The Effects of Palmitic Acid on Nitric Oxide Production by Rat Skeletal Muscle: Mechanism via Superoxide and iNOS Activation

Background: Increased plasma concentrations of free fatty acids (FFA) can lead to insulin resistance in skeletal muscle, impaired effects on mitochondrial function, including uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation and decrease of endogenous antioxidant defenses. Nitric oxide (NO) is a highly diffusible gas that presents a half-life of 5-10 seconds and is involved in several physiological and pathological conditions. The effects of palmitic acid on nitric oxide (NO) production by rat skeletal muscle cells and the possible mechanism involved were investigated. Methods: Primary cultured rat skeletal muscle cells were treated with palmitic acid and NO production was assessed by nitrite measurement (Griess method) and 4,5-diaminofluorescein diacetate (DAF-2-DA) assay. Nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappa B) activation was evaluated by electrophoretic mobility shift assay and iNOS protein content by western blotting. Results: Palmitic acid treatment increased nitric oxide production. This effect was abolished by treatment with NOS inhibitors, L-nitro-arginine (LNA) and L-nitro-arginine methyl esther (L-NAME). NF-kappa B activation and iNOS content were increased due to palmitic acid treatment. The participation of superoxide on nitric oxide production was investigated by incubating the cells with DAF-2-DA in the presence or absence of palmitic acid, a superoxide generator system (X-XO), a mixture of NOS inhibitors and SOD-PEG (superoxide dismutase linked to polyethylene glycol). Palmitic acid and X-XO system increased NO production and this effect was abolished when cells were treated with NOS inhibitors and also with SOD-PEG. Conclusions: In summary, palmitic acid stimulates NO production in cultured skeletal muscle cells through production of superoxide, nuclear factor-kappa B activation and increase of iNOS protein content. Copyright (C) 2012 S. Karger AG, BaselFAPESPFAPESPCNPqCNPqCAPESCAPE

Rescuing the Brazilian Agave breeding program: morphophysiological and molecular characterization of a new germplasm

Agaves have been a valuable resource in dryland areas for centuries, providing fibers (sisal), food, and beverages. However, the advent of synthetic fibers has led to a decrease in research on Agave, resulting in the cessation of breeding programs in Brazil. With the rise of climate change, there is renewed interest in Agave for its potential as a biofuel feedstock in semiarid regions. Since 2016, we have been collecting Agave accessions throughout the country and retrieving what is left of Brazil’s original breeding program to establish a new germplasm bank. Here, we evaluated 21 of those accessions growing in the field. We used molecular markers and morphophysiological traits to characterize the plants. Based on the Mayahuelin molecular marker, we were able to reconstruct a phylogeny for the Brazilian accessions. The morphophysiological traits explained 34.6% of the phenotypic variation in the dataset, with physiological traits such as leaf water content, effective quantum efficiency of photosystem II (ΦPSII), and specific leaf mass (SLM) as the most significant traits. Specifically, we evaluated nine Agave species and found that the physiological traits, rather than the morphological ones, were the most significant. Leaf water content was negatively correlated with specific leaf mass, which could be used as a marker for selecting cultivars with higher biomass accumulation. Interestingly, ΦPSII and chlorophyll content were negatively correlated, suggesting photochemical adaptations throughout the rosette. Molecular and phenotypic data suggest that A. amaniensis, which is frequently considered a synonym of A. sisalana, is effectively another species. Overall, this study provides valuable information on the physiological traits of Brazilian Agave accessions and is a starting point for selecting more productive and climate-resilient cultivars for biorenewables production

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

ANÁLISE DA INFLUÊNCIA DA HIPERTENSÃO ARTERIAL SISTÊMICA E DA INSUFICIÊNCIA CARDÍACA NO AGRAVO DO QUADRO CLÍNICO DE PACIENTES COM DOENÇA RENAL CRÔNICA: uma revisão de literatura

Introduction: systemic arterial hypertension (SAH) and heart failure, epidemiologically, are diseases that model consequences for other systems of the human body, for example chronic kidney disease (CKD). The development of this appears to be a social consequence of lack of knowledge, as its secondary outcomes are controllable and treatable. Countries like Brazil have exorbitant expenses when it comes to financing dialysis and transplant procedures, with an increase in these numbers, especially in young patients decompensated for their underlying diseases. The objective of this work is to observe the incidence in the literature of SAH and heart failure in patients related to the worsening of CKD. Methodology: descriptive study in narrative review, which seeks to answer the PICO acromion “What is the influence of systemic arterial hypertension and heart failure on the worsening of the clinical condition of patients with chronic kidney disease? ”. Discussion: CKD's pathophysiology is the loss of kidney function, where they lose functionality and destroy their specific cells, resulting in the inability to maintain metabolic balance. It proves to be a problem of public responsibility, where more and more deaths in the population are reported. The main risk factors for CKD are highly prevalent chronic diseases such as hypertension and heart failure, the first being the most described in the literature as a triggering factor. Thus resulting in worsening of renal function laboratory results, resulting in chronic kidney injury (CRF). Results: Analyzing the databases, articles in the last 10 years were observed, where 38.6% had the descriptors systemic arterial hypertension and heart failure, describing them as their main secondary outcome. Conclusion: to the scientific society, it contributes summarized and updated indexes reporting the relationship between these precursor pathologies. To society, it informs the problem and a way to inform the patient about their health condition and better understanding.Introdução: hipertensão arterial sistêmica (HAS) e Insuficiência cardíaca, epidemiologicamente são doenças modeladoras de consequências a outros sistemas do corpo humano, por exemplo a doença renal crônica (DRC). O desenvolvimento desta mostra-se como consequência social a falta de conhecimento, pois seus desfechos secundários são controláveis e tratáveis. Países como o Brasil, possuem gastos exorbitantes quando ao custeio de procedimentos de diálise e transplante, sendo observado uma crescente nestes números, principalmente em pacientes jovens descompensados das doenças de base. O objetivo deste trabalho são observar a incidência na literatura, sobre a HAS e insuficiência cardíaca em pacientes relacionadas ao agravo da DRC. Metodologia: estudo descritivo em revisão de narrativa, que procura responder ao acrômio PICO “Qual é a influência da hipertensão arterial sistêmica e da insuficiência cardíaca no agravo do quadro clínico de pacientes com doença renal crônica? ”. Discussão: DRC tem como fisiopatologia a perda da função renal, onde estes perdem a funcionalidade e destroem suas células especificas, resultando na incapacidade em manter o equilíbrio metabólico. Mostra-se uma mazela de responsabilidade pública, onde cada vez mais relados de morte na população são relatados. Os principais fatores de risco para a DRC são doenças crônicas de alta prevalência como HAS e insuficiência cardíaca, sendo a primeira a mais descrita na literatura como fator desencadeante. Assim resultando na piora dos resultados laboratoriais de função renal, resultando em uma injúria renal crônica (IRC). Resultados: Analisando as bases de dados, foi observado artigos nos últimos 10 anos, onde 38,6% tinham os descritores hipertensão Arterial sistêmica e insuficiência cardíaca, descrevendo como seu principal desfecho secundário. Conclusão: à sociedade científica, contribui com índices resumidos e atualizados relatando a relação entre estas patologias precursoras. À sociedade, informa sua problemática e uma maneira em informar o paciente sobre a sua condição de saúde e melhor compreensão

Search for pair-produced resonances decaying to jet pairs in proton-proton collisions at √s=8 TeV

Results are reported of a general search for pair production of heavy resonances decaying to pairs of hadronic jets in events with at least four jets. The study is based on up to 19.4 fb(-1) of integrated luminosity from proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV, recorded with the CMS detector at the LHC. Limits are determined on the production of scalar top quarks (top squarks) in the framework of R-parity violating supersymmetry and on the production of color-octet vector bosons (colorons). First limits at the LHC are placed on top squark production for two scenarios. The first assumes decay to a bottom quark and a light-flavor quark and is excluded for masses between 200 and 385 GeV, and the second assumes decay to a pair of light-flavor quarks and is excluded for masses between 200 and 350 GeV at 95% confidence level. Previous limits on colorons decaying to light-flavor quarks are extended to exclude masses from 200 to 835 GeV

Mapping density, diversity and species-richness of the Amazon tree flora

Using 2.046 botanically-inventoried tree plots across the largest tropical forest on Earth, we mapped tree species-diversity and tree species-richness at 0.1-degree resolution, and investigated drivers for diversity and richness. Using only location, stratified by forest type, as predictor, our spatial model, to the best of our knowledge, provides the most accurate map of tree diversity in Amazonia to date, explaining approximately 70% of the tree diversity and species-richness. Large soil-forest combinations determine a significant percentage of the variation in tree species-richness and tree alpha-diversity in Amazonian forest-plots. We suggest that the size and fragmentation of these systems drive their large-scale diversity patterns and hence local diversity. A model not using location but cumulative water deficit, tree density, and temperature seasonality explains 47% of the tree species-richness in the terra-firme forest in Amazonia. Over large areas across Amazonia, residuals of this relationship are small and poorly spatially structured, suggesting that much of the residual variation may be local. The Guyana Shield area has consistently negative residuals, showing that this area has lower tree species-richness than expected by our models. We provide extensive plot meta-data, including tree density, tree alpha-diversity and tree species-richness results and gridded maps at 0.1-degree resolution