Spatial Distribution of the Risk of Dengue and the Entomological Indicators in Sumare, State of Sao Paulo, Brazil

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Effect of follicular fluid supplementation during in vitro maturation on total cell number in bovine blastocysts produced in vitro

This study evaluated the influence of follicular fluid (FF) added to the maturation medium on the quality of bovine embryos produced in vitro. In the first experiment, oocytes were matured in media containing five different FF concentrations with different maturation times and classified according to meiotic progression and migration of cortical granules. In the second experiment, oocytes matured in the same media were fertilized at three different maturation times; thereafter, cleavage and blastocyst rates were evaluated. In the third experiment, oocytes were matured in media containing three different FF concentrations at two different maturation times, and embryo quality, inferred by the ratio of inner cell mass and trophectoderm cells compared with total cell number, was evaluated. Higher FF concentration (75 - 100% FF) slowed meiotic progression and CG migration (control - 78.13% vs. treated - 52.58% and control - 52.7% vs. treated - 11.59%, respectively, at 24 h of maturation). Also, FF at concentration of 75% or 100% had a negative influence on cleavage and blastocyst rates (control - 90.13% vs. treated - 82.64% and control - 35.73% vs. treated - 11.57%, respectively, at 24 h of maturation). The 50% FF resulted in embryos with increased inner cell mass numbers (control - 29.91 vs. treated - 35.49, at 24 h of maturation) and total cell numbers (control - 109.53 vs. treated - 120.67, at 26 h of maturation). Even though higher concentration of FF added to the maturation medium reduced embryonic development rates, in lower concentrations, FF slowed the meiotic progression and migration of CG and contributed to increases in inner cell mass number. Thus, FF added to the maturation medium enhances the number of cells in bovine embryos produced in vitro, especially for inner cell mass.

Effect of Pursed-Lip Breathing in Patients With COPD: Linear and Nonlinear Analysis of Cardiac Autonomic Modulation

Objective: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of pursed-lip breathing (PLB) on cardiac autonomic modulation in individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) while at rest. Methods: Thirty-two individuals were allocated to one of two groups: COPD (n = 17; 67.29 +/- 6.87 years of age) and control (n = 15; 63.2 +/- 7.96 years of age). The groups were submitted to a two-stage experimental protocol. The first stage consisted of the characterization of the sample and spirometry. The second stage comprised the analysis of cardiac autonomic modulation through the recording of R-R intervals. This analysis was performed using both nonlinear and linear heart rate variability (HRV). In the statistical analysis, the level of significance was set to 5% (p = 0.05). Results: PLB promoted significant increases in the SD1, SD2, RMSSD and LF (ms(2)) indices as well as an increase in alpha(1) and a reduction in alpha(2) in the COPD group. A greater dispersion of points on the Poincare plots was also observed. The magnitude of the changes produced by PLB differed between groups. Conclusion: PLB led to a loss of fractal correlation properties of heart rate in the direction of linearity in patients with COPD as well as an increase in vagal activity and impact on the spectral analysis. The difference in the magnitude of the changes produced by PLB between groups may be related to the presence of the disease and alterations in the respiration rate.

Sampling density and proportion for the characterization of the variability of Oxisol attributes on different materials

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

DEVELOPMENT OF AN ALGORITHM TO ANALYZE CARTOGRAPHIC FEATURES EXTRACTION METHODS IN DIGITAL IMAGES

The algorithm creates a buffer area around the cartographic features of interest in one of the images and compare it with the other one. During the comparison, the algorithm calculates the number of equals and different points and uses it to calculate the statistical values of the analysis. One calculated statistical value is the correctness, which shows the user the percentage of points that were correctly extracted. Another one is the completeness that shows the percentage of points that really belong to the interest feature. And the third value shows the idea of quality obtained by the extraction method, since that in order to calculate the quality the algorithm uses the correctness and completeness previously calculated. All the performed tests using this algorithm were possible to use the statistical values calculated to represent quantitatively the quality obtained by the extraction method executed. So, it is possible to say that the developed algorithm can be used to analyze extraction methods of cartographic features of interest, since that the results obtained were promising.

Interactions of Bacillus thuringiensis bioinsecticides and the predatory stink bug Podisus nigrispinus to control Plutella xylostella

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Differential habitat use by demographic groups of the redfinger rubble crab Eriphia gonagra (Fabricius, 1781)

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Search for anomalous production of events with three or more leptons in pp collisions at root s=8 TeV

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Application of reverse Monte Carlo simulations to diatomic molecules. Part 1. Noncomplete radial distribution functions

The reverse Monte Carlo (RMC) method generates sets of points in space which yield radial distribution functions (RDFS) that approximate those of the system of interest. Such sets of configurations should, in principle, be sufficient to determine the structural properties of the system. In this work we apply the RMC technique to fluids of hard diatomic molecules. The experimental RDFs of the hard-dimer fluid were generated by the conventional MC method and used as input in the RMC simulations. Our results indicate that the RMC method is only satisfactory in determining the local structure of the fluid studied by means of only mono-variable RDF. Also we suggest that the use of multi-variable RDFs would improve the technique significantly. However, the accuracy of the method turned out to be very sensitive to the variance of the input experimental RDF. © 1995.

An Ecological Study of Helminths of Some Wyoming Voles (Microtus spp.) with a Description of a New Species of Nematospiroides (Heligmosomidae: Nematoda)

An ecological and taxonomic study of the helminth parasites of voles (Microtus spp.) in the Jackson Hole region of Wyoming is reported. Nematospiroides microti n. sp. from Microtus montanus nanus and M. richardsoni macropus is described and figured. A cestode, Paranoplocephala infrequens, and a nematode, Syphacia obvelata, were generally distributed throughout the region in all habitats except the sage flats. A trematode, Quinqueserialis hassalli, was recovered only from voles collected near streams at low altitudes. This was presumably due to the localized distribution of the molluscan intermediate host. Four helminths, viz., Hymenolepis horrida, Heligmosomum costellatum, Nematospiroides microti and Trichuris opaca, were restricted in their distribution to the alpine and sub-alpine meadows. Of these parasites, H. horrida and H. costellatum are reported for the first time from North America. Most of the other host and locality records are new. Available data indicate that host specificity was not a factor in restricting the distribution of parasites. Although the greatest numbers of parasites, both qualitative and quantitative, occurred in habitats where host density was greatest, it seems unlikely that host density is the only factor involved.

BURROW-BUILDING STRATEGIES AND HABITAT USE OF VOLES IN PACIFIC NORTHWEST ORCHARDS

Seidel and Booth (1960) wrote that the "life histories of the genus Microtus are not numerous in the literature." In support of his observation he cited 6 publications, all dated between 1891 and 1953. Since then the literature has exploded with a proliferation of publications. An international literature review recently revealed over 3,500 citations for the genus. When Pitymys and Clethrionomys are included another 350 and 1,880, respectively, were found. Over the last 10 years approximately 3 new publications on voles appeared every 4 days; a significant output for what some would consider such an insignificant species. Most of the publications were the result of graduate research projects on population dynamics and species ecology. As such, many do not explore more than the rudimentary ecological relationships between the animal and their environments. Unfortunate, as well, is that all but one confined their observations to only a small part of their total environment. For many of these animals, their life underground may be more important for their survival than that above ground. Trapping studies conducted by Godfrey and Askham (1988) with permanently placed pitfall live traps in orchards revealed a significant inverse population fluctuation during the year. During the winter, when populations are expected to decrease, as many as 6 to 8 mature Microtus montanus were collected at any 1 time in the traps after several centimeters of snow accumulation. During the summer, when populations are expected to increase, virtually no animals were collected in the traps. According to current population dynamics theory, greater numbers of animals, including increasingly larger numbers of immature members of the community, should appear in any sample between the onset of the breeding period, generally in the spring, taper off during the latter part of the production season, usually late summer, and then decline as the limiting factors begin to take effect. For us, we trapped more animals in the fall and early winter than we did during the spring and summer. A review of the above literature did little to answer our question. Where are the animals going during the summer and why?

Role of CCR2 in orthodontic tooth movement

Introduction: Cytokines and chemokines regulate bone remodeling during orthodontic tooth movement. CC chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2) is involved in osteoclast recruitment and activity, and its expression is increased in periodontal tissues under mechanical loading. In this study, we investigated whether the CC chemokine receptor 2 (CCR2)-CCL2 axis influences orthodontic tooth movement. Methods: A coil spring was placed in CCR2-deficient (CCR2(-/-)), wild-type, vehicle-treated, and P8A-treated (CCL2 analog) mice. In a histopathologic analysis, the amounts of orthodontic tooth movement and numbers of osteoclasts were determined. The expression of mediators involved in bone remodeling was evaluated by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Results: Orthodontic tooth movement and the number of TRAP-positive cells were significantly decreased in CCR2(-/-) and P8A-treated mice in relation to wild-type and vehicle-treated mice, respectively. The expressions of RANKL, RANK, and osteoblasts markers (COL-1 and OCN) were lower in CCR2(-/-) than in wild-type mice. No significant difference was found in osteoprotegerin levels between the groups. Conclusions: These data suggested a reduction of osteoclast and osteoblast activities in the absence of CCR2. The CCR2-CCL2 axis is positively associated with osteoclast recruitment, bone resorption, and orthodontic tooth movement. Therefore, blockage of the CCR2-CCL2 axis might be used in the future for modulating the extent of orthodontic tooth movement. (Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop 2012;141:153-60)

Analysis of plant LTR-retrotransposons at the fine-scale family level reveals individual molecular patterns

Background: Sugarcane is an important crop worldwide for sugar production and increasingly, as a renewable energy source. Modern cultivars have polyploid, large complex genomes, with highly unequal contributions from ancestral genomes. Long Terminal Repeat retrotransposons (LTR-RTs) are the single largest components of most plant genomes and can substantially impact the genome in many ways. It is therefore crucial to understand their contribution to the genome and transcriptome, however a detailed study of LTR-RTs in sugarcane has not been previously carried out. Results: Sixty complete LTR-RT elements were classified into 35 families within four Copia and three Gypsy lineages. Structurally, within lineages elements were similar, between lineages there were large size differences. FISH analysis resulted in the expected pattern of Gypsy/heterochromatin, Copia/euchromatin, but in two lineages there was localized clustering on some chromosomes. Analysis of related ESTs and RT-PCR showed transcriptional variation between tissues and families. Four distinct patterns were observed in sRNA mapping, the most unusual of which was that of Ale1, with very large numbers of 24nt sRNAs in the coding region. The results presented support the conclusion that distinct small RNA-regulated pathways in sugarcane target the lineages of LTR-RT elements. Conclusions: Individual LTR-RT sugarcane families have distinct structures, and transcriptional and regulatory signatures. Our results indicate that in sugarcane individual LTR-RT families have distinct behaviors and can potentially impact the genome in diverse ways. For instance, these transposable elements may affect nearby genes by generating a diverse set of small RNA's that trigger gene silencing mechanisms. There is also some evidence that ancestral genomes contribute significantly different element numbers from particular LTR-RT lineages to the modern sugarcane cultivar genome.

Probing the anomalous extinction of four young star clusters: the use of colour-excess, main-sequence fitting and fractal analysis

Aims. We studied four young star clusters to characterise their anomalous extinction or variable reddening and asses whether they could be due to contamination by either dense clouds or circumstellar effects. Methods. We evaluated the extinction law (R-V) by adopting two methods: (i) the use of theoretical expressions based on the colour-excess of stars with known spectral type; and (ii) the analysis of two-colour diagrams, where the slope of the observed colour distribution was compared to the normal distribution. An algorithm to reproduce the zero-age main-sequence (ZAMS) reddened colours was developed to derive the average visual extinction (A(V)) that provides the closest fit to the observational data. The structure of the clouds was evaluated by means of a statistical fractal analysis, designed to compare their geometric structure with the spatial distribution of the cluster members. Results. The cluster NGC 6530 is the only object of our sample affected by anomalous extinction. On average, the other clusters suffer normal extinction, but several of their members, mainly in NGC 2264, seem to have high R-V, probably because of circumstellar effects. The ZAMS fitting provides A(V) values that are in good agreement with those found in the literature. The fractal analysis shows that NGC 6530 has a centrally concentrated distribution of stars that differs from the substructures found in the density distribution of the cloud projected in the A(V) map, suggesting that the original cloud was changed by the cluster formation. However, the fractal dimension and statistical parameters of Berkeley 86, NGC 2244, and NGC 2264 indicate that there is a good cloud-cluster correlation, when compared to other works based on an artificial distribution of points.

Comparison of multiple-input single-output single-user ultra-wideband systems with pre-distortion

This paper presents a performance analysis of a baseband multiple-input single-output ultra-wideband system over scenarios CM1 and CM3 of the IEEE 802.15.3a channel model, incorporating four different schemes of pre-distortion: time reversal, zero-forcing pre-equaliser, constrained least squares pre-equaliser, and minimum mean square error pre-equaliser. For the third case, a simple solution based on the steepest-descent (gradient) algorithm is adopted and compared with theoretical results. The channel estimations at the transmitter are assumed to be truncated and noisy. Results show that the constrained least squares algorithm has a good trade-off between intersymbol interference reduction and signal-to-noise ratio preservation, providing a performance comparable to the minimum mean square error method but with lower computational complexity. Copyright (C) 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.