Divide to conquer: a complex pattern of biodiversity depicted by vertebrate components in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

The identification of northern and southern components in different vertebrate species led researchers to accept a two-component hypothesis for the Brazilian Atlantic forest (BAF). Nevertheless, neither a formal proposal nor a meta-analysis to confirm this coincidence was ever made. Our main objective here was therefore to systematically test in how many vertebrate components the BAF could be divided by analysing existing empirical data. We used two approaches: (1) mapping and comparing the proposed areas of vertebrate endemism in the BAF and (2) analysing studies mentioning spatial subdivisions in distinct forest-dependent vertebrates within the biome, by the use of panbiogeography. The four large-scale endemism area components together with the six small-scale panbiogeographical ones allowed the definition of three BAF greater regions, subdivided into nine vertebrate components, latitudinally and longitudinally organized. Empirical time estimates of the diversification events within the BAF were also reviewed. Diversification of these vertebrates occurred not only in the Pleistocene but also throughout the Miocene. Our results confirm the BAF's complex history, both in space and time. We propose that future research should be small-scale and focused in the vertebrate components identified herein. Given the BAF's heterogeneity, studying via sections will be much more useful in identifying the BAF's historical biogeography. (c) 2012 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2012, 107, 39-55.

Evaluation of the Inductive Coupling between Equivalent Emission Sources of Components

The electromagnetic interference between electronic systems or between their components influences the overall performance. It is important thus to model these interferences in order to optimize the position of the components of an electronic system. In this paper, a methodology to construct the equivalent model of magnetic field sources is proposed. It is based on the multipole expansion, and it represents the radiated emission of generic structures in a spherical reference frame. Experimental results for different kinds of sources are presented illustrating our method.

Biometric relationships of ocular components in esotropic amblyopia

Purpose: To investigate the contribution of the individual ocular components, i.e. anterior chamber depth, lens thickness and vitreous chamber depth, to total axial length in patients with esotropic amblyopia. Methods: The study population consisted of 74 children, aged between 5 and 8 years: thirty-seven patients with esotropic amblyopia and 37 healthy volunteers (control group). The participants underwent a comprehensive ophthalmological examination, including cycloplegic refraction and A-scan ultrasonography. Anterior chamber depth, lens thickness, vitreous chamber depth and total axial length were recorded. Paired Student's t-tests were used to compare biometric measurements between amblyopic eyes and their fellow eyes and between right and left eyes in the control group. To evaluate the contribution of the ocular components to the total axial length, we report the individual components as a percentage of total axial length. Results: The comparison between amblyopic and fellow eyes regarding the individual contribution from ocular components to the total axial length revealed greater contribution from lens thickness (P=0.001) and smaller contribution from vitreous chamber depth (P=0.001) in amblyopic eyes, despite similar contribution from anterior chamber depth (P=0.434). The comparison between right and left eyes in the control group showed similar contributions from anterior chamber depth (P=0.620), lens thickness (P=0.721), and vitreous chamber depth (P=0.483). Conclusions: This study shows differences between amblyopic and non-amblyopic eyes when the total axial length is broken down into the individual contribution from the ocular components.

Assessment of variance components in nonlinear mixed-effects elliptical models

The issue of assessing variance components is essential in deciding on the inclusion of random effects in the context of mixed models. In this work we discuss this problem by supposing nonlinear elliptical models for correlated data by using the score-type test proposed in Silvapulle and Silvapulle (1995). Being asymptotically equivalent to the likelihood ratio test and only requiring the estimation under the null hypothesis, this test provides a fairly easy computable alternative for assessing one-sided hypotheses in the context of the marginal model. Taking into account the possible non-normal distribution, we assume that the joint distribution of the response variable and the random effects lies in the elliptical class, which includes light-tailed and heavy-tailed distributions such as Student-t, power exponential, logistic, generalized Student-t, generalized logistic, contaminated normal, and the normal itself, among others. We compare the sensitivity of the score-type test under normal, Student-t and power exponential models for the kinetics data set discussed in Vonesh and Carter (1992) and fitted using the model presented in Russo et al. (2009). Also, a simulation study is performed to analyze the consequences of the kurtosis misspecification.

Interference of some aqueous two-phase system phase-forming components in protein determination by the Bradford method

The interference of some specific aqueous two-phase system (ATPS) phase-forming components in bovine serum albumin (BSA) determination by the Bradford method was investigated. For this purpose, calibration curves were obtained for BSA in the presence of different concentrations of salts and polymers. A total of 19 salts [Na2SO4, (NH4)(2)SO4, MgSO4, LiSO4, Na2HPO4, sodium phosphate buffer (pH 7.0), NaH2PO4, K2HPO4, potassium phosphate buffer (pH 7.0), KH2PO4, C6H8O7, Na3C6HSO7, KCHO2, NaCHO2, NaCO3, NaHCO3, C2H4O2, sodium acetate buffer (pH 4.5), and NaC2H3O2] and 7 polymers [PEG 4000, PEG 8000, PEG 20000, UCON 3900, Ficoll 70000, PES 100000, and PVP 40000] were tested, and each calibration curve was compared with the one obtained for BSA in water. Some concentrations of salts and polymers had considerable effect in the BSA calibration curve. Carbonate salts were responsible for the highest salt interference, whereas citric and acetic acids did not produce interference even in the maximum concentration level tested (5 wt%). Among the polymers, UCON gave the highest interference, whereas Ficoll did not produce interference when used in concentrations up to 10 wt%. It was concluded that a convenient dilution of the samples prior to the protein quantification is needed to ensure no significant interference from ATPS phase-forming constituents. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Differentiation of African Components of Ancestry to Stratify Groups in a Case-Control Study of a Brazilian Urban Population

Background: Balancing the subject composition of case and control groups to create homogenous ancestries between each group is essential for medical association studies. Methods: We explored the applicability of single-tube 34-plex ancestry informative markers (AIM) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to estimate the African Component of Ancestry (ACA) to design a future case-control association study of a Brazilian urban sample. Results: One hundred eighty individuals (107 case group; 73 control group) self-described as white, brown-intermediate or black were selected. The proportions of the relative contribution of a variable number of ancestral population components were similar between case and control groups. Moreover, the case and control groups demonstrated similar distributions for ACA <0.25 and >0.50 categories. Notably a high number of outlier values (23 samples) were observed among individuals with ACA <0.25. These individuals presented a high probability of Native American and East Asian ancestral components; however, no individuals originally giving these self-described ancestries were observed in this study. Conclusions: The strategy proposed for the assessment of ancestry and adjustment of case and control groups for an association study is an important step for the proper construction of the study, particularly when subjects are taken from a complex urban population. This can be achieved using a straight forward multiplexed AIM-SNPs assay of highly discriminatory ancestry markers.

Influence of fast and slow distillation on ethyl carbamate content and on coefficient of non-alcohol components in Brazilian sugarcane spirits

Ethyl carbamate is an impurity present in distilled beverages. Given the risk of it being a carcinogenic substance, Brazilian legislation has determined that its presence in distilled beverages, such as 'aguardente' and 'cachaca' (two types of sugarcane spirits), should be limited to a maximum of 150 mu g/L. Ordinary spirits usually contain variable amounts of ethyl carbamate, although in lower concentrations than the maximum determined by law. The finding that commercial spirits had a much lower concentration of this impurity (around 50 mu g/L) led the authors to research the reasons for the differences, and these are explored in this paper, with a focus on the speed of the distillation process and its influence on the spirit's composition. The team conducted research in a sugarcane distillery producing 'aguardente' using a simple pot still and measured the influence of fast and slow distillation on the presence of ethyl carbamate and non-alcohol components in the process. The results demonstrated that the speed of distillation was proportionally related to the concentration of ethyl carbamate and secondary components in the beverage's composition. Copyright (c) 2012 The Institute of Brewing & Distilling

Identification of novel components of NAD-utilizing metabolic pathways and prediction of their biochemical functions

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) is a ubiquitous cofactor participating in numerous redox reactions. It is also a substrate for regulatory modifications of proteins and nucleic acids via the addition of ADP-ribose moieties or removal of acyl groups by transfer to ADP-ribose. In this study, we use in-depth sequence, structure and genomic context analysis to uncover new enzymes and substrate-binding proteins in NAD-utilizing metabolic and macromolecular modification systems. We predict that Escherichia coli YbiA and related families of domains from diverse bacteria, eukaryotes, large DNA viruses and single strand RNA viruses are previously unrecognized components of NAD-utilizing pathways that probably operate on ADP-ribose derivatives. Using contextual analysis we show that some of these proteins potentially act in RNA repair, where NAD is used to remove 2'-3' cyclic phosphodiester linkages. Likewise, we predict that another family of YbiA-related enzymes is likely to comprise a novel NAD-dependent ADP-ribosylation system for proteins, in conjunction with a previously unrecognized ADP-ribosyltransferase. A similar ADP-ribosyltransferase is also coupled with MACRO or ADP-ribosylglycohydrolase domain proteins in other related systems, suggesting that all these novel systems are likely to comprise pairs of ADP-ribosylation and ribosylglycohydrolase enzymes analogous to the DraG-DraT system, and a novel group of bacterial polymorphic toxins. We present evidence that some of these coupled ADP-ribosyltransferases/ribosylglycohydrolases are likely to regulate certain restriction modification enzymes in bacteria. The ADP-ribosyltransferases found in these, the bacterial polymorphic toxin and host-directed toxin systems of bacteria such as Waddlia also throw light on the evolution of this fold and the origin of eukaryotic polyADP-ribosyltransferases and NEURL4-like ARTs, which might be involved in centrosomal assembly. We also infer a novel biosynthetic pathway that might be involved in the synthesis of a nicotinate-derived compound in conjunction with an asparagine synthetase and AMPylating peptide ligase. We use the data derived from this analysis to understand the origin and early evolutionary trajectories of key NAD-utilizing enzymes and present targets for future biochemical investigations.

The role of cytoskeleton, components of inositol phospholipid signaling pathway and iron in Ehrlichia canis in vitro proliferation

Ehrlichia canis, etiologic agent of Canine Monocytic Ehrlichiosis, is an obligatory intracellular bacterium that parasitizes monocytes and macrophages. In this study we analyzed the role of the cytoskeleton specifically actin microfilaments and microtubules, components of inositol phospholipid signaling pathway such as phospholipase C (PLC), protein kinase (PTK) and calcium channels as well as the role of iron in the E. canis proliferation in DH82 cells. Different inhibitory compounds were used for each component: Cytochalasin D (inhibits actin polymerization), Nocodazole (inhibits microtubule polymerization), Neomycin (PLC inhibitor), Genistein (PTK inhibitor), Verapamil (calcium channel blocker) and Deferoxamine (iron chelator). We observed a significant decrease in the total number of bacteria in infected cells treated suggesting that these cellular components analized are essentials to E. canis proliferation.

Temperature impact on the tunnel fet off-state current components

In this work, the temperature impact on the off-state current components is analyzed through numerical simulation and experimentally. First of all, the band-to-band tunneling is studied by varying the underlap in the channel/drain junction, leading to an analysis of the different off-state current components. For pTFET devices, the best behavior for off-state current was obtained for higher values of underlap (reduced BTBT) and at low temperatures (reduced SRH and TAT). At high temperature, an unexpected off-state current occurred due to the thermal leakage current through the drain/channel junction. Besides, these devices presented a good performance when considering the drain current as a function of the drain voltage, making them suitable for analog applications. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Gamma Irradiation of in-Shell and Blanched Peanuts Protects against Mycotoxic Fungi and Retains Their Nutraceutical Components during Long-Term Storage

Peanut samples were irradiated (0.0, 5.2, 7.2 or 10.0 kGy), stored for a year (room temperature) and examined every three months. Mycotoxic fungi (MF) were detected in non-irradiated blanched peanuts. A dose of 5.2 kGy was found suitable to prevent MF growth in blanched samples. No MF was detected in in-shell peanuts, with or without irradiation. The colors of the control in-shell and blanched samples were, respectively, 44.72 and 60.21 (L *); 25.20 and 20.38 (Chroma); 53.05 and 86.46 (degrees Hue). The water activities (Aw) were 0.673 and 0.425. The corresponding fatty acids were 13.33% and 12.14% (C16:0), 44.94% and 44.92% (C18:1,omega 9) and 37.10% and 37.63% (C18: 2,omega 6). The total phenolics (TP) were 4.62 and 2.52 mg GAE/g, with antioxidant activities (AA) of 16.97 and 10.36 mu mol TEAC/g. Storage time negatively correlated with Aw (in-shell peanuts) or L *, linoleic acid, TP and AA (in-shell and blanched peanuts) but positively correlated with Aw (blanched peanuts), and with oleic acid (in-shell and blanched peanuts). Irradiation positively correlated with antioxidant activity (blanched peanuts). No correlation was found between irradiation and AA (in-shell samples) or fatty acids and TP (in-shell and blanched peanuts). Irradiation protected against MF and retained both the polyunsaturated fatty acids and polyphenols in the samples.

Short communication: Principal components and factor analytic models for test-day milk yield in Brazilian Holstein cattle

A total of 46,089 individual monthly test-day (TD) milk yields (10 test-days), from 7,331 complete first lactations of Holstein cattle were analyzed. A standard multivariate analysis (MV), reduced rank analyses fitting the first 2, 3, and 4 genetic principal components (PC2, PC3, PC4), and analyses that fitted a factor analytic structure considering 2, 3, and 4 factors (FAS2, FAS3, FAS4), were carried out. The models included the random animal genetic effect and fixed effects of the contemporary groups (herd-year-month of test-day), age of cow (linear and quadratic effects), and days in milk (linear effect). The residual covariance matrix was assumed to have full rank. Moreover, 2 random regression models were applied. Variance components were estimated by restricted maximum likelihood method. The heritability estimates ranged from 0.11 to 0.24. The genetic correlation estimates between TD obtained with the PC2 model were higher than those obtained with the MV model, especially on adjacent test-days at the end of lactation close to unity. The results indicate that for the data considered in this study, only 2 principal components are required to summarize the bulk of genetic variation among the 10 traits.

Do blood components affect the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by equine synovial cells in vitro?

Brossi P.M., Baccarin R.Y.A. & Massoco C.O. 2012 Do blood components affect the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by equine synovial cells in vitro? Pesquisa Veterinaria Brasileira 32(12):1355-1360. Departamento de Clinica Medica, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinaria e Zootecnia, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Av. Prof. Dr. Orlando Marques de Paiva 87, Butanta, Sao Paulo, SP 5508-210, Brazil. E-mail: baccarin@ usp.br Blood-derived products are commonly administered to horses and humans to treat many musculoskeletal diseases, due to their potential antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. Nevertheless, antioxidant effects have never been shown upon horse synovial fluid cells in vitro. If proved, this could give a new perspective to justify the clinical application of blood-derived products. The aim of the present study was to investigate the antioxidant effects of two blood-derived products - plasma (unconditioned blood product - UBP) and a commercial blood preparation (conditioned blood product - CBP)(4) - upon stimulated equine synovial fluid cells. Healthy tarsocrural joints (60) were tapped to obtain synovial fluid cells; these cells were pooled, processed, stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), and evaluated by flow cytometry for the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Upon addition of any blood-derived product here used - UBP and CBP - there was a significant decrease in the oxidative burst of synovial fluid cells (P<0.05). There was no difference between UBP and CBP effects. In conclusion, treatment of stimulated equine synovial cells with either UBP or CBP efficiently restored their redox equilibrium.

Using Equivalent Emission Sources to Evaluate the Coupling Between Components

The electromagnetic interference between the electronic systems or their components influences the performance of the systems. For that reason, it is important to model these interferences in order to optimize the position of the systems or their components. In this paper, a method is proposed to construct the equivalent emission source models of systems. The proposed method is based on the multipolar expansion by representing the radiated emission of generic structures in a spherical reference (r, theta, phi). Some results are presented illustrating our method.

Glycosaminoglycans modulate C6 glioma cell adhesion to extracellular matrix components and alter cell proliferation and cell migration

Abstract Background Adhesion to extracellular matrix (ECM) components has been implicated in the proliferative and invasive properties of tumor cells. We investigated the ability of C6 glioma cells to attach to ECM components in vitro and described the regulatory role of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) on their adhesion to the substrate, proliferation and migration. Results ECM proteins (type IV collagen, laminin and fibronectin) stimulate rat C6 glioma cell line adhesion in vitro, in a dose-dependent manner. The higher adhesion values were achieved with type IV collagen. Exogenous heparin or chondroitin sulfate impaired, in a dose-dependent manner the attachment of C6 glioma cell line to laminin and fibronectin, but not to type IV collagen. Dextran sulfate did not affect C6 adhesion to any ECM protein analyzed, indicating a specific role of GAGs in mediating glioma adhesion to laminin and fibronectin. GAGs and dextran sulfate did not induce C6 glioma detachment from any tested substrate suggesting specific effect in the initial step of cell adhesion. Furthermore, heparin and chondroitin sulfate impaired C6 cells proliferation on fibronectin, but not on type IV collagen or laminin. In contrast, both GAGs stimulate the glioma migration on laminin without effect on type IV collagen or fibronectin. Conclusion The results suggest that GAGs and proteoglycans regulate glioma cell adhesion to ECM proteins in specific manner leading to cell proliferation or cell migration, according to the ECM composition, thus modulating tumor cell properties.