Phylogenetic and functional analysis of the Cation Diffusion Facilitator (CDF) family: improved signature and prediction of substrate specificity

BACKGROUND The Cation Diffusion Facilitator (CDF) family is a ubiquitous family of heavy metal transporters. Much interest in this family has focused on implications for human health and bioremediation. In this work a broad phylogenetic study has been undertaken which, considered in the context of the functional characteristics of some fully characterised CDF transporters, has aimed at identifying molecular determinants of substrate selectivity and at suggesting metal specificity for newly identified CDF transporters. RESULTS Representative CDF members from all three kingdoms of life (Archaea, Eubacteria, Eukaryotes) were retrieved from genomic databases. Protein sequence alignment has allowed detection of a modified signature that can be used to identify new hypothetical CDF members. Phylogenetic reconstruction has classified the majority of CDF family members into three groups, each containing characterised members that share the same specificity towards the principally-transported metal, i.e. Zn, Fe/Zn or Mn. The metal selectivity of newly identified CDF transporters can be inferred by their position in one of these groups. The function of some conserved amino acids was assessed by site-directed mutagenesis in the poplar Zn2+ transporter PtdMTP1 and compared with similar experiments performed in prokaryotic members. An essential structural role can be assigned to a widely conserved glycine residue, while aspartate and histidine residues, highly conserved in putative transmembrane domains, might be involved in metal transport. The potential role of group-conserved amino acid residues in metal specificity is discussed. CONCLUSION In the present study phylogenetic and functional analyses have allowed the identification of three major substrate-specific CDF groups. The metal selectivity of newly identified CDF transporters can be inferred by their position in one of these groups. The modified signature sequence proposed in this work can be used to identify new hypothetical CDF members

Enhancing weather data reconstruction through hybridmethods with dimensionality reduction

Mestrado de dupla diplomação com a UTFPR - Universidade Tecnológica Federal do ParanáAccurate weather analysis and forecasting rely on complete historical data. However, missing weather data often occurs due to sensor failures, data transmission issues, or limited monitoring capabilities. Reconstructing this missing data is crucial for reliableweather analysis. The Analog Ensemble (AnEn) method leverages past weather events and information from nearby stations to reconstruct and forecast data. However, incorporating nearby stations significantly increases computational costs, making the reconstruction process time consuming. To address this challenge, this dissertation integrates AnEn with dimension reduction techniques: Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Partial Least Squares (PLS). Four hybrid methods—PCAnEn, PLSAnEn, PCClustAnEn, and PLSClustAnEn—are developed to enhance computational performance while maintaining or improving accuracy. Through four studies using three datasets, this research focuses on reconstructing six variables: wind-related variables, temperature, pressure, and humidity. The hybrid methods improved accuracy compared to the original AnEn. Notably, PLSAnEn achieves the highest reconstruction accuracy, while PLSR exhibits the fastest processing times. Additionally, PLSClustAnEn also proves to be a alternative for data reconstruction. The findings of this research contribute to the portfolio of strategies for addressing missing weather data.A análise e a previsão climática beneficiam de dados históricos completos. No entanto, é comum faltarem dados meteorológicos devido a falhas nos sensores, problemas na transmissão de dados ou limitações nas capacidades de monitoramento. A reconstrução desses dados ausentes é crucial para uma análise climática confiável. O método Analog Ensemble (AnEn) utiliza eventos meteorológicos passados e informações de estações próximas para reconstruir e prever dados. No entanto, a incorporação de estações próximas aumenta significativamente os custos computacionais, tornando o processo de reconstrução bastante demorado. Para enfrentar esse desafio, esta dissertação integra o AnEn com técnicas de redução de dimensionalidade: Análise de Componentes Principais (PCA) e Mínimos Quadrados Parciais (PLS). Quatro métodos híbridos - PCAnEn, PLSAnEn, PCClustAnEn e PLSClustAnEn - são desenvolvidos para melhorar o desempenho computacional, mantendo ou aumentando a precisão. Por meio de quatro estudos utilizando três conjuntos de dados, esta pesquisa concentrase na reconstrução de variáveis metereológicas. Os métodos híbridos aprimoraram a precisão em comparação como AnEn original. Notavelmente, o PLSAnEn alcança a maior precisão de reconstrução, enquanto o PLSR é mais eficiente em termos computacionais. Além disso, o PLSClustAnEn também se mostra uma alternativa eficiente para a reconstrução de dados. Os resultados desta pesquisa contribuem para um portfólio de estratégias de reconstrução de dados meteorológicos

A match coefficient approach for damage imaging in structural components by ultrasonic synthetic aperture focus

Ultrasonic Synthetic Aperture Focus (SAF) techniques are commonly used to image structural defects. In this paper, a variation of SAF based on ideas borrowed from Matched Field Processing (MFP) is evaluated to reduce artifacts and sidelobes of the resulting images. In particular, instead of considering the full RF ultrasonic waveforms for the SAF time backpropagation, only selected features from the waveforms are utilized to form a “data vector” and a “replica” (expected) vector of MFP. These vectors are adaptive for the pair of transmitter-receiver and the focus point. The image is created as a matched filter between these two vectors. Experimental results are shown for an isotropic and homogenous metallic plate with simulated defects, probed by six piezoelectric patches used as receivers or transmitters

'Entrance fees': Black youth and access to artistic production in Gqeberha, South Africa

The arts sector in South Africa is portrayed as a multiracial, emancipatory and inclusive sector that promises to reduce youth unemployment and to mitigate inequality. In post- apartheid art institutions, artistic merit and perseverance are deemed to be sufficient in order to access the art sector and its market. The paths of individual black artists from poor areas who have succeeded in accessing the institutional art circuit are praised by the media, policymakers and curators. A romanticisation of their efforts is coupled with identifying them as role models for younger generations. Despite emphasis on the inclusivity of the art sector and the hailing of successful paths, black artists report a long-standing difficulty in gaining access to, and being fully accredited in, the institutional art circuit. The ambiguity of the art sector, which claims to be inclusive in word but is de facto exclusionary, deeply affects young black artists whose first steps into the art sector are often accompanied by a feeling of uneasiness and bewilderment. Drawing on the multivocal accounts of the everyday life of young black artists who work in the field of performance art in Gqeberha, this article unveils the ‘entrance fees’ that black artists have to negotiate in order to access the institutional art circuit, i.e. the obstacles they have to overcome, but also the deals and concessions they have to make in order to build their career and be fully recognised as artists. Moreover, the article sheds light on a double invisibility in the performing arts sector: on one side the economic, spatial and reputational obstacles that artists deal with are dismissed as part of the everyday life of individuals coming from marginal areas; on the other side, the performing arts and spaces that young black artists create within alternative or complementary circuits are not considered part of the city’s artistic production

Anthracyclines: a cornerstone in the management of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

Since anthracyclines were introduced in the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in the late 1960s, they have been acknowledged as a cornerstone in the management of the disease and, in particular, of aggressive lymphomas. The high efficacy of anthracycline-containing regimens must, however, be balanced against the drug-related toxicity, which mainly affects the cardiovascular system and represents a major concern for clinicians, especially in the treatment of elderly patients. Patients' outcomes could be further improved, particularly for those at high risk of cardiotoxicity, by substituting liposomal doxorubicin for conventional doxorubicin. This approach has already been tested and shown to be effective in several cancers, especially in different subsets of patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. The use of liposomal doxorubicin in combination regimens for other conditions, such as follicular lymphoma and splenic marginal zone lymphoma, is also under investigation, and early results are promising

EVOLUTION OF THE SUBCONTINENTAL LITHOSPHERE DURING MESOZOIC TETHYAN RIFTING: CONSTRAINTS FROM THE EXTERNAL LIGURIAN MANTLE SECTION (NORTHERN APENNINE, ITALY)

Our study is focussed on mantle bodies from the External Ligurian ophiolites, within the Monte Gavi and Monte Sant'Agostino areas. Here, two distinct pyroxenite-bearing mantle sections were recognized, mainly based on their plagioclase-facies evolution. The Monte Gavi mantle section is nearly undeformed and records reactive melt infiltration under plagioclase-facies conditions. This process involved both peridotites (clinopyroxene-poor lherzolites) and enclosed spinel pyroxenite layers, and occurred at 0.7–0.8 GPa. In the Monte Gavi peridotites and pyroxenites, the spinel-facies clinopyroxene was replaced by Ca-rich plagioclase and new orthopyroxene, typically associated with secondary clinopyroxene. The reactive melt migration caused increase of TiO2 contents in relict clinopyroxene and spinel, with the latter also recording a Cr2O3 increase. In the Monte Gavi peridotites and pyroxenites, geothermometers based on slowly diffusing elements (REE and Y) record high temperature conditions (1200-1250 °C) related to the melt infiltration event, followed by subsolidus cooling until ca. 900°C. The Monte Sant'Agostino mantle section is characterized by widespread ductile shearing with no evidence of melt infiltration. The deformation recorded by the Monte Sant'Agostino peridotites (clinopyroxene-rich lherzolites) occurred at 750–800 °C and 0.3–0.6 GPa, leading to protomylonitic to ultramylonitic textures with extreme grain size reduction (10–50 μm). Compared to the peridotites, the enclosed pyroxenite layers gave higher temperature-pressure estimates for the plagioclase-facies re-equilibration (870–930 °C and 0.8–0.9 GPa). We propose that the earlier plagioclase crystallization in the pyroxenites enhanced strain localization and formation of mylonite shear zones in the entire mantle section. We subdivide the subcontinental mantle section from the External Ligurian ophiolites into three distinct domains, developed in response to the rifting evolution that ultimately formed a Middle Jurassic ocean-continent transition: (1) a spinel tectonite domain, characterized by subsolidus static formation of plagioclase, i.e. the Suvero mantle section (Hidas et al., 2020), (2) a plagioclase mylonite domain experiencing melt-absent deformation and (3) a nearly undeformed domain that underwent reactive melt infiltration under plagioclase-facies conditions, exemplified by the the Monte Sant'Agostino and the Monte Gavi mantle sections, respectively. We relate mantle domains (1) and (2) to a rifting-driven uplift in the late Triassic accommodated by large-scale shear zones consisting of anhydrous plagioclase mylonites. Hidas K., Borghini G., Tommasi A., Zanetti A. & Rampone E. 2021. Interplay between melt infiltration and deformation in the deep lithospheric mantle (External Liguride ophiolite, North Italy). Lithos 380-381, 105855

Augmentation du risque cardiovasculaire et de mortalité chez le patient adulte insuffisant rénal chronique: quand et comment traiter l'hyperphosphatémie en traitement conservateur ? : travail de Bachelor

Introduction: L’insuffisance rénale chronique (IRC) est une pathologie complexe entraînant de nombreuses complication métaboliques, dont l’hyperphosphatémie.Le risque cardiovasculaire (CV) et de mortalité est indirectement proportionnel au débit de filtration glomérulaire et directement proportionnel à la phosphatémie. Les recommandations données par les sociétés savantes pour traiter l’hyperphosphatémie sont peu concrètes et hétérogènes. En l’absence de consensus des guidelines, les diététiciens(nes) manquent d’indications claires pour optimiser la prise en charge nutritionnelle de l’hyperphosphatémie chez les patients adultes avec IRC en traitement conservateur, population choisie pour notre travail de Bachelor. But: Notre première question de recherche (QdR n°1) vise à établir à partir de quel seuil de phosphatémie le risque CV et/ou de mortalité augmente, pour déterminer à partir de quand une intervention nutritionnelle se révèle nécessaire. Notre deuxième question de recherche (QdR n°2) vise à mettre en lumière les priorités de la prise en charge nutritionnelle concernant le P selon les guidelines et les études publiées après les derniers guidelines, qui datent de 2010. Méthode: Afin de répondre à la QdR n°1, nous avons effectué une revue systématique sur plusieurs bases de données à partir de janvier 2011 jusqu’à mai 2017. Ensuite, une revue narrative comprenant une analyse des guides de recommandations et des études récentes (2013-2017) nous a permis de répondre à la QdR n°2. Résultats: Notre revue systématique inclut dix études, dont sept de cohorte et trois transversales. Neuf études ont trouvé une association significative entre un seuil de phosphatémie situé entre 1.20 et 1.62 mmol/l (3.72-5.01 mg/dl) et l’augmentation du risque CV et/ou de mortalité chez les patients avec IRC en traitement conservateur. D’après notre revue narrative, les priorités de la prise en cahrge de l’hyperphosphatémie selon les guidelines sont: la restriction des apports alimentaires en phosphore (P) et l’utilisation de chélateurs de P. Les études récentes relèvent néanmoins que l’association en apports en P et phosphatémie demeure hypothétique et que l’efficacité des chélateurs n’a pas été prouvé chez la population IRC en traitement conservateur. De plus, la biodisponibilité du P serait plus importante que la quantité consommée. Conclusion: Lorsque la phosphatémie se situe à la limite supérieure des normes de laboratoire (≤ 1.45 mmol/l), une intervention nutritionnelle concernant le P serait déjà nécessaire. Toutefois, les priorités de cette intervention restent controversées. Des essais contrôlés randomisés sont nécessaires pour déterminer l’impact réel des apports alimentaires en P sur la phosphatémie et pour évaluer le bénéfice réel des interventions visant à diminuer la phosphatémie sur le risque CV et/ou de mortalité chez notre population d’intérêt

Temperatures and cooling rates recorded by the New Caledonia ophiolite: implications for cooling mechanisms in young forearc sequences.

To unveil how forearc lithosphere cools and re-equilibrates, we carried out a comprehensive geothermometric investigation of the New Caledonia ophiolite, which represents a rare example of proto-arc section generated during subduction infancy. A large dataset, including more than eighty samples (peridotites and mafic-ultramafic intrusives), was considered. Closure temperatures calculated for the lherzolites using slow (TREE-Y) and fast diffusing (TCa-in-Opx, TBKN, TCa-in-Ol, TOl-Sp) geothermometers provide some of the highest values ever documented for ophiolitic peridotites, akin to modern sub-oceanic mantle. Cooling rates deduced from TREE-Y and TBKN yield values of ≈ 10-3 °C/y, similar to those obtained with TCa-in-Ol. These features are consistent with a post-melting history of emplacement, possibly along a transform fault, and thermal re-equilibration via conduction. Cpx-free harzburgites register a high-T evolution, followed by quenching and obduction. The relatively high TCa-in-Ol, TOl-Sp and cooling rates computed from TCa-in-Ol (≈ 10-3 °C/y) are atypical for this geodynamic setting, mirroring the development of an ephemeral subduction system, uplift and emplacement of the Peridotite Nappe. Temperature profiles across the crust-mantle transect point to high closure temperatures, with limited variations with depth. These results are indicative of injection and crystallization of non-cogenetic magma batches in the forearc lithosphere, followed by thermal re-equilibration at rates of ≈ 10-4-10-3 °C/y. Our study shows that the thermal conditions recorded by forearc sequences are intimately related to specific areal processes and previous lithospheric evolution. Thus, detailed sampling and exhaustive knowledge of the geological background are critical to unravel the cooling mechanisms in this geodynamic setting