Gene expression regulation in allopolyploid fish

Plants, invertebrates and even lower vertebrates are known to deal with hybridization and polyploidy very successfully, surpassing the genetic constrains those phenomena bring. However, (allo)polyploidy in animals have been strongly neglected so, this matter remains largely unexplored. In that sense, the general goal of this thesis was to expand the existing limited knowledge on the topic, standing a significant step forward in the scarce information available on animal allopolyploid gene expression regulation. The inception of this work was a theory of occurrence of global dosage compensation by allele copy silencing in Squalius alburnoides complex. The elucidation of the inherent gene expression processes and mechanisms operating in S. alburnoides, and if they are a particular feature of this complex or have a more widespread occurrence among allopolyploids, were the main goals. The first step taken was the exclusion of ploidy mosaicism, a phenomenon here for the first time described to occur in S. alburnoides, as the source of the allele specific expression differences previously found. Despite it was corroborated that S. alburnoides triploids are affected by a significant down regulation of gene expression, that does not correspond to a genome wide exact functional diploidization. Instead, a certain level of flexibility of expression within a range of mRNA amounts per locus was observed. That feature might be a key point in the mechanisms that allow lower vertebrates to endure and maintain ploidy changes so effectively. The down regulation of gene expression in triploid S. alburnoides was also found to be not dependent of allele copy silencing, as previously speculated. Extreme homoeolog expression bias, comprehending the complete silencing of alleles, have been found to affect a significant percentage of genes in S. alburnoides, as in laboratory produced triploid hybrid Oryzias latipes. However, the incidence of the homoeolog expression bias was not significantly affected by the ploidy level of the individuals, and the allelic silencing rate was similar between diploids and triploids. Additionally, the hypothesis of a down regulation of gene expression mediated by massive methylation occurrence in triploid hybrid genomes was not sustained, neither for S. alburnoides nor for P. formosa

Feline Aortic Thromboembolism Diagnosed by Thermography

Background: In cats, arterial thromboembolism is one of the most devastating diseases, with an acute presentation, and is often caused by undiagnosed cardiomyopathy. Defined as the obstruction of one or more arterial lumens by emboli, the arterial thromboembolism is responsible for hypoperfusion signs. As the temperature of the skin surface is directly related to tissue perfusion,thermography can be promising for the early diagnosis of thromboembolism. Therefore, this study reports the importance of thermography as a complementary examination for the diagnosis of thromboembolism in the abdominal aorta of a domestic cat.Case: A 4-year-old mixed-breed cat weighing 2.95 kg was presented with a history of sudden onset paraplegia, apathy, and pain when handled, with greater intensity in the sacro-coccidian region. During physical exam, it was noted that the femoral artery pulse was undetectable bilaterally during manual pulse measurement. Superficial and deep sensitivity in the pelvic limbs and proprioception were also absent and the plantar cushions and nail beds of the posterior limbs were pale to cyanotic. Thermographic images revealed that the temperature of both hind limbs was lower than that of forelimbs, with difference of 3.2ºC and 2.9ºC between the left and right limbs, respectively. Doppler ultrasonography revealed the absence of pulse and flow in the femoral arteries bilaterally. Electrocardiography revealed sinus tachycardia, with a heart rate of 250 bpm. Echocardiography revealed dilation of the left atrium and concentric cardiac hypertrophy. After 24 h, due to the worsening of the clinical condition and unfavorable prognosis, the animal was euthanized and sent for necropsy. Necropsy revealed that the arterial lumen of the caudal abdominal aorta and bifurcation of the iliac arteries were obliterated, with a 0.6 cm saddle thrombus adhered to the arterial wall. In addition, left ventricular thickening indicative pf hypertrophic cardiomyopathy was observed. In the left atrium, a thrombus was observed that filled the entire chamber.Discussion: Thermography is a fast and non-invasive method, and therefore, it is a tool of great relevance in emergencies. Previous study showed that a minimum temperature difference of 2.4°C between the affected and unaffected limbs has excellent specificity and high sensitivity for the diagnosis of feline aortic thromboembolism. In this report, the temperature differences between the affected and unaffected limbs on the left and right sides were found to be 3.2°C and 2.9°C, respectively, corroborated this finding. Cats with cardiomyopathies are predisposed to the development of thrombi, and rarely manifest heart disease. Here, the cat was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy during the diagnostic investigation for arterial thromboembolism, which is consistent with the usual findings because feline hypertrophic cardiomyopathy progresses silently with few clinical manifestations in the early stages. Clinical diagnosis of arterial thromboembolism can be made based on the presence of some physical examination findings, such as pain and paralysis of the affected limbs, absence of a femoral pulse, cold extremities, and pale or cyanotic cushions. In this report, thermography proved to be an accurate, quick, and non-invasive method for the assessment of vascular alterations that affected the pelvic limbs of the cat. Complementary examinations confirmed the presence of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and necropsy revealed the presence of thrombus.Keywords: cyanosis, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, ischemia, temperature

Ploidy mosaicism and allele-specific gene expression differences in the allopolyploid Squalius alburnoides

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Squalius alburnoides </it>is an Iberian cyprinid fish resulting from an interspecific hybridisation between <it>Squalius pyrenaicus </it>females (P genome) and males of an unknown <it>Anaecypris hispanica-</it>like species (A genome). <it>S. alburnoides </it>is an allopolyploid hybridogenetic complex, which makes it a likely candidate for ploidy mosaicism occurrence, and is also an interesting model to address questions about gene expression regulation and genomic interactions. Indeed, it was previously suggested that in <it>S. alburnoides </it>triploids (PAA composition) silencing of one of the three alleles (mainly of the P allele) occurs. However, not a whole haplome is inactivated but a more or less random inactivation of alleles varying between individuals and even between organs of the same fish was seen.</p> <p>In this work we intended to correlate expression differences between individuals and/or between organs to the occurrence of mosaicism, evaluating if mosaics could explain previous observations and its impact on the assessment of gene expression patterns.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>To achieve our goal, we developed flow cytometry and cell sorting protocols for this system generating more homogenous cellular and transcriptional samples. With this set-up we detected 10% ploidy mosaicism within the <it>S. alburnoides </it>complex, and determined the allelic expression profiles of ubiquitously expressed genes (<it>rpl8</it>; <it>gapdh </it>and <it>β-actin</it>) in cells from liver and kidney of mosaic and non-mosaic individuals coming from different rivers over a wide geographic range.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Ploidy mosaicism occurs sporadically within the <it>S. alburnoides </it>complex, but in a frequency significantly higher than reported for other organisms. Moreover, we could exclude the influence of this phenomenon on the detection of variable allelic expression profiles of ubiquitously expressed genes (<it>rpl8</it>; <it>gapdh </it>and <it>β-actin</it>) in cells from liver and kidney of triploid individuals. Finally, we determined that the expression patterns previously detected only in a narrow geographic range is not a local restricted phenomenon but is pervasive in rivers where <it>S. pyrenaicus </it>is sympatric with <it>S. alburnoides</it>.</p> <p>We discuss mechanisms that could lead to the formation of mosaic <it>S. alburnoides </it>and hypothesise about a relaxation of the mechanisms that impose a tight control over mitosis and ploidy control in mixoploids.</p

Gene copy silencing and DNA methylation in natural and artificially produced allopolyploid fish

Allelic silencing is an important mechanism to cope with gene dosage changes in polyploidy organisms that is well known in allopolyploid plants. Only recently, it was shown in the allotriploid fish Squalius alburnoides that this process also occurs in vertebrates. However, it is still unknown if this silencing mechanism is common to other allopolyploid fish; and which mechanisms might be responsible for allelic silencing (AS). We addressed these questions in a comparative study between Squalius alburnoides and another allopolyploid complex, the Amazon molly (Poecilia formosa). We examined the allelic expression patterns for three target genes in four somatic tissues of natural allo-anorthoploids and laboratory produced tri-genomic hybrids of S. alburnoides and P. formosa. Also, for both complexes, we evaluated the correlation between total DNA methylation level and the ploidy status and genomic composition of the individuals. We found that AS also occurs in other allopolyploid organisms besides the single one that was previously known. We found and discuss disparities within and between the two considered complexes concerning the pattern of allele specific expression and DNA methylation levels. Disparities might be due to intrinsic characteristics of each genome involved in the hybridization process. Our findings also support that long-term evolutionary processes have an effect onto the allele expression patterns and possibly also on DNA methylation levels.</jats:p

Beliefs and attitudes of profissionals about marital violence: studies with health profissionals, policemen and teachers

Este artigo apresenta um conjunto de investigações cujo objectivo foi caracterizar as crenças dos profissionais mais directamente implicados na resposta e prevenção da violência conjugal face a este fenómeno. Para tal, um instrumento de avaliação das crenças sobre a violência conjugal foi administrado a um conjunto de 226 profissionais de saúde, 85 agentes de segurança e 280 professores. Os resultados evidenciam uma tendência para a discordância moderada, nas três amostras estudadas, relativamente aos mitos e crenças legitimadoras do abuso conjugal. Subsistem, contudo, alguns mitos relacionados com a raridade do problema, a sua atribuição a causas externas e a protecção da privacidade familiar. Os sujeitos mais velhos e de sexo masculino exibem, tendencialmente, uma maior legitimação da violência.This article presents a set of three research projects that aimed to characterize the beliefs about marital violence of the professionals most directly implied in the response and prevention of this problem. A research questionnaire that evaluates beliefs about marital violence was administered to a sample of 226 health professionals, 85 law enforcement agents and 280 teachers. On the global results show a tendency to moderate disagreement with beliefs that legitimize this form of abuse. Some myths, however, persist in these samples, namely those related to the privacy of the problem, its rarity and attribution to external causes. Male and older subjects show, in general, higher levels of violence legitimization

MSGP: the first database of the protein components of the mammalian stress granules

In response to different stress stimuli, cells transiently form stress granules (SGs) in order to protect themselves and re-establish homeostasis. Besides these important cellular functions, SGs are now being implicated in different human diseases, such as neurodegenerative disorders and cancer. SGs are ribonucleoprotein granules, constituted by a variety of different types of proteins, RNAs, factors involved in translation and signaling molecules, being capable of regulating mRNA translation to facilitate stress response. However, until now a complete list of the SG components has not been available. Therefore, we aimer at identifying and linting in an open access database all the proteins described so far as components of SGs. The identification was made through an exhaustive search of studies listed in PubMed and double checked. Moreover, for each identified protein several details were also gathered from public databases, such as the molecular function, the cell types in which they were detected, the type of stress stimuli used to induce SG formation and the reference of the study describing the recruitment of the component to SGs. Expression levels in the context of different neurodegenerative diseases were also obtained and are also described in the database. The Mammalian Stress Granules Proteome is available at https://msgp.pt/, being a new and unique open access online database, the first to list all the protein components of the SGs identified so far. The database constitutes an important and valuable tool for researchers in this research area of growing interest.Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation (FCT) project ALG-01-0145-FEDER-29480 Algarve Biomedical Center (ABC) Município de Loulé French Muscular Dystrophy Association Ataxia UK FCT SFRH/BD/133192/2017info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

PRÉ-NATAL ODONTOLÓGICO: SAÚDE BUCAL NA GESTANTE

The difficulties related to access to dental care during prenatal care have become obstacles that need to be demystified so that the question of oral health of pregnant women is prioritized, aiming to maintain a service of continuous care, focusing on health education reaffirming and improving the knowledge of both mothers and the multidisciplinary team that accompanies them. The objective of this study was to conduct this integrative review in order to understand the main factors that lead pregnant women not to adhere to treatment and the qualification of the team that provides care to pregnant women, in which the descriptors applied included: oral health, prenatal care and pregnancy. For the searches of the studies, the databases used were the Latin American and Caribbean Database on Health Sciences (LILACS), the Nursing Database (BDENF). The results were presented in tables and discussed in exhibitions of available literature related to the subject in thesis. It was found that there is a lack of dialogue between professionals, which causes failure in the care of pregnant women, from basic information about dental prenatal care to the care itself, emphasizing how much this can induce pregnant women to stop performing dental treatment during pregnancy.Las dificultades relacionadas con el acceso a la atención odontológica durante la atención prenatal se han convertido en obstáculos que necesitan ser desmitificados para priorizar la cuestión de la salud bucal de las gestantes, con el objetivo de mantener un servicio de atención continua, centrándose en la educación para la salud reafirmando y mejorando el conocimiento tanto de las madres como del equipo multidisciplinario que las acompaña. El objetivo de este estudio fue realizar esta revisión integradora con el fin de comprender los principales factores que llevan a las gestantes a no adherirse al tratamiento y la calificación del equipo que brinda atención a las embarazadas, en el que los descriptores aplicados incluyeron: salud bucal, atención prenatal y embarazo. Para las búsquedas de los estudios, las bases de datos utilizadas fueron la Base de Datos Latinoamericana y del Caribe en Ciencias de la Salud (LILACS), la Base de Datos de Enfermería (BDENF). Los resultados fueron presentados en tablas y discutidos en exposiciones de literatura disponible relacionada con el tema en tesis. Se encontró que hay una falta de diálogo entre los profesionales, lo que causa fracaso en el cuidado de las embarazadas, desde la información básica sobre la atención prenatal dental hasta la atención propiamente dicha, enfatizando cuánto puede inducir a las gestantes a dejar de realizar el tratamiento dental durante el embarazo.As dificuldades relacionadas ao acesso a assistência odontológica durante o pré-natal tornaram-se obstáculos que necessitam ser desmitificados para que o quesito da saúde bucal da gestante seja priorizado, visando manter um serviço de atenção continuada, focando na educação em saúde reafirmando e melhorando os conhecimentos, tanto das mães como da equipe multiprofissional que a acompanha. Objetivou-se a realização desse estudo do tipo de revisão integrativa, com o intuito de compreender os principais fatores que levam as gestantes a não aderirem ao tratamento e a qualificação da equipe que presta atendimento a gestante, no qual os descritores aplicados incluíram:  saúde bucal, cuidado pré-natal e gravidez. Para as buscas dos estudos, as bases de dados utilizadas foram Base de Dados Latino-Americana e do Caribe em Ciências da saúde (LILACS), Base de Dados de Enfermagem (BDENF). Os resultados foram expostos em tabelas e discutidos em exposições de literaturas disponíveis relativas ao assunto em tese. Constatou-se haver carência na relação do diálogo entre os profissionais, o que ocasiona falha na atenção à gestante, desde as informações básicas sobre pré-natal odontológico até o atendimento em si, enfatizando o quanto isso pode induzir as gestantes a deixarem de realizar o tratamento odontológico durante a gravidez.As dificuldades relacionadas ao acesso a assistência odontológica durante o pré-natal tornaram-se obstáculos que necessitam ser desmitificados para que o quesito da saúde bucal da gestante seja priorizado, visando manter um serviço de atenção continuada, focando na educação em saúde reafirmando e melhorando os conhecimentos, tanto das mães como da equipe multiprofissional que a acompanha. Objetivou-se a realização desse estudo do tipo de revisão integrativa, com o intuito de compreender os principais fatores que levam as gestantes a não aderirem ao tratamento e a qualificação da equipe que presta atendimento a gestante, no qual os descritores aplicados incluíram:  saúde bucal, cuidado pré-natal e gravidez. Para as buscas dos estudos, as bases de dados utilizadas foram Base de Dados Latino-Americana e do Caribe em Ciências da saúde (LILACS), Base de Dados de Enfermagem (BDENF). Os resultados foram expostos em tabelas e discutidos em exposições de literaturas disponíveis relativas ao assunto em tese. Constatou-se haver carência na relação do diálogo entre os profissionais, o que ocasiona falha na atenção à gestante, desde as informações básicas sobre pré-natal odontológico até o atendimento em si, enfatizando o quanto isso pode induzir as gestantes a deixarem de realizar o tratamento odontológico durante a gravidez

Differential cross section measurements for the production of a W boson in association with jets in proton–proton collisions at √s = 7 TeV

Measurements are reported of differential cross sections for the production of a W boson, which decays into a muon and a neutrino, in association with jets, as a function of several variables, including the transverse momenta (pT) and pseudorapidities of the four leading jets, the scalar sum of jet transverse momenta (HT), and the difference in azimuthal angle between the directions of each jet and the muon. The data sample of pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV was collected with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 fb[superscript −1]. The measured cross sections are compared to predictions from Monte Carlo generators, MadGraph + pythia and sherpa, and to next-to-leading-order calculations from BlackHat + sherpa. The differential cross sections are found to be in agreement with the predictions, apart from the pT distributions of the leading jets at high pT values, the distributions of the HT at high-HT and low jet multiplicity, and the distribution of the difference in azimuthal angle between the leading jet and the muon at low values.United States. Dept. of EnergyNational Science Foundation (U.S.)Alfred P. Sloan Foundatio

Optimasi Portofolio Resiko Menggunakan Model Markowitz MVO Dikaitkan dengan Keterbatasan Manusia dalam Memprediksi Masa Depan dalam Perspektif Al-Qur`an

Risk portfolio on modern finance has become increasingly technical, requiring the use of sophisticated mathematical tools in both research and practice. Since companies cannot insure themselves completely against risk, as human incompetence in predicting the future precisely that written in Al-Quran surah Luqman verse 34, they have to manage it to yield an optimal portfolio. The objective here is to minimize the variance among all portfolios, or alternatively, to maximize expected return among all portfolios that has at least a certain expected return. Furthermore, this study focuses on optimizing risk portfolio so called Markowitz MVO (Mean-Variance Optimization). Some theoretical frameworks for analysis are arithmetic mean, geometric mean, variance, covariance, linear programming, and quadratic programming. Moreover, finding a minimum variance portfolio produces a convex quadratic programming, that is minimizing the objective function ðð¥with constraintsð ð 𥠥 ðandð´ð¥ = ð. The outcome of this research is the solution of optimal risk portofolio in some investments that could be finished smoothly using MATLAB R2007b software together with its graphic analysis