Publications by authors named "Maria A DA Silva"

Zinc is an essential metal to living organisms, including corals and their symbiotic microalgae (Symbiodiniaceae). Both Zn(II) deprivation and overload are capable of leading to dysfunctional metabolism, coral bleaching, and even organism death. The present work investigated the effects of chemically defined Zn species (free Zn, ZnO nanoparticles, and the complexes Zn-histidinate and Zn-EDTA) over the growth of the dinoflagellates Symbiodinium microadriaticum, Breviolum minutum, and Effrenium voratum, and on the trypsin-like proteolytic activity of the hydrocoral Millepora alcicornis.

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The objective of the current study was to carry out a survey of the main anatomopathological alterations in raising quails and evaluate possible interference of these in the bone tissue. To obtain the data, 23 quails were collected from farm in the central Serrana region of Espírito Santo. Necropsies with macroscopic descriptions, microbiological, coproparasitological, radiographic and histomorphometric tests were carried out.

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To investigate the antifungal activity of two different functionalized gold nanoparticles (AuNP), those stabilized with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide and those conjugated with cysteine, and their effects on the architecture of biofilms. : Biofilms were studied by crystal violet binding assay and scanning electron microscopy. We investigated the effects of AuNPs on reactive oxygen species, reactive nitrogen intermediates and enzymatic and nonenzymatic antioxidant defenses.

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Chitinase chi18-5 is an enzyme able to hydrolyze chitin and chitosan producing chitooligosaccharides (COS) of potential technological interest. chi18-5 is produced naturally by the fungus Trichoderma atroviride. It belongs to the glycosyl hydrolase (GH) family 18 of the Carbohydrate Active Enzyme (CAZy) database and it has 83% identity compared to the well-characterized chi42 of Trichoderma harzianum.

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Purpose: Leishmaniasis are infectious and zoonotic diseases and present in cutaneous and visceral forms. Cutaneous leishmaniasis is endemic and widely distributed throughout the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil. Several cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis in humans and dogs associated with Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis have been reported in the state.

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Studying the occurrence of Leishmania in bats would help toward clarifying the role of these animals in epidemiological cycles. Therefore, the objective of this study was to detect Leishmania spp. in bats from the Brazilian State of Espírito Santo.

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Background: Persister cells (PCs) make up a small fraction of microbial population, can survive lethal concentrations of antimicrobial agents. In recent years, has emerged as being a frequent fungal agent of medical devices subject to biofilm infections. However, PCs are still poorly understood.

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The broad-snouted caiman, Caiman latirostris (Daudin, 1802), is one of the six crocodilian species from Brazil. The topography, morphology and morphometry of the broad-snouted caiman heart were studied. Data were obtained from the necropsy of four adult animals, three females and one male.

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NK cells have been seen as potential agents in adoptive immunotherapy for cancer. The main challenge for the success of this approach is to obtain a great quantity of activated NK cells for adoptive transfer. The present study had aimed to evaluate the effect of a feeder layer of irradiated MSCs in the in vitro expansion of NK cells.

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This study elucidated for the first time, under laboratory conditions, the susceptibility of Lymnaea columella to infective juveniles of Heterorhabditis baujardi LPP7. Exposure to the nematodes induced an average mortality rate of 66.66% in the population of L.

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Hybrid organic-inorganic materials have been seen as a promising approach to produce sensors for the detection and/or recognition of heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAAs). This work shows the synthesis of a hybrid film as a result of the incorporation of [Fe(CN)(NH)] into chitosan (CS); CS-[(CN)Fe(NH)]. The sensitivity of CS-[(CN)Fe(NH)] toward HAA-like species was evaluated by using pyrazine (pz) as probe molecule in vapor phase by means of electrochemistry and spectroscopic techniques.

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The growth of human population and deficient pollution control measures pose significant challenge to the environment. Despite conservation efforts, all sea turtle species are at some risk of extinction. The present study investigated the effect of marine debris on the gastrointestinal tract of green turtles in southeastern Brazil.

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Background: Candida tropicalis is increasingly becoming among the most commonly isolated pathogens causing fungal infections with an important biofilm-forming capacity.

Purpose: This study addresses the antifungal effect of rubiadin (AQ1) and rubiadin 1-methyl ether (AQ2), two photosensitizing anthraquinones (AQs) isolated from Heterophyllaea pustulata, against C. tropicalis biofilms, by studying the cellular stress and antioxidant response in two experimental conditions: darkness and irradiation.

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Human behavior is influenced both by approach and avoidance automatic reactions to positive and negative stimulus, respectively, but these reactions have not been well studied in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) patients. Moreover, studies employing spatial stimulus-response compatibility tasks in ADHD and healthy control (HC) subjects are scarce and inconclusive. The present study investigated inhibitory control and emotional processing in ADHD adults with a modified stimulus-response compatibility task in which spatial and emotional features of affective stimuli had to be processed together to select the correct response.

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Several studies report that (+)-usnic acid, a lichen secondary metabolite, inhibits growth of different bacteria and fungi; however, the mechanism of its antimicrobial activity remains unknown. In this study, we explored the ability of usnic acid, obtained from , as an antibiofilm agent against azole-resistant and azole-sensitive Candida albicans strains by studying the cellular stress and antioxidant response in biofilms. The biofilm inhibitory concentration of usnic acid (4 µg/mL) exhibited a significant biofilm inhibition, 71.

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Introduction: Cerebral toxoplasmosis is the most common cause of space occupying brain lesion in patients with HIV/AIDS in Brazil. In the post-HAART era, it is responsible for high rates of morbidity and mortality worldwide.

Materials And Methods: This study consists of a case series of 56 patients diagnosed with cerebral toxoplasmosis whose clinical features, brain imaging and cerebrospinal fluid aspects were analyzed.

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Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the expression of the immunohistochemical markers p16 and Ki-67 in cervical intraepithelial neoplasms and their influence on the level of agreement among different observers and for the same observer.

Methods: The study included 184 patients with cervical intraepithelial neoplasms previously confirmed through biopsies performed between 2005 and 2006. Three pathologists reviewed the biopsies by using hematoxylin-eosin staining to reach a consensus on the diagnosis.

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Raphiodon echinus (R. echinus) is used in Brazilian folk medicine for the treatment of inflammation, coughs, and infectious diseases. However, no information is available on the potential antioxidant, cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of this plant.

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Background: The continuing emergence of infections with antifungal resistant Candida strains requires a constant search for new antifungal drugs, with the plant kingdom being an important source of chemical structures.

Purpose: The present study investigated the antifungal effect of 2',4'-dihydroxy-5'-(1''',1'''-dimethylallyl)-8-prenylpinocembrin (8PP, formerly 6PP), a natural prenylflavonoid, on Candida albicans biofilms, and compared this with an azole antifungal (fluconazole) by studying the cellular stress and antioxidant response.

Study Design/methods: The fluconazole sensitive (SCa) and azole-resistant (RCa) C.

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Objective: Adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) display affective problems and impaired attention. Mood in ADHD can be improved by mindful awareness practices (MAP), but results are mixed regarding the enhancement of attentional performance. Here we evaluated MAP-induced changes in quality of life (QoL), mood, and attention in adult ADHD patients and controls using more measures of attention than prior studies.

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The Crato Formation paleoflora is one of the few equatorial floras of the Early Cretaceous. It is diverse, with many angiosperms, especially representatives of the clades magnoliids, monocotyledons and eudicots, which confirms the assumption that angiosperm diversity during the last part of the Early Cretaceous was reasonably high. The morphology of a new fossil monocot is studied and compared to all other Smilacaceae genus, especially in the venation.

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Objective: To evaluate and compare the performance of adults with ADHD with high and standard IQ in executive functions (EF) tasks.

Method: We investigated the neuropsychological performance of 51 adults with ADHD, compared with 33 healthy controls (HC) while performing a wide battery of neuropsychological tests that measure executive functioning. Adults with clinical diagnosis of ADHD were divided into two groups according to their IQ level (IQ ≥ 110-ADHD group with more elevated IQ, and IQ < 110-ADHD group with standard IQ).

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Background: Attention-Deficit/Hiperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a prevalent disorder, but its neuroanatomical circuitry is still relatively understudied, especially in the adult population. The few morphometric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies available to date have found heterogeneous results. This may be at least partly attributable to some well-known technical limitations of the conventional voxel-based methods usually employed to analyze such neuroimaging data.

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Ethnopharmacological Relevance: The goal of this study was to conduct an ethnobotanical survey of medicinal species from the carrasco vegetation of the Araripe National Forest, state of Ceará, Brazil, as well as determining species with bioprospecting potential

Materials And Methods: The ethnobotanical data were collected through semi-structured interviews and a free list. The relative importance of the plants cited was assessed, as well as species that stood out with respect to bodily systems, on the basis of informant consensus.

Results: A total of 32 species belonging to 29 genera and 20 families were recorded.

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