254 research outputs found
Random regression models for growth trait in Guzerá cattle
O objetivo do presente trabalho foi estimar componentes de (co)variâncias e parâmetros genéticos para características de pesos do nascimento ao sobreano (550 dias de idade) para bovinos da raça Guzerá, por meio de modelos de regressão aleatória. Os dados utilizados são de animais (machos e fêmeas) nascidos entre 1993 e 2011 e pertencentes a dez fazendas de sete estados brasileiros. O modelo de melhor ajuste considerou os efeitos genéticos aditivos diretos e maternos e os de ambiente permanente do animal ajustado usando polinômios ortogonais de Legendre de quarta, terceira e segunda ordem, respectivamente. As maiores estimativas de herdabilidade diretas foram observadas para os pesos ao nascimento (0,88) e ao sobreano (0,70). As correlações genéticas foram de moderada a alta magnitude, mantendo-se elevada mesmo com o aumento da distância entre as idades.The aim of this study was to estimate (co)variance components and genetic parameters from birth to yearling weight (550 days of age) in Guzerá cattle, using random regression models. Data set from animals (male and female) born between 1993 and 2011 belonging to ten farms in seven Brazilian States were used. The best-fit model considering direct and maternal genetic effect and permanent environmental animal effect were adjusted by fourth, third, and second order, respectively, using orthogonal polynomials of Legendre. The higher estimated values of direct heritability were observed in birth (0.88) and yearling weight (0.70). The genetic correlations were moderate to high magnitude, remaining up even with the increase in the ages gap
Atypical behavioral and psychiatric symptoms: neurosyphilis should always be considered
Syphilis still remains a major health concern worldwide because of the possibility of serious medical and psychological consequences, long-term disability, and death. Neurosyphilis (NS) may occur at any stage of infection. Its clinical presentation has been changing over recent years including psychiatric and neurocognitive symptoms. Several recent studies have described cases with these symptoms as the principal signs of NS. We present the case of neurosyphilis with a psychiatric presentation characterized by mood disturbance and auditory and visual hallucinations
Generatividade em estudantes e profissionais de educação
O conceito de generatividade proposto inicialmente por Erik Erikson (1976) é tão importante para compreendermos os problemas e desafios que se colocam aos adultos e às sociedades contemporâneas quanto o tem sido o conceito de identidade para compreender os desafios que se colocam ao adolescente e ao ciclo de vida humano. Apesar da importância social e educativa deste conceito não tem havido entre nós tentativas de medida deste conceito especialmente em populações com responsabilidades educacionais. Tomando uma amostra de jovens adultos e adultos, composta por professores, estudantes de docência, de educação e auxiliares de acção educativa, medimos dois componentes da generatividade utilizando dois instrumentos disponíveis para esse efeito: a Escala de Generatividade de Loyola (EGL) e a Lista de comportamentos generativos (LCG) que medem, respectivamente, a preocupação generativa e os actos generativos. Os resultados apontam, tal como em outros estudos internacionais, para a sensibilidade e consistência interna destas medidas e para a sua variação significativa em função de variáveis como a idade, o exercício ou não de função parental e o estatuto ocupacional. Discutiremos estes dados e proporemos que este conceito e suas medidas façam parte de uma nova agenda de investigação em educação e psicologia
USO ENERGÉTICO DE RESÍDUOS MADEIREIROS NA PRODUÇÃO DE CERÂMICAS NO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO
ABSTRACTThe use of forest biomass is an important alternative source of renewable, economic, technical and environmentally viable energy, which struggles to displace other energy sources that are more expensive or non-renewable, such as natural gas, diesel oil and LPG. Within the industrial sector, which is the biggest consumer of energy from biomass, the red ceramics sector represents a traditional consumer of firewood for energy production. A considerable number of companies in this sector has recently started to use, as an alternative option for energy production, chips made from several different wood wastes. The choice for this type of biomass is due to four main reasons: high availability of material on the market; environmental benefits, since it is a renewable material; higher uniformity during combustion, compared with firewood; and feasibility for implementation of an automatic furnace feeding system. This study aimed to characterize and describe the red ceramics sector in the State of Sao Paulo, regarding the consumption of wood residues for energy purposes. The sampling survey collected regional data on the quantity and efficiency of use of wood residues as a source for energy generation in the sector, as well as on technological, economic and logistical aspects related to the use of this biomass. It is estimated that the use of wood chips is being presently adopted by approximately 80% of medium scale ceramic plants in the State of Sao Paulo. These chips are originated from sawmill residues, forest harvest operations of pine and eucalyptus, urban trees pruning and recycling of wood products in general. The average distance radius for supply of chips to the ceramic plants is approximately 200 km. The evaluated ceramic plants outsource chips at an average price of R 43,00 por m³. A eficiência média apurada foi de 1,4 m³ de cavaco para cada milheiro de peças acabadas produzidas. As cerâmicas expressaram a necessidade de maior regularidade na qualidade deste biocombustível, que normalmente varia a cada carga recebida
ENERGY USE OF WOOD RESIDUES IN PRODUCTION OF CERAMICS IN THE STATE OF SAO PAULO
O uso da biomassa florestal \ue9 uma importante alternativa de fonte
energ\ue9tica renov\ue1vel, econ\uf4mica, t\ue9cnica e
ambientalmente vi\ue1vel, disputando espa\ue7o com outras fontes
energ\ue9ticas, mais caras ou n\ue3o renov\ue1veis, tais como
g\ue1s natural, \uf3leo diesel e GLP. Dentro do setor industrial,
maior consumidor de energia a partir de biomassa, destaca-se o segmento
de cer\ue2micas vermelhas, tradicional consumidor de lenha para a
produ\ue7\ue3o de energia. Uma consider\ue1vel parcela de
empresas deste setor recentemente passou a utilizar, como alternativa
de energia, cavacos produzidos a partir de res\uedduos madeireiros
diversos. A op\ue7\ue3o por esse tipo de biomassa se deve a quatro
principais raz\uf5es: maior disponibilidade desse material para
aquisi\ue7\ue3o no mercado; envolver um importante aspecto
ambiental, uma vez que se trata de um material de origem
renov\ue1vel; por proporcionar uma maior homogeneidade durante a
combust\ue3o, quando comparado com a lenha; e possibilita a
automa\ue7\ue3o da alimenta\ue7\ue3o dos fornos. O presente
estudo teve por objetivo caracterizar e descrever o segmento de
cer\ue2micas vermelhas no Estado de S\ue3o Paulo quanto ao consumo
de res\uedduos madeireiros para fins energ\ue9ticos. A pesquisa por
amostragem coletou dados regionais sobre a quantidade e efici\ueancia
do uso de res\uedduos madeireiros como fonte de gera\ue7\ue3o de
energia no setor, bem como aspectos tecnol\uf3gicos, econ\uf4micos
e log\uedsticos associados ao uso desta biomassa. Estima-se que o uso
de cavacos de madeira vem sendo adotado atualmente por cerca de 80% das
cer\ue2micas de porte m\ue9dio no Estado de S\ue3o Paulo. Os
cavacos s\ue3o originados de res\uedduos de serrarias,
opera\ue7\uf5es da colheita florestal de pinus e eucalipto, poda de
arboriza\ue7\ue3o urbana e reciclagem de produtos madeireiros em
geral. O raio m\ue9dio de dist\ue2ncia para suprimento dos cavacos
at\ue9 as cer\ue2micas \ue9 de aproximadamente 200 km. As
cer\ue2micas avaliadas compram os cavacos de terceiros a um
pre\ue7o m\ue9dio em torno de R 43,00 por m\ub3. A
efici\ueancia m\ue9dia apurada foi de 1,4 m\ub3 de cavaco para
cada milheiro de pe\ue7as acabadas produzidas. As cer\ue2micas
expressaram a necessidade de maior regularidade na qualidade deste
biocombust\uedvel, que normalmente varia a cada carga recebida.The use of forest biomass is an important alternative source of
renewable, economic, technical and environmentally viable energy, which
struggles to displace other energy sources that are more expensive or
non-renewable, such as natural gas, diesel oil and LPG. Within the
industrial sector, which is the biggest consumer of energy from
biomass, the red ceramics sector represents a traditional consumer of
firewood for energy production. A considerable number of companies in
this sector has recently started to use, as an alternative option for
energy production, chips made from several different wood wastes. The
choice for this type of biomass is due to four main reasons: high
availability of material on the market; environmental benefits, since
it is a renewable material; higher uniformity during combustion,
compared with firewood; and feasibility for implementation of an
automatic furnace feeding system. This study aimed to characterize and
describe the red ceramics sector in the State of Sao Paulo, regarding
the consumption of wood residues for energy purposes. The sampling
survey collected regional data on the quantity and efficiency of use of
wood residues as a source for energy generation in the sector, as well
as on technological, economic and logistical aspects related to the use
of this biomass. It is estimated that the use of wood chips is being
presently adopted by approximately 80% of medium scale ceramic plants
in the State of Sao Paulo. These chips are originated from sawmill
residues, forest harvest operations of pine and eucalyptus, urban trees
pruning and recycling of wood products in general. The average distance
radius for supply of chips to the ceramic plants is approximately 200
km. The evaluated ceramic plants outsource chips at an average price of
R 43.00 per m\ub3. The average efficiency observed was of 1.4
m\ub3 of chips per thousand finished pieces produced. The ceramic
plants reported the need for a better regularity in quality of this
bio-fuel, which usually varies for each other load delivered
Agriculture, habitat loss and spatial patterns of human occupation in a biodiversity hotspot
O bioma Cerrado é o segundo maior da região Neotropical e é formado por mosaico de diferentes tipos de hábitats, desde campos abertos até florestas densas. Um recente e intensivo processo de ocupação humana tem transformado essa eco-região em uma das mais importantes regiões para agropecuária no Brasil. Uma abordagem macroecológica foi utilizada para elucidar padrões em amplas escalas espaciais de perdas de hábitat no Cerrado brasileiro, implementando técnicas de autocorrelação espacial e análises de regressão parcial para entender como a proporção de remanescentes de vegetação natural está correlacionada com variáveis socioeconômicas, expressando diferentes dimensões de ocupação humana e com variações climáticas. Em média, 59% da área é ocupada por remanescentes de vegetação, na escala da análise, mesmo que os padrões de perda de hábitat estejam fortemente estruturados no espaço, com o coeficiente de autocorrelação espacial de I de Moran igual a 0,825 ± 0,055 (p < 0 ,001). As análises de regressão parcial explicaram 89% da variação no percentual de remanescente de vegetação. A maior proporção da variância é explicada pela sobreposição múltipla entre a ocupação humana, variação climática e a estrutura geográfica (67%), bem como pelo componente estruturado climaticamente da ocupação humana (8%). Baseado no processo interativo no tempo e no espaço da ocupação humana no bioma, cenários futuros devem ser mais pessimistas. Se o movimento de ocupação continuar em direção a região Norte do bioma, como esperado, nós podemos predizer que as proporções de remanescente de vegetação natural irão declinar rapidamente, indicando assim uma forte perda da biodiversidade nas escalas do bioma.The Cerrado biome, the second largest biome in Neotropical region, consists of a mosaic of different habitat types, ranging from open grasslands to dense woodlands and dry forests. An intensive recent occupation process has transformed it into the most important region for cattle ranching and intensive commodity crops in Brazil. In this study, a macroecological approach was used to evaluate broad-scale spatial patterns of habitat loss in the Brazilian Cerrado, applying a series of spatial autocorrelation and partial regression analyses to understand how the proportion of remaining natural habitats is correlated with socio-economic variables, expressing different dimensions of human occupation and climatic variation. On average, 59% of the area is occupied by natural remnants at the spatial scale analyzed, although patterns of habitat loss are strongly spatially structured, with a Moran's I spatial autocorrelation coefficient equal to 0.825 ± 0.055 (p < 0.001). The partial regression analysis explains 89% of variation in percentage of natural remnants. The highest proportion of variance is explained by the multiple overlap between human occupation, climatic variation and geographic structure (67%), as well as by the climatically structured component of human occupation (8%). Based on the space-time interactive process of human occupation in the biome, future scenarios should be rather pessimistic. If the wave of human occupation continues towards the northern parts of the biome, as expected, we can predict that percentages will decline rapidly including even stronger losses of habitat at the biome scale
Fungal communities in pressmud composting harbour beneficial and detrimental fungi for human welfare
Pressmud is a substrate derived from sugarcane juice filtrate, and around 26-40 kg of this residue are produced per ton of sugarcane. It is mainly used as fertilizer in crops, and its application in the field is often made without any prior treatment, but, in this research, it was studied for the risk this practice poses for human health. This research was stimulated by previous results indicating the presence of opportunistic pathogens in residues used in various composting systems and the extensive use of fresh pressmud in agriculture. Here, It was assessed the fungal diversity present in both fresh and composting pressmud using 454 pyrosequencing. In addition, heat-tolerant fungi were isolated and surveyed for their enzymatic repertoire of biomass-degrading enzymes (cellulase, xylanase, laccase and polygalacturonase). A wide range of opportunistic pathogens was found among the most abundant taxa in the fresh pressmud, such as Lomentospora prolificans (43.13 %), Trichosporon sp. (10.07 %), Candida tropicalis (7.91 %), and Hormographiella aspergillata (8.19 %). This indicates that fresh pressmud might be a putative source of human pathogenic fungi, presenting a potential threat to human health if applied as fertilizer without any treatment. With regard to the heat-tolerant fungi found in this substrate, all the 110 isolates screened were able to produce at least one of the tested enzymes. The pressmud composting process not only effectively reduces the load of pathogenic fungi, but also creates an interesting environment for fungi able to produce thermostable hydrolytic and oxidative enzymes with biotechnological applications
Atypical behavioral and psychiatric symptoms: neurosyphilis should always be considered
Syphilis still remains a major health concern worldwide because of the possibility of serious medical and psychological consequences, long-term disability, and death. Neurosyphilis (NS) may occur at any stage of infection. Its clinical presentation has been changing over recent years including psychiatric and neurocognitive symptoms. Several recent studies have described cases with these symptoms as the principal signs of NS. We present the case of neurosyphilis with a psychiatric presentation characterized by mood disturbance and auditory and visual hallucinations
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