Endemicity Analysis of the Ichtyofauna of the Rio Doce Basin, Southeastern Brazil

The Rio Doce is a very important freshwater system in Brazil running through the Atlantic Forest, however available information about its biodiversity is scarce. In 2015, the Rio Doce basin was damaged by a burst of Fundão tailing dam in Mariana (Minas Gerais) causing an extraordinary environmental damage, with consequences still incompletely known. In the present paper we analyzed 6042 latitude/longitude records of 208 fish species from the Rio Doce deposited in collections prior to November 2015, in order to identify areas of endemism in the river before the burst. Several areas of endemism were identified along the basin, most of them describing small and novel patterns. Our analyses helped to identify areas of major diversity along the basin as well as information gaps concerning fish sampling. We hope this contribution will help obtaining quantitative measures on the impact caused by the Fundão dam catastrophe on fish biodiversity and will be useful to orient general actions towards the restoration of the basin.Fil: Sarmento Soares, Luisa M.. Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana; Brasil. Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo; Brasil. Instituto Nossos Riachos; BrasilFil: Martins Pinheiro, Ronaldo F.. Instituto Nossos Riachos; BrasilFil: Casagranda, Maria Dolores. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico - Tucumán. Unidad Ejecutora Lillo; Argentin

m5U54 tRNA hypomodification by lack of TRMT2A drives the generation of tRNA-derived small RNAs

Transfer RNA (tRNA) molecules contain various post-transcriptional modifications that are crucial for tRNA stability, translation efficiency, and fidelity. Besides their canonical roles in translation, tRNAs also originate tRNA-derived small RNAs (tsRNAs), a class of small non-coding RNAs with regulatory functions ranging from translation regulation to gene expression control and cellular stress response. Recent evidence indicates that tsRNAs are also modified, however, the impact of tRNA epitranscriptome deregulation on tsRNAs generation is only now beginning to be uncovered. The 5-methyluridine (m5U) modification at position 54 of cytosolic tRNAs is one of the most common and conserved tRNA modifications among species. The tRNA methyltransferase TRMT2A catalyzes this modification, but its biological role remains mostly unexplored. Here, we show that TRMT2A knockdown in human cells induces m5U54 tRNA hypomodification and tsRNA formation. More specifically, m5U54 hypomodification is followed by overexpression of the ribonuclease angiogenin (ANG) that cleaves tRNAs near the anticodon, resulting in accumulation of 5′tRNA-derived stress-induced RNAs (5′tiRNAs), namely 5′tiRNA-GlyGCC and 5′tiRNA-GluCTC, among others. Additionally, transcriptomic analysis confirms that down-regulation of TRMT2A and consequently m5U54 hypomodification impacts the cellular stress response and RNA stability, which is often correlated with tiRNA generation. Accordingly, exposure to oxidative stress conditions induces TRMT2A down-regulation and tiRNA formation in mammalian cells. These results establish a link between tRNA hypomethylation and ANG-dependent tsRNAs formation and unravel m5U54 as a tRNA cleavage protective mark.publishe

Penicillium crustosum as a potential OTA producer - new insights from whole - genome sequencing of strain MUM 16.125

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a well-studied mycotoxin that poses severe health risks. OTA is mainly produced by Aspergillus and Penicillium species associated with food spoilage and it is present in a wide diversity of food and feed products. Recent studies have reported the presence of OTA in food matrices where known OTA producers are not present1,2. For that reason, other species such as P. crustosum are now being considered. A recent study using comparative genomic analysis3 clarified the OTA biosynthetic gene cluster composition. In order to gain insight into the secondary metabolism of P. crustosum, this study aimed to sequence and explore the complete genome of strain MUM 16.125. This strain was isolated from cheese rind sample contaminated with OTA in which no known OTA producers were present1. The genome assembly comprises 199 contigs with a total length of 30.95 Mb and contains 10975 predicted protein-coding genes. In total, 109 gene clusters potentially related with secondary metabolism were identified, including putative gene clusters for penitrem, clavaric acid or naphthopyrones biosynthesis. Nevertheless, no evidence of an OTA biosynthetic gene cluster was found. A total of 83 complete and 49 partial protein sequences from published OTA biosynthetic genes from 11 Aspergillus and 3 Penicillium species were queried against the predicted P. crustosum proteins. Only 3 strong matches were found (to a short partial P. verrucosum PKS and 2 P. thymicola chloroperoxidases) but matches to complete key genes were absent. Considering these findings, it appears that strain MUM 16.125 lacks the most common genetic pathway to produce OTA, providing important information relevant to understand the role of P. crustosum as putative OTA producer. Nevertheless, the additional secondary metabolism gene clusters found (such as penitrem, clavaric acid or naphthopyrones) highlight the potential of this strain for metabolite production, including other mycotoxins or compounds with antioxidant, anticancer or antibiotic properties.This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of CEB (UID/BIO/04469/2019) and iBiMED (UIDB/04501/2020) units; and by CANCYL (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-031849) and GenomePT (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-022184) projectsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Fire behaviour in different periods and configurations of a landscape in Northeastern Portugal

Neste trabalho aborda-se a importância do planejamento do uso e ocupação do solo, e do manejo dos sistemas florestais na redução do perigo de incêndio, analisando-se o comportamento do fogo em relação às alterações na paisagem da Deilão, nordeste de Portugal. Foram utilizadas cadeias de Markov e modelos de autômatos celulares como metodologia para projetar a paisagem no futuro. FlamMap foi utilizado para simular o comportamento do fogo. De acordo com as métricas da paisagem obtidas no Fragstats, observou- se que os cenários e projeções em Deilão têm uma tendência à simplificação da paisagem, o que pode facilitar a ocorrência de incêndios maiores e mais graves. A análise dos resultados indicou uma tendência ao aumento do perigo de incêndios na região, em grande parte, ocasionado pela expansão de plantações contínuas de florestas. Para evitar tais impactos, o manejo florestal e ordenamento da paisagem devem ser modificados a fim de se reduzir o acúmulo de materiais combustíveis.In this study, we discuss the importance of land use, land cover planning and forest stand management in fire hazard reduction, through the analysis of fire behavior in relation to landscape changes in Deilão, northeastern Portugal. Markov chains and cellular automata model were used to project future landscapes whose structures were quantified by landscape metrics. The FlamMap model was used to simulate fire behavior. According to landscape metrics from Fragstats, we observed that scenarios and projections in Deilão have a trend towards landscape simplification, which may facilitate the occurrence of larger, more severe fires. The analyses indicate an increased fire hazard trend in the region, largely caused by the continuity of forest cover. To avoid such impacts, forest management and landscape plannig should be modified in order to reduce the accumulation of combustible materials.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Priority areas for water resources conservation: study case Canal Guandu watershed.

The environmental resilience is strictly dependent of water availability. The identification of priority areas is important to conservation aid land-use planning and urban expansion, conservation, and policy strategy. The goal was to identify priority areas aiming water provision and environmental conservation at the "Canal do Rio Guandu" watershed in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. To address the goal four micro-basins included in the watershed were selected to optimize collect field data and create the criteria to define the priority levels. Based on prior literature, legacy and field data, an assessment method was proposed based on map algebra with support of Geographical Information System, gathering professional tacit knowledge with spatial data to support the selection of strategic areas. The approach based on was successful to select primarily priority areas and can contribute to regulate the local policies, pointing out areas that can connect legally protected areas with forested fragments, which presents great importance to urban and rural supply

Unraveling the pathogenesis of ARX polyalanine tract variants using a clinical and molecular interfacing approach

The Aristaless-related homeobox (ARX) gene is implicated in intellectual disability with the most frequent pathogenic mutations leading to expansions of the first two polyalanine tracts. Here, we describe analysis of the ARX gene outlining the approaches in the Australian and Portuguese setting, using an integrated clinical and molecular strategy. We report variants in the ARX gene detected in 19 patients belonging to 17 families. Seven pathogenic variants, being expansion mutations in both polyalanine tract 1 and tract 2, were identifyed, including a novel mutation in polyalanine tract 1 that expands the first tract to 20 alanines. This precise number of alanines is sufficient to cause pathogenicity when expanded in polyalanine tract 2. Five cases presented a probably non-pathogenic variant, including the novel HGVS: c.441_455del, classified as unlikely disease causing, consistent with reports that suggest that in frame deletions in polyalanine stretches of ARX rarely cause intellectual disability. In addition, we identified five cases with a variant of unclear pathogenic significance. Owing to the inconsistent ARX variants description, publications were reviewed and ARX variant classifications were standardized and detailed unambiguously according to recommendations of the Human Genome Variation Society. In the absence of a pathognomonic clinical feature, we propose that molecular analysis of the ARX gene should be included in routine diagnostic practice in individuals with either nonsyndromic or syndromic intellectual disability. A definitive diagnosis of ARX-related disorders is crucial for an adequate clinical follow-up and accurate genetic counseling of at-risk family members.Unit for Multidisciplinary Research in Biomedicine, UMIB, ICBAS-UP, Porto, Portugal was funded by FEDER funds of the Operational Program for Competitiveness Factors – COMPETE through FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology under the project: Fcomp-01-0124-FEDER-015896. The Neurogenetics research program in the Department of Paediatrics, University of Adelaide, Australia was funded by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (Grant No. 1063025). C. S. is supported Australian Research Council (Future Fellowship FT120100086

General satisfaction in Chemical and Biological Engineering courses: what matters?: a students perception study

This study was developed in a partnership of five Higher Education Institutions (HEI): three Portuguese and two Brazilian (hereinafter identified as A, B, C, D and E, respectively). The study included a questionnaire distributed and answered on a voluntary basis by students of Chemical and Biological Engineering courses. The questionnaire aimed to identify and analyse the determinant factors of students' satisfaction in their courses covering aspects like educational and social university life. According to the main goal of the present study - to assess the satisfaction level of the students concerning six vectors: teacher role, student-teacher interaction, learning assessment, course organization, working conditions, and academic environment - only some of the collected data were analysed. Correlations were tested to identify the items considered the most important to students' general satisfaction with the course. The analysis performed for some items pointed out that there are significant differences between HEI, indicating that the study should be made considering each HEI separately. Nevertheless, in average, the degree of satisfaction' agreement was higher than 3.2 in all HEI (Lickert scale: 1-strongly disagree to 5-strongly agree). Also, the analysis of those differences shows that they do not have the same pattern. In the general satisfaction items one of the HEI stands out with the highest average score, however, in the specific items this institution showed similar behaviour to the others. Students' general satisfaction with the course and the level of agreement in each of the six referred vectors show a statistically significant positive relationship. Also, a positive teachers' attitude, in general, reflects a positive interaction with students, highlighting the effect of teachers' attitude on the students' performance.Research Centre CIETI (Centro de Inovação em Engenharia e Tecnologia Industrial) and FCT - Fundação para a Ci&ehat;ncia e Tecnologia, for all the support provided in the scope of the projects COMPETE: POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007043, UID/CEC/00319-2013 and UID-EQU-04730-2013info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Study of the composition of coaxial microfibers with phase change materials under thermal analysis

Asphalt pavements cover a large area of urban centers and are directly related to Urban Heat Islands (UHI). These materials heat up by absorbing a large amount of solar energy and then slowly release it, generating environmental, economic and social impacts that directly harm the well-being of citizens. The use of Phase Change Materials (PCM) in asphalt mixtures is indicated in the literature as an efficient thermoregulation method to mitigate UHI. However, their direct incorporation in asphalt mixtures presents some disadvantages related to modifying the asphalt structure after PCM melting. The development of Coaxial Polymeric Fibers (CPF) emerges as an innovative alternative to incorporate PCM in asphalt mixtures. Thus, the research herein reported aims to produce and select the best composition of coaxial fibers composed of Polyethylene glycol (PEG) as PCM and core and cellulose acetate (Mn: 30,000 and 50,000) as sheath. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) were used for thermal characterization. TGA was used to analyse whether the materials could tolerate the mixing and compaction temperatures of the asphalt mixtures (up to about 200°C) without any mass loss, and DSC to assess the melting point for the CPF. Thereby it is possible to determine the effect of cellulose acetate molecular weight on the phase change temperature of PEG inside the CPF. This information will aid in deciding on suitable materials for asphalt concrete mixtures capable of withstanding asphalt mixing temperatures