Prenatal testosterone exposure as a model for the study of endocrine-disrupting chemicals on the gerbil prostate

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Pseudechis australis Venomics: Adaptation for a Defense against Microbial Pathogens and Recruitment of Body Transferrin

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

The Venomics of Bothrops alternatus is a Pool of Acidic Proteins with Predominant Hemorrhagic and Coagulopathic Activities

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Snake Venomic of Crotalus durissus terrificus-Correlation with Pharmacological Activities

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

A Genome-wide Screen for Neurospora crassa Transcription Factors Regulating Glycogen Metabolism

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Electrical properties of lanthanum doped Bi4Ti3O12 thin films annealed in different atmospheres

Pure-and lanthanun doped Bi4Ti3O12 thin films were deposited on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrate using a polymeric precursor solution. Annealing in static air and oxygen atmosphere was performed at 700 degrees C for 2 h. The obtained films were characterized by X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy. The dielectric constant and dissipation factor were measured in the frequency region from 1 kHz to 1 MHz. Electrical characterization of the films pointed to ferroelectricity via hysteresis loop. Films annealed in static air possess a dielectric constant higher than films annealed in oxygen atmosphere due to differences in the grain size, crystallinity and structural defects. A regularly shaped hystereses loop is observed after annealing in static air. The obtained results suggest that the annealing in oxygen atmosphere can increase the trapped charge and the relaxation phenomenon. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved.

Digestibilidade verdadeira da lisina HCl e da lisina Sulfato determinada com galos cecectomizados

O objetivo deste trabalho foi determinar a digestibilidade verdadeira da lisina HCl e da lisina Sulfato, com galos adultos cecectomizados. Foram utilizados 18 galos Leghorn, cecectomizados, com peso médio de 2,854 kg, e alojados individualmente em gaiolas metálicas durante dez dias. Após os dois primeiros dias de adaptação às baterias, estes animais passaram por um período de cinco dias recebendo ração em dois períodos diários de uma hora cada (manhã, 8 h e tarde, 16 h), com o objetivo de dilatação do papo para evitar regurgitação da ração a ser introduzida. Foi utilizado o método de alimentação forçada, com 12 galos alojados individualmente em gaiolas metálicas com bandejas coletoras de excretas. O delineamento experimental foi inteiramente casualisado com dois tratamentos (duas fontes de lisina), com seis repetições cada. Um ensaio paralelo com 6 aves em jejum foi conduzido para determinação das perdas endógenas/metabólicas das aves. Os teores de aminoácidos das dietas e das excretas foram analisados para a determinação dos coeficientes de digestibilidade verdadeira das lisinas. Os coeficientes de digestibilidade verdadeira, expressos em porcentagem, foram de 97,59% para a lisina HCl e de 98,34% para a lisina sulfato, não diferindo estatisticamente.

Mechanism of conduction in doped polyaniline

The conductivity of H2SiF6-doped emeraldine polymers is studied as a function of temperature in the range 50 less than or equal to T less than or equal to 180 K. The dopant concentration of the samples varies between 0.1 M and 1.0 M. The temperature dependence of the do electrical conductivity gives evidence for a transport mechanism based on variable-range hopping in three dimensions. Using Mott's formula for the de conductivity, physically meaningful values of the density of states at the Fermi energy, the hopping energy and hopping distance are calculated.

Studies of the voltammetric behavior and determination of diazo reactive dyes at mercury electrode

The electrochemical reduction of two reactive dyes: Procion Red HE-3B 9 (RR120) and Procion Green HE-4BD (RG19) was investigated using cyclic voltammetry, differential pulse and DC, polarography, chronoamperometry and controlled potential electrolysis at mercury electrodes. The bis-azo groups of the RR120 dye are reduced together in one single step of four electrons, the bis-azo groups of the RG19 dye are reduced in two steps owing to the difference in the electron densities promoted by the different substituents in the benzene rings adjacent to the azo groups. The bis-monochlorotriazine reactive groups in both dyes are reduced only in acidic medium in their protonated form, leading to the reduction of the triazine groups. The reduction mechanism of both reactive dyes is discussed. Both dyes can be quantified in aqueous medium by differential pulse polarography in the concentration range of 1 x 10(-7) mol L-1 to 1 x 10(-5) mol L-1 by monitoring the reduction of the chromophore group or the reactive group.

A transactional runtime system for the Cell/BE architecture

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Tuberculosis diagnosis after bleach processing for early stage tuberculosis laboratory capacity building

The diagnosis of tuberculosis is seriously hampered in the absence of standard biosafety laboratory facilities for specimen concentration and Mycobacterium tuberculosis culture. Within a laboratory twinning arrangement, heat-fixed direct smear and sediment from 74 bleach-processed and 20 non-processed specimens from Cumura Hospital, Guinea-Bissau, were sent to Lisbon for molecular evaluation of rifampicin resistance. Sequence analysis of a 369 base-pair ppoB locus detected 3.2% (3/94) resistant specimens. To our knowledge, this represents the first report on the molecular analysis of M. tuberculosis from bleach-processed sputum, an alternative to current diagnostic practice in low-resource settings.

Beef Carcass Contamination by Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli Strains in an Abattoir in Brazil: Characterization and Resistance to Antimicrobial Drugs

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Use of Pyrosequencing and Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis to Examine the Effects of Probiotics and Essential Oil Blends on Digestive Microflora in Broilers Under Mixed Eimeria Infection

A protective digestive microflora helps prevent and reduce broiler infection and colonization by enteropathogens. In the current experiment, broilers fed diets supplemented with probiotics and essential oil (EO) blends were infected with a standard mixed Eimeria spp. to determine effects of performance enhancers on ileal and cecal microbial communities (MCs). Eight treatment groups included four controls (uninfected-unmedicated [UU], unmedicated-infected, the antibiotic BMD plus the ionophore Coban as positive control, and the ionophore as negative control), and four treatments (probiotics BC-30 and Calsporin; and EO, Crina Poultry Plus, and Crina PoultryAF). Day-old broilers were raised to 14 days in floor pens on used litter and then were moved to Petersime batteries and inoculated at 15 days with mixed Eimeria spp. Ileal and cecal samples were collected at 14 days and 7 days postinfection. Digesta DNA was subjected to pyrosequencing for sequencing of individual cecal bacteria and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) for determination of changes in ileal and cecal MC according to percentage similarity coefficient (%SC). Pyrosequencing is very sensitive detecting shifts in individual bacterial sequences, whereas DGGE is able to detect gross shifts in entire MC. These combined techniques offer versatility toward identifying feed additive and mild Eimeria infection modulation of broiler MC. Pyrosequencing detected 147 bacterial species sequences. Additionally, pyrosequencing revealed the presence of relatively low levels of the potential human enteropathogens Campylobacter sp. and four Shigella spp. as well as the potential poultry pathogen Clostridiun perfringens. Pre- and postinfection changes in ileal (56%SC) and cecal (78.5%SC) DGGE profiles resulted from the coccidia infection and with increased broiler age. Probiotics and EO changed MC from those seen in UU ilea and ceca. Results potentially reflect the performance enhancement above expectations in comparison to broilers not given the probiotics or the specific EO blends as feed supplements.

Spliceosomal Proteomics in Trypanosoma brucei Reveal New RNA Splicing Factors

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Evidence for the role of calcineurin in morphogenesis and calcium homeostasis during mycelium-to-yeast dimorphism of Paracoccidioides brasiliensis

Paracoccidioides brasiliensis is a dimorphic fungus that causes paracoccidioidomycosis, the most prevalent human deep mycosis in Latin America. The dimorphic transition from mycelium to yeast (M-Y) is triggered by a temperature shift from 25°C to 37°C and is critical for pathogenicity. Intracellular Ca 2+ levels increased in hyphae immediately after temperature-induced dimorphism. The chelation of Ca 2+ with extracellular (EGTA) or intracellular (BAPTA) calcium chelators inhibited temperature-induced dimorphism, whereas the addition of extracellular Ca 2+ accelerated dimorphism. The calcineurin inhibitor cyclosporine A (CsA), but not tacrolimus (FK506), effectively decreased cell growth, halted the M-Y transition that is associated with virulence, and caused aberrant growth morphologies for all forms of P. brasiliensis. The difference between CsA and FK506 was ascribed by the higher levels of cyclophilins contrasted to FKBPs, the intracellular drug targets required for calcineurin suppression. Chronic exposure to CsA abolished intracellular Ca 2+ homeostasis and decreased mRNA transcription of the CCH1 gene for the plasma membrane Ca 2+ channel in yeast-form cells. CsA had no detectable effect on multidrug resistance efflux pumps, while the effect of FK506 on rhodamine excretion was not correlated with the transition to yeast form. In this study, we present evidence that Ca 2+/calmodulin-dependent phosphatase calcineurin controls hyphal and yeast morphology, M-Y dimorphism, growth, and Ca 2+ homeostasis in P. brasiliensis and that CsA is an effective chemical block for thermodimorphism in this organism. The effects of calcineurin inhibitors on P. brasiliensis reinforce the therapeutic potential of these drugs in a combinatory approach with antifungal drugs to treat endemic paracoccidioidomycosis. Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.