Opiliofauna (ARACHNIDA: OPILIONES) of the Atlantic Forest in the state of Paraná, Brazil.

Opiliones are arachnids that provide different services in terrestrial ecosystems, especially in tropical forests, which justifies inventory studies to better understand the occurrence and distribution of these arthropods in Brazil, since little is known about the harvestmen fauna in Conservation Units such as in the state of Paraná. In this context, the objective of the present study was to survey the harvestmen fauna at the Iguaçu National Park (PARNA) and in the Bela Vista Biological Refuge (BVBR), from September 2021 to May 2022, using a sampling effort of 40 hours in the BVBR, and 66 hours at the PARNA Iguaçu. Ten species/morphospecies were recorded, highlighting a new occurrence for Brazil, the species Opisthoplatus vegetus.

Mumefural prevents insulin resistance and amyloid-beta accumulation in the brain by improving lowered interstitial fluid pH in type 2 diabetes mellitus.

The present study tried to clarify if mumefural would prevent hyperglycemia, one of the typical symptoms of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), since mumefural is an extract from Japanese apricots preventing hyperglycemia. To clarify if mumefural would prevent T2DM pathogenesis, we used Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima fatty (OLETF) rats, T2DM model. Mumefural diminished hyperglycemia, HOMA-IR and plasma triglyceride concentration in OLETF rats under fasting conditions.

Nitric oxide synthesis stimulated by arachidonic acid accumulation via PPARα in acetylcholine-stimulated gastric mucous cells.

New Findings: What is the central question of this study? Arachidonic acid (AA) stimulates NO production in antral mucous cells without any increase in [Ca ] . Given that the intracellular AA concentration is too low to measure, the relationship between AA accumulation and NO production remains uncertain. Is AA accumulation a key step for NO production? What is the main finding and its importance? We demonstrated that AA accumulation is a key step for NO production.

Restoration of ecosystem services in tropical forests: A global meta-analysis.

To reverse the effects of deforestation, tropical areas have expanded restoration efforts in recent years. As ecological restoration positively affects the structure and function of degraded ecosystems, understanding to what extent restoration recovers ecosystem services (ES) is an important step in directing large-scale restoration actions. We evaluated the effect of restoration in increasing the provision of ES in tropical forests.

Balance highly influences flexibility measured by the toe-touch test.

Flexibility evaluation is a standard assessment in clinical and in sports settings. The Toe-touch test (TTT) is a common assessment tool to evaluate posterior muscular chain flexibility, but the test procedure implies a balance demand. The objective of the study was to verify the hypothesis that the balance demand during the TTT may affect the flexibility measured by the test.