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The lack of closed representations for the density functions of the α-stable distributions, when considering Bayesian inference using Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods, has historically lead to the ...

The ELBA coarse-grained force field was originally developed for lipids, and its water model is described as a single-site Lennard-Jones particle with electrostatics modeled by an embedded point-dipole, while other molecules in this force field have a three (or four)-to-one mapping scheme. Here, ELBA was applied to investigate the self-assembly processes of dodecyl-phosphocholine (DPC) micelle, 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine/1,2-dihexaoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPPC/DHPC) bicelles, and DPPC/cyclohexane/water reverse micelles through coarse-grained molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. New parameters were obtained using a simplex algorithm-based calibration procedure to determine the Lennard-Jones parameters for cyclohexane, dodecane, and cyclohexane–dodecane cross-interactions. Density, self-diffusion coefficient, surface tension, and mixture excess volume were found to be in fair agreement with experimental data. These new parameters were used in the simulations, and the obtained struct...

Three countries in South America are jointly developing a reference system for measuring electric power up to 100 kHz. The objective is the construction of three similar measuring systems, one for each institute. This project will contribute to provide calibration services in measuring ranges still not covered by the three institutes both in ac-dc transfer and in electric power. The status of its development by the end of 2019 is described here.

We present molecular dynamics simulations of cardiolipin (CL) and CL monohydroperoxized derivative (CLOOH) monolayers to investigate the initial steps of phospholipid oxidation induced by methylene blue (MB) photoexcitation under continuous illumination. We considered different MB atomic charge distributions to simulate the MB electronic distribution in the singlet ground and triplet excited states. Simulation results allied to experimental data revealed that initial CL photooxidation probably occurs via a type II mechanism, to produce lipid hydroperoxide by singlet oxygen attack to the alkyl chain unsaturations. The resulting hydroperoxide group prefers to reside near the aqueous interface, to increase the membrane surface area and to decrease lipid packing. Interestingly, MB orientation changes from nearly parallel to the water-monolayer interface in the ground state to normal to the interface in its triplet excited state. The latter orientation favors oxidative chain reaction continuity via a type I mechanism, during which the hydrogen atom must be transferred from the hydroperoxide group to triplet MB. Taken together, the present results can be extrapolated to improve our understanding of how oxidation progresses in lipidic biomembrane, which will lead to the formation of oxidized species with shortened chains and will cause severe photodamage to self-organized systems.

The response to metal dusting of Cr/Cr 2 O 3 thin films deposited on 304L stainless steel substrates by reactive magnetron sputtering (RMS) under various deposition conditions was investigated. Selected coated samples and bare substrates were exposed to an atmosphere of CH 4 + H 2 + residual oxygen at 800 °C for up to 20 h via thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The results indicate that the presence of the Cr/Cr oxide film resulted in a clear improvement in resistance against metal dusting of the 304L steel. The protective behavior of the Cr/Cr oxide coatings arises from several effects: decrease of catalytic deposition of carbon on the Cr oxide surface (and expected prevention of inward diffusion of carbon through the Cr oxide), and hindrance of outward Cr and Fe diffusion which were identified as important events in the metal dusting of the bare 304L steel. The structural differences among the various Cr/Cr oxide films prepared in the present conditions played a lesser role in their protective behavior than the presence of the outer Cr oxide layer.

We report the biocontrol activity of the endophytic bacteria Bacillus pumilus and Bacillus amyloliquefacies against the plant pathogenic bacterium Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato strain NS4 transformed with the GFP expressing gene. P. s. pv. tomato strain NS4 was obtained from the transformation of P. s. pv. tomato wild-type strain NW with the plasmid pNKGFP containing GFP-cassette for chromo- somal integration. The GFP-marked strain was tested for hy- persensitivity and pathogenicity, as well as population studies onthephylloplane,todetermineitsepidemiologyandsurvival. In all of the bioassays strain NS4 presented similar character- istics to the wild-type, and was hence chosen as the model strain for these studies with antagonistic endophytic bacterial strains. In the biocontrol experiments, tomato plants were pre- inoculated with the endophytic bacteria 4 days prior to inocu- lation with P. s. pv. tomato strains. On the tomato phylloplane the P. s. pv. tomato (strains NW and NS4) populations were drastically reduced, and tomato leaves showed reduced num- bers of bacterial speck lesions, comparable to the standard chemical treatment copper oxychloride. Additionally, under epifluorescence microscopy, few GFP-tagged cells of strain NS4 were observed colonizing important niches on the tomato phylloplane. However, leaves untreated with the antagonists presented a large number of GFP-tagged cell aggregates. Our results demonstrated that endophytic bacteria can also act efficiently on the biocontrol of bacterial speck when applied as a foliar spray on the leaves. In addition, we highlighted the use of GFP-marked strain NS4 as a model system to study biocontrol agent and pathogen interactions, and growth and development of the pathogen on the tomato leaf surface.

Cystic fibrosis is one of the most common autosomal recessive hereditary diseases in the Caucasian population, with an incidence of 1:2000 to 1:3500 liveborns. More than 1000 mutations have been described with the most common being F508del. It has a prevalence of 23-55% within the Brazilian population. The lack of population-based studies evaluating the incidence of cystic fibrosis in Sao Paulo State, Brazil, and an analysis concerning the costs of implantation of a screening program motivated the present study. A total of 60,000 dried blood samples from Guthrie cards obtained from April 2005 to January 2006 for neonatal screening at 4 reference centers in Sao Paulo State were analyzed. The immunoreactive trypsinogen (IRT)/IRT protocol was used with the cut-off value being 70 ng/mL. A total of 532 children (0.9%) showed IRT >70 ng/mL and a 2nd sample was collected from 418 (80.3%) of these patients. Four affected children were detected at two centers, corresponding to an incidence of 1:8403. The average age at diagnosis was 69 days, and 3 of the children already showed severe symptoms of the disease. The rate of false-positive results was 95.2% and the positive predictive value for the test was 8%. The cost of detecting an affected subject was approximately US$8,000.00 when this cystic fibrosis program was added to an existing neonatal screening program. The present study clearly shows the difficulties involved in cystic fibrosis screening using the IRT/IRT protocol, particularly in a population with no long-term tradition of neonatal screening.

AISI 444 steel is an 18Cr–2Mo ferritic stainless steel, containing Ti and Nb as stabilizing elements. The effects of aging in the 560–800 °C range on the microstructure, mechanical and magnetic properties were investigated. The material was not susceptible to sigma phase formation until 100 h of exposure. Slight hardening at 560 °C and progressive softening in the 650 °C–800 °C range were observed. At these temperatures, Mo-rich phases such as Fe2Mo and FeMoSi precipitate. The increase of particle sizes with the increase of temperature above 650 °C is responsible for the decrease of hardness. Precipitation of the Mo-rich phases increases the coercive force.

A new species of Triceratiaceae is described for estuarine environments of Southern Brazil. The valve of Triceratium moreirae sp. nov. is triangular with elevations bearing ocellus and a rimoportula in their basis. The valvar surface has robust pseudoloculi, circular to polygonal, each one confining a group of areolae arranged in a typical pattern. A central larger areola is surrounded by 5-8 smaller areolae, and they are poroidal with domed cribra. A septum emerges from the valvocopula, having the base reinforced by ribs and the margins folded to the innerside of the valve. The new species is compared to the closely related diatom Triceratium dubium, which has the same pattern of areolar disposition, formation of septum and pseudoloculi. The main diferences in relation to T. moreirae are: rimoportulae intercalated to ocelli and with a characteristic morphology (spinules on the edge of the external aperture), and more elongated elevations with a constriction. Some criteria used for the classification of categories into the Triceratiaceae are also discussed, and we propose that the type of areola (poroidal with cribra) be included in the circumscription of Triceratium.

A comparative chromosomal analysis was carried out in some specimens of the three genera of the subfamily Pitheciinae (Pithecia, Chiropotes and Cacajao) using a classic cytogenetic technique (G-banding). The three genera present distinct 2n: Pithecia presents 2n=48, Chiropotes 2n=54 and Cacajao 2n=45 in the males and 2n=46 in the females. The difference in 2. found in Cacajao occurs due to a y-autosome translocation present in the male of Cacajao calvus rubicundus. Species and subspecies of the same genera show the same 2n, however the FN are different. G-banding was used to analyze the homeologies among the taxa studied and, by this mean, we observed the presence of speciesspecific chromosomes, chromosomes shared between two or among all the taxa and also chromosomes that are present in all the specimens studied. Data of this karyotypic analysis suggest that Pithecia is the most primitive among the pithecins, followed by Chiropotes, and Cacajao is the most recent one, with very rearranged karyotype.

Most Ni-based superalloys are strengthened by the presence of coherent precipitates of an ordered fcc bases phase, known as [gamma][prime]. This phase is basically Ni[sub 3]Al. The precipitates are coherent up to a certain size and they present a cubic shape with faces oriented in the (100) planes of both matrix and precipitate. The detailed atomistic structure of this interface has not been studied. Interest in the use of ordered intermetallic compounds as possible structural materials has resulted in a large amount of work in Ni[sub 3]Al and in particular, the development of interatomic potentials for the Ni-Al system using the embedded atom technique. These potentials have been employed in the simulation of a variety of defects in Ni[sub 3]Al, including dislocation cores, grain boundaries and free surfaces. However, there is no simulation of the Ni/Ni[sub 3]Al interface structure using the embedded atom method. The objective of the present work is to carry out such a simulation. Besides the practical importance of the interface in superalloys, it is the simplest type of interface that can be modeled and it is a good starting point for interface work using the embedded atom technique.

We described the karyotypes detected in 23Aotus specimens captured on Southwestern Amazon region (63°30'W, 9°00'S). This region should be occupied byA. nigriceps. However, the animals described here have a fur pattern and a karyotypes similar to those ofA. azarae boliviensis andA. infulatus. The females presented 50 chromosomes and the males 49 as a consequence of fusion between the chromosome Y and an autosome. This sample presented polymorphisms of G- and C-banding and NOR-staining. These animals are karyotypically intermediate betweenA. a. boliviensis andA. infulatus. The taxonomy and karyotypic evolution of these taxa are discussed.

Karyological characterizations of C. s. utahicki (2n = 54) and C. s. chiropotes (2n = 54) showed that these two subspecies are chromosomally very similar. In a single, isolated specimen of C s. utahicki, however, a derived, biarmed, chromosome 14 was found in the heterozygous condition. This variant chromosome was identical with pair 10 in C. s. chiropotes in which this chromosome type was apparently fixed. Chromosome differences between these subspecies might be transitional, leading to the establishment of two different karyomorphic populations derived from a once uniform karyotypic group that split into separate allopatric subspecies. © 1992 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

The karyotype of Cebuella pygmaea (2n = 44) obtained by G-, C-banding, and NOR-staining is described. This species presents a heteromorphic C band in the intersticial region of the short arm of chromosome 2. The data obtained were compared with those previously described for the karyotypes of Callithrix jacchus and Callithrix emiliae. The three species differ in the amount and distribution of non-centromeric constitutive heterochromatin. The importance of the variation in constitutive heterochromatin for the phylogeny of the group is discussed. Comparison of the karyotypes in terms of G-banding patterns showed that C. pygmaea and C. emiliae differ from C. jacchus by a Robertsonian translocation and a paracentric inversion, whereas C. pygmaea and C. emiliae differ from each other by a reciprocal translocation between an acrocentric autosome and the short arm of the submetacentric chromosomes that distinguishes their karyotypes from that of C. jacchus. The possible evolutionary paths followed by the karyotypes of the three species are discussed.

The processes of identification between adolescent cocaine addicts and their parents were studied in 402 subjects, in total 134 familial triads (father-mother-son), subdivided into two groups of 67 triads, one of these groups having as the child an adolescent of masculine sex dependent on cocaine and the other, equal in number, being a control group, duly matched for age and socio-economic status. The instrument employed was the Rorschach test (1922), limited to the application of the Lerner Defense Scale (LDS; LernerLerner, 1980). The findings in the affected triads showed up as consistent statistically for the presence of intense processes of pathological identification, especially between father and son, a sign of the importance of the presence of disturbances of paternal function in the development of this addiction. The utilisation of very regressive defence mechanisms, above all of projective identification, was the predominant mode of procedure in triads with a dependent child. In comparisons between the fathers the odds ratio (OR) for projective identification was 8.66 to 1, which points to the association between cocaine addiction and the primitive mental functioning of the fathers. With empirical methodology these findings serve to corroborate the psychoanalytical conclusions based on studies of single case studies, testifying that the dysfunctions of identificatory phenomena in familial functioning are predominant in the mental organisation of cocaine addicts.

Radicchio (Cichorium intybus) is ranked 22 among crops in Monterey County, California, with a farm gate value of $19,531,000 (3). Beginning in 2002, a leaf spot disease of radicchio was observed in Monterey County. The disease began as small lesions and in some cases coalesced into larger, irregular spots. Lesions were maroon to dark brown; in some cases, the margins of brown lesions became dark maroon with aging. Each leaf spot was observable from both adaxial and abaxial leaf surfaces. Symptoms primarily occurred on the outer foliage of the heads, though on occasion the head cap leaf could develop lesions. Disease incidence in the first year resulted in up to 10% unharvested radicchio because of cap leaf infections or reduced head size if outer wrapper leaves were all removed; outbreaks in subsequent seasons were more limited. Bacteria forming yellow mucoid colonies were isolated from surface disinfested symptomatic tissue that was macerated and streaked onto sucrose peptone agar medium. Bacteria were gram negative, did not fluoresce on King's Medium B, and used esculin as a carbon source but used none of the other 48 carbon sources tested using the API 50 CH test strip. Nine isolates from symptomatic radicchio had the same DNA fragment banding pattern generated by repetitive extragenic palindromic sequence polymerase chain reactions (rep-PCR) using the BOXA1R primer. Amplicons of rpoD, dnaK, fyuA, and gyrB for multilocus sequence typing (MLST) were generated using a modification of the scheme developed by Young et al. (4) and sequenced by a commercial laboratory. Concatenated sequences of the four genes from the radicchio isolates were compared to the sequences available in the Plant Associated and Environmental Microbes Database (1). The genetic distance between the nine isolates from radicchio and pathotypes of Xanthomonas hortorum were 0.03 or less and MLST analysis indicated that radicchio isolates were members of the species X. hortorum (2). To complete Koch's postulates, freshly grown cultures were suspended in phosphate buffer and adjusted to approximately 5 × 108 CFU/ml. The inoculum was sprayed onto the undersides of leaves of 40-day-old radicchio plants (C. intybus cv. Leonardo). Plants were incubated at 100% humidity for 48 h and then moved to a greenhouse. Plants sprayed with buffer served as negative controls. For each of the two experiments conducted, there were three and six single-plant replicates per treatment. The buffer treated plants did not develop symptoms but the plants treated with isolates from radicchio developed leaf spots similar to those observed in the field with symptoms beginning to be visible after 5 days. The bacteria isolated from symptomatic tissue on inoculated plants were identical to the original strains when compared with rep-PCR, thus completing Koch's postulates. Results from the two experiments were similar. To our knowledge, this is the first report of X. hortorum causing a leaf spot disease on radicchio. The disease continues to occur sporadically on radicchio grown in coastal California. References: (1) Almeida et al. Phytopathology 100:208, 2010. (2) Bull et al. Phytopathology 101:847, 2011. (3) Lauritzen, Monterey County Crop Report, 2010; (4) Young et al. Syst. Appl. Microbiol. 31:366, 2008.

A prospective and longitudinal study of head injury victims was conducted to identify the pattern of recovery 6 months and 1 year post-trauma. Patients with variety levels of injury and age between 12 and 60 years were observed. Functional limitation was analyzed using the eight-point Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS). The majority of these victims had the following characteristics: age wereor = 35 years (68.6%); ISSor = (51.9%) and Glasgow Coma Scaleor = 13 (72.2%) when they were examined by team of neurosurgeons at first time. Complete recovery or GOS 0 was achieved in 21.3% of the victims about 6 months after onset of injury and 38.6%, at the 1 year mark, Overall, the majority of victims made good recovery after 6 months post-injury, that is, GOS 0 or 1, and had returned to productivity in that period. The majority (65.0%) of victims reached their highest GOS outcome category by 6 months, although significant improvement was shown between 6 months and 1 year post-trauma. Similarly, return to productivity was higher 1 year after injury later than at 6 months. Findings indicated that GOS-GCS correlation was negative, and in some conditions GOS was correlated or associated with ISS and age. Return to work was not related to education level or job type.

The relative growth of the myocardium was studied in the postsomite embryos (Carnegie stages 13 to 23) of 54 rats (Rattus norvegicus). Cavalieri's principle was applied to determine the myocardial volume of each rat heart. The calculated volume was related to the corresponding body weight and crown-rump length using a bivariate allometric equation. The resulting scattergram proved to be discontinuous: the rate of myocardial growth in the postsomite embryo was represented by two distinct phases. The first, from stages 13 to 20, was allometrically-negative; the second, from stages 21 to 23, allometrically-positive. This difference in myocardial growth rate might have been due in part to the functional increase of circulatory flow in the peripheral vascular bed in response to the demand for increased cardiac output that occurs at the conclusion of the embryonic period.

We have studied eight patients, six children and two adults, during a microepidemic of soil- and patient-proven histoplasmosis. Pulmonary function tests were performed between the 15th and 23rd days after the onset of symptoms, and repeated between the fifth and sixth, the ninth and tenth and the 15th and 22nd months afterward. Initial abnormalities were mild in seven cases and severe in one. There was a restrictive pattern in three cases and an obstructive pattern in two. The fraction of CO extraction was reduced in five cases and the diffusing capacity for CO was reduced in five of six cases so tested. Hypoxemia was present in three cases. On follow-up, the obstructive defect had disappeared by the sixth month, the restrictive pattern by the tenth month, and the diffusing defect still remained in three cases by the end of follow-up. Hypoxemia remained only in the severe case.

Biological membranes and model lipid systems containing high amounts of unsaturated lipids and sterols are subject to chemical and/or photo-induced lipid oxidation, which leads to the creation of exotic oxidized lipid products (OxPLs). OxPLs are known to have significant physiological impact in cellular systems and also affect physical properties of both biological and model lipid bilayers. In this paper we (i) provide a perspective on the existing literature on simulations of lipid bilayer systems containing oxidized lipid species as well as the main related experimental results, (ii) describe our new data of all-atom and coarse-grained simulations of hydroperoxidized lipid monolayer and bilayer systems and (iii) provide a comparison of the MARTINI and ELBA coarse grained force fields for lipid bilayer systems. We show that the better electrostatic treatment of interactions in ELBA is able to resolve previous conflicts between experiments and simulations. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Biosimulations edited by Ilpo Vattulainen and Tomasz Róg.