Density of sand flies (diptera: psychodidae) in domestic and wild animal shelters in an area of visceral leishmaniasis in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil

XIMENES, Maria de Fátima Freire de Melo; SOUZA, Maria de Fátima de; CASTELLON, Eloy Guilhermo. Density of sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae) in domestic and wild animal shelters in an area of visceral Leishmaniasis in the State of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. Memorias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, v.94, n.4, p.427-432, jul./ago. 1999. Disponivel em: Acesso em: 4 out. 2010.

O devir Clarice e o animal- escrita na literatura infantil

La escritura de Clarice Lispector fue consagrada por la academia a través de sus libros direccionados al público adulto . Este trabajo pretende entre sus objetivos compartir sus obras infantiles con el medio académico y desvincular, desde la escritura clariciana, el ámbito de una menoridad literaria de la literatura infantil. Repensar la infancia y problematizar sus lugares de escrita. De ese modo, el corpus teórico de las obras de Deleuze y Guattari nos conducirá en la desconstrucción de tales territorios hacia un desterritorializar y al reterritorializar de la literatura infantil a través de un reinvento narrativo clariciano, lo cual llamamos de Fábula de la Modernidad

Caracterização comportamental e distribuição de neurônios inibitórios em um modelo animal de autismo induzido por ácido valpróico

Autism comprises a heterogeneous group of neurodevelopmental disorders that affects the brain maturation and produces sensorial, motor, language and social interaction deficits in early childhood. Several studies have shown a major involvement of genetic factors leading to a predisposition to autism, which are possibly affected by environmental modulators during embryonic and post-natal life. Recent studies in animal models indicate that alterations in epigenetic control during development can generate neuronal maturation disturbances and produce a hyper-excitable circuit, resulting in typical symptoms of autism. In the animal model of autism induced by valproic acid (VPA) during rat pregnancy, behavioral, electrophysiological and cellular alterations have been reported which can also be observed in patients with autism. However, only a few studies have correlated behavioral alterations with the supposed neuronal hyper-excitability in this model. The aim of this project was to generate an animal model of autism by pre-natal exposure to VPA and evaluate the early post-natal development and pre-puberal (PND30) behavior in the offspring. Furthermore, we quantified the parvalbumin-positive neuronal distribution in the medial prefrontal cortex and Purkinje cells in the cerebellum of VPA animals. Our results show that VPA treatment induced developmental alterations, which were observed in behavioral changes as compared to vehicle-treated controls. VPA animals showed clear behavioral abnormalities such as hyperlocomotion, prolonged stereotipies and reduced social interaction with an unfamiliar mate. Cellular quantification revealed a decrease in the number of parvalbumin-positive interneurons in the anterior cingulate cortex and in the prelimbic cortex of the mPFC, suggesting an excitatory/inhibitory unbalance in this animal model of autism. Moreover, we also observed that the neuronal reduction occurred mainly in the cortical layers II/III and V/VI. We did not detect any change in the density of Purkinje neurons in the Crus I region of the cerebellar cortex. Together, our results strengthens the face validity of the VPA model in rats and shed light on specific changes in the inhibitory circuitry of the prefrontal cortex in this autism model. Further studies should address the challenges to clarify particular electrophysiological correlates of the cellular alterations in order to better understand the behavioral dysfunctions

Avaliação microscópica dos fragmentos ósseos obtidos por diferentes métodos de osteotomia e de irrigação em aloenxertos irradiados e congelados de coelho

Oral and facial bone defects can undertake appearance, psychosocial well-being and stomathognatic function of its patients. Over the yerars several strategies for bone defect regeneration have arised to treat these pathologies, among them the use of frozen and irradiated bone allograft. Manipulation of bone grafts it s not determined yet, and several osteotomy alternatives can be observed. The present work evaluated with a microscope the bone fragments obtained from different osteotomy methods and irrigation on rings and blocks allografts irradiated and frozen at 80° negative in a rabbit model. The study is experimental in vitro and it sample was an adult male New Zealand rabbit. The animal was sacrificed to obtain long bones, that were submitted to freezing at 80º negative and irradiated with Cobalt- 60. Then the long bones were sectioned into 24 bone pieces, divided into 4 groups: G1 (n=06) osteotomy was performed with bur No. 6 forming rings with 5 mm thickness with high-speed handpiece with manual irrigation; G2 (n=06) osteotomy was performed with bur No. 6 forming rings with 5 mm thick with surgical motor with a manual irrigation rotation 1500 rpm; GA (n=06), osteotomy with trephine using manual irrigation with saline; and GB (n=06), osteotomy with trephine using saline from peristaltic pumps of surgical motor. Five bone pieces of each group were prepared for analysis on light microscopy (LM) and one on electronic scan electronic microscopy (SEM). On the SEM analysis edges surface, presence of microcracks and Smear Layer were evaluated. Analyzing osteotomy technics on SEM was observed: increased presence of microcracks cutting with high speed; increased presence of areas covered by Smear Layer when cutting with motor implant. The irrigation analysis with SEM was observed: that the presence of microcracks does not depend on the type of irrigation; on manual irrigation, there was greater discrepancy between the cutting lines. The descriptive analysis of the osteotomy and irrigation process on LM showed: histological analysis showing the bony margins with clear tissue changed layer, composed of blackened tissue of charred appearance near to the cortical bone; on the edges of the bony part, bone fragments that were displaced during the bone cut and bone irregularities were observed. After analysis of results we can conclude: that there was greater regularity of the bone cut using high-speed handpiece than using motor implant; the cut with trephine using saline irrigated from peristaltic pumps of surgical motor showed greater homogeneity when compared with manual irrigation; charred tissue was found in all obtained bone samples, whit no significant statistically difference on the proportion of carbonization of the two analysed technics

A influência da criopreservação nas células mesenquimais indiferenciadas do ligamento periodontal de humanos análise comparativa in vitro

Cryopreservation is a process where cells or biological tissues are preserved by freezing at very low temperatures and aims to cease reversibly, in a controlled manner, all the biological functions of living tissues, i.e., maintain cell preservation so that it can recover with high degree of viability and functional integrity. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of cryopreservation on the mesenchymal stem cells originating from the periodontal ligament of human third molars by in vitro experiments. Six healthy teeth were removed and the periodontal cells grown in culture medium containing α-MEM supplemented with antibiotics and 15% FBS in a humidified atmosphere with 5% CO2 at 37° C. Cells isolated from each sample were divided into two groups: Group I - immediate cell culture (not fresh cryopreserved cells) and Group II - cell cryopreservation, during a period of 30 days. Analyses of rates of cell adhesion and proliferation in different groups were performed by counting the cells adhered to the wells, in intervals of 24, 48 and 72 hours after the start of cultivation. The number of cells in each well was obtained by counting viable cells with the use of hemocytometer and the method of exclusion of cells stained by trypan blue. The difference between groups for each of the times was analyzed by Wilcoxon test. Regarding the temporal evolution for each group, analysis was done by Friedman's test to verify the existence of differences between times and, when it existed, the Wilcoxon penalty was applied. The results showed no statistically significant difference between the two groups analyzed in this study. Therefore, we conclude that the cryopreservation process, after a period of 30 days, did not influence the cell type studied, and there was no difference in growth capacity in vitro between the groups

Avaliação comportamental e neuroquímica de ratos em dessincronização forçada: possíveis implicações para um modelo animal de oscilações no humor

Bipolar disorder has been growing in several countries. It is a disease with high mortality and has been responsible by the social isolation of the patients. Bipolar patients have alterations in circadian timing system, showing a phase shift in various physiological variables. There are several arguments demonstrating alterations in circadian rhythms may be part of the bipolar disorder pathophysiology. Given the necessity for further elucidation, the goal of this study was to validate the forced desynchronization protocol as an animal model for bipolar disorder. To do this, Wistar rats were submitted to a forced desynchronization protocol which consists in a symmetrical light dark cycle with 22h. Under this protocol, rats dissociate the locomotor activity rhythm into two components: one synchronized to the light / dark cycle with 22h, and another component with period longer than 24 hours following the animal endogenous period. These rhythms with different periods sometimes there is coincidence, which we named CAP (Coincidence Active Phase) and the opposite phase, non-coincidence, called NCAP (Non-Concidence Active Phase). The hypothesis is that in CAP animals present a mania-like behavior and animals in NCAP depressive-like behavior. We found some evidence described in detail throughout this thesis. In sum, the animals under forced desynchronization protocol were more stressed, showed an increase in stereotypic behaviors such as grooming and reduction in other behaviors such as risk assessment and vertical exploration when compared to the control group. The CAP animals showed increased locomotor activity, especially during the dark phase when compared to controls (rats under T24) and less depressive behavior in the forced swim test. The animals in NCAP showed a higher anxiety in elevated plus maze, but they don t have ahnedonia. The animals under dissociation have more labeled 5HT1A cells at the amygdala area, which appoint that they have more amygdala inhibition. Taking these data together, we could partially validated the forced desynchronization protocol as an animal model for mood oscillations

Atividade biológica de células-tronco da polpa de dentes decíduos humanos submetidas à criopreservação

Dental pulp stem cells have been widely investigated because of their ability to differentiate into both dental and non-dental cells, with potential use in therapies involving tissue engineering. The technique of cell cryopreservation represents a viable alternative for the conservation of these cells, since it stops reversibly, in a controlled manner, all of cell biological functions in an ultra low temperature. The present study aimed to evaluate, using in vitro experiments, the influence of a cryopreservation protocol on the biologic acti vity of stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth (SHED). Cells obtained from the pulp of three deciduous teeth on end-stage exfoliation or with indicated extraction were expanded in α-MEM culture medium supplemented with antibiotics and 15% fetal bovine serum. At second subculture (P2), a group of cells were submitted to cryopreservation for 30 days in 10% DMSO diluted in fetal bovine serum, at -80º C, while the remind cells continued under normal conditions of cell culture. Cell proliferation was evaluated in both groups (not cryopreserved or cryopreserved) by Trypan blue stain essay at intervals of 24, 48 and 72h after plating. Cell cycle analysis of SHEDs submitted or not to the cryopreservation protocol was performed in the same intervals. Events related to cell death were studied by Annexyn V and PI expression under flow cytometry at the intervals of 24 and 72h. The presence of nuclear morphological changes was evaluated by DAPI staining at 72h interval. It was observed that both groups exhibited an upward cell proliferation curve, without considerable changes in cell viability throughout the experiment. The distribution of cell in the cell cycle phasis was consistent with cell proliferation in both groups. There were no nuclear morphological damages in the end range of the experiment. therefore, it is concluded that the proposed cryopreservation protocol is efficient for storing the studied cell type, allowing its use in future experimental studies