Phytase production by Rhizopus microsporus var. microsporus biofilm: characterization of enzymatic activity after spray drying in presence of carbohydrates and nonconventional adjuvants

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

Increment of Antimycobaterial Activity on Lichexanthone Derivatives

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Characteristics of physical activity programs in the Brazilian primary health care system

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

Handgrip and functional mobility in elderly with different levels of physical activity

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

A structure-based proposal for a comprehensive myotoxic mechanism of phospholipase A(2)-like proteins from viperid snake venoms

Envenomation via snakebites is an important public health problem in many tropical and subtropical countries that, in addition to mortality, can result in permanent sequelae as a consequence of local tissue damage, which represents a major challenge to antivenom therapy. Venom phospholipases A(2) (PLA(2)s) and PLA(2)-like proteins play a leading role in the complex pathogenesis of skeletal muscle necrosis, nevertheless their precise mechanism of action is only partially understood. Recently, detailed structural information has been obtained for more than twenty different members of the PLA(2)-like myotoxin subfamily. In this review, we integrate the available structural, biochemical and functional data on these toxins and present a comprehensive hypothesis for their myotoxic mechanism. This process involves an allosteric transition and the participation of two independent interaction sites for docking and disruption of the target membrane, respectively, leading to a five-step mechanism of action. Furthermore, recent functional and structural studies of these toxins complexed with ligands reveal diverse neutralization mechanisms that can be classified into at least three different groups. Therefore, the data summarized here for the PLA(2)-like myotoxins could provide a useful molecular basis for the search for novel neutralizing strategies to improve the treatment of envenomation by viperid snakes. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Triple-aspect monism: Physiological, mental unconscious and conscious aspects of brain activity

Brain activity contains three fundamental aspects: (a) The physiological aspect, covering all kinds of processes that involve matter and/or energy; (b) the mental unconscious aspect, consisting of dynamical patterns (i.e., frequency, amplitude and phase-modulated waves) embodied in neural activity. These patterns are variously operated (transmitted, stored, combined, matched, amplified, erased, etc), forming cognitive and emotional unconscious processes and (c) the mental conscious aspect, consisting of feelings experienced in the first-person perspective and cognitive functions grounded in feelings, as memory formation, selection of the focus of attention, voluntary behavior, aesthetical appraisal and ethical judgment. Triple-aspect monism (TAM) is a philosophical theory that provides a model of the relation of the three aspects. Spatially distributed neuronal dendritic potentials generate amplitude-modulated waveforms transmitted to the extracellular medium and adjacent astrocytes, prompting the formation of large waves in the astrocyte network, which are claimed to both integrate distributed information and instantiate feelings. According to the valence of the feeling, the large wave feeds back on neuronal synapses, modulating (reinforcing or depressing) cognitive and behavioral functions.

Evaluation of Antimalarial Activity and Toxicity of a New Primaquine Prodrug

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

Estudo das interações de peptídeos antimicrobianos e sistemas miméticos de membrana por dinâmica molecular

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Modulation of the activity and selectivity of the immobilized lipases by surfactants and solvents

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

Intra-examiner reproducibility of the agar plate method for estmation of phospholipase activity in candida albicans

Although measurement errors can impair statistical analysis, reliability analysis has been neglected in applied microbiology. This study assessed the intra-rater reproducibility of the Agar-based method for estimation of phospholipase activity (Pz). Pz readings were performed twice by two examiners (E1, E2), either directly on plates or in photos, and both black and white backgrounds were used. Pz values were taken from one or triplicate colonies from each sample (n=30). Intra-examiner reproducibility was estimated using Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC). For both examiners, reading triplicate (ICCE1=0.91, ICCE2=0.86) was better than one colony (ICCE1=0.86, ICCE2=0.80). E1 had an excellent concordance when measurements were performed on photos using a white background (ICC=0.95) and a good concordance in the other conditions

Prevalence of physical activity through the practice of sports among adolescents from Portuguese speaking countries

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Solid Lipid Nanoparticles Co-loaded with Simazine and Atrazine: Preparation, Characterization, and Evaluation of Herbicidal Activity

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