Aspectos Da Biologia De Megalobulimus Paranaguensis (gastropoda, Acavoidea) Na Planície Costeira Do Sudeste Brasileiro

We studied the reproductive biology of Megalobulimus paranaguensis (Pilsbry & Ihering, 1900), a large and long-lived land gastropod from the Atlantic Rainforest of Brazil. The study was conducted at an urban park in the city of Santos, state of São Paulo. For 4 years, we counted the egg postures and annual eclosion rate of 32 captive snails and looked for associations between egg posture and the climatical variables of the period. The annual mean posture of 8.7 eggs per snail obtained in our results is a small number, but typical of Brazilian macromollusks. The annual eclosion rate was 31%. The beginning of the annual activity period of snails occurred in the middle of March, and lasted 33.97±3.02 weeks. The dormancy period started in the beginning of November, and lasted 18.39±3.11 weeks. There were two egg posture peaks, a minor peak between March and May, and a major peak between August and November, with greater values in September. Megalobulimus paranaguensis has a well-defi ned seasonal reproductive pattern infl uenced by environmental temperature and temperature range. Furthermore, in this snail, reproduction is negatively infl uenced by temperature increasing and temperature range. © 2017; Fundacao Zoobotanica do Rio Grande do Sul. All rights reserved.10

Susceptibility inhomogeneity and non-Fermi liquid behavior in UCu_{5-x}Pt_x

Transverse-field muSR shifts and relaxation rates have been measured in the non-Fermi liquid (NFL) alloy system UCu_{5-x}Pt_x, x = 1.0, 1.5, and 2.5. At low temperatures the fractional spread in Knight shifts delta K/K approx deltachi/chi is gtrsim 2 for x = 1, but is only half this value for x = 1.5 and 2.5. In a disorder-driven scenario where the NFL behavior is due to a broadly distributed (Kondo or Griffiths-phase cluster) characteristic energy E, our results indicate that delta E/E_{rm av} approx (delta K/K)_{T=0} is similar for UCu_{5-x}Pd_x (x = 1 and 1.5) and UCu_4Pt, but is reduced for UCu_{5-x}Pt_x, x = 1.5 and 2.5. This reduction is due to a marked increase of E with increasing x; the spread delta E is found to be roughly independent of x. Our results correlate with the observed suppression of other NFL anomalies for x > 1 in UCu_{5-x}Pt_x but not in UCu_{5-x}Pd_x, and are further evidence for the importance of disorder in the NFL behavior of both these alloy systems.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, submitted to 10th International Conference on Muon Spin Rotation, Relaxation, and Resonance, Oxford, UK, August 200

Influence of activation mode, fatigue, and ceramic interposition on resin cements' diametral tensile strength

This study evaluated the influence of activation modes, on Diametral Tensile Strength (DTS) of dual cured resin cements subjected to a Mechanical Fatigue test (MF). Four dual-cured resin cements (RelyX UNICEM [U], RelyX ARC [A], ENFORCE [E] and Nexus 2 [N]) were activated by three different curing modes as follows: Self-Curing (SC), Dual Cure activation with photoactivation executed directly (DC) and Dual Cure activation with Photoactivation Through Porcelain (DCTP). After 24 hours, half of the sample was subjected to 30.000 fatigue cycles at 1 Hz frequency and 12 N load. Then, all specimens were subjected to DTS test in Instron Universal Testing Machine and data were analyzed by three-way ANOVA and Tukey's Test (5%). The results of DTS test means (MPa) and standard deviation, for each cement factor activated by SC, DC and DCTP was respectively: U (28.12 ± 5.29; 37.44 ± 6.49 and 40.10 ± 4.39), A (49.68 ± 8.42; 55.12 ± 5.16 and 63.43 ± 6.92), E (49.12 ± 3.89; 56.42 ± 8.88 and 56.96 ± 6.45) and N (61.89 ± 11.21; 59.26 ± 9.47 and 62.56 ± 10.93). Turkey's test indicated that DC is related to the highest DTS values; Nexus 2 DTS remained the same independently of activation mode and that the Porcelain disk interposition enhanced DTS only for RelyX ARC the ANOVA statistical test indicated that MF didn't alter the DTS values for all experimental groups. MF results clinical implication is that all cements tested exhibited, in an immediate loading, good cross linked bonds quality33COORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIOR - CAPESnão te

Isolation and identification of a novel anti-diabetic compound from Euclea undulata thunb

Four plant species traditionally used for the treatment of diabetes by South African traditional healers and herbalists were investigated for hypoglycaemic activity. Species included Schkuhria pinnata (Lam.) Cabrera, Pteronia divaricata (P.J. Bergius) Less Elaeodendron transvaalense (Burtt Davy) R.H. Archer and Euclea undulata Thunb var. myrtina (Burch.) Hiern. Acetone and ethanol plant extracts were prepared and tested in vitro, for glucose utilization, at concentrations of 12.5 µg/ml on three cell lines namely; Murine C2C12 myocytes, Chang liver cells and 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. Metformin, at a concentration of 1 µM (0.166 µg/ml) was used as positive control for hepatic cells and insulin at a concentration 1 µM (5.7 µg/ml) for myocytes and preadipocytes. Toxicity tests were done for all extracts on preadipocytes and hepatic cells, but not on myocytes as these cells were exposed to the extract for only a short period (1 hour) during the hypoglycaemic bioassay. Preadipocytes and hepatic cells were exposed to the plant extracts for 48 hours. The four plant extracts were further investigated for hypoglycaemic activity by evaluating inhibiting effects on carbohydrate-hydrolising enzymes alpha-glycosidase and alpha-amylase. In vitro hypoglycaemic analysis revealed that acetone and ethanol plant extracts of S. pinnata, E. undulata and E. transvaalense, displayed hypoglycaemic activity in one or more of the various cell lines, whereas, P. divaricata showed no hypoglycaemic activity. The best results were obtained with the ethanol and acetone extracts of S. pinnata in preadipocytes with a glucose uptake of 148.2% and 79.6% respectively, above control (100%). However, about 50% preadipocytes survived on exposure to the extracts of S. pinnata at 12.5 µg/ml indicating significant cytotoxicity. Glucose uptake of 63.3% was observed by the ethanol extract of S. pinnata on hepatic cells. E. transvaalense showed hypoglycaemic activity on preadipocytes exhibiting glucose uptake of 38.6% above control 100%. Glucose uptake of 62.2 % were obtained by the E. undulata extract in C2C12 myocytes, with 100% cell viability. E. undulata scored a +3 and was chosen for further analysis. Antidiabetic activity and toxicity of the plant extracts were taken into consideration when scoring was applied. Alpha-glucosidase and alpha-amylase results indicated that P. divaricata extract inhibited alpha-glucosidase (IC50 31.22 µg/ml) whereas E. undulata (IC50 2.80 µg/ml) and E. transvaalense (IC50 1.12 µg/ml) extracts inhibited alpha-amylase. Results obtained indicated that all four plant extracts tested have the ability to lower blood glucose levels to some extent and in different manners and therefore corroborate the ethnomedicinal use of these four species in the treatment of diabetes. Phytochemical studies of a crude acetone extract of the root bark of E. undulata var. myrtina produced a new á-amyrin-3O-β-(5-hydroxy) ferulic acid compound (1), and three known compounds; betulin (2), lupeol (3) and epicatechin (4). The chemical structures were determined by spectroscopic means. In vitro assays on C2C12 myocytes revealed that (2) (21.4%) and (4) (166.3%) were active in lowering blood glucose levels whereas (1) (IC50 4.79 µg/ml) and to a lesser extent (4) (IC50 5.86 µg/ml) and (3) (IC50 6.27 µg/ml) inhibited alpha-glucosidase. These results indicated that the crude, E. undulata acetone extract does contain compounds that display hypoglycaemic activity. The hypoglycaemic activity of four plant species including E. undulata, and the four isolated purified compounds, are reported for the first time.Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2010.Plant Scienceunrestricte

Scaling up a chemically-defined aggregate-based suspension culture system for neural commitment of human pluripotent stem cells

The demand of high cell numbers for applications in cellular therapies and drug screening requires the development of scalable platforms capable to generating highly pure populations of tissue-specific cells from human pluripotent stem cells. This work describes the scaling-up of an aggregate-based culture system for neural induction of human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) under chemically-defined conditions. Since initial cell density and aggregate size have an important impact in the expansion and commitment of these cells into a particular lineage, a combination of non-enzymatic dissociation and rotary agitation was successfully used to produce homogeneous populations of hiPSC aggregates with an optimal (140 µm) and narrow distribution of diameters (coefficient of variation of 21.6%). Scalable neural commitment of hiPSCs as 3D aggregates was then performed in 50 mL spinner flasks, and process optimization using a factorial design approach was developed involving parameters such as agitation rate and seeding density. We were able to produce neural progenitor cell cultures, that at the end of a 6-day neural induction process contained less than 3% of Oct4-positive cells and that, after replating, retained more than 60% of Pax6-positive neural cells. Furthermore, after scalable differentiation, hiPSC-derived neural progenitors still retained their multipotent potential, being able to give rise to neuronal and glial cells. The results presented in this work should set the stage for the future generation of a clinically relevant number of human neural progenitors for transplantation and other biomedical applications using totally controlled, automated and reproducible large-scale bioreactor culture systems

Optimizing quality of life in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a devastating, progressive and ultimately fatal lung disease. The combination of poor prognosis, uncertainty of disease course and severe symptom burden heavily impacts patients' and their families' quality of life. Though new antifibrotic drugs have been shown to decrease disease progression, the effect on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) has not been convincingly demonstrated. In a relentless disease such as IPF, striving to optimize HRQOL should complement the endeavour to prolong life. Unfortunately, there is a paucity of interventions improving symptoms and functionality for patients with IPF, and research focusing on symptom improvement, and assessing and optimizing HRQOL, is limited. This review summarizes the most recent insights into measuring and improving quality of life for patients with IPF, and discusses challenges in the management of this devastating disease. Moreover, we postulate a new model for continuous care in IPF - 'the ABCDE of IPF care': Assessing patients' needs; Backing patients by giving information and support; delivering Comfort care by focusing on treating symptoms and taking into account Comorbidities; striving to prolong life by Disease modification; helping and preparing patients and their caregivers for the eventual End-of-life events that are likely to occur

Human pluripotent stem cell expansion in vertical-wheel bioreactors

Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) have been regarded as an enormous breakthrough for medicine, since they can be derived from patients and be used to generate virtually all types of cells in the human body. One of the great bottlenecks in the usage of these cells for regenerative medicine or drug discovery applications is their expansion to relevant quantities. The Vertical-Wheel Bioreactors (PBS Biotech) present a novel scalable bioreactor configuration, whose agitation mechanism allows for homogeneous mixing conditions inside the single-use vessel, while conveying less shear stress to the cells when compared to traditional alternatives. These characteristics are advantageous for hiPSC expansion and thus, in this work, hiPSC were expanded in the Vertical-Wheel Bioreactor using different strategies, namely culturing the cells 1) on microcarriers and 2) as floating aggregates. In the first approach, cells were cultured under xeno-free conditions, using the Essential 8 medium together with microcarriers and coatings devoid of any animal-derived products [1]. The culture conditions were optimized in terms of initial cell/microcarrier ratio, inoculation method and agitation rate, in the PBS 0.1 vessel (working volume: 80 mL). The cells were successfully expanded, maintaining a normal karyotype, up to a 6.7-fold increase in cell number, after 6 days. These optimized culture conditions were successfully repeated in a larger vessel, the PBS 0.5 (300 mL working volume) demonstrating the scalability of the Vertical-Wheel system. In the second approach, hiPSC were expanded as floating aggregates, a methodology which does not require a separation step at the end of culture, to remove microcarriers, facilitating the downstream processing and Good Manufacturing Practice-compliance of the process. Cells were cultured in the PBS 0.1 (working volume: 60 mL), using mTeSR1, a serum-free medium and were monitored throughout culture regarding growth kinetics, aggregate size distribution and expression of pluripotency markers. The Vertical-Wheel Bioreactors were shown to efficiently keep the cell aggregates in suspension, under lower linear agitation speeds than an equivalent volume spinner flask (7 cm/s vs. 13 cm/s). Following 7 days of culture, cells were expanded up to a 5.2 ± 0.6-fold increase in cell number. The hiPSC aggregates increased in size over time, from an average diameter of 135 ± 61 µm to 397 ± 119 µm after 7 days. Pluripotency was maintained throughout time, as assessed by sustained high (\u3e 80%) expression of pluripotency markers OCT4, SOX2 and TRA-1-60, and low (\u3c 10%) expression of early differentiation marker SSEA-1. The results were validated using a second hiPSC line. This study revealed that the Vertical-Wheel Bioreactor allows hiPSC growth either on microcarriers and as aggregates and suggested it to have advantages versus other configurations. These results make the Vertical-Wheel Bioreactor a promising platform for hiPSC expansion and, prospectively, differentiation approaches, contributing for the generation of bona fide cells for various biomedical applications, namely drug screening, disease modelling, and, ultimately, for Regenerative Medicine. [1] Rodrigues CAV, Silva TP, Nogueira DES, Fernandes TG, Hashimura Y, Wesselschmidt R, Diogo MM, Lee B, Cabral JMS (2018), “Scalable Culture Of Human Induced Pluripotent Cells On Microcarriers Under Xeno‐Free Conditions Using Single‐Use Vertical‐Wheel™ Bioreactors”, Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology, DOI: 10.1002/jctb.573

Protogalactic Extension of the Parker Bound

We extend the Parker bound on the galactic flux $\cal F$ of magnetic monopoles. By requiring that a small initial seed field must survive the collapse of the protogalaxy, before any regenerative dynamo effects become significant, we develop a stronger bound. The survival and continued growth of an initial galactic seed field $\leq 10^{-9}$G demand that ${\cal F} \leq 5 \times 10^{-21} (m/10^{17} {GeV}) {cm}^{-2} {sec}^{-1} {sr}^{-1}$. For a given monopole mass, this bound is four and a half orders of magnitude more stringent than the previous `extended Parker bound', but is more speculative as it depends on assumptions about the behavior of magnetic fields during protogalactic collapse. For monopoles which do not overclose the Universe ($\Omega_m <1$), the maximum flux allowed is now $8 \times 10^{-19}$ cm^{-2} s^{-1} sr^{-1}, a factor of 150 lower than the maximum flux allowed by the extended Parker bound.Comment: 9 pages, 1 eps figur

A home monitoring program including real-time wireless home spirometry in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

In idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), home monitoring experiences are limited, not yet real-time available nor implemented in daily care. We evaluated feasibility and potential barriers of a new home monitoring program with real-time wireless home spirometry in IPF. Ten patients with IPF were asked to test this home monitoring program, including daily home spirometry, for four weeks. Measurements of home and hospital spirometry showed good agreement. All patients considered real-time wireless spirometry useful and highly feasible. Both patients and researchers suggested relatively easy solutions for the identified potential barriers regarding real-time home monitoring in IPF

Localized boundary-domain singular integral equations based on harmonic parametrix for divergence-form elliptic PDEs with variable matrix coefficients

This is the post-print version of the Article. The official publised version can be accessed from the links below. Copyright @ 2013 Springer BaselEmploying the localized integral potentials associated with the Laplace operator, the Dirichlet, Neumann and Robin boundary value problems for general variable-coefficient divergence-form second-order elliptic partial differential equations are reduced to some systems of localized boundary-domain singular integral equations. Equivalence of the integral equations systems to the original boundary value problems is proved. It is established that the corresponding localized boundary-domain integral operators belong to the Boutet de Monvel algebra of pseudo-differential operators. Applying the Vishik-Eskin theory based on the factorization method, the Fredholm properties and invertibility of the operators are proved in appropriate Sobolev spaces.This research was supported by the grant EP/H020497/1: "Mathematical Analysis of Localized Boundary-Domain Integral Equations for Variable-Coefficient Boundary Value Problems" from the EPSRC, UK