Microsatellite genotyping from faeces of Lontra longicaudis from southern Brazil

A genetic study of the neotropical river otter Lontra longicaudis (Olfers, 1818), which has an unknown conservation status, was carried out at the Taim Ecological Station and the margins of the Vargas stream, Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil. Faecal samples were collected, and DNA was extracted using a silica-guanidine method. Five microsatellite loci were amplified using PCR with heterologous primers previously described for Lutra lutra (Linnaeus, 1758). Sixteen faecal samples out of 29 from Taim and 11 out of 14 from Vargas stream margins contained enough DNA for genetic analysis. A total of 49 different alleles were found at both localities, from which 18 were exclusively found in individuals from Taim and 17 were exclusives from Vargas individuals. The most common allele was the same at both locations for three loci (Lut715, Lut733, and Lut818). A high level of genetic diversity was found at both sites (NeTaim=4.1, HoTaim=0.299, HeTaim=0.681; NeVargas=4.9, HoVargas=0.355, HeVargas=0.724), being higher at the Vargas stream site. A high and significant level of heterozygote deficiency was observed at most loci according to the χ2 test. The homogeneity χ2 test (P<0.001) showed that there were significant differences in the allele frequencies between the two locations. Genotyping for more than one locus was possible in 81.5% of samples, from which only 37% were possible to genotype for more than three loci. A low degree of relatedness was found among individuals from Taim (R=0.055±0.310), but an even lower value of relatedness was found at the Vargas site (R= -0.285±0.440). The significant degree of differentiation (I=0.890; F ST=0.059) found between Taim and Vargas individuals suggests that there is more than one population of otters in the southern extreme of Brazil, which probably are associated with the water body systems found in this region, the Mirim and the Caiuvá/Flores/Mangueira Lagoons. The high genetic diversity and low relatedness found at the Vargas stream, lead us to believe that the Vargas stream may be acting as a corridor between these water bodies for otter dispersion.

Assessing the structural change of strategic mobility: determinants under hypercompetitive environments

The primary purpose of this exploratory empirical study is to examine the structural stability of a limited number of alternative explanatory factors of strategic change. On the basis of theoretical arguments and prior empirical evidence from two traditional perspectives, we propose an original empirical framework to analyse whether these potential explanatory factors have remained stable over time in a highly turbulent environment. This original question is explored in a particular setting: the population of Spanish private banks. The firms of this industry have experienced a high level of strategic mobility as a consequence of fundamental changes undergone in their environmental conditions over the last two decades (mainly changes related to the new banking and financial regulation process). Our results consistently support that the effect of most explanatory factors of strategic mobility considered did not remain stable over the whole period of analysis. From this point of view, the study sheds new light on major debates and dilemmas in the field of strategy regarding why firms change their competitive patterns over time and, hence, to what extent the "contextdependency" of alternative views of strategic change as their relative validation can vary over time for a given population. Methodologically, this research makes two major contributions to the study of potential determinants of strategic change. First, the definition and measurement of strategic change employing a new grouping method, the Model-based Cluster Method or MCLUST. Second, in order to asses the possible effect of determinants of strategic mobility we have controlled the non-observable heterogeneity using logistic regression models for panel data.

User-friendly parallel computations with econometric examples

This paper shows how a high level matrix programming language may be used to perform Monte Carlo simulation, bootstrapping, estimation by maximum likelihood and GMM, and kernel regression in parallel on symmetric multiprocessor computers or clusters of workstations. The implementation of parallelization is done in a way such that an investigator may use the programs without any knowledge of parallel programming. A bootable CD that allows rapid creation of a cluster for parallel computing is introduced. Examples show that parallelization can lead to important reductions in computational time. Detailed discussion of how the Monte Carlo problem was parallelized is included as an example for learning to write parallel programs for Octave.

Some characteristics of hyperreactivity to bacterial lipopolysaccharide induced in mice by Trypanosoma cruzi infection

Mice infected with T. cruzi strain, acquire a high level of susceptibility to the effects of bacterial gram-negative LPS. The LD50 of adult female SW mice to LPS from S. typhosa, decreases from 450 to 2,5 mcg 10-12 days after T. cruzi infection. This hyperreactivity to LPS induced by T. cruzi presents all the characteristics of that found in infection caused by many other agents. During the acaute phase of experimental infection with T. cruzi Y strain, mice generally die with a hypovolemic shock very similar to that induced in uninfected animals injected with an adequate dose of bacterial endotoxin. There is evidence for and against the hypothesis that LPS absorbed from the instestinal tract may be involved in the mechanism of death of mice during the acute phase of T. cruzi infection.

Desenvolupament d'interfícies HW per a FPGA des de Matlab

Aquest projecte consisteix en el desenvolupament d’estructures hardware digitals, sintetitzables sobre FPGA i realitzades des d’un entorn gràfic de disseny a nivell de sistema (alt nivell). S'ha escollit el Simulink (entorn gràfic que treballa sobre el software matemàtic Matlab de Mathworks) com a entorn de disseny, i que gràcies a la interfície proporcionada per Altera (DSPBuilder) és capaç de generar codi VHDL sintetitzable. Concretament ens centrarem en la gestió d’un sistema capturador d'imatges de comptadors del cabal d'aigua, en el qual volem fer la caracterització del comptador. Aquest capturador consta bàsicament d'un sensor d'imatge i una FPGA. En aquesta caracterització el que es pretén es ajustar els diferents paràmetres del sistema per fer que la lectura sigui òptima per a cada model de comptador que existeixen al mercat, com ara l'exposició del sensor, el guany d'un color, la realització d'un filtrat de la imatge, etc.

Expression of the alpha 1b-adrenergic receptor and G protein subunits in mammalian cell lines using the Semliki Forest virus expression system.

Semliki Forest virus (SFV) vectors have been efficiently used for rapid high level expression of several G protein-coupled receptors. Here we describe the use of SFV vectors to express the alpha 1b-adrenergic receptor (AR) alone or in the presence of the G protein alpha q and/or beta 2 and gamma 2 subunits. Infection of baby hamster kidney (BHK) cells with recombinant SFV-alpha 1b-AR particles resulted in high specific binding activity of the alpha 1b-AR (24 pmol receptor/mg protein). Time-course studies indicated that the highest level of receptor expression was obtained 30 hours post-infection. The stimulation of BHK cells, with epinephrine led to a 5-fold increase in inositol phosphate (IP) accumulation, confirming the functional coupling of the receptor to G protein-mediated activation of phospholipase C. The SFV expression system represents a rapid and reproducible system to study the pharmacological properties and interactions of G protein coupled receptors and of G protein subunits.

Substance use and depression. Comparative course in adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relation between depression and substance use in adolescents and the concomitant courses of both disorders. METHODS: Four individual interviews were administered to 85 adolescent substance users aged 14-19 years (mean 17.1 years, SD 1.4) over a 3.5 year period using the Adolescent Drug Abuse Interview (ADAD) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-13). RESULTS: No predictive effect was observed on one dimension over the other, but each dimension was predictive of its own course. A decrease in substance-use severity paralleled a decrease in depressive state. Similarly, stable substance-use rates, either at a low or a high level, tended to be associated with low or high levels of depression, respectively. However, an increase in substance use was not accompanied by an increase in depressive states. Moreover, depression varied greatly between adolescents, and according to gender and age. CONCLUSIONS: Depressive states and substance use in adolescents can vary considerably overtime, and are closely but rather synchronically related. Since most of the adolescents do not seek help for substance-related problems, substance use should be systematically assessed in adolescents presenting with a depressive state.

Health education for children in the control of Schistosomasis

Health education for children is an important measure in the control of schistosomiasis especially considering the characteristics of the disease during childhood, such as high prevalence, high percent of treatment resistance, high rates of egg elimination and high level of reinfection, as reported in studies conducted in endemic areas. All of these facts indicate that children play a role in the maintenance and transmission of schistosomiasis. Historically in Brazil, Health Education concerning the major Brazilian endemies consists of a kind of vertical, interventionist and temporary action. An alternative would be to create a permanent health education process by assigning health education teachers to elementary schools. This would require expansion and improvement of teacher training and the development of programs taking into account: 1) the cognitive aspects of the child, the child's perception of reality and of the health/illness process; 2) the adaptation of instruction means and materials to the age group; 3) a "pedagogy of liberation" approach emphasizing the possibility of transforming life conditions since schistosomiasis is related to the lack of public services such as basic sanitation and clean domestic water supply.

Rapid evolution of cancer/testis genes on the X chromosome.

BACKGROUND: Cancer/testis (CT) genes are normally expressed only in germ cells, but can be activated in the cancer state. This unusual property, together with the finding that many CT proteins elicit an antigenic response in cancer patients, has established a role for this class of genes as targets in immunotherapy regimes. Many families of CT genes have been identified in the human genome, but their biological function for the most part remains unclear. While it has been shown that some CT genes are under diversifying selection, this question has not been addressed before for the class as a whole. RESULTS: To shed more light on this interesting group of genes, we exploited the generation of a draft chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) genomic sequence to examine CT genes in an organism that is closely related to human, and generated a high-quality, manually curated set of human:chimpanzee CT gene alignments. We find that the chimpanzee genome contains homologues to most of the human CT families, and that the genes are located on the same chromosome and at a similar copy number to those in human. Comparison of putative human:chimpanzee orthologues indicates that CT genes located on chromosome X are diverging faster and are undergoing stronger diversifying selection than those on the autosomes or than a set of control genes on either chromosome X or autosomes. CONCLUSION: Given their high level of diversifying selection, we suggest that CT genes are primarily responsible for the observed rapid evolution of protein-coding genes on the X chromosome.

Five-year evolution of drug prescribing in a university adult intensive care unit

Introduction: Drug prescription is difficult in ICUs as prescribers are many, drugs expensive and decisions complex. In our ICU, specialist clinicians (SC) are entitled to prescribe a list of specific drugs, negotiated with intensive care physicians (ICP). The objective of this investigation was to assess the 5-year evolution of quantity and costs of drug prescription in our adult ICU and identify the relative costs generated by ICP or SC. Methods: Quantities and costs of drugs delivered on a quarterly basis to the adult ICU of our hospital between 2004 and 2008 were extracted from the pharmacy database by ATC code, an international five-level classification system. Within each ATC first level, drugs with either high level of consumption, high costs or large variations in quantities and costs were singled out and split by type of prescriber, ICP or SC. Cost figures used were drug purchase prices by the hospital pharmacy. Results: Over the 5-year period, both quantities and costs of drugs increased, following a nonsteady, nonparallel pattern. Four ATC codes accounted for 80% of both quantities and costs, with ATC code B (blood and haematopoietic organs) amounting to 63% in quantities and 41% in costs, followed by ATC code J (systemic anti-infective, 20% of the costs), ATC code N (nervous system, 11% of the costs) and ATC code C (cardiovascular system, 8% of the costs). Prescription by SC amounted to 1% in drug quantities, but 19% in drug costs. The rate of increase in quantities and costs was seven times larger for ICP than for SC (Figure 1 overleaf ). Some peak values in costs and quantities were related to a very limited number of patients. Conclusions: A 5-year increase in quantities and costs of drug prescription in an ICU is a matter of concern. Rather unexpectedly, total costs and cost increases were generated mainly by ICP. A careful follow-up is necessary to try influencing this evolution through an institutional policy co-opted by all professional categories involved in the process.

La biblioteca digital com a lloc

L'objectiu d'aquest estudi és presentar una investigació d'alt nivell sobre el contínuum físico-conceptual que ocupen tant les biblioteques digitals com les biblioteques físiques.

Consuming sports: distinction, univorism and omnivorism

The question of the social usages of culture and its links with social groups continues to be a topic of discussion today. The aim of this article is to contribute to the debate by examining coherence in the choice of physical activities and sports. The study focuses on the upper social groups, questioning, from a macro-sociological standpoint, their possible omnivority and their dissonance of choice with regard to these activities. Based on a quantitative survey of the sports participated in by the French, the study shows that omnivority and massification of activities are major phenomena. However, the upper social groups in France remain distinguishable both in terms of their "high level of omnivority" and their choice of distinctive activities. Dissonance is another of their characteristics but to a lesser extent.

Polysomy 8 defines a clinico-cytogenetic entity representing a subset of myeloid hematologic malignancies associated with a poor prognosis: report on a cohort of 12 patients and review of 105 published cases.

Tetrasomy, pentasomy, and hexasomy 8 (polysomy 8) are relatively rare compared to trisomy 8. Here we report on a series of 12 patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), or myeloproliferative disorder (MPD) associated with polysomy 8 as detected by conventional cytogenetics and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). In an attempt to better characterize the clinical and hematological profile of this cytogenetic entity, our data were combined with those of 105 published patients. Tetrasomy 8 was the most common presentation of polysomy 8. In 60.7% of patients, polysomy 8 occurred as part of complex changes (16.2% with 11q23 rearrangements). No cryptic MLL rearrangements were found in cases in which polysomy 8 was the only karyotypic change. Our study demonstrates the existence of a polysomy 8 syndrome, which represents a subtype of AML, MDS, and MPD characterized by a high incidence of secondary diseases, myelomonocytic or monocytic involvement in AML and poor overall survival (6 months). Age significantly reduced median survival, but associated cytogenetic abnormalities did not modify it. Cytogenetic results further demonstrate an in vitro preferential growth of the cells with a high level of aneuploidy suggesting a selective advantage for polysomy 8 cells.

Electoral Uncertainty and the Deficit Bias in a New Keynesian Economy

Recent attempts to incorporate optimal fiscal policy into New Keynesian models subject to nominal inertia, have tended to assume that policy makers are benevolent and have access to a commitment technology. A separate literature, on the New Political Economy, has focused on real economies where there is strategic use of policy instruments in a world of political conflict. In this paper we combine these literatures and assume that policy is set in a New Keynesian economy by one of two policy makers facing electoral uncertainty (in terms of infrequent elections and an endogenous voting mechanism). The policy makers generally share the social welfare function, but differ in their preferences over fiscal expenditure (in its size and/or composition). Given the environment, policy shall be realistically constrained to be time-consistent. In a sticky-price economy, such heterogeneity gives rise to the possibility of one policy maker utilising (nominal) debt strategically to tie the hands of the other party, and influence the outcome of any future elections. This can give rise to a deficit bias, implying a sub-optimally high level of steady-state debt, and can also imply a sub-optimal response to shocks. The steady-state distortions and inflation bias this generates, combined with the volatility induced by the electoral cycle in a sticky-price environment, can significantly

Balanced Budget Government Spending in a Small Open Regional Economy

This paper investigates the impact of a balanced budget fiscal policy expansion in a regional context within a numerical dynamic general equilibrium model. We take Scotland as an example where, recently, there has been extensive debate on greater fiscal autonomy. In response to a balanced budget fiscal expansion the model suggests that: an increase in current government purchase in goods and services has negative multiplier effects only if the elasticity of substitution between private and public consumption is high enough to move downward the marginal utility of private consumers; public capital expenditure crowds in consumption and investment even with a high level of congestion; but crowding out effects might arise in the short-run if agents are myopic.