Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease and colonization by Staphylococcus aureus may affect up to 100% of these patients. Virulent and resistant isolates can worsen AD patient clinical condition and jeopardize the treatment. We aimed to detect virulence genes and to evaluate the biofilm production of S. aureus isolates from infected skin lesions of children with AD. Methicillin resistance was detected by phenotypic and molecular tests and the virulence genes were detected...

Biofilm-associated polymicrobial infections tend to be challenging to treat. Candida albicans and Staphylococcus aureus are leading pathogens due to their ability to form biofilms on medical devices. However, the therapeutic implications of their interactions in a host is largely unexplored. In this study, we used a mouse subcutaneous catheter model for in vivo-grown polymicrobial biofilms to validate our in vitro findings on C. albicans-mediated enhanced S. aureus tolerance to vancomycin in vivo. Comparative assessment of...

The minimum sample size for a good estimation of the parameters in both three-parameter Weibull KJc distribution (3P-W) and ASTM E1921 methods was analyzed. Additionally, the estimations provided by maximum likelihood (ML) and linear regression (LR) were compared. Fracture toughness sets with different sample sizes were randomly generated following a 3P-W with parameters corresponding to experimental datasets from the Euro round robin fracture toughness test. Then, LR and ML were applied to the sets and...

The persistence of species in fragmented landscapes relies on landscape connectivity and individuals’ ability in dispersing among habitat patches. Accordingly, matrix structure can affect the orientation of dispersing individuals across the landscape. In this study, we measured the impact of matrix structure on the dispersal performance of the white-eared opossum (Didelphis albiventris). We released individuals in three types of matrix: bare field, corn crops and soybean crops, with distances of 30, 50 and 100 m...

Polymorphisms have fascinated biologists for a long time, but their genetic underpinnings often remained elusive. Here, we aimed to uncover the genetic basis of the gold/dark polymorphism that is eponymous of Midas cichlid fish (Amphilophus spp.) adaptive radiations in Nicaraguan crater lakes. While most Midas cichlids are of the melanic “dark morph”, about 10% of individuals lose their melanic pigmentation during their ontogeny and transition into a conspicuous “gold morph”. Using a new haplotype-resolved long-read...

Aim: We aimed to assess the relative influence of past (Quaternary paleodrainage characteristics) and current factors on the beta diversity of freshwater fishes in coastal lagoons and explore the main processes involved. Location: Atlantic coast of South America. Taxon: Fishes (173 species) Methods: We built a dataset of species occurrence in 129 lagoons across eight freshwater ecoregions of the world (FEOWs) located between latitudes 0° and 36° and calculated beta diversity (βjac) and its turnover...

Olhares sobre o envelhecimento. Estudos interdisciplinares, 103-115. Volume II

The quillwort Isoetes cangae is a critically endangered species occurring in a single lake in Serra dos Carajás, Eastern Amazon. Low genetic diversity and small effective population sizes (Ne) is expected for narrow endemic species (NES). Here, we evaluated genetic diversity, population structure, and Ne of I. cangae to provide information for conservation programs. Conservation biology studies centered in a single‐species show some limitations but they are still useful considering the limited time and resources...

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease and colonization by Staphylococcus aureus may affect up to 100% of these patients. Virulent and resistant isolates can worsen AD patient clinical condition and jeopardize the treatment. We aimed to detect virulence genes and to evaluate the biofilm production of S. aureus isolates from infected skin lesions of children with AD. Methicillin resistance was detected by phenotypic and molecular tests and the virulence genes were detected...

Loss of developmental stability can lead to deviations from bilateral symmetry (i.e. Fluctuating Asymmetry -FA), and is thought to be caused by environmental and genetic factors associated with habitat loss and stress. Therefore, levels of FA might be a valuable tool to monitor wild populations if FA serves an indicator of exposure to stress due to impacts of habitat loss and fragmentation. In studies examining FA and habitat fragmentation, FA levels are often explained by...

Site fidelity plays an important role in increasing foraging efficiency, particularly when food resources are reliable. In insects, site fidelity has largely been studied in Hymenopteran species, which consistently return to their nest site after foraging bouts. In butterflies, evidence of foraging site fidelity are limited but may be present in species with specific foraging specialisations, such as Heliconius, which have a derived foraging behaviour centred around active pollen feeding. Unlike many Hymenoptera, Heliconius are...

We synthesised and screened 18 aromatic derivatives of guanylhydrazones and oximes aromatic for their capacity to bind to dengue virus capsid protein (DENVC). The intended therapeutic target was the hydrophobic cleft of DENVC, which is a region responsible for its anchoring in lipid droplets in the infected cells. The inhibition of this process completely suppresses virus infectivity. Using NMR, we describe five compounds able to bind to the α1-α2 interface in the hydrophobic cleft. Saturation...

Sustainability is a target that involves many socio-ecological questions and depends sometimes of opportunities and combine different initiatives. This can be especially difficult in regions with high biodiversity scores, mega cities and high level of human populations, and an intense and long-standing land use. Here we show how a mega trail, named Atlantic Forest Trail, within the Brazilian Atlantic Forest can join protection of biodiversity and sustainable tourism through a 4,270 km corridor connecting Protected...

Species reintroductions can be used as a conservation strategy to restore ecological interactions and the functionality of impoverished ecosystems. The ecological effects of reintroductions go beyond restoring pairwise interactions, because reintroductions can change how extant species are indirectly linked to each other in an ecological community. These indirect pathways, in turn, may shape a myriad of ecological and evolutionary processes operating in ecological systems. Here, we investigated how reintroductions may affect the direct and indirect...

Ecological communities are assembled in a spatial-temporal continuum. However, we still have a poor understanding of the relative importance of different mechanisms structuring community composition (i.e., beta-diversity) in space and time. In this study, we start by introducing a conceptual model that capitalizes upon the core-occasional species concept to predict that the assembly process in tropical mountains is driven by the deterministic turnover of core species in space via habitat sorting, but the turnover of...

We synthesised and screened 18 aromatic derivatives of guanylhydrazones and oximes aromatic for their capacity to bind to dengue virus capsid protein (DENVC). The intended therapeutic target was the hydrophobic cleft of DENVC, which is a region responsible for its anchoring in lipid droplets in the infected cells. The inhibition of this process completely suppresses virus infectivity. Using NMR, we describe five compounds able to bind to the α1-α2 interface in the hydrophobic cleft. Saturation...

Phenotypic variation among populations, as seen in the signaling traits of many species, provides an opportunity to test whether similar factors generate repeated phenotypic patterns in different parts of a species’ range. We investigated whether genetic divergence, abiotic gradients, and sympatry with closely related species explain variation in the dewlap colors of Amazon Slender Anoles, Anolis fuscoauratus. To this aim, we characterized dewlap diversity in the field with respect to population genetic structure and evolutionary...

Biofilm-associated polymicrobial infections tend to be challenging to treat. Candida albicans and Staphylococcus aureus are leading pathogens due to their ability to form biofilms on medical devices. However, the therapeutic implications of their interactions in a host is largely unexplored. In this study, we used a mouse subcutaneous catheter model for in vivo-grown polymicrobial biofilms to validate our in vitro findings on C. albicans-mediated enhanced S. aureus tolerance to vancomycin in vivo. Comparative assessment of...

The record of unenlagiines in Brazil, except for one dorsal vertebra, is still under debate based on isolated teeth. Here, we describe Ypupiara lopai gen. et sp. nov., the first undoubtful nominal unenlagiine dromaeosaurid species from Brazil, from the Marília Formation (Maastrichtian), Bauru Group, Paraná Basin. The specimen comprises a partial right maxilla (with three teeth in loci) and a right dentary. Ypupiara is characterized by the morphology of the maxilla, presenting restrict number of...

More than one third of the bird species found in the Caribbean are endemic to a set of neighboring islands or a single island. However, we have little knowledge of the evolutionary history of the Caribbean avifauna and the lack of phylogenetic studies limits our understanding of the extent of endemism in the region. The Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus) occurs widely across the Americas and includes three endemic Caribbean taxa: venator on Puerto Rico, striatus...

The consequences of the introduction of invasive plants for the diet of herbivorous insects have been little explored in nature where, potentially, abiotic and biotic factors operate. In this study we examined the larval performance of two Neotropical Danaini butterflies when using either a native or an exotic Apocynaceae species as host plant in both field and laboratory experiments. Hosts greatly differ in their amount of latex exudation and other physicochemical traits, as well as...

In 2016, computational propaganda influenced the results of two world-relevant electoral processes1: the United States presidential election, giving the most important chair of the White House to Donald Trump, and the BREXIT referendum, which resulted in the United Kingdom leaving the European Union. From then on and after the fake news crisis, researchers have confirmed that the employment of manipulation strategies and disinformation dissemination on social media can interfere with electoral processes results and threaten...