A Distinctive New Species Of Ouratea (ochnaceae) From The Jalapão Region, Tocantins, Brazil

Ouratea acicularis R. Chacon & K. Yamamoto (Ochnaceae), a new species from the recently created Estação Ecológica Serra Geral do Tocantins, Jalapão region, Brazil, is described. Ouratea acicularis appears to be most closely allied to O. oleifolia (A. Saint-Hilaire) Engler. Both species share a pubescent indumentum on the young branches, leaf surfaces, inflorescence axes, and outer surface of the flower buds, as well as revolute leaves and acute flower buds. Ouratea acicularis is unique in the genus in its aciculate leaf blade, at least 4 times narrower than in O. oleifolia, with a strongly revolute margin that conceals the abaxial leaf surface except for the midrib, as well as its inconspicuous secondary venation and narrower flower buds. Anatomically, O. acicularis differs from other previously studied species of Ouratea Aublet in that the cells of the adaxial epidermis have an hourglass-shaped lumen, pericellular forked hairs fused at the base, an unusually large cap of fibers and sclereids above the collateral vascular bundles, and in the predominantly 2-layered chlorenchyma. The stems of O. acicularis are noteworthy for the conspicuous secretory cavities of the cortex and secondary xylem, in which fibers and vessel members predominate.183397404Arruda, M.B., von Behr, M., Introdução (2002) Jalapão: Expedição Científica e Conservacionista, pp. 11-12. , Pp, M. B. Arruda & M. von Behr editors, IBAMA. BrasíliaBarroso, G.M., Morin, M.P., Peixoto, A.L., Ichaso, C.L.F., Frutos e Sementes (1999) Morfologia Aplicada à Sistemáticas de Dicotiledôneas, , Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Minas Gerais, BrazilBaum, H., Die Frucht von Ochna multiflora DC., ein Fall ökologischer Apokarpie. (1951) Oesterr. Bot. Z, 98 (4), pp. 388-395Engler, A. 1876. Ochnaceae. Pp. 301-332, pl. 62-77 in C. F. P. Martius & I. Urban (editors). Flora Brasiliensis 12(2)Guédès, M. & C. Sastre. 1981. Morphology of the gynoecium and systematic position of the Ochnaceae. Bot. J. Finn. Soc. 82: 121-138IUCN. 2001. IUCN Red Uist Categories and Criteria Version 3.1. Prepared by the IUCN Species Survival Commission. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland, and Cambridge, United KingdomMaguire, B., Steyermark, J.A., Ouratea (Ochnaceae) in Guyana and adjacent Amazonian hvlea (1989) Mem. New York Bot. Gard, 51, pp. 56-102Mittermeier, R.A., Myers, N., Gil, P.R., Mittermeier, C.G., (1999) Hotspots: Earth's Biologically Richest and Most Endangered Terrestrial Ecoregions, , Conservation International, Arlington, Virginia, and CEMEX, HoustonProença, C. E. B., A. B. Sampaio, L. C. Milhomens, L. H. Soares e Silva, M. F. Simon, P. L. Simpson Jr. & R. Farias. 2002. Relatório da botânica. Pp. 21-28 in M. B. Arruda & M. von Behr (editors), Jalapão: Expedição Científica e Conservacionista. IBAMA, BrasíliaMittermeier, R.A., Myers, N., Gil, P.R., Mittermeier, C.G., Singer, R.F., Gomes, B.M., Pleonotoma orientalis (Bignonieae, Bignoniaceae): Expanded description, distribution, and a new variety of a poorly known species (2007) Edinburgh J. Bot, 64, pp. 17-23Reis, M. L., D. C. Coelho, D. de F. Pereira. I. H. Carvalho, M. L. de A. Nunes, M. F. Simon & V. da S. Braz. 2002. Relatório da zoologia. Pp. 29-44 in M. B. Arruda & M. von Behr (editors), Jalapão: Expedição Científica e Conservacionista. IBAMA, BrasíliaSastre, C., Studies on the Flora of the Guianas 34. Synopsis generis Ouratea Aublet (Ochnaceae) (1988) Bull. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat., B, Adansonia, 1, pp. 47-67Sastre, C., New Ouratea species (Ochnaceae) from Venezuela and adjacent countries (2001) Novon, 11, pp. 105-118Scariot, A.O., Cavalcanti, T.B., Sevilha, A.C., Sampaio, A.B., Carvalho-Silva, M., Pereira-Silva, G., (2002) Flora e Vegetação do Entomo do Parque Estadual do Jalapão (TO): Relatório de Atividades, , EMBRAPA, BrasíliaSolereder, H., (1908) Systematic Anatomy of the Dicotyledons, , Clarendon Press, OxfordSpujt, R.W., A systematic treatment of fruit types (1994) Mem. New York Bot. Gard, 70, pp. 1-182Tieghem, van, P., Sur les Ochnacées. (1902) Ann. Sci. Nat., Bot, 16, pp. 161-416Whitefoord, C., Eight new species of Ouratea (Ochnaceae) from Mesoamerica (1992) Novon, 2, pp. 274-281Yamamoto, K. 1989. Morfologia, Anatomia e Sistemática do Gênero Ouratea Aubl.: Levantamento Preliminar de Características de Importância Taxonômica e Avaliação das Classificações Vigentes. Dissertação de Mestrado, Programa de Pós Graduação em Biologia Vegetal, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, Brasil_. 1995. Estudos Taxonômicos Sobre Ouratea parviflora (DC.) Baill. (Ochnaceae) e Espécies Afins Ocorrentes em Floresta Atlântica nas Regiões Sudeste e Sul do Brasil. Ph.D. Thesis (unpubl.), Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brazi

Characterization Of A Protein-protein Interaction Network Of The Cbl-interacting Protein Kinase 8 From Sugarcane

Plants are sessile organisms and have evolved to tolerate a constantly changing environment. After the onset of different stress conditions, calcineurin B-like (CBL) proteins can sense calcium signals and activate CBL-interacting protein kinase (CIPK) proteins, which can phosphorylate downstream proteins to reestablish plant homeostasis. Previous studies in the bioenergy crop sugarcane showed that the ScCIPK8 gene is induced by drought stress and is also related to sucrose content. Here, we have characterized the protein-protein interactions of ScCIPK8 with six CBL proteins (ScCBL1, ScCBL2, ScCBL3, ScCBL6, ScCBL9, and ScCBL10). Yeast two-hybrid assays showed that ScCIPK8 interacts with ScCBL1, ScCBL3, and ScCBL6. Bimolecular fluorescence complementation assays confirmed in planta the interactions that were observed in yeast cells. These findings give insights on the regulatory networks related to sugar accumulation and drought stress responses in sugarcane.141483491Albrecht, V., Ritz, O., Linder, S., Harter, K., The NAF domain defines a novel protein-protein interaction module conserved in Ca2+-regulated kinases (2001) EMBO J, 20, pp. 1051-1063Batistic, O., Kudla, J., Integration and channeling of calcium signaling through the CBL calcium sensor/CIPK protein kinase network (2004) Planta, 219, pp. 915-924Batistic, O., Sorek, N., Schultke, S., Yalovsky, S., Dual fatty acyl modification determines the localization and plasma membrane targeting of CBL/CIPK Ca2+ signaling complexes in Arabidopsis (2008) Plant Cell, 20, pp. 1346-1362Batistic, O., Waadt, R., Steinhorst, L., Held, K., CBL-mediated targeting of CIPKs facilitates the decoding of calcium signals emanating from distinct cellular stores (2010) Plant J, 61, pp. 211-222Bologna, G., Yvon, C., Duvaud, S., Veuthey, A.L., N-Terminal myristoylation predictions by ensembles of neural networks (2004) Proteomics, 4, pp. 1626-1632Defalco, T.A., Bender, K.W., Snedden, W.A., Breaking the code: Ca2+ sensors in plant signalling (2010) Biochem. J, 425, pp. 27-40Felix, J.D.M., Papini-Terzi, F.S., Rocha, F.R., Vêncio, R.Z.N., Expression profile of signal transduction components in a sugarcane population segregating for sugar content (2009) Trop. Plant Biol, 2, pp. 98-109Gasteiger, E., Hoogland, C., Gattiker, A., Duvaud, S., Protein Identification and Analysis Tools on the ExPASy Server (2005) The Proteomics Protocols Handbook, pp. 571-607. , Walker JM, ed.). Humana Press, New YorkGong, D., Gong, Z., Guo, Y., Chen, X., Biochemical and functional characterization of PKS11, a novel Arabidopsis protein kinase (2002) J. Biol. Chem, 277, pp. 28340-28350Goujon, M., McWilliam, H., Li, W., Valentin, F., A new bioinformatics analysis tools framework at EMBL-EBI (2010) Nucleic Acids Res, 38, pp. W695-W699Guo, Y., Halfter, U., Ishitani, M., Zhu, J.K., Molecular characterization of functional domains in the protein kinase SOS2 that is required for plant salt tolerance (2001) Plant Cell, 13, pp. 1383-1400Guo, Y., Xiong, L., Song, C.P., Gong, D., A calcium sensor and its interacting protein kinase are global regulators of abscisic acid signaling in Arabidopsis (2002) Dev. Cell, 3, pp. 233-244Hassan, A., Okuta, T., Kato, M., Hatsugai, N., Alternaric acid stimulates phosphorylation of His-tagged RiCDPK2, a calcium-dependent protein kinase in potato plants (2012) Genet. Mol. Res, 11, pp. 2381-2389Holsters, M., De Waele, D., Depicker, A., Messens, E., Transfection and transformation of Agrobacterium tumefaciens (1978) Mol. Gen. Genet, 163, pp. 181-187Kolukisaoglu, U., Weinl, S., Blazevic, D., Batistic, O., Calcium sensors and their interacting protein kinases: Genomics of the Arabidopsis and rice CBL-CIPK signaling networks (2004) Plant Physiol, 134, pp. 43-58Kudla, J., Xu, Q., Harter, K., Gruissem, W., Genes for calcineurin B-like proteins in Arabidopsis are differentially regulated by stress signals (1999) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A, 96, pp. 4718-4723Larkin, M.A., Blackshields, G., Brown, N.P., Chenna, R., Clustal W and Clustal X version 2.0 (2007) Bioinformatics, 23, pp. 2947-2948Lee, E.J., Iai, H., Sano, H., Koizumi, N., Sugar responsible and tissue specific expression of a gene encoding AtCIPK14, an Arabidopsis CBL-interacting protein kinase (2005) Biosci. Biotechnol. Biochem, 69, pp. 242-245Lee, M.W., Yang, Y., Transient expression assay by agroinfiltration of leaves (2006) Methods Mol. Biol, 323, pp. 225-229Lee, S.C., Lan, W.Z., Kim, B.G., Li, L., A protein phosphorylation/dephosphorylation network regulates a plant potassium channel (2007) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A, 104, pp. 15959-15964Luan, S., Kudla, J., Rodriguez-Concepcion, M., Yalovsky, S., Calmodulins and calcineurin B-like proteins: Calcium sensors for specific signal response coupling in plants (2002) Plant Cell, 14, pp. S389-S400Ohta, M., Guo, Y., Halfter, U., Zhu, J.K., A novel domain in the protein kinase SOS2 mediates interaction with the protein phosphatase 2C ABI2 (2003) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A, 100, pp. 11771-11776Ren, J., Wen, L., Gao, X., Jin, C., CSS-Palm 2.0: An updated software for palmitoylation sites prediction (2008) Protein Eng. Des. Sel, 21, pp. 639-644Rocha, F.R., Papini-Terzi, F.S., Nishiyama, M.Y., Jr., Vêncio, R.Z., Signal transduction-related responses to phytohormones and environmental challenges in sugarcane (2007) BMC Genomics, 8, p. 71Shi, J., Kim, K.N., Ritz, O., Albrecht, V., Novel protein kinases associated with calcineurin B-like calcium sensors in Arabidopsis (1999) Plant Cell, 11, pp. 2393-2405Tripathi, V., Parasuraman, B., Laxmi, A., Chattopadhyay, D., CIPK6, a CBL-interacting protein kinase is required for development and salt tolerance in plants (2009) Plant J, 58, pp. 778-790Walter, M., Chaban, C., Schutze, K., Batistic, O., Visualization of protein interactions in living plant cells using bimolecular fluorescence complementation (2004) Plant J, 40, pp. 428-438Webb, A.A.R., McAinsh, M.R., Taylor, J.E., Hetherington, A.M., Calcium Ions as Intracellular Second Messengers in Higher Plants (1996) Advances in Botanical Research, pp. 45-96. , Callow JA, ed.). 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Carpal valgus angle deviation in thoroughbred foals corrected using single transphyseal screw implant

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to demonstrate the effectiveness of the single transphyseal screw technique in foals diagnosed with carpal valgus deviation. This study included 22 thoroughbred animals of both sexes, with a mean age of 30 days. All animals had a carpal valgus deviation >5° with irregular development of the distal epiphysis of the radius. All animals were surgically treated to correct the carpal valgus deviation by creating a bridge using a single transphyseal screw. Surgical intervention was performed for 40 limbs, comprising 19 right and 21 left thoracic limbs. This corresponded to four animals with carpal valgus deviation >5° in only one of the limbs and 18 with the deviation in both limbs. It was observed that 38/40 treated limbs (95%) achieved normal angulation according to the literature, i.e., angulation between 0° and 5°. No statistical differences were observed between the affected limbs. The single transphyseal screw technique can be used for the correction of carpal valgus deviation in foals. It is indicated in animals with an average age of 30 days (20-55 days), as its main advantages are rapid application, simple execution, and limited trans- and post-surgical complications, making it an effective procedure in thoroughbred foals with carpal valgus angular deviation

Automation of optimization synthesis for modular technological equipment

Technological equipment design based on functionally modular methods is widely used in various technical fields. The designed object can be a technological machine, a production line, or a manufacturing complex. Special attention is paid to the optimization of its structure. The sequence of performing all stages of the optimization synthesis problem is presented in the article. To find a solution to this task, the developer should apply the complete or directed search of acceptable structure options and determine the best one using some optimization criteria to evaluate their quality. It can be simple enough if the designed technical system structure consists of no more than several elements. For example, if the number of alternative elements options is several dozen, it takes much time to accomplish the search correctly. Thus, the greater the number of components considered, the more difficult it is to do all the necessary calculations manually. In this case, machine resources should be involved. This scientific work aims to identify procedures of optimization synthesis that can be automated. Also, appropriate software has to be developed. Our computer program is based on the algorithm of a complete search of all options of the technical system structure. It can process an extensive array of input data and produce all possible and logically permissible results in the form the designer can analyze using the Pareto method to choose the best one. This software can be used for any technical system with a modular structure

Landau Analog Levels for Dipoles in the Noncommutative Space and Phase Space

In the present contribution we investigate the Landau analog energy quantization for neutral particles, that possesses a nonzero permanent magnetic and electric dipole moments, in the presence of an homogeneous electric and magnetic external fields in the context of the noncommutative quantum mechanics. Also, we analyze the Landau--Aharonov--Casher and Landau--He--McKellar--Wilkens quantization due to noncommutative quantum dynamics of magnetic and electric dipoles in the presence of an external electric and magnetic fields and the energy spectrum and the eigenfunctions are obtained. Furthermore, we have analyzed Landau quantization analogs in the noncommutative phase space, and we obtain also the energy spectrum and the eigenfunctions in this context.Comment: 20 pages, references adde

Black hole thermodynamical entropy

As early as 1902, Gibbs pointed out that systems whose partition function diverges, e.g. gravitation, lie outside the validity of the Boltzmann-Gibbs (BG) theory. Consistently, since the pioneering Bekenstein-Hawking results, physically meaningful evidence (e.g., the holographic principle) has accumulated that the BG entropy $S_{BG}$ of a $(3+1)$ black hole is proportional to its area $L^2$ ($L$ being a characteristic linear length), and not to its volume $L^3$. Similarly it exists the \emph{area law}, so named because, for a wide class of strongly quantum-entangled $d$-dimensional systems, $S_{BG}$ is proportional to $\ln L$ if $d=1$, and to $L^{d-1}$ if $d>1$, instead of being proportional to $L^d$ ($d \ge 1$). These results violate the extensivity of the thermodynamical entropy of a $d$-dimensional system. This thermodynamical inconsistency disappears if we realize that the thermodynamical entropy of such nonstandard systems is \emph{not} to be identified with the BG {\it additive} entropy but with appropriately generalized {\it nonadditive} entropies. Indeed, the celebrated usefulness of the BG entropy is founded on hypothesis such as relatively weak probabilistic correlations (and their connections to ergodicity, which by no means can be assumed as a general rule of nature). Here we introduce a generalized entropy which, for the Schwarzschild black hole and the area law, can solve the thermodynamic puzzle.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures. Accepted for publication in EPJ

Anti-SARS-CoV-2 inactivated vaccine in patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis: Immunogenicity, safety, antibody decay and the booster dose

Objective: To evaluate inactivated CoronaVac prime vaccination, antibody decay, booster dose, and safety in ANCA-Associated Vasculitis (AAV) patients. Methods: Fifty-three AAV patients and 106 Controls (CG) received CoronaVac on days: D0 (first dose), D28(second dose), and D210 (booster dose, 32 AAV: 32 CG). The primary outcome was immunogenicity after the second vaccine dose (day 69) assessed by Seroconversion Rates (SC) of anti-SARS-CoV-2 S1/S2 IgG and Neutralizing Antibodies (NAb). Secondary outcomes were safety, immunogenicity (D28/D240), 6-months antibody decay (D210) and the booster dose response (D240). Results: At D69 SC (65.1% vs. 96.8%, p = 0.0001), GMT (21.3 UA/mL vs. 67.7 UA/mL, p < 0.001) and NAb- positivity (53.7% vs. 80.6%, p = 0.001) were moderate but lower in naïve-AAV patients than CG. Patients without SC used more often IS (93.3% vs. 53.3%, p = 0.015), mycophenolate mofetil (20% vs. 0%, p = 0.037) and prednisone (60.0% vs. 28.6%, p = 0.057) than seroconverted. NAb negativity in AAV patients was associated with prednisone treatment (57.9% vs. 18.2%, p = 0.015) and IS (84.2% vs. 55.0%, p = 0.046). Logistic regression analysis models showed that only prednisone was associated with lower seroconversion (OR = 0.2, 0,95% CI 0.05‒0.86, p = 0.030) and with lower NAb positivity (OR = 0.2, 0,95% CI 0.05‒0.88, p = 0.034). After six months (D69‒D210) a decrease in IgG positivity occurred in 32 AAV patients (15.7%, p = 0.074) and 32 CG (18.7%, p = 0.041). For the NAb positivity, the 6-month decrease was not significant (p = 0.114) whereas a major reduction occurred for CG (p < 0.001). A booster dose (D240) resulted in an increment in IgG-positivity (21.9%, p = 0.023) and NAb-positivity (34.4%, p = 0.006) in AAV patients. No moderate/severe adverse events attributable to the vaccine were observed. Conclusion: This study provides novel data on the excellent safety and moderate immunogenicity of CoronaVac in AAV patients. A six-month mild antibody waning was observed with a good response to the booster dose, although levels remained lower than CG (CoronavRheum-NCT04754698)

Using Datamining Techniques to Help Metaheuristics: A Short Survey

International audienceHybridizing metaheuristic approaches becomes a common way to improve the efficiency of optimization methods. Many hybridizations deal with the combination of several optimization methods. In this paper we are interested in another type of hybridization, where datamining approaches are combined within an optimization process. Hence, we propose to study the interest of combining metaheuristics and datamining through a short survey that enumerates the different opportunities of such combinations based on literature examples