Influência do cloreto de cálcio no crescimento de explantes de Gypsophila paniculata L. (Caryophyllaceae), cultivados in vitro

Shoot tips from plants still in the vegetative growth phase were used as explants. They were sterilised with tetraciclin 1% for four minutes, sodium hypochloridre (commercial sanitary water with 5% of active cloride) 20% (v/v) for 15 minutes and alcohol 70 GL for 2 minutes. The explants were inoculated in a growth medium MS (Murashigue & Skoog), with different concentrations of CaCl2: a) 440; b) 880; c) 1,760; d) 2,640 and e) 3,520 mg/1. Explants were kept in a growth chamber at constant temperature (25°C ± 2°C) with a photo period of 16 hours. The explants in the medium modified with 1,760 mg/1 of CaCl2, presented the best results, with a vigorous growth and presence of intense green color on the leaves. The explants inoculated with 440 mg/1 de CaCl2 did not have a satisfactory growth after 10 days of incubation, presenting estiolation and low intensify of green color in the leaves. The explants inoculated with 3,520 mg/1 of CaCl2, also did not present satisfactory growth after 60 days of inoculation, probably due to an excess of calcium in the medium or chloride toxicity.Este trabalho teve por finalidade verificar a influência do Cloreto de Cálcio (CaCl12) no crescimento de explantes de Gypsophila paniculata L., cultivados em meio de cultura a fim de fornecer subsídios para a micropropagação desta cultura. Foram utilizados como explantes somente as gemas apicais das plantas em fase de crescimento vegetativo. Os explantes foram inoculados em meio de cultura MS (Murashigue & Skoog) modificado com diferentes concentrações de CaCl2: a) 440; b) 880; c) 1.760; d) 2.640 e e) 3.520 mg/1. Os explantes foram deixados em câmara de crescimento sob uma temperatura constante de 25°C ± 2°C sob fotoperíodo de 16 horas. Os explantes do meio de cultura MS com 1.760 mg/1 de CaCl2 foram os de melhor resultado, com crescimento vigoroso e presença de coloração verde intensa nas folhas. Os explantes do meio de cultura MS com 440 mg/1 de CaCl2 não apresentaram um crescimento satisfatório, com estiolamento e coloração verde pouco intensa nas folhas; os explantes do meio de cultura MS com 3.520 mg/1 de CaCl2, também não apresentaram um crescimento satisfatório, pois com 10 dias de inoculação já se percebia uma menor indução no crescimento, podendo tal efeito ser conseqüência de dois fatores: excesso de cálcio no meio de cultura ou a toxidez ocasionada pelo cloro

Conductance fluctuations in the presence of spin scattering

Electron transport through disordered systems that include spin scatterers is studied numerically. We consider three kinds of magnetic impurities: the Ising, the XY and the Heisenberg. By extending the transfer matrix method to include the spin degree of freedom, the two terminal conductance is calculated. The variance of conductance is halved as the number of spin components of the magnetic impurities increases. Application of the Zeeman field in the lead causes a further halving of the variance under certain conditions.Comment: to be published in Phys. Rev.

Evaluation of behavior and neuropeptide markers of pain in a simple, sciatic nerve-pinch pain model in rats

Pathomechanisms of injured-nerve pain have not been fully elucidated. Radicular pain and chronic constriction injury models have been established; however, producing these models is complicated. A sciatic nerve-pinch injury is easy to produce but the reliability of this model for evaluating pain behavior has not been examined. The current study evaluated pain-related behavior and change in pain markers in the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) of rats in a simple, sciatic nerve-pinch injury model. In the model, the sciatic nerve was pinched for 2 s using forceps (n = 20), but not injured in sham-operated animals (n = 20). Mechanical and thermal hyperalgesia were measured every second day for 2 weeks using von Frey filaments and a Hargreaves device. Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), activating transcription factor-3 (ATF-3), phosphorylated p38 mitogen activated protein (Map) kinase (p-p38), and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB; p65) expression in L5 DRGs were examined at 4 and 7 days after surgery using immunohistochemistry. The proportion of neurons immunoreactive for these markers was compared between the two groups. Mechanical (during 8 days) and thermal hyperalgesia (during 6 days) were found in the pinch group rats, but not in the sham-operated animals (p < 0.05); however, hyperalgesia was not significant from days 10 to 14. CGRP, ATF-3, p-p38, and NF-κB expression in L5 DRGs was upregulated in the nerve-injured rats compared with the sham-operated rats (p < 0.01). Our results indicate that a simple sciatic nerve pinch produced pain-related behavior. Upregulation of the pain-marker expression in the nerve-injury model suggested it could be used as a model of pain. However, it was not considered as suitable for long-term studies