Houston Metropolitan Common Data Base: Metrocom

Paper by S. E. Mangum, Jr

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Contribuição ao estudo da microinfiltração in vitro de lesões cervicais não cariosas restauradas com diferentes materiais adesivos e técnicas In vitro evaluation of microleakage of noncarious cervical lesions restored with different adhesive materials and techniques

A restauração de lesões cervicais não cariosas é um procedimento comum na clínica diária, havendo uma alta incidência de casos de perda da restauração, descoloração marginal e recidiva de cárie. A etiologia desse tipo de lesão é considerada multifatorial. Neste trabalho, avaliou-se a microinfiltração diante das seguintes variáveis: tipo de material utilizado (dois adesivos de quarta geração utilizados em conjunto com duas resinas compostas de tipos diferentes, &copy;microfillª e híbrida), dois métodos de polimerização dos sistemas adesivos (foto e dual) e duas técnicas restauradoras (incremental e do incremento único). Na metodologia deste trabalho, utilizaram-se ciclagem térmica e mecânica, técnica de infiltração com nitrato de prata, cortes seriados e leitura dos resultados através de escala de escores. A microinfiltração foi menor quando se utilizou uma resina composta híbrida comparada à resina &copy;microfillª. Ao se utilizar o método de polimerização dual do sistema adesivo, a microinfiltração foi menor do que com o método somente fotopolimerizável. A técnica restauradora não exerceu influência sobre o padrão de microinfiltração encontrado nas restaurações de lesões cervicais não cariosas<br>Restoration of noncarious cervical lesions is a usual clinical procedure, and there is a high incidence of restoration loss, marginal discoloration, and recurrent caries. All the factors that play an important role in this process have to be considered when studying this kind of lesion of complex multifactorial etiology. Microleakage was evaluated related to the type of material used (two fourth generation bonding systems used with two types of composite resins: hybrid and microfill), two polymerization methods for bonding systems (photo and dual cure) and two restorative techniques (incremental and bulk). This study used thermal and mechanical cycling procedures, infiltration tests with silver nitrate solution, longitudinal multiple sections, and the results were measured by a scale of scores. Less microleakage was found with hybrid composite resin when compared to the microfill composite. Microleakage was lower with dual polymerization of the adhesive system than with photopolymerization only. Restorative techniques used did not influence the microleakage pattern of restorations of noncarious cervical lesion

An Assessment of the Effect of Rotenone on Selected Non-Target Aquatic Fauna: Reflections on Henri Lefebre, Urban Theory and the Politics of Scale

Rotenone, a naturally occurring ketone, is widely employed for the management of invasive fish species. The use of rotenone poses serious challenges to conservation practitioners due to its impacts on non-target organisms including amphibians and macroinvertebrates. Using laboratory studies, we investigated the effects of different rotenone concentrations (0,12.5, 25, 37.5, 50, 100 μg L-1) on selected invertebrate groups; Aeshnidae, Belostomatids, Decapods, Ephemeroptera, Pulmonata and zooplankton over a period of 18 hours. Based on field observations and body size, we hypothesized that Ephemeropterans and zooplankton would be more susceptible to rotenone than Decapods, Belostomatids and snails. Experimental results supported this hypothesis and mortality and behaviour effects varied considerably between taxa, ranging from no effect (crab Potamonuates sidneyi) to 100% mortality (Daphnia pulex and Paradiaptomus lamellatus). Planktonic invertebrates were particularly sensitive to rotenone even at very low concentrations. Future research should investigate the recovery time of invertebrate communities after the application of rotenone and conduct field assessments assessing the longer term effects of rotenone exposure on the population dynamics of those less sensitive organisms