Análise imuno-histoquímica de proteínas relacionadas às respostas Th1, Th2 e Th17 na doença periodontal

Periodontal disease is an inflammatory condition of infectious nature characterized by destruction of protecting and supporting dental tissues. It happens as a response produced by the host when attacked by microorganisms. Several factors are involved in this process. Among them, cytokines are key regulatory molecules in this immune response, playing a role either protective and/or destructive in lesion progression. Thus, this study investigated the immunohistochemical expression of IFN- , GATA-3, IL-17, IL-23, IL-6 and TGF- in gingival tissues of humans, in an attempt to gain a better understanding of the participation of Th1, Th2 and Th17 immune responses in the development of periodontal disease processes. To this end, eighty-two samples of gingival tissues were divided into three groups: Group 1 = 15 (samples of healthy gum tissue as controls), Group 2 = 36 (samples with chronic gingivitis) and Group 3 = 31 (samples with chronic periodontitis). All cases were submitted to morphological analysis from sections stained with hematoxylin and eosin and then subjected to staining by immunohistochemistry using the streptavidin-biotin method. Results showed positive labeling for all proteins. Nonetheless, we observed a greater expression of Th1 cytokines and Th17 cells in group 3. We found statistically significant difference between TGF- expression and the clinical condition of the samples (p=0.02). We conclude that Th1 and Th17 responses may act synergistically in the destructive process of periodontal tissue, overlapping the Th2 response that was also present in these tissues

Práticas agroecológicas para o cultivo do gergelim (Sesamum indicum L.)

The exceeded use of the natural resources required by the modern agriculture has been caused soil impoverishment, soil salinization and soil compaction. The unreasonable use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides causes chemical imbalances in the plant tissues, nutritional losses, taste chances and human health problems. The monocrops are more vulnerable to the pest and disease attacks. The aim of this work were to indicate the better relative planting time of the cowpea bean for the sesame/cowpea bean intercropping based on the evaluation of agronomic, economic, ecological and physiological parameters and to evaluate the viability of the cow urine and cassava wastewater use as alternative fertilizers on the sesame cultivation. In a field essay, when the sesame/cowpea bean was evaluate, the mainly treatments were the single planting of the two cultures and the multiple cropping, with the cowpea bean being planted on the same time, 7, 14 and 21 days after the sesame. The mainly treatments of the second essay were the combined doses of the cow urine (0 and 50 ml) and cassava wastewater (0, 500 and 1000 mL). In the intercrop evaluation significant differences were found between the treatments for the most of the parameters. It was verified that as the sowing of the cowpea bean was retarded in relation to the sesame sowing, the sesame performance increased when the cowpea bean performance decreased. The treatment 7 days balanced the competition relations that occurred between the two crops in the intercrop. The sesame presented little pronounced responses to the different doses of cassava wastewater. The cow urine affected the sesame growth and the growth rates increased with the increasing of the application of the product. The responses of the sesame growth to the cow urine application must be related both the nutritional richness of the product and the presence of growth stimulating substances. The obtained results indicated that in the sesame/cowpea bean intercropping, when the sesame is planted 7 days after the sesame, there is a higher possibility of the net gains to the farmer. Cow urine and cassava wastewater may be used as additional organic fertilizers

Fragilidade ambiental da bacia hidrográfica do Rio Seridó (RN/PB Brasil)

There are many applications coming from geomorphological studies and their different constitutive and inter related elements, to the implementation of public politics of planning and environmental management. This search presents an analysis of the environmental fragility of the watershed of Seridó River, situated between the states of Paraíba and Rio Grande do Norte (Brazil), including the identification of possible unstable areas. It is based on the methodological approach of Ecodynamics of the French researcher J. Tricart (1977) and on the operalisation proposal advocated by the Brazilian J. Ross (1994), related to the Potential and Emerging Ecodynamic Units, grounded in the Relief s Dissection Index or the topographic roughness, soil, rainfall and land use/vegetal cover. Under a quantitative perspective, the results obtained from the analysis of the watershed can be divided into classes of potential fragility: around 2.613,0 km² of low intensity, 5.188,4 km² of medium intensity and 2.585,5 km² of high intensity. Concerning the emerging fragility, the results are close to 2.212,0 km² of low intensity, 6.191,23 km² of medium intensity and 2.062,34 km² of high intensity. In the case of the watershed in question, the environmental degradation is particularly effective in the areas more dissected, where the ecological conditions, in synergy the environmental degradation, prevent the regeneration of vegetation when arises an opportunity for the (re)establishment of its equilibrium tenuous. The collected data is relevant for the territorial and environmental planning of the watershed, once we can still verify a close association of the cities on the central area of desertification with the areas of high environmental instability/fragility. This is an important tool to the understanding of the potential susceptibility of the natural and anthropic environments related to the advance and/or intensification of the erosion process, rock falls, mass movements, among other phenomena inside the potential unstable areas. From this perspective, the continuity of this research becomes extremely important to the understanding and arrangement of the process, together with the engendering and sustainability of the system in its totality; in narrow correlation because their potentialities, constraints and alternatives on Seridó River watershed, and in all the semi-arid region with similar characteristics