Transcriptome analysis of the oil-rich seed of the bioenergy crop Jatropha curcas L

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To date, oil-rich plants are the main source of biodiesel products. Because concerns have been voiced about the impact of oil-crop cultivation on the price of food commodities, the interest in oil plants not used for food production and amenable to cultivation on non-agricultural land has soared. As a non-food, drought-resistant and oil-rich crop, <it>Jatropha curcas </it>L. fulfils many of the requirements for biofuel production.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We have generated 13,249 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from developing and germinating <it>Jatropha </it>seeds. This strategy allowed us to detect most known genes related to lipid synthesis and degradation. We have also identified ESTs coding for proteins that may be involved in the toxicity of <it>Jatropha </it>seeds. Another unexpected finding is the high number of ESTs containing transposable element-related sequences in the developing seed library (800) when contrasted with those found in the germinating seed library (80).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The sequences generated in this work represent a considerable increase in the number of sequences deposited in public databases. These results can be used to produce genetically improved varieties of <it>Jatropha </it>with increased oil yields, different oil compositions and better agronomic characteristics.</p

Frequência, tipo morfológico e etiologia da anemia nos pacientes atendidos no laboratório de análises clínicas de um hospital público / Frequency, morphological type and aetiology of anemia in patients attended at the clinical analysis laboratory of a public hospital

A anemia é caracterizada pela Organização Mundial da Saúde (OMS) como uma condição em que a concentração de hemoglobina do sangue está anormalmente baixa, levando em consideração a idade, o sexo e altitude em relação ao nível do mar. Embora, existam diversos tipos de anemias, a anemia ferropriva e a anemia das doenças crônicas representam as anemias mais frequentes por distúrbio do metabolismo do ferro na humanidade. Este trabalho teve como objetivo verificar a frequência, o tipo morfológico e a etiologia da anemia entre os pacientes atendidos no Laboratório de Análises Clínicas de um Hospital Público de Fortaleza-CE. Foi realizado um estudo descritivo, retrospectivo e com abordagem quantitativa para investigar o perfil hematológico e a frequência de anemias nos pacientes atendidos no Laboratório de Análises Clínicas de um Hospital Público de Fortaleza-CE. A amostra foi composta por dados contidos nos prontuários correspondentes ao ano de 2014 e foram incluídos na pesquisa os prontuários que contavam os dados completos dos pacientes, o hemograma e as dosagens de ferro e ferritina, valor da capacidade total de ligação do ferro e o índice de saturação da transferrina. Os dados foram submetidos à análise estatística descritiva simples, utilizando o programa Microsoft Excel 2013. Os resultados mostraram que dos 411 pacientes atendidos, 238 (57,9%) estavam anêmicos, destes 102 eram mulheres e 136 homens. O tipo morfológico mais comum de anemia foi normocítica em ambos os sexos. Em relação à idade, no sexo masculino, a anemia foi predominante na faixa etária de 51 a 60 anos. E, no sexo feminino na faixa etária dos 31 aos 50 anos. Com relação à etiologia, observamos que 4 (1,68%) pacientes apresentaram anemia ferropriva, 127 (53,36%) anemia de doença crônica e 107 (44,96%) tinham anemia de causa desconhecida

Qualidade da Água para Consumo Humano em Comunidades Rurais no Sudoeste da Amazônia

Equitable and safe access to safe drinking water is essential to achieving sustainable development goals. Thus, the objective was to evaluate the quality of water from domestic wells, through physical-chemical and microbiological parameters, in four rural communities in the southwest of the Amazon. A total of 24 water samples were collected in the dry and rainy periods, and the parameters analyzed were temperature, pH, total dissolved solids, dissolved oxygen and electrical conductivity, alkalinity, orthophosphate, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, total nitrogen, tolerant coliforms and coliforms totals. The water temperature was higher in the rainy season in all communities studied. Electrical conductivity ranged from 10 to 93 μS cm-1, alkalinity from 6.41 to 27.3 mg L-1 and total nitrogen from 1.2 to 7.57 mg L-1. The pH in Paraíso Grande and Paraísinho complies with the Resolution of the Ministry of Health, but the apparent color exceeded the limit allowed in these same communities. Total dissolved solids, nitrite and nitrate are below the Ministry of Health's tolerance level, while the average value of 2.90 mg L-1 of ammonia is above what is allowed in the Paraíso Grande community. The presence of total coliforms was detected in at least one period in the Paraíso Grande, Cristolândia and Paraísinho communities, and only in the latter was Escherichia coli detected.Objetivou-se avaliar a qualidade da água de poços domésticos, por meio de parâmetros físico-químicos e microbiológicos, em quatro comunidades rurais do sudoeste da Amazônia. Foram coletadas um total de 24 amostras de água nos períodos seco e chuvoso, e analisados os parâmetros temperatura, pH, sólidos totais dissolvidos, oxigênio dissolvido, condutividade elétrica, alcalinidade, ortofosfato, amônia, nitrito, nitrato, nitrogênio total, coliformes tolerantes e coliformes totais. A temperatura da água foi maior no período chuvoso em todas as comunidades estudadas. A condutividade elétrica oscilou entre 10 a 93 μS cm-1, a alcalinidade entre 6,41 a 27,3 mg L-1 e o nitrogênio total entre 1,2 a 7,57 mg L-1. O pH nas comunidades Paraíso Grande e Paraísinho estão em conformidade com a Resolução do Ministério da Saúde, mas a cor aparente excedeu o limite permitido nessas mesmas comunidades. Os sólidos totais dissolvidos, nitrito e nitrato estão abaixo do nível de tolerância do Ministério da Saúde, enquanto o valor médio de 2,90 mg L-1 de amônia está acima do permitido na comunidade Paraíso Grande. A presença de coliformes totais foi detectada em pelo menos um período nas comunidades Paraíso Grande, Cristolândia e Paraísinho, e apenas nesta última detectou-se Escherichia coli

Nossos Rios Sem Plástico: Educação Ambiental quanto à poluição plástica em corpos hídricos de Boa Vista – Roraima

A Educação Ambiental (EA) é uma ferramenta poderosa para o desenvolvimento sustentável. Com este entendimento e considerando que nos últimos anos a poluição plástica tornou-se um dos principais problemas ambientais no mundo, este artigo apresenta um relato de experiência do projeto de extensão universitária “Nossos Rios Sem Plástico” da Universidade Federal de Roraima (UFRR). O projeto promoveu ações de sensibilização quanto à poluição plástica e o seu impacto para os ecossistemas aquáticos da cidade de Boa Vista – Roraima, entre agosto/2022 e janeiro/2023. Dentre as ações, destaca-se a implantação da Segunda do Plástico no Centro de Ciências e Tecnologia da UFRR em que a comunidade entregou 94 kg de resíduos plásticos (RP) gerados em suas residências e a realização de mutirão envolvendo 69 voluntários para coleta de 392 kg resíduos sólidos na Praia do Caçari. Foi observada uma reflexão e sensibilização quanto à necessidade de mudança de hábito frente à poluição plástica e preservação ambiental, bem como entre a comunidade e a UFRR. As ações visam contribuir para a formação de cidadãos críticos responsáveis pela construção de uma sociedade sustentável e atendimento do acordo global contra a poluição plástica proposto pela Organização das Nações Unidas. Assim, a continuidade das ações se faz necessária para ampliar o processo de sensibilização em relação à proteção ambiental e EA. Palavras-chave: Extensão Universitária; Desenvolvimento Sustentável; Resíduos Sólidos; Amazônia Our Rivers Without Plastic: Environmental Education regarding plastic pollution in water bodies in Boa Vista - Roraima Abstract: Environmental Education (EE) is a powerful tool for sustainable development. With this understanding and considering that plastic pollution has become one of the leading environmental problems in the world in recent years, this article presents a report of the university extension project “Our Rivers Without Plastic” (“Nossos Rios Sem Plástico”) of the Federal University of Roraima (UFRR). The project promoted awareness actions regarding plastic pollution and its impact on the aquatic ecosystems of Boa Vista – Roraima (Brazil) between August/2022 and January/2023. Among the actions, the implementation of Plastic Mondays at the UFRR Science and Technology Center stands out, in which the community delivered 94 kg of plastic waste (PW) generated in their homes, in addition to the joint effort involving 69 volunteers to collect 392 kg of solid waste at Caçari Beach. There was an awareness of the need to change habits in the face of plastic pollution and environmental preservation between the community and the UFRR. The actions aim to contribute to the formation of critical citizens responsible for building a sustainable society, and with the global agreement against plastic pollution proposed by the United Nations. Thus, it is necessary to expand awareness concerning environmental protection and EE. Keywords: University Extension; Sustainable development; Solid Waste; Amazo

Coinfection with Different Trypanosoma cruzi Strains Interferes with the Host Immune Response to Infection

A century after the discovery of Trypanosoma cruzi in a child living in Lassance, Minas Gerais, Brazil in 1909, many uncertainties remain with respect to factors determining the pathogenesis of Chagas disease (CD). Herein, we simultaneously investigate the contribution of both host and parasite factors during acute phase of infection in BALB/c mice infected with the JG and/or CL Brener T. cruzi strains. JG single infected mice presented reduced parasitemia and heart parasitism, no mortality, levels of pro-inflammatory mediators (TNF-α, CCL2, IL-6 and IFN-γ) similar to those found among naïve animals and no clinical manifestations of disease. On the other hand, CL Brener single infected mice presented higher parasitemia and heart parasitism, as well as an increased systemic release of pro-inflammatory mediators and higher mortality probably due to a toxic shock-like systemic inflammatory response. Interestingly, coinfection with JG and CL Brener strains resulted in intermediate parasitemia, heart parasitism and mortality. This was accompanied by an increase in the systemic release of IL-10 with a parallel increase in the number of MAC-3+ and CD4+ T spleen cells expressing IL-10. Therefore, the endogenous production of IL-10 elicited by coinfection seems to be crucial to counterregulate the potentially lethal effects triggered by systemic release of pro-inflammatory mediators induced by CL Brener single infection. In conclusion, our results suggest that the composition of the infecting parasite population plays a role in the host response to T. cruzi in determining the severity of the disease in experimentally infected BALB/c mice. The combination of JG and CL Brener was able to trigger both protective inflammatory immunity and regulatory immune mechanisms that attenuate damage caused by inflammation and disease severity in BALB/c mice

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences

The question whether taxonomic descriptions naming new animal species without type specimen(s) deposited in collections should be accepted for publication by scientific journals and allowed by the Code has already been discussed in Zootaxa (Dubois & Nemésio 2007; Donegan 2008, 2009; Nemésio 2009a–b; Dubois 2009; Gentile & Snell 2009; Minelli 2009; Cianferoni & Bartolozzi 2016; Amorim et al. 2016). This question was again raised in a letter supported by 35 signatories published in the journal Nature (Pape et al. 2016) on 15 September 2016. On 25 September 2016, the following rebuttal (strictly limited to 300 words as per the editorial rules of Nature) was submitted to Nature, which on 18 October 2016 refused to publish it. As we think this problem is a very important one for zoological taxonomy, this text is published here exactly as submitted to Nature, followed by the list of the 493 taxonomists and collection-based researchers who signed it in the short time span from 20 September to 6 October 2016

Goodbye Hartmann trial: a prospective, international, multicenter, observational study on the current use of a surgical procedure developed a century ago

Background: Literature suggests colonic resection and primary anastomosis (RPA) instead of Hartmann's procedure (HP) for the treatment of left-sided colonic emergencies. We aim to evaluate the surgical options globally used to treat patients with acute left-sided colonic emergencies and the factors that leading to the choice of treatment, comparing HP and RPA. Methods: This is a prospective, international, multicenter, observational study registered on ClinicalTrials.gov. A total 1215 patients with left-sided colonic emergencies who required surgery were included from 204 centers during the period of March 1, 2020, to May 31, 2020. with a 1-year follow-up. Results: 564 patients (43.1%) were females. The mean age was 65.9 ± 15.6&nbsp;years. HP was performed in 697 (57.3%) patients and RPA in 384 (31.6%) cases. Complicated acute diverticulitis was the most common cause of left-sided colonic emergencies (40.2%), followed by colorectal malignancy (36.6%). Severe complications (Clavien-Dindo ≥ 3b) were higher in the HP group (P &lt; 0.001). 30-day mortality was higher in HP patients (13.7%), especially in case of bowel perforation and diffused peritonitis. 1-year follow-up showed no differences on ostomy reversal rate between HP and RPA. (P = 0.127). A backward likelihood logistic regression model showed that RPA was preferred in younger patients, having low ASA score (≤ 3), in case of large bowel obstruction, absence of colonic ischemia, longer time from admission to surgery, operating early at the day working hours, by a surgeon who performed more than 50 colorectal resections. Conclusions: After 100&nbsp;years since the first Hartmann's procedure, HP remains the most common treatment for left-sided colorectal emergencies. Treatment's choice depends on patient characteristics, the time of surgery and the experience of the surgeon. RPA should be considered as the gold standard for surgery, with HP being an exception

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5,6,7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8,9,10,11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases.13,14,15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost