Transcriptomic effects of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug Ibuprofen in the marine bivalve Mytilus galloprovincialis Lam

The transcriptomic effects of Ibuprofen (IBU) in the digestive gland tissue of Mytilus galloprovincialis Lam. specimens exposed at low environmental concentrations (250 ng L-1) are presented. Using a 1.7 K feature cDNA microarray along with linear models and empirical Bayes statistical methods 225 differentially expressed genes were identified in mussels treated with IBU across a 15-day period. Transcriptional dynamics were typical of an adaptive response with a peak of gene expression change at day 7 (177 features, representing about 11% of sequences available for analysis) and an almost full recovery at the end of the exposure period. Functional genomics by means of Gene Ontology term analysis unraveled typical mussel stress responses i.e. aminoglycan (chitin) metabolic processes but also more specific effects such as the regulation of NF-kappa B transcription factor activity. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Biblioteca escolar em Adriana Bogliolo Sirihal Duarte: Práticas e possibilidades

ressaltar algumas das contribuições da docente Adriana Bogliolo Sirihal Duarte para a área da biblioteca escolar. Para tanto se destacam dois quesitos: a produção bibliográfica e o grupo de estudos liderado por ela: Estudos em Práticas Informacionais e Cultura (EPIC). Sendo assim, traçou-se um pequeno panorama sobre a biblioteca escolar Foram revisitados os estudos considerados de maior interesse e as temáticas apreendidas foram sintetizadas e dialogadas com as temáticas trabalhadas pelo EPIC. A “metodologia” empregada foi consulta ao currículo da mesma na base Lattes e em seu site pessoal, nos quais foram feitas duas triagens. Na primeira foram elencadas as categorias de publicação e comunicação consideradas para análise, com os respectivos materiais. Em uma segunda triagem, foi feita uma seleção do material atendendo a critérios como: última realização, os estudos considerados essenciais e um que compreende um estudo de comportamento informacional, anterior ao EPIC. Conclui-se que a grande versatilidade da profissional expressa no vasto legado deixado, evidencia o interesse em conceber um padrão de estudos bastante diversificado para uma biblioteca escolar cada vez mais efetiva

Degradation of fluoroanilines by the wild strain Labrys portucalensis

Aromatic amine compounds, many of them with halogenated substituents, constitute a major class of environmental pollutants that have been released into soil and water due to extensive use in industries and agriculture. Biodegradation has been found to be a major route for the removal of this kind of toxic and recalcitrant pollutants from the environment. Whereas the degradation of mono- and dichlorinated anilines has been studied, very little is known about fluorinated anilines. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate, under aerobic conditions, the degradation of 2-, 3- and 4-fluoroaniline by a previously isolated pure bacterium, designated as strain F11. This microorganism, identified as Labrys portucalensis, was isolated from a contaminated site in northern Portugal and has the unique capacity to utilize fluorobenzene as a sole carbon and energy source,. The results of the biodegradation of 2-, 3- and 4-fluoroaniline by strain F11 showed that this microorganism is able to completely degrade 2- fluoroaniline and partially degrade 4-fluoroaniline, when these compounds are present as a sole carbon and energy source. Biodegradation of these two compounds also occurred, although at a lower rate, in the absence of an external nitrogen source in the culture medium. To our knowledge, this is the first study reporting the biodegradation of 2- and 4-fluoroaniline as a sole carbon and energy source by a pure microbial culture. C.L. Amorim and M.F. Carvalho wish to acknowledge a research grant from Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal (Ref. SFRH/BD/47109/2008 and SFRH/BPD/44670/2008, respectively) and Fundo Social Europeu (III Quadro Comunitário de Apoio). This work was supported by the FCT Project - PTDC/BIO/67306/200

Wastewater valorization by pure bacterial cultures to Extracellular Polymeric Substances (EPS) with high emulsifying potential and flocculation activities

Nowadays much effort has been devoted for the development of cost-effective and environmentally friendly processes to obtain extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) with high emulsifying and flocculation activities. The aim of this study was to evaluate the capacity of bacterial strains previously isolated from oil-contaminated areas to produce EPS with high emulsification and bioflocculant properties during cultivation in domestic and bilge wastewater and in industrial crude glycerol. A total of seven bacterial strains were screened for EPS production, from which two strains, Pseudomonas aeruginosa LVD-10 and Enterobacter sp. SW, were selected as potential EPS producers. EPS with high emulsifying capacity in olive oil (a maximum of 96.6 and 89.8% for strain SW and LVD-10, respectively) was produced using bilge wastewater as substrate. EPS with a slightly lower emulsifying capacity was obtained using crude glycerol. In addition, the flocculation activity of the EPS extracted from strains LVD-10 and SW grown on crude glycerol was considerably higher (81.6 and 73.3%, respectively) than that obtained with other substrates. This is the first study that points out that EPS with emulsifying and flocculation potential activity can be produced from bilge wastewater and crude glycerol. The production of biopolymers with broad biotechnological applications using low-cost substrates can be a means to valorise waste streams.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Neutrophils and the calcium-binding protein MRP-14 mediate carrageenan-induced antinociception in mice.

BACKGROUND: We have previously shown that the calcium-binding protein MRP-14 secreted by neutrophils mediates the antinociceptive response in an acute inflammatory model induced by the intraperitoneal injection of glycogen in mice. AIM: In an attempt to broaden the concept that neutrophils and MRP-14 controls inflammatory pain induced by different type of irritants, in the present study, after demonstrating that carrageenan (Cg) also induces atinociception in mice, we investigated the participation of both neutrophils and MRP-14 in the phenomenon. METHODS: Male Swiss mice were injected intraperitoneally with Cg and after different time intervals, the pattern of cell migration of the peritoneal exudate and the nociceptive response of animals submitted to the writhing test were evaluated. The participation of neutrophils and of the MRP-14 on the Cg effect was evaluated by systemic inoculation of monoclonal antibodies anti-granulocyte and anti-MRP-14. RESULTS: Our results demonstrate that the acute neutrophilic peritonitis evoked by Cg induced antinociception 2, 4 and 8 h after inoculation of the irritant. Monoclonal antibodies anti-granulocyte or anti-MRP-14 reverts the antinociceptive response only 2 and 8 h after Cg injection. The antibody anti-MRP-14 partially reverts the antinociception observed after 4 h of Cg injection while the anti-granulocyte antibody enhances this effect. This effect is reverted by simultaneous treatment of the animals with both antibodies. After 4 h of Cg injection in neutrophil-depleted mice a significant expression of the calcium-binding protein MRP-14 was detected in the cytoplasm of peritoneal macrophages. This suggests that the enhancement of the effect observed after treatment with the anti-neutrophil antibody may be due to secretion of MRP-14 by macrophages. It has also been demonstrated that endogenous opioids and glucocorticoids are not involved in the antinociception observed at the 4th hour after Cg injection. CONCLUSION: These data support the hypothesis that neutrophils and the calcium-binding protein MRP-14 are participants of the endogenous control of inflammatory pain in mice despite the model of acute inflammation used

Studies on enantioselective biodegradation of fluoxetine

Fluoxetine (FLX) is a chiral fluorinated pharmaceutical indicated mainly for treatment of depression and is one of the most dispensed drugs in the world. There is a clear evidence of environmental contamination with this drug. Granular sludge sequencing batch reactors (SBR) constitute a promising technology for the treatment of effluents containing micropollutants. In this study, a SBR was operated in order to assess its performance when treating a synthetic wastewater containing racemic FLX (rac-FLX), under continuous and intermittent feeding of the compound. The concentration of FLX enantiomers was followed using an enantioselective HPLC method. A removal of 70% of the total supplied FLX was observed in the first continuous feeding period. However, the subsequent feeding periods revealed a significant decrease in the FLX removal; FLX liberation occurred during periods when no compound was supplied. This can be probably explained by desorption of FLX previously adsorbed to the granules. No intermediate metabolites or fluoride release were detected, corroborating the hypothesis that adsorption of FLX to the aerobic granules occurred. Moreover, the absence of enantioselectivity in the decrease of FLX enantiomers concentration is also an indicator of an abiotic mechanism. In face of the incapacity of the aerobic granules to biodegrade FLX, the ability of Labrys portucalensis F11, a previously isolated microbial strain with the capacity to degrade a range of fluorinated aromatic compounds, to biodegrade this compound was investigated. In this study, the enantioselective biodegradation of rac-FLX and of its enantiomers was assessed. The results obtained revealed that this strain is able to degrade both enantiomers of FLX, when supplemented as a racemic mixture, as well as when supplemented as a single enantiomers. Preferential degradation of the (R)-enantiomer was observed. This feature makes L. portucalensis F11 a potential candidate for devising biodegradation technologies able to deal with contamination by this pharmaceutical. Acknowledgements: I.S. Moreira, A.R. Ribeiro and C.L. Amorim wish to acknowledge a research grant from Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal (Ref. SFRH/BPD/87251/2012, SFRH/BD/64999/2009 and SFRH/BD/47109/2008 , respectively) and Fundo Social Europeu (Programa Operacional Potencial Humano (POPH), Quadro de Referência Estratégico Nacional (QREN)). This work was supported by FCT through the projects PTDC/EBB-EBI/111699/2009, CEQUIMED-Pest-OE/SAU/UI4040/2011 and PEst-OE/EQB/LA0016/2011

Toxin profile of two Gymnodinium catenatum strains from Iberian Coastal Waters

Gymnodinium catenatum has been the main species responsible for paralytic shellfish poisoning events along the Portuguese coast (Iberian Peninsula), causing bans on bivalve harvesting that result in huge economic losses. This work presents the characterization of two novel isolates of G. catenatum regarding their growth and toxin profiles. Laboratory growth experiments revealed that, although low growth rates were obtained during cultivation, the cell yields were high compared to those reported in the literature. Evaluation of the toxin profiles, by HPLC-FLD, essentially confirmed the typical composition of toxins of this regional population (Iberian Peninsula), namely, the absence or low representation of the toxins dcNEO, GTX1,4 and NEO and a higher ratio of the toxins C1,2, GTX6 and GTX5. However, the percentage of the identified toxins varied among the strains of this study (under the same isolation, growth, and analysis conditions), and also differed from that of other strains described in the literature. Interestingly, we found a comparatively high abundance of dcSTX in both strains, relative to the other toxins, and an unquantifiable amount of C3,4 toxins. In addition to the geographic relationship between toxin profiles, chemical conversions among toxins may explain some differences encountered in the toxin profiles of G. catenatum strains.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Guided inquiry e construtivismo: novos métodos de aprendizagem e a biblioteca escolar

In a reality increasingly characterized by technology, much has been reflected on the future of education and the school library. As there is a close link from the library to the institution in which it operates and since today the reality of schools and their libraries operates specifically in the digital natives logic, this article aims to discuss new educational, teaching and research parameters in an educational context guided by the Internet, within the constructivist logic. To do so, it describes the peculiarities of a private school located at Belo Horizonte (MG), investigated through ethnomethodological methods with interviews and observation techniques, and it confronts the information behavior of their students with some theoretical contributions from Carol Kuhlthau. After all, it reflects on the viability of new proposals for librarian practice and learning methods. We conclude that in times when it comes to the pedagogical nature of the library and librarian-teacher, the research is increasingly aimed to show information literacy models.Em uma realidade cada vez mais caracterizada pela presença da tecnologia, muito se tem refletido sobre os rumos da educação e da biblioteca escolar. Como existe uma estreita vinculação da biblioteca à instituição em que está inserida e hoje a realidade das escolas e de suas bibliotecas opera especificamente na lógica dos nativos digitais, este artigo se propõe a discorrer sobre novos parâmetros de educação, ensino e pesquisa em um contexto educativo pautado pela Internet, dentro da lógica construtivista. Para tanto, descreve-se as peculiaridades de uma instituição privada de ensino de Belo Horizonte (MG), investigada através de métodos etnometodológicos com técnicas de observação e entrevistas, e confronta-se o comportamento informacional de seus alunos com as contribuições de Carol Kuhlthau. Reflete-se sobre a viabilidade de novas propostas de prática bibliotecária e métodos de aprendizagem. Conclui-se que em tempos em que se fala do caráter pedagógico da biblioteca e do bibliotecário-educador as pesquisas se mostram dirigidas cada vez mais para modelos de competência informacional

Biosorption of fluoroquinolones by activated sludge and aerobic granules sludge

Oral communicationAntibiotic residues have been detected in various environmental matrices, such as surface water and even drinking water. Although present at low levels (μg/L, ng/L), many antibiotics are bioaccumulative, pseudo-persistent and can promote resistance/alterations in bacterial populations [1]. Recent studies on antibiotics removal by activated sludge (AS) and aerobic granules (AGS) show biosorption as the dominant process, determining the fate of these micropollutants [2-3]. In this work the biosorption of three widely used fluoroquinolones (FQ) - ofloxacin (OFL), norfloxacin (NOR) and ciprofloxacin (CPF) - to AS and AGS was evaluated. A High Performance Liquid Chromatography with Fluorescence Detection (HPLC-FD) method was validated and used to follow the biosorption of the target FQ. Data obtained in this study contribute to a better comprehension of FQ biosorption behavior in AS and AGS. At pH 7 AS showed better performance to biosorb OFL, NOR and CPF than AGS. The higher biosortion capacity of AS was probably due to the negative charge on its surface, evaluated by a zeta potential of -25.65 mV, at pH 7. OFL was the less biosorbed, both onto AS and AGS, because this FQ at pH 7 is mainly present in its anionic form. The equilibrium data for AS showed a better fit to the Langmuir model, while the model that presented better fit for AGS was the Freundlich model. The FQ could be desorbed from AGS at pH 3, pH 8 and pH 9 whereas at pH 4 the biosorption process was promoted