O conhecimento tradicional sobre ecologia e extração do óleo de andiroba nas reservas de desenvolvimento sustentável Mamiraua e Amanã, AM, Amazônia Brasileira.

Por trás do aparato comercial das indústrias de produtos naturais, existe o conhecimento das populações que, tradicionalmente, extraem o óleo de andiroba e encontram dificuldades de acesso ao mercado. O objetivo deste foi identificar o conhecimento tradicional sobre a andiroba e caracterizar o modo de extração dos ribeirinhos das Reservas Mamirauá e Amanã, Amazonas, Brasil. Foram realizadas 30 entrevistas, em 18 comunidades. A maioria dos entrevistados possui ensino fundamental incompleto, a renda familiar é composta pelo extrativismo e bolsas sociais. A extração do óleo de andiroba é realizada prioritariamente para o consumo, embora haja potencial para a comercialização. Os extratores visitam o andirobal uma única vez no ano para coletar as sementes. Não identificam claramente as fases fenológicas, mas, sabem quando é o ?tempo de coletar?, por exemplo. A maioria dos informantes afirma que as andirobeiras frutificam entre novembro e junho e a dispersão acontece entre dezembro e julho, sendo melhor para coletar em maio. Declaram que as sementes são todas iguais, porém dizem ter diferença na madeira: branca ou vermelha.Todos os entrevistados relataram saber extrair o óleo e que esta é uma atividade realizada principalmente pelas mulheres. As etapas são: coleta das sementes, cozimento, secagem, descascamento, preparo da massa e escorrimento do óleo. Estas informações facilitam o manejo da atividade nessas áreas, valorizam o conhecimento tradicional associado e o empoderamento feminino na exploração de óleos de sementes florestais. Podendo alavancar a organização social para a comercialização de um produto amazônico de forma sustentável, mantendo a floresta em pé

A novel mutation in calcium-sensing receptor gene associated to hypercalcemia and hypercalciuria.

Background: Familial Hyperparathyroidism (HPT) and Familial benign Hypocalciuric Hypercalcemia (FHH) are the most common causes of hereditary hypercalcemia. FHH has been demonstrated to be caused by inactivating mutations of calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR) gene, involved in PTH regulation as well as in renal calcium excretion.Case presentation: In two individuals, father and son, we found a novel heterozygous mutation in CaSR gene. The hypercalcemia was present only in father, which, by contrast to the classic form of FHH showed hypercalciuria (from 300 to 600 mg/24 h in different evaluations) and a Calcium/Creatinine ratio of 0.031, instead of low or normal calciuria (<0.01 typical finding in FHH). His son showed the same mutation in CaSR gene, but no clinical signs or hypercalcemia although serum ionized calcium levels were close to the upper limit of normal values (1.30 mmol/L: normal range: 1.12-1.31 mmol/L). Sequence analysis revealed a point mutation at codon 972 of CaSR gene (chromosome 3q), located within cytoplasmic domain of the CaSR, that changes Threonine with Methionine. The father was treated with Cinacalcet 90 mg/day, with a decrease of total serum calcemia from an average value of 12.2 mg/dl to 10.9 mg/dl.Conclusion: This is a case of a novel inactivating point mutation of CaSR gene that determines an atypical clinical presentation of FHH, characterized by hypercalcemia, hypercalciuria and inadequate normal PTH levels. Functional assay demonstrated that the 972 M variant influenced the maturation of the protein, in terms of the post-translational glycosylation. The impairment of the receptor activity is in keeping with the specific localization of the 972 residue in the C-terminal tail, assigned to the intracellular signalling, that on the basis of the our findings appears to be differently modulated in parathyroid gland and in kidne

Titanium Surface Properties Influence the Biological Activity and FasL Expression of Craniofacial Stromal Cells.

Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) can be easily isolated form craniofacial bones during routine dentistry procedures. Due to their embryological origin from neural crest, they represent a suitable cell population to study cell-biomaterial interaction in the craniofacial field, including osteoinductive/osteointegrative processes. The biological and immunomodulatory properties of MSCs may be influenced by chemistry and topography of implant surfaces. We investigated if and how three different titanium surfaces, machined (MCH), sandblasted with resorbable blasting medium (RBM), and Ca++-nanostructured (NCA), may affect biological activity, osseointegration, and immunomodulatory properties of craniofacial MSCs. Cell proliferation, morphology, osteogenic markers, and FasL were evaluated on MSCs isolated from the mandibular bone after seeding on these three different surfaces. No statistically significant differences in cell proliferation were observed whereas different morphologies and growth patterns were detected for each type of surface. No difference in the expression of osteogenic markers was revealed. Interestingly, FasL expression, involved in the immunomodulatory activity of stem cells, was influenced by surface properties. Particularly, immunofluorescence analysis indicated that FasL expression increased on MCH surface compared to the others confirming the suggested role of FasL in promoting osteogenic differentiation. Titanium surface treatments and topography might reflect different biological behaviours of craniofacial MSCs and influence their osseointegration/immunomodulation properties

Evaluation of Biological Response of STRO-1/c-Kit Enriched Human Dental Pulp Stem Cells to Titanium Surfaces Treated with Two Different Cleaning Systems.

Peri-implantitis-an infection caused by bacterial deposition of biofilm-is a common complication in dentistry which may lead to implant loss. Several decontamination procedures have been investigated to identify the optimal approach being capable to remove the bacterial biofilm without modifying the implant surface properties. Our study evaluated whether two different systems-Ni-Ti Brushes (Brush) and Air-Polishing with 40 \ub5m bicarbonate powder (Bic40)-might alter the physical/chemical features of two different titanium surfaces-machined (MCH) and Ca++ nanostructured (NCA)-and whether these decontamination systems may affect the biological properties of human STRO-1+/c-Kit+ dental pulp stem cells (hDPSCs) as well as the bacterial ability to produce biofilm. Cell morphology, proliferation and stemness markers were analysed in hDPSCs grown on both surfaces, before and after the decontamination treatments. Our findings highlighted that Bic40 treatment either maintained the surface characteristics of both implants and allowed hDPSCs to proliferate and preserve their stemness properties. Moreover, Bic40 treatment proved effective in removing bacterial biofilm from both titanium surfaces and consistently limited the biofilm re-growth. In conclusion, our data suggest that Bic40 treatment may operatively clean smooth and rough surfaces without altering their properties and, consequently, offer favourable conditions for reparative cells to hold their biological properties

IRF4 expression is low in Philadelphia negative myeloproliferative neoplasms and is associated with a worse prognosis

Interferon regulatory factor 4 (IRF4) is involved in the pathogenesis of various hematologic malignancies. Its expression has been related to the negative regulation of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) and the polarization of anti-inflammatory M2 macrophages, thereby altering immunosurveillance and inflammatory mechanisms. An abnormal inflammatory status in the bone marrow microenvironment of myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) has recently been demonstrated; moreover, in chronic myeloid leukemia a downregulated expression of IRF4 has been found. In this context, we evaluated the IRF4 expression in 119 newly diagnosed consecutive Philadelphia negative MPNs (Ph- MPNs), showing a low expression among the MPNs phenotypes with a more significant decrease in primary myelofibrosis patients. Lower IRF4 levels were associated with JAK2 + and triple negatives cases carrying the worst prognosis. Furthermore, the IRF4 levels were related to leukemic transformation and a shorter leukemia-free survival; moreover, the risk of myelofibrosis transformation in polycythemia vera and essential thrombocythemia patients was more frequent in cases with lower IRF4 levels. Overall, our study demonstrates an IRF4 dysregulated expression in MPNs patients and its association with a worse prognosis. Further studies could validate these data, to improve our knowledge of the MPNs pathogenesis and confirm the IRF4 role as a new prognostic factor

Nanopore sequencing approach for immunoglobulin gene analysis in chronic lymphocytic leukemia

The evaluation of the somatic hypermutation of the clonotypic immunoglobulin heavy variable gene has become essential in the therapeutic management in chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients. European Research Initiative on Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia promotes good practices and standardized approaches to this assay but often they are labor-intensive, technically complex, with limited in scalability. The use of next-generation sequencing in this analysis has been widely tested, showing comparable accuracy and distinct advantages. However, the adoption of the next generation sequencing requires a high sample number (run batching) to be economically convenient, which could lead to a longer turnaround time. Here we present data from nanopore sequencing for the somatic hypermutation evaluation compared to the standard method. Our results show that nanopore sequencing is suitable for immunoglobulin heavy variable gene mutational analysis in terms of sensitivity, accuracy, simplicity of analysis and is less time-consuming. Moreover, our work showed that the development of an appropriate data analysis pipeline could lower the nanopore sequencing error rate attitude

Measurement of the angular correlation between the two gamma rays emitted in the radioactive decays of a 60^{60}Co source with two NaI(Tl) scintillator

We implemented a didactic experiment to study the angular correlation between the two gamma rays emitted in typical $^{60}$Co radioactive decays. We used two NaI(Tl) scintillators, already available in our laboratory, and a low-activity $^{60}$Co source. The detectors were mounted on two rails, with the source at their center. The first rail was fixed, while the second could be rotated around the source. We performed several measurements by changing the angle between the two scintillators in the range from $90^\circ$ to $180^\circ$. Dedicated background runs were also performed, removing the source from the experimental setup. We found that the signal rate increases with the angular separation between the two scintillators, with small discrepancies from the theoretical expectations.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figure

RUNX1 gene alterations characterized by allelic preference in adult acute myeloid leukemia

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