The Characterization of a Novel PrMADS11 Transcription Factor from Pinus radiata Induced Early in Bent Pine Stem.

A novel MADS-box transcription factor from Pinus radiata D. Don was characterized. PrMADS11 encodes a protein of 165 amino acids for a MADS-box transcription factor belonging to group II, related to the MIKC protein structure. PrMADS11 was differentially expressed in the stems of pine trees in response to 45° inclination at early times (1 h). Arabidopsis thaliana was stably transformed with a 35S::PrMADS11 construct in an effort to identify the putative targets of PrMADS11. A massive transcriptome analysis revealed 947 differentially expressed genes: 498 genes were up-regulated, and 449 genes were down-regulated due to the over-expression of PrMADS11. The gene ontology analysis highlighted a cell wall remodeling function among the differentially expressed genes, suggesting the active participation of cell wall modification required during the response to vertical stem loss. In addition, the phenylpropanoid pathway was also indicated as a PrMADS11 target, displaying a marked increment in the expression of the genes driven to the biosynthesis of monolignols. The EMSA assays confirmed that PrMADS11 interacts with CArG-box sequences. This TF modulates the gene expression of several molecular pathways, including other TFs, as well as the genes involved in cell wall remodeling. The increment in the lignin content and the genes involved in cell wall dynamics could be an indication of the key role of PrMADS11 in the response to trunk inclination.

An approach for searching genes in signaling pathways or gene-gene interaction networks related to Hypertension in the Mexican population.

INTRODUCTION: The selection of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to evaluate the genetic susceptibility in complex traits is often conducted in isolation, without considering the entire set of genes. Incorporating signaling pathways or gene-gene interaction search may provide a more comprehensive approach to selecting SNP candidates for further study. OBJECTIVE: To propose a systematic procedure for identifying SNPs candidates with complex traits such as hypertension and blood pressure. METHODS: Sequential stages to SNPs selection: 1) literature review to identify SNPs, following the PRISMA methodology, 2) identification and selection of signaling pathways and selection of gene-gene interaction networks using the STRING software, and 3) application of specific criteria for SNPs candidates, including: a) SNPs with minor allele frequency > 5% in the target population, b) SNPs located within genes involved in three or more signaling pathways, and c) SNPs that are not in linkage disequilibrium, with a D'or r2 value < 0.8. RESULTS: Stage 1) A total of 44 publications were selected, providing information on 230 genes evaluated with blood pressure. Stage 2) Using the STRING software, we selected 7 signaling pathways with a false discovery rate < 0.0001 and strength ≥ 0.8; and we identified 16 genes belonging to gene-gene interaction networks, six of them share ≥ 3 signaling pathways. Stage 3) Finally, 7 SNPs were selected for genotyping in the Health Workers Cohort Study. We observed a positive association between SNPs with hypertension incidence in males (rs1130214, rs3807989) and females (rs5051, rs2493123). CONCLUSION: Our methodological proposal may be a reliable way for selecting SNPs candidates to study complex traits.

The molecular chaperone cysteine string protein is required for monomeric SNARE proteins to assemble in trans-complexes during human sperm acrosomal exocytosis†.

Membrane fusion in sperm cells is crucial for acrosomal exocytosis and must be preserved to ensure fertilizing capacity. Evolutionarily conserved protein machinery regulates acrosomal exocytosis. Molecular chaperones play a vital role in spermatogenesis and post-testicular maturation. Cysteine string protein (CSP) is a member of the Hsp40 co-chaperones, and the participation of molecular chaperones in acrosomal exocytosis is poorly understood. In particular, the role of CSP in acrosomal exocytosis has not been reported so far. Using western blot and indirect immunofluorescence, we show that CSP is present in human sperm, is palmitoylated, and predominantly bound to membranes. Moreover, using functional assays and transmission electron microscopy, we report that blocking the function of CSP avoided the assembly of trans-complexes and inhibited exocytosis. In summary, here, we describe the presence of CSP in human sperm and show that this protein has an essential role in membrane fusion during acrosomal exocytosis mediating the trans-SNARE complex assembly between the outer acrosomal and plasma membranes. In general, understanding CSP's role is critical in identifying new biomarkers and generating new rational-based approaches to treat male infertility.

Bio-Strings: A Relational Database Data-Type for Dealing with Large Biosequences.

DNA sequencers output a large set of very long biological data strings that we should persist in databases rather than basic text file systems. Many different data models and database management systems (DBMS) may deal with both storage and efficiency issues regarding genomic datasets. Specifically, there is a need for handling strings with variable sizes while keeping their biological meaning. Relational database management systems (RDBMS) provide several data types that could be further explored for the genomics context. Besides, they enforce integrity, consistency, and enable good abstractions for more conventional data. We propose the relational text data type to represent and manipulate biological sequences and their derivatives. We present a logical schema for representing the core biological information, which may be inferred from a given biological conceptual data schema and the corresponding function manipulations. We implement and evaluate these stored functions into an actual RDBMS for both efficacy and efficiency. We show that it is possible to enforce basic and complex requirements for the genomic domain. We claim that the well-established relational text data type in RDBMS may appropriately handle the representation and persistency of biological sequences. We base our approach on the idea of domain-specific abstract data types that can store data with semantically defined functions while hiding those details from non-technical end-users.

Molecular Human Targets of Bioactive Alkaloid-Type Compounds from Tabernaemontana cymose Jacq.

Alkaloids are a group of secondary metabolites that have been widely studied for the discovery of new drugs due to their properties on the central nervous system and their anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anti-cancer activities. Molecular docking was performed for 10 indole alkaloids identified in the ethanol extract of Tabernaemontana cymosa Jacq. with 951 human targets involved in different diseases. The results were analyzed through the KEGG and STRING databases, finding the most relevant physiological associations for alkaloids. The molecule 5-oxocoronaridine proved to be the most active molecule against human proteins (binding energy affinity average = -9.2 kcal/mol) and the analysis of the interactions between the affected proteins pointed to the PI3K/ Akt/mTOR signaling pathway as the main target. The above indicates that indole alkaloids from T. cymosa constitute a promising source for the search and development of new treatments against different types of cancer.

PL-TOON: A Low-Cost Experimental Platform for Teaching and Research on Decentralized Cooperative Control.

In this paper, we present the development of a low-cost multi-agent system experimental platform for teaching, and research purposes. The platform consists of train-like autonomous agents equipped with local speed estimation, distance sensing to their nearest predecessor, and wireless communications with other agents and a central coordinator. The individual agents can be used for simple PID experiments in a classroom or laboratory setting, while a collection of agents are capable of performing decentralized platooning with cooperative adaptive cruise control in a variety of settings, the latter being the main goal of the platform. The agents are built from low cost components and programmed with open source software, enabling teaching experiences and experimental work with a larger number of agents that would otherwise be possible with other existing solutions. Additionally, we illustrate with experimental results some of the teaching activities that the platform is capable of performing.

Cordel para apoiar mães com filhos internados em unidade neonatal durante a pandemia de covid-19 / Literatura de cordel para apoyar a madres con hijos internados en unidades neonatales durante la pandemia de covid-19 / String literature to support mothers with children admitted to a neonatal unit during the covid-19 pandemic

RESUMO Objetivo: construir uma literatura de cordel para apoiar mães com filhos internados em unidade neonatal durante a pandemia de covid-19. Método: pesquisa metodológica realizada em junho de 2020 em duas etapas: 1. Levantamento bibliográfico, com buscas no Portal de Boas Práticas em Saúde da Mulher, da Criança e do Adolescente da Fiocruz e em bases de dados internacionais. Foi utilizado instrumento para análise dos dados; 2. Elaboração do cordel: elaboração textual e confecção das estrofes. Resultados: o cordel construído, "Pequeno Milagre de Mainha", é constituído por 13 septilhas (estrofes com sete versos) e aborda em seu conteúdo as emoções de mães com filhos internados em unidade neonatal durante a pandemia covid-19. Conclusão: o cordel visa ser um apoio às instituições de saúde que dispõem de Unidade de Terapia Intensiva Neonatal no que concerne à saúde mental das mães e orientações durante a pandemia de covid-19.

RESUMEN Objetivo: elaborar literatura de cordel para apoyar a madres con hijos internados en unidades neonatales durante la pandemia de COVID-19. Método: investigación metodológica realizada en junio de 2020, en dos etapas: 1. Levantamiento bibliográfico, en el cual se realizaron búsquedas en el Portal de Buenas Prácticas en Salud de la Mujer, del Niño y del Adolescente, de la Fundación Fiocruz, y en las bases de datos SciELO, BDENF y LILACS. Se utilizó un instrumento para el análisis de los datos; 2. Elaboración del cordel, con elaboración textual y confección de las estrofas. Resultados: el cordel elaborado, "Mainha e seu Milagre" ("Mamá y su Milagro"), está compuesto por 13 septillas, estrofas de siete versos, y aborda en su contenido las emociones de madres con hijos internados en unidades neonatales durante la pandemia de COVID-19. Conclusión: el cordel pretende servir de apoyo a las instituciones de salud que disponen de Unidades de Cuidados Intensivos Neonatales en lo que concierne a la salud mental de las madres y a las pautas de orientación durante la pandemia de COVID-19.

ABSTRACT Objective: to build string literature to support mothers with children hospitalized in a neonatal unit during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: a methodological research study conducted in June 2020, in two stages: 1. Bibliographic survey, in which searches were conducted in the Portal of Good Practices in Women's, Children's and Adolescents' Health (Portal de Boas Práticas em Saúde da Mulher, da Criança e do Adolescente) of the Fiocruz Foundation and in the SciELO, BDENF and LILACS databases. An instrument was used for data analysis; 2. Elaboration of the string, with textual elaboration and production of the stanzas. Results: the string built, "Mainha e Seu Milagre" ("Mum and Her Miracle"), consists of 13 "septilhas", stanzas with seven verses, and addresses in its content the emotions of mothers with children hospitalized in a neonatal unit during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: the string aims at providing support to the health institutions that have a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit regarding the mental health of the mothers and at offering guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic.

gsufsort: constructing suffix arrays, LCP arrays and BWTs for string collections.

BACKGROUND: The construction of a suffix array for a collection of strings is a fundamental task in Bioinformatics and in many other applications that process strings. Related data structures, as the Longest Common Prefix array, the Burrows-Wheeler transform, and the document array, are often needed to accompany the suffix array to efficiently solve a wide variety of problems. While several algorithms have been proposed to construct the suffix array for a single string, less emphasis has been put on algorithms to construct suffix arrays for string collections. RESULT: In this paper we introduce gsufsort, an open source software for constructing the suffix array and related data indexing structures for a string collection with N symbols in O(N) time. Our tool is written in ANSI/C and is based on the algorithm gSACA-K (Louza et al. in Theor Comput Sci 678:22-39, 2017), the fastest algorithm to construct suffix arrays for string collections. The tool supports large fasta, fastq and text files with multiple strings as input. Experiments have shown very good performance on different types of strings. CONCLUSIONS: gsufsort is a fast, portable, and lightweight tool for constructing the suffix array and additional data structures for string collections.

Uso de técnica adaptada para cavotomia em cão com feocromocitoma associado a trombo neoplásico / Adapted cavotomy technique for pheochromocytoma associated tumor thrombi in a dog

Background: In dogs pheochromocytoma usually compress and invade into the adjacent vessels and structures, whichmay lead to the occurrence of caudal vena caval tumor thrombi. The surgical approach in these cases requires adrenalectomy with caval thrombectomy. Conventionally, tourniquets and partial occlusion clamp are used to reduce intraoperativeblood loss, but in dogs with a large thrombus associated to a great local tumor invasion, the traditional technique may behindered. The aim of this study was to report the use of a purse-string suture during venotomy of the caudal vena cava forthrombectomy, as an alternative to tourniquet and partial occlusion clamp.Case: An 11-year-old male Daschound breed dog, was referred for evaluation because of the appearance of small blackenednodules in the ventral abdomen. During a search for metastatic lesions with abdominal ultrasound, the right adrenal wasidentified with significant volume increase, and presence of tumor-associate circular formation that appeared to invade thecaudal vena cava, suggestive of neoplastic invasion or thrombus. Abdominal computed tomography showed caudal venacava in its hepatic portion presenting considerable increase in diameter, with caudal dilation and presence of hypoattenuatingmaterial in its lumen. Right adrenal gland with rounded appearance and regular borders, heterogeneous parenchyma andjuxtaposed caudal vena cava suggesting invasion of this, confirming the sonographic findings. During exploratory celiotomy,adherence of the adrenal mass to the right renal vessels and invasion of the caudal vena cava were observed, leading to theneed of nephrectomy and venotomy for thrombectomy. To perform the venotomy, a Rumel tourniquet was placed looselyaround the vena cava only caudal to the invasion point of the tumor thrombus, cranially, tourniquet application was notpossible due to the presence of a large thrombus extending into the intrahepatic cava...(AU)

Uso de técnica adaptada para cavotomia em cão com feocromocitoma associado a trombo neoplásico / Adapted cavotomy technique for pheochromocytoma associated tumor thrombi in a dog

Background: In dogs pheochromocytoma usually compress and invade into the adjacent vessels and structures, whichmay lead to the occurrence of caudal vena caval tumor thrombi. The surgical approach in these cases requires adrenalectomy with caval thrombectomy. Conventionally, tourniquets and partial occlusion clamp are used to reduce intraoperativeblood loss, but in dogs with a large thrombus associated to a great local tumor invasion, the traditional technique may behindered. The aim of this study was to report the use of a purse-string suture during venotomy of the caudal vena cava forthrombectomy, as an alternative to tourniquet and partial occlusion clamp.Case: An 11-year-old male Daschound breed dog, was referred for evaluation because of the appearance of small blackenednodules in the ventral abdomen. During a search for metastatic lesions with abdominal ultrasound, the right adrenal wasidentified with significant volume increase, and presence of tumor-associate circular formation that appeared to invade thecaudal vena cava, suggestive of neoplastic invasion or thrombus. Abdominal computed tomography showed caudal venacava in its hepatic portion presenting considerable increase in diameter, with caudal dilation and presence of hypoattenuatingmaterial in its lumen. Right adrenal gland with rounded appearance and regular borders, heterogeneous parenchyma andjuxtaposed caudal vena cava suggesting invasion of this, confirming the sonographic findings. During exploratory celiotomy,adherence of the adrenal mass to the right renal vessels and invasion of the caudal vena cava were observed, leading to theneed of nephrectomy and venotomy for thrombectomy. To perform the venotomy, a Rumel tourniquet was placed looselyaround the vena cava only caudal to the invasion point of the tumor thrombus, cranially, tourniquet application was notpossible due to the presence of a large thrombus extending into the intrahepatic cava...

Cuando el Nombre-del-Padre dejó de ser un significante / When the Name-of-the-Father ceased to be a significant

El presente trabajo busca determinar el motivo por el que el concepto de Nombre-del-Padre es modi!cado por Lacan en su obra ¿Qué problemas buscaba responder Lacan al momento de concebirlo como un signi!cante y cuáles los que enfrenta a partir de los años ´70? ¿Qué implicación posee la pluralización del concepto y su posterior estabilización en la !gura de cordel para la lectura psicoanalítica de la clínica psicopatológica?

The present work seeks to determine the reason why the concept of Name-of-the-Father is modi!ed by Lacan in his work. What problems sought to respond Lacan at the time of conceiving it as a signi!cant and which faces from the 70's? What implication has the pluralization of the concept and its subsequent stabilization in the !gure of string for the psychoanalytic reading of the psychopathological clinic?

Genome Rearrangements on Multigenomic Models: Applications of Graph Convexity Problems.

Genome rearrangements are events where large blocks of DNA exchange pieces during evolution. The analysis of such events is a tool for understanding evolutionary genomics, in whose context many rearrangement distances have been proposed, based on finding the minimum number of rearrangements to transform one genome into another, using some predefined operation. However, when more than two genomes are considered, we have new challenging problems. Studying such problems from a combinatorial point of view has been shown to be a useful tool to approach such problems, for example, the reconstruction of phylogenetic trees. We focus on genome rearrangement problems related to graph convexity. Such an approach is in connection with some other well-known studies on multigenomic models, for example, those based on the median and on the closest string. We propose an association between graph convexities and genome rearrangements in such a way that graph convexity problems deal with input sets of vertices and try to answer questions concerning the closure of such inputs. The concept of closure is useful for studies on genome rearrangement by suggesting mechanisms to reduce the genomic search space. Regarding the computational complexity, and considering the Hamming distance on strings, we solve the following problems: decide if a given set is convex; compute the interval and the convex hull of a given set; and determine the convexity number, interval number, and hull number of a Hamming graph. All such problems are solved for three types of convexities: geodetic, monophonic, and P3. Considering the Cayley distance on permutations, we solve the convexity number and interval determination problems for the geodetic convexity.

Silencing the OCT4-PG1 pseudogene reduces OCT-4 protein levels and changes characteristics of the multidrug resistance phenotype in chronic myeloid leukemia.

Cancer stem cells show epigenetic plasticity and intrinsic resistance to anti-cancer therapy, rendering capable of initiating cancer relapse and progression. Transcription factor OCT-4 regulates various pathways in stem cells, but its expression can be regulated by pseudogenes. This work evaluated how OCT4-PG1 pseudogene can affect OCT-4 expression and mechanisms related to the multidrug resistance (MDR) phenotype in FEPS cells. Considering that OCT-4 protein is a transcription factor that regulates expression of ABC transporters, level of gene expression, activity of ABC proteins and cell sensitivity to chemotherapy were evaluated after OCT4-PG1 silencing. Besides we set up a STRING network. Results showed that after OCT4-PG1 silencing, cells expressed OCT-4 gene and protein to a lesser extent than mock cells. The gene and protein expression of ABCB1, as well as its activity were reduced. On the other hand, ALOX5 and ABCC1 genes was increased even as the activity of this transporter. Moreover, the silencing cells become sensitive to two chemotherapics tested. The network structure demonstrated that OCT4-PG1 protein interacts directly with OCT-4, SOX2, and NANOG and indirectly with ABC transporters. We conclude that OCT4-PG1 pseudogene plays a key role in the regulation OCT-4 transcription factor, which alters MDR phenotype in the FEPS cell line.

Proteomic Analyses Reveal New Insights on the Antimicrobial Mechanisms of Chitosan Biopolymers and Their Nanosized Particles against Escherichia coli.

The well-known antimicrobial effects of chitosan (CS) polymers make them a promising adjuvant in enhancing antibiotic effectiveness against human pathogens. However, molecular CS antimicrobial mechanisms remain unclear, despite the insights presented in the literature. Thus, the aim of the present study was to depict the molecular effects implicated in the interaction of low or medium molecular mass CS polymers and their nanoparticle-counterparts against Escherichia coli. The differential E. coli proteomes sensitized to either CS polymers or nanoparticles were investigated by nano liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (micro-LC-MS/MS). A total of 127 proteins differentially expressed in CS-sensitized bacteria were predominantly involved in (i) structural functions associated to the stability of outer membrane, (ii) increment of protein biosynthesis due to high abundance of ribosomal proteins and (iii) activation of biosynthesis of amino acid and purine metabolism pathways. Antibacterial activity of CS polymers/nanoparticles seems to be triggered by the outer bacterial membrane disassembly, leading to increased protein biosynthesis by diverting the metabolic flux to amino acid and purine nucleotides supply. Understanding CS-antibacterial molecular effects can be valuable to optimize the use of CS-based nanomaterials in food decontamination, and may represent a breakthrough on CS nanocapsules-drug delivery devices for novel antibiotics, as the chitosan-disassembly of bacteria cell membranes can potentialize antibiotic effects.

New insights on Ethambutol Targets in Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

BACKGROUND: In recent years, very few effective drugs against Mycobacterium tuberculosis have emerged, which motivates the research with drugs already used in the treatment of tuberculosis. Ethambutol is a bacteriostatic drug that affects cell wall integrity, but the effects of this drug on bacilli are not fully exploited. OBJECTIVE: Based on the need to better investigate the complex mechanism of action of ethambutol, our study presented the proteome profile of M. tuberculosis after different times of ethambutol exposure, aiming to comprehend the dynamics of bacilli response to its effects. M. tuberculosis was exposed to ½ MIC of ethambutol at 24 and 48 hours. The proteins were identified by MALDI-TOF/TOF. RESULTS: The main protein changes occurred in metabolic proteins as dihydrolipoyl dehydrogenase (Rv0462), glutamine synthetase1 (Rv2220), electron transfer flavoprotein subunit beta (Rv3029c) and adenosylhomocysteinase (Rv3248c). CONCLUSION: Considering the functions of these proteins, our results support that the intermediary metabolism and respiration were affected by ethambutol and this disturbance provided proteins that could be explored as additional targets for this drug.

String test: A new tool for tuberculosis diagnosis and drug-resistance detection in children.

Background: There is a critical need to improve the diagnostic accuracy of tuberculosis (TB) in children. Several techniques have been developed to improve the quality of sputum samples; however, these procedures are very unpleasant and invasive and require hospitalization and trained personnel. This study aims to explore the potential use of a new and noninvasive tool, "string test," for TB diagnosis in children and in adults not able to render sputum samples and at risk of developing multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB). Methods: Children with clinical suspicion of TB attending the pediatric consultation at the Cetrangolo or Cordero Hospitals and adults suspected of MDR-TB and unable to produce sputum attending the Infectious Disease Unit of Cetrangolo Hospital were included in this study. Subjects and Methods: The "string test" is a string that is swallowed by the patients and exposed to gastrointestinal secretions that were late analyzed for TB diagnosis and drug-resistance detection by GenoType MTBDRplus. MedCalc software was used to perform statistical analysis. Results: This technique could be applied on 62.1% of selected children. About 11 (30.6%) children were diagnosed as TB cases, 8 (22.2%) from gastric aspirate and using the "string test." Six out of 19 adults were also diagnosed. Genotype directly on the string specimen detected two MDR-TB in adults and two isoniazid-resistant cases before obtaining the isolate. Conclusion: This test was safe, cheap, and easily implemented without requiring hospitalization. This research could represent a significant step forward to diagnose and rapidly detect drug-resistant TB in children.

A novel approach to approximate order preserving matching / Una nueva aproximación al emparejamiento con preservación de orden / Uma nova abordagem al emparelhamento com preservação de ordem

Abstract A problem with important applications in stock market analysis and music information retrieval is order-preserving matching. This problem is a recently introduced variant of the string matching problem that searches for substrings in the text whose natural representation matches the natural representation of the pattern. The natural representation of a string X is a string that contains the rankings of the characters occurring at each position of X. Then, order-preserving matching regardsthe internal structure of the strings rather than their absolute values. But both stock market analysis and music information retrieval require more flexibility: not only the substrings with exactly the same structure are of interest, but also the ones that are similar. In this paper, we propose an approximate version of order-preserving matching based on the δγ- distances that permit an individual error between the ranking of corresponding symbols (bounded by δ) and a global error of all the positions (bounded by γ). We present an algorithm that solves this problem in O(nm+m log m). Experimental results verify the efficiency of the proposed algorithm.

Resumen Un problema importante en el análisis de mercado de valores y la recuperación de información musical es el empareja- miento con preservación de orden. Este problema es una variante recientemente introducida del problema de empareja- miento de cadenas en el que busca subcadenas en el texto cuya representación natural coincide con la representación natural del patrón. La representación natural de una cadena X es una cadena que contiene los rankings de los caracteres que ocurren en cada posición de X. Entonces, el emparejamiento con preservación de orden considera la estructura inter- na de las cadenas en lugar de sus valores absolutos. Pero tanto en el análisis de mercado de valores como en la recuperación de información musical, se requiere más flexibilidad: no sólo las subcadenas con exactamente la misma estructura son de interés, sino también las que son similares. En este artículo se propone una versión aproximada del problema de emparejamiento con preservación de orden basada en las distancias δγ que permiten un error individual entre el ranking de los símbolos correspondientes (delimitada por δ) y un error global de todas los rankings (delimitadas por γ). Se presenta un algoritmo que resuelve este problema en O(nm+m log m). Los resultados experimentales verifican la eficiencia del algoritmo propuesto.

Resumo Um grande problema na análise do mercado de ações e na recuperação de informações musicais é o emparelhamento com a preservação de ordem. Esse problema é uma variante recentemente introduzida do problema de correspondência de cordas que procura por substrings no texto cuja representação natural corresponde à representação natural do padrão. A representação natural de uma corda X é uma corda que contém as classificações dos caracteres que ocorrem em cada posição de X. Então, a correspondência de preservação de ordem considera a estrutura interna das cordas em vez de seus valores absolutos. Mas na análise do mercado de ações, bem como na recuperação da informação musical, é necessária mais flexibilidade: não são apenas as sub-cordas com exatamente a mesma estrutura que interessam, mas também as que são semelhantes. Neste artigo, propomos uma versão aproximada da emparelhamento com preservação de ordem com base nas distâncias δγ- que permitem um erro individual entre a classificação de símbolos correspondentes (delimitada por δ) e um erro global de Todas as posições (delimitadas por γ). Apresentamos um algoritmo que resolve este problema em O(nm+m log m). Os resultados experimentais verificaram a eficiência do algoritmo proposto.

Cooperative problem solving in giant otters (Pteronura brasiliensis) and Asian small-clawed otters (Aonyx cinerea).

Cooperative problem solving has gained a lot of attention over the past two decades, but the range of species studied is still small. This limits the possibility of understanding the evolution of the socio-cognitive underpinnings of cooperation. Lutrinae show significant variations in socio-ecology, but their cognitive abilities are not well studied. In the first experimental study of otter social cognition, we presented two species-giant otters and Asian small-clawed otters-with a cooperative problem-solving task. The loose string task requires two individuals to simultaneously pull on either end of a rope in order to access food. This task has been used with a larger number of species (for the most part primates and birds) and thus allows for wider cross-species comparison. We found no differences in performance between species. Both giant otters and Asian small-clawed otters were able to solve the task successfully when the coordination requirements were minimal. However, when the temporal coordination demands were increased, performance decreased either due to a lack of understanding of the role of a partner or due to difficulty inhibiting action. In conclusion, two species of otters show some ability to cooperate, quite similar to most other species presented with the same task. However, to draw further conclusions and more nuanced comparisons between the two otter species, further studies with varied methodologies will be necessary.

Proteomic profile of Mycobacterium tuberculosis after eupomatenoid-5 induction reveals potential drug targets.

AIM: We investigated a proteome profile, protein-protein interaction and morphological changes of Mycobacterium tuberculosis after different times of eupomatenoid-5 (EUP-5) induction to evaluate the cellular response to the drug-induced damages. METHODS: The bacillus was induced to sub-minimal inhibitory concentration of EUP-5 at 12 h, 24 h and 48 h. The proteins were separated by 2D gel electrophoresis, identified by LC/MS-MS. Scanning electron microscopy and Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes/Proteins analyses were performed. RESULTS: EUP-5 impacts mainly in M. tuberculosis proteins of intermediary metabolism and interactome suggests a multisite disturbance that contributes to bacilli death. Scanning electron microscopy revealed the loss of bacillary form. CONCLUSION: Some of the differentially expressed proteins have the potential to be drug targets such as citrate synthase (Rv0896), phosphoglycerate kinase (Rv1437), ketol-acid reductoisomerase (Rv3001c) and ATP synthase alpha chain (Rv1308).

Document retrieval on repetitive string collections.

Most of the fastest-growing string collections today are repetitive, that is, most of the constituent documents are similar to many others. As these collections keep growing, a key approach to handling them is to exploit their repetitiveness, which can reduce their space usage by orders of magnitude. We study the problem of indexing repetitive string collections in order to perform efficient document retrieval operations on them. Document retrieval problems are routinely solved by search engines on large natural language collections, but the techniques are less developed on generic string collections. The case of repetitive string collections is even less understood, and there are very few existing solutions. We develop two novel ideas, interleaved LCPs and precomputed document lists, that yield highly compressed indexes solving the problem of document listing (find all the documents where a string appears), top-k document retrieval (find the k documents where a string appears most often), and document counting (count the number of documents where a string appears). We also show that a classical data structure supporting the latter query becomes highly compressible on repetitive data. Finally, we show how the tools we developed can be combined to solve ranked conjunctive and disjunctive multi-term queries under the simple [Formula: see text] model of relevance. We thoroughly evaluate the resulting techniques in various real-life repetitiveness scenarios, and recommend the best choices for each case.