Análise funcional de genes de importância agronômica em macieira.

Neste estudo piloto, o gene repórter GFP foi clonado e testado em plantas de macieira para avaliar a utilização da tecnologia TraitUP

Avaliação sorológica, clínica e epidemiológica da toxocaríase em áreas urbanas do sul do Brasil

Toxocariasis is a worldwide public-health problem that poses major risks to children who may accidentally ingest embryonated eggs of Toxocara. The objectives of this study were to investigate the occurrence of anti-Toxocara spp. antibodies in children and adolescents and the variables that may be involved, as well as environmental contamination by Toxocara spp. eggs, in urban recreation areas of north central mesoregion, Paraná State, Brazil. From June 2005 to March 2007. a total of 376 blood samples were collected by the Public Health Service from children and adolescents one to 12 years old, of both genders. Samples were analyzed by the indirect ELISA method for detection of anti-Toxocara antibodies. Serum samples were previously absorbed with Ascaris suum antigens, and considered positive with a reagent reactivity index >;1. Soil samples from all of the public squares and schools located in the four evaluated municipalities that had sand surfaces (n = 19) or lawns (n = 15) were analyzed. Of the 376 serum samples, 194 (51.6%) were positive. The seroprevalence rate was substantially higher among children aging one to five years (p = 0.001) and six to eight years (p = 0.022). The clinical signs and symptoms investigated did not show a statistical difference between seropositive and seronegative individuals (p >; 0.05). In 76.5% of the investigated recreation places, eggs of Toxocara were detected in at least one of the five collected samples. Recreation areas from public schools were 2.8 times more contaminated than from public squares. It is important to institute educational programs to inform families and educators, as well as to improve sanitary control of animals and cleaning of the areas intended for recreation in order to prevent toxocariasis.A toxocaríase é um problema de saúde pública mundial, com maior risco para crianças que podem, acidentalmente, ingerir ovos embrionados de Toxocara spp.. Os objetivos deste estudo foram avaliar a ocorrência de anticorpos anti-Toxocara spp. em crianças e adolecentes e as variáveis que podem estar envolvidas, bem como a contaminação ambiental por ovos de Toxocara spp., em locais de recreação, em áreas urbanas da mesorregião norte central, Paraná, Brasil. De junho de 2005 a março de 2007 foram coletadas 376 amostras de sangue de crianças e adolescentes de um a doze anos, de ambos os sexos, atendidas pelo Sistema Único de Saúde. As amostras foram analisadas pelo método de ELISA indireto para detecção de IgG anti-Toxocara e previamente absorvidas com antígeno de Ascaris suum. Foram consideradas reagentes as amostras com índice de reatividade >; 1. A análise das amostras de areias (n = 19) e gramados (n = 15) de cada município foi realizada em todas as praças e escolas públicas. Das 376 amostras de soro, 194 (51,6%) foram positivas. A taxa de soroprevalência foi substancialmente mais elevada entre as crianças na faixa etária de até um a cinco (p = 0.001) e de seis a oito anos de idade (p = 0,022). Os sinais e sintomas clínicos investigados não mostraram diferenças estatísticas entre soropositivos e soronegativos (p >; 0,05). Em 76,5% dos locais de recreação investigados, ovos de Toxocara foram detectados em pelo menos uma das cinco amostras. Os locais de recreação das escolas públicas estavam 2,8 vezes mais contaminados do que as praças. É importante a realização de programas educativos junto às famílias e educadores, o controle sanitário de animais e a higienização dos locais destinados à recreação para prevenção da toxocaríase

Characterization of Eucalyptus grandis' DOF gene family of transcription factors.

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Characterization of eucalyptus grandis dof gene family of transcription factors.

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Biocompatibility Assessment of Poly(lactic acid) Films after Sterilization with Ethylene Oxide in Histological Study In Vivo with Wistar Rats and Cellular Adhesion of Fibroblasts In Vitro

Biomaterials must meet certain fundamental requirements for their usage in living beings, such as biocompatibility, bifunctionality, and sterilizability, without having chemical and structural changes. The biocompatibility of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) films, shaped by compression, was evaluated after sterilization by ethylene oxide by a histological in vivo test with Wistar rats and cytotoxicity in cell adhesion in vitro. The cytotoxicity test was performed by the reduction of tetrazolium salt (MTT). Thermal and chemical changes in PLA films concerning the proposed sterilization process and characteristics were not observed to evidence polymer degradation due to sterilization. The analysis of the cytotoxicity by the MTT method has shown that the sterilized PLA films are not cytotoxic. The adhesion and proliferation of fibroblasts on PLA films were homogeneously distributed over the evaluation period, showing an elongated appearance with unnumbered cytoplasmic extensions and cell-cell interactions. By examining the biocompatibility in a histological study, a mild tissue inflammation was observed with the presence of fibrosis in the samples that had been exposed for 21 days in the rats’ bodies. PLA films sterilized with ethylene oxide did not exhibit cell adhesion in vitro and toxicity to the surrounding tissue in vivo and they may be used in future in vivo testing, according to histological findings in Wistar rats in the present study

multitask learning for adaptive quality estimation of automatically transcribed utterances

We investigate the problem of predicting the quality of automatic speech recognition (ASR) output under the following rigid constraints: i) reference transcriptions are not available, ii) confidence information about the system that produced the transcriptions is not accessible, and iii) training and test data come from multiple domains. To cope with these constraints (typical of the constantly increasing amount of automatic transcriptions that can be found on the Web), we propose a domain-adaptive approach based on multitask learning. Different algorithms and strategies are evaluated with English data coming from four domains, showing that the proposed approach can cope with the limitations of previously proposed single task learning methods

Caracterização da função do gene FLC-LIKE durante a transição da Endo- para ecodormencia na macieira.

The MADS-box MdFLC-like gene was previously described within the major QTL for time of bud break in apple chromosome Chr09, and its expression gradually increases towards dormancy release

Genetic and molecular characterization of bud dormancy in apple: deciphering candidate gene roles in dormancy regulation.

Dormancy is an adaptive mechanism that enables plants to survive unfavorable climatic conditions, for example during winter, and allows flowering to occur only when the conditions are more permissive, typically in spring