Degrees of freedom in social bonds of crested macaque females

Social bonds between group members can affect individual fitness and well-being. While the impact of bond strength is well studied, the consequences of bond predictability and equitability are often overlooked. Similarly, whether bonds reflect short-term contingencies and/or long-term social strategies remains understudied. We investigated these questions in female crested macaques (Macaca nigra), which display a tolerant social style within a nepotistic hierarchical social structure. We analysed the structure of dyadic social bonds by testing whether similarity within dyads - in kinship, dominance and age - predicted the strength, predictability and equitability of bonds. We then tested the value of social bonds by analysing the effect of their characteristics on three fitness-related behaviours: coalitionary support, feeding-in-proximity and aggression. We found that the bond characteristics of females differed substantially from those of other species with comparable data: bonds were of average strength, of moderate endurance and relatively balanced. Stronger bonds were more equitable but less predictable than weaker bonds. Closely-ranked females, but not kin or age peers, had stronger, more predictable and more equitable bonds than others. Coalitionary support was not related to any of the bond characteristics, feeding-in-proximity was positively associated with strength and predictability and aggression was positively linked to strength and equitability. These results highlight the complex picture of the benefits of social bonds in this species. They reflect the degrees of freedom tolerant macaque females can express in their social relationships within their stable social structure, a pattern that may not be given enough consideration in stable nepotistic hierarchical societies. Comparative research is necessary to establish whether these patterns are more general than previously thought or a specific feature of tolerant macaques. Investigating various characteristics of bonds together is paramount in order to appreciate the dynamics of social relationships and to better understand the social components of fitness

Brazilian Consensus on Photoprotection

Brazil is a country of continental dimensions with a large heterogeneity of climates and massive mixing of the population. Almost the entire national territory is located between the Equator and the Tropic of Capricorn, and the Earth axial tilt to the south certainly makes Brazil one of the countries of the world with greater extent of land in proximity to the sun. The Brazilian coastline, where most of its population lives, is more than 8,500 km long. Due to geographic characteristics and cultural trends, Brazilians are among the peoples with the highest annual exposure to the sun. Epidemiological data show a continuing increase in the incidence of nonmelanoma and melanoma skin cancers. Photoprotection can be understood as a set of measures aimed at reducing sun exposure and at preventing the development of acute and chronic actinic damage. Due to the peculiarities of Brazilian territory and culture, it would not be advisable to replicate the concepts of photoprotection from other developed countries, places with completely different climates and populations. Thus the Brazilian Society of Dermatology has developed the Brazilian Consensus on Photoprotection, the first official document on photoprotection developed in Brazil for Brazilians, with recommendations on matters involving photoprotection

Multimodular Penicillin-Binding Proteins: An Enigmatic Family of Orthologs and Paralogs

The monofunctional penicillin-binding DD-peptidases and penicillin-hydrolyzing serine beta-lactamases diverged from a common ancestor by the acquisition of structural changes in the polypeptide chain while retaining the same folding, three-motif amino acid sequence signature, serine-assisted catalytic mechanism, and active-site topology. Fusion events gave rise to multimodular penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs). The acyl serine transferase penicillin-binding (PB) module possesses the three active-site defining motifs of the superfamily; it is linked to the carboxy end of a non-penicillin-binding (n-PB) module through a conserved fusion site; the two modules form a single polypeptide chain which folds on the exterior of the plasma membrane and is anchored by a transmembrane spanner; and the full-size PBPs cluster into two classes, A and B. In the class A PBPs, the n-PB modules are a continuum of diverging sequences; they possess a five-motif amino acid sequence signature, and conserved dicarboxylic amino acid residues are probably elements of the glycosyl transferase catalytic center. The PB modules fall into five subclasses: A1 and A2 in gram-negative bacteria and A3, A4, and A5 in gram-positive bacteria. The full-size class A PBPs combine the required enzymatic activities for peptidoglycan assembly from lipid-transported disaccharide-peptide units and almost certainly prescribe different, PB-module specific traits in peptidoglycan cross-linking. In the class B PBPs, the PB and n-PB modules cluster in a concerted manner. A PB module of subclass B2 or B3 is linked to an n-PB module of subclass B2 or B3 in gram-negative bacteria, and a PB module of subclass B1, B4, or B5 is linked to an n-PB module of subclass B1, B4, or B5 in gram-positive bacteria. Class B PBPs are involved in cell morphogenesis. The three motifs borne by the n-PB modules are probably sites for module-module interaction and the polypeptide stretches which extend between motifs 1 and 2 are sites for protein-protein interaction. The full-size class B PBPs are an assortment of orthologs and paralogs, which prescribe traits as complex as wall expansion and septum formation. PBPs of subclass B1 are unique to gram-positive bacteria. They are not essential, but they represent an important mechanism of resistance to penicillin among the enterococci and staphylococci. Natural evolution and PBP- and beta-lactamase-mediated resistance show that the ability of the catalytic centers to adapt their properties to new situations is limitless. Studies of the reaction pathways by using the methods of quantum chemistry suggest that resistance to penicillin is a road of no return