Eutrofização dos recursos hídricos como ferramenta para a compreensão das doenças de vinculação hídrica

O saneamento ambiental inadequado afeta diretamente a qualidade da água e da vida humana. O presente estudo avaliou o estado trófico das águas e as incidências de doenças de vinculação hídrica em bacias hidrográficas com diferentes graus de urbanização na região Norte da Ilha de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis. Foram utilizados o Índice Trófico (Index Trophic- TRIX) e as informações sobre a incidência de doenças de vinculação hídrica disponibilizadas pela Secretaria Municipal de Saúde de Florianópolis. No ano de 2014, foram diagnosticados 5.358 casos de diarreia e de gastroenterite na Unidade de Pronto Atendimento UPA Norte, localizada no bairro de Canasvieiras, bacia hidrográfica do rio Papaquara, onde as águas apresentam características eutróficas. A menor incidência de doenças esteve associada à melhor qualidade da água, o que ocorreu no Canal de Jurerê. A pesquisa permitiu alertar para as intervenções necessárias a serem realizadas tanto pelo serviço de abastecimento sanitário quanto pelo Poder Público, no atendimento aos padrões de qualidade da água

Peptide glutamine supplementation for tolerance of intermittent exercise in soccer players

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether supplementation of carbohydrate together with peptide glutamine would increase exercise tolerance in soccer players. METHODS: Nine male soccer players (mean age: 18.4 ± 1.1 years; body mass: 69.2 ± 4.6 kg; height: 175.5 ± 7.3 cm; and maximum oxygen consumption of 57.7 ± 4.8 ml.kg-1.min-1) were evaluated. All of them underwent a cardiopulmonary exercise test and followed a protocol that simulated the movements of a soccer game in order to evaluate their tolerance to intermittent exercise. By means of a draw, either carbohydrate with peptide glutamine (CARBOGLUT: 50g of maltodextrin + 3.5g of peptide glutamine in 250 ml of water) or carbohydrate alone (CARBO: 50g of maltodextrin in 250 ml of water) was administered in order to investigate the enhancement of the soccer players' performances. The solution was given thirty minutes before beginning the test, which was performed twice with a one-week interval between tests. RESULTS: A great improvement in the time and distance covered was observed when the athletes consumed the CARBOGLUT mixture. Total distance covered was 12750 ± 4037m when using CARBO, and 15571 ± 4184m when using CARBOGLUT (

Evaluation and molecular characterization of human adenovirus in drinking water supplies: viral integrity and viability assays

BACKGROUND: Human adenoviruses (HAdVs) are the second-leading cause of childhood gastroenteritis worldwide. This virus is commonly found in environmental waters and is very resistant to water disinfection and environmental stressors, especially UV light inactivation. Molecular techniques, such as PCR-based methods (Polymerase Chain Reaction), are commonly used to detect and identify viral contamination in water, although PCR alone does not allow the discrimination between infectious and non-infectious viral particles. A combination of cell culture and PCR has allowed detection of infectious viruses that grow slowly or fail to produce cytopathic effects (CPE) in cell culture. This study aimed to assess the integrity and viability of human adenovirus (HAdV) in environmental water and evaluate circulating strains by molecular characterization in three sites of the water supply in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina Island, Brazil: Peri Lagoon water, spring source water, and water from the public water supply system. METHODS: Water samples were collected, concentrated and HAdV quantified by real-time PCR. Viral integrity was evaluated by enzymatic assay (DNase I) and infectivity by plaque assay (PA) and integrated cell culture using transcribed mRNA (ICC-RT-qPCR). Samples containing particles of infectious HAdV were selected for sequencing and molecular characterization. RESULTS: The analyzed sites contained 83, 66 and 58% undamaged HAdV particles (defined as those in which the genetic material is protected by the viral capsid) at Peri Lagoon, spring source water and public supply system water, respectively. Of these, 66% of the particles (by PA) and 75% (by ICC-RT-qPCR) HAdV were shown to be infectious, due to being undamaged in Peri Lagoon, 33% (by PA) and 58% (by ICC-RT-qPCR) in spring source water and 8% (by PA) and 25% (by ICC-RT-qPCR) in the public water supply system. ICC-RT-qPCR, a very sensitive and rapid technique, was able to detect as low as 1 × 10(2) HAdV genome copies per milliliter of infectious viral particles in the environmental water samples. The molecular characterization studies indicated that HAdV-2 was the prevalent serotype. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate a lack of proper public health measures. We suggest that HAdV can be efficiently used as a marker of environmental and drinking water contamination and ICC-RT-qPCR demonstrated greater sensitivity and speed of detection of infectious viral particles compared to PA

Crosstalk between the calcineurin and cell wall integrity pathways prevents chitin overexpression in Candida albicans

Funding Information: We thank Carol Munro for helpful discussions during the research, Raif Yuecel, Elizabeth Adams, Linda Duncan, Barry Lewis and Kimberley Sim for assistance with FACS at Aberdeen Cytometry Core Facility, and Yang Meng and Dominique Sanglard with help in construction of mutants. We also thank Linghuo Jiang, David Soll, Jes?s Pla, Jan Quinn, Terry Roemer and Joseph Heitman for mutant strains. N.A.R.G. acknowledges support from the Wellcome Trust [Senior Investigator (101873/Z/13/Z), Collaborative (200208/A/15/Z and 215599/Z/19/Z) and Strategic (097377/Z11/Z) Awards] and from the Medical Research Council Centre for Medical Mycology (MR/N006364/2). This work was also supported by a Marie Curie FP7-PEOPLE-ITN-2008 grant (MB004 RGE0655 ARIADNE) and by a Wellcome Trust project grant (086827). Open access funding provided by University of Exeter. Deposited in PMC for immediate release.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Polymeric nanoparticles: production, characterization, toxicology and ecotoxicology

Polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) are particles within the size range from 1 to 1000 nm and can be loaded with active compounds entrapped within or surface-adsorbed onto the polymeric core. The term “nanoparticle” stands for both nanocapsules and nanospheres, which are distinguished by the morphological structure. Polymeric NPs have shown great potential for targeted delivery of drugs for the treatment of several diseases. In this review, we discuss the most commonly used methods for the production and characterization of polymeric NPs, the association efficiency of the active compound to the polymeric core, and the in vitro release mechanisms. As the safety of nanoparticles is a high priority, we also discuss the toxicology and ecotoxicology of nanoparticles to humans and to the environment.This research was supported by the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation (FCT/MCT) and from European Funds (PRODER/COMPETE) through the projects M-ERA-NET/0004/2015-PAIRED, UIDB/04469/2020 (strategic fund) and UIDB/04033/2020 (to CITAB), co-financed by FEDER, under the Partnership Agreement PT2020info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Doped Semiconductor Nanocrystals: Development and Applications

This chapter aims to show significant progress that our group has been developing and the applications of several doped semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs), as nanopowders or embedded in glass systems. Depending on the type of dopant incorporated in the nanocrystals, the physical, chemical, and biological properties can be intensified. However, it can also generate undesired toxic effects that can potentially compromise its use. Here we present the potential of zinc oxide NCs doped with silver (Ag), gold (Au), and magnesium (Mg) ions to control bacterial diseases in agriculture. We have also performed biocompatibility analysis of the pure and Ag-doped sodium titanate (Na2Ti3O7) NCs in Drosophila. The doped nanocrystals embedded in glassy systems are chrome (Cr) or copper (Cu) in ZnTe and Bi2Te3 NCs for spintronic development nanodevices. Therefore, we will show several advantages that doped nanocrystals may present in the technological and biotechnological areas

Identification of a Novel Response Regulator, Crr1, That Is Required for Hydrogen Peroxide Resistance in Candida albicans

Candida albicans colonises numerous niches within humans and thus its success as a pathogen is dependent on its ability to adapt to diverse growth environments within the host. Two component signal transduction is a common mechanism by which bacteria respond to environmental stimuli and, although less common, two component-related pathways have also been characterised in fungi. Here we report the identification and characterisation of a novel two component response regulator protein in C. albicans which we have named CRR1 (Candida Response Regulator 1). Crr1 contains a receiver domain characteristic of response regulator proteins, including the conserved aspartate that receives phosphate from an upstream histidine kinase. Significantly, orthologues of CRR1 are present only in fungi belonging to the Candida CTG clade. Deletion of the C. albicans CRR1 gene, or mutation of the predicted phospho-aspartate, causes increased sensitivity of cells to the oxidising agent hydrogen peroxide. Crr1 is present in both the cytoplasm and nucleus, and this localisation is unaffected by oxidative stress or mutation of the predicted phospho-aspartate. Furthermore, unlike the Ssk1 response regulator, Crr1 is not required for the hydrogen peroxide-induced activation of the Hog1 stress-activated protein kinase pathway, or for the virulence of C. albicans in a mouse model of systemic disease. Taken together, our data suggest that Crr1, a novel response regulator restricted to the Candida CTG clade, regulates the response of C. albicans cells to hydrogen peroxide in a Hog1-independent manner that requires the function of the conserved phospho-aspartate