A. K. Wollstonecraft: una ilustradora botánica del siglo XIX en la isla de Cuba. Principales datos biográficos y una aproximación a su obra Specimens of the plants and fruits of the Island of Cuba (1826) / A. K. Wollstonecraft: a botanical illustrator from the 19th century on the island of cuba. Main biographical notes and an approximation to her work specimens of the plants and fruits of the island of cuba (1826)

Nancy Anne Kingsbury Wollstonecraft nació en octubre de 1781. Los primeros datos que tenemos sobre ella la sitúan en Estados Unidos, desde donde viajaría a Matanzas (Cuba), residiendo varios años allí y trabajando en una gran obra de botánica ilustrada, hasta su muerte, el 16 de mayo de 1828. La obra de Nancy Anne Kingsbury Wollstonecraft -a partir de ahora, A. K. Wollstonecraft- comprende observaciones sobre más de cien especies vegetales de la Isla de Cuba, datos sobre la etimología de su nomenclatura, usos y aplicaciones de las plantas, así como datos sobre los hechos históricos que la rodean y sus propias reflexiones personales. Esto convierte a esta obra en un manuscrito extraordinario que transita entre la ciencia, el arte y el relato de viajes. En este artículo se presentan las principales referencias de los datos biográficos conocidos hasta el momento y un análisis introductorio a su obra botánica ilustrada.(AU)

Nancy Anne Kingsbury Wollstonecraft was born in October 1781. The first information we have about her places her in the United States, where she would travel to Matanzas (Cuba), residing there for several years and working on a great manuscript on illustrated botany, until her death. death, May 16, 1828. The work of Nancy Anne Kingsbury Wollstonecraft -A. K. Wollstonecraft- includes observations on more than one hundred types of plants on the Island of Cuba through botanical classification, it also includes data on the etymology of its nomenclature, uses and applications, and data on the historical facts that surrounding their own personal reflections; which makes this work an extraordinary manuscript that travels through science, art, and travelogues. This paper explores the main references of the biographical data known to date and an introductory analysis of her illustrated botanical work.(AU)

El arte al servicio de la ciencia: antecedentes artísticos para la impresión total del paisaje en Alexander von Humboldt / Art in the service of science: artistic antecedents for the total representation of the landscape in Alexander von Humboldt

Se estudia la aportación de Alexander von Humboldt a la representación natural que se sitúa entre la visión científica y el sentimiento artístico. Humboldt es considerado como el creador de un ‘arte científico’: la representación artística al servicio de la ciencia. Esta representación iconográfica de la botánica, la zoología y, ante todo, de los restos materiales de las culturas prehispánicas así como su expresión artística, proporcionó una nueva imagen de América que hasta entonces estaba ampliamente dominada por la fantasía europea. En el trabajo se exponen sus criterios para elaborar lo que se ha llamado un arte científico y se profundiza sobre su teoría de la impresión total de la naturaleza. Finalmente, se reflexiona sobre las referencias artísticas que Humboldt pudo incorporar a su sistema de representación y las influencias de éstas en su programa teórico (AU)

This study addresses the contribution of Alexander von Humboldt to the natural representation that is situated between scientific vision and artistic sentiment. Humboldt is considered as the creator of a ‘scientific art’, i.e., artistic representation in the service of science. This iconographic representation of botanic and zoological specimens, and above all of the material remains of Pre-Hispanic cultures and their artistic expression provided a new image of America that had previously been heavily dominated by European fantasy. This paper describes his criteria for developing what he called scientific art and explores his theory of the total representation of nature. Finally, it reflects on the artistic references that Humboldt was able to incorporate into his representation system and their influence on his theoretical program (AU)

Neurobehavioral development prior to term-age of preterm infants and acute stressful events during neonatal hospitalization.

BACKGROUND: Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs) protect preterm infants; otherwise, this is a stressful environment including painful stimuli. AIMS: To compare early neurobehavioral development prior to term-age in preterm infants at 34-36weeks of post-conceptional age in different gestational ages, and to examine the effects of prematurity level and acute stressful events during NICU hospitalization on neurobehavioral development. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional design. SUBJECTS: Forth-five preterm infants, 34-36weeks of post-conceptional age, were distributed into groups: extreme preterm (EPT; 23-28weeks of gestational age; n=10), moderate preterm (MPT; 29-32weeks of gestational age; n=10), late preterm (LPT; 34-36weeks of gestational age; n=25). OUTCOME MEASURES: All of the neonates were evaluated using the Neurobehavioral Assessment of Preterm Infant (NAPI) prior to 37weeks of post-conceptional age. The Neonatal Infant Stressor Scale (NISS) was applied for EPT and MPT infants during NICU hospitalization, and medical charts were analyzed. RESULTS: The EPT group experienced significantly more acute stressful events during NICU hospitalization than the MPT group. The MPT group had lower scores in motor development and vigor than the EPT and LPT group, and they exhibited poorer quality crying than the LPT group. Motor development and vigor and alertness and orientation in preterm infants were predicted by prematurity level and acute stressful events. CONCLUSION: The extreme preterm was exposed to higher stressful experiences than moderate and late preterm infants. However, the moderate preterm infants presented more vulnerable than the other counterparts in motor and vigor outcomes.

Proteomic analysis of the nucleus accumbens of rats with different vulnerability to cocaine addiction.

Vulnerability to the addictive effects of drugs of abuse varies among individuals, but the biological basis of these differences are poorly known. This work tries to increase this knowledge by comparing the brain proteome of animals with different rate of extinction of cocaine-seeking behaviour. To achieve this goal, we used a place-preference paradigm to separate Sprague Dawley rats in two groups: rats that extinguished (E) and rats that did not extinguish (NE) cocaine-seeking behaviour after a five-day period of drug abstinence. Once the phenotype was established, we compared the protein expression in the nucleus accumbens (NAC) of these animals after a single injection of either saline (SAL) or cocaine (COC, 15 mg/kg). The analysis of protein expression was performed by 2-dimensional electrophoresis followed by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry. When comparing E SAL and NE SAL animals we found significant differences in the expression level of 5 proteins: ATP synthase subunit alpha, fumarate hydratase, transketolase, NADH dehydrogenase [ubiquinone] flavoprotein 2 and glutathione transferase omega-1. A single injection of COC differently alters the NAC proteome of E and NE rats; thus in E COC animals there was an alteration in the expression of 6 proteins, including dihydropyrimidinase-related protein 2 and NADH dehydrogenase [ubiquinone] 1 alpha subcomplex subunit 10; whereas in NE COC rats 9 proteins were altered (including alpha-synuclein, peroxiredoxin-2 and peroxiredoxin-5). These proteins could be potential biomarkers of individual vulnerability to cocaine abuse and may be helpful in designing new treatments for cocaine addiction.

Elastic image registration of 2-D gels for differential and repeatability studies.

One of the main applications of electrophoretic 2-D gels is the analysis of differential responses between different conditions. For this reason, specific spots are present in one of the images, but not in the other. In some other occasions, the same experiment is repeated between 2 and 12 times in order to increase statistical significance. In both situations, one of the major difficulties of these analysis is that 2-D gels are affected by spatial distortions due to run-time differences and dye-front deformations, resulting in images that are significantly dissimilar not only because of their content, but also because of their geometry. In this technical brief, we show how to use free, state-of-the-art image registration and fusion algorithms developed by us for solving the problem of comparing differential expression profiles, or computing an "average" image from a series of virtually identical gels.

Morphine and yohimbine regulate midkine gene expression in the rat hippocampus.

Pleiotrophin and midkine are two recently discovered growth factors that promote survival and differentiation of catecholaminergic neurons. Chronic opioid stimulation has been reported to induce marked alterations of the locus coeruleus-hippocampus noradrenergic pathway, an effect that is prevented when opioids are coadministered with the alpha2-adrenoceptor antagonist yohimbine. The present work tries to examine a possible link between yohimbine reversal of morphine effects and pleiotrophin/midkine activation in the rat hippocampus by studying the levels of expression of pleiotrophin and midkine in response to acute and chronic administration of morphine, yohimbine and combinations of both drugs. Pleiotrophin gene expression was not altered by any treatment; however midkine mRNA levels were increased after chronic treatment with morphine. Chronic administration of yohimbine alone also increased midkine expression levels, whereas yohimbine and morphine administered together exhibited summatory effects on the upregulation of midkine expression levels. The data suggest that midkine could play a role in the prevention of opioid-induced neuroadaptations in hippocampus by yohimbine.

Yohimbine prevents morphine-induced changes of glial fibrillary acidic protein in brainstem and alpha2-adrenoceptor gene expression in hippocampus.

The alpha(2)-adrenoceptor antagonist yohimbine is known to oppose to several pharmacological effects of opioid drugs, but the consequences and the mechanisms involved remain to be clearly established. In the present study we have checked the effects of yohimbine on morphine-induced alterations of the expression of key proteins (glial fibrillary acidic protein, GFAP) and genes (alpha(2)-adrenoceptors) in rat brain areas known to be relevant in opioid dependence, addiction and individual vulnerability to drug abuse. Rats were treated with morphine in the presence or absence of yohimbine. The effects of the treatments on GFAP expression were studied by immunohistochemical staining in Locus Coeruleus (LC) and Nucleus of the Solitary Tract (NST), two important noradrenergic nuclei. In addition, drug effects on alpha(2)-adrenoceptor gene expression were determined by real time RT-PCR in the hippocampus, a brain area that receives noradrenergic input from the brainstem. Morphine administration increased GFAP expression both in LC and NST as it was previously reported in other brain areas. Yohimbine was found to efficiently prevent morphine-induced GFAP upregulation. Chronic (but not acute) morphine downregulated mRNA levels of alpha(2A)- and alpha(2C)-adrenoceptors in the hippocampus, while simultaneously increased the expression of the alpha(2B)-adrenoceptor gene. Again, yohimbine was able to prevent morphine-induced changes in the levels of expression of the three alpha(2)-adrenoceptor genes. These results correlate the well-established reduction of opioid dependence and addiction by yohimbine and suggest that this drug could interfere with the neural plasticity induced by chronic morphine in central noradrenergic pathways.

The alpha2-adrenoceptor antagonist yohimbine reduces glial fibrillary acidic protein upregulation induced by chronic morphine administration.

Previous literature data show prominent interactions between alpha(2)-adrenoceptor ligands and opioid drugs, however, the nature of such interactions is still largely unknown. In the present study, we aimed to examine the potential protective effect of yohimbine, a alpha(2)-adrenoceptor antagonist, against glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) alterations elicited by chronic morphine treatment. Increased astrogliosis, as indicated by increased GFAP immunohistochemical staining, was observed in the ventral tegmental area, nucleus accumbens shell, and frontal cortex of chronic morphine-treated (10 mg kg(-1), i.p., every 12 h for 13 days) rats compared with those treated with saline. Pretreatment with yohimbine (2 mg kg(-1), i.p., 30 min before each morphine injection) provided protection against morphine-induced GFAP upregulation. The present study demonstrates that yohimbine pretreatment reduces long-term morphine exposure-induced alterations in the astroglial reaction, suggesting that alpha(2)-adrenergic mechanisms may play an important role in mediating morphine-induced pathological effects in the brain.

Estudo in vitro da ação protetora de selantes oclusais contra microinfiltração: avaliação de duas metodologias / Study in vitro of the influence of oclusal sealants on the microleakage: evaluation of two methodologies

O presente estudo avalia, in vitro, a influência de selantes oclusais na microinfiltração na interface esmalte/selante de fissuras, submetidos à ciclagem térmica e de pH. A amostra foi constituída pelo grupo controle (C), que não recebeu tratamento por selante algum, e por três grupos experimentais (F, V e A), tratados por diferentes materiais: o selante resinoso, Alpha Seal (A), o fluoretado, FluroShield (F), e o cimento ionomérico híbrido, Vitremer (V). Os grupos foram estratificados conforme a natureza da ciclagem aplicada: subgrupos submetidos à ciclagem térmica (C1, F1, V1 e A1) e subgrupos submetidos à ciclagem térmica e de pH ácido (C2, F2, V2 e A2), simulando alto desafio cariogênico. Os espécimes foram imersos em solução reveladora de microinfiltração e, com o auxílio de lupa estereoscópica, foi mensurada a penetração do corante azul de metileno na interface selante/esmalte, atribuindo-se os escores representativos da microinfiltração. A seguir, os fragmentos foram fotografados, e as microinfiltrações reveladas nas imagens digitalizadas foram mensuradas através de medidas lineares da interface selante/esmalte. Os dados obtidos através das duas metodologias utilizadas indicam que os selantes resinosos (A e F) expressaram maior grau de proteção das fissuras, perante a influência exercida pelo cimento de ionômero de vidro (V). Considerando-se a metodologia da avaliação do grau de microinfiltração que recorre a imagens fotográficas digitalizadas, constata-se, através das médias e dos EPM obtidos, que este recurso oferece resultados significativamente representativos em relação ao método de análise direta em lupa estereóscópica.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of novel 2-(1H-imidazol-4-yl)cyclopropane carboxylic acids: key intermediates for H3 histamine receptor ligands.

A new synthetic methodology to provide cis-2-(1H-imidazol-4-yl)-cyclopropane carboxylic acids is described. These cyclopropanes are useful for the preparation of novel H(3) receptor agents.