Universitas Scientiarum最新文献

{"title":"Feeding habits of Boana raniceps (Cope, 1862) in three mountains of Brazilian semiarid","authors":"Nayla Letícia Assunção Rodrigues, Kássio Castro Araújo, R. W. Ávila, Etielle Barroso de Andrade","doi":"10.11144/javeriana.sc282.fhob","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.11144/javeriana.sc282.fhob","url":null,"abstract":"Studying the trophic ecology of animals helps us understand their life history, their relationship with the environment and other species, and their role in ecosystems. In this sense, we describe the feeding habits of the hyalid frog Boana raniceps in three high-altitude mountain ranges of Northeastern Brazil, investigating intersex differences in the diet and the relationship between the size with the volume of prey consumed. Furthermore, we investigated prey-predator interactions in the Boana genus with an ecological network approach. We analyzed the stomach contents of 62 B. raniceps specimens collected in three mountains in the state of Ceará (Northeastern Brazil) and consulted data available in the literature for information on the diet of other Boana species. We identied 82 prey items distributed in eleven categories. Overall, there were no differences in the composition of B. raniceps diet among the three mountains. Although males and females shared the majority of prey items consumed, they tended to consume prey volumetrically differently, and predator size did not influence prey volume. In addition, predator-prey interactions in the genus Boana revealed low modularity, complementary specialization, and nestedness. Therefore, species of the genus Boana follow the general pattern for  the diet of most Brazilian frog species (generalist and opportunistic habits), being likely influenced by the availability of prey in the habitat. Overall, the present study constitutes a complete review of the prey items consumed by the genus Boana in Brazil, describing the general pattern of anuran-prey networks in these hylids.","PeriodicalId":39200,"journal":{"name":"Universitas Scientiarum","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42240931","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Black-eyed Susan vine (Thunbergia alata): chemical and antifungal potential evaluation of an invasive plant species in Colombia","authors":"Miguel Ángel Vanegas Romero, Luis Carlos Chitiva, C. P. Bravo-Chaucanés, Andrea Ximena Hernández, C. Parra-Giraldo, G. M. Costa","doi":"10.11144/javeriana.sc282.besv","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.11144/javeriana.sc282.besv","url":null,"abstract":"Thunbergia alata (Black-eyed Susan) is a plant species from East Africa and grows in tropical regions worldwide, including Colombia, being considered an invasive species in some countries. Even though it is used by local communities to treat several illnesses, including malaria, there are few biological and chemical studies on T. alata. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the chemical composition and in vitro antimycotic (against Candida strains) activity of T. alata crude ethanolic stem and leaf extracts. This was achieved via phytochemical analyses and chromatographic profiling (HPTLC, UPLC-DAD, and LC-MS). A two-fold serial microdilution method was used to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) against selected Candida strains. Results showed the presence of saponins, terpenes, and flavonoids in the T. alata crude ethanolic stem and leaf extracts, although rutin and chlorogenic acid were the main components of stem and leaf extracts, respectively. Concerning biological assays, T. alata leaf extracts demonstrated moderate antimycotic activity, with MIC values between 5:00 mg mL-1 and 1:25 mg mL-1 against C. albicans and C. auris strains. The results indicate that T. alata extracts, including some of their major identified compounds, possess promising antifungal properties against two significant microorganisms.","PeriodicalId":39200,"journal":{"name":"Universitas Scientiarum","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45067861","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Plant-derived extracts P2Et and Anamu-SC affect NO and ROS levels in leukemic cells","authors":"Juan José Arévalo-Ferrin, Jimmy Alejandro García-Ortiz, Cindy Mayerli Arévalo-Olaya, Sandra Milena Quijano-Gómez, Susana Fiorentino-Gómez, V. Marcela, Rodríguez-Pardo","doi":"10.11144/javeriana.sc282.pdep","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.11144/javeriana.sc282.pdep","url":null,"abstract":"Leukemic cells often show high nitric oxide (NO) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels. These can lead to resistance to apoptosis and therapy and increased proliferation. Plant-derived extracts decrease chemoresistance in cancer cells. In this study, we evaluated the effects of the plant-derived extracts P2Et (Caesalpinia spinosa) and Anamu-SC (Petiveria alliacea) and their combination with chemotherapeutic agents on NO and ROS levels in leukemic cell lines K562 and Reh. NO and ROS were determined using the DAF-FM DA and H2DCFDA probes. The mean fluorescence intensity for each variable was measured by flow cytometry. The extracts showed an antioxidant effect on both cell lines leading to a significant decrease in ROS levels without decreasing cell viability. Anamu-SC also increased NO levels in K562 cells when combined with idarubicin. Both extracts reduced the number of leukemic cells after 12 hours of treatment. Further studies are necessary to evaluate their effect on primary human leukemia cells. These findings suggest the potential of P2Et and Anamu-SC as adjuncts in leukemia treatment.","PeriodicalId":39200,"journal":{"name":"Universitas Scientiarum","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41870219","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Isolation and characterization of polyhydroxyalkanoate-producing bacteria from seawater samples (Tumaco)","authors":"Pablo Fernández Izquierdo, Guido Ernesto Villota-Calvachi, I. Otero-Ramirez, S. Hidalgo-Bonilla, Maira Alejandra Quiroz Cabrera, Jenny Dimelza Gomez Arrieta, Edith Mariela Burbano Rosero","doi":"10.11144/javeriana.sc282.iaco","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.11144/javeriana.sc282.iaco","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. Introduction. Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) is a useful, carbon-neutral polymer that can be produced from renewable carbon sources by microorganisms, making it a sustainable and environmentally friendly material. Currently, production of the biopolymer is not competitive in terms of cost and yield; however, production by different bacterial strains may provide economic viability, especially since substituting biodegradable plastics for nondegradable synthetic plastics has drawn interest from both academia and the commercial world. Objective. The aim of this work was to describe the isolation and partial characterization of PHA-producing bacteria isolated from five sites (gas stations) in coastal regions of Tumaco Island, Nariño-Colombia, and classify different physicochemical parameters of granules that show the production of the biopolymer. Materials and methods. A viable colony staining method using Nile red was used to preliminarily screen for PHA-producing bacteria. Colonies were isolated, characterized via biochemical, microbial, and molecular methods, and tested for antimicrobial susceptibility and fermentation. Results. More than thirty-eight strains were identified as potential PHA-positive isolates from this screening approach but, just one isolated was viable in PHA production (T2-25A). All isolates were resistant to metronidazole, ampicillin, trimethoprim sulfamethoxazole, cephalothin, ceftriaxone, and cefazolin, and 27.3 % of isolates were resistant to novobiocin. Conclusions. One promising PHA-producing isolate was obtained. Nevertheless, this information will complement future studies of the conditions necessary to produce PHA. \u0000Moreover, antibiotic resistance data have attracted attention, especially because of the origin of the source waters of the isolates.","PeriodicalId":39200,"journal":{"name":"Universitas Scientiarum","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47231876","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Water quality and heavy metal levels in the Sinú River, a drinking water source in the Colombian Caribbean","authors":"Mario Alberto Marsiglia Lans, E. Lans-Ceballos, Emma S Lans-Cuesta, Oscar Forero Doria, Luis Guzman Jofré","doi":"10.11144/javeriana.sc282.wqah","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.11144/javeriana.sc282.wqah","url":null,"abstract":"The objective of this work was to evaluate water quality in the Sinú River in northern Colombia, duringits dry and rainy seasons. The water quality index (WQI), the heavy metal pollution index (HPI),the heavy metal evaluation index (HEI), the heavy metal toxicity load (HMTL), and the degree ofcontamination (Cd) were calculated based on analyses of water samples taken along the entire lengthof the river at sixteen sampling sites. Comprehensive and in some cases punctual samplings wereperformed depending on the morphology of the current. Five samplings were carried out in the dry andrainy periods from March 2008 to April 2009. All samples were taken in triplicate at each samplingsite. For the determination of metals, a Thermo electron atomic absorption spectrometer, modelS4AA System was used. Of the metals monitored, only zinc, iron, and manganese were identified atquantifiable levels, with average values of 8.5 x 10⁻⁵ kg m-3, 0.004 424 kg m-3 and 8.5x10⁻⁵ kg m-3,respectively in the rainy season. The obtained index values altogether (WQI =63.5, HPI=145, HEI=24, HMTL=0.1329, and Cd= 20.8) revealed the presence of contamination by heavy metals in the Sinú River, although the observed toxicity level does not imply a hazard to human health.","PeriodicalId":39200,"journal":{"name":"Universitas Scientiarum","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48156602","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The aftermath of corona virus disease on antimicrobial resistance across low- and middle-income countries","authors":"Pia Dey, D. Parai, S. T. Hossain, S. Mukherjee","doi":"10.11144/javeriana.sc282.taoc","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.11144/javeriana.sc282.taoc","url":null,"abstract":"Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a critical challenge to modern medicine. The number of resistance cases worldwide has been increasing exponentially, and it is estimated that by 2050, the AMR mortality rate will be ten times higher than it is today. The emergence of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic compromised the research on AMR by deprioritizing proper monitoring of preventive measures and control programs, innovation and global health programs, and use antimicrobial stewardship (AS). With the current scenario of sporadic COVID-19 cases around the world, it is impossible to accurately evaluate the impact that the pandemic had on AMR and AS due to insufficient reports. However, it’s possible to speculate what the scenario will look like by surveying the escalation in unmethodical antimicrobial, the increase in secondary bacterial and fungal infections, and the extension in hospital stay and adverse medical exigency during the second wave when compared to the first wave. COVID-19 exposed the harsh reality that even countries with the best medical facilities struggled to meet national healthcare needs during a pandemic. In such circumstances, the clinical and scientific communities need to understand that available global medical amenities wouldbe insufficient to face an upcoming AMR pandemic. Therefore, international surveillance systems need to highlight the deficiencies in AMR containment and mitigation and develop strategies to address future challenges.","PeriodicalId":39200,"journal":{"name":"Universitas Scientiarum","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48936260","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A scoping and critical review of properties, standards, and regulations of oxo-biodegradable plastics","authors":"J. C. Salcedo Reyes, Octavio Alejandro Castañeda Uribe, Luis David Gomez Méndez, A. Pedroza Rodriguez, Raul Alberto Poutou Piñales","doi":"10.11144/javeriana.sc281.asac","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.11144/javeriana.sc281.asac","url":null,"abstract":"Based on recent scientific-technical developments referring to the transformation and biodegradation mechanisms of plastic compounds, progress has been made both in the conceptualization of relevant definitions and in the development of technical standards that allow determining, in a more precise and reproducible way, the ratio of biodegradability of a determined material. From these advances, they have developed, furthermore, the so-called oxo-biodegradable plastics, in which pro-oxidant additives are added to the raw polymer in such a way that allow a optimal abiotic transformation process (photo/thermo oxidation), producing the fragmentation of the material under suitable conditions for its simultaneous or successive biotic degradation (enzymatic oxidation). Although, currently, oxobiodegradable plastics are widely used in different applications such as, for example, in agriculture andsingle-use plastics, until very recently a technical standard was developed that allows determining the relative degradation ratio of different types of plastics under abiotic and biotic conditions. This process implies that for producers to be able to use specific terms of bio-degradation and oxo-biodegradation for advertising purposes that claim to offer an environmentally friendly product, the relevant entities must carry out metrological tests in light of the new definitions and technical standards. Furthermore, a large amount of specialized literature has been generated in which the bio-degradation ratio of oxobiodegradable plastics is determined in very specific environments and conditions. This review gives a detailed account of the different definitions and scientific concepts involved in oxo-/bio- degradation and shows how these concepts have evolved over time. It also shows the evolution of the technical standards, which, in general, are adapted to the new scientific and technical developments in the field of plastics. Finally, a detailed analysis of results reported in the scientific literature shows the dependence of oxo-biodegradation on different parameters (UV radiation, temperature, exposure time, type of enzymes), specific environments (soil, composting, waste, recycling, etc.), different types of plastics (LDPE, HDPE, LLDPE, pro-oxidant additives) and, finally, on different analytical techniques used (FTIR, DSC, TGA, SEM, tensile test).","PeriodicalId":39200,"journal":{"name":"Universitas Scientiarum","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47743243","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Composition of the culturable bacterial community associated with the water column and soft tissues from oysters of the mangrove ecosystem at Honda Swamp, Colombian Caribbean","authors":"Lersy López Gutiérrez, M. Torres, E. Zarza, Alejandro Henao-Castro, Laura Contreras Vega","doi":"10.11144/javeriana.sc281.cotc","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.11144/javeriana.sc281.cotc","url":null,"abstract":"The study of bacterial communities is highly relevant in relation to the knowledge of global biological biodiversity and the biogeochemical cycles of the planet. Microbiological activity is the basis of ecosystems functioning, among these are the mangroves, which offer a wide variety of goods and services to humanity. Nevertheless, they have been severely impacted by anthropogenic activities such as felling, heavy metal pollution, water enrichment, overexploitation of resources, among others. This research aimed to characterize the culturable bacterial community from the water column and the oyster Crassostrea rhizophorae muscle tissue in a mangrove ecosystem from the Cartagena Bay, Colombian Caribbean as a baseline for future studies on bioremediation treatments. To accomplish this, four samplings were conducted over the course of a year, including contrasting climatic seasons (e.g., windy and rainy), collecting oyster individuals from mangroves and samples from superficial water. The bacterial community comprised 25 species, from which 9 were exclusive for the oyster tissue, 7 for the water column, and 9 generalists isolated from both types of samples. Enterobacter cloacae was the most frequent species during the year, followed by Escherichia coli and Erwinia sp.There were significant differences in the species composition between the sampling months (ANOSIM, R = 0:492; p=D 0:001), because of the presence of a higher number of exclusive species in December than in the other months. Furthermore, the physicochemical variables that presented a major influence on the bacterial community composition were the wind velocity and the dissolved oxygen. The review of this research findings will allow to detect if any of the identified species could be exploited for bioremediation treatments, and it will contribute to the preservation of marine-coastal water bodies biodiversity.","PeriodicalId":39200,"journal":{"name":"Universitas Scientiarum","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41675732","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"One-compartment stochastic pharmacokinetic model","authors":"J. A. Jiménez-Moscoso","doi":"10.11144/javeriana.sc281.ocsp","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.11144/javeriana.sc281.ocsp","url":null,"abstract":"In this work, we consider a pharmacokinetic (PK) model with first-order drug absorption and first-order elimination that represent the concentration of drugs in the body, including both the absorption and elimination parts, and we also add a random factor to describe the variability between patients and the environment. Using Itô’s lemma and the Laplace transform, we obtain the solutions in integral form for a single and constant dosage regimen in time. Moreover, formulas for the expected value and the variance for each case of study are presented, which allows the statistical assessment of the proposed models, as well as predicting the ideal path of drug concentration and its uncertainty. These results are important in the long-term analysis of drug concentration and the persistence of therapeutic level. Further, a numerical method for the solution of the stochastic differential equation (SDE) is introducedand developed.","PeriodicalId":39200,"journal":{"name":"Universitas Scientiarum","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41928202","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"New Perspectives on Reverse Translation: Brief History and Updates","authors":"Adhityo Wicaksono, V. D. Kharisma, A. A. Parikesit","doi":"10.11144/javeriana.sc281.npor","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.11144/javeriana.sc281.npor","url":null,"abstract":"Since the 1950s, reverse translation has been an enigmatic part of Crick’s central dogma of molecular biology. It might be described as the possibility to back-translate information from proteins to nucleic acids (or codons). A few studies have attempted to theorize and/or conduct in vitro experiments to test the likelihood of reverse translation, with ideas often involving the creation of peptide recognition sites that bridge the peptide and the codon. However, due to many constraints including an asymmetrical informational transfer, the stability of protein-peptide bonds, the structural non-uniformity of protein R-groups, and the informational loss in post-translational protein modifications, this concept requires follow-up studies. On the other hand, current bioinformatic tools that rely on computational programs and biological databases represent a growing branch of biology. Bioinformatics-based reverse translationcan utilize codon usage tables to predict codons from their peptide counterparts. In addition, the development of machine learning tools may allow for the exploration of biological reverse translation in vitro. Thus, while in vivo reverse translation appears to be nearly impossible (due to biological complexity), related biological and bioinformatics studies might be useful to understand better thecentral dogma’s informational transfer and to develop more complex biological machinery.","PeriodicalId":39200,"journal":{"name":"Universitas Scientiarum","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48450884","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}