Using Lanthanides as Probes for Polyelectrolyte-Metal Ion Interactions. Hydration Changes on Binding of Trivalent Cations to Nucleotides and Nucleic Acids

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6TFM-4SWFNW8-1/1/aadd2972e76576ca7bf5c347abd5a68

Dopamine neuron activity encodes the length of upcoming contralateral movement sequences

Funding Information: We thank Ana Vaz and Catarina Carvalho for mouse colony management, Thomas Akam and Hélio Rodrigues for help in behavioral box development and implementation, and the Champalimaud Hardware Platform (Filipe Carvalho, Artur Silva, and Dário Bento) for support in the development of the behavioral hardware setup. We thank Cristina Alcácer and Nuno Loureiro for their contributions during the 6-OHDA experiments. This work was supported by Fundação Para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) through a doctoral fellowship ( SFRH/BD/119623/2016 to M.D.M.) and Fundação Luso-Americana para o Desenvolvimento (FLAD) by a visiting student fellowship ( 2018/31 to M.D.M.); by a doctoral fellowship from the Gulbenkian Foundation (to J.A.d.S.), a Marie Curie Fellowship ( MSCA-IF-RI 2016 to L.F.H.), and a Spanish Ministry of Innovation and Sciences doctoral fellowship ( BES-2016-077493 to I.C.); and by ERA-NET , ERC ( COG 617142 ), HHMI ( IEC 55007415 ), National Institutes of Health ( 5U19NS104649 ), and the Simons-Emory International Consortium on Motor Control and the Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s ( ASAP-020551 ) through the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) to R.M.C. Further support was obtained from the research infrastructure Congento, co-funded by Lisboa2020 and FCT ( LISBOA-01-0145-FEDER-022170 ). Publisher Copyright: © 2024 The AuthorsDopaminergic neurons (DANs) in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) have been related to movement speed, and loss of these neurons leads to bradykinesia in Parkinson's disease (PD). However, other aspects of movement vigor are also affected in PD; for example, movement sequences are typically shorter. However, the relationship between the activity of DANs and the length of movement sequences is unknown. We imaged activity of SNc DANs in mice trained in a freely moving operant task, which relies on individual forelimb sequences. We uncovered a similar proportion of SNc DANs increasing their activity before either ipsilateral or contralateral sequences. However, the magnitude of this activity was higher for contralateral actions and was related to contralateral but not ipsilateral sequence length. In contrast, the activity of reward-modulated DANs, largely distinct from those modulated by movement, was not lateralized. Finally, unilateral dopamine depletion impaired contralateral, but not ipsilateral, sequence length. These results indicate that movement-initiation DANs encode more than a general motivation signal and invigorate aspects of contralateral movements.publishersversionpublishe

Experimental analysis of niti alloy during strain-controlled low-cycle fatigue

PTDC/CTM-CTM/29101/2017- POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029101 UIDB/EMS/00285/2020 UIDB/50025/2020-2023The interaction between the stress-induced martensitic transformation and resistivity behavior of superelastic NiTi shape memory alloy (SMA) was studied. Strain-controlled low-cycle fatigue up to 6% was monitored by in situ electrical resistivity measurements. The experimental results show that a great motion of martensite fronts results in a significant accumulation of defects, as evidenced by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), before and after the tensile cycles. This gives rise to an overall increase of the resistivity values up to the maximum deformation. Therefore, the research suggests that shape memory alloy wire has great potential as a stress sensor inside bulk materials.publishersversionpublishe

Comparison of post-exercise hypotension responses in Paralympic powerlifting athletes after completing two bench press training intensities.

Background and objective: Post-exercise hypotension, the reduction of blood pressure after a bout of exercise, is of great clinical relevance. Resistance exercise training is considered an important contribution to exercise training programs for hypertensive individuals and athletes. In this context, post-exercise hypotension could be clinically relevant because it would maintain blood pressure of hypertensive individuals transiently at lower levels during day-time intervals, when blood pressure is typically at its highest levels. The aim of this study was to compare the post-exercise cardiovascular effects on Paralympic powerlifting athletes of two typical high-intensity resistance-training sessions, using either five sets of five bench press repetitions at 90% 1 repetition maximum (1RM) or five sets of three bench press repetitions at 95% 1RM. Materials and Methods: Ten national-level Paralympic weightlifting athletes (age: 26.1 ± 6.9 years; body mass: 76.8 ± 17.4 kg) completed the two resistance-training sessions, one week apart, in a random order. Results: Compared with baseline values, a reduction of 5–9% in systolic blood pressure was observed after 90% and 95% of 1RM at 20–50 min post-exercise. Furthermore, myocardial oxygen volume and double product were only significantly increased immediately after and 5 min post-exercise, while the heart rate was significantly elevated after the resistance training but decreased to baseline level by 50 min after training for both training conditions. Conclusions: A hypotensive response can be expected in elite Paralympic powerlifting athletes after typical high-intensity type resistance-training sessions.publishedVersio

Stigma and obesity: comparative study between candidates to obesity surgery and patients already submitted to this treatment

Baratte François. Un trésor d'argenterie découvert en Asie centrale. In: Bulletin de la Société Nationale des Antiquaires de France, 2001, 2006. pp. 176-177

Elucidating how the chemical-nutritional composition of tomato is affected by the environment, season, and growing system

Tomatoes play an important nutritional role due to the chemical-nutritional composition of this fruit, and its common use in dishes and food products. Its fruits provide pronounced antioxidant properties to the human diet, because of the presence of vitamin C, carotenogenic compounds such as lycopene and β-carotene, and phytochemicals such as flavonoids. Despite this, the antioxidant function and carotenoid levels in tomato may present significant differences depending on the system of cultivation, growing season, and environment in which this vegetable is cultivated. In light of this, this study aimed to assess the effects of the cultivation system known as “Viçosa”, in relation to traditional tomato cultivation systems, over two seasons. This assessment was done both under field conditions and in a controlled environment. The nutritional aspects of the fruits, such as the levels of phenolic compounds, lycopene, beta-carotene, and antioxidant activity, were analyzed. The controlled environment in the autumn-winter season, associated with the Viçosa cultivation system, facilitated increases in the lycopene content. Furthermore, field cultivation provided an increase of 68% and 38% in the total phenolic concentration in tomato fruits, in the spring-summer and autumn-winter seasons, respectively. Field cultivation also provided an increase of 31% in the antioxidant activity of the fruits, compared with that of the controlled cultivation, in the autumn-winter season. The increase in the levels of total phenolics and antioxidant activity of fruits due to cultivation in the field represents an advantage as cultivation in this environment has a lower cost than cultivation in a controlled environment. The cultivation systems did not influence the chemical-nutritional aspects of fruits; moreover, the Viçosa system brings together aspects such as high productivity and profitability, without compromising the chemical-nutritional aspects of the fruits, thereby configuring a promising system for tomato production

EFEITO DE HERBICIDAS UTILIZADOS EM CANA-DEAÇÚCAR NO DESENVOLVIMENTO IN VITRO DO FUNGO ENTOMOPATOGÊNICO Metarhizium anisopliae (Metsch.) SOROKIN

Avaliou-se a compatibilidade dos herbicidas butafenacil, metribuzim, s-metolacloro, 2,4-D, glifosato, oxassulfurom e trifloxissulfuron no desenvolvimento do fungo entomopatogênico M. anisopliae (isolado IBCB 348), empregado para controle biológico de Mahanarva fimbriolata (Hemiptera: Cercopidae) conhecida como cigarrinhada- raiz da cana. Os herbicidas foram adicionados ao meio de cultura batata dextrose ágar (BDA) em temperatura aproximada de 45°C nas doses de campo mínimas e máximas recomendadas, fixandose o volume de calda em 200 L/ha. Após a solidificação do meio em placas de Petri, o fungo foi inoculado em três pontos eqüidistantes. As placas foram incubadas em câmara climatizada avaliandose o diâmetro médio das colônias formadas, o número de conídios por colônia e a viabilidade dos conídios do fungo após 20 e 48 horas da inoculação. Apenas o herbicida oxassulfurom, na menor dose testada (30 g/ha), foi classificado como tóxico ao M. anisopliae, sendo os demais classificados em ambas as doses como muito tóxicos. Quanto à viabilidade, somente os herbicidas oxassulfurom nas doses de 30 e 60 g/ha não afetaram a germinação do fungo até 20 horas após a inoculação e o glifosato a 0,5 e 6,0 L/ha até 48 horas. Os demais herbicidas mostraram-se incompatíveis, afetando o desenvolvimento e a germinação do M. anisopliae. EFFECT OF HERBICIDES UTILIZED IN SUGAR CANE OF IN VITRO DEVELOPMENT OF ENTOMOPHATOGENIC FUNGI Metarhizium anisopliae (Metsch.) SOROKIN Abstract The compatibility of the herbicides butafenacil, metribuzin, s-metolachlor, 2,4-D, glyphosate, oxasulfuron and trifloxysulfuron in the development of entomopathogenic fungi M. anisopliae (isolate IBCB 348) were evaluated, which is employed in the biological control of Mahanarva fimbriolata (Hemiptera: Cercopidae). The herbicides were added to the culture media potato dextrose agar (PDA) in temperature of approximately 45º C in minimal and maximal recomended field doses, fixing the volume of 200 L/ha. After the solidification of the culture media in Petri dishes, the fungi was inoculated in three equidistant points. The plates were incubated in climatized chamber and the average diameter of the formed colonies were evaluated, the number of conidia per colony and the viability of the conidia after 20 and 48 hours inoculation. Only the herbicide oxasulfuron, in the lowest tested dose (30 g/ha) was classified as toxic to M. anisopliae, being the rest classified in both doses as highly toxic. For viability only the herbicides oxasulfuron in the doses of 30 and 60 g/ha didnt affect the germination of the fungi until 20 hours after inoculation and glyphosate at 0.5 and 6.0 L/ha until 48 hours. The other herbicides were imcompatible, affecting the development and the germination of M. anisopliae