Cultura em substratos orgânicos de Gerberas

O cultivo sem solo de Gerbera (Gerbera jamesonii) tem-se revelado uma técnica adequada, permitindo ultrapassar alguns dos problemas surgidos na cultura tradicional, em solo. No âmbito do Projecto Agro no197 “Cultura sem solo com reutilização do efluente, em estufa com controle ambiental melhorado”, desenvolvido pela Direcçao Regional de Agricultura do Algarve, pelo Cento de Hidroponia e Utilidades Hortofrutícolas e pela Universidade do Algarve testou-se o cultivo de gerbera em substratos alternativos, no Centro de Experimentação Hortofrutícola do Patacão. Cultivaram-se quatro cultivares de gerbera: Monika, Junkfrau, Venice e Lady, em substratos preparados à base de resíduos orgânicos: casca de pinho e bagaço de uva, durante dois anos consecutivos. Os resultados obtidos sugerem que os substratos testados apresentam características adequadas à cultura da gerbera, tendo-se obtido as produções mais elevadas com o bagaço de uva compostado e a casca de pinho não compostada. Das cv. em estudo, no 1o ano a Venice apresentou o maior número de flores comercializáveis, seguida da Lady com mais flores na classe Extra. No 2o ano, a produção foi mais equilibrada entre as cultivares, sendo de registar o aumento da produção em duas cv., Junkfrau e Monica

CCR5-∆32, CCR2-64I, SDF1-3'A, and IFNλ4 rs12979860 and rs8099917 gene polymorphisms in individuals with HIV-1, HIV/HTLV-1, and HIV/HTLV-2 in São Paulo, Brazil

Background. Chemokine and chemokine-receptor polymorphisms have been associated with protection against HIV infection and delayed progression to AIDS, whereas polymorphisms in IFNλ4 (formerly IL28B) have been associated with human T-lymphotropic virus 1 (HTLV-1)-associated myelopathy (HAM) development. Evolutionary selection against ancestral genes differs among human populations, resulting in varying risks of acquiring and developing viral diseases. Methods. DNA samples from 434 patients infected with HIV-1 and/or co-infected with HTLV-1/-2, and samples from 74 HIV and HTLV non-infected individuals from São Paulo, Brazil, were divided into five groups: HIV-naïve, n=160; HIV-ART, n=180; HIV/HTLV-1, n=53; HIV/HTLV-2, n=41; and control, n=74. These samples were analyzed for CCR5-∆32 deletion, CCR2-64I, SDF1-3'A, and IFNλ4 rs12979860 and rs8099917 single nucleotide polymorphisms using PCR and PCR-RFLP techniques. These polymorphisms' genotype and allele frequencies were calculated and compared among groups using logistic regression analysis. Results. All polymorphism profiles described in the literature were detected in this study. The wild-type genotype predominated in all genes analyzed except for IFNλ4 rs12979860. Statistical differences in allele frequencies among groups were detected in the CCR5 and CCR2 genes, with a high frequency of ∆32 in HIV-naïve vs. HIV-ART (OR 2.45, P=0.037) and a minus mutant allele A (CCR2-64I) in HIV-naïve vs. HIV/HTLV-1 (OR 1.90, P=0.048), HIV-ART vs. HIV/HTLV-1 (OR 2.62, P=0.003), and HIV/ART vs. HIV/HTLV-2 (OR 2.42, P=0.016). Conclusions. The polymorphism profiles detected in the study groups corroborate the profiles described in racial admixed populations. High CCR2-64I mutant allele frequencies were detected in HIV/HTLV-1/-2 co-infected individuals, and CCR5-∆32 showed predictive value for ART initiation

Comparação entre métodos de extração e purificação de aflatoxinas em amendoim.

O objetivo do trabalho foi comparar dois métodos de extração e purificação das aflatoxinas B1, G1, B2 e G2 em amendoim. O primeiro método envolveu a extração das aflatoxinas com acetonitrila seguida de purificação através de colunas de separação por fase sólida e o segundo consistiu de extração em metanol e purificação em colunas de imunoafinidade. Foram realizados ensaios de recuperação com amostras fortificadas em dois diferentes níveis: 6,13 μg/kg e 12,25 μg/kg de aflatoxinas totais. O primeiro método apresentou valores de recuperação dentro da faixa aceitável para ambos os níveis de contaminação. O segundo método apresentou elevadas percentagens de recuperação para o nível mais baixo de contaminação, exceto para a aflatoxina G2. Entretanto, no nível mais alto de contaminação, a recuperação ficou abaixo da faixa aceitável. Desse modo, o primeiro método revelou-se mais eficiente para a análise de aflatoxinas em amendoim por cromatografia líquida e detecção por fluorescência

Dengue y leptospirosis compartiendo el mismo nicho ecológico en la localidad ribereña de Carmen del Paraná (Itapúa)

Para conocer la prevalencia de dengue y leptospirosis en pobladores de Carmen del Paraná (Itapúa) realizamos un estudio transversal descriptivo. Aplicamos un cuestionario y toma de muestras sanguíneas, mediante un muestreo por hogares. Los jefes de familia fueron informados sobre la metodología, beneficios, posibles riesgos a fin de decidir su participación o de sus familiares en el estudio. Por el método de ELISA determinamos la presencia de anticuerpos IgG anti-leptospira en 211 mujeres y 107 varones, contra el virus del dengue en 255 mujeres y 142 varones. Hallamos una seroprevalencia de dengue de 25% (IC 95%:20,7-29,4), no habiendo diferencia entre varones y mujeres. La prevalencia de leptospirosis fue de 24,1% (IC95%:19,6-29,2), siendo mayor en mujeres que en varones (28,4% vs 15,9%; p <0,05). La seroprevalencia de dengue fue más alta en los mayores de 35 años (36% vs 17%, p<0,001), mientras que la leptospirosis lo fue en menores de 15 años (48% vs 21,6%, p<0,001). El 8% de los individuos tenía serología positiva tanto para leptospira como para dengue. En esta comunidad, un importante número de individuos tiene riesgo de desarrollar dengue hemorrágico. La coexistencia de dengue y leptospirosis en el mismo nicho ecológico es importante porque al presentar características clínicas semejantes, implican un problema para el médico al momento de establecer el diagnóstico oportuno y el tratamiento apropiado, entonces sería importante el desarrollo de estrategias integrales de vigilancia epidemiológica, prevención y control de estas enfermedades que se basen en la participación conjunta del personal de salud, autoridades y comunidad

Dynamic functional connectivity in migraine during the interictal phase: a resting-state fMRI study

Question: Migraine is a cyclic and complex disorder, characterized by attacks of headache, sensory and cognitive disturbances1. Thalamocortical connectivity in migraine has been found to be transiently abnormal2. Our aim was to assess if the dynamical properties of the migraine brain are affected during the interictal phase. Methods: Resting-state functional MRI data was collected from 14 menstrual migraine patients without aura (interictal phase) and 12 healthy controls (menstrual post-ovulation phase). fMRI data processing included3: motion and distortion correction, temporal highpass filter, regression of motion and physiological confounds, spatial smoothing, and parcellation with the Desikan atlas. Dynamic functional connectivity (dFC) between regions was computed using phase coherence, and recurrent dFC states were identified by kmeans clustering (k ranging between 3 and 15) of the leading eigenvectors of dFC in each time point4. Permutation tests were performed to evaluate statistically significant differences between patients and controls in the probability of occurrence and the mean lifetime of the dFC states. Results: Similar dFC states were found consistently across different numbers of clusters, k, which resembled the canonical resting-state networks as expected. Compared to healthy controls, migraine patients show a significantly lower mean lifetime in one dFC state, when grouping in 4, 5 and 6 clusters. No differences were found for the probability of occurrence. Conclusions: Migraine may be linked to a disruption of brain networks dynamics. This emphasizes the need to adopt time-resolved methods, in addition to static, to study functional connectivity, to better understand the mechanisms of migraine. Our next step will be to assess the dynamics of the migraine brain throughout the migraine cycle.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Comportamento de culturas de bifidobactérias na presença de hidrolisado proteico de soro de leite.

The behavior of Bifidobacterium bifidum CCT7603, Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis BB12 and Bifidobacterium logum BLG301 in the presence of whey protein hydrolysate (WPH) was evaluated in two steps. Initially, two MRS broth concentrations (30.25 mg/mL and 60.50 mg/mL) were tested with WPH from 0.001 mg/mL to 1 mg/mL. Subsequently, the MRS broth (30.25 mg/mL) was tested with WPH from 0.01 mg/mL to 10 mg/mL. In the first stage, a trend of growth promotion with increasing WPH concentration was only observed for CCT7603 (up to 0.1mg WPH/mL) and BLG301 (WPH to 0.01 mg/mL) cultures. In the second step, two-fold higher absorbance values were obtained for CCT7603 culture in the presence of WPH (up to 1.0 mg/mL) compared to the control. The WPH concentration of 10 mg/mL was inhibitory. Considering the two steps, it seems that the WPH up to 1 mg/mL promoted only the growth of CCT7603 culture