Morphological and morphometric analysis of skeletal muscle between male and female young adult Colossoma macropomum (Characiformes: Serrasalmidae)

This study aimed to evaluate muscle organization in tambaqui in order to describe the muscle growth process. We analyzed the morphometric pattern of fibers from white muscle of young-adults (300 days) by smaller diameter. The organization of white muscle exhibited a typical morphological pattern found in other fish species. Heavier animals showed higher frequency of larger diameter fibers (>50 μm) and smaller animals had higher frequency of smaller diameter fibers (50 μm) than males. However, there was no difference between body weight and sex (P=0.8). Our results suggest that muscle growth is by hypertrophy and hyperplasia due to a mosaic appearance from different diameters fibers, which is characteristic of large size fish species.O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a organização muscular em tambaqui, a fim de descrever o processo de crescimento muscular. Foi analisado o padrão morfométrico das fibras do músculo branco de animais com 300 dias de idade usando o método de diâmetro menor. O músculo branco apresentou uma organização morfológica padrão encontrado em peixes. Animais de maior peso apresentaram maior frequência de fibras de maior diâmetro (> 50 μm) e os animais de menor peso apresentaram maior frequência de fibras de menor diâmetro (50 μm) que machos. Observou-se uma fraca correlação entre o diâmetro da fibra e o sexo dos animais (r = 0,2). Apesar de fraca, a correlação estimada é corroborada pela fibras de grandes diâmetros (> 50 μm) serem mais frequente nas fêmeas que nos machos. No entanto, não houve diferença entre o peso corporal dos animais aos 300 dias de idade e sexo (P = 0,8). Os resultados encontrados sugerem que o crescimento muscular ocorre por hipertrofia e hiperplasia, caracterizado pela aparência em mosaico de fibras de diferentes diâmetros, característico de peixes de grande tamanho

Morphological and morphometric analysis of skeletal muscle between male and female young adult Colossoma macropomum (Characiformes: Serrasalmidae)

This study aimed to evaluate muscle organization in tambaqui in order to describe the muscle growth process. We analyzed the morphometric pattern of fibers from white muscle of young-adults (300 days) by smaller diameter. The organization of white muscle exhibited a typical morphological pattern found in other fish species. Heavier animals showed higher frequency of larger diameter fibers (>50 μm) and smaller animals had higher frequency of smaller diameter fibers (50 μm) than males. However, there was no difference between body weight and sex (P=0.8). Our results suggest that muscle growth is by hypertrophy and hyperplasia due to a mosaic appearance from different diameters fibers, which is characteristic of large size fish species.O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a organização muscular em tambaqui, a fim de descrever o processo de crescimento muscular. Foi analisado o padrão morfométrico das fibras do músculo branco de animais com 300 dias de idade usando o método de diâmetro menor. O músculo branco apresentou uma organização morfológica padrão encontrado em peixes. Animais de maior peso apresentaram maior frequência de fibras de maior diâmetro (> 50 μm) e os animais de menor peso apresentaram maior frequência de fibras de menor diâmetro (50 μm) que machos. Observou-se uma fraca correlação entre o diâmetro da fibra e o sexo dos animais (r = 0,2). Apesar de fraca, a correlação estimada é corroborada pela fibras de grandes diâmetros (> 50 μm) serem mais frequente nas fêmeas que nos machos. No entanto, não houve diferença entre o peso corporal dos animais aos 300 dias de idade e sexo (P = 0,8). Os resultados encontrados sugerem que o crescimento muscular ocorre por hipertrofia e hiperplasia, caracterizado pela aparência em mosaico de fibras de diferentes diâmetros, característico de peixes de grande tamanho

Activated carbon prepared from coffee pulp: potential adsorbent of organic contaminants in aqueous solution

The processing of coffee beans generates large amounts of solid and liquid residues. The solid residues (pulp, husk and parchment) represent a serious environmental problem and do not have an adequate destination. In this work, activated carbons (AC) for adsorption of organic compounds were prepared from coffee pulp by controlled temperature at different pulp/Na2HPO4 ratios (4:1, 2:1, 5:4 and 1:1). The N2 adsorption/desorption isotherms showed AC with high quantities of meso and micropores and specific surface areas of 140, 150, 450 and 440 m2 g1 for AC 4:1, AC 2:1, AC 5:4 and AC 1:1, respectively. The prepared material AC 5:4 showed a higher removal capacity of the organic contaminants methylene blue (MB), direct red (DR) and phenol than a Merck AC. The maximum capacities for this AC are approximately 150, 120 and 120 mg g1 for MB, DR and phenol, respectively. Thus, a good adsorbent was obtained from coffee pulp, an abundant Brazilian residueFil: Gonçalves, Maraisa. Universidade Federal de Lavras; Brasil;Fil: Guerreiro, Mário Cesar. Universidade Federal de Lavras; Brasil;Fil: Honorato Ramos, Paulize. Universidade Federal de Lavras; Brasil;Fil: Alves de Oliveira, Luis Carlos. Universidade Federal de Lavras; Brasil;Fil: Sapag, Manuel Karim. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico - CONICET - San Luis. Instituto de Física Aplicada; Argetnina

Flutuação populacional de insetos sugadores em algodão irrigado e não irrigado

In the cotton crop (Gossypium hirsutum L.), there is a complexity of pests that appear systematically, thus significantly reducing crop yield; and their population fluctuation is strongly influenced by meteorological conditions that result in a greater or lesser density of these insects. Thus, this work aimed to evaluate the population fluctuation of insect pests with sucking feeding behavior in an area with and without irrigation in the cotton plant under second-harvest conditions. The experiment was developed at the State University of Maringá - Campus of Umuarama. In the experimental area, grid meshes of 10 × 10 m were demarcated, forming plots of 100 m², resulting in a total of 64 points in the irrigated area and 42 points in the non-irrigated area. The sampling points were demarcated in the center of each grid where three randomly selected plants were sampled. Samplings were carried out weekly, from 37 to 122 days after the emergence (DAE) of cotton, examining the aerial part of the plant, to observe the presence of aphids (Aphis gossypii), thrips (Frankliniella schultzei), and whitefly (Bemisia tabaci). The non-irrigated area provided the highest population peaks of whiteflies and thrips. On the other hand, the irrigated area had a higher incidence of aphids. However, with the increase in the population of ladybugs, the incidence of pests reduced significantly, showing the efficiency and importance of the control carried out by natural predators.Na cultura do algodão (Gossypium hirsutum L.) há um complexo de pragas que ocorrem sistematicamente e reduzem significativamente a produtividade, e sua flutuação populacional é fortemente influenciada pelas condições meteorológicas, resultando em maior ou menor densidade desses insetos. Dessa forma, o objetivo do trabalho foi avaliar a flutuação populacional de insetos-praga com comportamento alimentar sugador em área com e sem irrigação no algodoeiro, nas condições de segunda-safra. O experimento foi desenvolvido na Universidade Estadual de Maringá - Campus de Umuarama. Na área experimental foram demarcadas malhas em grid de 10 × 10 m, formando parcelas de 100 m², resultando em um total de 64 pontos na área irrigada e 42 pontos na área não irrigada. Os pontos amostrais foram demarcados no centro de cada grid onde foi realizada a amostragem de três plantas, selecionadas aleatoriamente. As amostragens foram realizadas semanalmente, dos 37 aos 122 dias após emergência (DAE) do algodão, examinando-se a parte aérea da planta, com intuito de observar a presença de pulgões (Aphis gossypii), tripes (Frankliniella schultzei) e mosca-branca (Bemisia tabaci). A área não irrigada proporcionou os maiores picos populacionais de mosca-branca e tripes. Por outro lado, a área irrigada apresentou maior incidência de pulgão. Porém, com o aumento populacional de joaninhas, a incidência da praga reduziu significativamente, mostrando a eficiência e importância do controle realizado por predadores naturais

EFFECT OF SPECIFIC ENDURANCE ON THE PHYSICAL RESPONSES OF YOUNG ATHLETES DURING SOCCER SMALL-SIDED GAMES

This study aimed to compare the physical responses of soccer players with different levels of specific endurance during SSG performed by teams balanced according to athletes’ specific endurance. Eighteen U-17 athletes from a team that participated in national competitions took part in this study. The Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test Level 2 (YIRT2) was used to measure the athletes’ specific endurance. Then, athletes were allocated to two groups balanced according to their positional status and YIRT2 scores: in Group1 players with the highest results in the YIRT2 and in Group 2 with the lower YIRT2 scores. Athletes played twofour-minute bou ts of 3vs.3 small-sided games with goalkeepers with four minutes of passive rest. Total distance covered, average speed, and accelerations were obtained by GPS devices carried by each player. Group 1 presented higher total distance covered (large effect size), higher average speed (large effect size), and higher total distance covered in accelerations above 1 m·s-2 (moderate effect size), compared to Group 2. We concluded that specific endurance can partially influence physical responses of young soccer athletes during small-sided games. This information is important to appropriately prescribe small-sided games during the training process, possibly by grouping together athletes with similar specific endurance and, therefore, promoting an adequate stimulus to better-conditioned athletes.Key words: Yo-Yo Test, motor profile, Global Positioning System, acceleration demand</p

POPULATION FLUCTUATION OF SUCKING INSECTS IN IRRIGATED AND NON-IRRIGATED COTTON CROPS

In the cotton crop (Gossypium hirsutum L.), there is a complexity of pests that appear systematically, thus significantly reducing crop yield; and their population fluctuation is strongly influenced by meteorological conditions that result in a greater or lesser density of these insects. Thus, this work aimed to evaluate the population fluctuation of insect pests with sucking feeding behavior in an area with and without irrigation in the cotton plant under second-harvest conditions. The experiment was developed at the State University of Maringá - Campus of Umuarama. In the experimental area, grid meshes of 10 × 10 m were demarcated, forming plots of 100 m², resulting in a total of 64 points in the irrigated area and 42 points in the non-irrigated area. The sampling points were demarcated in the center of each grid where three randomly selected plants were sampled. Samplings were carried out weekly, from 37 to 122 days after the emergence (DAE) of cotton, examining the aerial part of the plant, to observe the presence of aphids (Aphis gossypii), thrips (Frankliniella schultzei), and whitefly (Bemisia tabaci). The non-irrigated area provided the highest population peaks of whiteflies and thrips. On the other hand, the irrigated area had a higher incidence of aphids. However, with the increase in the population of ladybugs, the incidence of pests reduced significantly, showing the efficiency and importance of the control carried out by natural predators

Provenance analysis of the Guaritas Group (RS) conglomeratic sandstones: implications for the paleoclimate and paleogeography of the Eocambrian Central Camaquã sub-basin

O Supergrupo Camaquã, localizado na região centro-sul do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil, constitui uma bacia sedimentar ­pós-orogênica do tipo rift, cuja deposição ocorreu em ambiente continental entre o Ediacarano e o Eocambriano. O topo da sucessão do Supergrupo Camaquã é representado pelo Grupo Guaritas, uma unidade formada por depósitos fluviais, eólicos e de leques aluviais que abriga importantes registros da sedimentação logo após o final das orogêneses neoproterozoicas que deram origem ao supercontinente Gondwana. O objetivo do presente trabalho foi aplicar a análise de proveniência sedimentar em arenitos conglomeráticos e conglomerados do Grupo Guaritas, a fim de explorar a história da evolução tectônica e climática dessa unidade. Com base nos dados composicionais de seixos, foram reconhecidas duas áreas fonte principais para os depósitos dessa unidade, uma mais distal e situada a norte, relacionada a um sistema de rio tronco paralelo ao eixo principal da bacia, e outra mais proximal e situada a leste, relacionada a sistemas fluviais transversais e de leques aluviais da borda da bacia. O confronto dos dados de proveniência com estudos anteriores de fácies e paleocorrentes sugere que, durante toda a evolução da borda leste da bacia, houve um mesmo sistema fluvial transversal, cuja área de captação sofreu reduções significativas devido à reativação da falha da borda leste durante a deposição das formações Varzinha e Pedra Pintada. Na Formação Serra do Apertado, unidade de topo do Grupo Guaritas, foi verificada uma alta correlação entre a variação dos seixos de composição quartzosa e não quartzosa, e isso foi atribuído a variações entre climas mais úmidos e mais áridos.The Camaquã Supergroup, located in the central-south region of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, constitutes a rift-type post-orogenic sedimentary basin, whose deposition occurred in a continental environment between the Ediacaran and the Eocambrian. The upper succession of the Camaquã Supergroup is represented by the Guaritas Group, a unit formed by fluvial, eolian and alluvial fan deposits that keeps important records of the sedimentation right after the end of the neoproterozoic orogenesis that gave rise to the Gondwana supercontinent. The objective of the present work was to apply sedimentary provenance analysis in conglomeratic arenites and conglomerates of the Guaritas Group, in order to explore the climatic and tectonic evolution history of this unit. Based on the pebble compositional data, two main source areas were recognized for the deposits of this unit, a more distal one located to the north, related with a trunk river system parallel to the basin main axis, and a more proximal one located to the east, related to transversal fluvial systems and alluvial fans at the border of the basin. The comparison of the provenance data with previous studies on facies and paleocurrents suggests that, during the entire evolution of the east border of the basin, there was a same transversal fluvial system, whose catchment area suffered significative reductions due to the reactivation of the east border fault during the deposition of the Varzinha and Pedra Pintada Formations. The Serra do Apertado Formation, the upper unit of Guaritas Group, shows a high correlation between the variation of quartzose and non quartzose pebbles composition, and it was attributed to a variation between more humid and more arid climatic conditions

Fácies sedimentares e elementos arquitetônicos das Formações Serra do Apertado e Pedra Pintada na Região das Minas do Camaquã - RS

The Guaritas Group (Cambrian, RS, Southern Brazil) encompasses sedimentary deposits of bedload or mixed load rivers, eolian dune fields and alluvial fans, and constitutes a rare sedimentary record of Cambrian age in Eastern South America. In this context, its uppermost unit, named Serra do Apertado Formation, contains the last record of stabilization phase of the Gondwana Continent in south and southeastern Brazil. Nevertheless, there are no published detailed studies on its facies and depositional architecture, and this unit has been considered as similar to the Guarda Velha Formation since its original definition. Based on sedimentary facies and depositional architecture studies of the Serra do Apertado Formation and the upper portion of its underlying unit, the Pedra Pintada Formation, the depositional environments were characterized and a descriptive basis was established to distinguish them from the other units of the Guaritas Group. The Serra do Apertado Formation is characterized by the architectural element EL (Sheet floods), which encompasses facies associations that points to a fluvial system characterized by large discharge changes and occasional eolian reworking of bar tops. The upper part of the Pedra Pintada Formation intercalates the architectural elements DB (barchanoid dunes) and IF (Fluvial interdunes). The exclusivity of EL in the Serra do Apertado Formation contrasts with previous descriptions of the Guarda Velha Formation, which show elements of channel-fill and frequent conglomeratic lenses. Those differences reveal more eolian reworking in the Serra do Apertado Formation and possibly more episodic flow, suggesting, preliminarily, a dryer climate than the one recorded in the Guarda Velha Formation.O Grupo Guaritas (Cambriano, RS) abriga depósitos de ambientes aluviais dominados por carga de fundo, aluviais de carga mista, campo de dunas eólicas e leques aluviais, constituindo um raro registro sedimentar de idade Cambriana no leste da América do Sul. Nesse contexto, sua unidade de topo, designada Formação Serra do Apertado, constitui o último registro das fases de estabilização do Gondwana no Sul e Sudeste do Brasil. Apesar disso, não há estudos detalhados de suas fácies e arquitetura deposicional publicados, e essa unidade foi considerada como semelhante à Formação Guarda Velha desde sua definição original. Com base em estudos de fácies sedimentares e arquitetura deposicional da Formação Serra do Apertado e da porção superior da unidade imediatamente sotoposta, Formação Pedra Pintada, foram caracterizados seus ambientes de sedimentação e estabelecida uma base descritiva para discriminação das demais unidades do Grupo Guaritas. A Formação Serra do Apertado é caracterizada pelo elemento arquitetural EL (Enchentes em lençol), no qual predominam associações de fácies que remetem a um ambiente fluvial dominado por grandes variações de vazão e esporádico retrabalhamento eólico de barras emersas. A porção superior da Formação Pedra Pintada apresenta intercalações entre os elementos arquitetônicos DB (Dunas barcanoides) e IF (Interdunas fluviais). A exclusividade do elemento EL na Formação Serra do Apertado contrasta com descrições anteriores da Formação Guarda Velha, que relatam elementos de preenchimento de canais e abundância de lentes conglomeráticas. Tais diferenças revelam maior retrabalhamento eólico na Formação Serra do Apertado e, possivelmente, fluxo mais episódico, sugerindo, de forma preliminar, clima mais árido que aquele da Formação Guarda Velha

Effect of Zirconium Oxide and Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles on Physicochemical Properties and Antibiofilm Activity of a Calcium Silicate-Based Material

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the antibiofilm activity against Enterococcus faecalis, compressive strength. and radiopacity of Portland cement (PC) added to zirconium oxide (ZrO2), as radiopacifier, with or without nanoparticulated zinc oxide (ZnO). The following experimental materials were evaluated: PC, PC + ZrO2, PC + ZrO2 + ZnO (5%), and PC + ZrO2 + ZnO (10%). Antibiofilm activity was analyzed by using direct contact test (DCT) on Enterococcus faecalis biofilm, for 5 h or 15 h. The analysis was conducted by using the number of colony-forming units (CFU/mL). The compressive strength was performed in a mechanical testing machine. For the radiopacity tests, the specimens were radiographed together with an aluminium stepwedge. The results were submitted to ANOVA and Tukey tests, with level of significance at 5%. The results showed that all materials presented similar antibiofilm activity (P > 0.05). The addition of nanoparticulated ZnO decreased the compressive strength of PC. All materials presented higher radiopacity than pure PC. It can be concluded that the addition of ZrO2 and ZnO does not interfere with the antibiofilm activity and provides radiopacity to Portland cement. However, the presence of ZnO (5% or 10%) significantly decreased the compressive strength of the materials