Future climate change will impact the migration of New World migrant flycatchers (Tyrannidae)

Climate change is reaching several tipping points, likely resulting in habitat shifts at a global scale. Such changes could have serious consequences for migratory species. For instance, climatic changes may impact the distribution of breeding and non-breeding ranges, resulting in longer migration distances for some species. The flycatchers (Tyrannidae) are the largest family of birds in New World. They are small insectivorous birds with different distributions and migratory strategies, including both tropical and temperate species. Here, we aim to map the climatically suitable ranges for Tyrannidae in the future, compare them to their present ranges, and quantify the changes in range size and in migratory distance. We show different impacts on species that breed in the northern vs. southern hemisphere. Furthermore, results suggest that tropical and temperate species would suffer from different stressors. Neotropical austral migrant species would lose part of their breeding ranges, while Nearctic-Neotropical species would need to fly longer distances to reach the same climatic conditions of their current breeding ranges. Because past climate shifts have shaped the evolution of bird migration, these insights are also key for elucidating the mechanisms underlying the evolution and regulation of bird migration, and for conservation planning.conselho nacional de desenvolvimento científico e tecnológic

Prevenção na escola: IMAMA e NUDEC no IFRS Bento Gonçalves

Trabalho apresentado no 31º SEURS - Seminário de Extensão Universitária da Região Sul, realizado em Florianópolis, SC, no período de 04 a 07 de agosto de 2013 - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina.Com o intuito de conscientizar a comunidade a importância sobre cuidados com a saúde em geral, o grupo enfoca os temas: câncer de mama, por ser altamente incidente na nossa região e associado a altas taxas de mortalidade; doenças sexualmente transmissíveis e gravidez na adolescência; a importância dos adolescentes se tornarem doadores; fatores que levam ao tabagismo na adolescência e suas consequências. Uma equipe formada por servidores e alunos do IFRS-BG desenvolve um programa de conscientização dentro da escola, estendendo-se a outras escolas e comunidades adjacentes. O grupo utiliza uma metodologia própria, como oficinas de conscientização, apresentação de peças teatrais e o uso de recursos didáticos confeccionados de forma artesanal pela equipe. Atentando a inovação e sustentabilidade aproveitam-se sobras de material para a confecção do chaveiro do IMAMA e de bolsas confeccionadas com banners descartados, levando mensagens dos temas acima citados e da importância de ações conscientes. A fisiologia da mama é explicada mostrando-se a mama táctil, também confeccionada pelo grupo e com identificações em Braille, oportunizando-se assim também a compreensão das pessoas com deficiência visual. Pequenas peças teatrais com temas relacionados a sexualidade, a gravidez na adolescência, ao câncer de mama são apresentadas com o intuito de provocar uma interação com o público. E a partir disto, propicia-se uma reflexão sobre situações de risco e vulnerabilidade relacionadas ao comportamento sexual e a importância de hábitos saudáveis. Investe-se na atuação desses jovens tendo a certeza de que as mensagens estão sendo absorvidas e hábitos simples e saudáveis estão sendo introduzidos nas rotinas de quem os assiste e de suas famílias, o que lhes assegurarão qualidade de vida

Electric vehicle performance and consumption evaluation

In this article, the driving performance of two electric vehicles of the latest generation clean powertrain cars is evaluated. The vehicles under test are an electric Peugeot iOn, and an AGV electric version of the Ford Transit Connect. For different torque-speed operating conditions at wheel level, the vehicles are evaluated for their battery to wheel - electrical to mechanical - power conversion performance, with the help of chassis dynamometer testing. This generates an insight in the mapping of the consumption and efficiency value ranges for electric driving. The vehicles are also tested in real life on-road conditions, by following a pre-set representative track on public roads. Charging efficiency and consumption of auxiliaries is considered too. These tests give insight and realistic values to judge consumption, driving range and efficiency. With these results, further calculations and accurate simulations of realistic scenarios are possible Document type: Articl

Electric Vehicle Performance and Consumption Evaluation

In this article, the driving performance of two electric vehicles of the latest generation clean powertrain cars is evaluated. The vehicles under test are an electric Peugeot iOn, and an AGV electric version of the Ford Transit Connect. For different torque-speed operating conditions at wheel level, the vehicles are evaluated for their battery to wheel - electrical to mechanical - power conversion performance, with the help of chassis dynamometer testing. This generates an insight in the mapping of the consumption and efficiency value ranges for electric driving. The vehicles are also tested in real life on-road conditions, by following a pre-set representative track on public roads. Charging efficiency and consumption of auxiliaries is considered too. These tests give insight and realistic values to judge consumption, driving range and efficiency. With these results, further calculations and accurate simulations of realistic scenarios are possible Document type: Articl

Export, purification, and activities of affinity tagged Lactobacillus reuteri levansucrase produced by Bacillus megaterium

Fructosyltransferases, like the Lactobacillus reteri levansucrase, are important for the production of new fructosyloligosaccharides. Various His6- and Strep-tagged variants of this enzyme were recombinantly produced and exported into the growth medium using the Gram-positive bacterium Bacillus megaterium. Nutrient-rich growth medium significantly enhanced levansucrase production and export. The B. megaterium signal peptide of the extracellular esterase LipA mediated better levansucrase export compared to the one of the penicillin amidase Pac. The combination of protein export via the LipA signal peptide with the coexpression of the signal peptidase gene sipM further increased the levansucrase secretion. Fused affinity tags allowed the efficient one-step purification of the recombinant proteins from the growth medium. However, fused peptide tags led to slightly decreased secretion of tested fusion proteins. After upscaling 2 to 3 mg affinity tagged levansucrase per liter culture medium was produced and exported. Up to 1 mg of His6-tagged and 0.7 mg of Strep-tagged levansucrase per liter were recovered by affinity chromatography. Finally, the purified levansucrase was shown to synthesize new fructosyloligosaccharides from the novel donor substrates D-Gal-Fru, D-Xyl-Fru, D-Man-Fru, and D-Fuc-Fru.

SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies Mediate Complement and Cellular Driven Inflammation

The ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) continues to constitute a serious public health threat worldwide. Protective antibody-mediated viral neutralization in response to SARS-CoV-2 infection has been firmly characterized. Where the effects of the antibody response are generally considered to be beneficial, an important biological question regarding potential negative outcomes of a SARS-CoV-2 antibody response has yet to be answered. We determined the distribution of IgG subclasses and complement activation levels in plasma from convalescent individuals using in-house developed ELISAs. The IgG response towards SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain (RBD) after natural infection appeared to be mainly driven by IgG1 and IgG3 subclasses, which are the main ligands for C1q mediated classical complement pathway activation. The deposition of the complement components C4b, C3bc, and TCC as a consequence of SARS-CoV-2 specific antibodies were depending primarily on the SARS-CoV-2 RBD and significantly correlated with both IgG levels and disease severity, indicating that individuals with high levels of IgG and/or severe disease, might have a more prominent complement activation during viral infection. Finally, freshly isolated monocytes and a monocyte cell line (THP-1) were used to address the cellular mediated inflammatory response as a consequence of Fc-gamma receptor engagement by SARS-CoV-2 specific antibodies. Monocytic Fc gamma receptor charging resulted in a significant rise in the secretion of the pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-α. Our results indicate that SARS-CoV-2 antibodies might drive significant inflammatory responses through the classical complement pathway and via cellular immune-complex activation that could have negative consequences during COVID-19 disease. We found that increased classical complement activation was highly associated to COVID-19 disease severity. The combination of antibody-mediated complement activation and subsequent cellular priming could constitute a significant risk of exacerbating COVID-19 severity

Rab3D Is Not Required for Exocrine Exocytosis but for Maintenance of Normally Sized Secretory Granules

Rab3D, a member of the Rab3 subfamily of the Rab/ypt GTPases, is expressed on zymogen granules in the pancreas as well as on secretory vesicles in mast cells and in the parotid gland. To shed light on the function of Rab3D, we have generated Rab3D-deficient mice. These mice are viable and have no obvious phenotypic changes. Secretion of mast cells is normal as revealed by capacitance patch clamping. Furthermore, enzyme content and overall morphology are unchanged in pancreatic and parotid acinar cells of knockout mice. Both the exocrine pancreas and the parotid gland show normal release kinetics in response to secretagogue stimulation, suggesting that Rab3D is not involved in exocytosis. However, the size of secretory granules in both the exocrine pancreas and the parotid gland is significantly increased, with the volume being doubled. We conclude that Rab3D exerts its function during granule maturation, possibly by preventing homotypic fusion of secretory granules