Microarray analysis of salt-responsive genes in common wheat

Dissertação apresentada à Faculdade de Direito da Universidade de Coimbra no âmbito do 2º Ciclo de Estudos em Direito, área de especialização em Ciências Jurídico-Políticas, Direito Internacional Público e Europeu

Nature of a Strongly-Lensed Submillimeter Galaxy SMM J14011+0252

We have carried out near-infrared JHK spectroscopy of a gravitationally lensed submillimeter galaxy SMM J14011+0252 at z=2.565, using OHS and CISCO on the Subaru telescope. This object consists of two optical components, J1 and J2, which are lensed by the cluster Abell 1835. J1 suffers additional strong lensing by a foreground galaxy at z=0.25 in the cluster. The rest-optical H-alpha, H-beta, and [O II]3727 lines are detected in both J1 and J2, and [N II]6548,6583 lines are also detected in J1. A diagnosis of emission-line ratios shows that the excitation source of J1 is stellar origin, consistent with previous X-ray observations. The continua of J1 and J2 show breaks at rest 4000A, indicating relatively young age. Combined with optical photometry, we have carried out model spectrum fitting of J2 and find that it is a very young (~50 Myr) galaxy of rather small mass (~10e8 M_sol) which suffers some amount of dust extinction. A new gravitational lensing model is constructed to assess both magnification factor and contamination from the lensing galaxy of the component J1, using HST-F702W image. We have found that J1 suffers strong lensing with magnification of ~30, and its stellar mass is estimated to be < 10e9 M_sol. These results suggest that SMM J14011+0252 is a major merger system at high redshift that undergoes intense star formation, but not a formation site of a giant elliptical. Still having plenty of gas, it will transform most of the gas into stars and will evolve into a galaxy of < 10e10 M_sol. Therefore, this system is possibly an ancestor of a less massive galaxy such as a mid-sized elliptical or a spiral at the present.Comment: 21 pages, 11 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomical Journa

Diurnal variation and size dependence of the hygroscopicity of organic aerosol at a forest site in Wakayama, Japan: their relationship to CCN concentrations

Formation of biogenic secondary organic aerosol (BSOA) and its subsequent evolution can modify the hygroscopicity of the organic aerosol component (OA) in the forest atmosphere, and affect the concentrations of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) there. In this study, size-resolved aerosol hygroscopic growth at 85&thinsp;% relative humidity and size-resolved aerosol composition were measured using a hygroscopic tandem differential mobility analyzer and an aerosol mass spectrometer, respectively, at a forest site in Wakayama, Japan, in August and September 2015. The hygroscopicity parameter of OA (κorg) presented daily minima in the afternoon hours, and it also showed an increase with the increase in particle dry diameter. The magnitudes of the diurnal variations in κorg for particles with dry diameters of 100 and 300&thinsp;nm were on average 0.091 and 0.096, respectively, and the difference in κorg between particles with dry diameters of 100 and 300&thinsp;nm was on average 0.056. The relative contributions of the estimated fresh BSOA and regional OA to total OA could explain 40&thinsp;% of the observed diurnal variations and size dependence of κorg. The hygroscopicity parameter of fresh BSOA was estimated to range from 0.089 to 0.12 for particles with dry diameters from 100 to 300&thinsp;nm. Compared with the use of time- and size-resolved κorg, the use of time- and size-averaged κorg leads to under- and over-estimation of the fractional contribution of OA to CCN number concentrations in the range from −5.0&thinsp;% to 26&thinsp;%. This indicates that the diurnal variations and size dependence of κorg strongly affect the overall contribution of OA to CCN concentrations. The fractional contribution of fresh BSOA to CCN number concentrations could reach 0.28 during the period of intensive BSOA formation. The aging of the fresh BSOA, if it occurs, increases the estimated contribution of BSOA to CCN number concentrations by 52&thinsp;%–84&thinsp;%.</p

Exhaustion of nucleus pulposus progenitor cells with ageing and degeneration of the intervertebral disc

published_or_final_versio

Determination of maximum annual rate of application sewage sludge sanitized by alkaline process in soils of the metropolitan region of Curitiba, Brazil

O objetivo deste estudo foi analisar as curvas de pH de três solos representativos da Região de Metropolitana de Curitiba para determinação das taxas de aplicação máxima anual de lodo de esgoto higienizado pelo processo de estabilização alcalina prolongada (lodo EAP), conforme estabelece a legislação, e para comparação com a metodologia de saturação por bases (V%). Os solos foram incubados com seis doses de lodo EAP (pH 9,2) e o pH avaliado em 5 datas até 75 dias. O solo Cambissolo Húmico Distrófico típico, com a capacidade de troca de cátions e teor de carbono mais elevados, atingiu o pH 7 com 49 t ha-1 de sólidos totais (ST); o Latossolo Bruno Distrófico típico com 38 t ha-1 de ST, e o Cambissolo Háplico Distrófico típico, o mais restritivo, indicou que a aplicação anual de lodo EAP não deverá ultrapassar a 31 t ha-1 de ST. Sugeriu-se cautela na seleção do solo representativo. O método V% recomendou quantidades de lodo EAP iguais ou ligeiramente superiores às que atingiram pH 6 pelo método de incubação.The objective of this study was to analyze the pH curves of three representative soils of the Metropolitan Region of Curitiba for determining the maximum annual application rates of sewage sludge sanitized by prolonged alkaline stabilization process (EAP sludge), as stated in the legislation, and for comparison with the methodology of base saturation (V%). The soils were incubated with six doses of sludge EAP (pH 9.2) and pH measured on 5 dates, up to 75 days. The Inceptisol from Piraquara with the cation exchange capacity and higher carbon content reached the pH 7 with 49 t ha-1 of total solids (ST); the Oxisol with 38 t ha-1 of ST, and to Inceptisol from Pinhais, the most restrictive, indicated that the annual application of sludge EAP shall not exceed the 31 t ha-1 of ST. Caution in selecting representative soil was suggested. The method V% recommended EAP sludge quantities equal or slightly higher than that reached pH 6 by the method of incubation

Comprehensive Functional Analyses of Expressed Sequence Tags in Common Wheat (Triticum aestivum)

About 1 million expressed sequence tag (EST) sequences comprising 125.3 Mb nucleotides were accreted from 51 cDNA libraries constructed from a variety of tissues and organs under a range of conditions, including abiotic stresses and pathogen challenges in common wheat (Triticum aestivum). Expressed sequence tags were assembled with stringent parameters after processing with inbuild scripts, resulting in 37 138 contigs and 215 199 singlets. In the assembled sequences, 10.6% presented no matches with existing sequences in public databases. Functional characterization of wheat unigenes by gene ontology annotation, mining transcription factors, full-length cDNA, and miRNA targeting sites were carried out. A bioinformatics strategy was developed to discover single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within our large EST resource and reported the SNPs between and within (homoeologous) cultivars. Digital gene expression was performed to find the tissue-specific gene expression, and correspondence analysis was executed to identify common and specific gene expression by selecting four biotic stress-related libraries. The assembly and associated information cater a framework for future investigation in functional genomics