Marine algae sulfated polysaccharides for tissue engineering and drug delivery approaches

Biomedical field is constantly requesting for new biomaterials, with innovative properties. Natural polymers appear as materials of election for this goal due to their biocompatibility and biodegradability. In particular, materials found in marine environment are of great interest since the chemical and biological diversity found in this environment is almost uncountable and continuously growing with the research in deeper waters. Moreover, there is also a slower risk of these materials to pose illnesses to humans. In particular, sulfated polysaccharides can be found in marine environment, in different algae species. These polysaccharides don’t have equivalent in the terrestrial plants and resembles the chemical and biological properties of mammalian glycosaminoglycans. In this perspective, are receiving growing interest for application on health-related fields. On this review, we will focus on the biomedical applications of marine algae sulfated polymers, in particular on the development of innovative systems for tissue engineering and drug delivery approaches.European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Genetic variation in the carbonic anhydrase isozymes of macaque monkeys. II. Inheritance of red cell carbonic anhydrase levels in different carbonic anhydrase I genotypes of the pig-tailed macaque, Macaca nemestrina

The inheritance of red blood cell levels of carbonic anhydrase isozymes (CA I and CA II) has been studied in different carbonic anhydrase I genotypes of the pig-tailed macaque, Macaca nemestrina . Quantitation of CA I isozymes in a series of animals indicates that the total CA I concentration is the sum of the average effects of each CA I structural allele and that the average effects are independent of the various allelic combinations. The relative average effects were 0.32:0.95:1.0 for the CA I a , CA I b , and CA I c structural genes, respectively. It is also demonstrated that the level of CA II is related to the CA I genotypes. Multiple regression analysis demonstrated that each dose of CA I-deficiency gene present decreased the CA II concentration by approximately 30%, with this decrease in CA II level being solely related to the dose of CA I-deficiency gene and not to the level of CA I. The CA I-deficient animals produce CA I products that are similar to the common CA Ia, CA Ib, CA Ic electrophoretic types. Limited mating data indicate that the CA I components in CA I-deficient animals are inherited codominantly.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/44182/1/10528_2004_Article_BF00485544.pd

Revealing the potential of squid chitosan-based structures for biomedical applications

In recent years, much attention has been given to different marine organisms, namely as potential sources of valuable materials with a vast range of properties and characteristics. In this work, β-chitin was isolated from the endoskeleton of the giant squid Dosidicus gigas and further deacetylated to produce chitosan. Then, the squid chitosan was processed into membranes and scaffolds using solvent casting and freeze-drying, respectively, to assess their potential biomedical application. The developed membranes have shown to be stiffer and less hydrophobic than those obtained with commercial chitosan. On the other hand, the morphological characterization of the developed scaffolds, by SEM and micro-computed tomography, revealed that the matrices were formed with a lamellar structure. The findings also indicated that the treatment with ethanol prior to neutralization with sodium hydroxide caused the formation of larger pores and loss of some lamellar features. The in vitro cell culture study has shown that all chitosan scaffolds exhibited a non-cytotoxic effect over the mouse fibroblast-like cell line, L929 cells. Thus, chitosan produced from the endoskeletons of the giant squid Dosidicus gigas has proven to be a valuable alternative to existing commercial materials when considering its use as biomaterial.This work was partially funded by FEDER through INTERREG III A Project Proteus and POCTEP Project IBEROMARE. The Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology is gratefully acknowledged for post-doctoral grants of THS, JMO and SSS. The authors would also like to acknowledge to Dr Julio Maroto from the Fundacion CETMAR and Roi Vilela from PESCANOVA S.A, Spain, for the kind offer of squid pens and to Dr Ramon Novoa, Professor Ricardo Riguera and Professor Mariana Landin from the University of Santiago of Compostela for the SEC-MALLS measurements

What makes a task a problem in early childhood education?

This article begins with a theoretical discussion of the characteristics that a task should feature to be regarded as a mathematics problem suitable for pre-primary students. Those considerations are followed by a report of a classroom experience in which three problems involving quotative or partitive division were posed to pre-primary school pupils to determine the presence of otherwise of the respective characteristics. The findings show that the characteristics of pre-primary education problems depend on two factors: mathematical activity that engages pupils and a structure that favours both their understanding of the problem and the application and verification of the solutions

Nonparametric Regression Density Estimation Using Smoothly Varying Normal Mixtures

We model a regression density nonparametrically so that at each value of the covariates the density is a mixture of normals with the means, variances and mixture probabilities of the components changing smoothly as a function of the covariates. The model extends existing models in two important ways. First, the components are allowed to be heteroscedastic regressions as the standard model with homoscedastic regressions can give a poor fit to heteroscedastic data, especially when the number of covariates is large. Furthermore, we typically need a lot fewer heteroscedastic components, which makes it easier to interpret the model and speeds up the computation. The second main extension is to introduce a novel variable selection prior into all the components of the model. The variable selection prior acts as a self adjusting mechanism that prevents overfitting and makes it feasible to fit high dimensional nonparametric surfaces. We use Bayesian inference and Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods to estimate the model. Simulated and real examples are used to show that the full generality of our model is required to fit a large class of densities

Divergent Priors and Well Behaved Bayes Factors

Divergent priors are improper when defined on unbounded supports. Bartlett's paradox has been taken to imply that using improper priors results in ill-defined Bayes factors, preventing model comparison by posterior probabilities. However many improper priors have attractive properties that econometricians may wish to access and at the same time conduct model comparison. We present a method of computing well defined Bayes factors with divergent priors by setting rules on the rate of diffusion of prior certainty. The method is exact; no approximations are used. As a further result, we demonstrate that exceptions to Bartlett's paradox exist. That is, we show it is possible to construct improper priors that result in well defined Bayes factors. One important improper prior, the Shrinkage prior due to Stein (1956), is one such example. This example highlights pathologies with the resulting Bayes factors in such cases, and a simple solution is presented to this problem. A simple Monte Carlo experiment demonstrates the applicability of the approach developed in this paper

Children’s Stories Supporting the Development of Critical Literacy and Intercultural Understanding

This chapter examines the possibilities of applying children’s storybooks in supporting the development of critical literacy as well as intercultural understanding. Valuing and supporting children’s reading is known to provide understanding and empathy towards other human beings. The chapter focuses on theoretical notions related to promoting critical literacies through children’s storybooks, but also includes practical examples of utilizing multicultural children’s stories. The chapter introduces different strategies that parents and teachers can use to support the development of critical literacy, including critical thinking and understanding multiple perspectives. Focus is especially on young children, because they already are capable of moving beyond what is in front of them on the page. Since children’s storybooks offer possibilities for readers to question implicit assumptions about self and others, books can support readers in becoming more culturally aware and sensitive. Consequently, reading storybooks can affect children’s intercultural understanding, and the role of storybooks in children’s moral development – both shaping and changing attitudes – should be seen as transformative.Peer reviewe