N-acetylcysteine protects against motor, optomotor and morphological deficits induced by 6-OHDA in zebrafish larvae

Background: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder. In addition to its highly debilitating motor symptoms, non-motor symptoms may precede their motor counterparts by many years, which may characterize a prodromal phase of PD. A potential pharmacological strategy is to introduce neuroprotective agents at an earlier stage in order to prevent further neuronal death. N-acetylcysteine (NAC) has been used against paracetamol overdose hepatotoxicity by restoring hepatic concentrations of glutathione (GSH), and as a mucolytic in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease by reducing disulfide bonds in mucoproteins. It has been shown to be safe for humans at high doses. More recently, several studies have evidenced that NAC has a multifaceted mechanism of action, presenting indirect antioxidant effect by acting as a GSH precursor, besides its anti-inflammatory and neurotrophic effects. Moreover, NAC modulates glutamate release through activation of the cystine-glutamate antiporter in extrasynaptic astrocytes. Its therapeutic benefits have been demonstrated in clinical trials for several neuropsychiatric conditions but has not been tested in PD models yet. Methods: In this study, we evaluated the potential of NAC to prevent the damage induced by 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) on motor, optomotor and morphological parameters in a PD model in larval zebrafish. Results: NAC was able to prevent the motor deficits (total distance, mean speed, maximum acceleration, absolute turn angle and immobility time), optomotor response impairment and morphological alterations (total length and head length) caused by exposure to 6-OHDA, which reinforce and broaden the relevance of its neuroprotective effects. Discussion: NAC acts in different targets relevant to PD pathophysiology. Further studies and clinical trials are needed to assess this agent as a candidate for prevention and adjunctive treatment of PD

ESTUDO COMPARATIVO DO USO DE IVERMECTINA E DO FITOTERÁPICO OGPC34500 NO TRATAMENTO DA HELMINTOSE DE OVINOS NA REGIÃO DE ARAPONGAS

Os helmintos são responsáveis por grandes prejuízos na ovinocultura brasileira, principalmente devido o aparecimento do fenômeno de resistência. O objetivo deste trabalho foi determinar a eficiência do fitoterápico OGPC34500, incorporado ao sal mineral, como anti-helmíntico em ovinos do município de Arapongas-PR. Os resultados demonstraram que não houve redução da OPG para o grupo tratado com ivermectina, já para o OGPC34500 ocorreu redução em 42 %; 0% e 69% nas propriedades estudadas. Conforme resultados obtidos na pesquisa, a eficiência do fitoterápico OGPC 34500 mostrou-se promissora, a maior redução de OPG ocorreu na propriedade com maior consumo de sal com fitoterápico

PRODUTIVIDADE E COMPOSIÇÃO QUÍMICA DE GRAMÍNEAS TEMPERADAS NA CIDADE DE ARAPONGAS

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar quatro genótipos de gramíneas temperadas na cidade de Arapongas, PR. O plantio foi realizado em abril de 2007, utilizando as seguintes espécies: Aveia preta (Avena strigosa Schreb) comum, Aveia preta (Avena strigosa Schreb) IAPAR 61, Aveia branca (Avena sativa L.) IPR 126 e Azevém (Lólium multiflorum). O plantio foi feito em parcelas, totalizando 12 repetições para cada espécie. A produção de matéria seca/ha (MS/ha) para Aveia preta, Aveia IAPAR 61, Aveia IPR126 e Azevem foram respectivamente: 1,36; 0,86; 1,17 e 0,67 ton de MS/ha. Na região avaliada, em condições de estiagem no período de implantação, a aveia preta comum foi mais produtiva que as demais; entretanto com relação à composição química, a aveia preta IAPAR 61 se sobressaiu com relação à Aveia preta comum, apresentando maior teor de PB presente na MS e também menor teor de PB retido na porção de fibra em detergente neutro. A aveia branca IPR126, apesar da pequena quantidade de estudos vem demonstrando bons resultados, em muitas regiões até superiores à aveia preta comum

When enough should be enough: Improving the use of current agricultural lands could meet production demands and spare natural habitats in Brazil

Providing food and other products to a growing human population while safeguarding natural ecosystems and the provision of their services is a significant scientific, social and political challenge. With food demand likely to double over the next four decades, anthropization is already driving climate change and is the principal force behind species extinction, among other environmental impacts. The sustainable intensification of production on current agricultural lands has been suggested as a key solution to the competition for land between agriculture and natural ecosystems. However, few investigations have shown the extent to which these lands can meet projected demands while considering biophysical constraints. Here we investigate the improved use of existing agricultural lands and present insights into avoiding future competition for land. We focus on Brazil, a country projected to experience the largest increase in agricultural production over the next four decades and the richest nation in terrestrial carbon and biodiversity. Using various models and climatic datasets, we produced the first estimate of the carrying capacity of Brazil's 115 million hectares of cultivated pasturelands. We then investigated if the improved use of cultivated pasturelands would free enough land for the expansion of meat, crops, wood and biofuel, respecting biophysical constraints (i.e., terrain, climate) and including climate change impacts. We found that the current productivity of Brazilian cultivated pasturelands is 32–34% of its potential and that increasing productivity to 49–52% of the potential would suffice to meet demands for meat, crops, wood products and biofuels until at least 2040, without further conversion of natural ecosystems. As a result up to 14.3 Gt CO2 Eq could be mitigated. The fact that the country poised to undergo the largest expansion of agricultural production over the coming decades can do so without further conversion of natural habitats provokes the question whether the same can be true in other regional contexts and, ultimately, at the global scale

Physical evaluation of the luting systems for veneer ceramic after aging / Avaliação física dos sistemas de cimentação para faceta cerâmica após envelhecimento

The aim of this in vitro study was evaluated the amount of color change and degree of conversion of the luting systems for ceramic veneer cementation. Forty-eight human incisors were randomly divided into six groups (n=8) according to the bonding procedure: RelyX Veneer/Single Bond 2; RelyX ARC/Single Bond 2; Filtek Z350 XT Flowable /Single Bond 2; Variolink Veneer/Tetric N-Bond; Variolink II/Tetric N-Bond; Tetric N-Flow/Tetric N-Bond. Ceramic veneers (IPS Empress Esthetic) were cemented using the different bonding procedures. Color differences of the ceramic surface after cementation and 300 h(150kJ/m2) of UV aging test, were examined with a colorimeter. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) was used to evaluate the degree of conversion for each luting system. Data were analyzed with one-way ANOVA and Tukey's test (α=0.05). All the luting systems demonstrated significant changes in color stability. The ΔE of the systems ranged from 6,11 to 9,33. Tetric N-Flow and RelyX Veneer showed the highest degree of conversion, while lowest values were found for RelyX ARC. All luting systems demonstrated clinically unacceptable (ΔE≥ 3.3) color changes. Despite to the dual cure of the RelyX ARC luting cement, it showed the lowest degree of conversion values, while Tetric N-Flow and RelyX Veneer presented the highest and similar degree of conversion

Non-destructive genotypes classification and oil content prediction using near-infrared spectroscopy and chemometric tools in soybean breeding program

In soybean (Glycine max L.) breeding programs, segregation is normally observed, and it is not possible to have replicates of individuals because each genotype is a unique copy. Therefore, near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) was used as a non-destructive tool to classify soybeans by genotypes and to predict oil content. A total of 260 soybean genotypes were divided into five classes, which were composed of 32, 52, 82, 46, and 49 samples of the BV, BVV, EB, JAB, and L class, respectively. NIR spectra were obtained using oven-dried samples (80 g) in a reflectance mode. A successive projection algorithm and genetic algorithm with linear discriminant analysis discriminated genotypes of the low (L class) from the high (EB class) for oil content (88.89% accuracy). The partial least square regression models for oil content were considered good (root mean square error of prediction of 0.96%). Therefore, NIRS can be used as a non-destructive tool in soybean breeding programs, but further investigation is necessary to improve the robustness of the models. It is important to note that to use the models, it is necessary to collect NIR spectra from dry soybean samples