Action and Function of ASB Proteins in Compartment Size Regulation

One of the most important and defining processes during development is the pattern formation of the various compartments in embryos. In an effort to discover the participants involved in regulating compartment size, we identified, in Danio rerio (zebrafish) embryos, the ankyrin repeat and SOCS box-containing protein 11 (d-asb11) gene. We first showed that d-Asb11 is a key mediator of Delta-Notch Signaling, acting at the level of DeltaA ubiquitylation, important in fine-tuning the lateral inhibition gradients between DeltaA and Notch. We, then, isolated a zebrafish having a germline deletion of the d-Asb11 cullin box subdomain and showed that this deletion resulted in loss of d-Asb11 activity. As a consequence, the animals were defective for Notch signaling and proper cell fate specification within the neurogenic regions of zebrafish embryos. We also provided evidence that d-Asb11 is important in maintaining myogenic proliferation in the stem cell compartment of zebrafish embryos and muscle regenerative responses in adult animals. This finding is supported by the highly specific d-Asb11 expression found in proliferating satellite cells in zebrafish muscle. In addition, we have applied immunoaffinity chromatograpy followed by tandem mass spectrometry to identify human ASB11 interacting proteins. The data confirmed the role of ASB11 as a subs

Statistical assessment of feeding corn with higher oil content to piglets in the starter phase

The aim of this study was to assess the digestibility coefficients (DC) of corn [maize] with an oil content above 3.46% and its effects on the performance of piglets when fed as dry grain (DG) and as rehydrated corn grain silage (RCGS). In Experiment I, 15 piglets (22.51 + 2.39 kg) were allocated to a reference diet (RD) and to two test diets in which corn in the RD was replaced with DG or RCGS. There were five replications of each treatment. Experiment II involved 36 piglets (14.76 ± 2.72 kg), which were assigned to a control diet with common corn grain and to diets in which DG or RCGS replaced the common corn. There were six replications of each treatment. Data were analysed with four statistical models. Model 1 included only the effect of treatment. Model 2 was similar to Model 1 but included initial bodyweight as a covariate. Model 3 was similar to model 1 but included the interaction of diet and period. Model 4 was similar to Model 3 but included the covariate. The more complicated models were generally preferred to Model 1 as they controlled more of the nuisance variation. Feeding a diet that contained RCGS reduced feed intake and improved feed conversion ratio (FCR)

SEMEAR Project: Planting Seeds for a Better and More Virtuous World

This capstone presents the SEMEAR project. The SEMEAR project is the main initiative of the Brazilian Coaching Society Foundation. The project aims to stimulate and support flourishing in Brazil through positive coaching programs in three major areas: social, educational, and corporative. A set of interventions designed to enhance well-being, facilitate healthy relationships, promote flow and engagement, stimulate social contribution, as well as other aspects that can help people flourish, will be proposed. The project will explore how to use coaching, positive psychology and philanthropy to develop virtues, promote human flourishing and generate people’s well-being in families, schools, companies and communities through change agents such as coaches, parents, educators and leaders. Therefore, the project plans to engage and prepare 1,000,000 positive coaches who will directly or indirectly impact 50,000,000 people by 2050, contributing to the flourishing of 25% of the Brazilian population

Rheology of vitreous humour and pharmacological substitutes used in eye surgery

The Vitreous Humour (VH) is a transparent gel that fills the vitreous cavity in the Human eye. VH is mainly composed of water (99%) and includes a network of protein fibrils (collagen) and hyaluronan (1%). It is known that VH becomes progressively liquefied with age, or as a consequence of some diseases, and consequently the rheological, biomechanical and structural properties of the fluid also change. For the normal operation of the eye, when vitreoretinal pathologies appear, effective treatments must be performed. A common treatment for these diseases is the injection of a VH substitute in the vitreous cavity. The major vitreous substitutes commercially available are silicone oils and perfluorocarbon liquids, but currently there is little information about their rheological properties, which are known to be intimately linked to their functionality. The aim of this work is to measure the rheological properties of the VH and five commercial vitreous substitutes currently used in vitreoretinal surgeries. Six fluids were analysed: VH collected from rabbit eyes, two silicone oils (RS-Oil1000 and RS-Oil5000, Alchimia), two perflurocarbon liquids (HPF8 and HPF10, Alchimia) and a mixture of silicone oil with perfluorocarbon (Densiron68, Fluoron). The rheological characterization of the fluids was done using a shear rheometer (DHR-2, TA Instruments) to perform steady shear, small amplitude oscillatory shear (SAOS) and creep measurements. Extensional measurements using the Slow Retraction Method were performed with a capillary break-up extensional rheometer (Haake CaBER1, ThermoElectron) and an in-house extensional rheometer. Our results show that VH separates into two different phases (gel and liquid) and both phases exhibit viscoelastic behaviour. The liquid phase rheology is independent of time but the gel properties are time dependent, with the VH gel phase exhibiting storage (G’) and loss (G’’) moduli that increase with time after dissection (e.g. the maximum value of G’ and G’’ increase from 3.2 Pa and 0.9 Pa right after dissection to 11.4 Pa and 2.3 Pa a few hours after dissection). Despite being used for the same purpose, the pharmacological fluids show significantly different rheological properties between them and when compared with the VH. All pharmacological fluids tested display a Newtonian behaviour in steady shear flow and their viscosities vary from 0.49 mPa s to 4.57 Pa s, at 37°C