Influência da idade das folhas e da luminosidade nos teores de metilxantinas, ácido clorogênico, fenólicos totais e na atividade de captação de radicais livres de extratos aquosos de Ilex paraguariensis A. St. Hilaire

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Ciências da Saúde. Programa de Pós-Graduação em FarmáciaA erva-mate (Ilex paraguariensis A. St. Hil., Aquifoliaceae) é uma espécie vegetal nativa da América do Sul, amplamente utilizada nesta região por seu potencial industrial na preparação de bebidas, chás e produtos dermocosméticos. Suas propriedades estão diretamente relacionadas à presença de metabólitos secundários, como as saponinas, as metilxantinas e os compostos fenólicos. O presente trabalho teve como objetivo investigar a influência da idade das folhas e da luminosidade nos teores de metilxantinas, ácido clorogênico, fenólicos totais e na atividade de captação de radicais livres de extratos aquosos das folhas de Ilex paraguariensis A. St. Hilaire em uma população situada em Chapecó, Santa Catarina. As análises quantitativas foram realizadas por espectrofotometria no UV/Vis e por cromatografia líquida de alta eficiência (CLAE). Os resultados mostraram uma grande variabilidade nos teores de todos os metabólitos avaliados. A intensidade luminosa em condições naturais não alterou significativamente (P > 0,05) os teores de cafeína, teobromina, ácido clorogênico e fenólicos totais, assim como a atividade de captação de radicais livres dos extratos. Por outro lado, a idade das folhas demonstrou influência significativa (P 0,05) the caffeine, theobromine, chlorogenic acid and total phenolic content, as well as the free radical scavenging capacity. On the other hand, the age of leaves showed significant influence (P < 0,05) on the caffeine, methylxanthines, and total phenolic content of the evaluated extracts. Additionally, the free radical scavenging capacity was also significantly affected (P < 0,05) by the leaf age, with an inverse correlation between the EC50 values and the total phenolic content. Finally, the chlorogenic acid was not characterized as an efficient chemical marker, regarding to the antioxidant activity for I. paraguariensis species

The anti-inflammatory effect of Ilex paraguariensis A. St. Hil (Mate) in a murine model of pleurisy.

Ilex paraguariensis is a native plant from Southern America, where it is used as a beverage. In traditional medicine, it is used to treat many diseases including inflammation. However, we do not yet know precisely how this effect occurs. We therefore evaluated its anti-inflammatory effect in a murine model of pleurisy. The standardized CE, BF and ARF fractions, Caf, Rut and CGA were able to reduce leukocyte migration, exudate concentration, MPO and ADA activities and NOx levels. Moreover, I. paraguariensis also inhibited the release of Th1/Th17 pro-inflammatory cytokines, while increasing IL-10 production and improving the histological architecture of inflamed lungs. In addition, its major compounds decreased p65 NF-κB phosphorylation. Based on our results, we can conclude that I. paraguariensis exerts its anti-inflammatory action by attenuating the Th1/Th17 polarization in this model. This fact suggests that the use of this plant as a beverage can protect against Th1/Th17 inflammatory diseases

ATLANTIC EPIPHYTES: a data set of vascular and non-vascular epiphyte plants and lichens from the Atlantic Forest

Epiphytes are hyper-diverse and one of the frequently undervalued life forms in plant surveys and biodiversity inventories. Epiphytes of the Atlantic Forest, one of the most endangered ecosystems in the world, have high endemism and radiated recently in the Pliocene. We aimed to (1) compile an extensive Atlantic Forest data set on vascular, non-vascular plants (including hemiepiphytes), and lichen epiphyte species occurrence and abundance; (2) describe the epiphyte distribution in the Atlantic Forest, in order to indicate future sampling efforts. Our work presents the first epiphyte data set with information on abundance and occurrence of epiphyte phorophyte species. All data compiled here come from three main sources provided by the authors: published sources (comprising peer-reviewed articles, books, and theses), unpublished data, and herbarium data. We compiled a data set composed of 2,095 species, from 89,270 holo/hemiepiphyte records, in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay, recorded from 1824 to early 2018. Most of the records were from qualitative data (occurrence only, 88%), well distributed throughout the Atlantic Forest. For quantitative records, the most common sampling method was individual trees (71%), followed by plot sampling (19%), and transect sampling (10%). Angiosperms (81%) were the most frequently registered group, and Bromeliaceae and Orchidaceae were the families with the greatest number of records (27,272 and 21,945, respectively). Ferns and Lycophytes presented fewer records than Angiosperms, and Polypodiaceae were the most recorded family, and more concentrated in the Southern and Southeastern regions. Data on non-vascular plants and lichens were scarce, with a few disjunct records concentrated in the Northeastern region of the Atlantic Forest. For all non-vascular plant records, Lejeuneaceae, a family of liverworts, was the most recorded family. We hope that our effort to organize scattered epiphyte data help advance the knowledge of epiphyte ecology, as well as our understanding of macroecological and biogeographical patterns in the Atlantic Forest. No copyright restrictions are associated with the data set. Please cite this Ecology Data Paper if the data are used in publication and teaching events. © 2019 The Authors. Ecology © 2019 The Ecological Society of Americ

Caracterização química de extrato de Ilex paraguariensis A. St. Hilaire e avaliação das atividades antioxidante in vitro e antiparkinsoniana in vivo

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Farmácia, Florianópolis, 2017.A doença de Parkinson (DP) é um transtorno neurodegenerativo caracterizada principalmente pela destruição de neurônios dopaminérgicos. O caráter progressivo da doença, e a presença de sintomas motores e não motores afetam significativamente a qualidade de vida de seus portadores. Até o presente momento, não existem fármacos disponíveis capazes de inibir a degeneração neuronal, permanecendo grande interesse na busca de agentes neuroprotetores e modificadores do curso da doença. As plantas medicinais sempre forneceram alternativas terapêuticas importantes frente a diferentes patologias. Nesse sentido, Ilex paraguariensis (erva-mate) apresenta significativa importância na perspectiva da obtenção de novo produto com emprego na DP, a medida que sua constituição química apresenta majoritariamente metilxantinas e compostos fenólicos, os quais estão relacionados com as propriedades benéficas frente à DP. O presente estudo teve como objetivo caracterizar qumicamente um extrato hidroetanólico (EHE) a partir das folhas de I. paraguariensis e investigar as atividades antioxidante e antiparkinsoniana, em modelos in vitro e in vivo. O EHE de I. paraguariensis apresentou nove compostos majoritários, as metilxantinas, cafeína e teobromina, os ácidos fenólicos, ácido 3-O-cafeoilquínico, ácido 5-O-cafeoilquínico, ácido 4-O-cafeoilquínico, ácido 3,4-dicafeoilquínico, ácido 3,5-dicafeoilquínico e ácido 4,5-dicafeoilquínico, e o flavonoide rutina, identificados através de cromatografia líquida de ultra eficiência (CLUE) acoplada à detector de arranjo de diodos (PDA) e À espectrometria de massas (EM). Os teores dos marcadores cafeína, ácido clorogênico e rutina foram de 29,3, 67,5 e 12,4 mg/g, respectivamente. Este extrato demonstrou alto potencial antioxidante reativo total na concentração de 5 µg/mL no ensaio do TAR (Reatividade antioxidante total) / TRAP (Potencial antioxidante reativo total). A mesma concentração do extrato foi capaz de captar o radical hidroxil, reduzindo a porcentagem de degradação da 2-desoxirribose. No modelo animal de administração intranasal da neurotoxina MPTP (1-metil-4-fenil-1,2,3,6-tetrahidropiridina), os resultados indicaram que o tratamento v.o. com o EHE (300 mg/Kg), e com os compostos cafeína (10 mg/Kg) e ácido clorogênico (20 mg/Kg), isolados e em associação (10 mg/Kg de cafeína + 20 mg/Kg de ácido clorogênico) reverteu ou atenuou os déficits na memória social de curto prazo, e melhorou o comportamento anedônico e tipo-depressivo de ratos. Adicionalmente, com exceção do tratamento com ácido clorogênico, os demais grupos tratados reduziram o prejuízo olfatório causado pelo MPTP nos animais. Entretanto, nenhum dos tratamentos foi capaz de atenuar os prejuízos motores causados pelo MPTP. Ainda, os tratamentos com o extrato de I. paraguariensis, cafeína, ácido clorogênico e a associação de cafeína + ácido clorogênico reduziram a depleção dopaminérgica causada pelo MPTP no bulbo olfatório e no estriado. Por outro lado, somente o extrato e o ácido clorogênico foram capazes de atenuar a degeneração de dopamina causada pelo MPTP no córtex pré-frontal.Abstract : Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized mainly by loss of dopaminergic neurons. The progressive character of the disease, and a presence of motors and non-motors significantly affect a quality of life of patients. Until this moment, there are no available drugs capable of inhibiting neurodegeneration, with great interest in the search for neuroprotective agents and modifiers of the course of the disease. Medicinal plants have always provided important therapeutic alternatives to different pathologies. In this context, Ilex paraguariensis (yerba mate) has significant importance in the perspective of obtaining a new product with use in PD, since its phytochemical composition is predominantly based in methylxanthines and phenolic compounds, which are related to the beneficial properties in PD. The present study aimed to characterize chemically a hydroethanolic extract (EHE) from leaves of I. paraguariensis and to investigate the in vitro antioxidant and in vivo antiparkinsonian activities. The EHE of I. paraguariensis leaves presented nine major compounds, the methylxanthines, caffeine and theobromine, the phenolic acids, 3-O-caffeoylquinic acid, 5-O-caffeoylquinic acid, 4-O-caffeoylquinic acid, 3,4-dicaffeoylquinic acid , 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid and 4,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid, and the flavonoid rutin, identified by ultra performance performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) coupled to diode array detector (PDA) and mass spectrometry (MS). The contents of chemical markers caffeine, chlorogenic acid and rutin were 29.3, 67.5 and 12.4 mg / g, respectively. This extract showed high total reactive antioxidant potential at the concentration of 5 µg / mL in TAR (Total antioxidant capacity) / TRAP (Total reactive antioxidant capacity) assay. The same concentration of extract was able to scavenge the hydroxyl radical, reducing the percentage of degradation of 2-deoxyribose. In the animal model of intranasal administration of the neurotoxin MPTP (1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine), the results indicated that the oral treatment with the standardized extract (300 mg / kg) and with the compounds caffeine (10 mg / kg) and chlorogenic acid (20 mg / kg), isolated and in combination (10 mg / kg caffeine + 20 mg / kg acid Chlorogenic) reversed or attenuated the deficits in short-term social memory, and improved the anhedonic and depressive-like behavior of rats. Additionally, with the exception of treatment with chlorogenic acid, the other treated groups reduced the olfactory impairment caused by MPTP in the animals. However, none of the treatments were able to attenuate the motor damage caused by MPTP. Also, the treatments with the extract of I. paraguariensis, caffeine, chlorogenic acid and a combination of caffeine + chlorogenic acid reduced the dopaminergic depletion caused by MPTP in the olfactory bulb and the striatum. On the other hand, only extract and chlorogenic acid, are able to attenuate the dopamine degeneration caused by MPTP in the prefrontal cortex

Transverse momentum and pseudorapidity distributions of charged hadrons in pp collisions at (s)\sqrt(s) = 0.9 and 2.36 TeV

Measurements of inclusive charged-hadron transverse-momentum and pseudorapidity distributions are presented for proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 0.9 and 2.36 TeV. The data were collected with the CMS detector during the LHC commissioning in December 2009. For non-single-diffractive interactions, the average charged-hadron transverse momentum is measured to be 0.46 +/- 0.01 (stat.) +/- 0.01 (syst.) GeV/c at 0.9 TeV and 0.50 +/- 0.01 (stat.) +/- 0.01 (syst.) GeV/c at 2.36 TeV, for pseudorapidities between -2.4 and +2.4. At these energies, the measured pseudorapidity densities in the central region, dN(charged)/d(eta) for |eta| < 0.5, are 3.48 +/- 0.02 (stat.) +/- 0.13 (syst.) and 4.47 +/- 0.04 (stat.) +/- 0.16 (syst.), respectively. The results at 0.9 TeV are in agreement with previous measurements and confirm the expectation of near equal hadron production in p-pbar and pp collisions. The results at 2.36 TeV represent the highest-energy measurements at a particle collider to date

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field

Search for Higgs and ZZ Boson Decays to J/ψγJ/\psi\gamma and Υ(nS)γ\Upsilon(nS)\gamma with the ATLAS Detector

A search for the decays of the Higgs and $Z$ bosons to $J/\psi\gamma$ and $\Upsilon(nS)\gamma$ ($n=1,2,3$) is performed with $pp$ collision data samples corresponding to integrated luminosities of up to $20.3\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ collected at $\sqrt{s}=8\mathrm{TeV}$ with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. No significant excess of events is observed above expected backgrounds and 95% CL upper limits are placed on the branching fractions. In the $J/\psi\gamma$ final state the limits are $1.5\times10^{-3}$ and $2.6\times10^{-6}$ for the Higgs and $Z$ bosons, respectively, while in the $\Upsilon(1S,2S,3S)\,\gamma$ final states the limits are $(1.3,1.9,1.3)\times10^{-3}$ and $(3.4,6.5,5.4)\times10^{-6}$, respectively

Measurements of the Total and Differential Higgs Boson Production Cross Sections Combining the H??????? and H???ZZ*???4??? Decay Channels at s\sqrt{s}=8??????TeV with the ATLAS Detector

Measurements of the total and differential cross sections of Higgs boson production are performed using 20.3~fb$^{-1}$ of $pp$ collisions produced by the Large Hadron Collider at a center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s} = 8$ TeV and recorded by the ATLAS detector. Cross sections are obtained from measured $H \rightarrow \gamma \gamma$ and $H \rightarrow ZZ ^{*}\rightarrow 4\ell$ event yields, which are combined accounting for detector efficiencies, fiducial acceptances and branching fractions. Differential cross sections are reported as a function of Higgs boson transverse momentum, Higgs boson rapidity, number of jets in the event, and transverse momentum of the leading jet. The total production cross section is determined to be $\sigma_{pp \to H} = 33.0 \pm 5.3 \, ({\rm stat}) \pm 1.6 \, ({\rm sys}) \mathrm{pb}$. The measurements are compared to state-of-the-art predictions.Measurements of the total and differential cross sections of Higgs boson production are performed using 20.3  fb-1 of pp collisions produced by the Large Hadron Collider at a center-of-mass energy of s=8  TeV and recorded by the ATLAS detector. Cross sections are obtained from measured H→γγ and H→ZZ*→4ℓ event yields, which are combined accounting for detector efficiencies, fiducial acceptances, and branching fractions. Differential cross sections are reported as a function of Higgs boson transverse momentum, Higgs boson rapidity, number of jets in the event, and transverse momentum of the leading jet. The total production cross section is determined to be σpp→H=33.0±5.3 (stat)±1.6 (syst)  pb. The measurements are compared to state-of-the-art predictions.Measurements of the total and differential cross sections of Higgs boson production are performed using 20.3 fb$^{-1}$ of $pp$ collisions produced by the Large Hadron Collider at a center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s} = 8$ TeV and recorded by the ATLAS detector. Cross sections are obtained from measured $H \rightarrow \gamma \gamma$ and $H \rightarrow ZZ ^{*}\rightarrow 4\ell$ event yields, which are combined accounting for detector efficiencies, fiducial acceptances and branching fractions. Differential cross sections are reported as a function of Higgs boson transverse momentum, Higgs boson rapidity, number of jets in the event, and transverse momentum of the leading jet. The total production cross section is determined to be $\sigma_{pp \to H} = 33.0 \pm 5.3 \, ({\rm stat}) \pm 1.6 \, ({\rm sys}) \mathrm{pb}$. The measurements are compared to state-of-the-art predictions

Search for Scalar-Charm pair production in pp collisions at s=8\sqrt{s}=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The results of a dedicated search for pair production of scalar partners of charm quarks are reported. The search is based on an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb$^{-1}$ of pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}=8$ TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The search is performed using events with large missing transverse momentum and at least two jets, where the two leading jets are each tagged as originating from c-quarks. Events containing isolated electrons or muons are vetoed. In an R-parity-conserving minimal supersymmetric scenario in which a single scalar-charm state is kinematically accessible, and where it decays exclusively into a charm quark and a neutralino, 95% confidence-level upper limits are obtained in the scalar-charm-neutralino mass plane such that, for neutralino masses below 200 GeV, scalar-charm masses up to 490 GeV are excluded

Finska tingsdomares bedömningar av partsutlåtanden givna på plats i rätten eller via videokonferens

Professionals within the judicial system sometimes believe they can assess whether someone is lying or not based on cues such as body language and emotional expression. Research has, however, shown that this is impossible. The Finnish Supreme Court has also given rulings in accordance with this demonstrated fact. There has also been previous research on whether party or witness statements are assessed differently in court depending on whether they are given live, via videoconference, or via prerecorded video. In the present study, we investigated how a Finnish sample of district judges (N=47) assigned probative value to different variables concerning the statement or the statement giver, such as body language and emotional expression. We also investigated the connection between the judges’ beliefs about the relevance of body language and emotional expression and their preference for live statements or statements via videoconference. The judges reported assigning equal amounts of probative value to statements given live and statements given via videoconference. However, judges found it easier to detect deception live, and this preference correlated with how relevant they thought body language is when assessing the probative value of the statement. In other words, a slight bias to assess live statements more favorably than statements given via videoconference might still exist. More effort needs to be put into making judges and Supreme Courts aware of robust scientific results that have been the subject of decades of research, such as the fact that one cannot assess whether someone is lying or not based on cues such as body language