CONCENTRATION AND PARTITIONING OF MACRO NUTRIENTS IN TWO MAIZE GENOTYPES AS RELATED TO SOIL WATER AVAILABILITY

The amount of nutrients present in crop tissue of a certain species, at certain time, is a result of the interaction between environmental conditions and genotype. This interaction is economically and ecologically important since permits the best use of fertilizers as well as different crop management which are essential for the sustainability of the productive system. In this paper, macronutrients were quantified in different parts of two adult maize plant genotypes (BRS 2121 and BR 205), which were evaluated at field conditions. The treatments imposed in this research were four water regimes (irrigation suppression at 10 days before blooming and 15, 30 and 50 days after blooming) and three types of fertilizer side dress application of N and K (10 kg N ha-1 + 90 kg K2O ha-1 at planting and 120 kg N ha-1 at V8 stage; 10 kg N ha-1 + 45 kg K2O ha-1 at planting and 45 kg K2O ha-1 + 120 kg N ha-1 at V8 stage; 10 kg N ha-1 + 30 kg K2O ha-1 at planting, 30 kg K2O ha-1 + 60 kg N ha-1 at V8 stage and 30 kg K2O ha1 + 60 kg N ha-1 at V12 growth stage). This experiment was also carried out at greenhouse conditions on young plants of the same genotypes under four water regimes, daily irrigation or each three, five or seven days. The results showed that, at field conditions, the behavior of maize plants under water deficit varied according to nutrient and part of the plant analyzed, whereas at greenhouse conditions there was a tendency of nutrients concentration in crop tissue due to water deficit

Morphometric characterization of fruits and seeds and the effect of the temperature on germination of Parkia pendula (Willd.) Benth. ex Walp

Parkia pendula (Willd.) Benth. ex Walp., \ue9 uma esp\ue9cie arb\uf3rea, caracter\uedstica dos est\ue1dios iniciais da sucess\ue3o, de ocorr\ueancia natural no Brasil. Pertence \ue0 fam\uedlia Fabaceae, com grande potencial na recupera\ue7\ue3o de \ue1reas degradadas. O presente trabalho foi conduzido no Centro de Ci\ueancias Agr\ue1rias da Universidade Federal de Alagoas, objetivando a caracteriza\ue7\ue3o morfom\ue9trica de frutos e sementes dessa esp\ue9cie, bem como identificar a melhor temperatura para uso em testes de germina\ue7\ue3o. O fruto \ue9 do tipo legume, deiscente, polisp\ue9rmico, contendo em m\ue9dia 16 sementes por unidade. Estas apresentam formato elipsoidal, embri\ue3o axial, com 10,1 mm de comprimento, 4,9 mm de largura por 3,1mm de espessura. As temperaturas de 25 e 30oC proporcionaram as maiores porcentagem e velocidade de germina\ue7\ue3o, enquanto que a temperatura de 15oC e acima de 35\ubaC influenciaram negativamente a germinabilidade das sementes.Parkia pendula (Willd.) Benth. ex Walp. is a tree species, characteristic of the initial phases of succession, of natural occurrence in Brazil. It belongs to the Mimosaceae family, with great potential in the recovery of degraded areas. The present work aims to characterize fruits and seeds morphometrically as well to identify the best temperature for use in germination test. The fruit is a type of legume, dehiscent, polispermic, with 16 seeds, approximately, per unit. The seeds present ellipsoidal format, axial embryo, with 10,1 mm of length, 4,9 mm of width and 3,1 mm of thickness. The temperatures of 25\ubaC and 30\ubaC provided them larger germinability, while the temperature of 15\ubaC and above 35\ubaC influenced these characteristics negatively

The Prion Protein Ligand, Stress-Inducible Phosphoprotein 1, Regulates Amyloid-beta Oligomer Toxicity

In Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD), soluble amyloid-beta oligomers (A beta Os) trigger neurotoxic signaling, at least partially, via the cellular prion protein (PrPC). However, it is unknown whether other ligands of PrPC can regulate this potentially toxic interaction. Stress-inducible phosphoprotein 1 (STI1), an Hsp90 cochaperone secreted by astrocytes, binds to PrPC in the vicinity of the A beta O binding site to protect neurons against toxic stimuli. Here, we investigated a potential role of STI1 in A beta O toxicity. We confirmed the specific binding of A beta Os and STI1 to the PrP and showed that STI1 efficiently inhibited A beta O binding to PrP in vitro (IC50 of similar to 70 nM) and also decreased A beta O binding to cultured mouse primary hippocampal neurons. Treatment with STI1 prevented A beta O-induced synaptic loss and neuronal death in mouse cultured neurons and long-term potentiation inhibition in mouse hippocampal slices. Interestingly, STI1-haploinsufficient neurons were more sensitive to A beta O-induced cell death and could be rescued by treatment with recombinant STI1. Noteworthy, both A beta O binding to PrPC and PrPC-dependent A beta O toxicity were inhibited by TPR2A, the PrPC-interacting domain of STI1. Additionally, PrPC-STI1 engagement activated alpha 7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, which participated in neuroprotection against A beta O-induced toxicity. We found an age-dependent upregulation of cortical STI1 in the APPswe/PS1dE9 mouse model of AD and in the brains of AD-affected individuals, suggesting a compensatory response. Our findings reveal a previously unrecognized role of the PrPC ligand STI1 in protecting neurons in AD and suggest a novel pathway that may help to offset A beta O-induced toxicity

Incidence and risk factors for Preeclampsia in a cohort of healthy nulliparous pregnant women: a nested case-control study

The objective of this study is to determine the incidence, socio-demographic and clinical risk factors for preeclampsia and associated maternal and perinatal adverse outcomes. This is a nested case-control derived from the multicentre cohort study Preterm SAMBA, in five different centres in Brazil, with nulliparous healthy pregnant women. Clinical data were prospectively collected, and risk factors were assessed comparatively between PE cases and controls using risk ratio (RR) (95% CI) plus multivariate analysis. Complete data were available for 1,165 participants. The incidence of preeclampsia was 7.5%. Body mass index determined at the first medical visit and diastolic blood pressure over 75 mmHg at 20 weeks of gestation were independently associated with the occurrence of preeclampsia. Women with preeclampsia sustained a higher incidence of adverse maternal outcomes, including C-section (3.5 fold), preterm birth below 34 weeks of gestation (3.9 fold) and hospital stay longer than 5 days (5.8 fold) than controls. They also had worse perinatal outcomes, including lower birthweight (a mean 379 g lower), small for gestational age babies (RR 2.45 [1.52-3.95]), 5-minute Apgar score less than 7 (RR 2.11 [1.03-4.29]), NICU admission (RR 3.34 [1.61-6.9]) and Neonatal Near Miss (3.65 [1.78-7.49]). Weight gain rate per week, obesity and diastolic blood pressure equal to or higher than 75 mmHg at 20 weeks of gestation were shown to be associated with preeclampsia. Preeclampsia also led to a higher number of C-sections and prolonged hospital admission, in addition to worse neonatal outcomes9CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQ401636/2013-5Bill and Melinda Gates FoundationGates Foundation [OPP1107597]; CNPqNational Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) [401636/2013-5

High Smac/DIABLO expression is associated with early local recurrence of cervical cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In a recent pilot report, we showed that Smac/DIABLO mRNA is expressed <it>de novo </it>in a subset of cervical cancer patients. We have now expanded this study and analyzed Smac/DIABLO expression in the primary lesions in 109 cervical cancer patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We used immunohistochemistry of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue sections to analyze Smac/DIABLO expression in the 109 primary lesions. Seventy-eight samples corresponded to epidermoid cervical cancer and 31 to cervical adenocarcinoma. The median follow up was 46.86 months (range 10–186).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Smac/DIABLO was expressed in more adenocarcinoma samples than squamous tumours (71% vs 50%; p = 0.037). Among the pathological variables, a positive correlation was found between Smac/DIABLO immunoreactivity and microvascular density, a marker for angiogenesis (p = 0.04). Most importantly, Smac/DIABLO immunoreactivity was associated with a higher rate of local recurrence in squamous cell carcinoma (p = 0.002, log rank test). No association was found between Smac/DIABLO and survival rates.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Smac/DIABLO expression is a potential marker for local recurrence in cervical squamous cell carcinoma patients.</p

SMAC is expressed de novo in a subset of cervical cancer tumors

BACKGROUND: Smac/Diablo is a recently identified protein that is released from mitochondria after apoptotic stimuli. It binds IAPs, allowing caspase activation and cell death. In view of its activity it might participate in carcinogenesis. In the present study, we analyzed Smac expression in a panel of cervical cancer patients. METHODS: We performed semi quantitative RT-PCR on 41 cervical tumor and 6 normal tissue samples. The study included 8 stage I cases; 16 stage II; 17 stage III; and a control group of 6 samples of normal cervical squamous epithelial tissue. RESULTS: Smac mRNA expression was below the detection limit in the normal cervical tissue samples. In contrast, 13 (31.7%) of the 41 cervical cancer biopsies showed detectable levels of this transcript. The samples expressing Smac were distributed equally among the stages (5 in stage I, 4 in stage II and 4 in stage III) with similar expression levels. We found no correlation between the presence of Smac mRNA and histology, menopause, WHO stage or disease status. CONCLUSIONS: Smac is expressed de novo in a subset of cervical cancer patients, reflecting a possible heterogeneity in the pathways leading to cervical cancer. There was no correlation with any clinical variable