Perspectiva de integração das ferramentas da qualidade com base em um framework metodológico: análise da variabilidade de processos produtivos em uma agroindústria

The aim of this work is to integrate and apply the tools of quality from the proposition of a methodological framework dedicated to the analysis of the variability in manufacturing processes in a company's agribusiness segment. The procedures for data collection are given from the development of a methodological framework that formed the basis for obtaining search results. Accordingly, it was prepared a literature review that supported the process of construction of the questionnaire. Data were collected through direct interviews and intensive applied to company employees focus of the study. Systematic observations were carried out and unsystematic. The methodology proposed was implemented in a case study of an applied nature held in agribusiness organization. The data were qualitatively and quantitatively. The results showed that the processes are stable, with no abnormal variability. However, considering the requirements for the Spanish market, it was found that the characteristic weight, the process shows great variability. Was defined as the main cause the presence of bacteria Acidovorax. Therefore, the integrated employment of quality tools can enhance the development of more sustainable solutions to problems or bugs found in production processes.O objetivo deste trabalho é integrar e aplicar as ferramentas da qualidade a partir da proposição de um framework metodológico dedicado à análise da variabilidade nos processos produtivos em uma empresa do segmento agroindustrial. Os procedimentos de coleta dos dados se deram a partir do desenvolvimento de um framework metodológico que serviu de base para obtenção dos resultados da pesquisa. Nesse sentido, elaborou-se uma revisão de literatura que apoiou o processo de construção de um questionário. Os dados foram coletados por meio de entrevistas diretas e intensivas aplicadas com funcionários da empresa foco do estudo. Observações sistemáticas e assistemáticas foram realizadas. A sistemática proposta foi executada em um estudo de caso de natureza aplicada realizado em uma organização agroindustrial. Os dados obtidos foram qualitativos e quantitativos. Os resultados mostraram que os processos estão estáveis, sem apresentar variabilidades anormais. Todavia, considerando as exigências para o mercado espanhol, verificou-se que para o característico peso, o processo apresenta grande variabilidade. Definiu-se como causa principal a presença da bactéria Acidovorax. Portanto, o emprego integrado das ferramentas da qualidade pode potencializar o desenvolvimento de soluções mais sustentáveis para os problemas ou falhas encontradas nos processos produtivos

Brazilian Flora 2020: Leveraging the power of a collaborative scientific network

International audienceThe shortage of reliable primary taxonomic data limits the description of biological taxa and the understanding of biodiversity patterns and processes, complicating biogeographical, ecological, and evolutionary studies. This deficit creates a significant taxonomic impediment to biodiversity research and conservation planning. The taxonomic impediment and the biodiversity crisis are widely recognized, highlighting the urgent need for reliable taxonomic data. Over the past decade, numerous countries worldwide have devoted considerable effort to Target 1 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC), which called for the preparation of a working list of all known plant species by 2010 and an online world Flora by 2020. Brazil is a megadiverse country, home to more of the world's known plant species than any other country. Despite that, Flora Brasiliensis, concluded in 1906, was the last comprehensive treatment of the Brazilian flora. The lack of accurate estimates of the number of species of algae, fungi, and plants occurring in Brazil contributes to the prevailing taxonomic impediment and delays progress towards the GSPC targets. Over the past 12 years, a legion of taxonomists motivated to meet Target 1 of the GSPC, worked together to gather and integrate knowledge on the algal, plant, and fungal diversity of Brazil. Overall, a team of about 980 taxonomists joined efforts in a highly collaborative project that used cybertaxonomy to prepare an updated Flora of Brazil, showing the power of scientific collaboration to reach ambitious goals. This paper presents an overview of the Brazilian Flora 2020 and provides taxonomic and spatial updates on the algae, fungi, and plants found in one of the world's most biodiverse countries. We further identify collection gaps and summarize future goals that extend beyond 2020. Our results show that Brazil is home to 46,975 native species of algae, fungi, and plants, of which 19,669 are endemic to the country. The data compiled to date suggests that the Atlantic Rainforest might be the most diverse Brazilian domain for all plant groups except gymnosperms, which are most diverse in the Amazon. However, scientific knowledge of Brazilian diversity is still unequally distributed, with the Atlantic Rainforest and the Cerrado being the most intensively sampled and studied biomes in the country. In times of “scientific reductionism”, with botanical and mycological sciences suffering pervasive depreciation in recent decades, the first online Flora of Brazil 2020 significantly enhanced the quality and quantity of taxonomic data available for algae, fungi, and plants from Brazil. This project also made all the information freely available online, providing a firm foundation for future research and for the management, conservation, and sustainable use of the Brazilian funga and flora

Pathogenesis of Chagas' Disease: Parasite Persistence and Autoimmunity

Summary: Acute Trypanosoma cruzi infections can be asymptomatic, but chronically infected individuals can die of Chagas' disease. The transfer of the parasite mitochondrial kinetoplast DNA (kDNA) minicircle to the genome of chagasic patients can explain the pathogenesis of the disease; in cases of Chagas' disease with evident cardiomyopathy, the kDNA minicircles integrate mainly into retrotransposons at several chromosomes, but the minicircles are also detected in coding regions of genes that regulate cell growth, differentiation, and immune responses. An accurate evaluation of the role played by the genotype alterations in the autoimmune rejection of self-tissues in Chagas' disease is achieved with the cross-kingdom chicken model system, which is refractory to T. cruzi infections. The inoculation of T. cruzi into embryonated eggs prior to incubation generates parasite-free chicks, which retain the kDNA minicircle sequence mainly in the macrochromosome coding genes. Crossbreeding transfers the kDNA mutations to the chicken progeny. The kDNA-mutated chickens develop severe cardiomyopathy in adult life and die of heart failure. The phenotyping of the lesions revealed that cytotoxic CD45, CD8+ γδ, and CD8α+ T lymphocytes carry out the rejection of the chicken heart. These results suggest that the inflammatory cardiomyopathy of Chagas' disease is a genetically driven autoimmune disease