Cortante-fricción de los hormigones reciclados

The aim of this research was to determine the behavior of recycled concrete in response to the phenomenon of shear transfer. To perform it, a conventional control concrete and a concrete with 50% recycled coarse aggregate were designed. An additional goal was to shed light on how this behavior is modified with a pozzolanic addition, silica fume. Therefore, two types of concrete were designed, a conventional and a recycled concrete, both made with 8% of silica fume. In conclusion, a reduction of shear friction capacity was observed in recycled concretes, considerably higher in the case of the specimen without reinforcement. The addition of silica fume improved the behavior of recycled concretes. The results obtained were compared with the formulations of the different authors. In all cases, these were found to be conservative. However, the safety margins offered by recycled concretes are lower than those obtained with conventional concretes.En esta investigación se estudió el comportamiento de los hormigones reciclados frente al fenómeno de transmisión de cortante. Para ello se diseñó un hormigón convencional de control y un hormigón con el 50% del árido grueso reciclado. Adicionalmente, para determinar cómo este comportamiento se ve modificado con la incorporación de una adición puzolánica (humo de sílice), se procedió al diseño de un hormigón convencional y su correspondiente reciclado con un 8% de humo de sílice. Los resultados indicaron una disminución de la capacidad frente a este fenómeno en los hormigones reciclados, más acusada en ausencia de armadura pasante. La adición de humo de sílice mejora el comportamiento de este material. Los resultados experimentales obtenidos se compararon con formulaciones teóricas de diversos autores, concluyéndose que éstas son, en todos los casos, conservadoras, aunque reducen el margen de seguridad en los hormigones reciclados

An epidemiological study of gastrointestinal parasites of dogs from Southern Greater Buenos Aires (Argentina): Age, gender, breed, mixed infections, and seasonal and spatial patterns

A total of 2193 fecal samples from owned dogs were collected during the 2003–2004 period in Southern Greater Buenos Aires, and were evaluated for the presence of intestinal parasites by a flotation–centrifugation method. The overall prevalence was 52.4%, and the 11 species found were: Ancylostoma caninum (13%), Isospora ohioensis complex (12%), Toxocara canis (11%), Trichuris vulpis (10%), Sarcocystis sp. (10%), Giardia duodenalis (9%), Isospora canis (3%), Hammondia–Neospora complex (3%), Dipilydium caninum (18 cases), Cryptosporidium sp. (5 cases), and Toxascaris leonina (1 case). There was no significant difference in the overall prevalence between genders (female = 50.4%, male = 54.6%), and breeds (pure = 52.3%, mixed = 53%), but prevalence in puppies (<1 year) was higher than in adult dogs (62.7% versus 40.8%, respectively). Only the prevalence of A. caninum differed between genders, with higher values for males. The prevalences of six of the parasite species showed a decreasing trend with increasing host age, and an inverse pattern was found for two other species. The prevalences of three protozoa were significantly higher in pure-breed dogs, and those of two nematodes were significantly higher in mixedbreed dogs. The prevalences of T. canis, A. caninum, and T. vulpis were spatially heterogeneous with a clear Southwest– Northeast gradient. Only prevalences of Sarcocystis sp. and G. duodenalis showed seasonal variation. The frequency distribution of the number of species per fecal sample did not differ from a random distribution. Results obtained throughout the world were discussed.Facultad de Ciencias Veterinaria

PCR detection of Dirofilaria immitis in <i>Aedes aegypti</i> and <i>Culex pipiens</i> from urban temperate Argentina

Dirofilariasis, a mosquito-borne disease of dogs caused by the nematode Dirofilaria immitis (Leidy; Spirurida: Onchocercidae), has now become a growing zoonotic concern. Based on direct microscopical observation, Aedes aegypti (L.) and Culex pipiens L. (Diptera: Culicidae) have been previously incriminated as potential vectors of D. immitis in urban temperate Argentina. In this study, an effort was made to provide evidence for this assumption by screening of mosquitoes for D. immitis infection using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. PCR primers were developed to specifically amplify the D. immitis-16S rRNA gene and to reliably detect 100th of the genomic equivalent (10 pg) of the infective third-stage larvae in mosquito pools of up to 30 individuals. Collection of mosquitoes was performed between September 2007 and April 2008 in premises known to be inhabited by D. immitis-infected dogs in Greater Buenos Aires. The final collection comprised 453 specimens belonging to 11 mosquito species of the genera Aedes, Culex, Ochlerotatus, and Psorophora. PCR assays were performed on 82 pools (n ≤ 20) of heads and abdomens separately, as this allows differentiating infective and non-infective stages of the parasite, respectively. Identification of the non-infective stage of D. immitis in A. aegypti and C. pipiens provided additional strong support of transmission of the parasite by these species. To our knowledge, this was the first PCR screening for D. immitis-infected mosquitoes in South America.Facultad de Ciencias Veterinaria

Produção de antissoro policlonal utilizando a proteína capsidial recombinante do Rupestris stem pitting-associated virus.

O Rupestris stem pitting-associated virus (RSPaV) é o agente causal das caneluras do lenho da videira. Este trabalho teve como objetivo produzir antissoro policlonal a partir da proteína capsidial (CP) recombinante do RSPaV e avaliar a sua especificidade e sensibilidade. O gene da CP do RSPaV, com 780pb, foi previamente caracterizado. Esse gene foi subclonado no sítio de restrição EcoRI, no vetor de expressão pRSET-B e o plasmídeo recombinante foi utilizado para induzir a expressão da CP em Escherichia coli. A CP, ligada a uma cauda de seis histidinas, foi purificada por meio de cromatografia de afinidade em coluna de Ni-NTA a partir do extrato de proteínas totais extraídas de E. coli. A identidade da proteína purificada foi confirmada em SDS-PAGE e Western blot, utilizando-se anticorpos comerciais contra a cauda de seis histidinas. A CP recombinante expressada in vitro apresentou massa molecular de cerca de 31kDa. A proteína purificada foi quantificada e 2,55mg foram utilizados para a imunização de um coelho. O antissoro policlonal obtido reagiu com diferentes isolados deste vírus, extraídos de videiras em ELISA indireto.Nota técnica

Simultaneous detection of Brazilian isolates of grapevine viruses by TaqMan real-time RT-PCR.

The aim of this work was to evaluate the efficiency of real-time RT-PCR for detection of different isolates of ten important virus species that infect grapevines in Brazil: Grapevine leafroll-associated virus (GLRaV-1, -2, -3 and -5), Grapevine virus A (GVA), Grapevine virus B (GVB), Grapevine virus D (GVD), Grapevine rupestris stem pitting-associated virus (GRSPaV), Grapevine fleck virus (GFkV) and Grapevine fanleaf virus (GFLV). The reactions consisted of individual (simplex) and simultaneous (duplex) virus detections. Thirty six grapevine accessions, regenerated after thermotherapy and tissue culture treatments, have been analysed. All the above-mentioned viruses were sensitively detected in simplex reactions in samples infected with different virus isolates. Specifically to GLRaV-1 it was necessary to mix reagents refered by different sources to achieve the amplification. GVA, GRSPaV, GLRaV-2 and GLRaV-3 combined with GVB, GFLV, GFkV, GVD and GLRaV-5 were accurately detected in duplex trials. It was shown, that real-time RT-PCR (TaqMan) is able to efficiently detect different local virus species and isolates.Comunicação científica

Pedigree analysis of the Spanish grapevine cultivar 'Hebén'

The use of Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) markers allows genetic identification and parentage analysis of grapevine cultivars. Ancient cultivars like 'Hebén' were widely cultivated in the Iberian Peninsula along its history and likely contributed to the origin of varieties which are still cultivated today. The goal of our study was to search for possible first-degree relationships between the female variety 'Hebén' and other Iberian and Mediterranean cultivars. For this purpose, we used a set of 261 SNP markers which allowed identifying 23 trios and 37 parent-offspring relationships supported by high overall likelihood ratios (LOD scores). The results shed light on the relationships among several cultivars from Spain and Portugal, and demonstrated that 'Hebén' is a major founder of current varieties in the Iberian Peninsula viticulture, and contributed to spread the chlorotype A in this region

Diagnóstico microscópico de piroplasmosis en caninos con presencia de garrapatas en la ciudad de Córdoba, Argentina

La piroplasmosis canina es una hemoparasitosis distribuida mundialmente y transmitida por garrapatas. Babesia vogeli es el piroplasma de mayor distribución debido a la naturaleza cosmopolita de su principal vector, la garrapata Rhipicephalus sanguineus. El uso de la microscopia a partir de frotis de sangre capilar es un método simple, accesible y de fácil implementación en la clínica diaria para el diagnóstico de piroplasmas y hemopatogenos asociados. Los objetivos de este trabajo son: a) determinar la presencia de piroplasmas en frotis sanguíneos de perros con garrapatas procedentes de la ciudad de Córdoba; b) identificar las garrapatas presentes en los casos positivos y c) establecer la presencia de coinfecciones con otros hemopatogenos transmitidos por garrapatas