EFEITO DO TRATAMENTO COM NIMESULIDA SOBRE A INFLAMAÇÃO GRANULOMATOSA EM CAMUNDONGOS

O granuloma induzido por corpo estranho é um modelo experimental de infamação subcrônica que permite a avaliação do efeito de fármacos sobre o extravasamento vascular (edema) e sobre o infltrado celular. A Nimesulida é um anti-infamatório não esteroidal (AINE) que age por vários mecanismos e é largamente utilizada por sua boa tolerabilidade e comodidade de administração. O objetivo deste trabalho foi verifcar o efeito da Nimesulida sobre o modelo de granuloma induzido por corpo estranho. Camundongos Swiss machos (n=6/grupo) receberam implantes subcutâneos de algodão previamente pesados e esterilizados. O grupo Nimesulida foi tratado com o fármaco na dose de 5mg/kg a cada 12 horas, por via oral, por seis dias. Os animais do grupo Controle receberam igual volume de água estéril e apirogênica por via oral, nos mesmos intervalos e pelo mesmo período. Um dia após o período de tratamento, os animais foram sacrifcados, os implantes de algodão retirados e obtido o peso úmido. Os implantes foram pressionados contra lâminas, posteriormente coradas e utilizadas para a contagem diferencial de células. Após dessecagem por 48 horas em estufa, foi obtido o peso seco. Houve diminuição signifcativa do peso úmido do implante e signifcativa alteração do padrão do infltrado celular do granuloma, com diminuição de neutróflos e aumento de macrófagos nos animais tratados com Nimesulida, que apresentaram um padrão tissular de infamação mais tardia se comparados aos animais do grupo Controle. Assim, o tratamento com Nimesulida modula a resposta infamatória no modelo de granuloma por corpo estranho, podendo nesses casos ser utilizada como controle positivo.Descritores: Inflamação; Granuloma; Nimesulida.Abstract:  The cotton pellet granuloma is a subchronic infammation experimental model that allows to assessing the effect of drugs on the vascular leakage (edema) and on the cell infltrate. Nimesulide is a NSAID that acts by several mechanisms and is widely used for its good tolerability and convenience of administration. This experiment aim was to verify the effect of Nimesulide on cotton pellet granuloma. Swiss male mice separated in two groups (n=6/group) received subcutaneous implants of cotton previously weighed and sterilized and began orally treatment with Nimesulide 5mg/kg at interval of  12 hours for six days. Control group animals received an equal volume of sterile and pyrogen-free water orally at the same interval and for the same period. One day after the treatment, the animals were sacrifced and had the implants removed. The wet weight was obtained and the implants pressed against glass slides, then stained and used for differential cell count. There was a signifcant decrease at the wet weigh and a signifcant change in the pattern of granuloma cellular infltrate, with replacement of neutrophils by macrophages in animal treated with Nimesulide. This group showed a more chronic tissue quality compared to the Control group. Then, treatment with Nimesulide is able to modulate the infammation in foreign body granuloma model and can be used as positive control.Descriptors: Infammation; Granuloma; Nimesulide

A list of land plants of Parque Nacional do Caparaó, Brazil, highlights the presence of sampling gaps within this protected area

Brazilian protected areas are essential for plant conservation in the Atlantic Forest domain, one of the 36 global biodiversity hotspots. A major challenge for improving conservation actions is to know the plant richness, protected by these areas. Online databases offer an accessible way to build plant species lists and to provide relevant information about biodiversity. A list of land plants of “Parque Nacional do Caparaó” (PNC) was previously built using online databases and published on the website "Catálogo de Plantas das Unidades de Conservação do Brasil." Here, we provide and discuss additional information about plant species richness, endemism and conservation in the PNC that could not be included in the List. We documented 1,791 species of land plants as occurring in PNC, of which 63 are cited as threatened (CR, EN or VU) by the Brazilian National Red List, seven as data deficient (DD) and five as priorities for conservation. Fifity-one species were possible new ocurrences for ES and MG states

A search for ultra-high-energy photons at the Pierre Auger Observatory exploiting air-shower universality

The Pierre Auger Observatory is the most sensitive detector to primary photons with energies above ∼0.2 EeV. It measures extensive air showers using a hybrid technique that combines a fluorescence detector (FD) with a ground array of particle detectors (SD). The signatures of a photon-induced air shower are a larger atmospheric depth at the shower maximum (X$_{max}$) and a steeper lateral distribution function, along with a lower number of muons with respect to the bulk of hadron-induced background. Using observables measured by the FD and SD, three photon searches in different energy bands are performed. In particular, between threshold energies of 1-10 EeV, a new analysis technique has been developed by combining the FD-based measurement of X$_{max}$ with the SD signal through a parameter related to its muon content, derived from the universality of the air showers. This technique has led to a better photon/hadron separation and, consequently, to a higher search sensitivity, resulting in a tighter upper limit than before. The outcome of this new analysis is presented here, along with previous results in the energy ranges below 1 EeV and above 10 EeV. From the data collected by the Pierre Auger Observatory in about 15 years of operation, the most stringent constraints on the fraction of photons in the cosmic flux are set over almost three decades in energy

Study on multi-ELVES in the Pierre Auger Observatory

Since 2013, the four sites of the Fluorescence Detector (FD) of the Pierre Auger Observatory record ELVES with a dedicated trigger. These UV light emissions are correlated to distant lightning strikes. The length of recorded traces has been increased from 100 μs (2013), to 300 μs (2014-16), to 900 μs (2017-present), to progressively extend the observation of the light emission towards the vertical of the causative lightning and beyond. A large fraction of the observed events shows double ELVES within the time window, and, in some cases, even more complex structures are observed. The nature of the multi-ELVES is not completely understood but may be related to the different types of lightning in which they are originated. For example, it is known that Narrow Bipolar Events can produce double ELVES, and Energetic In-cloud Pulses, occurring between the main negative and upper positive charge layer of clouds, can induce double and even quadruple ELVES in the ionosphere. This report shows the seasonal and daily dependence of the time gap, amplitude ratio, and correlation between the pulse widths of the peaks in a sample of 1000+ multi-ELVES events recorded during the period 2014-20. The events have been compared with data from other satellite and ground-based sensing devices to study the correlation of their properties with lightning observables such as altitude and polarity