Co-exposure of the organic nanomaterial fullerene C60 with benzo[a]pyrene in Danio rerio (zebrafish) hepatocytes: Evidence of toxicological interactions

Compounds from the nanotechnology industry, such as carbon-based nanomaterials, are strong candidates to contaminate aquatic environments because their production and disposal have exponentially grown in a few years. Previous evidence shows that fullerene C60, a carbon nanomaterial, can facilitate the intake of metals or PAHs both in vivo and in vitro, potentially amplifying the deleterious effects of these toxicants in organisms. The present work aimed to investigate the effects of fullerene C60 in a Danio rerio (zebrafish) hepatocyte cell lineage exposed to benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) in terms of cell viability, oxidative stress parameters and BaP intracellular accumulation. Additionally, a computational docking was performed to investigate the interaction of the fullerene C60 molecule with the detoxificatory and antioxidant enzyme πGST. Fullerene C60 provoked a significant (p 0.05) alter the enzyme activity when added to GST purified extracts from the zebrafish hepatocyte cells. These results show that fullerene C60 can increase the intake of BaP into the cells, decreasing cell viability and impairing the detoxificatory response by phase II enzymes, such as GST, and this latter effect should be occurring at the transcriptional level.Fil: Ribas Ferreira, Josencler L.. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Lonné, María Noelia. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: França, Thiago A.. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Maximilla, Naiana R.. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Lugokenski, Thiago H.. Universidade Federal de Santa Maria. Departamento de Química; BrasilFil: Costa, Patrícia G.. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Fillmann, Gilberto. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Soares, Félix A.. Universidade Federal de Santa Maria. Departamento de Química; BrasilFil: de la Torre, Fernando Roman. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Luján. Departamento de Ciencias Básicas; ArgentinaFil: Monserrat, José María. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; Brasil. Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia de Nanomateriais de Carbono; Brasi

Undergraduate Commencement Exercises Program, May 21, 1988.

Bryant University Undergraduate Commencement Exercises Program, May 21, 1988

Ofícios e mesteres vimaranenses nos séculos XV e XVI

Com base em documentação de arquivo analisam-se as diversas profissões existentes em Guimarães nos séculos XV e XVI, descrevendo-se a área de actividade de cada um destes profissionais: açagador, albardeiro, alfaiate, almocreve, almuinheiro, aparelhador, armeiro, atafoneiro, ataqueiro, bainheiro, barbeiro, barqueiro, besteiro, borzegueiro, braceiro, cabouqueiro, camareira, carniceiro, carpinteiro, cerieiro, colcheiro, coronheiro, correeiro, curtidor, cutileiro, estalajadeiro, ferrador, ferreiro, forneiro, imaginário, jornaleiro, lavrador, marceiro, mercador, mestre dos órgãos, moleiro, mostardeiro, oleiro, olivezeiro, ourives, padeira, pasteleira / pasteleiro, pedreiro, peixeiro, peliteiro, picheleiro, pintor, saboeiro, sapateiro, seleiro, serrador, serralheiro, sirgueiro, sombreireiro, soqueiro, surrador, taberneiro, tanoeiro, tecedeira, tecelã e tecelão, tendeira e tendeiro, telheiro, tintureiro, torneiro, tosador, trabalhador, vinhateiro

Effect of supplementation with extract of white bean flour in murine model

Common bean supplementation (Phaseolus vulgaris) "in natura" causes loss of body weight associated with a deficiency in nutrient absorption and histopathological changes. This effect has been attributed to phytohemagglutinin (PHA) present in high concentrations in red and white beans. The main objective of this work was to evaluate the safety of white bean flour as a dietary supplement. Animals were treated for 14 days with extract of white bean flour (WBFE) at doses of 2.65g/kg and 5.30g/kg. A significant reduction in body weight was observed, accompanied by the reduction of mean values of glycemia, in both groups in relation to the control group. Significant structural changes were also observed in the intestinal epithelium. Additionally, mice treated with WBFE 5.30g/kg presented mononuclear inflammatory infiltrate in the lamina propria of the intestinal mucosa accompanied by a dose-dependent increase in the dosage of chemokine MCP-1 and nitric oxide, although without causing intestinal and hepatic oxidative and oxidative damage.  The deleterious effects resulting from the use of the WBFE are not permanent since the treated animals after 14 days without WBFE stimuli. In conclusion, commercial bean flour did not prove to be safe as oral dietary supplementation at the dosages used because of the antinutritional and immunomodulatory effects.

The P2X7 receptor mediates Toxoplasma gondii Control in Macrophages through canonical NLRP3 inflammasome activation and reactive oxygen species production

Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is the protozoan parasite that causes toxoplasmosis, a potentially fatal disease to immunocompromised patients, and which affects approximately 30% of the world\u27s population. Previously, we showed that purinergic signaling via the P2X7 receptor contributes to T. gondii elimination in macrophages, through reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and lysosome fusion with the parasitophorous vacuole. Moreover, we demonstrated that P2X7 receptor activation promotes the production of anti-parasitic pro-inflammatory cytokines during early T. gondii infection in vivo. However, the cascade of signaling events that leads to parasite elimination via P2X7 receptor activation remained to be elucidated. Here, we investigated the cellular pathways involved in T. gondii elimination triggered by P2X7 receptor signaling, during early infection in macrophages. We focused on the potential role of the inflammasome, a protein complex that can be co-activated by the P2X7 receptor, and which is involved in the host immune defense against T. gondii infection. Using peritoneal and bone marrow-derived macrophages from knockout mice deficient for inflammasome components (NLRP3-/-, Caspase-1/11-/-, Caspase-11-/-), we show that the control of T. gondii infection via P2X7 receptor activation by extracellular ATP (eATP) depends on the canonical inflammasome effector caspase-1, but not on caspase-11 (a non-canonical inflammasome effector). Parasite elimination via P2X7 receptor and inflammasome activation was also dependent on ROS generation and pannexin-1 channel. Treatment with eATP increased IL-1β secretion from infected macrophages, and this effect was dependent on the canonical NLRP3 inflammasome. Finally, treatment with recombinant IL-1β promoted parasite elimination via mitochondrial ROS generation (as assessed using Mito-TEMPO). Together, our results support a model where P2X7 receptor activation by eATP inhibits T. gondii growth in macrophages by triggering NADPH-oxidase-dependent ROS production, and also by activating a canonical NLRP3 inflammasome, which increases IL-1β production (via caspase-1 activity), leading to mitochondrial ROS generation

Evaluation of inflammatory and oxidative profile in patients with recurrent wheezing

Wheezing is a clinical expression of numerous respiratory-related conditions. Although asthma is the leading cause of wheezing during childhood. The present study aims to evaluate the inflammatory and oxidative profile of pediatric patients with recurrent wheezing. Seventy-eight volunteers were divided into three groups according to their age (≤ 36, 36 to 72 and ≥ 73 months). Blood was collected for hematological evaluation, serum detections of total immunoglobulin E (IgE), and C-reactive protein (PCRus). The oxidative profile was evaluated by total antioxidant capacity (FRAP), malondialdehyde (MDA) and carbonylated protein markers. There was no significant difference in the IgE and PCRus levels among the three groups evaluated. However, a significant positive correlation was observed for PCRus with total leukocyte and with neutrophils for the group of patients ≥ 73 months of age. The intermediate age group presented significantly reduced FRAP values in the serum, while significant values of oxidative damage markers were observed in the group of patients ≥ 73 months of age. When determining the correlation between inflammatory and oxidative markers, only the ≥ 73 months group showed significant. The group ≥ 73 months stands out with significant alterations of the oxidative stress markers and their correlations with the inflammatory profile

Radio galaxies - the TeV challenge

Over the past decade, our knowledge of the \gamma-ray sky has been revolutionized by ground- and space-based observatories by detecting photons up to several hundreds of tera-electron volt (TeV) energies. A major population of the $\gamma$-ray bright objects are active galactic nuclei (AGN) with their relativistic jets pointed along our line-of-sight. Gamma-ray emission is also detected from nearby mis-aligned AGN such as radio galaxies. While the TeV-detected radio galaxies (TeVRad) only form a small fraction of the \gamma-ray detected AGN, their multi-wavelength study offers a unique opportunity to probe and pinpoint the high-energy emission processes and sites. Even in the absence of substantial Doppler beaming TeVRad are extremely bright objects in the TeV sky (luminosities detected up to 10^{45} erg/s), and exhibit flux variations on timescales shorter than the event-horizon scales (flux doubling timescale less than 5 minutes). Thanks to the recent advancement in the imaging capabilities of high-resolution radio interferometry (millimeter very long baseline interferometry, mm-VLBI), one can probe the scales down to less than 10 gravitational radii in TeVRad, making it possible not only to test jet launching models but also to pinpoint the high-energy emission sites and to unravel the emission mechanisms. This review provides an overview of the high-energy observations of TeVRad with a focus on the emitting sites and radiation processes. Some recent approaches in simulations are also sketched. Observations by the near-future facilities like Cherenkov Telescope Array, short millimeter-VLBI, and high-energy polarimetry instruments will be crucial for discriminating the competing high-energy emission models.Comment: Invited review article, submitted to Galaxies; 28 pages, 8 figure

In-vitro antioxidant and anti-inflamatory activities of Pituranthos chloranthus and Artemisia vulgaris from Tunisia

Pituranthos chloranthus and Artemisia vulgaris L. are two of the most important aromatic and medicinal species from the Apiaceae and Asteraceae families, respectively. They are traditionally used in certain pathologies in which inflammatory processes are involved. The present study investigates the potential of aqueous extracts of Tunisian P. chloranthus and A. vulgaris as a natural alternative source of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities using in-vitro techniques. The antioxidant activities of aqueous extracts were evaluated through several assays: capacity for scavenging free radicals (ABTS, DPPH, hydroxyl, superoxide, nitric oxide); and total antioxidant capacity by ferric reducing power activity and inhibition of lipid peroxidation by thiobarbituric acid reactive species (TBARS) method. The anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated through the lipoxygenase (LOX) inhibitory activity. P. chloranthos aqueous extract presented higher concentration of total phenols than A. vulgaris extract, nevertheless higher capacity for scavenging ABTS, superoxide, hydroxyl. and NO free radicals. In the presence of liver homogenate, both extracts had poorer antioxidant activity than in the remaining lipid substrates. P. chloranthos extract had a higher ability for inhibiting lipoxygenase twice higher than A. vulgaris, while it had lower capacity for reducing Fe3+ than P. chloranthos extract. Our results suggest that there are differences of antioxidant activity between both samples, but also the strength for inhibiting the oxidation is highly dependent on the method used.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Loss of the candidate tumor suppressor ZEB1 (TCF8, ZFHX1A) in Sézary syndrome

Cutaneous T-cell lymphoma is a group of incurable extranodal non-Hodgkin lymphomas that develop from the skin-homing CD4+ T cell. Mycosis fungoides and Sézary syndrome are the most common histological subtypes. Although next-generation sequencing data provided significant advances in the comprehension of the genetic basis of this lymphoma, there is not uniform consensus on the identity and prevalence of putative driver genes for this heterogeneous group of tumors. Additional studies may increase the knowledge about the complex genetic etiology characterizing this lymphoma. We used SNP6 arrays and GISTIC algorithm to prioritize a list of focal somatic copy-number alterations in a dataset of multiple sequential samples from 21 Sézary syndrome patients. Our results confirmed a prevalence of significant focal deletions over amplifications: single well-known tumor suppressors, such as TP53, PTEN, and RB1, are targeted by these aberrations. In our cohort, ZEB1 (TCF8, ZFHX1A) spans a deletion having the highest level of significance. In a larger group of 43 patients, we found that ZEB1 is affected by deletions and somatic inactivating mutations in 46.5% of cases; also, we found potentially relevant ZEB1 germline variants. The survival analysis shows a worse clinical course for patients with ZEB1 biallelic inactivation. Multiple abnormal expression signatures were found associated with ZEB1 depletion in Sézary patients we verified that ZEB1 exerts a role in oxidative response of Sézary cells. Our data confirm the importance of deletions in the pathogenesis of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. The characterization of ZEB1 abnormalities in Sézary syndrome fulfils the criteria of a canonical tumor suppressor gene. Although additional confirmations are needed, our findings suggest, for the first time, that ZEB1 germline variants might contribute to the risk of developing this disease. Also, we provide evidence that ZEB1 activity in Sézary cells, influencing the reactive oxygen species production, affects cell viability and apoptosis

Tipos de gráficos estadísticos en libros de texto de ciencias en educación primaria chilena

En este trabajo mostramos resultados preliminares de un estudio sobre gráficos estadísticos en libros de textos de ciencias en educación primaria, en los que se realizó un análisis de contenido. Se observa una cantidad moderada de actividades, el predominio de los gráficos de barras y se entregan sugerencias para profesores