Topology and Dynamics in Complex Networks: The Role of Edge Reciprocity

A key issue in complex systems regards the relationship between topology and dynamics. In this work, we use a recently introduced network property known as steering coefficient as a means to approach this issue with respect to different directed complex network systems under varying dynamics. Theoretical and real-world networks are considered, and the influences of reciprocity and average degree on the steering coefficient are quantified. A number of interesting results are reported that can assist the design of complex systems exhibiting larger or smaller relationships between topology and dynamics

Antimicrobial and antibiofilm activity of unionid mussels from the north of Portugal

The populations of freshwater mussels belonging to the family Unionidae have been facing drastic changes in terms of diversity and numbers caused by constant aggressions on their natural habitat. Nevertheless, bivalves are capable of developing strategies of defense to overcome potential aggressors. The present work aimed to assess the potential antibacterial capacity of different species of unionid mussels from the north of Portugal. For this purpose, circulating cells (hemocytes), fluids, and mucus were obtained by nonlethal methods from the species Anodonta anatina (Linnaeus), Anodonta cygnea (Linnaeus), Potomida littoralis (Cuvier), and Unio delphinus (Spengler), and tested against bacterial reference strains and multidrug-resistant isolates. The cellular fraction of A. anatina, A. cygnea, and P. littoralis showed antibacterial activity, detected by the agar disc diffusion method, against Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6683, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853 and Acinetobacter baumannii ATCC 19606. Circulating cells from P. littoralis and A. anatina also inhibited Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 19111 and A. cygnea has also inhibited a multidrug-resistant isolate of Pseudomonas putida. The plasma of all mentioned freshwater mussels, used directly or diluted, showed great ability to hamper or inhibit the biofilm formation of Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, P. aeruginosa ATCC 27853, and Escherichia coli ATCC 25922. Anodonta cygnea hampered the biofilm formation by Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212 as well. Overall, these results showed that not only cells play a relevant role in the immune system of these species but also the plasma, which likely contains antibiofilm substances. Anodonta cygnea stood out by presenting the best antibacterial inhibition potential.This work was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) with a research grant to M. H. (SFRH/BD/76265/2011). This article was also supported by the project INNOVMAR-Innovation and Sustainability in the Management and Exploitation of Marine Resources (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000035, within Research Line NOVELMAR), by North Portugal Regional Operational Programme( NORTE2020), under the PORTUGAL2020 Partnership Agreement, and through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Evidence of C−H···O Hydrogen Bonds in Liquid 4-Ethoxybenzaldehyde by NMR and Vibrational Spectroscopies

Raman, FTIR, and NMR (both 13C and 17O) spectroscopies are used in a complementary way in order to study the occurrence of C−H···O intermolecular hydrogen bonds in liquid 4-ethoxybenzaldehyde (4EtOB). Additional information concerning the structure of the possible dimers is obtained through ab initio calculations, at the B3LYP/6-31G* level. The strongest evidences of the presence of C−H···O hydrogen bonds in the liquid phase arise from the temperature and solvent intensity dependence of the two bands observed in the νCO region of the vibrational spectra, as well as from the shift to low magnetic field detected for the carbonyl 17O NMR peak at higher dilutions. Further evidence is gathered from the changes observed in the νC-H vibrational modes, the 1JCH concentration dependence detected in the NMR spectra, and ab initio results. The experimental observations are consistent with the decrease of the C−H bond length upon hydrogen-bonding, as predicted for the nonstandard blue-shifting hydrogen bonds. Ab initio calculations predict several possible structures for the dimeric species, with nearly identical energies. The calculated dimerization energy is within the −5.1 to −6.5 kJ mol-1 range, considering both basis set superposition error and zero-point vibrational energy corrections, in agreement with the obtained experimental ΔH value of −5.7 ± 0.5 kJ mol-1

DIS3L2 knockdown impairs key oncogenic properties of colorectal cancer cells via the mTOR signaling pathway

DIS3L2 degrades different types of RNAs in an exosome-independent manner including mRNAs and several types of non-coding RNAs. DIS3L2-mediated degradation is preceded by the addition of nontemplated uridines at the 3’end of its targets by the terminal uridylyl transferases 4 and 7. Most of the literature that concerns DIS3L2 characterizes its involvement in several RNA degradation pathways, however, there is some evidence that its dysregulated activity may contribute to cancer development. In the present study, we characterize the role of DIS3L2 in human colorectal cancer (CRC). Using the public RNA datasets from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), we found higher DIS3L2 mRNA levels in CRC tissues versus normal colonic samples as well as worse prognosis in patients with high DIS3L2 expression. In addition, our RNA deep-sequencing data revealed that knockdown (KD) of DIS3L2 induces a strong transcriptomic disturbance in SW480 CRC cells. Moreover, gene ontology (GO) analysis of significant upregulated transcripts displays enrichment in mRNAs encoding proteins involved in cell cycle regulation and cancer-related pathways, which guided us to evaluate which specific hallmarks of cancer are differentially regulated by DIS3L2. To do so, we employed four CRC cell lines (HCT116, SW480, Caco-2 and HT-29) differing in their mutational background and oncogenicity. We demonstrate that lack depletion of DIS3L2 results in reduced cell viability of highly oncogenic SW480 and HCT116 CRC cells, but had little or no impact in the more differentiated Caco-2 and HT-29 cells. Remarkably, the mTOR signaling pathway, crucial for cell survival and growth, is downregulated after DIS3L2 KD, whereas AZGP1, an mTOR pathway inhibitor, is upregulated. Furthermore, our results indicate that depletion of DIS3L2 disturbs metastasis-associated properties, such as cell migration and invasion, only in highly oncogenic CRC cells. Our work reveals for the first time a role for DIS3L2 in sustaining CRC cell proliferation and provides evidence that this ribonuclease is required to support the viability and invasive behavior of dedifferentiated CRC cells.This work was supported by Instituto Nacional de Saúde Doutor Ricardo Jorge and Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) [UID/MULTI/04046/2019 Research Unit Grant (to BioISI)]. Juan F. García-Moreno and Paulo J. da Costa were recipients of a fellowship from BioSys PhD programme (SFRH/BD/52495/2014, and PD/BD/142898/2018, respectively).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Insertion/Delection Polymorphism and forensic aplications: A preliminary study

Poster apresentado na reunião científica "DNA in Forensics" em Innsbruck, Austria (2012)The human genetic identification is usually based on the study of STR markers, robust and reliable for samples containing relatively small quantities of DNA. Recent advances in forensic genetics have focused on the development of genotyping assays using shorter amplicons, in order to improve the successful amplification of degraded samples. Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNP) and Insertion/Deletion polymorphisms (INDEL), length polymorphisms created by insertions or deletions of one or more nucleotides in the genome, have considerable potential in this kind of forensic samples, usually present in identification casework, since they can combine desirable characteristics of both, STR and SNP. In this study, a set of 30 biallelic Deletion/Insertion polymorphisms (DIP or INDEL) distributed over 19 autosomes plus Amelogenin in a single multiplex PCR reaction was applied to 100 healthy and unrelated caucasian individuals. Statistical analysis revealed that the 30 biallelic markers can provide satisfactory levels of informativeness for forensic demands.N/

Desenvolvimento e estudo de ligantes modificados inovadores para infraestruturas de transporte

Este trabalho apresenta alguns projetos desenvolvidos pela presente equipa de investigação relativos ao desenvolvimento de novos materiais para aplicação em pavimentos rodoviários, utilizando resíduos que podem ser valorizados como uma nova matéria‑prima. Desta nova abordagem devem resultar pavimentos betuminosos com melhor desempenho, conjugando ainda vantagens ecológicas e económicas. Assim, apresentam-se três estudos distintos: o primeiro focado na substituição parcial de betume por bio-óleo proveniente da pirólise rápida de resíduos de materiais orgânicos, modificado com granulado de borracha de pneus usados; o segundo consiste na utilização de resíduos plásticos para produção de ligantes modificados, em vez de polímeros virgens, para melhorar o desempenho dos pavimentos; o terceiro também utiliza um resíduo plástico, mas tem como principal objetivo explorar a substituição de parte do betume por outro resíduo, o óleo de motor usado. Neste trabalho são apresentados os principais resultados de desempenho das misturas betuminosas produzidas com estes novos ligantes mais sustentáveis

Life table analysis of Diaphorina citri (Hemiptera: Psyllidae) infesting sweet orange (Citrus sinensis) in São Paulo

An ecological life table for eggs and nymphs of Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Psyllidae) was constructed with data obtained from orange orchards (Citrus sinensis Osbeck) in 2 regions of the State of São Paulo, over 4 generations in the period from XI-2006 to V-2007, comprising spring, summer, and fall seasons. Young growing shoots with D. citri eggs present were identifed, and live individuals were counted until adult emergence. No predatory arthropods were observed in association with D. citri eggs and nymphs during the study. The mean parasitism of fourth- and ffth-instar nymphs by Tamarixia radiata Waterston (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) was 2.3%. The durations of the egg–adult period were similar among the 4 generations, ranging from 18.0 to 24.7 d (at mean temperatures ranging from 21.6 to 26.0 °C) and followed the temperature requirement models obtained in the laboratory for D. citri. However, survival from the egg to the adult stage for the same period varied considerably from 1.7 to 21.4%; the highest mortalities were observed in the egg and small nymphal (frst- to thirdinstar) stages, which were considered to be key phases for population growth of the pest.Uma tabela de vida ecológica foi construída para ovos e ninfas de Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Psyllidae) com dados obtidos em pomares de laranja (Citrus sinensis Osbeck) em 2 regiões do estado de São Paulo, com 4 gerações, no período de novembro de 2006 a maio de 2007, compreendendo as estações de primavera, verão e outono. Ramos jovens em crescimento com a presença de ovos de D. citri foram identificados e os indivíduos vivos foram contados até a emergência dos adultos. Nenhum predador foi observado associado a ovos e ninfas de D. citri durante o estudo. A taxa média de parasitismo de ninfas de quarto e quinto ínstares por Tamarixia radiata Waterson (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) foi de 2.3%. A duração do período de ovo a adulto foi semelhante entre as quatro gerações, variando de 18.0 a 24.7 dias (com temperaturas médias de 21.6 a 26.0 °C) e seguiram os modelos de exigencias térmicas obtidas em laboratório para D. citri. Todavia, a sobrevivencia de ovo até o estágio adulto variou consideravelmente para o mesmo período, de 1.7 a 21.4%, sendo que as maiores mortalidades foram observadas nos estágios de ovos e ninfas pequenas (de primeiro a terceiro ínstares), as quais foram consideradas fases chaves para o crescimento populacional desta praga.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Systematic literature review of realistic simulators applied in educational robotics context

This paper presents a systematic literature review (SLR) about realistic simulators that can be applied in an educational robotics context. These simulators must include the simulation of actuators and sensors, the ability to simulate robots and their environment. During this systematic review of the literature, 559 articles were extracted from six different databases using the Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcomes, Context (PICOC) method. After the selection process, 50 selected articles were included in this review. Several simulators were found and their features were also analyzed. As a result of this process, four realistic simulators were applied in the review’s referred context for two main reasons. The first reason is that these simulators have high fidelity in the robots’ visual modeling due to the 3D rendering engines and the second reason is because they apply physics engines, allowing the robot’s interaction with the environment.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio