O presente artigo apresenta os resultados de uma pesquisa que procurou evidenciar a percepção dos egressos de Cursos de Ciências Biológicas do Estado do Rio de Janeiro como indicador de avaliação institucional. O instrumento de pesquisa utilizado foi um questionário online, composto de perguntas multiopcionais e uma dissertativa. Este foi respondido por 241 egressos, sendo 83 da modalidade de ensino a distância e 158 de ensino presencial. Os resultados revelaram que os egressos do ensino a distância foram os mais satisfeitos em relação à Graduação que cursaram, considerando-a como “ótima”. A análise de conteúdo mostrou que a maior insatisfação entre os egressos do Curso presencial foi que o Curso deveria oferecer melhor preparação para o mercado de trabalho. Outros tópicos – necessidade de melhorias na infraestrutura, aumento das atividades práticas em campo, renovação e atualização da grade curricular, e qualidade dos professores – também foram comentados em maior frequência.

This paper aims to highlight the perception of graduates of some Biological Science courses in Rio de Janeiro as an indicator of institutional evaluation. The survey instrument used in this study was an online multiple-choice questionnaire and one discursive question. This survey was answered by 241 graduates: 83 of them from distance learning and 158 from traditional classrooms. The results demonstrated that the distance learning graduates were the most satisfied with their graduation, considered as "great". However, the results of content analysis revealed that the greatest dissatisfaction among traditional classroom graduates regarded preparation for the labor market. The second topic requested by the students was improvements in infrastructure, which was pointed by graduates from all institutions. Other topics such as increase of practical activities, curriculum renovation, and quality of teachers were also mentioned.

Este artículo presenta los resultados de una investigación que tuvo como objetivo resaltar la percepción de los graduados en Ciencias Biológicas en el Estado de Río de Janeiro como un indicador de evaluación institucional. Los datos del estudio se han obtenido mediante la aplicación de un cuestionario online, compuesto de varias preguntas cerradas (con respuesta definida) y una abierta, el cual fue respondido por 241 graduados, siendo 83 de educación a distancia y 158 de educación presencial. Los resultados permitieron identificar que los graduados de educación a distancia fueron los que se encontraban más satisfechos en relación con su carrera, considerándola como “óptima”. El análisis del contenido mostró que la mayor insatisfacción entre los graduados de educación presencial fue que el curso no ofrecía una mejor preparación para el mercado laboral. Otros tópicos, como la necesidad de mejorar la infraestructura, aumentar las prácticas de campo, renovar y actualizar los planes de estudio, y perfeccionar la calidad del profesorado, también fueron los más frecuentemente comentados.

O presente trabalho tem como objetivo evidenciar o perfil dos egressos de alguns cursos de graduação em Ciências Biológicas no Estado do Rio de Janeiro. O instrumento de pesquisa utilizado foi um questionário online, composto por perguntas multiopcionais. Este foi respondido por 241 egressos, sendo 83 do ensino a distância e 158 do ensino presencial, de universidades públicas e uma privada. Os resultados mostraram a predominância de mulheres, de cor branca e idade média de 23 anos, na conclusão do curso dos egressos do ensino presencial, e 33 no ensino a distância. Além disso, percebeu-se o predomínio do cargo de professor, principalmente no Ensino Fundamental II e no Ensino Médio e renda mensal de 3 a 4 salários mínimos

This paper aims to highlight the profile of the graduates of some degree courses in Biological Sciences in the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The survey instrument used was an online questionnaire consisting of multiple choice questions. This was answered by 241 graduate students, being 83 of distance learning and 158 of classroom teaching, from public and one private universities. The results showed the predominance of women, white, an average age of 23 years, at the course completion coming from traditional classroom, and 33 from distance learning. Moreover, it was noticed the predominance of professorship, especially in Secondary School and High School and monthly income of 3-4 minimum wages.

Trichomonas vaginalis and Tritrichomonas foetus are parasitic protists of the human and bovine urogenital tracts, respectively. Several studies have described the cytotoxic effects of trichomonads on urogenital tract epithelial cells. However, little is known about the host cell response against trichomonads. The aim of this study was to determine whether T. foetus and T. vaginalis stimulated the release of the cytokine interleukin (IL)-10 from cultured bovine epithelial cells. To characterise the inflammatory response induced by these parasites, primary cultures of bovine oviduct epithelial cells were exposed to either T. vaginalis or T. foetus. Within 12 h after parasite challenge, supernatants were collected and cytokine production was analysed. Large amounts of IL-10 were detected in the supernatants of cultures that had been stimulated with T. foetus. Interestingly, T. vaginalis induced only a small increase in the release of IL-10 upon exposure to the same bovine cells. Thus, the inflammatory response of the host cell is species-specific. Only T. foetus and not T. vaginalis induced the release of IL-10 by bovine oviduct epithelial cells.

Purpose:Pneumoperitoneum (Pp) at 12 to 15 mmHg in rats is associated with kidney damage. However, Pp at 8 mmHg is now known to best correlate to working pressures used in humans. Thus the aim of this work was to study the kidney of rats submitted to prolonged Pp at 8 mmHg.Materials and Methods:Rats were divided into a Sham group (n = 14), submitted to anesthesia, and a Pp group (n = 14), submitted to Pp at 8 mmHg, followed by deflation. In both groups, 7 animals were immediately killed and their kidneys were used for oxidative stress analyses. The remaining 7 rats in each group were evaluated after 6 weeks for the number of glomeruli and podocyte morphology.Results:For all analyzed parameters Sham and Pp groups presented no statistical difference.Conclusion:When submitted to adequate Pp pressures (8 mmHg), no kidney damage occurs in rats.

Trichomonas vaginalis and Tritrichomonas foetus are parasitic, flagellated protists that inhabit the urogenital tract of humans and bovines, respectively. T. vaginalis causes the most prevalent non-viral sexually transmitted disease worldwide and has been associated with an increased risk for human immunodeficiency virus-1 infection in humans. Infections by T. foetus cause significant losses to the beef industry worldwide due to infertility and spontaneous abortion in cows. Several studies have shown a close association between trichomonads and the epithelium of the urogenital tract. However, little is known concerning the interaction of trichomonads with cells from deeper tissues, such as fibroblasts and muscle cells. Published parasite-host cell interaction studies have reported contradictory results regarding the ability of T. foetus and T. vaginalis to interact with and damage cells of different tissues. In this study, parasite-host cell interactions were examined by culturing primary human fibroblasts obtained from abdominal biopsies performed during plastic surgeries with trichomonads. In addition, mouse 3T3 fibroblasts, primary chick embryo myogenic cells and L6 muscle cells were also used as models of target cells. The parasite-host cell cultures were processed for scanning and transmission electron microscopy and were tested for cell viability and cell death. JC-1 staining, which measures mitochondrial membrane potential, was used to determine whether the parasites induced target cell damage. Terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase-mediated dUTP nick end labelling staining was used as an indicator of chromatin damage. The colorimetric crystal violet assay was performed to ana-lyse the cytotoxicity induced by the parasite. The results showed that T. foetus and T. vaginalis adhered to and were cytotoxic to both fibroblasts and muscle cells, indicating that trichomonas infection of the connective and muscle tissues is likely to occur; such infections could cause serious risks to the infected host.

Trichomonas vaginalis and Tritrichomonas foetus are human and bovine parasites, respectively, that provoke the sexually transmitted disease trichomoniasis. These extracellular parasites adhere to the host epithelial cell surface. Although mucinases and proteases have been described as important proteins for parasite adhesion to epithelial cells, no studies have examined the role of the keratin molecules that cornify the vaginal epithelium. Here, we investigated the interaction of T. vaginalis and T. foetus with human keratin in vitro; additionally, adherence assays were performed in cattle with T. foetus to elucidate whether trichomonads were able to interact with keratin in vivo. We demonstrated that both T. vaginalisand T. foetusinteracted directly with keratin. Additionally, the trichomonads ingested and digested keratin, shedding new light on the Trichomonas infection process.

Basic aspects of cell biology of Pneumocystis carinii are reviewed with major emphasis on its life cycle and the structural organization of the trophozoites and cyst forms. Initially considered as a protozoan it is now established that Pneumocystis belongs to the Fungi Kingdom. Its life cycle includes two basic forms: (a) trophozoites, which are haploid cells that divide by binary fission and may conjugate with each other forming an early procyst and (b) cysts where division takes place through a meiotic process with the formation of eight nuclei followed by cytoplasmic delimitation and formation of intracystic bodies which are subsequently released and transformed into trophozoites. Basic aspects of the structure of the two developmental stages of P. carinii are reviewed.

The freeze-fracture technique was used to analyse the organization of the plasma membrane, as well as membranes of cytoplasmic organelles, of the pathogenic protozoan Trichomonas vaginalis. Rosettes formed by 4 to 14 intramembranous particles were seen on the fracture faces of the membrane lining the anterior flagella as well as in fracture faces of the plasma membrane enclosing the anterior region of the protozoan and in cytoplasmic organelles. Special organization of the membrane particles were also seen in the region of association of the recurrent flagellum to the cell body.