Cantos De Anúncio E Corte De Dendropsophus Nanus (boulenger, 1889) (anura: Hylidae) De Sua Localidade Tipo (resistencia Argentina)

Dendropsophus nanus was described from Resistencia, Argentina. The species distribution is widespread in South America east of the Andes. Despite its wide distribution, little information about its advertisement call is available in the literature. Call descriptions from type localities are especially important for the resolution of taxonomic issues, as well as for intraspecific comparisons. Herein we describe the advertisement and the male courtship calls of D. nanus from its type locality. The advertisement call of D. nanus is composed of two types of pulsed notes, herein referred to as “note A” (long note) and “note B” (short note), both with similar dominant frequencies, but different durations. The courtship call is formed by notes that are similar to notes A of the advertisement call, but emitted at lower amplitude. Previous studies demonstrated that the complex call of Eleutherodactylus coqui and Geocrinia victoriana convey separated messages to male and female. Although several previous experiments have been conducted to assess the acoustic interactions of some species of Dendropsophus, more studies are necessary to understand the functions of the two notes of the advertisement call of D. nanus and the calls of other species of the D. microcephalus group. © 2016, Universidade Estadual de Campinas UNICAMP. All rights reserved.16

Kinetic parameters estimation using the Paired Equivalent Isothermal Exposures (PEIE) Method under non-isothermal heating conditions

With the purpose of testing the recently developed Paired Equivalent Isothermal Exposures (PETE) method, to determine reaction kinetic parameters under nonisothermal conditions, continuous pasteurizations were carried out with a nectar of a tropical fruit [25% of Cupuacu (Theobroma grandiflorum) pulp and 15% of sugar] in order to estimate the ascorbic acid thermal degradation kinetic parameters. The experimental ascorbic acid thermal degradation activation energy (96±13kJ/mol) estimated by the PETE, compared well with the previously determined value (74±5kJ/mol) for the same product under isothermal conditions. The PETE method is a reliable, easy and faster method to estimate first order reactions activation energy

Carbohydrate and protein metabolism of marandu grass affected by nitrogen fertilisation and number of cuts

Received: June 18th, 2023 ; Accepted: September 30th, 2023 ; Published: October 23rd, 2023 ; Correspondence: [email protected] the metabolism of tropical grasses in response to management practises imposed in pastoral environments allows for improvements in the management and use of mineral fertilisers. This study aimed to quantify metabolite content in different plant parts of Marandu grass (Urochloa brizantha), with a specific focus on the influence of nitrogen fertilisation and its effects following successive cuts. The treatments corresponded to four nitrogen (N) rates (0, 75, 150, and 225 kg N ha-1 ) and the number of cuts (one, two and three cuts). The plants were fractionated into leaves, stems, and roots to assess the content of water-soluble carbohydrates (WSC), starch, albumin, globulin, prolamin, and glutelin content. N fertilisation influenced the WSC and starch content in different parts of the plant, varying according to the cuts made. In the leaves and roots, fertilisation reduced the content of WSC and starch with one cut, as these were utilised as energy sources for assimilating the excess nitrogen in the soil. There was an increase in the concentration of all protein groups with nitrogen fertilisation in all parts of the plant with one cut. In plants cut two and three times, N fertilisation led to specific increases and decreases in different parts of the plants as an adaptive strategy for allocating resources as the number of cuts increased. Our results broaden our understanding of carbohydrate and protein metabolism in tropical grasses, thereby providing subsidies for the rational use of nitrogen fertilisers

High throughput generated micro-aggregates of chondrocytes stimulate cartilage formation in vitro and in vivo

Cell-based cartilage repair strategies such as matrix-induced autologous chondrocyte implantation (MACI) could be improved by enhancing cell performance. We hypothesised that micro-aggregates of chondrocytes generated in high-throughput prior to implantation in a defect could stimulate cartilaginous matrix deposition and remodelling. To address this issue, we designed a micro-mould to enable controlled high-throughput formation of micro-aggregates. Morphology, stability, gene expression profiles and chondrogenic potential of micro-aggregates of human and bovine chondrocytes were evaluated and compared to single-cells cultured in micro-wells and in 3D after encapsulation in Dextran-Tyramine (Dex-TA) hydrogels in vitro and in vivo. We successfully formed micro-aggregates of human and bovine chondrocytes with highly controlled size, stability and viability within 24 hours. Micro-aggregates of 100 cells presented a superior balance in Collagen type I and Collagen type II gene expression over single cells and micro-aggregates of 50 and 200 cells. Matrix metalloproteinases 1, 9 and 13 mRNA levels were decreased in micro-aggregates compared to single-cells. Histological and biochemical analysis demonstrated enhanced matrix deposition in constructs seeded with micro-aggregates cultured in vitro and in vivo, compared to single-cell seeded constructs. Whole genome microarray analysis and single gene expression profiles using human chondrocytes confirmed increased expression of cartilage-related genes when chondrocytes were cultured in micro-aggregates. In conclusion, we succeeded in controlled high-throughput formation of micro-aggregates of chondrocytes. Compared to single cell-seeded constructs, seeding of constructs with micro-aggregates greatly improved neo-cartilage formation. Therefore, micro-aggregation prior to chondrocyte implantation in current MACI procedures, may effectively accelerate hyaline cartilage formation

Synthesis and biochemical studies of 17-substituted androst-3-enes and 3,4-epoxyandrostanes as aromatase inhibitors

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6TC9-4T0WJXG-2/2/58305e64e3c068f352293a693f168db

Review and application of Artificial Neural Networks models in reliability analysis of steel structures

This paper presents a survey on the development and use of Artificial Neural Network (ANN) models in structural reliability analysis. The survey identifies the different types of ANNs, the methods of structural reliability assessment that are typically used, the techniques proposed for ANN training set improvement and also some applications of ANN approximations to structural design and optimization problems. ANN models are then used in the reliability analysis of a ship stiffened panel subjected to uniaxial compression loads induced by hull girder vertical bending moment, for which the collapse strength is obtained by means of nonlinear finite element analysis (FEA). The approaches adopted combine the use of adaptive ANN models to approximate directly the limit state function with Monte Carlo simulation (MCS), first order reliability methods (FORM) and MCS with importance sampling (IS), for reliability assessment. A comprehensive comparison of the predictions of the different reliability methods with ANN based LSFs and classical LSF evaluation linked to the FEA is provided