Use of Terra Firme Forest by Caicubi Caboclos,Middle Rio Negro,Amazonas, Brazil. A Quantitative Study

Use of Terra Firme Forest by Caicubi Caboclos, Middle Rio Negro, Amazonas, Brazil. A Quantitative Study. An ethnobotanical study was carried out with caboclos from the village of Caicubi, Roraima State, Brazil. This village is located between the Rio Negro and Rio Branco. The data were collected in 1 ha of terra firme forest and involved caboclo knowledge of the tree species with individuals dbh ≥ 10 cm. A total of 11 informants between 34 to 74 years of age were interviewed. The caboclos used 185 (98%) of the 189 species analyzed. The family with the highest use value for the community was Arecaceae. The species with the highest use value was Bertholletia excelsa. Arecaceae, Lecythidaceae, and Sapotaceae showed a wide variety of uses. The uses were grouped into eight categories; those with the highest use values were firewood, technology, and construction. The mean use value for species was 1.6. The most intensely used resources in the forest were wood, leaves, spines, and exudates.     

Sinus aspergilloma in rheumatoid arthritis before or during tumor necrosis factor-alpha antagonist therapy

Introduction  

In 2008, the Food and Drugs Administration required manufacturers of TNFα antagonists to strengthen their warnings about the risk of serious fungal infections in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Sinus aspergilloma occurs occasionally in RA patients and can progress to invasive Aspergillus disease. The purpose of this study was to describe symptomatic sinus aspergilloma in RA patients treated with TNFα antagonists.     

Iron deficiency leads to repression of a non-canonical methionine salvage pathway in Schizosaccharomyces pombe

The methionine salvage pathway (MSP) regenerates methionine from 5′-methylthioadenosine (MTA). Aerobic MSP consists of six enzymatic steps. The mug14⁺ and adi1⁺ genes that are involved in the third and fifth steps of the pathway are repressed when Schizosaccharomyces pombe undergoes a transition from high- to low-iron conditions. Results consistently show that methionine auxotrophic cells (met6Δ) require iron for growth in the presence of MTA as the sole source of methionine. Inactivation of the iron-using protein Adi1 leads to defects in the utilization of MTA. In the case of the third step of the pathway, co-expression of two distinct proteins, Mta3 and Mde1, is required. These proteins are interdependent to rescue MTA-dependent growth deficit of met6Δ cells. Coimmunoprecipitation experiments showed that Mta3 is a binding partner of Mde1. Meiotic met6Δ cells co-expressing mta3⁺ and mde1⁺ or mta3⁺ and mug14⁺ produce comparable levels of spores in the presence of MTA, revealing that Mde1 and Mug14 share a common function when co-expressed with Mta3 in sporulating cells. In sum, our findings unveil several novel features of MSP, especially with respect to its regulation by iron and the discovery of a non-canonical third enzymatic step in the fission yeast.     

Aminopeptidase N (CD13): Expression,Prognostic Impact,and Use as Therapeutic Target for Tissue Factor Induced Tumor Vascular Infarction in Soft Tissue Sarcoma

Aminopeptidase N (CD13) is expressed on tumor vasculature and tumor cells. It represents a candidate for targeted therapy, e.g., by truncated tissue factor (tTF)-NGR, binding to CD13, and causing tumor vascular thrombosis. We analyzed CD13 expression by immunohistochemistry in 97 patients with STS who were treated by wide resection and uniform chemo-radio-chemotherapy. Using a semiquantitative score with four intensity levels, CD13 was expressed by tumor vasculature, or tumor cells, or both (composite value, intensity scores 1-3) in 93.9% of the STS. In 49.5% tumor cells, in 48.5% vascular/perivascular cells, and in 58.8%, composite value showed strong intensity score 3 staining. Leiomyosarcoma and synovial sarcoma showed low expression; fibrosarcoma and undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma showed high expression. We found a significant prognostic impact of CD13, as high expression in tumor cells or vascular/perivascular cells correlated with better relapse-free survival and overall survival. CD13 retained prognostic significance in multivariable analyses. Systemic tTF-NGR resulted in significant growth reduction of CD13-positive human HT1080 sarcoma cell line xenografts. Our results recommend further investigation of tTF-NGR in STS patients. CD13 might be a suitable predictive biomarker for patient selection.     

Impairment of Glucose and Glutamate Transport and Induction of Mitochondrial Oxidative Stress and Dysfunction in Synaptosomes by Amyloid β-Peptide: Role of the Lipid Peroxidation Product 4-Hydroxynonenal

Abstract: Deposits of amyloid β-peptide (Aβ), reduced glucose uptake into brain cells, oxidative damage to cellular proteins and lipids, and excitotoxic mechanisms have all been suggested to play roles in the neurodegenerative process in Alzheimer's disease. Synapse loss is closely correlated with cognitive impairments in Alzheimer's disease, suggesting that the synapse may be the site at which degenerative mechanisms are initiated and propagated. We report that Aβ causes oxyradical-mediated impairment of glucose transport, glutamate transport, and mitochondrial function in rat neocortical synaptosomes. Aβ induced membrane lipid peroxidation in synaptosomes that occurred within 1 h of exposure; significant decreases in glucose transport occurred within 1 h of exposure to Aβ and decreased further with time. The lipid peroxidation product 4-hydroxynonenal conjugated to synaptosomal proteins and impaired glucose transport; several antioxidants prevented Aβ-induced impairment of glucose transport, indicating that lipid peroxidation was causally linked to this adverse action of Aβ. FeSO₄ (an initiator of lipid peroxidation), Aβ, and 4-hydroxynonenal each induced accumulation of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species, caused concentration-dependent decreases in 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide reduction, and reduced cellular ATP levels significantly. Aβ also impaired glutamate transport, an effect blocked by antioxidants. These data suggest that Aβ induces membrane lipid peroxidation, which results in impairment of the function of membrane glucose and glutamate transporters, altered mitochondrial function, and a deficit in ATP levels; 4-hydroxynonenal appears to be a mediator of these actions of Aβ. These data suggest that oxidative stress occurring at synapses may contribute to the reduced glucose uptake and synaptic degeneration that occurs in Alzheimer's disease patients. They further suggest a sequence of events whereby oxidative stress promotes excitotoxic synaptic degeneration and neuronal cell death in a variety of different neurodegenerative disorders.     

Rapid morphological changes,admixture and invasive success in populations of Ring-necked parakeets (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Psittacula krameri</Emphasis>) established in Europe

The Ring-necked parakeet (Psittacula krameri), native of Asia and Africa, is a very successful invasive species in Europe: it has been present there for over 50 years. A recent study showed that European invasive populations occupy a colder climatic niche than in their native range but the establishment of this tropical species in temperate regions remains unexplained. Two main hypotheses may explain the success of Ring-necked parakeet in Europe: admixture between individuals from different origins and/or rapid adaptation to new environmental conditions. In this study, we investigated with molecular data the origin of European populations of Ring-necked parakeets to assess whether these populations result from admixture between individuals from different source populations. We also investigated the morphology of individuals from European populations and from the native range to assess whether the invasive populations have morphologically diverged from their source and could have become adapted to European conditions. We found evidence of admixture in some of the European populations but not all of them. Admixture between individuals from different origins within European populations thus cannot explain alone their invasive success. Conversely, we found that the morphology of the individuals from European populations has diverged from the morphology of native individuals, in a similar direction. Rapid adaptation to European environmental conditions via phenotypic plasticity or natural selection could thus be a factor explaining the invasive success of Ring-necked parakeets in Europe.     

The dependence of temperate phage Mu-1 upon replication functions of E. coli K12

Summary Of the two bacterial functions involved in the initiation of DNA replication in E. coli K12, one, dnaC, is required for the growth of phage Mu-1, the other, dnaA, is not. The elongation function dnaB is also necessary for Mu development. The situation is less clear for dnaE (DNA polymerase III).Aspirant F.N.R.S.