Avaliação do potencial antioxidante e antiglicante de fitoterápicos utilizados para os sintomas de climatério

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Estratégias para minimização do estresse oxidativo em sistemas de produção in vitro de embriões bovinos destinados à vitrificação

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

Própolis na dieta de abelhas Apis mellifera L. e seu efeito no sistema imune, expressão de genes após o desafio bacteriano e detoxificação frente ao agroquímico Fipronil

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

The ability of Nile tilapia to regulate protein and energy intake evaluated by carbon relative enrichement

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Modificação química de amido de mandioca e aplicação em emulsão

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Inflamassomos NLRC4 E NLRP3 na Doença Periodontal Experimental Induzida por Aggregatibacter Actinomycetemcomitans

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

High Resolution Paleoceanography of the Guaymas Basin, Gulf of California, During the Past 15 000 Years

Deep Sea Drilling Project Site 480 (27°54.10’N, 111°39.34’W; 655 m water depth) contains a high resolution record of paleoceanographic change of the past 15 000 years for the Guaymas Basin, a region of very high diatom productivity within the central Gulf of California. Analyses of diatoms and silicoflagellates were completed on samples spaced every 40-50 yr, whereas ICP-AES geochemical analyses were completed on alternate samples (sample spacing 80-100 yr). The Bolling-Allerod interval (14.6-12.9 ka) (note, ka refers to 1000 calendar years BP throughout this report) is characterized by an increase in biogenic silica and a decline in calcium carbonate relative to surrounding intervals, suggesting conditions somewhat similar to those of today. The Younger Dryas event (12.9-11.6 ka) is marked by a major drop in biogenic silica and an increase in calcium carbonate. Increasing relative percentage contributions of Azpeitia nodulifera and Dictyocha perlaevis (a tropical diatom and silicoflagellate, respectively) and reduced numbers of the silicoflagellate Octactis pulchra are supportive of reduced upwelling of nutrient-rich waters. Between 10.6 and 10.0 ka, calcium carbonate and A. nodulifera abruptly decline at DSDP 480, while Roperia tesselata, a diatom indicative of winter upwelling in the modern-day Gulf, increases sharply in numbers. A nearly coincident increase in the silicoflagellate Dictyocha stapedia suggests that waters above DSDP 480 were more similar to the cooler and slightly more saline waters of the northern Gulf during much of the early and middle parts of the Holocene (~10 to 3.2 ka). At about 6.2 ka a stepwise increase in biogenic silica and the reappearance of the tropical diatom A. nodulifera marks a major change in oceanographic conditions in the Gulf. A winter shift to more northwesterly winds may have occurred at this time along with the onset of periodic northward excursions (El Nino-driven?) of the North Equatorial Countercurrent during the summer. Beginning between 2.8 and 2.4 ka, the amplitude of biogenic silica and wt% Fe, Al, and Ti (proxies of terrigenous input) increase, possibly reflecting intensification of ENSO cycles and the establishment of modern oceanographic conditions in the Gulf. Increased numbers of O. pulchra after 2.8 ka suggest enhanced spring upwelling.

Inflamassomos NLRC4 E NLRP3 na Doença Periodontal Experimental Induzida por Aggregatibacter Actinomycetemcomitans

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

Photopatternable di-ureasil-zirconium oxocluster organic-inorganic hybrids as cost effective integrated optical substrates

Organic-inorganic hybrids containing methacrylic acid (McOH, CH(2)= C(CH(3))COOH)) modified zirconium tetrapropoxide, Zr(OPr(n))(4), classed as di-ureasil-zirconium oxo-cluster hybrids, have been prepared and structurally characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and Raman (FT-Raman) spectroscopies, Si and C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). XRD and SAXS results have pointed out the presence of Si- and Zr-based nanobuilding blocks (NBBs) dispersed into the organic phase. Inter-NBBs correlation distances have been estimated for the pure di-ureasil and a model compound obtained. by hydrolysis/condensation of Zr(OPr(n))(4):McOH (molar ratio 1: 1): d(Si) approximate to 26 +/- 1 angstrom and d(Zr) approximate to 16 +/- 1 angstrom, respectively. In the case of the di-ureasil-zirconium oxo-cluster hybrids, these distances depend on the Zr relative molar percentage (rel. mol. Zr %) (d(Si) ranges from 18 to 25 angstrom and d(Zr) from 14 to 23 angstrom, as the rel. mol. Zr % increases from 5 to 75), suggesting that the Si- and Zr-based clusters are interconstrained. Complementary data from FT-IR, FT-Raman, (29)Si and (13)C NMR, and AFM support to a structural model where McOH-modified Zr-based NBBs (Zr-OMc) are present over the whole range of composition. At low Zr-OMc contents (rel. mol. Zr % <30) the clusters are well-dispersed within the di-ureasil host, whereas segregation occurs at the 0.1 mu m scale at high Zr-OMc concentration (rel. mol. Zr % = 50). No Zr-O-Si heterocondensation has been discerned. Monomode waveguides, diffractions gratings, and Fabry-Perot cavities have been written through the exposure of the hybrid monoliths to UV light. FT-Raman has shown that the chemical process that takes place under illumination is the polymerization of the methacrylate groups of the Zr-OMc NBBs. The guidance region in patterned channels is a Gaussian section located below the exposed surface with typical dimensions of 320 mu m wide and 88 mu m deep. The effective refractive index is 1.5162 (maximum index contrast on the order of 1 x 10(-4)) and the reflection coeficient of the Fabry-Perot cavity (formed by a grating patterned into a 0.278 cm channel) is 0.042 with a free spectral range value of 35.6 GHz.

Relative abundance and population biology of the non-indigenous crab Charybdis hellerii (Crustacea: Brachyura: Portunidae) in a southwestern Atlantic estuary-bay complex

Invasive species are potential threats to biodiversity, especially if they become established and outnumber native species. In this study, a population of the non-indigenous crab Charybdis hellerii was analyzed in an estuary-bay complex on the southeastern Brazilian coast, with respect to its abundance relative to sympatric native brachyuran species, as well as the size structure, sexual maturity, sex ratio, frequency of mutilation, reproductive period, and development of the reproductive system. Crabs were sampled monthly both in the intertidal zone of rocky shores and on sublittoral soft-bottom. Nine species were recorded on the rocky shores, where C. hellerii was the second most abundant species; only three individuals of C. hellerii were collected in the sublittoral samples. This population of C. hellerii showed a unimodal size structure composed mainly of mature individuals; males were larger than females, and the sex ratio was skewed toward males (3.1:1). About 46.9% of the individuals (75 of 160 crabs) had mutilated or regenerating appendages, more frequent in males (56.8%) than in females (28.2%), which may reflect both inter- and intraspecific agonistic interactions. A continuous reproductive pattern is suggested for this population, although ovigerous females occurred unevenly during the year, with 58.82% of them being collected in winter. There was evidence of multiple spawning, since the ovigerous females with an initial egg mass showed mature ovaries as well as seminal receptacles filled with sperm. C. hellerii is well established in the estuary-bay complex, but is concentrated in intertidal and shallow subtidal rocky shores, where it may compete with and replace other species such as the portunid Cronius ruber. This study also highlights the importance of systematic monitoring studies to evaluate the effects of the introduction of non-indigenous species on ecologically similar natives.

Orobothriurus (Scorpiones: Bothriuridae) phylogeny, Andean biogeography, and the relative importance of genitalic and somatic characters

The genus Orobothriurus Maury, 1976 (Bothriuridae Simon, 1880) displays an Andean pattern of distribution, most of its species occurring at high altitudes (over 2000-2500 m to a maximum altitude record of 4910 m) from central Peru to Argentina. The recent discovery of several new species and the uncertain phylogenetic position of Orobothriurus lourencoi Ojanguren Affilastro, 2003, required a reanalysis of Orobothriurus phylogeny. Thirty bothriurid taxa, including all species of Orobothriurus and Pachakutej Ochoa, 2004, were scored for 65 morphological characters and analysed with parsimony under equal and implied weighting. The resulting topology justifies the establishment of a new genus, Rumikiru Ojanguren Affilastro et al., in press, for O. lourencoi and a closely related, new species, Rumikiru atacama Ojanguren Affilastro et al., in press. It also offers new insights about the phylogeny and biogeography of Orobothriurus and related genera. Characters from the male genitalia (i.e. hemispermatophore), comprising approximately 26% of the morphological matrix, were found to be less homoplastic than those from somatic morphology, contradicting suggestions that genitalia are uninformative or potentially misleading in phylogenetic studies.

Determination of relative in vivo osteoconductivity of modified potassium fluorrichterite glass-ceramics compared with 45S5 bioglass

Potassium fluorrichterite (KNaCaMg5Si8O22F2) glass-ceramics were modified by either increasing the concentration of calcium (GC5) or by the addition of P2O5 (GP2). Rods (2 x 4 mm) of stoichiometric fluorrichterite (GST), modified compositions (GC5 and GP2) and 45S5 bioglass, which was used as the reference material, were prepared using a conventional lost-wax technique. Osteoconductivity was investigated by implantation into healing defects in the midshaft of rabbit femora. Specimens were harvested at 4 and 12 weeks following implantation and tissue response was investigated using computed microtomography (mu CT) and histological analyses. The results showed greatest bone to implant contact in the 45S5 bioglass reference material at 4 and 12 weeks following implantation, however, GST, GC5 and GP2 all showed direct bone tissue contact with evidence of new bone formation and cell proliferation along the implant surface into the medullary space. There was no evidence of bone necrosis or fibrous tissue encapsulation around the test specimens. Of the modified potassium fluorrichterite compositions, GP2 showed the greatest promise as a bone substitute material due to its osteoconductive potential and superior mechanical properties.

Evaluation of relative biological efficiency of additives in sugarcane ensiling

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of adding alkalis on the fermentative pattern, aerobic stability and nutritive value of the sugarcane silage. A completely randomized design with 6 additives in two concentrations (1 or 2%), plus a control group, totalizing 13 treatments [(6x2)+1] with four replications, was used. The additives were sodium hydroxide (NaOH), limestone (CaCO3), urea (CO(NH2)(2)), sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3), quicklime (CaO) and hydrated lime (Ca(OH)(2)). The material was ensiled in 52 laboratory silos using plastic buckets with 12 L of capacity. Silos were opened 60 days after ensiling, when organic acids concentration, aerobic stability and chemical composition were determined. The Relative Biological Efficiency (RBE) was calculated by the slope ratio method, using the data obtained from ratio between desirable and undesirable silage products, according to the equation: D/U ratio = [lactic/(ethanol + acetic + butyric)]. All additives affected dry matter, crude protein, acid detergent fiber, neutral detergent fiber contents and buffering capacity. Except for urea and quicklime, all additives increased the in vitro dry matter digestibility. In general, these additives altered the fermentative pattern of sugarcane silage, inhibiting alcoholic fermentation and improving lactic acid production. The additive that showed the best RBE in relation to sodium hydroxide (100%) was limestone (89.4%). The RBE values of urea, sodium bicarbonate and hydrated lime were 49.2%, 47.7% and 34.3%, respectively.

Evolution of pi(0) Suppression in Au plus Au Collisions from root s(NN)=39 to 200 GeV

Neutral-pion pi(0) spectra were measured at midrapidity (vertical bar y vertical bar < 0.35) in Au + Au collisions at root s(NN) = 39 and 62.4 GeV and compared with earlier measurements at 200 GeV in a transverse-momentum range of 1 < p(T) < 10 GeV/c. The high-p(T) tail is well described by a power law in all cases, and the powers decrease significantly with decreasing center-of-mass energy. The change of powers is very similar to that observed in the corresponding spectra for p + p collisions. The nuclear modification factors (RAA) show significant suppression, with a distinct energy, centrality, and p(T) dependence. Above p(T) = 7 GeV/c, R-AA is similar for root sNN = 62.4 and 200 GeV at all centralities. Perturbative-quantum-chromodynamics calculations that describe R-AA well at 200 GeV fail to describe the 39 GeV data, raising the possibility that, for the same p(T) region, the relative importance of initial-state effects and soft processes increases at lower energies. The p(T) range where pi(0) spectra in central Au + Au collisions have the same power as in p + p collisions is approximate to 5 and 7 GeV/c for root sNN = 200 and 62.4 GeV, respectively. For the root sNN = 39 GeV data, it is not clear whether such a region is reached, and the x(T) dependence of the x(T)-scaling power-law exponent is very different from that observed in the root sNN = 62 and 200 GeV data, providing further evidence that initial-state effects and soft processes mask the in-medium suppression of hardscattered partons to higher p(T) as the collision energy decreases.

DETERMINATION OF CHLORFENVINPHOS, FIPRONIL, AND CYPERMETHRIN RESIDUES IN MEAT AND BOVINE FAT USING QUECHERS METHOD AND GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY-MASS SPECTROMETRY

Analytic methods were applied and validated to measure residues of chlorfenvinphos, fipronil, and cypermethrin in meat and bovine fat, using the QuEChERS method and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. For the meat, 2 g of sample, 4mL of acetonitrile, 1.6 g of MgSO4, and 0.4 g of NaCl were used in the liquid-liquid partition, while 80 mg of C18, 80 mg of primary and secondary amine and 150 mg of MgSO4 were employed in the dispersive solid-phase extraction. For the fat, 1 g of sample, 5 mL of hexane, 10 mL of water, 10 mL of acetonitrile, 4 g of MgSO4, and 0.5 g of NaCl were used in the liquid-liquid partition and 50 mg of primary and secondary amine and 150 mg of MgSO4 were used in the dispersive solid-phase extraction. The recovery percentages obtained for the pesticides in meat at different concentrations ranged from 81 to 129% with relative standard deviation below 27%. The corresponding results from the fat ranged from 70 to 123% with relative standard deviation below 25%. The methods showed sensitivity, precision, and accuracy according to EPA standards and quantification limits below the maximum residue limit established by European Union, except for chlorfenvinphos in the fat.