River network rearrangements promote speciation in lowland Amazonian birds.

Large Amazonian rivers impede dispersal for many species, but lowland river networks frequently rearrange, thereby altering the location and effectiveness of river barriers through time. These rearrangements may promote biotic diversification by facilitating episodic allopatry and secondary contact among populations. We sequenced genome-wide markers to evaluate the histories of divergence and introgression in six Amazonian avian species complexes.

Comparative laboratory and field study of biorational insecticides for Culicoides biting midge management in larval developmental sites.

An appropriate management strategy of bluetongue vectors should include larvicidal treatments in their larval development sites utilizing active substances with low environmental impact. A selection of biorational insecticides with potential against dipteran larvae was assayed in the laboratory against field collected Culicoides larvae including C. cataneii, C.

Plant invasion: Another threat to the São Paulo Marsh Antwren (Formicivora paludicola), a species on the verge of extinction.

During the past 100 years in densely populated south-eastern Brazil, wetlands have been severely transformed due to urbanization, agriculture and mining. The recently discovered São Paulo Marsh Antwren (Formicivora paludicola) is endemic to these wetlands, and is listed as "Critically Endangered" by the IUCN. The species is only found in an area of 1.

Bluetongue outbreaks: Looking for effective control strategies against Culicoides vectors.

Several arthropod-borne diseases are now rising with increasing impact and risks for public health, due to environmental changes and resistance to pesticides currently marketed. In addition to community surveillance programs and a careful management of herds, a next-generation of effective products is urgently needed to control the spread of these diseases, with special reference to arboviral ones. Natural product research can afford alternative solutions.

Role of different Culicoides vectors (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) in bluetongue virus transmission and overwintering in Sardinia (Italy).

Background: Bluetongue (BT) epidemics have affected the Mediterranean island of Sardinia since 2000. While Culicoides imicola represents the main bluetongue virus (BTV) vector, other European Culicoides biting midges, possibly implicated in virus transmission, have been detected here. Understanding their distribution, seasonal abundance, and infection rates is necessary to predict disease incidence and spread across coastal and inland areas, and to define their role in virus overwintering.

Size Determination of Porosity Inclusions in an Organic Solid Material by (1)H NMR Diffusion and SEM-FIB Experiments: The TATB Case.

An original approach has been presented to characterize the local geometry of pores containing protonated small molecule impurities in organic materials. It was here applied in TATB (1,3,5-triamino-2,4,6-trinitrobenzene) powder material to investigate the porosity able to enclose water molecules. The presence of such defects may have a significant impact on TATB-based compositions mechanical properties, efficiency, and shock sensitivity.

Marshes as "Mountain Tops": Genetic Analyses of the Critically Endangered São Paulo Marsh Antwren (Aves: Thamnophilidae).

Small populations of endangered species can be impacted by genetic processes such as drift and inbreeding that reduce population viability. As such, conservation genetic analyses that assess population levels of genetic variation and levels of gene flow can provide important information for managing threatened species. The São Paulo Marsh Antwren (Formicivora paludicola) is a recently-described and critically endangered bird from São Paulo State (Brazil) whose total estimated population is around 250-300 individuals, distributed in only 15 isolated marshes around São Paulo metropolitan region.

A multiscale approach indicates a severe reduction in Atlantic Forest wetlands and highlights that São Paulo Marsh Antwren is on the brink of extinction.

Over the last 200 years the wetlands of the Upper Tietê and Upper Paraíba do Sul basins, in the southeastern Atlantic Forest, Brazil, have been almost-completely transformed by urbanization, agriculture and mining. Endemic to these river basins, the São Paulo Marsh Antwren (Formicivora paludicola) survived these impacts, but remained unknown to science until its discovery in 2005. Its population status was cause for immediate concern.

Spatial distribution and sequential sampling plans for Tuta absoluta (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) in greenhouse tomato crops.

Background: The within- and between-plant distribution of the tomato leafminer, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick), was investigated in order to define action thresholds based on leaf infestation and to propose enumerative and binomial sequential sampling plans for pest management applications in protected crops.

Results: The pest spatial distribution was aggregated between plants, and median leaves were the most suitable sample to evaluate the pest density. Action thresholds of 36 and 48%, 43 and 56% and 60 and 73% infested leaves, corresponding to economic thresholds of 1 and 3% damaged fruits, were defined for tomato cultivars with big, medium and small fruits respectively.

A taxonomic review of the Golden-green Woodpecker, Piculus chrysochloros (Aves: Picidae) reveals the existence of six valid taxa.

Piculus chrysochloros (Vieillot 1818) is a species of woodpecker that ranges from Argentina to Panama, occurring in lowland forests as well as Cerrado, Caatinga and Chaco vegetation. Currently, nine subspecies are accepted, but no study has evaluated individual variation within populations, so the status of these taxa remains uncertain. Here we review the taxonomy and distribution of this species, based on morphological and morphometric data from 267 specimens deposited in ornithological collections.

Endometrial LGR7 expression during menstrual cycle.

In a prospective observational study, 50 healthy patients aged 18-39 years, with regular ovulatory cycle and normal hormone levels, underwent endometrial biopsy in the proliferative and secretory phase of the menstrual cycle for semiquantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction analysis of mRNA for LGR7, the classic relaxin receptor. LGR7 is constitutively expressed in human endometrium, and an increased LGR7 immunostaining is demonstrated in the secretory phase, confirming the involvement of relaxin in the physiology of endometrium and suggesting its role in implantation.

Larval habitats and seasonal abundance of Culicoides biting midges found in association with sheep in northern Sardinia, Italy.

Between January 2005 and December 2006, the larval habitats and seasonal abundances of 21 species of Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) found in association with livestock on a farm in northern Sardinia were studied. Culicoides were collected using two light traps (one placed in a sheep shed and the other near water ponds) and reared from mud collected in and along the margins of a small and a large water pond. The mammalophilic Culicoides imicola Kieffer and Culicoides newsteadi Austen were the most prevalent (>95%) of 20 species in the sheep shed, whereas the ornithophilic Culicoides univittatus Vimmer, Culicoides sahariensis Kieffer, Culicoides festivipennis Kieffer, Culicoides circumscriptus Kieffer and Culicoides cataneii Clastrier were most abundant in the traps set at the ponds (73%) and in 16 species of Culicoides reared from laboratory-maintained mud samples retrieved from three microhabitats (a non-vegetated pond shoreline, 20 cm above a pond shoreline, the shoreline of a secondary, permanently inundated, grass-covered pool).

Connexin43 expression in the testis of frog Rana esculenta: sex hormonal regulation.

Spermatogenesis is the process of proliferating and differentiating germ cells that require highly coordinated cellular interactions. Intercellular junctions are important in maintaining communication between testicular cells. In particular, gap junctions play an important role in this event.

Insecticidal activity of strains of Bacillus thuringiensis on larvae and adults of Bactrocera oleae Gmelin (Dipt. Tephritidae).

The olive fly, Bactrocera oleae, is the key pest on olives in the Mediterranean area. The pest can destroy, in some cases, up to 70% of the olive production. Its control relies mainly on chemical treatments, sometimes applied by aircraft over vast areas, with their subsequent ecological and toxicological side effects.

Introducing transglycosylation activity in a liquefying alpha-amylase.

By mutating Ala-289 by Phe or Tyr in the Bacillus stearothermophilus alpha-amylase, we induced this enzyme to perform alcoholytic reactions, a function not present in the wild-type enzyme. This residue was selected from homology analysis with neopullulanase, where the residue has been implicated in the control of transglycosylation [Kuriki et al. (1996) J.

Did cyclodextrin glycosyltransferases evolve from alpha-amylases?

The hydrolytic enzymes, alpha-amylases, and the cyclodextrin glycosyltransferases (CGTases) are key enzymes in the depolymerization of starch. These two groups of enzymes are evolutionarily related. We propose that the transferase activity is likely to have evolved from an ancestral hydrolase.

[Evaluation of therapeutic efficacy and pharmacokinetics of controlled release of trazodone in patients with major depressive disorder].

In the present study, the antidepressant efficacy of a controlled-release (CR) formulation of trazodone was evaluated in 18 depressed patients treated with 150 mg (no. = 10) or 75 mg (no. = 8) nocte doses of the drug for 7 weeks, according to an open design.

Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic characteristics of a controlled-release formulation of trazodone versus the conventional formulation in healthy volunteers.

The pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic characteristics of a controlled-release (CR) formulation of trazodone were evaluated in healthy subjects who received acutely 150 mg and 75 mg of the CR trazodone and equal amounts of the conventional formulation on separate occasions. Plasma trazodone concentrations were measured by HPLC. The pharmacokinetic profile of CR trazodone was characterized by a slower increase in drug plasma levels and a lower and retarded peak plasma concentration without any modification in the total amount of trazodone absorbed over 24 hrs.

Prolactin receptor does not correlate with oestrogen and progesterone receptors in primary breast cancer and lacks prognostic significance. Ten year results of the Naples adjuvant (GUN) study.

The correlation between prolactin (PRLR) and oestrogen (ER) or progesterone receptors (PgR) in breast cancer and a possible prognostic significance of PRLR at 10 year follow-up have been investigated in the Naples (GUN) adjuvant trial. A total of 308 pre- and post-menopausal patients with early breast cancer, who entered the trial from 1 February 1978 to 31 December 1983, received randomly Tamoxifen (TM), 30 mg per die for 2 years, or no therapy. PRLR status was known in 229 (74.

Steroid hormone receptor levels and adjuvant tamoxifen in early breast cancer. Ten year results of the Naples (GUN) Study.

Ten year disease-free survival (DFS) results of the Naples randomized trial of adjuvant tamoxifen (TM), 30 mg per day for 2 years versus no therapy according to receptor levels, are reported. From Feb. 1, 1978, through Dec.