Genetic variability of indigenous cowpea genotypes as determined using inter-simple sequence repeats markers

Cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.] is cultivated widely by small farmers in the semiarid region of Northeastern Brazil for subsistence purposes, especially to complement the family income. However, owing to the limited availability of water in this region, there is an urgent need for novel highly productive drought-tolerant cultivars. The aim of the present study was to establish the genetic variability of 14 cowpea populations (60 indigenous genotypes from 13 microregions of Rio Grande do Norte and 4 domesticated cultivars produced by Embrapa) using inter-simple sequence repeats (ISSR) markers. The set of 13 selected primers generated a total of 257 loci, 247 (96.11%) of which were polymorphic, with sizes ranging between 200 and 2000 bp. Genetic similarities between accessions were estimated from Jaccard coefficients and genetic relationships were determined from the dendrogram constructed using the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic average (UPGMA) technique. Bayesian statistics  coupled with the Markov chain Monte Carlo technique was applied to determine population structure, while the genetic variability was established by analysis of molecular variance. UPGMA analysis allowed the separation of the genotypes into three groups, but no relationship between the genetic and  geographical distances was observed. The fixation index was considered intermediary (FST = 0.0818), the average heterozygosity was low (HS = 0.39) and the coefficient of endogamy was high (f = 92.6%). The results show the presence of genetic diversity among the studied populations and revealed that such variability could be attributed mainly to intra-population variability (91.82%).Key words: Vigna unguiculata, genetic diversity, plant improvement, drought stress

Genome of the Avirulent Human-Infective Trypanosome—Trypanosoma rangeli

Background: Trypanosoma rangeli is a hemoflagellate protozoan parasite infecting humans and other wild and domestic mammals across Central and South America. It does not cause human disease, but it can be mistaken for the etiologic agent of Chagas disease, Trypanosoma cruzi. We have sequenced the T. rangeli genome to provide new tools for elucidating the distinct and intriguing biology of this species and the key pathways related to interaction with its arthropod and mammalian hosts.  Methodology/Principal Findings: The T. rangeli haploid genome is ,24 Mb in length, and is the smallest and least repetitive trypanosomatid genome sequenced thus far. This parasite genome has shorter subtelomeric sequences compared to those of T. cruzi and T. brucei; displays intraspecific karyotype variability and lacks minichromosomes. Of the predicted 7,613 protein coding sequences, functional annotations could be determined for 2,415, while 5,043 are hypothetical proteins, some with evidence of protein expression. 7,101 genes (93%) are shared with other trypanosomatids that infect humans. An ortholog of the dcl2 gene involved in the T. brucei RNAi pathway was found in T. rangeli, but the RNAi machinery is non-functional since the other genes in this pathway are pseudogenized. T. rangeli is highly susceptible to oxidative stress, a phenotype that may be explained by a smaller number of anti-oxidant defense enzymes and heatshock proteins.  Conclusions/Significance: Phylogenetic comparison of nuclear and mitochondrial genes indicates that T. rangeli and T. cruzi are equidistant from T. brucei. In addition to revealing new aspects of trypanosome co-evolution within the vertebrate and invertebrate hosts, comparative genomic analysis with pathogenic trypanosomatids provides valuable new information that can be further explored with the aim of developing better diagnostic tools and/or therapeutic targets

The Pioneer Anomaly

Radio-metric Doppler tracking data received from the Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft from heliocentric distances of 20-70 AU has consistently indicated the presence of a small, anomalous, blue-shifted frequency drift uniformly changing with a rate of ~6 x 10^{-9} Hz/s. Ultimately, the drift was interpreted as a constant sunward deceleration of each particular spacecraft at the level of a_P = (8.74 +/- 1.33) x 10^{-10} m/s^2. This apparent violation of the Newton's gravitational inverse-square law has become known as the Pioneer anomaly; the nature of this anomaly remains unexplained. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge of the physical properties of the anomaly and the conditions that led to its detection and characterization. We review various mechanisms proposed to explain the anomaly and discuss the current state of efforts to determine its nature. A comprehensive new investigation of the anomalous behavior of the two Pioneers has begun recently. The new efforts rely on the much-extended set of radio-metric Doppler data for both spacecraft in conjunction with the newly available complete record of their telemetry files and a large archive of original project documentation. As the new study is yet to report its findings, this review provides the necessary background for the new results to appear in the near future. In particular, we provide a significant amount of information on the design, operations and behavior of the two Pioneers during their entire missions, including descriptions of various data formats and techniques used for their navigation and radio-science data analysis. As most of this information was recovered relatively recently, it was not used in the previous studies of the Pioneer anomaly, but it is critical for the new investigation.Comment: 165 pages, 40 figures, 16 tables; accepted for publication in Living Reviews in Relativit

Prácticas del enfermero en el contexto de la atención básica: scoping review

Objective: to identify and categorize the practices performed by nurses working in Primary Health Care and Family Health Strategy Units in light of responsibilities established by the profession’s legal and programmatic frameworks and by the Brazilian Unified Health System. Method: a scoping review was conducted in the following databases: LILACS, IBECS, BDENF, CINAHL and MEDLINE, and the Cochrane and SciELO libraries. Original research papers written by nurses addressing nursing practices in the primary health care context were included. Results: the review comprised 30 studies published between 2005 and 2014. Three categories emerged from the analysis: practices in the service; practices in the community; and management and education practices. Conclusion: the challenges faced by nurses are complex, as care should be centered on the population’s health needs, which requires actions at other levels of clinical and health responsibility. Brazilian nursing has achieved important advancements since the implementation of policies intended to reorganize work. There is, however, a need to shift work processes from being focused on individual procedures to being focused on patients so that an enlarged clinic is the ethical-political imperative guiding the organization of services and professional intervention.Objetivo: identificar e categorizar as práticas exercidas pelos enfermeiros junto às Unidades Básicas e às Equipes de Saúde da Família, à luz das atribuições previstas pelos marcos legais e programáticos da profissão e do Sistema Único de Saúde. Método: realizou-se uma revisão da literatura com o método scoping review, nas bases LILACS, IBECS, BDENF, CINAHL e MEDLINE, e nas bibliotecas Cochrane e SciELO. Incluíram-se artigos de pesquisa original, produzidos com enfermeiros, sobre as práticas de enfermagem no contexto dos cuidados de saúde primários. Resultados: a revisão abrangeu trinta estudos publicados entre 2005 e 2014. Da análise, resultaram três categorias: práticas no serviço, práticas na comunidade e práticas de gestão e formação. Conclusão: os desafios dos enfermeiros são complexos, posto que o cuidado deve estar centrado nas necessidades de saúde da população, o que remete à ação para outros níveis de responsabilidade clínica e sanitária. A enfermagem brasileira mostra importantes avanços desde a implantação das políticas de reorganização do trabalho. Necessita, entretanto, avançar no que se refere ao deslocamento dos processos de trabalho, focados em procedimentos individuais, para um processo mais voltado aos usuários, onde a clínica ampliada seja o imperativo ético-político da organização dos serviços e da intervenção profissional.Objetivo: identificar y categorizar las prácticas ejercidas por los enfermeros en las Unidades Básicas y los Equipos de Salud de la Familia, desde el punto de vista de las atribuciones previstas por los marcos legales y programáticos de la profesión y del Sistema Único de la Salud. Método: se realizó una revisión de la literatura con el método scoping review, en las bases LILACS, IBECS, BDENF, CINAHL y MEDLINE, y en las bibliotecas Cochrane y SciELO. Se incluyeron artículos de investigación original, producidos con enfermeros, sobre las prácticas de enfermería en el contexto de los cuidados de salud primarios. Resultados: la revisión abarcó treinta estudios publicados entre 2005 y 2014. Del análisis, resultaron tres categorías: prácticas en el servicio; prácticas en la comunidad; y, prácticas de administración y formación. Conclusión: los desafíos de los enfermeros son complejos, ya que el cuidado debe estar centrado en las necesidades de salud de la población, lo que conduce a la acción para otros niveles de responsabilidad clínica y sanitaria. La enfermería brasileña muestra importantes avances a partir de la implantación de las políticas de reorganización del trabajo. Necesita, entre tanto, avanzar en lo que se refiere al desplazamiento de los procesos de trabajo, enfocados en procedimientos individuales, para un proceso más dirigido a los usuarios, en donde la clínica ampliada sea el imperativo ético político de la organización de los servicios y de la intervención profesional.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio