Demographic history of Canary Islands male gene-pool: replacement of native lineages by European

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The origin and prevalence of the prehispanic settlers of the Canary Islands has attracted great multidisciplinary interest. However, direct ancient DNA genetic studies on indigenous and historical 17^th–18^thcentury remains, using mitochondrial DNA as a female marker, have only recently been possible. In the present work, the analysis of Y-chromosome polymorphisms in the same samples, has shed light on the way the European colonization affected male and female Canary Island indigenous genetic pools, from the conquest to present-day times.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Autochthonous (E-M81) and prominent (E-M78 and J-M267) Berber Y-chromosome lineages were detected in the indigenous remains, confirming a North West African origin for their ancestors which confirms previous mitochondrial DNA results. However, in contrast with their female lineages, which have survived in the present-day population since the conquest with only a moderate decline, the male indigenous lineages have dropped constantly being substituted by European lineages. Male and female sub-Saharan African genetic inputs were also detected in the Canary population, but their frequencies were higher during the 17^th–18^thcenturies than today.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The European colonization of the Canary Islands introduced a strong sex-biased change in the indigenous population in such a way that indigenous female lineages survived in the extant population in a significantly higher proportion than their male counterparts.</p

o caso do Programa ECOXXI

UID/SOC/04647/2013 SFRH/BPD/110975/2015A avaliação do trabalho desenvolvido pelos municípios no domínio da mobilidade afigura-se como um elemento relevante para aferição do seu comprometimento com a afirmação de padrões de mobilidade mais sustentáveis. Numa perspetiva mais abrangente, esta avaliação possibilita igualmente aferir da integração destas opções no quadro de estratégias integradas de desenvolvimento sustentável. Neste contexto, a criação de indicadores que permitam avaliar os progressos realizadas constitui não apenas uma ferramenta relevante para avaliação dos “percursos para a sustentabilidade” realizados pelos municípios, como também como um instrumento de sensibilização para a adoção de boas práticas nos diferentes domínios de atuação municipal. Tendo por base a experiência do Programa ECOXXI, lançado em 2005 pela ABAE – Associação Bandeira Azul da Europa, pretende-se contribuir para a discussão sobre o papel dos indicadores enquanto instrumento passível de influenciar a promoção da mobilidade sustentável através da sensibilização dos municípios para a adoção de boas práticas neste domínio.publishersversionpublishe

A Novel Type of Nitric-oxide Reductase ESCHERICHIA COLI FLAVORUBREDOXIN

Escherichia coli flavorubredoxin is a member of the family of the A-type flavoproteins, which are built by two core domains: a metallo-β-lactamase-like domain, at the N-terminal region, harboring a non-heme di-iron site, and a flavodoxin-like domain, containing one FMN moiety. The enzyme fromE. coli has an extra module at the C terminus, containing a rubredoxin-like center. The A-type flavoproteins are widespread among strict and facultative anaerobes, as deduced from the analysis of the complete prokaryotic genomes. In this report we showed that the recombinant enzyme purified from E. coli has nitric-oxide reductase activity with a turnover number of ∼15 mol of NO·mol enzyme−1·s−1, which was well within the range of those determined for the canonical hemeb3 -FeB containing nitric-oxide reductases (e.g. ∼10–50 mol NO·mol enzyme−1·s−1 for the Paracoccus denitrificans NOR). Furthermore, it was shown that the activity was due to the A-type flavoprotein core, as the rubredoxin domain alone exhibited no activity. Thus, a novel family of prokaryotic NO reductases, with a non-heme di-iron site as the catalytic center, was established

Correlação entre Espessura Macular e Camada de Fibras Nervosas Peripapilar no Glaucoma Inicial

Introdução: Os autores pretendem analisar a espessura macular e a camada de fibras nervosas peripapilar (CFN) em doentes com glaucoma inicial e com o diagnóstico de hipertensão ocular (HTO). Também propõem um modelo de correspondência da espessura macular de uma dada região do hemisfério superior com a CFN temporal superior (TS) e do hemisfério inferior com a CFN temporal inferior (TI) no glaucoma inicial. Material e Métodos: Estudo retrospectivo não randomizado, constituído por 48 olhos com glaucoma inicial e 39 olhos com diagnóstico de HTO, submetidos a análise da assimetria da espessura macular do polo posterior e da CFN por Tomografia de coerência óptica Spectral Domain (SD-OCT). Avaliamos a correlação entre a espessura macular de uma região selecionada do hemisfério superior e do inferior, com a CFN TS e TI, respectivamente. Resultados: Nos doentes com glaucoma inicial, a espessura macular e a CFN (global e sectorial) foram significativamente inferiores (p<0,01). A correlação da CFN TS com a espessura macular da região selecionada do hemisfério superior foi moderada (R:0,403; p<0,01), e da CFN TI com a região selecionada do hemisfério inferior foi positiva forte (R:0,612; p<0,001). Conclusão: Dado que, a CFN TI é o sector apontado como precocemente afectado no glaucoma, e se verificou uma correlação forte com a região macular inferior selecionada, consideramos que esta também pode ser mais vulnerável à lesão glaucomatosa inicial. A avaliação desta região isoladamente ou integrada com a CFN, poderá ser valiosa no diagnóstico precoce.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

SCAI-r: an algorithm for obtaining synoptic and spatial atmospheric parameters.

Abstract: The highest performance of multiband optical data (Visible - VIS ? Shortwave Infrared - SWIR ? (400-2500 nm) (e.g. imaging spectroscopy approaches) can be reached mainly through atmospheric correction effects; the conversion of the image values to surface reflectance, allowing, for instance, to estimate the amount of biochemical compounds in the target. This work aims to present an algorithm dedicated to atmospheric parameters obtaining from MODIS and related sensors, encapsulated in a user-friendly interface through Software to Collect Atmospheric Information (SCAI-r), applied to the correction of atmosphere effects on Rapideye image. The results show that SCAI-r generates information needed to perform atmospheric correction and that it has a greater influence over water-related objects, when compared to parameters randomly inserted as input data in atmospheric correction algorithms

Dynamic aspects of oral processing of curcumin-loaded solid lipid nanoparticles yoghurts by rheology and soft tribology assessment

Mouthfeel and consistency originating from the consumption of yoghurts represent decisive factors for the consumers’ acceptability. The present work aims to identify potential differences in the sensory perceptions of yoghurts with curcumin-loaded solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) incorporation. Thus, rheology coupled with tribology were considered to simulate the dynamic aspects of oral processing. Similar values for the elastic (G’) and viscous (G’’) parameters were obtained for both control yoghurt and yoghurt with curcuminloaded SLN, as well as flow index (n) and consistency index (k) around 0.56 and 1.50 Pa.sn, respectively. However, the friction behaviour was characterised by significant differences in all tribological regimes, suggesting that the incorporation of nanoparticles in yoghurts could potentially affect the after-feel upon swallowing, whilst not directly impacting on yoghurt’s structure

A soft computing approach to kidney diseases evaluation

Kidney renal failure means that one’s kidney have unexpectedly stopped functioning, i.e., once chronic disease is exposed, the presence or degree of kidney dysfunction and its progression must be assessed, and the underlying syndrome has to be diagnosed. Although the patient’s history and physical examination may denote good practice, some key information has to be obtained from valuation of the glomerular filtration rate, and the analysis of serum biomarkers. Indeed, chronic kidney sickness depicts anomalous kidney function and/or its makeup, i.e., there is evidence that treatment may avoid or delay its progression, either by reducing and prevent the development of some associated complications, namely hypertension, obesity, diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular complications. Acute kidney injury appears abruptly, with a rapid deterioration of the renal function, but is often reversible if it is recognized early and treated promptly. In both situations, i.e., acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease, an early intervention can significantly improve the prognosis.The assessment of these pathologies is therefore mandatory, although it is hard to do it with traditional methodologies and existing tools for problem solving. Hence, in this work, we will focus on the development of a hybrid decision support system, in terms of its knowledge representation and reasoning procedures based on Logic Programming, that will allow one to consider incomplete, unknown, and even contradictory information, complemented with an approach to computing centered on Artificial Neural Networks, in order to weigh the Degree-of-Confidence that one has on such a happening. The present study involved 558 patients with an age average of 51.7 years and the chronic kidney disease was observed in 175 cases. The dataset comprise twenty four variables, grouped into five main categories. The proposed model showed a good performance in the diagnosis of chronic kidney disease, since the sensitivity and the specificity exhibited values range between 93.1 and 94.9 and 91.9–94.2 %, respectively

Identificação de níveis de degradação de pastagem por meio de reflectância espectral de imagens de alta resolução espacial.

Este trabalho investigou a possibilidade de identificar diferentes níveis de degradação de pastagens, em dois tipos de forrageira, a partir da reflectância medida nas oito bandas espectrais do satélite WorldView-2 (WV2)