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  • About
  • The Global ETD Search service is a free service for researchers to find electronic theses and dissertations. This service is provided by the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations.
    Our metadata is collected from universities around the world. If you manage a university/consortium/country archive and want to be added, details can be found on the NDLTD website.
41

Engajamento por meio de elementos de jogos em comunidades online de colaboração aberta / Engagement through game elements in open collaboration online communities

Bertholdo, Ana Paula Oliveira 06 December 2018 (has links)
Galerias, Bibliotecas, Arquivos e Museus (GLAMs) têm enfrentado o desafio de envolver os usuários na seleção, catalogação, contextualização e curadoria de coleções por meio de crowdsourcing. Esse novo modo de interação se estende além do acesso passivo e pode levar a um nível mais profundo de engajamento com coleções. Como a participação do usuário é a chave para o sucesso nesse contexto, GLAMs precisam criar e manter sistemas de colaboração aberta. Contudo, tais sistemas precisam fomentar um senso de comunidade em torno dos artefatos e as comunidades dependem, dentre outros fatores, do engajamento de colaboradores. O termo engajamento indica a profundidade de investimento de um ator quando interagindo com um sistema digital. Para promover o engajamento dos usuários com comunidades online, tem-se discutido o uso da gamificação. Gamificação é o uso de elementos de projeto de jogos em contextos que não são jogos e tem como meta estimular a participação e engajar pessoas. Nos estudos teóricos sobre gamificação, a motivação intrínseca e a autodeterminação do usuário são as principais bases para a construção de aplicações. No entanto, a maior parte da literatura que descreve a implementação de gamificação utiliza elementos de recompensa, como pontos, distintivos e quadros de liderança, associados à pontificação, um subconjunto da gamificação; e não apresenta o monitoramento e a análise de cada elemento de jogo inserido durante o desenvolvimento, de modo a avaliar o impacto no comportamento dos usuários. Há também a necessidade de explorar como a gamificação pode ser implementada em domínios específicos. Esta pesquisa propõe uma abordagem para integrar gamificação e avaliação de engajamento durante o desenvolvimento de comunidades online de colaboração aberta. Nesse contexto, uma pesquisa-ação foi realizada no domínio de uma GLAM sobre arquitetura e urbanismo, chamada Arquigrafia, para investigar as práticas atuais de gamificação e uma proposta de abordagem. As métricas de engajamento foram analisadas estatisticamente por meio de pesquisas quantitativas experimentais e não-experimentais sobre dados coletados em três anos de monitoramento (2015-2018). Os resultados indicam que o uso de elementos de jogos em uma comunidade online de colaboração aberta, no domínio de GLAMs, tem um efeito positivo sobre o engajamento de usuários sob certas condições, as quais são consideradas na proposta de abordagem desta tese. / Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums (GLAMs) have faced challenges for involving users in the selection, cataloging, contextualization and curation of collections through crowdsourcing. This new mode of interaction extends beyond passive access and can lead to a deeper level of engagement with collections. Because user engagement is the key to success in this context, GLAMs need to create and maintain open collaboration systems. However, such systems need to foster a sense of community around artifacts, and communities depend, among other factors, on colaborators engagement. The term engagement indicates the depth of an actor\'s investment when interacting with a digital system. To promote the engagement of users with online communities, the use of gamification has been discussed. Gamification is the use of game design elements in contexts that are not games and aims to stimulate participation and engage people. In the theoretical studies on gamification, intrinsic motivation and self-determination of the user are the main bases for the construction of applications. However, most of the literature describing the implementation of gamification uses reward elements, such as points, badges, and leaderboards, associated with pontification, a subset of gamification; and does not present the monitoring and analysis of each game element inserted during the development, in order to evaluate the impact on the behavior of the users. There is also a need to explore how gamification can be implemented in specific domains. This research proposes an approach to integrate gamification and evaluation of engagement during the development of open collaboration online communities. In this context, an action research was carried out in the domain of a GLAM on architecture and urbanism, the Arquigrafia project, to investigate current practices of gamification and an approach proposal. Engagement metrics were statistically analyzed using experimental and non-experimental quantitative research of data collected over three years of monitoring (2015-2018). The results indicate that the use of game elements in an open collaboration online community in the GLAM domain has a positive effect on user engagement under certain conditions, which are considered in the approach proposal of this thesis.
42

Interactive Holographic Cinema

Portales, Christopher 2012 May 1900 (has links)
In mainstream media and entertainment, holography is often misrepresented as single perspective non-stereoscopic imagery suggesting three-dimensionality. Traditional holographic artists, however, utilize a laser setup to record and reconstruct wavefronts to describe a scene in multi-perspective natural parallax vision ("auto-stereoscopic"). Although these approaches are mutually exclusive in practice, they share a similar goal of staging three-dimensional (3D) imagery for a window-like viewing experience. This thesis presents a non-waveform digital computer approach for recording, reconstructing, and experiencing holographic visualizations in a cinematic context. By recording 3D information from a scene using the structured light method, a custom computer program performs stereoscopic reconstruction in real-time during presentation. Artists and computer users could then use a hardware device, such as the Microsoft Kinect, to explore the holographic cinematic form interactively.
43

Effects of ionospheric conductance in high-latitude phenomena

Benkevitch, Leonid V 09 February 2006
In this thesis, the relationship between several high-latitude phenomena and the ionospheric conductance in both hemispheres is studied theoretically and experimentally. </p>Theoretically, the high-latitude electrodynamics is studied by considering currents in the magnetosphere-ionosphere system resulting from the ionospheric sheet current redistribution between the conjugate ionospheres. It is shown that strong flow between the conjugate ionospheres, the interhemispheric currents (IHC), can be set up if the conductance distribution is asymmetric in the conjugate ionospheric regions. Such conditions are typical for solstices owing to the differences in the solar illumination. Analytical and numerical modeling shows that IHCs can appear in the regions of strong conductance gradient, more specifically around the solar terminator line, and that the intensity of the IHCs can be comparable to the intensity of the well known Region 1/Region 2 currents. The effect of IHC excitation on observable magnetic perturbations on the ground is investigated. It is shown that in the vicinity of the solar terminator line, the pattern of magnetic perturbation can be such that an apparent equivalent current vortex can be detected. In addition, strong conductance gradients are shown to affect significantly the quality of the ionospheric plasma flow estimates from the ground-based magnetometer data. </p>Experimentally, the effect of the nightside ionospheric conductance on occurrence of substorms, global storm sudden commencement and radar auroras is investigated. To characterize substorm occurrence, new parameters, the derivatives of the classical AE and AO indices, are introduced. It is shown that the seasonal and diurnal variations of these parameters are controlled by the total nightside ionospheric conductance in the conjugate regions. The substorm onsets preferentially occur at low levels of the total conductance, which is consistent with the idea of the substorm triggering through the magnetosphere-ionosphere feedback instability. It is hypothesized that the total conductance affects the global storm onsets as well. To check this idea, the 33-year sudden storm commencement (SSC) data are considered. The semiannual, annual, semidiurnal, and diurnal variations in the SSC occurrence rate are found to be significant and these components exhibit a strong relationship with the total conductance of the high-latitude ionospheres. Finally, the SuperDARN midnight echo occurrence is shown to correlate, for some radars, with the total conductance minima and presumably with electric field maxima, which is consistent with general expectation that the F-region irregularities occur preferentially during times of enhanced electric fields. The gradients of the high-latitude conductance can also lead to significant errors in the plasma convection estimates from the ground-based magnetometers, and to investigate this effect a statistical assessment of the difference between the true plasma convection (SuperDARN) and the magnetometer-inferred equivalent convection direction is performed. The largest differences are found for the transition region between the dark and sunlit ionospheres and in the midnight sector where strong conductance gradients are expected due to particle precipitation. Consideration of regular conductance gradients due to solar illumination improves the agreement between the radar and magnetometer data. Finally, an attempt is made to demonstrate the effects of conductance upon the properties of traveling convection vortices (TCVs). Joint SuperDARN and magnetometer data reveal that there is resemblance between the magnetometer and radar inferred TCV images on a scale of thousands of kilometers. However, on a smaller scale of hundreds of kilometers, significant differences are observed.
44

Effects of ionospheric conductance in high-latitude phenomena

Benkevitch, Leonid V 09 February 2006 (has links)
In this thesis, the relationship between several high-latitude phenomena and the ionospheric conductance in both hemispheres is studied theoretically and experimentally. </p>Theoretically, the high-latitude electrodynamics is studied by considering currents in the magnetosphere-ionosphere system resulting from the ionospheric sheet current redistribution between the conjugate ionospheres. It is shown that strong flow between the conjugate ionospheres, the interhemispheric currents (IHC), can be set up if the conductance distribution is asymmetric in the conjugate ionospheric regions. Such conditions are typical for solstices owing to the differences in the solar illumination. Analytical and numerical modeling shows that IHCs can appear in the regions of strong conductance gradient, more specifically around the solar terminator line, and that the intensity of the IHCs can be comparable to the intensity of the well known Region 1/Region 2 currents. The effect of IHC excitation on observable magnetic perturbations on the ground is investigated. It is shown that in the vicinity of the solar terminator line, the pattern of magnetic perturbation can be such that an apparent equivalent current vortex can be detected. In addition, strong conductance gradients are shown to affect significantly the quality of the ionospheric plasma flow estimates from the ground-based magnetometer data. </p>Experimentally, the effect of the nightside ionospheric conductance on occurrence of substorms, global storm sudden commencement and radar auroras is investigated. To characterize substorm occurrence, new parameters, the derivatives of the classical AE and AO indices, are introduced. It is shown that the seasonal and diurnal variations of these parameters are controlled by the total nightside ionospheric conductance in the conjugate regions. The substorm onsets preferentially occur at low levels of the total conductance, which is consistent with the idea of the substorm triggering through the magnetosphere-ionosphere feedback instability. It is hypothesized that the total conductance affects the global storm onsets as well. To check this idea, the 33-year sudden storm commencement (SSC) data are considered. The semiannual, annual, semidiurnal, and diurnal variations in the SSC occurrence rate are found to be significant and these components exhibit a strong relationship with the total conductance of the high-latitude ionospheres. Finally, the SuperDARN midnight echo occurrence is shown to correlate, for some radars, with the total conductance minima and presumably with electric field maxima, which is consistent with general expectation that the F-region irregularities occur preferentially during times of enhanced electric fields. The gradients of the high-latitude conductance can also lead to significant errors in the plasma convection estimates from the ground-based magnetometers, and to investigate this effect a statistical assessment of the difference between the true plasma convection (SuperDARN) and the magnetometer-inferred equivalent convection direction is performed. The largest differences are found for the transition region between the dark and sunlit ionospheres and in the midnight sector where strong conductance gradients are expected due to particle precipitation. Consideration of regular conductance gradients due to solar illumination improves the agreement between the radar and magnetometer data. Finally, an attempt is made to demonstrate the effects of conductance upon the properties of traveling convection vortices (TCVs). Joint SuperDARN and magnetometer data reveal that there is resemblance between the magnetometer and radar inferred TCV images on a scale of thousands of kilometers. However, on a smaller scale of hundreds of kilometers, significant differences are observed.
45

Exploring innate type B cells in an animal model for autoimmune arthritis

Salomonsson, Maya January 2014 (has links)
B cells have a central role in the pathogenesis of collagen-induced arthritis (CIA), an animal model of the autoimmune disease rheumatoid arthritis. In this report, a specific subset of an innate type of B cells, B-1 B cells, have been studied for the involvement in CIA. The B-1 B cells were shown to produce small amounts of collagen-specific antibodies upon stimulation in vitro, suggesting that they play a minor role in the development of CIA. This report also includes how marginal zone B cells, another innate type of B cells with natural collagen-reactivity, can be identified in the medullary sinuses of lymph nodes of collagen-immunized mice, implying involvement in auto antigen trapping.
46

Evaluation of the Expression of LIN28A and LIN28B within the Hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal Axis

Grieco, Anthony 07 December 2011 (has links)
The genes that regulate pubertal timing in the general population are not well understood. Recently, genome-wide association studies have demonstrated that genetic variants near LIN28B associate with variation in pubertal timing in humans. To investigate where within the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian (HPO) axis Lin28b, and its homologue Lin28a, regulate pubertal timing, expression of these genes was assessed across the pubertal transition. The finding that Lin28a/b expression decreases only in the ovary suggests that the Lin28 pathway may exert its regulatory effects with respect to puberty in the ovary. Another aim of this thesis was to examine the effect of estrogen on Lin28b expression in immortalized GnRH neuronal cells, but the data remains equivocal and detailed future studies are needed to make definitive conclusions. The ovarian expression data lay the foundation for further studies using conditional knockout mice to verify the importance of the tissue and age specific developmental pattern that was identified.
47

Evaluation of the Expression of LIN28A and LIN28B within the Hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal Axis

Grieco, Anthony 07 December 2011 (has links)
The genes that regulate pubertal timing in the general population are not well understood. Recently, genome-wide association studies have demonstrated that genetic variants near LIN28B associate with variation in pubertal timing in humans. To investigate where within the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian (HPO) axis Lin28b, and its homologue Lin28a, regulate pubertal timing, expression of these genes was assessed across the pubertal transition. The finding that Lin28a/b expression decreases only in the ovary suggests that the Lin28 pathway may exert its regulatory effects with respect to puberty in the ovary. Another aim of this thesis was to examine the effect of estrogen on Lin28b expression in immortalized GnRH neuronal cells, but the data remains equivocal and detailed future studies are needed to make definitive conclusions. The ovarian expression data lay the foundation for further studies using conditional knockout mice to verify the importance of the tissue and age specific developmental pattern that was identified.
48

Analysis of HER2 testing in breast cancer: disparities, cost-effectiveness, and patterns of care

Ashok, Mahima 01 July 2009 (has links)
HER2 breast cancer is an aggressive disease that occurs in 20 - 30% of the breast cancer population. Treatment for HER2 breast cancer includes use of an anti-HER2 monoclonal antibody, trastuzumab. Testing for HER2 is of critical importance due to the adverse side effects and substantial costs associated with this anti-HER2 treatment. Currently, two kinds of tests, Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (FISH) and Immunohistochemistry (IHC), are FDA approved for determination of HER2 status in breast cancers. Clinical and non clinical factors that affect the choice HER2 test and the use of anti-HER2 therapy in breast cancer were analyzed using a data set containing information from six outpatient oncology clinics in the United States. The analysis showed that geographic location, cancer stage, and diagnosis date (pre- or post-publication of testing guidelines) have significant effects on choice of test. With regard to trastuzumab prescription, geographic location and HER2 status have significant effects on the prescription of trastuzumab. In addition, there was a non-significant trend for certain Medicare patients not to receive trastuzumab therapy. These findings indicate that disparities are present in breast cancer care based on geography and cancer stage, and highlight the importance of testing guidelines. The cost effectiveness of FISH vs. IHC was determined, by considering the financial and health-related costs associated with testing and subsequent treatment as well as the accuracy of each test. The results show that FISH is the optimal choice for HER2 testing and is more cost-effective than IHC.
49

Efeito da radiação ionizante e quimioterapicos em tecido cardíaco e expressão do peptídeo natriurético do tipo B / Effect of ionizing radiation and chemotherapy in cardiac tissue and expression of B type

Vera Maria Araujo de Campos 04 March 2013 (has links)
Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / A utilização de biomarcadores cardioespecíficos vem sendo recomendado como ferramenta útil na monitoração e identificação precoce de lesão cardíaca, em decorrência do potencial de cardiotoxicidade da terapêutica oncologica. O objetivo do presente estudo foi avaliar o nível plasmático do peptídeo natriurético do tipo B (BNP) e da expressão gênica do BNP e outros genes relacionados a sua síntese, a interleucina-6 (IL-6), fator &#946;1 de transformação de crescimento (TGF-&#946;1) e procolágeno tipo I, mediante a associação dos agentes antineoplásicos docetaxel e ciclofosfamida (TC) e da radiação ionizante (IR) no coração de ratas Wistar, 2 meses após o término do tratamento. Para isso, Ratas Wistar (3-4 meses, n=7) foram irradiadas no coração com dose única de 20Gy, em um campo ântero-posterior de 2x2cm2, em acelerador linear com feixe de energia nominal de 6 MeV; outras (n=7) foram tratadas (4 ciclos, com 7 dias de intervalo) com docetaxel (12,5 mg/Kg) e ciclofosfamida (50 mg/Kg) e irradiadas após 7 dias do tratamento quimioterápico. Como controle (n=7), animais não irradiados e não tratados com quimioterápicos. Após 2 meses do fim do tratamento, a eutanásia dos animais foi realizada. Amostras de plasma e tecido cardíaco, ventrículo esquerdo (VE), foram coletadas. Por ensaio ELISA foi quantificada a concentração plasmática de BNP; parte do tecido cardíaco foi fixado, incluído em parafina e cortado em micrótomo, para assinalar a presença de BNP no VE, avaliação qualitativa, pela técnica de imunohistoquímica (IHQ); e a outra parte para a técnica RT-qPCR, onde foram avaliados a expressão relativa de mRNA dos genes do BNP, IL-6, TGF-&#946;1 e procolágeno tipo I. Na IHQ o grupo controle apresentou uma marcação pontual, enquanto que os grupos tratados apresentaram uma marcação mais difusa, sendo que o grupo TC+IR foi o que apresentou maior dispersão na marcação do BNP no tecido cardíaco. Embora não tenha sido observado no ensaio ELISA uma diferença significativa entre as concentrações plasmáticas de BNP dos grupos tratados em relação ao controle, nota-se uma tendência de aumento no grupo TC+IR. Na analise por RT-qPCR, a expressão relativa de BNP foi similar ao apresentado no ELISA. O grupo TC+IR foi o grupo que apresentou maior expressão gênica de BNP, porém a diferença não é significativa em relação ao controle. A única análise em que se obteve diferença na expressão gênica em relação ao controle foi a do gene IL-6 que apresentou expressão reduzida. Todos os demais genes analisados por RT-qPCR apresentaram uma expressão similar ao controle. Assim, os resultados obtidos sugerem que o BNP não se apresentou como um bom biomarcador cardioespecífico para identificação precoce de lesão cardíaca, no período a qual foi avaliado. As ratas Wistar, 2 meses após a submissão do tratamento, não apresentaram um resultado diferenciado em relação ao controle, nos genes TGF-&#946;1 e procolágeno tipo I, sugerindo ausência de um quadro de remodelamento cardíaco. Entretanto, apresentou redução significativa do gene IL-6, no grupo TC+IR, propondo ação anti-inflamatória do BNP, que no mesmo grupo, apresentou uma tendência de aumento em sua expressão gênica. / The use of specific cardiac biomarkers has been recommended as a useful tool in the early identification and monitoring of cardiac injury, due to the potential cardiotoxicity of oncological therapy. The aim of this study is to investigate, analyze and evaluate the reaction of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), transforming growth factor &#946;1 (TGF-&#946;1) and procollagen type I in its expression and release by the association of antineoplastic agents Docetaxel and Cyclophosphamide (TC) and ionizing radiation (IR) in the heart of Wistar rats, 2 months after the end of treatment. For this, Wistar rats (3-4 months, n = 7) were irradiated in the heart with a single dose of 20 Gy, in a anteroposterior field of 2x2cm2 in linear accelerator with nominal energy beam of 6 MeV, other (n = 7) were treated (four cycles with a 7-day interval) with docetaxel (12.5 mg / kg) and Cyclophosphamide (50 mg / kg) and irradiated after 7 days of chemotherapy. As a control (n = 7), non-irradiated animals not treated with chemotherapy. 2 months after the end of treatment, euthanasia was performed. Samples of plasma and heart tissue, left ventricular (LV) were collected. The plasma concentration of BNP was quantified by ELISA, part of the heart tissue was fixed, embedded in paraffin and cut in microtome, to signal the presence of BNP in the LV, qualitative evaluation by immunohistochemistry (IHC), and the other party to technique RT-qPCR were evaluated in the relative expression of mRNA of the genes of BNP, ANP, IL-6, TGF-&#946;1 and procollagen type I. In the control group IHC showed a marking point, while the treated groups showed a more diffuse labeling, and the CT + RT group showed the greatest dispersion. Although it was not observed in the ELISA assay a significant difference between plasma concentrations of BNP treated groups compared to control, there is an increasing trend in the CT + RT group. In the analysis by RT-qPCR, the relative expression of BNP was similar to that shown in the ELISA. The CT + RT group was the group that showed higher gene expression of BNP, but the difference is not significant compared to control. The only analysis that which obtained difference in gene expression compared to control was the IL-6 gene that showed low expression. All other genes analyzed by RT-qPCR showed an expression similar to control. Therefore, the outcome is that BNP did not appear as a good specific cardiac biomarker for early identification of cardiac disease, within 2 months after treatment in Wistar rats, by effect of the action of cardiotoxic selected treatment protocols, since none of their quantitative assessments showed a differentiated result compared to control, however, there was no evidence that, in the meantime, there would be a scenario in development, or advanced of cardiac remodeling.
50

Efeito da radiação ionizante e quimioterapicos em tecido cardíaco e expressão do peptídeo natriurético do tipo B / Effect of ionizing radiation and chemotherapy in cardiac tissue and expression of B type

Vera Maria Araujo de Campos 04 March 2013 (has links)
Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / A utilização de biomarcadores cardioespecíficos vem sendo recomendado como ferramenta útil na monitoração e identificação precoce de lesão cardíaca, em decorrência do potencial de cardiotoxicidade da terapêutica oncologica. O objetivo do presente estudo foi avaliar o nível plasmático do peptídeo natriurético do tipo B (BNP) e da expressão gênica do BNP e outros genes relacionados a sua síntese, a interleucina-6 (IL-6), fator &#946;1 de transformação de crescimento (TGF-&#946;1) e procolágeno tipo I, mediante a associação dos agentes antineoplásicos docetaxel e ciclofosfamida (TC) e da radiação ionizante (IR) no coração de ratas Wistar, 2 meses após o término do tratamento. Para isso, Ratas Wistar (3-4 meses, n=7) foram irradiadas no coração com dose única de 20Gy, em um campo ântero-posterior de 2x2cm2, em acelerador linear com feixe de energia nominal de 6 MeV; outras (n=7) foram tratadas (4 ciclos, com 7 dias de intervalo) com docetaxel (12,5 mg/Kg) e ciclofosfamida (50 mg/Kg) e irradiadas após 7 dias do tratamento quimioterápico. Como controle (n=7), animais não irradiados e não tratados com quimioterápicos. Após 2 meses do fim do tratamento, a eutanásia dos animais foi realizada. Amostras de plasma e tecido cardíaco, ventrículo esquerdo (VE), foram coletadas. Por ensaio ELISA foi quantificada a concentração plasmática de BNP; parte do tecido cardíaco foi fixado, incluído em parafina e cortado em micrótomo, para assinalar a presença de BNP no VE, avaliação qualitativa, pela técnica de imunohistoquímica (IHQ); e a outra parte para a técnica RT-qPCR, onde foram avaliados a expressão relativa de mRNA dos genes do BNP, IL-6, TGF-&#946;1 e procolágeno tipo I. Na IHQ o grupo controle apresentou uma marcação pontual, enquanto que os grupos tratados apresentaram uma marcação mais difusa, sendo que o grupo TC+IR foi o que apresentou maior dispersão na marcação do BNP no tecido cardíaco. Embora não tenha sido observado no ensaio ELISA uma diferença significativa entre as concentrações plasmáticas de BNP dos grupos tratados em relação ao controle, nota-se uma tendência de aumento no grupo TC+IR. Na analise por RT-qPCR, a expressão relativa de BNP foi similar ao apresentado no ELISA. O grupo TC+IR foi o grupo que apresentou maior expressão gênica de BNP, porém a diferença não é significativa em relação ao controle. A única análise em que se obteve diferença na expressão gênica em relação ao controle foi a do gene IL-6 que apresentou expressão reduzida. Todos os demais genes analisados por RT-qPCR apresentaram uma expressão similar ao controle. Assim, os resultados obtidos sugerem que o BNP não se apresentou como um bom biomarcador cardioespecífico para identificação precoce de lesão cardíaca, no período a qual foi avaliado. As ratas Wistar, 2 meses após a submissão do tratamento, não apresentaram um resultado diferenciado em relação ao controle, nos genes TGF-&#946;1 e procolágeno tipo I, sugerindo ausência de um quadro de remodelamento cardíaco. Entretanto, apresentou redução significativa do gene IL-6, no grupo TC+IR, propondo ação anti-inflamatória do BNP, que no mesmo grupo, apresentou uma tendência de aumento em sua expressão gênica. / The use of specific cardiac biomarkers has been recommended as a useful tool in the early identification and monitoring of cardiac injury, due to the potential cardiotoxicity of oncological therapy. The aim of this study is to investigate, analyze and evaluate the reaction of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), transforming growth factor &#946;1 (TGF-&#946;1) and procollagen type I in its expression and release by the association of antineoplastic agents Docetaxel and Cyclophosphamide (TC) and ionizing radiation (IR) in the heart of Wistar rats, 2 months after the end of treatment. For this, Wistar rats (3-4 months, n = 7) were irradiated in the heart with a single dose of 20 Gy, in a anteroposterior field of 2x2cm2 in linear accelerator with nominal energy beam of 6 MeV, other (n = 7) were treated (four cycles with a 7-day interval) with docetaxel (12.5 mg / kg) and Cyclophosphamide (50 mg / kg) and irradiated after 7 days of chemotherapy. As a control (n = 7), non-irradiated animals not treated with chemotherapy. 2 months after the end of treatment, euthanasia was performed. Samples of plasma and heart tissue, left ventricular (LV) were collected. The plasma concentration of BNP was quantified by ELISA, part of the heart tissue was fixed, embedded in paraffin and cut in microtome, to signal the presence of BNP in the LV, qualitative evaluation by immunohistochemistry (IHC), and the other party to technique RT-qPCR were evaluated in the relative expression of mRNA of the genes of BNP, ANP, IL-6, TGF-&#946;1 and procollagen type I. In the control group IHC showed a marking point, while the treated groups showed a more diffuse labeling, and the CT + RT group showed the greatest dispersion. Although it was not observed in the ELISA assay a significant difference between plasma concentrations of BNP treated groups compared to control, there is an increasing trend in the CT + RT group. In the analysis by RT-qPCR, the relative expression of BNP was similar to that shown in the ELISA. The CT + RT group was the group that showed higher gene expression of BNP, but the difference is not significant compared to control. The only analysis that which obtained difference in gene expression compared to control was the IL-6 gene that showed low expression. All other genes analyzed by RT-qPCR showed an expression similar to control. Therefore, the outcome is that BNP did not appear as a good specific cardiac biomarker for early identification of cardiac disease, within 2 months after treatment in Wistar rats, by effect of the action of cardiotoxic selected treatment protocols, since none of their quantitative assessments showed a differentiated result compared to control, however, there was no evidence that, in the meantime, there would be a scenario in development, or advanced of cardiac remodeling.

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