562 research outputs found
Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Impair the Differentiation of CD14++CD16-CD64+ Classical Monocytes into CD14++CD16+CD64++ Activate Monocytes
Relação entre as concentrações plasmáticas e eritrocitárias de quinina em crianças com malária por Plasmodium falciparum não complicada em terapia via oral
We determined the relationship between plasma and red blood cell concentrations of quinine in children with uncomplicated falciparum malaria from an endemic area of Amazonian region. Quinine was determined by high performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection. In the steady state the ratio between plasma and red blood cell quinine concentration was 1.89 ± 1.25 ranging from 1.05 to 2.34. This result demonstrated that quinine do not concentrate in red blood cell of Brazilian children and characterize the absence of interracial difference in this relationship.Neste estudo foi determinada a relação entre as concentrações plasmáticas e eritrocitárias de quinina em crianças com malária falciparum não complicada, oriundas de área endêmica da Região Amazônica. A quinina foi detrminada por cromatografia lÃquida de alta eficiência. No estado de equilÃbrio, a relação foi 1,89 ± 1,25 variando de 1,05 a 2,34. Estes resultados demonstraram que a quinina não se concentra nos eritrócitos das crianças e caracterizaram a ausência de diferença racial nesta relação
STILF - A spatiotemporal interval logic formalism for reasoning about events in remote sensing data
Although several studies perform time series analysis using remote sensing data provided by Earth observation satellites, few have been explored concerning the reasoning about land use change using these data. Besides, exists the challenge of make the best use of big Earth observation data sets to represent change. In this context, this work presents a new formalism - STILF (Spatiotemporal Interval Logic Formalism), and shows how to use it for reasoning about land use change using big Earth observation data. Extending the ideas from Allen’s interval temporal logic, we introduce predicates holds(o, p, t) and occur(o, p, Te) to build a general framework to reason about events. Events can be defined as complete entities on their respective time intervals and their lifetime is limited while objects persist in time, with a defined begin and end. Since events are intrinsically related to the objects they modify, a geospatial event formalism should specify not only what happens, but also which objects are affected by such changes. The formalism proposed and predicates extended from Allen''''''''s ideas can model and capture changes using big Earth observation data, and also allows reasoning about land use trajectories in regional or global areas. Examples for tropical forest area application is presented to better understand our proposal using STILF. For the future, the proposed formalism will be include other temporal analysis tools to thinking about events related the land use and cover change
On T-Duality and Integrability for Strings on AdS Backgrounds
We discuss an interplay between T-duality and integrability for certain
classical non-linear sigma models. In particular, we consider strings on the
AdS_5 x S^5 background and perform T-duality along the four isometry directions
of AdS_5 in the Poincare patch. The T-dual of the AdS_5 sigma model is again a
sigma model on an AdS_5 space. This classical T-duality relation was used in
the recently uncovered connection between light-like Wilson loops and MHV gluon
scattering amplitudes in the strong coupling limit of the AdS/CFT duality. We
show that the explicit coordinate dependence along the T-duality directions of
the associated Lax connection (flat current) can be eliminated by means of a
field dependent gauge transformation. As a result, the gauge equivalent Lax
connection can easily be T-dualized, i.e. written in terms of the dual set of
isometric coordinates. The T-dual Lax connection can be used for the derivation
of infinitely many conserved charges in the T-dual model. Our construction
implies that local (Noether) charges of the original model are mapped to
non-local charges of the T-dual model and vice versa.Comment: 20 pages; v2: misprints corrected, references and minor
clarifications adde
Assessment of WASH scenarios in urban and rural schools of a small city in the Brazilian Amazon
UV finiteness of Pohlmeyer-reduced form of the AdS_5xS^5 superstring theory
We consider the Pohlmeyer-type reduced theory found by explicitly solving the
Virasoro constraints in the formulation of AdS_5xS^5 superstring in terms of
supercoset currents. The resulting set of classically equivalent, integrable
Lagrangian equations of motion has the advantage of involving only a physical
number of degrees of freedom and yet being 2d Lorentz invariant. The
corresponding reduced theory action may be written as a gauged WZW model
coupled to fermions with further bosonic and fermionic potential terms. Since
the AdS_5xS^5 superstring sigma model is conformally invariant, its classical
relation to the reduced theory may extend to the quantum level only if the
latter is, in fact, UV finite. This theory is power counting renormalizable
with the only possible divergences being of potential type. We explicitly
verify its 1-loop finiteness and show that the 2-loop divergences are, in
general, scheme dependent and vanish in dimensional reduction scheme. We expect
that the reduced theory is finite to all orders in the loop expansion.Comment: 40 pages, Latex; v2: typos corrected, minor clarifying remarks adde
The Neuroprotective Action of Amidated-Kyotorphin on Amyloid β Peptide-Induced Alzheimer’s Disease Pathophysiology
Kyotorphin (KTP, l-tyrosyl-l-arginine) is an endogenous dipeptide initially described to have analgesic properties. Recently, KTP was suggested to be an endogenous neuroprotective agent, namely for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In fact, KTP levels were shown to be decreased in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with AD, and recent data showed that intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection of KTP ameliorates memory impairments in a sporadic rat model of AD. However, this administration route is far from being a suitable therapeutic strategy. Here, we evaluated if the blood-brain permeant KTP-derivative, KTP-NH2, when systemically administered, would be effective in preventing memory deficits in a sporadic AD animal model and if so, which would be the synaptic correlates of that action. The sporadic AD model was induced in male Wistar rats through i.c.v. injection of amyloid β peptide (Aβ). Animals were treated for 20 days with KTP-NH2 (32.3 mg/kg, intraperitoneally (i.p.), starting at day 3 after Aβ administration) before memory testing (Novel object recognition (NOR) and Y-maze (YM) tests). Animals were then sacrificed, and markers for gliosis were assessed by immunohistochemistry and Western blot analysis. Synaptic correlates were assessed by evaluating theta-burst induced long term potentiation (LTP) of field excitatory synaptic potentials (fEPSPs) recorded from hippocampal slices and cortical spine density analysis. In the absence of KTP-NH2 treatment, Aβ-injected rats had clear memory deficits, as assessed through NOR or YM tests. Importantly, these memory deficits were absent in Aβ-injected rats that had been treated with KTP-NH2, which scored in memory tests as control (sham i.c.v. injected) rats. No signs of gliosis could be detected at the end of the treatment in any group of animals. LTP magnitude was significantly impaired in hippocampal slices that had been incubated with Aβ oligomers (200 nM) in the absence of KTP-NH2. Co-incubation with KTP-NH2 (50 nM) rescued LTP toward control values. Similarly, Aβ caused a significant decrease in spine density in cortical neuronal cultures, and this was prevented by co-incubation with KTP-NH2 (50 nM). In conclusion, the present data demonstrate that i.p. KTP-NH2 treatment counteracts Aβ-induced memory impairments in an AD sporadic model, possibly through the rescuing of synaptic plasticity mechanisms.publishersversionpublishe
Projectile breakup dynamics for Li + Co: kinematical analysis of - coincidences
A study of the kinematics of the - coincidences in the Li +
Co system at a bombarding energy of MeV is presented.
With exclusive measurements performed over different angular intervals it is
possible to identify the respective contributions of the sequential projectile
breakup and direct projectile breakup components. A careful analysis using a
semiclassical approach of these processes provides information on both their
lifetime and their distance of occurrence with respect to the target. Breakup
to the low-lying (near-threshold) continuum is delayed, and happens at large
internuclear distances. This suggests that the influence of the projectile
breakup on the complete fusion process can be related essentially to direct
breakup to the Li high-lying continuum spectrum. %Comment: Revised version including new Fig.3 and Fig.4 with new CDCC
calculations. Accepted for publication at Eur. Phys. Jour. A. 11 pages, 6
figure
A novel enzymatically-mediated drug delivery carrier for bone tissue engineering applications: combining biodegradable starch-based microparticles and differentiation agents
In many biomedical applications, the performance
of biomaterials depends largely on their degradation
behavior. For instance, in drug delivery applications, the
polymeric carrier should degrade under physiological
conditions slowly releasing the encapsulated drug. The aim
of this work was, therefore, to develop an enzymaticmediated
degradation carrier system for the delivery of
differentiation agents to be used in bone tissue engineering
applications. For that, a polymeric blend of starch with
polycaprolactone (SPCL) was used to produce a microparticle
carrier for the controlled release of dexamethasone
(DEX). In order to investigate the effect of enzymes on the
degradation behavior of the developed system and release
profile of the encapsulated osteogenic agent (DEX), the
microparticles were incubated in phosphate buffer solution
in the presence of a-amylase and/or lipase enzymes (at
physiological concentrations), at 37 C for different periods
of time. The degradation was followed by gravimetric
measurements, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and
Fourier transformed infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and the
release of DEX was monitored by high performance liquid
chromatography (HPLC). The developed microparticles
were shown to be susceptible to enzymatic degradation, as observed by an increase in weight loss and porosity with
degradation time when compared with control samples
(incubation in buffer only). For longer degradation times,
the diameter of the microparticles decreased significantly
and a highly porous matrix was obtained. The in vitro
release studies showed a sustained release pattern with
48% of the encapsulated drug being released for a period of
30 days. As the degradation proceeds, it is expected that
the remaining encapsulated drug will be completely
released as a consequence of an increasingly permeable
matrix and faster diffusion of the drug. Cytocompatibility
results indicated the possibility of the developed microparticles
to be used as biomaterial due to their reduced
cytotoxic effects
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