Situação da ferrugem asiática da soja no Brasil e na América do Sul.

Nos últimos anos, a ferrugem asiática tem se tornado um dos mais relevantes problemas para o agronegócio dos principais países produtores da América do Sul, onde se destaca o Brasil. Isso porque pode causar acentuadas perdas técnicas e econômicas, que têm reflexos bastantes negativos na rentabilidade do produtor de soja e na própria economia desses países. Diante da importância dessa doença, buscou-se principalmente, levantar e analisar dados que demonstram a sua situação e os impactos técnicos e econômicos a ela associados, desde a safra 2000/01 até a de 2003/04, tanto no Brasil como na América do Sul. Para tanto, mediante reuniões técnicas, acompanhamento de propriedades rurais de diversas regiões e contatos com agentes atuantes em serviços de assistência técnica e extensão rural, no período em questão, foram identificados os principais locais de ocorrência da ferrugem e avaliados os impactos na produção e na economia decorrentes dessa doença. Após a primeira constatação no Paraguai e no estado do Paraná, em 2001, a ferrugem espalhou-se rapidamente por todo o Brasil, o Paraguai, a Bolívia e partes da Argentina, causando, assim, acentuados prejuízos ao agronegócio desses países.bitstream/CNPSO-2009-09/24989/1/documentos236.pd

Cmv-specific cell-mediated immunity in immunocompetent adults with primary cmv infection: A case series and review of the literature

Cytomegalovirus-specific cell-mediated immunity (CMV-CMI) in actively infected healthy immunocompetent hosts has been poorly investigated. Conversely, correlates of maternal protective immunity for the fetus after primary infection in pregnancy continue to be studied. The kinetics and magnitude of CMV-specific CMI in immunocompetent primary CMV-infected adults are described. A literature review on CMV-CMI in primarily infected pregnant women and its correlation to the risk of vertical virus transmission is included. Immunological measurements after infection were performed by enzyme-linked ImmunoSPOT assay enumerating IFN-γ secreting CMV-specific T cells, at a single cell level, upon in vitro stimulation with viral antigens. Simultaneously, serological and virological profiles of infected patients were investigated. Patients displayed mild-to-moderate clinical and laboratory profiles for infection, and all showed positive EliSpot results in the early stage of infection (<20 days after onset). The virus-CMI was strong in the majority of patients (58.8%) in which the lowest CMV-DNAemia levels (<300 copies/mL) were detected. Significantly higher viral loads were observed in patients with weak CMV-CMI at the same time-point post-infection (up to 15,104 copies/mL; p < 0.001). T cell response magnitudes to IE-1 and pp65-UL83 peptides were overlapping and stable over time. In these case series, the early presence of CMV-CMI was probably pivotal in controlling viral replication and led to spontaneous viral clearance

Congenital Cytomegalovirus Infection: A Narrative Review of the Issues in Screening and Management From a Panel of European Experts.

Maternal primary and non-primary cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection during pregnancy can result in in utero transmission to the developing fetus. Congenital CMV (cCMV) can result in significant morbidity, mortality or long-term sequelae, including sensorineural hearing loss, the most common sequela. As a leading cause of congenital infections worldwide, cCMV infection meets many of the criteria for screening. However, currently there are no universal programs that offer maternal or neonatal screening to identify infected mothers and infants, no vaccines to prevent infection, and no efficacious and safe therapies available for the treatment of maternal or fetal CMV infection. Data has shown that there are several maternal and neonatal screening strategies, and diagnostic methodologies, that allow the identification of those at risk of developing sequelae and adequately detect cCMV. Nevertheless, many questions remain unanswered in this field. Well-designed clinical trials to address several facets of CMV treatment (in pregnant women, CMV-infected fetuses and both symptomatic and asymptomatic neonates and children) are required. Prevention (vaccines), biology and transmission factors associated with non-primary CMV, and the cost-effectiveness of universal screening, all demand further exploration to fully realize the ultimate goal of preventing cCMV. In the meantime, prevention of primary infection during pregnancy should be championed to all by means of hygiene education

Avaliação da relação entre soja e produção de biodiesel.

O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar a importância da producão de soja para o desenvolvimento do biodiesel no Brasil e o que representa o biocombustível para o mercado da oleaginosa. A análise de oferta e demanda por biodiesel revelou que as empresas apresentam capacidade produtiva para atender ao B5 e que as usinas da região sul são as mais eficientes, em relação às vendas. O estudo da expansão da produção de soja revelou que o seu cultivo está imerso em um contexto cercado por grandes movimentos e pressões por sustentabilidade ambiental. Embora o Brasil seja um grande exportador de soja ?in natura?, a tendência aponta para a evolução do volume produzido de óleo, o que, em grande parte, se deve ao aumento na produção do grão. Verificou-se que a dispersão do cultivo da soja em diferentes regiões do país, com escala de produção suficiente para atender à produção de volumes significativos de biodiesel, possibilitou combater os crônicos problemas logísticos existentes no agronegócio nacional. Por fim, a análise do Programa Nacional de Produção e Uso do Biodiesel confirmou que o óleo de soja é a matéria-prima que supre quase 80% da produção de biodiesel no Brasil. O desenvolvimento de outras fontes para a diversificação de matéria-prima para a produção de biodiesel, tais como sebo bovino, gordura de frango, algodão e mamona, possibilitará diminuir a pressão sobre a soja e tornar o negócio mais competitivo. Evaluation of the relationship between soybean and biodiesel production. Abstract. The objective of this study was to evaluate the importance of soybean production for the biodiesel development in Brazil and what the biofuel represents to the oilseed market. The analysis of biodiesel?s supply and demand has shown that companies have production capacity to attend B5 and that the plants of the south region are the most efficient in terms of sales. The study about soybean production revealed that its cultivation is immersed in an environment surrounded by great changes and pressures for environmental sustainability. Although Brazil is a great soybean exporter, the trend points to the evolution of the volume of oil producing, what, in the most, occurs due to the increase in the production of grain. It was found that the spread of soybean cultivation in different regions of the country, with sufficient production scale to attend the significant volumes of biodiesel production, became possible to combat the chronic problems in national agribusiness logistics. Finally, the analysis of the National Production and Use of Biodiesel showed that soybean oil is the raw material that supplies almost 80% of biodiesel production in Brazil. The development of other sources for diversification of feedstock for biodiesel production, such as beef tallow, chicken fat, cotton and castor beans, will allow to reduce the pressure on soybeans and to make the business more competitive

Epidemiology and In Vitro Activity of Ceftazidime/Avibactam, Meropenem/Vaborbactam and Imipenem/Relebactam against KPC-Producing K. pneumoniae Collected from Bacteremic Patients, 2018 to 2020

The management of KPC-producing K. pneumoniae (KPC-Kp) in bloodstream infections (BSIs) represent a serious clinical challenge. In this study, the aim is to assess the incidence of resistance to novel β-lactams-β-lactamase inhibitor combinations (βL-βLICs), such as ceftazidime-avibactam (CAZ-AVI), meropenem-vaborbactam (MER-VAB) and imipenem-relebactam (IMI-REL), in KPC-Kp strains collected during a three-year period from patients with bacteremia. KPC-Kp strains resistant to βL-βLICs were selected for whole-genome sequencing. A total of 133 K. pneumoniae strains were isolated, and KPC-Kp strains were the most represented (87.2%). In 2018, resistance to CAZ-AVI and MER-VAB was 6.5% and 14.5%, respectively. In 2019, KPC-Kp resistance to CAZ-AVI and MER-VAB remained at low levels, with values of 12.9% and 3.2%, respectively. During 2020, CAZ-AVI resistance was detected in 2/23 of KPC-Kp strains (8.7%). IMI-REL was the most active βL-βLIC, inhibiting >98% of the isolates, while CAZ-AVI and MER-VAB inhibited 87-93% and 85-97% of the KPC producers, respectively. Correlations between genotypic traits and resistance to βL-βLICs showed that KPC-Kp strains resistant to CAZ-AVI harbored a mutation within the blaKPC-3 gene, while all KPC-Kp strains resistant to CAZ-AVI, MER-VAB and/or IMI-REL carried the blaKPC-3 gene. Moreover, genetic analysis of porin genes showed that 14/16 of KPC-Kp resistant isolates possessed a truncated OmpK35 and glycine (G) and aspartic acid (D) insertions at positions 134-135 within OmpK36, whereas 2/16 displayed truncated OmpK35 and OmpK36 porins. Novel βL-βLICs are promising agents against KPC-Kp infections; however, the emergence of resistance to these agents highlights the need for continuous surveillance and application of enhanced antimicrobial stewardship

Singlet excited state dynamics of uracil and thymine derivatives: A femtosecond fluorescence upconversion study in acetonitrile

The excited state properties of uracil, thymine and four analogous uracil compounds have been studied in acetonitrile by steady-state and time-resolved spectroscopy. The excited state lifetimes were measured using femtosecond UV fluorescence upconversion. The excited state lifetimes of uracil and its 1- and 3-methyl substituted derivatives are well described by one ultrafast (6100 fs) component. Five substituted compounds show a more complex behavior, exhibiting longer excited state lifetimes and bi-exponential fluorescence decays. These longer decays are substantially faster in acetonitrile than in aqueous solution showing that the excited state deactivation mechanism is in part governed by the solvent

Effect of acid alcoholic solution in waxy maize starch treatment.

O amido é o polissacarídeo mais abundante presente em plantas, composto por amilose e amilopectina. O amido de milho ceroso apresenta somente amilopectina. A modificação do amido é recomendada para melhorar suas aplicações. A hidrólise ácida é utilizada para alterar as propriedades físico-químicas sem modificar o grânulo e o meio alcoólico ajuda na recuperação da molécula após o tratamento. O objetivo do trabalho foi o tratamento químico com HCl 0,5 mol L-1 durante 1 hora em 100 ml de água, etanol ou metanol. Os equipamentos SETSYS Evolução TGADTA / DSC e Rápido Visco-Analisador (RVA-4) foram usados para avaliar as alterações dos amidos. As curvas TG mostraram três eventos (desidratação, estabilidade e decomposição), com resultados similares para todas as amostras. Este resultado pode estar relacionado a resistência da amilopectina para a hidrólise ácida. Na análise reológica (RVA) o tratamento das amostras mostrou valores mais baixos de perfis de viscosidade. A solução ácida forneceu mudanças nas propriedades de pasta do amido e a solução etanólica (solvente mais apolar) foi maior que as demais soluções. Conclui-se portanto que o tratamento dos amidos forneceu produtos com características térmicas similares e com diferentes respostas mecânica

Use of thermogravimetry analysis to quantify total volatile fraction in pine resin.

Pinus species exhibit fast growth and are good producers of wood, cellulose and resin. Brazil is the second largest producer of resin. The People?s Republic of China is the main producer with approximately 90% world?s resin production. Turpentine, volatile fraction, and rosin, solid fraction, are two major fractions or resin. The distillation process continues up to 170° C can be extracted about 95% of the total gum turpentine resin, preserving its constituents. There is little research using thermal analysis to study pine resin properties. This work involved evaporating volatile fraction of resins in an oven at 170 ºC consisted of 20 different samples from Pinus caribaea var. hondurensis and was compared with results obtained in thermal analysis to quantify the same fraction for each one. The volatile fraction in the oven (170 ºC) was from 14.69% to 24.05%. This fraction obtained through thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) was from 13.37% to 23.64%. The results demonstrate that the TGA technique is capable of accurately determining the volatile and non-volatile fractions of the resin and this technical proved to be suitable for further analyses.CBRATEC

Meningococcal Carriage in ‘Men Having Sex With Men’ With Pharyngeal Gonorrhoea

We assessed the characteristics of Neisseria meningitidis pharyngeal carriage in a cohort of ‘men having sex with men’, including patients with pharyngeal Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection. In the period 2017-2019, among all the oropharyngeal samples tested for gonorrhoea from MSM attending a STI Clinic in Bologna (Italy), we randomly selected 244 N. gonorrhoeae-positive samples and 403 negatives (n=647). Pharyngeal specimens were tested for N. meningitidis presence, by the detection of sodC gene. N. meningitidis-positive samples were further grouped by PCR tests for the major invasive genogroups (i.e., A, B, C, W, and Y). A molecular assay, targeting capsule transporter gene, was used to determine meningococcal capsular status. Overall, 75.8% (491/647) of samples tested positive for sodC gene, indicating a pharyngeal meningococcal carriage. Meningococcal colonisation was significantly more frequent in younger subjects (P=0.009), with no association with HIV infection. Non-groupable meningococci represented most of pharyngeal carriages (about 71%). The commonest N. meningitidis serogroup was B (23.6%), followed by C (2.1%), Y (1.8%) and W (1.1%). Meningococci were often characterized by the genetic potential of capsule production. Interestingly, a negative association between N. meningitidis and N. gonorrhoeae was found: pharyngeal gonorrhoea was significantly more present in patients without meningococcal carriage (P=0.03). Although preliminary, our data added knowledge on the epidemiology of meningococcal carriage in MSM communities at high risk of gonococcal infections, gaining new insights into the interactions/dynamics between N. meningitidis and N. gonorrhoeae

Incorporação de polifenóis de erva-mate em amido de milho.

Há um interesse crescente nas propriedades farmacológicas conferidas pelos compostos presentes nas folhas de erva-mate (Ilex paraguariensis). Sabe-se que tais ações biológicas, como ação antioxidante, anti-inflamatória, anti-idade, dentre outras, estão relacionadas aos compostos fenólicos e outras classes de substâncias, como as metilxantinas, presentes nesta planta (BASTOS et al., 2007). Os objetivos deste trabalho foram extrair e incorporar o extrato de erva-mate em amido de milho. No presente estudo, foram preparados extratos em cinco tempos diferentes, dos quais foram analisados a densidade, o teor de sólidos, o teor de cinzas e quantificados os compostos fenólicos. Tais análises foram feitas antes e após a incorporação em amido. Pode-se observar que não houve alteração significativa na densidade dos extratos antes e após a incorporação em amido e que houve retenção de compostos fenólicos no amido de milho. O amido de milho é um insumo altamente utilizado nas indústrias farmacêuticas, cosméticas e de alimentos, por suas características naturais. Neste trabalho, corroborando com outras pesquisas existentes, houve o interesse em conferir ao amido as ações biológicas do extrato das folhas de erva-mate a partir da incorporação dos compostos químicos relacionados a elas. O objetivo do trabalho foi alcançado na determinação do melhor tempo de extração de compostos fenólicos, bem como na incorporação destes compostos em amido. Vale acrescentar que análises mais detalhadas do produto gerado serão necessárias para comprovar a eficácia do método