Revisiting trends in wetness and dryness in the presence of internal climate variability and water limitations over land

A theoretically expected consequence of the intensification of the hydrological cycle under global warming is that on average, wet regions get wetter and dry regions get drier (WWDD). Recent studies, however, have found significant discrepancies between the expected pattern of change and observed changes over land. We assess the WWDD theory in four climate models. We find that the reported discrepancy can be traced to two main issues: (1) unforced internal climate variability strongly affects local wetness and dryness trends and can obscure underlying agreement with WWDD, and (2) dry land regions are not constrained to become drier by enhanced moisture divergence since evaporation cannot exceed precipitation over multiannual time scales. Over land, where the available water does not limit evaporation, a “wet gets wetter” signal predominates. On seasonal time scales, where evaporation can exceed precipitation, trends in wet season becoming wetter and dry season becoming drier are also found.

Isolation and characterization of 15 microsatellite loci in the stingless bee Plebeia remota (Apidae: Meliponini)

The destruction of Brazilian natural habitats has reduced bee populations and negative impacts of native flora pollination have been noticed. This work describes the isolation and characterization of microsatellite loci and evaluates them as molecular markers to study genetic variability of the stingless bee Plebeia remota. A microsatellite enriched genomic library was constructed and 15 primer pairs were designed for this species. The survey was conducted by analyzing 21 unrelated individuals. Genetic diversity indexes were calculated. The mean allelic richness was 6.3, the observed heterozygosity was 0.568, and the percentage of polymorphic loci was 93.33%. Also the primers were tested in cross-species amplification and showed promising results for P. droryana, P. emerina, P. lucii, P. meridionalis, P. pugnax, and P. saiqui. The microsatellite loci described here will be useful to evaluate genetic variability of stingless bees, and certainly will improve our knowledge about population dynamics especially in threatened environments.

Square wave adsorptive cathodic stripping voltarnmetry automated by sequential injection analysis - Potentialities and limitations exemplified by the determination of methyl parathion in water samples

This paper describes the development and evaluation of a sequential injection method to automate the determination of methyl parathion by square wave adsorptive cathodic stripping voltammetry exploiting the concept of monosegmented flow analysis to perform in-line sample conditioning and standard addition. Accumulation and stripping steps are made in the sample medium conditioned with 40 mmol L-1 Britton-Robinson buffer (pH 10) in 0.25 mol L-1 NaNO3. The homogenized mixture is injected at a flow rate of 10 mu Ls(-1) toward the flow cell, which is adapted to the capillary of a hanging drop mercury electrode. After a suitable deposition time, the flow is stopped and the potential is scanned from -0.3 to -1.0 V versus Ag/AgCl at frequency of 250 Hz and pulse height of 25 mV The linear dynamic range is observed for methyl parathion concentrations between 0.010 and 0.50 mgL(-1), with detection and quantification limits of 2 and 7 mu gL(-1), respectively. The sampling throughput is 25 h(-1) if the in line standard addition and sample conditioning protocols are followed, but this frequency can be increased up to 61 h(-1) if the sample is conditioned off-line and quantified using an external calibration curve. The method was applied for determination of methyl parathion in spiked water samples and the accuracy was evaluated either by comparison to high performance liquid chromatography with UV detection, or by the recovery percentages. Although no evidences of statistically significant differences were observed between the expected and obtained concentrations, because of the susceptibility of the method to interference by other pesticides (e.g., parathion, dichlorvos) and natural organic matter (e.g., fulvic and humic acids), isolation of the analyte may be required when more complex sample matrices are encountered. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of curcumin and cisplatin-induced DNA damage in PC12 cells by the alkaline comet assay

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Prediction and probability of neonatal outcome in isolated congenital diaphragmatic hernia using multiple ultrasound parameters

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

Isolation and characterization of microsatellite loci in Pseudoplatystoma corruscans (Siluriformes : Pimelodidae) and cross-species amplification

A total of five polymorphic microsatellites loci from Pseudoplatystoma corruscans were isolated and characterized. A population survey involving 43 specimens resolved a large number of alleles (range seven to eight among loci) and high observed heterozygosity (0.500-0.615), indicating its usefulness in population genetics studies. Cross-species amplification was successful in four other Pimelodidae species.

Development of 22 Polymorphic Microsatellite Loci for the Critically Endangered Morato's Digger Toad, Proceratophrys moratoi

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

Twelve polymorphic microsatellite loci developed and optimized from the Leptodactylus chaquensis

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

Search for Higgs Boson Production in Dilepton and Missing Energy Final States with 5.4 fb(-1) of p(p)over-bar Collisions at root s=1.96 TeV

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

Diversidade genética e tamanho efetivo de duas populações de Myracrodruon urundeuva Fr. All., sob conservação ex situ

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Isolation and characterization of 15 polymorphic microsatellites in the Plethodontid salamander Ensatina eschscholtzii

We developed 15 new polymorphic microsatellites for the plethodontid salamander Ensatina eschscholtzii. Loci were isolated from a genomic library from Ensatina eschscholtzii xanthoptica enriched for (AAAG)(n) repetitive elements. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 4 to 20 (mean 9) in the sampled population. Observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.37 to 1. None of the loci deviated from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium or showed significant linkage disequilibrium after a Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons. All loci amplified in the six other subspecies of the Ensatina eschscholtzii complex. These new markers will prove useful in measuring gene flow and population structure as well as patterns of mating and sperm use in Ensatina.

Variabilidade genética entre e dentro de subpopulações de ipê-roxo Handroanthus Heptaphyllus (Vell.) Mattos e seu sistema reprodutivo

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Análise de polimorfismo de marcadores microssatélites do cromossomo 6 em raças bubalinas comerciais do Brasil

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Origem do suíno casco-de-burro e sua relação genética com populações ibéricas e americanas

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Diversidade genética e eficiência de DNA microssatélites para o controle genealógico da raça Nelore

Foram estimados na raça Nelore a variabilidade genética e os valores de determinação de paternidade usando-se 11 marcadores microssatélites do painel ISAG/FAO. Estes foram organizados em quatro conjuntos de amplificação para genotipagem semi-automática por fluorescência. Todos os marcadores apresentaram-se altamente polimórficos, com média de 8,2 alelos por loco. A heterozigosidade observada, com média de 0,48, foi menor que a esperada em 10 locos. Foram observadas deficiências de heterozigotos em nove locos, o que resultou no desequilíbrio de Hardy-Weinberg para a população estudada. O conteúdo polimórfico informativo foi superior a 0,5 em 10 locos. O poder de discriminação foi >0,999 e as probabilidades de exclusão de paternidade quando são conhecidos os genótipos de um bezerro, sua mãe e um pai alegado, ou quando um ou outro genótipo parental não está disponível, para o conjunto de marcadores foram >0,999 e >0,989, respectivamente. O conjunto de 11 marcadores constitui método eficiente para a determinação de paternidade na raça Nelore.