The central region of the Fornax cluster -- II. Spectroscopy and radial velocities of member and background galaxies

Radial velocities of 94 galaxies brighter than about V_tot = 20 mag in the direction of the central Fornax cluster have been measured. Except for 8 Fornax members, all galaxies lie in the background. Among the 8 members, there are 5 nucleated dwarf ellipticals that are already listed in the FCC (Ferguson 1989, AJ 98, 367). Two of the 3 ``new'' members are very compact and have surface brightnesses comparable to globular clusters, however their luminosities are in the range of dwarf elliptical nuclei. The measured line indices (especially Mg2, H beta, and iron) of the brighter of the compact objects suggest a solar metallicity, whereas the fainter compact object as well as the dE,Ns have line indices that are similar to those of old metal-poor globular clusters (GCs). However, with these data it is not possible to clearly classify the compact objects either as very bright globular clusters, isolated nuclei of dE,Ns, or even compact ellipticals. A background galaxy cluster at z = 0.11 has been found just behind the center of the Fornax cluster. This explains the excess population of galaxies reported in Paper I. The brightest galaxy of the background cluster lies only 1.1 arcmin south of NGC 1399 and is comparable in absolute luminosity with the central Fornax galaxy itself.Comment: 12 pages, LaTeX2e, uses aa.cls, including 9 PostScript figures; accepted for publication in A&AS, also available at http://www.astro.puc.cl/~mhilker/publication.htm

Decreased point prevalence of Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) oropharyngeal colonization by mass immunization of Brazilian children less than 5 years old with Hib polyribosylribitol phosphate polysaccharide-tetanus toroid conjugate vaccine in combination with diphtheria-tetanus toxoids-pertussis vaccine

A protective herd effect has been described after susceptible populations of children are vaccinated with conjugate Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), Hib carriage was studied in children aged 6-24 months attending day care centers in two cities in southern Brazil (Curitiba and Porto Alegre), in Curitiba, routine immunization with Hib polyribosylribitol phosphate polysaccharide-tetanus toroid conjugate vaccine (PRP-T) in combination with diphtheria-tetanus toxoids-pertussis vaccine (PRP-T/DTP) has been offered since September 1996; DTP vaccine alone is routinely given in Porto Alegre, Children in Porto Alegre (n = 643) were 8 times less likely to have received adequate Hib vaccination and 4 times more likely to be Hib carriers than children in Curitiba (n = 647; i.e., point prevalence of oropharyngeal colonization, 4.8% vs. 1.2%). Point prevalence of carriage with non-type b or other nontypeable Hi was similar in children of both cities, There was a vaccination effect on carriage rates in children who received a primary 3-dose series, independent of the booster dose, suggesting that a booster may be unnecessary to induce population protection.Pasteur Merieux Connaught Brasil, Dept Med, BR-04552905 São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Pediat, São Paulo, BrazilSecretaria Estado Saude São Paulo, Inst Adolfo Lutz, Seccao Bacteriol, São Paulo, BrazilSanta Casa Misericordia São Paulo, Fac Ciencias Med, Dept Patol, São Paulo, BrazilSecretaria Municipal Saude Curitiba, Dept Epidemiol, Curitiba, Parana, BrazilSecretaria Municipal Saude Porto Alegre, Dept Epidemiol, Porto Alegre, RS, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Pediat, São Paulo, BrazilWeb of Scienc

Brazilian bee pollen: phenolic content, antioxidant properties and antimicrobial activity

Bee pollen has been promoted as a dietary supplement for humans due to its nutritional and bioactive properties. Sixty-two samples of Apis mellifera dehydrated bee pollen collected in Brazil (eight states and Federal District) were analyzed for phenolic compounds, flavonoids, antioxidant activity using DPPH, β-carotene and ORAC methods, and antimicrobial activity. The values obtained for total phenolic compounds ranged from 12.60 to 84.22 mg GAE/g bee pollen while total flavonoids oscillated between 1.90 and 36.85 mg quercetin/g bee pollen. The IC50 ranged from 0.35 to 13.42 mg bee pollen/mL of extract. The inhibition percentages ranged from 52.58 to 98.37% of bee pollen extract using the β-carotene method. When measured by the ORAC method, antioxidant activity was between 132.98 and 575.85 μmols eq. Trolox/g bee pollen. Bee pollen efficiently inhibited the growth of all the microorganisms studied. Candida albicans was the most resistant, while Staphylococcus epidermides was the most sensitive.This work was supported by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP); under Grant #2009/52163-5 (thesis doctoral project) the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES); and the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Microbacia hidrográfica do Ribeirão Canchim: um modelo real de laboratório ambiental.

Sistemas intensivos de produção de proteína (carne e leite) bovina podem causar impactos ambientais negativos, como degradação de recursos naturais, contaminação por produtos químicos, acumulo de dejetos e outros. Desta maneira, ha a necessidade de se identificar alguns indicadores de sustentabilidade, em especial os ecológicos, para a avaliaqao destes impactos. Para isso, é necessário conhecer as características da base de recursos naturais afetados pelos sistemas de produção. Os objetivos deste trabalho foram caracterizar, detalhadamente: a) os fatores abioticos ou recursos naturais da microbacia hidrografica (MBH) do ribeiräo Canchim (clima, hidrologia, recursos hidricos e energéticos, geologia, geomorfologia, relevo, solos, caracteristicas fisicas,quimicas e uso atual dos solos) e seu manejo; b) os recursos bioticos (flora e fauna) e seu manejo; c) o uso e manejo de residuos, ao nivel da microbacia; d) verificar a importåncia economica das atividades de produqäo de leite e carne bovinos, na regiäo, bem como o historico da evoluqäo das atividades economicas realizadas na MBH em estudo. Os dados das variaveis de caracterizaqäo georeferenciada foram estruturados em um sistema de informaqoes geograficas (SIG) para facilitar sua recuperaqäo e agrupamentos. Os dados levantados permitiram verificar a grande variabilidade espacial do ambiente na microbacia hidrografica, constituindo assim um modelo real de laboratorio ambiental complexo, representando grande extensäo do ambiente edafico, das regiöes Sudeste e Centro-Oeste, no qual ocorre o manejo intensivo de pastagens e de areas agricolas, sob condiqoes de clima tropical, em especial sobre solos distroficos com textura média. Foi verificada a importancia economica da pecuaria bovina de carne e leite, mesmo no cenario economico atual. Desta forma, trabalhos nesta MBH poderäo gerar respostas de impacto ambiental e de manejo sustentavel bastante significativos para a socio-economia e a qualidade de vida humana das regioes.bitstream/CPPSE/12988/1/PROCIBolPesq5OP1998.03139LV.pdf; bitstream/item/37358/1/BoletimPesq05.pd

Peripheral brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) as a biomarker in bipolar disorder: a meta-analysis of 52 studies

Background: The neurotrophic hypothesis postulates that mood disorders such as bipolar disorder (BD) are associated with a lower expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). However, its role in peripheral blood as a biomarker of disease activity and of stage for BD, transcending pathophysiology, is still disputed. In the last few years an increasing number of clinical studies assessing BDNF in serum and plasma have been published. Therefore, it is now possible to analyse the association between BDNF levels and the severity of affective symptoms in BD as well as the effects of acute drug treatment of mood episodes on BDNF levels. Methods: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of all studies on serum and plasma BDNF levels in bipolar disorder. Results: Through a series of meta-analyses including a total of 52 studies with 6,481 participants, we show that, compared to healthy controls, peripheral BDNF levels are reduced to the same extent in manic (Hedges' g = -0.57, P = 0.010) and depressive (Hedges' g = -0.93, P = 0.001) episodes, while BDNF levels are not significantly altered in euthymia. In meta-regression analyses, BDNF levels additionally negatively correlate with the severity of both manic and depressive symptoms. We found no evidence for a significant impact of illness duration on BDNF levels. In addition, in plasma, but not serum, peripheral BDNF levels increase after the successful treatment of an acute mania episode, but not of a depressive one. Conclusions: In summary, our data suggest that peripheral BDNF levels, more clearly in plasma than in serum, is a potential biomarker of disease activity in BD, but not a biomarker of stage. We suggest that peripheral BDNF may, in future, be used as a part of a blood protein composite measure to assess disease activity in BD.BSF is supported by a postdoctoral scholarship and by a research grant MCTI/CNPQ/Universal 14/2014461833/2014-0, both from CNPq, Brazil. CAK is a recipient of a postdoctoral fellowship from CAPES, Brazil. JCS is supported by NIMH grant R01 085667, the Dunn Foundation and the JQ are supported by research fellowship awards from CNPq (Brazil, level IA). AFC is the recipient of a research fellowship from CNPq (Brazil, level II). MB is supported by a NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellowship 1059660. None of these agencies had any role in the design and conduct of the study, or decision to submit the manuscript for publication. We thank all authors of the included papers, particularly Drs. Natalie L. Rasgon, Deniz Ceylan, Camilla Langan, Pedro Magalhaes, Antonio L. Teixeira, Yuan-Hwa Chou, Iria Grande, Chenyu Ye, Izabela Barbosa, Menan Rabie, Ru-Band Lu, Ana Gonzales-Pinto, Reiji Yoshimura, Flavio Kapczinski, and Christoph Laske, who kindly provided unpublished data for the paper

Código de conducta. Acuariofilia

Código de conducta. Acuariofili