Reply to "Comment on "Stratigraphy of the Northern Pulo do Lobo Domain, SW Iberia Variscides: A palynological contribution" by Zelia Pereira et al. (2018) - Geobios 51, 491-506"

We acknowledge M. Francisco Pereira, D. Martínez Poyatos, I. Pérez-Cáceres, Cristina Gama and António Azor for the interest shown in our work, and appreciate the chance to clarify a few questions raised by Pereira et al.’s (2018) research. The main aim of Pereira et al. (2018) study was to better constrain the ages of the lithostratigraphic units that make the Northern Pulo do Lobo Domain, SW Iberia Variscides.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Mass spectrometry parameters optimization for the 46 multiclass pesticides determination in strawberries with gas chromatography ion-trap tandem mass spectrometry

Multiclass analysis method was optimized in order to analyze pesticides traces by gas chromatography with ion-trap and tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS). The influence of some analytical parameters on pesticide signal response was explored. Five ion trap mass spectrometry (IT-MS) operating parameters, including isolation time (IT), excitation voltage (EV), excitation time (ET),maximum excitation energy or “q” value (q), and isolationmass window (IMW) were numerically tested in order to maximize the instrument analytical signal response. For this, multiple linear regression was used in data analysis to evaluate the influence of the five parameters on the analytical response in the ion trap mass spectrometer and to predict its response. The assessment of the five parameters based on the regression equations substantially increased the sensitivity of IT-MS/MS in the MS/MS mode. The results obtained show that for most of the pesticides, these parameters have a strong influence on both signal response and detection limit.Using the optimized method, a multiclass pesticide analysis was performed for 46 pesticides in a strawberry matrix. Levels higher than the limit established for strawberries by the European Union were found in some samples

Changes in Epigaeic Ant Assemblage Structure in the Amazon during Successional Processes after Bauxite Mining

Environmental impact studies often involve monitoring and using bioindicators to evaluate the restoration stage of impacted areas. We aimed to assess ant assemblages’ response to the ecological succession of previously disturbed areas in the Brazilian Amazon. We sampled epigeic ant assemblages in five bauxite mining areas, representing different restoration stages, and compared them with two pristine areas. We also compared trends in species richness at the same mine site investigated 14 years earlier. Ten pitfall traps and four Winkler samples of litter were taken along a 100-m transect in each area. We expected that ant species richness would increase with the amelioration in habitat condition (i.e., environmental surrogates of ecological succession, including litter depth, soil penetrability, the circumference of trees, the distance of trees to adjacent trees, and percentage of ground cover). We also compared the efficacy of both sampling methods. Due to more significant sampling effort, pitfall traps captured more ant species than Winkler sacks. However, Winkler samples’ addition allowed the collection of more cryptic species than by pitfall traps alone. We sampled a total of 129 ant species, with increases in ant species richness in more mature rehabilitation. Nevertheless, similarity analysis indicated a significant difference between ant assemblages of rehabilitated areas and pristine ones. Assemblages differed mainly by the presence of specialist and rare species, found only in pristine plots. Rehabilitated areas exhibited a significant increase in tree circumference as they reached more ecologically advanced stages, which contributed to increasing ant species richness. These trends and comparison with the earlier study indicate that although there are favorable increases in ant species richness, in terms of species composition, rehabilitated areas were far from achieving an ant assemblage composition or environmental status that closely resembles pristine areas

Squaraine dyes derived from indolenine and benzo[e]indole as potential fluorescent probes for HSA detection and antifungal agents

Four squaraine dyes derived from 2,3,3-trimethylindolenine and 1,1,2-trimethyl-1H-benzo[e]indole with different combinations of barbituric groups attach to the central ring, having ester groups and alkyl chains in the nitrogen atoms of heterocyclic rings were synthesized. These dyes were fully characterized and their photophysical behavior was studied in ethanol and phosphate-buffered saline solution. Absorption and emission bands between 631 and 712 nm were detected, with the formation of aggregates in aqueous media, which is typical of this class of dyes. Tests carried out with 1,3-diphenylisobenzofuran allowed us to verify the ability of the dyes to produce singlet oxygen. The interaction of synthesized dyes with human serum albumin (HSA) was also evaluated, being demonstrated a linear correlation between fluorescence intensity and protein concentration. The antifungal potential of the dyes against the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae was evaluated using a broth microdilution assay. In order to test the photosensitizing capacity of the synthesized dyes, tests were carried out in the dark and with irradiation, using a custom-built light-emitting diode that emits close to the absorption wavelength of the studied dyes. The results showed that the interaction of dyes with HSA and the antifungal activity depends on the different structural modifications of the dyes.We thanks to Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), Comissão de Coordenação e Desenvolvimento Regional do Norte (CCDR-N) and FEDER (European Fund for Regional Development)-COMPETEQREN-EU for financial support to the research centers CQ/UM (UIDB/00686/2020), CBMA (UID/BIA/04050/2020), CQ/VR (UID/QUI/UI0616/2019) and CICSUBI (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007491), as well as PhD grants to V.S.D.G. (UMINHO/BD/43/2016) and J.C.C.F. (SFRH/BD/133207/2017)

Channel estimation method with improved performance for the UMTS-TDD mode

Channel estimation is an essential building block for UTRA-TDD high performance receivers. Once the performance of the channel estimator algorithm proposed by 3GPP is highly dependent on the time spreading between consecutive multi-path components, a Successive Multi-path channel Estimation Technique (SMET) that improves the time resolution is proposed in this paper. A SMET based maximum likelihood approach for vectorial channel estimation, to include the estimation of the direction-of-arrival, is also proposed. This algorithm solves efficiently the complex problem of DOA estimation of multiple users in a multi path propagation environment even when the number of required DOA's exceeds the number of antenna array elements. Another property of the proposed algorithm is its ability to resolve signals from different users arriving from the same direction. This is due to processing in both time and space dimensions. The performance of these algorithms is assessed by resorting to simulations in multi-path environments using the UMTS-TDD specifications, and also by comparing the rms estimation errors against the Crámer-Rao Bound. The effect of imperfect channel estimation on the performance of RAKE and Hard-Decision Parallel Interference Canceller receivers is also analysed. The results show that a good performance can be achieved with SMET, from low to high values of Eb/n0

Genetic variation in hippocampal microRNA expression differences in C57BL/6 J X DBA/2 J (BXD) recombinant inbred mouse strains

Background miRNAs are short single-stranded non-coding RNAs involved in post-transcriptional gene regulation that play a major role in normal biological functions and diseases. Little is currently known about how expression of miRNAs is regulated. We surveyed variation in miRNA abundance in the hippocampus of mouse inbred strains, allowing us to take a genetic approach to the study of miRNA regulation, which is novel for miRNAs. The BXD recombinant inbred panel is a very well characterized genetic reference panel which allows quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis of miRNA abundance and detection of correlates in a large store of brain and behavioural phenotypes. Results We found five suggestive trans QTLs for the regulation of miRNAs investigated. Further analysis of these QTLs revealed two genes, Tnik and Phf17, under the miR-212 regulatory QTLs, whose expression levels were significantly correlated with miR-212 expression. We found that miR-212 expression is correlated with cocaine-related behaviour, consistent with a reported role for this miRNA in the control of cocaine consumption. miR-31 is correlated with anxiety and alcohol related behaviours. KEGG pathway analysis of each miRNA’s expression correlates revealed enrichment of pathways including MAP kinase, cancer, long-term potentiation, axonal guidance and WNT signalling. Conclusions The BXD reference panel allowed us to establish genetic regulation and characterize biological function of specific miRNAs. QTL analysis enabled detection of genetic loci that regulate the expression of these miRNAs. eQTLs that regulate miRNA abundance are a new mechanism by which genetic variation influences brain and behaviour. Analysis of one of these QTLs revealed a gene, Tnik, which may regulate the expression of a miRNA, a molecular pathway and a behavioural phenotype. Evidence of genetic covariation of miR-212 abundance and cocaine related behaviours is strongly supported by previous functional studies, demonstrating the value of this approach for discovery of new functional roles and downstream processes regulated by miRNA

Effectiveness and long-term retention of anti-tumour necrosis factor treatment in juvenile and adult patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis: data from Reuma.pt

Methods. We prospectively collected patient and disease characteristics from patients with JIA who started biological therapy. Adverse events were collected during the follow-up period. Predictors of response at 1 year and drug retention rates were assessed at 4 years of treatment for the first biologic agent.Results. A total of 812 JIA patients [65% females, mean age at JIA onset 6.9 years (s.d. 4.7)], 227 received biologic therapy; 205 patients (90.3%) were treated with an anti-TNF as the first biologic. All the parameters used to evaluate disease activity, namely number of active joints, ESR and Childhood HAQ/HAQ, decreased significantly at 6 months and 1 year of treatment. The mean reduction in Juvenile Disease Activity Score 10 (JADAS10) after 1 year of treatment was 10.4 (s.d. 7.4). According to the definition of improvement using the JADAS10 score, 83.3% respond to biologic therapy after 1 year. Fourteen patients discontinued biologic therapies due to adverse events. Retention rates were 92.9% at 1 year, 85.5% at 2 years, 78.4% at 3 years and 68.1% at 4 years of treatment. Among all JIA subtypes, only concomitant therapy with corticosteroids was found to be univariately associated with withdrawal of biologic treatment (P = 0.016).Conclusion. Biologic therapies seem effective and safe in patients with JIA. In addition, the retention rates for the first biologic agent are high throughout 4 years