423 research outputs found
The revanchist logic of mega-events : community displacement in Rio de Janeiro's West End
As the curtains are drawn in London's East End, Brazil and Rio de Janeiro will be under the international spotlight over the next four years. This paper focuses on the process of Olympic city-making in the West End of Rio de Janeiro, where the planning and construction of facilities and transport network have adversely affected low-income settlements. The planning of the Olympic Park has become the latest episode in a series of attempts to drive out one of the longest established poor settlements in the borough of Barra da Tijuca. Attention is given to the changing discourse justifying the relocation and the context in which residents have resisted eviction. In another case study, the paper considers the construction of Bus Rapid Transit corridors aimed to improve access to the area. In this instance, some communities were not able to avoid eviction, being relocated to the western edges of the city or financially compensated. Analysis of the eviction process is drawn from material collected by visiting the affected communities. The paper concludes by reflecting on the inexorability of Olympic city-making and entitlement to the emerging geographies
Gestão de serviços dos ecossistemas em bacias hidrográficas
Os serviços de ecossistemas referem-se a uma dimensão normalmente menosprezada
das actividades agrícolas e florestais. Com efeito, estas actividades, para além dos
produtos transaccionáveis, produzem, ou contribuem para a produção de serviços não
transaccionáveis que importa reconhecer, avaliar e, progressivamente, remunerar. Esta remuneração é da maior importância no actual contexto de desvalorização dos
rendimentos associados a essas actividades na maior parte dos espaços anteriormente
a elas dedicados, desvalorização que vem pondo progressivamente em risco esses
espaços multifuncionais e, particularmente, as suas contribuições para as funções
económicas e sociais dos restantes espaços de uso, com relevo para os espaços de
produção, urbanização e de serviços.
Com efeito, estes últimos, não poderão ser viáveis sem as funções de produção e
regulação que são garantidas pelos espaços hoje classificados como marginais e pelas
actividades agrícolas e florestais de rentabilidade insuficiente, mas que garantem
funções de produção e regulação dos sistemas hidrológicos (através, por exemplo, da
infiltração ou da regularização do escoamento) ou de protecção contra os fenómenos erosivos e a perda de solo. Estas funções são hoje reconhecidas por inúmeros instrumentos legais e acordos
internacionais (caso da Directiva Quadro da Água, da proposta de Directiva Quadro
para a Protecção do Solo (COM(2006) 232 e a recente declaração do Conselho da União
Europeia sobre a Protecção dos recursos hídricos e a gestão integrada sustentável da
água na União Europeia (Junho de 2011). Interessa agora desenvolver os mecanismos
quer para a sua gestão integrada, quer para a sua efectiva e adequada remuneração
Cryptococcus neoformans em torres de igrejas da cidade do Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil
Cryptococcosis has been a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with Aids. Many reservoirs of the agent Cryptococcus neoformans have been reported, but the ecology of this yeast must be elucidated in order to establish surveillance programs and to prevent infections. The objective of this study was to evaluate the presence of C. neoformans in Rio de Janeiro City, RJ, Brazil. Ten churches were selected for sampling and detection of the yeast collecting pigeon dropping, air samples from church towers and neighboring areas during one year. The data demonstrated that C. neoformans has been present in every church selected and was present in 37.8% of 219 pigeon dropping samples. As well as, the yeast was isolated from soil, insects, eggs, pigeon nests and feathers. Fifteen air samples (4.9%) were positive. The growth on C.G.B. medium showed that all strains belonged to C. neoformans var. neoformans, with 98.8% of the strains belonging to serotype A.Cryptococcus neoformans é um fungo que ocasiona micose de alta morbidade e mortalidade, especialmente em pacientes com Aids. Muitos reservatórios de C. neoformans têm sido relatados, mas a ecologia desta levedura deve ser ainda elucidada para se estabelecer programas de vigilância e prevenção desta infecção. O objetivo deste estudo foi o de avaliar a presença de C. neoformans no Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil. Dez igrejas foram selecionadas para este estudo, coletando-se fezes de pombo, amostras de ar, das torres das igrejas e de áreas vizinhas, durante um ano. Os resultados revelaram que C. neoformans estava presente em todas as igrejas e em 37,8% das 219 amostras das excretas das aves. Ao mesmo tempo, o fungo foi isolado do solo, insetos, ovos e ninhos de pombos. Quinze (4,9%) do total das amostras de ar foram positivas. O crescimento no meio de CGB revelou que todas as amostras pertenciam a C. neoformans var. neoformans, e 98,8% destas amostras pertenciam ao sorotipo A
Is erucin a promising bioactive against renal cell carcinoma?
A large number of epidemiological studies have linked cruciferous vegetable consumption to
a reduced risk of various types of cancer, including renal cell carcinoma. Organosulfur
compounds from cruciferous vegetables, glucosinolates and their metabolic breakdown
derivatives, isothiocyanates and indole-3-carbinol, rise scientific interest by exerting unique
anticancer properties. Erucin (ER) is an isothiocyanate that is generated by enzymatic
hydrolyzes of glucoerucin, a glucosinolate predominant found in rocket species, or by in vivo
reduction of sulforaphane, its structural oxidized analog. In the present study, the inhibitory
effects of ER on renal cancer cell viability, migration and invasion were investigated. The 786-
O human renal cancer cell line and the Vero normal-like cells were treated with different
concentrations of ER (10-100 μM). Cell viability was determined using the MTT and PI assays.
The intracellular level of reactive oxygen species was evaluated using
dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate. The collective cell migration and
chemotaxis/chemoinvasion were studied by a wound healing and transwell assay, respectively.
ER induced a concentration-dependent decrease in cell viability, with more cytotoxicity for
786-O cells than against Vero cells. Non-cytotoxic concentration of ER significantly reduced
cell migration rate, chemotaxis and invasiveness potential of 786-O cells. The observed
favorable anticancer potential of ER against human renal carcinoma in vitro requires further
investigation.Nutraceuticals in balancing redox status in ageing and age-related diseases WGs Meeting of the NutRedOx COST Action CA16112 Belgrade, March 2-3, 202
Equilibrium states for potentials with \sup\phi - \inf\phi < \htop(f)
In the context of smooth interval maps, we study an inducing scheme approach
to prove existence and uniqueness of equilibrium states for potentials
with he `bounded range' condition \sup \phi - \inf \phi < \htop, first used
by Hofbauer and Keller. We compare our results to Hofbauer and Keller's use of
Perron-Frobenius operators. We demonstrate that this `bounded range' condition
on the potential is important even if the potential is H\"older continuous. We
also prove analyticity of the pressure in this context.Comment: Added Lemma 6 to deal with the disparity between leading eigenvalues
and operator norms. Added extra references and corrected some typo
First-order transition features of the triangular Ising model with nearest- and next-nearest-neighbor antiferromagnetic interactions
We implement a new and accurate numerical entropic scheme to investigate the
first-order transition features of the triangular Ising model with
nearest-neighbor () and next-nearest-neighbor ()
antiferromagnetic interactions in ratio . Important aspects
of the existing theories of first-order transitions are briefly reviewed,
tested on this model, and compared with previous work on the Potts model. Using
lattices with linear sizes and 480 we
estimate the thermal characteristics of the present weak first-order
transition. Our results improve the original estimates of Rastelli et al. and
verify all the generally accepted predictions of the finite-size scaling theory
of first-order transitions, including transition point shifts, thermal, and
magnetic anomalies. However, two of our findings are not compatible with
current phenomenological expectations. The behavior of transition points,
derived from the number-of-phases parameter, is not in accordance with the
theoretically conjectured exponentially small shift behavior and the well-known
double Gaussian approximation does not correctly describe higher correction
terms of the energy cumulants. It is argued that this discrepancy has its
origin in the commonly neglected contributions from domain wall corrections.Comment: 34 pages, 11 figure
Allometric growth patterns in hatchery-reared larvae of the catfish Lophiosilurus alexandri (Pisces: Pseudopimelodidae)
The aim of the present study was to characterize the relationships that occur between morphometric variables of larvae of Lophiosilurus alexandri Steindachner, 1876 through their allometric growth analysis. Total length, head length and body height were correlated with standard length, head height and body height, as well as eye diameter and head height with head length. The results revealed allometric positive relation during the initial development, where the b coefficient varied between 1.10 and 2.81. The variable pre-anal distance in relation to the standard length and the snout length in relation to the head length revealed an allometric negative relation, where the b coefficient was 0.85 and 0.94, respectively
Produtividade e vigor do maracujazeiro-amarelo plantado em covas e plantio direto sob manejo orgânico.
O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o vigor e a produtividade do maracujazeiro-amarelo plantado em diferentes tamanhos de cova e plantio direto sob manejo orgânico. O experimento foi conduzido de 2005 a 2007, no Setor de Agricultura Ecológica da Universidade Federal do Acre, em delineamento de blocos casualizados, constituídos de cinco tratamentos, quatro repetições e quatro plantas por parcela. Foram avaliados cinco tipos de preparo do solo: T1 cova do tamanho do torrão (0,19 x 0,063m) com adubação em cobertura; T2 cova de 0,30 x 0,30 x 0,30m com adubação de plantio na cova; T3 cova de 0,30 x 0,30 x 0,30m com adubação de plantio em cobertura; T4 cova de 0,50 x 0,50 x 0,50m com adubação de plantio na cova; e T5 cova de 0,50 x 0,50 x 0,50m com adubação de plantio em cobertura. O tamanho da cova e o plantio direto não influenciaram o vigor da planta e a biomassa de raízes. O número de frutos por planta e a produtividade, na segunda e na somatória das duas safras, foram maiores com plantio direto e com covas cúbicas de 0,30m. Após dois anos de cultivo, a densidade do solo foi maior na camada de 0-5cm de profundidade num raio de 20cm da planta para o plantio em covas de 0,50m com adubação na cova e menor para o plantio direto, não havendo diferença entre os demais tratamentos. O plantio direto ou o plantio em covas pequenas com dimensões de 0,30 x 0,30 x 0,30m proporcionou maior produtividade de maracujá que o plantio em covas maiores, mesmo não influenciando o vigor das plantas e a massa seca de raízes
Lower bounds for measurable chromatic numbers
The Lovasz theta function provides a lower bound for the chromatic number of
finite graphs based on the solution of a semidefinite program. In this paper we
generalize it so that it gives a lower bound for the measurable chromatic
number of distance graphs on compact metric spaces.
In particular we consider distance graphs on the unit sphere. There we
transform the original infinite semidefinite program into an infinite linear
program which then turns out to be an extremal question about Jacobi
polynomials which we solve explicitly in the limit. As an application we derive
new lower bounds for the measurable chromatic number of the Euclidean space in
dimensions 10,..., 24, and we give a new proof that it grows exponentially with
the dimension.Comment: 18 pages, (v3) Section 8 revised and some corrections, to appear in
Geometric and Functional Analysi
DWORF Extends Life Span in a PLN-R14del Cardiomyopathy Mouse Model by Reducing Abnormal Sarcoplasmic Reticulum Clusters
BACKGROUND: The p.Arg14del variant of the PLN (phospholamban) gene causes cardiomyopathy, leading to severe heart failure. Calcium handling defects and perinuclear PLN aggregation have both been suggested as pathological drivers of this disease. Dwarf open reading frame (DWORF) has been shown to counteract PLN regulatory calcium handling function in the sarco/endoplasmic reticulum (S/ER). Here, we investigated the potential disease-modulating action of DWORF in this cardiomyopathy and its effects on calcium handling and PLN aggregation. METHODS: We studied a PLN-R14del mouse model, which develops cardiomyopathy with similar characteristics as human patients, and explored whether cardiac DWORF overexpression could delay cardiac deterioration. To this end, R14Δ/Δ (homozygous PLN-R14del) mice carrying the DWORF transgene (R14Δ/ΔDWORFTg [R14Δ/Δ mice carrying the DWORF transgene]) were used. RESULTS: DWORF expression was suppressed in hearts of R14Δ/Δ mice with severe heart failure. Restoration of DWORF expression in R14Δ/Δ mice delayed cardiac fibrosis and heart failure and increased life span >2-fold (from 8 to 18 weeks). DWORF accelerated sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium reuptake and relaxation in isolated cardiomyocytes with wild-type PLN, but in R14Δ/Δ cardiomyocytes, sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium reuptake and relaxation were already enhanced, and no differences were detected between R14Δ/Δ and R14Δ/ΔDWORFTg. Rather, DWORF overexpression delayed the appearance and formation of large pathogenic perinuclear PLN clusters. Careful examination revealed colocalization of sarcoplasmic reticulum markers with these PLN clusters in both R14Δ/Δ mice and human p.Arg14del PLN heart tissue, and hence these previously termed aggregates are comprised of abnormal organized S/ER. This abnormal S/ER organization in PLN-R14del cardiomyopathy contributes to cardiomyocyte cell loss and replacement fibrosis, consequently resulting in cardiac dysfunction. CONCLUSIONS: Disorganized S/ER is a major characteristic of PLN-R14del cardiomyopathy in humans and mice and results in cardiomyocyte death. DWORF overexpression delayed PLN-R14del cardiomyopathy progression and extended life span in R14Δ/Δ mice, by reducing abnormal S/ER clusters.</p
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