Advances in the computational analysis of SARS-COV2 genome

Nonlinear Dynamics - Given a data-set of Ribonucleic acid (RNA) sequences we can infer the phylogenetics of the samples and tackle the information for scientific purposes. Based on current data and...     

In Vivo Biological Behavior of Polymer Scaffolds of Natural Origin in the Bone Repair Process

Autologous bone grafts, used mainly in extensive bone loss, are considered the gold standard treatment in regenerative medicine, but still have limitations mainly in relation to the amount of bone available, donor area, morbidity and creation of additional surgical area. This fact encourages tissue engineering in relation to the need to develop new biomaterials, from sources other than the individual himself. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the effects of an elastin and collagen matrix on the bone repair process in critical size defects in rat calvaria. The animals (Wistar rats, n = 30) were submitted to a surgical procedure to create the bone defect and were divided into three groups: Control Group (CG, n = 10), defects filled with blood clot; E24/37 Group (E24/37, n = 10), defects filled with bovine elastin matrix hydrolyzed for 24 h at 37 °C and C24/25 Group (C24/25, n = 10), defects filled with porcine collagen matrix hydrolyzed for 24 h at 25 °C. Macroscopic and radiographic analyses demonstrated the absence of inflammatory signs and infection. Microtomographical 2D and 3D images showed centripetal bone growth and restricted margins of the bone defect. Histologically, the images confirmed the pattern of bone deposition at the margins of the remaining bone and without complete closure by bone tissue. In the morphometric analysis, the groups E24/37 and C24/25 (13.68 ± 1.44; 53.20 ± 4.47, respectively) showed statistically significant differences in relation to the CG (5.86 ± 2.87). It was concluded that the matrices used as scaffolds are biocompatible and increase the formation of new bone in a critical size defect, with greater formation in the polymer derived from the intestinal serous layer of porcine origin (C24/25).     

Synthesis of lupeol derivatives and their antileishmanial and antitrypanosomal activities

The natural product lupeol 1 was isolated from aerial parts of Vernonia scorpioides with satisfactory yield, which made it viable to be used as starting material in semisynthetic approach. Ten lupeol derivatives 2–11 were prepared by classical procedures. Including, five new esters derivatives 7–11, which were obtained by structural modifications in the isopropylidene fragment. All semisynthetic compounds and lupeol 1–11 were confirmed by ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR and HRMS. Their antiprotozoal activity was evaluated in vitro against L. amazonensis and T. cruzi. Derivative 6 showed the best antitrypanosomal activity (IC₅₀ = 12.48 μg/mL) and the lowest cytotoxic derivative (CC₅₀ = 161.50 μg/mL). The mechanism of action of the most active derivatives (4, 6 and 11) is not dependent from the enzyme trypanothione reductase.     

Two different synthetic routes involving the reaction of dodecylamine or nicotinamide with crystalline lamellar vanadylphosphate

The crystalline lamellar compound, VOPO₄·2H₂O, was employed as host to react with a long monoamine aliphatic chain, dodecylamine, and with an aromatic derivative, nicotinamide, using two distinct synthetic approaches: in the solid state and from aqueous solution. The resulting compounds were characterized by elemental analysis, infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffractometry, thermogravimetry and SEM microscopy. From X-ray diffraction patterns, the calculated increase of the interlayer distance was 2.05 nm for the dodecylamine, containing product, which is in agreement with the intercalation process, and was observed with both reactions routes. On the contrary, the guest nicotinamide molecule was not inserted into the lamellar cavity. The reaction in the solid state caused a small modification of the phosphate microstructure, in comparison with the solution procedure. The aliphatic amine molecules are oriented in a bilayer inside the host cavity by forming an angle of 67° with the inorganic lamella. The thermal decomposition for both series of synthesized compounds did not demonstrate any difference in behavior.     

Solving multiple-objective problems in the objective space

Projection and relaxation techniques are employed to decompose a multiobjective problem into a two-level structure. The basic manipulation consists in projecting the decision variables onto the space of the implicit tradeoffs, allowing the definition of a relaxed multiobjective master problem directly in the objective space. An additional subproblem tests the feasibility of the solution encountered by the relaxed problem. Some properties of the relaxed problem (linearity, small number of variables, etc.) render its solution efficient by a number of methods. Representatives of two different classes of multiobjective methods [the Geoffrion, Dyer, Feinberg (GDF) method and the fuzzy method of Baptistella and Ollero] are implemented and applied within this context to a water resources allocation problem. The results attest the computational viability of the overall procedure and its usefulness for the solution of multiobjective problems.This work was partially sponsored by grants from CNP_q and FAPESP, Brazil. The authors are indebted to the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments.     

Electroanalytical and chromatographic determination of pentachlorophenol and related molecules in a contaminated soil: a real case example

Electroanalytical and chromatographic methodologies have been applied for the determination of pentachlorophenol (PCP) and some of its derivatives in real soil samples contaminated by industrial discharge. The analytes were extracted with hexane from soil samples collected at different points of the site and mixed to produce a representative sample. Square wave voltammetry (SWV) experiments were carried out on either a boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrode or a gold ultramicroelectrode (Au-UME) in an analyte composed by the Britton-Robinson (B-R) buffer at pH 5.5 with the direct addition of proper amounts of the extract. The voltammetric responses revealed an irreversible anodic peak at approximately 0.80 V vs. Ag/AgCl with a peak current showing a linear dependence on PCP concentration. This linear relationship yielded a detection limit (DL) of 2×10⁻⁸ mol l⁻¹ (or 5.5 μg l⁻¹) for the BDD electrode and 6.9×10⁻⁸ mol l⁻¹ (18.4 μg l⁻¹) for the Au-UME, while the independently measured HPLC detection limit was 1.1×10⁻⁸ mol l⁻¹ (3.0 μg l⁻¹). The application of electroanalytical and chromatographic methodologies in the analysis of soil extracts revealed, besides the PCP responses, signals for some related molecules such as o-tetrachlorobenzoquinone (o-chloranil), hexachlorobenzene and tetrachlorophenol. Recovering experiments for PCP showed a concentration of 27.5 mg kg⁻¹ for the electroanalytical determinations and 26.8 mg kg⁻¹ for the HPLC analysis, values exceedingly high if considering that the maximum residue limit established for natural waters by the Brazilian Environmental Agency is 10 μg l⁻¹.