O estudo da Agroecologia como disciplina dentro dos cursos tradicionais de Engenharia Agronômica

O presente trabalho pretende entender as dificuldades em ministrar a Agroecologia como disciplina dentro de cursos tradicionais de Engenharia Agronômica. Como objetivo pretendido neste estudo está a caracterização de como a Agroecologia é vista dentro de um currículo tradicionais pelos acadêmicos, como ela é trabalhada pelo professor dentro desta ótica tradicional de agricultura voltada ao agronegócio e as dificuldades encontradas em trabalhar a disciplina dentro de uma visão curricular ainda tradicional. Este trabalho tem como importância entender como seria a melhor forma de trabalhar a disciplina dentro de um modelo tradicional de Engenharia Agronômica. A metodologia usada foi o estudo de caso da disciplina de Agroecologia do Instituto Federal do Paraná (IFPR) do curso de Engenharia Agronômica do Campus Palmas (PR) ministrada para duas turmas. Conclui-se que os alunos tem uma ideia equivocada do que é Agroecologia e muitas dúvidas sobre o assunto e muitos deles não creem que seja possível se ter uma agricultura que tenha como pilares a Agroecologia.This work intends to understand the difficulties of ministering to Agroecology as a discipline within traditional courses of Agricultural Engineering. As intended goal in this study is the characterization of how Agroecology is seen within a traditional curriculum for academic, as it is worked by the teacher under this perception of traditional agriculture and agribusiness focused on the difficulties encountered in working discipline within a curricular vision yet traditional. This work is important to understand how would be the best way of working discipline within a traditional model of Agronomy. The methodology used was the case study of Agroecology discipline of the Federal Institute of Paraná (IFPR) the course of the Agronomic Engineering Campus Palmas (PR) given to two groups. It was concluded that students have a mistaken idea of what Agroecology and many questions about it and many of them do not believe it is possible to have an agriculture that has as pillars Agroecology.Eje A5: Sistemas de conocimientoFacultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestale

O estudo da Agroecologia como disciplina dentro dos cursos tradicionais de Engenharia Agronômica

O presente trabalho pretende entender as dificuldades em ministrar a Agroecologia como disciplina dentro de cursos tradicionais de Engenharia Agronômica. Como objetivo pretendido neste estudo está a caracterização de como a Agroecologia é vista dentro de um currículo tradicionais pelos acadêmicos, como ela é trabalhada pelo professor dentro desta ótica tradicional de agricultura voltada ao agronegócio e as dificuldades encontradas em trabalhar a disciplina dentro de uma visão curricular ainda tradicional. Este trabalho tem como importância entender como seria a melhor forma de trabalhar a disciplina dentro de um modelo tradicional de Engenharia Agronômica. A metodologia usada foi o estudo de caso da disciplina de Agroecologia do Instituto Federal do Paraná (IFPR) do curso de Engenharia Agronômica do Campus Palmas (PR) ministrada para duas turmas. Conclui-se que os alunos tem uma ideia equivocada do que é Agroecologia e muitas dúvidas sobre o assunto e muitos deles não creem que seja possível se ter uma agricultura que tenha como pilares a Agroecologia.This work intends to understand the difficulties of ministering to Agroecology as a discipline within traditional courses of Agricultural Engineering. As intended goal in this study is the characterization of how Agroecology is seen within a traditional curriculum for academic, as it is worked by the teacher under this perception of traditional agriculture and agribusiness focused on the difficulties encountered in working discipline within a curricular vision yet traditional. This work is important to understand how would be the best way of working discipline within a traditional model of Agronomy. The methodology used was the case study of Agroecology discipline of the Federal Institute of Paraná (IFPR) the course of the Agronomic Engineering Campus Palmas (PR) given to two groups. It was concluded that students have a mistaken idea of what Agroecology and many questions about it and many of them do not believe it is possible to have an agriculture that has as pillars Agroecology.Eje A5: Sistemas de conocimientoFacultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestale

The Involvement of Proteoglycans in the Human Plasma Prekallikrein Interaction with the Cell Surface

Introduction: the aim of this work was to evaluate the role of human plasma prekallikrein assembly and processing in cells and to determine whether proteoglycans, along with high molecular weight kininogen (H-kininogen), influence this interaction.Methods: We used the endothelial cell line ECV304 and the epithelial cell lines CHO-K1 (wild type) and CHO-745 (deficient in proteoglycans). Prekallikrein endocytosis was studied using confocal microscopy, and prekallikrein cleavage/activation was determined by immunoblotting using an antibody directed to the prekallikrein sequence C364TTKTSTR371 and an antibody directed to the entire H-kininogen molecule.Results: At 37 degrees C, prekallikrein endocytosis was assessed in the absence and presence of exogenously applied H-kininogen and found to be 1,418.4 +/- 0.010 and 1,070.3 +/- 0.001 pixels/cell, respectively, for ECV304 and 1,319.1 +/- 0.003 and 631.3 +/- 0.001 pixels/cell, respectively, for CHO-K1. No prekallikrein internalization was observed in CHO-745 in either condition. Prekallikrein colocalized with LysoTracker in the absence and presence of exogenous H-kininogen at levels of 76.0% and 88.5%, respectively, for ECV304 and at levels of 40.7% and 57.0%, respectively, for CHO-K1. After assembly on the cell surface, a plasma kallikrein fragment of 53 kDa was predominant in the incubation buffer of all the cell lines studied, indicating specific proteolysis; plasma kallikrein fragments of 48-44 kDa and 34-32 kDa were also detected in the incubation buffer, indicating non-specific cleavage. Bradykinin free H-kininogen internalization was not detected in CHO-K1 or CHO-745 cells at 37 degrees C.Conclusion: the prekallikrein interaction with the cell surface is temperature-dependent and independent of exogenously applied H-kininogen, which results in prekallikrein endocytosis promoted by proteoglycans. Prekallikrein proteolysis/activation is influenced by H-kininogen/glycosaminoglycans assembly and controls plasma kallikrein activity.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Fundacao de Apoio a Universidade Federal de São Paulo-FAP/UNIFESPUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Escola Paulista Med, Dept Bioquim, São Paulo, BrazilUniv Bandeirante São Paulo, Biomat & Biotechnol Res Grp, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Escola Paulista Med, Dept Bioquim, São Paulo, BrazilFAPESP: FAPESP 09/51319-1FAPESP: 09/13160-0FAPESP: FAPESP 13/05822-9FAPESP: FAPESP 2012/50219-6CNPq: CNPq 472403/2007-9Web of Scienc

Bradykinin Release Avoids High Molecular Weight Kininogen Endocytosis

Human H-kininogen (120 kDa) plays a role in many pathophysiological processes and interacts with the cell surface through protein receptors and proteoglycans, which mediate H-kininogen endocytosis. in the present work we demonstrate that H-kininogen containing bradykinin domain is internalized and different endogenous kininogenases are present in CHO-K1 cells. We used CHO-K1 (wild type) and CHO-745 (mutant deficient in proteoglycans biosynthesis) cell lines. H-kininogen endocytosis was studied using confocal microscopy, and its hydrolysis by cell lysate fraction was determined by immunoblotting. Bradykinin release was also measured by radioimmunoassay. H-kininogen interaction with the cell surface of CHO-745 cells resulted in bradykinin release by serine proteases. in CHO-K1 cells, which produce heparan and chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans, internalization of H-kininogen through its bradykinin domain can occur on lipid raft domains/caveolae. Nevertheless bradykinin-free H-kininogen was not internalized by CHO-K1 cells. the H-kininogen present in acidic endosomal vesicles in CHO-K1 was approximately 10-fold higher than the levels in CHO-745. CHO-K1 lysate fractions were assayed at pH 5.5 and intact H-kininogen was totally hydrolyzed into a 62 kDa fragment. By contrast, at an assay pH 7.4, the remained fragments were 115 kDa, 83 kDa, 62 kDa and 48 kDa in size. the anti-pain-Sepharose chromatography separated endogenous kininogenases from CHO-K1 lysate fraction. No difference was detected in the assays at pH 5.5 or 7.4, but the proteins in the fraction bound to the resin released bradykinin from H-kininogen. However, the proteins in the unbound fraction cleaved intact H-kininogen at other sites but did not release bradykinin. H-kininogen can interact with extravascular cells, and is internalized dependent on its bradykinin domain and cell surface proteoglycans. After internalization, H-kininogen is proteolytically processed by intracellular kininogenases. the present data also demonstrates that serine or cysteine proteases in lipid raft domains/caveolae on the CHO cell can hydrolyze H-kininogen, thus releasing kinins.Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Fundacao de Apoio a Universidade Federal de São Paulo-FAP/UNIFESPUniversidade Federal de São Paulo UNIFESP, Escola Paulista Med, Dept Bioquim, São Paulo, SP, BrazilUniv Anhanguera São Paulo UNIAN SP, Programa Biomat, São Paulo, SP, BrazilUniv Anhanguera São Paulo UNIAN SP, Programa Biotecnol, São Paulo, SP, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo UNIFESP, Escola Paulista Med, Dept Biofis, São Paulo, SP, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo UNIFESP, Escola Paulista Med, Dept Bioquim, São Paulo, SP, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo UNIFESP, Escola Paulista Med, Dept Biofis, São Paulo, SP, BrazilCNPq: CNPq 472403/2007-9FAPESP: FAPESP 13/05822-9FAPESP: FAPESP 2012/50219-6Web of Scienc

Cellular Automata Applications in Shortest Path Problem

Cellular Automata (CAs) are computational models that can capture the essential features of systems in which global behavior emerges from the collective effect of simple components, which interact locally. During the last decades, CAs have been extensively used for mimicking several natural processes and systems to find fine solutions in many complex hard to solve computer science and engineering problems. Among them, the shortest path problem is one of the most pronounced and highly studied problems that scientists have been trying to tackle by using a plethora of methodologies and even unconventional approaches. The proposed solutions are mainly justified by their ability to provide a correct solution in a better time complexity than the renowned Dijkstra's algorithm. Although there is a wide variety regarding the algorithmic complexity of the algorithms suggested, spanning from simplistic graph traversal algorithms to complex nature inspired and bio-mimicking algorithms, in this chapter we focus on the successful application of CAs to shortest path problem as found in various diverse disciplines like computer science, swarm robotics, computer networks, decision science and biomimicking of biological organisms' behaviour. In particular, an introduction on the first CA-based algorithm tackling the shortest path problem is provided in detail. After the short presentation of shortest path algorithms arriving from the relaxization of the CAs principles, the application of the CA-based shortest path definition on the coordinated motion of swarm robotics is also introduced. Moreover, the CA based application of shortest path finding in computer networks is presented in brief. Finally, a CA that models exactly the behavior of a biological organism, namely the Physarum's behavior, finding the minimum-length path between two points in a labyrinth is given.Comment: To appear in the book: Adamatzky, A (Ed.) Shortest path solvers. From software to wetware. Springer, 201

Observational Conditioning in Flower Choice Copying by Bumblebees (Bombus terrestris): Influence of Observer Distance and Demonstrator Movement

A. Avargues-Weber was funded by a postdoctoral fellowship from Fyssen fondation: http://www.fondationfyssen.fr/. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Armed Rollers: Does Nestling’s Vomit Function as a Defence against Predators?

Chemical defences against predators are widespread in the animal kingdom although have been seldom reported in birds. Here, we investigate the possibility that the orange liquid that nestlings of an insectivorous bird, the Eurasian roller (Coracias garrulus), expel when scared at their nests acts as a chemical defence against predators. We studied the diet of nestling rollers and vomit origin, its chemical composition and deterrent effect on a mammal generalist predator. We also hypothesized that nestling rollers, as their main prey (i.e. grasshoppers) do from plants, could sequester chemicals from their prey for their use. Grasshoppers, that also regurgitate when facing to a threat, store the harmful substances used by plants to defend themselves against herbivores. We found that nestling rollers only vomit after being grasped and moved. The production of vomit depended on food consumption and the vomit contained two deterrent chemicals (hydroxycinnamic and hydroxybenzoic acids) stored by grasshoppers and used by plants to diminish herbivory, suggesting that they originate from the rollers’ prey. Finally, we showed for the first time that the oral secretion of a vertebrate had a deterrent effect on a model predator because vomit of nestling rollers made meat distasteful to dogs. These results support the idea that the vomit of nestling rollers is a chemical defence against predators.Financial support was provided by the Junta de Andalucía (project P06-RNM-02177) and the Spanish Ministry of Science and Education/FEDER (projects CGL2008-00718 and CGL2011-27561)