SOCIAL ORGANIZATION BASED ON CHAIN-NETWORK LOGIC TO PROMOTE THE EXPLORATION OF NATIVE AÇAÍ IN WESTERN BRAZILIAN AMAZON.

The present paper has the objective to expose a proposition of organization within a chain and network logic, aiming to potentiate the extraction of the Native Açaí Berry at the Western Brazilian Amazon rainforest. This exploratory study involves the municipalities of Porto Velho, Guajará-Mirim and Machadinho D’Oeste, at the Brazilian state of Rondônia, with primary data originating mostly from conservation areas at the lower Madeira River region. As a result, it was possible to infer that from the native Açai Berry, derives food, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, for both local consumption and international markets. It was found that beyond Açai Berry plantations availability, the lower Madeira River provides better transport logistic, consumer market and greater possibility of interaction with middleman than most Açai production areas. As a conclusion, it is made a proposition of an organizational arrangement to strengthen the extrativist productive chain of the Native Açaí Berry, based on the network and chain logic, oriented towards an organization based upon social organizations, manufacturing regularization and marketing

Consumo de suplementos nutricionais por praticantes de musculação da cidade de São Carlos-SP

Introdução: Alimentação adequada é fator determinante à qualidade de vida e melhora do desempenho físico. A falta de conhecimento sobre os SAs associados à prescrição por profissionais não habilitados, autoprescrição ou indicação de amigos são fatores preocupantes podendo estar em risco à saúde do indivíduo. Objetivo: Investigar o consumo e o conhecimento sobre SAs de indivíduos que realizam treinamento de musculação na cidade de São Carlos-SP. Material e Métodos: Estudo transversal com análise descritiva dos dados, onde foram analisados o consumo e o conhecimento sobre SAs por 400 indivíduos que praticam musculação do município de São Carlos-SP. Resultados: A média de idade entre os participantes foi de 27,9anos (±9,66). 54,5% dos entrevistados possuem ensino médio completo e 31,8% ensino superior completo. 64% relataram consumir SAs, independente do tipo, classe ou objetivo do consumo. Em relação à avaliação da quantidade de SAs consumidos 64,1% dos indivíduos afirmaram que consomem de 1 a 3 tipos. Os SAs mais consumidos foram os proteicos, com destaque para Whey Protein (84%) e Brached-Chain Amino Acids (57%). Foi possível perceber uma diferença entre os gêneros em relação ao terceiro suplemento mais consumido, pois entre os homens foi creatina e entre as mulheres foi cafeína. Conclusões: A maioria dos praticantes de musculação jovens adultos consome SA. Prevalece a prescrição dos mesmos por profissionais não qualificados, fato que demonstra a demanda aumentada por profissionais habilitados e qualificados em nutrição esportiva para orientar, prescrever e supervisionar de forma adequada a suplementação alimentar nos ambientes esportivos.  ABSTRACTNutritional Supplements consumption by bodybuilders of Sao Carlos-SPIntroduction: Adequate nutrition is a determining factor for good life quality and improved physical performance. The lack of knowledge about Nutritional Supplements (NS) associated with prescription not qualified professionals, self prescription or indication friends are worrying factors may be at risk to the health of the individual. Objective: To investigate the use and knowledge of NS to individuals who perform strength training in São Carlos-SP. Results: The mean age of the participants was 27.9 years (± 9.66). 54.5% of respondents have completed secondary education and 31.8% university degree. 64% reported consuming the NS, regardless of the type and class or purpose of consumption. It was observed that consumption was 77% higher among men compared to women. Regarding the assessment of the amount of consumed NS, 64.1% of subjects reported consuming 1-3 types. The most consumed NS were protein, especially whey protein (84%) and Chain Amino Acids-Brached (57%), less than half of the volunteers reported consuming Creatine (44%) and maltodextrin (28%). It was possible to notice a difference between the genders regarding the third most consumed supplement because among men was creatine and among women was caffeine. Discussion and Conclusion: Most young adults bodybuilding practitioners consumes SA. The prescription of these is still performed by unqualified practitioners. Which demonstrates the increased demand for skilled and qualified professionals in sports nutrition to guide, prescribe and supervise adequately the food supplementation in sports environments.Â

Heterotopic autotransplantation of ovarian tissue in a large animal model: Effects of cooling and VEGF.

Heterotopic and orthotopic ovarian tissue autotransplantation techniques, currently used in humans, will become promising alternative methods for fertility preservation in domestic and wild animals. Thus, this study describes for the first time the efficiency of a heterotopic ovarian tissue autotransplantation technique in a large livestock species (i.e., horses) after ovarian fragments were exposed or not to a cooling process (4°C/24 h) and/or VEGF before grafting. Ovarian fragments were collected in vivo via an ultrasound-guided biopsy pick-up method and surgically autografted in a subcutaneous site in both sides of the neck in each mare. The blood flow perfusion at the transplantation site was monitored at days 2, 4, 6, and 7 post-grafting using color-Doppler ultrasonography. Ovarian grafts were recovered 7 days post-transplantation and subjected to histological analyses. The exposure of the ovarian fragments to VEGF before grafting was not beneficial to the quality of the tissue; however, the cooling process of the fragments reduced the acute hyperemia post-grafting. Cooled grafts compared with non-cooled grafts contained similar values for normal and developing preantral follicles, vessel density, and stromal cell apoptosis; lower collagen type III fibers and follicular density; and higher stromal cell density, AgNOR, and collagen type I fibers. In conclusion, VEGF exposure before autotransplantation did not improve the quality of grafted tissues. However, cooling ovarian tissue for at least 24 h before grafting can be beneficial because satisfactory rates of follicle survival and development, stromal cell survival and proliferation, as well as vessel density, were obtained

A Genetic Porcine Model of Cancer

The large size of the pig and its similarity in anatomy, physiology, metabolism, and genetics to humans make it an ideal platform to develop a genetically defined, large animal model of cancer. To this end, we created a transgenic oncopig line encoding Cre recombinase inducible porcine transgenes encoding KRASG12D and TP53R167H, which represent a commonly mutated oncogene and tumor suppressor in human cancers, respectively. Treatment of cells derived from these oncopigs with the adenovirus encoding Cre (AdCre) led to KRASG12D and TP53R167H expression, which rendered the cells transformed in culture and tumorigenic when engrafted into immunocompromised mice. Finally, injection of AdCre directly into these oncopigs led to the rapid and reproducible tumor development of mesenchymal origin. Transgenic animals receiving AdGFP (green fluorescent protein) did not have any tumor mass formation or altered histopathology. This oncopig line could thus serve as a genetically malleable model for potentially a wide spectrum of cancers, while controlling for temporal or spatial genesis, which should prove invaluable to studies previously hampered by the lack of a large animal model of cancer

Klebsiella pneumoniae ST258 Negatively Regulates the Oxidative Burst in Human Neutrophils

The epidemic clone of Klebsiella pneumoniae (Kpn), sequence type 258 (ST258), carbapenamase producer (KPC), commonly infects hospitalized patients that are left with scarce therapeutic option since carbapenems are last resort antibiotics for life-threatening bacterial infections. To improve prevention and treatment, we should better understand the biology of Kpn KPC ST258 infections. Our hypothesis was that Kpn KPC ST258 evade the first line of defense of innate immunity, the polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMN), by decreasing its functional response. Therefore, our aim was to evaluate how the ST258 Kpn clone affects PMN responses, focusing on the respiratory burst, compared to another opportunistic pathogen, Escherichia coli (Eco). We found that Kpn KPC ST258 was unable to trigger bactericidal responses as reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and NETosis, compared to the high induction observed with Eco, but both bacterial strains were similarly phagocytized and cause increases in cell size and CD11b expression. The absence of ROS induction was also observed with other Kpn ST258 strains negative for KPC. These results reflect certain selectivity in terms of the functions that are triggered in PMN by Kpn, which seems to evade specifically those responses critical for bacterial survival. In this sense, bactericidal mechanisms evasion was associated with a higher survival of Kpn KPC ST258 compared to Eco. To investigate the mechanisms and molecules involved in ROS inhibition, we used bacterial extracts (BE) and found that BE were able to inhibit ROS generation triggered by the well-known ROS inducer, fMLP. A sequence of experiments led us to elucidate that the polysaccharide part of LPS was responsible for this inhibition, whereas lipid A mediated the other responses that were not affected by bacteria, such as cell size increase and CD11b up-regulation. In conclusion, we unraveled a mechanism of immune evasion of Kpn KPC ST258, which may contribute to design more effective strategies for the treatment of these multi-resistant bacterial infections

Avaliação do polimorfismo na enzima esterase em populações naturais de Aedes aegypti em Chapada de Guimarães, Mato Grosso

O mosquito Aedes aegypti é originário da África, constituindo populações selvagens e domésticas. Ele é adaptado ao ambiente urbano, utilizando recipientes com acúmulo de água para colocar seus ovos. Seu controle é realizado por meio produtos químicos, biológicos e manejo ambiental, infelizmente essa classe de insetos possuem a capacidade de eliminar compostos nocivos do organismo por meio de enzimas como as esterases que conferem resistência ao mosquito. Esse trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar o polimorfismo das esterases em populações naturais, assim como identificar uma região de atividade enzimática que apresenta variação de diversidade da enzima nesta população. Para o desenvolvimento do trabalho, foram utilizadas armadilhas do tipo ovitrampa para obtenção das amostras, seguidos da utilização da eletroforese em gel de poliacrilamida para análise das enzimas esterases. A classificação das esterases foi feita de acordo com sua afinidade para alpha naftil. Foram coletadas 111 amostras de Aedes aegypti em Chapada dos Guimarães - MT entre os meses de fevereiro a novembro de 2016 em três períodos estacionais (cheia, vazante e enchente), dentre as quais 39 amostras apresentaram alelos superexpressos e 72 apresentaram alelos expressos. Houve maior concentração de coleta nos períodos de cheia e enchente, visto que são épocas propícias para o desenvolvimento do mosquito, a fase estacional cheia se obteve maior superexpressão da enzima esterase.  Identificou-se diferenças altamente significativas entre os períodos de amostragem (F4, 106= 7.0904; p= 0.0000) (Figura 3) e as fases estacionais (F2, 108= 14.018; p= 0.0000), demostrando uma tendência da população a se tornar resistente. Portanto pode-se concluir que há polimorfismo nesta população, apontando que há fatores externos interferindo na seleção destes organismos, fazendo com que os indivíduos apresentem a enzima esterase na sua forma superexpressa, o que é preocupante, pois torna seu controle mais difícil, em vista que a esterase proporciona a detoxificação do organismo, tornando-o resistente a substâncias químicas como os inseticidas usados em seu controle

Identification of novel soybean microRNAs involved in abiotic and biotic stresses

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Small RNAs (19-24 nt) are key regulators of gene expression that guide both transcriptional and post-transcriptional silencing mechanisms in eukaryotes. Current studies have demonstrated that microRNAs (miRNAs) act in several plant pathways associated with tissue proliferation, differentiation, and development and in response to abiotic and biotic stresses. In order to identify new miRNAs in soybean and to verify those that are possibly water deficit and rust-stress regulated, eight libraries of small RNAs were constructed and submitted to Solexa sequencing.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The libraries were developed from drought-sensitive and tolerant seedlings and rust-susceptible and resistant soybeans with or without stressors. Sequencing the library and subsequent analyses detected 256 miRNAs. From this total, we identified 24 families of novel miRNAs that had not been reported before, six families of conserved miRNAs that exist in other plants species, and 22 families previously reported in soybean. We also observed the presence of several isomiRNAs during our analyses. To validate novel miRNAs, we performed RT-qPCR across the eight different libraries. Among the 11 miRNAs analyzed, all showed different expression profiles during biotic and abiotic stresses to soybean. The majority of miRNAs were up-regulated during water deficit stress in the sensitive plants. However, for the tolerant genotype, most of the miRNAs were down regulated. The pattern of miRNAs expression was also different for the distinct genotypes submitted to the pathogen stress. Most miRNAs were down regulated during the fungus infection in the susceptible genotype; however, in the resistant genotype, most miRNAs did not vary during rust attack. A prediction of the putative targets was carried out for conserved and novel miRNAs families.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Validation of our results with quantitative RT-qPCR revealed that Solexa sequencing is a powerful tool for miRNA discovery. The identification of differentially expressed plant miRNAs provides molecular evidence for the possible involvement of miRNAs in the process of water deficit- and rust-stress responses.</p

Regulation of Stress-Inducible Phosphoprotein 1 Nuclear Retention by Protein Inhibitor of Activated STAT PIAS1

Stress-inducible phosphoprotein 1 (STI1), a cochaperone for Hsp90, has been shown to regulate multiple pathways in astrocytes, but its contributions to cellular stress responses are not fully understood. We show that in response to irradiation-mediated DNA damage stress STI1 accumulates in the nucleus of astrocytes. Also, STI1 haploinsufficiency decreases astrocyte survival after irradiation. Using yeast two-hybrid screenings we identified several nuclear proteins as STI1 interactors. Overexpression of one of these interactors, PIAS1, seems to be specifically involved in STI1 nuclear retention and in directing STI1 and Hsp90 to specific sub-nuclear regions. PIAS1 and STI1 co-immunoprecipitate and PIAS1 can function as an E3 SUMO ligase for STI. Using mass spectrometry we identified five SUMOylation sites in STI1. A STI1 mutant lacking these five sites is not SUMOylated, but still accumulates in the nucleus in response to increased expression of PIAS1, suggesting the possibility that a direct interaction with PIAS1 could be responsible for STI1 nuclear retention. To test this possibility, we mapped the interaction sites between PIAS1 and STI1 using yeast-two hybrid assays and surface plasmon resonance and found that a large domain in the N-terminal region of STI1 interacts with high affinity with amino acids 450-480 of PIAS1. Knockdown of PIAS1 in astrocytes impairs the accumulation of nuclear STI1 in response to irradiation. Moreover, a PIAS1 mutant lacking the STI1 binding site is unable to increase STI1 nuclear retention. Interestingly, in human glioblastoma multiforme PIAS1 expression is increased and we found a significant correlation between increased PIAS1 expression and STI1 nuclear localization. These experiments provide evidence that direct interaction between STI1 and PIAS1 is involved in the accumulation of nuclear STI1. This retention mechanism could facilitate nuclear chaperone activity. Molecular & Cellular Proteomics 12: 10.1074/mcp.M113.031005, 3253-3270, 2013

Prevalência, fatores de risco e genótipos da hepatite C entre usuários de drogas

OBJECTIVE: To estimate prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and identify risk factors associated and circulating HCV genotypes and subtypes. METHODS: Study conducted including 691 drug users attending 26 charitable, private and public drug treatment centers in Goiânia and Campo Grande, central-western Brazil, between 2005 and 2006. Sociodemographic characteristics and risk factors for HCV infection were collected during interviews. Blood samples were tested for HCV antibodies (anti-HCV). Positive samples were submitted to HCV RNA detection by PCR with primers complementary to 5' NC and NS5B regions of viral genome and genotyped by line probe assay (LiPA) and direct nucleotide sequencing followed by phylogenetic analysis. The prevalence and odds ratio were calculated with 95% confidence intervals. Risk factors were first estimated in the univariate analysis (pOBJETIVO: Estimar la prevalencia y factores asociados a la infección por el virus de la hepatitis C en usuarios de drogas e identificar los genotipos y subtipos virales circulantes. MÉTODOS: Estudio realizado con 691 usuarios de drogas de 26 centros de tratamiento de uso de drogas filantrópicos, particulares y públicos de Goiania y Campo Grande (Centro-Oeste), entre 2005 y 2006. Datos sociodemográficos y factores de riesgo para infección por el HCV fueron obtenidos por medio de entrevistas. Muestras sanguíneas fueron evaluadas para la detección de anticuerpos para el HCV. Las muestras positivas fueron sometidas a la detección de RNA-HCV por la reacción en cadena de polimerasa con iniciadores complementarios a las regiones 5' NC y NS5B del genoma viral y genotipadas por el line probe assay (LiPA) y por secuenciación directa, seguido del análisis filogenético. Prevalencia y odds ratio fueron calculados con intervalo de 95% de confianza. Los factores de riesgo con pOBJETIVO: Estimar a prevalência e fatores associados à infecção pelo vírus da hepatite C em usuários de drogas e identificar os genótipos e subtipos virais circulantes. MÉTODOS: Estudo realizado com 691 usuários de drogas de 26 centros de tratamento de uso de drogas filantrópicos, particulares e públicos de Goiânia (GO) e Campo Grande (MS), entre 2005 e 2006. Dados sociodemográficos e fatores de risco para infecção pelo HCV foram obtidos por meio de entrevistas. Amostras sangüíneas foram testadas para a detecção de anticorpos para o HCV. As amostras positivas foram submetidas à detecção do RNA-HCV pela reação em cadeia da polimerase com iniciadores complementares às regiões 5' NC e NS5B do genoma viral e genotipadas pelo line probe assay (LiPA) e por seqüenciamento direto, seguido de análise filogenética. Prevalência e odds ratio foram calculados com intervalo de 95% de confiança. Os fatores de risco com