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Stylosanthes scabra, popularly known as stylo, is native to the Brazilian Caatinga semiarid region and stands out as a drought-tolerant shrub forage crop. This work provides information about the plant response during the first 48 h of water deficit, followed by a rehydration treatment. Besides root transcriptomics data, 13 physiological or biochemical parameters were scrutinized. Additionally, RNA-Seq annotated transcripts not associated with the "Viridiplantae" clade were taxonomically categorized. It was found that S. scabra quickly perceives and recovers from the oscillations of the imposed water regime. Physiologically, mechanisms that minimize evapotranspiration or protect the photosynthetic apparatus stood out. Biochemically, it was found that the root tissue invests in synthesizing compounds that can act as osmolytes (proline and sugars), emphasizing the importance of osmoregulation to water deficit acclimation. Consistently, transcriptome and qPCR analyses showed that a set of enriched biological processes with upregulated (UR) transcripts were involved in protective functions against reactive oxygen species or encoding enzymes of important metabolic pathways, which might contribute to S. scabra response to water deficit. Additionally, several UR kinases and transcription factors were identified. Finally, in an innovative approach, some naturally occurring microbial groups (such as Schizosaccharomyces, Bradyrhizobium, etc.) were identified in the S. scabra roots. This study reveals insights into the physiological, biochemical, and molecular mechanisms underlying the S. scabra response to water deficit and provides candidate genes that may be useful in developing drought-tolerant crop varieties through biotechnological applications., (© 2022 Scandinavian Plant Physiology Society.)

This research employs displacement fields photogrammetrically captured on the surface of a solid or structure to estimate real-time stress distributions it undergoes during a given loading period. The displacement fields are determined based on a series of images taken from the solid surface while it experiences deformation. Image displacements are used to estimate the deformations in the plane of the beam surface, and Poisson's Method is subsequently applied to reconstruct these surfaces, at a given time, by extracting triangular meshes from the corresponding points clouds. With the aid of the measured displacement fields, the Boundary Element Method (BEM) is considered to evaluate stress values throughout the solid. Herein, the unknown boundary forces must be additionally calculated. As the photogrammetrically reconstructed deformed surfaces may be defined by several million points, the boundary displacement values of boundary-element models having a convenient number of nodes are determined based on an optimized displacement surface that best fits the real measured data. The results showed the effectiveness and potential application of the proposed methodology in several tasks to determine real-time stress distributions in structures.

We studied the relationship between body morphometric traits, and their underlying association with milk production (MP), lactation length (LL), first calving interval (FCI) and subsequent calving interval (CI) of crossbred progeny of Murrah × Jafarabadi buffalo aiming to assist in selection programs. We carried out principal component analysis (PCA) of the body morphometric traits, which include breast width (BW), thigh width (THW), hip width (HW), rump width (RW), rump length (RL), body depth (BD), body length (BL), height withers (HEW), rear height (RH), shoulder width (SW), thorax width (TW), loin width (LW), distance from the head to ischium (DHI), and thoracic perimeter (TP). We determined the association of morphometric traits with milk/reproduction traits using canonical correlation analysis (CCA). The analysis revealed that the first six PCA accounted for 82.14% of the total observed variation, and the traits THW, HW, TW, LW, RW, HEW, TP, RH, and BW, accounted for almost half (48.00%) of the total variance indicating a higher contribution in body structural conformation. The first canonical function was significant (p<0.05), accounted for 72.46% of the total variance, and the canonical correlation was 0.56, indicating the dependence between both groups of traits. Higher canonical loadings were obtained for LL (0.49), FCI (0.46), BW (-0.71), BL (-0.56), DHI (-0.34), HEW, (-0.38) and TP (-0.50). These traits were most important for the derivation of canonical statistical variables, and presented a higher canonical correlations (r) between the dependent (LL/FCI) and independent (BW, BL, DHI, HEW and TP) groups. The results could suggest that the body morphometric traits THW, HW, TW, LW, RW, HEW, BD, TP, RH, and BW could play important role in body structural composition, indicating a suitable functional type, and aid designing of selection programs for buffalo breeding., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

The plasma membrane forms a permeable barrier that separates the cytoplasm from the external environment, defining the physical and chemical limits in each cell in all organisms. The movement of molecules and ions into and out of cells is controlled by the plasma membrane as a critical process for cell stability and survival, maintaining essential differences between the composition of the extracellular fluid and the cytosol. In this process aquaporins (AQPs) figure as important actors, comprising highly conserved membrane proteins that carry water, glycerol and other hydrophilic molecules through biomembranes, including the cell wall and membranes of cytoplasmic organelles. While mammals have 15 types of AQPs described so far (displaying 18 paralogs), a single plant species can present more than 120 isoforms, providing transport of different types of solutes. Such aquaporins may be present in the whole plant or can be associated with different tissues or situations, including biotic and especially abiotic stresses, such as drought, salinity or tolerance to soils rich in heavy metals, for instance. The present review addresses several aspects of plant aquaporins, from their structure, classification, and function, to in silico methodologies for their analysis and identification in transcriptomes and genomes. Aspects of evolution and diversification of AQPs (with a focus on plants) are approached for the first time with the aid of the LCA (Last Common Ancestor) analysis. Finally, the main practical applications involving the use of AQPs are discussed, including patents and future perspectives involving this important protein family., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)

Background: Plasmodium vivax infections commonly contain multiple genetically distinct parasite clones. The detection of multiple-clone infections depends on several factors, such as the accuracy of the genotyping method, and the type and number of the molecular markers analysed. Characterizing the multiplicity of infection has broad implications that range from population genetic studies of the parasite to malaria treatment and control. This study compared and evaluated the efficiency of neutral and non-neutral markers that are widely used in studies of molecular epidemiology to detect the multiplicity of P. vivax infection., Methods: The performance of six markers was evaluated using 11 mixtures of DNA with well-defined proportions of two different parasite genotypes for each marker. These mixtures were generated by mixing cloned PCR products or patient-derived genomic DNA. In addition, 51 samples of natural infections from the Brazil were genotyped for all markers. The PCR-capillary electrophoresis-based method was used to permit direct comparisons among the markers. The criteria for differentiating minor peaks from artifacts were also evaluated., Results: The analysis of DNA mixtures showed that the tandem repeat MN21 and the polymorphic blocks 2 (msp1B2) and 10 (msp1B10) of merozoite surface protein-1 allowed for the estimation of the expected ratio of both alleles in the majority of preparations. Nevertheless, msp1B2 was not able to detect the majority of multiple-clone infections in field samples; it identified only 6 % of these infections. The merozoite surface protein-3 alpha and microsatellites (PvMS6 and PvMS7) did not accurately estimate the relative clonal proportions in artificial mixtures, but the microsatellites performed well in detecting natural multiple-clone infections. Notably, the use of a less stringent criterion to score rare alleles significantly increased the sensitivity of the detection of multi-clonal infections., Conclusions: Depending on the type of marker used, a considerable amplification bias was observed, which may have serious implications for the characterization of the complexity of a P. vivax infection. Based on the performance of markers in artificial mixtures of DNA and natural infections, a minimum panel of four genetic markers (PvMS6, PvMS7, MN21, and msp1B10) was defined, and these markers are highly informative regarding the genetic variability of P. vivax populations.

The present study aims at analyzing the meanings attributed to the digital rectal exam, seeking to problematize questions underlying the masculine discourse on the basis of aspects of the hegemonic masculinity model. Semi-structured interviews were held with 28 men in the city of Rio de Janeiro, in 2004. Among the main results is the idea that the digital rectal exam is something that violates an interdicted space, something that compromises the current understanding of masculinity, shall say, the digital rectal exam does not only affect the prostate, it also affects the masculinity, puts it to shame. We conclude that for understanding and problematizing the questions related to the prostate cancer prevention in special, and to the question of taking care of oneself from the masculine perspective in general, we need to consider the structural and symbolic aspects that underlie these questions.

This study analyzes recommendations for the prevention of prostate cancer reported in the specific literature on this topic. The method consisted of a review of this matter, adopting a qualitative approach, examined through the theme content analysis technique. Based on the following analysis categories: primary prevention, secondary prevention and masculinity and prevention, the discussion of the study findings concludes that: (a) the recommendations are either diverse or present some controversies among the various viewpoints; (b) the output of scientific papers in the collective health field is sparse on this matter; (c) the development of a more interdisciplinary approach is required for dealing with this matter and (d) few sources take the specific characteristic of maleness into account for recommendations on the prevention of prostate cancer.