Abstract Schizophrenia is an illness that affects 26 million people worldwide. However, conventional antipsychotics present side effects and toxicity, highlighting the need for new antipsychotics. We aimed to evaluate the cytotoxicity of haloperidol (HAL), clozapine (CLO), and a new molecule with antipsychotic potential, PT-31, in NIH-3T3 cells. The neutral red uptake assay and the MTT assay were performed to evaluate cell viability and mitochondrial activity, morphological changes were assessed, and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) detection was performed. HAL and CLO (0.1 μM) showed a decrease in cell viability in the neutral red uptake assay and in the MTT assay. In addition, cell detachment, content decrease, rounding and cell death were also observed at 0.1 μM for both antipsychotics. An increase in ROS was observed for HAL (0.001, 0.01 and 1 μM) and CLO (0.01 and 1 μM). PT-31 did not alter cell viability in any of the assays, although it increased ROS at 0.01 and 1 μM. HAL and CLO present cytotoxicity at 0.1 μM, possibly through apoptosis and necrosis. In contrast, PT-31 does not present cytotoxicity to NIH-3T3 cells. Further studies must be performed for a better understanding of these mechanisms and the potential risk of conventional antipsychotics. 2 worldwide However toxicity HAL, , (HAL) CLO, (CLO) PT31, PT31 PT 31, 31 NIH3T3 NIHT NIH 3T3 T NIH-3T cells activity assessed (ROS 01 0 (0. addition detachment 0. 0.001, 0001 001 (0.001 0.0 (0.0 . PT-3 assays necrosis contrast (HAL (CLO PT3 3 NIH3T 3T (0 0.001 000 00 (0.00 PT- ( 0.00

ABSTRACT Multiple variants of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2 virus (SARS-CoV-2) have been constantly reported across the world. The B.1.1.28 lineage has been evolving in Brazil since February 2020 and originated the P.1 variant of concern (VOC), recently named as the Gamma variant by the newly WHO nomenclature proposal, and P.2 as a variant of interest (VOI). Here we describe an early case of P.1 primary infection in Southern Brazil in late November 2020, soon after the emergence of the variant in Manaus, Northern Brazil. The same male patient was reinfected by another B.1.1.28 variant, namely P.2, in March, 2021. The genomic analysis confirmed genetically significant differences between the two viruses recovered in both infections, the P.1 lineage in the first episode and P.2 in the reinfection. Due the very early detection of P.1, we have also investigated the circulation of P.1 in the same region by differential RT-qPCR, showing that this was an isolated case of P.1 at the time of detection, and this variant has disseminated and became prominent from late January to the end of March, 2021. SARS-CoV-2 recent reports of reinfection have raised critical questions on whether and how well a first infection protects against reinfection.

AbstractSeveral studies regarding superficial treatments of Nitinol (NiTi) shape-memory have been developed aiming to the improve corrosion resistance and to block the Ni release to adjacent tissues. The necessary heat treatment to achieve the shape memory effect normally occurs at temperatures between 500 and 600 °C. However, titanium oxide (TiO2) is formed on the NiTi surface during the shape memory process heat treatment. In this work the effects of the heat treatment time on the surface characteristics of the formed NiTi oxide, at temperatures that promote the shape-memory (530 and 570 °C), were evaluated. The TiO2 layers which were obtained were evaluated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), scanning electron microscope (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), wettability and roughness. The results show that by increasing the exposure time at the temperature of 570 °C the formation of a thicker oxide is promoted, with less superficial roughness and of a hydrophobic nature. According to the literature, these characteristics indicate that the obtained oxide layer has properties that accelerat the osseointegration process.

In order to improve the NiTi alloy biocompatibility, surface treatments become very important. Nevertheless, researchers use different solutions to simulate the body fluids in electrochemical assays, and the correlation between the obtained results is difficult and might not even be possible. The present paper evaluated the electrochemical behavior of polished NiTi surfaces exposed to different simulated body fluid solutions: Hanks solution, Hanks’ balanced salt (HBSS) solution, saline body fluid (SBF) solution, and Ringer solution. The electrochemical behavior of NiTi was evaluated by open circuit potential (OCP) and cyclic voltammetry tests. The surfaces of the samples were also characterized by scanning electron microscopy, which was performed after the electrochemical tests. The results demonstrated that the NiTi alloy shows the same corrosion mechanism (pitting) in all simulated body fluids that were studied. However, the corrosion potential changes for each electrolyte, being HBSS, SBF and Ringer the most corrosive solutions. Furthermore, the Hanks and HBSS solutions demonstrated good reproducibility of the electochemical results. Considering that the HBSS represents an extreme environment, this solution seems to be the most indicated to study the corrosion behavior of NiTi treated surfaces.