Diversity, Composition, and Specificity of the Philaenus spumarius Bacteriome.

Philaenus spumarius (Linnaeus, 1758) (Hemiptera, Aphrophoridae) was recently classified as a pest due to its ability to act as a vector of the phytopathogen Xylella fastidiosa. This insect has been reported to harbour several symbiotic bacteria that play essential roles in P. spumarius health and fitness. However, the factors driving bacterial assemblages remain largely unexplored. Here, the bacteriome associated with different organs (head, abdomen, and genitalia) of males and females of P. spumarius was characterized using culturally dependent and independent methods and compared in terms of diversity and composition. The bacteriome of P. spumarius is enriched in Proteobacteria, Bacteroidota, and Actinobacteria phyla, as well as in Candidatus Sulcia and Cutibacterium genera. The most frequent isolates were Curtobacterium, Pseudomonas, and Rhizobiaceae sp.1. Males display a more diverse bacterial community than females, but no differences in diversity were found in distinct organs. However, the organ shapes the bacteriome structure more than sex, with the Microbacteriaceae family revealing a high level of organ specificity and the Blattabacteriaceae family showing a high level of sex specificity. Several symbiotic bacterial genera were identified in P. spumarius for the first time, including Rhodococcus, Citrobacter, Halomonas, Streptomyces, and Providencia. Differences in the bacterial composition within P. spumarius organs and sexes suggest an adaptation of bacteria to particular insect tissues, potentially shaped by their significance in the life and overall fitness of P. spumarius. Although more research on the bacteria of P. spumarius interactions is needed, such knowledge could help to develop specific bacterial-based insect management strategies.

Semi-automated sequence curation for reliable reference datasets in ITS2 vascular plant DNA (meta-)barcoding.

One of the most critical steps for accurate taxonomic identification in DNA (meta)-barcoding is to have an accurate DNA reference sequence dataset for the marker of choice. Therefore, developing such a dataset has been a long-term ambition, especially in the Viridiplantae kingdom. Typically, reference datasets are constructed with sequences downloaded from general public databases, which can carry taxonomic and other relevant errors. Herein, we constructed a curated (i) global dataset, (ii) European crop dataset, and (iii) 27 datasets for the EU countries for the ITS2 barcoding marker of vascular plants. To that end, we first developed a pipeline script that entails (i) an automated curation stage comprising five filters, (ii) manual taxonomic correction for misclassified taxa, and (iii) manual addition of newly sequenced species. The pipeline allows easy updating of the curated datasets. With this approach, 13% of the sequences, corresponding to 7% of species originally imported from GenBank, were discarded. Further, 259 sequences were manually added to the curated global dataset, which now comprises 307,977 sequences of 111,382 plant species.

Data Acquisition Filtering Focused on Optimizing Transmission in a LoRaWAN Network Applied to the WSN Forest Monitoring System.

Developing innovative systems and operations to monitor forests and send alerts in dangerous situations, such as fires, has become, over the years, a necessary task to protect forests. In this work, a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) is employed for forest data acquisition to identify abrupt anomalies when a fire ignition starts. Even though a low-power LoRaWAN network is used, each module still needs to save power as much as possible to avoid periodic maintenance since a current consumption peak happens while sending messages. Moreover, considering the LoRaWAN characteristics, each module should use the bandwidth only when essential. Therefore, four algorithms were tested and calibrated along real and monitored events of a wildfire. The first algorithm is based on the Exponential Smoothing method, Moving Averages techniques are used to define the other two algorithms, and the fourth uses the Least Mean Square. When properly combined, the algorithms can perform a pre-filtering data acquisition before each module uses the LoRaWAN network and, consequently, save energy if there is no necessity to send data. After the validations, using Wildfire Simulation Events (WSE), the developed filter achieves an accuracy rate of 0.73 with 0.5 possible false alerts. These rates do not represent a final warning to firefighters, and a possible improvement can be achieved through cloud-based server algorithms. By comparing the current consumption before and after the proposed implementation, the modules can save almost 53% of their batteries when is no demand to send data. At the same time, the modules can maintain the server informed with a minimum interval of 15 min and recognize abrupt changes in 60 s when fire ignition appears.

The mitochondrial genome of Apis mellifera siciliana.

We assembled the mitogenome of Apis mellifera siciliana, which was previously identified as African by the tRNA-leu-cox2 intergenic region. The mitogenome is 16,590 bp long. The gene content and organization are identical to other A. mellifera mitogenomes, containing 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, and 2 ribosomal RNA genes. Phylogenetic analysis showed a close mitochondrial relationship between A. m. siciliana and other African subspecies such as Apis mellifera sahariensis, Apis mellifera intermissa, and Apis mellifera ruttneri.

Preservation methods of honey bee-collected pollen are not a source of bias in ITS2 metabarcoding.

Pollen metabarcoding is emerging as a powerful tool for ecological research and offers unprecedented scale in citizen science projects for environmental monitoring via honey bees. Biases in metabarcoding can be introduced at any stage of sample processing and preservation is at the forefront of the pipeline. While in metabarcoding studies pollen has been preserved at - 20 °C (FRZ), this is not the best method for citizen scientists. Herein, we compared this method with ethanol (EtOH), silica gel (SG) and room temperature (RT) for preservation of pollen collected from hives in Austria and Denmark. After ~ 4 months of storage, DNAs were extracted with a food kit, and their quality and concentration measured. Most DNA extracts exhibited 260/280 absorbance ratios close to the optimal 1.8, with RT samples from Austria performing slightly worse than FRZ and SG samples (P < 0.027). Statistical differences were also detected for DNA concentration, with EtOH samples producing lower yields than RT and FRZ samples in both countries and SG in Austria (P < 0.042). Yet, qualitative and quantitative assessments of floral composition obtained using high-throughput sequencing with the ITS2 barcode gave non-significant effects of preservation methods on richness, relative abundance and Shannon diversity, in both countries. While freezing and ethanol are commonly employed for archiving tissue for molecular applications, desiccation is cheaper and easier to use regarding both storage and transportation. Since SG is less dependent on ambient humidity and less prone to contamination than RT, we recommend SG for preserving pollen for metabarcoding. SG is straightforward for laymen to use and hence robust for widespread application in citizen science studies.

Computational simulation of the COVID-19 epidemic with the SEIR stochastic model.

A small number of individuals infected within a community can lead to the rapid spread of the disease throughout that community, leading to an epidemic outbreak. This is even more true for highly contagious diseases such as COVID-19, known to be caused by the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Mathematical models of epidemics allow estimating several impacts on the population and, therefore, are of great use for the definition of public health policies. Some of these measures include the isolation of the infected (also known as quarantine), and the vaccination of the susceptible. In a possible scenario in which a vaccine is available, but with limited access, it is necessary to quantify the levels of vaccination to be applied, taking into account the continued application of preventive measures. This work concerns the simulation of the spread of the COVID-19 disease in a community by applying the Monte Carlo method to a Susceptible-Exposed-Infective-Recovered (SEIR) stochastic epidemic model. To handle the computational effort involved, a simple parallelization approach was adopted and deployed in a small HPC cluster. The developed computational method allows to realistically simulate the spread of COVID-19 in a medium-sized community and to study the effect of preventive measures such as quarantine and vaccination. The results show that an effective combination of vaccination with quarantine can prevent the appearance of major epidemic outbreaks, even if the critical vaccination coverage is not reached.

An Architecture for Reliable Transportation of Delicate Goods.

Adequate conditions are critical to avoiding damage or degradation of products during transportation, especially in the case of delicate goods like food products, live animals, precision machinery or art items, among others. The damages are not always readily identified: sometimes they are only detected several days or weeks after the merchandise has been delivered. Moreover, it may be hard to assess if the problems resulted from the transport conditions, and it may be even harder to prove it, making it difficult to determine and assign responsibilities. Also, transport is a global business, typically involving different companies and means (truck, train, plane, ship, …). Usually, customers hire the service to a single commercial entity, but the service is performed by several companies, like transporters, stockists and dispatchers. To know whether the transport requirements are fulfilled or not is thus essential to assessing responsibilities and encouraging compliance by all the players in the process. In this paper, the authors propose an architecture that allows certifying, in an exempt manner, the conditions under which the transport of sensitive goods are carried out. In case of compliance, it protects the entities of the transport chain and ensures the customer that the merchandise has not been subject to conditions that may have affected its integrity or quality. If problems are detected, it allows to identify the non-compliant players and to assign responsibilities. The solution is based on ultra-low-power, low-cost devices (equipped with several sensors, a real-time clock, and Bluetooth Low Energy services), a mobile application and several cloud services (including a Coordinated Universal Time service).

Treasured exceptions: Association of morphoanatomical leaf traits with cup quality of Coffea arabica L. cv. "Catuaí".

The morphoanatomical characteristics of leaves were associated with altitude, hillside, and the cup quality of coffee produced in the Matas de Minas region. Although the small magnitude, there are correlations between cup quality with altitude and morpho-anatomical traits. Despite facing the differences of management inherent to 363 sampling sites, Northwestern hillside had significant lower cup quality, whereas only stomata density (SD) and thickness of the leaf epidermis in the adaxial face (AdET) showed significant differences between hillsides. Altitude, leaf mass per area (LMA) and SD, and to a lesser extent the thickness of the leaf epidermis in the abaxial face (AbET), were correlated (Spearman's correlation) with cup quality. Interestingly, AbET correlations were negative. Mantel's test significant correlations were found between coffee cup quality vs. altitude, LMA and petiole phloem area (PPhA). The spatial autocorrelation was significant only with LMA. Also, SD, to a lesser extent, was associated with cup quality. Despite the complexity of the association among the environment, plant growth and development, this is the first report to associate morpho-anatomical features of the leaf with the coffee cup traits. Even with the expectation of genotype/species vs environment interactions, and the influence of other parameters associated with post-harvest, roasting and brewing, the evaluation of LMA, SD, AdET, AbET and the thickness of the palisade parenchyma (PPT) allow a novel approach to access coffee cup quality.

Mapping the potential beverage quality of coffee produced in the Zona da Mata, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

BACKGROUND: Detailed knowledge of coffee production systems enables optimization of crop management, harvesting and post-harvest techniques. In this study, coffee quality is mapped as a function of coffee variety, altitude and terrain aspect attributes. The work was performed in the Zona da Mata, Minas Gerais, Brazil. RESULTS: A large range of coffee quality grades was observed for the Red Catuai variety. For the Yellow Catuai variety, no quality grades lower than 70 were observed. Regarding the terrain aspect, samples from the southeast-facing slope (SEFS) and the northwest-facing slope (NWFS) exhibited distinct behaviors. The SEFS samples had a greater range of quality grades than did the NWFS samples. The highest grade was obtained from an NWFS point. The lowest quality values and the largest range of grades were observed at lower altitudes. The extracts from the highest-altitude samples did not produce any low-quality coffee. CONCLUSIONS: The production site's position and altitude are the primary variables that influenced the coffee quality. The study area has micro-regions with grades ranging from 80 to 94. These areas have the potential for producing specialty coffees. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry.

Aspectos odontológicos a serem considerados para o tratamento de portadores da doença de Alzheimer / Dental issues to be considered on the treatment of patients with AlzheimerÆs disease

A doença de Alzheimer é uma doença neurodegenerativa que provoca o declínio das funções intelectuais, reduzindo as capacidades de trabalho e relação social, interferindo no comportamento e personalidade do indivíduo. O objetivo deste estudo foi analisar os aspectos relativos às necessidades odontológicas dos pacientes idosos portadores de Alzheimer. Para tanto, foi realizada uma revisão de literatura utilizando as bases de dados, em que os resultados foram divididos em dois tópicos: considerações relativas ao tratamento odontológico e alterações bucais frequentes em pacientes com doença de Alzheimer. Concluiu-se que o cirurgião dentista deve conhecer as características dos pacientes com doença de Alzheimer planejando o tratamento mais adequado, e orientando a equipe de saúde, cuidadores e familiares a fim de ser obter sucesso na implementação de medidas preventivas e curativas...

Alzheimer disease is a neurodegenerative disease that causes the decline of intellectual functions, reducing the capacity for work and social relationships, interfering with the behavior and personality of the individual. The aim of this study was to analyze factors related to dental needs of elderly patients with AlzheimerÆs. Therefore, it was conducted a literature review and the results were divided into two topics: considerations about dental treatment and frequent buccal alterations in patients with AlzheimerÆs. It was concluded that it is important that the dentist knows the characteristics of patients with degenerative diseases in order to develop proper treatment planning, and guide caregivers and family in order to achieve successful adoption of preventive and healing measures...

Revisiting the Iberian honey bee (Apis mellifera iberiensis) contact zone: maternal and genome-wide nuclear variations provide support for secondary contact from historical refugia.

Dissecting diversity patterns of organisms endemic to Iberia has been truly challenging for a variety of taxa, and the Iberian honey bee is no exception. Surveys of genetic variation in the Iberian honey bee are among the most extensive for any honey bee subspecies. From these, differential and complex patterns of diversity have emerged, which have yet to be fully resolved. Here, we used a genome-wide data set of 309 neutrally tested single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), scattered across the 16 honey bee chromosomes, which were genotyped in 711 haploid males. These SNPs were analysed along with an intergenic locus of the mtDNA, to reveal historical patterns of population structure across the entire range of the Iberian honey bee. Overall, patterns of population structure inferred from nuclear loci by multiple clustering approaches and geographic cline analysis were consistent with two major clusters forming a well-defined cline that bisects Iberia along a northeastern-southwestern axis, a pattern that remarkably parallels that of the mtDNA. While a mechanism of primary intergradation or isolation by distance could explain the observed clinal variation, our results are more consistent with an alternative model of secondary contact between divergent populations previously isolated in glacial refugia, as proposed for a growing list of other Iberian taxa. Despite current intense honey bee management, human-mediated processes have seemingly played a minor role in shaping Iberian honey bee genetic structure. This study highlights the complexity of the Iberian honey bee patterns and reinforces the importance of Iberia as a reservoir of Apis mellifera diversity.

Screening and determination of sulphonamide residues in bovine milk samples using a flow injection system.

A new, simple, rapid and sensitive flow injection spectrophotometric method was developed for the screening and determination of sulphonamides in bovine milk samples. The method is based on the condensation of sulphathiazole, sulphamethazine, and sulphadimethoxine with p-dimethylaminobenzaldehyde (p-DAB) in acid medium, in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS), producing a yellow compound (λmax=465 nm). Optimisation of the experimental parameters was performed using a multivariate methodology. The linear range was 90-500 µg/L and the limits of detection and quantification were in the ranges 25-29 µg/L and 84-88 µg/L, respectively. The procedure was applied for the determination of sulphonamide antibiotics in bovine milk samples submitted to a prior extraction procedure based on QuEChERS (Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged and Safe) methodology. Recoveries of 60.5-70.5% were achieved for milk samples spiked with 0.09, 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3 µg/g of each sulphonamide.

Influence of water/powder ratio in the mineral and synthetic casts

AIM: To evaluate the influence of varying the water/powder ratio on the compressive strength of type IV mineral and synthetic casts. METHODS: Four commercial brands of type IV mineral and synthetic casts were evaluated: Durone, Herostone, Fuji Rock, and Elite Rock. Ninety-six test samples were prepared from a silicone matrix, according to ADA's standard no. 25. The samples were prepared according to the manufacturer's recommendations with a normal water/powder ratio (n = 12) and with 20% extra water (n = 12), forming the control (A) and experimental (B) subgroups, respectively. Compressive strength tests were performed using a universal testing machine EMIC (DL 2000) with a load cell of 2,000 kgf/cm2. The obtained data were analyzed statistically using two-way ANOVA and Tukey's test (α=5%). RESULTS: The synthetic Elite Rock cast was statistically different from the one obtained when the portion of water indicated by the manufacturer was used; no significant differences were found in the remaining casts when the proportion of water was increased by 20%. CONCLUSIONS: the groups of synthetic and mineral casts differed and the water increase (20%) did not cause significant difference on the compressive strength of the materials...

Carga imediata em mini-implantes: momento de reflexão / Immediate loading of mini-implants: a moment of reflection

Para melhor entendimento do uso de carga imediata em mini-implantes ortodônticos, consideramos de importância analisar, inicialmente, os fatores relacionados à estabilidade do mini-implante (MI). O sucesso na sua instalação encontra-se em torno de 85%, pois depende de fatores distintos e relacionados ao MI, ao profissional e ao paciente1,2 (Fig. 1).As melhorias nas características relacionadas às suas dimensões e desenhos têm contribuído para facilitar a seleção dos MIs mais apropriados ao uso na Ortodontia3. Ao longo do tempo, a aquisição de maior habilidade quanto à técnica de inserção torna o profissional mais apto, aumentando a porcentagem de sucesso na sua instalação4,5,6. Porém, os fatores da estabilidade relacionados com o paciente não sofrem influência do processo evolutivo em habilidade técnica ou do dispositivo. Consideram-se como relacionados ao paciente: a espessura da cortical, a largura do septo inter-radicular e a higiene bucal7,8...

Planejamento reverso em próteses totais implanto suportadas com carga imediata / Reverse Planning for implant-retained denture with immediate load

O objetivo principal deste trabalho é o de discutir através da apresentação de um caso clínico, a importância do planejamento reverso na orientação dos procedimentos cirúrgicos em próteses implantossuportadas com carga imediata. Este tipo de planejamento visa a orientação das fixações após a determinação do desenho protético. Isto é bastante importante, pois a possibilidade de sucesso dos casosplanejados desta forma poderão atingir altos índices de satisfação. Outro fator importante é o de possibilitar a restauração definitiva do paciente de forma rápida, devolvendo a função e estética

The main objective of this paper was to discuss the importance of the reverse planning as guidance to surgical procedures on immediate loading implant-retained prosthesis, presenting a case report. Such design aims to define anchorage orientation after determination of prosthetic design. This is quite important because the possibility of success of cases with this kind of planning may achieve high levels of satisfaction. Another important aspect is the possibility of fast and definitive restoration of patients’ function and aesthetics

An environmentally friendly reflectometric method for bumetanide determination in pharmaceuticals.

This paper describes a green analytical procedure for the determination of bumetanide using diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The proposed method is based on reflectance measurements of a violet compound produced from a spot test reaction between bumetanide and p-dimethylaminocinnamaldehyde (p-DAC) in an acid medium, using filter paper as a solid support. The best conditions for the reaction have been found by experimental design methodologies. All reflectance measurements were carried out at 525 nm, and the linear range was from 1.37 x 10(-4) to 1.37 x 10(-3) mol L(-1), with a correlation coefficient of 0.998. The detection limit was estimated to be 3.98 x 10(-5) mol L(-1). Five commercial medicines containing bumetanide were analyzed by the proposed method. No interferences were observed from the common excipients present in pharmaceutical formulations. The results were favorably compared with those obtained by the United States Pharmacopoeia procedure at 95% confidence level.

Flow-injection spectrophotometric determination of azithromycin in pharmaceutical formulations using p-chloranil in the presence of hydrogen peroxide.

A flow-injection (FI) spectrophotometric procedure exploiting merging zones is proposed for the determination of azithromycin in pharmaceutical formulations. The method is based on the reaction of azithromycin with tetrachloro-p-benzoquinone (p-chloranil) accelerated by hydrogen peroxide and conducted in a methanol medium, producing a purple-red color compound (lambda(max) = 540 nm). The FI system and the experimental conditions were optimized using a multivariate method. Beer's law is obeyed in a concentration range of 50 - 1600 microg mL(-1) with an excellent correlation coefficient (r = 0.9998). The detection limit and the quantification limit were 6.6 and 22.1 microg mL(-1), respectively. No interference was observed from the common excipients, and the recoveries were within 98.6 to 100.4%. The procedure was applied to the determination of azithromycin in pharmaceuticals with a high sampling rate (65 samples h(-1)). The results obtained by the proposed method were in good agreement with those obtained by the comparative method at 95% confidence level.

Apicoplastia: contribuiçäo para o estudo / Apicoeplasty: contribution to the study

Os autores fazem consideraçöes sobre as apicoplastias, analisando desde sua terminologia até aspectos da técnica cirúrgica, onde seräo vistos desde tipos de incisöes mais indicados, tipos de ostectomia, da resecçäo apical, materiais implantares na loja cirúrgica, além dos tipos utilizados de materiais retro-obturadores. Tudo isso é exibido juntamente com casos clínico-cirúrgicos, onde todos esses aspectos seräo mostrados, além de tipos de materiais implantares utilizados. Pela importância de todos os aspectos ventilados, além da técnica cirúrgica mais indicada, de materiais retro-obturadores e implantares, justifica-se a apresentaçäo do mesmo, para que casos como estes possam ser resolvidos com inteiro sucesso, para um perfeito bem-estar de nosso paciente

Shoshin Beriberi: uma causa incomum de insuficiência cardiáca; relato de um caso / Shoshin Beriberi: a unusual cause of heart failure; case report

Os autores relatam um caso de shoshin beriberi em um paciente de 27 anos de idade, etilista, que desenvolveu um quadro de insuficiência cardíaca de alto débito, perda da resistência vascular periférica e grave acidose metabólica. O quadro cardiovascular e a acidose metabólica rapidamente melhoraram após administraçäo de tiamina. Patogênese e possíveis mecanismos säo discutidos