STABLE ISOTOPES ANALYSIS ON BALEEN WHALES (SUBORDER: MYSTICETI): A REVIEW UNTIL 2017

ABSTRACTStable Isotope Analysis (SIA) has provided information on ocean productivity, and ecological aspects related to whales’ habitat use and feeding ecology, stock structure, physiology, and evolution. We reviewed published studies using SIA on whales worldwide from November 1979 to June 2017. Gaps in geographical areas and heterogeneity amongst species studied using this methodology wereassessed. We also investigated which tissue was most frequently analysed, sources of variation in stable isotope values, how this methodology has been combined with other techniques, and how it can be useful for the conservation of the taxon and marine ecosystems. A total of 63 publications were found, and it was possible to detect a general increase in the number of publications along time, as 49% of the studies were from the last 7.5 years of the period analyzed. Almost 55% of studies focused on foraging ecology and habitat use. The baleen plate was the main tissue analyzed. Studies were related to 14 species, the most common being the fi n whale, Balaenoptera physalus (N=19) and the bowhead whale, Balaena mysticetus (N=18). Telemetry and SIA methodologies combined were helpful to understand geographical variations in stable isotope values. The methodology can also be valuable under the current scenario of climate change, for example providing information on feeding plasticity and changes in niche amplitude of diff erent species. Despite uncertainties related with stable isotopes distribution in the ocean, and with its incorporation rates for whales, for example, SIA provides primordial ecological information for effi cient management and conservation of this group. RESUMOA análise de isótopos estáveis (AIE) fornece informações sobre a produtividade do oceano e aspectos ecológicos de baleias relacionados ao uso do habitat e ecologia alimentar, estrutura de estoque, fi siologia e evolução. Foram revisados estudos publicados usando a AIE em baleias em todo o mundo entre novembro de 1979 e junho de 2017. Foram avaliadas lacunas nas áreas geográfi cas eheterogeneidade entre as espécies estudadas usando essa metodologia. Também investigamos quais tecidos foram mais utilizados para análise, as fontes de variação em valores de isótopos estáveis, a combinação desta metodologia com outras técnicas e como pode ser útil para a conservação deste táxon e dos ecossistemas marinhos. Um total de 63 publicações foi encontrado e foi possível detectar aumento no número de publicações, uma vez que 49% dos estudos foram realizados nos últimos 7 anos e meio do período analisado. Quase 55% dos estudos concentraram-se na ecologia de forrageio e no uso do habitat. As cerdas bucais foram o principal tecido analisado. Os estudos investigaram14 espécies, sendo mais comuns aqueles relacionados a baleia-fi n, Balaenoptera physalus (N=19) e a baleia-da-Groenlândia, Balaena mysticetus (N=18). As metodologias de telemetria e AIE combinadas foram úteis para entender as variações geográfi cas em valores de isótopos estáveis. Ametodologia pode também ter valor no cenário de mudanças climáticas fornecendo informações sobre plasticidade alimentar e amplitude de nicho de diferentes espécies, por exemplo. Apesar das incertezas relacionadas à distribuição dos valores de isótopos estáveis no mar e às taxas deincorporação em baleias, por exemplo, a AIE fornece informações ecológicas primordiais para o manejo e conservação desse grupo.Palavras-chave: Balaenopteridae; Balaenidae; Análise de isótopos estáveis; Ecologia da conservação.

A Simulation Software for the Analysis of Cropping Systems in Livestock Farms

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484. Preclinical Proof of Concept of Transcriptional Silencing and Replacement Strategy for Treatment of Retinitis Pigmentosa Due To RHODOPSIN Mutations

Silencing and replacement strategy is a promising approach to overcome mutational heterogeneity of genetic defects. In autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa (adRP) due to rhodopsin gene (RHO) approximately 200 different mutations have been described, posing a challenge for the design of effective therapeutics.We designed a silencing and replacement strategy based on transcriptional silencing through an artificial zinc finger DNA-binding protein lacking effector domains (ZF6DBD), and tested both efficacy and safety in two animal models.In a murine model of adRP, we show that AAV-mediate retinal delivery (AAV2/8-CMV-ZF6-DBD) is associated with selective transcriptional silencing of the human mutated allele resulting in morphological and functional (Electroretinography, ERG a-wave and b-wave responses) rescue. We then tested the effect of transcriptional silencing in the porcine large pre-clinical model. Delivery of a low dose (AAV2/8-CMV-ZF6-DBD, 1×10e10 vector genomes, vg) of the ZF6 transcriptional silencer to the porcine retina resulted in robust transcriptional silencing of the endogenous porcine RHO transcript. Cell sorting of transduced photoreceptors showed an almost complete RHO transcriptional silencing effect (90% RHO transcriptional repression), underscoring the potency of the system. To determine the safety of the zinc-finger silencer we performed extensive RNA-seq analysis on treated and control retinae. The data sets generated demonstrate selective RHO gene transcriptional repression and a remarkably low number of differential expressed genes (DEGs), supporting specificity and thus, safety. The co-administration to the porcine retina of the AAV-ZF6 silencer (AAV2/8-CMV-ZF6-DBD) and the AAV-RHO replacement (5×10e11 vg, AAV2/8-GNAT1-HumanRHO) constructs resulted in a balanced silencing and replacement effect. This data support the use of zinc-finger based RHO transcriptional silencing for the development of a clinical trial for adRP patients

320 transcriptional silencing via synthetic dna binding protein lacking canonical repressor domains as a potent tool to generate therapeutics

Transcription factors (TFs) function by the combined activity of their DNA-binding domains (DBDs) and effector domains (EDs). Here we show that in vivo delivery of an engineered DNA-binding protein uncoupled from the repressor domain entails complete and gene-specific transcriptional silencing. To silence RHODOPSIN (RHO) gain-of-function mutations, we engineered a synthetic DNA-binding protein lacking canonical repressor domains and targeted to the regulatory region of the RHO gene. AAV-mediate retinal delivery at a low dose (AAV2/8-CMV-ZF6-DBD, 1×10e10 vector genomes, vg) in the porcine retina resulted in selective transcriptional silencing of RHO expression. The rod photoreceptors (the RHO expressing cells) transduced cells when isolated by FACS-sorting showed the remarkable 90% RHO transcriptional repression. To evaluate genome-wide transcriptional specificity, we analyzed the porcine retina transcriptome by RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq). The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) analysis showed that only 19 genes were perturbed. In this study, we describe a system based on a synthetic DNA binding protein enabling targeted transcriptional silencing of the RHO gene by in vivo gene transfer. The high rate of transcriptional silencing occurring in transduced cells supports applications of this regulatory genomic interference with a synthetic trans-acting factor for diseases requiring gene silencing in a large number of affected cells, including for instance a number of neurodegeneration disorders. The result support a novel mode of gene targeted silencing with a DNA-binding protein lacking intrinsic activity

Benzodeazaoxaflavins as Sirtuin Inhibitors with Antiproliferative Properties in Cancer Stem Cells

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Exploring human adenosine A₃ receptor complementarity and activity for adenosine analogues modified in the ribose and purine moiety

In this paper we investigated the influence on affinity, selectivity and intrinsic activity upon modification of the adenosine agonist scaffold at the 3′- and 5′-positions of the ribofuranosyl moiety and the 2- and N(6)-positions of the purine base. This resulted in the synthesis of various analogues, that is, 3–12 and 24–33, with good hA(3)AR selectivity and moderate-to-high affinities (as in 32, K(i) = 27 nM). Interesting was the ability to tune the intrinsic activity depending on the substituent introduced at the 3′-position

A Multimethodological Characterization of Cannabis sativa L. Inflorescences from Seven Dioecious Cultivars Grown in Italy: The Effect of Different Harvesting Stages

The chemical profile of the female inflorescence extracts from seven Cannabis sativa L. dioecious cultivars (Carmagnola, Fibranova, Eletta Campana, Antal, Tiborszallasi, Kompolti, and Tisza) was monitored at three harvesting stages (4, 14, and 30 September), reaching from the be ginning of flowering to end of flowering/beginning of seed formation, using untargeted nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and targeted (ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) and spectrophotometry) analyses. The tetrahydrocannabinol content was always below the legal limits (<0.6%) in all the analyzed samples. The NMR metabolite profile (sugars, organic acids, amino acids, and minor compounds) subjected to principal components analysis (PCA) showed a strong variability according to the harvesting stages: samples harvested in stage I were characterized by a high content of sucrose and myo-inositol, whereas the ones harvested in stage II showed high levels of succinic acid, alanine, valine, isoleucine, phenylalanine, and threonine. Samples harvested in stage III were characterized by high levels of glucose, fructose, choline, trigonelline, malic acid, formic acid, and some amino acids. The ratio between chlorophylls and carotenoids content indicated that all plants grew up exposed to the sun, the Eletta Campana cultivar having the highest pigment amount. Tiborszallasi cultivar showed the highest polyphenol content. The highest antioxidant activity was generally observed in stage II. All these results suggested that the Cannabis sativa L. inflorescences of each analyzed dioecious hemp cultivar presented a peculiar chemical profile affected by the harvesting stage. This information could be useful for producers and industries to harvest inflorescences in the appropriate stage to obtain samples with a peculiar chemical profile suitable for proper applications.15s

Tecnologías de Smart IoT y aprendizaje automático para la solución de problemas en el medio productivo

El presente proyecto se basa en la utilización de internet de las cosas (IoT) como herramienta fundamental para proveer soluciones a problemáticas de interés social, como lo es el cuidado del medioambiente y la innovación en el sector productivo, focalizando la investigación en las técnicas de aprendizaje automático, es decir, Smart IoT. Entre los temas de investigación que se desarrollarán, se incluye el diseño e implementación de técnicas de visión por computadora con el objeto de agregar funcionalidades a dispositivos robóticos, de manera de proveer autonomía para determinadas tareas, con el agregado de control y supervisión remota mediante IoT. En esta línea, también se implementarán técnicas de visión por computadora para la clasificación de residuos reciclables mediante algoritmos de aprendizaje automático. Además, mediante técnicas de aprendizaje profundo y visión por computadora, se propone la clasificación de diferentes condiciones de cielo como consecuencia de la cobertura de nubes, lo cual será de suma utilidad para la optimización de sistemas que aprovechen la energía solar. En esta propuesta se continúa con algunas líneas de procesamiento digital de imágenes con el agregado de técnicas de aprendizaje automático. Por otro lado, Teniendo en cuenta que las técnicas de procesamiento de imágenes aplicadas a visión por computadora requieren alto poder de cómputo, se considera necesario investigar la tolerancia a fallos del sistema de procesamiento utilizado, para asegurar la correcta ejecución de dichos algoritmos. En la misma línea de Smart IoT, se incluye en la propuesta actual el procesamiento y análisis de datos obtenidos de una red de sensores basada en IoT, lo que permitirá mediante técnicas de aprendizaje automático la implementación de un sistema de ayuda a la toma de decisiones, para optimizar y mejorar el aprovechamiento de los recursos agrícolas.Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informátic