Toxicological evaluation of ethanolic extract of Lychnophora trichocarpha, Brazilian arnica.

The species of the genus Lychnophora, Asteraceae, are popularly known as "arnica" and are native from Brazilian savana (Cerrado). They are widely used in Brazilian folk medicine as anti-inflammatory, to treat bruise, pain, rheumatism and for insect bites. For evaluation of acute toxicity, the ethanolic extract was given to albino female and male mice. In open-field test, the extract of Lychnophora trichocarpha (Spreng.) Spreng. (0.750 g/kg) induced a significant inhibition of the spontaneous locomotor activity and exploratory behavior of the animals were observed 1 and 4 h after administration. In traction test, the same dose reduced the muscular force 1 h after administration. The exploratory behavior reduced significantly in the group that received 0.50 g/kg, 1 and 4 h after administration of the extract. The animals that received the doses of 0.25, 0.50 and 0.75 g/kg did not show any change of blood biochemical parameters comparing to control group and showed some histopathological changes such as congestion and inflammation of kidney and liver. The dose of 1.5 g/kg caused the most serious signs of toxicity. Histopathological changes observed was hemorrhage in 62.5% and pulmonary congestion in 100% of the animals. Brain and liver congestion was found in 62.5% of the animals

Evaluation of stability of blackberry jams conditioned in different packaging materials.

A geleia de amora-preta apresenta alto potencial para industrializa??o tendo em vista que o fruto possui estrutura fr?gil, elevada perecibilidade e alta atividade respirat?ria. Este trabalho objetivou avaliar a estabilidade de geleias de amora-preta acondicionadas em embalagem de vidro e de polipropileno ? temperatura ambiente (25?C ? 2?C) em condi??es de luminosidade e em temperatura refrigerada (4?C ? 2?C) durante 120 dias. Foram analisadas as seguintes caracter?sticas f?sico-qu?micas: atividade de ?gua, s?lidos sol?veis, acidez titul?vel, pH, antocianinas totais, teor de vitamina C e atividade antioxidante. Observou-se que a qualidade das geleias foi influenciada pelo tipo de embalagem e pelo tempo de armazenamento, os quais comprometeram as caracter?sticas f?sico-qu?micas do produto. Os resultados mostraram um decr?scimo na atividade de ?gua, nos n?veis de antocianinas totais e nos teores de vitamina C com o decorrer do armazenamento, no entanto, a embalagem de vidro apresentou melhores resultados quanto ? manuten??o das caracter?sticas f?sico-qu?micas da geleia vindo a contribuir para a manuten??o da vida ?til do produto.The blackberry jam has a high potential for industrialization, in order that the fruit has a fragile structure, high perishability, and high respiratory activity. This study evaluated the stability of blackberry jams packed in glass and polypropylene at temperature (25 ? 2?C) in light conditions and refrigerated temperature (4?C ? 2?C) for 120 days. The physico and chemical characteristics were analyzed: water activity, soluble solids, titratable acidity, pH, total anthocyanins and the content of vitamin C. It was observed that the quality of jams was influenced by the type of packaging and the storage time, which committed the nutritional characteristics of the product. The results showed a decrease in water activity, the levels of anthocyanins and vitamin C with the time of storage, however, the glass packaging showed better values for the maintenance of the physico-chemical characteristics jams been contribute to maintaining the shelf-life of the product

Anesthesia of Epinephelus marginatus with essential oil of Aloysia polystachya: an approach on blood parameters

This study investigated the anesthetic potential of the essential oil (EO) of Aloysia polystachya in juveniles of dusky grouper (Epinephelus marginatus). Fish were exposed to different concentrations of EO of A. polystachya to evaluate time of induction and recovery from anesthesia. In the second experiment, fish were divided into four groups: control, ethanol and 50 or 300 mu L L-1 EO of A. polystachya, and each group was submitted to induction for 3.5 min and recovery for 5 or 10 min. The blood gases and glucose levels showed alterations as a function of the recovery times, but Na+ and K+ levels did not show any alteration. In conclusion, the EO from leaves of A. polystachya is an effective anesthetic for dusky grouper, because anesthesia was reached within the recommended time at EO concentrations of 300 and 400 mu L L-1. However, most evaluated blood parameters showed compensatory responses due to EO exposure.Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul/Programa de Apoio a Nucleos de Excelencia (FAPERGS/PRONEX) [10/0016-8]; Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico (CNPq) [470964/2009-0]; Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior, Brazil (CAPES)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

TOLKIN – Tree of Life Knowledge and Information Network: Filling a Gap for Collaborative Research in Biological Systematics

The development of biological informatics infrastructure capable of supporting growing data management and analysis environments is an increasing need within the systematics biology community. Although significant progress has been made in recent years on developing new algorithms and tools for analyzing and visualizing large phylogenetic data and trees, implementation of these resources is often carried out by bioinformatics experts, using one-off scripts. Therefore, a gap exists in providing data management support for a large set of non-technical users. The TOLKIN project (Tree of Life Knowledge and Information Network) addresses this need by supporting capabilities to manage, integrate, and provide public access to molecular, morphological, and biocollections data and research outcomes through a collaborative, web application. This data management framework allows aggregation and import of sequences, underlying documentation about their source, including vouchers, tissues, and DNA extraction. It combines features of LIMS and workflow environments by supporting management at the level of individual observations, sequences, and specimens, as well as assembly and versioning of data sets used in phylogenetic inference. As a web application, the system provides multi-user support that obviates current practices of sharing data sets as files or spreadsheets via email

Diagnosis : a future field of medical activity.

O sequenciamento de ?ltima gera??o (NGS) ? um tipo de tecnologia de sequenciamento de DNA que usa o sequenciamento paralelo de m?ltiplos fragmentos pequenos de DNA. Essa tecnologia permitiu um aumento dram?tico na velocidade (e uma diminui??o no custo) na qual o genoma de um indiv?duo pode ser sequenciado. O sequenciamento de Sanger ? usado para confirmar a presen?a de muta??es espec?ficas identificadas pela NGS em situa??es cl?nicas, devido ? maior precis?o dos m?todos tradicionais de sequenciamento, embora essa pr?tica esteja sendo questionada. A NGS pode ser apropriada para diagnosticar dist?rbios gen?ticos suspeitos quando ? improv?vel que o sequenciamento de um ?nico gene forne?a um diagn?stico. Pain?is de genes baseados em NGS s?o usados clinicamente em certas neoplasias hematol?gicas, e os primeiros testes de painel gen?tico para tumores s?lidos. Outras utiliza??es, como o diagn?stico de infec??es e a triagem de pessoas saud?veis continuam sendo investigados.Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) is a type of DNA sequencing technology that uses parallel sequencing of multiple small fragments of DNA. This technology has allowed for a dramatic increase in speed (and a decrease in cost) in which an individual's genome can be sequenced. Sanger sequencing is used to confirm the presence of specific mutations identified by NGS in clinical situations due to the greater accuracy of traditional sequencing methods, although this practice is being questioned. NGS may be appropriate to diagnose suspected genetic disorders when single gene sequencing is unlikely to provide a diagnosis. NGS-based gene panels are used clinically in certain hematological malignancies, and the first genetic panel tests for solid tumors. Other uses, such as the diagnosis of infections and the screening of healthy people, continue to be investigated