Biochemical studies of amylase, lipase and protease in Callosobruchus maculatus (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) populations fed with Vigna unguiculata grain cultivated with diazotrophic bacteria strains.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the enzymatic activity of homogenates of insects fed on grain of cowpea, Vigna unguiculata (L.), cultivars grown with different nitrogen sources. For the experiment we used aliquots of the homogenate of 100 unsexed adult insects, emerged from 10 g of grain obtained from four cowpea cultivars: 'BRS Acauã', 'BRS Carijó', 'BRS Pujante', and 'BRS Tapaihum' grown under different regimes of nitrogen sources: mineral fertilizer, inoculation with strains of diazotrophs (BR 3267, BR 3262, BR 3299; INPA 03-11B, 03-84 UFLA, as well as the control (with soil nitrogen). The parameters evaluated were enzymatic activities of insect protease, amylase and lipase and the starch content of the grains. There were differences in the enzymatic activity of amylase, lipase and protease of insect homogenate according to the food source. A lower activity of the enzyme amylase from C. maculatus homogenate was observed when insects were fed grain of the cultivar BRS Carijó. A lower activity of lipase enzyme from C. maculatus homogenate was observed when the insects fed on grain from the interaction of the cultivar Tapaihum inoculated with BR 3262 diazotrophs. The lowest proteolytic activity was observed in homogenate of insects fed on interaction of 'BRS Carijó' inoculated with BR 3262 diazotrophs. Starch content correlated positively with the amylase activity of C. maculatus homogenate. The cultivar BRS Carijó had a different behavior from the other cultivars, according to the cluster analysis.

Motor noise is rich signal in autism research and pharmacological treatments.

The human body is in constant motion, from every breath that we take, to every visibly purposeful action that we perform. Remaining completely still on command is a major achievement as involuntary fluctuations in our motions are difficult to keep under control. Here we examine the noise-to-signal ratio of micro-movements present in time-series of head motions extracted from resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans in 1048 participants. These included individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and healthy-controls in shared data from the Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange (ABIDE) and the Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD-200) databases. We find excess noise and randomness in the ASD cases, suggesting an uncertain motor-feedback signal. A power-law emerged describing an orderly relation between the dispersion and shape of the probability distribution functions best describing the stochastic properties under consideration with respect to intelligence quotient (IQ-scores). In ASD, deleterious patterns of noise are consistently exacerbated with the presence of secondary (comorbid) neuropsychiatric diagnoses, lower verbal and performance intelligence, and autism severity. Importantly, such patterns in ASD are present whether or not the participant takes psychotropic medication. These data unambiguously establish specific noise-to-signal levels of head micro-movements as a biologically informed core feature of ASD.

Prevalence and correlates of erectile dysfunction: results of the Brazilian study of sexual behavior.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of erectile dysfunction (ED) and explore its potential sociodemographic, medical, and lifestyle correlates. METHODS: While attending the "Health Awareness Fair" in nine major cities in Brazil, 1286 men completed a questionnaire regarding ED, demographic data, and medical conditions. ED was assessed by a single global self-rating question, in which subjects were asked to describe themselves as able to achieve and maintain an erection good enough for sexual intercourse always, usually, sometimes, or never, and the responses were used to classify the subjects as having no, minimal, moderate, or complete ED, respectively. Age-adjusted bivariate and multivariate analyses were carried out to calculate the prevalence odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for the potential covariates. RESULTS: Overall, 46.2% of men reported some degree of ED (minimal 31.5%, moderate 12.1%, complete 2.6%). The prevalence of complete ED increased 10 times from 1% to 11% between subjects younger than 40 and older than 70 years; moderate ED rose from 8% to 27%, and minimal ED remained constant at approximately 31%. In bivariate age-adjusted analyses, low educational attainment, black race/ethnicity, homo/bisexuality, and a history of diabetes, hypertension, or depression were significantly (P <0.05) associated with an increased prevalence of ED. In the multivariate logistic regression model, these variables remained significantly associated with ED. CONCLUSIONS: The results of our study show that ED is a major health problem in Brazil and both the severity and prevalence increase with age. The medical, sociodemographic, and lifestyle variables associated with ED may alert physicians to patients who are at risk of ED, as well as offer clues to the etiology of ED.