36 research outputs found

    A salting out and resin procedure for extracting Schistosoma mansoni DNA from human urine samples

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    Submitted by Nuzia Santos ([email protected]) on 2012-09-27T14:31:36Z No. of bitstreams: 1 36.2010.pdf: 789056 bytes, checksum: 0a4282ac34d4c6aef08223da45e0f126 (MD5)Made available in DSpace on 2012-09-27T14:31:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 36.2010.pdf: 789056 bytes, checksum: 0a4282ac34d4c6aef08223da45e0f126 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Esquistossomose. Belo Horizonte, MG, BrasilFundação Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Imunologia Celular e Molecular. Belo Horizonte, MG, BrasilFundação Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Imunologia Celular e Molecular. Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil/ Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto. Escola de Farmácia. Laboratório de Pesquisas Clínicas. Ouro Preto, MG, BraziBackground: In this paper a simple and cheap salting out and resin (InstaGene matrix® resin - BioRad) DNA extraction method from urine for PCR assays is introduced. The DNA of the fluke Schistosoma mansoni was chosen as the target since schistosomiasis lacks a suitable diagnostic tool which is sensitive enough to detect low worm burden. It is well known that the PCR technique provides high sensitivity and specificity in detecting parasite DNA. Therefore it is of paramount importance to take advantage of its excellent performance by providing a simple to handle and reliable DNA extraction procedure, which permits the diagnosis of the disease in easily obtainable urine samples. Findings: The description of the extraction procedure is given. This extraction procedure was tested for reproducibility and efficiency in artificially contaminated human urine samples. The reproducibility reached 100%, showing positive results in 5 assay repetitions of 5 tested samples each containing 20 ng DNA/5 ml. The efficiency of the extraction procedure was also evaluated in a serial dilution of the original 20 ng DNA/5 ml sample. Detectable DNA was extracted when it was at a concentration of 1.28 pg DNA/mL, revealing the high efficiency of this procedure. Conclusions: This methodology represents a promising tool for schistosomiasis diagnosis utilizing a bio-molecular technique in urine samples which is now ready to be tested under field conditions and may be applicable to the diagnosis of other parasitic disease

    Dementia in Latin America : paving the way towards a regional action plan

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    Regional challenges faced by Latin American and Caribbean countries (LACs) to fight dementia, such as heterogeneity, diversity, political instabilities, and socioeconomic disparities, can be addressed more effectively grounded in a collaborative setting based on the open exchange of knowledge. In this work, the Latin American and Caribbean Consortium on Dementia (LAC-CD) proposes an agenda for integration to deliver a Knowledge to Action Framework (KtAF). First, we summarize evidence-based strategies (epidemiology, genetics, biomarkers, clinical trials, nonpharmacological interventions, networking and translational research) and align them to current global strategies to translate regional knowledge into actions with transformative power. Then, by characterizing genetic isolates, admixture in populations, environmental factors, and barriers to effective interventions and mapping these to the above challenges, we provide the basic mosaics of knowledge that will pave the way towards a KtAF. We describe strategies supporting the knowledge creation stage that underpins the translational impact of KtAF

    26th Annual Computational Neuroscience Meeting (CNS*2017): Part 3 - Meeting Abstracts - Antwerp, Belgium. 15–20 July 2017

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    This work was produced as part of the activities of FAPESP Research,\ud Disseminations and Innovation Center for Neuromathematics (grant\ud 2013/07699-0, S. Paulo Research Foundation). NLK is supported by a\ud FAPESP postdoctoral fellowship (grant 2016/03855-5). ACR is partially\ud supported by a CNPq fellowship (grant 306251/2014-0)

    Growth performance of Astyanax altiparanae fed with plant and/or animal lipid sources

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    The lambari, Astyanax altiparanae, exhibits a great potential for aquaculture due to its omnivory, rapid growth and ease captive production. Despite of fish lipid metabolism being directly related to the dietary lipid consumed, which may lead to changes in fish growth, nothing much have been established regarding the lipid sources that can be applied in A. altiparanae captive production. Thus, this present research was conducted aiming to evaluate the growth performance and whole body composition of A. altiparanae fed with lipid sources of plant and/or animal origins. Were used a Completely Randomized design experiment with five treatments.  The treatments consisted of isoproteic and isoenergetic diets, containing the following lipid sources: T1: linseed, chia and sunflower oils; T2: linseed and corn oils; T3: linseed, chia, corn and sunflower oils; T4: sunflower, corn and fish oils; T5: linseed, chia, sunflower, corn oils and bovine fat. Each treatment was replicated six times, where the experimental units consists of 10 fishes (averaged weight:  4.0 + 0.5 g) placed in an aquarium containing 80L of dechlorinated water. Were compared the growth performance parameters among the treatments by applying an one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) at 5% significance (P < 0.05). The results revealed that both growth performance and whole body composition of A. altiparanae were not affected by the lipid source, which indicate that these fishes can efficiently use both vegetable lipid sources as well as mixtures of vegetable and animal lipid sources without any growth disadvantages.El lambari, Astyanax altiparanae, exhibe un gran potencial para la acuicultura debido a su crecimiento omnívoro, rápido y fácil de cautiverio. A pesar de que el metabolismo de los lípidos en los peces está directamente relacionado con los lípidos de la dieta, lo que puede conducir a cambios en el crecimiento de los peces, no se ha establecido mucho sobre las fuentes de lípidos que se pueden aplicar en la producción en cautiverio de A. altiparanae. Por lo tanto, esta investigación se realizó con el objetivo de evaluar el rendimiento del crecimiento y la composición del cuerpo de A. altiparanae alimentados con fuentes de lípidos de origen vegetal y animal. Se utilizó un experimento de diseño completamente al azar con cinco tratamientos. Los tratamientos consistieron en dietas isoproteicas e isoenergéticas, que contenían las siguientes fuentes de lípidos: T1: aceites de linaza, chía y girasol; T2: aceites de linaza y maíz; T3: aceites de linaza, chía, maíz y girasol; T4: girasol, maíz y aceites de pescado; T5: linaza, chía, girasol, aceites de maíz y grasa bovina. Cada tratamiento se repitió seis veces, las unidades experimentales consisten en 10 peces (peso promedio: 4.0 + 0.5 g) colocados en un acuario que contiene 80 litros de agua desclorada. Se compararon los parámetros de rendimiento de crecimiento entre los tratamientos mediante la aplicación de un análisis de varianza unidireccional (ANOVA) con una significancia del 5% (P <0.05). Los resultados revelaron que tanto el rendimiento del crecimiento como la composición del cuerpo de A. altiparanae no se vieron afectados por la fuente de lípidos, lo que indica que estos peces pueden usar eficientemente tanto fuentes de lípidos vegetales como mezclas de fuentes de lípidos vegetales y animales sin ninguna desventaja de crecimient

    RAHU Project: Assessing water security and climate change adaptation strategies in the glaciated Vilcanota-Urubamba river basin

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    The Peruvian Andes are a hotspot of vulnerabilities to impacts in water resources due to the propensity for water stress, the highly unpredictable weather, the sensitivity of glaciers, and the socio-economic vulnerability of its population. In this context, we selected the Vilcanota-Urubamba catchment in Southern Peru for addressing these challenges aiming at our objectives within a particular hydrological high-mountain context in the tropical Andes: a) Develop a fully-distributed, physically-based glacier surface energy balance model that allows for a realistic representation of glacier dynamics in glacier melt projections; b) Design and implement a glacio-hydrological monitoring and data collection approach to quantify non-glacial contributions to water resources and the impact of catchments interventions; c) Mapping of human water use at high spatiotemporal resolution and determining current and future levels of water (in)security; and d) Integrate last objectives in a glacier - water security assessment model and evaluate the tool's capacity to support locally embedded climate change adaptation strategies
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