A shortage risk mitigation model for multi-agency coordination in logistics planning

We introduce a two-stage stochastic program to handle typical disaster preparedness activities under uncertainty from a multi-agency perspective. The model explicitly takes into account the number of people without healthcare attention, relief aid, and shelter support. We build a function that represents the total number of people at risk of not receiving proper humanitarian assistance using a bi-objective approach in which expected logistics costs are also minimized. The benefit of our approach is assessed through real flood cases in Mexico in which GIS analysis was used to enhance data gathering and to provide risk maps that could be potentially used by policy-makers in practical settings. The overall results suggest that sheltering decisions have to be closely coordinated with the management of material and human resources to avoid an increased number of people deprived of attention and relief aid. The Pareto Frontier also reveals that some solutions exhibit a quite interesting trade-off, e.g., it is possible to improve the overall relief assistance by almost 17% at the expense of less than 14% in the logistics costs

The PREDICTS database: a global database of how local terrestrial biodiversity responds to human impacts

Biodiversity continues to decline in the face of increasing anthropogenic pressures such as habitat destruction, exploitation, pollution and introduction of alien species. Existing global databases of species’ threat status or population time series are dominated by charismatic species. The collation of datasets with broad taxonomic and biogeographic extents, and that support computation of a range of biodiversity indicators, is necessary to enable better understanding of historical declines and to project – and avert – future declines. We describe and assess a new database of more than 1.6 million samples from 78 countries representing over 28,000 species, collated from existing spatial comparisons of local-scale biodiversity exposed to different intensities and types of anthropogenic pressures, from terrestrial sites around the world. The database contains measurements taken in 208 (of 814) ecoregions, 13 (of 14) biomes, 25 (of 35) biodiversity hotspots and 16 (of 17) megadiverse countries. The database contains more than 1% of the total number of all species described, and more than 1% of the described species within many taxonomic groups – including flowering plants, gymnosperms, birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, beetles, lepidopterans and hymenopterans. The dataset, which is still being added to, is therefore already considerably larger and more representative than those used by previous quantitative models of biodiversity trends and responses. The database is being assembled as part of the PREDICTS project (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems – www.predicts.org.uk). We make site-level summary data available alongside this article. The full database will be publicly available in 2015

X-ray structure of O-methyl-acrocol and anti-cancer, anti-parasitic, anti-bacterial and anti-Zika virus evaluations of the Brazilian palm tree Acrocomia totai

Acrocomia totai Mart ("macauba") is a palm tree native from Brazil, whose potential for biodiesel production has been widely explored. In spite of the industrial interest in the oil from the nuts, little is known about the potential applications of other parts of the plant, especially in the pharmacological area. A phytochemical study of the plant thorns led to the identification of a new compound 3-(R)-methoxy-21-(R)-H-hop-22(29)-en-30-ol 1, two known triterpenes 2-3, four steroids 4-7 and a stilbene, piceatannol 8. The structures were elucidated by spectroscopic analyses, including 1D and 2D NMR and low and high resolution mass spectrometry. Compound 1 was purified as crystals, which allowed the determination of the absolute configuration of the asymmetric carbons by analysis of the X-ray diffraction spectrum. Biological tests were performed with crude extract (CE), fractions and isolated compound. The assays showed activity for CE against lung carcinoma (GI(50) 59.2 mu g mL(-1)). The ethyl acetate fraction (EAF) showed efficacy against many tumor cell lines, and the tests showed the most prominent activity for breast cancer (GI(50) 10.4 mu g mL(-1)), glioma (GI(50) 77.3 mu g mL(-1)), uterine cervix (SiHa) HPV 16 (IC50 39.8 mu g mL(-1)), (HeLa) HPV 18 (IC50 12.0 pg mL(-1)) and Caco-2 (IC50 40.0 mu g mL(-1)) and showed bacteriostatic action against Staphylococcus aureus (MIC 50 mu g mL(-1)). Piceatannol 8 isolated from EAF showed activity against the protozoan which causes leishmaniosis (IC50 58.4 mu g mL(-1)). For Ttypanosorna cruzi, the methanol fraction (EC50 15.5 mu g mL(-1)), CE (20.5 mu g(-1)), and HEF (43.8 mu g mL(-1)) were the most active, being highly selective for the protozoan and less toxic against Vero cells. The compound 8 was further tested against Zika virus MR 766 strain on MOI 2, however the assays showed no inhibition against virus infection109483492CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQCOORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIOR - CAPESFUNDAÇÃO ARAUCÁRIA DE APOIO AO DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO DO ESTADO DO PARANÁ - FAFUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA E INOVAÇÃO DO ESTADO DE SANTA CATARINA - FAPESCsem informaçãosem informaçãosem informaçãosem informaçã

NALP inflammasomes: a central role in innate immunity.

Inflammasomes are cytoplasmic multiprotein complexes that mediate the maturation of the proinflammatory cytokines interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), IL-18, and possibly IL-33 by controlling the activation of the inflammatory caspases-1 and -5. Assembly of inflammasomes depends on NOD-like receptor (NLR) family members such as NALPs, NAIP, and IPAF. Various microbial and endogenous stimuli activate different types of inflammasomes. This article focuses on the Pyrin domain containing NLRs, known as NALP proteins. Recent findings provide exciting insights into how these proteins might be activated and also provide evidence of the critical role of the NALP inflammasomes in innate immunity and inflammatory diseases

The PREDICTS database: a global database of how local terrestrial biodiversity responds to human impacts.

Biodiversity continues to decline in the face of increasing anthropogenic pressures such as habitat destruction, exploitation, pollution and introduction of alien species. Existing global databases of species' threat status or population time series are dominated by charismatic species. The collation of datasets with broad taxonomic and biogeographic extents, and that support computation of a range of biodiversity indicators, is necessary to enable better understanding of historical declines and to project - and avert - future declines. We describe and assess a new database of more than 1.6 million samples from 78 countries representing over 28,000 species, collated from existing spatial comparisons of local-scale biodiversity exposed to different intensities and types of anthropogenic pressures, from terrestrial sites around the world. The database contains measurements taken in 208 (of 814) ecoregions, 13 (of 14) biomes, 25 (of 35) biodiversity hotspots and 16 (of 17) megadiverse countries. The database contains more than 1\% of the total number of all species described, and more than 1\% of the described species within many taxonomic groups - including flowering plants, gymnosperms, birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, beetles, lepidopterans and hymenopterans. The dataset, which is still being added to, is therefore already considerably larger and more representative than those used by previous quantitative models of biodiversity trends and responses. The database is being assembled as part of the PREDICTS project (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems - http://www.predicts.org.uk). We make site-level summary data available alongside this article. The full database will be publicly available in 2015