Controle químico de assa-peixe (Vernonia Polyanthes) em pastagens.

Controle químico de assa-peixe (Vernonia Polyanthes) em pastagens

Controle químico do capim-braquiária (Braquiaria decumbens) em cercas, através de aplicações sequenciais de glifosate.

O presente estudo foi realizado no período de 1991 a dezembro de 1993 e teve como objetivo verificar a eficiência de aplicações seqüências do herbicida glifosate no controle do capim-braquiaria como invasor das cercas

Ensuring successful introduction of Wolbachia in natural populations of Aedes aegypti by means of feedback control

The control of the spread of dengue fever by introduction of the intracellular parasitic bacterium Wolbachia in populations of the vector Aedes aegypti, is presently one of the most promising tools for eliminating dengue, in the absence of an efficient vaccine. The success of this operation requires locally careful planning to determine the adequate number of individuals carrying the Wolbachia parasite that need to be introduced into the natural population. The introduced mosquitoes are expected to eventually replace the Wolbachia-free population and guarantee permanent protection against the transmission of dengue to human. In this study, we propose and analyze a model describing the fundamental aspects of the competition between mosquitoes carrying Wolbachia and mosquitoes free of the parasite. We then use feedback control techniques to devise an introduction protocol which is proved to guarantee that the population converges to a stable equilibrium where the totality of mosquitoes carry Wolbachia.Comment: 24 pages, 5 figure

The sedimentary geology of the “Serras d’Aire e Candeeiros” natural park (Portugal) : importance of the geological heritage

The main goal of this work is to contribute to the conservation and interpretation of the geological heritage of the Serras de Aires e Candeeiros Natural Park. The selection of the most relevant geosites took into account criteria of representation, exception, scientific importance, didactic clarity, accessibility, and exposure conditions

Ages, metallicities and α\alpha-element enhancement for galaxies in Hickson compact groups

Central velocity dispersions and eight line-strength Lick indices have been determined from 1.3${\rm \AA}$ resolution long-slit spectra of 16 elliptical galaxies in Hickson compact groups. These data were used to determine galaxy properties (ages, metallicities and $\alpha$-element enhancements) and allowed a comparison with the parameters determined for a sample of galaxies in lower density environments, studied by Gonz\'alez (1993). The stellar population parameters were derived by comparison to single stellar population models of Thomas et al. (2003) and to a new set of SSP models for the indices Mg$_2$, Fe5270 and Fe5335 based on synthetic spetra. These models, based on an update version of the fitting functions presented in Barbuy et al. (2003), are fully described here. Our main results are: (1) the two samples have similar mean values for the metallicities and [$\alpha$/Fe] ratios, (2) the majority of the galaxies in compact groups seem to be old (median age of 14 Gyr for eight galaxies for which ages could be derived), in agreement with recent work by Proctor et al. (2004). These findings support two possible scenarios: compact groups are either young systems whose members have recently assembled and had not enough time to experience any merging yet or, instead, they are old systems that have avoided merging since their time of formation.Comment: Accepted for publication in A

Causas de variação do peso após o parto de vacas mestiças leiteiras

O objetivo do trabalho foi avaliar as causas de variação do peso após o parto de vacas mestiças leiteiras (1/2, 5/8, 3/4, 7/8 e >7/8 de raças especializadas de Bos taurus), criadas em um sistema de produção do tipo médio-insumo na Embrapa Pecuária Sudeste, em São Carlos, SP. Os dados de peso da vaca após o parto observados no período de 1981 a 2001 (n = 1.536) foram analisados pelo método dos quadrados mínimos, por meio de um modelo linear generalizado contendo os efeitos fixos de ano de parição (1981 a 2001), estação de parição (verão, outono, inverno, primavera), grupo genético (1/2, 5/8, 3/4, 7/8 e >7/8), ordem de parto (1 a 8) e os efeitos aleatórios de pai da vaca e erro. Houve efeitos significativos de ano de parição, estação de parição, ordem de parto e de pai da vaca sobre o peso após o parto. As médias estimadas do peso após o parto aumentaram com o decorrer dos anos, principalmente a partir de 1992 quando a maioria do rebanho era constituído por filhas de touros mestiços leiteiros em teste de progênie. As vacas com parição na primavera (outubro a dezembro) foram significativamente mais leves após o parto do que aquelas cujos partos ocorreram nas demais estações do ano. O peso da vaca após o parto aumentou da primeira até a quarta ordem de parto, estabilizando-se nas ordens seguintes. Não houve diferenças significativas entre os grupos genéticos. O efeito significativo de pai da vaca indica que há variação genética no rebanho para peso da vaca após o parto

The potential of metabolomics in the diagnosis of thyroid cancer

Thyroid cancer is the most common endocrine system malignancy. However, there is still a lack of reliable and specific markers for the detection and staging of this disease. Fine needle aspiration biopsy is the current gold standard for diagnosis of thyroid cancer, but drawbacks to this technique include indeterminate results or an inability to discriminate different carcinomas, thereby requiring additional surgical procedures to obtain a final diagnosis. It is, therefore, necessary to seek more reliable markers to complement and improve current methods. “Omics” approaches have gained much attention in the last decade in the field of biomarker discovery for diagnostic and prognostic characterisation of various pathophysiological conditions. Metabolomics, in particular, has the potential to identify molecular markers of thyroid cancer and identify novel metabolic profiles of the disease, which can, in turn, help in the classification of pathological conditions and lead to a more personalised therapy, assisting in the diagnosis and in the prediction of cancer behaviour. This review considers the current results in thyroid cancer biomarker research with a focus on metabolomics

Gene identification for the cblD defect of vitamin B12 metabolism

Background Vitamin B12 (cobalamin) is an essential cofactor in several metabolic pathways. Intracellular conversion of cobalamin to its two coenzymes, adenosylcobalamin in mitochondria and methylcobalamin in the cytoplasm, is necessary for the homeostasis of methylmalonic acid and homocysteine. Nine defects of intracellular cobalamin metabolism have been defined by means of somatic complementation analysis. One of these defects, the cblD defect, can cause isolated methylmalonic aciduria, isolated homocystinuria, or both. Affected persons present with multisystem clinical abnormalities, including developmental, hematologic, neurologic, and metabolic findings. The gene responsible for the cblD defect has not been identified. Methods We studied seven patients with the cblD defect, and skin fibroblasts from each were investigated in cell culture. Microcell-mediated chromosome transfer and refined genetic mapping were used to localize the responsible gene. This gene was transfected into cblD fibroblasts to test for the rescue of adenosylcobalamin and methylcobalamin synthesis. Results The cblD gene was localized to human chromosome 2q23.2, and a candidate gene, designated MMADHC (methylmalonic aciduria, cblD type, and homocystinuria), was identified in this region. Transfection of wild-type MMADHC rescued the cellular phenotype, and the functional importance of mutant alleles was shown by means of transfection with mutant constructs. The predicted MMADHC protein has sequence homology with a bacterial ATP-binding cassette transporter and contains a putative cobalamin binding motif and a putative mitochondrial targeting sequence. Conclusions Mutations in a gene we designated MMADHC are responsible for the cblD defect in vitamin B12 metabolism. Various mutations are associated with each of the three biochemical phenotypes of the disorder

Buried dislocation networks designed to organize the growth of III-V semiconductor nanostructures

We first report a detailed transmission electron microscopy study of dislocation networks (DNs) formed at shallowly buried interfaces obtained by bonding two GaAs crystals between which we establish in a controlled manner a twist and a tilt around a k110l direction. For large enough twists, the DN consists of a twodimensional network of screw dislocations accommodating mainly the twist and of a one-dimensional network of mixed dislocations accommodating mainly the tilt. We show that in addition the mixed dislocations accommodate part of the twist and we observe and explain slight unexpected disorientations of the screw dislocations with respect to the k110l directions. By performing a quantitative analysis of the whole DN, we propose a coherent interpretation of these observations which also provides data inaccessible by direct experiments. When the twist is small enough, one screw subnetwork vanishes. The surface strain field induced by such DNs has been used to pilot the lateral ordering of GaAs and InGaAs nanostructures during metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy. We prove that the dimensions and orientations of the nanostructures are correlated with those of the cells of the underlying DN and explain how the interface dislocation structure governs the formation of the nanostructures

Primjena metode odzivnih površina radi optimiranja proizvodnje mliječne kiseline: obogaćivanje podloge, kontrola temperature i pH-vrijednosti

Two response surface methodologies involving central composite designs have been successfully applied to evaluate the effect of cheese whey, corn steep liquor, ammonium sulphate, temperature and pH control on lactic acid fermentation by Lactobacillus sp. LMI8 isolated from cassava flour wastewater. In the first central composite design, corn steep liquor and ammonium sulphate were investigated as low-cost nitrogen sources in combination with other components to substitute yeast extract for economical production. The best results were obtained with 55 g/L of lactose, 15 g/L of corn steep liquor and 5.625 g/L of ammonium sulphate. At the maximum point, the lactic acid concentration reached 18.68 g/L. After defining the optimal nutritional conditions for lactic acid production, a second central composite design was performed to determine the extent to which temperature and pH influence the lactic acid production with the aim of improving the fermentation process. The second-order polynomial regression model determined that the maximum lactic acid production of 52.37 g/L would be obtained when the optimum temperature and pH were 39.6 °C and 5.9, respectively. Comparing the lactic acid production in shake flask fermentation, there was an increase of 180 % after 30 h of processing, with a conversion efficiency of about 86.12 % of the initial lactose. In addition, lactic acid produced from whey lactose by Lactobacillus sp. LMI8 was optically almost pure D-lactic acid (over 98 % of total lactic acid produced).U radu su uspješno primijenjene dvije metode odzivnih površina, uključujući centralno složeni dizajn, za procjenu učinka koncentracije sirutke, ekstrakta kukuruza, amonijeva sulfata, temperature i pH-vrijednosti na mliječno-kiselu fermentaciju uz pomoć bakterije Lactobacillus sp. LMI8, izolirane iz otpadnih voda nakon proizvodnje brašna kasave. U prvom centralno složenom dizajnu ispitani su ekstrakt kukuruza i amonijev sulfat kao jeftini izvori dušika. Utvrđeno je da se u kombinaciji s ostalim sastojcima mogu upotrijebiti kao ekonomični nadomjestak za kvaščev ekstrakt. Najbolji su rezultati postignuti uporabom 55 g/L laktoze, 15 g/L ekstrakta kukuruza i 5,625 g/L amonijeva sulfata, pri čemu je proizvedeno 18,68 g/L mliječne kiseline. Nakon što je određen optimalni sastav hranjiva, proveden je drugi složeno centralno složeni dizajn kako bi se ispitao utjecaj temperature i pH-vrijednosti na proizvodnju mliječne kiseline i poboljšao proces fermentacije. Polinomskim regresijskim modelom drugoga reda određeno je da se maksimalna proizvodnja mliječne kiseline od 52,37 g/L može postići pri temperaturi od 39,6 °C i pH-vrijednosti od 5,9. U usporedbi s fermentacijom na tresilici, koncentracija mliječne kiseline nakon 30 h bila je 180 % veća, a uspješnost konverzije laktoze iznosila 86,12 %. Također je više od 98 % mliječne kiseline proizvedene iz laktoze sirutke s pomoću Lactobacillus sp. LMI8 bila skoro optički čista D-mliječna kiselina