Emprego da citometria de fluxo na avaliação do perfil imunofenotípico de pacientes com leucemia linfocítica crônica

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) is a clonal proliferation of mature B lymphocytes characterized by indolent clinical course. Biologically this clonallity is characterized by low expression of surface immunoglobulin (sIg) with restriction to a single immunoglobulin light chain associated with high expression of CD5 antigen and positivity to B cell antigens lymphocytes such as CD19, CD20 and CD23 and negativity to FMC7. The immunological profile and morphological analysis of lymphoid cells are the main means for the differential diagnosis of B-CLL from other chronic lymphoproliferative diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression pattern of a variety of membrane antigens in leukemic cells originating from patients with B-CLL. In this study, peripheral blood samples from 80 patients with B-CLL were analyzed by multiparametric flow cytometry in addition to routine hematologic exams, using a panel of monoclonal antibodies (MoAb): CD45/CD14, CD3/CD19/CD45, CD4/CD8 / CD3, CD20/CD5/CD3, CD3/CD16-56/CD45, CD2/CD7, FMC7/CD23, CD103/CD22/CD20, HLADR/CD38, CD10/CD19, CD1a, CD11b and also IgM/gD, kappa and lambda immunoglobulin light chains for the detection of surface immunoglobulin and clonal restriction for immunoglobulin light chain. The Hematological data were obtained from the hematological analyzer and cytomorphological analysis in blood film stained by Leishmann. The study samples consisted of 45 men and 35 women, ages ranging from 55 to 84 years (mean 65 years). Complete white blood count showed count ranging from 10.0 to 42.0 x 109/l. (mean 50.0 x 109/l) and lymphocytes count greater than 5.0 x 109/l in all cases. The neoplastic cells displayed B-CLL phenotype (CD5+/CD19+/CD20+/HLADR+/CD23+) in the vast majority of the cases, associated to failed to stain for T cell markers (CD1a, CD2, CD4, CD3, CD7, CD8), CD103, CD14 and FMC7. Leukemic cells of most patients also expressed low intensity of IgM and IgD with restricted kappa light chain, in most cases (59,7%). This observation highlights the importance of immunophenotyping for correct diagnosis of chronic lymphoproliferative syndromes and the panel of MoAb used was sufficient for diagnostic confirmation of B-CLL

A expansão da agroindústria do mel no Rio Grande do Norte

The beekeeping activity has become in all regions of Brazil until the early 80s and from 2000 to beekeeping Northeast also has developed, becoming a major oil producing honey. The Rio Grande do Norte following these developments happened to occupy fourth place in the ranking of export of honey between the states of the Northeast in 2007. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to present a macro radiography of recent developments in the production chain of honey in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, organizing and discussing the information, collected in the period 2004 to 2007, as well as evaluating the prospect of the honey industry in order to provide a diagnosis able to identify opportunities and enhance the marketing of their products. From the methodological point of view, this study can be classified as a research study exploratory and descriptive by using questionnaires. The group of several studies has been productivity, production and market. Search results indicated the growth of industry in 4 years of activity by the number of beehives full and populated, infrastructure, production and marketing of the state. It can be said that beekeeping of Rio Grande do Norte, despite its potential for developing the activity comes in a different way when compared to other activities, because the actors who play to start the activity through training and to play with it in a professional manner, in addition to support staff who work in the industry

Medição de desempenho na cadeia de suprimentos da energia eólica: proposta de um conjunto de indicadores de desempenho

Performance measurement in highly competitive markets is a necessary measure for those who aim the top positions. The business performance measurement approach have reached relevant results in the literature, however, a different approach has recently appeared that broadened the perception of competition, where companies do not seek the competition among companies only, but also among supply chains. Brazilian Wind energy supply chain is living a structuring and expanding moment, with the major global players in the industry making investments in the country. This research aims to answer which are the key performance indicators that must be considered by the Brazilian wind energy sector companies, which are part in a broad perspective of supply chain competition. The research was executed in two steps: exploratory (literature review and a field research in the companies) and later a survey was conducted with the Brazilian Wind energy companies workers with the purpose to validate the performance indicators found in the exploratory step. The survey evaluated 40 performance indicators distributed among five major activities: Project prospection, building/execution, operation and maintenance, logistics and transverse processes, which summarize the performance of the entire supply chain, pointing the sinergy and the competitive level of the supply chain. The selected performance indicators reflect the high relevance of the costs dimension in the Brazilian energy companies performance, acting as a key performance indicator, is also indicates the limited performance management integration throughout the Brazilian wind energy supply chain

Avaliação preliminar da viabilidade de produção in vitro de um isolado brasileiro de baculovírus Spodoptera frugiperda MNPV

In vivo production of viral biopesticides is the major source of viral insecticides currently in the marketplace. However, this system presents limitations during production scale-up. For the Spodoptera frugiperda nucleopolyhedrovirus (SfMNPV), the insect used for replication has cannibalistic characteristics, thus production is even more difficult. Insect cells are commonly used for in vitro baculovirus production. Most of these cell lines are derived from Lepidoptera species. The Sf21 cell line is derived from Spodoptera frugiperda caterpillar ovarian tissue, and its clonal isolate Sf9 has been used for biopesticide production due to its ease of growth in suspension cultures. In this work, the in vitro production capabilities of a Brazilian SfMNPV isolate obtained from cornfields was evaluated. Comparison of polyhedra production was carried out using both Sf21 and Sf9 cells, based on volumetric and specific yields. Both cell lines were cultivated in Hyclone medium supplemented with different fetal bovine serum concentrations (2,5 and 5%). The best results were obtained using Sf9 cells supplemented with 5% serum. These results were further confirmed quantitively through kinetic parameter estimation for both cells lines and different serum concentrations. After seven successive passages, this system still presented high specific polyhedra production

Análise sísmica usando transformada de Curvelet

Oil prospecting is one of most complex and important features of oil industry Direct prospecting methods like drilling well logs are very expensive, in consequence indirect methods are preferred. Among the indirect prospecting techniques the seismic imaging is a relevant method. Seismic method is based on artificial seismic waves that are generated, go through the geologic medium suffering diffraction and reflexion and return to the surface where they are recorded and analyzed to construct seismograms. However, the seismogram contains not only actual geologic information, but also noise, and one of the main components of the noise is the ground roll. Noise attenuation is essential for a good geologic interpretation of the seismogram. It is common to study seismograms by using time-frequency transformations that map the seismic signal into a frequency space where it is easier to remove or attenuate noise. After that, data is reconstructed in the original space in such a way that geologic structures are shown in more detail. In addition, the curvelet transform is a new and effective spectral transformation that have been used in the analysis of complex data. In this work, we employ the curvelet transform to represent geologic data using basis functions that are directional in space. This particular basis can represent more effectively two dimensional objects with contours and lines. The curvelet analysis maps real space into frequencies scales and angular sectors in such way that we can distinguish in detail the sub-spaces where is the noise and remove the coefficients corresponding to the undesired data. In this work we develop and apply the denoising analysis to remove the ground roll of seismograms. We apply this technique to a artificial seismogram and to a real one. In both cases we obtain a good noise attenuation

Análise citogenética de células-tronco derivadas do subendotélio da veia umbilical humana

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are known as a population of multi-potential cells able to proliferate and differentiate into multiple mesodermal tissues including bone, cartilage, muscle, ligament, tendon, fat and stroma. Several applications of the study of EC can be emphasized the therapeutic techniques such as guided bone regeneration by implantation of EC in the affected site, without the need for bone grafts, using titanium as a vehicle. The process of cryopreservation is essential for the maintenance of cell cultures, since the cell line is frozen, it can be maintained in liquid nitrogen for an indefinite period and then thawed for therapeutic or experimental purposes. The aim of this study was to isolate a population of MSCs derived from the subendothelium of the umbilical vein human (MSCs-SUVH) to assess cytogenetic analysis by the possibility of appearance of chromosomal changes in two different situations: MSCs-SUVH regarding the process of cryopreservation and MSCs-SUVH grown on the surface of titanium. Flow cytometry analysis revealed that, this cell population was positive for the markers CD29, CD73 and CD90, but there was no expression of hematopoietic lineage markers, such as CD14, CD34 and CD45 and demonstrated capacity for osteogenic differentiation. The chromosomes obtained from the primary culture of MSCs-SUVH were analyzed by GTW banding technique, and results are described as guidelines to ISCN 2005. There was not the emergence of clonal chromosomal changes in the MSCs-SUVH in different situations analyzed. However one of the strings presented a balanced paracentric inversion, probably a cytogenetic constitutional alterations, which was present before and after the experimental situations that the MSCs-SUVH was submitted

Estrutura genética de populações de Amphobotrys ricini, agente causal do mofo cinzento da mamoneira

The gray mold, causal organism Amphobotrys ricini, is one of the major diseases of castor bean. Difficulties in managing plant disease arises form the limited understanding of the genetic structure of A. ricini, their complexity and variability make it difficult to control. Genetic structure can be used to infer the relative impact of different forces that influence the evolution of pathogen populations, that allow to predict the potencial for pathogen populations to envolve in agricultural ecosystems. Growers protect their crop by applying fungicides, but there aren t fungicides to provide significant control of gray mold of castor bean. The objectives of this work were use RAPD to determine the genetic structure of A. ricini subpopulations in Paraíba and assay the sensitivity of A. ricini isolates to azoxystrobin and carbendazim. To determine the genetic structure of A. ricini subpopulations in Paraíba, 23 isolates were colleted from two different geographic location (subpopulation). These isolates were analysed by RAPD using 22 random decamer primers, purchased from OPERON, produced a total of 80 markers polimorphics. The resulting matrixes were analysed using PopGene version 1.32. Sensitivity to azoxystrobin and carbendazim of 30 isolates, colleted form Paraíba and Alagoas, was estimated based on spore germination and colony growth inhibition. The stock solutions were added toV8 medium after sterilization to produce final concentrations of 0, 0.01, 0.1, 1, 10, and 100 µg/ml of carbendazim and 0, 0.001, 0.01, 0.1, 1, and 10 µg/ml of azoxystrobin. All statistical analyses were performed using SAS to estimate the dose that inhibited fungal growth by 50% (ED50 values). The genetic diversity within subpopulations (Hs=0,271) accounted for 92% of the total genetic diversity (Ht=0,293), while genetic diversity between subpopulations (Gst = 0,075) represented only 7,5%. The estimated number of migrants per generation (NM ) was 6,15. Nei s average gene identity across 80 RAPD loci was 0,9468. Individual ED50 values, for the 30 isolates screened for their sensitivity to azoxystrobin, ranged From a maximum of 0,168 µg/ml to a minimum of 0,0036 µg/ml. The ED50 values for carbendazim varied within the range of 0,026 to 0,316 µg/ml

Bioprospecção química da esponja callyspongia vaginalis (Callyspongiidae)

Recently, marine organisms have attracted attention because of the complexity and potent biological activity from your secondary metabolites. Our planet has 80% it surface covered by oceans and seas, therefore, housing a wide number of different forms of life, among them, the sponges. These sessile and filtrating animals, according to numerous researches, come showing like true chemistry factories. The substances from these animals, sometimes show as news targets to therapeutics agents, and some countries has already use them for treatment of some diseases. Further of the secondary metabolites, the polysaccharides of marine origin also have been target of studies, because the presence of the sulfates groups in its molecules. Polysaccharides with differents biological activities have been related in a large number of researches. Actually, many studies show the sponges as source of promising medicine. These studies inspire new researches, because the few number of sponges species studied until now. Because of that, the present work shows the chemistry prospection of the sponge Callyspongia vaginalis. Chromatographic methods in silica gel allowed the isolations of two secondary metabolites: the known β- sitosterol and a ceramide, no reported in the genus Callyspongia, previously. The analysis of the their lipid extracts show different kinds of fatty acids with a variety of chain length (saponifiable fraction), and others metabolites like Lupenone and stigmasterol, also unprecedented in the genus. The Polysaccharide characterization and the elucidation of the secondary metabolites acquired through of chromatography analysis (CC, molecular exclusion) and spectrometric (NMR 1H and 13C, mass, IR), respectively and comparison with literature data

Reavaliação de critérios estruturais na hidrogeologia de terrenos cristalinos, com ênfase na neotectônica e sensoriamento remoto

Hydrogeological prospecting in Northeast Brazil and in other crystalline terrains has been developed on the basis of structural and regional geology concepts that date back to the 50-60 decades and, as such, demand a natural re-evaluation and update. In this kind of terrain, the percolation and accumulation of ground water are controlled by fractures and other types of discontinuities, such as foliations and geological contacts that, through weathering, impart porosity and permeability to the rocks, allowing water flow and storage. Several factors should be considered in the process of locating water wells, as discussed in the literature. Among these, the kind of structures, fracture geometry (including aperture and connectivity) and their geological and chronological context. It is important to correlate fracture systems with the regional neotectonic framework. Fractures at low angle (sub parallel) with the principal stress axis (s1) are those which tend to open (actually they work as tension joints) and, in principle, would present major hydric potential; in the opposite side, fractures at high angle to s1 would behave as closed by a compressional component. Fractures diagonal to the compression and tension axes correspond to shear fractures and, due to their connectivity with second fractures, are also important in terms of hydric potential. Uplift followed by terrain denudation leads to decompression and a general tendency to open (aided by weathering processes) fractures and other rock discontinuities, at different orientations. Low angle fractures, formed in this context, are equally important to increase connectivity, collection of water and recharge of the aquifer systems. In a general way, an opening component (neotectonic or by terrain decompression) and several models to increase fracture connectivity correlate with a greater hydric potential of these structures. Together with parallel research, this thesis addresses models of ground water occurrence in crystalline terrains, either improving well established concepts like the (Riacho-Fenda model), but also stressing other possibilities, like the role of alluvium and paleo-regoliths (the Calha Elúvio-Aluvionar model) and of strongly altered, permo-porous zones placed at variable depths below the present surface, flanking several types of discontinuities, especially interconnected fracture arrays (the Bolsões de Intemperismo model). Different methodological approaches are also discussed in order to improve success rates in the location of water wells in crystalline terrains. In this methodological review, a number of case studies were selected in the eastern domain of the State of Rio Grande do Norte, involving the localities of Santa Cruz, Santo Antônio, Serrinha, Nova Cruz, Montanhas, Lagoa de Pedras and Lagoa Salgada. Besides the neotectonic analysis of brittle structures, this Thesis addresses the validation of remote sensing as a tool for ground water prospecting. Several techniques were tested in order to detect and select areas with higher potential for ground water accumulation, using Landsat 5-TM and RADARSAT images, besides conventional aerial photos. A number of filters were tested to emphasize lineaments in the images, improving their discrimination, to identify areas with higher overburden humidity, which could reflect subsurface water accumulation, as well as alluvium and other sedimentary covers that might act as recharge zones. The work started with a regional analysis with the orbital images, followed by analysis of aerial photos, up to a detailed structural study of rock exposures in the terrain. This last step involved the analysis of outcrops surrounding wells (in a ray of approximately 10 to 100 m) with distinct productivities, including dry examples. At the level required for detail, it was not possible to accomplish a statistical approach using the available well data catalogs, which lack the desired specific information. The methodology worked out in this Thesis must undergo a testing phase through location of new water wells. An increase in the success rates as desired will led to a further consolidation step with wider divulgation of the methodology to private companies and governmental agencies involved in ground water prospecting in crystalline terrains