Effects of the diet consumed during the pregnancy on the lipids content in maternal and fetal rat lungs.

This study was designed to determine if the quantity of lipids in the diet fed to pregnant rats would affect the deposition of fat in the fetal lung. Wistar rats were fed with two different diets during pregnancy: Standard Diet (StD; 4.000 cal/g) and High Fat Carbohydrate Free Diet (HFCFD; 6.000 cal/g). The rats consumed daily the same amount of calories from these different diets. The concentrations of triglycerides (TG), phospholipids (PL), total, esterified and free cholesterol (TC, EC and FC, respectively) were determined in serum and lung from pregnant rats as well as from their 19 day old fetuses. In the serum of rats fed with HFCFD, the cholesterol concentration increased in relation to that of rats fed with StD. In pregnant rat lung, the PL concentrations decreased and the TC, EC and FC concentrations increased with HFCFD in relation to StD. The triglycerides were not modified in any case. The lipidic composition of the sera and fetal lung were not changed by the two diets consumed by pregnant rats. This may be a biological protective mechanism to assure an adequate synthesis of alveolar surfactant.     

Impact of initial explants on in vitro propagation of native potato (Solanum tuberosum,Andigena group)

Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture (PCTOC) - The high nutritional potential of native potatoes makes them an invaluable genetic resource for breeding. However, pathogens have caused both yield...     

Scaling coexistence and assemblage patterns of desert small mammals

Scaling biodiversity patterns has been recognized lately as a very important issue in the search of global processes; however coexistence and assemblage patterns are typically approached at a single spatial scale. Here, we examined coexistence and co-occurrence patterns of desert small mammal communities across different spatial scales in the search of general community patterns. We sampled small mammals in Monte desert (Argentina, South America) for small spatial scales and reviewed published papers from other worldwide deserts for large spatial scale analyses. We used classic community estimators (Shannon, Richness), rank abundance curves and fitting distributions to analyze species coexistence and co-occurrence patterns. Assemblage patterns were analyzed evaluating nestedness across spatial scales and among deserts. Worldwide desert small mammal assemblages are characterized mainly by low species richness and high variation in species composition. The central Monte desert of Argentina showed a consistent assemblage pattern across spatial scales, with a generalist species being the most abundant and widely distributed, accompanied by other subordinate and more narrowly distributed species. All Monte desert communities were significantly nested, with nestedness increasing with scale from patch to regional. Assemblage and coexistence patterns were similar when comparing worldwide deserts despite differences in total richness and faunal singularity. The degree of nestedness varied among worldwide deserts; however all of them showed a consistent nested pattern. Differences in the degree of nestedness could be a result of different regulating factors depending on the desert and scale. These results highlight the importance of including multiscale approaches when dealing with processes that structure desert communities.