2,112 research outputs found
Genetic diversity of Bursaphelenchus cocophilus in South America
Molecular characterisation of Bursaphelenchus cocophilus, the causal agent of âred ring diseaseâ, is imperative for efficient
identification procedures in Brazil and Colombia, because quarantine species such as B. xylophilus and B. mucronatus are already listed
in both countries. ITS-1/2 region and D2-D3 segment of LSU rDNA were used to characterise isolates of B. cocophilus obtained from
coconut plantations in Brazil and Colombia. Results from ITS-1/2 and LSU rDNA regions showed that all isolates of B. cocophilus from
Brazil and Colombia formed a monophyletic group. The LSU rDNA region indicated that all isolates formed a single monophyletic
group with high Bayesian posterior probability (100%). This is the first study on ITS-1/2 for the characterisation of B. cocophilus
populations. A species-specific primer was designed for identification of B. cocophilus
Mobility deficit â Rehabilitate, an opportunity for functionality
There are many pathological conditions that cause mobility deficits and that ultimately influence someoneâs autonomy.Aims: to evaluate patients with mobility deficits functional status; to implement a Rehabilitation Nursing intervention plan; to monitor health gains through mobility deficits rehabilitation.Conclusion: Early intervention and the implementation of a nursing rehabilitation intervention plan results in health gains (direct or indirect), decreases the risk of developing Pressure Ulcers (PU) and the risk of developing a situation of immobility that affects patientsâ autonomy and quality of life
Scalable Purification and Characterization of the Anticancer Lunasin Peptide from Soybean
Lunasin is a peptide derived from the soybean 2S albumin seed protein that has both anticancer and anti-inflammatory activities. Large-scale animal studies and human clinical trials to determine the efficacy of lunasin in vivo have been hampered by the cost of synthetic lunasin and the lack of a method for obtaining gram quantities of highly purified lunasin from plant sources. The goal of this study was to develop a large-scale method to generate highly purified lunasin from defatted soy flour. A scalable method was developed that utilizes the sequential application of anion-exchange chromatography, ultrafiltration, and reversed-phase chromatography. This method generates lunasin preparations of >99% purity with a yield of 442 mg/kg defatted soy flour. Mass spectrometry of the purified lunasin revealed that the peptide is 44 amino acids in length and represents the original published sequence of lunasin with an additional C-terminal asparagine residue. Histone-binding assays demonstrated that the biological activity of the purified lunasin was similar to that of synthetic lunasin. This study provides a robust method for purifying commercial-scale quantities of biologically-active lunasin and clearly identifies the predominant form of lunasin in soy flour. This method will greatly facilitate the development of lunasin as a potential nutraceutical or therapeutic anticancer agent
Cardiac evaluation after experimental intoxication by Amorimia rigida (Malpighiaceae) extracts in rabbits
Clinical and laboratory changes were evaluated in rabbits after intoxication by Amorimia rigida, a plant that causes sudden death. Nine New Zealand male rabbits, averaging 3.54 kg, were categorized into three groups (n = 3) and received, for eight consecutive days, the equivalent of 30 g/kg dry matter of A. rigida water-soluble (SG) and water-insoluble (IG) extracts via nasoesophageal route. The control group received water. There were no alterations in creatine kinase enzyme (CK), CK myocardial fraction (CKMB) or troponine I (cTnI). None of the animals had clinical or electrocardiographic (conventional and Holter) alterations. There were progressive decreases in the left ventricular ejection fraction and systolic fractional shortening. Doppler echocardiography alterations suggested a systolic dysfunction in the SG and IG groups and diastolic dysfunction in IG group. It was concluded that the soluble and insoluble extracts of A. rigida cause deficit of cardiac function
The Entropy for General Extremal Black Holes
We use the Kerr/CFT correspondence to calculate the entropy for all known
extremal stationary and axisymmetric black holes. This is done with the help of
two ansatzs that are general enough to cover all such known solutions.
Considering only the contribution from the Einstein-Hilbert action to the
central charge(s), we find that the entropy obtained by using Cardy's formula
exactly matches with the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy.Comment: Minor corrections, section 5 refined, references added
Psychological impact of visible differences in patients with congenital craniofacial anomalies
© 2015, Singh and Moss; licensee Springer. Background: Patients with craniofacial anomalies often have appearance concerns and related social anxiety which can affect their quality of life. This study assessed the psychological impact of facial and dental appearance in patients with craniofacial anomalies in comparison to a general population control group. Methods: The study involved 102 adult patients (51% male) with congenital craniofacial anomalies and 102 controls (49% male). Both groups completed the Nepali version of Derriford Appearance Scale (DAS) and the Psychological Impact of Dental Aesthetic Questionnaire (PIDAQ) in a clinical setting to assess appearance-related distress, avoidance, and anxiety. Results: There was a significant difference between patients and controls on both PIDAQ (mean score for patients 33.25 ± 9.45 while for controls 27.52 ± 5.67, p < 0.001) and DAS59 scores (mean score for patients 159.16 ± 31.54 while for controls 77.64 ± 6.57, p < 0.001), indicating that patients experienced greater negative psychological impact of living with their appearance (PIDAQ) and more appearance-related distress (DAS) than controls. DAS scores were not associated with gender. There was no association of the place of residence (rural vs. urban) with PIDAQ or DAS59 scores. Conclusions: There is a significant psychological impact of altered facial and dental appearance in patients with craniofacial anomalies compared to controls. There was no effect of locality (rural/urban) on the psychological impact of facial and dental appearance in patients
Contribution of microscopy for understanding the mechanism of action against trypanosomatids
Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) has proved to be a useful tool to study the ultrastructural alterations and the target organelles of new antitrypanosomatid drugs. Thus, it has been observed that sesquiterpene lactones induce diverse ultrastructural alterations in both T. cruzi and Leishmania spp., such as cytoplasmic vacuolization, appearance of multilamellar structures, condensation of nuclear DNA, and, in some cases, an important accumulation of lipid vacuoles. This accumulation could be related to apoptotic events. Some of the sesquiterpene lactones (e.g., psilostachyin) have also been demonstrated to cause an intense mitochondrial swelling accompanied by a visible kinetoplast deformation as well as the appearance of multivesicular bodies. This mitochondrial swelling could be related to the generation of oxidative stress and associated to alterations in the ergosterol metabolism. The appearance of multilamellar structures and multiple kinetoplasts and flagella induced by the sesquiterpene lactone psilostachyin C indicates that this compound would act at the parasite cell cycle level, in an intermediate stage between kinetoplast segregation and nuclear division. In turn, the diterpene lactone icetexane has proved to induce the external membrane budding on T. cruzi together with an apparent disorganization of the pericellar cytoskeleton. Thus, ultrastructural TEM studies allow elucidating the possible mechanisms and the subsequent identification of molecular targets for the action of natural compounds on trypanosomatids.Fil: Lozano, Esteban SebastiĂĄn. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂfico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Medicina y BiologĂa Experimental de Cuyo; ArgentinaFil: Spina Zapata, Renata MarĂa. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂfico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de HistologĂa y EmbriologĂa de Mendoza Dr. Mario H. Burgos. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias MĂ©dicas. Instituto de HistologĂa y EmbriologĂa de Mendoza Dr. Mario H. Burgos; ArgentinaFil: Barrera, Patricia Andrea. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂfico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de HistologĂa y EmbriologĂa de Mendoza Dr. Mario H. Burgos. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias MĂ©dicas. Instituto de HistologĂa y EmbriologĂa de Mendoza Dr. Mario H. Burgos; ArgentinaFil: Tonn, Carlos Eugenio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂfico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Investigaciones en TecnologĂa QuĂmica. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de QuĂmica, BioquĂmica y Farmacia. Instituto de Investigaciones en TecnologĂa QuĂmica; ArgentinaFil: Sosa Escudero, Miguel Angel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂfico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de HistologĂa y EmbriologĂa de Mendoza Dr. Mario H. Burgos. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias MĂ©dicas. Instituto de HistologĂa y EmbriologĂa de Mendoza Dr. Mario H. Burgos; Argentin
The phases of deuterium at extreme densities
We consider deuterium compressed to higher than atomic, but lower than
nuclear densities. At such densities deuterium is a superconducting quantum
liquid. Generically, two superconducting phases compete, a "ferromagnetic" and
a "nematic" one. We provide a power counting argument suggesting that the
dominant interactions in the deuteron liquid are perturbative (but screened)
Coulomb interactions. At very high densities the ground state is determined by
very small nuclear interaction effects that probably favor the ferromagnetic
phase. At lower densities the symmetry of the theory is effectively enhanced to
SU(3), and the quantum liquid enters a novel phase, neither ferromagnetic nor
nematic. Our results can serve as a starting point for investigations of the
phase dynamics of deuteron liquids, as well as exploration of the stability and
dynamics of the rich variety of topological objects that may occur in phases of
the deuteron quantum liquid, which range from Alice strings to spin skyrmions
to Z_2 vortices.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures; v2: fixed typo
Crystallization and preliminary X-ray study of haem-binding protein from the bloodsucking insect Rhodnius prolixus
Rhodnius haem-binding protein (RHBP) from the bloodsucking insect Rhodnius prolixus, a 15 kDa protein, has been crystallized using polyethylene glycol as a precipitant. X-ray diffraction data have been collected at a synchrotron source. The crystals belong to the space group P4(1(3))2(1)2, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 64.98, c = 210.68 Angstrom, and diffract beyond 2.6 Angstrom resolution.57686086
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