Two new species of Neanuridae (Collembola: Poduromorpha) from littoral of Rio de Janeiro,Brazil

Samples collected in “restinga” areas of two conservation units in Rio de Janeiro state revealed the presence of two new species of Neanuridae family. The first, Pseudachorutes solaris sp. nov., from Parque Estadual da Costa do Sol and from Parque Nacional da Restinga de Jurubatiba, differs from other species for having 34–50 vesicles in the postantennal organ, and the second, Friesea jurubatiba sp. nov. from Parque Nacional da Restinga de Jurubatiba, differs from other species for having 8 clavate chaetae in the abdominal segment VI.     

The subfamily Aephnidiogeninae Yamaguti, 1934 (Digenea: Lepocreadiidae), its status and that of the genera Aephnidiogenes Nicoll, 1915, Holorchis Stossich, 1901, Austroholorchis n. g., Pseudaephnidiogenes Yamaguti, 1971, Pseudoholorchis Yamaguti, 1958 and Neolepocreadium Thomas, 1960

The status of all of the putative member genera of the subfamily Aephnidiogeninae is reconsidered, based mainly on the morphology of the terminal genitalia. Aephnidiogenes Nicoll, 1915 is the only genus retained in the Aephnidiogeninae. Aephnidiogenes major Yamaguti, 1934 from Diagramma labiosum from the southern Great Barrier Reef is redescribed with particular reference to the terminal genitalia, and is shown to lack a true cirrus-sac, a condition considered to be diagnostic of the Aephnidiogeninae. Holorchis Stossich, 1901 is placed in the subfamily Lepidapedinae. Holorchis pycnoporus Stossich, 1901 from Pagellus acarne from off Spanish Sahara and from Diplodus vulgaris from off Italy and H. legendrei Dollfus, 1946 from Sparodon durbanensis and D. sargus from off eastern Cape Province, South Africa and from Pagellus erythrinus from the Adriatic Sea and Italy are studied and illustrated. The terminal genitalia of H. pycnoporus are found to be enigmatic, but those of H. legendrei are found to fit clearly into the 'Lepidapedon-like' pattern. A new genus Austroholorchis is erected in the Lepidapedinae, with A.sprenti (Gibson, 1987) n. comb. as the type-species. Its diagnostic features are its ani, infundibuliform oral sucker and the position of the ovary at about mid-level of the uterus . A. sprenti is illustrated, its hosts in Queensland waters being Sillago maculata, S. analis and S. ciliata. A. levis n. sp. is described from Sillago bassensis from south-western Western Australia. The genus PseudaephnidiogenesYamaguti, 1971 is placed in the Lepidapedinae. P. rhabdosargi (Prudhoe, 1956) from Rhabdosargus sarba from off Natal, South Africa is illustrated and the terminal genitalia of P. rhabdosargi from R. sarba and from R. holubi from off eastern Cape Province and Pseudaephnidiogenes rossi Bray, 1985 from Caffrogobius nudiceps from off eastern Cape Province, South Africa are illustrated. The genus Pseudoholorchis Yamaguti, 1958 is placed in the subfamily Lepocreadiinae. The terminal genitalia of P. pulcher (Manter, 1954) from Latridopsis ciliaris from New Zealand are illustrated. The genus Neolepocreadium Thomas, 1960 is placed in the Lepocreadiidae.     

Potential Compounds for Oral Cancer Treatment: Resveratrol,Nimbolide, Lovastatin,Bortezomib, Vorinostat,Berberine, Pterostilbene,Deguelin, Andrographolide,and Colchicine

Oral cancer is one of the main causes of cancer-related deaths in South-Asian countries. There are very limited treatment options available for oral cancer. Research endeavors focused on discovery and development of novel therapies for oral cancer, is necessary to control the ever rising oral cancer related mortalities. We mined the large pool of compounds from the publicly available compound databases, to identify potential therapeutic compounds for oral cancer. Over 84 million compounds were screened for the possible anti-cancer activity by custom build SVM classifier. The molecular targets of the predicted anti-cancer compounds were mined from reliable sources like experimental bioassays studies associated with the compound, and from protein-compound interaction databases. Therapeutic compounds from DrugBank, and a list of natural anti-cancer compounds derived from literature mining of published studies, were used for building partial least squares regression model. The regression model thus built, was used for the estimation of oral cancer specific weights based on the molecular targets. These weights were used to compute scores for screening the predicted anti-cancer compounds for their potential to treat oral cancer. The list of potential compounds was annotated with corresponding physicochemical properties, cancer specific bioactivity evidences, and literature evidences. In all, 288 compounds with the potential to treat oral cancer were identified in the current study. The majority of the compounds in this list are natural products, which are well-tolerated and have minimal side-effects compared to the synthetic counterparts. Some of the potential therapeutic compounds identified in the current study are resveratrol, nimbolide, lovastatin, bortezomib, vorinostat, berberine, pterostilbene, deguelin, andrographolide, and colchicine.     

王港潮滩重金属Pb、Zn和Cu的积累特征

对15a来王港潮滩重金属积累规律和污染状况进行了研究,第1次测到了王港地区210Pb的本底值为1.16dpm/g,校正了前人对王港地区沉积速率的研究。尝试性地把分形理论引入到环境压力的定量研究中。研究表明,王港潮滩现代平均沉积速率为4.13cm/a;从重金属相关性分析得出:王港潮滩Fe、Zn与Li相关系数非常显著,归一化后,Cu、Zn的归一化值在15a内相对稳定,其中Cu的波动范围在0.4～2之间,Zn在1.5～2.6之间狭小的范围内波动。分形回归分析结果表明,王港潮滩重金属Cu、Zn归一化值的信息维数高,系统的结构松散,自组织程度低。Cu的分维值范围在5～6.5,平均值为5.8085,Zn的分维值范围在在3～6.5,平均值为4.68。王港潮滩重金属的人为污染较轻,主要受地球化学元素的控制;同时,Pb的归一化值的分维值较低,其分维值范围在2～5.5,平均值为3.608,自组织程度较高,说明存在一定程度的Pb污染。     

A new species of Halacarsantia Wolff, 1989 (Crustacea, Isopoda, Asellota, Santiidae) from Wistari Reef, southern Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Halacarsantia acutasp. n. is described from Wistari Reef, Capricorn Group, southern Great Barrier Reef, the first record of the genus from Australia. The new species differs from its congeners in having antenna flagellum composed of 8 articles; epipod apically acute, without setae, broad maxilliped endite and pereopod 1 basis with a short projection. A key to species of the genus is provided.     

A hominine hip bone, KNM-ER 3228, from East Lake Turkana, Kenya

A male hominine partial hip bone, KNM -ER 3228, from East Lake Turkana , Kenya is described. In most of its features this specimen resembles modern human male hip bones. This is especially true for functional features related to weight transfer from the trunk to the pelvis and within the pelvis, and to the effective action of musculature arising from the pelvis during the performance of the modern human type of bipedalism . KNM -ER 3228 is very similar to the Olduvai Hominid 28 and the Arago XLIV hip bones, both attributed to Homo erectus .     

Conjugates of abscisic acid, brassinosteroids, ethylene, gibberellins, and jasmonates

Phytohormones, including auxins, abscisic acid, brassinosteroids, cytokinins, ethylene, gibberellins, and jasmonates, are involved in all aspects of plant growth, and developmental processes as well as environmental responses. However, our understanding of hormonal homeostasis is far from complete. Phytohormone conjugation is considered as a part of the mechanism to control cellular levels of these compounds. Active phytohormones are changed into multiple forms by acylation, esterification or glycosylation, for example. It seems that conjugated compounds could serve as pool of inactive phytohormones that can be converted to active forms by de-conjugation reactions. Some conjugates are thought to be temporary storage forms, from which free active hormones can be released after hydrolysis. It is also believed that conjugation serves functions, such as irreversible inactivation, transport, compartmentalization, and protection against degradation. The nature of abscisic acid, brassinosteroid, ethylene, gibberellin, and jasmonate conjugates is discussed.     

The melanomas: a synthesis of epidemiological, clinical, histopathological, genetic, and biological aspects, supporting distinct subtypes, causal pathways, and cells of origin

Converging lines of evidence from varied scientific disciplines suggest that cutaneous melanomas comprise biologically distinct subtypes that arise through multiple causal pathways. Understanding the respective relationships of each subtype with etiologic factors such as UV radiation and constitutional factors is the first necessary step toward developing refined prevention strategies for the specific forms of melanoma. Furthermore, classifying this disease precisely into biologically distinct subtypes is the key to developing mechanism-based treatments, as highlighted by recent discoveries. In this review, we outline the historical developments that underpin our understanding of melanoma heterogeneity, and we do this from the perspectives of clinical presentation, histopathology, epidemiology, molecular genetics, and developmental biology. We integrate the evidence from these separate trajectories to catalog the emerging major categories of melanomas and conclude with important unanswered questions relating to the development of melanoma and its cells of origin.     

Three new cavernicolous species of dragon millipedes, genus Desmoxytes Chamberlin, 1923, from southern China, with notes on a formal congener from the Philippines (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Paradoxosomatidae)

The large Southeast Asian genus Desmoxytes is slightly rediagnosed. A number of troglomorphic, most likely troglobitic, species occur in southern China. A key is provided to all 10 Desmoxytes spp. currently known from China, including three new presumed troglobites: Desmoxytes eupterygotasp. n. from Hunan Province, as well as Desmoxytes spinissimasp. n. and Desmoxytes luisp. n. from Guangxi Province. "Desmoxytes" philippina Nguyen Duc & Sierwald, 2010, from the Philippines, is formally removed from Desmoxytes, but not assigned to another genus. It probably belongs in a new genus in the subfamily Australiosomatinae, tribe Antichiropodini, close to the Bornean Euphyodesmus Attems, 1931 and Borneochiropus Golovatch, 1996.     

Electromagnetic fields: mechanism,cell signaling,other bioprocesses,toxicity, radicals,antioxidants and beneficial effects

Electromagnetic fields (EMFs) played a role in the initiation of living systems, as well as subsequent evolution. The more recent literature on electrochemistry is documented, as well as magnetism. The large numbers of reports on interaction with living systems and the consequences are presented. An important aspect is involvement with cell signaling and resultant effects in which numerous signaling pathways participate. Much research has been devoted to the influence of man-made EMFs, e.g., from cell phones and electrical lines, on human health. The degree of seriousness is unresolved at present. The relationship of EMFs to reactive oxygen species (ROS) and oxidative stress (OS) is discussed. There is evidence that indicates a relationship involving EMFs, ROS, and OS with toxic effects. Various articles deal with the beneficial aspects of antioxidants (AOs) in countering the harmful influence from ROS-OS associated with EMFs. EMFs are useful in medicine, as indicated by healing bone fractures. Beneficial effects are recorded from electrical treatment of patients with Parkinson’s disease, depression, and cancer.