Análise termoenergética de uma casa contêiner utilizando soluções passivas e climatização artificial

Este estudo avalia o comportamento térmico e energético de uma casa contêiner diante da utilização de soluções passivas de conforto térmico e climatização artificial aplicada ao clima da cidade de Florianópolis, SC. As soluções passivas utilizadas são: isolamento térmico, brise horizontal, cobertura verde e cobertura sombreada. Os cenários são simulados através do software EnergyPlus, onde as soluções foram combinadas e simuladas para o período de um ano e comparadas ao contêiner sem tratamentos. Foram avaliadas as temperaturas operativas para os dias de menor e maior temperatura externa (TBS), horas de desconforto térmico, baseado no método adaptativo, e o consumo de energia associado a climatização. Verifica-se que as soluções passivas tem impacto significativo na manutenção das temperaturas internas. As soluções passivas reduziram as horas anuais de desconforto térmico em até 8,4% para o ambiente de maior ocupação, com o uso da climatização artificial esse percentual chega a 57,5%. A edificação que combina isolamento térmico, brise e cobertura sombreada teve o menor consumo energético associado a climatização, com redução anual de 33,8%.This study evaluates the thermal and energetic behavior of a house in the face of passive solutions of thermal comfort and artificial air conditioning Applied to the climate of the city of Florianópolis, SC. The passive solutions used are thermal insulation, horizontal brise, green roof, and shaded roof. The scenarios are simulated through the EnergyPlus software. The solutions were combined and simulated for one year and compared to the container without treatments. Based on the adaptive method, the operating temperatures were evaluated for the days of lowest and highest external temperature (DBT), hours of thermal discomfort, and energy consumption associated with air conditioning. It is verified that passive solutions have a significant impact on maintaining internal temperatures. Passive solutions reduced the annual hours of thermal discomfort by up to 8.4% for the highest occupancy environment; with artificial air conditioning, this percentage reaches 57.5%. The Building that combines thermal insulation, brise, and a shaded roof had the lowest consumption associated with air conditioning, with an annual reduction of 33.8%

Lecciones operativas para promover mercados de servicios de desarrollo empresarial a través de bonos y fondos compartidos

En este documento se presenta una serie de lineamientos y lecciones operativas para promover mercados de servicios de desarrollo empresarial (SDE) para las micro, pequeñas y medianas empresas (MIPyME) a través de mecanismos de bonos y fondos compartidos. Estas experiencias son analizadas en el presente documento a fin de identificar criterios y lecciones operativas para mejorar el diseño de los nuevos programas de bonos y fondos compartidos para desarrollar los mercados de servicios empresariales y contribuir al aumento de la competitividad de las MIPyME de la región.PYME, Microempresas y microfinanciamiento, Inversión, Servicios financieros, Microenterprise, Small and Medium Enterprise

Chagas disease vaccine design: the search for an efficient Trypanosoma cruzi immune-mediated control

Chagas disease is currently endemic to 21 Latin-American countries and has also become a global concern because of globalization and mass migration of chronically infected individuals. Prophylactic and therapeutic vaccination might contribute to control the infection and the pathology, as complement of other strategies such as vector control and chemotherapy. Ideal prophylactic vaccine would produce sterilizing immunity; however, a reduction of the parasite burden would prevent progression from Trypanosoma cruzi infection to Chagas disease. A therapeutic vaccine for Chagas disease may improve or even replace the treatment with current drugs which have several side effects and require long term treatment that frequently leads to therapeutic withdrawal. Here, we will review some aspects about sub-unit vaccines, the rationale behind the selection of the immunogen, the role of adjuvants, the advantages and limitations of DNA-based vaccines and the idea of therapeutic vaccines. One of the main limitations to advance vaccine development against Chagas disease is the high number of variables that must be considered and the lack of uniform criteria among research laboratories. To make possible comparisons, much of this review will be focused on experiments that kept many variables constant including antigen mass/doses, type of eukaryotic plasmid, DNA-delivery system, mice strain and sex, lethal and sublethal model of infection, and similar immunogenicity and efficacy assessments.Fil: Bivona, Augusto Ernesto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Estudios de la Inmunidad Humoral Prof. Ricardo A. Margni. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Estudios de la Inmunidad Humoral Prof. Ricardo A. Margni; ArgentinaFil: Sanchez Alberti, Andrés. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Estudios de la Inmunidad Humoral Prof. Ricardo A. Margni. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Estudios de la Inmunidad Humoral Prof. Ricardo A. Margni; ArgentinaFil: Cerny, Natacha. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Estudios de la Inmunidad Humoral Prof. Ricardo A. Margni. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Estudios de la Inmunidad Humoral Prof. Ricardo A. Margni; ArgentinaFil: Trinitario, Sebastián Nicolás. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Estudios de la Inmunidad Humoral Prof. Ricardo A. Margni. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Estudios de la Inmunidad Humoral Prof. Ricardo A. Margni; ArgentinaFil: Malchiodi, Emilio Luis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Estudios de la Inmunidad Humoral Prof. Ricardo A. Margni. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Estudios de la Inmunidad Humoral Prof. Ricardo A. Margni; Argentin

Variation on fruit production of Nectandra megapotamica (Lauraceae) trees on the edge and interior of a semideciduous forest – a case study

Disturbance is a key factor determining the patterns of occurrence and reproduction of plant species on forests. We compared the edge and interior of a 400 ha remnant and those with the edges and interior of a 35 ha forest remnant of semideciduous forest on South Brazil (Santa Maria Municipality, Rio Grande do Sul) regarding the fruit production (number and size fruits) of trees of Nectandra megapotamica (Lauraceae) as a case study to test if edge affects the phenology of a canopy tree. We have discussed the results taking into account the light incidence and the density of trees in the forest edge and interior. Trees on the edge of the 400 ha remnant produced more fruits than those in the interior, and a significantly higher number of fruits than those in the interior of the 35 ha remnant. Trees in the interior of the 400 ha remnant occurred in higher density and, even receiving less incident light, produced more fruits than those in the interior of the 35 ha remnant. In the forest remnants studied, light may affect fruit production although not in the direct proportion of the amount of light available, as reinforced by the fact that we not have found Nectandra trees on the edges of the 35ha remnant. The tree density appears as an important variable influencing the fruit production mainly on the interior of the better preserved forest remnant, outperforming the advantage attained by the higher light incidence observed in the edge

The recombinant cysteine proteinase B (CPB) from Leishmania braziliensis and its domains: promising antigens for serodiagnosis of cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis in dogs.

Leishmaniasis represents a group of parasitic diseases caused by a protozoan of the genus Leishmania and is widely distributed in tropical and subtropical regions. Leishmaniasis is one of the major tropical neglected diseases, with 1.5 to 2 million new cases occurring annually. Diagnosis remains a challenge despite advances in parasitological, serological, and molecular methods. Dogs are an important host for the parasite and develop both visceral and cutaneous lesions. Our goal was to contribute to the diagnosis of canine cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) and visceral leishmaniasis (VL) using the recombinant cysteine proteinase B (F-CPB) from Leishmania braziliensis and its N- and C-terminal domains (N-CPB and C-CPB) as antigens in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Sera from dogs from Northwest Argentina diagnosed with CL were tested by ELISA against a supernatant of L. braziliensis lysate, the F-CPB protein, and its domains. We found values of sensitivity (Se) of 90.7%, 94.4%, and 94.3% and specificity (Sp) of 95.5%, 90.9%, and 91.3% for F-CPB and its N- and C-terminal domains, respectively. In sera from dogs diagnosed with VL from Northeast Argentina, we found Se of 93.3%, 73.3%, and 66.7% and Sp of 92.3%, 76.9%, and 88.5% for F-CPB and its N- and C-terminal domains, respectively. These results support CPB as a relevant antigen for canine leishmaniasis diagnosis in its different clinical presentations. More interestingly, the amino acid sequence of CPB showed high percentages of identity in several Leishmania species, suggesting that the CPB from L. braziliensis qualifies as a good antigen for the diagnosis of leishmaniasis caused by different species.Fil: Bivona, Augusto Ernesto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Estudios de la Inmunidad Humoral Prof. Ricardo A. Margni. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Estudios de la Inmunidad Humoral Prof. Ricardo A. Margni; ArgentinaFil: Czentner Colomo, Lucas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Estudios de la Inmunidad Humoral Prof. Ricardo A. Margni. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Estudios de la Inmunidad Humoral Prof. Ricardo A. Margni; ArgentinaFil: Sanchez Alberti, Andrés. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Estudios de la Inmunidad Humoral Prof. Ricardo A. Margni. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Estudios de la Inmunidad Humoral Prof. Ricardo A. Margni; ArgentinaFil: Cerny, Natacha. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica; ArgentinaFil: Cardoso Landaburu, Alejandro Cesar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Estudios de la Inmunidad Humoral Prof. Ricardo A. Margni. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Estudios de la Inmunidad Humoral Prof. Ricardo A. Margni; ArgentinaFil: Nevot, María Cecilia. Veterinaria del Oeste; ArgentinaFil: Estevez, José Octavio. Veterinaria del Oeste; ArgentinaFil: Marco, Jorge Diego. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Patología Experimental. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud. Instituto de Patología Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Basombrío, Manuel Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Patología Experimental. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud. Instituto de Patología Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Malchiodi, Emilio Luis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Estudios de la Inmunidad Humoral Prof. Ricardo A. Margni. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Estudios de la Inmunidad Humoral Prof. Ricardo A. Margni; ArgentinaFil: Cazorla, Silvia Ines. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Centro de Referencia para Lactobacilos; Argentin

Analysis of a periplasmic thiol oxidoreductase in Rhizobium leguminosarum

In this work the expression and cellular localization of a predicted periplasmic thiol oxidoreductase encoded by Rhizobium leguminosarum 3841, ORF RL1083, were analysed. Based on the homology of the encoded protein with DsbA proteins from other bacteria we named it dsbA. The genetic organization of dsbA region showed that it is a monocystronic gene. A putative σ70 promoter was predicted upstream dsbA gene. The promoter region fused to gusA reporter gene revealed that dsbA is expressed in free-living conditions in different media and also, although at a lower level, in pea bacteroids. R. leguminosarum DsbA contains a potential Tat-dependent signal peptide. To localize this protein in different cellular fractions the protein was labelled by means of a C-terminal Strep tag. The DsbA-Strep protein was localized in the periplasmic fraction. At present three type of experiments are in progress: first, the study of DsbA Tat-dependence by using a tat mutant strain harbouring dsbA-Strep; second, the construction of a dsbA mutant and third the evaluation of periplasmic disulfide oxidoreductase activity of different strains: wild-type, tat mutant and dsbA mutant

Functional roles of HypC and HupK in the biosynthesis of [NiFe] hydrogenase in Rhizobium leguminosarum.

Some rhizobia induce a hydrogen (H2)-uptake system with a [NiFe] hydrogenase along with nitrogenase to recover part of the energy lost as H2. Biosynthesis of NiFe hydrogenases is a process that ocurrs in the cytoplasm, where a number of auxiliary proteins (products of hup and hyp genes) are required to synthesize and insert the metal cofactors into the enzyme structural units. Although HypC is expressed in all hydrogenase systems, HupF and HupK are found only in bacteria that express the hydrogenase in the presence of oxygen (O2). Co-purification experiments have demonstrated HypC-HupK and HypC-HupL interactions. Results have shown that some conserved residues from HypC and HupK play a protective role of hydrogenase against the presence of O2

FABRICAÇÃO DE CHAPAS DE PARTÍCULAS AGLOMERADAS USANDO GESSO COMO MATERIAL CIMENTANTE

Neste trabalho, foram confeccionadas chapas aglomeradas, utilizando gesso como material cimentante e papel reciclável dissociado (jornal e offset) e partículas de madeira de pinus como reforços. Em todos os tratamentos, a razão madeira (ou fibras) para gesso foi mantida em 0,25 (base seca) e duas dosagens de água (w) foram empregadas: 0,4 e 0,8, correspondendo à razão água:gesso. As chapas foram prensadas a frio em prensa de laboratório, em um processo similar à produção de chapas aglomeradas convencionais. Após condicionadas em câmara climatizada, as chapas foram testadas em flexão estática, dureza, arrancamento de parafusos, absorção d’água e inchamento em espessura. Em geral, a adição de fibras causou melhoria nas propriedades das chapas. Diferenças estatísticas significativas em relação à testemunha (gesso puro) foram encontradas para resistência à flexão estática (MOR), dureza e arrancamento de parafusos em relação a alguns dos tratamentos estudados. Já a inclusão de fibras de papel reciclável, com w = 0,4, não apresentou diferenças significativas em relação à testemunha para absorção d’água e inchamento em espessura. Os melhores resultados foram encontrados com papel jornal, com um coeficiente w = 0,4

Relevance of bacterial secretion systems Type III and Type VI in the Bradyrhizobium-Lupinus simbiosis

One of the most studied models in plant-microbe interaction is the symbiosis Rhizobium-legume. This symbiosis is highly specific and depends on several molecular signals produced by both partners. Some of these signals are bacterial proteins named effectors that are translocated into the plant cells by secretion systems similar to contractile nanomachines (injectisomes). The injectosomes puncture and deliver the effectors into the target cell. The two main injectiosomes are the secretion system type III (T3SS) and the secretion system type VI (T6SS). The genome of many rhizobia encodes T3SS and/or T6SS but their role in symbiosis is mostly unknown. The aim of this work is to study the symbiotic relevance of T3SS and T6SS of Bradyrhizobia that nodulate lupins that thrive in alkaline (Lupinus mariae-josephae) and acid soils (L. angustifolius) in the Iberian Peninsul