Impacts of in vivo and in vitro exposures to tamoxifen: comparative effects on human cells and marine organisms

Tamoxifen (TAM) is a first generation-SERM administered for hormone receptor-positive (HER+) breast cancer in both pre- and post-menopausal patients and may undergo metabolic activation in organisms that share similar receptors and thus face comparable mechanisms of response. The present study aimed to assess whether environmental trace concentrations of TAM are bioavailable to the filter feeder M. galloprovincialis (100 ng L-1) and to the deposit feeder N. diversicolor (0.5, 10, 25 and 100 ng L-1) after 14 days of exposure. Behavioural impairment (burrowing kinetic), neurotoxicity (AChE activity), endocrine disruption by alkali-labile phosphate (ALP) content, oxidative stress (SOD, CAT, GPXs activities), biotransformation (GST activity), oxidative damage (LPO) and genotoxicity (DNA damage) were assessed. Moreover, this study also pertained to compare TAM cytotoxicity effects to mussels and targeted human (i.e. immortalized retinal pigment epithelium - RPE; and human transformed endothelial cells - HeLa) cell lines, in a range of concentrations from 0.5 ng L-1 to 50 μg L-1. In polychaetes N. diversicolor, TAM exerted remarkable oxidative stress and damage at the lowest concentration (0.5 ng L-1), whereas significant genotoxicity was reported at the highest exposure level (100 ng L-1). In mussels M. galloprovincialis, 100 ng L-1 TAM caused endocrine disruption in males, neurotoxicity, and an induction in GST activity and LPO byproducts in gills, corroborating in genotoxicity over the exposure days. Although cytotoxicity assays conducted with mussel haemocytes following in vivo exposure was not effective, in vitro exposure showed to be a feasible alternative, with comparable sensitivity to human cell line (HeLa).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Entanglement and the nonlinear elastic behavior of forests of coiled carbon nanotubes

Helical or coiled nanostructures have been object of intense experimental and theoretical studies due to their special electronic and mechanical properties. Recently, it was experimentally reported that the dynamical response of foamlike forest of coiled carbon nanotubes under mechanical impact exhibits a nonlinear, non-Hertzian behavior, with no trace of plastic deformation. The physical origin of this unusual behavior is not yet fully understood. In this work, based on analytical models, we show that the entanglement among neighboring coils in the superior part of the forest surface must be taken into account for a full description of the strongly nonlinear behavior of the impact response of a drop-ball onto a forest of coiled carbon nanotubes.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Spatial antibunching of photons with parametric down-conversion

The theoretical framework behind a recent experiment by Nogueira et. al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 86}, 4009 (2001)] of spatial antibunching in a two-photon state generated by collinear type II parametric down-conversion and a birefringent double-slit is presented. The fourth-order quantum correlation function is evaluated and shown to violate the classical Schwarz-type inequality, ensuring that the field does not have a classical analog. We expect these results to be useful in the rapidly growing fields of quantum imaging and quantum information.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. Minor changes made, accepted for publication in PR

Three-Body Halos in Two Dimensions

A method to study weakly bound three-body quantum systems in two dimensions is formulated in coordinate space for short-range potentials. Occurrences of spatially extended structures (halos) are investigated. Borromean systems are shown to exist in two dimensions for a certain class of potentials. An extensive numerical investigation shows that a weakly bound two-body state gives rise to two weakly bound three-body states, a reminiscence of the Efimov effect in three dimensions. The properties of these two states in the weak binding limit turn out to be universal. PACS number(s): 03.65.Ge, 21.45.+v, 31.15.Ja, 02.60NmComment: 9 pages, 2 postscript figures, LaTeX, epsf.st

Genotypic stabilization of agronomic traits in Panicum maximum (Jacq.) hybrids.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the genotypic stability of agronomic traits in hybrids of Panicum maximum. Hybrids originating from the crosses between two sexual parents and cultivars Mombasa and Tanzania were evaluated in an incomplete-block design. Evaluated traits were total dry matter, leaf dry matter, stem dry matter, percentage of leaves, and leaf:stem ratio. These traits were evaluated in six harvests. Overall, higher repeatability was observed for the traits total dry matter and leaf dry matter, especially when harvests 4, 5, and 6, occurring in spring and summer, were evaluated. The leaf dry matter was the trait that provided the greatest repeatability and determination. The repeatability of stem dry matter, percentage of leaves, and leaf:stem ratio had a low magnitude, even when the coefficient was estimated based on the harvests of better stabilization for the other variables. The hybrids achieved genotypic stabilization in the harvests made in the second rainy season. Harvests made in the rainy season provide greater repeatability and determination, and the inclusion of the dry-season harvest is detrimental to the process of selection of low-repeatability traits such as percentage of leaves

Caracterização física e físico-química de frutos de umbucajazeira.

A umbucajazeira (spondias spp.) é uma espécie nativa da região semiárida, explorada economicamente com base em seus frutos, que normalmente são consumidos in natura. A caracterização dos acessos de uma dada espécie constitui uma das principais etapas da identificação de plantas com características promissoras, visando à exploração comercial dos frutos e de seus produtos processados, bem como para uso em programas de melhoramento genético. Este estudo teve como objetivo avaliar as características físicas e a composição físico-química de frutos de umbucajazeira.1 CD-ROM

Avaliação do perfil fenotípico de caprinos brasileiros e africanos.

Resumo: Objetivou-se diferenciar populações caprinas brasileiras e cabo-verdianas (n=1084) por meio de descritores biométricos e comparação com raças comerciais. Foram avaliadas sete características de fêmeas adultas, através da estatística descritiva, análise de variância, teste de multicolinearidade, distância generalizada de Mahalanobis (D2) e algoritmo UPGMA. Após o teste de multicolinearidade foi identificada e descartada a variável profundidade torácica. O maior valor da D2 foi entre as populações Nambi e Mambrina (D2=93,78), e a menor D2 foi entre as cabras cabo-verdianas de Santo Antão e São Vicente (D2=0,41). O dendrograma colocou as raças Mambrina e Anglo-Nubiana a parte das demais. As cabras de Cabo Verde ficaram mais próximas das brasileiras de núcleos de conservação. As caboverdianas se agruparam segundo Barlavento e Sotavento. A eficácia da manutenção dos caprinos brasileiros em rebanhos de conservação nos faz preconizar tais iniciativas como ferramenta eficaz de manutenção dos recursos genéticos para potencial uso sustentável. Evaluation of the phenotypic profile of Brazilian and African goats. Abstract: The work aims was differentiate Brazilian goats populations of Cape Verdean (n = 1084) using biometric descriptors and comparison with commercial breeds. It was measured seven characteristics of female adult goats by using descriptive statistics, analysis of variance test multicollinearity, Mahalanobis distance (D2) and UPGMA algorithm. After testing of multicollinearity was identified and discarded the thoracic depth variable. The maximum value of D2 was between populations Nambi and Mambrina (D2 = 93.78), and the lower D2 was between the Cape Verdean goats of Santo Antão and São Vicente (D2 = 0.41). The dendrogram put the breeds Mambrina and Anglo-Nubian part of others. The goats of Cape Verde were closer to the Brazilian conservation nuclei. The Cape Verdean were made a group was Barlavento and Sotavento. The maintenance efficiency of the Brazilian goat herds conservation makes us valuate such initiatives as an effective tool for maintenance of genetic resources for potential use sustainable

Diversidade de homológos do gene codificador da proteína alergênica alt a 1 em isolados de Alternaria associados com aliáceas no Brasil.

No presente trabalho foi realizado um estudo da diversidade de isolados de Alternaria de aliáceas no Brasil usnado informações genéticas derivadas do gene CTAB.Resumo 1075. Edição dos resumos do 44º Congresso Brasileiro de Fitopatologia, 2011, Bento Gonçalves

Compostos bioativos e atividade antioxidante em frutos de variedades melhoradas de bananeira.

Este estudo representa a fase inicial de uma pesquisa que busca identificar variedades de bananeira, desenvolvidas pelo programa de melhoramento da Embrapa Mandioca e Fruticultura, que se destacam por apresentar elevados teores de compostos bioativos e atividade antioxidante em relação às variedades comumente consumidas. O objetivo dessa pesquisa foi avaliar a presença de compostos fenólicos e a atividade antioxidante das variedades Pacovan, Pacovan Ken, FHIA-18, PC-0101, FHIA-23, YB-4203 e Tropical. Os frutos foram colhidos no estádio 2 de maturação e avaliados no estádio 6, por meio de extratos (etanol/acetona), a partir de 15 g de polpa