Structural modeling and mutational analysis of yeast eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5A reveal new critical residues and reinforce its involvement in protein synthesis

Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5A (eIF5A) is a protein that is highly conserved and essential for cell viability. This factor is the only protein known to contain the unique and essential amino acid residue hypusine. This work focused on the structural and functional characterization of Saccharomyces cerevisiae eIF5A. The tertiary structure of yeast eIF5A was modeled based on the structure of its Leishmania mexicana homologue and this model was used to predict the structural localization of new site-directed and randomly generated mutations. Most of the 40 new mutants exhibited phenotypes that resulted from eIF-5A protein-folding defects. Our data provided evidence that the C-terminal alpha-helix present in yeast eIF5A is an essential structural element, whereas the eIF5A N-terminal 10 amino acid extension not present in archaeal eIF5A homologs, is not. Moreover, the mutants containing substitutions at or in the vicinity of the hypusine modification site displayed nonviable or temperature-sensitive phenotypes and were defective in hypusine modification. Interestingly, two of the temperature-sensitive strains produced stable mutant eIF5A proteins - eIF5A(K56A) and eIF5A(Q22H,L93F)- and showed defects in protein synthesis at the restrictive temperature. Our data revealed important structural features of eIF5A that are required for its vital role in cell viability and underscored an essential function of eIF5A in the translation step of gene expression.

Attraction of the cutaneous leishmaniasis vector Nyssomyia neivai (Diptera: Psychodidae) to host odour components in a wind tunnel

Background: Laboratory studies of host-seeking olfactory behaviour in sandflies have largely been restricted to the American visceral leishmaniasis vector Lutzomyia longipalpis. In comparison, almost nothing is known about the chemical ecology of related species, which transmit American cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL), due in part to difficulties in raising these insects in the laboratory. Understanding how ACL vectors locate their hosts will be essential to developing new vector control strategies to combat this debilitating disease.Methods: This study examined host-odour seeking behaviour of the ACL vector Nyssomyia neivai (Pinto) (=Lutzomyia neivai) using a wind tunnel olfactometer. The primary aim was to determine whether field-collected female N. neivai would respond to host odours in the laboratory, thereby eliminating the need to maintain colonies of these insects for behavioural experiments. Responses to two key host odour components, 1-octen-3-ol and lactic acid, and a commercially-available mosquito lure (BG-Lure (TM)) were assessed and compared relative to an air control. We also tested whether trials could be conducted outside of the normal evening activity period of N. neivai without impacting on fly behaviour, and whether the same flies could be used to assess baseline responses to air without affecting responses to octenol, thereby reducing the number of flies required for experiments.Results: Octenol was found to both activate host-seeking behaviour and attract female N. neivai in the wind tunnel, while lactic acid elicited weaker responses of activation and attractiveness under identical conditions. The BG-Lure did not activate or attract N. neivai under test conditions. Further experiments showed that sandfly behaviour in the wind tunnel was not affected by time of day, such that experiments need not be restricted to nocturnal hours. Moreover, using the same flies to measure both baseline responses to air and attraction to test compounds did not affect odour-seeking behaviour.Conclusions: The results of this study demonstrate that N. neivai taken from the field are suitable for use in laboratory olfactometer experiments. It is hoped this work will facilitate further research into chemical ecology of this species, and other ACL vectors.

Estoque doméstico e uso de medicamentos em uma população cadastrada na estratégia saúde da família no Brasil

Objective. To identify families served by the family health strategy (FHS) storing medicines at home, to evaluate storage conditions, and to investigate medicine use practices.Methods. The study was conducted in a municipality in the state of São Paulo with two FHS units serving 1 867 households. The sample was selected by means of stratified random sampling. Data collection was conducted through semistructured interviews from July to October 2008.Results. One resident was interviewed in each of the 280 households visited. Medicines were found in 255 households (91.1%). of 326 storage locations, 217 (75.8%) were inadequate (easily accessible to children or exposed to moisture, light). of the 2 578 medicines identified, 2 059 medicines (79.9%) in 236 (84.3%) households had safety or identification problems. of the 280 respondents, 179 (63.9%) used medications. of these, 24 were self-medicating, only one with an over-the-counter drug. Only 44 users had the prescription for their medication, and 21 did not follow the prescription in terms of dosage or had interrupted the treatment.Conclusions. Non-adherence to recommended treatment can lead to negative outcomes, such as inefficiency (using dosages lower than prescribed), poisoning (using dosages higher than prescribed), and other adverse reactions.

The effect of phosphoethanolamine intake on mortality and macrophage activity in mice with solid ehrlich tumors

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Dermatophyte-host relationship of a murine model of experimental invasive dermatophytosis

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

Conceitos de didática: depoimentos de docentes universitários da área de Educação Física

Na pesquisa investigou-se como docentes universitários em Educação Física conceituam didática. Realizou-se revisão da literatura abordando história e conceituações da didática. Utilizando-se a técnica de entrevista e análise qualitativa, coletou-se e analisou-se depoimentos de treze docentes universitários oriundos do mestrado em Educação Física. Com o método de abordagem histórico constatou-se que a didática esteve articulada às tendências pedagógicas: tradicional, escola nova, tecnicista e progressista e é conceituada como disciplina, área de estudos e técnica de ensino. Como técnica pode ser entendida no sentido amplo, referindo-se a procedimentos de levar alguém a aprender algo e no sentido pedagógico apresenta os procedimentos atrelados à questões sócio-morais. Os depoimentos coletados revelaram que os docentes universitários entendem a didática no sentido amplo. Conclui-se que na formação destes docentes universitários a didática foi abordada apenas como técnica de ensino, apesar de sua trajetória histórica e a prática pedagógica estarem diretamente ligadas aos rumos da educação.

Oxidation of melatonin by taurine chloramine

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

Oxidation of melatonin by AAPH-derived peroxyl radicals: Evidence of a pro-oxidant effect of melatonin

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

Alkaloids extracted from Pterogyne nitens induce apoptosis in malignant breast cell line

In the present study, two alkaloids isolated from Pterogyne nitens, a plant native to Brazil, have been shown to induce apoptosis in human breast cancer cells. These compounds, pterogynine (PGN) and pterogynidine (PGD), were tested for their effect on a human infiltrating ductal carcinoma cell line (ZR-7531). The cell line was treated with each alkaloid at several concentrations. Time-dependence (with or without recuperation time) and concentration-dependence (in the range 0.25-10 mM) were investigated in cytotoxicity and apoptosis assays. The annexin assay indicated an apparently higher percentage of death by necrosis of malignant cells after 24 h exposure to both P. nitens extracts than the Hoechst assay. Thus, our results in the two tests demonstrated that the Hoechst assay can discriminate between late apoptotic cells and necrosis, whereas the flow cytometry-based annexin V assay cannot. We concluded that PGN and PGD have effective antineoplastic activity against human breast cancer cells in vitro, by inducing programmed cell death.

Best practices for the implantation of ISO 14001 norms: a study of change management in two industrial companies in the Midwest region of the state of São Paulo - Brazil

Among the difficulties found in the implementation of ISO 14001 systems, resistance to change can always be found. It is mainly a consequence of the hurry to change, loss of focus, concentration of decision making at the level of top management, arbitrary imposition of objectives and results, faulty communication, and the absence of motivational and financial incentive for change.Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to present best practices with respect to the management of organizational change due to the implementation of ISO 14001 norms in two industrial companies in the Midwest region of the State of São Paulo - Brazil. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fractal characterization of brittle fracture in ceramics under mode I stress loading

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

Desempenho de cordeiros sob quatro sistemas de produção

Quarenta cordeiros mestiços Texel oriundos de partos simples foram distribuídos em quatro tratamentos, para se comparar o desempenho dos animais terminados a pasto, com e sem suplementação, e em confinamento. No primeiro tratamento (Min), os animais receberam somente suplementação mineral e permaneceram com as mães até os 105 dias de idade em piquete de Panicum maximum cv. Colonião, previamente preparado e com acesso a sal mineral. O segundo tratamento (Prot) foi igual ao primeiro, diferindo apenas na suplementação, que foi com sal proteinado. No terceiro (Creep) e quarto (Conf) tratamentos, os animais receberam sal proteinado e os cordeiros tiveram acesso ao creep feeding, aos sessenta dias, os cordeiros do quarto tratamento foram desmamados e terminados em confinamento até completarem os 105 dias de idade. A comparação entre os tratamentos foi feita por contrastes de totais e pelo teste F. Os machos apresentaram peso superior às fêmeas, a partir dos 21 dias de idade. Os cordeiros que tiveram acesso ao creep-feeding e os terminados em confinamento tiveram desempenhos superiores aos suplementados com sal mineral e sal proteinado. Os machos dos tratamentos Conf, Creep, Prot e Min pesaram, aos 105 dias de idade, 36,98; 34,16; 32,14 e 30,24 kg, respectivamente. Os animais suplementados no creep feeding e os confinados atingiram o peso de abate (28 a 32 kg) aos 84 dias. Os animais que receberam suplementação mineral não diferiram daqueles que receberam suplementação com sal proteinado. Conclui-se que a produção de cordeiros precoces em sistemas de pastejo não foi comprometida nas condições deste experimento.

Damage Detection in Flexible Plate Using Lamb Waves

This paper presents an experimental technique for structural health monitoring (SHM) based on Lamb waves approach in an aluminum plate using piezoelectric material as actuators and sensors. Lamb waves are a form of elastic perturbation that remains guided between two parallel free surfaces, such as the upper and lower surfaces of a plate, beam or shelf. Lamb waves are formed when the actuator excites the surface of the structure with a pulse after receiving a signal. Two PZTs were placed in the plate surface and one of them was used to send a predefined wave through the structure. Thus, the other PZT (adjacent) becomes the sensor. Using this methodology, this paper presents one case of damage detection considering the aluminum plate in the free-free-free-free boundary condition. The damage was simulated by adding additional mass on the plate. It is proposed two damage detection indexes obtained from the experimental signal, involving the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and the power spectral density (PSD) that were computed using the output signal. The results show the viability of the presented methodology to damage detection in smart structures

Adaptive filter feature identification for structural health monitoring in an aeronautical panel

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Coberturas vegetais, doses de nitrogênio e inoculação de sementes com Azospirillum brasilense em arroz de terras altas no sistema plantio direto

O arroz é importante fonte de energia e proteínas para a população mundial, principalmente na Ásia e Oceania. No Brasil, juntamente com o feijão, constitui a base da alimentação. Tecnologias sustentáveis que reduzam custos da produção e aumentem a produtividade do arroz podem garantir seu suprimento em períodos de alta demanda. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar diferentes coberturas vegetais antecessoras (milheto [Pennisetum americanum], crotalária [Crotalaria juncea], guandu [Cajanus cajan], braquiária [Brachiaria ruziziensis], milheto + crotalária e milheto + guandu), doses de nitrogênio (N) em cobertura (0, 40, 80 e 120 kg ha-1) e o efeito da inoculação de sementes com Azospirillum brasilense no arroz de terras altas em sistema plantio direto no desenvolvimento e na produtividade. Utilizou-se o delineamento experimental em blocos casualizados em esquema fatorial 6x4x2 com quatro repetições. O estudo foi desenvolvido em um Latossolo Vermelho, em Selvíria, Estado do Mato Grosso do Sul, Brasil, em 2011/2012. O cultivo do guandu antecedendo o arroz proporcionou maior produtividade do arroz somente em comparação a B. ruziziensi. A produtividade do arroz em função das doses de N em cobertura se ajustou a uma função quadrática. Não houve influência da inoculação de sementes com A. brasilense sobre a produtividade do arroz, porém houve interação entre a inoculação e as coberturas vegetais sobre o teor de N foliar, número de panículas por m², matéria seca de plantas de arroz e a massa de cem grãos.