistance to ER-targeted treatment. Trastuzumab treatment, on the other hand, can result in increased expression of ER, which, in turn, increases the sensitivity of the tumors towards anti-estrogen therapy. More insight into the crosstalk between ER and HER2 signaling could improve our knowledge about acquired resistance in ovarian cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether PET could be used to detect changes in ER expression induced by HER2-targeted treatment in vivo. Procedures: Male athymic nude mice were subcutaneously (sc) inoculated with 106 SKOV3 human ovarian cancer cells (HER2+/ER+). Two weeks after inoculation, tumor-bearing mice were treated intraperitoneally with either vehicle, the HER2 antibody trastuzumab (20 mg/kg, 2×/week), or the HER2-tyrosine kinase inhibitor lapatinib (40 mg/kg, 5 days/week) for 2 weeks. Thereafter, ER expression in the tumor was assessed by PET imaging with 16α-[18F]-fluoro-17β-estradiol ([18F]FES). Tumors were excised for ex vivo ER and HER2 measurement with Western blotting and immunohistochemistry. Results: All treatments led to smaller tumors than vehicle-treated tumors. Higher [18F]FES maximum standardize tumor uptake (SUVmax) was observed in animals treated with trastuzumab (+ 29 %, P = 0.002) or lapatinib (+ 20 %, P = 0.096) than in vehicle-treated controls. PET results were in agreement with ex vivo analyses. Conclusion: FES-PET imaging can detect changes in ER expression induced by HER2-targeted treatment and therefore can be used to investigate the crosstalk between ER and HER2 in a noninvasive manner

Imipenem as mono therapy in the treatment of intensive care patients with severe infections

In an open study, 24 intensive care patients were treated with imipenem/cilastatin as monotherapy for serious bacterial infections. Twenty-one patients were treated for bronchopulmonary infection, two patients for septicaemia, and one patient for an empyema. Initially all strains were susceptible to imipenem. Gram-negative bacilli accounted for 80% of these isolates. The most frequently isolated species were Proteus mirabilis, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. All 24 patients were considered clinically cured. Sixteen of these patients (67%) were both clinically and microbiologically cured. In eight of the 24 patients (33%), the strains isolated initially persisted. In eight of the 24 patients (33%), colonization of the respiratory tract developed. Two of the five Ps. aeruginosa isolates developed resistance during therapy but in none of these patients was therapy considered to have failed. In 12 patients (50%), transient elevations in hepatic function tests were observed and these were probably drugrelated. The present study supports the view that imipenem/cilastatin may be useful as monotherapy in the treatment of severe infections in intensive care patients

Características das espécies que podem influenciar as dinâmicas populacionais de beija-flores na Floresta Atlântica no Sul do Brasil

Orientador : Prof. Dr. James Joseph RoperTese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal do Paraná, Setor de Ciências Biológicas, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Conservação. Defesa: Curitiba, 18/03/2016Inclui referências : f. 08-14;24-28;56-62;112-120Área de concentração : Ecologia e conservaçãoResumo: A dinâmica populacional em beija-flores na América do Sul é praticamente desconhecida e pouco estudada, devido à dificuldade de captura e, consequentemente, ao baixo número de marcações e recapturas. No entanto, pela diversidade de espécies desta família e sua ampla distribuição, e o papel que desempenha na polinização de recursos efêmeros, entender a sua dinâmica populacional é importante para compreender também a sua ecologia e evolução. Aqui, começamos a preencher esta lacuna através da utilização de estudos de captura-marcação-recaptura para examinar a dinâmica da população e outros aspectos da ecologia de beija-flores. Examinamos a muda de algumas espécies e o dimorfismo sexual e identificação sexual molecular em um grupo de cinco espécies aparentemente monomórficas. Todas as espécies de beija-flores na área de estudo tendem a migrar, mas os detalhes da migração e as comparações foram difíceis de determinar, já que os indivíduos marcados não foram recapturados longe da nossa área. A espécie mais abundante e consistentemente comum foi o beija-flor-de-papo-branco (Leucochloris albicollis), com tamanho populacional variando aproximadamente entre 150-450 indivíduos (variação mensal), e com o pico de abundância em março, após a aparente temporada de reprodução entre novembro e dezembro. A sobrevivência para esta espécie foi estimada em 33% ao ano, o que é baixa para uma ave tropical. O padrão da muda das penas primárias de voo em nossa assembleia é semelhante ao já registrado em outras assembleias de beija-flores, no sentido proximal para o distal. Entretanto, em nossas espécies houve menos variação na sequência de troca das penas mais distais em comparação aos outros estudos. A muda das penas secundárias foi mais variável na sequência de troca, enquanto as retrices foram mais consistentes. O período de muda iniciou-se a partir de dezembro e se estendeu até meados de abril, mas determinar corretamente a duração do período foi difícil, uma vez que alguns indivíduos migraram enquanto realizavam a muda, delimitando a recaptura para determinar o período concreto. Três das cinco espécies aparentemente monomórficas - uma vez que o sexo foi identificado através de nossa nova técnica molecular para beija-flores - são sexualmente dicromáticas (Colibri serrirostris, Eupetomena macroura, L. albicollis) na reflexão de luz UV em suas penas. O tamanho e forma, no entanto, foram semelhantes em ambos os sexos para todas as espécies. Estes resultados demonstram que algumas espécies de beija-flores podem ser muito abundantes, mas que esta abundância pode variar amplamente ao longo do ano. Também, mostramos a existência de migração durante a muda, porém sem detalhamentos sobre a duração total deste período, permanecendo esta questão ainda desconhecida. As taxas de sobrevivência foram baixas para L. albicollis comparadas à outras espécies de aves tropicais, sugerindo relativamente alto sucesso reprodutivo. Por fim, mostramos dicromatismo sexual à luz UV (imperceptível aos seres humanos) em três das cinco espécies, sugerindo que pode haver também nas demais, mas que precisa ser descoberto em uma análise mais aprofundada das penas de outras regiões do corpo. Assim, com este estudo nós iniciamos um melhor entendimento das dinâmicas populacionais em beija-flores. Palavras-chave: coloração, dimorfismo sexual, dinâmicas populacionais, morfometria, muda das penas de voo, sexagem, TrochilidaeAbstract: Population dynamics in hummingbirds in South America is virtually unknown and unstudied, due to difficulty in their capture in numbers for mark and recapture studies. Yet, due to species diversity, distributions, the role they play as pollinators of ephemeral resources and their colorful displays, study of their population dynamics is important for understanding their ecology and evolution. Here, we begin to fill this lacuna by using capture-mark-recapture to examine population dynamics, and other aspects of hummingbird ecology. We examined molt in a variety of species and sexual dimorphism and molecular identification of the sexes in a group of five apparently monomorphic species. All hummingbird species in the study area tend to migrate, but details of migration and comparisons are difficult to determine because marked birds were never recaptured away from the study area. The most abundant and consistently common species, the Whitethroated Hummingbird (Leucochloris albicollis) had a population size that varied from ~150-450 individuals (monthly variation) in the study area, with the peak abundance in March, following after the apparent breeding season in November-December. Survival was estimated at 33% per year, which is low for a tropical bird. Molt is similar to that of other hummingbirds, from proximal to distal primary feathers, but in our study species varied less in the sequence of the most distal feathers as compared to other studies. Secondaries were quite variable in their sequence of molt, while retrices were more consistent. Molt took place beginning in December and continued to April, but defining the end of molt was difficult because species migrate while undergoing molt, and so recaptures to delimit the end of molt was not possible. Three of the five apparently monomorphic species, once sex was identified through our new molecular technique for hummingbirds, were sexually dichromatic (Colibri serrirostris, Eupetomena macroura, L. albicollis) in UV light reflectance in their feathers. Size and shape, however, were similar in both sexes. With these results, we find that hummingbird species can be very abundant, but abundance varies widely over the year, they migrate while molting but the details of their end points of migration remain unknown, and survival rates are low, suggesting relatively high reproductive success. We show sexual dichromatism in UV light (which humans do not perceive) in three of five species, and suggest that the others also are dichromatic, which will be discovered on further examination of the appropriate feathers. Thus, with this study we have begun to better understand hummingbird population dynamics. Keywords: coloration, molting of flight feathers, morphometry, population dynamics, sexing, sexual dimorphism, Trochilida

A construção da União Europeia no decorrer de seus tratados instituidores

Resumo: Este estudo apresenta o percurso de construção da União Europeia ao longo dos sucessivos Tratados, demonstrando a formação de suas competências e de seu aparato institucional. Também indica de que maneira o constante conflito entre posição supranacionalista, de um lado, e intergovernamentalista, de outro, implicou num processo de integração nem sempre incontroverso, mas contínuo. Será possível verificar, assim, como a União Europeia tem progressivamente ampliado sua esfera de poder e exigido um número cada vez maior atribuições, em razão das contingências oriundas da vida no bloco. De tal constatação, tornar-se-á mais clara a conclusão de que, hoje, a solução de muitos problemas nacionais e europeus já não pode ser pensada sem uma atuação ao menos conjunta da União Europeia, tendo em vista a profundidade dos vínculos entre os Estados-membros e o grande número de ferramentas titularizadas pelo ente supraestata

Metal hydrides for concentrating solar thermal power energy storage

The development of alternative methods for thermal energy storage is important for improving the efficiency and decreasing the cost for Concentrating Solar-thermal Power (CSP). We focus on the underlying technology that allows metal hydrides to function as Thermal Energy Storage (TES) systems and highlight the current state-of-the-art materials that can operate at temperatures as low as room-temperature and as high as 1100 oC. The potential of metal hydrides for thermal storage is explored while current knowledge gaps about hydride properties, such as hydride thermodynamics, intrinsic kinetics and cyclic stability, are identified. The engineering challenges associated with utilising metal hydrides for high-temperature thermal energy storage are also addressed

Ευρετικές προσεγγίσεις του μοναδιάστατου προβλήματος πακετοποίησης

Article 59.1, of the International Code of Nomenclature for Algae, Fungi, and Plants (ICN; Melbourne Code), which addresses the nomenclature of pleomorphic fungi, became effective from 30 July 2011. Since that date, each fungal species can have one nomenclaturally correct name in a particular classification. All other previously used names for this species will be considered as synonyms. The older generic epithet takes priority over the younger name. Any widely used younger names proposed for use, must comply with Art. 57.2 and their usage should be approved by the Nomenclature Committee for Fungi (NCF). In this paper, we list all genera currently accepted by us in Dothideomycetes (belonging to 23 orders and 110 families), including pleomorphic and non-pleomorphic genera. In the case of pleomorphic genera, we follow the rulings of the current ICN and propose single generic names for future usage. The taxonomic placements of 1261 genera are listed as an outline. Protected names and suppressed names for 34 pleomorphic genera are listed separately. Notes and justifications are provided for possible proposed names after the list of genera. Notes are also provided on recent advances in our understanding of asexual and sexual morph linkages in Dothideomycetes. A phylogenetic tree based on four gene analyses supported 23 orders and 75 families, while 35 families still lack molecular data