A New Platinum Complex With Tryptophan: Synthesis, Structural Characterization, Dft Studies And Biological Assays In Vitro Over Human Tumorigenic Cells.

A new platinum(II) complex with the amino acid L-tryptophan (trp), named Pt-trp, was synthesized and characterized. Elemental, thermogravimetric and ESI-QTOF mass spectrometric analyses led to the composition [Pt(C11H11N2O2)2]⋅6H2O. Infrared spectroscopic data indicate the coordination of trp to Pt(II) through the oxygen of the carboxylate group and also through the nitrogen atom of the amino group. The (13)C CP/MAS NMR spectroscopic data confirm coordination through the oxygen atom of the carboxylate group, while the (15)N CP/MAS NMR data confirm coordination of the nitrogen of the NH2 group to the metal. Density functional theory (DFT) studies were applied to evaluate the cis and trans coordination modes of trp to platinum(II). The trans isomer was shown to be energetically more stable than the cis one. The Pt-trp complex was evaluated as a cytotoxic agent against SK-Mel 103 (human melanoma) and Panc-1 (human pancreatic carcinoma) cell lines. The complex was shown to be cytotoxic over the considered cells.

New Loci Of Lychnophora Ericoides And Transferability To Lychnophora Pinaster, Endangered Medicinal Species From Brazil.

Lychnophora ericoides and Lychnophora pinaster are species used in popular medicine as analgesic or anti-inflammatory agents to treat contusions, rheumatism, and insect bites. In this study, 21 simple sequence repeat loci of L. ericoides were developed and transferred to L. pinaster. Three populations of L. ericoides and 2 populations of L. pinaster were evaluated; they were collected in the State of Minas Gerais. Population parameters were estimated, and the mean values of observed and expected heterozygosity were 0.297 and 0.408 (L. ericoides) and 0.228 and 0.310 (L. pinaster), respectively. Greater genetic variability was observed within populations than between populations of L. ericoides (62 and 37%) and L. pinaster (97 and 2.8%). These results provide information for genetic conservation and taxonomic studies of these endangered species.

Urothelial Carcinogen Resistance Driven By Stronger Toll-like Receptor 2 (tlr2) And Uroplakin Iii (up Iii) Defense Mechanisms: A New Model.

The objective of the study was to illustrate the applicability and significance of the novel Lewis urothelial cancer model compared to the classic Fisher 344. Fischer 344 and Lewis females rats, 7 weeks old, were intravesical instilled N-methyl-N-nitrosourea 1.5 mg/kg every other week for a total of four doses. After 15 weeks, animals were sacrificed and bladders analyzed: histopathology (tumor grade and stage), immunohistochemistry (apoptotic and proliferative indices) and blotting (Toll-like receptor 2-TLR2, Uroplakin III-UP III and C-Myc). Control groups received placebo. There were macroscopic neoplastic lesions in 20 % of Lewis strain and 70 % of Fischer 344 strain. Lewis showed hyperplasia in 50 % of animals, normal bladders in 50 %. All Fischer 344 had lesions, 20 % papillary hyperplasia, 30 % dysplasia, 40 % neoplasia and 10 % squamous metaplasia. Proliferative and apoptotic indices were significantly lower in the Lewis strain (p < 0.01). The TLR2 and UP III protein levels were significantly higher in Lewis compared to Fischer 344 strain (70.8 and 46.5 % vs. 49.5 and 16.9 %, respectively). In contrast, C-Myc protein levels were significantly higher in Fischer 344 (22.5 %) compared to Lewis strain (13.7 %). The innovative Lewis carcinogen resistance urothelial model represents a new strategy for translational research. Preservation of TLR2 and UP III defense mechanisms might drive diverse urothelial phenotypes during carcinogenesis in differently susceptible individuals.

Laser Printer Attribution: Exploring New Features And Beyond.

With a huge amount of printed documents nowadays, identifying their source is useful for criminal investigations and also to authenticate digital copies of a document. In this paper, we propose novel techniques for laser printer attribution. Our solutions do not need very high resolution scanning of the investigated document and explore the multidirectional, multiscale and low-level gradient texture patterns yielded by printing devices. The main contributions of this work are: (1) the description of printed areas using multidirectional and multiscale co-occurring texture patterns; (2) description of texture on low-level gradient areas by a convolution texture gradient filter that emphasizes textures in specific transition areas and (3) the analysis of printer patterns in segments of interest, which we call frames, instead of whole documents or only printed letters. We show by experiments in a well documented dataset that the proposed methods outperform techniques described in the literature and present near-perfect classification accuracy being very promising for deployment in real-world forensic investigations.

Triboelectric Effect As A New Strategy For Sealing And Controlling The Flow In Paper-based Devices.

We reported here for the first time that triboelectric charges on PET sheets can be used to seal and control the flow rate in paper-based devices. The proposed method exhibits simplicity and low cost, provides reversible sealing and minimizes the effect of sample evaporation.

Bp-13 Pla2: Purification And Neuromuscular Activity Of A New Asp49 Toxin Isolated From Bothrops Pauloensis Snake Venom.

A new PLA2 (Bp-13) was purified from Bothrops pauloensis snake venom after a single chromatographic step of RP-HPLC on μ-Bondapak C-18. Amino acid analysis showed a high content of hydrophobic and basic amino acids and 14 half-cysteine residues. The N-terminal sequence showed a high degree of homology with basic Asp49 PLA2 myotoxins from other Bothrops venoms. Bp-13 showed allosteric enzymatic behavior and maximal activity at pH 8.1, 36°-45°C. Full Bp-13 PLA2 activity required Ca(2+); its PLA2 activity was inhibited by Mg(2+), Mn(2+), Sr(2+), and Cd(2+) in the presence and absence of 1 mM Ca(2+). In the mouse phrenic nerve-diaphragm (PND) preparation, the time for 50% paralysis was concentration-dependent (P < 0.05). Both the replacement of Ca(2+) by Sr(2+) and temperature lowering (24°C) inhibited the Bp-13 PLA2-induced twitch-tension blockade. Bp-13 PLA2 inhibited the contractile response to direct electrical stimulation in curarized mouse PND preparation corroborating its contracture effect. In biventer cervicis preparations, Bp-13 induced irreversible twitch-tension blockade and the KCl evoked contracture was partially, but significantly, inhibited (P > 0.05). The main effect of this new Asp49 PLA2 of Bothrops pauloensis venom is on muscle fiber sarcolemma, with avian preparation being less responsive than rodent preparation. The study enhances biochemical and pharmacological characterization of B. pauloensis venom.

New Interaction Partners For Nek4.1 And Nek4.2 Isoforms: From The Dna Damage Response To Rna Splicing.

Neks are serine-threonine kinases that are similar to NIMA, a protein found in Aspergillus nidulans which is essential for cell division. In humans there are eleven Neks which are involved in different biological functions besides the cell cycle control. Nek4 is one of the largest members of the Nek family and has been related to the primary cilia formation and in DNA damage response. However, its substrates and interaction partners are still unknown. In an attempt to better understand the role of Nek4, we performed an interactomics study to find new biological processes in which Nek4 is involved. We also described a novel Nek4 isoform which lacks a region of 46 amino acids derived from an insertion of an Alu sequence and showed the interactomics profile of these two Nek4 proteins. Isoform 1 and isoform 2 of Nek4 were expressed in human cells and after an immunoprecipitation followed by mass spectrometry, 474 interacting proteins were identified for isoform 1 and 149 for isoform 2 of Nek4. About 68% of isoform 2 potential interactors (102 proteins) are common between the two Nek4 isoforms. Our results reinforce Nek4 involvement in the DNA damage response, cilia maintenance and microtubule stabilization, and raise the possibility of new functional contexts, including apoptosis signaling, stress response, translation, protein quality control and, most intriguingly, RNA splicing. We show for the first time an unexpected difference between both Nek4 isoforms in RNA splicing control. Among the interacting partners, we found important proteins such as ANT3, Whirlin, PCNA, 14-3-3ε, SRSF1, SRSF2, SRPK1 and hNRNPs proteins. This study provides new insights into Nek4 functions, identifying new interaction partners and further suggests an interesting difference between isoform 1 and isoform 2 of this kinase. Nek4 isoform 1 may have similar roles compared to other Neks and these roles are not all preserved in isoform 2. Besides, in some processes, both isoforms showed opposite effects, indicating a possible fine controlled regulation.

New Fefe-hydrogenase Genes Identified In A Metagenomic Fosmid Library From A Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant As Revealed By High-throughput Sequencing.

A fosmid metagenomic library was constructed with total community DNA obtained from a municipal wastewater treatment plant (MWWTP), with the aim of identifying new FeFe-hydrogenase genes encoding the enzymes most important for hydrogen metabolism. The dataset generated by pyrosequencing of a fosmid library was mined to identify environmental gene tags (EGTs) assigned to FeFe-hydrogenase. The majority of EGTs representing FeFe-hydrogenase genes were affiliated with the class Clostridia, suggesting that this group is the main hydrogen producer in the MWWTP analyzed. Based on assembled sequences, three FeFe-hydrogenase genes were predicted based on detection of the L2 motif (MPCxxKxxE) in the encoded gene product, confirming true FeFe-hydrogenase sequences. These sequences were used to design specific primers to detect fosmids encoding FeFe-hydrogenase genes predicted from the dataset. Three identified fosmids were completely sequenced. The cloned genomic fragments within these fosmids are closely related to members of the Spirochaetaceae, Bacteroidales and Firmicutes, and their FeFe-hydrogenase sequences are characterized by the structure type M3, which is common to clostridial enzymes. FeFe-hydrogenase sequences found in this study represent hitherto undetected sequences, indicating the high genetic diversity regarding these enzymes in MWWTP. Results suggest that MWWTP have to be considered as reservoirs for new FeFe-hydrogenase genes.

Supercritical CO2 recovery of caffeine from green coffee oil: new experimental solubility data and modeling

The caffeine solubility in supercritical CO2 was studied by assessing the effects of pressure and temperature on the extraction of green coffee oil (GCO). The Peng-Robinson¹ equation of state was used to correlate the solubility of caffeine with a thermodynamic model and two mixing rules were evaluated: the classical mixing rule of van der Waals with two adjustable parameters (PR-VDW) and a density dependent one, proposed by Mohamed and Holder² with two (PR-MH, two parameters adjusted to the attractive term) and three (PR-MH3 two parameters adjusted to the attractive and one to the repulsive term) adjustable parameters. The best results were obtained with the mixing rule of Mohamed and Holder² with three parameters.

Six new cases confirm the clinical molecular profile of complete combined 17α-hydroxylase/ 17,20-lyase deficiency in Brazil

In 2004, Costa-Santos and cols. reported 24 patients from 19 Brazilian families with 17α-hydroxylase deficiency and showed that p.W406R and p.R362C corresponded to 50% and 32% of CYP17A1 mutant alleles, respectively. The present report describes clinical and molecular data of six patients from three inbred Brazilian families with 17α-hydroxlyse deficiency. All patients had hypogonadism, amenorrhea and hypertension at diagnosis. Two sisters were found to be 46,XY with both gonads palpable in the inguinal region. All patients presented hypergonadotrophic hypogonadism, with high levels of ACTH (> 104 ng/mL), suppressed plasmatic renin activity, low levels of potassium (< 2.8 mEq/L) and elevated progesterone levels (> 4.4 ng/mL). Three of them, including two sisters, were homozygous for p.W406R mutation and the other three (two sisters and one cousin) were homozygous for p.R362C. The finding of p.W406R and p.R362C in the CYP17A1 gene here reported in additional families, confirms them as the most frequent mutations causing complete combined 17α-hydroxylase/17,20-lyase deficiency in Brazilian patients.

Comparative analysis of the new guidelines and consensuses for the management of hypothyroidism, thyroid nodules, and differentiated thyroid cancer

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Cultura de movimento e identidade : a Educação Fisica na contemporaneidade

Universidade Estadual de Campinas . Faculdade de Educação Física

New Guidelines Of Cerebral Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation By The American Heart Association (2005 - 2006) [novas Diretrizes De Reanimação Cardiorrespiratória Cerebral Da Sociedade Americana De Cardiologia (2005 - 2006)]

No abstract available