Differences in the distribution and abundance of Teredinidae (Mollusca: Bivalvia) along the coast of Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil

Teredinidae são moluscos marinhos ou estuarinos perfuradores e degradadores de madeira. Avaliar sua distribuição e abundância se mostrou importante, uma vez que a destruição de madeira é ainda subestimada, sobretudo em regiões tropicais. Dados de literatura têm mostrado também que temperatura e salinidade são dois fatores que afetam fisiologicamente as espécies de Teredinidae. Os objetivos deste trabalho foram avaliar a distribuição e abundância de Teredinidae ao longo da costa do Rio de Janeiro, em relação ao padrão de temperatura e sua variação. Coletores artificiais de pinho foram imersos por três meses em 14 localidades em quatro regiões do estado. Sete espécies foram registradas e identificadas pela forma de suas palhetas. Os maiores valores de densidade e riqueza específica foram registrados na Baía da Ilha Grande e os menores, na Baía de Guanabara. Foi observado um gradiente na abundância relacionado à temperatura. As espécies mais abundantes foram Lyrodus floridanus e Teredo furcifera. Além da temperatura, a diferença na disponibilidade de madeira entre as regiões parece ser também um fator importante. Pela primeira vez registramos a ocorrência de Bankia destructa para o Rio de Janeiro, embora este registro não signifique introdução ou expansão de distribuição.Teredinidae are wood-boring mollusks found in marine and estuarine regions. Evaluation of the distribution and abundance of Teredinidae is a very important task, as the impact of the destruction of wood in man-made structures is still underestimated, mainly in tropical regions. It is also know that temperature and salinity are key factors affecting the abundance and activity of Teredinidae due to their effects on the physiological responses of Teredinidae. The aim of this study was to evaluate the distribution and abundance of Teredinidae along the Rio de Janeiro coast according to temperature range and pattern. Artificial pine collectors were used and remained immersed for three months in four regions at 14 sites. We recorded seven species of Teredinidae, identified according to their pallets. Ilha Grande Bay was the region with the highest density and species richness, and the region with the lowest was Guanabara Bay. One gradient of abundance related to temperature was found. The most abundant species were Lyrodus floridanus and Teredo furcifera. Besides temperature, wood availability among regions was another important factor. For the first time, we recorded the occurrence of Bankia destructa on the Rio de Janeiro coast, but this record does not indicate any species introduction or expanding distribution range

Can Treefrog Phylogeographical Clades And Species' Phylogenetic Topologies Be Recovered By Bioacoustical Analyses?

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Phenotypic traits, such as the frog advertisement call, are generally correlated with interspecific genetic variation, and, as a consequence of strong sexual selection, these behaviors may carry a phylogenetic signal. However, variation in acoustic traits is not always correlated with genetic differences between populations (intraspecific variation); phenotypic plasticity and environmental variables may explain part of such variation. For example, local processes can affect acoustic properties in different lineages due to differences in physical structure, climatic conditions, and biotic interactions, particularly when populations are isolated. However, acoustic traits can be used to test phylogenetic hypotheses. We analyzed the advertisement calls of Dendropsophus elegans males from 18 sites and compared them with those of four closely related congeneric species, in order to test for differences between inter and intraspecific variation. We analyzed 451 calls of 45 males of these five species. Because males from distant sites were grouped together without population congruence, differences found in advertisement calls among individuals were not correlated with phylogeographical clades. Phylogenetic and cluster analyses of the D. elegans clades and those of closely related species grouped all five species into the same topology, as reported by previous molecular and morphological phylogenies. However, the topology of the D. elegans phylogeographical clades did not match the topology previously reported. Acoustic communication in D. elegans seems to be conserved among populations, and the phylogeographical history of the species does not explain the variation among lineages in call properties, despite some congruent phylogenetic signals evident at the species level. Based on molecular clocks retrieved from the literature, it seems that more than 6.5 million years of divergence (late Miocene) are necessary to allow significant changes to occur in the acoustic properties of these treefrog calls, making it possible to recover their phylogenetic history only based on acoustic evidence.122Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) [2009/13987-2, 2013/215194, 2011/51694-7, 2011/52070-7]National Council of Scientific and Technological Development [302589/2013-9, 405285/2013-2, 304938/2013-0]Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP

Raman Spectroscopic Analysis of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma and Oral Dysplasia in the High-Wavenumber Region

Raman spectroscopy can provide a molecular-level signature of the biochemical composition and structure of cells with excellent spatial resolution and could be useful to monitor changes in composition for early stage and non-invasive cancer diagnosis, both ex-vivo and in vivo. In particular, the fingerprint spectral region (400–1,800 cm-1) has been shown to be very promising for optical biopsy purposes. However, limitations to discrimination of dysplastic and inflammatory processes based on the fingerprint region still persist. In addition, the Raman spectral signal of dysplastic cells is one important source of misdiagnosis of normal versus pathological tissues. The high wavenumber region (2,800–3,600 cm-1) provides more specific information based on N-H, O-H and C-H vibrations and can be used to identify the subtle changes which could be important for discrimination of samples. In this study, we demonstrate the potential of the high-wavenumber spectral region by collecting Raman spectra of nucleoli, nucleus and cytoplasm from oral epithelial cancer (SCC-4) and dysplastic (DOK) cell lines and from normal oral epithelial primary cells, in vitro, which were then analyzed by area under the curve as a method to discriminate the spectra. In this region, we will show the discriminatory potential of the CHvibrational modes of nucleic acids, proteins and lipids. This technique demonstrated more efficient discrimination than the fingerprint region when we compared the cell cultures

Avaliação do uso de suplementos por atletas amadores jogadores de beisebol

Introdução: A crescente preocupação da população brasileira com a saúde e o bem estar gerou uma demanda crescente por suplementos no mercado de fitness. Porém, a falta de informação da população em geral a respeito dos suplementos alimentares pode trazer prejuízos para os indivíduos, tanto financeiros quanto de saúde e bem estar. Objetivo: Avaliar o nível de conhecimento dos atletas sobre suplementos alimentares. Metodologia: A pesquisa foi analítica, do tipo transversal, e utilizou um questionário com blocos de perguntas, para avaliar o uso e o nível de conhecimento sobre suplementos alimentares. Resultados: Dos atletas, 63,2% já utilizaram suplementos alimentares, tendo 62,5% destes utilizado 2 ou mais suplementos simultaneamente. O nutricionista foi o mais citado como fonte de indicações, seguido pelo educador físico. O suplemento mais utilizado foi o Whey Protein, seguido pelo BCAA e a Creatina, e o principal objetivo foi o de hipertrofia. Foi constatado baixo nível de conhecimento por parte dos atletas em relação a possíveis efeitos adversos dos suplementos. Conclusão: Ressalta a importância que a orientação nutricional tem na vida dos atletas, para a melhora na qualidade de vida, no desempenho esportivo e na maior longevidade dentro do esporte

ASPECTS OF SEEDLING PRODUCTION OF Clathrotropis brunnea Amshoff, A THREATENED LEGUME TREE FROM COLOMBIAN RAINFORESTS

Seedling production is crucial to assist restoration and conservation practices of tropical rainforest species. In the present study, we evaluated seedling production of Clathrotropis brunnea Amshoff, a legume tree native to tropical forests of Colombia. Seedling emergence parameters were assessed regarding two classes of seed mass (small seeds 6.1 g) and tree levels of seed moisture content (control, 30% and 25%). Initial growth was evaluated in two sizes of plastic bags (small: 10 cm diameter x 25 cm height, with a volume of 1,700 cm3, and large: 15 cm x 35 cm and volume of 3,900 cm3), besides tree growth periods in the nursery (170, 205 and 235 days after sowing – DAS). Large seeds provided higher seedlings and reached a greater emergence percentage (93%) compared to the small ones (79%). On average, seeds reached 73% of emergence in the three moisture levels, including when desiccated from 47% in the control (fresh seeds) to 25%. To optimize seedling production and costs, large seeds can be sown in small bags, growing for a minimum of 205 DAS. The in-field performance of the produced seedlings remains to be tested according to these recommendations

Ultra-Filtration of Human Serum for Improved Quantitative Analysis of Low Molecular Weight Biomarkers using ATR-IR Spectroscopy

Infrared spectroscopy is a reliable, rapid and cost effective characterisation technique, delivering a molecular finger print of the sample. It is expected that its sensitivity would enable detection of small chemical variations in biological samples associated with disease. ATR-IR is particularly suitable for liquid sample analysis and, although air drying is commonly performed before data collection, just a drop of human serum is enough for screening and early diagnosis. However, the dynamic range of constituent biochemical concentrations in the serum composition remains a limiting factor to the reliability of the technique. Using glucose as a model spike in human serum, it has been demonstrated in the present study that fractionating the serum prior to spectroscopic analysis can considerably improve the precision and accuracy of quantitative models based on the Partial Least Squares Regression algorithm. By depleting the abundant high molecular weight proteins, which otherwise dominate the spectral signatures collected, the ability to monitor changes in the concentrations of the low molecular weight constituents is enhanced. The Root Mean Square Error for the Validation set (RMSEV) has been improved by a factor of 5 following human serum processing with an average relative error in the predictive values below 1% is achieved. Moreover, the approach is easily transferable to different bodily fluids, which would support the development of more efficient and suitable clinical protocols for exploration of vibrational spectroscopy based ex-vivo diagnostic tools

A Non-Autonomous Strongly Damped Wave Equation: Existence and Continuity of the Pullback Attractor

In this paper we consider the strongly damped wave equation with time dependent terms utt − u − γ(t) ut + β"(t)ut = f(u), in a bounded domain ⊂ Rn, under some restrictions on β"(t), γ(t) and growth restrictions on the non-linear term f. The function β"(t) depends on a parameter ε, β"(t) "!0 −→ 0. We will prove, under suitable assumptions, local and global well posedness (using the uniform sectorial operators theory), the existence and regularity of pullback attractors {A"(t) : t ∈ R}, uniform bounds for these pullback attractors, characterization of these pullback attractors and their upper and lower semicontinuity at ǫ = 0

INSTITUTIONS THAT FOSTER INNOVATIVE ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN BRAZIL: MAPPING AND CONNECTIONS

ABSTRACTThis paper contemplates the deepening of a research conducted by the Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service (SEBRAE) during the 26th Anprotec Conference held in Fortaleza, state of Ceará, in the year of 2016. The research included a method to map out the needs of the Brazilian Innovation Ecosystem and covered ten institutions such as Accelerators, represented by ABRAII (Brazilian Association of Innovation and Investment Accelerators), Co-working spaces - represented by the Impact Hub. a Development Bank, FINEP (Studies and Projects Funding Agency), Anjos do Brasil; Venture Capital Investment Funds - represented by ABVCAP (Brazilian Association of Private Equity & Venture Capital), Incubators - represented by SUPERA Incubator, SEBRAE (Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service), Businesses - represented by Samsung Brazil and Technology Innovation Nuclei, part of Universities, represented by FORTEC (National Forum of Managers of Innovation and Technology Transfer). For this mapping, a matrix that considers the business development stage model was used to identify key actions and gaps in innovative entrepreneurship fostering in Brazil, also taking five critical business development variables into consideration - technology, talent, finance, location, and evolution. The results point to recurrences and lack of support and contribute with proposals for the Brazilian innovation ecosystem.Keywords: Innovative entrepreneurship. Innovation ecosystem. Network of institutions.RESUMOEste artigo contempla o aprofundamento de uma pesquisa realizada pelo Serviço Brasileiro de Apoio às Micro e Pequenas Empresas (SEBRAE) durante a 26ª Conferência Anprotec, realizada em Fortaleza, Ceará, no ano de 2016. A pesquisa incluiu um método para mapear as necessidades do Ecossistema Brasileiro de Inovação e cobriu dez instituições tais como Aceleradoras, representadas pela ABRAII (Associação Brasileira de Aceleradoras de Inovação e Investimento), Espaços de Co-working, representadas pelo Impact Hub, um Banco de Desenvolvimento, FINEP (Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos), Anjos do Brasil; Fundos de Investimento em Venture Capital, representada pela ABVCAP (Associação Brasileira de Private Equity & Venture Capital), Incubadoras, - representada pela SUPERA Incubadora, SEBRAE (Serviço Brasileiro de apoio às Micro e Pequenas empresas), Empresas - representadas pela Samsung Brazil e o NIT (Núcleo de Inovação e Tecnologia das Universidades), representado pela FORTEC (Forum Nacional de gerentes de Inovação e Transferência de Tecnologia). Para esse mapeamento, uma matriz que considera o modelo de estágio de desenvolvimento de negócios foi utilizada para identificar as principais ações e lacunas no fomento ao empreendedorismo inovador no Brasil, levando em consideração cinco variáveis críticas de desenvolvimento de negócios - tecnologia, talentos, finanças, localização e evolução. Os resultados apontam para recorrências e falta de apoio e contribuem com propostas para o ecossistema brasileiro de inovação.Palavras-chave: Empreendedorismo Inovador. Ecossistema de inovação. Rede de Instituições

Existence of Pullback Attractors for Pullback Asymptotically Compact Processes

This paper is concerned with the existence of pullback attractors for evolution processes. Our aim is to provide results that extend the following results for autonomous evolution processes (semigroups) i) An autonomous evolution process which is bounded dissipative and asymptotically compact has a global attractor. ii) An autonomous evolution process which is bounded, point dissipative and asymptotically compact has a global attractor. The extension of such results requires the introduction of new concepts and brings up some important differences between the asymptotic properties of autonomous and nonautonomous evolution processes. An application is considered to damped wave problem with non-autonomous damping

A gradient-like non autonomous evolution process

In this paper we consider a dissipative damped wave equation with non-autonomous damping of the form utt + ¯(t)ut = ¢u + f(u) (1) in a bounded smooth domain ­ ½ Rn with Dirichlet boundary conditions, where f is a dissipative smooth nonlinearity and the damping ¯ : R ! (0;1) is a suitable function. We prove, if (1) has finitely many equilibria, that all global bounded solutions of (1) are backwards and forwards asymptotic to equilibria. Thus, we give a class of examples of non-autonomous evolution processes for which the structure of the pullback attractors is well understood. That complements the results of [Carvalho & Langa, 2009] on characterization of attractors, where it was shown that a small non-autonomous perturbation of an autonomous gradient-like evolution process is also gradient-like. Note that the evolution process associated to (1) is not a small non-autonomous perturbation of any autonomous gradient-like evolution processes. Moreover, we are also able to prove that the pullback attractor for (1) is also a forwards attractor and that the rate of attraction is exponential