A influência da tecnologia no futuro da engenharia / The influence of technology on the future of engineering

Esta produção tem por objetivo refletir sobre os impactos socioeconômicos da chamada Indústria 4.0, com atenção dada especialmente ao ramo da engenharia no Brasil, e comparar essa influência com a das tecnologias de outros tempos, as quais já vão ganhando, uma após a outra, status de obsoletas. A obra também aborda visões sobre a causa do desemprego, a transformação parcial ou completa que as funções profissionais sofreram e sofrem desde o início da industrialização, e, por conseguinte, a necessidade de os profissionais do futuro estarem em constante atualização, ou melhor, proporem as atualizações; serem vanguarda desse processo de revolução tecnológica constante.

Variant vicilins from a resistant Vigna unguiculata lineage (IT81D-1053)\ud accumulate inside Callosobruchus maculatus larval midgut epithelium

It has been demonstrated that variant vicilins are the main resistance factor of cowpea seeds (Vigna unguiculata) against attack by the cowpea beetle Callosobruchus maculatus. There is evidence that the toxic properties of these storage proteins may be related to their interaction with glycoproteins and other microvillar membrane constituents along the digestive tract of the larvae. New findings have shown that following interaction with the microvilli, the vicilins are absorbed across the intestinal epithelium and thus reach the internal environment of the larvae. In the present paper we studied the insecticidal activity of the variant vicilins purified from a resistant cowpea variety (IT81D-1053). Bioassays showed that the seeds of this genotype affected larval growth, causing developmental retardation and 100% mortality. By feeding C. maculatus larvae on susceptible and IT81D-1053 derived vicilins (FITC labelled or unlabelled), followed by fluorescence and immunogold cytolocalization, we were able to demonstrate that both susceptible and variant forms are internalized in the midgut cells and migrate inside vesicular structures from the apex to the basal portion of the enterocytes. However, when larvae were fed with the labelled vicilins for 24 h and then returned to a control diet, the concentration of the variant form remained relatively high, suggesting that variant vicilins are not removed from the cells at the same rate as the non-variant vicilins. We suggest that the toxic effects of variant vicilins on midgut cells involve the binding of these proteins to the cell surface followed by internalization and interference with the normal physiology of the enterocytes, thereby affecting larval development in vivo

Efeito do consumo da polpa de a?a? (Euterpe Oleracea Mart.) sobre biomarcadores inflamat?rios em mulheres eutr?ficas e com sobrepeso.

Programa de P?s-Gradua??o em Sa?de e Nutri??o. Escola de Nutri??o, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto.A obesidade ? uma doen?a multifatorial dependente de determinantes gen?ticos e disfun??es end?crinas, relacionada, a um processo inflamat?rio de baixo grau. Efetivamente, o aumento dos estoques de gordura corporal observado na obesidade est? associado a complica??es metab?licas podendo induzir uma eleva??o nas concentra??es destes biomarcadores inflamat?rios. Alguns fatores modulam a inflama??o como, por exemplo, a composi??o corporal, os par?metros bioqu?micos e de dieta; assim como a inflama??o tamb?m pode modular tais fatores. Assim, a inflama??o subcl?nica, caracter?stica do excesso de peso e da obesidade, exerce efeitos diretos sobre o metabolismo de carboidratos e lip?deos, bem como sobre a sensibilidade ? insulina, desempenhando a capacidade de modular a composi??o corporal. Com rela??o ao fator diet?tico, o consumo adequado de polifen?is ? essencial para manter o equil?brio metab?lico, controlar a inflama??o subcl?nica e tem sido correlacionado com a baixa incid?ncia de doen?as cr?nicas. O a?a? ? um fruto que possui efeitos antioxidantes e anti-inflamat?rios. No entanto, poucas s?o as evid?ncias dispon?veis em rela??o ao seu potencial efeito ben?fico na resposta inflamat?ria. Este estudo teve como objetivo verificar o efeito do consumo da polpa de a?a? sobre os biomarcadores inflamat?rios em mulheres aparentemente saud?veis. Trata-se de um estudo de interven??o nutricional com dois grupos de volunt?rios do sexo feminino, com idade entre 18 e 35 anos. A interven??o consistiu no consumo de 200g de polpa de a?a? diariamente durante 30 dias consecutivos. As participantes foram selecionadas segundo o ?ndice de massa corporal (IMC) e divididas em dois grupos: 1- eutrofia (IMC: 18,5 a 25 Kg/m2) e 2- excesso de peso (IMC: 26 a 35 Kg/m2). Inicialmente as volunt?rias responderam a question?rios de dados pessoais e h?bitos de vida, escala de atividade f?sica, registro alimentar de 72 horas, bem como foram realizadas medidas antropom?tricas, de composi??o corporal pela bioimped?ncia (BIA) e coleta de sangue. Por meio da coleta de sangue ser?o analisadas vari?veis bioqu?micas e marcadores inflamat?rios (TNF-?, sCD40L, PCR, RANTES). Ser? realizado teste de Shapiro-Wilk para verificar a normalidade da distribui??o dos dados e os testes t-Student pareado e Wilcoxon pareado para avaliar o efeito da interven??o utilizando o software PASW Statistics 18 (signific?ncia de 5%). Notou-se diferen?a significativa entre os grupos antes da interven??o exclusivamente para medidas antropom?tricas e de composi??o corporal na estratifica??o pelo IMC. Ap?s a interven??o com o a?a?, as volunt?rias com excesso de peso, aumentaram suas concentra??es de sCD40L e as volunt?rias com as concentra??es do sCD40l abaixo da mediana diminu?ram as concentra??es de RANTES. O sCD40L no grupos das volunt?rias com peso normal correlacionou-se positivamente com colesterol (r= 0,42); LDL (r= 0,455), em rela??o ao grupo com excesso de peso a correla??o foi positiva com RANTES (0,52); e negativa com IMC (r= -0,63); gordura corporal (r= -0,53); press?o arterial diast?lica (r= -0,657) (p< 0,05). J? pela estratifica??o da mediana o sCD40L teve correla??o negativa com o consumo de lip?deo (r= -0,485) nas volunt?rias com o o marcador abaixo da mediana e para aquelas com o valor acima da mediana as correla??es foram negativas com as press?es arteriais sist?lica e diast?lica (r= -0,403 e r= -0,498; respectivamente) (p< 0,01). A regress?o linear simples mostrou que a RANTES explica o marcador sCD40L (p< 0,05). Houve uma redistribui??o e redimensionamento da gordura corporal para a ?rea do tronco, sendo presum?vel o aumento de gordura visceral, contudo o padr?o alimentar e o estado nutricional foram conservados antes e ap?s a interven??o.Obesity is a multifactorial disease dependent on genetic determinants and endocrine dysfunctions, related to a low-grade inflammatory process. Effectively, the increase in body fat observed in obesity is associated with metabolic complications and may induce an increase in the concentrations of these inflammatory biomarkers. Some factors modulate inflammation, such as body composition, biochemical and dietary parameters; Just as inflammation can also modulate such factors. Thus, subclinical inflammation, a characteristic of overweight and obesity, has direct effects on the metabolism of carbohydrates and lipids, as well as on insulin sensitivity, and has the capacity to modulate body composition. Regarding the dietary factor, the adequate consumption of polyphenols is essential to maintain metabolic balance, to control subclinical inflammation and has been correlated with the low incidence of chronic diseases. A?a? is a fruit that has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. However, there is little evidence available regarding its potential beneficial effect on the inflammatory response. This study aimed to verify the effect of a?a? pulp consumption on the inflammatory biomarkers in apparently healthy women. This is a nutritional intervention study with two groups of female volunteers, aged between 18 and 35 years. The intervention consisted of consuming 200g of a?a? pulp daily for 30 consecutive days. Participants were selected according to the body mass index (BMI) and divided into two groups: 1 - eutrophy (BMI: 18.5 to 25 kg / m2) and 2 - excess weight (BMI: 26 to 35 kg / m2) . Initially the volunteers answered personal data and life habits questionnaires, physical activity scale, 72 hour food record, as well as anthropometric measurements, body composition by bioimpedance (BIA) and blood collection. Through the collection of blood will be analyzed biochemical variables and inflammatory markers (TNF-?, sCD40L, PCR, RANTES). A Shapiro-Wilk test will be performed to verify the normality of the data distribution and the t-Student-paired and Wilcoxon paired tests to evaluate the effect of the intervention using the PASW Statistics 18 software (5% significance). There was a significant difference between the groups before the intervention exclusively for anthropometric measures and body composition in stratification by BMI. After intervention with a?a?, overweight volunteers increased their sCD40L concentrations and volunteers with sCD40l concentrations below the median decreased RANTES concentrations. The sCD40L in the groups of volunteers with normal weight was positively correlated with cholesterol (r = 0.42); LDL (r = 0.455), in relation to the overweight group the correlation was positive with RANTES (0.52); And negative with BMI (r = -0.63); Body fat (r = -0.53); Diastolic blood pressure (r = -0.657) (p <0.05). On the other hand, by stratification of the median, sCD40L had a negative correlation with lipid consumption (r = -0.485) in the volunteers with the marker below the median and for those with a value above the median, the correlations were negative with systolic and diastolic blood pressures ( R = -0.403 and r = -0.498, respectively) (p <0.01). Simple linear regression showed that RANTES accounts for the sCD40L marker (p <0.05). There was a redistribution and resizing of the body fat to the trunk area, with presumed increase of visceral fat, however, the food pattern and nutritional status were preserved before and after the intervention

The effect of acai (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) intake on the atherosclerosis inflammatory mediators (sCD40L e CCL5) in apparently healthy women

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of acai pulp consumption on biometric parameters and inflammatory biomarkers (sCD40L, CCL5, TNF-a and CRP) in apparently healthy women. Design/methodology/approach Nutritional intervention was performed with women who consumed 200 g of acai pulp daily during 30 consecutive days. Firstly, they were divided into two groups: normal weight and overweight related to BMI. Then, such volunteers were subdivided into other two groups according to values below or above the median of sCD40L. Findings sCD40L (rho g/mL) concentrations increased in overweight volunteers post-consumption of acai (964 +/- 542) compared with the same volunteers pre-consumption of acai (633 +/- 187, p = 0.03), and the CCL5 concentrations (rho g/mL) decreased in volunteers with sCD40L concentrations below median after the treatment (4.1 +/- 1.5) when compared in same volunteers before the treatment (5.8 +/- 1.8, p = 0.02). Protein consumption (g) reduced in volunteers with sCD40L concentrations below median after the intervention (96.6 +/- 44.5), when compared before the intervention (96.7 +/- 33.8, p = 0.03). Originality/value This paper concluded that the acai consumption can modulate the inflammatory profile in both stratified volunteers according to the BMI and the sCD40L marker median501216228sem informaçãosem informaçã

Exogenous surfactant prevents hyperoxia-induced lung injury in adult mice

Abstract Background In addition to the risk of developing ventilator-induced lung injury, patients with ARDS are at risk of developing hyperoxic injury due the supra-physiological oxygen supplementation clinically required to reverse hypoxemia. Alterations of endogenous surfactant system participate in the pulmonary dysfunction observed in ARDS. Administration of exogenous surfactant could have protective effects during hyperoxia. Methods Male BALB/c mice (8–10 weeks), a strain highly sensitive to hyperoxia, received the exogenous surfactant-containing protein SP-B and SP-C by intranasal instillation 12 h before starting 24 h of exposure to hyperoxia in an inhalation chamber and were compared to mice receiving hyperoxia alone and to controls subjected to normoxia. Results Compared to the hyperoxia group, the administration of exogenous surfactant was able to reduce lung inflammation through a reduction in the influx of neutrophils and inflammatory biomarkers such as TNF, IL-17, and HMGB1 expression. The antioxidant activity prevented oxidative damage by reducing lipid peroxidation and protein carbonylation and increasing superoxide dismutase activity when compared to the hyperoxia group. Conclusion Our results offer new perspectives on the effects and the mechanism of exogenous surfactant in protecting the airway and lungs, in oxygen-rich lung microenvironment, against oxidative damage and aggravation of acute inflammation induced by hyperoxia

Quercetin Improves Pulmonary Function and Prevents Emphysema Caused by Exposure to Cigarette Smoke in Male Mice

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, and cigarette smoke is a key factor in the development of COPD. Thus, the development of effective therapies to prevent the advancement of COPD has become increasingly essential. We hypothesized that quercetin protects lungs in mice exposed to long-term cigarette smoke. Thirty-five C57BL/6 mice were exposed to cigarette smoke (12 cigarettes per day) for 60 days and pretreated with 10 mg/kg/day of quercetin via orogastric gavage. After the experimental protocol, the animals were euthanized and samples were collected for histopathological, antioxidant defense, oxidative stress and inflammatory analysis. The animals exposed to cigarette smoke showed an increase in respiratory rate and hematological parameters, cell influx into the airways, oxidative damage and inflammatory mediators, besides presenting with alterations in the pulmonary histoarchitecture. The animals receiving 10 mg/kg/day of quercetin that were exposed to cigarette smoke presented a reduction in cellular influx, less oxidative damage, reduction in cytokine levels, improvement in the histological pattern and improvement in pulmonary emphysema compared to the group that was only exposed to cigarette smoke. These results suggest that quercetin may be an agent in preventing pulmonary emphysema induced by cigarette smoke

Mayaro virus induction of oxidative stress is associated with liver pathology in a non-lethal mouse model.

Mayaro virus (MAYV) causes Mayaro fever in humans, a self-limiting acute disease, with persistent arthralgia and arthritis. Although MAYV has a remerging potential, its pathogenic mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we characterized a model of MAYV infection in 3?4-week BALB/c mice. We investigated whether the liver acts as a site of viral replication and if the infection could cause histopathological alterations and an imbalance in redox homeostasis, culminating with oxidative stress. MAYV-infected mice revealed lower weight gain; however, the disease was self-resolving. High virus titre, neutralizing antibodies, and increased levels of aspartate and alanine aminotransferases were detected in the serum. Infectious viral particles were recovered in the liver of infected animals and the histological examination of liver tissues revealed significant increase in the inflammatory infiltrate. MAYV induced significant oxidative stress in the liver of infected animals, as well as a deregulation of enzymatic antioxidant components. Collectively, this is the first study to report that oxidative stress occurs in MAYV infection in vivo, and that it may be crucial in virus pathogenesis. Future studies are warranted to address the alternative therapeutic strategies for Mayaro fever, such as those based on antioxidant compounds

Biochemical, physicochemical and molecular characterization of a genuine 2-Cys-peroxiredoxin purified from cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walpers] leaves

Background: Peroxiredoxins have diverse functions in cellular defense-signaling pathways. 2-Cys-peroxiredoxins (2-Cys-Prx) reduce H2O2 and alkyl-hydroperoxide. This study describes the purification and characterization of a genuine 2-Cys-Prx from Vigna unguiculata (Vu-2-Cys-Prx). Methods: Vu-2-Cys-Prx was purified from leaves by ammonium sulfate fractionation, chitin affinity and ion exchange chromatography. Results: Vu-2-Cys-Prx reduces H2O2 using NADPH and DTT. Vu-2-Cys-Prx is a 44 kDa (SDS-PAGE)/46 kDa (exclusion chromatography) protein that appears as a 22 kDa molecule under reducing conditions, indicating that it is a homodimer linked intermolecularly by disulfide bonds and has a pI range of 4.56-4.72; its NH2-terminal sequence was similar to 2-Cys-Prx from Phaseolus vulgaris (96%) and Populus tricocarpa (96%). Analysis by ESI-Q-TOF MS/MS showed a molecular mass/pI of 28.622 kDa/5.18. Vu-2-Cys-Prx has 8% alpha-helix, 39% beta-sheet, 22% of turns and 31% of unordered forms. Vu-2-Cys-Prx was heat stable, has optimal activity at pH 7.0, and prevented plasmid DNA degradation. Atomic force microscopy shows that Vu-2-Cys-Prx oligomerized in decamers which might be associated with its molecular chaperone activity that prevented denaturation of insulin and citrate synthase. Its cDNA analysis showed that the redox-active Cys(52) residue and the amino acids Pro(45), Thr(49) and Arg(128) are conserved as in other 2-Cys-Prx. General significance: The biochemical and molecular features of Vu-2-Cys-Prx are similar to other members of 2-Cys-Prx family. To date, only one publication reported on the purification of native 2-Cys-Prx from leaves and the subsequent analysis by N-terminal Edman sequencing, which is crucial for construction of stromal recombinant 2-Cys-Prx proteins. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.CNPqCNPqCAPESCAPESFUNCAPFUNCA

Swine and Poultry Pathogens: the Complete Genome Sequences of Two Strains of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae and a Strain of Mycoplasma synoviae

This work reports the results of analyses of three complete mycoplasma genomes, a pathogenic (7448) and a nonpathogenic (J) strain of the swine pathogen Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae and a strain of the avian pathogen Mycoplasma synoviae; the genome sizes of the three strains were 920,079 bp, 897,405 bp, and 799,476 bp, respectively. These genomes were compared with other sequenced mycoplasma genomes reported in the literature to examine several aspects of mycoplasma evolution. Strain-specific regions, including integrative and conjugal elements, and genome rearrangements and alterations in adhesin sequences were observed in the M. hyopneumoniae strains, and all of these were potentially related to pathogenicity. Genomic comparisons revealed that reduction in genome size implied loss of redundant metabolic pathways, with maintenance of alternative routes in different species. Horizontal gene transfer was consistently observed between M. synoviae and Mycoplasma gallisepticum. Our analyses indicated a likely transfer event of hemagglutinin-coding DNA sequences from M. gallisepticum to M. synoviae