Physical Performance and Skeletal Muscle Transcriptional Adaptations Are Not Impacted by Exercise Training Frequency in Mice with Lower Extremity Peripheral Artery Disease.

Exercise training is an important therapeutic strategy for lower extremity peripheral artery disease (PAD). However, the effects of different exercise frequency on physiological adaptations remain unknown. Thus, this study compared the effects of a 7-week moderate-intensity aerobic training performed either three or five times/week on skeletal muscle gene expression and physical performance in mice with PAD. Hypercholesterolemic male ApoE-deficient mice were subjected to unilateral iliac artery ligation and randomly assigned to sedentary or exercise training regimens either three or five times/week. Physical performance was assessed using a treadmill test to exhaustion. Expression of genes related to glucose and lipid metabolism, mitochondrial biogenesis, muscle fiber-type, angiogenesis, and inflammation was analyzed in non-ischemic and ischemic gastrocnemius muscles by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Physical performance was improved to the same extent in both exercise groups. For gene expression patterns, no statistical differences were observed between three or five times/week exercised mice, both in the non-ischemic and ischemic muscles. Our data show that exercising three to five times a week induces similar beneficial effects on performance. Those results are associated with muscular adaptations that remain identical between the two frequencies

Moderate Effects of Hypoxic Training at Low and Supramaximal Intensities on Skeletal Muscle Metabolic Gene Expression in Mice.

The muscle molecular adaptations to different exercise intensities in combination with hypoxia are not well understood. This study investigated the effect of low- and supramaximal-intensity hypoxic training on muscle metabolic gene expression in mice. C57BL/6 mice were divided into two groups: sedentary and training. Training consisted of 4 weeks at low or supramaximal intensity, either in normoxia or hypoxia (FiO <sub>2</sub> = 0.13). The expression levels of genes involved in the hypoxia signaling pathway (Hif1a and Vegfa), the metabolism of glucose (Gys1, Glut4, Hk2, Pfk, and Pkm1), lactate (Ldha, Mct1, Mct4, Pdh, and Pdk4) and lipid (Cd36, Fabp3, Ucp2, Hsl, and Mcad), and mitochondrial energy metabolism and biogenesis (mtNd1, mtNd6, CytC, CytB, Pgc1a, Pgc1β, Nrf1, Tfam, and Cs) were determined in the gastrocnemius muscle. No physical performance improvement was observed between groups. In normoxia, supramaximal intensity training caused upregulation of major genes involved in the transport of glucose and lactate, fatty acid oxidation, and mitochondrial biogenesis, while low intensity training had a minor effect. The exposure to hypoxia changed the expression of some genes in the sedentary mice but had a moderate effect in trained mice compared to respective normoxic mice. In hypoxic groups, low-intensity training increased the mRNA levels of Mcad and Cs, while supramaximal intensity training decreased the mRNA levels of Mct1 and Mct4. The results indicate that hypoxic training, regardless of exercise intensity, has a moderate effect on muscle metabolic gene expression in healthy mice

Nonadiabatic decoherence control of qubits strongly coupled to continuum edge

We propose a method for controlling the decoherence of a driven qubit that is strongly coupled to a reservoir, when the qubit resonance frequency is close to a continuum edge of the reservoir spectum. This strong-coupling regime is outside the scope of existing methods of decoherence control. We demonstate that an appropriate sequence of nearly abrupt changes of the resonance frequency can protect the qubit state from decay and decoherence more effectively than the intuitively obvious alternative, which is to fix the resonance well within a forbidden bandgap of the reservoir spectrum, as far as possible from the continuum edge. The "counterintuitive" nonadiabatic method outlined here can outperform its adiabatic counterparts in maintaining a high fidelity of quantum logic operations. The remarkable effectiveness of the proposed method, which requires much lower rates of frequency changes than previously proposed control methods, is due to the ability of appropriately alternating detunings from the continuum edge to augment the interference of the emitted and back-scattered quanta, thereby helping to stabilize the qubit state against decay. Applications to the control of decoherence near the edge of radiative, vibrational an photoionization continua are discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

Electronically highly cubic conditions for Ru in alpha-RuCl3

We studied the local Ru 4d electronic structure of alpha-RuCl3 by means of polarization dependent x-ray absorption spectroscopy at the Ru-L2,3 edges. We observed a vanishingly small linear dichroism indicating that electronically the Ru 4d local symmetry is highly cubic. Using full multiplet cluster calculations we were able to reproduce the spectra excellently and to extract that the trigonal splitting of the t2g orbitals is -12 $\pm10$ meV, i.e. negligible as compared to the Ru 4d spin-orbit coupling constant. Consistent with our magnetic circular dichroism measurements, we found that the ratio of the orbital and spin moments is 2.0, the value expected for a Jeff = 1/2 ground state. We have thus shown that as far as the Ru 4d local properties are concerned, alpha-RuCl3 is an ideal candidate for the realization of Kitaev physics

Mapeamento de unidades de paisagem em nível de fazenda, Pantanal da Nhecolândia.

bitstream/CPAP-2009-09/56882/1/BP83.pd

Fluorine MR Imaging of Inflammation in Atherosclerotic Plaque in Vivo.

PURPOSE: To preliminarily test the hypothesis that fluorine 19 ((19)F) magnetic resonance (MR) imaging enables the noninvasive in vivo identification of plaque inflammation in a mouse model of atherosclerosis, with histologic findings as the reference standard. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The animal studies were approved by the local animal ethics committee. Perfluorocarbon (PFC) emulsions were injected intravenously in a mouse model of atherosclerosis (n = 13), after which (19)F and anatomic MR imaging were performed at the level of the thoracic aorta and its branches at 9.4 T. Four of these animals were imaged repeatedly (at 2-14 days) to determine the optimal detection time. Repeated-measures analysis of variance with a Tukey test was applied to determine if there was a significant change in (19)F signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the plaques and liver between the time points. Six animals were injected with a PFC emulsion that also contained a fluorophore. As a control against false-positive results, wild-type mice (n = 3) were injected with a PFC emulsion, and atherosclerotic mice were injected with a saline solution (n = 2). The animals were sacrificed after the last MR imaging examination, after which high-spatial-resolution ex vivo MR imaging and bright-field and immunofluorescent histologic examination were performed. RESULTS: (19)F MR signal was detected in vivo in plaques in the aortic arch and its branches. The SNR was found to significantly increase up to day 6 (P < .001), and the SNR of all mice at this time point was 13.4 ± 3.3. The presence of PFC and plaque in the excised vessels was then confirmed both through ex vivo (19)F MR imaging and histologic examination, while no signal was detected in the control animals. Immunofluorescent histologic findings confirmed the presence of PFC in plaque macrophages. CONCLUSION: (19)F MR imaging allows the noninvasive in vivo detection of inflammation in atherosclerotic plaques in a mouse model of atherosclerosis and opens up new avenues for both the early detection of vulnerable atherosclerosis and the elucidation of inflammation mechanisms in atherosclerosis

Metodologia de amostragem para avaliação da qualidade das pastagens nativas consumidas por bovinos no Pantanal.

Interação bovino x planta do Pantanal; Estratégia de forrageamento; Comportamento de pastejo; Teste de metodologia; Descrição da metodologia proposta para a avaliação do valor nutritivo e composição botânica das pastagens nativas consumidas por bovinos no Pantanal.bitstream/item/37729/1/DOC31.pd

Impact of Climate Change on the Relict Tropical Fish Fauna of Central Sahara: Threat for the Survival of Adrar Mountains Fishes, Mauritania

Background: Four central Sahara mountainous massifs provide habitats for relict populations of fish. In the Adrar of Mauritania all available data on the presence and distribution of fish come from pre-1960 surveys where five fish species were reported: Barbus pobeguini, Barbus macrops, Barbus mirei, Sarotherodon galilaeus, and Clarias anguillaris. Since 1970, drought has had a severe impact in the Adrar where rainfall decreased by 35%. To investigate whether the relict populations of fish have survived the continuing drought, a study was carried out from 2004 to 2008. Methodology/Principal Findings: An inventory of perennial bodies of water was drawn up using a literature review and analysis of topographical and hydrological maps. Field surveys were carried out in order to locate the bodies of water described in the literature, identify the presence of fish, determine which species were present and estimate their abundance. The thirteen sites where the presence of fish was observed in the 1950s -Ksar Torchane, Ilij, Molomhar, Agueni, Tachot, Hamdoun, Terjit, Toungad, El Berbera, Timagazine, Dayet el Mbarek, Dayet et-Tefla, Nkedei-were located and surveyed. The Ksar Torchane spring -type locality and the only known locality of B. mirei- has dried up at the height of the drought in 1984, and any fish populations have since become extinct there. The Timagazine, Dayet el Mbarek and Dayet et-Tefla pools have become ephemeral. The Hamdoun guelta appears to be highly endangered. The fish populations at the other sites remain unchanged. Four perennial pools which are home to populations of B. pobeguini are newly recorded. Conclusion/Significance: The tropical relict fish populations of the Adrar mountains of Mauritania appear to be highly endangered. Of thirteen previously recorded populations, four have become extinct since the beginning of the drought period. New fish population extinctions may occur should low levels of annual rainfall be repeated

Uso de tecnologia de precisão na estimativa da capacidade de suporte em pastagens sob uso múltiplo no Pantanal.

O Pantanal brasileiro, a maior planície inundável do mundo, apresenta extensas áreas de pastagens naturais, que favoreceram a criação de gado de corte, introduzidos na região na época da colonização (século XVI), a qual se tornou a principal atividade econômica após o declínio do ciclo do ouro na região. Os bovinos e equinos são criados em conjunto com os grandes herbívoros silvestres, tais como a anta (Tapirus terrestris), o cervo-do-Pantanal (Blastocerus dichotomus),o veado-campeiro (Ozotoceros bezoarticus) e o veado mateiro (Mazama spp.). Há outros animais silvestres herbívoros como a capivara (Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris) e animais que também consomem plantas tais como os pecarídeos (DESBIEZ et al., 2008).bitstream/item/98553/1/CT107.pd