Radiação solar no sub-bosque de sistema agrossilvipastoril com eucalipto em diferentes arranjos estruturais.

A radiação solar no sub-bosque de povoamentos de eucalipto torna-se decisiva para implantação de culturas intercalares e consórcio com pastagens em sistemas agrossilvipastoris. Objetivou-se determinar a incidência e distribuição da densidade de fluxo de fótons, radiação solar global e iluminância no sub-bosque de diferentes arranjos estruturais de sistema agrossilvipatoril com eucalipto. O experimento foi implantado em dezembro de 1999, em área de cerrado. Realizou-se o plantio de mudas clonais de um híbrido natural de Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh com Eucalyptus urophylla S.T. Blake, em consórcio com arroz no primeiro ano, soja no segundo e pastagem de Brachiaria brizantha (Hochst. ex A. Rich.) Stapf cv. Marandu nos anos consecutivos. O delineamento utilizado foi blocos casualizados em esquema de parcelas subdivididas, com cinco repetições. Nas parcelas, estudou-se o efeito dos arranjos 3,33 x 2 m, 3,33 x 3 m, 5 x 2 m, 10 x 2 m, 10 x 3 m, 10 x 4 m, (3 x 4)+7 m, (3 x 3)+10 m, (3 x 4)+10 m e (3 x 3)+15 m. As subparcelas corresponderam às avaliações na linha e entrelinha de plantio, realizadas aos 27, 38 e 54 meses. A radiação solar no subbosque varia em função dos arranjos. Nos 3,33 x 2 m e 3,33 x 3 m, o fechamento do dossel promove sombreamento geral do sub-bosque aos dois anos. Nos arranjos mais amplos, a distribuição espacial da radiação solar e o sombreamento variam com a época do ano

Produtividade de Brachiaria brizantha (Hochst. ex A. Rich.) Stapf cv. Marandu sob diferentes arranjos estruturais de sistema agrossilvipastoril com eucalipto.

O sucesso de sistemas de produção sustentáveis tem como aspecto fundamental a escolha das espécies. O conhecimento da tolerância da Brachiaria brizantha (Hochst. ex A. Rich.) Stapf ao sombreamento e seu desempenho em consórcio com eucalipto implica na recomendação desta forrageira para implantação de sistemas agrossilvipastoris. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar quantitativa e qualitativamente a produtividade de Brachiaria brizantha (Hochst. ex A. Rich.) Stapf cv. Marandu sob diferentes arranjos estruturais de sistema agrossilvipastoril com eucalipto. Realizou-se o plantio de mudas clonais de um híbrido natural de Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh com Eucalyptus urophylla S.T. Blake, em dezembro de 1999, em área de cerrado, no noroeste deMinas Gerais (Paracatu MG, Brasil). Fez-se o plantio em consórcio com arroz no primeiro ano, soja no segundo e em seguida braquiária, semeada em dezembro de 2001. O experimento foi implantado no delineamento blocos casualizados, em esquema de parcelas subdivididas, com quatro repetições. Nas parcelas foram alocados os arranjos do eucalipto, em linhas duplas: (3 x 3)+10m, (3 x 4)+7 m, (3 x 4)+10 m, (3 x 4)+7+10 m, (3 x 3)+15 m; e linhas simples: 10x3m, e 10x4m. As subparcelas corresponderam às avaliações na linha e na entrelinha de plantio. Foram avaliados o rendimento e aspectos de qualidade da forragem, bem como a densidade de fluxo de fótons fotossinteticamente ativos no subbosque, em cada arranjo. Verificou-se que a forragem disponível (matéria natural e matéria seca) foi sempre maior na entrelinha do que na linha de plantio, independente do arranjo. Os variados arranjos do sistema agrossilvipastoril praticamente não provocaram variação no teor de fibras, N e P na forragem. As concentrações de Ca, K e Mn foram maiores na braquiária sob as linhas de plantio do eucalipto e as oncentrações de Mg e Zn maiores na entrelinha de plantio

Psychiatric Disorders and lncRNAs: A Synaptic Match

Psychiatric disorders represent a heterogeneous class of multifactorial mental diseases whose origin entails a pathogenic integration of genetic and environmental influences. Incidence of these pathologies is dangerously high, as more than 20% of the Western population is affected. Despite the diverse origins of specific molecular dysfunctions, these pathologies entail disruption of fine synaptic regulation, which is fundamental to behavioral adaptation to the environment. The synapses, as functional units of cognition, represent major evolutionary targets. Consistently, fine synaptic tuning occurs at several levels, involving a novel class of molecular regulators known as long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). Non-coding RNAs operate mainly in mammals as epigenetic modifiers and enhancers of proteome diversity. The prominent evolutionary expansion of the gene number of lncRNAs in mammals, particularly in primates and humans, and their preferential neuronal expression does represent a driving force that enhanced the layering of synaptic control mechanisms. In the last few years, remarkable alterations of the expression of lncRNAs have been reported in psychiatric conditions such as schizophrenia, autism, and depression, suggesting unprecedented mechanistic insights into disruption of fine synaptic tuning underlying severe behavioral manifestations of psychosis. In this review, we integrate literature data from rodent pathological models and human evidence that proposes the biology of lncRNAs as a promising field of neuropsychiatric investigation

Revealing common lncRNAs and gene signatures: computational analysis of public RNA-seq datasets in different in vitro senescence models

Recently, non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) have emerged as crucial regulators of gene expression. To uncover common lncRNA signatures, we retrieved and analyzed seven publicly available RNA-seq datasets. These datasets included different in vitro models of senescence (replicative senescence, drug-induced senescence, and H2O2-induced senescence) in four human cell types: fibroblasts, mesenchymal stem cells, endothelial cells, and smooth muscle cells. The computational analysis consisted of several phases. The first phase involved querying and selecting RNA-seq datasets from open repositories such as the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). In the second phase, we performed RNA-seq data analysis, including data quality assessment of pre-processed read counts, filtering and normalization annotation, and calculation of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and differentially expressed long non-coding RNAs (DELs). To enhance the biological relevance of the modulated genes derived from the different senescence datasets, we performed enrichment analysis using the Gprofiler R package, focusing on statistically modulated KEGGs terms. All analyses were performed in the R environment (version 2023.12.1.402), using open-source packages tailored to the specific features of each dataset. Finally, to identify common signatures, we compared the lists of up- and downregulated long non-coding genes and genes, with a particular focus on the replicative senescence model, which was the most represented senescence model across the dataset

Impact of cigarette smoke on vascular smooth muscle cell senescence

Aging and smoking are major risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. One characteristic of aging is the accumulation of senescent cells (e.g. cells that permanently lose the ability to divide). Senescent vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) are present in atherosclerotic plaques, inducing an inflammatory environment and contributing to plaque instability and atherosclerotic complications. Traditional cigarette (TC) smoke is a known exacerbator of age-related diseases and the combustion of tobacco releases thousands of toxic chemicals. To reduce the harm associated with TC, alternative products, such as tobacco heating-not-burning products (THPs), have been developed. In our study, we compared, in the context of aging, the effects of aqueous extracts (AEs) from TC and THP on senescent VSMCs. Doxorubicin-induced senescent (DIS) VSMCs have been used as a positive control. VSMCs passaged 5 to 7 times (non-senescent cells) were incubated for 48h with 10% TC and THP AEs or doxorubicin 100 nM. Then, we measured several typical senescence markers, such as: senescence associated-β-galactosidase (SA-β-gal) activity, cell proliferation, cell cycle, senescence-associated genes and proteins expression, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, and morphological changes. TC increased SA-β-gal positive cells, slowed down cell proliferation, and down-regulated proliferation cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) expression, similar to what we observed in the DIS VSMCs. Instead, THP did not affect cell proliferation or PCNA expression. Expression of cell cycle inhibitors was upregulated in both TC and THP, but only TC arrested cells at the G2/M phase. Moreover, only TC significantly induced the expression of inflammatory markers (IL1, IL6, IL8, and MMP3) and increased mitochondrial and intracellular ROS production. Finally, TC, but not THP, increased the number of large and regular nuclei, a typical feature of senescent cells. In conclusion, traditional cigarette smoke induces senescence in VSMCs similar to what we observed in doxorubicin-treated VSMCs. On the contrary, THP lacked most TC and doxorubicin-related functional, structural, and molecular effects on senescence, demonstrating a significantly reduced impact on VSMC senescence