A photometric and spectroscopic survey of solar twin stars within 50 parsecs of the Sun: I. Atmospheric parameters and color similarity to the Sun

Solar twins and analogs are fundamental in the characterization of the Sun's place in the context of stellar measurements, as they are in understanding how typical the solar properties are in its neighborhood. They are also important for representing sunlight observable in the night sky for diverse photometric and spectroscopic tasks, besides being natural candidates for harboring planetary systems similar to ours and possibly even life-bearing environments. We report a photometric and spectroscopic survey of solar twin stars within 50 pc of the Sun. Hipparcos absolute magnitudes and (B-V)_Tycho colors were used to define a 2 sigma box around the solar values, where 133 stars were considered. Additional stars resembling the solar UBV colors in a broad sense, plus stars present in the lists of Hardorp, were also selected. All objects were ranked by a color-similarity index with respect to the Sun, defined by uvby and BV photometry. Moderately high-resolution, high-S/N spectra were used for a subsample of equatorial-southern stars to derive Teff, log g, and [Fe/H] with average internal errors better than 50 K, 0.20 dex, and 0.08 dex, respectively. Ages and masses were estimated from theoretical HR diagrams. The color-similarity index proved very successful. We identify and rank new excellent solar analogs, which are fit to represent the Sun in the night sky. Some of them are faint enough to be of interest for moderately large telescopes. We also identify two stars with near-UV spectra indistinguishable from the Sun's. We present five new "probable" solar twin stars, besides five new "possible" twins. Masses and ages for the best solar twin candidates lie very close to the solar values, but chromospheric activity levels range somewhat. We propose that the solar twins be emphasized in the ongoing searches for extra-solar planets and SETI searches.Comment: 25 pages, 15 figures, 14 table

The Brazilian grape juice: market and prospects.

This article aims to analyze the market of Brazilian grape juice

Effects of moonlight on the capturability of frugivorous phyllostomid bats (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) at different time scales

Some bat species seem to be lunar phobic, i.e., they avoid flying in bright areas or during bright periods of the night; however, the evidence is still controversial. We think that part of this controversy comes from pooling data on bat captures and moonlight intensity according to broad categories, such as moon phases, which conceal the high variability among nights. Therefore, we used detailed, long-term field data on three phyllostomid bat species, in order to test the hypothesis of lunar phobia at two different time scales: 1) among nights, by pooling data of different nights according to moon phases and testing for differences in the distribution of captures; and 2) within a night, by analyzing the relationship between capturability and moonlight intensity (measured as illuminance) in one-hour intervals for 29 individual nights. Although most captures of the studied bat species occurred in the first half of the night, their activity pattern varied largely among nights, and was not always unimodal as commonly assumed. At the larger time scale, all studied bat species showed evidence of lunar phobia, as they were more frequently captured on dark moon phases. Nevertheless, at the smaller time scale, only Carollia perspicillata (Linnaeus, 1758) was less frequently captured on brighter periods of the night. We propose that the unimodal activity pattern assumed for frugivorous phyllostomid bats may be an artifact of data organization, and that activity and lunar phobia are much more variable than previously assumed.39740

β ‐ sheet assembly in amyloidogenic glutamic acid nanostructures: insights from X‐ray scattering and infrared nanospectroscopy

Glutamic acid–rich peptides are crucial to a variety of biological processes, including glutamatergic neurotransmission and immunological defense. Glutamic acid sequences often exhibit unusual organization into β2‐type sheets, where bifurcated H bonds formed between glutamic acid side chains and NH in amide bonds on adjacent β‐strands play a paramount role for stabilizing the molecular assembly. Herein, we investigate the self‐assembly and supramolecular structure of simplified models consisting of alternating glutamic acid/phenylalanine residues. Small‐angle X‐ray scattering and atomic force microscopy show that the aggregation pathway is characterized by the formation of small oligomers, followed by coalescence into nanofibrils and nanotapes. Amyloidogenic features are further demonstrated through fiber X‐ray diffraction, which reveal molecular packing according to cross‐β patterns, where β‐strands appear perpendicularly oriented to the long axis of nanofibrils and nanotapes. Nanoscale infrared spectroscopy from individual nanoparticles on dried samples shows a remarkable decrease of β2‐sheet content, accompanied by growth of standard β‐sheet fractions, indicating a β2‐to‐β1 transition as a consequence of the release of solvent from the interstices of peptide assemblies. Our findings highlight the key role played by water molecules in mediating H‐bond formation in β2‐sheets commonly found in amyloidogenic glutamic acid–rich aggregates

Resíduos sólidos de uva e compostos com capacidade oxi-redox favorável.

O objetivo deste estudo foi determinar a diferença existente entre os resíduos dos cultivares Isabel, Niágara, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir e uma mistura de cultivares em relação à concentração dos agentes oxi-redoxf para exploração industrial e comercial.Resumo

An Illustrative Case Of Léri-weill Dyschondrosteosis

We report on a girl presenting Léri-Weill dyschondrosteosis (LWD) due to deletion of the SHOX gene. Her family included individuals with short stature alone or with both short stature and mesomelia or Madelung's deformity. The deletion was demonstrated through detection of hemizygosity for microsatellite markdrs SHOX-CA repeat, DXYS10092, DXYS10093 and DXYS10091 localized around the SHOX gene, with retention of paternal alleles in the proband and three of her sisters who had short stature as the only clinical feature. Hemizygosity for these loci was also observed in their mother, who had short stature too. The deletion in the proband was however larger, including locus DXY 10083. The proband's only sister with normal height did not carry the deletion. Family history suggests transmission of the deletion from the proband's maternal great-grandfather to her grandfather via the Y chromosome, and from the grandfather to the proband's mother via the X chromosome after crossing-over in the pseudoautosomal region proximal to the SHOX gene. Copyright © 2008, Sociedade Brasileira de Genética.314839842Belin, V., Cusin, V., Viot, G., Girlich, D., Toutain, A., Moncla, A., Vekemans, M., Cormier-Daire, V., SHOX mutations in dyschondrosteosis (Léri-Weill syndrome) (1998) Nat Genet, 19, pp. 67-69Benito-Sanz, S., del Blanco, D.G., Aza-Carmona, M., Magano, L.F., Lapunzina, P., Argente, J., Campos-Barros, A., Heath, K.E., PAR1 deletions downstream of SHOX are the most frequent defect in a Spanish cohort of Léri-Weill dyschondrosteosis (LWD) probands (2006) Hum Mutat, 27, p. 1062Benito-Sanz, S., del Blanco, D.G., Huber, C., Thomas, N.S., Aza-Carmona, M., Bunyan, B., Maloney, V., Campos-Barros, A., Characterization of SHOX deletions in Léri-Weill dyschondrosteosis (LWD) reveals genetic heterogeneity and no recombination hotspots (2006) Am J Hum Genet, 79, pp. 409-412Benito-Sanz, S., Thomas, N.S., Huber, C., Gorbenko del Blanco, D., Aza-Carmona, M., Crolla, J.A., Maloney, V., Campos-Barros, A., A novel class of pseudoautosomal region 1 deletions downstream of SHOX Is associated with Léri-Weill dyschondrosteosis (2005) Am J Hum Genet, 77, pp. 533-544Clement-Jones, M., Schiller, S., Rao, E., Blaschke, R.J., Zuniga, A., Zeller, R., Robson, S.C., Strachan, T., The short stature homeobox gene SHOX is involved in skeletal abnormalities in Turner syndrome (2000) Hum Mol Genet, 9, pp. 695-702Ellison, J.W., Wardak, Z., Young, M.F., Gehron Robey, P., Laig-Webster, M., Chiong, W., PHOG, a candidate gene for involvement in the short stature of Turner syndrome (1997) Hum Mol Genet, 6, pp. 1341-1347Filatov, D.A., Gerrard, D.T., High mutation rates in human and ape pseudoautosomal genes (2003) Gene, 317, pp. 67-77Fukami, M., Kato, F., Tajima, T., Yokoya, S., Ogata, T., Transactivation function of an approximately 800-bp evolutionarily conserved sequence at the SHOX 3′ region: Implication for the downstream enhancer (2006) Am J Hum Genet, 78, pp. 167-170Henry, A., Thorburn, M.J., Madelung's deformity. A clinical and cytogenetic study (1967) J Bone Joint Surg, 49 B, pp. 66-73Jorge, A.A., Souza, S.C., Nishi, M.Y., Billerbeck, A.E., Liborio, D.C., Kim, C.A., Arnhold, I.J., Mendonca, B.B., SHOX mutations in idiopathic short stature and Leri-Weill dyschondrosteosis: Frequency and phenotypic variability (2007) Clin Endocrinol, 66, pp. 130-135Lien, S., Szyda, J., Schechinger, B., Rappold, G., Arnheim, N., Evidence for heterogeneity in recombination in the human pseudoautosomal region: High resolution analysis by sperm typing and radiation-hybrid mapping (2000) Am J Hum Genet, 66, pp. 557-566Rao, E., Weiss, B., Fukami, M., Rump, A., Niesler, B., Mertz, A., Muroya, K., Winkelmann, M., Pseudoautosomal deletions encompassing a novel homeobox gene cause growth failure in idiopathic short stature and Turner syndrome (1997) Nat Genet, 16, pp. 54-63Rappold, G., Blum, W.F., Shavrikova, E.P., Crowe, B.J., Roeth, R., Quigley, C.A., Ross, J.L., Niesler, B., Genotypes and phenotypes in children with short stature: Clinical indicators of SHOX haploinsufficiency (2007) J Med Genet, 44, pp. 306-313Rappold, G.A., Fukami, M., Niesler, B., Schiller, S., Zumkeller, W., Bettendorf, M., Heinrich, U., Onigata, K., Deletions of the homeobox gene SHOX(short stature homeobox) are an important cause of growth failure in children with short stature (2002) J Clin Endocrinol Metab, 87, pp. 1402-1406Schneider, K.U., Sabherwal, N., Jantz, K., Röth, R., Muncke, N., Blum, W.F., Cutler Jr, G.B., Rappold, G., Identification of major raombinant hotspot in patients with short stature and SHOX deficiency (2005) Am J Hum Genet, 77, pp. 89-96Shears, D.J., Vassal, H.J., Goodman, F.R., Palmer, R.W., Reardon, W., Superti-Furga, A., Scambler, P.J., Winter, R.M., Mutation and deletion of the pseudoautosomal gene SHOX cause Léri-Weill dyschondrosteosis (1998) Nat Genet, 19, pp. 70-72Zebala, L.P., Manske, P.R., Goldfarb, C.A., (200't) Madelung's deformity: A spectrum of presentation.. The J Hand Surg, 32 A, pp. 1393-1401Zinn, A.R., Ramos, P., Ross, J., (1006) A second recombination hotspot associated with SHOX deletions Am J Hum Genet, 78, pp. 523-52

Autochthonous yeast populations from different brazilian geographic indications.

Yeasts are versatile microorganisms which show heterogeneity in their abilities of aromatic molecules formation. The metabolic conversions may improve the production of a particular compound already formed by the microorganism or promote the production of a completely new biochemicals. These conversions depend on the environment. The microbiome of terroir is unique. If the term terroir is a set of physical properties of a vineyard that contribute to the specific characteristics of its wine, the microorganisms will undoubtedly form an integral part of this concept. There are yeasts, filamentous fungi and bacteria that can affect the quality of the wine. The aim of the present study was to identify the autochthonous yeast populations of grape berries collected from regions with Geographic Indications or under construction. The identification was carried out by an approach, combining Maldi-Tof-MS, PCR-RFLP of the internal transcribed spacer with 5.8S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2) and sequences of the D1/D2 domain of the 26S rRNA gene. Some species are common to different GIs and in some of them other species are completely absent, besides some places are contiguous areas. In some areas, Hanseniaspora opuntiae, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Pichia myanmarensis and Hanseniaspora uvarum were the predominant species.Também publicado em: CONGRESSO MUNDIAL DA VINHA E DO VINHO, 39., 2016, Bento Gonçalves. Programa...Bento Gonçalves, RS: International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV): Ministério da Agricultura, Pecuária e Abastecimento, de 19 a 21 outubro, 2016. Artigo nº 7, 02030. 2016