A VEGETAÇÃO E A PAISAGEM SONORA DE UM FRAGMENTO FLORESTAL URBANO

O objetivo foi avaliar a influência da cobertura da vegetação sobre a paisagem sonora de um fragmento da floresta urbana em Curitiba, Paraná. Em 14 locais de coleta na parte interna e externa do fragmento, foram coletados os níveis do som ambiente com compensação em A (simulando a recepção humana) (dB (A)) e equivalente (dBeq) para a classificação do som no local, durante o outono de 2018.  Foram utilizados um decibelímetro DEC-470 para avaliar a pressão sonora e fotografias tomadas em lente olho-de-peixe para avaliar o Fator de Visão do Céu (FVC) e o Limitação do Céu (LIM). Constatou-se maiores níveis de pressão sonora e dBeq nos locais P1 e P11, com 75,5 (56,2 dBeq), e 76,5 dB (A) (56,1 dBeq), respectivamente. Os menores valores de dBeq foram registrados nos locais P3, P4, P7 e P8 com 46,4, 46,9, 47,1 e 47,6 dBeq.  O maior FVC foi 0,828 no P1 e o menor 0,070 no P4, no exterior e interior do fragmento, respectivamente. O FVC e os valores médios da pressão sonora apresentaram um coeficiente de correlação de 0,57. Há uma relação diretamente proporcional entre o FVC e o ruído

ATENUAÇÃO DO RUÍDO DE TRÁFEGO DE VIAS URBANAS PELA VEGETAÇÃO EM CURITIBA – PARANÁ, BRASIL

A floresta urbana desempenha inúmeros benefícios às pessoas que vivem em cidades, dentre os quais a amenização do ruído causado pelo tráfego de veículos. Entretanto, pesquisas sobre esse benefício ainda são incipientes no Brasil. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a vegetação como atenuadora de ruído do tráfego de vias urbanas em áreas verdes de Curitiba – Paraná. A pesquisa foi realizada em dois parques de Curitiba. Utilizando-se dois decibelímetros da marca INSTRUTHERM, modelo DEC-470, em cada local de coleta foram realizadas medições simultâneas, uma na fonte do ruído à margem da avenida e outras em diferentes distâncias a partir da fonte do ruído, com 3 repetições (5 minutos de coleta, e 30 segundos de intervalo). Os resultados mostraram que o local com menor quantidade de vegetação foi o que menos bloqueou o ruído (8,3 dBeq no verão e 7,5 dBeq no inverno), enquanto o local com maior quantidade de vegetação apresentou os maiores valores de atenuação (11,8 dBeq no verão e no inverno). Apesar de haver diferença nos valores médios do bloqueio do ruído entre verão e inverno, não houve diferença estatística significativa, mesmo para as distâncias com presença de árvores caducifólias e semi-caducifólias, a qual era esperada essa diferença.   

Photodynamic Therapy for the Treatment of American Tegumentary Leishmaniasis: Evaluation of Therapies Association in Experimentally Infected Mice With Leishmania (Leishmania) amazonensis

Introduction: American tegumentary leishmaniasis (ATL) is a zoonotic disease caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania that affects the skin and mucous membrane. Currently, the available drugs for the treatment are injectable, with side effects, long-term treatment regimen and there is the possibility of drug resistance. Thus, alternative therapies have been tested, including photodynamic therapy (PDT). We evaluated the efficacy of PDT on its own and associated with the prescribed ATL treatment.Methods: BALB/c mice were infected with Leishmania (Leishmania) amazonensis and divided into 6 groups: Gluc+PDT, treated with Glucantime® and photodynamic therapy (PDT) with methylene blue (MB)/red LED (light-emitting diode); Gluc, treated with Glucantime®; PDT, treated with PDT with MB/red LED; Ampho+PDT, treated with amphotericin and PDT with MB/red LED; Ampho, treated with amphotericin; and control, which were infected but not treated. Two treatment cycles were performed. After 165 days of infection, the parasite load was determined.Results: Statistical differences were not found (P > 0.05) between measures of volume and thickness of the infected footpads in the treated groups when compared with the control group. However, there was a significant reduction (P < 0.05) in the parasitic load of the popliteal lymph nodes of the Gluc+PDT, Gluc, PDT and Ampho groups when compared to the control group. In the histological analysis of the infected footpads, the Gluc+PDT group presented a smaller amount of amastigote nests and lower intensity of the mononuclear infiltrate when compared to the Gluc and PDT groups.Conclusion: The results showed that although there is no significant difference in the evaluations of footpad size (thickness and volume), there is a downward measurement tendency in the Gluc+PDT group, as it can be observed by volume data and corroborated by parasite negative load

Photodynamic Therapy With Bengal Rose and Derivatives Against Leishmania amazonensis

Introduction: The treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is based primarily on the use of pentavalent antimonials, which may lead to many side effects limiting their use. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is an alternative for the treatment of CL, and some xanthene dyes have the potential for use in PDT.Methods: The xanthenes rose bengal B (RB) and its derivatives rose bengal methyl ester (RBMET), and butyl ester (RBBUT) were analyzed for leishmanicidal activity against promastigotes and intracellular amastigotes of Leishmania amazonensis. Cytotoxicity was assessed in J774.A1 macrophages.Results: RB derivates RBMET (IC50 9.83 μM), and RBBUT (IC50 45.08 μM) showed leishmanicidal activity, however, were toxic to J774.A1 macrophages, resulting in low selectivity index.Conclusion: The RBMET and RBBUT showed to be effective against the L. amazonensis and the low selectivity index presented may not be a limitation for their use in PDT to CL treatment

Silicon nutrition increases grain yield, which, in turn, exerts a feed-forward stimulation of photosynthetic rates via enhanced mesophyll conductance and alters primary metabolism in rice

Silicon (Si) is not considered to be an essential element for higher plants and is believed to have no effect on primary metabolism in unstressed plants. In rice (Oryza sativa), Si nutrition improves grain production; however, no attempt has been made to elucidate the physiological mechanisms underlying such responses. Here, we assessed crop yield and combined advanced gas exchange analysis with carbon isotope labelling and metabolic profiling to measure the effects of Si nutrition on rice photosynthesis, together with the associated metabolic changes, by comparing wild-type rice with the low-Si rice mutant lsi1 under unstressed conditions. Si improved the harvest index, paralleling an increase in nitrogen use efficiency. Higher crop yields associated with Si nutrition exerted a feed-forward effect on photosynthesis which was fundamentally associated with increased mesophyll conductance. By contrast, Si nutrition did not affect photosynthetic gas exchange during the vegetative growth phase or in de-grained plants. In addition, Si nutrition altered primary metabolism by stimulating amino acid remobilization. Our results indicate a stimulation of the source capacity, coupled with increased sink demand, in Si-treated plants; therefore, we identify Si nutrition as an important target in attempts to improve the agronomic yield of rice

Indications of Optical Coherence Tomography in Keratoplasties: Literature Review

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) of the anterior segment, in particular corneal OCT, has become a reliable tool for the cornea specialist, as it provides the acquisition of digital images at high resolution with a noncontact technology. In penetrating or lamellar keratoplasties, OCT can be used to assess central corneal thickness and pachymetry maps, as well as precise measurements of deep stromal opacities, thereby guiding the surgeon to choose the best treatment option. OCT has also been used to evaluate the keratoplasty postoperative period, for early identification of possible complications, such as secondary glaucoma or donor disc detachments in endothelial keratoplasties. Intraoperatively, OCT can be used to assess stromal bed regularity and transparency in anterior lamellar surgeries, especially for those techniques in which a bare Descemet’s membrane is the goal. The purpose of this paper is to review and discuss the role of OCT as a diagnostic tool in various types of keratoplasties

Nectar-feeding bats and birds show parallel molecular adaptations in sugar metabolism enzymes.

In most vertebrates, the demand for glucose as the primary substrate for cellular respiration is met by the breakdown of complex carbohydrates, or energy is obtained by protein and lipid catabolism. In contrast, a few bat and bird species have convergently evolved to subsist on nectar, a sugar-rich mixture of glucose, fructose, and sucrose.1-4 How these nectar-feeders have adapted to cope with life-long high sugar intake while avoiding the onset of metabolic syndrome and diabetes5-7 is not understood. We analyzed gene sequences obtained from 127 taxa, including 22 nectar-feeding bat and bird genera that collectively encompass four independent origins of nectarivory. We show these divergent taxa have undergone pervasive molecular adaptation in sugar catabolism pathways, including parallel selection in key glycolytic and fructolytic enzymes. We also uncover convergent amino acid substitutions in the otherwise evolutionarily conserved aldolase B (ALDOB), which catalyzes rate-limiting steps in fructolysis and glycolysis, and the mitochondrial gatekeeper pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH), which links glycolysis and the tricarboxylic acid cycle. Metabolomic profile and enzyme functional assays are consistent with increased respiratory flux in nectar-feeding bats and help explain how these taxa can both sustain hovering flight and efficiently clear simple sugars. Taken together, our results indicate that nectar-feeding bats and birds have undergone metabolic adaptations that have enabled them to exploit a unique energy-rich dietary niche among vertebrates