Single Stellar Populations in the Near-Infrared - I. Preparation of the IRTF spectral stellar library

We present a detailed study of the stars of the IRTF spectral library to understand its full extent and reliability for use with Stellar Population (SP) modeling. The library consist of 210 stars, with a total of 292 spectra, covering the wavelength range of 0.94 to 2.41 micron at a resolution R = 2000. For every star we infer the effective temperature (Teff), gravity (logg) and metallicity ([Z/Zsun]) using a full-spectrum fitting approach in a section of the K band (2.19 to 2.34 micron) and temperature-NIR colour relations. We test the flux calibration of these stars by calculating their integrated colours and comparing them with the Pickles library colour-temperature relations. We also investigate the NIR colours as a function of the calculated effective temperature and compared them in colour-colour diagrams with the Pickles library. This latter test shows a good broad-band flux calibration, important for the SP models. Finally, we measure the resolution R as a function of wavelength. We find that the resolution increases as a function of lambda from about 6 angstrom in J to 10 angstrom in the red part of the K-band. With these tests we establish that the IRTF library, the largest currently available general library of stars at intermediate resolution in the NIR, is an excellent candidate to be used in stellar population models. We present these models in the next paper of this series.Comment: 17 pages, 19 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Relationship between optimism, disease variables, and health perception and quality of life in individuals with epilepsy.

Epilepsy Behav. 2007 Aug;11(1):33-8. Epub 2007 May 29. Relationship between optimism, disease variables, and health perception and quality of life in individuals with epilepsy. Pais-Ribeiro J, da Silva AM, Meneses RF, Falco C. Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação, Universidade do Porto, Rua Dr. Manuel Pereira da Silva, 4200-392 Porto, Portugal. [email protected] Abstract Epilepsy is a relatively frequent chronic condition with an important impact on the health perception and quality of life (QOL) of patients. The aim of the present study was to identify variables related to health status perception and QOL in persons with epilepsy. Participants were 200 persons with epilepsy, 53.5% of whom were males. The mean age was 39.6; 95% had seizures, and 99% were taking antiepileptic medication. The self-report questionnaire administered assessed four types of variables: demographic, disease, epilepsy-specific optimistic attitude, and outcome variables. Results demonstrated that an optimistic orientation is related to better perception of physical and mental health status and better perception of QOL. The variables that best predict positive outcomes are optimistic orientation, perception of cognitive functioning, and perception of seizure control. These results question the importance attributed to seizure characteristics for everyday functioning and everyday life of individuals with epilepsy, and stress the importance of facilitating an epilepsy-specific optimistic orientation. PMID: 17537679 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLIN

Efeito de óleo essencial de alfavaca cravo (Ocimum gratissimum) no controle de parasitos monogenóides de tilápia do Nilo (Oreochromis niloticus).

O presente trabalho teve por objetivo avaliar a eficácia do óleo essencial de Ocimum gratissimum para o controle de monogenóides em tilápias (O. niloticus). O ensaio in vitro foi inteiramente casualizado com 5 tratamentos e 3 repetições : controle 1 (água de confinamento), controle 2 (água + álcool 70%), tratamento 1 (40 mg/L de óleo de alfavaca cravo), tratamento 2 (160 mg/L de óleo) e tratamento 3 (320 mg/L de óleo) utilizando 5 monogenóides por tratamento. A mortalidade dos parasitas foi avaliada durante 5 horas. Para o Cl50, o teste definitivo utilizou 18 recipientes, 4 peixes em cada e durou 96 horas. Foi utilizado delineamento inteiramente casualizado (DIC) com 5 concentrações de óleo de alfavaca cravo (20, 40, 60, 80 e 100 mg/L) e um controle, e 3 repetições por concentração. A mortalidade foi avaliada a cada 6 horas com a remoção dos peixes mortos. Para o ensaio in vivo foram utilizadas 4 concentrações: 9 mg/L de alfavaca cravo, 40 mg/L (em banhos longos), 160 e 320 mg/L em banhos terapêuticos curtos. As tilápias foram distribuídas em 15 aquários de 90 l, contendo 5 peixes em cada. Foi utilizado DIC com 5 tratamentos (sendo 1 controle) e 3 repetições. Os banhos terapêuticos longos duraram 48 horas, e os curtos 3 tardes consecutivas com duração de 5 minutos (320 mg/L) e 10 min (160 mg/L). Para avaliar a eficácia 15 peixes do controle e 3 de cada tratamento foram sacrificados para retirada de brânquias e fixadas em formol 10%. A quantificação dos monogenóides foi feita com auxílio do estereomicroscopio e os resultados foram utilizados para calcular a prevalência, intensidade média de infestação, total de parasitas, sobrevivência bem como a eficácia. No in vitro a concentração mais eficiente no controle de monogenóides foi 320 mg/L, o CL5o foi de 40,70 mg/L e no ensaio in vivo a melhor eficácia foi no tratamento 320 mg/L (88,73%) e a infestação foi menor no 320 e 160mg/L, sendo as concentrações indicadas para o controle de monogenóides em tilápias

Transcriptomic analysis of the hepatic response to stress in the red cusk-eel (Genypterus chilensis): Insights into lipid metabolism, oxidative stress and liver steatosis

Indexación: Scopus.Teleosts exhibit a broad divergence in their adaptive response to stress, depending on the magnitude, duration, and frequency of stressors and the species receiving the stimulus. We have previously reported that the red cusk-eel (Genypterus chilensis), an important marine farmed fish, shows a physiological response to stress that results in increased skeletal muscle atrophy mediated by over-expression of components of the ubiquitin proteasome and autophagy-lysosomal systems. To better understand the systemic effects of stress on the red cusk-eel metabolism, the present study assessed the transcriptomic hepatic response to repetitive handling-stress. Using high-Throughput RNA-seq, 259 up-regulated transcripts were found, mostly associated with angiogenesis, gluconeogenesis, and triacylglyceride catabolism. Conversely, 293 transcripts were down-regulated, associated to cholesterol biosynthesis, PPARα signaling, fatty acid biosynthesis, and glycolysis. This gene signature was concordant with hepatic metabolite levels and hepatic oxidative damage. Moreover, the increased plasmatic levels of AST (aspartate aminotransferase), ALT (alanine aminotransferase) and AP (alkaline phosphatase), as well as liver histology suggest stress-induced liver steatosis. This study offers an integrative molecular and biochemical analysis of the hepatic response to handling-stress, and reveals unknown aspects of lipid metabolism in a non-model teleost.http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.017644

Utilização do óleo essencial de alfavaca cravo (Ocimum gratissimum) no controle de monogenóides de tilápia (Oreochromis niloticus).

O presente trabalho objetivou avaliar a eficácia do óleo essencial de Ocimum gratissimum para o controle de Cichlidogyrus tilapiae em tilápias (Oreochromis niloticus)

Complex magnetic behavior along the Gdln (NixCu1-x)(4) (0.00 <= x <= 1.00) series of compounds

FAPESP - FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULOFUNDAÇÃO DE APOIO À PESQUISA E A INOVAÇÃO TECNOLÓGICA DO ESTADO DE SERGIPECNPQ - CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICOCAPES - COORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL E NÍVEL SUPERIORIn this work, structural, magnetic, and local properties of GdIn(NixCu1-x)(4) (0.00 <= x <= 1.00) samples synthesized via the flux method are investigated by means of X-ray, magnetization, specific heat, and electron spin resonance measurements. The analysis of X-ray powder diffraction data taken at room temperature reveals that all samples belong to the cubic space group (Cl5b-type structure) with lattice parameters, a, ranging from 7.08 < a < 7.23 angstrom. Interestingly, the analysis of both T-dependence magnetic susceptibility and MvsH loops indicates a gradual transition from antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic ground states as a function of the Ni-doping. The transition temperatures are confirmed via specific heat measurements. Finally, electron spin resonance data taken in the temperature range of 100 <= T <= 300 K show a single Dysonian line shape, which is characteristic of a metallic environment. A nearly T-independent g-value was observed and the value was concentration independent. Besides, the doped samples show an increase of the residual linewidth, which can be linked with the chemical disorder introduced by the Ni-doping. Our results are discussed considering the bottleneck and multiple band effects on the Gd3+ spin dynamics in this series and their implication in the magnetic frustration observed in these materials.125616FAPESP - FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULOFUNDAÇÃO DE APOIO À PESQUISA E A INOVAÇÃO TECNOLÓGICA DO ESTADO DE SERGIPECNPQ - CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICOCAPES - COORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL E NÍVEL SUPERIORFAPESP - FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULOFUNDAÇÃO DE APOIO À PESQUISA E A INOVAÇÃO TECNOLÓGICA DO ESTADO DE SERGIPECNPQ - CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICOCAPES - COORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL E NÍVEL SUPERIOR2012/04870-72018/11364-72017/10581-1Sem informação304496/2017-0442230/2014-1455608/2014-8455970/2014-900

Morfogênese do capim-elefante adubado com composto orgânico proveniente de resíduos sólidos de pequenos ruminantes.

This study evaluated the biomass flow of irrigated Pennisetum purpureum cv. Cameroon fertilized with different levels of organic compost made from waste derived from production and slaughter of sheep and goat farming. The experiment was conducted in a cut and carry of elephant grass for four 60 day-cycles..

Clarification of anomalies in the application of a 2La molecular karyotyping method for the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae

BACKGROUND:Chromosomal inversions have been considered to be potentially important barriers to gene flow in many groups of animals through their effect on recombination suppression in heterokaryotypic individuals. Inversions can also enhance local adaptation in different groups of organisms and may often represent species-specific differences among closely related taxa. We conducted a study to characterize the 2La inversion karyotypes of An. gambiae sensu stricto mosquitoes sampled from the Kilombero Valley (Tanzania) using a newly designed PCR assay.RESULTS:We frequently encountered a (687 bp) fragment which was only present in the Kilombero Valley populations. Laboratory crossing between An. gambiae s.s. from Njage (Tanzania) and Kisumu (Western Kenya) populations resulted in F1 offspring carrying the observed fragment. Karyotype analysis did not indicate differences in 2La region chromosome morphology between individuals carrying the PCR fragments, the 207 bp fragment, or the 687 bp fragement.CONCLUSION:The observed insertion/deletion polymorphism within the region amplified by the 2La PCR diagnostic test may confound the interpretation of this assay and should be well considered in order to maintain an acceptable level of reliability in studies using this assay to describe the distribution and frequency of the 2La inversion among natural populations of An. gambiae s.