270 research outputs found
Optimization of microesclerotia production by Trichoderma asperellum.
The Trichoderma genus, despite its widespread use for decades as a biological control in agriculture, has only recently been gaining a share in the biopesticide market, thanks to its versatility in controlling diseases and acting as a plant growth enhancer. Most Trichoderma's commercial products have aerial conidia as active ingredient, but recent studies report the production of another propagule, more robust for formulation and application under field conditions - the microsclerotia (MS). Thus, our objective was to evaluate the nutritional conditions that favor the greater production of MS, using two cultures of T. asperellum with known antagonistic activity. For this, we used the fractional factorial design approach in which we evaluated 5 variables: Carbon source, Carbon concentration, C:N ratio, Strain, Nitrogen source, all influencing the production of MS. The results indicated that all variables were statistically significant to MS production. In the best condition tested, we obtained values higher than 104 MS mL-1. In conclusion that the conditions found for the production of MS, using sucrose and lyscell, with carbon concentration 20 g L-1 and C:N ratio (10:1) and isolate TR 356, are inexpensive carbon and nitrogen sources may allow us to scale-up this biofungicide
Stability and Clinical Efficacy of Moisturizing Cosmetic Formulations Containing Vitamins C and E
The addition of different active substances in cosmetics, e.g. vitamins and their derivatives, has been quite frequent. In this
way, it is fundamental to evaluate the stability and efficacy of cosmetic formulations containing these ingredients. The
objective of this work was to evaluate the physical stability and the clinical efficacy of moisturizing cosmetic formulations
based on panthenol, and containing ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate and α-tocopherol acetate. Formulations were developed
with panthenol (FA), panthenol and ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate and α-tocopherol acetate (FBC). The latter was submitted
to rheological behavior analysis and all were characterized as stable. Next, they were subjectively and objectively
analyzed for clinical efficacy in 25 volunteers. Sensory evaluation and biophysical and skin imaging techniques were used
to measure stratum corneum water content, transepidermal water loss (TEWL), and skin microrelief. These were carried
out before application of the formulations and then after 3 hours. The formulations studied showed acceptable stability
according to the physical aspects under consideration. In the clinical efficacy studies, both formulations significantly
improved skin hydration and reduced TEWL. There was also improvement in skin microrelief but these results were not
statistically significant. FBC received higher scores than FAin the sensory analysis as there was a significant improvement
in the skin's smoothness, besides being preferred in purchase intent
ASSESSING THE NUTRITIONAL CONDITION OF PREGNANT WOMEN IN THE CITY OF SANTO ANDRÉ THROUGH ROSSO’S GRAPH
A falta de vigilancia da condição nutricional da gestante durante o exame pré-natal tem dificultado intervenções adequadas no sentido de prevenir a ocorrência do baixo peso ao nascimento (BP). Foram avaliadas, prospectivamente, 95 gestantes de baixo nível sócio-econômico do Município de Santo André, para realização de exame pré-natal, utilizando-se a curva de Rosso para sua classificação nutricional. O percentual de mãe com baixo peso foi de 36,8%. As mães com mais de duas gestações apresentaram maior ocorrência de sobrepeso ou obesidade e as com menos de duas gestações, percentual significativamente maior de baixo peso. A anemia também se associou de maneira significativa às gestantes de baixo peso. O presente trabalho ressalta a importancia da implantação de instrumento na rede básica de saúde para controlar o ganho de peso da gestante, bem como da vigilancia de outros fatores de risco no intuito de reduzir os elevados percentuais de recém-nascidos com BP.The lack of monitoring ofthenutritional condition of pregnamtwomen during theprenatal exammat^lon has made it difficult for interventions aimir g at the prevention of low weight at birth (BP). 45 pregnmt women of low socio-economic levei registered m the posts of the FOUNDATION for ASSISTANCE to INFANCY (FAISA - Santo André, São Paulo) were evaluated, for accomplishment of prenatal exammation, using Rosso’s Graph for its nutritional classification. The achieved percentage of pregnantwomenwi^th low weightwas 36,8%. Mo^therswi^thmore thamtwo ges^tations and wi^th less than two presented greater occurrence of overweight obesi^ty amd low weight, respectively. Higher percentage of amemia in the pregmant women with low weight was verified. Therefore, it is evident that this instrument should be implemented as routine in ^the prenatal examinabon
Highlights from the Pierre Auger Observatory
The Pierre Auger Observatory is the world's largest cosmic ray observatory.
Our current exposure reaches nearly 40,000 km str and provides us with an
unprecedented quality data set. The performance and stability of the detectors
and their enhancements are described. Data analyses have led to a number of
major breakthroughs. Among these we discuss the energy spectrum and the
searches for large-scale anisotropies. We present analyses of our X
data and show how it can be interpreted in terms of mass composition. We also
describe some new analyses that extract mass sensitive parameters from the 100%
duty cycle SD data. A coherent interpretation of all these recent results opens
new directions. The consequences regarding the cosmic ray composition and the
properties of UHECR sources are briefly discussed.Comment: 9 pages, 12 figures, talk given at the 33rd International Cosmic Ray
Conference, Rio de Janeiro 201
Operations of and Future Plans for the Pierre Auger Observatory
Technical reports on operations and features of the Pierre Auger Observatory,
including ongoing and planned enhancements and the status of the future
northern hemisphere portion of the Observatory. Contributions to the 31st
International Cosmic Ray Conference, Lodz, Poland, July 2009.Comment: Contributions to the 31st ICRC, Lodz, Poland, July 200
Anisotropy and chemical composition of ultra-high energy cosmic rays using arrival directions measured by the Pierre Auger Observatory
The Pierre Auger Collaboration has reported evidence for anisotropy in the
distribution of arrival directions of the cosmic rays with energies
eV. These show a correlation with the distribution
of nearby extragalactic objects, including an apparent excess around the
direction of Centaurus A. If the particles responsible for these excesses at
are heavy nuclei with charge , the proton component of the
sources should lead to excesses in the same regions at energies . We here
report the lack of anisotropies in these directions at energies above
(for illustrative values of ). If the anisotropies
above are due to nuclei with charge , and under reasonable
assumptions about the acceleration process, these observations imply stringent
constraints on the allowed proton fraction at the lower energies
Measurement of the Depth of Maximum of Extensive Air Showers above 10^18 eV
We describe the measurement of the depth of maximum, Xmax, of the
longitudinal development of air showers induced by cosmic rays. Almost four
thousand events above 10^18 eV observed by the fluorescence detector of the
Pierre Auger Observatory in coincidence with at least one surface detector
station are selected for the analysis. The average shower maximum was found to
evolve with energy at a rate of (106 +35/-21) g/cm^2/decade below 10^(18.24 +/-
0.05) eV and (24 +/- 3) g/cm^2/decade above this energy. The measured
shower-to-shower fluctuations decrease from about 55 to 26 g/cm^2. The
interpretation of these results in terms of the cosmic ray mass composition is
briefly discussed.Comment: Accepted for publication by PR
The Pierre Auger Observatory III: Other Astrophysical Observations
Astrophysical observations of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays with the Pierre
Auger ObservatoryComment: Contributions to the 32nd International Cosmic Ray Conference,
Beijing, China, August 201
Update on the correlation of the highest energy cosmic rays with nearby extragalactic matter
Data collected by the Pierre Auger Observatory through 31 August 2007 showed
evidence for anisotropy in the arrival directions of cosmic rays above the
Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuz'min energy threshold, \nobreak{eV}. The
anisotropy was measured by the fraction of arrival directions that are less
than from the position of an active galactic nucleus within 75 Mpc
(using the V\'eron-Cetty and V\'eron catalog). An updated
measurement of this fraction is reported here using the arrival directions of
cosmic rays recorded above the same energy threshold through 31 December 2009.
The number of arrival directions has increased from 27 to 69, allowing a more
precise measurement. The correlating fraction is , compared
with expected for isotropic cosmic rays. This is down from the early
estimate of . The enlarged set of arrival directions is
examined also in relation to other populations of nearby extragalactic objects:
galaxies in the 2 Microns All Sky Survey and active galactic nuclei detected in
hard X-rays by the Swift Burst Alert Telescope. A celestial region around the
position of the radiogalaxy Cen A has the largest excess of arrival directions
relative to isotropic expectations. The 2-point autocorrelation function is
shown for the enlarged set of arrival directions and compared to the isotropic
expectation.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astroparticle Physics on 31 August 201
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