Macroinvertebrates associated with bryophyta in a first-order Atlantic Forest stream

This study describes the composition and structure of the benthic community associated with bryophytes in a first-order stream, located in a biological reserve of the Atlantic Forest, during two seasons. During three months of the dry season of 2007 and three months of the rainy season of 2008, samples of bryophytes attached to stones were collected randomly, along a 100 m stream reach. The structure of the community was analyzed through the mean density of individuals, Shannon's diversity index, Pielou's evenness, family richness, dominance index, and the percentage of Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera (% EPT). Chironomidae larvae were dominant in the two periods of study, followed by Ceratopogonidae in the rainy season, and Naididae in the dry season. The orders EPT contributed 14 families. The results showed that bryophytes constitute suitable habitat which is able to shelter an abundant and diversified benthic fauna in a small extension of the stream. This habitat provides refuge during spates, and thus minimizes downstream transport of the macroinvertebrate fauna.

Epiisopilosine alkaloid has activity against schistosoma mansoni in mice without acute toxicity

CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQFUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESPSchistosomiasis is a disease caused by parasites of the genus Schistosoma, currently affecting more than 200 million people. Among the various species of this parasite that infect humans, S. mansoni is the most common. Pharmacological treatment is limited135119CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQFUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESPCONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQFUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESP404134/2012-22014/02282-76, 2016/18023-5, 2016/22488-3The authors are grateful to Phytobios Pesquisa Desenvolvimento e Inovação LTDA.,company of the Centroflora Group, for its support during the realization of this research. SMA is grateful to Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico

Zero-inflated Poisson regression models for QTL mapping applied to tick-resistance in a Gyr × Holstein F2 population

Now a days, an important and interesting alternative in the control of tick-infestation in cattle is to select resistant animals, and identify the respective quantitative trait loci (QTLs) and DNA markers, for posterior use in breeding programs. The number of ticks/animal is characterized as a discrete-counting trait, which could potentially follow Poisson distribution. However, in the case of an excess of zeros, due to the occurrence of several noninfected animals, zero-inflated Poisson and generalized zero-inflated distribution (GZIP) may provide a better description of the data. Thus, the objective here was to compare through simulation, Poisson and ZIP models (simple and generalized) with classical approaches, for QTL mapping with counting phenotypes under different scenarios, and to apply these approaches to a QTL study of tick resistance in an F2 cattle (Gyr × Holstein) population. It was concluded that, when working with zero-inflated data, it is recommendable to use the generalized and simple ZIP model for analysis. On the other hand, when working with data with zeros, but not zero-inflated, the Poisson model or a data-transformation-approach, such as square-root or Box-Cox transformation, are applicable

Search for supersymmetry in events with b-quark jets and missing transverse energy in pp collisions at 7 TeV

Results are presented from a search for physics beyond the standard model based on events with large missing transverse energy, at least three jets, and at least one, two, or three b-quark jets. The study is performed using a sample of proton-proton collision data collected at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC in 2011. The integrated luminosity of the sample is 4.98 inverse femtobarns. The observed number of events is found to be consistent with the standard model expectation, which is evaluated using control samples in the data. The results are used to constrain cross sections for the production of supersymmetric particles decaying to b-quark-enriched final states in the context of simplified model spectra.Comment: Submitted to Physical Review