Quantitative and qualitative aspects of wheat grains influenced by nitrogen and water depth

Com o objetivo de avaliar o efeito de diferentes lâminas de água e doses de nitrogênio e a interação dos dois fatores sobre a produtividade e qualidade de grãos do trigo BRS 254 instalou-se, em 2009, um experimento em Latossolo Vermelho-Amarelo. O delineamento experimental foi o de blocos ao acaso com parcelas subdivididas e quatro repetições. Nas parcelas foram estabelecidas cinco doses de nitrogênio (N): 20, 50, 100, 200 e 400 kg ha-1 e nas subparcelas as lâminas de água: 120; 264; 342 e 392 mm. A produtividade média e a maioria de seus componentes diferiram significativamente em função da lâmina de água e da dose de N; a exceção foi o número de espiguetas por espiga, não influenciado por nitrogênio. A produtividade mínima e máxima observada foi de 1.136 e 5.209 kg ha-1, respectivamente, para 120 mm e 50 kg ha-1 de N e 392 mm e 200 kg ha-1 de N. O teor de proteína bruta foi influenciado significativamente pela interação lâmina de água e dose de nitrogênio. A massa do hectolitro, a energia de deformação da massa e o número de queda, foram influenciados significativamente apenas por lâmina de água. Lâminas menores que 365 mm proporcionaram massa do hectolitro abaixo de 78 kg hL-1. Por outro lado, lâminas de água maiores que 340 mm proporcionaram número de queda abaixo de 250 s, sugerindo cautela no manejo da água em agrossistemas de trigo. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACTA field experiment was carried out in a Red-Yellow Latosol in 2009 in order to assess the effects of different doses of nitrogen fertilization and water depth and their interaction on the grain yield and quality of wheat BRS 254. The experimental design was a completely randomized block with split plot on water level and four replications. Nitrogen doses in the plot were: 20, 50, 100, 200, and 400 kg ha-1. In the split plot water depths were: 120, 264, 342 and 392 mm. Mean yield and the majority of its components differed significantly with water depth and nitrogen dose. The exception occurred on the number of grains per spikelet which was not affected by nitrogen level. Minimum and maximum yield were 1,135 kg ha-1 and 5,209 kg ha-1, respectively for 120 mm and 50 kg ha-1 of N; and 392 mm and 200 kg ha-1 of N. In all of them, the highest yields were achieved by nitrogen doses over 220 kg ha-1. Crude protein content was significantly affected by water and nitrogen level interaction. The hectoliter mass, the strength of gluten and the falling number were significantly affected by water level. Water depths lower than 365 mm provided hectoliter weight below 78 kg hL-1. On the other hand water depths higher than 340 mm provided falling number below 250 s, suggesting caution on wheat agrossystems water management

pVAXhsp65 vaccination primes for high IL-10 production and decreases experimental encephalomyelitis severity

Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) is a demyelinating pathology of the central nervous system (CNS) used as a model to study multiple sclerosis immunopathology. EAE has also been extensively employed to evaluate potentially therapeutic schemes. Considering the presence of an immune response directed to heat shock proteins (hsps) in autoimmune diseases and the immunoregulatory potential of these molecules, we evaluated the effect of a previous immunization with a genetic vaccine containing the mycobacterial hsp65 gene on EAE development. C57BL/6 mice were immunized with 4 pVAXhsp65 doses and 14 days later were submitted to EAE induction by immunization with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG35-55) emulsified in Complete Freund’s Adjuvant. Vaccinated mice presented significant lower clinical scores and lost less body weight. MOG35-55 immunization also determined less inflammation in lumbar spinal cord but did not change CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ T cells frequency in spleen and CNS. Infiltrating cells from the CNS stimulated with rhsp65 produced significantly higher levels of IL-10. These results suggest that the ability of pVAXhsp65 vaccination to control EAE development is associated with IL-10 induction

Combined immunization using DNA-Sm14 and DNA-Hsp65 increases CD8+ memory T cells, reduces chronic pathology and decreases egg viability during Schistosoma mansoni infection

Abstract\ud \ud Background\ud Schistosomiasis is one of the most important neglected diseases found in developing countries and affects 249 million people worldwide. The development of an efficient vaccination strategy is essential for the control of this disease. Previous work showed partial protection induced by DNA-Sm14 against Schistosoma mansoni infection, whereas DNA-Hsp65 showed immunostimulatory properties against infectious diseases, autoimmune diseases, cancer and antifibrotic properties in an egg-induced granuloma model.\ud \ud \ud Methods\ud C57BL/6 mice received 4 doses of DNA-Sm14 (100 μg/dose) and DNA-Hsp65 (100 μg/dose), simultaneously administrated, or DNA-Sm14 alone, once a week, during four weeks. Three groups were included: 1- Control (no immunization); 2- DNA-Sm14; 3- DNA-Sm14/DNA-Hsp65. Two weeks following last immunization, animals were challenged subcutaneously with 30 cercariae. Fifteen, 48 and 69 days after infection splenocytes were collected to evaluate the number of CD8+ memory T cells (CD44highCD62low) using flow cytometry. Forty-eight days after challenge adult worms were collected by portal veins perfusion and intestines were collected to analyze the intestinal egg viability. Histological, immunohistochemical and soluble quantification of collagen and α-SMA accumulation were performed on the liver.\ud \ud \ud Results\ud In the current work, we tested a new vaccination strategy using DNA-Sm14 with DNA-Hsp65 to potentiate the protection against schistosomiasis. Combined vaccination increased the number of CD8+ memory T cells and decreased egg viability on the intestinal wall of infected mice. In addition, simultaneous vaccination with DNA-Sm14/DNA-Hsp65 reduced collagen and α-SMA accumulation during the chronic phase of granuloma formation.\ud \ud \ud Conclusion\ud Simultaneous vaccination with DNA-Sm14/DNA-Hsp65 showed an immunostimulatory potential and antifibrotic property that is associated with the reduction of tissue damage on Schistosoma mansoni experimental infection.We are grateful to Elaine Medeiros Floriano, Olinda Mara Brigoto and Fabiana\ud Rossetto de Morais for their technical assistance. This study was supported\ud by São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP, grant# 2009/01501-8 and 2009/\ud 07169-5) and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e\ud Tecnológico (CNPq)

Two GCC boxes and AP2/ERF-domain transcription factor ORA59 in jasmonate/ethylene-mediated activation of the PDF1.2 promoter in Arabidopsis

Plant defense against microbial pathogens depends on the action of several endogenously produced hormones, including jasmonic acid (JA) and ethylene (ET). In defense against necrotrophic pathogens, the JA and ET signaling pathways synergize to activate a specific set of defense genes including PLANT DEFENSIN1.2 (PDF1.2). The APETALA2/Ethylene Response Factor (AP2/ERF)-domain transcription factor ORA59 acts as the integrator of the JA and ET signaling pathways and is the key regulator of JA- and ET-responsive PDF1.2 expression. The present study was aimed at the identification of elements in the PDF1.2 promoter conferring the synergistic response to JA/ET and interacting with ORA59. We show that the PDF1.2 promoter was activated synergistically by JA and the ET-releasing agent ethephon due to the activity of two GCC boxes. ORA59 bound in vitro to these GCC boxes and trans-activated the PDF1.2 promoter in transient assays via these two boxes. Using the chromatin immunoprecipitation technique we were able to show that ORA59 bound the PDF1.2 promoter in vivo. Finally, we show that a tetramer of a single GCC box conferred JA/ethephon-responsive expression, demonstrating that the JA and ET signaling pathways converge to a single type of GCC box. Therefore ORA59 and two functionally equivalent GCC box binding sites form the module that enables the PDF1.2 gene to respond synergistically to simultaneous activation of the JA and ET signaling pathways

Functional and Transcriptional Induction of Aquaporin-1 Gene by Hypoxia; Analysis of Promoter and Role of Hif-1α

Aquaporin-1 (AQP1) is a water channel that is highly expressed in tissues with rapid O2 transport. It has been reported that this protein contributes to gas permeation (CO2, NO and O2) through the plasma membrane. We show that hypoxia increases Aqp1 mRNA and protein levels in tissues, namely mouse brain and lung, and in cultured cells, the 9L glioma cell line. Stopped-flow light-scattering experiments confirmed an increase in the water permeability of 9L cells exposed to hypoxia, supporting the view that hypoxic Aqp1 up-regulation has a functional role. To investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying this regulatory process, transcriptional regulation was studied by transient transfections of mouse endothelial cells with a 1297 bp 5′ proximal Aqp1 promoter-luciferase construct. Incubation in hypoxia produced a dose- and time-dependent induction of luciferase activity that was also obtained after treatments with hypoxia mimetics (DMOG and CoCl2) and by overexpressing stabilized mutated forms of HIF-1α. Single mutations or full deletions of the three putative HIF binding domains present in the Aqp1 promoter partially reduced its responsiveness to hypoxia, and transfection with Hif-1α siRNA decreased the in vitro hypoxia induction of Aqp1 mRNA and protein levels. Our results indicate that HIF-1α participates in the hypoxic induction of AQP1. However, we also demonstrate that the activation of Aqp1 promoter by hypoxia is complex and multifactorial and suggest that besides HIF-1α other transcription factors might contribute to this regulatory process. These data provide a conceptual framework to support future research on the involvement of AQP1 in a range of pathophysiological conditions, including edema, tumor growth, and respiratory diseases

Multi-Center Fetal Brain Tissue Annotation (FeTA) Challenge 2022 Results

Segmentation is a critical step in analyzing the developing human fetal brain. There have been vast improvements in automatic segmentation methods in the past several years, and the Fetal Brain Tissue Annotation (FeTA) Challenge 2021 helped to establish an excellent standard of fetal brain segmentation. However, FeTA 2021 was a single center study, and the generalizability of algorithms across different imaging centers remains unsolved, limiting real-world clinical applicability. The multi-center FeTA Challenge 2022 focuses on advancing the generalizability of fetal brain segmentation algorithms for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In FeTA 2022, the training dataset contained images and corresponding manually annotated multi-class labels from two imaging centers, and the testing data contained images from these two imaging centers as well as two additional unseen centers. The data from different centers varied in many aspects, including scanners used, imaging parameters, and fetal brain super-resolution algorithms applied. 16 teams participated in the challenge, and 17 algorithms were evaluated. Here, a detailed overview and analysis of the challenge results are provided, focusing on the generalizability of the submissions. Both in- and out of domain, the white matter and ventricles were segmented with the highest accuracy, while the most challenging structure remains the cerebral cortex due to anatomical complexity. The FeTA Challenge 2022 was able to successfully evaluate and advance generalizability of multi-class fetal brain tissue segmentation algorithms for MRI and it continues to benchmark new algorithms. The resulting new methods contribute to improving the analysis of brain development in utero.Comment: Results from FeTA Challenge 2022, held at MICCAI; Manuscript submitted. Supplementary Info (including submission methods descriptions) available here: https://zenodo.org/records/1062864

Production of He-4 and (4) in Pb-Pb collisions at root(NN)-N-S=2.76 TeV at the LHC

Results on the production of He-4 and (4) nuclei in Pb-Pb collisions at root(NN)-N-S = 2.76 TeV in the rapidity range vertical bar y vertical bar <1, using the ALICE detector, are presented in this paper. The rapidity densities corresponding to 0-10% central events are found to be dN/dy4(He) = (0.8 +/- 0.4 (stat) +/- 0.3 (syst)) x 10(-6) and dN/dy4 = (1.1 +/- 0.4 (stat) +/- 0.2 (syst)) x 10(-6), respectively. This is in agreement with the statistical thermal model expectation assuming the same chemical freeze-out temperature (T-chem = 156 MeV) as for light hadrons. The measured ratio of (4)/He-4 is 1.4 +/- 0.8 (stat) +/- 0.5 (syst). (C) 2018 Published by Elsevier B.V.Peer reviewe

Questão agrária e políticas públicas em Minas Gerais : conflitos sociais e alternativas populares

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Yield and quality of the wheat grains influenced by nitrogen and water depths in the Federal District

Dissertação (mestrado)—Universidade de Brasília, Faculdade de Agronomia e Medicina Veterinária, 2010.Com o objetivo de avaliar o efeito de diferentes lâminas de água e doses de nitrogênio e a interação dos dois fatores sobre a produtividade e qualidade de grãos do trigo BRS 254, um experimento de campo foi instalado em Latossolo Vermelho-Amarelo, no ano de 2009. O delineamento experimental foi o de blocos ao acaso com parcelas subdivididas e quatro repetições. Nas parcelas foram estabelecidas cinco doses de nitrogênio: 20, 50, 100, 200 e 400 kg ha-1 e, nas subparcelas, as lâminas de água: 120 264, 342 e 392 mm. Variações na produtividade de grãos ocorreram em função das doses de nitrogênio em diferentes lâminas de água. Houve efeito significativo das lâminas de água e das doses de nitrogênio sobre o número de grãos por espiga, número de grãos por espigueta, número de grãos por m2 e massa de mil grãos, ao passo que o teor de proteína bruta foi influenciado significativamente pela interação dos dois fatores. O número de espiguetas por espiga, a massa do hectolitro, a energia de deformação da massa e o número de queda foram influenciados significativamente apenas pelas lâminas de água. A aplicação de lâminas de água menores do que 365 mm proporcionaram valores da massa do hectolitro abaixo de 78 kg hl-1. A aplicação de lâminas de água inferiores a 340 mm proporcionaram valores de número de queda abaixo de 250 s. _________________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACTA field experiment was introduced in a Red-Yellow Latossol in 2009 in order to assess the different effects of nitrogen fertilization and water depths, and their interaction over the grains yield and quality of wheat BRS 254. The experimental design was randomized block with subdivided plots and four replications. In the plots, the nitrogen doses were: 20, 50, 100, 200, and 400 kg ha-1; at the subplots the water depths were: 120, 264, 342 and 392 mm. Yield discrepancies resulted from nitrogen fertilization within different water depths. There was significant influence from the nitrogen fertilization and the water depths on the number of grains per spike, number of grains per spikelet, number of grains per m2 and the mass of a thousand grains. The crude protein content was significantly influenced by the interaction of both factors. The number of spikelets per spike, the hectoliter weight, the strength of gluten and the falling number were exclusively influenced by water depth. The applying of water depths lower than 365 mm entailed hectoliter weight under 78 kg hl-1. The administration of water depths above 340 mm entailed falling numbers under 250 s

Catalytic studies on hidrocarbon oxidation using fluorosubstituted metalloporphyrins as catalysts in homogeneous and heterogeneous medium

Manganês(III)porfirinas têm sido relatadas como eficientes catalisadores em reações de oxigenação de hidrocarbonetos por vários doadores de oxigênio. Numa primeira etapa, foram realizadas a síntese e caracterização das porfirinas base-livre, posterior introdução de grupo sulfonato na H2(MPTFPP), a fim de que esta pudesse ser utilizada em reações em meio heterogêneo, e inserção de metal nas porfirinas base-livre, obtendo-se os catalisadores cis-[Mn(BFPBPP)]Cl, trans-[Mn(BFPBPP)]Cl, [Mn(MSO3TFPP)]Cl e [Mn(TSO3PP)]Cl. Realizou-se a funcionalização da sílica gel contendo grupos trimetilamônio, que permitia sua ligação com metaloporfirinas contendo cargas negativas periféricas, com grupos imidazol, que permitem ligação com a metaloporfirina via ligação coordenativa, favorecendo o aumento da atividade catalítica destes sistemas. Os catalisadores [Mn(BFPBPP)]Cl, trans-[Mn(BFPBPP)]Cl, [Mn(MSO3TFPP)]Cl foram utilizados na epoxidação do (Z)-cicloocteno e na oxidação do cicloexano por PhIO em meio homogêneo. A Mn(III)porfirina aniônica apresentou rendimentos comparáveis a sistemas clássicos, acompanhados de uma melhor seletividade. Tais resultados, acompanhados da vantagem de que este sistema poderia ser utilizado em meio heterogêneo, levaram à sua escolha para prosseguimento dos estudos. [Mn(MSO3TFPP)]Cl e [Mn(TSO3PP)]Cl foram então utilizadas em meio homogêneo e imobilizadas nos suportes IPG, SiN+, SiN+(IPG) como catalisadores na reação de epoxidação do (Z)-cicloocteno. No caso do PhIO, para ambas o suporte exerceu um efeito positivo, alcançando-se 100% de ciclooctenóxido com os sistemas [Mn(MSO3PTFPP)]-IPG, [Mn(MSO3PTFPP)]-SiN(IPG) e [Mn(TSO3PP)]-SiN(IPG). A presença de substituintes pentafluorofenis na [Mn(MSO3TFPP)]Cl tornaram-na mais ativa na catálise de epoxidação do (Z)-cicloocteno por H2O2, o que levou a considerar o efeito dos substituintes eletronegativos no sentido de tornar o centro metal-oxo mais eletrofílico, aumentando sua reatividade. Além disso, um aumento na atividade catalítica dos catalisadores utilizados em sistema heterogêneo, aliado à presença de imidazol adicionado, evidenciam o efeito positivo do suporte e papel duplo do co-catalisador, atuando como catalisador ácido-base e ligante trans ao Mn(III). Tais resultados comparam-se aos obtidos para sistemas clássicos, mas com a vantagem dos catalisadores obtidos neste trabalho poderem ser recuperados ao final da reação, podendo ser reutilizados.Manganese(III)porphyrins have been described as efficient catalysts in hidrocarbon oxygenation reactions by a variety of oxygen donors. In a first step, the free-base porphyrins synthesis and characterization were performed, with posterior introduction of a sulfonato group in H2(MPTFPP), in order to use its heterogeneous catalyst, and metal insertion, rendering cis-[Mn(BFPBPP)]Cl, trans-[Mn(BFPBPP)]Cl, [Mn(MSO3TFPP)]Cl and [Mn(TSO3PP)]Cl. The silica gel containing trimethylammonium groups was functionalized with imidazole groups. The first allowed the linkage of anionic metalloporphyrins containing peripherical negative charges and the latter allows its linkage to metalloporphyrins via coordinative binding. Homogeneous [Mn(BFPBPP)]Cl, trans-[Mn(BFPBPP)]Cl, [Mn(MSO3TFPP)]Cl were used in the (Z)-cyclooctene epoxydation and cicloexane oxidation by PhIO. The anionic Mn(III)porphyrin had presented yields comparable to classic systems with a better selectivity. Such results allied to the possibility of use in heterogeneous system led to its choice to posterior studies. Homogeneous and heterogeneous [Mn(MSO3TFPP)]Cl e [Mn(TSO3PP)]Cl immobilized on IPG, SiN+, SiN+(IPG) supports were then used as catalysts in the epoxydation reaction of (Z)-cyclooctene. When PhIO was used, the support had a positive effect for both catalysts, reaching 100% epoxycyclooctane in [Mn(MSO3PTFPP)]-IPG, [Mn(MSO3PTFPP)]-SiN(IPG) e [Mn(TSO3PP)]-SiN(IPG). Because of bearing pentafluorophenyl groups, [Mn(MSO3TFPP)]Cl was more active in epoxydation reaction of (Z)-cyclooctene catalysis by H2O2, which led considering the effect of electronegative groups leading to a metal-oxo species more eletrophylic, increasing its reactivity. A rise in the catalytic activity of heterogeneous catalysts allied to imidazole addition show the positive effect of the support and the two-fold hole of the co-catalyst, acting as acid-base catalyst and trans ligand to Mn(III). Such results are comparable to that obtained for classical system with the advantage that the catalysts obtained in this work allow its recuperation and reuse