Natural compounds isolated from Brazilian plants are potent inhibitors of hepatitis C virus replication in vitro

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

Efeito sinérgico entre a terapia fotodinâmica e a cisplatina: uma nova abordagem para o câncer de colo uterino

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Ação da histatina 5, uma proteína antimicrobiana, no desenvolvimento de biofilmes de Candida Albicans

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

Thermal and spectroscopic studies of the antioxidant food additive propyl gallate

Literature mentions propyl gallate (PG) as a non-toxic synthetic antioxidant that can be used as a food additive due to its high tolerance to heat. It is important to understand the thermal properties and to identify the decomposition products of this substance, since it has been reported to be thermally stable at temperatures as high as 300 °C. Simultaneous thermogravimetry-differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA), differential scanning calorimetry-photovisual (DSC-photovisual), coupled thermogravimetry-infrared spectroscopy (TG-FTIR) analyses and spectroscopic techniques were used to study the food additive PG. The TG-DTA curves, which were performed with the aid of DSC-photovisual, provided information concerning the thermal stability and decomposition profiles of the compound. From the TG-FTIR coupled techniques, it was possible to identify n-propanol as a possible volatile compound released during the thermal decomposition of the antioxidant. A complete spectroscopic characterization in the ultraviolet, visible, near and middle infrared regions was performed in order to understand the spectroscopic properties of PG.

Transdentinal cytotoxicity of resin-based luting cements to pulp cells

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

Influência da suplementação da ração com diferentes doses de vitamina D sobre a proteína de interação com a tiorredoxina (TXNIP) no coração e suas vias de sinalização

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Toxicidade de imidacloprid e carbofuran para organismos aquáticos de diferentes níveis tróficos

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

The triad indole-3-acetic acid ethyl ester/esterase/horseradish peroxidase as a new cytotoxic prodrug/enzyme combination

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

Síntese, caracterização térmica e grau de conversão de polímeros dimetacrilatos com diferentes coiniciadores não tóxicos

The photopolimerization it is be widely used nowadays in different fields as materials, medicine and dentistry. To occur that synthesis is utilized dimethacrylates monomers and photoinitiators, the photoinitiator system more usual is camphorquinone/tertiary amine (ethyl-p-dimethylamino benzoate). However is knowledge that tertiary amines are toxics, so the aim of this work is replace toxic amine compounds to non-toxic compounds as glycerol and inositol. Therefore was used the FTIR technic to calculate the monomers conversion degree as well as Thermogravimetric Analysis-simultaneous differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) to evaluate thermal stability, combustion rate, degradation steps, oxidation and volatilization of all samples. The study shown no significant difference about thermal behavior of all polymers, the initiators system for efficient and more fastness was camphorquinone /tertiary amine system followed by ca mph o r quinone/glycerol system

Estudos sobre a utilização de pentóxido de nióbio nanoestruturado na produção de biodiesel

In heterogeneous catalysis, numerous elements such as titanium and iron have been studied as nanoscale catalysts, but little is known about the use of niobium in nanocatalysis. The nanostructured particles have intrinsic and different physicochemical characteristics with great potential for use in industrial scale. Brazil having the largest known worldwide niobium reserve has the great challenge of creating pioneering technologies with the metal. Biodiesel is an alternative fuel and renewable substitute for regular diesel. Being biodegradable, non-toxic and have CO2 emissions lower than regular diesel, it contributes to the environment and to the independence from oil. The aim of this work was initially synthesize nanoscale particles of niobium pentoxide (Nanospheres, nanorods, nanofibers, nanocubes) from the sol-gel technique. The characterization of different nanoscale structures obtained was performed using different analytical techniques such as x-ray diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The synthesized nanometer niobium oxide will be used as a heterogeneous catalyst in biodiesel synthesis from commercial soybean oil, checking in detail what the effect of morphology is presented (Nanospheres, nanorods, nanofibers, nanocubes) in the yield of biodiesel synthesis, comparing these results with those already described in literature for the amorphous niobium oxide and other oxide catalysts. The biodiesel obtained was characterized by gas chromatography system equipped with a FID detector

Non-destructive determination of photosynthetic pigments in the leaves of castor oil plants

Objetivou-se com o presente trabalho, estabelecer a relação entre os pigmentos fotossintéticos extraídos em DMSO e as leituras obtidas no clorofilômetro portátil ClorofiLOG® 1030, gerando modelos matemáticos capazes de predizer os teores de clorofila e de carotenóides em folhas de mamoneira. O trabalho foi conduzido na Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (EMBRAPA) Algodão, situada em Campina Grande, Estado da Paraíba, em outubro de 2010. Para a análise indireta, foi utilizado um equipamento portátil, sendo realizada a leitura em discos foliares com diferentes tonalidades de verde, sendo feita, nesses mesmos discos, a determinação da clorofila pelo método clássico. Para a extração da clorofila, utilizaram-se 5 mL de dimetilsulfóxido (DMSO), a qual foi mantida em banho-maria a 70ºC, por 30 minutos, e retirou-se 3 mL da alíquota para leitura em espectrofotômetro nos comprimentos de onda de 470, 646 e 663 nm. Os dados foram submetidos à análise da variância e regressão polinomial. A leitura obtida no clorofilômetro portátil foi a variável dependente, e os pigmentos fotossintéticos determinados pelo método clássico foi a variável independente. Os resultados indicaram que o clorofilômetro portátil ClorofiLOG® 1030, associado a modelos matemáticos, permitiu estimar a concentração dos pigmentos fotossintéticos, exceto a clorofila b, com alta precisão, com economia de tempo e com reagentes normalmente utilizados nos procedimentos convencionais.

Peat humic substances enriched with nutrients for agricultural applications: Competition between nutrients and non-essential metals present in tropical soils

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Toxicity of the therapeutic potassium permanganate to tilapia Oreochromis niloticus and to non-target organisms Ceriodaphnia dubia (microcrustacean cladocera) and Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata (green microalgae)

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

Filamentous fungi found in Atta sexdens rubropilosa colonies after treatment with different toxic bait formulations

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Mutagenic activity of sweepings and pigments from a household-wax factory assayed with Salmonella typhimurium

The mutagenic activity of garbage originating from a household wax industry was determined by the Salmonella/microsome assay, using the bacterial strains TA100, TA98 and YG1024. The garbage was obtained by sweeping the floor of the factory at the end of the work shift. Organic compounds were extracted by ultrasound for 30 min in dichloromethane or 70% ethanol. After evaporation of solvent, these extracts (HFS: household-wax factory sweepings) were dissolved in DMSO, and were tested for the mutagenic activity at varying concentrations (HFS-ET: 0.08-0.68 mg/plate, HFS-DCM: 0.60-7.31 mg/plate). The colouring agents (pigments) used in the production of the wax were also dissolved in DMSO and tested with the assay. The concentrations tested for each pigment were: Amaranth: 0.46-3.65 mg/plate, Auramine: 0.15-1.2 mg/plate, Tartrazine: 0.46-3.65 mg/plate and Rhodamine B: 0.22-1.82 mg/plate. Both ET and DCM organic extracts had mutagenic activity, especially in the YG1024 strain. The pigments behaved in a similar way, demonstrating that YG1024 was the most sensitive strain for the detection of mutagenicity, and that metabolization increased the activity. Human exposure (occupational and non-occupational) to industrial residues generated during the household-wax manufacturing and packaging process should be monitored, since this type of garbage is normally deposited in the environment without any control. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.