Mitochondrial ATP-sensitive K(+) channels as redox signals to liver mitochondria in response to hypertriglyceridemia

We have recently demonstrated that hypertriglyceridemic (HTG) mice present both elevated body metabolic rates and mild mitochondrial uncoupling in the liver owing to stimulated activity of the ATP-sensitive potassium channel (mitoK(ATP)). Because lipid excess normally leads to cell redox imbalance, we examined the hepatic oxidative status in this model. Cell redox imbalance was evidenced by increased total levels of carbonylated proteins, malondialdehydes, and GSSG/GSH ratios in HTG livers compared to wild type. In addition, the activities of the extramitochondrial enzymes NADPH oxidase and xanthine oxidase were elevated in HTG livers. In contrast, Mn-superoxide dismutase activity and content, a mitochondrial matrix marker, were significantly decreased in HTG livers. isolated HTG liver mitochondria presented lower rates of H(2)O(2) production, which were reversed by mitoK(ATP) antagonists. In vivo antioxidant treatment with N-acetylcysteine decreased both mitoKATP activity and metabolic rates in HTG mice. These data indicate that high levels of triglycerides increase reactive oxygen generation by extramitochondrial enzymes that promote MitoK(ATP) activation. The mild uncoupling mediated by mitoK(ATP) increases metabolic rates and protects mitochondria against oxidative damage. Therefore, a biological role for mitoK(ATP) is a redox sensor is shown here for the first time in an in vivo model of systemic and cellular lipid excess, (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Studies in non-Gaussian analysis

This thesis presents general methods in non-Gaussian analysis in infinite dimensional spaces. As main applications we study Poisson and compound Poisson spaces. Given a probability measure μ on a co-nuclear space, we develop an abstract theory based on the generalized Appell systems which are bi-orthogonal. We study its properties as well as the generated Gelfand triples. As an example we consider the important case of Poisson measures. The product and Wick calculus are developed on this context. We provide formulas for the change of the generalized Appell system under a transformation of the measure. The L² structure for the Poisson measure, compound Poisson and Gamma measures are elaborated. We exhibit the chaos decomposition using the Fock isomorphism. We obtain the representation of the creation, annihilation operators. We construct two types of differential geometry on the configuration space over a differentiable manifold. These two geometries are related through the Dirichlet forms for Poisson measures as well as for its perturbations. Finally, we construct the internal geometry on the compound configurations space. In particular, the intrinsic gradient, the divergence and the Laplace-Beltrami operator. As a result, we may define the Dirichlet forms which are associated to a diffusion process. Consequently, we obtain the representation of the Lie algebra of vector fields with compact support. All these results extends directly for the marked Poisson spaces.

De touch: extending service channels in an airport through touch technologies

This project aimed to create a communication and interaction channel between Madeira Airport and its passengers. We used the pre-existent touch enabled screens at the terminal since their potential was not being utilised to their full capacity. To achieve our goal, we have followed an agile strategy to create a testable prototype and take advantages of its results. The developed prototype is based on a plugin architecture turning it into a maintainable and highly customisable system. The collected usage data suggests that we have achieved the initially defined goals. There is no doubt that this new interaction channel is an improvement regarding the provided services and, supported by the usage data, there is an opportunity to explore additional developments to the channel.

Retrievals of a size parameter for phytoplankton and spectral light absorption by colored detrital matter from water-leaving radiances at SeaWiFS channels in a continental shelf region off Brazil

Many efforts are currently oriented toward extracting more information from ocean color than the chlorophyll a concentration. Among biological parameters potentially accessible from space, estimates of phytoplankton cell size and light absorption by colored detrital matter (CDM) would lead to an indirect assessment of major components of the organic carbon pool in the ocean, which would benefit oceanic carbon budget models. We present here 2 procedures to retrieve simultaneously from ocean color measurements in a limited number of bands, magnitudes, and spectral shapes for both light absorption by CDM and phytoplankton, along with a size parameter for phytoplankton. The performance of the 2 procedures was evaluated using different data sets that correspond to increasing uncertainties: ( 1) measured absorption coefficients of phytoplankton, particulate detritus, and colored dissolved organic matter ( CDOM) and measured chlorophyll a concentrations and ( 2) SeaWiFS upwelling radiance measurements and chlorophyll a concentrations estimated from global algorithms. In situ data were acquired during 3 cruises, differing by their relative proportions in CDM and phytoplankton, over a continental shelf off Brazil. No local information was introduced in either procedure, to make them more generally applicable. Over the study area, the absorption coefficient of CDM at 443 nm was retrieved from SeaWiFS radiances with a relative root mean square error (RMSE) of 33%, and phytoplankton light absorption coefficients in SeaWiFS bands ( from 412 to 510 nm) were retrieved with RMSEs between 28% and 33%. These results are comparable to or better than those obtained by 3 published models. In addition, a size parameter of phytoplankton and the spectral slope of CDM absorption were retrieved with RMSEs of 17% and 22%, respectively. If these methods are applied at a regional scale, the performances could be substantially improved by locally tuning some empirical relationships.

Prolapse-free relativistic Gaussian basis sets for the superheavy elements up to Uuo (Z=118) and Lr (Z=103)

Prolapse-free basis sets suitable for four-component relativistic quantum chemical calculations are presented for the superheavy elements UP to (118)Uuo ((104)Rf, (105)Db, (106)Sg, (107)Bh, (108)Hs, (109)Mt, (110)Ds, (111)Rg, (112)Uub, (113)Uut, (114)Uuq, (115)Uup, (116)Uuh, (117)Uus, (118)Uuo) and Lr-103. These basis sets were optimized by minimizing the absolute values of the energy difference between the Dirac-Fock-Roothaan total energy and the corresponding numerical value at a milli-Hartree order of magnitude, resulting in a good balance between cost and accuracy. Parameters for generating exponents and new numerical data for some superheavy elements are also presented. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Electrochemical study of o-toluidine blue impregnated in mesoporous silica channels

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Rhodamine 6G encapsuled mesoporous silica channels

We report the effect of solvent on the rhodamine 6G encapsuled into channels of mesoporous silica, synthesized by two-step process that gives intermediary stable hybrid micelles. Mesoporous materials have been obtained by the method that involves surfactant micelles (mainly cationic) and inorganic precursor of the structure to be obtained. MSU-X type mesoporous silica has been synthesized with polyethylene oxide surfactant as the directing-structure agent and tetraethyl orthosilicate Si(OEt)(4) as the silica source. The influence of the solvent on the encapsulation of rhodamine dye was systematically explored, specially its influence on the luminescence properties. Rhodamine 6G encapsuled into mesoporous silica channel was characterized by UV-Vis and luminescence spectroscopies, scanning electron microscopy, small angle x ray scattering and N(2) sorption-desorption. The pore size and the solvent effects into luminescence dye encapsuled into mesoporous silica channels are observed in the visible absorption and emission spectra of rhodamine 6G. The intense photo luminescence band of rhodamine 6G dye is in 500 to 600 nm region. The observed shift of the absorption and emission bands can be assigned to the effect of the solvents dielectric constant and pore size of mesoporous silica.

Segmentação Fuzzy de Texturas e Vídeos

The segmentation of an image aims to subdivide it into constituent regions or objects that have some relevant semantic content. This subdivision can also be applied to videos. However, in these cases, the objects appear in various frames that compose the videos. The task of segmenting an image becomes more complex when they are composed of objects that are defined by textural features, where the color information alone is not a good descriptor of the image. Fuzzy Segmentation is a region-growing segmentation algorithm that uses affinity functions in order to assign to each element in an image a grade of membership for each object (between 0 and 1). This work presents a modification of the Fuzzy Segmentation algorithm, for the purpose of improving the temporal and spatial complexity. The algorithm was adapted to segmenting color videos, treating them as 3D volume. In order to perform segmentation in videos, conventional color model or a hybrid model obtained by a method for choosing the best channels were used. The Fuzzy Segmentation algorithm was also applied to texture segmentation by using adaptive affinity functions defined for each object texture. Two types of affinity functions were used, one defined using the normal (or Gaussian) probability distribution and the other using the Skew Divergence. This latter, a Kullback-Leibler Divergence variation, is a measure of the difference between two probability distributions. Finally, the algorithm was tested in somes videos and also in texture mosaic images composed by images of the Brodatz album

Food restriction promotes downregulation of myocardial L-type Ca2+ channels

Food restriction (FR) has been shown to impair myocardial performance. However, the mechanisms behind these changes in myocardial function due to FR remain unknown. Since myocardial L-type Ca2+ channels may contribute to the cardiac dysfunction, we examined the influence of FR on L-type Ca2+ channels. Male 60-day-old Wistar rats were fed a control or a restricted diet (daily intake reduced to 50% of the amount of food consumed by the control group) for 90 days. Myocardial performance was evaluated in isolated left ventricular papillary muscles. The function of myocardial L-type Ca2+ channels was determined by using a pharmacological Ca2+ channel blocker, and changes in the number of channels were evaluated by mRNA and protein expression. FR decreased final body weights, as well as weights of the left and right ventricles. The Ca2+ channel blocker diltiazem promoted a higher blockade on developed tension in FR groups than in controls. The protein content of L-type Ca2+ channels was significantly diminished in FR rats, whereas the mRNA expression was similar between groups. These results suggest that the myocardial dysfunction observed in previous studies with FR animals could be caused by downregulation of L-type Ca2+ channels.

Interaction between brain L-type calcium channels and alpha(2)-adrenoceptors in the inhibition of sodium appetite

Calcium channels mediate the actions of many drugs. The present work investigated whether diltiazem, an L-type calcium channel blocker, alters the inhibition of sodium appetite induced by noradrenaline and the alpha(2)-adrenoceptor agonist clonidine. Adult male Holtzman rats (N=4-8) with cannula implanted into the third cerebral ventricle were submitted to sodium depletion {furosemide sc+24-h removal of ambiente sodium). Sodium depleted control animals that received 0.9% NaCl as vehicle injected intracerebroventricularly (i.c.v) ingested 13.0+/-1.5 ml/120 min of 1.8% NaCl. Intracerebroventricular injection of either noradrenaline (80 nmol) or clonidine (20 nmol) inhibited 1.8% NaCl intake from 70 to 90%. Prior i.c.v. injection of diltiazem (6-48 nmol) inhibited from 50 to 100% the effect of noradrenaline and clonidine in a dose-response manner. Diltiazem alone at 100 nmol inhibited, but at 50 nmol had no effect on, sodium appetite. The results suggest: (1) common ionic mechanisms involving calcium channels for the inhibition that noradrenaline and clonidine exert on sodium appetite and (2) a dual role for the benzothiazepine site of L-type calcium channels in the control of sodium appetite. (C) 2002 Elsevier B.V. B V. All rights reserved.

L-Type calcium channels mediate water intake induced by angiotensin injection into median preoptic nucleus

Calcium ions are widely accepted as critically important in responses of neurons to a stimulus. We have show previously the central involvement of angiotensin II (ANGII) in water intake. This study determined whether voltage-dependent calcium channels are involved in ANGII-induced behavioral drinking implicating nitrergic mechanism. The antidipsogenic actions of L-type calcium channel antagonists nifedipine, on ANGII-induced drinking behavior were studied when it is injected into the median preoptic nucleus (MnPO). The influence of nitric oxide (NO) on nifedipine antidipsogenic action was also studied by utilizing the N-W-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) a constitutive nitric oxide synthase inhibitor constitutive (cNOSI) and 7-nitroindazol (7-NIT) a specific neuronal nitric oxide synthase inhibitor (nNOSI) and L-arginine a NO donor. Rats 200-250 g, with cannulae implanted into MnPO, pre-treated into MnPO with either nifedipine, followed by ANGII, drank significantly less water than controls during the first 15 min after injection. However, L-NAME potentiated the dipsogenic effect of ANGII that is blocked by prior injection of nifedipine and L-arginine. 7-NIT injected prior to ANGII into MnPO also potentiated the dipsogenic effect of ANGII but with a less intensity than L-NAME that it is also blocked by prior injection of nifedipine. The results described in this paper provide evidence that calcium channels play important roles in the ANGII-induced behavioral water intake. The structures containing NO in the brain such as MnPO include both endothelial cells and neurons might be responsible for the influence of nifedipine on dipsogenic effect of ANGII. These data shows the correlation between L-type calcium channel and a free radical gas NO produced endogenously from amino acids L-arginine by endothelial and neuronal NO synthase in the control of ANGII-dipsogenic effect. This suggests that an L-type calcium channel participates in both short- and longer-term neuronal actions of ANGII by nitrergic way. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Gaussian quadrature rules with simple node-weight relations

In this paper, we consider the symmetric Gaussian and L-Gaussian quadrature rules associated with twin periodic recurrence relations with possible variations in the initial coefficient. We show that the weights of the associated Gaussian quadrature rules can be given as rational functions in terms of the corresponding nodes where the numerators and denominators are polynomials of degree at most 4. We also show that the weights of the associated L-Gaussian quadrature rules can be given as rational functions in terms of the corresponding nodes where the numerators and denominators are polynomials of degree at most 5. Special cases of these quadrature rules are given. Finally, an easy to implement procedure for the evaluation of the nodes is described.

Microscopic origin of non-Gaussian distributions of financial returns

In this paper we study the possible microscopic origin of heavy-tailed probability density distributions for the price variation of financial instruments. We extend the standard log-normal process to include another random component in the so-called stochastic volatility models. We study these models under an assumption, akin to the Born-Oppenheimer approximation, in which the volatility has already relaxed to its equilibrium distribution and acts as a background to the evolution of the price process. In this approximation, we show that all models of stochastic volatility should exhibit a scaling relation in the time lag of zero-drift modified log-returns. We verify that the Dow-Jones Industrial Average index indeed follows this scaling. We then focus on two popular stochastic volatility models, the Heston and Hull-White models. In particular, we show that in the Hull-White model the resulting probability distribution of log-returns in this approximation corresponds to the Tsallis (t-Student) distribution. The Tsallis parameters are given in terms of the microscopic stochastic volatility model. Finally, we show that the log-returns for 30 years Dow Jones index data is well fitted by a Tsallis distribution, obtaining the relevant parameters. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.