Uma experiência de agroecologia e permacultura na educação do Campo de Brasília-Brasil: um estudo de caso do projeto Águas do Cerrado

Este trabalho trata-se do estudo de caso de um projeto de Educação Ambiental em uma escola do campo em Brasília, Brasil. Utilizou-se a pesquisa-ação, a escuta sensível e a observação participante, para analisar a receptividade e apropriação da escola e sua comunidade de tecnologias sociais da Permacultura e Agroecologia. Pretende-se com esta pesquisa observar a ocorrência de mudanças na prática pedagógica e no pensar/agir socioambiental dos alunos, professores, gestores, servidores e da comunidade em decorrência do projeto. Embora a pesquisa esteja em andamento, notou-se a dificuldade de adequação do calendário proposto pelo projeto às mudanças necessárias a dinâmica escolar; e alguns obstáculos decorrentes da construção da proposta sem a participação da escola e sua comunidade. As dificuldades apresentadas em geral são decorrentes do edital do órgão financiador; e do oscilante apoio e motivação dos gestores e professores nas escolas públicas.This research makes a case study of environmental education project in a school field in Brasilia, Brazil. It was used action research,sensitive listening and participant observation to analyze the responsiveness and ownership by the school and its community of social technologies of Permaculture and Agroecology. The aim of this research observe the occurrence of changes in teaching practice and thinking/acting environmental students, teachers, managers, servers and the community as a result of the project. Although research is ongoing, is possible to note the difficulty of adjusting the timetable proposed by the project to the necessary changes of a school dynamics; and some obstacles resulting from the construction of the proposal without the participation of school and her community. Difficulties are often resulting from the rules of the notice; and a frequent situation in public schools, the oscillating support and motivation of managers and teachers of the school unit.Eje A5: Sistemas de conocimientoFacultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestale

Uma experiência de agroecologia e permacultura na educação do Campo de Brasília-Brasil: um estudo de caso do projeto Águas do Cerrado

Este trabalho trata-se do estudo de caso de um projeto de Educação Ambiental em uma escola do campo em Brasília, Brasil. Utilizou-se a pesquisa-ação, a escuta sensível e a observação participante, para analisar a receptividade e apropriação da escola e sua comunidade de tecnologias sociais da Permacultura e Agroecologia. Pretende-se com esta pesquisa observar a ocorrência de mudanças na prática pedagógica e no pensar/agir socioambiental dos alunos, professores, gestores, servidores e da comunidade em decorrência do projeto. Embora a pesquisa esteja em andamento, notou-se a dificuldade de adequação do calendário proposto pelo projeto às mudanças necessárias a dinâmica escolar; e alguns obstáculos decorrentes da construção da proposta sem a participação da escola e sua comunidade. As dificuldades apresentadas em geral são decorrentes do edital do órgão financiador; e do oscilante apoio e motivação dos gestores e professores nas escolas públicas.This research makes a case study of environmental education project in a school field in Brasilia, Brazil. It was used action research,sensitive listening and participant observation to analyze the responsiveness and ownership by the school and its community of social technologies of Permaculture and Agroecology. The aim of this research observe the occurrence of changes in teaching practice and thinking/acting environmental students, teachers, managers, servers and the community as a result of the project. Although research is ongoing, is possible to note the difficulty of adjusting the timetable proposed by the project to the necessary changes of a school dynamics; and some obstacles resulting from the construction of the proposal without the participation of school and her community. Difficulties are often resulting from the rules of the notice; and a frequent situation in public schools, the oscillating support and motivation of managers and teachers of the school unit.Eje A5: Sistemas de conocimientoFacultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestale

Direct Interaction between EgFABP1, a Fatty Acid Binding Protein from <i>Echinococcus granulosus</i>, and Phospholipid Membranes

Background: Growth and maintenance of hydatid cysts produced by Echinococcus granulosus have a high requirement for host lipids for biosynthetic processes, membrane building and possibly cellular and developmental signalling. This requires a high degree of lipid trafficking facilitated by lipid transporter proteins. Members of the fatty acid binding protein (FABP) family have been identified in Echinococcus granulosus, one of which, EgFABP1 is expressed at the tegumental level in the protoscoleces, but it has also been described in both hydatid cyst fluid and secretions of protoscoleces. In spite of a considerable amount of structural and biophysical information on the FABPs in general, their specific functions remain mysterious. Methodology/Principal Findings: We have investigated the way in which EgFABP1 may interact with membranes using a variety of fluorescence-based techniques and artificial small unilamellar vesicles. We first found that bacterial recombinant EgFABP1 is loaded with fatty acids from the synthesising bacteria, and that fatty acid binding increases its resistance to proteinases, possibly due to subtle conformational changes induced on EgFABP1. By manipulating the composition of lipid vesicles and the ionic environment, we found that EgFABP1 interacts with membranes in a direct contact, collisional, manner to exchange ligand, involving both ionic and hydrophobic interactions. Moreover, we observed that the protein can compete with cytochrome c for association with the surface of small unilamellar vesicles (SUVs). Conclusions/Significance: This work constitutes a first approach to the understanding of protein-membrane interactions of EgFABP1. The results suggest that this protein may be actively involved in the exchange and transport of fatty acids between different membranes and cellular compartments within the parasite.Facultad de Ciencias Médica

Fatty acid binding proteins have the potential to channel dietary fatty acids into enterocyte nuclei

Intracellular lipid binding proteins, including fatty acid binding proteins (FABPs) 1 and 2, are highly expressed in tissues involved in the active lipid metabolism. A zebrafish model was used to demonstrate differential expression levels of fabp1b.1, fabp1b.2, and fabp2 transcripts in liver, anterior intestine, and brain. Transcription levels of fabp1b.1 and fabp2 in the anterior intestine were upregulated after feeding and modulated according to diet formulation. Immunofluorescence and electron microscopy immunodetection with gold particles localized these FABPs in the microvilli, cytosol, and nuclei of most enterocytes in the anterior intestinal mucosa. Nuclear localization was mostly in the interchromatin space outside the condensed chromatin clusters. Native PAGE binding assay of BODIPY-FL-labeled FAs demonstrated binding of BODIPY-FLC12 but not BODIPY-FLC5 to recombinant Fabp1b.1 and Fabp2. The binding of BODIPY-FLC12 to Fabp1b.1 was fully displaced by oleic acid. In vivo experiments demonstrated, for the first time, that intestinal absorption of dietary BODIPY-FLC12 was followed by colocalization of the labeled FA with Fabp1b and Fabp2 in the nuclei. These data suggest that dietary FAs complexed with FABPs are able to reach the enterocyte nucleus with the potential to modulate nuclear activity

Direct Interaction between EgFABP1, a Fatty Acid Binding Protein from <i>Echinococcus granulosus</i>, and Phospholipid Membranes

Background: Growth and maintenance of hydatid cysts produced by Echinococcus granulosus have a high requirement for host lipids for biosynthetic processes, membrane building and possibly cellular and developmental signalling. This requires a high degree of lipid trafficking facilitated by lipid transporter proteins. Members of the fatty acid binding protein (FABP) family have been identified in Echinococcus granulosus, one of which, EgFABP1 is expressed at the tegumental level in the protoscoleces, but it has also been described in both hydatid cyst fluid and secretions of protoscoleces. In spite of a considerable amount of structural and biophysical information on the FABPs in general, their specific functions remain mysterious. Methodology/Principal Findings: We have investigated the way in which EgFABP1 may interact with membranes using a variety of fluorescence-based techniques and artificial small unilamellar vesicles. We first found that bacterial recombinant EgFABP1 is loaded with fatty acids from the synthesising bacteria, and that fatty acid binding increases its resistance to proteinases, possibly due to subtle conformational changes induced on EgFABP1. By manipulating the composition of lipid vesicles and the ionic environment, we found that EgFABP1 interacts with membranes in a direct contact, collisional, manner to exchange ligand, involving both ionic and hydrophobic interactions. Moreover, we observed that the protein can compete with cytochrome c for association with the surface of small unilamellar vesicles (SUVs). Conclusions/Significance: This work constitutes a first approach to the understanding of protein-membrane interactions of EgFABP1. The results suggest that this protein may be actively involved in the exchange and transport of fatty acids between different membranes and cellular compartments within the parasite.Facultad de Ciencias Médica

Serotonergic signalling suppresses ataxin 3 aggregation and neurotoxicity in animal models of Machado-Joseph disease

Polyglutamine diseases are a class of dominantly inherited neurodegenerative disorders for which there is no effective treatment. Here we provide evidence that activation of serotonergic signalling is beneficial in animal models of Machado-Joseph disease. We identified citalopram, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, in a small molecule screen of FDA-approved drugs that rescued neuronal dysfunction and reduced aggregation using a Caenorhabditis elegans model of mutant ataxin 3-induced neurotoxicity. MOD-5, the C. elegans orthologue of the serotonin transporter and cellular target of citalopram, and the serotonin receptors SER-1 and SER-4 were strong genetic modifiers of ataxin 3 neurotoxicity and necessary for therapeutic efficacy. Moreover, chronic treatment of CMVMJD135 mice with citalopram significantly reduced ataxin 3 neuronal inclusions and astrogliosis, rescued diminished body weight and strikingly ameliorated motor symptoms. These results suggest that small molecule modulation of serotonergic signalling represents a promising therapeutic target for Machado-Joseph disease.This work was supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) and COMPETE through the projects ‘[PTDC/SAU-GMG/112617/2009] (to P.M.) and [EXPL/ BIM-MEC/0239/2012] (to A.T.C.)’, by National Ataxia foundation (to P.M.), by Ataxia UK (to P.M.), by National Institutes of Health (NIH) ‘[GM038109, GM081192, AG026647, and NS047331] (to R.I.M.)’, by The Chicago Biomedical Consortium (to R.I.M.) and by the Ellison Medical Foundation (to R.I.M.). A.T.C., A.J., S.E., L.S.S., C.B., S.D.S., A.S.F. and A.N.C. were supported by the FCT individual fellowships SFRH/BPD/79469/2011, SFRH/BD/76613/2011, SFRH/BD/78554/2011, SFRH/BD/ 84650/2012, SFRH/BPD/74452/2010, SFRH/BD/78388/ 2011, SFRH/BPD/91562/2012 and SFRH/BD/51059/2010, respectively. FCT fellowships are co-financed by POPH, QREN, Governo da República Portuguesa and EU/FSE.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

An Oral Recombinant Vaccine in Dogs against Echinococcus granulosus, the Causative Agent of Human Hydatid Disease: A Pilot Study

Dogs are the main source of human cystic echinococcosis. An oral vaccine would be an important contribution to control programs in endemic countries. We conducted two parallel experimental trials in Morocco and Tunisia of a new oral vaccine candidate against Echinococcus granulosus in 28 dogs. The vaccine was prepared using two recombinant proteins from adult worms, a tropomyosin (EgTrp) and a fibrillar protein similar to paramyosin (EgA31), cloned and expressed in a live attenuated strain of Salmonella enterica serovar typhimurium

Multiple Myeloma Treatment Guidelines by the Portuguese Group of Multiple Myeloma

The treatment of multiple myeloma has profoundly changed with the introduction of several innovative therapies. The optimization of therapeutic sequencing through the combined use of the various drugs developed in recent years and the attention given to the characteristics of patients have allowed the reduction of toxicities and increased survival and quality of life of patients with multiple myeloma. These treatment recommendations from the Portuguese Multiple Myeloma Group offer guidance for first-line treatment and progression/relapse situations. These recommendations are given highlighting the data that justify each choice and referring to the respective levels of evidence that support these options. Whenever possible, the respective national regulatory framework is presented. These recommendations constitute an advance towards the best treatment of multiple myeloma in Portugal.publishersversionpublishe