BIOACTIVE AND OTHER PIPERIDINE ALKALOIDS FROM CASSIA-LEPTOPHYLLA

Four new piperidine alkaloids, leptophyllin A (4), 3-acetylleptophyllin A (5), leptophyllin B (8), and (-)-spectaline (1), and 3 known piperidine alkaloids, (-)-spectalinine (2), canavaline (3), and iso-6-canavaline (7), were isolated by a bioassay-guided fractionation of a leaf extract of Cassia leptophylla. The alkaloids 1 - 3 were active in a mechanism-based DNA-modifying yeast assay and 2 was moderately active in Vero monkey and Chinese hamster ovary cell cytotoxicity assays.

Local structure and near-infrared emission features of neodymium-based amine functionalized organic/inorganic hybrids

Nd3+-based organic/inorganic hybrids have potential application in the field of integrated optics. Attractive sol-gel derived di-urea and di-urethane cross-linked poly (oxyethylene) (POE)/siloxane hybrids (di-ureasils and di-urethanesils, respectively) doped with neodymium triflate (Nd(CF3SO3)(3)) were examined by Fourier transform mid-infrared (FT-IR), Raman (FT-Raman), Si-29 magic-angle spinning (MAS) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and photoluminescence spectroscopies, and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The goals of this work were to determine which cation coordinating site of the host matrix (ether oxygen atoms or carbonyl oxygen atoms) is active in each of the materials analyzed, its influence on the nanostructure of the samples and its relation with the photoluminescence properties. The main conclusion derived from this study is that the hydrogen-bonded associations formed throughout the materials play a major role in the hybrids nanostructure and photoluminescence properties.

Multi-scale structural description of siloxane-PPO hybrid ionic conductors doped by sodium salts

Alkaline metal doped organic - inorganic hybrids have potential applications in the field of portable energy sources. Attractive sol - gel derived urea cross-linked polyether, siloxane - PPO ( poly( propylene oxide)) hybrids doped with sodium salts ( NaClO4 and NaBF4) were examined by multi-spectroscopic approach that includes complex impedance, X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), Si-29 and Na-23 magic-angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR/MAS), Na K-edge X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) and Raman spectroscopies. The goals of this work were to determine which cation coordinating site of the host matrix ( ether oxygen atoms or carbonyl oxygen atoms) is active in each of the materials analyzed, its influence on the nanostructure of the samples and its relation with the thermal and electrical properties. The main conclusion derived from this study is that the NaBF4 salt has a much lower solubility in the hybrid matrix than the NaClO4 salt. Furthermore, the addition of a large amount of salt plays a major role in the hybrid nanostructure and electrical properties, modifying the PPO chain conformation, weakening or breaking the hydrogen bond of the polyether - urea associations and changing the polycondensation and aggregation processes involving the siloxane species.

The Araguaia fold belt, Brazil: A reactivated Brasiliano-Pan-African cycle (550 Ma) geosuture

The Araguaia-Tocantins geosuture, which separates the Araguaia Fold Belt (AFB) from the Archean Amazonian Craton, was active in the late Middle Proterozoic. The Baixo Araguaia Supergroup was deposited, consisting of the Estrondo Group (lower quartzites with intercalated schists), Xambioá Formation (schists), and Canto da Vazante Formation (upper feldspathic schists); and the Tocantins Group consisting of the Couto Magalhaës Formation (phyllites, quartzites, slates, limestones, and metacherts) and Pequizeiro Formation (upper chlorite schists); and associated mafic-ultramafic bodies. The deformational history includes four regional phases of deformation within this supracrustal sequence: recumbent folds with vergence to the west; refolding with a N-S trend; an intense crenulation episode; and late thrusting from east to west. Metamorphism is of intermediate or intermediate-high pressure type with garnet, biotite, chlorite, and sericite isograds succeeded by a slightly or non-metamorphosed zone, from east to west. Rocks surrounding sparse gneissic-cored domes contain isograds of staurolite, kyanite, and fibrolite. These isograds are believed to be associated with the 1100 Ma Uruaçuano event. The Brasiliano Orogeny strongly affected the AFB with displacements due to transcurrent reactivation of great and old faults of the basement, slight folding in the supracrustal sequence, intrusion of small granite bodies, and development of domes with associated normal faults. The area underlain by the Estrondo Group was uplifted at this time, causing the deposition of the Rio das Barreiras polymictic conglomerate of the central area. K-Ar and Rb-Sr analyses date this thermo-tectonic event at 550 ± 100 Ma. The Archean basement is exposed in the cores of domes as a granite-gneiss association, the Colméia complex, which shows thermo-tectonic features that may be interpreted as polycyclic imprints (Jequié, Transamazonian?, Uruaçuano, and Brasiliano Events). © 1989.

Padrão de sensibilidade aos antimicrobianos de bacilos gram-negativos não fermentadores isolados de materiais clínicos de pacientes em Presidente Prudente - SP

The aim of this study was the assessment of isolation frequency and antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of nonfermenting Gram-negative bacilli. Ninety eight strains of nonfermenting Gram-negative bacilli, isolated from several clinical materials of patients admited at the Dr. Domingos Leonardo Cerávolo University Hospital and at Dr. Odilo Antunes Siqueira State Hospital, as well as from every outpatient; assisted at Laboratory of Clinical Analysis of Unoeste University, Presidente Prudente, São Paulo, in the period of October 1999 to April 2001 were analyzed. The most frequent species were Pseudomonas aeruginosa (65.3%) and Acinetobacter baumannii (23.5%). The frequency of the other isolated species was smaller than 2.5%. In the antimicrobial susceptibility tests, the two species more prevalent showed high resistance. The antibiotic most active in vitro was the imipenem, with 79.6% in microdiluition method, and 76.6% in diffusion method, for Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains and 100.0% in both microdiluition and diffusion methods, for Acinetobacter baumannii. The cephalosporins of third generation, the ciprofloxacin and the aminoglycosides, presented percentage of susceptibility varying from 22.4 to 69.7%. These results bring implications to the emergency use of the antimicrobial agents in the treatment of patients with severe infection.

Toxic and genotoxic effects of trivalent and hexavalent chromium - A review

During the last years, the emission of heavy metals to the environment has increased, causing a severe negative impact to the ecosystems and seriously compromising human health due to their mutagenic potential. Tri- (III) and hexavalent (VI) chromium (Cr) constitute the oxidative states of the metal chromium that are active in living organisms. These two oxidation states of the chromium differ with regards to their cellular effects, mainly due to the different abilities they possess in relation to easy of transport through biological membranes. Cr VI is transported into the cell through transference channels of endogenous anions that are isostructural and isoelectronical to Cr VI, such as SO 4 -2 and HPO 4 -2. On the other hand, Cr III is unable to diffuse through the cell membrane. Its existence inside the cells is generally due to the reduction of Cr VI, the endocytosis, or the absortion by the cells via phagocytosis. Cr III acts directly on the DNA molecule, while Cr VI reacts little with this molecule. In the ecosystem, however, Cr VI is more dangerous since this is the form that presents greater reactivity with biological membranes, crossing them and being easily incorporated into the cell. In the cell it is biotransformed to Cr III, a potentially mutagenic molecule. In vivo and in vitro studies have shown that organisms exposed to Cr VI present greater induction to a variety of damages to the DNA molecule. Among the damages induced by Cr, changes in the structure of the DNA molecule have been reported, with breaks of the major chain and base oxidation. In the organisms, these alterations generate chromosomal aberrations, micronucleus formation, sister chromatid exchanges, and errors in DNA synthesis.

Fitoterapia no sistema de saúde pública (SUS) no Estado de São Paulo, Brasil

Phytotherapy is a form of familiar treatment throughout the world and recommended by the World Health Organisation to be used in all regions, especially in the poorer countries, to improve the state of health of their people. The aim of this study was to describe the use of herbal medicine as an alternative therapy in the public health system in Sao Paulo State. The fieldwork consisted in obtaining information, from all the Regional Health Authorities in the State, about which municipal health areas use this therapy and sending them a questionnaire requesting details about the application of phitotherapy: when the therapy had been adopted, which plants were used, whether the programme had been discontinued or not and if so, for what reason. The cities that use the phytotherapy are: Campinas; Canas; Guaratingueta; Herculandia; Piquete; Pindamonhangaba; Roseira e Sao Jose do Barreiro, Ribeirao Preto, Sao Lourenço da Serra, Cruzeiro e Dobrada. And the three plant more used are: Guaco (Mikania glomerate); Calendula (Calendula officinalis) e Babosa (Aloe vera) The lack of support has led some Authorities to discontinue their active in 08 programmes. Nevertheless, it is concluded that the efficacy and low cost of herbal treatments has engendered a growing interest among health professionals in placing proposals for implanting this therapy in 13 cities in the Municipal Health. Thus, there should be growing practical support for the establishment of such programmes in the future.

End-to-end validation of EPS / MetOp GOME-2 trace gas data

Within the next decade, the improved version 2 of Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME-2), a ultraviolet-visible spectrometer dedicated to the observation of key atmospheric trace species from space, will be launched successively on board three EUMETSAT Polar System (EPS) MetOp satellites. Starting with the launch of MetOp-1 scheduled for summer 2006, the GOME-2 series will extend till 2020 the global monitoring of atmospheric composition pioneered with ERS-2 GOME-1 since 1995 and enhanced with Envisat SCIAMACHY since 2002 and EOS-Aura OMI since 2004. For more than a decade, an international pool of scientific teams active in ground-and space-based ultraviolet-visible remote sensing have contributed to the successful post-launch validation of trace gas data products and the associated maturation of retrieval algorithms for the latter satellites, ensuring that geophysical data products are/become reliable and accurate enough for intended research and applications. Building on this experience, this consortium plans now to develop and carry out appropriate validation of a list of GOME-2 trace gas column data of both tropospheric and stratospheric relevance: nitrogen dioxide (NO 2), ozone (O 3), bromine monoxide (BrO), chlorine dioxide (OClO), formaldehyde (HCHO), and sulphur dioxide (SO 2). The proposed investigation will combine four complementary approaches resulting in an end-to-end validation of expected column data products.

Social Panorama of Latin America 2001-2002

Includes bibliography

Sustainable development: Latin American and Caribbean perspectives

Includes bibliography

Profile evaluation of orthodontic professionals as for their legal actions

Objective: Evaluate the legal actions and behavior in the doctor/patient relationship, used by dental surgeons practicing orthodontics. Methods: The population sample of the present study consisted of dental surgeons, active in the field of orthodontics, and registered with Dental Press Publishing Company - Maringá/PR, Brazil, with a total sample size of 525 professionals. The research was conducted using a 17-question survey forwarded to these professionals. Results and Conclusions: The majority of participants in our study are specialized in orthodontics; 75% of professionals use some sort of contract at the office/clinic; 73.7% of professionals periodically request maintenance X-rays; a large percentage of professionals (58.9%) keep patient records on file for life. The interviewed professionals demonstrate good knowledge of the Brazilian Code of Ethics in Dentistry, especially of Chapter XIV - on Communication.

Chagas disease and triatomine biology (Heteroptera, Triatominae), with emphasis on aspects of spermatogenesis

A century after the discovery of Chagas disease, it is still one of the most important parasitic diseases affecting humans. The subfamily Triatominae is important in medical health, because these insects are vectors of Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiologic agent of Chagas disease. These insects are also of important cytological relevance because they have particular cell characteristics, such as persistence of nucleolar material in spermatogenesis. The germ cells of the animal kingdom have chromatoid bodies (CBs) in their cytoplasm that can originate from nucleolar material that is fragmented in the early stages of spermatogenesis and plays an important role in cellular communication between the spermatids during spermiogenesis. Currently, there are few studies on the function and formation of the CB in nucleologenesis, especially with emphasis on the ultrastructure of the cells involved in spermatogenesis of insects. Considering the importance of knowledge about the triatomine fauna, we conducted a study of the biogeography and reports of these insects and a survey of patients with Chagas disease in the northwestern region of São Paulo State. Data collected from 1995 to 2009 indicated 700 individuals with Chagas disease, demonstrating a range of 0 to 40 years, which shows that the disease may be active in this region. Moreover, of the 1150 patients treated for cardiomyopathy, 44% were chagasic. Regarding the triatomines noted and captured in the period from 2004 to 2009, the species were Triatoma sordida and Rhodnius neglectus, with T. sordida being the most abundant. In addition, some triatomines were infected by T. cruzi in various developmental stages. We also analyzed the nucleolar cycle and fibrillarin nucleolar protein expression in CB of spermatogenic cells of T. infestans and T. sordida, using histological, ultrastructural and immunocytochemical techniques. The results revealed fibrillarin nucleolar protein expression in the nucleus and in some cytoplasmic spots of germ cells during spermatogenesis in triatomines. These data suggest that fibrillarin could be a constituent of CB, which was most likely derived from nucleolar fragmentation. This is the first time that fibrillarin protein expression has been shown in CB during spermatogenesis progression in triatomines. Knowledge about the biology of triatomines was deepened in this study and, in particular, the structural and ultrastructural aspects of spermatogenesis in triatomines. This study showed that the disease may be active in the northwestern region of São Paulo and expanded our knowledge of the biology of triatomines, the main vectors of Chagas disease. © FUNPEC-RP.

Purification, characterization, and specificity determination of a new serine protease secreted by penicillium waksmanii

The purpose of this work was to purify a protease from Penicillium waksmanii and to determine its biochemical characteristics and specificity. The extracellular protease isolated that was produced by P. waksmanii is a serine protease that is essential for the reproduction and growth of the fungus. The protease isolated showed 32 kDa, and has optimal activity at pH 8.0 and 35 C towards the substrate Abz-KLRSSKQ-EDDnp. The protease is active in the presence of CaCl2, KCl, and BaCl, and partially inhibited by CuCl2, CoCl2 and totally inhibited by AlCl3 and LiCl. In the presence of 1 M urea, the protease remains 50 % active. The activity of the protease increases 60 % when it is exposed to 0.4 % nonionic surfactant-Triton X-100 and loses 10 % activity in the presence of 0.4 % Tween-80. Using fluorescence resonance energy transfer analysis, the protease showed the most specificity for the peptide Abz-KIRSSKQ-EDDnp with k cat/K m of 10,666 mM-1 s-1, followed by the peptide Abz-GLRSSKQ-EDDnp with a k cat/K m of 7,500 mM -1 s-1. Basic and acidic side chain-containing amino acids performed best at subsite S1. Subsites S2, S3, S′ 2, and S′ 1, S ′ 3 showed a preference for binding for amino acids with hydrophobic and basic amino acid side chain, respectively. High values of k cat/K m were observed for the subsites S2, S3, and S′ 2. The sequence of the N-terminus (ANVVQSNVPSWGLARLSSKKTGTTDYTYD) showed high similarity to the fungi Penicillium citrinum and Penicillium chrysogenum, with 89 % of identity at the amino acid level. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media New York.

Wine aroma improvement using a β-glucosidase preparation from aureobasidium pullulans

Microbial β-glucosidases have been used for the enhancement of wine aroma. Nevertheless, few enzymes are active in the conditions of winemaking. In this work, the production of a β-glucosidase by an Aureobasidium pullulans strain (Ap-β-gl) isolated from grape ecosystems was evaluated. The maximum enzymatic synthesis using submerged fermentation was after 96 h of growth in complex media containing 20 g/L of cellobiose as the sole carbon source. The crude enzyme (Ap-β-gl) showed optimal pH at 5.5 and two peaks of optimum temperature (at 45 and 70 C). It showed a wide range of pH stability, stability at low temperatures, and tolerance to ethanol, showing suitable characteristics for winemaking conditions. The hydrolysis of glycosidic terpenes by Ap-β-gl was studied, and its ability to efficiently release free terpenols was demonstrated by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The enzymatic treatment notably increased the amount of monoterpenes, showing good prospects for its potential application for the development of aroma in wines. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media New York.

HDAC inhibition decreases XIST expression on female IVP bovine blastocysts

During initial development, both X chromosomes are active in females, and one of them must be silenced at the appropriate time in order to dosage compensate their gene expression levels to male counterparts. Silencing involves epigenetic mechanisms, including histone deacetylation. Major X chromosome inactivation (XCI) in bovine occurs between hatching and implantation, although in vitro culture conditions might disrupt the silencing process, increasing or decreasing X-linked gene expression. In this study, we aimed to address the roles of histone deacetylase inhibition by trichostatin A (TSA) on female preimplantation development.We tested the hypothesis that by enhancing histone acetylation, TSA would increase the percentage of embryos achieving 16-cell stage, reducing percentage of embryos blocked at 8-cell stage, and interfere with XCI in IVF embryos. We noticed that after TSA treatment, acetylation levels in individual blastomeres of 8-16 cell embryos were increased twofold on treated embryos, and the samewas detected for blastocysts. Changes among blastomere levels within the same embryo were diminished on TSA group, as low-acetylated blastomeres were no longer detected. The percentage of embryos that reached the 5th cleavage cycle 118 h after IVF, analyzed by Hoechst staining, remained unaltered after TSA treatment. Then, we assessed XIST and G6PD expression in individual female bovine blastocysts by quantitative real-time PCR. Even though G6PD expression remained unaltered after TSA exposure, XIST expression was eightfold decreased, and we also detected a major decrease in the percentage of blastocysts expressing detectable XIST levels after TSA treatment. Based on these results, we conclude that HDAC is involved on XCI process in bovine embryos, and its inhibition might delay X chromosome silencing and attenuate aberrant XIST expression described for IVF embryos. © 2013 Society for Reproduction and Fertility.