Age determination of sediment core PTA02-04 from Laguna Potrok Aike, Patagonia (Table 1)

The volcanogenic lake Laguna Potrok Aike, Santa Cruz, Argentina, reveals an unprecedented continuous high resolution climatic record for the steppe regions of southern Patagonia. With the applied multi-proxy approach rapid climatic changes before the turn of the first millennium were detected followed by medieval droughts which are intersected by moist and/or cold periods of varying durations and intensities. The 'total inorganic carbon' content was identified as a sensitive lake level indicator. This proxy suggests that during the late Middle Ages (ca. AD 1230-1410) the lake level was rather low representing a signal of the 'Medieval Climate Anomaly' in southeastern Patagonia. At the beginning of the 'Little Ice Age' the lake level rose considerably staying on a high level during the whole period. Subsequently, the lake level lowered again in the course of the 20th century.

Magnetic properties of the oceanic igneous rocks (Table 1)

Hysteresis measurements have been carried out on a suite of ocean-floor basalts with ages ranging from Quaternary to Cretaceous. Approximately linear, yet separate, relationships between coercivity (Bc) and the ratio of saturation remanence/saturation magnetization (Mrs/Ms) are observed for massive doleritic basalts with low-Ti magnetite and for pillow basalts with multi-domain titanomagnetites (with x= 0.6). Even when the MORB has undergone lowtemperature oxidation resulting in titanomaghemite, the parameters are still distinguishable, although offset from the trend for unoxidized multidomain titanomagnetite. The parameters for these iron oxides with different titanium content reveal contrasting trends that can be explained by the different saturation magnetizations of the mineral types. This plot provides a previously underutilized and non-destructive method to detect the presence of low-titanium magnetite in igneous rocks, notably MORB.

IL-1α and inflammasome-independent IL-1β promote neutrophil infiltration following alum vaccination

Despite its long record of successful use in human vaccines, the mechanisms underlying the immunomodulatory effects of alum are not fully understood. Alum is a potent inducer of interleukin-1 (IL-1) secretion in vitro in dendritic cells and macrophages via Nucleotide-binding domain and leucine-rich repeat-containing (NLR) family, pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome activation. However, the contribution of IL-1 to alum-induced innate and adaptive immune responses is controversial and the role of IL-1α following alum injection has not been addressed. This study shows that IL-1 is dispensable for alum-induced antibody and CD8 T cell responses to ovalbumin. However, IL-1 is essential for neutrophil infiltration into the injection site, while recruitment of inflammatory monocytes and eosinophils is IL-1 independent. Both IL-1α and IL-1β are released at the site of injection and contribute to the neutrophil response. Surprisingly, these effects are NLRP3-inflammasome independent as is the infiltration of other cell populations. However, while NLRP3 and caspase 1 were dispensable, alum-induced IL-1β at the injection site was dependent on the cysteine protease cathepsin S. Overall, these data demonstrate a previously unreported role for cathepsin S in IL-1β secretion, show that inflammasome formation is dispensable for alum-induced innate immunity and reveal that IL-1α and IL-1β are both necessary for alum-induced neutrophil influx in vivo.

Alta incidência de parasitismo intestinal na área de abrangência do PSF 1 no município de Jacuipe/AL

Jacuípe é um município que está localizado na região norte do Estado de Alagoas às margens do Rio Jacuípe que faz divisa com Pernambuco, e possui uma população de aproximadamente 8 283 habitantes. Após diagnóstico situacional e observação ativa da população pela equipe de saúde da família (ESF) 1 de Jacuípe, foi eleito como principal problema de saúde o parasitismo intestinal. As parasitoses intestinais continuam sendo grave problema de saúde pública principalmente nos países em desenvolvimento como o Brasil. Essas doenças interferem diretamente na qualidade de vida de seus portadores, e possuem como fatores determinantes: saneamento básico precário, baixo nível socioeconômico, baixo grau de escolaridade, incorreta higiene dos alimentos, água e pessoal, dentre outros. O objetivo deste projeto foi criar um plano de intervenção para reduzir a incidência de parasitoses intestinais por meio de ação educativa da população pertencente a área de abrangência da ESF 1 do município de Jacuípe. Foi feita uma revisão narrativa da literatura sobre o tema com os descritores: parasitas, atenção primária à saúde, e utilizadas as bases de pesquisa Scientific Electronic Library Online (SCIELO), Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde (BVS) e dados do Ministério da Saúde. O plano de intervenção traçou estratégias com pontos que irão melhorar a abordagem dos problemas de saúde mais prevalentes na população. Espera-se que, com a implantação do plano de intervenção educativo, consiga reduzir e prevenir as infecções por parasitoses por ser uma estratégia simples, eficaz e de baixo custo econômico

Up-regulation Of Dnam-1 And Nkp30, Associated With Improvement Of Nk Cells Activation After Long-term Culture Of Mononuclear Cells From Patients With Ovarian Neoplasia.

This study aimed at evaluating the functional activation and activating receptors expression on resting, short- and long-term NK and NK-like T cells from blood of ovarian neoplasia patients. Blood from patients with adnexal benign alterations (n = 10) and ovarian cancer (grade I-IV n = 14) were collected after signed consent. Effector cells activation was evaluated by the expression of the CD107a molecule. Short-term culture was conducted overnight with IL-2 and long-term culture for 21 days, by a method designed to expand CD56(+) lymphocytes. Short-term culture significantly increased NK cells activation compared to resting NK cells (p<0.05), however, the long-term procedure supported an even higher increase (p<0.001). Resting NK-like T cells showed poor activation, which was not altered by the culture procedures. The long-term culture effectively increased the expression of the activating receptors on NK and NK-like T cells, either by increasing the number of cells expressing a given receptor and/or by up-regulating their expression intensity. As a conclusion, the long-term culture system employed, resulted in a high number of functional NK cells. The culture system was particularly efficient on the up-regulation of NKp30 and DNAM-1 receptors on NK cells.

Hypertrophic Adenoid Is A Major Infection Site Of Human Bocavirus 1.

Human bocavirus 1 (HBoV1) is associated with respiratory infections worldwide, mainly in children. Similar to other parvoviruses, it is believed that HBoV1 can persist for long periods of time in humans, probably through maintaining concatemers of the virus single-stranded DNA genome in the nuclei of infected cells. Recently, HBoV-1 was detected in high rates in adenoid and palatine tonsils samples from patients with chronic adenotonsillar diseases, but nothing is known about the virus replication levels in those tissues. A 3-year prospective hospital-based study was conducted to detect and quantify HBoV1 DNA and mRNAs in samples of the adenoids (AD), palatine tonsils (PT), nasopharyngeal secretions (NPS), and peripheral blood (PB) from patients undergoing tonsillectomy for tonsillar hypertrophy or recurrent tonsillitis. HBoV1 was detected in 25.3% of the AD samples, while the rates of detection in the PT, NPS, and PB samples were 7.2%, 10.5%, and 1.7%, respectively. The viral loads were higher in AD samples, and 27.3% of the patients with HBoV had mRNA detectable in this tissue. High viral loads and detectable mRNA in the AD were associated with HBoV1 detection in the other sample sites. The adenoids are an important site of HBoV1 replication and persistence in children with tonsillar hypertrophy. The adenoids contain high HBoV1 loads and are frequently positive for HBoV mRNA, and this is associated with the detection of HBoV1 in secretions.

A Putative Otu Domain-containing Protein 1 Deubiquitinating Enzyme Is Differentially Expressed In Thyroid Cancer And Identifies Less-aggressive Tumours.

This study aimed to identify novel biomarkers for thyroid carcinoma diagnosis and prognosis. We have constructed a human single-chain variable fragment (scFv) antibody library that was selected against tumour thyroid cells using the BRASIL method (biopanning and rapid analysis of selective interactive ligands) and phage display technology. One highly reactive clone, scFv-C1, with specific binding to papillary thyroid tumour proteins was confirmed by ELISA, which was further tested against a tissue microarray that comprised of 229 thyroid tissues, including: 110 carcinomas (38 papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTCs), 42 follicular carcinomas, 30 follicular variants of PTC), 18 normal thyroid tissues, 49 nodular goitres (NG) and 52 follicular adenomas. The scFv-C1 was able to distinguish carcinomas from benign lesions (P=0.0001) and reacted preferentially against T1 and T2 tumour stages (P=0.0108). We have further identified an OTU domain-containing protein 1, DUBA-7 deubiquitinating enzyme as the scFv-binding antigen using two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry. The strategy of screening and identifying a cell-surface-binding antibody against thyroid tissues was highly effective and resulted in a useful biomarker that recognises malignancy among thyroid nodules and may help identify lower-risk cases that can benefit from less-aggressive management.

Treadmill Training Increases Sirt-1 And Pgc-1 α Protein Levels And Ampk Phosphorylation In Quadriceps Of Middle-aged Rats In An Intensity-dependent Manner.

The present study investigated the effects of running at 0.8 or 1.2 km/h on inflammatory proteins (i.e., protein levels of TNF- α , IL-1 β , and NF- κ B) and metabolic proteins (i.e., protein levels of SIRT-1 and PGC-1 α , and AMPK phosphorylation) in quadriceps of rats. Male Wistar rats at 3 (young) and 18 months (middle-aged rats) of age were divided into nonexercised (NE) and exercised at 0.8 or 1.2 km/h. The rats were trained on treadmill, 50 min per day, 5 days per week, during 8 weeks. Forty-eight hours after the last training session, muscles were removed, homogenized, and analyzed using biochemical and western blot techniques. Our results showed that: (a) running at 0.8 km/h decreased the inflammatory proteins and increased the metabolic proteins compared with NE rats; (b) these responses were lower for the inflammatory proteins and higher for the metabolic proteins in young rats compared with middle-aged rats; (c) running at 1.2 km/h decreased the inflammatory proteins and increased the metabolic proteins compared with 0.8 km/h; (d) these responses were similar between young and middle-aged rats when trained at 1.2 km. In summary, the age-related increases in inflammatory proteins, and the age-related declines in metabolic proteins can be reversed and largely improved by treadmill training.

The Analgesic Effect Of Dipyrone In Peripheral Tissue Involves Two Different Mechanisms: Neuronal K(atp) Channel Opening And Cb(1) Receptor Activation.

Dipyrone (metamizole) is an analgesic pro-drug used to control moderate pain. It is metabolized in two major bioactive metabolites: 4-methylaminoantipyrine (4-MAA) and 4-aminoantipyrine (4-AA). The aim of this study was to investigate the participation of peripheral CB1 and CB2 cannabinoid receptors activation in the anti-hyperalgesic effect of dipyrone, 4-MAA or 4-AA. PGE2 (100ng/50µL/paw) was locally administered in the hindpaw of male Wistar rats, and the mechanical nociceptive threshold was quantified by electronic von Frey test, before and 3h after its injection. Dipyrone, 4-MAA or 4-AA was administered 30min before the von Frey test. The selective CB1 receptor antagonist AM251, CB2 receptor antagonist AM630, cGMP inhibitor ODQ or KATP channel blocker glibenclamide were administered 30min before dipyrone, 4-MAA or 4-AA. The antisense-ODN against CB1 receptor expression was intrathecally administered once a day during four consecutive days. PGE2-induced mechanical hyperalgesia was inhibited by dipyrone, 4-MAA, and 4-AA in a dose-response manner. AM251 or ODN anti-sense against neuronal CB1 receptor, but not AM630, reversed the anti-hyperalgesic effect mediated by 4-AA, but not by dipyrone or 4-MAA. On the other hand, the anti-hyperalgesic effect of dipyrone or 4-MAA was reversed by glibenclamide or ODQ. These results suggest that the activation of neuronal CB1, but not CB2 receptor, in peripheral tissue is involved in the anti-hyperalgesic effect of 4-aminoantipyrine. In addition, 4-methylaminoantipyrine mediates the anti-hyperalgesic effect by cGMP activation and KATP opening.

Synthesis And Antiproliferative Activity Of 8-hydroxyquinoline Derivatives Containing A 1,2,3-triazole Moiety.

Twelve novel 8-hydroxyquinoline derivatives were synthesized with good yields by performing copper-catalyzed Huisgen 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition (click reaction) between an 8-O-alkylated-quinoline containing a terminal alkyne and various aromatic or protected sugar azides. These compounds were evaluated in vitro for their antiproliferative activity on various cancer cell types. Protected sugar derivative 16 was the most active compound in the series, exhibiting potent antiproliferative activity and high selectivity toward ovarian cancer cells (OVCAR-03, GI50 < 0.25 μg mL(-1)); this derivative was more active than the reference drug doxorubicin (OVCAR-03, GI50 = 0.43 μg mL(-1)). In structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies, the physico-chemical parameters of the compounds were evaluated and docking calculations were performed for the α-glucosidase active site to predict the possible mechanism of action of this series of compounds.

Communication: Transient Anion States Of Phenol…(h₂o)n (n = 1, 2) Complexes: Search For Microsolvation Signatures.

We report on the shape resonance spectra of phenol-water clusters, as obtained from elastic electron scattering calculations. Our results, along with virtual orbital analysis, indicate that the well-known indirect mechanism for hydrogen elimination in the gas phase is significantly impacted on by microsolvation, due to the competition between vibronic couplings on the solute and solvent molecules. This fact suggests how relevant the solvation effects could be for the electron-driven damage of biomolecules and the biomass delignification [E. M. de Oliveira et al., Phys. Rev. A 86, 020701(R) (2012)]. We also discuss microsolvation signatures in the differential cross sections that could help to identify the solvated complexes and access the composition of gaseous admixtures of these species.