Comparison of drought stress response and gene expression between a GM maize variety and a near-isogenic non-GM variety

Maize MON810, grown and commercialised worldwide, is the only cultivated GM event in the EU. Maize MON810, variety DKC6575, and the corresponding near-isogenic line Tietar were studied in different growth conditions, to compare their behaviour in response to drought. Main photosynthetic parameters were significantly affected by water stress in both GM and non –GM varieties to a similar extents. Though DKC6575 (GM) had a greater sensitivity in the early phase of stress response as compared with Tietar (non GM), after six days of stress they behaved similarly, and both varieties recovered from stress damage. Profiling gene expression in water deficit regimes and in a generalised water stress condition showed an up-regulation of many stress- responsive genes, but a greater number of differentially expressed genes was observed in Tietar, with genes belonging to transcription factor families and genes encoding HSPs, LEAs and detoxification enzymes. Since induction of these genes have been indicated from the literature as typical of stress responses, their activation in Tietar rather than in DKC6575 may be reminiscent of a more efficient response to drought. DKC6575 was also analysed for the expression of the transgene CryIAb (encoding the delta-endotoxin insecticidal protein) in water deficit conditions. In all the experiments, the CryIAb transcript was not influenced by water stress, but was expressed at a constant level.. This suggests that though possessing a different pattern of sensitivity to stress, the GM variety maintains the same expression level for the transgene

Significância prognóstica das micrometástases ocultas em linfonodos no câncer gástrico: estudo histoquímico e imunoistoquímico baseado nas classificações UICC TNM de 1997 e JCGCA de 1998

BACKGROUND: Micrometastasis is a single or a cluster of malignant cells inside the lymph node that are not detected by routine histopathological sections. Micrometastasis is related to poorer prognosis in many gastric cancer studies the real significance of these cells is still controversial. AIM: To evaluate if lymph node micrometastasis is a significant independent prognostic factor and important risk factor for recurrence in gastric cancer. METHODS: A total of 1290 lymph nodes from 28 patients with gastric cancer, since 1998 until 2003, treated by radical resection (D2 and modified D3 lymphadenectomies) were studied. Three sections per lymph node were stained by Hematoxilin-Eosin, histochemical (AB-PAS) and immunohistochemical (AE1-AE3) techniques. Kaplan-Meier's survival curves and Log-rank/Cox tests were used in order to compares lymph node micrometastasis positivity, depth (pT) and location of tumor in gastric wall, histologic type, lymphatic, vascular and perineural invasion, lymph node status (pN) and stage. RESULTS: There were worse prognosis and recurrence in patients with positive lymph node micrometastasis related to vascular and perineural invasions, advanced lymph node status and advanced stages. CONCLUSION: Lymph node micrometastasis seems to be a significant independent prognostic factor and important risk factor for recurrence in gastric cancer, in a context of radical D2 lymphadenectomyRACIONAL: Micrometástases são um conjunto de células malignas dentro de linfonodo que não são detectadas pelos exames histopatológicos de rotina. Elas são relacionadas a prognóstico mais pobre em muitos estudos sobre câncer gástrico, mas a real significância dessas células permanece controversa. OBJETIVO: Avaliar se micrometástase linfonodal é um fator independente de prognóstico e importante para detectar a recurrência do câncer gástrico. MÉTODOS: Um total de 1290 lifonodos de 28 pacientes com câncer gástrico, de 1998 a 2003, tratados com operações radicais (D2 e D3 modificadas) foram revistos. Três secções por linfonodo foram corados por Hematoxilina-Eosina, histoquímica (AB-PAS) e imunoistoquímica (AE1-AE3). Curvas de sobrevida de Kaplan-Meyer e teste de Log-rank/Cox foram usados para comparar positividade das imcrometástases, profundidade (pT) e localização tumoral na parede gástrica, tipo histológico, invasão linfática, vascular e perineural, estado linfonodal (pN) e estádio onde se encontra a doença. RESULTADOS: Houve pior prognóstico e recurrência nos pacientes com linfonodos com micrometástases relacionadas às invasões vascular e perineural , avançado estado de invasão linfática e estadiamento mais elevado. CONCLUSÃO: Micrometástase parece ser importante e independente fator de risco para recurrência no câncer gástrico no contexto das linfadenectomias radicais D2

Fauna e Flora do Brasil\ud (especialmente do Mato Grosso)\ud segundo Joseph Barbosa de Sáa (1769): (Dialogos geograficos, coronologicos, polliticos, e naturais, escripos [sic] por Joseph Barbosa\ud de Sáa nesta Villa Reyal do Senhor Bom Jesus do Cuyaba –\ud Manuscrito 235 da Biblioteca Pública do Porto)

Joseph Barbosa de Sáa (? – 1775), mais conhecido por seus escritos sobre a história do estado do Mato\ud Grosso, Brasil, completou em 1769 um volumoso (408 fólios) e erudito manuscrito, intitulado “Dialogos\ud geograficos, coronologicos, polliticos e naturais”, que nunca foi publicado na íntegra. Esse manuscrito está\ud depositado na Biblioteca Pública do Porto (manuscrito no. 235), em Portugal. Dez capítulos desse manuscrito\ud tratam dos produtos naturais do Brasil (acima de mil, quase a metade sendo animais), observados por Sáa ao\ud longo da costa do Rio de Janeiro, em São Paulo, sul de Goiás e especialmente no Mato Grosso, sendo a\ud primeira monografia sobre a história natural deste último estado. Esses capítulos são aqui transcritos e\ud comentados.Joseph Barbosa de Sáa (? – 1775), more known for his writings about the history of the state of Mato Grosso,\ud Brazil, completed in 1769 a voluminous (408 folios) and erudite manuscript entitled “Dialogos geograficos,\ud coronologicos, polliticos e naturais”, which has never been published in its entirety. This manuscript is deposited\ud in the Biblioteca Pública do Porto (Manuscript no. 235), in Portugal. Ten chapters of the manuscript deal with\ud the natural products of Brazil (over a thousand, nearly half being animals), observed by Sáa along the coast\ud of Rio de Janeiro, in São Paulo, southern Goiás and especially Mato Grosso, being the first monograph about\ud the natural history of this last state. Those chapers are here transcribed and commented.Série: Arquivos do Núcleo de apoio à pesquisa em Etimologia e História da Língua Portuguesa (NEHiLP

An integrative dynamic model of Colombian population distribution, based on the maximum entropy principle and matter, energy, and information flow

Human society has increased its capacity to exploit natural resources thanks to new technologies, which are one of the results of information exchange in the knowledge society. Many approaches to understanding the interactions between human society and natural systems have been developed in the last decades, and some have included considerations about information. However, none of them has considered information as an active variable or flowing entity in the human–natural/social-ecological system, or, moreover, even as a driving force of their interactions. This paper explores these interactions in socio-ecological systems by briefly introducing a conceptual frame focused on the exchange of information, matter, and energy. The human population is presented as a convergence variable of these three physical entities, and a population distribution model for Colombia is developed based on the maximum entropy principle to integrate the balances of related variables as macro-state restrictions. The selected variables were electrical consumption, water demand, and higher education rates (energy, matter, and information). The final model includes statistical moments for previous population distributions. It is shown how population distribution can be predicted yearly by combining these variables, allowing future dynamics exploration. The implications of this model can contribute to bridging information sciences and sustainability studies

AGILE Roadmap: diagnóstico y evaluación de prácticas ágiles para ser implementadas en equipos de trabajo

[EN] The elaboration of a list of practices to suit the characteristics of a team is not an easy task due to the large variety of existing agile methods and practices and the absence of a tool that can facilitate the elaboration mainly at the stage of selection of best practices to implement in the team. This paper develops a web tool that meets the main criteria for the preparation of a list of practices adapted to the team or more specifically to a product or service.[ES] La elaboración de una lista de prácticas que se ajuste a las características de un equipo de trabajo no es una tarea fácil debido a la gran variedad de métodos y prácticas ágiles existentes y la falta de una herramienta que pueda facilitar su elaboración principalmente en la etapa de selección de las prácticas más adecuadas para implementar en el equipo de trabajo. En este trabajo se desarrolla una herramienta web que cumple con los criterios principales para la elaboración de un listado de prácticas adaptado al equipo de trabajo o más específicamente a un producto/servicio.Nelson Amancio, FI. (2013). AGILE Roadmap: diagnóstico y evaluación de prácticas ágiles para ser implementadas en equipos de trabajo. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/44469Archivo delegad

Liver Regeneration after Partial Hepatectomy Is Not Impaired in Mice with Double Deficiency of Myd88 and IFNAR Genes

Liver regeneration is known to occur in mice lacking one or more Toll-like receptors (TLRs) or the adaptor protein MyD88. Though MyD88 is required for signaling by many TLRs, others signal via MyD88-independent pathways, leading to the induction of type I interferons (IFNs). Here, we assessed liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy (PH) in mice lacking both MyD88 and the type I IFN receptor (Myd88-IFNAR double-KO). Approximately 28% of Myd88-IFNAR double-KO mice had gross liver lesions prior to surgery. In mice without lesions, Myd88-IFNAR deficiency abrogated the increase in circulating IL-6 after PH but did not impair hepatocyte BrdU incorporation, mitotic figure counts, or recovery of liver-to-body weight ratios. These results indicate that type I IFNs are not responsible for the preservation of liver regeneration in Myd88-deficient mice, and they also cast doubt on the idea of microbial products being essential triggers of liver regeneration in mice undergoing PH

A estranha história da cobra narrada na “relaçam prodigioza da navegaçam da nao chamada S. Pedro, e S. Joam da Companhia de Macao” (Fascunh, 1743) – uma obra portuguesa sobre herpetologia

The Portuguese ship “São Pedro e São Paulo” left Macau, China, bound for Portugal, in January 1743. She arrived at the port of Lisbon on 12 September 1743. While unloading the ship, it was discovered that a snake had embarked in her, which was immediately killed and taken to the church of Nossa Senhora da Penha, together with a miniature of the ship, as a token of gratitude to the Virgin, for saving the crew from several dangers and because the snake had not killed any member of it. A wooden model of the snake was made afterwards, to accompany that of the “lagarto da Penha” already existing in that church. Out of curiosity, the Augustinian Father Francisco da Cunha, tried to identify the snake, publishing in that same year of 1743, under the pseudonym of “Ricardo Fineça Fascunh”, the booklet Relaçam da prodigiosa navegaçam da nao chamada S. Pedro, e S. Joam da Companhia de Macao. In this work, in a certain way a treatise of herpetology, Cunha discussed the creation of reptiles by God in the fifth day of the Creation, the etymologies of several snake names, the generation of these reptiles (both sexual and by spontaneous generation), their sympathies and antipathies in relation to other animals and plants, finally listing some 50 species of snakes, in a frustrated attempt to identify the snake which had come from Macau. His commentaries are abridged paraphrases, with some alterations and translation errors, of the works of Jonstonus (1653), precipuously, and Nieremberg (1635), secondarily; he also seems to have consulted the books of Gesner (1587) and Ray (1693), besides some other works. Through his short and insufficient description of the snake transported by the ship “São Pedro e São Paulo”, we can only conjecture that it was a specimen of Pelamis platura (Linnaeus, 1766) (Elapidae, Hydrophiidae)

The Oldest Case of Decapitation in the New World (Lapa do Santo, East-Central Brazil)

We present here evidence for an early Holocene case of decapitation in the New World (Burial 26), found in the rock shelter of Lapa do Santo in 2007. Lapa do Santo is an archaeological site located in the Lagoa Santa karst in east-central Brazil with evidence of human occupation dating as far back as 11.7-12.7 cal kyBP (95.4% interval). An ultra-filtered AMS age determination on a fragment of the sphenoid provided an age range of 9.1-9.4 cal kyBP (95.4% interval) for Burial 26. The interment was composed of an articulated cranium, mandible and first six cervical vertebrae. Cut marks with a v-shaped profile were observed in the mandible and sixth cervical vertebra. The right hand was amputated and laid over the left side of the face with distal phalanges pointing to the chin and the left hand was amputated and laid over the right side of the face with distal phalanges pointing to the forehead. Strontium analysis comparing Burial 26's isotopic signature to other specimens from Lapa do Santo suggests this was a local member of the group. Therefore, we suggest a ritualized decapitation instead of trophy-taking, testifying for the sophistication of mortuary rituals among hunter-gatherers in the Americas during the early Archaic period. In the apparent absence of wealth goods or elaborated architecture, Lapa do Santo's inhabitants seemed to use the human body to express their cosmological principles regarding death

5to. Congreso Internacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación para la Sociedad. Memoria académica

El V Congreso Internacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación para la Sociedad, CITIS 2019, realizado del 6 al 8 de febrero de 2019 y organizado por la Universidad Politécnica Salesiana, ofreció a la comunidad académica nacional e internacional una plataforma de comunicación unificada, dirigida a cubrir los problemas teóricos y prácticos de mayor impacto en la sociedad moderna desde la ingeniería. En esta edición, dedicada a los 25 años de vida de la UPS, los ejes temáticos estuvieron relacionados con la aplicación de la ciencia, el desarrollo tecnológico y la innovación en cinco pilares fundamentales de nuestra sociedad: la industria, la movilidad, la sostenibilidad ambiental, la información y las telecomunicaciones. El comité científico estuvo conformado formado por 48 investigadores procedentes de diez países: España, Reino Unido, Italia, Bélgica, México, Venezuela, Colombia, Brasil, Estados Unidos y Ecuador. Fueron recibidas un centenar de contribuciones, de las cuales 39 fueron aprobadas en forma de ponencias y 15 en formato poster. Estas contribuciones fueron presentadas de forma oral ante toda la comunidad académica que se dio cita en el Congreso, quienes desde el aula magna, el auditorio y la sala de usos múltiples de la Universidad Politécnica Salesiana, cumplieron respetuosamente la responsabilidad de representar a toda la sociedad en la revisión, aceptación y validación del conocimiento nuevo que fue presentado en cada exposición por los investigadores. Paralelo a las sesiones técnicas, el Congreso contó con espacios de presentación de posters científicos y cinco workshops en temáticas de vanguardia que cautivaron la atención de nuestros docentes y estudiantes. También en el marco del evento se impartieron un total de ocho conferencias magistrales en temas tan actuales como la gestión del conocimiento en la universidad-ecosistema, los retos y oportunidades de la industria 4.0, los avances de la investigación básica y aplicada en mecatrónica para el estudio de robots de nueva generación, la optimización en ingeniería con técnicas multi-objetivo, el desarrollo de las redes avanzadas en Latinoamérica y los mundos, la contaminación del aire debido al tránsito vehicular, el radón y los riesgos que representa este gas radiactivo para la salud humana, entre otros