The cooperative organization and community development.

This article aims to determine how cooperatives in the South/Southwest region of Minas Gerais relate to the community where they operate. It is known that the concern for community development is implicit in the seventh cooperative principle "Concern for community." This principle states that cooperatives work for the sustainable development of their communities through policies approved by the members. Questionnaires were sent to 120 cooperatives affiliated to OCEMG. According to the survey results, it appears that the role of cooperatives in local development has not always been prioritized and cooperative education work with the membership would be a way to achieve commitment from members towards their organization. However, when analyzing the activities leading to cooperative education processes that these organizations undertake, they prove to be insufficient and isolated

Laccase production by free and immobilized mycelia of Peniophora cinerea and Trametes versicolor: a comparative study

The production of laccase by immobilized mycelia of Peniophora cinerea and Trametes versicolor was studied. In an initial stage, experimental assays were performed in Erlenmeyer flasks using free and immobilized mycelium, and the performance of the fungal strains to produce the enzyme was compared. Both fungi adhered into the support material (a synthetic fiber), growing not only on the surface but also in the interspaces of the fibers. Immobilization of P. cinerea provided a 35-fold increase in laccase production when compared to the production obtained by using free mycelium. On the other hand, immobilization of T. versicolor caused a decrease in laccase activity. A comparison between the strains revealed that immobilized P. cinerea (3,500 U/L) surpassed the enzyme production by free T. versicolor (800 U/L). When the conditions that gave the best laccase production to each fungus were employed in a stirred tank bioreactor, very low laccase production was observed for both the cases, suggesting that shear stress and mycelia damage caused by the agitation impellers negatively affected the enzyme production.S.C. Silverio acknowledges the financial support from FCT (Fundacao para a Ciencia e para a Tecnologia, Ph.D. grant SFRH/BD/43439/2008), Portugal; and S. Moreira acknowledges CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico), Brazil

Laccase production by free and immobilized fungal mycelium of Trametes versicolor

The production of laccase by free and immobilized mycelium of Trametes versicolor was evaluated. Fermentation experiments were carried out using a Trametes defined medium [1] supplemented with tween-80 (0.5%, w/v) and xylidine (30 μM) to stimulate and induce the secretion of extracellular enzyme. The support for the mycelium immobilization consisted in 0.3 cm3 cubes of synthetic fiber (Scotch Brite, 3M Spain, SA), which were added to the culture system at 1 g/100 mL of medium. Assays were performed in 250-mL Erlenmeyer flasks and in a 2 L stirred tank bioreactor. For the flasks fermentations, three 7 mm diameter plugs from the fungal monoculture plate were inoculated into 50 mL culture medium in the presence or not of the immobilization support. For the assays in bioreactor, the volume of inoculum necessary to obtain an initial cell concentration of 70 mg/L was transferred to the reactor containing 1 L of culture medium with or without the immobilization support. In both cases, the fungus was incubated at 28 °C and 180 rpm. During the experiments, samples were periodically withdrawn for laccase and glucose determinations. Synthetic fiber was used as immobilization support since this material was demonstrated to be of great potential for fungi immobilization [2]. Additionally, many studies have demonstrated that fermentation systems with immobilized cells are able to increase the process productivity. However, the laccase production by T. versicolor (present study) did not show this performance. In both systems (Erlenmeyer flasks and bioreactor), the highest laccase production was obtained when using free mycelium. Additionally, the maximum laccase production obtained in bioreactor was lower than the maximum found in Erlenmeyer-flasks, suggesting that the conditions used in the bioreactor should be optimized to increase the laccase production results. Due to the great importance of the laccases in the industrial sector, more studies will be performed aiming to find a strategy to maximize the production of this enzyme by T. versicolo

Uma análise da gestão social em cooperativas agropecuárias sob a perspectiva da organização do quadro social.

A Organização do Quadro Social é uma ferramenta estratégica da gestão social de cooperativas, que consiste num processo sistemático de comunicação e integração entre cooperados e conselho administrativo, operacionalizado através de um comitê educativo. Assim, este artigo objetiva entender o funcionamento do processo de comunicação entre cooperativas agropecuárias e produtores rurais, viabilizado pela gestão social através do processo de Organização do Quadro Social. A pesquisa realizada teve caráter exploratório descritivo e utilizou-se de um estudo de caso numa cooperativa agropecuária de Minas Gerais. Entrevistas, aplicação de questionários, dados secundários e observação participante foram as técnicas de coletas de dados utilizadas para se chegar aos resultados, os quais indicam que o trabalho de OQS potencializa as atividades agroindustriais se bem articuladas entre as organizações do mesmo sistema, mas ao mesmo tempo revela que falta um planejamento das atividades de educação cooperativista. Conclui que essa ferramenta promove um maior envolvimento entre os membros da cooperativa, elimina o distanciamento entre cooperativas e associados, promove a socialização dos cooperados, a melhoria dos serviços de assistência técnica, da produção e da produtividade

Entre o social e o econômico, uma gestão cooperativa é possível? Estudo sobre as estratégias de comunicação nas cooperativas agropecuárias.

Este artigo tem como objetivo analisar as estratégias de comunicação nas cooperativas agropecuárias, localizadas no estado de Minas Gerais, no contexto do modelo federado de cooperativas. A pesquisa é qualitativa que contou com o apoio da técnica de entrevista semiestruturada. Entre os resultados, postula-se que exista nesta articulação diferentes processos de comunicação simultâneos e relacionados que precisam harmonizar interesses, demandas e exigências desses três níveis de instâncias, numa adequada escolha de canais e de mensagens

Comunicação na gestão de cooperativas.

Este artigo analisou a comunicação no modelo federado de cooperativas de leite em Minas Gerais. A partir de entrevistas semiestruturadas com os dirigentes destas organizações, evidenciou-se a necessidade de redimensionar a comunicação para uma perspectiva mais democrática, levando em consideração o papel de cada cooperativa no modelo de integração vertical produtiva, para torná-lo mais coeso

Association between circulating exhausted CD4+ T cells with poor meningococcal C conjugate vaccine antibody response in HIV-infected children and adolescents

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the expression levels of surface markers of activation (CD38 and HLA-DR), inhibition (PD-1, TIGIT and CD57) and co-stimulation (CD28 and CD127) on CD4+ T cells of children/adolescents with vertical HIV infection (HI patients) and HIV-uninfected (HU) controls vaccinated with the meningococcal C conjugate vaccine (MCC). METHODS: HI patients (n=12), aged 8–17 years, were immunized with two MCC injections, while HU controls (n=9), aged 5.3–10.7 years, received a single MCC dose (as per national recommendation at the time of this study, a single MCC vaccine dose should be given for healthy children and youth aged 1–18 years). The HI patients were categorized according to the combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) treatment. Blood samples were obtained before vaccination, after priming, and after the administration of a booster dose of vaccine to determine the serum bactericidal antibody (SBA) titers and the expression levels of surface markers on CD4+ T cells by flow cytometry. The levels of serum cytokines, IL-4 and CXCL-13 were also measured using Luminex kits. RESULTS: The co-expression of the TIGIT-HLA-DR-CD38 molecules increased in the CD4+ T cells of HI patients/ no-cART who also showed a lower frequency of CD127+CD28+ CD4+ T cells than HI patients/cART and HU group subjects. There were significant negative correlations between the frequency of exhausted CD4+ T cells and the SBA response. IL-4 levels were higher in HI patients/cART and positively correlated with SBA titers but negatively associated with the expression of exhaustion markers. Moreover, the CXCL-13 levels were positively correlated with the exhausted CD4+ T cells. CONCLUSION: The results of our study suggest that the co-expression of exhaustion markers and/or loss of co-stimulatory molecules influence the SBA response in HI patients