Lipidic and proteic absorption in digestive tract of tropical fat snook (Centropomus parallelus, POEY 1860)

The tropical fat snook Centropomus parallelus is a species of recognized ecological importance and with a high economical potential for fisheries and aquaculture. The investigations of digestive tube morphology in association with their feeding abilities are fundamental to improve techniques for aquaculture feeding procedures. Sudan black staining and Perl`s method were used to evaluate their absorption capacity of fat and protein respectively. The Sudan black stain was performed 12 h after the ingestion of lipids. The lipids are intensely absorbed in the ceca epithelium and less intensely in the intestine and rectum. The Perl`s method was performed 12 h after the ingestion of ferritin. The proteins are absorbed only in the rectum. This is the first description of fat and protein absorption ability by the digestive tube of fat snook. These data enhance the possibility of the addition of macromolecules in rations that can show a diversity of physiological effects. The histological implications of each segment of the digestive tube in association with fish biology are further discussed. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Spatial reference of black capuchin monkeys in Brazilian Atlantic Forest: egocentric or allocentric?

Wild primates occupy large home ranges and travel long distances to reach goals. However, how primates are able to remember goal locations and travel efficiently is unclear. Few studies present consistent results regarding what reference system primates use to navigate, and what kind of spatial information they recognize. We analysed the pattern of navigation of one wild group of black capuchin monkeys, Cebus nigritus, at Atlantic Forest for 100 days in Carlos Botelho State Park (PECB), Brazil. We tested predictions based on the alternative hypotheses that black capuchin monkeys navigate using a sequence of landmarks as an egocentric reference system or an allocentric reference system, or both, depending on availability of food resources. The group location was recorded using a GPS device collecting coordinates at 5 min intervals, and route maps were generated using ArcView v9.3.1. The study group travelled through habitual routes during less than 30% of our study sample, and revisited resources from different starting points, using different paths and routes, even when prominent landmarks near feeding locations were not visible. The study group used habitual routes more frequently when high-quality foods were scarce, and navigated using different paths when revisiting food sources. Results support the hypothesis that black capuchin monkeys at PECB navigate using both egocentric and allocentric systems of reference, depending on the quality and distribution of the food resource they find. (C) 2010 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Black carbon affects the cycling of non-black carbon in soil

Black carbon (BC) is an important fraction of many soils worldwide and plays an important role in global C biogeochemistry. However, few studies have examined how it influences the mineralization of added organic matter (AOM) and its incorporation into soil physical fractions and whether BC decomposition is increased by AOM. BC-rich Anthrosols and BC-poor adjacent soils from the Central Amazon (Brazil) were incubated for 532 days either with or without addition of (13)C-isotopically different plant residue. Total C mineralization from the BC-rich Anthrosols with AOM was 25.5% (P < 0.05) lower than with mineralization from the BC-poor adjacent soils. The AOM contributed to a significantly (P < 0.05) higher proportion to the total C mineralized in the BC-rich Anthrosols (91-92%) than the BC-poor adjacent soils (69-80%). The AOM was incorporated more rapidly in BC-rich than BC-poor soils from the separated free light fraction through the intra-aggregate light fraction into the stable organo-mineral fraction and up to 340% more AOM was found in the organo-mineral fraction. This more rapid stabilization was observed despite a significantly (P < 0.05) lower metabolic quotient for BC-rich Anthrosols. The microbial biomass (MB) was up to 125% greater (P < 0.05) in BC-rich Anthrosols than BC-poor adjacent soils. To account for increased MB adsorption onto BC during fumigation extraction, a correction factor was developed via addition of a (13)C-enriched microbial culture. The recovery was found to be 21-41 % lower (P < 0.05) for BC-rich than BC-poor soils due to re-adsorption of MB onto BC. Mineralization of native soil C was enhanced to a significantly greater degree in BC-poor adjacent soils compared to BC-rich Anthrosols as a result of AOM. No positive priming by way of cometabolism due to AOM could be found for aged BC in the soils. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Genetic Variants in Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 Gene Modify Metalloproteinase-9 Levels in Black Subjects

Altered matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) levels are involved in cardiovascular diseases and increased MMP-9 levels enhance the cardiovascular risk in apparently healthy subjects. We investigated the effects of MMP-9 gene polymorphisms and haplotypes on the circulating MMP-9 levels in healthy black subjects and the effects of an MMP-2 polymorphism on the plasma MMP-2 concentrations. We studied 190 healthy subjects, nonsmokers, self-reported as blacks (18-63 years). Genotypes for the MMP-2 C-1306T polymorphism and the MMP-9 C-1562T, 90(CA)(14-24) and Q279R polymorphisms (rs243865, rs3918242, rs2234681, and rs17576, respectively) were determined by TaqMan (R) Allele Discrimination assay and real-time polymerase chain reaction or restriction fragment length polymorphism. Alleles for the 90(CA)(14-24) polymorphism were grouped as low (L) when there were < 21 and high (H) when there were >= 21 CA repeats. The plasma levels of MMP-2 and MMP-9 were determined by gelatin zymography. The software PHASE 2.1 was used to estimate the haplotypes frequencies. Although we found no effects of the MMP-9 C-1562T or the Q279R polymorphisms on MMP-9 levels, higher MMP-9 levels were associated with the HH genotype for the -90(CA)(14-24) polymorphism compared with the HL or LL genotypes. Lower MMP-9 levels were found in carriers of the CRL haplotype (combining the C, R, and L alleles for the MMP-9 polymorphisms) compared with the CRH haplotype. Consistent with this finding, the CRL haplotype was more commonly found in subjects with low MMP-9 levels. The MMP-2 C-1306T polymorphism had no effects on the plasma MMP-2 levels. Our results show that MMP-9 genetic variations modify MMP-9 levels in black subjects and may offer biochemical evidence implicating MMP-9 in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases in blacks.

HEALTH BELIEFS REGARDING DIET: A PERSPECTIVE OF HYPERTENSIVE BLACK INDIVIDUALS

The objective of this descriptive-exploratory study was to identify the health beliefs of black individuals with hypertension regarding the barriers and benefits of diet for controlling the disease, including the sociodemographic factors associated with the health beliefs surrounding diet control. One hundred and six black adults with hypertension were interviewed using a specific instrument. The data were analyzed considering the percentages, frequency of the cases, scores and prevalence ratio. The global analysis of beliefs showed a preponderance of beliefs regarding the benefits of diet control. It was observed that men, younger individuals, lack of a partner and low educational level and income were related to the beliefs regarding the benefits of adopting a healthy diet. In conclusion, health promotion among the black population requires an interdisciplinary approach and specific health policies addressing this populations' needs, aimed at preventive and curative aspects.

Three dimensional Lifshitz black hole and the Korteweg-de Vries equation

We consider a solution of three dimensional New Massive Gravity with a negative cosmological constant and use the AdS/CTF correspondence to inquire about the equivalent two dimensional model at the boundary. We conclude that there should be a close relation of the theory with the Korteweg-de Vries equation. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V..All rights reserved.

High-throughput sequencing of black pepper root transcriptome

Background: Black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) is one of the most popular spices in the world. It is used in cooking and the preservation of food and even has medicinal properties. Losses in production from disease are a major limitation in the culture of this crop. The major diseases are root rot and foot rot, which are results of root infection by Fusarium solani and Phytophtora capsici, respectively. Understanding the molecular interaction between the pathogens and the host's root region is important for obtaining resistant cultivars by biotechnological breeding. Genetic and molecular data for this species, though, are limited. In this paper, RNA-Seq technology has been employed, for the first time, to describe the root transcriptome of black pepper. Results: The root transcriptome of black pepper was sequenced by the NGS SOLiD platform and assembled using the multiple-k method. Blast2Go and orthoMCL methods were used to annotate 10338 unigenes. The 4472 predicted proteins showed about 52% homology with the Arabidopsis proteome. Two root proteomes identified 615 proteins, which seem to define the plant's root pattern. Simple-sequence repeats were identified that may be useful in studies of genetic diversity and may have applications in biotechnology and ecology. Conclusions: This dataset of 10338 unigenes is crucially important for the biotechnological breeding of black pepper and the ecogenomics of the Magnoliids, a major group of basal angiosperms.

Rotating black holes in a Randall-Sundrum brane with a cosmological constant

In this work we have constructed axially symmetric vacuum solutions of the gravitational field equations in a Randall-Sundrum brane. A non-null effective cosmological constant is considered, and asymptotically de Sitter and anti-de Sitter spacetimes are obtained. The solutions describe rotating black holes in a four-dimensional brane. Optical features of the solutions are treated, emphasizing the rotation of the polarization vector along null congruences. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.86.124047

Realistic fluids as source for dynamically accreting black holes in a cosmological background

We show that a single imperfect fluid can be used as a source to obtain a mass-varying black hole in an expanding universe. This approach generalizes the well-known McVittie spacetime, by allowing the mass to vary thanks to a novel mechanism based on the presence of a temperature gradient. This fully dynamical solution, which does not require phantom fields or fine-tuning, is a step forward in a new direction in the study of systems whose local gravitational attraction is coupled to the expansion of the universe. We present a simple but instructive example for the mass function and briefly discuss the structure of the apparent horizons and the past singularity.

Histopathology of black spot symptoms in sweet oranges

In Brazil, citrus black spot (CBS) caused by Guignardia citricarpa is a major disease that has different symptoms on fruit. In this study, fruit of Citrus sinensis infected by G. citricarpa and showing the symptoms false melanosis, freckle spot and hard spot were cross-sectioned and analysed anatomically and histochemically by light microscopy. Immuno-histological assays were performed. All symptoms were accompanied by a thickening of the cuticle. False melanosis lesions did not contain pycnidia and remained restricted to the epicarp or to the first layers of the mesocarp. The stomata in this type of lesion showed phenolic compounds in the guard cells and in the sub-stomatal chamber. In some samples, the guard cells and their surrounding cells lysed, and a wound meristem began to form underneath them. Freckle spot and hard spot lesions had very similar histological alterations to the epicarp and mesocarp, but in our samples only hard spot lesions contained pycnidia. Both of these symptoms were accompanied by protein inclusions. Epidermal and sub-epidermal cells located in the oil-gland region were obliterated, causing alterations in these structures. All symptoms had regions that stained strongly for lipids and phenols.

Electrochemical Reduction as a Powerful Tool to Highlight the Possible Formation of By-Products More Toxic Than Sudan III Dye

The present work describes the electrochemical reduction of the azo dye Sudan III in methanol/0.01 mol l(-1) Bu4NBF4 at applied potential of -1.2V, which promotes 98% discoloration of the commercial sample. The reduction products were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography, after optimized conditions for 20 aromatic amines with carcinogenic potentiality. The harmful compounds such as: aniline, benzidine, o-toluidine, 2,6-dimethylaniline, 4,4'-oxydianiline, 4,4'-metileno-bis-2-methylaniline and 4-aminobiphenyl are formed after azo bond cleavage. The electrochemical reduction is compared with chemical reduction by using sodium thiosulfate. Our findings illustrates that commercial Sudan III under reductive condition can forms a number of products, which some are known active genotoxins. The technique could be used to mimic important redox reactions in human metabolism or environment, highlighting the possible formation of by-products more toxic than the original dyes.

Consistency of the mass variation formula for black holes accreting cosmological fluids

We address the spherical accretion of generic fluids onto black holes. We show that, if the black hole metric satisfies certain conditions, in the presence of a test fluid it is possible to derive a fully relativistic prescription for the black hole mass variation. Although the resulting equation may seem obvious due to a form of it appearing as a step in the derivation of the Schwarzschild metric, this geometrical argument is necessary to fix the added degree of freedom one gets for allowing the mass to vary with time. This result has applications on cosmological accretion models and provides a derivation from first principles to serve as a basis to the accretion equations already in use in the literature.

Modeling the Potential Geographic Distribution of Black Pepper (Piper nigrum) in Asia Using GIS Tools

Known as the "king of spices", black pepper (Piper nigrum), a perennial crop of the tropics, is economically the most important and the most widely used spice crop in the world. To understand its suitable bioclimatic distribution, maximum entropy based on ecological niche modeling was used to model the bioclimatic niches of the species in its Asian range. Based on known occurrences, bioclimatic areas with higher probabilities are mainly located in the eastern and western coasts of the Indian Peninsula, the east of Sumatra Island, some areas in the Malay Archipelago, and the southeast coastal areas of China. Some undocumented places were also predicted as suitable areas. According to the jackknife procedure, the minimum temperature of the coldest month, the mean monthly temperature range, and the precipitation of the wettest month were identified as highly effective factors in the distribution of black pepper and could possibly account for the crop's distribution pattern. Such climatic requirements inhibited this species from dispersing and gaining a larger geographical range.

Sensitive and fast determination of Sudan dyes in chilli powder by partial-filling micellar electrokinetic chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

A fast and sensitive method for the simultaneous determination of Sudan dyes (I, II, III, and IV) in food samples was developed for the first time using partial filling micellar electrokinectic chromatography-mass spectrometry (MEKC-MS). The use of MEKC was essential to achieve the separation of these neutral analytes, while the partial filling technique was necessary to avoid the contamination of the ion source with non-volatile micelles. MEKC separation and MS detection conditions were optimized in order to achieve a fast, efficient, and sensitive separation of the four dyes. Filling 25% of the capillary with an MEKC solution containing 40 mM ammonium bicarbonate, 25 mM SDS, and 32.5% (v/v) acetonitrile, a baseline separation of the four azo-dyes was obtained in 10 min. Tandem MS was investigated in order to improve the sensitivity and selectivity of the analysis. Limits of detection (LOD) values 5, 8, 15, and 29 times better were obtained for Sudan III, I, II, and IV, respectively, using partial filling MEKC-MS/MS instead of partial filling MEKC-MS. Under optimized conditions, LOD from 0.05 to 0.2 mu g/mL were obtained. The suitability of the developed method was demonstrated through the fast and sensitive determination of Sudan I, II, III, and IV in spiked chilli powder samples. This determination could not be achieved by MEKC-UV due to the existence of several interfering compounds from the matrix.

Endogenous nitric oxide formation correlates negatively with circulating matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and MMP-9 levels in black subjects

Deficient formation of endogenous nitric oxide (NO) contributes to cardiovascular diseases, and this may be associated with increased circulating levels of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), as previously shown in white subjects. Because interethnic differences exist with respect to risk factors, prevalence, and severity of cardiovascular diseases, we designed this study to examine whether the circulating levels of nitrites (a marker of endogenous NO formation) are associated with the plasma levels of MMP-9 and MMP-2 in healthy black subjects. We studied 198 healthy subjects self-reported as blacks not taking any medications. Venous blood samples were collected and plasma and whole blood nitrite levels were measured using an ozone-based chemiluminescence assay. Plasma MMP-2 and MMP-9 levels were determined by gelatin zymography. We found a positive correlation between plasma MMP-9 and MMP-2 levels (P < 0.0001, rs = 0.556). Interestingly, we found a negative relationship between the plasma MMP-9 levels and the plasma or whole blood nitrites levels (P = 0.04, rs = -0.149; and P < 0.0001, rs = -0.349, respectively). In parallel, we found similar negative relationships between plasma MMP-2 levels and plasma or whole blood nitrites levels (P = 0.02, rs = -0.172; and P < 0.0001, rs = -0.454, respectively). This is the first study to show that endogenous nitric oxide formation correlates negatively with the circulating levels of both MMP-2 and MMP-9 in black subjects. Our findings suggest a mechanistic link between deficient NO formation and increased MMPs levels, which may promote cardiovascular diseases.