Comparison of aerobic capacity determined by the lactate minimum test among guard, forward and forward-center positions in basketball players

To aim of this study was to verify the aerobic capacity by lactate minimum test (LM) among different positions in professional basketball players. Twelve high performance basketball players (12 Major National Leagues, 26.7± 3.2 years) were evaluated by LM. The method of lactate elevation consisted of 6 maximum sprints of 35 m separated by 10 s of recovery each (Running Anaerobic Sprint Test). The progressive phase in LM consisted of 4 periods of 3 min each at 8, 10, 11 and 12 Km/h. After lactate elevation phase and progressive periods, 25μL samples of blood were collected to determine peak lactate (PL) concentration and relative lactate minimum concentration (LACc) respectively. The running speed at the LM was taken when the gradient of the line was zero. Anova one-way statistical was utilized to compare the intensity corresponding LM, LACc and PL (p≤0.05). The velocity (Km/h) of LM did not differ among positions: Guard LM= 9.46±0.17 Km/h; Forward LM= 9.60±0.68 Km/h and Forward-Center LM= 9.64±0.25 Km/h. The LACc did not differ: Guard LM= 3.55±0.51 mmol/L; Forward LM= 3.48±1.63 mmol/L and Forward-Center LM= 4.00±0.43 mmol/L. No changes occurred in PL: Guard LM= 8.35±1.41 mmol/L; Forward LM= 8.16±1.47 mmol/L and Forward-Center LM= 8.76±1.20 mmol/L. The aerobic capacity determined by LM did not differ among guard, forward and forward center basketball players

The Two-Spectra Inverse Problem for Semi-Infinite Jacobi Matrices in The Limit-Circle Case

We present a technique for reconstructing a semi-infinite Jacobi operator in the limit circle case from the spectra of two different self-adjoint extensions. Moreover, we give necessary and sufficient conditions for two real sequences to be the spectra of two different self-adjoint extensions of a Jacobi operator in the limit circle case.Comment: 26 pages. Changes in the presentation of some result

On the Two Spectra Inverse Problem for Semi-Infinite Jacobi Matrices

We present results on the unique reconstruction of a semi-infinite Jacobi operator from the spectra of the operator with two different boundary conditions. This is the discrete analogue of the Borg-Marchenko theorem for Schr{\"o}dinger operators in the half-line. Furthermore, we give necessary and sufficient conditions for two real sequences to be the spectra of a Jacobi operator with different boundary conditions.Comment: In this slightly revised version we have reworded some of the theorems, and we updated two reference

Sustainable management of olive rainfed orchards by the introduction of leguminous cover crops

The olive sector has a crucial economic, social, cultural and ecological relevance in the Mediterranean region, where tillage and herbicides application are still generalized practices. However, these practices oppose the recommendations of UE Common Agricultural Policy and thus, management methods that decrease requirement for agricultural chemicals are needed to reduce adverse environmental impacts. Moreover, they can play an important role in atmospheric C01 emission and fixation. We propose green manure legumes to reduce erosion, soil compaction and nih·ate pollution, to improve biodiversity, soil carbon sink and fertility, to save fossil fuels and to increase yield and the safety and nutritional value of food products. The 3-yearfield study carried out in Northeast Portugal revealed that self-reseeding annual legumes is a promising strategy since increase the summer soil water content, the vegetative growth and the physiological tree pe1jormance, that was reflected in a 38% higher cumulative yield then tillage techniques.PTDC-AGR-AAM/098326/200

IL-6 and TNF-alpha polymorphisms in portuguese psoriatic patients

Introduction: Cytokines regulate the growth, function and differentiation of cells and help to steer immune response and inflammation. In this study we focused our attention in two proinflammatory cytokines: IL-6 and TNFa. It is known that their overexpression is responsible for initiation, maintenance and recurrence of skin lesions in psoriatic patients. Therefore, it is important to investigate genetic biomarkers with functional effects in the genes of those cytokines that could help to predict the severity of Psoriasis. Objectives: To investigate the hypothesis that allelic variants in IL-6 and TNF-a genes are a risk factor for the developing of severe Psoriasis. Materials and Methods: A cohort of 178 (74 females, 104 males) psoriatic patients with severe plaque type psoriasis [according to the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI)] and 206 healthy individuals were selected. Several polymorphisms in the IL-6 gene (rs1800795, rs1800796, rs2069827, rs2069840) and TNF-a (rs361525, rs1799964, rs1800629) promoter region were genotyped. SNP genotyping was performed using Mass Spectrometry (MassARRAY iPLEX–Sequenom). Results: We observed a lower frequency in the minor allele (C) of the TNFa rs1799964 SNP in psoriatic patients, compared with controls [(21.9% vs. 29.4%), p = 0.02, OR = 0.675 (0.49–0.94)]. The frequency of the CC genotype in patients was 3.93% while in the healthy control group it was 9.22% [(p = 0.04, OR = 0.403 (0.17–0.98)]. No statistical significant differences were found in the other polymorphisms. Conclusion: Our data suggest that the rs1799964 C allele could be a protective factor for developing severe psoriasis. These results were similar to the findings of Gallo et al (2012) in a Spanish population. The mechanism to explain this association remains elusive, given the lack of evidence of a functional association

Exploration of the Eucalyptus globulus gene pool

The first Europeans to discover Eucalyptus globulus were French explorers in 1792. Its seed was rapidly spread throughout the world in the 19th century and this was the species by which much of the world first knew the genus. However, it was in the industrial forests of the 20th century that this species, once considered the ‘Prince of Eucalypts’, achieved greatest prominence due to its fast growth and superior pulp qualities. Formal breeding first commenced in 1966 in Portugal and in the late 1980’s large base population trials from open-pollinated seed collections from native stands were established in many countries. These trials have provided unprecedented insights into the quantitative genetic control of numerous traits of economic and ecological importance and how this variation is spatially distributed in the native range of the species. However with large, fully pedigreed breeding populations becoming available for quantitative analysis and the rapidly expanding knowledge of DNA sequence variation, we are now at the threshold of a new understanding of this important eucalypt gene pool. Indications of the significance of non-additive genetic effects are becoming available. The E. globulus chloroplast genome has now been sequenced and several genome maps have been published. Studies of the variation in nuclear microsatellites and the lignin biosynthesis gene CCR confirm the complex, spatially structured nature of the native gene pool. Strong spatial structuring of the chloroplast genome has provided a tool for tracking seed migration and the geographic origin of exotic landraces. Highly divergent lineages of chloroplast DNA have been discovered and studies of the hypervariable JLA+ region argue that some components of the E. globulus gene pool have been assimilated from other species following hybridisation

Open Issues on the Synthesis of Evolved Stellar Populations at Ultraviolet Wavelengths

In this paper we briefly review three topics that have motivated our (and others') investigations in recent years within the context of evolutionary population synthesis techniques. These are: The origin of the FUV up-turn in elliptical galaxies, the age-metallicity degeneracy, and the study of the mid-UV rest-frame spectra of distant red galaxies. We summarize some of our results and present a very preliminary application of a UV grid of theoretical spectra in the analysis of integrated properties of aged stellar populations. At the end, we concisely suggest how these topics can be tackled once the World Space Observatory enters into operation in the midst of this decade.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Astrophysics & Space Science, UV Universe special issu

Soil biochemistry and microbial activity in vineyards under conventional and organic management at Northeast Brazil.

The São Francisco Submedium Valley is located at the Brazilian semiarid region and is an important center for irrigated fruit growing. This region is responsible for 97% of the national exportation of table grapes, including seedless grapes. Based on the fact that orgThe São Francisco Submedium Valley is located at the Brazilian semiarid region and is an important center for irrigated fruit growing. This region is responsible for 97% of the national exportation of table grapes, including seedless grapes. Based on the fact that organic fertilization can improve soil quality, we compared the effects of conventional and organic soil management on microbial activity and mycorrhization of seedless grape crops. We measured glomerospores number, most probable number (MPN) of propagules, richness of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) species, AMF root colonization, EE-BRSP production, carbon microbial biomass (C-MB), microbial respiration, fluorescein diacetate hydrolytic activity (FDA) and metabolic coefficient (qCO2). The organic management led to an increase in all variables with the exception of EE-BRSP and qCO2. Mycorrhizal colonization increased from 4.7% in conventional crops to 15.9% in organic crops. Spore number ranged from 4.1 to 12.4 per 50 g-1 soil in both management systems. The most probable number of AMF propagules increased from 79 cm-3 soil in the conventional system to 110 cm-3 soil in the organic system. Microbial carbon, CO2 emission, and FDA activity were increased by 100 to 200% in the organic crop. Thirteen species of AMF were identified, the majority in the organic cultivation system. Acaulospora excavata, Entrophospora infrequens, Glomus sp.3 and Scutellospora sp. were found only in the organically managed crop. S. gregaria was found only in the conventional crop. Organically managed vineyards increased mycorrhization and general soil microbial activity

Bi-allelic JAM2 Variants Lead to Early-Onset Recessive Primary Familial Brain Calcification.

Primary familial brain calcification (PFBC) is a rare neurodegenerative disorder characterized by a combination of neurological, psychiatric, and cognitive decline associated with calcium deposition on brain imaging. To date, mutations in five genes have been linked to PFBC. However, more than 50% of individuals affected by PFBC have no molecular diagnosis. We report four unrelated families presenting with initial learning difficulties and seizures and later psychiatric symptoms, cerebellar ataxia, extrapyramidal signs, and extensive calcifications on brain imaging. Through a combination of homozygosity mapping and exome sequencing, we mapped this phenotype to chromosome 21q21.3 and identified bi-allelic variants in JAM2. JAM2 encodes for the junctional-adhesion-molecule-2, a key tight-junction protein in blood-brain-barrier permeability. We show that JAM2 variants lead to reduction of JAM2 mRNA expression and absence of JAM2 protein in patient's fibroblasts, consistent with a loss-of-function mechanism. We show that the human phenotype is replicated in the jam2 complete knockout mouse (jam2 KO). Furthermore, neuropathology of jam2 KO mouse showed prominent vacuolation in the cerebral cortex, thalamus, and cerebellum and particularly widespread vacuolation in the midbrain with reactive astrogliosis and neuronal density reduction. The regions of the human brain affected on neuroimaging are similar to the affected brain areas in the myorg PFBC null mouse. Along with JAM3 and OCLN, JAM2 is the third tight-junction gene in which bi-allelic variants are associated with brain calcification, suggesting that defective cell-to-cell adhesion and dysfunction of the movement of solutes through the paracellular spaces in the neurovascular unit is a key mechanism in CNS calcification

Crossover effects in a discrete deposition model with Kardar-Parisi-Zhang scaling

We simulated a growth model in 1+1 dimensions in which particles are aggregated according to the rules of ballistic deposition with probability p or according to the rules of random deposition with surface relaxation (Family model) with probability 1-p. For any p>0, this system is in the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) universality class, but it presents a slow crossover from the Edwards-Wilkinson class (EW) for small p. From the scaling of the growth velocity, the parameter p is connected to the coefficient of the nonlinear term of the KPZ equation, lambda, giving lambda ~ p^gamma, with gamma = 2.1 +- 0.2. Our numerical results confirm the interface width scaling in the growth regime as W ~ lambda^beta t^beta, and the scaling of the saturation time as tau ~ lambda^(-1) L^z, with the expected exponents beta =1/3 and z=3/2 and strong corrections to scaling for small lambda. This picture is consistent with a crossover time from EW to KPZ growth in the form t_c ~ lambda^(-4) ~ p^(-8), in agreement with scaling theories and renormalization group analysis. Some consequences of the slow crossover in this problem are discussed and may help investigations of more complex models.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures; to appear in Phys. Rev.