A new species of Hemigrammus gill, 1858 (Characiformes: Characidae) from the Rio Madeira and Rio Paraguai basins, with a redescription of H. lunatus

A new Hemigrammus is described from the rio Paraguai and rio Madeira basins, Mato Grosso and Rondônia States, Brazil. The new species is characterized by possessing a wide dark horizontal stripe across the eye, a vertically elongated humeral blotch, and 4-5 gill-rakers on upper branch and 9-10 on lower. The new species can be easily diagnosed from H. lunatus, the sympatric and morphologically most similar congener, by the shape of humeral blotch and the number of gill rakers. Data of the type material of both Hemigrammus lunatus and H. maxillaris, as well as extensive examination of specimens, allowed us to conclude that H. maxillaris is a junior subjective synonym of H. lunatus. A redescription of H. lunatus, as well as a formal restriction of its type locality, is provided. A putative monophyletic group within Hemigrammus, composed by H. barrigonae, Hemigrammus lunatus, H. machadoi new species, and H. ulreyi, named Hemigrammus lunatus group, is proposed based on overall body morphology and color pattern. Additionally, a discussion on the biogeographical relationships between the rio Paraguai and rio Guaporé basins is provided. © 2014 Sociedade Brasileira de Ictiologia

Use of retinoids during oocyte maturation diminishes apoptosis in caprine embryos

Exposure of caprine oocytes and embryos to retinoids enhances embryonic development, but the mechanisms governing this phenomenon have not been characterised. The aim of the present study was to evaluate if the incidence of apoptosis is affected by the addition of retinyl acetate (RAc) and 9-cis-retinoic acid (RA) during in vitro maturation (IVM) of caprine oocytes. Embryonic development was recorded on days 3 and 8 post-fertilisation, and apoptosis was measured by caspase activity and DNA fragmentation (TUNEL assay). Control zygotes had lower capacity to cleave and reach the blastocyst stage (24.45 ± 2.32 and 5.32 ± 0.81, respectively) than those of RAc- (29.96 ± 1.62 and 7.94 ± 0.93, respectively) and RA-treated groups (30.12 ± 1.51 and 7.36 ± 1.02, respectively). Oocytes and blastocysts positive for TUNEL assay were more frequent, respectively, in the controls (8.20 ± 0.78, 8.70 ± 1.05) than in RAc (5.60 ± 0.52, 4.80 ± 0.51) and RA (6.40 ± 0.69, 5.40 ± 0.69). Caspase activity did not differ between control oocytes (7.20 ± 0.91), RAc (6.60 ± 0.68) and RA (7.30 ± 0.67), but it was reduced in RAc- (5.05 ± 0.62) and RA-treated blastocysts (5.75 ± 0.22) compared to controls (8.35 ± 0.71). These results indicate that the addition of retinoids during IVM increases the developmental potential of goat embryos with a concomitant reduction in apoptosis rates

How oogenesis analysis combined with dna barcode can help to elucidate taxonomic ambiguities: A polychaete study-based approach

Polychaetes are common in coastal and estuarine environments worldwide and constitute one of the most complex groups of marine invertebrates. The morpho-physiology of the female reproductive system (FRS) can be understood by using histological tools to describe reproductive cycle and gametogenesis paths and, among other purposes, aiming to identify and differentiate polychaete species. However, this histology-based approach is rarely combined with molecular tools, which is known to accurately delimitate species. In the same way, the description and understanding of oogenesis and vitellogenesis paths within polychaetes are lacking for most families, narrowing the range of its utility. Therefore, the present study aims to describe the oogenesis in three polychaete species common and abundant on the South American Atlantic coast (Laeonereis culveri, Scolelepis goodbodyi and Capitella biota) and investigate the utility of reproductive features and gametogenesis as a relevant associate knowledge to discriminate species, particularly useful for putative cryptic species, integrated with morphological and molecular data. In a first attempt, the results obtained herein allow the authors to describe two new subtypes of oogenesis, dividing it in extraovarian oogenesis type I and II and intraovarian type I and II. The results also demonstrate that the following histological characters of the FRS can be relevant for the separation of related species: a) oogenesis type, b) occurrence or absence of a true ovary, c) ovary tissue organization, d) type of accessory cells present, and e) oocyte morphology. Additionally, these histological features of FRS, when compared with correlated species studied under this scope, converge with the genetic data. The analysis of cytochrome oxidase I (COI) barcode sequences differentiates between North and South American Atlantic populations of L. culveri (16.78% genetic distance), while in S. goodbodyi and C. biota it discriminates them from their congeneric species. These results highlight theOs poliquetas são comuns em ambientes costeiros e estuarinos em todo o mundo e constituem um dos grupos mais complexos de invertebrados marinhos. A morfo-fisiologia do sistema reprodutor feminino (FRS) pode ser compreendida por meio de ferramentas histológicas para identificar e diferenciar estes anelídeos. No entanto, essa abordagem histológica raramente é combinada com ferramentas moleculares, amplamente conhecidas por delimitar espécies congenéricas ou crípticas com maior precisão. Do mesmo modo, a descrição e o entendimento da oogênese e vitelogênese dentre os poliquetas, para a maioria das famílias, é ainda limitado. Portanto, o presente estudo tem como objetivo descrever a oogênese em três espécies de poliquetas comuns e abundantes na costa sul-americana (Laeonereis culveri, Scolelepis goodbodyi e Capitella biota) e investigar a utilidade das características reprodutivas e da gametogênese como um conhecimento associado relevante para discriminar espécies, particularmente útil para espécies crípticas putativas, integradas a dados morfológicos e moleculares. Os resultados aqui obtidos permitiram descrever dois novos subtipos de oogênese, dividindo-a em oogênese extra-ovariana dos tipos I e II e intra-ovariana dos tipos I e II. Os resultados também demonstram que os seguintes caracteres histológicos do FRS podem ser relevantes para a separação de espécies relacionadas: a) tipo de oogênese, b) presença ou ausência de um ovário verdadeiro, c) organização tissular ovariana, d) tipo de células acessórias presentes e, e) morfologia do ovócito. Além disso, essas características histológicas do FRS, quando comparadas às espécies correlatas estudadas sob esse escopo, convergem com os dados genéticos separando espécies putativas e congenéricas. As análises com DNA barcode demonstraram que em L. culveri é possível diferenciar as populações atlânticas Norte e Sul-americanas (16,78% de distância genética), enquanto para S. goodbodyi e C. biota fica evidente sua distinção com espécies congenéricas. Esses resultados destacam a importância da abordagem com múltiplas ferramentas e mostram que tanto a histologia quanto a histo-fisiologia do FRS e o DNA barcode podem ser usados para identificar e discriminar espécies crípticas e potencialmente crípticas, o que geralmente não é possível quando se utilizam apenas caracteres morfológicos. Além disso, esses caracteres também podem ser úteis na diferenciação de espécies relacionadas e / ou populações geograficamente distintas desses poliquetas.The authors would like to thank IB/UNICAMP, IO/USP and CEBIMar/USP for providing logistic support. In addition, the authors would like to thank the CBMA and the IB-S for the technical support. This work was supported by the FAPESP (Grants no 2011/50317-5, 2015/25623-6, 2017/06167-5) and CNPq through a productivity grant to A.C.Z.A (306534/2015-0). M.A.L.T was supported by a PhD fellowship (SFRH/BD/131527/2017) from FCT. P.E.V. was supported by a Post-Doctoral Fellowships (BPD1/next-sea/2018, NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000032). F.O.C. and the University of Minho contribution was supported by the strategic programme UID/BIA/04050/2013 POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007569

A abordagem da intersetorialidade para o ensino médico em atenção primária

Introduction: The process of creating the Unified Health System (SUS) as one health care model more humanized, comprehensive, effective and decisive has intersectorality as one of its tools for transformation. However, there are few articles that address the intersectoral approach in the context of medical education and organization of practices, especially in primary care. Objective: Bring forth the concept of intersectionality and the principle of community orientation in the organization of practices in the reality of family health staffs, under the SUS. Method: Analysis of documents held to discuss the concept of intersectionality in the work of authors of Primary Health Care (PHC), the official documentation of the Ministry of Health and selected publications on intersectionality. It also discussed the community orientation in the given actions of Primary Health Care in the perception of the physician and the family health staffs in Brazil. It described the evolution of the former Family Health Program to the Family Health Strategy as reorganization model of PHC in the SUS and in the education scenario of the Family Health Units (FHU) involved in the Ribeirão Preto Medical School - University of São Paulo in the period from 1999 to 2014. Results: Official and scientific documentation consulted showed advance of changes in family health services, such as the PHC model of organization in the country. The setting of FHU oriented to PHC has contributed to the adaptation of medical training and health professionals in this area. Final Considerations: Nevertheless, perceiving the potential of intersectoral and practices geared towards the community in the health paradigm change, there is plenty to do in the broad sense of intersectionality comprising addressing the social determinants of health in local integrated planIntrodução: O processo de criação do Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) como um modelo de atenção à saúde, mais humanizado, abrangente, eficaz e resolutivo tem a intersetorialidade como um de seus instrumentos para a transformação. No entanto, há escassez de artigos que abordem a intersetorialidade no contexto da educação médica e da organização das práticas, principalmente na atenção primária. Objetivo: Trazer à luz o conceito de intersetorialidade e o princípio da orientação comunitária na organização das práticas na realidade das equipes de saúde da família, no âmbito do SUS. Método: Análise documental realizada para discutir o conceito de intersetorialidade na obra de autores da Atenção Primária à Saúde (APS), na documentação oficial do Ministério da Saúde e em publicações selecionadas sobre a intersetorialidade. Discutiu-se também a orientação comunitária nas ações prestadas de APS segundo a percepção do médico e da equipe de saúde da família, no Brasil. Foi descrita a evolução do antigo Programa de Saúde da Família para a Estratégia de Saúde da Família como modelo de reorganização da atenção primária à saúde no SUS e no cenário de ensino das Unidades de Saúde da Família (USF) ligadas à Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto- Universidade de São Paulo, no período de 1999 a 2014. Resultados: A documentação oficial e científica consultada mostrou avanço das transformações nos serviços de Saúde da Família, como modelo de organização da APS no país. O cenário das USF orientado para a APS vem contribuindo para a adequação da formação médica e dos profissionais de saúde nessa área. Considerações finais: Não obstante, percebendo-se as potencialidades das práticas intersetoriais e orientadas para a comunidade na mudança do paradigma da saúde, há muito o que fazer no sentido amplo da intersetorialidade, que compreende a abordagem dos determinantes sociais da saúde no planejamento integrado loca

Partial purification and functional characterization of Ts19 Frag-I, a novel toxin from Tityus serrulatus scorpion venom

Abstract\ud \ud Background\ud The yellow scorpion Tityus serrulatus (Ts) is responsible for the highest number of accidents and the most severe scorpion envenoming in Brazil. Although its venom has been studied since the 1950s, it presents a number of orphan peptides that have not been studied so far. The objective of our research was to isolate and identify the components present in the fractions VIIIA and VIIIB of Ts venom, in order to search for a novel toxin. The major isolated toxins were further investigated for macrophage modulation.\ud \ud \ud Methods\ud The fractions VIIIA and VIIIB, obtained from Ts venom cation exchange chromatography, were rechromatographed on a C18 column (4.6 × 250 mm) followed by a reversed-phase chromatography using another C18 column (2.1 × 250 mm). The main eluted peaks were analyzed by MALDI-TOF and Edman’s degradation and tested on macrophages.\ud \ud \ud Results\ud The previously described toxins Ts2, Ts3-KS, Ts4, Ts8, Ts8 propeptide, Ts19 Frag-II and the novel peptide Ts19 Frag-I were isolated from the fractions VIIIA and VIIIB. Ts19 Frag-I, presenting 58 amino acid residues, a mass of 6,575 Da and a theoretical pI of 8.57, shares high sequence identity with potassium channel toxins (KTx). The toxins Ts4, Ts3-KS and the partially purified Ts19 Frag-I did not produce cytotoxic effects on macrophage murine cells line (J774.1). On the other hand, Ts19 Frag-I induced the release of nitric oxide (NO) by macrophages, while Ts4 and Ts3-KS did not affect the NO production at the tested concentration (50 μg/mL). At the same concentration, Ts19 Frag-I and Ts3-KS increased the production of interleukin-6 (IL-6). Ts19 Frag-I and Ts4 did not induce the release of IL-10, IL-1β or tumor necrosis factor-α by macrophage cells using the tested concentration (50 μg/mL).\ud \ud \ud Conclusions\ud We partially purified and determined the complete sequence and chemical/physical parameters of a new β-KTx, denominated Ts19 Frag-I. The toxins Ts4, Ts3-KS and Ts19 Frag-I showed no cytotoxicity toward macrophages and induced IL-6 release. Ts19 Frag-I also induced the release of NO, suggesting a pro-inflammatory activity.This study received financial support from the from the State of São Paulo\ud Research Foundation (FAPESP – scholarship to FAC n. 2012/13590-8 and\ud MBP n. 2012/12954-6), Coordination for the Improvement of Higher\ud Education Personnel (CAPES – scholarship to PCL), National Council for\ud Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq – grant n. 303689/2013-7)\ud and the Support Nucleus for Research on Animal Toxins (NAP-TOXAN-USP,\ud grant n. 12-125432.1.3). The authors would like to thank Prof. Dr. Norberto\ud Peporine Lopes for providing the MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer used in this\ud study. The authors also acknowledge the biologist Luiz Henrique Anzaloni Pedrosa\ud for extracting the scorpion venom and Iara Aimê Cardoso for technical assistance.\ud Thanks are also due to the Center for the Study of Venoms and Venomous\ud Animals (CEVAP) of UNESP for enabling the publication of this special collection\ud (CNPq process 469660/2014-7)

High concentrations of glucose reduce the oxidative metabolism of dog neutrophils in vitro

Background: Dogs are commonly affected by hyperglycemic conditions. Hyperglycemia compromises the immune response and favors bacterial infections; however, reports on the effects of glucose on neutrophil oxidative metabolism and apoptosis are conflicting in humans and rare in dogs. Considering the many complex factors that affect neutrophil oxidative metabolism in vivo, we investigated in vitro the specific effect of high concentrations of glucose on superoxide production and apoptosis rate in neutrophils from healthy dogs.Results: The capacity of the neutrophils to reduce tetrazolium nitroblue decreased significantly in the higher concentration of glucose (15.13 ± 9.73% (8 mmol/L) versus 8.93 ± 5.71% (16 mmol/L)). However, there were no changes in tetrazolium nitroblue reduction at different glucose concentrations when the neutrophils were first activated with phorbol myristate acetate. High concentrations of glucose did not affect the viability and apoptosis rate of canine neutrophils either with or without prior camptothecin stimulation. This study provides the first evidence that high concentrations of glucose inhibit the oxidative metabolism of canine neutrophils in vitro in a manner similar to that which occurs in humans, and that the decrease in superoxide production did not increase the apoptosis rate.Conclusions: A high concentration of glucose reduces the oxidative metabolism of canine neutrophils in vitro. It is likely that glucose at high concentrations rapidly affects membrane receptors responsible for the activation of NADPH oxidase in neutrophils; therefore, the nonspecific immune response can be compromised in dogs with acute and chronic hyperglycemic conditions. © 2013 Bosco et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

Spectrochemical analysis of liquid biopsy harnessed to multivariate analysis towards breast cancer screening

Mortality due to breast cancer could be reduced via screening programs where preliminary clinical tests employed in an asymptomatic well-population with the objective of identifying cancer biomarkers could allow earlier referral of women with altered results for deeper clinical analysis and treatment. The introduction of well-population screening using new and less-invasive technologies as a strategy for earlier detection of breast cancer is thus highly desirable. Herein, spectrochemical analyses harnessed to multivariate classification techniques are used as a bio-analytical tool for a Breast Cancer Screening Program using liquid biopsy in the form of blood plasma samples collected from 476 patients recruited over a 2-year period. This methodology is based on acquiring and analysing the spectrochemical fingerprint of plasma samples by attenuated total reflection Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy; derived spectra reflect intrinsic biochemical composition, generating information on nucleic acids, carbohydrates, lipids and proteins. Excellent results in terms of sensitivity (94%) and specificity (91%) were obtained using this method in comparison with traditional mammography (88–93% and 85–94%, respectively). Additional advantages such as better disease prognosis thus allowing a more effective treatment, lower associated morbidity, fewer false-positive and false-negative results, lower-cost, and higher analytical frequency make this method attractive for translation to the clinical setting

ULEEN: A Novel Architecture for Ultra Low-Energy Edge Neural Networks

The deployment of AI models on low-power, real-time edge devices requires accelerators for which energy, latency, and area are all first-order concerns. There are many approaches to enabling deep neural networks (DNNs) in this domain, including pruning, quantization, compression, and binary neural networks (BNNs), but with the emergence of the "extreme edge", there is now a demand for even more efficient models. In order to meet the constraints of ultra-low-energy devices, we propose ULEEN, a model architecture based on weightless neural networks. Weightless neural networks (WNNs) are a class of neural model which use table lookups, not arithmetic, to perform computation. The elimination of energy-intensive arithmetic operations makes WNNs theoretically well suited for edge inference; however, they have historically suffered from poor accuracy and excessive memory usage. ULEEN incorporates algorithmic improvements and a novel training strategy inspired by BNNs to make significant strides in improving accuracy and reducing model size. We compare FPGA and ASIC implementations of an inference accelerator for ULEEN against edge-optimized DNN and BNN devices. On a Xilinx Zynq Z-7045 FPGA, we demonstrate classification on the MNIST dataset at 14.3 million inferences per second (13 million inferences/Joule) with 0.21 $\mu$s latency and 96.2% accuracy, while Xilinx FINN achieves 12.3 million inferences per second (1.69 million inferences/Joule) with 0.31 $\mu$s latency and 95.83% accuracy. In a 45nm ASIC, we achieve 5.1 million inferences/Joule and 38.5 million inferences/second at 98.46% accuracy, while a quantized Bit Fusion model achieves 9230 inferences/Joule and 19,100 inferences/second at 99.35% accuracy. In our search for ever more efficient edge devices, ULEEN shows that WNNs are deserving of consideration.Comment: 14 pages, 14 figures Portions of this article draw heavily from arXiv:2203.01479, most notably sections 5E and 5F.

Evoluçao Tardia da Estimulaçao VDD com Cabo-Eletrodo Atrioventricular Unico com Eletrodos Atriais em Passagem

Introduçao: A estimulaçao bicameral com cabo-eletrodo único e eletrodos atriais em passagem (modo VDD) está indicada, pela simplicidade, em pacientes com bloqueio atrioventricular (BAV) total e funçao sinusal normal. Entretanto, sua efetividade para sentir a atividade elétrica atrial em longo prazo é questionável. Objetivo: Verificar evoluçao de 92 pacientes com implante de marcapasso VDD em período superior a 5 anos. Métodos: Os sistemas implantados constavam de cabo-eletrodo único com eletrodos atriais em passagem, revestimento fractal SL60 Biotronik e gerador VDD, mantido inicialmente em programaçao padrao. A onda P foi registrada no momento do implante (média de 2,38±1,23 mV) e na última avaliaçao, além de eventos durante a evoluçao (tempo médio de 52,05 meses). Resultado: Observou-se perda do sincronismo atrial em dez (10,87%) pacientes: dois (2,17%) apresentaram fibrilaçao atrial, cinco (5,43%), perda do potencial elétrico atrial e três (3,26%), deslocamento do eletrodo, requerendo reposicionamento. Em dez casos (10,87%), houve necessidade de reprogramaçao para o modo VVI e, em um paciente (1,09%), aperfeiçoamento para o modo DDD. Na última avaliaçao ou na avaliaçao final, 74 (80,43%) pacientes mantinham estimulaçao VDD, sete (7,61%) estavam em outro modo de estimulaçao e 11 (11,96%) haviam falecido. A onda P era de 1,22±0,83 mV, enquanto que, no implante, era de 2,12±0,87 mV; n.s). Conclusao: A estimulaçao VDD com cabo-eletrodo único e eletrodos fractais atriais em passagem permite manter o sincronismo atrioventricular em um percentual elevado de pacientes com atividade elétrica atrial normal. A necessidade de drogas antiarrítmicas ou cronotrópico-negativas deve ser avaliada caso a caso