Forecast predictions for the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil by statistical modeling using the Weibull distribution for daily new cases and deaths.

COVID-19 has killed more than 500,000 people worldwide and more than 60,000 in Brazil. Since there are no specific drugs or vaccines, the available tools against COVID-19 are preventive, such as the use of personal protective equipment, social distancing, lockdowns, and mass testing. Such measures are hindered in Brazil due to a restrict budget, low educational level of the population, and misleading attitudes from the federal authorities.

One-step enzymatic production of fatty acid ethyl ester from high-acidity waste feedstocks in solvent-free media.

This work aims to demonstrate the enzymatic production of fatty acid ethyl ester biodiesel from highly acidic feedstock in a single-step reaction, without co-solvents and avoiding the inhibition of the enzyme by ethanol and glycerol. Additionally, an empirical equation is proposed to predict the kinetics of the production reaction as a function of the used feedstock and catalyst concentration. Biodiesel production from highly acidic feedstock perform via simultaneous esterification of free fatty acids and transesterification of triacylglycerols.

Molecular detection and genetic diversity of norovirus in hospitalized young adults with acute gastroenteritis in Bahia, Brazil.

The molecular epidemiology of a recent norovirus (NoV) outbreak in Brazil performed by comparative analysis with Genebank NoV sequences showed that the GII.4 strain was responsible for 72.5% of all NoV-positive cases (58/80).

Controlling {beta}-amyloid oligomerization by the use of naphthalene sulfonates: trapping low molecular weight oligomeric species.

Aggregation of proteins and peptides has been shown to be responsible for several diseases known as amyloidoses, which include Alzheimer disease (AD), prion diseases, among several others. AD is a neurodegenerative disorder caused primarily by the aggregation of beta-amyloid peptide (Abeta). Here we describe the stabilization of small oligomers of Abeta by the use of sulfonated hydrophobic molecules such as AMNS (1-amino-5-naphthalene sulfonate); 1,8-ANS (1-anilinonaphthalene-8-sulfonate) and bis-ANS (4,4'-dianilino-1,1'-binaphthyl-5,5'-disulfonate).

The bZIP region of the plant transcription factor opaque-2 forms stable homodimers in solution and retains its helical structure upon subunit dissociation.

Opaque-2 (O2) is a plant bZIP transcription factor that regulates the expression of alpha and beta prolamines, the main storage proteins in seeds of cereals such as maize and Coix. One of the main processes modulating O2 activity is the heterodimerization with other bZIP transcription factors, but the primary mechanism underlying the partner choice is still unknown. In this paper, we have characterized the bZIP domain of O2 by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), circular dichroism (CD), and size-exclusion chromatography.

Persistent conformational heterogeneity of triosephosphate isomerase: separation and characterization of conformational isomers in solution.

Subunit dissociation of dimeric rabbit muscle triosephosphate isomerase (TIM) by hydrostatic pressure has previously been shown not to follow the expected dependence on protein concentration [Rietveld and Ferreira (1996) Biochemistry 35, 7743-7751]. This anomalous behavior was attributed to persistent conformational heterogeneity (i.e.