Especificidade do parasitóide Apanteles militaris (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) em relação ao hospedeiro Mythimna unipuncta (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

IV Encontro Nacional de Protecção Integrada, 3–4 Outubro, 1997, Angra do Heroísmo, Açores.Apanteles militaris (Walsh) é o mais importante parasitóide larvar de Mythimna unipuncta (Haworth) em todas as ilhas dos Açores. Pretendendo-se saber do modo de actuação deste parasitóide larvícola, procedeu-se ao estudo semanal da sua abundância e à do seu hospedeiro natural. Numa tentativa de compreender onde se encontra este parasitóide durante o Invermo, realizámos ensaios de parasitismo, em condições controladas, utilizando como hospedeiro larvas de Noctua pronuba L., Peridroma saucia (Hb), Xestia c-nigrum (L.), Spodoptera litoralis B., Agrotis ipsilon (Hüf.), Heliothis armigera (Hb.), Sesamia nonagrioides (Lef.), Autographa gamma (L.) e Pieris brassicae azorensis Rebel. Estes Lepidópteros foram seleccionados por existirem nos biótopos que são ocupados por M. unipuncta, apresentarem uma densidade importante nas condições ambientais dos Açores ou por serem hospedeiros de parasitóides pertencentes ao mesmo género. Para além de M. unipuncta, apenas S. nonagrioides e A. gamma apresentaram uma percentagem muito reduzida de larvas efectivamente parasitadas, 10 e 12,5%, respectivamente. Assim, a população açoreana de A. militaris apresenta uma grande especificidade em relação ao seu hospedeiro natural

Evaluation of decellularization of porcine pericardium: Decellularization of porcine pericardium

The porcine pericardium has been used for its great potential as a biological scaffold, produced from the extracellular matrix (ECM) and used mainly in surgeries reconstructive, tissue repair and surgical procedures for corneal reconstruction. The adequate preservation and biocompatibility of the pericardial ECM structure during the decellularization process is fundamental, the biggest challenge being the total removal of cellular material without damage to the structure. All agents used in decellularization change the composition and cause some damage to the ultrastructure. Sodium Dodecil Sulfate (SDS) is the most effective for removing cell residue from tissue compared to other detergents, which is also the most used for the decellularization process. This work aimed to test 3 different concentrations of SDS, in order to assess the concentration (0.1, 0.5 and 1%) that best preserves the structure of the ECM pericardial. In addition, we listed the type of daily wash to make the process more effective (only distilled water or PBS 1x), in order to assess the concentration capable of decellularizing the tissue and better preserving the pericardial ECM. The concentration of SDS at 1%, when compared to the lowest concentrations of 0.1 and 0.5%, was more effective in the decellularization process, however it did not obtain good results in the preservation of the ECM. Regarding daily washing, there was no difference in the frequency assessed in the experimental groups

Star-forming cores embedded in a massive cold clump: Fragmentation, collapse and energetic outflows

The fate of massive cold clumps, their internal structure and collapse need to be characterised to understand the initial conditions for the formation of high-mass stars, stellar systems, and the origin of associations and clusters. We explore the onset of star formation in the 75 M_sun SMM1 clump in the region ISOSS J18364-0221 using infrared and (sub-)millimetre observations including interferometry. This contracting clump has fragmented into two compact cores SMM1 North and South of 0.05 pc radius, having masses of 15 and 10 M_sun, and luminosities of 20 and 180 L_sun. SMM1 South harbours a source traced at 24 and 70um, drives an energetic molecular outflow, and appears supersonically turbulent at the core centre. SMM1 North has no infrared counterparts and shows lower levels of turbulence, but also drives an outflow. Both outflows appear collimated and parsec-scale near-infrared features probably trace the outflow-powering jets. We derived mass outflow rates of at least 4E-5 M_sun/yr and outflow timescales of less than 1E4 yr. Our HCN(1-0) modelling for SMM1 South yielded an infall velocity of 0.14 km/s and an estimated mass infall rate of 3E-5 M_sun/yr. Both cores may harbour seeds of intermediate- or high-mass stars. We compare the derived core properties with recent simulations of massive core collapse. They are consistent with the very early stages dominated by accretion luminosity.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ, 14 pages, 7 figure

Evaluation of the results and impacts of a social-oriented technology program in Brazil: the case of Prosab (a sanitation research program)

This paper presents and discuss the main results and impacts of Prosab (a sanitation research program) sponsored by Finep (Brazilian Federal Agency of Innovation). Prosab was mainly carried out by universities and its purpose was to fulfill technological demands related to the Brazilian sanitation services. This paper deals with two important factors: evaluating a technological program with a social purpose and creating a methodology that could capture the overwhelming aspects of the program's outcomes. The evaluation methodology is separated into two fronts: results evaluation, which tries to seize all the intermediate outputs of the program; and impact evaluation, which concerns the general outcomes of the program for Brazilian society. Results evaluation focused on those who carried out the research project, using them as reference units for analyses, while the focus of impact evaluation was on the whole set of actors related to the sanitation industry, including the research community, sanitation companies, public actors at local and federal level. The unit of analysis was the program itself.18428930

Cat amniotic membrane multipotent cells are nontumorigenic and are safe for use in cell transplantation

Atanasio S Vidane,1 Aline F Souza,1 Rafael V Sampaio,1 Fabiana F Bressan,2 Naira C Pieri,1 Daniele S Martins,2 Flavio V Meirelles,2 Maria A Miglino,1 Carlos E Ambrósio2 1Department of Surgery, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; 2Department of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Animal Sciences and Food Engineering, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil Abstract: Amnion-derived mesenchymal stem cells (AMSCs) are multipotent cells with an enhanced ability to differentiate into multiple lineages. AMSCs can be acquired through noninvasive methods, and therefore are exempt from the typical ethical issues surrounding stem cell use. The objective of this study was to isolate and characterize AMSCs from a cat amniotic membrane for future application in regenerative medicine. The cat AMSCs were harvested after mechanical and enzymatic digestion of amnion. In culture medium, the cat AMSCs adhered to a plastic culture dish and displayed a fibroblast-like morphology. Immunophenotyping assays were positive for the mesenchymal stem cell-specific markers CD73 and CD90 but not the hematopoietic markers CD34, CD45, and CD79. Under appropriate conditions, the cat AMSCs differentiated into osteogenic, chondrogenic, and adipogenic cell lineages. One advantage of cat AMSCs was nonteratogenicity, assessed 4 weeks post injection of undifferentiated AMSCs into immunodeficient mice. These findings suggest that cat amniotic membranes may be an important and useful source of mesenchymal stem cells for clinical applications, especially for cell or tissue replacement in chronic and degenerative diseases. Keywords: amnion, cats, cell differentiation, fetal membranes, mesenchymal cell

Muscular dystrophy-related quantitative and chemical changes in adenohypophysis GH-cells in golden retrievers.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a recessive X-linked lethal condition which affects a boy in every 3300 births. It is caused by the absence of dystrophin, a protein occurring especially within the musculoskeletal system and in neurons in specific regions of the central nervous system (CNS). Growth hormone (GH) inhibition is believed to decrease the severity of DMD and could perhaps be used in its treatment. However, the underlying pathological mechanism is not known. The golden retriever muscular dystrophy dog (GRMD) represents an animal model in the study of DMD. In this paper we investigated the morphological aspects of the adenohypophysis as well as the total number and size of GH-granulated cells using design-based stereological methods in a limited number of dystrophic and healthy golden retrievers. GH-cells were larger (32.4%) in dystrophic dogs than in healthy animals (p=0.01) and they occupied a larger portion (62.5%) of the adenohypophysis volume (p=0.01) without changes in either adenohypophysis volume (p=0.893) or total number of GH-granulated cells (p=0.869). With regard to ultrastructure, granulated cells possessed double-layer electron-dense granules which were evenly distributed in the cytosol. Furthermore, these granules in dystrophic animals occupied a larger proportion of GH-granulated cell volume (66.9%; p=0.008) as well as of all GH-cells in the whole pars distalis of adenohypophysis (77.3%; p=0.035), albeit IGF-1 serum concentration was lower in severe cases. This suggests difficulties in the GH secretion that might possibly be associated to dystrophin absence. In contrast to earlier reports, our data suggest that a lower IGF-1 concentration may be more related to a severe, as opposed to a benign, clinical form of muscular dystrophy

Muscular dystrophy-related quantitative and chemical changes in adenohypophysis GH-cells in golden retrievers.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a recessive X-linked lethal condition which affects a boy in every 3300 births. It is caused by the absence of dystrophin, a protein occurring especially within the musculoskeletal system and in neurons in specific regions of the central nervous system (CNS). Growth hormone (GH) inhibition is believed to decrease the severity of DMD and could perhaps be used in its treatment. However, the underlying pathological mechanism is not known. The golden retriever muscular dystrophy dog (GRMD) represents an animal model in the study of DMD. In this paper we investigated the morphological aspects of the adenohypophysis as well as the total number and size of GH-granulated cells using design-based stereological methods in a limited number of dystrophic and healthy golden retrievers. GH-cells were larger (32.4%) in dystrophic dogs than in healthy animals (p=0.01) and they occupied a larger portion (62.5%) of the adenohypophysis volume (p=0.01) without changes in either adenohypophysis volume (p=0.893) or total number of GH-granulated cells (p=0.869). With regard to ultrastructure, granulated cells possessed double-layer electron-dense granules which were evenly distributed in the cytosol. Furthermore, these granules in dystrophic animals occupied a larger proportion of GH-granulated cell volume (66.9%; p=0.008) as well as of all GH-cells in the whole pars distalis of adenohypophysis (77.3%; p=0.035), albeit IGF-1 serum concentration was lower in severe cases. This suggests difficulties in the GH secretion that might possibly be associated to dystrophin absence. In contrast to earlier reports, our data suggest that a lower IGF-1 concentration may be more related to a severe, as opposed to a benign, clinical form of muscular dystrophy