Publications by authors named "Assis R"

Unlike most rivers globally, nearly all lowland Amazonian rivers have unregulated flow, supporting seasonally flooded floodplain forests. Floodplain forests harbor a unique tree species assemblage adapted to flooding and specialized fauna, including fruit-eating fish that migrate seasonally into floodplains, favoring expansive floodplain areas. Frugivorous fish are forest-dependent fauna critical to forest regeneration via seed dispersal and support commercial and artisanal fisheries.

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Multiple myeloma (MM) is a malignant disease characterized by the proliferation of plasma cells, primarily in the bone marrow. It accounts for approximately 1% of all cancers and 10% of hematologic malignancies. Clinical manifestations include hypercalcemia, anemia, renal failure, and bone lesions.

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Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the serum hCG level in the differential diagnosis between non-molar miscarriage and complete hydatidiform mole in<11 weeks gestation.

Methods: This was a retrospective collaborative cohort study. This study included women with gestational age<11 weeks, with ultrasound evidence of failed pregnancy and available serum hCG pre-uterine evacuation, divided into two groups: the non-molar miscarriage group and the complete hydatidiform mole group.

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Aims: Chronic periodontitis is the sixth most prevalent disease worldwide and the leading cause of tooth loss in adults. With growing attention on the role of inflammatory and immune responses in its pathogenesis, there is an urgent need to evaluate host-modulatory agents. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) drugs play a crucial role in managing inflammatory conditions.

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Gene expression is an inherently noisy process that is constrained by natural selection. Yet the condition dependence of constraint on expression noise remains unclear. Here, we address this problem by studying constraint on expression noise of E.

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We describe the geographical variation in tree species composition across Amazonian forests and show how environmental conditions are associated with species turnover. Our analyses are based on 2023 forest inventory plots (1 ha) that provide abundance data for a total of 5188 tree species. Within-plot species composition reflected both local environmental conditions (especially soil nutrients and hydrology) and geographical regions.

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Biodiversity data, particularly species occurrence and abundance, are indispensable for testing empirical hypothesis in natural sciences. However, datasets built for research programmes do not often meet FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable) principles, which raises questions about data quality, accuracy and availability. The 21 century has markedly been a new era for data science and analytics and every effort to aggregate, standardise, filter and share biodiversity data from multiple sources have become increasingly necessary.

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Article Synopsis
  • * Blood samples from 40 patients revealed that oxidative stress markers decreased and the enzyme paraoxonase-1 activity partially recovered after hemodialysis, indicating some improvement in oxidative status.
  • * However, hemodialysis also led to a reduction in overall serum antioxidant potential, highlighting a complex relationship between dialysis treatment and oxidative stress that requires further investigation.
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Phosphorus (P) is an essential macronutrient for maize ( L.) growth and development. Therefore, generating cultivars with upgraded P use efficiency (PUE) represents one of the main strategies to reduce the global agriculture dependence on phosphate fertilizers.

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This report describes the occurrence of the rabies virus in two species of wild animals in the urban area of Montes Claros (MOC), Minas Gerais State, Brazil, in May 2023. The virus has been detected in frugivorous chiropterans (Artibeus sp) and marmosets (Callithrix penicillata). This is the first notified case of the rabies virus in the species C.

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Background: Biochemical events provoked by oxidative stress and advanced glycation may be inhibited by combining natural bioactives with classic therapeutic agents, which arise as strategies to mitigate diabetic complications. The aim of this study was to investigate whether lycopene combined with a reduced insulin dose is able to control glycemia and to oppose glycoxidative stress in kidneys of diabetic rats.

Methods: Streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats were treated with 45 mg/kg lycopene + 1 U/day insulin for 30 days.

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Soybean is the main oilseed cultivated worldwide. Even though Brazil is the world's largest producer and exporter of soybean, its production is severely limited by biotic factors. Soil borne diseases are the most damaging biotic stressors since they significantly reduce yield and are challenging to manage.

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  • This study examines how sex-based differences in immune cell composition and function affect adaptive immune responses in human lymphoid tissues, specifically tonsils.
  • It found that female tonsils had more memory B cells and produced stronger antibody responses to influenza, particularly after live-attenuated vaccination, compared to male tonsils.
  • Additionally, differences in CD4 T cell profiles were seen in adults, indicating that these variations may help explain why males and females respond differently to vaccines and viral infections.
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  • Patients with critical illnesses often face longer stays in the ICU, resulting in slower recovery and increased long-term health risks, particularly in older or frail individuals.
  • This study analyzed data from over 37,000 ICU patients to compare outcomes between those with short (<14 days) and prolonged (≥14 days) ICU stays, identifying key risk factors for sustained critical illness.
  • Results showed that patients with prolonged stays were generally younger but more severely ill, facing higher mortality rates in the ICU, hospital, and long-term, emphasizing the need for improved care planning based on these findings.
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Treatment of peri-implant diseases focuses on reducing the bacterial load and consequent infection control. The use of local antimicrobials as an adjunct to mechanical therapy may result in a better outcome. Among antimicrobials, doxycycline stands out because of its local modulation of cytokines, microbial reduction, and clinical parameters in the treatment of periodontal diseases.

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Green manure (GM) may reduce the use of chemical fertilizers, been an ecologically appropriate strategy to cultivation of medicinal plants. Crotalaria juncea, is one of the most used because it adapts to different climatic and high nitrogen content. Origanum vulgare.

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Article Synopsis
  • Amazonia's floodplain system is the largest and most biodiverse, but our understanding of its forest species and their unique roles is still limited, especially as changing flood patterns impact these communities.
  • About one-sixth of the tree diversity in Amazonia is specifically adapted to live in floodplain environments, indicating a significant ecological specialization within these forests.
  • The study emphasizes that the unique composition of floodplain forests is influenced by regional flooding patterns, highlighting the necessity of maintaining overall hydrological health to ensure the survival of Amazon's tree diversity and its essential ecosystem functions.
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Motivation: Gene deletion is traditionally thought of as a nonadaptive process that removes functional redundancy from genomes, such that it generally receives less attention than duplication in evolutionary turnover studies. Yet, mounting evidence suggests that deletion may promote adaptation via the "less-is-more" evolutionary hypothesis, as it often targets genes harboring unique sequences, expression profiles, and molecular functions. Hence, predicting the relative prevalence of redundant and unique functions among genes targeted by deletion, as well as the parameters underlying their evolution, can shed light on the role of gene deletion in adaptation.

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Aim: Physical exercise is part of the type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) treatment. However, this practice is still neglected due to the wide variety of glycemic responses under the influence of anaerobic exercise. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the influence of anaerobic exercise on biomarkers of T1DM.

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Trees structure the Earth's most biodiverse ecosystem, tropical forests. The vast number of tree species presents a formidable challenge to understanding these forests, including their response to environmental change, as very little is known about most tropical tree species. A focus on the common species may circumvent this challenge.

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Gene content in genomes changes through several different processes, with gene duplication being an important contributor to such changes. Gene duplication occurs over a range of scales from individual genes to whole genomes, and the dynamics of this process can be context dependent. Still, there are rules by which genes are retained or lost from genomes after duplication, and probabilistic modeling has enabled characterization of these rules, including their context-dependence.

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Objectives: This study aimed to produce and purify Clostridium perfringens type C beta-toxin, sheep anti-beta toxin immunoglobulin G (IgG) and chicken immunoglobulin Y (IgY).

Methods: Two methods were used for beta-toxin purification: single-step metal affinity chromatography (MAC) using zinc as a chelator and ion exchange chromatography (IEX). The purified and inactivated beta-toxoids were then administered to sheep and chickens in order to produce IgG and IgY.

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In this work we analyze an Otto-type cycle operating with a working substance composed of a quantum harmonic oscillator (QHO). Unlike other studies in which the work extraction is done by varying the frequency of the QHO and letting it thermalize with a squeezed reservoir, here we submit the QHO to a parametric pumping controlled by the squeezing parameter and let it thermalize with a thermal reservoir. We then investigate the role of the squeezing parameter in our Otto-type engine powered by parametric pumping and show that it is possible to reach the Carnot limit by arbitrarily increasing the squeezing parameter.

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