Helices are one of the most common secondary structures found in peptides and proteins.The wheel and net projections have been proposed to represent in two dimensions the tridimensional helical structures and facilitate the observation of their properties, especially in terms of residues polarity and intramolecular bonding. Nevertheless, there are few software options to create these projections. We have developed a web-based application that has several futures to create, customize and export these projections and is freely available at http://lbqp.unb.br/NetWheels.

O presente trabalho teve por objetivo avaliar os efeitos da aplicação de extrato húmico solúvel em água (EHSA), biofertilizante Hortbio® (HORT) e a combinação dos dois produtos sobre o crescimento vegetativo, indicador fisiológico (medida do teor de clorofila) e a capacidade de absorção de nutrientes em mudas de guanandi (Callophyllum brasiliense). A adição isolada ou em conjunto de EHSA e HORT não alterou a altura das mudas, o número de folhas, a matéria seca foliar e radicular e a área radicular e foliar durante a fase inicial de crescimento em viveiro. Entretanto, os teores de clorofila e N total aumentaram significativamente nas mudas que receberam os tratamentos HORT e EHSA+HORT. Além disso, a adição de HORT resultou em maiores teores de S, Zn, B, Mg, Mn e Cu nas plantas, enquanto a aplicação do ESHA aumentou os teores de K, Mg, S e B. Os teores de P e Ca não tiveram seus teores alterados pela aplicação dos tratamentos, mas a adição do EHSA e ESHA+HORT reduziram significativamente a absorção de Cu, Fe, Mn e Zn.Effects of water-soluble humic extract and biofertilizer on development of Callophyllum brasiliense seedlingsThe objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of water-soluble humic extract (EHSA), Hortbio® biofertilizer (HORT) and both compounds combination (EHSA+HORT) on vegetative growth, nutrient absorption and chlorophyll levels in guanandi (Callophyllum brasiliense) seedlings. Isolated and combined additions of EHSA and HORT did not affect seedlings height, number of leaves, leaf and root dry matter and leaf area during early stages of seedling growth. However, HORT and EHSA+HORT treatments increased chlorophyll levels and total N content. Addition of HORT resulted in S, Zn, Mg, Mn and Cu increases in the seedlings leaves, while ESHA application increased K, Mg, S and B. P and Ca levels were not altered by the treatments, however, addition of EHSA and EHSA+HORT reduced significantly the absorption of Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn.Index terms: Forestry production; Guanandi; Vegetative growth

Burkholderia silvatlantica and H. seropedicae in RP-enriched compost may represent an important biotechnological tool to reduce the overall time required for composting and increase the supply of P from poorly soluble sources. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

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Sex differences in the brain of mammals range from neuroarchitecture through cognition to cellular metabolism. The hippocampus, a structure mostly associated with learning and memory, presents high vulnerability to neurodegeneration and aging. Therefore, we explored basal sex-related differences in the proteome of organotypic hippocampal slice culture, a major in vitro model for studying the cellular and molecular mechanisms related to neurodegenerative disorders. Results suggest a greater prevalence of astrocytic metabolism in females and significant neuronal metabolism in males. The preference for glucose use in glycolysis, pentose phosphate pathway and glycogen metabolism in females and high abundance of mitochondrial respiration subunits in males support this idea. An overall upregulation of lipid metabolism was observed in females. Upregulation of proteins responsible for neuronal glutamate and GABA synthesis, along with synaptic associated proteins, were observed in males. In general, the significant spectrum of pathways known to predominate in neurons or astrocytes, together with the well-known neuronal and glial markers observed, revealed sex-specific metabolic differences in the hippocampus. TEM qualitative analysis might indicate a greater presence of mitochondria at CA1 synapses in females. These findings are crucial to a better understanding of how sex chromosomes can influence the physiology of cultured hippocampal slices and allow us to gain insights into distinct responses of males and females on neurological diseases that present a sex-biased incidence.

Nanoparticles toxicity and cellular uptake are substantial factors that regulate the utility of nanoparticles for biomedical applications in diagnostic imaging and therapy. In this work, the cellular uptake of pristine carbon nano-onions (CNOs) produced by submerged arc discharge was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis. Carbon nano-onions were localized within early and late endosomes of human keratinocyte cells. TEM images suggest the possible degradation of these structures, in late endosomes of keratinocyte cells after 24 h. Proteomic shotgun analysis revealed that carbon nano-onions cause statistically significant protein abundance changes in a total of 168 proteins. Most of the differentially expressed proteins are involved in biological processes such as metabolic, cellular and immune system processes. Treated cells showed increased expression of clathrin heavy chain 1, calnexin and isoforms β/α, ε and σ 14-3-3 protein, which are related to clathrin-mediated endocytosis. Thus changes in protein abundance concerning clathrin-mediated endocytosis may suggest this as a plausible way by which the carbon nano-onions intracellular traffic occurs.

Waste from the beneficiation of fish was composted with crushed grass aiming to characterize their chemical composition and investigate the possibility of the use of the final compost as source of humic acids (HA) able to stimulate the growth of lettuce. Compost presented pH value, C/N ratio, and electrical conductivity that allow its use as an organic fertilizer. The element content was present in the following order of abundance in the compost: P > Ca > N > Mg > K > Fe > Zn > Mn > Mo > Cu, and the humus composition was similar to that observed in others kind of organic residues composted. The high content of oxygen pointed out a high level of oxidation of HA, in line with the predominance of phenolic acidity in the functional groups. The C-NMR spectra showed marked resonances due to the presence of lipids and other materials resistant to degradation as methoxy substituent and N-alkyl groups. A concentration of 20 mg L HA increased significantly both dry and wet root matter in lettuce but the CO assimilation, stomatal conductance, and number of lateral roots of the plants were not affected. However, increases of 64% in the water-use efficiency was observed due to the HA addition, probably related to the root morphology alteration which resulted in 1.6-fold increase of lateral root average length and due to the higher H extrusion activity. Reuse of residues from the fish beneficiation activity by composting may represent a safe tool to increase the value of recycled organic residues and generate HA with potential use as plant growth stimulants.

The use of an ordinary webcam to detect luminescence in continuous flow analysis microsystems is described, as well as evaluation of the proposed strategy for determining acetaminophen in tablets and to assess the hardness of mineral waters.