Abstract The use of biopolymers and platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) is currently investigated as an excellent application biomaterial in the tissue engineering field. Natural biomaterials with application potential in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine are due to their characteristics in biocompatibility, biodegradability, and mechanical characteristic. Though, the basic knowledge of three‐dimensional fibrin scaffold and chitosan/alginate processing technology combined with an understanding of the physical-chemical properties of this natural biomaterial is necessary for proper application in regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. This mini review summarizes the information on the composition of chitosan/alginate and PRF in medical area and discusses recent developments with a special focus on its use for the application of drug delivery. The most important advances and stimulating applications are studies in regenerative medicine and tissue engineering, for wound healing to treat burns, tumor treatment, nanoparticle carriers, and drug delivery systems.

Surface modification by deposition of hard coatings is a way to overpass the poor wear resistance of some metallic materials and one potential material is the Diamond-Like Carbon (DLC). We investigated the wear behavior, and the adhesion of the DLC deposited on a Ti6Al4V (Ti64) alloy after Surface Mechanical Attrition Treatment (SMAT). The SMAT was applied using 100Cr6 steel balls, and the DLC was deposited through the sputtering method. The nano-hardness was evaluated using a MTS Nano Indenter XP. The adhesion of the DLC was evaluated using a CSM Revetest, and the wear tests was performed in a reciprocating linear tribometer from CSM Instruments. The mean wear rate for the Ti64 was 437x10-6 mm3/N/m against 5x10-6 mm3/N/m for the Ti64+SMAT+DLC. The SMAT reduced the wear rate of the DLC coating, showing that the SMAT might be a viable treatment with promising results regarding the DLC wear resistance.

Abstract Introduction The expansion of assistive technologies has been increasing significantly, involving almost all the daily activities, performed by disabled people. One of the highlights to be mentioned is the robotic orthoses, which are being used to amplify movements, to replace amputated limbs, and for a variety of rehabilitation therapies, among others. This study aims to present a review about upper limbs’ orthoses, discussing their weaknesses, potentialities, and pointing out for future perspectives under the motor rehabilitation. Methods For this research, it had been identified 161 papers, based on the bibliographic bases from IEEE and Science Direct, which were filtered by the keywords orthoses, hand, upper-limbs and technology. After the appropriate exclusions, 22 papers were analyzed. Results This review indicates that most of the orthoses have been developed for rehabilitation therapies to be employed by people who have suffered stroke, cerebral palsy or spinal cord injury. This research summarized that the upper limbs movements are effectively produced by electric or pneumatic actuators, having a variety of degrees of freedom. Conclusion This review has shown that, although there are many orthoses styles, ranging from electric to pneumatic actuators; also there are some technical restrictions that prevent their use by most people. However, upper limb orthoses seem to be a great solution for the rehabilitation of people who have suffered a stroke.

RESUMO Objetivo: Avaliar a capacidade do eluato proveniente da membrana de plasma rico em fibrina (PRF) de induzir proliferação e diferenciação das células-tronco humanas isoladas de tecido adiposo (CTDAh) em condrócitos. Método: As membranas de PRF foram obtidas por centrifugação de sangue periférico de dois indivíduos saudáveis, cortadas, colocadas em poços de placa de cultivo por 48 h para obtenção do eluato de fibrina. As CTDAh foram isoladas do tecido adiposo por digestão com solução de colagenase e expandidas in vitro. As células foram expandidas e tratadas com meio de cultivo DMEM-F12, meio comercial para diferenciação condrocítica, e eluato de fibrina durante três dias e marcadas com BrdU para avaliação quantitativa da proliferação celular com o uso do sistema de imagens High-Content Operetta®. Para o ensaio de diferenciação condrogênica, as CTDAh foram cultivadas em micromassa por 21 dias e coradas com azul de toluidina e agrecana para avaliação qualitativa em microscópio óptico. As avaliações estatísticas foram feitas por meio dos testes Anova e Tukey. Resultados: Houve uma maior proliferação das células tratadas com o eluato de fibrina comparativamente com os outros dois tratamentos, nos quais o teste Anova apontou significância (p < 0,001). A diferenciação em condrócitos foi visualizada pela presença de mucopolissacarídeos na matriz das células tratadas com meio de diferenciação ou eluato e marcação positiva para agrecana. Conclusões: O tratamento com o eluato da membrana de fibrina estimulou a proliferação celular e induziu a diferenciação das células-tronco em condrócitos, o que sugere uma potencial aplicação da membrana de PRF nas terapias de regeneração de cartilagem hialina.

ABSTRACT Objective: To evaluate the ability of the eluate from fibrin-rich plasma (FRP) membrane to induce proliferation and differentiation of isolated human adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) into chondrocytes. Method: FRP membranes were obtained by centrifugation of peripheral blood from two healthy donors, cut, and maintained in culture plate wells for 48 h to prepare the fibrin eluate. The SCATh were isolated from adipose tissue by collagenase digestion solution, and expanded in vitro. Cells were expanded and treated with DMEM-F12 culture, a commercial media for chondrogenic differentiation, and eluate from FRP membrane for three days, and labeled with BrdU for quantitative assessment of cell proliferation using the High-Content Operetta® imaging system. For the chondrogenic differentiation assay, the SCATh were grown in micromass for 21 days and stained with toluidine blue and aggrecan for qualitative evaluation by light microscopy. The statistical analysis was performed using ANOVA and Tukey's test. Results: There was a greater proliferation of cells treated with the eluate from FRP membrane compared to the other two treatments, where the ANOVA test showed significance (p < 0.001). The differentiation into chondrocytes was visualized by the presence of mucopolysaccharide in the matrix of the cells marked in blue toluidine and aggrecan. Conclusions: Treatment with eluate from FRP membrane stimulated cell proliferation and induced differentiation of the stem cells into chondrocytes, suggesting a potential application of FRP membranes in hyaline cartilage regeneration therapies.

RESUMO O objetivo deste trabalho é demonstrar a aplicabilidade da Cromatografia Líquida de Alta Eficiência na quantificação do Di(2-etilhexil ftalato) (DEHP) liberado pela linha de Policloreto de vinila (PVC) no sangue circulante durante o procedimento de hemodiálise. Como a proposta não é a validação do método foram coletadas amostras de sangue de cinco pacientes voluntários e de três voluntários saudáveis e os plasmas foram isolados, preparados e analisados. A concentração média de DEHP no sangue no plasma dos pacientes foi 0.19±0.12 mg/kg de massa corpórea, enquanto que no plasma dos voluntários saudáveis foi 0.003±0.002 µg/kg de massa corpórea. Os resultados mostraram que o método apresentado é uma alternativa para a determinação de DEPH no sangue e que poderá auxiliar na busca por outros materiais para aplicação em equipamentos de circulação extracorpórea. O estudo foi realizado de acordo com os padrões nacionais e internacionais de ética em pesquisa envolvendo seres humanos (CEP PUCPR Prot. n.5802).

ABSTRACT The objective of the work is to demonstrate the applicability of the High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) on the quantification of the Di(2-ethylhexyl phthalate) (DEHP) released from the Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) line into the circulating blood during the hemodialysis procedure. As the proposal is not to validate the method, blood samples from five patients and three healthy volunteers were collected, and the plasmas were isolated, prepared and analyzed. The average concentration of DEHP in the patient's plasma was 0.19±0.12 mg/kg of body mass, while in the plasma of the healthy volunteers was 0.003±0.002 µg/kg of body mass. The results showed that the method presented is an alternative to quantify the DEHP in the blood and could assist in the search for alternative materials to apply to extracorporeal circulation equipment. The study was performed according to the national and international standards of ethics in research involving human beings (CEP PUCPR Prot. n.5802).

Introdução: Atualmente, a contagem de reticulócitos representa um desafio para os laboratórios clínicos no Brasil, principalmente os de pequeno e médio porte, nos quais ainda se utiliza o método manual. Este método apresenta algumas limitações, classificando-se como tedioso, demorado e de baixa precisão. Objetivos: O presente estudo desenvolveu e avaliou o desempenho de um novo protocolo laboratorial para contagem de reticulócitos por citometria de fluxo (CF) utilizando acridine orange (AO) como corante, visando padronizar um protocolo preciso, de fácil e rápida execução e custo acessível. Após a padronização do novo protocolo desenvolvido (CF/AO), fez-se a comparação com o método manual. Os resultados foram analisados de acordo com recomendações do National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS), atualmente Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI), para avaliar a intercambialidade entre os métodos, por meio da análise de regressão linear e teste t pareado, além de outros testes de controle de qualidade. Conclusão: Diante dos resultados obtidos referentes à correlação entre os métodos e os testes voltados ao controle de qualidade, pode-se admitir que o CF/AO estabelecido para contagem de reticulócitos possui vantagens inegáveis quando comparado com o método manual.

Introduction: Currently, the reticulocyte counting is a challenge for clinical laboratories in Brazil, mainly for the ordinary ones, which still use the manual method. This method has some limitations, since it consists of a laborious method, time consuming, with low accuracy. Objectives: This study has developed and evaluated the performance of a New Laboratory Protocol for flow cytometry (FC) reticulocytes counting using acridine orange (AO) as dye, aiming to standardize a more precise, easy, fast implementation, and low cost protocol. After standardization of the New Protocol (FC/AO), it was compared with the manual method. The results were analyzed according to the recommendations of the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS), now known as Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI), to evaluate the interchangeability of methods in linear regression analysis and paired t test, besides other quality control tests. Conclusion: Based on these results concerning to the correlation between the methods and the tests related to quality control, we can admit that FC/AO for reticulocyte counting shows undeniable advantages when compared to the preexisting manual method.

In this work, adult stem cells of three volunteers were isolated, expanded and cultivated over samples of Anorthite in order to assess its osteoinductive capacity. Alkaline Phosphatase Analysis, ALP, was carried out at days 1, 7, 14 and 21, and the results showed similar behavior between the volunteers considering the initial value of each. For volunteer 1, between day 14 and 21, the decreasing of ALP was remarkable in the wells containing MSC only and MSC+BIO, from 59.9 to 26.3 U.L-1 and from 63.3 to 38.1 U.L-1, respectively, suggesting that the biomaterial was able to induce osteoblast formations. This osteoinduction property could be evidenced by Citochemistry where MSCs did not produce crystals of Calcium Oxalate or Calcium Phosphate, osteoblast compounds, without being stimulated by a chemical inducer, lending to the conclusion that the differentiation of MSC into osteoblast when cultivated on Anorthite, occurred exclusively by its influence, strongly suggesting that it is osteoinductive.

Despite the interest in identifying systemic effects caused by the metallic particles released from long term metallic implants in the body, few works support reliable conclusions about the effects of those particles in organs. The aim of the present work is to look for damages in tissues of liver, kidney, lung and heart of rats submitted to injection of Hank's solution contained particles of Ti6Al4V alloy and Stainless Steel 316L, obtained by metal friction. The particles size ranges from 50 to 200 µm for the Ti alloy and from 100 to 500 µm for the 316L. Tissues isolated from the organs after the euthanasia were prepared and analyzed in an optical microscope and Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (EDS). Lesions caused by an inflammatory response such as strange body epithelioid granuloma and giant cells were found in some of the tissues containing yttrium and aluminum.