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The establishment of fibroblast lines enables several applications from the formation of biobanks for the conservation of biodiversity to the use of these cells in physiological and toxicological assays. Considered a species vulnerable to extinction, the characterization of fibroblastic lines of northern tiger cat would contribute to its conservation. Therefore, we established and characterized fibroblasts derived from northern tiger cat during extended passage (third, seventh, and eleventh passages) and cryopreservation with regard to the morphology, viability, apoptotic classification, metabolism, proliferative activity, and oxidative stress by reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels and mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm). Initially, we identified four dermal fibroblast lines by morphology, immunophenotyping, and karyotyping assays. In vitro culture after the third, seventh, and eleventh passages did not affect the viability, apoptotic classification, and ROS levels. Nevertheless, cells at seventh and eleventh passages featured a reduction in metabolism and an alteration in ΔΨm when compared to third passage cells. Additionally, cells at eleventh passage showed changes in the proliferative activity and morphology when compared to other passages. Regarding cryopreservation, no effect was observed on cryopreserved cells for morphology, viability, apoptotic classification, metabolism, and proliferative activity. Nevertheless, cryopreserved cells had alteration for ROS levels and ΔΨm. In summary, fibroblasts from northern tiger cat were affected by extended passage (seventh and eleventh passages) and cryopreservation. Adjustments to the in vitro culture and cryopreservation are necessary to reduce cellular oxidative stress caused by in vitro conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have detected solar-like oscillations in the mid-K-dwarf ϵ Indi A, making it the coolest dwarf to have measured oscillations. The star is noteworthy for harboring a pair of brown dwarf companions and a Jupiter-type planet. We observed ϵ Indi A during two radial velocity campaigns, using the high-resolution spectrographs HARPS (2011) and UVES (2021). Weighting the time series, we computed the power spectra and established the detection of solar-like oscillations with a power excess located at 5265 ± 110 μ Hz—the highest frequency solar-like oscillations so far measured in any star. The measurement of the center of the power excess allows us to compute a stellar mass of 0.782 ± 0.023 M _⊙ based on scaling relations and a known radius from interferometry. We also determine the amplitude of the peak power and note that there is a slight difference between the two observing campaigns, indicating a varying activity level. Overall, this work confirms that low-amplitude solar-like oscillations can be detected in mid-K-type stars in radial velocity measurements obtained with high-precision spectrographs.

The strongly coupled hydrodynamic, magnetic, and radiation properties of the plasma in the solar chromosphere make it a region of the Sun's atmosphere that is poorly understood. We use data obtained with the high-resolution Visible Broadband Imager (VBI) equipped with an H β filter and the Visible Spectro-Polarimeter (ViSP) on the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope to investigate the fine-scale structure of the plage chromosphere. To aid in the interpretation of the VBI imaging data, we also analyze spectra from the CHROMospheric Imaging Spectrometer on the Swedish Solar Telescope. The analysis of spectral properties, such as enhanced line widths and line depths, explains the high contrast of the fibrils relative to the background atmosphere demonstrating that H β is an excellent diagnostic for the enigmatic fine-scale structure of the chromosphere. A correlation between the parameters of the H β line indicates that opacity broadening created by overdense fibrils could be the main reason for the spectral line broadening frequently observed in chromospheric fine-scale structures. Spectropolarimetric inversions of the ViSP data in the Ca ii 8542 Å and Fe i 6301/6302 Å lines are used to construct semiempirical models of the plage atmosphere. Inversion outputs indicate the existence of dense fibrils in the Ca ii 8542 Å line. The analyses of the ViSP data show that the morphological characteristics, such as orientation, inclination, and length of fibrils, are defined by the topology of the magnetic field in the photosphere. Chromospheric maps reveal a prominent magnetic canopy in the area where fibrils are directed toward the observer.

Determination of fundamental parameters of stars impacts all fields of astrophysics, from galaxy evolution to constraining the internal structure of exoplanets. This paper presents a detailed spectroscopic analysis of Barnard’s star (otherwise known as Gl 699) that compares an exceptionally high-quality (an average signal-to-noise ratio of ∼1000 in the entire domain), high-resolution near-infrared (NIR) spectrum taken with Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope/SPIRou to PHOENIX-ACES stellar atmosphere models. The observed spectrum shows thousands of lines not identified in the models with a similarly large number of lines present in the model but not in the observed data. We also identify several other caveats, such as continuum mismatch, unresolved contamination, and spectral lines significantly shifted from their expected wavelengths; all of these can be a source of bias for the determination of abundance. Out of >10 ^4 observed lines in the NIR that could be used for chemical spectroscopy, we identify a short list of a few hundred lines that are reliable. We present a novel method for determining the effective temperature ( T _eff ) and overall metallicity of slowly rotating M dwarfs that uses several groups of lines as opposed to bulk spectral fitting methods. With this method, we infer T _eff = 3231 ± 21 K for Barnard's star, consistent with the value of 3238 ± 11 K inferred from the interferometric method. We also provide measurements of the abundance of 15 different elements for Barnard's star, including the abundances of four elements (K, O, Y, Th) never reported before for this star. This work emphasizes the need to improve current atmosphere models to fully exploit the NIR domain for chemical spectroscopy analysis.

The recent discoveries of Neptune-sized ultra-short-period planets (USPs) challenge existing planet formation theories. It is unclear whether these residents of the Hot Neptune Desert have similar origins to smaller, rocky USPs, or if this discrete population is evidence of a different formation pathway altogether. We report the discovery of TOI-3261b, an ultrahot Neptune with an orbital period P = 0.88 day. The host star is a V = 13.2 mag, slightly supersolar metallicity ([Fe/H] ≃0.15), inactive K1.5 main-sequence star at d = 300 pc. Using data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite and the Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope, we find that TOI-3261b has a radius of ${3.82}_{-0.35}^{+0.42}$ R _⊕ . Moreover, radial velocities from ESPRESSO and HARPS reveal a mass of ${30.3}_{-2.4}^{+2.2}$ M _⊕ , more than twice the median mass of Neptune-sized planets on longer orbits. We investigate multiple mechanisms of mass loss that can reproduce the current-day properties of TOI-3261b, simulating the evolution of the planet via tidal stripping and photoevaporation. Thermal evolution models suggest that TOI-3261b should retain an envelope potentially enriched with volatiles constituting ∼5% of its total mass. This is the second highest envelope mass fraction among ultrahot Neptunes discovered to date, making TOI-3261b an ideal candidate for atmospheric follow-up observations.

This work investigates the physicochemical properties of a biochar obtained from sugarcane bagasse by torrefaction at four different temperatures (260, 270, 280, and 290 °C), without chemical or physical activation. The biochar was characterized by thermogravimetric and proximate analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy, together with measurements of point of zero charge, pH, elemental composition, and surface area. Evaluation regarding the efficiency of the biochar employed as an adsorbent for the removal of caffeine, ciprofloxacin, and norfloxacin in wastewater samples. The assays were performed in batch vessels filled with lab-made sewage spiked with caffeine at 5.00 µg L1 and with ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin at 10.0 µg L1. These compounds were studied separately. The thermogravimetry data demonstrated that increasing the torrefaction temperature led to generation of a greater amount of fixed carbon, as well as loss of volatile materials and removal of non-condensable compounds. This was corroborated by the FTIR analyses, where a higher temperature led to higher intensity of bands corresponding to methyl, methylene, and C=C bonds. The biochar produced at 280 °C presented the best stability, with adsorption efficiencies for removal from the lab-made sewage of 91% (norfloxacin), 81% (ciprofloxacin), and 58% (caffeine).

ABSTRACT Ocimum basilicum L. (basil) is an annual herb belonging to the Lamiaceae family that has economic importance for many regions around the world. Thus, ecophysiological studies are needed to assess this species growth and dispersal. This work aimed to obtain equations from regression models that meaningfully estimate the leaf area of basil cultivars using linear dimensions of leaves. For this purpose, 300 leaves from 'Italiano Roxo' and 500 leaves from 'Folha Fina' cultivar were collected from plants cultivated in a greenhouse. Then, the length, width, and leaf area of each leaf were measured, and product of length by width were calculated. The equations were adjusted using the simple linear, linear without intercept, quadratic, cubic, power, and exponential regression models. Criteria for selecting the best equations were highest determination coefficient and Willmott's agreement index, lowest Akaike information criterion and root mean square error, and BIAS index closest to zero. All the equations fitted using the product of length by width (L.W) can estimate the leaf area of basil cultivars. Thus, basil leaf area can be estimated through a non-destructive method using linear dimensions of leaves. However, the equation ŷ = 0.8175*LW0.9307 is the most suitable for 'Italiano Roxo' and ŷ = 0.6335*LW for 'Folha Fina'.

Foucault cunhou o termo biopolítica ao pensar filosofia política, esse conceito designa um duplo percurso: a) anátomo-política (regulação dos corpos) e b) biopolítica da população (massificação das condutas). Entremeio essas noções surgem a polícia: um dispositivo que é aparelho de disciplina e aparelho de Estado e caracteriza a racionalidade política moderna como uma “tecnologia política dos indivíduos" entre os séculos XVII e XVIII (Era Clássica). É para situar os efeitos dessa racionalidade política que o autor situa o nascimento da polícia (police). Este trabalho, portanto, tem como foco investigar a noção de polícia nos escritos de Foucault a partir do prisma de uma genealogia da polícia como bio-polícia e questionar-se se essa ideia nasce como 1) um dispositivo de repressão, como se costuma pensar, ou 2) como uma técnica de aperfeiçoamento da soberania estatal e reforço do Estado dentro do próprio Estado. Neste trabalho defendemos a segunda hipótese.

Abstract Titanosaurs were successful herbivorous dinosaurs widely distributed in all continents during the Cretaceous, with the major diversity in South America. The success of titanosaurs was probably due to several physiological and ecological factors, in addition to a series of morphological traits they achieved during their evolutionary history. However, the generalist nesting behaviour using different palaeoenvironments and strategies was key to accomplish that success. Titanosaur nesting sites have been found extensively around the world, with notable records in Spain, France, Romania, India, and, especially, Argentina. Here, we describe the first titanosaur nesting site from the Late Cretaceous of Brazil that represents the most boreal nesting site for South America. Several egg-clutches, partially preserved, isolated eggs and many eggshell fragments were discovered in an Inceptisol palaeosol profile of the mining Lafarge Quarry, at the Ponte Alta District (Uberaba Municipality, Minas Gerais State), corresponding to the Serra da Galga Formation (Bauru Group, Bauru Basin). Although classical mechanical preparation and CT scans have not revealed embryonic remains in ovo, the eggs and eggshell features match those eggs containing titanosaurian embryos found worldwide. The morphology of the egg-clutches and observations of the sedimentary characteristics bolster the hypothesis that these sauropods were burrow-nester dinosaurs, as was already suggested for the group based on other nesting sites. The egg-clutches distributed in two levels along the Lafarge outcrops, together with the geopalaeontological data collected, provide clear evidence for the first colonial nesting and breeding area of titanosaur dinosaurs in Brazil.

This study reports on the microstructure of Portland cement pastes with nanosilica (NS) and amino-functionalized nanosilica (NSF). For this, NSF dispersion was prepared in a two-phase reaction system, consisting of an aqueous dispersion with dichloromethane, using 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES):NS molar ratio 1:28.62. Cement pastes were analyzed in the fresh state by consistency and in the hardness state by compressive strength, conduction calorimetry, X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermal analysis (TGA), infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP). It was verified that the functionalized nanoparticles affected the hydration kinetic properties, indicating the extension of the induction period. Through microstructural analysis, it was observed that NSF increased the amount of the main mineralogical phases generated during Portland cement hydration or the pozzolanic reaction. Therefore, the NSF improves the Portland cement hydration and contributes to the densification of the microstructure of the cement pastes at 28 days.

Wood is one of the most abundant renewable resources in the world. However, large volumes of waste are generated in the losses and cuts of wood saws, being an important environmental problem. This work aims to evaluate the production of hydrochar from wood residues of Pinus caribaea combined with acid-base treatment for application as dyes Methylene Blue (MB) and Tartrazine Yellow (TAR). Hydrocarbonization was carried out at 200 or 240 ..C for 12 or 24 h, in acidic or basic medium. The pHZPC of the hydrocarbons obtained in acidic medium was between 2.66-4.12 and 4.46-5.76 for those processed in basic medium. The pseudo-secondorder model (PSO) better fitted the adsorption of MB and TAR on Pinus in natura and on hydrochar. In addition, the Sips model was considered the most suitable for MB (qmax= 132.1 mg g-1 for PIN and 149.0 mg g-1 for PIN-200-24-B) and Toth for TAR (qmax= 18.14 mg g-1 for PIN and 23.01 mg g-1 for PIN-200-24-B adsorption isotherms). Therefore, the hydrocarbonization of waste generated from the wood industry in acidic and basic environments has great potential for the treatment of materials such as biosorbents, thus promoting greater sustainability in this sector.

This dataset is related to the article “Insight Into the Long Noncoding RNA and mRNA Coexpression Profile in the Human Blood Transcriptome Upon Leishmania infantum Infection” by S.R. Maruyama, C.A. Fuzo, A.E.R. Oliveira, L.A. Rogerio, N.T. Takamiya, G. Pessenda, E.V. de Melo, A.M. da Silva, A.R. Jesus, V. Carregaro, H.I. Nakaya, R.P. Almeida and J.S. da Silva. Frontiers in Immunology, 2022. Through the reuse of raw sequencing data, we generated original dataset by performing a dual RNA-seq mapping procedure to survey the parasite transcripts found in RNA-seq samples from blood of visceral leishmaniasis patients. Diseased patients with active infection displayed the highest number of reads mapped to L. infantum genome. Even after six months later of the treatment, when the patients were considered cured, parasite reads were still detected. Parasite reads were also detected in asymptomatic individuals. The original dual RNA-seq alignment read count data provided here can be further explored to evaluate either host or parasite transcripts.

Analisa-se aqui a produção científica acadêmica sobre a Educação Infantil na abordagem Reggio Emilia, disponível na Biblioteca Digital de Teses e Dissertações do Instituto Brasileiro de Informação em Ciência e Tecnologia. De enfoque misto, este estudo fez uso da análise bibliométrica e da codificação qualitativa. O corpus documental resultou em 29 trabalhos da área da Educação, publicados entre 2003 e 2021, que circulam entre vários temas na Educação Infantil: formação de professores, protagonismo infantil, práticas pedagógicas e documentação pedagógica, a maioria em nível de mestrado, das regiões Sudeste e Sul. Os estudos sobre Educação Infantil sustentados nessa abordagem vêm desempenhando papel relevante na proposição de práticas pedagógicas voltadas para o desenvolvimento das crianças.

ABSTRACT Lisianthus (Eustoma grandiflorum) is a cut flower grown due to the wide diversity of colors and longevity in the post-harvest. The leaf area measurement is fundamental in plants because the leaves are directly related to several processes such as transpiration, radiation interception and CO2 fixation that enable the plant to grow. The objective of the work was to determine an allometric equation for estimating the leaf area of lisianthus from linear dimensions. 200 leaves were collected and the leaf length (L), leaf width (W), product between length and width (LW) and real leaf area (LA) were measured. The criteria for determining the best model were the highest determination coefficient (R2), Willmott's concordance index (d), lowest Akaike information criterion (AIC), root mean square error (RMSE) and BIAS index closest to zero. The most suitable model for estimating the leaf area of lisianthus is the linear ŷ = 1.387*LW.

Este artigo tem como objetivo identificar os principais desafios enfrentados pelos professores e alunos participantes do Programa Institucional de Bolsas de Iniciação à Docência – PIBID nas aulas remotas de Matemática de uma escola pública estadual de Palmeira dos Índios, Alagoas, Brasil. Trata-se de um estudo exploratório, de abordagem qualitativa que se fundamentou em estudos sobre o ensino de Matemática e o uso de Tecnologias Digitais da Informação e Comunicação – TDIC, sobretudo àqueles que analisam o desenvolvimento de aulas online devido ao necessário distanciamento social durante a pandemia do novo coronavírus. O instrumento de coleta de dados constituiu-se de um questionário online semiestruturado aplicado junto a dois professores e oito licenciandos do curso de Matemática bolsistas do PIBID – UNEAL que atuam nos anos finais do Ensino Fundamental e no Ensino Médio das cidades alagoanas de Palmeira dos Índios e Arapiraca. O questionário foi composto por quatro questões objetivas e uma questão subjetiva que versavam sobre o ensino de Matemática e as dificuldades de ensino e aprendizagem, sobretudo nesse tempo remoto e as respostas foram analisadas a partir da perspectiva da Análise do Conteúdo. Os resultados obtidos apontam para o necessário investimento educacional, principalmente na formação docente relativa ao uso das TDIC e na ampliação do acesso a essas tecnologias. Como o ensino remoto se tornou o mais viável para o trabalho didático-pedagógico durante a pandemia, a identificação das dificuldades elencadas pode contribuir para uma análise crítica do ensino e da aprendizagem matemática, possibilitando a ampliação desta e de outras pesquisas sobre a problemática investigada.

Abstract Background Biomolecular interactions that modulate biological processes occur mainly in cavities throughout the surface of biomolecular structures. In the data science era, structural biology has benefited from the increasing availability of biostructural data due to advances in structural determination and computational methods. In this scenario, data-intensive cavity analysis demands efficient scripting routines built on easily manipulated data structures. To fulfill this need, we developed pyKVFinder, a Python package to detect and characterize cavities in biomolecular structures for data science and automated pipelines. Results pyKVFinder efficiently detects cavities in biomolecular structures and computes their volume, area, depth and hydropathy, storing these cavity properties in NumPy arrays. Benefited from Python ecosystem interoperability and data structures, pyKVFinder can be integrated with third-party scientific packages and libraries for mathematical calculations, machine learning and 3D visualization in automated workflows. As proof of pyKVFinder’s capabilities, we successfully identified and compared ADRP substrate-binding site of SARS-CoV-2 and a set of homologous proteins with pyKVFinder, showing its integrability with data science packages such as matplotlib, NGL Viewer, SciPy and Jupyter notebook. Conclusions We introduce an efficient, highly versatile and easily integrable software for detecting and characterizing biomolecular cavities in data science applications and automated protocols. pyKVFinder facilitates biostructural data analysis with scripting routines in the Python ecosystem and can be building blocks for data science and drug design applications.

The research aimed to identify the investment and income generation strategies of family farmers in the municipality of Irati-PR. The specific objectives were: to characterize the profile of the family farmer and his property, to list the income generation strategies of family farmers, and describe the investment choices of family farmers. A survey was carried out with the application of 50 closed questionnaires to rural producers. The results show that the way in which family farming properties obtain income is concentrated on tobacco production, which is one of the three main sources for 74% of respondents. In addition, the production of soy, corn, and beans is recurrent. The rural producers have made investments in the last 10 years mainly aimed at the acquisition of agricultural machinery, land acquisition, and construction of warehouses buildings. The producers mainly use resources from PRONAF, which is considered the most important source of financing.

Objetivou-se por esse estudo compreender os estudantes do último ano do curso técnico integrado em agroecologia em suas percepções acerca dos movimentos de luta pela terra e reforma agrária, bem como promover a troca de saberes entre esses sujeitos e representantes de movimentos sociais do campo em reflexo ao currículo do curso. O curso técnico em Agroecologia do IFAL/Campus Murici – em sua organização curricular – não abrange pautas que almejam a troca de saberes, envolvendo aspectos sociais do campo, como a Reforma Agrária. Utilizou-se da pesquisa-ação, como também análise de conteúdo, documental e bibliográfica para avaliação dos resultados. Entendeu-se que os estudantes possuem distanciamento das reais proposições da Agroecologia, principalmente a Reforma Agrária. Sobre a organização curricular, esta encontra-se pautada no produtivismo alinhado à agronomia tradicional. A população que abrange assentados e acampados não compreende a real função do curso e a necessidade de ocupação desses espaços para promoção de justiça social como sujeito social.

Objetivou-se apreender sobre a percepção das crianças e adolescentes no que se refere ao impacto que a pandemia causou na comunidade escolar, por meio dos relatos de suas vivências. A ação “Qualidade de vida no contexto da pandemia” foi realizada em junho de 2021 de forma remota, pelo Google Meet, devido ao período pandêmico em relação à Covid-19. Por meio de roda de conversa foi introduzido o tema com o desenvolvimento de dinâmica, vídeo interativo e utilização de um aplicativo com feedback em tempo real. No momento seguinte foi realizada uma apresentação teórica interativa sobre a temática e término das atividades. Os 120 participantes tiveram oportunidade de se expressar e compartilhar suas ideias, emoções e percepções do período de isolamento social, com reflexões individuais e do grupo. Evidenciou-se que a roda de conversa, mesmo que aplicada remotamente, oportunizou a possibilidade de perceber as vivências dos participantes em relação ao cenário pandêmico.

Os insetos de solo são fundamentais para o equilíbrio dos agroecossistemas. Facilmente coletáveis, caracterizam-se por serem excelentes bioindicadores do sistema como um todo. Objetivou-se com este trabalho, realizar um levantamento de insetos edáficos em um sistema convencional e um de base ecológica, avaliando qual ambiente proporciona maior biodiversidade. Foram utilizadas armadilhas do tipo “Pitfall traps” confeccionadas a partir de garrafas pet (2L) cortadas ao meio a uma altura de 15 cm no período seco e 20 cm no período chuvoso, enterradas com a borda no nível do solo, cada uma contendo 500 ml de água e 5 gotas de detergente, colocando-se 5 armadilhas em cada área de cultivo e distribuídas de forma aleatória. Os insetos coletados foram armazenados em recipientes contendo álcool 70% para a conservação. O processo de triagem, quantificação e classificação em nível de ordem foram efetuadas no laboratório de biologia do Campus Professor Barros Araújo da UESPI. As armadilhas mostraram-se eficientes para a captura de insetos. Em ambos os sistemas, a ordem Hymenoptera apresentou-se como a mais abundante, seguida pela Coleoptera. O número de insetos capturados no sistema convencional foi menor. O sistema ecológico obteve uma maior diversidade de ordens.

O Serviço Social brasileiro acumulou nas últimas quatro décadas um legado crítico que posiciona a profissão alinhada a um projeto de sociedade livre de todas as formas de exploração, opressão e expropriação. Como parte do movimento radical da história, enfrenta um conjunto de desafios próprios do capital em crise, mergulhada na desfaçatez do neoliberalismo que trouxe à tona em seu projeto, as faces mais perversas da ultradireita fascista e conservadora. De um lado, uma trajetória alicerçada na organização política e social desta categoria nas frentes mais importantes de luta e resistência do país, com uma formação profissional crítica, consolidada na profícua produção acadêmico-científica graduada e pós-graduada. Além da ocupação profissional nos mais diversos espaços organizacionais. De outro, projetos que empurram a profissão um cariz conservador de suas origens de controle social da classe trabalhadora à serviço do grande capital. É nesta encruzilhada onde se encontram os projetos de profissão, que destacamos como o debate que articula raça, classe, gênero, sexualidades e territorialidades despontam como força motriz imprescindível para as reconstruções necessárias que se avizinham nos próximos episódios da história.

BackgroundChagas disease (ChD) is caused by Trypanosoma cruzi. The genetic structure of the species is divided into seven distinct genetic groups, TcI to TcVI, and Tcbat, which have shown differences in terms of geographic distribution, biological properties, and susceptibility to drugs. However, the association between genetic variability and clinical forms of ChD has not yet been fully elucidated. The predominance of TcII and TcVI discrete typing units (DTUs) (genetic groups) is known to occur in several Brazilian regions and is associated with both the domestic and the wild cycles of ChD. Thus, this study aimed to verify the genotypes of the parasites present in 330 patients with chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy (CCC) from different Brazilian states attended at the Clinical Hospital of the Ribeirão Preto Medical School and to assess the existence of a correlation between the clinical forms with the main cardiovascular risk factors and the genetics of the parasite.Methodology principal findingsAll patients with CCC were clinically evaluated through anamnesis, physical examination, biochemical tests, 12-lead electrocardiogram, echocardiogram and chest X-ray. Peripheral blood (5 mL) was collected in guanidine/ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid from each patient for DNA extraction and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for Chagas disease and genotyping of the parasite in the 7 DTUs. Parasite genotyping was performed using conventional multilocus PCR. Samples of only 175 patients were positive after amplification of the specific genes contained in the T. cruzi genotyping criteria. TcII (64/175), TcVI (9/175), and TcI (3/175) DTUs were predominant, followed by TcII/TcV/TcVI (74/175), and TcII/TcVI (23/175). The TcIII and TcIV DTU´s was detected in only one sample of CCC patients.Conclusions/significanceOur data corroborate previous findings, indicating the predominance of the TcII genotype in patients with CCC of Brazilian origin. Moreover, this study pioneered disclosing a direct correlation between the TcII DTU and severe CCC.

Objetivo: Explicar os motivos da Síndrome de Down ser considerada um fator de risco para a Doença de Alzheimer, através da descrição dos marcadores genéticos envolvidos nessa relação. Metodologia: Foram feitas buscas na Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde e na PubMed, com uso destes descritores, em inglês e português: “Síndrome de Down”, “Trissomia do 21”; “Doença de Alzheimer”; “Demência”, “Mongolismo”, “Envelhecimento”; “Demência por Alzheimer”; “Fatores de riscos”. Foram recuperados 45 artigos, resultando, após o refinamento, em 15 selecionados, todos referentes à PubMed. Resultados e discussão: O aumento da expectativa de vida das pessoas com Síndrome de Down trouxe um maior risco para a demência pela Doença de Alzheimer. Tal evolução juntou-se aos efeitos genéticos vindos da trissomia, em especial da sua forma total, sendo os principais as cópias extras de genes, como o APP, aumentando ainda mais o risco para o desenvolvimento dessa doença, por desencadear eventos como o excesso do peptídeo -amilóide. Conclusão: A trissomia do cromossomo 21 e os seus efeitos genéticos e moleculares são essenciais para o surgimento da demência pela Doença de Alzheimer, comprovando-se a necessidade de mais estudos que elucidem essa relação genética entre essa patologia e a Síndrome de Down.

This investigation aimed to assess the effect of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) as an adjuvant treatment to alleviate visceral leishmaniasis (VL). The present work includes both blinded randomized clinical intervention and experimental in vitro studies. The clinical trial included 60 patients with VL randomly allocated into two groups: a test group (n = 30) treated with meglumine antimoniate plus NAC (SbV + NAC) and a control group (n = 30) treated with meglumine antimoniate only (SbV). The primary outcome was clinical cure (absence of fever, spleen and liver sizes reduction, and hematological improvement) in 180 days. The cure rate did not differ between the groups; both groups had similar results in all readout indices. The immunological parameters of the patients treated with SbV + NAC showed higher sCD40L in sera during treatment, and the levels of sCD40L were negatively correlated with Interleukin-10 (IL-10) serum levels. In addition, data estimation showed a negative correlation between the sCD40L levels and the spleen size in patients with VL. For the in vitro experiments, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) or PBMC-derived macrophages from healthy donors were exposed to soluble Leishmania antigen (SLA) or infected with stationary promastigotes of Leishmania infantum in the presence or absence of NAC. Results revealed that NAC treatment of SLA-stimulated PBMCs reduces the frequency of monocytes producing IL-10 and lowers the frequency of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells expressing (pro-)inflammatory cytokines. Together, these results suggest that NAC treatment may modulate the immune response in patients with VL, thus warranting additional investigations to support its case use as an adjuvant to antimony therapy for VL.

Owing to the high prices of agricultural inputs, it is necessary to seek alternatives that minimize costs during the seedling production stage, such as the use of agro-industrial residues to formulate substrates and the application of humic substances to increase the availability of nutrients. This study aimed to evaluate the production of yellow passion fruit seedlings in substrates based on carnauba bagana under increasing doses of humic substances. The design was completely randomized, in a 3 x 4 factorial scheme, referring to three substrates formulated with carnauba bagana (0, 50 and 100 %) plus soil and four doses of humic substances (0, 12.5, 25 and 50 g L-1). The use of carnauba bagana in the substrate increased the leaf area, plant height, stem diameter, root length, root volume, shoot and root dry mass, and improved the seedlings quality. The application of humic substances to the substrate did not stimulate the seedlings development.

Resumo Muito se tem falado sobre a importância dos indicadores científicos no processo de crescimento e desenvolvimento dos países. Nesse cenário, o presente trabalho buscou analisar o empenho dos bolsistas de pós-doutorado júnior em algumas áreas de Ciências Biológicas (botânica, bioquímica, farmacologia e ecologia) no Brasil. Esta pesquisa classificou-se como descritiva quanto ao seu objetivo e fez uso da bibliometria para analisar os dados encontrados. O desempenho de 97 bolsistas de pós-doutorado júnior com bolsa vigente no site do Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, foi analisado através do banco de dados Scopus. Os resultados obtidos demonstram que São Paulo é o estado brasileiro que apresenta o maior número de bolsistas (cerca de 20,62%), sendo a Universidade de São Paulo a instituição com a maior predominância de pós-doutorandos (12,37%). A botânica apresenta papel de destaque como área de atuação no campo das Ciências Biológicas, com o maior número de artigos indexados na base Scopus, apresentando uma média de 10,63 artigos por pesquisador. A área de Ecologia apresenta a maior média anual de publicações, com uma média de 1,56 publicações por ano. Observa-se que o pós-doutorado júnior é uma experiência que pode proporcionar avanço do conhecimento e capacitação científica e tecnológica visando à aplicação dos resultados em diversos setores sociais.