A estação biológica de Boracéia

Breve contextualização histórica e descritiva acerca da Estação Biológica de Boracéia (E.B.B), órgão do Departamento de Zoologia da Secretaria de Agricultura do Estado de São Paulo

Produtividade de forragem de clones melhorados de Brachiaria ruziziensis.

Resumo: O objetivo do presente trabalho foi avaliar a produtividade de forragem de clones melhorados de B. ruziziensis. Foram testados 37 clones de B. ruziziensis, juntamente com três testemunhas, cv. Marandu (B. brizantha), cv. Basilisk (B. decumbens) e cv. Kennedy (B. ruzizensis) em experimentos conduzidos no delineamento de blocos casualizados com cinco repetições. Foram realizados 12 cortes de avaliação, com intervalo médio de rebrota de 65 dias. Em cada um desses cortes foram mensuradas a altura das plantas e o peso verde (PV) da forragem. Estimou-se ainda a relação entre folhas e caules (RFC) e a produtividade de folhas secas (PFC). Os resultados das análises de variância foram significativos para todas as características avaliadas evidenciando a existência de variabilidade genética entre os clones melhorados de B. ruziziensis. Constata-se, portanto, que é possível selecionar clones de B. ruziziensis superiores a cv. Kennedy para a produtividade de forragem e relação folha colmo.Editor Técnico: Leônidas Paixão Passos, Embrapa Gado de Leite

Tunable Short-Term Plasticity Response in Three-Terminal Organic Neuromorphic Devices

Reversibly tunable short-term plasticity (STP) of the channel current in organic neuromorphic devices is demonstrated with a three-terminal architecture. Electrolyte-gated organic transistors - EGOTs - are driven with square voltage pulses at the drain electrodes, while the gate bias enables the modulation of the amplitude and characteristic time scale of the depressive STP spiking response up to 1 order of magnitude. The gate potential sets the baseline and the steady-state current, preluding multilevel memory writing. The fine-tuning of the STP response, which is not possible with two-electrode organic neuromorphic devices, is reversible and does not imply chemical modifications of the active layer

Health-related quality of life in breast cancer patients treated with CDK4/6 inhibitors: a systematic review

Background: Evaluation of health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) among cancer patients has gained an increasing importance and is now a key determinant of anticancer treatments’ value. HR-QoL has been assessed in trials testing cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 inhibitors (CDK4/6i) in breast cancer (BC), using various questionnaires at different timepoints. HR-QoL reports from BC patients treated with CDK4/6i in the real-world setting are also available. Methods: We systematically reviewed the literature, searching for full-length articles, and selected conference abstracts reporting data on HR-QoL in BC patients at any stage and of any molecular subtype treated with abemaciclib, palbociclib or ribociclib. Results: A total of 533 full-length articles and 143 abstracts were retrieved. After screening for eligibility, 38 records were included (31 clinical trials; 7 real-world reports). Assessment methods were heterogeneous across studies in terms of questionnaires, evaluation timepoints and endpoints. Overall, adding CDK4/6i to endocrine therapy did not worsen patients’ HR-QoL, with a positive trend towards pain improvement. Gastrointestinal scores (diarrhea, nausea and appetite loss) statistically favored the control arm among metastatic BC patients receiving abemaciclib, whereas they were superimposable in the early setting. The combination of palbociclib and endocrine therapy showed similar HR-QoL outcomes compared with endocrine therapy alone, but determined better scores compared with chemotherapy. HR-QoL was specifically assessed in premenopausal patients treated with ribociclib, showing similar scores compared with postmenopausal patients. Conclusions: Despite methodological heterogeneity does not allow a proper comparison, HR-QoL was generally maintained with CDK4/6i. However, differences between abemaciclib, palbociclib and ribociclib exist and mainly rely on the distinct safety profiles of the compounds. These differences should be acknowledged and taken into account in the clinical practice

Electrochemical determination of oncocalyxone A using an iron-phthalocyanine/iron-porphyrin modified glassy carbon electrode

The development of a highly sensitive voltammetric sensor for oncocalyxone A using a glassy carbon electrode modified with a bilayer iron(II) tetrasulfonated phthalocyanine (FeTSPc) and iron(III) tetra-(N-methyl-4-pyridyl)-porphyrin (FeT4MPyP) is described. The modified electrode showed high catalytic activity and stability for the oncocalyxone A reduction, provoking the anodic shift of the reduction peak potentials of ca. 30 mV and presenting much higher peak currents than those obtained on the bare GC electrode. A wide linear response range between 0.005-1.2 µmol L-1, with a sensitivity of 8.11 µA L µmol-1 and limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) of 1.5 and 5 nmol L-1 were obtained with this sensor.Descreve-se, no presente trabalho, o desenvolvimento de um sensor voltamétrico altamente sensível para a oncocalixona A, utilizando-se eletrodo de carbono vítreo modificado com uma bi-camada de ftalocianina tetrassulfonada de ferro(II) (FeTSPc) e tetra-(N-metil-4-piridil)-porfirina de ferro(III) (FeT4MPyP). O eletrodo modificado apresentou alta atividade catalítica e estabilidade em relação à redução da oncocalixona, proporcionando deslocamento anódico de ca. de 30 mV e amplificação da corrente de pico, em relação a iguais parâmetros obtidos em eletrodo de carbono vítreo não modificado. Um ampla faixa linear de resposta entre 0.005-1.2 µmol L-1, com sensibilidade de 8.11 µA L µmol-1 e limites de detecção (LOD) e quantificação (LOQ) de 1.5 e 5 nmol L-1 foram obtidos, com o uso desse sensor.697703Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES

Multifunctionally-doped PEDOT for organic electrochemical transistors

Organic Electrochemical Transistors (OECTs) are suitable for developing ultra-sensitive bioelectronic sensors. In the organic electrochemical transistors architecture, the source-drain channel is made of a conductive polymer film either cast from a formulated dispersion or electrodeposited from a monomer solution. The commercial poly(3,4-ethylenedioxidethiophene)/poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) water dispersion is the workhorse of organic bioelectronics for its high conductance, low impact and ease of processability. In this study, a hybrid organic electrochemical transistors channel fabrication strategy is presented, where electrochemical deposition of a PEDOT/X (with X indicating the counterion) is performed on a dispersion-cast PEDOT:PSS film. Six different counterions where used: X = PSS, Nafion, Hyaluronate, Dextran sulfate, Dexamethasone phosphate and tauroursodeoxycholic acid, each potentially endowing organic electrochemical transistors with additional functions such as ion exchange and pharmacological activity upon release of X. The PEDOT/X-PEDOT:PSS bilayers were characterized by means of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and focused ion beam tomography combined with scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM). In addition, their respective organic electrochemical transistorss were characterized and compared to PEDOT:PSS organic electrochemical transistors. Our results show that the hybrid bilayer strategy is viable to fabricate multifunctional organic electrochemical transistorss with biologically-relevant function, thereby retaining the outstanding figures of merit of commercial PEDOT:PSS