Biology of the iberian chub (Squalius carolitertii) in an atlantic-type stream (river Lima basin-north Portugal). A preliminary approach

The iberian chub (Squalius carolitertii) is an endemic species whose biology is yet largely unknown and which is catalogued as being endangered. Therefore more information about its biology is essential to develop appropriate management strategies. The Estorâos River population has been studied from December 1995 to March 2002 through regular electro-fishing surveys. Additionally, a fish trap installed in the river from November 2001 to July 2002 allowed for the collection of information on population movements and reproduction. The results revealed some fluctuations in the density estimates, though the Squalius carolitertii population in the Estorâos River is quite low. Six age classes (0+ to 5+) were identified. Iberian chub growth is isometric and can reach a final length of 33.5 cm. Sexual dimorphism is evident, with males maturing earlier and at smaller sizes. An increase of the Iberian chub movements was detected from middle April onwards. These movements were related to the beginning of the reproductive period and were mainly correlated with the rise of water temperature. Our results indicate that the population characteristics do not differ substantially from those of other endemic chub populations in the Iberic peninsula.El bordallo (Squalius carolitertii) es una especie cuya biología es en gran parte desconocida y que está catalogada en peligro de extinción. El estudio de su biología es importante para la gestión de sus poblaciones y de su hábitat. La población del río Estorâos (Cuenca del río Límia) ha sido estudiada de Diciembre de 1995 a Marzo de 2002 mediante muestreos con pesca eléctrica. Un sistema de redes utilizado de Noviembre de 2001 a Julio de 2002 permitió la obtención de información sobre los movimientos y parámetros reproductivos de la población. Los datos indican fluctuaciones de la densidad, a pesar de la población presentar valores muy bajos. Seis clases de edad (0+ a 5+) han sido identificadas. El crecimiento de Squalius carolitertii es isométrico y puede llegar a una talla final de 33,5 cm. El dimorfismo sexual es evidente y los machos maduran más temprano y con tallas inferiores a de las hembras. Un creciente de movimientos del bordallo ha sido encontrado a mediados del mes de Abril, lo que está de acuerdo con la fecha del período reproductivo y también con el incremento de la temperatura del agua. Nuestros datos indican que esta población no es muy distinta de otras poblaciones de bordallos endémicos de la península Ibérica

Controlling Excitations Inversion of a Cooper Pair Box Interacting with a Nanomechanical Resonator

We investigate the action of time dependent detunings upon the excitation inversion of a Cooper pair box interacting with a nanomechanical resonator. The method employs the Jaynes-Cummings model with damping, assuming different decay rates of the Cooper pair box and various fixed and t-dependent detunings. It is shown that while the presence of damping plus constant detunings destroy the collapse/revival effects, convenient choices of time dependent detunings allow one to reconstruct such events in a perfect way. It is also shown that the mean excitation of the nanomechanical resonator is more robust against damping of the Cooper pair box for convenient values of t-dependent detunings.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure

Parâmetros de crescimento do sorgo e do capim no consórcio Sorghum bicolor e Brachiaria brizantha cv. Marandu.

Objetivou-se determinar o efeito do consórcio Sorghum bicolor e Brachiaria brizantha sob os parâmetros de crescimento do sorgo e do capim. Os tratamentos utilizados foram: braquiária no plantio solteiro, sorgo no plantio solteiro, sorgo consorciado com capim na linha e entrelinhas de plantio, sorgo consorciado com capim nas entrelinhas de plantio, sorgo consorciado com capim na linha de plantio. Foi utilizado o delineamento em blocos ao acaso com cinco repetições por tratamento. O corte foi feito, aproximadamente, 108 a 110 dias após o plantio, manualmente no dia 13 de maio (111 dias após o plantio) em uma altura de 35 cm. Uma amostra de plantas de sorgo e capim braquiária foi cortada e pesada juntas para que se obtivesse o peso verde do material a ser ensilado, sendo o resultado utilizado para cálculo de produção de matéria verde por hectare. A altura das plantas foi determinada, no momento do corte, por meio da medida do nível do solo até a extremidade superior da panícula em 20% das plantas de cada parcela. Outra amostra de plantas da unidade experimental foi tomada, separadas as plantas de sorgo e capim, pesadas separadamente para obtenção do peso verde (PV) e levadas ao laboratório para secagem em estufa de circulação forçada à 65ºC para determinação do peso seco. Não houve diferença entre as médias (P>0,05), para as alturas das plantas de sorgo e de capim, mas essa diferença foi significativa para as variáveis, estande de sorgo, produção de matéria verde e seca

Exome sequencing followed by large-scale genotyping suggests a limited role for moderately rare risk factors of strong effect in schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric disorder with strong heritability and marked heterogeneity in symptoms, course, and treatment response. There is strong interest in identifying genetic risk factors that can help to elucidate the pathophysiology and that might result in the development of improved treatments. Linkage and genome-wide association studies (GWASs) suggest that the genetic basis of schizophrenia is heterogeneous. However, it remains unclear whether the underlying genetic variants are mostly moderately rare and can be identified by the genotyping of variants observed in sequenced cases in large follow-up cohorts or whether they will typically be much rarer and therefore more effectively identified by gene-based methods that seek to combine candidate variants. Here, we consider 166 persons who have schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and who have had either their genomes or their exomes sequenced to high coverage. From these data, we selected 5,155 variants that were further evaluated in an independent cohort of 2,617 cases and 1,800 controls. No single variant showed a study-wide significant association in the initial or follow-up cohorts. However, we identified a number of case-specific variants, some of which might be real risk factors for schizophrenia, and these can be readily interrogated in other data sets. Our results indicate that schizophrenia risk is unlikely to be predominantly influenced by variants just outside the range detectable by GWASs. Rather, multiple rarer genetic variants must contribute substantially to the predisposition to schizophrenia, suggesting that both very large sample sizes and gene-based association tests will be required for securely identifying genetic risk factors. © 2012 The American Society of Human Genetics

Utilização da gema de ovo de diferentes espécies e proporções sobre a conservação do sêmen congelado de ovinos da raça.

Resumo: Objetivou-se verificar a utilização da gema de ovo de diferentes espécies e sua taxa de adição (10% e 20%) sobre as características de motilidade do sêmen congelado de carneiro. Foram coletados cinco ejaculados de três carneiros da raça Santa Inês, uma vez por semana. Após a coleta foi feito um pool do ejaculado e avaliado o volume, motilidade, vigor e concentração espermática. O pool foi fracionado em quatro alíquotas para testar diferentes tratamentos: Tris (10% e 20% de gema de ovo de galinha caipira) e Tris (10% e 20% de gema de ovo de codorna). As amostras foram envasadas em palhetas de 0,25 ml e congeladas na temperatura de -79º C em equipamento TK 3000. Após 30 dias, foram descongeladas, e o sêmen avaliado pelo método CASA. Os dados foram analisados pela ANOVA e as médias foram comparadas pelo teste de tukey (5% de probabilidade). A porcentagem de espermatozóides móveis foi significativamente melhor no Tris com 10% de gema de ovo de galinha. As variáveis, motilidade progressiva e motilidade de espermatozóides rápidos apresentaram as melhores taxas no Tris com 10% de gema de ovo de galinha, mas não diferiram do Tris com 10% de gema de ovo de codorna. A VAPR foi superior no Tris com 20% de gema de ovo de galinha. Neste estudo, a porcentagem de gema de ovo de ambas as espécies foi que melhor preservou os parâmetros de motilidade espermática. A gema de ovo de codorna poderá ser uma alternativa, no entanto, mais estudos in vivo são necessários para avaliar sua eficiência como um aditivo ao diluidor Tris. Abstract: This study aimed to verify the influence of eggs yolk types (chicken and quail) and addition rates (10% and 20%) on the motility parameters of ram frozen semen. Five ejaculated of the three Santa Inês rams were colleted once a week. After collection a pool of the ejaculates was made and evaluated for volume, motility, vigor and sperm concentration. Fractioned in four aliquotas for the test of treatment different: Tris (10% and 20% of egg yolk of hens) and Tris (10% and 20% of egg yolk of quail). The samples were potted in straws of 0,25 mL and frozen at a temperature of -79º C in the equipment TK 3000. After 30 days, were thawed and evaluated the semen by CASA methodt. Data were anlyzed by ANOVA and means compared by Tukey test ( 5% of probability). The percentage of mobiles spermatozoa was significantly better in Tris with 10% of egg yolk of chicken. The variables progressive motility and rapid motility of spermatozoa showed the best rates in Tris with 10% of chicken egg yolk, but didn't differ in Tris with 10% off egg yolk of quail. The VAPR was superior in Tris with 20% of egg yolk of chicken. In this study, the percentage of 10% off egg yolk in the both species was best preserved in the parameters of sperm motility. The egg yolk of quail may be an alternative; however, further studies "in vivo" are necessary to evaluate its efficiency as an additive for Tris extender

Gross motor coordination and weight status of Portuguese children aged 6-14 years

Objectives: To construct age- and gender-specific percentiles for gross motor coordination (MC) tests and to explore differences in gross MC in normal-weight, overweight and obese children. Methods: Data are from the "Healthy Growth of Madeira Study", a cross-sectional study carried out in children, aged 6–14 years. All 1,276 participants, 619 boys and 657 girls, were assessed for gross MC (Korperkoordinations Test fur Kinder, KTK), anthropometry (height and body mass), physical activity (Baecke questionnaire) and socioeconomic status (SES). Centile curves for gross MC were obtained for boys and girls separately using generalized additive models for location, scale and shape. Results: A significant main effect for age was found in walking backwards and moving sideways. Boys performed significantly better than girls on moving sideways. At the upper limit of the distributions, interindividual variability was higher in hopping on one leg (girls) and jumping and moving sideways (boys and girls). One-way ANCOVA, controlling for age, physical activity and SES, indicated that normal-weight children scored significantly better than their obese peers in all gross MC tests. Overweight boys and girls also scored significantly better than their obese colleagues in some MC tests. Conclusions: These centile curves can be used as reference data in Portuguese children and youth, aged 6–14 years. Being overweight or obese was a major limitation in MC tests and, therefore, of the children’s health- and performance related physical fitness

Desempenho produtivo de animais da raça Nelore submetidos a diferentes métodos de castração.

A castração é uma prática comum e rotineira na pecuária de corte no Brasil, e tem como vantagens facilitar o manejo e melhorar a qualidade da carcaça. Nesse sentido foi conduzido um estudo no período de março de 2016 a janeiro de 2017, com o intuito de avaliar o desempenho produtivo de novilhos da raça Nelore, submetidos a dois métodos de castração, nas condições ambientais de Senador Guiomard, Acre. Avaliou-se, durante 319 dias, 102 animais da raça Nelore, com idade e peso médio iniciais de 20 meses e 377 kg, respectivamente

Características de carcaça de animais da raça Nelore submetidos a diferentes métodos de castração.

O rendimento de carcaça expressa a relação percentual entre o peso da carcaça e o peso vivo do animal, podendo variar em função da raça, sexo, peso de abate, sistema de alimentação e idade do animal. Nesse sentido foi conduzido um estudo no período de março de 2016 a janeiro de 2017, com o intuito de avaliar as características da carcaça de novilhos da raça Nelore, submetidos a dois métodos de castração, nas condições ambientais de Senador Guiomard, Acre. Avaliou-se, durante 319 dias, 108 animais da raça Nelore, com idade e peso médio iniciais de 20 meses e 377 kg, respectivamente

Allele-specific miRNA-binding analysis identifies candidate target genes for breast cancer risk

Most breast cancer (BC) risk-associated single-nucleotide polymorphisms (raSNPs) identified in genome-wide association studies (GWAS) are believed to cis-regulate the expression of genes. We hypothesise that cis-regulatory variants contributing to disease risk may be affecting microRNA (miRNA) genes and/or miRNA binding. To test this, we adapted two miRNA-binding prediction algorithms-TargetScan and miRanda-to perform allele-specific queries, and integrated differential allelic expression (DAE) and expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) data, to query 150 genome-wide significant ( P≤5×10-8 ) raSNPs, plus proxies. We found that no raSNP mapped to a miRNA gene, suggesting that altered miRNA targeting is an unlikely mechanism involved in BC risk. Also, 11.5% (6 out of 52) raSNPs located in 3'-untranslated regions of putative miRNA target genes were predicted to alter miRNA::mRNA (messenger RNA) pair binding stability in five candidate target genes. Of these, we propose RNF115, at locus 1q21.1, as a strong novel target gene associated with BC risk, and reinforce the role of miRNA-mediated cis-regulation at locus 19p13.11. We believe that integrating allele-specific querying in miRNA-binding prediction, and data supporting cis-regulation of expression, improves the identification of candidate target genes in BC risk, as well as in other common cancers and complex diseases.Funding Agency Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology CRESC ALGARVE 2020 European Union (EU) 303745 Maratona da Saude Award DL 57/2016/CP1361/CT0042 SFRH/BPD/99502/2014 CBMR-UID/BIM/04773/2013 POCI-01-0145-FEDER-022184info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio