Anteprojeto dos serviços de cooperação das bibliotecas agrícolas do Rio Grande do Sul

Pre-project for the implemmentation of cooperative programme for Libraries of Agriculture and related areas, in Rio Grande do Sul, to benefit the assistance to the reader offering the services of: selection, planned acquisition, union catalogue, interlibrary loan, publication of catalogues, reproduction services of documents and making of bibliographies.Anteprojeto de implantação de serviços de cooperação entre as bibliotecas agrícolas e afins do Rio Grande do Sul, visando ao melhor atendimento do usuário, através de seleção e aquisição planificada, catálogo coletivo, empréstimo entre bibliotecas, publicação de catálogos, serviço de reprodução de documentos e fornecimento de bibliografias

Development of different degrees of elastaseinduced emphysema in mice : a randomized controlled experimental study

Introduction: Mouse models of emphysema are important tools for testing different therapeutic strategies. The aim of this study was to develop a mouse model of emphysema induced by different doses of elastase in order to produce different degrees of severity. Methods: Thirty female mice (C57BL/6) were used in this study. Different doses of porcine pancreatic elastase were administered intratracheally once a week for four weeks, as follows: 0.1 U (n=8), 0.15 U (n=7), and 0.2 U (n=7). Control mice (n=8) received 50 microL of sterile saline solution intratracheally. Lung mechanics were analyzed by plethysmography. Mean linear intercept and volume fraction occupied by collagen and elastic fibers were determined. Results: An increase in lung resistance was observed with 0.2 U of elastase [median (P-25-P75): 2.02 (1.67; 2.34) cmH2O.s/mL], as well as a decrease in tidal volume and minute ventilation. Peak expiratory flow increased significantly in the groups treated with 0.15 U and 0.2 U of elastase. Mean linear intercept was higher with 0.15 U and 0.2 U of elastase, with destruction of alveolar walls [median (P-25-P75): 30.31 (26.65-43.13) microm and 49.49 (31.67-57.71) microm respectively]. The volume fraction occupied by collagen and elastic fibers was lower in the group receiving 0.2 U of elastase. Conclusion: Four intratracheal instillations of 0.2 U of elastase once a week induced changes in lung function and histology, producing an experimental model of severe pulmonary emphysema, whereas 0.15 U resulted in only histological changes

Development of different degrees of elastase-induced emphysema in mice: a randomized controlled experimental study

Introduction: Mouse models of emphysema are important tools for testing different therapeutic strategies. The aim of this study was to develop a mouse model of emphysema induced by different doses of elastase in order to produce different degrees of severity.Methods: Thirty female mice (C57BL/6) were used in this study. Different doses of porcine pancreatic elastase were administered intratracheally once a week for four weeks, as follows: 0.1 U (n=8), 0.15 U (n=7), and 0.2 U (n=7). Control mice (n=8) received 50 microL of sterile saline solution intratracheally. Lung mechanics were analyzed by plethysmography. Mean linear intercept and volume fraction occupied by collagen and elastic fibers were determined.Results: An increase in lung resistance was observed with 0.2 U of elastase [median (P-25-P75): 2.02 (1.67; 2.34) cmH2O.s/mL], as well as a decrease in tidal volume and minute ventilation. Peak expiratory flow increased significantly in the groups treated with 0.15 U and 0.2 U of elastase. Mean linear intercept was higher with 0.15 U and 0.2 U of elastase, with destruction of alveolar walls [median (P-25-P75): 30.31 (26.65-43.13) microm and 49.49 (31.67-57.71) microm respectively]. The volume fraction occupied by collagen and elastic fibers was lower in the group receiving 0.2 U of elastase.Conclusion: Four intratracheal instillations of 0.2 U of elastase once a week induced changes in lung function and histology, producing an experimental model of severe pulmonary emphysema, whereas 0.15 U resulted in only histological changes.Introduction: Mouse models of emphysema are important tools for testing different therapeutic strategies. The aim of this study was to develop a mouse model of emphysema induced by different doses of elastase in order to produce different degrees of severity. Methods: Thirty female mice (C57BL/6) were used in this study. Different doses of porcine pancreatic elastase were administered intratracheally once a week for four weeks, as follows: 0.1 U (n=8), 0.15 U (n=7), and 0.2 U (n=7). Control mice (n=8) received 50 microL of sterile saline solution intratracheally. Lung mechanics were analyzed by plethysmography. Mean linear intercept and volume fraction occupied by collagen and elastic fibers were determined. Results: An increase in lung resistance was observed with 0.2 U of elastase [median (P-25-P75): 2.02 (1.67; 2.34) cmH2O.s/mL], as well as a decrease in tidal volume and minute ventilation. Peak expiratory flow increased significantly in the groups treated with 0.15 U and 0.2 U of elastase. Mean linear intercept was higher with 0.15 U and 0.2 U of elastase, with destruction of alveolar walls [median (P-25-P75): 30.31 (26.65-43.13) microm and 49.49 (31.67-57.71) microm respectively]. The volume fraction occupied by collagen and elastic fibers was lower in the group receiving 0.2 U of elastase. Conclusion: Four intratracheal instillations of 0.2 U of elastase once a week induced changes in lung function and histology, producing an experimental model of severe pulmonary emphysema, whereas 0.15 U resulted in only histological changes

Tapered Optical Fiber Sensor for Label-Free Detection of Biomolecules

This paper presents a fast, highly sensitive and low-cost tapered optical fiber biosensor that enables the label-free detection of biomolecules. The sensor takes advantage of the interference effect between the fiber’s first two propagation modes along the taper waist region. The biomolecules bonded on the taper surface were determined by demodulating the transmission spectrum phase shift. Because of the sharp spectrum fringe signals, as well as a relatively long biomolecule testing region, the sensor displayed a fast response and was highly sensitive. To better understand the influence of various biomolecules on the sensor, a numerical simulation that varied biolayer parameters such as thickness and refractive index was performed. The results showed that the spectrum fringe shift was obvious to be measured even when the biolayer was only nanometers thick. A microchannel chip was designed and fabricated for the protection of the sensor and biotesting. Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) fabrication techniques were used to precisely control the profile and depth of the microchannel on the silicon chip with an accuracy of 2 μm. A tapered optical fiber biosensor was fabricated and evaluated with an Immune globulin G (IgG) antibody-antigen pair

A Bacterial Biosensor for Oxidative Stress Using the Constitutively Expressed Redox-Sensitive Protein roGFP2

A highly specific, high throughput-amenable bacterial biosensor for chemically induced cellular oxidation was developed using constitutively expressed redox-sensitive green fluorescent protein roGFP2 in E. coli (E. coli-roGFP2). Disulfide formation between two key cysteine residues of roGFP2 was assessed using a double-wavelength ratiometric approach. This study demonstrates that only a few minutes were required to detect oxidation using E. coli-roGFP2, in contrast to conventional bacterial oxidative stress sensors. Cellular oxidation induced by hydrogen peroxide, menadione, sodium selenite, zinc pyrithione, triphenyltin and naphthalene became detectable after 10 seconds and reached the maxima between 80 to 210 seconds, contrary to Cd2+, Cu2+, Pb2+, Zn2+ and sodium arsenite, which induced the oxidation maximum immediately. The lowest observable effect concentrations (in ppm) were determined as 1.0 × 10−7 (arsenite), 1.0 × 10−4 (naphthalene), 1.0 × 10−4 (Cu2+), 3.8 × 10−4 (H2O2), 1.0 × 10−3 (Cd2+), 1.0 × 10−3 (Zn2+), 1.0 × 10−2 (menadione), 1.0 (triphenyltin), 1.56 (zinc pyrithione), 3.1 (selenite) and 6.3 (Pb2+), respectively. Heavy metal-induced oxidation showed unclear response patterns, whereas concentration-dependent sigmoid curves were observed for other compounds. In vivo GSH content and in vitro roGFP2 oxidation assays together with E. coli-roGFP2 results suggest that roGFP2 is sensitive to redox potential change and thiol modification induced by environmental stressors. Based on redox-sensitive technology, E. coli-roGFP2 provides a fast comprehensive detection system for toxicants that induce cellular oxidation

Whole-Cell Fluorescent Biosensors for Bioavailability and Biodegradation of Polychlorinated Biphenyls

Whole-cell microbial biosensors are one of the newest molecular tools used in environmental monitoring. Such biosensors are constructed through fusing a reporter gene such as lux, gfp or lacZ, to a responsive promoter. There have been many reports of the applications of biosensors, particularly their use in assaying pollutant toxicity and bioavailability. This paper reviews the basic concepts behind the construction of whole-cell microbial biosensors for pollutant monitoring, and describes the applications of two such biosensors for detecting the bioavailability and biodegradation of Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs)

Efeitos do tratamento com células-tronco mesenquimais administradas pelas vias intraperitoneal e intravenosa em modelo experimental de sepse aguda

Muito se tem investido em pesquisa na compreensão dos processos e fenômenos envolvidos nas respostas imunes às infecções e, principalmente, no desenvolvimento de recursos e tecnologias a fim favorecer os avanços no tratamento da sepse. Este trabalho foi realizado com o objetivo de avaliar os efeitos anti-inflamatórios das células-tronco mesenquimais (MSCs) quando administradas por duas diferentes vias: intraperitoneal (IP) e intravenosa (IV), determinando qual a melhor via de traramento, em modelo experimental murino de sepse. Foram utilizados 31 camundongos da linhagem C57Bl/6 para padronização do modelo de Ligadura e Perfuração do Ceco (CLP). Após os experimentos de estabelecimento do modelo, outros 60 animais foram distribuídos em nove grupos: grupo CONTROLE, grupo sepse sem tratamento (SEPSE), grupo SHAM, grupo sepse com administração de PBS via IV (SEPSE PBS IV), grupo sham com administração de PBS via IV (SHAM PBS IV), grupo sham com administração de MSCs via IV (SHAM MSC IV), grupo sham com administração de MSCs via IP (SHAM MSC IP), grupo sepse com administração de MSCs via IP (SEPSE MSC IP) e grupo sepse com administração de MSCs via IV (SEPSE MSC IV). Transcorridas 6 horas da indução da sepse pelo modelo CLP, padronizado com oclusão total do ceco seguida de uma única punctura com agulha 18G, os animais receberam o tratamento de acordo com o grupo que compunham. Após 24 horas do procedimento cirúrgico, procedeu-se a eutanásia dos animais para coleta dos órgãos, sangue e fluidos peritoneais. As amostras foram analisadas quanto aos parâmetros histológicos, hematológicos e inflamatórios, respectivamente. Com base nos resultados obtidos, foi possível concluir que: 1) O modelo CLP padronizado com oclusão total do ceco e uma punctura com agulha 18G induziu sepse aguda nos animais; 2) A administração das MSCs via IP foi atenuadamente mais eficaz na redução da concentração de leucócitos hematológicos e no quadro de trombocitopenia instalado nos animais com sepse induzida; 3) A injeção IP das MSCs diminuiu, com maior eficiência, a infiltração de células inflamatórias na região abdominal dos animais doentes. 4) As citocinas IL-6, TNF-α e IL- 10 obtiveram queda de suas concentrações séricas com a terapia nos animais dos grupos submetidos à indução da sepse. 5) O tratamento com MSCs melhorou o grau de peritonite, necrose e ulcerações observadas na histologia do ceco dos animais, com melhores resultados encontrados no grupo SEPSE MSC IP.Much has been invested on research regarding comprehension of the processes and phenomena that are involved in immune responses to infections and mainly on resources and technologies development in order to support advances in the treatment of sepsis. This study has been performed in order to evaluate the anti-inflammatory effects of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) when administered by two different routes: intraperitoneal (IP) and intravenous (IV), to determine which is the best treatment route, in an experimental murine model of sepsis. Thirty-one C57Bl/6 strain mice have been used to standardize the Cecal Ligation and Perforation (CLP) model. After the establishment of CLP, 60 animals were allocated into nine groups: CONTROL group, sepsis group without treatment (SEPSE), SHAM group, sepsis group with intravenously administration of PBS (SEPSE PBS IV), sham group with intravenously administration of PBS (SHAM PBS IV), sham group with intravenously administration of MSCs (SHAM MSC IV), sham group with intraperitoneal administration of MSCs (SHAM MSC IP), sepsis group with intraperitoneal administration of MSCs (SEPSE MSC IP), and sepsis group with intravenously administration of MSCs (SEPSE MSC IV). 6 hours after the induction of sepsis by CLP model, standardized with total occlusion followed by a single cecal puncture with a 18G needle, the animals received the treatment according to the group they belonged to. 24 hours after the surgical procedure the animals were sacrificed in order to get the organs, blood and peritoneal fluid. The samples were analyzed for histological, haematological and inflammatory parameters, respectively. Basing on the results it was concluded that:1) The CLP model standardized with total occlusion followed by a single cecal puncture with a 18G needle induced acute sepsis in the animals; 2) The intraperitoneal administration of MSCs was slightly better in reducing the hematological concentration of leukocytes and the installed picture of thrombocytopenia in sepsis groups; 3) the intraperitoneal injection of MSCs decreased, with greater efficiency, the inflammatory cells infiltration in the abdominal cavity of sepsis groups. 4) The IL-6, TNF-α and IL-10 cytokines had their serum concentrations decline with therapy, in the groups subjected to induction of sepsis. 5) Treatment with MSCs improved the severity of peritonitis, necrosis and ulceration observed in cecum histology, with better results in the SEPSIS MSC IP group