Thelyphonida Blanchard, 1852, also known as vinegaroons or whip-scorpions, is a small arachnid order with 140 described species contained in a single family, Thelyphonidae Lucas, 1835. Despite being conspicuous and widely distributed across the tropics and subtropics on four continents, knowledge of the order has been slow to advance. Hypoctoninae Pocock, 1899, one of four subfamilies currently recognized and one of two represented in the New World, comprises five genera.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: Glucose and lipid metabolism regulation by the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) has been extensively reported. However, the role of their polymorphisms remains unclear.
Objective: To determine the relation between PPAR-γ2 rs1801282 (Pro12Ala) and PPAR-β/δ rs2016520 (+294T/C) polymorphisms and metabolic biomarkers in adults with type 2 diabetes (T2D).
Tityus obscurus has caused mild, moderate and severe accidents of medical relevance in the eastern Brazilian Amazon and French Guiana. Tityus obscurus has sexual dimorphism although males and females have uniform black coloration. In the Amazon, one of the habitats of this scorpion is seasonally flooded forests (igapós and várzeas).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe present a molecular phylogenetic analysis including a survey for overlooked phenotypic characters. Based on both analysis and characters a new cave-dwelling species is described: Tityus (Tityus) spelaeus from the Russão II cave, Posse, state of Goiás, Central Brazil. Characters such as the glandular regions of the female pectinal basal piece and basal middle lamellae of pectines, and the distribution of the ventral setae of telotarsi I-IV proved to be useful to constructing the taxonomy of species and species groups of .
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe family Phrynidae has been mainly recorded from America, including the Antilles, and Heterophrynus is one of its genera endemic of South America and is mainly associated with Amazonian ecosystems. Currently, the genus has 16 valid species, but many original descriptions are ambiguous or incomplete. The more complete work about this genus only includes seven of the currently valid species, and in some cases, some characters useful for the species identification, were not described.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSelf-synthesizing transposons are integrative mobile genetic elements (MGEs) that encode their own B-family DNA polymerase (PolB). Discovered a few years ago, they are proposed as key players in the evolution of several groups of DNA viruses and virus-host interaction machinery. Pipolins are the most recent addition to the group, are integrated in the genomes of bacteria from diverse phyla and also present as circular plasmids in mitochondria.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPeroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) play roles in glucose and lipid metabolism regulation. Pro12Ala PPAR-γ2 and +294T/C PPAR-δ have been associated with dyslipidemia, hyperglycemia and high body mass index (BMI). We compared metabolic traits and determined associations with Pro12Ala PPAR-γ2 or +294T/C PPAR-δ polymorphism among teenagers from different ethnicity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe present a taxonomic revision of the Colombian Tityus (Archaeotityus) species based on morphological and morphometric evidence. We examined more than 385 specimens and evaluated new and previously used qualitative and quantitative morphological characters. We redescribe the Colombian species and present morphological characters for both sexes and an emended diagnosis for the subgenus Tityus (Archaeotityus).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) ranges from steatosis to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and cirrhosis. Liver biopsy, considered the gold standard to diagnose NAFLD, shows significantly high rates of interobserver variability. Thus there is a need to develop tools that accurately categorize mild and advanced grades of steatosis in order to identify patients at higher risk of developing chronic liver disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHerein, we describe a new schizomid species from the genus Piaroa Villarreal, Giuponni Tourinho, 2008, Piaroa turbacoensis sp. nov., based on individuals collected in the Botanical Garden "Guillermo Piñeres", Turbaco, Bolivar, Colombian Caribbean region.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFamily B DNA polymerases (PolBs) play a central role during replication of viral and cellular chromosomes. Here, we report the discovery of a third major group of PolBs, which we denote primer-independent PolB (piPolB), that might be a link between the previously known protein-primed and RNA/DNA-primed PolBs. PiPolBs are encoded by highly diverse mobile genetic elements, pipolins, integrated in the genomes of diverse bacteria and also present as circular plasmids in mitochondria.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGenotyping by sequencing is suitable for analysis of global diversity in maize. We showed the distinctiveness of flint maize inbred lines of interest to enrich the diversity of breeding programs. Genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) is a highly cost-effective procedure that permits the analysis of large collections of inbred lines.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Breeding for cold tolerance in maize promises to allow increasing growth area and production in temperate zones. The objective of this research was to conduct genome-wide association analyses (GWAS) in temperate maize inbred lines and to find strategies for pyramiding genes for cold tolerance. Two panels of 306 dent and 292 European flint maize inbred lines were evaluated per se and in testcrosses under cold and control conditions in a growth chamber.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGenetic and phenotypic analysis of two complementary maize panels revealed an important variation for biomass yield. Flowering and biomass QTL were discovered by association mapping in both panels. The high whole plant biomass productivity of maize makes it a potential source of energy in animal feeding and biofuel production.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTwo new species of the genus Piaroa Villarreal, Tourinho & Giupponi, 2008, P. escalerete sp. nov.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMultiparental designs combined with dense genotyping of parents have been proposed as a way to increase the diversity and resolution of quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping studies, using methods combining linkage disequilibrium information with linkage analysis (LDLA). Two new nested association mapping designs adapted to European conditions were derived from the complementary dent and flint heterotic groups of maize (Zea mays L.).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe efficiency of marker-assisted prediction of phenotypes has been studied intensively for different types of plant breeding populations. However, one remaining question is how to incorporate and counterbalance information from biparental and multiparental populations into model training for genome-wide prediction. To address this question, we evaluated testcross performance of 1652 doubled-haploid maize (Zea mays L.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAssociation mapping has permitted the discovery of major QTL in many species. It can be applied to existing populations and, as a consequence, it is generally necessary to take into account structure and relatedness among individuals in the statistical model to control false positives. We analytically studied power in association studies by computing noncentrality parameter of the tests and its relationship with parameters characterizing diversity (genetic differentiation between groups and allele frequencies) and kinship between individuals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: In sexually reproducing organisms, meiotic crossovers ensure the proper segregation of chromosomes and contribute to genetic diversity by shuffling allelic combinations. Such genetic reassortment is exploited in breeding to combine favorable alleles, and in genetic research to identify genetic factors underlying traits of interest via linkage or association-based approaches. Crossover numbers and distributions along chromosomes vary between species, but little is known about their intraspecies variation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The objective of this study was to compare intramuscularly applied botulinum toxin A (BTX-A) in the gastroc-soleus complex with intralesional steroids for the treatment of plantar fasciitis.
Methods: The patients were randomly divided into 2 groups according to the treatment received. The patients were evaluated over 6 months.
Genomic selection refers to the use of genotypic information for predicting breeding values of selection candidates. A prediction formula is calibrated with the genotypes and phenotypes of reference individuals constituting the calibration set. The size and the composition of this set are essential parameters affecting the prediction reliabilities.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To identify the knowledge and attitudes of nursing staff toward advance directives (AD) in 2 health areas, and to compare the results in both areas.
Method: We performed a cross-sectional, descriptive study by means of a self-administered, validated, 12-item questionnaire carried out in 2 Andalusian health areas. Sampling was not carried out as the aim was to contact the whole population.
Knowledge about the efficiency of generations for estimating marker-associated QTLs is needed for selection. The objective of this paper is to develop a theory to compare the efficiency of segregating generations and testcrosses from the cross of two inbred lines differing in value for a quantitative trait (P1 x P2) for estimating additive, dominance and heterotic effects of QTLs by stepwise regression. An equation that predicts the smallest gene effect in genetic standard deviation units that can be detected with 50% chance at a significance level as a function of the heritability (h2) and the recombination frequency (r) of markers was developed for the segregating generations and testcrosses.
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