Physical exercise as non-pharmacological tool to counteract drug-induced liver mitochondrial injury: effects on mitochondrial bioenergetics, oxidative stress, apoptosis, dynamics and auto (mito) phagy signalling markers

[eng] Liver diseases resulting from the toxicity induced by frequent pharmacological drug consumption are among the main health problems of modern western societies. On the other hand, healthy life-style-based behaviors including physical exercise are critical for counteracting, by preventing and/or treating, the drug-associated deleterious consequences for the hepatic tissue. The present thesis aimed to study, in a rat model, the effects of two chronic physical exercise regimens on liver morphological, biochemical and functional features centered on mitochondria, as these subcellular network compartments are known as dynamic structures closely involved in important mechanisms related to both the physiopathology of the disease and the beneficial adaptations of tissues afforded by exercise. Functional alterations in liver mitochondria were measured in in vitro: respiratory-driven endpoints, susceptibility to permeability transition pore opening. Additionally, enzymatic activities and the expression of proteins involved in redox response, apoptotic cell death, mitochondrial biogenesis, dynamic and autophagic markers were analyzed throughout the experimental work comprised in this thesis. Basal mitochondrial responses to toxic drugs exposure, both after in vitro (diclofenac) and in vivo (doxorubicin) stimulation were determined. It was overall concluded that chronic physical exercise induced liver mitochondrial alterations suggestive of positive remodeling, which were translated in a resultant more resistant phenotype against the in vitro toxicity of diclofenac and the in vivo harmful effects of doxorubicin. The observed mitigation effects were associated with favorable modifications in functional endpoints of mitochondrial respiration and in key signaling proteins related to oxidative stress and damage, apoptosis, mitochondrial biogenesis and dynamics, and auto(mito)phagy-related quality control mechanisms

Short-term variability of comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) at 4.8 AU from the Sun

We observed comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) during six nights in February 2013 when it was at 4.8 AU from the sun. At this distance and time the comet was not very active and it was theoretically possible to detect photometric variations likely due to the rotation of the cometary nucleus. The goal of this work is to obtain differential photometry of the comet inner coma using different aperture radii in order to derive a possible rotational period. Large field of view images were obtained with a 4k x 4k CCD at the f/3 0.77m telescope of La Hita Observatory in Spain. Aperture photometry was performed in order to get relative magnitude variation versus time. Using calibrated star fields we also obtained ISON's R-magnitudes versus time. We applied a Lomb-Scargle periodogram analysis to get possible periodicities for the observed brightness variations, directly related with the rotation of the cometary nucleus. The comet light curve obtained is very shallow, with a peak-to-peak amplitude of 0.03 $\pm$ 0.02 mag. A tentative synodic rotational period (single-peaked) of 14.4 $\pm$ 1.2 hours for ISON's nucleus is obtained from our analysis, but there are other possibilities. We studied the possible effect of the seeing variations in the obtained periodicities during the same night, and from night to night. These seeing variations had no effect on the derived periodicity. We discuss and interpret all possible solutions for the rotational period of ISON's nucleus.Comment: 15 pages, 3 Figures, 2 Tables, accepted for publication in A&

Promoción de la lactancia materna exclusiva como estrategia de prevención de enfermedades crónicas no transmisibles: revisión

La Lactancia Materna Exclusiva (LME) es la práctica de alimentación idónea para los lactantes menores de 6 meses, dadas sus especiales características de composición cuantitativa y cualitativa. En este sentido, la Lactancia Materna (LM) constituye un instrumento decisivo para mejorar la supervivencia infantil, tanto por su impacto positivo en el crecimiento y desarrollo, como en la disminución del riesgo de padecer numerosas enfermedades agudas y crónicas. Existen evidencias sobre la asociación del abandono precoz de la LME con el desarrollo de Enfermedades Crónicas no Transmisibles (ECNT) del adulto, o lo que actualmente se denomina como Enfermedades Prevenibles. Esta evidencia, impulsó a la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) a recomendar LME durante los primeros seis meses de vida para lograr un óptimo crecimiento, desarrollo y estado de salud del niño

The paradoxes of quality

International journal of engineering and industrial management. - ISSN 1647-578X. - N. 6 (2014). - p. 11-21This research work intends to contribute to the clarification which involves the ISO 9001:2008 certification and its applicability by presenting an analysis and subsequent reflection on the impact of certification organizations, as well as compliance with the requirements of the standard. The results achieved with this work on the paradoxes of quality allowed the confirmation of what many people already suspected. These will serve as initial knowledge, once there were no other studies on this subject. Marked the paradoxes, we highlight that there are companies that claim to exist simultaneously "involvement of all in solving problems" and on the other hand claim that "there are cohesive work groups". Likewise, state that “practicing continuous improvement” and simultaneously they have "difficulty in changing the rules of the workplace"

Activity of (2060) Chiron possibly caused by impacts?

The centaur 95P/(2060) Chiron is showing comet-like activity since its discovery, but the mass-loss mechanisms triggering its activity remained unexplained. Although the collision rates in the centaur region are expected to be very low, and impacts are thought not to be responsible for the mass-loss, since the recent indications that Chiron might possess a ring similar to Chariklo's, and assuming that there is debris orbiting around, the impact triggered mass-loss mechanism should not be excluded as a possible cause of its activity. From time series observations collected on Calar Alto Observatory in Spain between 2014 and 2016, we found that the photometric scatter in Chiron's data is larger than a control star's scatter, indicating a possible microactivity, possibly caused by debris falling back to Chiron's surface and lifting small clouds of material. We also present rotational light curves, and measurements of Chiron's absolute magnitudes, that are consistent with the models supporting the presumption that Chiron possesses rings. By co-adding the images acquired in 2015, we have detected a $\sim$5 arcsec long tail, showing a surface brightness of 25.3 mag(V)/arcsec$^{2}$.Comment: Accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS) on 2017 December 2

SIGNIFICADO DA EXPRESSÃO “GRUPO ECONÔMICO” PARA O DIREITO EMPRESARIAL, DO TRABALHO E ECONÔMICO

O presente trabalho buscou delinear o significado da expressão “grupo econômico” no Direito do Trabalho e no Direito Econômico, bem como o conceito de cada um dos tipos de “agrupamentos societários” previstos na Lei n. 6.404/1976 e no Código Civil (2002). Os conceitos são relevantes tendo em vista os efeitos de cada modulação jurídica, inclusive para determinar as responsabilidades das sociedades empresárias envolvidas. A metodologia utilizada consistiu em pesquisa teórica realizada a partir de revisão bibliográfica, com aplicação das vertentes metodológicas dogmática, exploratória e descritiva