Interações entre Ciência, Tecnologia e Sociedade: estudo da percepção e conceitos de acadêmicos da Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná

O presente trabalho é fruto da pesquisa desenvolvida pela Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná - UNIOESTE a qual participa como instituição voluntária na pesquisa Projeto Ibero-americano de Ciência, Tecnologia e a Sociedade (PIEARCTS), um projeto de investigação coordenado pela Universidade das Ilhas Baleares de Palma de Mallorca/Espanha apoiado pelo Ministério de Educação e Ciência (Espanha). Para o levantamento das informações aplicou-se um questionário estruturado a 397 acadêmicos, matriculados em cursos da universidade, na cidade de Cascavel - PR, cuja aspiração foi analisar opiniões distintas sobre os aspectos concretos e complexos da ciência e da tecnologia e como elas se relacionam com a sociedade atual. Foram analisadas cinco questões relacionadas à temática CT&S, em que as alternativas foram classificadas segundo as categorias: adequadas, ingênuas e plausíveis. Após analise quali-quantitativa desses dados percebe-se que a comunidade acadêmica ingressante possui conhecimento sobre os conceitos de ciência e tecnologia, seu emprego no cotidiano, bem como a necessidade de seu amplo estudo nas séries do ensino básico a fim de formar 283 Anais do II Seminário Hispano Brasileiro - CTS, p. 282-294, 2012 cidadãos que possam ter uma leitura politica, técnica e ambiental dos problemas que os cercam, compreendendo as relações entre a ciência e sua aplicação na vida

Maternal Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery reduces lipid deposition and increases UCP1 expression in the brown adipose tissue of male offspring

Abstract Maternal obesity induced by cafeteria diet (CAF) predisposes offspring to obesity and metabolic diseases, events that could be avoided by maternal bariatric surgery (BS). Herein we evaluated whether maternal BS is able to modulate brown adipose tissue (BAT) morphology and function in adult male rats born from obese female rats submitted to Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB). For this, adult male rat offspring were obtained from female rats that consumed standard diet (CTL), or CAF diet, and were submitted to simulated operation or RYGB. Analysis of offspring showed that, at 120 days of life, the maternal CAF diet induced adiposity and decreased the expression of mitochondrial Complex I (CI) and Complex III (CIII) in the BAT, resulting in higher accumulation of lipids than in BAT from offspring of CTL dams. Moreover, maternal RYGB increased UCP1 expression and prevented excessive deposition of lipids in the BAT of adult male offspring rats. However, maternal RYGB failed to reverse the effects of maternal diet on CI and CIII expression. Thus, maternal CAF promotes higher lipid deposition in the BAT of offspring, contributing to elevated adiposity. Maternal RYGB prevented obesity in offspring, probably by increasing the expression of UCP1

Data_Sheet_1_Citrus aurantium L. and synephrine improve brown adipose tissue function in adolescent mice programmed by early postnatal overfeeding.PDF

Introduction and aimsObesity is a multifactorial condition with high health risk, associated with important chronic disorders such as diabetes, dyslipidemia, and cardiovascular dysfunction. Citrus aurantium L. (C. aurantium) is a medicinal plant, and its active component, synephrine, a β-3 adrenergic agonist, can be used for weight loss. We investigated the effects of C. aurantium and synephrine in obese adolescent mice programmed by early postnatal overfeeding.MethodsThree days after birth, male Swiss mice were divided into a small litter (SL) group (3 pups) and a normal litter (NL) group (9 pups). At 30 days old, SL and NL mice were treated with C. aurantium standardized to 6% synephrine, C. aurantium with 30% synephrine, isolated synephrine, or vehicle for 19 days.ResultsThe SL group had a higher body weight than the NL group. Heart rate and blood pressure were not elevated. The SL group had hyperleptinemia and central obesity that were normalized by C. aurantium and synephrine. In brown adipose tissue, the SL group showed a higher lipid droplet sectional area, less nuclei, a reduction in thermogenesis markers related to thermogenesis (UCP-1, PRDM16, PGC-1α and PPARg), and mitochondrial disfunction. C. aurantium and synephrine treatment normalized these parameters.ConclusionOur data indicates that the treatment with C. aurantium and synephrine could be a promising alternative for the control of some obesity dysfunction, such as improvement of brown adipose tissue dysfunction and leptinemia.</p