Plantio de oleaginosas para produção de biodiesel como estratégia de adaptação às mudanças climáticas.

O objetivo deste trabalho é apresentar uma avaliação do potencial de diversificação de cultivos com oleaginosas para produção de biodiesel, em sistemas produtivos compatíveis com a agricultura familiar nordestina, como proposta de estratégia de adaptação às mudanças climáticas. A vulnerabilidade climática da região Nordeste é caracterizada tanto em relação aos aspectos da variabilidade climática atual quanto pela apresentação dos cenários regionais de mudanças climáticas. É proposto o cultivo de algumas oleaginosas para produção de biodiesel. São avaliados os potenciais benefícios dos cultivos com as oleaginosas selecionadas considerando alguns aspectos socioeconômicos dos agricultores familiares do nordeste e os impactos projetados das mudanças climáticas para a região.bitstream/item/36509/1/Bol-PD-157.pd

Report of the High-Level Commission on Carbon Prices

The purpose of this Commission is to explore explicit carbon-pricing options and levels that would induce the change in behaviors— particularly in those driving the investments in infrastructure, technology, and equipment—needed to deliver on the temperature objective of the Paris Agreement, in a way that fosters economic growth and development, as expressed in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This report does not focus on the estimation and evaluation of the climate change impacts that would be avoided by reducing carbon emissions. While the Commission also covers other policies relevant and important to carbon-pricing design and delivery on the Paris agreement, its primary focus is on pricing. This report has been prepared based on the Commission’s assessment of the available evidence and literature as well as on its members’ judgment, developed through their extensive international policy experience. While the commissioners are in broad agreement on the overall thrust of the arguments presented in the report, they may not necessarily support every single assertion and conclusion

A novel multivariate STeady-state index during general ANesthesia (STAN)

The assessment of the adequacy of general anesthesia for surgery, namely the nociception/anti-nociception balance, has received wide attention from the scientific community. Monitoring systems based on the frontal EEG/EMG, or autonomic state reactions (e.g. heart rate and blood pressure) have been developed aiming to objectively assess this balance. In this study a new multivariate indicator of patients' steady-state during anesthesia (STAN) is proposed, based on wavelet analysis of signals linked to noxious activation. A clinical protocol was designed to analyze precise noxious stimuli (laryngoscopy/intubation, tetanic, and incision), under three different analgesic doses; patients were randomized to receive either remifentanil 2.0, 3.0 or 4.0 ng/ml. ECG, PPG, BP, BIS, EMG and [Formula: see text] were continuously recorded. ECG, PPG and BP were processed to extract beat-to-beat information, and [Formula: see text] curve used to estimate the respiration rate. A combined steady-state index based on wavelet analysis of these variables, was applied and compared between the three study groups and stimuli (Wilcoxon signed ranks, Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests). Following institutional approval and signing the informed consent thirty four patients were enrolled in this study (3 excluded due to signal loss during data collection). The BIS index of the EEG, frontal EMG, heart rate, BP, and PPG wave amplitude changed in response to different noxious stimuli. Laryngoscopy/intubation was the stimulus with the more pronounced response [Formula: see text]. These variables were used in the construction of the combined index STAN; STAN responded adequately to noxious stimuli, with a more pronounced response to laryngoscopy/intubation (18.5-43.1 %, [Formula: see text]), and the attenuation provided by the analgesic, detecting steady-state periods in the different physiological signals analyzed (approximately 50 % of the total study time). A new multivariate approach for the assessment of the patient steady-state during general anesthesia was developed. The proposed wavelet based multivariate index responds adequately to different noxious stimuli, and attenuation provided by the analgesic in a dose-dependent manner for each stimulus analyzed in this study.The first author was supported by a scholarship from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT SFRH/BD/35879/2007). The authors would also like to acknowledge the support of UISPA—System Integration and Process Automation Unit—Part of the LAETA (Associated Laboratory of Energy, Transports and Aeronautics) a I&D Unit of the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), Portugal. FCT support under project PEst-OE/EME/LA0022/2013.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Climate change and food security in the developing world: potential of maize and wheat research to expand options for adaptation and mitigation

Maize and wheat are two of the most important food crops worldwide. Together with rice, they provide 30% of the food calories to 4.5 billion people in almost 100 developing countries. Predictions suggest that climate change will reduce maize production globally by 3 to 10% by 2050 and wheat production in developing countries by 29 to 34%. This will coincide with a substantial increase in demand for maize and wheat due to rising populations. Maize and wheat research has a crucial role to play in enhancing adaptation to and mitigation of climate change while also enhancing food security. Crop varieties with increased tolerance to heat and drought stress and resistance to pests and diseases are critical for managing current climatic variability and for adaptation to progressive climate change. Furthermore, sustainable agronomic and resource management practices, such as conservation agriculture and improved nitrogen management can contribute to climate change mitigation. There is also a need for better policies and investments in infrastructure to facilitate technology adoption and adaptation. These include investments in irrigation, roads, storage facilities and improved access to markets. There is also a need for policy innovations for stabilizing prices, diversifying incomes, increasing farmer access to improved seeds and finance, and providing safety nets to enhance farmers' livelihood security. This review paper details the potential impacts of climate change on food security, and the key role of improved technologies and policy and institutional innovations for climate change adaptation and mitigation. The focus is on maize and wheat in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia

Renin Angiotensin System Blockers and Risk of Mortality in Hypertensive Patients Hospitalized for COVID-19: An Italian Registry

Background: It is uncertain whether exposure to renin\u2013angiotensin system (RAS) modifiers affects the severity of the new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) because most of the available studies are retrospective. Methods: We tested the prognostic value of exposure to RAS modifiers (either angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors [ACE-Is] or angiotensin receptor blockers [ARBs]) in a prospective study of hypertensive patients with COVID-19. We analyzed data from 566 patients (mean age 75 years, 54% males, 162 ACE-Is users, and 147 ARBs users) hospitalized in five Italian hospitals. The study used systematic prospective data collection according to a pre-specified protocol. All-cause mortality during hospitalization was the primary outcome. Results: Sixty-six patients died during hospitalization. Exposure to RAS modifiers was associated with a significant reduction in the risk of in-hospital mortality when compared to other BP-lowering strategies (odds ratio [OR]: 0.54, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.32 to 0.90, p = 0.019). Exposure to ACE-Is was not significantly associated with a reduced risk of in-hospital mortality when compared with patients not treated with RAS modifiers (OR: 0.66, 95% CI: 0.36 to 1.20, p = 0.172). Conversely, ARBs users showed a 59% lower risk of death (OR: 0.41, 95% CI: 0.20 to 0.84, p = 0.016) even after allowance for several prognostic markers, including age, oxygen saturation, occurrence of severe hypotension during hospitalization, and lymphocyte count (adjusted OR: 0.37, 95% CI: 0.17 to 0.80, p = 0.012). The discontinuation of RAS modifiers during hospitalization did not exert a significant effect (p = 0.515). Conclusions: This prospective study indicates that exposure to ARBs reduces mortality in hospitalized patients with COVID-19

Prevalence and Persistence of Breathing Disorders in Chronic Heart Failure Patients: Preliminary Results from Home Telemonitoring in the HHH Study

In this paper we present preliminary results of the European Community multicountry trial HHH (Home or Hospital in Heart Failure), which assessed the prevalence and persistence of nocturnal breathing disorders in mild-to-moderate CHF patients. All subjects (465) carried out a baseline respiratory recording in the hospital, followed by 12 recordings (one per month) at home. The latter were totally self-managed by the patients, and data were transmitted to the referring hospital through telephone lines. We found that 43 % of the patients had a periodic breathing pattern (PB, waxing and waning of ventilation with or without apneas) during the night lasting ≥ 1 hour, and the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) was ≥ 5 events/hour in 51 % of them. During the 1-year follow-up, a PB ≥ 1 hour and an AHI ≥ 5 events/hour were persistent (i.e., occurred in> 50 % of the recordings) in 43 % and 52 % of the patients. These findings confirm the high prevalence of nocturnal breathing disorders in CHF patients and show that in a large proportion of patients they tend to persist over time. 1

Prediction of fatal or near-fatal cardiac arrhythmia events in patients with depressed left ventricular function after an acute myocardial infarction†

To determine whether risk stratification tests can predict serious arrhythmic events after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in patients with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF <= 0.40). A total of 5869 consecutive patients were screened in 10 European centres, and 312 patients (age 65 +/- 11 years) with a mean LVEF of 31 +/- 6% were included in the study. Heart rate variability/turbulence, ambient arrhythmias, signal-averaged electrocardiogram (SAECG), T-wave alternans, and programmed electrical stimulation (PES) were performed 6 weeks after AMI. The primary endpoint was ECG-documented ventricular fibrillation or symptomatic sustained ventricular tachycardia (VT). To document these arrhythmic events, the patients received an implantable ECG loop-recorder. There were 25 primary endpoints (8.0%) during the follow-up of 2 years. The strongest predictors of primary endpoint were measures of heart rate variability, e.g. hazard ratio (HR) for reduced very-low frequency component ( <5.7 ln ms(2)) adjusted for clinical variables was 7.0 (95% CI: 2.4-20.3, P <0.001). Induction of sustained monomorphic VT during PES (adjusted HR = 4.8, 95% CI, 1.7-13.4, P = 0.003) also predicted the primary endpoint. Fatal or near-fatal arrhythmias can be predicted by many risk stratification methods, especially by heart rate variability, in patients with reduced LVEF after AM

Bcl-xL acts as an inhibitor of IP3R channels, thereby antagonizing Ca2+-driven apoptosis

Anti-apoptotic Bcl-2-family members not only act at mitochondria but also at the endoplasmic reticulum, where they impact Ca dynamics by controlling IP receptor (IPR) function. Current models propose distinct roles for Bcl-2 vs. Bcl-xL, with Bcl-2 inhibiting IPRs and preventing pro-apoptotic Ca release and Bcl-xL sensitizing IPRs to low [IP] and promoting pro-survival Ca oscillations. We here demonstrate that Bcl-xL too inhibits IPR-mediated Ca release by interacting with the same IPR regions as Bcl-2. Via in silico superposition, we previously found that the residue K87 of Bcl-xL spatially resembled K17 of Bcl-2, a residue critical for Bcl-2’s IPR-inhibitory properties. Mutagenesis of K87 in Bcl-xL impaired its binding to IPR and abrogated Bcl-xL’s inhibitory effect on IPRs. Single-channel recordings demonstrate that purified Bcl-xL, but not Bcl-xL, suppressed IPR single-channel openings stimulated by sub-maximal and threshold [IP]. Moreover, we demonstrate that Bcl-xL-mediated inhibition of IPRs contributes to its anti-apoptotic properties against Ca-driven apoptosis. Staurosporine (STS) elicits long-lasting Ca elevations in wild-type but not in IPR-knockout HeLa cells, sensitizing the former to STS treatment. Overexpression of Bcl-xL in wild-type HeLa cells suppressed STS-induced Ca signals and cell death, while Bcl-xL was much less effective in doing so. In the absence of IPRs, Bcl-xL and Bcl-xL were equally effective in suppressing STS-induced cell death. Finally, we demonstrate that endogenous Bcl-xL also suppress IPR activity in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells, whereby Bcl-xL knockdown augmented IPR-mediated Ca release and increased the sensitivity towards STS, without altering the ER Ca content. Hence, this study challenges the current paradigm of divergent functions for Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL in Ca-signaling modulation and reveals that, similarly to Bcl-2, Bcl-xL inhibits IPR-mediated Ca release and IPR-driven cell death. Our work further underpins that IPR inhibition is an integral part of Bcl-xL’s anti-apoptotic function.The work was supported by Grants from the Research Foundation—Flanders (FWO) (G.0901.18N), by the Research Council of the KU Leuven (OT14/101, C14/19/099, C14/19/101, and AKUL/19/34), the Interuniversity Attraction Poles Program (Belgian Science Policy; IAP-P7/13), the Central European Leuven Strategic Alliance (CELSA/18/040), and the Canadian Institutes Health Research (FDN143312). NR and HI are recipient of postdoctoral fellowships of the FWO; HI obtained a travel grant from the FWO to perform work in DIY’s laboratory. GB, JBP and DIY are part of the FWO Scientific Research Network CaSign (W0.019.17N). Work in DIY’s lab is supported by NIH (NIDCR) grant DE014756. DWA holds the Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Membrane Biogenesis. The Switch laboratory was supported by the Flanders institute for Biotechnology (VIB), the University of Leuven, the Fund for Scientific Research Flanders (Hercules Foundation/FWO AKUL/15/34—G0H1716N). NL is funded by the Stichting Alzheimer Onderzoek (SAO-FRA 2020/0013) and is recipient of FWO postdoctoral fellowships (12P0919N and 12P0922N to NL)