ÁFRICA(S), MOÇAMBICANIDADE, MIA COUTO: uma varanda para o Índico

Always seen by others eyes, unknown of the languages and other "realities" that constitute, the Africa, specially Mozambique, now (re)invent itself, palimpsestly, in narratives of your griots, narrators and/or storytellers. Our thesis intend, by the review of novel Under the frangipani, to demonstrate that the mozambican writer Mia Couto intends to participate the (re)construction of a devasted nation by war and conflicts, based on belief that the role writer "is to create requisites of a more african thought, to the assessment of your place and your time won't be done from categories created by others" (COUTO, 2005). At first, we show how the mozambican literary system consists itself; then, the insertion of coutian narrative against the prevalence tradition and, also, by the analysis of the constituent elements of the chosen novel, the way how made piece of resistance to reification, objectification of the individuald in the contemporary world , your writing will be present in this sharing of the sensitive. Besides Mia Couto, in our work we'll counting on the lessons of Candido, Noa, Hernandez, Adorno, Paz, Fonseca, Secco, among others studious of african narrative and, specially, Mozambique narrative

Fission-track dating of Macusanite glasses with plateau and size correction methods

Two Macusanite pebbles (MB1 and MB2) were dated with the fission-track method. Six irradiations were carried out in different nuclear reactors: Pavia (Italy), IPEN-CNEN (Brazil) and IPEN-Lima (Peru). Measurements of the thorium and uranium induced-fission per target nucleus using natural thorium thin films and natural U-doped glasses calibrated against natural uranium thin films, together with lambda(F) of 8.46 x 10(-17) a(-1) were used to determine the ages. The apparent ages were corrected using the plateau and size correction methods. Track measurements were performed by different analysts, using different counting criteria. In addition, tracks were measured on samples which had been submitted to thermal treatment as well as on samples which had not been heated. Thermal treatments were carried out to erase the fossil tracks before neutron irradiation. No significant differences have been found in individual results, using the two Macusanite pebbles and the different nuclear reactors, age correction techniques, analysts, track-counting criteria, and thermal treatments before neutron irradiation. The great majority of the results (14/17) is compatible with the Ar-Ar ages of 5.12 +/- 0.11 and 5.10 +/- 0.11 Ma, Macusanite MB1 and MB2, respectively. However, the fission-track ages are systematically less (similar to8%) than the Ar-Ar ages of the two Macusanite samples studied. (C) 2003 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Lesão por esmagamento do nervo isquiático de ratos: estudo da vascularização

Este trabalho teve como objetivo estudar as alterações microvasculares intraneurais aguda em nervo isquiático de rato submetido a esmagamento por diferentes cargas. Foram utilizados 60 ratos machos da linhagem Wistar, distribuídos em grupos experimentais de acordo com a injeção de vasos e com a carga de esmagamento. Os nervos isquiáticos direitos foram isolados e submetidos ao esmagamento com cargas (0,5 Kg, 1 Kg, 5 Kg, 10 kg e 15 kg) por 10 minutos e os nervos isquiáticos esquerdos foram utilizados como controle. Após esmagamento, os animais foram submetidos à cateterização da aorta abdominal e injeção dos vasos, em seguida 30 nervos direitos e esquerdos foram fixados em formol 10%, desidratados e diafanizados para análise longitudinal dos vasos intraneurais e os restantes retirados em toda a sua extensão, cortados em 3 fragmentos, congelados em isopentano em gelo seco e armazenados em freezer -70°C, seccionados transversalmente para análise e contagem dos vasos intraneurais. As análises macroscópica e microscópica mostraram regiões de hematoma endoneural e epineural nas diferentes cargas de esmagamento. A análise morfométrica sugere que a lesão aos vasos intraneurais foi proporcional à carga de esmagamento, causando hematoma endoneural e epineural, que cria microambiente desfavorável para a regeneração das fibras nervosas.

Leukotrienes are not essential for the efficacy of a heterologous vaccine against Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection

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

Influence of extracts of Stryphnodendron polyphyllum Mart. and Stryphnodendron obovatum Benth. on the cicatrisation of cutaneous wounds in rats

Stem bark of the two species Stryphnodendron polyphyllum Mart. and Stryphnodendron obovatum Benth., Leguminosae, was investigated for wound healing, antibacterial and antioxidant activity. These plants contain 12 and 19% tannins in their stem bark, respectively, and are widely used in traditional medicine in Brazil. The total content of phenolics of the crude extract (CE) of Stryphnodendron obovatum was 76.95 +/- 2.98% (CV = 3.87%) and of the ethyl-acetate fraction (EAF) was 89.13 +/- 0.34% (CV = 0.38%); whereas in Stryphnodendron polyphyllum the CE phenolics content was 51.62 +/- 1.53% (CV = 2.96%) and the EAF phenolics content was 59.00 +/- 1.91% (CV = 3.24%). The tannin content of CE from Stryphnodendron obovatum [36.58 +/- 0.35% (CV = 0.98%)] was about 11% higher than in CE from Stryphnodendron polyphyllum [25.43 +/- 0.96% (CV = 3.77%)]. The difference between the species was even greater in the EAF: in Stryphnodendron obovatum the EAF phenolics content was 55.01 +/- 0.36% (CV = 0.65%), whereas in Stryphnodendron polyphyllum the content was 36.16 +/- 0.42% (CV = 1.16%). The healing effect of ointments containing 2.5% crude lyophilised extract (PCE) and 2.5% ethyl-acetate lyophilised fraction (PEA) of the stem bark of Stryphnodendron polyphyllum and Stryphnodendron obovatum was studied in cutaneous wounds of Wistar((R)) rats after 4, 7 and 10 days of treatment. Epithelial cell proliferation in the area of re-epithelialisation of the wounds was evaluated by counting the metaphases blocked by vincristine sulfate. With PCE an increase in epidermal growth was observed after 4 and 7 days of treatment with Stryphnodendron polyphyllum, and after 7 and 10 days of treatment with Stryphnodendron obovatum. Wounds treated with PEA of Stryphnodendron obovatum showed increased epidermal growth only 4 days after the treatment, for Stryphnodendron polyphyllum, epidermal growth was observed after 4 and 7 days of treatment. Both the CE and the EAF fractions of Stryphnodendron polyphyllum and Stryphnodendron obovatum showed antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus with MIC values of 125 and 250 mu g/ml, respectively. Gram-negative bacteria tested were not inhibited by extracts and fractions at concentrations > 1000 mu g/ml. The antioxidant activity through reduction of the DPPH radical in TLC, confirmed the anti-radical properties of these extracts in both species. CE and EAF of both species showed a radical scavenging activity (RSA) and protected DPPH from discolouration, already at 0.032 mu g/ml. The extract from Stryphnodendron polyphyllum were more effective than those Stryphnodendron obovatum, although the former had a lower tannin content. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V.. All rights reserved.

Effectiveness of Photogem (R) activated by LED on the decontamination of artificial carious bovine dentin

The aim of this study was the evaluation of the effectiveness of photodynamic therapy on the decontamination of artificially induced carious bovine dentin, using Photoge(R) as the photosensitizer agent and an LED device as a light source. Dentin samples obtained from bovine incisors were immersed in sterile broth supplemented by Lactobacillus acidophillus 10(8) colony formation units (CFU) and Streptococcus mutans 10 8 CFU. Different concentrations of photosensitizer, PA = 1 mg/ml, PB = 2 mg/ml, and PC = 3 mg/ml, and two fluences, D = 24 J/cm(2) and D = 48 J/cm(2), were investigated. After CFU counting per milligram of carious dentin and statistical analysis, we observed that the photodynamic therapy (PDT) parameters used were effective for bacterial reduction in the in vitro model under study. The best result was achieved with the application of Photoge(R) at 2 mg/ml and photoactivated under 24 J/cm(2) showing a survival factor of 0.14. At higher photosensitizer concentrations, a higher dark toxicity was observed. We propose a simple mathematical expression for the determination of PDT parameters of photosensitizer concentration and light fluence for different survival factor values. Since LED devices are simpler and cheaper compared to laser systems, it would be interesting to verify their efficacy as a light source in photodynamic therapy for the decontamination of carious dentin.

Fractais e Percolação na Recuperação de Petróleo

The complex behavior of a wide variety of phenomena that are of interest to physicists, chemists, and engineers has been quantitatively characterized by using the ideas of fractal and multifractal distributions, which correspond in a unique way to the geometrical shape and dynamical properties of the systems under study. In this thesis we present the Space of Fractals and the methods of Hausdorff-Besicovitch, box-counting and Scaling to calculate the fractal dimension of a set. In this Thesis we investigate also percolation phenomena in multifractal objects that are built in a simple way. The central object of our analysis is a multifractal object that we call Qmf . In these objects the multifractality comes directly from the geometric tiling. We identify some differences between percolation in the proposed multifractals and in a regular lattice. There are basically two sources of these differences. The first is related to the coordination number, c, which changes along the multifractal. The second comes from the way the weight of each cell in the multifractal affects the percolation cluster. We use many samples of finite size lattices and draw the histogram of percolating lattices against site occupation probability p. Depending on a parameter, ρ, characterizing the multifractal and the lattice size, L, the histogram can have two peaks. We observe that the probability of occupation at the percolation threshold, pc, for the multifractal is lower than that for the square lattice. We compute the fractal dimension of the percolating cluster and the critical exponent β. Despite the topological differences, we find that the percolation in a multifractal support is in the same universality class as standard percolation. The area and the number of neighbors of the blocks of Qmf show a non-trivial behavior. A general view of the object Qmf shows an anisotropy. The value of pc is a function of ρ which is related to its anisotropy. We investigate the relation between pc and the average number of neighbors of the blocks as well as the anisotropy of Qmf. In this Thesis we study likewise the distribution of shortest paths in percolation systems at the percolation threshold in two dimensions (2D). We study paths from one given point to multiple other points

Fractais e percolação na recuperação de Petróleo

The complex behavior of a wide variety of phenomena that are of interest to physicists, chemists, and engineers has been quantitatively characterized by using the ideas of fractal and multifractal distributions, which correspond in a unique way to the geometrical shape and dynamical properties of the systems under study. In this thesis we present the Space of Fractals and the methods of Hausdorff-Besicovitch, box-counting and Scaling to calculate the fractal dimension of a set. In this Thesis we investigate also percolation phenomena in multifractal objects that are built in a simple way. The central object of our analysis is a multifractal object that we call Qmf . In these objects the multifractality comes directly from the geometric tiling. We identify some differences between percolation in the proposed multifractals and in a regular lattice. There are basically two sources of these differences. The first is related to the coordination number, c, which changes along the multifractal. The second comes from the way the weight of each cell in the multifractal affects the percolation cluster. We use many samples of finite size lattices and draw the histogram of percolating lattices against site occupation probability p. Depending on a parameter, ρ, characterizing the multifractal and the lattice size, L, the histogram can have two peaks. We observe that the probability of occupation at the percolation threshold, pc, for the multifractal is lower than that for the square lattice. We compute the fractal dimension of the percolating cluster and the critical exponent β. Despite the topological differences, we find that the percolation in a multifractal support is in the same universality class as standard percolation. The area and the number of neighbors of the blocks of Qmf show a non-trivial behavior. A general view of the object Qmf shows an anisotropy. The value of pc is a function of ρ which is related to its anisotropy. We investigate the relation between pc and the average number of neighbors of the blocks as well as the anisotropy of Qmf. In this Thesis we study likewise the distribution of shortest paths in percolation systems at the percolation threshold in two dimensions (2D). We study paths from one given point to multiple other points. In oil recovery terminology, the given single point can be mapped to an injection well (injector) and the multiple other points to production wells (producers). In the previously standard case of one injection well and one production well separated by Euclidean distance r, the distribution of shortest paths l, P(l|r), shows a power-law behavior with exponent gl = 2.14 in 2D. Here we analyze the situation of one injector and an array A of producers. Symmetric arrays of producers lead to one peak in the distribution P(l|A), the probability that the shortest path between the injector and any of the producers is l, while the asymmetric configurations lead to several peaks in the distribution. We analyze configurations in which the injector is outside and inside the set of producers. The peak in P(l|A) for the symmetric arrays decays faster than for the standard case. For very long paths all the studied arrays exhibit a power-law behavior with exponent g ∼= gl.

Qualidade fisiológica de sementes de genótipos de algodoeiro sob estresse salino

The germination of cotton seeds and the seedlings emergency are generally delayed and reduced by the salinity. Although the cotton is considered a tolerant culture, it can suffer substantial reductions in regarding its growth and production when exposed to salinity condition. The aims of this study went evaluate the effect of the saline stress in the germination phase to four cotton genotypes (BRS Rubi, BRS Safira, BRS 201 and CNPA 187 8H), using different osmotic potentials generated with increment of sodium chloride (NaCl). The saline stress was simulated using NaCl aqueous solutions in the potentials: 0.0 (Control); -0.2; -0.4; -0.6; -0.8 and -1.0 MPa. The treatments were monitored by means of tests for analysis of seeds, germination, first counting, speed germination index, length of shoot, radicle length, dry weigth of embrionic axis and shoot/radicle ratio. The tests for germination, first counting and index of germination speed were accomplished using 50 seeds for repetition and for the study of length of shoot, radicle length, dry weigth of embrionic axis and shoot/radicle ratio were used 20 seeds by repetition. For both tests four repetitions were accomplished by genotype for each one of the potentials. The seeds of each repetition were involved in papers Germitest humidified with NaCl solution corresponding to the potential. The repetitions of both tests were maintained in a germinator with saturated humidity. The analysis were initiate four days after the induction of the saline stress. The evaluations of the first three variables analyzed were accomplished daily; the seeds were remove and counted when its germinated. For the length tests just the repetitions corresponding to the potential of NaCl 0,0 MPa were analysis 4 days after the beginning of the induction of the saline stress. The analysis of the repetitions of the potentials -0,2 and -0,4 and of the potentials -0,6, -0,8 and -1,0 MPa they were accomplished with 12 and 20 days, respectively. For accomplishment of the analisis of this test the shoot of the 20 plantules of each repetition was separate from the radicle and both parts were measured. The statistical analyses were performed using the GENMOD and GLM procedures of the SAS. For the variable germination, the cultivates CNPA 187 8H and BRS Safira stood out for the potential -0.8 MPa, with averages of 89% and 81%, respectively. The test of speed germination index to cultivate BRS Safira presented the largest averages for the two higher saline potentials. It was observed that the increase of the saline potential reduces the germination percentage and speed germination index. For each day of evaluation it was verified that the increase of the saline potential causes a reduction of the length both of the shoot and of the radicle. The radicle tends to grow more than the shoot until the potential -0,4 MPa

A influência da criopreservação nas células mesenquimais indiferenciadas do ligamento periodontal de humanos análise comparativa in vitro

Cryopreservation is a process where cells or biological tissues are preserved by freezing at very low temperatures and aims to cease reversibly, in a controlled manner, all the biological functions of living tissues, i.e., maintain cell preservation so that it can recover with high degree of viability and functional integrity. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of cryopreservation on the mesenchymal stem cells originating from the periodontal ligament of human third molars by in vitro experiments. Six healthy teeth were removed and the periodontal cells grown in culture medium containing α-MEM supplemented with antibiotics and 15% FBS in a humidified atmosphere with 5% CO2 at 37° C. Cells isolated from each sample were divided into two groups: Group I - immediate cell culture (not fresh cryopreserved cells) and Group II - cell cryopreservation, during a period of 30 days. Analyses of rates of cell adhesion and proliferation in different groups were performed by counting the cells adhered to the wells, in intervals of 24, 48 and 72 hours after the start of cultivation. The number of cells in each well was obtained by counting viable cells with the use of hemocytometer and the method of exclusion of cells stained by trypan blue. The difference between groups for each of the times was analyzed by Wilcoxon test. Regarding the temporal evolution for each group, analysis was done by Friedman's test to verify the existence of differences between times and, when it existed, the Wilcoxon penalty was applied. The results showed no statistically significant difference between the two groups analyzed in this study. Therefore, we conclude that the cryopreservation process, after a period of 30 days, did not influence the cell type studied, and there was no difference in growth capacity in vitro between the groups

Avaliação in vitro da adesão e proliferação de células mesenquimais do ligamento periodontal humano em diferentes superfícies de titânio

In the last years, many scientific researches in implantology have been focused on alternatives that would provide higher speed and quality in the process of osseointegration. Different treatment methods can be used to modify the topographic and chemical properties of titanium surface in order to optimize the tissue-implant reactions by a positive tissue response. This study aimed to evaluate the adhesion and proliferation of mesenchymal cells from human periodontal ligament on two different titanium surfaces, using cell culture techniques. Grade II titanium discs received different surface treatments, forming two distinct groups: polished and cathodic cage plasma nitriding. Human periodontal ligament mesenchymal cells were cultured on titanium discs in 24-well cell culture plates, at a density of 2 x 104 cells per well, including wells with no discs as positive control. Data obtained by counting the cells that adhered to the titanium surfaces (polished group and cathodic cage group) and to the plastic surface (control group), in the 24, 48 and 72-hour periods after plating, were used to analyze cell adhesion and proliferation and to obtain the cell growing curve in the different groups. The data were submitted to nonparametric analysis and the differences between groups were compared by Kruskal-Wallis and Friedman statistical tests. No statistically significant differences were found in the cells counts between the groups (p>0.05). It was concluded that both treatments produced surfaces compatible with the adhesion and proliferation of human periodontal ligament mesenchymal cells

Análise quantitativa das células CD4 e sua importância no diagnóstico de lesões orais em pacientes HIV positivos

The oral manifestations due to HIV infection are, a lot of times, the first clinical signs of the disease. These injuries may also function as beepers and sentries of the curse and progression of the HIV infection and AIDS. The objective of this work was to evaluate the prevalence of the oral injuries in HIV positive patients, relating them with the CD4+ cells counting and the viral load in patients from the Hospital of Infected contagious Gizelda Trigueiro in Natal-RN. One hundred and one patients were evaluated, where after the clinical exam of the oral cavity, these ones were conducted to the peripheral blood collection for the counting of CD4+ lymphocytes. We observed a prevalence of 25,6%, that is, 31 cases. The Oral Candidiasis was the most commum injure, followed by Oral Hairy Leukoplakia, linear gingival erytema, lips herpes, gingivitis and periodontitis - HIV. The average counting of cells CD4+ of the injury carrying patients was of 250 cells/mm3. We did not observe relation between the presence of injuries and the viral load of the individuals

Expressão imuno-histoquímica das proteínas MMP-9, VEGF e FVW em lesões centrais e periféricas de células gigantes

Central giant cell lesion (CGCL) and peripheral giant cell lesion (PGCL) of the jaws have a distinct clinical behavior, although they share histopathologic features. It is still unclear whether these clinical differences are supported by a distinct pattern of immunoexpression of markers for multinucleated giant cells (GC) and mononuclear cells (MC). The purpose of this study was to compare the immunohistochemical expression of VEGF, MMP-9 in CG and MC and measure the vascularization by vWF to check whether there are differences in expression of these biomarkers between CGCL and PGCL. Paraffin wax blocks of 20 cases of LCCG and 20 LPCG were retrieved. MMP-9 immunoreactivity was greater in the CM of PGCL compared to VEGF (p<0.05). VEGF expression was greater in the CM of CGCL compared to PGCL (p<0.05) and it was greater in the overall expression of CGCL compared to PGCL (p<0.05). Vascularity was quantified by microvascular counting (MVC). MVC was greater in the PGCL compared CGCL (p<0.05). MMP-9 showed a greater tendency of expression in CGCL, though was not significant (p>0.05). We tested correlation between the proteins studied in each group and found a significant negative correlation between VEGF and vWF in CGCL (p<0.05). These results suggest that there are differences in the expression of VEGF in CM and overall expression between the lesions, although no statistically significant difference in the overall expression of the MMP-9. Then, there was a trend in increased expression of MMP-9 and VEGF in CGCL, possibly by the involvement of both proteins in osteoclastogenesis. Additionally, the results of this study indicate a higher degree of vascularization in PGCL compared to CGCL, fact that can be directly linked to the reactive nature of the PGCL, where the inflammatory process with its rich angiogenesis contributes significantly to these findings.

Análise de células t regulatórias foxp3+no líquen plano oral

T regulatory cells have the function of controlling immune responses and maintaining self-tolerance. The FoxP3 has been considered the most specific marker for Treg cells. The aiming of this paper was to evaluate the immunoexpression of FoxP3 in the inflammatory infiltrate from oral lichen planus (OLP) and to compare it with the infiltrate in fibrous inflammatory hyperplasia (FIH) and then, between reticular and erosive forms of OLP. The samples were composed by 32 cases of OLP (17 reticular and 15 erosive) beyond 10 cases of FIH that were submitted to immunohistochemistry staining for FoxP3. Localization of the staining was classified in underepithelial and intraepithelial and the amount of FoxP3+ cells was evaluated through cells counting in 10 consecutive fields, at 400x power magnification. The values were expressed in mean ± standart deviation, and submitted to statistical tests with 5% of significance level. It was observed a statistical significant difference in the amount of FoxP3+ Treg cells between the two combined forms of OLP (1,6 ± 2,2) and the FIH (0,5 ±0,4) (P<0,05). This maybe could be explained by immunological mechanism of OLP, which involves a permanent antigenic induction likely with consequent perpetuation of lesion, eliciting the proliferation and constant recruitment of Treg cells. Otherwise, FIH presents a different etiopathogenesis, in which there is also generation of a variable inflammatory infiltrate, however qualitatively distinct from that seen in OLP. The erosive form of OLP exhibited a greater number (1,7 ± 2,4) of FoxP3+ Treg cells than reticular form (1,5 ± 2,1). These alterations could have relation with the great disease activity verified in erosive OLP, or also, with abnormalities in the regulatory function of Treg cells that could cause the increase observed. Considering the capacity already well established in the literature, both about Treg cells in modulating immune responses, as in the oral mucosa in showing great potential for regeneration, it is suggested that the possibility of development and implantation of immunotherapeutic strategies that regulate the frequency and function of these cells, may help in future treatment of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases such as OLP

Binary integer programming formulations for scheduling in market-driven foundries

This paper describes the development and solution of binary integer formulations for production scheduling problems in market-driven foundries. This industrial sector is comprised of small and mid-sized companies with little or no automation, working with diversified production, involving several different metal alloy specifications in small tailor-made product lots. The characteristics and constraints involved in a typical production environment at these industries challenge the formulation of mathematical programming models that can be computationally solved when considering real applications. However, despite the interest on the part of these industries in counting on effective methods for production scheduling, there are few studies available on the subject. The computational tests prove the robustness and feasibility of proposed models in situations analogous to those found in production scheduling at the analyzed industrial sector. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.