From moths to caterpillars: Ideal conditions for Galleria mellonella rearing for in vivo microbiological studies.

ABSTRACT Galleria mellonella is a well-accepted insect model for the study of pathogen-host interactions and antimicrobial compounds. The main advantages of this model include the low cost of maintenance, the fast life cycle, the possibility of using a large number of caterpillars and the innate immune system, which is evolutionarily conserved relative to mammals. Because of these advantages, different research groups have been working to implement the rearing of G. mellonella in laboratory conditions. This protocol describes our experience in the rearing of G. mellonella caterpillars for experimental infection models and the influence of different artificial diets on developmental and physiological parameters. Here, we suggest a diet composition that benefits the life cycle of G. mellonella by accelerating the larval phase length and increasing the caterpillar weight. This diet also stimulated the immune system of G. mellonella by increasing the hemolymph volume and hemocyte concentration. In addition, our rearing protocol generated caterpillars that are more resistant to infection by Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Candida albicans. A standard G. mellonella rearing protocol is fundamental to minimize external influences on the results, and this simple and easy protocol can support researchers starting to rear G. mellonella

Impacts of reduction of phosphorus in finishing diets for Holstein×Zebu steers

In Brazil, commonly males of dairy herd are destined to beef production. However, little is known about the mineral requirements for dairy males. Therefore, the objective of this experiment was to evaluate the calcium (Ca) requirements of Holstein×Zebu steers by determining Ca body tissue concentrations, true absorption and retention coefficients, as well as the requirements for maintenance and weight gain of steers fed diets containing or not containing dicalcium phosphate. Twenty-eight Holstein×Zebu steers with an average initial body weight of 377.5±49.4 kg were utilized. The experiment was conducted as a completely randomized design with a 2×2 factorial arrangement of treatments. Factors included 1) two concentrate levels (30% or 60%); and 2) two levels of dicalcium phosphate (DP), 0 or the amount necessary to attend the estimated dietary requirements. Absorption and retention coefficients, maintenance and gain requirements were estimated. The feedstuffs, refusals, feces, urine, blood and bone were sampled for Ca and phosphorus (P) analysis. Phosphorus intake was improved by the addition of concentrate and presence of DP. There were no variations in the daily fecal and urinary phosphorus excretion as a function of DP. The serum level of inorganic phosphorus was lower in non-supplemented animals, although it was within adequate concentrations for all treatments. Dry matter and organic matter intake, organic matter digestibility, performance, and efficiency were not affected by treatment. Absorption and retention coefficients, and the net requirements for maintenance are similar across treatments. Therefore, the lack of inorganic supplementary Ca and P in diets of feedlot finishing cattle does not change the concentrations of these minerals in bone. The dietary requirements of calcium and phosphorus obtained for cattle were lower than those described by the nutritional requirement systems from Brazil, USA, and UK

Análise das condições de moradia das famílias de baixa renda do município de Campinas (SP).

Neste estudo, foram analisadas características do responsável familiar (RF) e dos domicílios das famílias pertencentes ao Cadastro Único (CadÚnico) do município de Campinas, para captar uma visão atual da realidade social das famílias de baixa renda. Foram utilizados os dados do CadÚnico para o município de Campinas, disponibilizados pela Secretaria Municipal de Assistência Social, Pessoa com Deficiência e Direitos Humanos (SMASDH). Foram consideradas variáveis do responsável familiar e da moradia. Os resultados demonstram que as famílias cadastradas no CadÚnico enfrentam condições socioeconômicas extremamente desfavoráveis: a renda média das famílias é de R$130,00 mensais e 70$ 200,00 mensais; são majoritariamente chefiadas por mulheres (88%) e, na média, compostas por até três pessoas; 50% dispõem de somente 1 dormitório para 2 residentes; 96% dos RF indicaram que a moradia é particular permanente e 98% das moradias são feitas de alvenaria (indicadores positivos); 73% das famílias residem em moradias com piso de cerâmica e 24%, com piso de cimento; 15% vivem em residência sem medidor de energia elétrica. Nossos resultados fornecem evidências de que as famílias cadastradas no CadÚnico sobrevivem em situação econômica desfavorável, a qual afeta negativamente sua saúde física e mental. Essas famílias de baixa renda têm menor probabilidade de ter recursos ou resiliência para lidar com impactos negativos e maior probabilidade de viver em moradias com estruturas ineficientes.Evento online. CIIC 2021

Diffractive Contribution to the Elasticity and the Nucleonic Flux in the Atmosphere

We calculate the average elasticity considering non-diffractive and single diffractive interactions and perform an analysis of the cosmic-ray flux by means of an analytical solution for the nucleonic diffusion equation. We show that the diffractive contribution is important for the adequate description of the nucleonic and hadronic fluxes in the atmosphere.Comment: 10 pages, latex, 2 figures (uuencoded PostScript

As experiências de Educação em Agroecologia no Brasil: diálogos a partir do II Seminário Nacional de Educação em Agroecologia (II SNEA).

Edição dos Anais do VI Congresso Latino-americano de Agroecologia; X Congresso Brasileiro de Agroecologia; V Seminário de Agroecologia do Distrito Federal e Entorno, Brasília, DF, set. 2017

Single-particle characterization of aerosols collected at a remote site in the Amazonian rainforest and an urban site in Manaus, Brazil

In this study, aerosol samples collected at a remote site in the Amazonian rainforest and an urban site in Manaus, Brazil, were investigated on a single-particle basis using a quantitative energy-dispersive electron probe X-ray microanalysis (ED-EPMA). A total of 23 aerosol samples were collected in four size ranges (0.25–0.5, 0.5–1.0, 1.0–2.0, and 2.0–4.0&thinsp;µm) during the wet season in 2012 at two Amazon basin sites: 10 samples in Manaus, an urban area; and 13 samples at an 80&thinsp;m high tower, located at the Amazon Tall Tower Observatory (ATTO) site in the middle of the rainforest, 150&thinsp;km northeast of Manaus. The aerosol particles were classified into nine particle types based on the morphology on the secondary electron images (SEIs) together with the elemental concentrations of 3162 individual particles: (i) secondary organic aerosols (SOA); (ii) ammonium sulfate (AS); (iii) SOA and AS mixtures; (iv) aged mineral dust; (v) reacted sea salts; (vi) primary biological aerosol (PBA); (vii) carbon-rich or elemental carbon (EC) particles, such as soot, tarball, and char; (viii) fly ash; and (ix) heavy metal (HM, such as Fe, Zn, Ni, and Ti)-containing particles. In submicron aerosols collected at the ATTO site, SOA and AS mixture particles were predominant (50&thinsp;%–94&thinsp;% in relative abundance) with SOA and ammonium sulfate comprising 73&thinsp;%–100&thinsp;%. In supermicron aerosols at the ATTO site, aged mineral dust and sea salts (37&thinsp;%–70&thinsp;%) as well as SOA and ammonium sulfate (28&thinsp;%–58&thinsp;%) were abundant. PBAs were observed abundantly in the PM2−4 fraction (46&thinsp;%), and EC and fly ash particles were absent in all size fractions. The analysis of a bulk PM0.25−0.5 aerosol sample from the ATTO site using Raman microspectrometry and attenuated total reflection Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) showed that ammonium sulfate, organics, and minerals are the major chemical species, which is consistent with the ED-EPMA results. In the submicron aerosols collected in Manaus, either SOA and ammonium sulfate (17&thinsp;%–80&thinsp;%) or EC particles (6&thinsp;%–78&thinsp;%) were dominant depending on the samples. In contrast, aged mineral dust, reacted sea salt, PBA, SOA, ammonium sulfate, and EC particles comprised most of the supermicron aerosols collected in Manaus. The SOA, ammonium sulfate, and PBAs were mostly of a biogenic origin from the rainforest, whereas the EC and HM-containing particles were of an anthropogenic origin. Based on the different contents of SOA, ammonium sulfate, and EC particles among the samples collected in Manaus, a considerable influence of the rainforest over the city was observed. Aged mineral dust and reacted sea-salt particles, including mineral dust mixed with sea salts probably during long-range transatlantic transport, were abundant in the supermicron fractions at both sites. Among the aged mineral dust and reacted sea-salt particles, sulfate-containing ones outnumbered those containing nitrates and sulfate&thinsp;+&thinsp;nitrate in the ATTO samples. In contrast, particles containing sulfate&thinsp;+&thinsp;nitrate were comparable in number to particles containing sulfate only in the Manaus samples, indicating the different sources and formation mechanisms of secondary aerosols, i.e., the predominant presence of sulfate at the ATTO site from mostly biogenic emissions and the elevated influences of nitrates from anthropogenic activities at the Manaus site.</p

Gestão do empreendedorismo: um estudo de caso do segmento alimentício (sorvetes)

O presente estudo pretende mostrar o caso de sucesso de uma empresa atuante no segmento de alimentação (sorvetes). Uma história de empreendedorismo que começa em 1993, com o Sr. Luis Antonio Senóbio, que passou de “bilheteiro rodoviário” a empresário bem-sucedido. Empreendedor é frequentemente definido como aquele que começa o seu próprio, novo e pequeno negócio. Empreendedorismo é um comportamento pró-ativo do indivíduo, o qual deve desejar aprender, a pensar e agir por conta própria, com criatividade, liderança e visão de futuro, para inovar e ocupar o seu espaço no mercado, transformando esse ato também em prazer e emoção (DOLABELLA, 1999). Os objetivos deste trabalho foram: Mostrar a história e contextualizá-la na administração; mostrar o perfil profissional do empreendedor; e identificar na empresa os conceitos do empreendedorismo. A pesquisa foi elaborada entre maio e junho de 2010, a partir de uma proposta de atividade interdisciplinar (Marketing e O. S. M.) do 2º semestre do curso de Gestão Empresarial da FATEC Guaratinguetá, que teve como materiais e métodos Levantamento Bibliográfico (livros acadêmicos), além de visitas dos autores à empresa e aplicação de questionários ao proprietário e aos colaboradores e posterior apresentação/avaliação em auditório da instituição. Concluiu-se que com os resultados obtidos decorrentes do estudo, foi possível avaliar positivamente e mostrar que a teoria e a prática da administração, em particular, o empreendedorismo, se complementam, e também, pode-se observar o quão importante é a visão, o planejamento e gestão para alcançar o sucesso profissional

Net Charge Fluctuations in Au + Au Interactions at sqrt(s_NN) = 130 GeV

Data from Au + Au interactions at sqrt(s_NN) = 130 GeV, obtained with the PHENIX detector at RHIC, are used to investigate local net charge fluctuations among particles produced near mid-rapidity. According to recent suggestions, such fluctuations may carry information from the Quark Gluon Plasma. This analysis shows that the fluctuations are dominated by a stochastic distribution of particles, but are also sensitive to other effects, like global charge conservation and resonance decays.Comment: 6 pages, RevTeX 3, 3 figures, 307 authors, submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett. on 21 March, 2002. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (will be made) publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/phenix/WWW/run/phenix/papers.htm

Flow Measurements via Two-particle Azimuthal Correlations in Au + Au Collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 130 GeV

Two particle azimuthal correlation functions are presented for charged hadrons produced in Au + Au collisions at RHIC sqrt(s_NN) = 130 GeV. The measurements permit determination of elliptic flow without event-by-event estimation of the reaction plane. The extracted elliptic flow values v_2 show significant sensitivity to both the collision centrality and the transverse momenta of emitted hadrons, suggesting rapid thermalization and relatively strong velocity fields. When scaled by the eccentricity of the collision zone, epsilon, the scaled elliptic flow shows little or no dependence on centrality for charged hadrons with relatively low p_T. A breakdown of this epsilon scaling is observed for charged hadrons with p_T > 1.0 GeV/c for the most central collisions.Comment: 6 pages, RevTeX 3, 4 figures, 307 authors, submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett. on 11 April 2002. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (will be made) publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/phenix/WWW/run/phenix/papers.htm