Produção de mudas de almeirão e cultivo no campo, em sistema agroecológico.

Objetivou-se, neste trabalho, avaliar o desenvolvimento das mudas de almeirão em diferentes substratos orgânicos e verificar o comportamento em bandejas, após o transplante no campo e na pós-colheita, constituindo três experimentos. Foram avaliados o uso do substrato comercial e quatro misturas de proporções de composto, areia e pó de basalto. Foram quatro fases de avaliação: aos 13 e 26 dias após a emergência (DAE), aos 74 dias após o transplante e na pós-colheita. Avaliaram-se o comprimento e a massa da matéria seca de raiz e de parte aérea, número de folhas por planta, diâmetro do coleto, área foliar e a conservação pós-colheita. O composto orgânico e as misturas foram superiores ao substrato comercial, na maioria das características avaliadas nos 13 e 26 DAE; entretanto, o substrato comercial superou os demais tratamentos para o comprimento de raiz. Os substratos orgânicos (T2 e T3) podem ser recomendados para a produção de mudas de almeirão com desenvolvimento satisfatório em sistema de cultivo em bandejas e a campo e, de igual forma, em pós-colheita; o uso de composto orgânico como substrato para produção de mudas propiciou o desenvolvimento de mudas mais vigorosas e plantas mais resistentes no campo do que o substrato comercial

Prospective Analysis of Short- and Mid-term Knowledge Retention after a Brief Ultrasound Course for Undergraduate Medical Students

OBJECTIVES: The benefits of implementing point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) in the emergency department are well established. Ideally, physicians should be taught POCUS during medical school. Several different courses have been designed for that purpose and have yielded good results. However, medical students need specifically designed courses that address the main objectives of knowledge acquisition and retention. Despite that, there is limited evidence to support knowledge retention, especially in the mid-term. The purpose of this study is to evaluate short- and mid-term knowledge retention after a student-aimed ultrasound course. METHODS: Medical students participating in a medical student trauma symposium (SIMPALT) in 2017 were included. Their profiles and baseline ultrasound knowledge were assessed by a precourse questionnaire (PRT). The same questionnaire was used one week (1POT) and three months (3POT) after the course. RESULTS: Most of the participants were 1st- to 4th- year medical students. None had prior ultrasound knowledge. They reported costs as the major barrier (65%) to enrollment in an ultrasound course. A comparison between the PRT and 1POT results showed a statistically significant difference (po0.02), while no difference was found between 1POT and 3POT (p40.09). CONCLUSION: Our findings support the use of a tailored ultrasound course for medical students. Knowledge acquisition and mid-term retention may be achieved by this specific population

Application of Flow-Injection Spectrophotometry to Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analyses

The discovery of new drugs, especially when many samples have to be analyzed in the minimum of time, demand the improvement or development of new analytical methods. Various techniques may be employed for this purpose. In this context, this chapter gathers the collection of paper and represents the review of past work on spectrophotometric technique coupled to a continuous flow system to determine low concentrations of several chemical species in different kinds of pharmaceutical and biological samples. A short historical background of the flow-injection analysis technique and a brief discussion of the basic principles and potential are presented. Part of this chapter is devoted to describing the sample preparation techniques, principles, and figures of merit of analytical methods. Representative applications of flow-injection spectrophotometry to pharmaceutical and biomedical analysis are also described

O conhecimento do paciente diabético sobre a complicação pé diabético

O Diabetes Mellitus (DM) está em curso devido ao crescimento do envelhecimento populacional, obesidade e sedentarismo, tendo como perspectiva para 2030 atingir 300 milhões de casos no mundo. É uma doença crônica que leva a internações devido à descompensação da glicemia, geralmente em decorrência das complicações da doença. Entre as complicações destacam-se as neuropatias, retinopatias, alterações vasculares e o pé diabético, sendo o último a principal causa de amputações não traumáticas no Brasil. O objetivo é avaliar o conhecimento do paciente internados com diabetes a respeito da complicação pé diabético. Os materiais e métodos são de uma pesquisa transversal, descritiva, quali quantitativa nos meses de março e abril de 2014 com 50 pacientes diabéticos hospitalizados em hospital de referência do Tocantins. Aplicou-se dois questionários para avaliar o perfil do paciente diabético hospitalizado e seu conhecimento quanto à complicação pé diabético. Os dados foram analisados com ANOVA com IC 95% através do programa Bioestat 5.0. Obteve-se aprovação em comitê de ética em pesquisa CEP/UFT 252/2013. Os resultados do estudo caracterizou população predominante idosa (82%) com baixo nível de escolaridade(88%) e com baixa renda (96%). Quanto ao tempo de doença 48% apresentavam DM ≥ 5 anos, 12% estavam internados por pé diabético e 70% por outras complicações do DM. Dos avaliados60% desconheciam qualquer complicação da doença e 28% apresentavam pé diabético. E somente 12% dos avaliados demonstraram conhecimento significativo de cuidados com os pés, mostrando relação entre conhecimentoe nível de escolaridade (p<0,05). N conclusão faz-se necessário programar ações educativas inovadoras voltadas à realidade socioeconômica do paciente envolvendo a família no processo do cuidar, pois oconhecimento é independente do gênero, idade e/ou tempo de doença, mas dependente do nível de escolaridade

Evaluation of the potential of fucoidan-based microparticles for diabetes treatment

Abstract INTRODUCTION: Marine organisms have in their constitution materials with a wide range of properties and characteristics inspiring their application within the biomedical field. One important example is fucoidan (Fu), an underexploited sulfated polysaccharide extracted from the cell wall of the brown seaweeds, with high solubility in water1. Fucoidan is composed of L- fucose and glucuronic acid including sulfate groups and has important bioactive properties such as antioxidative, anticoagulant, anticancer and in the reduction of blood glucose1,2. In this work, the biomedical potential of fucoidan was assessed by processing modified fucoidan (MFu) into microparticles by photocrosslinking using superhydrophobic surfaces and visible light3,4. Biological performance on the developed constructs using human pancreatic beta cells is currently under investigation. METHODS: To design the materials structures, fucoidan was modified by methacrylation reaction3. Briefly, Fu aqueous solution 4% w/v was mixed with methacrylated anhydride (MA) in volume of 12% v/v at 50oC to react for 6h. Further, MFu particles with and without insulin (0.5% w/v) were produced by pipetting a solution of 5% MFu v/v with triethanolamine and eosin-y (photoinitiators) onto superhydrophobic surfaces4 (Fig. 1A) and then photocrosslinking using visible light4. MFu and developed particles were characterized using 1HNMR, turbidimetry and SEM to assess their chemistry and morphology, respectively. Moreover, the insulin release was evaluated in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) solution at pH 7and simulated intestinal fluid (SIF) at pH 5. The ability of the developed materials to support adhesion and proliferation of cells was assessed by suspension culture of human pancreatic cells 1.1B4 (3.5x105 cells/ml) in contact with MFu microparticles during up to 7 days. RESULTS: The chemical modification performed on Fu was confirmed by the presence of vinyl and additional methyl peaks in the 1HNMR of modified fucoidan, not present in Fu spectrum. Methacrylated fucoidan was obtained with a methacrylation degree of 17%. The produced fucoidan particles have round shape and average diameter of 1.53 mm (Fig. 1B). The insulin release in PBS and SIF demonstrate that the particles can release insulin in a sustained manner under the studied period. It seems that the insulin release is slower for SIF (pH5, Fig. 1C), than for PBS. The biological tests regarding the culture of pancreatic beta cells demonstrate that cells show a round-like shape and tend to form pseudo-islets during the culture period studied (Fig. 1D). DISCUSSION & CONCLUSIONS: This work demonstrates the successful production of fucoidan- based-microparticles through the methacrylation of fucoidan, using visible light and superhydrophobic surfaces. The covalent crosslinking methacrylated fucoidan through visible light represents a promising method to obtain biocompatible fucoidan particles with a uniform round shape. The obtained insulin release profiles are sensitive to different pH (pH7 and pH5), mimicking the normal physiological pathway for insulin release. Furthermore, the results suggest these systems could be used for treatment of type I diabetes mellitus as they sustain beta cells viability and proliferation. The response also suggested, that the MFu particles could be a good candidate as drug delivery vehicles for the diabetes mellitus treatment. REFERENCES: 1 Silva TH et al (2012), Biomatter 2(4): 278:289. 2Sezer Alidemir et al (2011), Fucoidan: A versatile biopolymer for biomedical applicatons (Springer Ber.Heid).pp377-406. 3Mihaila S.et al (2013), Adv. Health. Mat. 2(6): 895-907. 4Rial Hermida et al, Acta Biomater.(2014) 10(10) 4314-4322. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: This work was partially funded by projects 0687_NOVOMAR_1_P (POCTEP), CarbPol_u_Algae (EXPL/MAR- BIO/0165/2013), ComplexiTE (ERC-2012-ADG 20120216-321266). Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology is also gratefully acknowledged for doctoral grants of L. Reys and N. Oliveira and post- doctoral grants of S.S. Silva and D. Soares da Costafunded by projects 0687_NOVOMAR_1_P (POCTEP), CarbPol_u_Algae (EXPL/MARBIO/0165/2013) , ComplexiTE(ERC-2012-ADG 20120216-321266). Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technologyinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

QUANTIFICATION OF RESIDUAL CLOVE OIL, BENZOCAINE AND TRICAINE IN FISH FILLETS USING SPE AND UPLC-DAD

Residual quantification of the anesthetics clove oil (CO) – isoeugenol (ISO), eugenol (EUG) and methyleugenol (MET) –,benzocaine (BZN) and tricaine (MS-222) was made in fillets of two fish species: Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and acatfish hybrid, cachadia (Pseudoplatystoma reticulatum x Leiarius marmoratus). Samples (n=4) of each fish wereevaluated after submitted to anesthesia in five dosages defined based on the induction time of each species afterdepuration times (0h, 12h, 24h and 48h). Different methodologies of sample preparation were tested and selectedaccording to the better recovery. The quantification of anesthetics was performed by UPLC-DAD. The variance of residualmeans among anesthetics, dosages and fish species was compared. After anesthesia (0h) both species, tilapia andcachadia, presented residual anesthetics. Fishes depurated during 12h, 24h and 48h did not present detectable values, itmeans, values were below the limits of detection. BZN presented the highest mean residual concentration for tilapia andcachadia (p=0.01), while MS-222 presented the lowest residual amounts in tilapias and EUG in cachadias, what may berelated to the metabolism and carcass composition of each fish species. There were no significant differences among thefive dosages, except the lowest MS-222 concentration in tilapias that resulted in higher residual concentrations becauselow dosages increase the induction time and consequently the permanence of the fish in anesthesia. Ultimately, meanvalues of residues in cachadia were higher than in tilapia, and MS-222 and EUG presented the lowest residual values fortilapia and cachadia, respectively

Host Immune Response to ZIKV in an Immunocompetent Embryonic Mouse Model of Intravaginal Infection

Zika virus (ZIKV) only induces mild symptoms in adultshowever, it can cause congenital Zika syndrome (CZS), including microcephaly. Most of the knowledge on ZIKV pathogenesis was gained using immunocompromised mouse models, which do not fully recapitulate human pathology. Moreover, the study of the host immune response to ZIKV becomes challenging in these animals. Thus, the main goal of this study was to develop an immunocompetent mouse model to study the ZIKV spread and teratogeny. FVB/NJ immune competent dams were infected intravaginally with ZIKV during the early stage of pregnancy. We found that the placentae of most fetuses were positive for ZIKV, while the virus was detected in the brain of only about 42% of the embryos. To investigate the host immune response, we measured the expression of several inflammatory factors. Embryos from ZIKV-infected dams had an increased level of inflammatory factors, as compared to Mock. Next, we compared the gene expression levels in embryos from ZIKV-infected dams that were either negative or positive for ZIKV in the brain. The mRNA levels of viral response genes and cytokines were increased in both ZIKV-positive and negative brains. Interestingly, the levels of chemokines associated with microcephaly in humans, including CCL2 and CXCL10, specifically increased in embryos harboring ZIKV in the embryo brains

DEGRADAÇÃO DE Agrotóxicos POR FUNGOS BASIDIOMICETOS EM SOLO AGRÍCOLA CONTENDO ALTOS NÍVEIS DE TRÊS PRODUTOS DIFERENTES

Estudou-se a degradação de solo agrícola contaminado por longo tempo de aplicação de agrotóxicos (paraquate, clorotalonil e deltametrina) pelos fungos basidiomicetos Pleurotus ostreatus e Phanerochete crysosporium com e sem uso de surfactantes. Determinou-se a degradação dos três produtos em meio de cultura pelos fungos, sendo testados vários substratos para inoculação dos fungos ao solo. As enzimas produzidas durante a degradação também foram avaliadas. Todos os produtos foram degradados em meio de cultura em porcentagens variadas de maneira sequencial. O período de maior degradação revelou a maior quantidade de enzimas, sendo o bagaço de caju o substrato com maior crescimento fúngico e produção de enzimas.Verificou-se degradação completa do herbicida paraquate no solo na presença de surfactantes. A degradação do clorotalonil foi acelerada pela presença do surfactante e só ocorreu após a degradação do paraquate. O inseticida deltametrina, que apresentava menor concentração no solo, foi o substrato menos degradado. Houve maior produção de enzimas no início do crescimento fúngico, quando o herbicida paraquate foi degradado.

How oogenesis analysis combined with dna barcode can help to elucidate taxonomic ambiguities: A polychaete study-based approach

Polychaetes are common in coastal and estuarine environments worldwide and constitute one of the most complex groups of marine invertebrates. The morpho-physiology of the female reproductive system (FRS) can be understood by using histological tools to describe reproductive cycle and gametogenesis paths and, among other purposes, aiming to identify and differentiate polychaete species. However, this histology-based approach is rarely combined with molecular tools, which is known to accurately delimitate species. In the same way, the description and understanding of oogenesis and vitellogenesis paths within polychaetes are lacking for most families, narrowing the range of its utility. Therefore, the present study aims to describe the oogenesis in three polychaete species common and abundant on the South American Atlantic coast (Laeonereis culveri, Scolelepis goodbodyi and Capitella biota) and investigate the utility of reproductive features and gametogenesis as a relevant associate knowledge to discriminate species, particularly useful for putative cryptic species, integrated with morphological and molecular data. In a first attempt, the results obtained herein allow the authors to describe two new subtypes of oogenesis, dividing it in extraovarian oogenesis type I and II and intraovarian type I and II. The results also demonstrate that the following histological characters of the FRS can be relevant for the separation of related species: a) oogenesis type, b) occurrence or absence of a true ovary, c) ovary tissue organization, d) type of accessory cells present, and e) oocyte morphology. Additionally, these histological features of FRS, when compared with correlated species studied under this scope, converge with the genetic data. The analysis of cytochrome oxidase I (COI) barcode sequences differentiates between North and South American Atlantic populations of L. culveri (16.78% genetic distance), while in S. goodbodyi and C. biota it discriminates them from their congeneric species. These results highlight theOs poliquetas são comuns em ambientes costeiros e estuarinos em todo o mundo e constituem um dos grupos mais complexos de invertebrados marinhos. A morfo-fisiologia do sistema reprodutor feminino (FRS) pode ser compreendida por meio de ferramentas histológicas para identificar e diferenciar estes anelídeos. No entanto, essa abordagem histológica raramente é combinada com ferramentas moleculares, amplamente conhecidas por delimitar espécies congenéricas ou crípticas com maior precisão. Do mesmo modo, a descrição e o entendimento da oogênese e vitelogênese dentre os poliquetas, para a maioria das famílias, é ainda limitado. Portanto, o presente estudo tem como objetivo descrever a oogênese em três espécies de poliquetas comuns e abundantes na costa sul-americana (Laeonereis culveri, Scolelepis goodbodyi e Capitella biota) e investigar a utilidade das características reprodutivas e da gametogênese como um conhecimento associado relevante para discriminar espécies, particularmente útil para espécies crípticas putativas, integradas a dados morfológicos e moleculares. Os resultados aqui obtidos permitiram descrever dois novos subtipos de oogênese, dividindo-a em oogênese extra-ovariana dos tipos I e II e intra-ovariana dos tipos I e II. Os resultados também demonstram que os seguintes caracteres histológicos do FRS podem ser relevantes para a separação de espécies relacionadas: a) tipo de oogênese, b) presença ou ausência de um ovário verdadeiro, c) organização tissular ovariana, d) tipo de células acessórias presentes e, e) morfologia do ovócito. Além disso, essas características histológicas do FRS, quando comparadas às espécies correlatas estudadas sob esse escopo, convergem com os dados genéticos separando espécies putativas e congenéricas. As análises com DNA barcode demonstraram que em L. culveri é possível diferenciar as populações atlânticas Norte e Sul-americanas (16,78% de distância genética), enquanto para S. goodbodyi e C. biota fica evidente sua distinção com espécies congenéricas. Esses resultados destacam a importância da abordagem com múltiplas ferramentas e mostram que tanto a histologia quanto a histo-fisiologia do FRS e o DNA barcode podem ser usados para identificar e discriminar espécies crípticas e potencialmente crípticas, o que geralmente não é possível quando se utilizam apenas caracteres morfológicos. Além disso, esses caracteres também podem ser úteis na diferenciação de espécies relacionadas e / ou populações geograficamente distintas desses poliquetas.The authors would like to thank IB/UNICAMP, IO/USP and CEBIMar/USP for providing logistic support. In addition, the authors would like to thank the CBMA and the IB-S for the technical support. This work was supported by the FAPESP (Grants no 2011/50317-5, 2015/25623-6, 2017/06167-5) and CNPq through a productivity grant to A.C.Z.A (306534/2015-0). M.A.L.T was supported by a PhD fellowship (SFRH/BD/131527/2017) from FCT. P.E.V. was supported by a Post-Doctoral Fellowships (BPD1/next-sea/2018, NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000032). F.O.C. and the University of Minho contribution was supported by the strategic programme UID/BIA/04050/2013 POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007569

AVALIAÇÃO DA CAPACIDADE ANTIOXIDANTE IN VITRO E DETERMINAÇÃO DE COMPOSTOS FENÓLICOS TOTAIS EM DIFERENTES SISTEMAS DE EXTRAÇÃO EM AMOSTRAS DE HIBISCO (HIBISCUS SABDARIFFA)

O hibisco (Hibiscus sabdariffa) possui origem na Ásia, muito cultivado no Brasil e explorado pela medicina popular. A flor do hibisco e suas sementes apresentam um grande potencial a ser explorado visto a presença de compostos com propriedades bioativas. O presente trabalho buscou comparar a eficiência de diferentes sistemas de extração de compostos antioxidantes através da quantificação de compostos fenólicos totais (FT) e da determinação da atividade antioxidante in vitro (AA) em extratos de flor de hibisco in natura, flor de hibisco desidratada e sementes de hibisco desidratada, avaliando sistemas de solventes (acetona : água 80% v/v e metanol contendo 0,1% de HCl) e mecanismos de extração (ultrassom e geladeira com agitação magnética). A determinação de FT foi realizada pelo método de Folin-Ciocalteu e a AA pelos métodos de captura de radicais livres DPPH e de redução do ferro (FRAP). Para amostras da flor in natura, os resultados não diferiram estatisticamente para FT e AA em ambos os mecanismos de extração, independentemente do solvente aplicado. Para as amostras de flor desidratada e semente, pode-se indicar a acetona 80% como o solvente mais eficiente independente do mecanismo de extração para FT e AA. Notou-se ainda que a flor desidratada apresentou os maiores valores de FT e AA em relação as demais amostras. Portanto, para todas as amostras o solvente mais indicado para determinação de FT e AA foi a acetona 80%, não havendo distinção entre os mecanismos de extração