Relatório do Seminário "Formação para moderadores no método participativo ALS no tema da gestão sustentável dos recursos naturais" : Metuge, Cabo Delgado Mozambique 8-15 de abril 2005

Este relatório do conteúdo do Seminário faz um resumo dos trabalhos feitos durante os dias de seminário e consiste em (1) uma breve documentação dos principais assuntos discutidos das discussões e (2) uma avaliação e alguns recomendações pelos moderadores SNV-UCM/BEA.

A 1.8-kb insertion in the 3'-UTR of RXFP2 is associated with polledness in sheep

Sheep breeds show a broad spectrum of different horn phenotypes. In most modern production breeds, sheep are polled (absence of horns), whereas horns occur mainly in indigenous breeds. Previous studies mapped the responsible locus to the region of the RXFP2 gene on ovine chromosome 10. A 4-kb region of the 3'-end of RXFP2 was amplified in horned and polled animals from seven Swiss sheep breeds. Sequence analysis identified a 1833-bp genomic insertion located in the 3'-UTR region of RXFP2 present in polled animals only. An efficient PCR-based genotyping method to determine the polled genotype of individual sheep is presented. Comparative sequence analyses revealed evidence that the polled-associated insertion adds a potential antisense RNA sequence of EEF1A1 to the 3'-end of RXFP2 transcripts.

Declines of managed honey bees and beekeepers in Europe

Growing evidence indicates that European managed honey bees are in decline, but information for Europe remains patchy and localized. Here we compile data from 18 European countries to assess trends in the number of honey bee colonies and beekeepers between 1965 and 2005. We found consistent declines in colony numbers in central European countries and some increases in Mediterranean countries. Beekeeper numbers have declined in all of the European countries examined. Our data support the view that honey bees are in decline at least in some regions, which is probably closely linked to the decreasing number of beekeepers. Our data on colony numbers and beekeepers must, however, be interpreted with caution due to different approaches and socioeconomic factors in the various countries, thereby limiting their comparability. We therefore make specific recommendations for standardized methodologies to be adopted at the national and global level to assist in the future monitoring of honey bees.

Transport of anti-IL-6 antigen binding fragments into cartilage and the effects of injury

The efficacy of biological therapeutics against cartilage degradation in osteoarthritis is restricted by the limited transport of macromolecules through the dense, avascular extracellular matrix. The availability of biologics to cell surface and matrix targets is limited by steric hindrance of the matrix, and the microstructure of matrix itself can be dramatically altered by joint injury and the subsequent inflammatory response. We studied the transport into cartilage of a 48 kDa anti-IL-6 antigen binding fragment (Fab) using an in vitro model of joint injury to quantify the transport of Fab fragments into normal and mechanically injured cartilage. The anti-IL-6 Fab was able to diffuse throughout the depth of the tissue, suggesting that Fab fragments can have the desired property of achieving local delivery to targets within cartilage, unlike full-sized antibodies which are too large to penetrate beyond the cartilage surface. Uptake of the anti-IL-6 Fab was significantly increased following mechanical injury, and an additional increase in uptake was observed in response to combined treatment with TNFα and mechanical injury, a model used to mimic the inflammatory response following joint injury. These results suggest that joint trauma leading to cartilage degradation can further alter the transport of such therapeutics and similar-sized macromolecules.

An experimentally validated finite element method for augmented vertebral bodies

Background Finite element models of augmented vertebral bodies require a realistic modelling of the cement infiltrated region. Most methods published so far used idealized cement shapes or oversimplified material models for the augmented region. In this study, an improved, anatomy-specific, homogenized finite element method was developed and validated to predict the apparent as well as the local mechanical behavior of augmented vertebral bodies. Methods Forty-nine human vertebral body sections were prepared by removing the cortical endplates and scanned with high-resolution peripheral quantitative CT before and after injection of a standard and a low-modulus bone cement. Forty-one specimens were tested in compression to measure stiffness, strength and contact pressure distributions between specimens and loading-plates. From the remaining eight, fourteen cylindrical specimens were extracted from the augmented region and tested in compression to obtain material properties. Anatomy-specific finite element models were generated from the CT data. The models featured element-specific, density-fabric-based material properties, damage accumulation, real cement distributions and experimentally determined material properties for the augmented region. Apparent stiffness and strength as well as contact pressure distributions at the loading plates were compared between simulations and experiments. Findings The finite element models were able to predict apparent stiffness (R2 > 0.86) and apparent strength (R2 > 0.92) very well. Also, the numerically obtained pressure distributions were in reasonable quantitative (R2 > 0.48) and qualitative agreement with the experiments. Interpretation The proposed finite element models have proven to be an accurate tool for studying the apparent as well as the local mechanical behavior of augmented vertebral bodies.

High-Spin Molecules: Synthesis, X-ray Characterization, and Magnetic Behavior of Two New Cyano-Bridged Ni II 9 Mo V 6 and Ni II 9 W V 6 Clusters with a S = 12 Ground State

The preparations, X-ray structures, and magnetic characterizations are presented for two new pentadecanuclear cluster compounds:  [NiII{NiII(MeOH)3}8(μ-CN)30{MV(CN)3}6]·xMeOH·yH2O (MV = MoV (1) with x = 17, y = 1; MV = WV (2) with x = 15, y = 0). Both compounds crystallize in the monoclinic space group C2/c, with cell dimensions of a = 28.4957(18) Å, b = 19.2583(10) Å, c = 32.4279(17) Å, β = 113.155(6)°, and Z = 4 for 1 and a = 28.5278(16) Å, b = 19.2008(18) Å, c = 32.4072(17) Å, β = 113.727(6)°, and Z = 4 for 2. The structures of 1 and 2 consist of neutral cluster complexes comprising 15 metal ions, 9 NiII and 6 MV, all linked by μ-cyano ligands. Magnetic susceptibilities and magnetization measurements of compounds 1 and 2 in the crystalline and dissolved state indicate that these clusters have a S = 12 ground state, originating from intracluster ferromagnetic exchange interactions between the μ-cyano-bridged metal ions of the type NiII−NC−MV. Indeed, these data show clearly that the cluster molecules stay intact in solution. Ac magnetic susceptibility measurements reveal that the cluster compounds exhibit magnetic susceptibility relaxation phenomena at low temperatures since, with nonzero dc fields, χ‘ ‘M has a nonzero value that is frequency dependent. However, there appears no out-of-phase (χ‘ ‘M) signal in zero dc field down to 1.8 K, which excludes the expected signature for a single molecule magnet. This finding is confirmed with the small uniaxial magnetic anisotropy value for D of 0.015 cm-1, deduced from the high-field, high-frequency EPR measurement, which distinctly reveals a positive sign in D. Obviously, the overall magnetic anisotropy of the compounds is too low, and this may be a consequence of a small single ion magnetic anisotropy combined with the highly symmetric arrangement of the metal ions in the cluster molecule.