Sol-gel electrochromic device

All solid state electrochromic devices have potential applications in architectural and automotive fields to regulate the transmission and reflection of radiant energy. We present the optical and electrochemical characteristics of two solid state windows having the configuration glass/ITO/TiO2-CeO2/TiO2/TiO2-CeO2/ITO/glass and glass/ITO/WOa/TiO2/TiO2-CeO2/ITO/glass where the three internal layers have been prepared by sol gel methods. The preparation of the individual sols and some physical properties of the different sol gel coatings are reported

Sol-gel electrochromic device

All solid state electrochromic devices have potential applications in architectural and automotive fields to regulate the transmission and reflection of radiant energy. We present the optical and electrochemical characteristics of two solid state windows having the configuration glass/ITO/TiO2-CeO2/TiO2/TiO2-CeO2/ITO/glass and glass/ITO/WOa/TiO2/TiO2-CeO2/ITO/glass where the three internal layers have been prepared by sol gel methods. The preparation of the individual sols and some physical properties of the different sol gel coatings are reported

A method to find groups of orthogous genes across multiple genomes

In this work we propose a simple method to obtain groups of homologous genes across multiple (k) organisms, called kGC. Our method takes as input all-against-all Blastp comparisons and produces groups of homologous sequences. First, homologies among groups of paralogs of all the k compared genomes are found, followed by homologies of groups among k - 1 genomes and so on, until groups belonging exclusively to only one genome, that is, groups of one genome not presenting strong similarities with any group of any other genome, are identified. We have used our method to determine homologous groups across six Actinobacterial complete genomes. To validate kGC, we first investigate the Pfam classification of the homologous groups, and after compare our results with those produced by OrthoMCL. Although kGC is much simpler than OrthoMCL it presented similar results with respect to Pfam classification

Alianças e redes estratégicas: as tendências nas empresas líderes no Brasil

Bibliografia: p. 309-312Em virtude das novas exigências do mercado, as empresas se voltam, cada vez mais, para a formação de alianças e redes estratégicas, na tentativa de agrupar os recursos necessários para atender a esse mercado e criar uma vantagem competitiva sustentável. Este estudo propõe-se a analisar as tendências das empresas líderes no Brasil quanto à sua atuação em alianças e redes estratégicas. O texto foi desenvolvido a partir de uma ampla revisão da literatura e de um levantamento de dados com 230 empresas líderes no país, podendo-se constatar que a grande maioria delas tem estabelecido alianças e/ou redes estratégicas, tendo como principal motivo para tanto a necessidade de compartilhar recursos e competências. Também foi identificada, na grande maioria das empresas, uma deficiência que pode se constituir em barreira significativa à eficácia das alianças e redes estratégicas no país: a falta de medidas e indicadores de desempenho das alianças e redes, principalmente no que se refere aos benefícios intangíveis, tais como o capital social e informacional, que elas podem proporcionar.More and more firms are establishing strategic aliances and networks in an attempt to acquire the necessary resources to attend to increasing market requirements, and, thus, create sustainable competitive advantage. Considering this context, the present study aims at analyzing the tendencies of leading firms in Brazil with respect to their strategic alliances and networks. The study was carried out by way of an extensive literature review as well as a survey about the perceptions of the CEOs in 230 leading firms in the country regarding their strategic alliances and networks. It confirmed that a great majority of the leading firms in Brazil have indeed established strategic alliances or strategic networks. It also helped revealing a deficiency in a large number of firms that could constitute a significant barrier to the effectiveness of their alliances and networks: the lack of measures and indicators regarding alliance and network performance, especially with respect to intangible benefits, such as social and informational capital that they can potentially offer

Trypanosoma cruzi benznidazole susceptibility in vitro does not predict the therapeutic outcome of human Chagas disease

Therapeutic failure of benznidazole (BZ) is widely documented in Chagas disease and has been primarily associated with variations in the drug susceptibility of Trypanosoma cruzi strains. In humans, therapeutic success has been assessed by the negativation of anti-T. cruzi antibodies, a process that may take up to 10 years. A protocol for early screening of the drug resistance of infective strains would be valuable for orienting physicians towards alternative therapies, with a combination of existing drugs or new anti-T. cruzi agents. We developed a procedure that couples the isolation of parasites by haemoculture with quantification of BZ susceptibility in the resultant epimastigote forms. BZ activity was standardized with reference strains, which showed IC50 to BZ between 7.6-32 µM. The assay was then applied to isolates from seven chronic patients prior to administration of BZ therapy. The IC50 of the strains varied from 15.6 ± 3-51.4 ± 1 µM. Comparison of BZ susceptibility of the pre-treatment isolates of patients considered cured by several criteria and of non-cured patients indicates that the assay does not predict therapeutic outcome. A two-fold increase in BZ resistance in the post-treatment isolates of two patients was verified. Based on the profile of nine microsatellite loci, sub-population selection in non-cured patients was ruled out.FAPESPCNP

Early frontotemporal dementia targets neurons unique to apes and humans

Objective: Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a neurodegenerative disease that erodes uniquely human aspects of social behavior and emotion. The illness features a characteristic pattern of early injury to anterior cingulate and frontoinsular cortex. These regions, though often considered ancient in phylogeny, are the exclusive homes to the von Economo neuron (VEN), a large bipolar projection neuron found only in great apes and humans. Despite progress toward understanding the genetic and molecular bases of FTD, no class of selectively vulnerable neurons has been identified. Methods: Using unbiased stereology, we quantified anterior cingulate VENs and neighboring Layer 5 neurons in FTD (n = 7), Alzheimer's disease (n = 5), and age‐matched nonneurological control subjects (n = 7). Neuronal morphology and immunohistochemical staining patterns provided further information about VEN susceptibility. Results: FTD was associated with early, severe, and selective VEN losses, including a 74% reduction in VENs per section compared with control subjects. VEN dropout was not attributable to general neuronal loss and was seen across FTD pathological subtypes. Surviving VENs were often dysmorphic, with pathological tau protein accumulation in Pick's disease. In contrast, patients with Alzheimer's disease showed normal VEN counts and morphology despite extensive local neurofibrillary pathology. Interpretation: VEN loss links FTD to its signature regional pattern. The findings suggest a new framework for understanding how evolution may have rendered the human brain vulnerable to specific forms of degenerative illness

Clustering Rfam 10.1 : clans, families, and classes

The Rfam database contains information about non-coding RNAs emphasizing their secondary structures and organizing them into families of homologous RNA genes or functional RNA elements. Recently, a higher order organization of Rfam in terms of the so-called clans was proposed along with its “decimal release”. In this proposition, some of the families have been assigned to clans based on experimental and computational data in order to find related families. In the present work we investigate an alternative classification for the RNA families based on tree edit distance. The resulting clustering recovers some of the Rfam clans. The majority of clans, however, are not recovered by the structural clustering. Instead, they get dispersed into larger clusters, which correspond roughly to well-described RNA classes such as snoRNAs, miRNAs, and CRISPRs. In conclusion, a structure-based clustering can contribute to the elucidation of the relationships among the Rfam families beyond the realm of clans and classes

Apresentação

Apresentação do número temático Alfabetização e o Ensino da Leitura e da Escrita

Apresentação

Apresentação do número temático Alfabetização e o Ensino da Leitura e da Escrita

Non-universality of the absorbing-state phase-transition in a linear chain with power-law diluted long-range connections

Abstract In this work we study the critical behavior of the absorbing state phase transition exhibited by the contact process in a linear chain with power-law diluted long-range connections. Each pair of sites is connected with a probability P ( r ) that decays with the distance between the sites r as 1 / r α . The model allows for a continuous tuning between a standard one-dimensional chain with only nearest neighbor couplings ( α → ∞ ) to a fully connected network ( α = 0 ). We develop a finite-size scaling analysis to obtain the critical point and a set of dynamical and stationary critical exponents for distinct values of the decay exponent α > 2 corresponding to finite average bond lengths and low average site connectivity. Data for the order parameter collapse over a universal curve when plotted after a proper rescaling of parameters. We show further that the critical exponents depend on α in the regime of diverging bond-length fluctuations ( α 3 )