Evaluation of the potential for repair of degenerate hyaline cartilage in the osteoarthritic knee by cartilage stem cells

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a highly prevalent, debilitating disease affecting many joints including the knee. Despite the involvement of several tissues, it is believed that the articular cartilage is the primary site of pathogenesis in humans. Within this study, a new scoring system of OA was devised, incorporating the articular cartilage and underlying bone, aimed at providing a more comprehensive means of grading the severity of tissue damage. We examined changes progressively from mild to severe and were able to deduce from the scoring system that bone changes may precede those of the overlying cartilage. Immunohistochemistry was used to assess stem cell marker expression, proliferation and progressive changes within the extracellular matrix of sectioned osteochondral plugs, however no distinct pattern of change could be extrapolated, highlighting the variable nature of this taxing disease. Previous studies have demonstrated the presence of a sub-population of chondroprogenitor cells present in normal hyaline cartilage. We demonstrated in this study that a similar group of cells reside in osteoarthritic articular cartilage. We were able to isolate and expand clonally derived primary cell lines to beyond 50 population doublings whilst maintaining a chondrogenic phenotype, and demonstrated the tri-lineage potential of these cells. That said, a significant amount of variation was observed and it was, therefore, postulated that there may be a smaller cohort of viable cells within this sub-population isolated from osteoarthritic cartilage. A preliminary study was also carried out comparing chondroprogenitors from normal articular cartilage to those isolated from OA tissue. Heterogeneity was again encountered, suggesting that there was a group of OA chondroprogenitors with similar characteristics to the normal cells, which differed from the other less metabolically active cells. This finding was agreeable with the aforementioned postulation. Data from our preliminary integration study was promising as we demonstrated the potential for using these chondroprogenitor cells in combination with other cells whilst achieving successful integration. However, further work is necessary to distinguish between the cell lines with the potential for integration from those that lacked this ability, thereby eliminating the heterogeneity. The presence of viable chondroprogenitor cells in OA tissue challenges the dogma that the tissue is irrecoverable, and opens the scope for regenerative medicine using resident progenitor cells. This is an exciting prospect that could significantly contribute to articular cartilage repair

Preparation And Characterization Of Maleic Anhydride Grafted Poly(hydroxybutirate-co-hydroxyvalerate) – Phbv-g-ma

A compatibilizer agent was successfully produced by grafting maleic anhydride (MA) to poly(hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) chains on a reactive processing by mechanical mixing, using a mixture of PHBV, MA and dicumyl peroxide (DCP) as initiator. The resulting PHBV grafted MA (PHBV-g-MA) was characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and gel permeation chromatography (GPC), and its properties were compared to neat PHBV. FTIR showed an absorption band at 699 cm-1 for PHBV-g-MA, related to CH group of grafted anhydride ring. The initial thermal degradation temperature of the compatibilizer agent was reduced when compared to neat PHBV. DSC analysis showed that after grafting MA onto PHBV the crystallization temperature was about 20ºC higher than neat PHBV, and the degree of crystallinity was increased. GPC analysis showed that MA when grafted onto PHBV led to a reduction of molecular weight and polydispersity.19122923

Mobility as a service in community transport in Australia : Can it provide a sustainable future?

Acknowledgements This research of this paper has been made possible through an industry partnership grant between the Business School at the University of Sydney, Australia and the Community Transport partners. We are grateful for this support and for the support of their clients, our respondents. We are also grateful for the anonymous comments of reviewers who have enabled us to improve the paper. Funding sources This paper utilised research funded under the University of Sydney Business School’s Industry Partnership scheme whereby five CT providers partnered with the Business School to fund the research. The authors acknowledge the facilities, and the scientific and technical assistance of the Sydney Informatics Hub at the University of Sydney and, in particular, access to the high performance computing facility Artemis.Peer reviewedPostprin

Preparation and characterization of maleic anhydride grafted poly (Hydroxybutirate-CO-Hydroxyvalerate) – PHBV-g-MA

A compatibilizer agent was successfully produced by grafting maleic anhydride (MA) to poly(hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) chains on a reactive processing by mechanical mixing, using a mixture of PHBV, MA and dicumyl peroxide (DCP) as initiator. The resulting PHBV grafted MA (PHBV-g-MA) was characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and gel permeation chromatography (GPC), and its properties were compared to neat PHBV. FTIR showed an absorption band at 699 cm-1 for PHBV-g-MA, related to CH group of grafted anhydride ring. The initial thermal degradation temperature of the compatibilizer agent was reduced when compared to neat PHBV. DSC analysis showed that after grafting MA onto PHBV the crystallization temperature was about 20ºC higher than neat PHBV, and the degree of crystallinity was increased. GPC analysis showed that MA when grafted onto PHBV led to a reduction of molecular weight and polydispersity.191229235COORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIOR - CAPESFUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESPSem informaçãoSem informaçã

How strong was the bottleneck associated to the peopling of the Americas? New insights from multilocus sequence data

In spite of many genetic studies that contributed for a deep knowledge about the peopling of the Americas, no consensus has emerged about important parameters such as the effective size of the Native Americans founder population. Previous estimates based on genomic datasets may have been biased by the use of admixed individuals from Latino populations, while other recent studies using samples from Native American individuals relied on approximated analytical approaches. In this study we use resequencing data for nine independent regions in a set of Native American and Siberian individuals and a full-likelihood approach based on isolation-with-migration scenarios accounting for recent flow between Asian and Native American populations. Our results suggest that, in agreement with previous studies, the effective size of the Native American population was small, most likely in the order of a few hundred individuals, with point estimates close to 250 individuals, even though credible intervals include a number as large as ~4,000 individuals. Recognizing the size of the genetic bottleneck during the peopling of the Americas is important for determining the extent of genetic markers needed to characterize Native American populations in genome-wide studies and to evaluate the adaptive potential of genetic variants in this population

Análise das informações ambientais evidenciadas nos relatórios de sustentabilidade e relatórios anuais sobre efluentes líquidos das empresas brasileiras

Resumo: Neste estudo objetivou-se analisar as informações ambientais evidenciadas nos Relatórios de Sustentabilidade (RS) e Relatórios Anuais (RA) sobre efluentes líquidos das empresas brasileiras. Realizou-se pesquisa descritiva, documental e quantitativa. A população da pesquisa compreende as 100 empresas pertencentes ao Índice Brasil 100 e a amostra foi composta por 97 dessas empresas. Foram verificados critérios e subcritérios com diferentes escalas sobre o aspecto efluentes nos RA e RS no período de 2010 a 2013. Calculou-se o peso da informação por meio da entropia e após foi aplicado o método Simple Additive Weighting (SAW) para a elaboração dos rankings e a correlação de Spearman. Em relação aos critérios e subcritérios analisados, o tipo de informação apresentou a maior influência na evidenciação sobre efluentes em ambos os relatórios. No que se refere ao ranking geral sobre as informações ambientais verificadas nos RA, as empresas que mais se destacaram foram a BRF – Brasil Foods e a Duratex. Já referente às informações divulgadas nos RS, as empresas Fibria e BRF – Brasil Foods foram destaque no período analisado. Conclui-se que as empresas brasileiras deveriam divulgar mais informações ambientais sobre efluentes em seus relatórios, visto que muitas destas não apresentaram informações sobre os critérios e subcritérios analisados. Palavras-chave: Evidenciação ambiental. Efluentes líquidos. Empresas brasileiras.   Analysis of environmental information evidenced in Sustainability Reporting and Annual Reports on liquid effluent of brazilian   Abstract: This study aimed to analyze the environmental information reported through Sustainability Reports (RS) and Annual Reports (RA) on wastewater of Brazilian companies. A descriptive, document and quantitative research. The study population includes 100 companies belonging to the Brazil Index 100 and the sample was composed of 97 of these companies. Criteria and sub-criteria were verified with different scales on the aspect effluents in RA and RS for the period 2010 to 2013. We calculated the weight of the information through the entropy and after we applied the method Simple Additive Weighting (SAW) for the development the rankings and the Spearman correlation. Regarding the analyzed criteria and sub-criteria, the type of information had the highest influence on the disclosure of effluent in both reports. Regarding the overall ranking on environmental information verified in RA, companies that stood out were the BRF – Brazil Foods and Duratex. Already regarding the information disclosed in the RS, the Fibria companies and BRF – Brazil Foods were highlighted during the period. It is concluded that Brazilian companies should disclose more environmental information effluents in their reports, as many of these have not provided information on the criteria and sub-criteria analysis. Keywords: Environmental disclosure. Wastewater. Brazilian companies

RANKING SETORIAL DO GRAU DE EVIDENCIAÇÃO AMBIENTAL DAS EMPRESAS BRASILEIRAS LISTADAS NO IBrX-100

Este estudo objetivou analisar o ranking setorial do grau de evidenciac¸ão ambiental das empresas brasileiras listadas no IBrX-100. Para tanto, fez-se uma pesquisa descritiva, documental e quantitativa, a partir de uma amostra de 97 empresas brasileiras de 2010 a 2013. A partir dos Relatórios de Sustentabilidade (RS) e Relatórios Anuais(RA) divulgados no site das próprias empresas, foram analisados cinco aspectos ambientais: emissões, efluentes líquidos, resíduos, produtos/servic¸o e transportes, seus devidos critérios e subcritérios. A partir dos dados coletados, usou-se o método T-ODA para chegar ao grau de evidenciac¸ão ambiental de cada empresa e ano. Os resultados revelam que as empresas do setor Utilidade Pública são as que mais evidenciam informac¸ões ambientaissobre os aspectos analisados. Após, tem-se as empresas do setor Financeiro e Outros. Contudo, as empresas pertencentes aos setores Diversos e Petróleo, Gás e Biocombustíveis quase não evidenciam informac¸ões ambientais. Ressalta-se que a empresa que mais evidenciou é a Duratex, do setor Materiais Básicos, seguida pela empresa Ecorodovias, do setor Construc¸ão e Transporte. Vale ainda salientar que 30 empresas das 97 não evidenciaram qualquer informac¸ão em seus relatórios sobre os aspectos analisados, ou então não divulgam tais relatórios. A contribuic¸ão do estudo verifica-se a partir da evidenciac¸ão ambiental das empresas, pois ao divulgar informac¸ões ambientais para a sociedade, visam à legitimac¸ão, visto que as empresas tornam-se legitimadas a partir do momento em que demonstram suas iniciativas para a diminuic¸ão dos impactos ambientais causados por suas atividades. Além disso, a pesquisa contribui no sentido teórico (Teoria da Legitimidade) e gerencial (vantagem competitiva), pois a partir do momento em que as empresas divulgam informac¸ões ambientais, poderão obter benefícios financeiros, assim como a sociedade, diante da qualidade de vida e do meio ambiente por meio da preservac¸ão ambienta

Synergistic And Additive Effect Of Oregano Essential Oil And Biological Silver Nanoparticles Against Multidrug-resistant Bacterial Strains

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Bacterial resistance to conventional antibiotics has become a clinical and public health problem, making therapeutic decisions more challenging. Plant compounds and nanodrugs have been proposed as potential antimicrobial alternatives. Studies have shown that oregano (Origanum vulgare) essential oil (OEO) and silver nanoparticles have potent antibacterial activity, also against multidrug-resistant strains; however, the strong organoleptic characteristics of OEO and the development of resistance to these metal nanoparticles can limit their use. This study evaluated the antibacterial effect of a two-drug combination of biologically synthesized silver nanoparticles (bio-AgNP), produced by Fusarium oxysporum, and OEO against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, including multidrug-resistant strains. OEO and bio-AgNP showed bactericidal effects against all 17 strains tested, with minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) ranging from 0.298 to 1.193 mg/mL and 62.5 to 250 mu M, respectively. Time-kill curves indicated that OEO acted rapidly (within 10 min), while the metallic nanoparticles took 4 h to kill Gram-negative bacteria and 24 h to kill Gram-positive bacteria. The combination of the two compounds resulted in a synergistic or additive effect, reducing their MIC values and reducing the time of action compared to bio-AgNP used alone, i.e., 20 min for Gram-negative bacteria and 7 h for Gram-positive bacteria. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed similar morphological alterations in Staphylococcus aureus (non-methicillin-resistant S. aureus, non-MRSA) cells exposed to three different treatments (OEO, bio-AgNP and combination of the two), which appeared cell surface blebbing. Individual and combined treatments showed reduction in cell density and decrease in exopolysaccharide matrix compared to untreated bacterial cells. It indicated that this composition have an antimicrobial activity against S. aureus by disrupting cells. Both compounds showed very low hemolytic activity, especially at MIC levels. This study7CNPq BIOTEC [402728/2013-0]Postgraduate Program in Microbiology of Universidade Estadual de LondrinaConselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico (CNPq)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq