Smad2 and Smad6 as predictors of overall survival in oral squamous cell carcinoma patients

Background: To test if the expression of Smad1-8 mRNAs were predictive of survival in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Patients and Methods: We analyzed, prospectively, the expression of Smad1-8, by means of Ribonuclease Protection Assay in 48 primary, operable, oral SCC. In addition, 21 larynx, 10 oropharynx and 4 hypopharynx SCC and 65 matched adjacent mucosa, available for study, were also included. For survival analysis, patients were categorized as positive or negative for each Smad, according to median mRNA expression. We also performed real-time quantitative PCR (QRTPCR) to asses the pattern of TGF beta 1, TGF beta 2, TGF beta 3 in oral SCC. Results: Our results showed that Smad2 and Smad6 mRNA expression were both associated with survival in Oral SCC patients. Cox Multivariate analysis revealed that Smad6 positivity and Smad2 negativity were both predictive of good prognosis for oral SCC patients, independent of lymph nodal status (P = 0.003 and P = 0.029, respectively). In addition, simultaneously Smad2(-) and Smad6(+) oral SCC group of patients did not reach median overall survival (mOS) whereas the mOS of Smad2(+)/Smad6(-) subgroup was 11.6 months (P = 0.004, univariate analysis). Regarding to TGF beta isoforms, we found that Smad2 mRNA and TGF beta 1 mRNA were inversely correlated (p = 0.05, R = -0.33), and that seven of the eight TGF beta 1(+) patients were Smad2(-). In larynx SCC, Smad7(-) patients did not reach mOS whereas mOS of Smad7(+) patients were only 7.0 months (P = 0.04). No other correlations were found among Smad expression, clinico-pathological characteristics and survival in oral, larynx, hypopharynx, oropharynx or the entire head and neck SCC population. Conclusion: Smad6 together with Smad2 may be prognostic factors, independent of nodal status in oral SCC after curative resection. The underlying mechanism which involves aberrant TGF beta signaling should be better clarified in the future.FAPESP[02/01738-9]CNP

Principais regiões produtoras e de comercialização: o fluxo de abastecimento da mandioquinha-salsa.

O presente trabalho tem como objetivo apresentar o fluxo de abastecimento, entre as regiões de produção e de comercialização de mandioquinha-salsa, entre os anos de 2016 e 2020. Mais especif camente, busca identifIcar as regiões que apresentaram maior contribuição relativa em termos de volume do produto ofertado, além das centrais de abastecimento que receberam maiores volumes de mandioquinha-salsa. Para alcançar o propósito deste estudo, a pesquisa teve abordagem exploratório-descritiva e utilizou informações secundárias, principalmente do site da Companhia Nacional de Abastecimento (Conab), particularmente a base de dados da Prohort ? Simab. Os resultados alcançados revelaram que, no período levantado na presente pesquisa, de 2016 a 2020, foram comercializadas cerca de 55.167 t, com destaque para o ano de 2017, com o maior percentual de volume comercializado no período (23%). A taxa geométrica de crescimento da quantidade comercializada de mandioquinha-salsa no período foi de 3,14% a.a. Em termos regionais, a região Sudeste se destaca na comercialização de mandioquinha-salsa em todo o período analisado. Em média, considerando todo o período, a região Sudeste teve participação de 66,68% no total comercializado por região, seguido da região Sul, com 32,50%, da região Nordeste, com 2,23% e, por f m, da região Centro-Oeste, com 0,8% de participação. Os resultados também apontaram que as centrais de abastecimento (Ceasas) de Minas Gerais, São Paulo e Paraná representaram os maiores mercados atacadistas para a mandioquinha-salsa, sendo também os principais estados fornecedores do produto. Conclui-se que o presente trabalho contribuiu para a análise do fluxo de abastecimento entre as regiões de produção e de comercialização da mandioquinha-salsa, destacando que as principais regiões produtoras e seus respetivos estados concentram o abastecimento nas próprias regiões.O número se refere a edição dos anais do 59º Congresso da Sociedade Brasileira de Economia, Administração e Sociologia Rural (Sober) e 6º Encontro Brasileiro de Pesquisadores em Cooperativismo (EBPC), Manaus, 2022. Ações coletivas e resiliência: inovações políticas, socieconômicas e ambientai

Rastreabilidade, hortaliças hidropônicas e informações: o que pensam os consumidores.

O objetivo deste artigo é verificar se os consumidores de hortaliças possuem conhecimento sobre algumas características de hortaliças ao serem consumidas e se esse conhecimento teria alguma relação com o nível de renda desses consumidores. Os dados para a análise são primários e obtidos por meio da aplicação de um questionário on line composto por questões fechadas de múltipla escolha, dentre as quais constavam a faixa de renda da família do respondente, se sabem o que é rastreabilidade, se sabem o que é uma hortaliça hidropônica e se se pagariam um valor acima de mercado, caso possuíssem mais informações como: se a hortaliça fosse embalada, higienizada, produzida de forma hidropônica; sem agrotóxicos e se souber sua origem. O questionário foi divulgado em redes sociais e, mediante a amostragem não probabilística por meio de cadeias de referência conhecida como ?bola de neve?, foi possível obter 852 respostas de pessoas que residiam em 186 cidades do Brasil, com ênfase em Brasília, Porto Alegre, São Paulo e Salvador. O referencial teórico considerado é o Marketing alimentar com ênfase no marketing de produto e baseado no comportamento do consumidor. Como principal resultado tem-se que 42,49% sabem o que é rastreabilidade e 91,67% sabem o que é uma hortaliça hidropônica. Sobre a disposição a pagar um valor acima de mercado, verificou que 76,76% preferem ser mais informados sobre hortaliças e quanto maior a diferença do valor em relação aos produtos tradicionais menor é a disposição a pagar, sendo que a maioria aceitaria pagar o valor de até 25% acima do que é oferecido no mercado. O conjunto de respostas obtido, obviamente, não é uma amostra da sociedade brasileira, tendo se concentrado em estratos sociais mais abastados. Contudo, favorece um foco analítico sobre os consumidores de hortaliças e apresenta pontos importantes para a construção e estratégias de comercialização para esse tipo de alimento.SOBER 2023

Análisis sensorial de huevos de gallina (Gallus gallus domesticus) orgánicos y convencionales

The objective of this study was to evaluate the instrumental color and sensory analysis of four brands of eggs: organic (A and B) and conventional (C and D). The analysis of skin color and yolk was performed using a Minolta® colorimeter and sensory analysis was used to rank the preference of thirty tasters. The instrumental color data were subjected to analysis of variance, and significant differences were subjected to Tukey test to detect between the means (p?0.05). The data were subjected to the sort Friedman test and multiple comparisons between scores. For instrumental color of the egg yolk for both luminosity and chroma sample C differed from the other samples. In the sensory test, significant difference appeared only for yolk color, which sample C appeared darker than others. For aroma and flavor, was no significant difference between samples. The differences presented by samples for instrumental color and color perceived by sensory analysis didn’t affect the sensory preference and buying intentions between conventional and organic eggs studied.  El objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar el color instrumental y análisis sensorial de cuatro marcas de huevos, orgánicos (A y B) y convencionales (C y D). El análisis de color de la cáscara y la yema se realizó con un colorímetro Minolta® y el análisis sensorial fue utilizado para comprobar la diferencia y la preferencia entre las muestras. Se utilizaron treinta catadores. Los datos de color instrumental fueron sometidos al análisis de varianza, y para detectar diferencias entre las medias se aplicó la prueba de Tukey (p?0,05). Los datos de ordenación fueron sometidos a la prueba tipo Friedman y a comparaciones múltiples entre los escores. Para el color instrumental de la yema del huevo, tanto para luminosidad como croma, la muestra C se diferenció de las otras muestras. En el ensayo sensorial apareció una diferencia significativa sólo para el color de la yema, donde la muestra C apareció más oscura que las otras. Para aroma y sabor hubo una diferencia significativa entre las muestras. Las diferencias presentadas por las muestras de color instrumental y el color percibido por el análisis sensorial no afecta a la preferencia sensorial y la intención de compra entre huevos convencionales y orgánicos estudiados

Understanding user behavior in job and talent search: an initial investigation

The Web has created a global marketplace for e-Commerce as well as for talent. Online employment marketplaces provide an effective channel to facilitate the matching between job seekers and hirers. This paper presents an initial exploration of user behavior in job and talent search using query and click logs from a popular employment marketplace. The observations suggest that the understanding of users’ search behavior in this scenario is still at its infancy and that some of the assumptions made in general web search may not hold true. The open challenges identified so far are presented

Karyotypic conservatism in samples of Characidium cf. zebra (Teleostei, Characiformes, Crenuchidae): Physical mapping of ribosomal genes and natural triploidy

Basic and molecular cytogenetic analyses were performed in specimens of Characidium cf. zebra from five collection sites located throughout the Tietê, Paranapanema and Paraguay river basins. The diploid number in specimens from all samples was 2n = 50 with a karyotype composed of 32 metacentric and 18 submetacentric chromosomes in both males and females. Constitutive heterochromatin was present at the centromeric regions of all chromosomes and pair 23, had additional interstitial heterochromatic blocks on its long arms. The nucleolar organizer regions (NORs) were located on the long arms of pair 23, while the 5S rDNA sites were detected in different chromosomes among the studied samples. One specimen from the Alambari river was a natural triploid and had two extra chromosomes, resulting in 2n = 77. The remarkable karyotypic similarity among the specimens of C. cf. zebra suggests a close evolutionary relationship. On the other hand, the distinct patterns of 5S rDNA distribution may be the result of gene flow constraints during their evolutionary history

Population analysis of vitamin D receptor polymorphisms and the role of genetic ancestry in an admixed population

The vitamin D receptor (VDR) is an essential protein related to bone metabolism. Some VDR alleles are differentially distributed among ethnic populations and display variable patterns of linkage disequilibrium (LD). In this study, 200 unrelated Brazilians were genotyped using 21 VDR single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 28 ancestry informative markers. The patterns of LD and haplotype distribution were compared among Brazilian and the HapMap populations of African (YRI), European (CEU) and Asian (JPT+CHB) origins. Conditional regression and haplotype-specific analysis were performed using estimates of individual genetic ancestry in Brazilians as a quantitative trait. Similar patterns of LD were observed in the 5′ and 3′ gene regions. However, the frequency distribution of haplotype blocks varied among populations. Conditional regression analysis identified haplotypes associated with European and Amerindian ancestry, but not with the proportion of African ancestry. Individual ancestry estimates were associated with VDR haplotypes. These findings reinforce the need to correct for population stratification when performing genetic association studies in admixed populations

Single origin of sex chromosomes and multiple origins of B chromosomes in fish genus Characidium

Chromosome painting with DNA probes obtained from supernumerary (B) and sex chromosomes in three species of fish genus Characidium (C. gomesi, C. pterostictum and C. oiticicai) showed a close resemblance in repetitive DNA content between B and sex chromosomes in C. gomesi and C. pterostictum. This suggests an intraspecific origin for B chromosomes in these two species, probably deriving from sex chromosomes. In C. oiticicai, however, a DNA probe obtained from its B chromosome hybridized with the B but not with the A chromosomes, suggesting that the B chromosome in this species could have arisen interspecifically, although this hypothesis needs further investigation. A molecular phylogenetic analysis performed on nine Characidium species, with two mtDNA genes, showed that the presence of heteromorphic sex chromosomes in these species is a derived condition, and that their origin could have been unique, a conclusion also supported by interspecific chromosome painting with a CgW probe derived from the W chromosome in C. gomesi. Summing up, our results indicate that whereas heteromorphic sex chromosomes in the genus Characidium appear to have had a common and unique origin, B chromosomes may have had independent origins in different species. Our results also show that molecular phylogenetic analysis is an excellent complement for cytogenetic studies by unveiling the direction of evolutionary chromosome changes.This research was funded by grants from the State of Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) to EAS (2013/02143-3), grants from National Council for Research and Development (CNPq) to FF (480449/2012-0), and by Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nıvel Superior (CAPES)