Differential Internalization of Amphotericin B - Conjugated Nanoparticles in Human Cells and the Expression of Heat Shock Protein 70

Although a variety of nanoparticles (NPs) functionalized with amphotericin B, an antifungal agent widely used in the clinic, have been studied in the last years their cytotoxicity profile remains elusive. Here we show that human endothelial cells take up high amounts of silica nanoparticles (SNPs) conjugated with amphotericin B (AmB) (SNP-AmB) (65.4 12.4 pg of Si per cell) through macropinocytosis while human fibroblasts internalize relatively low amounts (2.3 0.4 pg of Si per cell) because of their low capacity for macropinocytosis. We further show that concentrations of SNP-AmB and SNP up to 400 mg/mL do not substantially affect fibroblasts. In contrast, endothelial cells are sensitive to low concentrations of NPs (above 10 mg/mL), in particular to SNP-AmB. This is because of their capacity to internalize high concentration of NPs and high sensitivity of their membrane to the effects of AmB. Low-moderate concentrations of SNP-AmB (up to 100 mg/mL) induce the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), LDH release, high expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines (IL-8, IL-6, G-CSF, CCL4, IL-1b and CSF2) and high expression of heat shock proteins (HSPs) at gene and protein levels. High concentrations of SNP-AmB (above 100 ug/mL) disturb membrane integrity and kill rapidly human cells(60% after 5 h). This effect is higher in SNP-AmB than in SNP

Validation of a food frequency questionnaire for children and adolescents aged 4 to 11 years living in Salvador, Bahia.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the validity of a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) by applying it to children and adolescents living in Salvador, Bahia. METHODS: The validity of this FFQ with 98 food items was investigated among 108 children and adolescents who were selected from a sample of 1445 that had been planned for a study on the risk factors for asthma and other allergic diseases. The adults responsible for these children and adolescents gave responses for a 24-hour recall (R24h) and an FFQ. The average energy and nutrient values from the FFQ were compared with those from the R24h by means of the paired t test and Pearson correlation coefficients. The concordance was evaluated using the Bland-Altman method and kappa statistics. RESULTS: The energy and nutrient intake estimated using the FFQ was significantly higher than what was obtained using the R24h. The correlation coefficients adjusted for energy were statistically significant for protein, fat, vitamin C and zinc. The weighted kappa values ranged from 0.06 for vitamin A (p = 0.24) to 0.34 for energy (p < 0.00). The results from the Bland-Altman plots for lipid, protein and zinc showed the most significant validity parameters, and zinc was found to show the best concordance. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that the FFQ showed satisfactory validity for use in studies involving children and adolescents

Contribution of nuclear texture analysis for the differential diagnosis of follicular lesions of the thyroid: comparison to immunohistochemical markers

Objective and methods: To investigate the utility of nuclear chromatin texture assessment in the differential diagnosis of follicular patterned lesions, by means of examining 76 samples previously submitted to the immunohistochemical protein analysis of HBME-1, CK-19 and galectina-3. Results: HBME-1 confirmed to be the most sensitive marker of malignancy. A series of morphometric, densitometric and texture variables were useful in the discrimination of the different types of follicular lesions. Among these variables, r(2), a parameter related to the granularity of the nucleus presented the best accuracy, sensitivity, specificity and positive and negative predictive values, distinguishing benign from malignant lesions. Conclusion: The morphometric analysis of nuclear chromatin images may add accuracy to the differential diagnosis of follicular patterned lesions. Arq Bras Endocrinol Metab. 2009;53(7):804-10.53780481

Comprehensiveness and programmatic vulnerability to stds/hiv/aids in primary care

This study aimed to identify programmatic vulnerability to STDs/HIV/AIDS in primary health centers (PHCs). This is a descrip - tive and quantitative study carried out in the city of São Paulo. An online survey was applied (FormSUS platform), involving administrators from 442 PHCs in the city, with responses received from 328 of them (74.2%), of which 53.6% were nurses. At - tention was raised in relation to program - matic vulnerability in the PHCs regarding certain items of infrastructure, prevention, treatment, prenatal care and integration among services on STDs/HIV/AIDS care. It was concluded that in order to reach comprehensiveness of actions for HIV/ AIDS in primary health care, it is necessary to consider programmatic vulnerability, in addition to more investment and reor - ganization of services in a dialogue with the stakeholders (users, multidisciplinary teams, and managers, among others)

An apoplastic fluid extraction method for the characterization of grapevine leaves proteome and metabolome from a single sample

The analysis of complex biological systems keeps challenging researchers. The main goal of systems biology is to decipher interactions within cells, by integrating datasets from large scale analytical approaches including transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics andmore specialized ‘OMICS’ such as epigenomics and lipidomics. Studying different cellular compartments allows a broader understanding of cell dynamics. Plant apoplast, the cellular compartment external to the plasma membrane including the cell wall, is particularly demanding to analyze. Despite our knowledge on apoplast involvement on several processes from cell growth to stress responses, its dynamics is still poorly known due to the lack of efficient extraction processes adequate to each plant system.Analyzing woody plants such as grapevine raises even more challenges. Grapevine is among the most important fruit crops worldwide and awider characterization of its apoplast is essential for a deeper understanding of its physiology and cellular mechanisms. Here, we describe, for the first time, a vacuum-infiltrationcentrifugationmethod that allows a simultaneous extraction of grapevine apoplastic proteins and metabolites from leaves on a single sample, compatible with high-throughput mass spectrometry analyses. The extracted apoplast from two grapevine cultivars, Vitis vinifera cv ‘Trincadeira’ and ‘Regent’, was directly used for proteomics and metabolomics analysis. The proteome was analyzed by nanoLC-MS/MS and more than 700 common proteinswere identified, with highly diverse biological functions. The metabolome profile through FT-ICR-MS allowed the identification of 514 unique putative compounds revealing a broad spectrum of molecular classesinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Performance of CMS muon reconstruction in pp collision events at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

The performance of muon reconstruction, identification, and triggering in CMS has been studied using 40 inverse picobarns of data collected in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the LHC in 2010. A few benchmark sets of selection criteria covering a wide range of physics analysis needs have been examined. For all considered selections, the efficiency to reconstruct and identify a muon with a transverse momentum pT larger than a few GeV is above 95% over the whole region of pseudorapidity covered by the CMS muon system, abs(eta) < 2.4, while the probability to misidentify a hadron as a muon is well below 1%. The efficiency to trigger on single muons with pT above a few GeV is higher than 90% over the full eta range, and typically substantially better. The overall momentum scale is measured to a precision of 0.2% with muons from Z decays. The transverse momentum resolution varies from 1% to 6% depending on pseudorapidity for muons with pT below 100 GeV and, using cosmic rays, it is shown to be better than 10% in the central region up to pT = 1 TeV. Observed distributions of all quantities are well reproduced by the Monte Carlo simulation.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

Performance of CMS muon reconstruction in pp collision events at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

The performance of muon reconstruction, identification, and triggering in CMS has been studied using 40 inverse picobarns of data collected in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the LHC in 2010. A few benchmark sets of selection criteria covering a wide range of physics analysis needs have been examined. For all considered selections, the efficiency to reconstruct and identify a muon with a transverse momentum pT larger than a few GeV is above 95% over the whole region of pseudorapidity covered by the CMS muon system, abs(eta) < 2.4, while the probability to misidentify a hadron as a muon is well below 1%. The efficiency to trigger on single muons with pT above a few GeV is higher than 90% over the full eta range, and typically substantially better. The overall momentum scale is measured to a precision of 0.2% with muons from Z decays. The transverse momentum resolution varies from 1% to 6% depending on pseudorapidity for muons with pT below 100 GeV and, using cosmic rays, it is shown to be better than 10% in the central region up to pT = 1 TeV. Observed distributions of all quantities are well reproduced by the Monte Carlo simulation.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO