316 research outputs found
Topochemical distribution of lignin and hydroxycinnamic acids in sugar-cane cell walls and its correlation with the enzymatic hydrolysis of polysaccharides
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Lignin and hemicelluloses are the major components limiting enzyme infiltration into cell walls. Determination of the topochemical distribution of lignin and aromatics in sugar cane might provide important data on the recalcitrance of specific cells. We used cellular ultraviolet (UV) microspectrophotometry (UMSP) to topochemically detect lignin and hydroxycinnamic acids in individual fiber, vessel and parenchyma cell walls of untreated and chlorite-treated sugar cane. Internodes, presenting typical vascular bundles and sucrose-storing parenchyma cells, were divided into rind and pith fractions.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Vascular bundles were more abundant in the rind, whereas parenchyma cells predominated in the pith region. UV measurements of untreated fiber cell walls gave absorbance spectra typical of grass lignin, with a band at 278 nm and a pronounced shoulder at 315 nm, assigned to the presence of hydroxycinnamic acids linked to lignin and/or to arabino-methylglucurono-xylans. The cell walls of vessels had the highest level of lignification, followed by those of fibers and parenchyma. Pith parenchyma cell walls were characterized by very low absorbance values at 278 nm; however, a distinct peak at 315 nm indicated that pith parenchyma cells are not extensively lignified, but contain significant amounts of hydroxycinnamic acids. Cellular UV image profiles scanned with an absorbance intensity maximum of 278 nm identified the pattern of lignin distribution in the individual cell walls, with the highest concentration occurring in the middle lamella and cell corners. Chlorite treatment caused a rapid removal of hydroxycinnamic acids from parenchyma cell walls, whereas the thicker fiber cell walls were delignified only after a long treatment duration (4 hours). Untreated pith samples were promptly hydrolyzed by cellulases, reaching 63% of cellulose conversion after 72 hours of hydrolysis, whereas untreated rind samples achieved only 20% hydrolyzation.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The low recalcitrance of pith cells correlated with the low UV-absorbance values seen in parenchyma cells. Chlorite treatment of pith cells did not enhance cellulose conversion. By contrast, application of the same treatment to rind cells led to significant removal of hydroxycinnamic acids and lignin, resulting in marked enhancement of cellulose conversion by cellulases.</p
Atividades educativas para portadores de doença crônica: subsídios para a enfermagem
Trata-se de pesquisa de intervenção, realizada em uma Unidade Básica de Saúde do município de Colombo, Paraná, de março a novembro de 2009, com 35 portadores de doença crônica, com idades entre 18 e 60 anos, cadastrados no Programa de Hipertensão e Diabetes. Os objetivos foram: identificar o conhecimento sobre a hipertensão arterial e intervir mediante atividades educativas em grupo. A coleta de dados ocorreu por meio de entrevista semiestruturada e quatro encontros em grupos, e da sua análise emergiram as categorias: “Compreensão da doença” e “Maneiras de cuidar”. Constatou-se que os usuários conhecem a doença, os seus fatores de risco e as possíveis complicações, e que as atividades educativas favoreceram a troca de experiências, proporcionaram a reflexão e a possibilidade de gestão de seu tratamento, e é uma estratégia que deve ser utilizada e divulgada pelos enfermeiros.
Magnetic Behaviour of Disordered Ising Ferrimagnet in High Magnetic Field
The magnetic behaviour of a disordered ferrimagnetic system Ap B1-p where
both A and B represent the magnetic atoms with respective spin SA = 1/2 and SB
= 1 in presence of high magnetic field is treated theoretically.Assuming the
magnetic interaction can be described through Ising Hamiltonian the approximate
free energy is obtained using the cluster-variational method. The field
dependence of the magnetization is then obtained for different concentration p
and exchange parameters (JAA, JBB and JAB). For p = 0.5,the magnetization M in
ferrimagnetic state and in absence of compensation temperature Tcm vanishes at
TC.Field induced reversal of M is found at switching temperature TS (<TC) which
is decreasing function of field H.A maximum in M is found above TS and the
maximum value of M increases with field.In ferrimagnetic state M increases
almost linearly at high H region. For system with large ferromagnetic JAA,the
compensation temperature Tcm is increasing function of JBB and JAB .The
decrease in compensation temperature is linear at small field and tends to
saturate at higher field.The sharpness of the magnetization reversal is
increased with H.For fully compensated state of the system with p = 2/3,the
magnetization in presence of H also exhibits switching behaviour at TS .For p =
0.2 the field induced reversal of magnetization occurs more sharply.The
orientational switching of the sublattice magnetization MA and MB with field
increases the Zeeman energy and is the origin of magnetization reversal at TsComment: 12 pages,9 Figure
Utilisation of an operative difficulty grading scale for laparoscopic cholecystectomy
Background
A reliable system for grading operative difficulty of laparoscopic cholecystectomy would standardise description of findings and reporting of outcomes. The aim of this study was to validate a difficulty grading system (Nassar scale), testing its applicability and consistency in two large prospective datasets.
Methods
Patient and disease-related variables and 30-day outcomes were identified in two prospective cholecystectomy databases: the multi-centre prospective cohort of 8820 patients from the recent CholeS Study and the single-surgeon series containing 4089 patients. Operative data and patient outcomes were correlated with Nassar operative difficultly scale, using Kendall’s tau for dichotomous variables, or Jonckheere–Terpstra tests for continuous variables. A ROC curve analysis was performed, to quantify the predictive accuracy of the scale for each outcome, with continuous outcomes dichotomised, prior to analysis.
Results
A higher operative difficulty grade was consistently associated with worse outcomes for the patients in both the reference and CholeS cohorts. The median length of stay increased from 0 to 4 days, and the 30-day complication rate from 7.6 to 24.4% as the difficulty grade increased from 1 to 4/5 (both p < 0.001). In the CholeS cohort, a higher difficulty grade was found to be most strongly associated with conversion to open and 30-day mortality (AUROC = 0.903, 0.822, respectively). On multivariable analysis, the Nassar operative difficultly scale was found to be a significant independent predictor of operative duration, conversion to open surgery, 30-day complications and 30-day reintervention (all p < 0.001).
Conclusion
We have shown that an operative difficulty scale can standardise the description of operative findings by multiple grades of surgeons to facilitate audit, training assessment and research. It provides a tool for reporting operative findings, disease severity and technical difficulty and can be utilised in future research to reliably compare outcomes according to case mix and intra-operative difficulty
O processo sucessório em propriedades de produtores de leite nos municípios de Coronel Xavier Chaves e Silveirânia, em Minas Gerais
Interleukin-15 augments oxidative metabolism and fungicidal activity of human monocytes against Paracoccidioides brasiliensis
Interleukin (IL)-15 is a pleiotropic cytokine that regulates the proliferation and survival of many cell types. IL-15 is produced by monocytes and macrophages against infectious agents and plays a pivotal role in innate and adaptive immune responses. This study analyzed the effect of IL-15 on fungicidal activity, oxidative metabolism and cytokine production by human monocytes challenged in vitro with Paracoccidioides brasiliensis (Pb18), the agent of paracoccidioidomycosis. Peripheral blood monocytes were pre-incubated with IL-15 and then challenged with Pb18. Fungicidal activity was assessed by viable fungi recovery from cultures after plating on brain-heart infusion-agar. Superoxide anion (O2-), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), IL-6, IL-15 and IL-10 production by monocytes were also determined. IL-15 enhanced fungicidal activity against Pb18 in a dose-dependent pattern. This effect was abrogated by addition of anti-IL-15 monoclonal antibody. A significant stimulatory effect of IL-15 on O2- and H2O2 release suggests that fungicidal activity was dependent on the activation of oxidative metabolism. Pre-treatment of monocytes with IL-15 induced significantly higher levels of TNF-α, IL-10 and IL-15 production by cells challenged with the fungus. These results suggest a modulatory effect of IL-15 on pro and anti-inflammatory cytokine production, oxidative metabolism and fungicidal activity of monocytes during Pb18 infection
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