Brazilian coral reefs in a period of global change: A synthesis

Brazilian coral reefs form structures significantly different from the well-known reef models, as follows: (i) they have a growth form of mushroom-shaped coral pinnacles called "chapeirões", (ii) they are built by a low diversity coral fauna rich in endemic species, most of them relic forms dating back to the Tertiary, and (iii) the nearshore bank reefs are surrounded by siliciclastic sediments. The reefs are distributed in the following four major sectors along the Brazilian coast: the northern, the northeastern and the eastern regions, and the oceanic islands, but certain isolated coral species can be found in warmer waters in embayments of the southern region. There are different types of bank reefs, fringing reefs, isolated "chapeirões" and an atoll present along the Brazilian coast. Corals, milleporids and coralline algae build the rigid frame of the reefs. The areas in which the major coral reefs occur correspond to regions in which nearby urban centers are experiencing accelerated growth, and tourism development is rapidly increasing. The major human effects on the reef ecosystem are mostly associated with the increased sedimentation due to the removal of the Atlantic rainforest and the discharge of industrial and urban effluents. The effects of the warming of oceanic waters that had previously affected several reef areas with high intensity coral bleaching had not shown, by the time of the 2010 event, any episodes of mass coral mortality on Brazilian reefs.Os recifes de coral do Brasil formam estruturas significativamente diferentes dos modelos conhecidos: (i) possuem uma forma de crescimento de pináculos coralíneos em forma de cogumelo, chamados "chapeirões", (ii) são construídos por uma fauna coralínea com baixa diversidade e rica em espécies endêmicas, sendo grande parte destas formas relíquias do período Terciário e (iii) os recifes costeiros estão num ambiente dominado por sedimentos siliciclásticos. Os recifes estão distribuídos em quatro áreas ao longo da costa brasileira: regiões norte, nordeste, leste, e nas ilhas oceânicas, mas espécies isoladas de coral podem ser encontradas em águas mais quentes nas enseadas da região sul. Diferentes tipos de banco recifais, recifes em franja, "chapeirões" isolados e um atol estão presentes ao longo da costa brasileira. Corais, milleporídeos e algas coralinas incrustantes constroem a estrutura rígida dos recifes. As áreas em que ocorrem os maiores recifes de coral correspondem às regiões nas proximidades de centros urbanos que estão experimentando crescimento acelerado e rápido desenvolvimento do turismo. Os principais efeitos antropogênicos sobre o ecossistema recifal estão associados, essencialmente ao aumento da sedimentação devido à remoção da mata atlântica e as descargas de efluentes industriais e urbanos. Os efeitos do aquecimento das águas oceânicas que vem afetando várias áreas de recifes, com alta intensidade de branqueamento de coral, não causaram mortalidade em massa nos recifes brasileiros até o evento de 2010

Resistência de picão-preto encontrada em lavoura de soja na metade sul do Rio Grande do Sul

Weed herbicide resistance is a phenomenon defined as ability of a biotype survives to herbicide sprayed, at a recommended rate that control a susceptible population. This research had the objective of determine, the level of resistance the herbicides of the Bidens subalternans. The herbicides treatments they were with bentazon, fomesafen, imazethapyr e chloransulam-methyl. Sprayed in post-emergency, when B. subalternans reached stage four-leaf pairs. The herbicide rates sprayed was crescents in a logarithm scale of 0,0; 0,001; 0,01; 0,1; 1,0; 10 e 100 times of the control recommended rate. Through visual evolution and with aid of the percentile scale they were obtained the control data. The ratio between the C50 of the resistant biotype, and C50 of the susceptible biotype (R/S) were 0,79, 1,87, 53,69 and 486,02 to the herbicides bentazon, fomesafen, imazethapyr and chloransulam-methyl, respectively. The weed herbicide resistance happen in Rio Grande do Sul soybean fields and the biotypes R of B. subalternans presented high level of cross-resistance the herbicides inhibitions of ALS, of the chemical groups of the imidazolinones and sulfonanilides.       A resistência de plantas daninhas a herbicidas é um fenômeno de ocorrência mundial e que se caracteriza pela capacidade de um biótipo em sobreviver a um tratamento herbicida que controla os demais indivíduos de outros biótipos, componentes dessa espécie. Este trabalho teve o objetivo de determinar, o nível de resistência de biótipos de Bidens subalternans a diferentes herbicidas. Foram selecionados para o teste os herbicidas bentazon, fomesafen, imazethapyr e chloransulam-metil, aplicados, em pós-emergência, quando as plantas de B. subalternans apresentavam quatro pares de folhas. Os tratamentos herbicidas foram utilizados em doses crescentes, obedecendo à escala logarítmica de 0,0; 0,001; 0,01; 0,1; 1,0; 10 e 100 vezes a dose recomendada para controle. Os dados obtidos para controle foram obtidos visualmente, com auxílio da escala percentual. As relações entre o C50 do biótipo resistente e o C50 do biótipo suscetível (R/S) foram de 0,79; 1,87, 53,69 e 486,02 para os herbicidas bentazon, fomesafen, imazethapyr e chloransulam-metil, respectivamente. A resistência de plantas daninhas a herbicidas ocorre nas lavouras de soja do sul do RS e o biótipo R de B. subalternans apresentou elevado nível de resistência cruzada a herbicidas inibidores da ALS, dos grupos químicos das imidazolinonas e sulfonanilidas

RESSEÇÃO ESPACIAL EM FOTOGRAMETRIA COM QUATÉRNIOS

A fotogrametria usa comumente a Equação da colinearidade com as rotações segundo os eixos cartesianos dadas com os ângulos de Euler. No entanto, podem ocorrer combinações desses ângulos que torna a matriz de rotação instável e as soluções podem não convergir ou serem indefinidas. Este problema, chamado de gimbal lock, é muito comum em robótica, visão por computadores e aeronáutica, quando é necessário definir a posição e orientação de uma câmara no espaço tridimensional e tem sido resolvido com a substituição dos ângulos de Euler pelo uso dos quatérnios. Este trabalho tem por objetivo usar esta solução para resolver os problemas de orientações críticas em fotogrametria nos casos de resseção espacial. Foram implementados programas com métodos iterativos e diretos com substituição dos ângulos de Euler pelos quatérnios para comparações com o métoda Equação da colinearidade, usando dados de situações reais de medições obtidas com fotogrametria terrestre. Os diferentes testes e implementações efetuados mostraram as vantagens e desvantagens de cada um dos métodos e comprovou que os quatérnios são mais robustos, fornecem resultados mais confiáveis e permitem cálculos de resseção espacial de fotografias em posições com ambiguidades de rotações e situações críticas de gimbal lock

GQ-16, a novel peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR ) ligand, promotes insulin sensitization without weight gain

ABSTRACTBackground: PPAR agonists improve insulin sensitivity but also evoke weight gain. Results: GQ-16 is a PPAR partial agonist that blocks receptor phosphorylation by Cdk5 and improves insulin sensitivity in diabetic mice in the absence of weight gain. Conclusion: The unique binding mode of GQ-16 appears to be responsible for the compound’s advantageous pharmacological profile. Significance: Similar compounds could have promise as anti-diabetic therapeutics

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

Medium Chain Fatty Acids Are Selective Peroxisome Proliferator Activated Receptor (PPAR) γ Activators and Pan-PPAR Partial Agonists

Thiazolidinediones (TZDs) act through peroxisome proliferator activated receptor (PPAR) γ to increase insulin sensitivity in type 2 diabetes (T2DM), but deleterious effects of these ligands mean that selective modulators with improved clinical profiles are needed. We obtained a crystal structure of PPARγ ligand binding domain (LBD) and found that the ligand binding pocket (LBP) is occupied by bacterial medium chain fatty acids (MCFAs). We verified that MCFAs (C8–C10) bind the PPARγ LBD in vitro and showed that they are low-potency partial agonists that display assay-specific actions relative to TZDs; they act as very weak partial agonists in transfections with PPARγ LBD, stronger partial agonists with full length PPARγ and exhibit full blockade of PPARγ phosphorylation by cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (cdk5), linked to reversal of adipose tissue insulin resistance. MCFAs that bind PPARγ also antagonize TZD-dependent adipogenesis in vitro. X-ray structure B-factor analysis and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations suggest that MCFAs weakly stabilize C-terminal activation helix (H) 12 relative to TZDs and this effect is highly dependent on chain length. By contrast, MCFAs preferentially stabilize the H2-H3/β-sheet region and the helix (H) 11-H12 loop relative to TZDs and we propose that MCFA assay-specific actions are linked to their unique binding mode and suggest that it may be possible to identify selective PPARγ modulators with useful clinical profiles among natural products

Colocalization of Protein Kinase A with Adenylyl Cyclase Enhances Protein Kinase A Activity during Induction of Long-Lasting Long-Term-Potentiation

The ability of neurons to differentially respond to specific temporal and spatial input patterns underlies information storage in neural circuits. One means of achieving spatial specificity is to restrict signaling molecules to particular subcellular compartments using anchoring molecules such as A-Kinase Anchoring Proteins (AKAPs). Disruption of protein kinase A (PKA) anchoring to AKAPs impairs a PKA-dependent form of long term potentiation (LTP) in the hippocampus. To investigate the role of localized PKA signaling in LTP, we developed a stochastic reaction-diffusion model of the signaling pathways leading to PKA activation in CA1 pyramidal neurons. Simulations investigated whether the role of anchoring is to locate kinases near molecules that activate them, or near their target molecules. The results show that anchoring PKA with adenylyl cyclase (which produces cAMP that activates PKA) produces significantly greater PKA activity, and phosphorylation of both inhibitor-1 and AMPA receptor GluR1 subunit on S845, than when PKA is anchored apart from adenylyl cyclase. The spatial microdomain of cAMP was smaller than that of PKA suggesting that anchoring PKA near its source of cAMP is critical because inactivation by phosphodiesterase limits diffusion of cAMP. The prediction that the role of anchoring is to colocalize PKA near adenylyl cyclase was confirmed by experimentally rescuing the deficit in LTP produced by disruption of PKA anchoring using phosphodiesterase inhibitors. Additional experiments confirm the model prediction that disruption of anchoring impairs S845 phosphorylation produced by forskolin-induced synaptic potentiation. Collectively, these results show that locating PKA near adenylyl cyclase is a critical function of anchoring