The ofloxacin (OFLOX) is a second-generation synthetic antibiotic that can be classified as a multifunctional drug, but is a poorly soluble drug, which influences its efficiency. The inclusion complexes of OFLOX with β-cyclodextrin (βCD) or hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HPβCD) can improve the chemical characteristics of the drug; however, studies showing the biological activity of these inclusion complexes are still scarce. The present work aimed to investigate the multifunctionality of the OFLOX and their inclusion complexes. Thus, the 1:1 βCD/OFLOX or HPβCD/OFLOX were prepared and analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis (TGA and DTA), 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC). The antitumor and antibacterial effects were assessed. The results confirm the formation of the inclusion complexes, which had lower minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values, higher cytotoxicity and promoted the apoptosis. The present study showed, for the first time, the promising effects of the inclusion complexes as antitumor, improving the biological activities of the uncomplexed ofloxacin.

Happy emotional states have not been extensively explored in functional magnetic resonance imaging studies using autobiographic recall paradigms. We investigated the brain circuitry engaged during induction of happiness by standardized script-driven autobiographical recall in 11 healthy subjects (6 males), aged 32.4 ± 7.2 years, without physical or psychiatric disorders, selected according to their ability to vividly recall personal experiences. Blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) changes were recorded during auditory presentation of personal scripts of happiness, neutral content and negative emotional content (irritability). The same uniform structure was used for the cueing narratives of both emotionally salient and neutral conditions, in order to decrease the variability of findings. In the happiness relative to the neutral condition, there was an increased BOLD signal in the left dorsal prefrontal cortex and anterior insula, thalamus bilaterally, left hypothalamus, left anterior cingulate gyrus, and midportions of the left middle temporal gyrus (P < 0.05, corrected for multiple comparisons). Relative to the irritability condition, the happiness condition showed increased activity in the left insula, thalamus and hypothalamus, and in anterior and midportions of the inferior and middle temporal gyri bilaterally (P < 0.05, corrected), varying in size between 13 and 64 voxels. Findings of happiness-related increased activity in prefrontal and subcortical regions extend the results of previous functional imaging studies of autobiographical recall. The BOLD signal changes identified reflect general aspects of emotional processing, emotional control, and the processing of sensory and bodily signals associated with internally generated feelings of happiness. These results reinforce the notion that happiness induction engages a wide network of brain regions.

A drying method suitable for the study of the morphological and structural properties of colloidal magnetic systems, including a contrast agent used in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is described. We tested three alternative ferrofluid drying methods: drying at 70 70ºCC in nitrogen atmosphere; drying in air at 70 70ºCC; and drying by liophylization using an MRI marker in the form of a colloidal suspension (EndoremTM - Guebert). X-ray diffraction (XRD), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were applied to each characterization method. The XRD allowed the observation of the possible physical-chemical changes of the stabilizers and also Fe3O4 present in the system. The morphology and nanoparticles size distribution was analyzed by TEM. Among the drying methods examined in this study, the liophylization has shown to be the more adequate one for the nanoparticles (Fe3O4) morphological study and nanostructural characterization, because the structure of the nanoparticles was maintained the same as in the suspension. The drying procedures performed at 70 70ºCC in the atmospheres of nitrogen and air let to the coalescence and growth of the nanoparticles, as well as some degradation has been noticed in some of the stabilizers.

According to the concepts of cognitive neuropsychology, there are two principal routes of reading processing: a lexical route, in which global reading of words occurs and a phonological route, responsible for the conversion of the graphemes into their respective phonemes. In the present study, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to investigate the patterns of cerebral activation in lexical and phonological reading by 13 healthy women with a formal educational level greater than 11 years. Participants were submitted to a silent reading task containing three types of stimuli: real words (irregular and foreign words), nonwords and illegitimate graphic stimuli. An increased number of activated voxels were identified by fMRI in the word reading (lexical processing) than in the nonword reading (phonological processing) task. In word reading, activation was greater than for nonwords in the following areas: superior, middle and inferior frontal gyri, and bilateral superior temporal gyrus, right cerebellum and the left precentral gyrus, as indicated by fMRI. In the reading of nonwords, the activation was predominant in the right cerebellum and in the left superior temporal gyrus. The results of the present study suggest the existence of differences in the patterns of cerebral activation during lexical and phonological reading, with greater involvement of the right hemisphere in reading words than nonwords.