Habitat use, daily activity periods, and thermal ecology of Ameiva ameiva (Squamata: Teiidae) in a caatinga area of northeastern Brazil.

Estudamos o uso dos recursos espaciais, temporais e térmicos pelo lagarto neotropical Ameiva ameiva durante as estaçõesseca e chuvosa em um ambiente de caatinga do nordeste do Brasil. Os lagartos utilizaram os hábitats e micro-hábitats de vegetação baixa, mas nunca foram observados no hábitat rochoso. Os adultos utilizaram usualmente o hábitat arbóreo-arbustivo, enquanto os juvenis foram observados maisfrequentemente no hábitat arbustivo-herbáceo. Diferenças ontogenéticas no uso do espaço parecem estar relacionadas a diferentes necessidades térmicas entre as classes de idade devido a diferenças de tamanho corporal. As temperaturas corporais dos juvenis foram significativamente maiores que asdos adultos. A maioria das espécies de Teiidae possui temperaturas corporais elevadas, usualmente acima de 37oC, e atividade concentrada nas horas mais quentes do dia, como observado em A. ameiva neste estudo. A sazonalidade influenciou o uso do hábitat e os períodos diários de atividade dos adultos, mas não influenciou as temperaturas corporais. Verificamos flutuações anuais na abundância de indivíduos adultos, com um declínio de lagartos ativos na estação seca; esse fenômeno pode estar relacionado à estivação e/ou ao aumento da taxa de mortalidade durante os meses mais secos.We studied the use of spatial, temporal, and thermal resources by the Neotropical lizard Ameiva ameiva during rainy and dry seasons in a caatinga (xerophilous open forests) environment in northeastern Brazil. Lizards used the vegetation habitats and microhabitats in the ground, but never were seen in the rocky habitat. Adults usually used the arboreal-shrubby habitat, whereas juveniles were sighted more often in the shrubby-herbaceous habitat. Ontogenetic differences in spatial use seem to be linked to different thermal needs between age groups owing to differences in body size. Body temperatures were significantly higher in juveniles than in adults. Most teiid species have elevated body temperatures, usually above 37oC,and are active during the hottest times of day, as was observed for A. ameiva in this study. Seasonality influenced habitat use and daily activity periods of adults, but not body temperatures. We verified annual fluctuations in adult abundance, with a decline of active lizards in the dry season; this phenomenon may be related to aestivation and/or increased mortality rate during the driest months

Saddles in the energy landscape probed by supercooled liquids

We numerically investigate the supercooled dynamics of two simple model liquids exploiting the partition of the multi-dimension configuration space in basins of attraction of the stationary points (inherent saddles) of the potential energy surface. We find that the inherent saddles order and potential energy are well defined functions of the temperature T. Moreover, decreasing T, the saddle order vanishes at the same temperature (T_MCT) where the inverse diffusivity appears to diverge as a power law. This allows a topological interpretation of T_MCT: it marks the transition from a dynamics between basins of saddles (T>T_MCT) to a dynamics between basins of minima (T<T_MCT).Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, to be published on PR

Correlation between the granulosa cell layer and active caspase-3 expression in ovarian follicles of Tropidurus hispidus and T. semitaeniatus (Squamata, Tropiduridae): immunohistochemical approach

The greatest threats to terrestrial reptiles are urban development and habitat modification. In this sense, a better understanding of folliculogenesis in these animals would be important to knowledge of reproductive biology. The aim of this study was to analyze the correlation between the thickness of the granulosa cell layer and the expression of the active caspase-3 protein in the previtellogenic and vitellogenic follicles of T. hispidus and T. semitaeniatus. Ovaries were used for histological (morphology and morphometry: thickness of granulosa layer) and immunohistochemical (active caspase-3 expression) analyses. The previtellogenic follicles of T. hispidus and T. semitaeniatus showed a thicker granulosa layer, with pyriform and small cells. The vitellogenic follicles had a monolayer of cuboid cells, and a thicker thecal layer. The thickness of the granulosa layer was significantly higher in the previtellogenic compared to the vitellogenic phase for both species. However, no differences were observed between the species. Active caspase-3 was observed in the pyriform and intermediate cells in previtellogenesis of T. hispidus and T. semitaeniatus. Nevertheless, no immunostaining was observed in the vitellogenic phase in both species. In conclusion, this study shows that the thickness of the granulosa cell layer is higher in the previtellogenic follicles compared to the vitellogenic follicles in the two Tropidurus species. Pyriform and intermediate cells from previtellogenic follicles show high expression of the protein, indicating that remodeling of the epithelium is associated with apoptosis. Finally, our results provide a scientific basis for assisted reproductive techniques and conservation actions to the reptiles in the future.Las mayores amenazas para los reptiles terrestres son el desarrollo urbano y la modificación del hábitat. En este sentido, una mejor comprensión de la foliculogénesis en estos animales sería importante para el conocimiento de la biología reproductiva. El objetivo de este estudio fue analizar la correlación entre el grosor de la capa de células de la granulosa y la expresión de la proteína caspase-3 activa en los folículos previtelogénicos y vitelogénicos de T. hispidus y T. semitaeniatus. Los ovarios se usaron para análisis histológicos (morfología y morfometría: grosor de la capa de la granulosa) e inmunohistoquímicos (expresión activa de caspase-3). Los folículos previtelogénicos de T. hispidus y T. semitaeniatus mostraron una capa de granulosa más gruesa, con células piriformes y pequeñas. Los folículos vitelogénicos tenían una monocapa de células cuboides y una capa tecal más gruesa. El grosor de la capa de granulosa fue significativamente mayor en la fase previtelogénica en comparación con la fase vitelogénica para ambas especies. Sin embargo, no se observaron diferencias entre las especies. Se observó caspase-3 activa en las células piriformes e intermedias en previtelogénesis de T. hispidus y T. semitaeniatus. Sin embargo, no se observó inmunotinción en la fase vitelogénica en ambas especies. En conclusión, este estudio muestra que el grosor de la capa de células de la granulosa es mayor en los folículos previtelogénicos en comparación con los folículos vitelogénicos en las dos especies de Tropidurus. Las células piriformes e intermedias de folículos previtelogénicos muestran una alta expresión de la proteína, lo que indica que la remodelación del epitelio está asociada con la apoptosis. Finalmente, nuestros resultados proporcionan una base científica para técnicas de reproducción asistida y acciones de conservación para los reptiles en el futuro.Asociación Herpetológica Argentin

Lipidic cycle, condition factor and reproductive cell maturation in Gymnodactylus darwinii Gray, 1845 (Squamata, Phyllodactylidae) from a fragment of Atlantic Forest in northeastern Brazil

In this study, we describe a variation in fat bodies (liposomatic relationship), condition factor (the welfare degree of a population against the environment, K1), and male and female reproductive cells of the gecko Gymnodactylus darwinii (Gray, 1845) collected in two contiguous protected areas (Tapacurá and Mata do Camucim forests) in the municipality of São Lourenço da Mata, Pernambuco state, Brazil. We assessed seasonal variation and the influence of biotic (body temperature and K1 condition factor) and abiotic (air temperature and precipitation) factors on the lipidic cycle and reproductive cells’ maturation. As typical in geckos, fat bodies in G. darwinii decreased markedly during the high temperature and low precipitation periods. A slight variation in K1 suggests similar levels of energetic investment in growth and sexual maturation. Different reproductive cells matured similarly in sexually mature individuals, indicating a continuous, synchronised maturation cycle. Nonetheless, while fat bodies decreased and the number of mature reproductive cells increased in dry months, the opposite pattern was observed in rainy months. Our results indicate that G. darwinii does not show reproductive seasonality but instead peaks of reproductive activity (reproductive cell maturation, mating, lay eggs) synchronised in females and males, regulated by body temperature and climatic variables, including air temperature and precipitation.Asociación Herpetológica Argentin

Supplementation of carotenoids from peach palm waste (Bactris gasipaes) obtained with an ionic liquid mediated process displays kidney anti-inflammatory and antioxidant outcomes

Sustainable extraction processes based on alternative solvents to recover bioactive compounds of different raw materials have been highlighted as excellent alternatives to supply the needs of society towards a bioeconomy strategy. Little is known about the safety and biological effect of compounds extracted by these processes. In this work, carotenoids from Bactris gasipaes wastes obtained by an IL-based process were investigated in terms of safety, anti-inflammatory and, antioxidant activity in a high-fat-diet animal model on the kidney. Wistar rats were supplemented or not by carotenoids extracted with IL or VOS. The animals supplemented with carotenoids had lower weight than control and high-fat diets. In the animals supplemented with carotenoids, the group IL improved anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity compared with carotenoids obtained by VOS. Also, the group HFD-VOS showed moderate-severe injuries on the kidney. Then, ILs could represent a novel tool for natural pigments safely applied to food industry.publishe

Tele-electrocardiography and bigdata: the CODE (Clinical Outcomes in Digital Electrocardiography) study

Digital electrocardiographs are now widely available and a large number of digital electrocardiograms (ECGs) have been recorded and stored. The present study describes the development and clinical applications of a large database of such digital ECGs, namely the CODE (Clinical Outcomes in Digital Electrocardiology) study. ECGs obtained by the Telehealth Network of Minas Gerais, Brazil, from 2010 to 17, were organized in a structured database. A hierarchical free-text machine learning algorithm recognized specific ECG diagnoses from cardiologist reports. The Glasgow ECG Analysis Program provided Minnesota Codes and automatic diagnostic statements. The presence of a specific ECG abnormality was considered when both automatic and medical diagnosis were concordant; cases of discordance were decided using heuristisc rules and manual review. The ECG database was linked to the national mortality information system using probabilistic linkage methods. From 2,470,424 ECGs, 1,773,689 patients were identified. After excluding the ECGs with technical problems and patients &lt;16 years-old, 1,558,415 patients were studied. High performance measures were obtained using an end-to-end deep neural network trained to detect 6 types of ECG abnormalities, with F1 scores &gt;80% and specificity &gt;99% in an independent test dataset. We also evaluated the risk of mortality associated with the presence of atrial fibrillation (AF), which showed that AF was a strong predictor of cardiovascular mortality and mortality for all causes, with increased risk in women. In conclusion, a large database that comprises all ECGs performed by a large telehealth network can be useful for further developments in the field of digital electrocardiography, clinical cardiology and cardiovascular epidemiology

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

Transcriptome analysis of Gossypium hirsutum flower buds infested by cotton boll weevil (Anthonomus grandis) larvae

Background\ud Cotton is a major fibre crop grown worldwide that suffers extensive damage from chewing insects, including the cotton boll weevil larvae (Anthonomus grandis). Transcriptome analysis was performed to understand the molecular interactions between Gossypium hirsutum L. and cotton boll weevil larvae. The Illumina HiSeq 2000 platform was used to sequence the transcriptome of cotton flower buds infested with boll weevil larvae.\ud \ud \ud Results\ud The analysis generated a total of 327,489,418 sequence reads that were aligned to the G. hirsutum reference transcriptome. The total number of expressed genes was over 21,697 per sample with an average length of 1,063 bp. The DEGseq analysis identified 443 differentially expressed genes (DEG) in cotton flower buds infected with boll weevil larvae. Among them, 402 (90.7%) were up-regulated, 41 (9.3%) were down-regulated and 432 (97.5%) were identified as orthologues of A. thaliana genes using Blastx. Mapman analysis of DEG indicated that many genes were involved in the biotic stress response spanning a range of functions, from a gene encoding a receptor-like kinase to genes involved in triggering defensive responses such as MAPK, transcription factors (WRKY and ERF) and signalling by ethylene (ET) and jasmonic acid (JA) hormones. Furthermore, the spatial expression pattern of 32 of the genes responsive to boll weevil larvae feeding was determined by “in situ” qPCR analysis from RNA isolated from two flower structures, the stamen and the carpel, by laser microdissection (LMD).\ud \ud \ud Conclusion\ud A large number of cotton transcripts were significantly altered upon infestation by larvae. Among the changes in gene expression, we highlighted the transcription of receptors/sensors that recognise chitin or insect oral secretions; the altered regulation of transcripts encoding enzymes related to kinase cascades, transcription factors, Ca2+ influxes, and reactive oxygen species; and the modulation of transcripts encoding enzymes from phytohormone signalling pathways. These data will aid in the selection of target genes to genetically engineer cotton to control the cotton boll weevil.FAPESP [2009/53998-3]CNPq [310.612/2011-0, 306025/2010-8]Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ

Histone deacetylases as new therapy targets for platinum-resistant epithelial ovarian cancer

Introduction: In developed countries, ovarian cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women. Due to the nonspecific symptomatology associated with the disease many patients with ovarian cancer are diagnosed late, which leads to significantly poorer prognosis. Apart from surgery and radiotherapy, a substantial number of ovarian cancer patients will undergo chemotherapy and platinum based agents are the mainstream first-line therapy for this disease. Despite the initial efficacy of these therapies, many women relapse; therefore, strategies for second-line therapies are required. Regulation of DNA transcription is crucial for tumour progression, metastasis and chemoresistance which offers potential for novel drug targets. Methods: We have reviewed the existing literature on the role of histone deacetylases, nuclear enzymes regulating gene transcription. Results and conclusion: Analysis of available data suggests that a signifant proportion of drug resistance stems from abberant gene expression, therefore HDAC inhibitors are amongst the most promising therapeutic targets for cancer treatment. Together with genetic testing, they may have a potential to serve as base for patient-adapted therapies