Equinococose no sul do Brasil: tentativas para implementação de um programa de controle em Santana do Livramento, Rio Grande do Sul

This investigation aimed to design a strategy for echinococcosis control in Santana do Livramento county, an endemic area in state of Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil). Fecal samples from 65 dogs were obtained from urban, suburban and rural areas. Purging with Arecoline Bromhidrate (AB) was done to visualize Echinococcus granulosus, and Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) was performed to detect parasite coproantigen. Samples were obtained at the beginning and at the end of treatment with Praziquantel. A third fecal sampling was also done in rural areas four months after the end of treatment. Each dog was treated immediately after the first purging and every 30 days for eight months. In urban and suburban areas no infected dogs were found. In rural areas, first evaluation showed 11.36% and 27.69% of infected dogs by AB and ELISA, respectively. No infected dogs were diagnosed in the second evaluation and in the third evaluation 36.84% and 47.37% infected dogs were identified by AB and ELISA, respectively. Medication program to combat dog infection resulted in successful interruption of parasite transmission, but the project failed to create awareness of the need for dog prophylaxis among rural populations as well as to establish a permanent control program in this municipality.Este trabalho objetivou implementar um programa de controle da equinococose no município de Santana do Livramento, área endêmica no Estado do Rio Grande do Sul (Brasil). Amostras fecais de 65 cães foram coletadas em áreas urbanas, suburbanas e rurais. Para visualizar o Echinococcus granulosus foi realizada purgação com Bromhidrato de Arecolina (BA) e para identificar coproantígenos parasitários foi empregado um método imunoenzimático (ELISA). As amostras foram coletadas no começo e ao fim do tratamento com Praziquantel. Nas áreas rurais uma terceira coleta foi feita quatro meses após o fim do tratamento. Cada cão foi tratado no começo e a cada trinta dias durante 8 meses. Nas áreas urbanas e suburbanas nenhum cão parasitado foi identificado. Nas áreas rurais estavam parasitados 11,36% e 27,69% dos cães, por BA e ELISA, respectivamente. Na terceira avaliação, 36,84% e 47,37% dos cães estavam infectados, por BA e ELISA, respectivamente. Observou-se que um programa a base de drogas anti-parasitárias resultou em interrupção eficiente na transmissão parasitária, mas o projeto falhou em criar uma mentalidade consciente nos habitantes da zona rural relacionada a profilaxia, bem como em estabelecer um programa permanente de controle desta parasitose no município

Can an aversive, extinction-resistant memory trigger impairments in walking adaptability? An experimental study using adult rats

Cognitive demands can influence the adaptation of walking, a crucial skill to maintain body stability and prevent falls. Whilst previous research has shown emotional load tunes goal-directed movements, little attention has been given to this finding. This study sought to assess the effects of suffering an extinction-resistant memory on skilled walking performance in adult rats, as an indicator of walking adaptability. Thus, 36 Wistar rats were divided in a two-part experiment. In the first part (n = 16), the aversive, extinction-resistance memory paradigm was established using a fear-conditioning chamber. In the second, rats (n = 20) were assessed in a neutral room using the ladder rung walking test before and tree days after inducing an extinction-resistance memory. In addition, the elevated plus-maze test was used to control the influence of the anxiety-like status on gait adaptability. Our results revealed the shock group exhibited worse walking adaptability (lower skilled walking score), when compared to the sham group. Moreover, the immobility time in the ladder rung walking test was similar to the controls, suggesting that gait adaptability performance was not a consequence of the fear generalization. No anxiety-like behavior was observed in the plus maze test. Finally, correlation coefficients also showed the skilled walking performance score was positively correlated with the number of gait cycles and trial time in the ladder rung walking test and the total crossings in the plus maze. Overall, these preliminary findings provide evidence to hypothesize an aversive, extinction-resistant experience might change the emotional load, affecting the ability to adapt walking

Triatoma jatai sp. nov. in the state of Tocantins, Brazil (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Triatominae)

Triatoma jatai sp. nov. is the first new species of triatomine to be described in the state of Tocantins, in the northern region of Brazil. It was caught on rock outcrops in the wild environment and, more recently, invading homes. While T. jatai sp. nov. is morphologically similar to Triatoma costalimai, it is distinguished by its general colouring, differences in the blotches on the connexivum, wing size in females and external structures of the male genitalia. The type series has been deposited in the Entomological Collection and Herman Lent Collection, Oswaldo Cruz Institute-Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.Fil: Monte Gonçalves, Teresa Cristina. Ministerio de Salud de Brasil. Fundacion Oswaldo Cruz; Brasil;Fil: Teves Neves, Simone. Ministerio de Salud de Brasil. Fundacion Oswaldo Cruz; Brasil;Fil: Santos Mallet, Jacenir. Ministerio de Salud de Brasil. Fundacion Oswaldo Cruz; Brasil;Fil: Carbajal de la Fuente, Ana Laura. Consejo Nacional de Invest. Científ.y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Bs. As; Argentina;Fil: Macedo Lopes, Catarina. Ministerio de Salud de Brasil. Fundacion Oswaldo Cruz; Brasil

Dividends: New evidence on the catering theory

Documento de Trabajo 14/06 perteneciente a la colección de documentos de trabajo "Nuevas Tendencias en Dirección de Empresas", dentro del Máster en Investigación en Economía y Empresa.[EN] This paper is built upon the predictions of the catering theory of dividends, and examines whether investors’ sentiments exert significant influence on corporate dividend policy. To achieve this aim, we propose a dividend model that incorporates a variable at a firm-level proxing for the catering effect. The estimation of the model by using the Generalized Method of Moments provides interesting results. Consistent with the predictions of the catering theory, we find that companies in eurozone countries cater to their investors’ sentiments. Additionally, other relevant findings show an interaction effect between catering and firm characteristics; particularly, liquid assets, investment opportunities and free cash flow. First, we find a catering effect only in firms with high liquid assets. Second, the positive effect of catering is only found in firms with valuable investment opportunities. Third, companies with higher levels of free cash flow cater more strongly to their investors’ sentiments.[ES] Este trabajo se basa en las predicciones de la teoría de la restauración de los dividendos, y examina si los sentimientos de los inversores ejercer una influencia significativa sobre la política de dividendos corporativos. Para lograr este objetivo, proponemos un modelo de dividendos que incorpora una variable a la proxing a nivel de empresa para el efecto de la restauración. La estimación del modelo mediante el Método Generalizado de los Momentos proporciona resultados interesantes. De acuerdo con las predicciones de la restauración teoría, nos encontramos con que las empresas de países de la eurozona atender a sus inversores sentimientos. Además, otros hallazgos relevantes muestran un efecto de interacción entre la restauración y características de las empresas, particularmente, los activos líquidos, oportunidades de inversión y flujo de caja libre. En primer lugar, nos encontramos con un efecto de catering sólo en empresas con alta liquidez. En segundo lugar, el efecto positivo de la restauración es sólo se encuentran en las empresas con oportunidades de inversión valiosa. En tercer lugar, las empresas con mayores niveles de flujo de efectivo libre atender con más fuerza a sus inversores sentimientos

Symbolic powers of monomial ideals and Cohen-Macaulay vertex-weighted digraphs

In this paper we study irreducible representations and symbolic Rees algebras of monomial ideals. Then we examine edge ideals associated to vertex-weighted oriented graphs. These are digraphs having no oriented cycles of length two with weights on the vertices. For a monomial ideal with no embedded primes we classify the normality of its symbolic Rees algebra in terms of its primary components. If the primary components of a monomial ideal are normal, we present a simple procedure to compute its symbolic Rees algebra using Hilbert bases, and give necessary and sufficient conditions for the equality between its ordinary and symbolic powers. We give an effective characterization of the Cohen--Macaulay vertex-weighted oriented forests. For edge ideals of transitive weighted oriented graphs we show that Alexander duality holds. It is shown that edge ideals of weighted acyclic tournaments are Cohen--Macaulay and satisfy Alexander dualityComment: Special volume dedicated to Professor Antonio Campillo, Springer, to appea

Quantification of the animal tuberculosis multi-host community offers insights for control

Animal tuberculosis (TB) is a multi-host zoonotic disease whose prevalence in cattle herds in Europe has been increasing, despite a huge investment in eradication. The composition of the host community is a fundamental driver of pathogen transmission, and yet this has not been formally quantified for animal TB in Europe. We quantified multi-host communities of animal TB, using stochastic models to estimate the number of infected domestic and wild hosts in three regions: officially TB-free Central–Western Europe, and two largely TB-endemic regions, the Iberian Peninsula and Britain and Ireland. We show that the estimated number of infected animals in the three regions was 290,059–1,605,612 and the numbers of infected non-bovine domestic and wild hosts always exceeded those of infected cattle, with ratios ranging from 3.3 (1.3–19.6):1 in Britain and Ireland to 84.3 (20.5–864):1 in the Iberian Peninsula. Our results illustrate for the first time the extent to which animal TB systems in some regions of Europe are dominated by non-bovine domestic and wild species. These findings highlight the need to adapt current strategies for effective future control of the disease.This research was funded by MINECO and EU-FEDER WildDriver grant CGL2017-89866; NS was funded by FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia grant SFRH/BPD/116596/2016

Transpondo obstáculos: da aritmética para a álgebra

Neste trabalho se demonstra a dificuldade dos alunos em reconhecer fração como número e indica-se como vencer essa dificuldade. Para isso, desenvolve-se uma estratégia de ensino de frações que toma como referência a reta numérica. Ao associar à fração um conceito objetivo bem determinado, rapidamente os alunos prosseguem no domínio de conceitos mais complexos. A identificação de fração como número é realizada inicialmente na medição de segmentos de reta. Da reta numérica se passa para outros contextos, em um processo de sucessivas generalizações. Este texto descreve atividades envolvendo, por exemplo, equivalência entre frações e ordem no conjunto das frações e apresenta resultados da aplicação da metodologia, avaliados do ponto de vista global e do ponto de vista de grupos diferenciados de alunos em diferentes níveis de qualificação prévia. Os resultados demonstram que a familiarização com o campo algébrico é alcançada com mais facilidade, quando o conceito de fração é trabalhado como proposto

EGF functionalized polymer-coated gold nanoparticles promote EGF photostability and EGFR internalization for photothermal therapy

The application of functionalized nanocarriers on photothermal therapy for cancer ablation has wide interest. The success of this application depends on the therapeutic efficiency and biocompatibility of the system, but also on the stability and biorecognition of the conjugated protein. This study aims at investigating the hypothesis that EGF functionalized polymer -coated gold nanoparticles promote EGF photostability and EGFR internalization, making these conjugated particles suitable for photothermal therapy. The conjugated gold nanoparticles (100-200 nm) showed a plasmon absorption band located within the near infrared range (650-900 nm), optimal for photothermal therapy applications. The effects of temperature, of polymer-coated gold nanoparticles and of UVB light (295nm) on the fluorescence properties of EGF have been investigated with steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy. The fluorescence properties of EGF, including the formation of Trp and Tyr photoproducts, is modulated by temperature and by the intensity of the excitation light. The presence of polymeric-coated gold nanoparticles reduced or even avoided the formation of Trp and Tyr photoproducts when EGF is exposed to UVB light, protecting this way the structure and function of EGF. Cytotoxicity studies of conjugated nanoparticles carried out in normal-like human keratinocytes showed small, concentration dependent decreases in cell viability (0-25%). Moreover, conjugated nanoparticles could activate and induce the internalization of overexpressed Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor in human lung carcinoma cells. In conclusion, the gold nanoparticles conjugated with Epidermal Growth Factor and coated with biopolymers developed in this work, show a potential application for near infrared photothermal therapy, which may efficiently destroy solid tumours, reducing the damage of the healthy tissue.Support was provided by: Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT) for the financial support under the project reference PTDC/BBB-BMC/0611/2012 [https://www.fct.pt/apoios/projectos)]. The work at CBMA was supported by the strategic programme UID/BIA/04050/2013 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007569) funded by national funds through the FCT I.P. and by the ERDF through the COMPETE2020 - Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalizacao (POCI) [https://www.fct.pt/apoios/projectos]; European Commission through the project H2020-644242-SAPHELY (https://saphely.eu/project.php) and the project H2020-634013-2-PHOCNOSIS [http://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/193268_en.html].The authors would like to thank Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT) for the financial support under the project reference PTDC/BBB-BMC/0611/2012. The work at CBMA was supported by the strategic programme UID/BIA/04050/2013 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007569) funded by national funds through the FCT I.P. and by the ERDF through the COMPETE2020 - Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalizacao (POCI). The authors acknowledge the funding from the European Commission through the project H2020-644242-SAPHELY and the project H2020-634013-2-PHOCNOSIS. Finally, the authors would also like to thank the master student Joao Lopes from Universidade Lusofona (Portugal) for the help with in vitro cytotoxic assays. Isabel Correia acknowledges FCT for Investigator FCT contract.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Textile waste reduction through fashion product design

O presente artigo traz reflexões sobre como o projeto de moda pode ser pensado com o viés da sustentabilidade ambiental, contemplando alguns conceitos e ações do setor têxtil e de confecção. Foi realizada uma simulação de produção de um modelo de blusa feminina levando em consideração os conceitos de redução de resíduo na fonte por meio de modificações simples no produto. Desta forma, foram elaborados os desenhos, modelagens, encaixes e cálculos de tecidos e mão de obra para que fossem comparados os custos de produção e de geração de resíduos têxteis em cada um dos modelos. Os resultados mostram que as modificações reduziram consideravelmente a quantidade de resíduos na etapa de corte de tecidos, embora tenham acarretado no aumento dos custos com mão de obra.This article discusses some concepts and actions of the textile and clothing sectors. It was made a simulation for the production of a female blouse model taking into account the PmaisL concepts with intervention in the waste generation which include changes in the product. This way, the drawings, modeling, fabrics fittings and calculations and workmanship were elaborated to compare the production costs and textile waste generation in each of the models

miR-132/212 knockout mice reveal roles for these miRNAs in regulating cortical synaptic transmission and plasticity

miR-132 and miR-212 are two closely related miRNAs encoded in the same intron of a small non-coding gene, which have been suggested to play roles in both immune and neuronal function. We describe here the generation and initial characterisation of a miR-132/212 double knockout mouse. These mice were viable and fertile with no overt adverse phenotype. Analysis of innate immune responses, including TLR-induced cytokine production and IFNβ induction in response to viral infection of primary fibroblasts did not reveal any phenotype in the knockouts. In contrast, the loss of miR-132 and miR-212, while not overtly affecting neuronal morphology, did affect synaptic function. In both hippocampal and neocortical slices miR-132/212 knockout reduced basal synaptic transmission, without affecting paired-pulse facilitation. Hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP) induced by tetanic stimulation was not affected by miR-132/212 deletion, whilst theta burst LTP was enhanced. In contrast, neocortical theta burst-induced LTP was inhibited by loss of miR-132/212. Together these results indicate that miR-132 and/or miR-212 play a significant role in synaptic function, possibly by regulating the number of postsynaptic AMPA receptors under basal conditions and during activity-dependent synaptic plasticity