Methodology for Estimating Streamflow by Water Balance and Rating Curve Methods Based on Logistic Regression

Both water balance (WB) and rating curve (RC) are methods for estimating streamflow. The first is mostly used to estimate reservoir outflows, while the second is usually adopted in hydrometeorological network streamflow gauges. While WB uses hourly collected data, the RC estimates streamflow using current water level and extrapolation techniques. The objective of this study was to analyze variations in the reservoir’s hourly outflow at Queimado Hydroelectric Power Plant (HPP Queimado) and to propose a method to evaluate whether the estimate of the daily outflows, obtained by the WB method, is similar to the flow values obtained at a conventional station. The logistic regression (LR) model was used because it is a method that adopts binary, categorically dependent variables to identify the event of interest. The results showed that the values of streamflow, obtained from an average of two daily readings, were a good representation of the flows in the region. The LR was able to identify atypical data, especially in the rainy season. This means that data consistency analysis can be faster and safer, when adequately employed and considering the proposed conditions, contributing to both management policies and the management of water resources.

     

Current advances concerning the most cited metal ions doped bioceramics and silicate-based bioactive glasses for bone tissue engineering

Studies related to biomaterials that stimulate the repair of living tissue have increased considerably, improving the quality of many people's lives that require surgery due to traumatic accidents, bone diseases, bone defects, and reconstructions. Among these biomaterials, bioceramics and bioactive glasses (BGs) have proved to be suitable for coating materials, cement, scaffolds, and nanoparticles, once they present good biocompatibility and degradability, able to generate osteoconduction on the surrounding tissue. However, the role of biomaterials in hard tissue engineering is not restricted to a structural replacement or for guiding tissue regeneration. Nowadays, it is expected that biomaterials develop a multifunctional role when implanted, orchestrating the process of tissue regeneration and providing to the body the capacity to heal itself. In this way, the incorporation of specific metal ions in bioceramics and BGs structure, including magnesium, silver, strontium, lithium, copper, iron, zinc, cobalt, and manganese are currently receiving enhanced interest as biomaterials for biomedical applications. When an ion is incorporated into the bioceramic structure, a new category of material is created, which has several unique properties that overcome the disadvantages of primitive material and favors its use in different biomedical applications. The doping can enhance handling properties, angiogenic and osteogenic performance, and antimicrobial activity. Therefore, this review aims to summarize the effect of selected metal ion dopants into bioceramics and silicate-based BGs in bone tissue engineering. Furthermore, new applications for doped bioceramics and BGs are highlighted, including cancer treatment and drug delivery.     

Recent Biophysical Issues About the Preparation of Solute-Filled Lipid Vesicles

Here we report some recent biophysical issues on the preparation of solute-filled lipid vesicles and their relevance to the construction of “synthetic cells.” First, we introduce the “semi-synthetic minimal cells” as the liposome-based cell-like systems, which contain a minimal number of biomolecules required to display simple and complex biological functions. Next, we focus on recent aspects related to the construction of synthetic cells. Emphasis is given to the interplay between the methods of synthetic cell preparation and the physics of solute encapsulation. We briefly introduce the notion of structural and compositional “diversity” in synthetic cell populations.     

ACE2, the Receptor that Enables Infection by SARS-CoV-2: Biochemistry,Structure, Allostery and Evaluation of the Potential Development of ACE2 Modulators

Angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is the human receptor that interacts with the spike protein of coronaviruses, including the one that produced the 2020 coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). Thus, ACE2 is a potential target for drugs that disrupt the interaction of human cells with SARS-CoV-2 to abolish infection. There is also interest in drugs that inhibit or activate ACE2, that is, for cardiovascular disorders or colitis. Compounds binding at alternative sites could allosterically affect the interaction with the spike protein. Herein, we review biochemical, chemical biology, and structural information on ACE2, including the recent cryoEM structures of full-length ACE2. We conclude that ACE2 is very dynamic and that allosteric drugs could be developed to target ACE2. At the time of the 2020 pandemic, we suggest that available ACE2 inhibitors or activators in advanced development should be tested for their ability to allosterically displace the interaction between ACE2 and the spike protein.     

Bioinformatic characterization of the extracellular lipases from Kluyveromyces marxianus

Lipases are hydrolytic enzymes that break the ester bonds of triglycerides, generating free fatty acids and glycerol. Extracellular lipase activity has been reported for the nonconventional yeast Kluyveromyces marxianus, grown in olive oil as a substrate, and the presence of at least eight putative lipases has been detected in its genome. However, to date, there is no experimental evidence on the physiological role of the putative lipases nor their structural and catalytic properties. In this study, a bioinformatic analysis of the genes of the putative lipases from K. marxianus L-2029 was performed, particularly identifying and characterizing the extracellular expected enzymes, due to their biotechnological relevance. The amino acid sequence of 10 putative lipases, obtained by in silico translation, ranged between 389 and 773 amino acids. Two of the analysed putative proteins showed a signal peptide, 25 and 33 amino acids long for KmYJR107Wp and KmLIP3p, and a molecular weight of 44.53 and 58.23 kDa, respectively. The amino acid alignment of KmLIP3p and KmYJR107Wp with the crystallized lipases from a patatin and the YlLip2 lipase from Yarrowia lipolytica, respectively, revealed the presence of the hydrolase characteristic motifs. From the 3D models of putative extracellular K. marxianus L-2029 lipases, the conserved pentapeptide of each was determined, being GTSMG for KmLIP3p and GHSLG for KmYJR107Wp; besides, the genes of these two enzymes (LIP3 and YJR107W) are apparently regulated by oleate response elements. The phylogenetic analysis of all K. marxianus lipases revealed evolutionary affinities with lipases from abH15.03, abH23.01, and abH23.02 families.