Fire regimes and variability in aboveground woody biomass in miombo woodland

This study combined a process-based ecosystem model with a fire regime model to understand the effect of changes in fire regime and climate pattern on woody plants of miombo woodland in African savanna. Miombo woodland covers wide areas in Africa and is subject to frequent anthropogenic fires. The model was developed based on observations of tree topkill rates in individual tree size classes for fire intensity and resprouting. Using current and near-future climate patterns, the model simulated the dynamics of miombo woodland for various fire return intervals and grass cover fractions, allowing fire intensity to be estimated. There was a significant relationship between aboveground woody biomass and long-term fire regimes. An abrupt increase in fire intensity and/or fire frequency applied as a model forcing led to reduced long-term average aboveground woody biomass and mean tree size. Fire intensity increased with increasing living grass biomass (which provides increased flammable fuel), thereby affecting the relationship between fire regime and tree size, creating a demographic bottleneck on the route to tree maturity. For the current fire regime in miombo woodland, with a fire return interval of about 1.6-3 years, the model-predicted fire intensity lower than 930-1700 kW m-1 is necessary to maintain today's aboveground woody biomass under current climate conditions. Future climate change was predicted to have a significant positive effect on woody plants in miombo woodland associated with elevated CO2 concentration and warming, allowing woody plants to survive more effectively against periodic fires

Glucose Abnormalities in Urban Hispanics: diagnosis, prevalence, risk predictive value, and association with metabolic syndrome and high blood pressure

The objective is to study the prevalence of glucose abnormalities (GA), their association with metabolic syndrome(MS), and the screening value of fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and insulin in detecting impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and diabetes mellitus (DM), were determined in an unselected sample of apparently healthy Urban- Hispanics.OGGT was conducted in 592 subjects. GA were found in 34% of subjects, defined as impaired fasting glucose (IFG) (13.3%), IGT (6.9%), combined IFG+IGT (7.8%) and type2-DM (6.5%). FPG of 5.6-6.9mmol/l diagnostic of IFG missed 47.1% of subjects with IGT, and FPG >7.0mmol/l missed 53.9% of DM. GA were associated with abdominal obesity, hypertriglyceridemia, hyperinsulinemia, hypertension and MS. Prevalence of MS was greater in DM=IFG+IGT>IGT=IFG> controls. Post-load hyperinsulinemia and hyperglycemia was higher in IGT than in IFG; whereas HOMA-IR was higher in IFG. Indices of insulin secretion were markedly reduced in DM, IFG-IGT and IGT. In summary: currently recommended FPG thresholds detect only half of subjects with GA. Diagnosis of GA must include both, fasting and 2-hr postload glucose levels. Presence of fasting and post-load hyperglycemia-hyperinsulinemia in one individual mayexplain the increased risk in combined IFG-IGT and in DM. Because of its high prevalence, silent course, and associated increased risk, full-scale screening programs and aggressive management of GA must be implemented

Propagation of engineering changes to multiple product data views using history of product structure changes

The present paper proposes a comprehensive procedure for engineering change propagation in order to maintain consistency between various product data views. A product data model is also proposed for the propagation procedure, which integrates base product definitions for product design, and product data views for other manufacturing or customer support. The product data view in the proposed model enables manufacturing or customer support engineers to define their own product data views, without copying the existing product definition. Integrated with other components, the engineering changes in the data model provide structure-oriented change history, effectivity management for production, and integration with product configurations. Based on the integrated product data model, the proposed procedure propagates engineering changes to product data views using the history of product structure changes. The propagation procedure maintains consistency of product data during collaboration between various design, manufacturing and customer support departments, who have different product data views. Prototype database applications together with an example of illustrative change propagation are also presented.close6

Alteration in cellular viability, pro-inflammatory cytokines and nitric oxide production in nephrotoxicity generation by Amphotericin B: Involvement of PKA pathway signaling

Amphotericin B is one of the most effective antifungal agents; however, its use is often limited owing to adverse effects, especially nephrotoxicity. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of inhibiting the PKA signaling pathway in nephrotoxicity using Amphotericin B from the assessment of cell viability, pro-inflammatory cytokines and nitric oxide (NO) production in LLC-PK1 and MDCK cell lines. Amphotericin B proved to be cytotoxic for both cell lines, as assessed by the mitochondrial enzyme activity (MTT) assay; caused DNA fragmentation, determined by flow cytometry using the propidium iodide (PI) dye; and activated the PKA pathway (western blot assay). In MDCK cells, the inhibition of the PKA signaling pathway (using the H89 inhibitor) caused a significant reduction in DNA fragmentation. In both cells lines the production of interleukin-6 (IL)-6 proved to be a dependent PKA pathway, whereas tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) was not influenced by the inhibition of the PKA pathway. The NO production was increased when cells were pre-incubated with H89 followed by Amphotericin B, and this production produced a dependent PKA pathway in LLC-PK1 and MDCK cells lines. Therefore, considering the present study's results as a whole, it can be concluded that the inhibition of the PKA signaling pathway can aid in reducing the degree of nephrotoxicity caused by Amphotericin B. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq