Upper-mantle seismic anisotropy from SKS splitting in the South American stable platform: A test of asthenospheric flow models beneath the lithosphere

Upper-mantle seismic anisotropy has been extensively used to infer both present and past deformation processes at lithospheric and asthenospheric depths. Analysis of shear-wave splitting (mainly from core-refracted SKS phases) provides information regarding upper-mantle anisotropy. We present average measurements of fast-polarization directions at 21 new sites in poorly sampled regions of intra-plate South America, such as northern and northeastern Brazil. Despite sparse data coverage for the South American stable platform, consistent orientations are observed over hundreds of kilometers. Over most of the continent, the fast-polarization direction tends to be close to the absolute plate motion direction given by the hotspot reference model HS3-NUVEL-1A. A previous global comparison of the SKS fast-polarization directions with flow models of the upper mantle showed relatively poor correlation on the continents, which was interpreted as evidence for a large contribution of ""frozen"" anisotropy in the lithosphere. For the South American plate, our data indicate that one of the reasons for the poor correlation may have been the relatively coarse model of lithospheric thicknesses. We suggest that improved models of upper-mantle flow that are based on more detailed lithospheric thicknesses in South America may help to explain most of the observed anisotropy patterns.

Dose de exposição radiométrica de granitos do estado de Rondônia, Brasil

Este trabalho avaliou a concentração dos radioelementos K, eU e eTh em amostras de granitos do Estado de Rondônia, Brasil. A análise estatística dos dados obtidos indicou que eles seguem distribuições lognormais. Os valores modais encontrados correspondem a cerca de 11% para K, 29 ppm para eU e 85 ppm para eTh. Correlações diretas significativas foram determinadas entre as concentrações dos três radioelementos, isto é, r = 0,71 (entre K e eU), r = 0,72 (entre K e eTh)e r = 0,72 (entre eU e eTh), sugerindo que são congruentes os processos de seu acúmulo nos minerais das rochas analisadas. Os dados de concentração permitiram estimar a taxa de dose absorvida de radiação no ar acima de 1 m do nível do terreno, a qual também segue uma distribuição lognormal, com valor modal de 2,7 mSv/ano, que é ligeiramente superior à média global de 2,4 mSv/ano. Os resultados obtidos também permitiram avaliar, do ponto de vista radiométrico, se os granitos analisados são adequados para emprego como revestimento em construção civil.

ESPECTRA: Searching the Bipolar Spectrum in Eating Disorder patients

Background: Bipolar Disorder (BD) is a chronic, recurrent and highly prevalent illness. Despite the need for correct diagnosis to allow proper treatment, studies have shown that reaching a diagnosis can take up to ten years due to the lack of recognition of the broader presentations of BD. Frequent comorbidities with other psychiatric disorders are a major cause of misdiagnosis and warrant thorough evaluation. Methods/Design: ESPECTRA (Occurrence of Bipolar Spectrum Disorders in Eating Disorder Patients) is a single-site cross-sectional study involving a comparison group, designed to evaluate the prevalence of bipolar spectrum in an eating disorder sample. Women aged 18-45 years will be evaluated using the SCID-P and Zurich criteria for diagnosis and the HAM-D, YOUNG, SCI-MOODS, HCL-32, BIS-11, BSQ, WHOQoL and EAS instruments for rating symptoms and measuring clinical correlates. Discussion: The classificatory systems in psychiatry are based on categorical models that have been criticized for simplifying the diagnosis and leading to an increase in comorbidities. Some dimensional approaches have been proposed aimed at improving the validity and reliability of psychiatric disorder assessments, especially in conditions with high rates of comorbidity such as BD and Eating Disorder (ED). The Bipolar Spectrum (BS) remains under-recognized in clinical practice and its definition is not well established in current diagnostic guidelines. Broader evaluation of psychiatric disorders combining categorical and dimensional views could contribute to a more realistic understanding of comorbidities and help toward establishing a prognosis.

Status of Early 19th-Century Names Authored in Parallel by Wied and Schinz for South American Reptiles and Amphibians, with Designations of Three Nomina Protecta

Prince Maximilian zu Wied's great exploration of coastal Brazil in 1815-1817 resulted in important collections of reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals, many of which were new species later described by Wied himself The bulk of his collection was purchased for the American Museum of Natural History in 1869, although many ""type specimens"" had disappeared earlier. Wied carefully identified his localities but did not designate type specimens or type localities, which are taxonomic concepts that were not yet established. Information and manuscript names on a fraction (17 species) of his Brazilian reptiles and amphibians were transmitted by Wied to Prof. Heinrich Rudolf Schinz at the University of Zurich. Schinz included these species (credited to their discoverer ""Princ. Max."") in the second volume of Das Thierreich ... (1822). Most are junior objective synonyms of names published by Wied. However, six of the 17 names used by Schinz predate Wied's own publications. Three were manuscript names never published by Wied because he determined the species to be previously known. (1) Lacerta vittata Schinz, 1822 (a nomen oblitum) = Lacerta striata sensu Wied (a misidentification, non Linnaeus nec sensu Merrem) = Kentropyx calcarata Spix, 1825, herein qualified as a nomen protectum. (2) Polychrus virescens Schinz, 1822 = Lacerta marmorata Linnaeus, 1758 (now Polychrus marmoratus). (3) Scincus cyanurus Schinz, 1822 (a nomen oblitum) = Gymnophthalmus quadrilineatus sensu Wied (a misidentification, non Linnaeus nec sensu Merrem) = Micrablepharus maximiliani (Reinhardt and Lutken, ""1861"" [1862]), herein qualified as a nomen protectum. Qualifying Scincus cyanurus Schinz, 1822, as a nomen oblitum also removes the problem of homonymy with the later-named Pacific skink Scincus cyanurus Lesson (= Emoia cyanura). The remaining three names used by Schinz are senior objective synonyms that take priority over Wied's names. (4) Bufo cinctus Schinz, 1822, is senior to Bufo cinctus Wied, 1823; both, however, are junior synonyms of Bufo crucifer Wied, 1821 = Chaunus crucifer (Wied). (5) Agama picta Schinz, 1822, is senior to Agama picta Wied, 1823, requiring a change of authorship for this poorly known species, to be known as Enyalius pictus (Schinz). (6) Lacerta cyanomelas Schinz, 1822, predates Teius cyanomelas Wied, 1824 (1822-1831) both nomina oblita. Wied's illustration and description shows cyanomelas as apparently conspecific with the recently described but already well-known Cnemidophorus nativo Rocha et al., 1997, which is the valid name because of its qualification herein as a nomen protectum. The preceding specific name cyanomelas (as corrected in an errata section) is misspelled several ways in different copies of Schinz's original description (""cyanom las,"" ""cyanomlas,"" and cyanom""). Loosening, separation, and final loss of the last three letters of movable type in the printing chase probably accounts for the variant misspellings.

Genome structure of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain widely used in bioethanol production

Bioethanol is a biofuel produced mainly from the fermentation of carbohydrates derived from agricultural feedstocks by the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. One of the most widely adopted strains is PE-2, a heterothallic diploid naturally adapted to the sugar cane fermentation process used in Brazil. Here we report the molecular genetic analysis of a PE-2 derived diploid (JAY270), and the complete genome sequence of a haploid derivative (JAY291). The JAY270 genome is highly heterozygous (similar to 2 SNPs/kb) and has several structural polymorphisms between homologous chromosomes. These chromosomal rearrangements are confined to the peripheral regions of the chromosomes, with breakpoints within repetitive DNA sequences. Despite its complex karyotype, this diploid, when sporulated, had a high frequency of viable spores. Hybrid diploids formed by outcrossing with the laboratory strain S288c also displayed good spore viability. Thus, the rearrangements that exist near the ends of chromosomes do not impair meiosis, as they do not span regions that contain essential genes. This observation is consistent with a model in which the peripheral regions of chromosomes represent plastic domains of the genome that are free to recombine ectopically and experiment with alternative structures. We also explored features of the JAY270 and JAY291 genomes that help explain their high adaptation to industrial environments, exhibiting desirable phenotypes such as high ethanol and cell mass production and high temperature and oxidative stress tolerance. The genomic manipulation of such strains could enable the creation of a new generation of industrial organisms, ideally suited for use as delivery vehicles for future bioenergy technologies.

Chronic ethanol intake inhibits in vitro osteogenesis induced by osteoblasts differentiated from stem cells

The study investigated whether chronic ethanol (ETH) intake and subsequent ETH exposure of cell cultures affects osteoblast differentiation by evaluating key parameters of in vitro osteogenesis. Rats were treated with 5-20% (0.85-3.43 mM) ETH, increasing by 5% per week for a period of 4 weeks (habituation), after which the 20% level was maintained for 15 days (chronic intake). Bone-marrow stem cells from control (CONT) or ETH-treated rats were cultured in osteogenic medium which was either supplemented (ETH) or not supplemented (CONT) with 1.3 mm ethanol. Thus, four groups relating to rat treatment/culture supplementation were evaluated: (1) CONT/CONT, (2) ETH/CONT, (3) CONT/ETH and (4) ETH/ETH Cell morphology, proliferation and viability, total protein content, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and bone-like nodule formation were evaluated. Chronic ethanol intake significantly reduced both food and liquid consumption and body weight gain. No difference was seen in cell morphology among treatments. Cell number was affected at 7 and 10 days as follows: CONT/CONT = CONT/ETH < ETH/CONT = ETH/ETH. Doubling time between 3 and 10 days was greater in groups of CONT animals: ETH/ETH = ETH/CONT < CONT/ETH = CONT/CONT. Cell viability and ALP activity were not affected by either animal treatment or culture exposure to ethanol. At day 21, the total protein content was affected as follows: ETH/ETH = CONT/ETH < ETH/CONT = CONT/CONT. Bone-like nodule formation was affected as follows: ETH/ETH < CONT/ETH < ETH/CONT < CONT/CONT. These results show that chronic ethanol intake, followed by the exposure of osteoblasts to ethanol, inhibited the differentiation of osteoblasts, as indicated by an increased proliferation rate and reduced bone-like nodule formation. Copyright (C) 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.