Exploring where science is made in an outdoor and digital museum in a Brazilian university

In conventional science museums, where collections are at the centre of activities, large financial contributions and staff are required, which results in their existence being unfeasible in many cases, especially in developing countries. We present an alternative proposal: a science centre called Knowledge Paths, which is, simultaneously, a virtual platform and an outdoor museum located on one of the campuses of the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar), Brazil. The project has a much lower cost than traditional institutions and presents itself as a possibility for mediation between different audiences and scientific knowledge. The approach used is supported by the theoretical framework from Educating Cities and science, technology, society (STS) education. The project proposes itineraries to be followed on campus, through signposts that, in addition to texts about great scientists and other thinkers, contain QR codes linking them to videos, other texts and supplementary materials related to the areas of knowledge associated with the marked places. The project also offers guided tours in which participants visit laboratories and other locations where science is made. The museum has two functioning itineraries: the Epistemological Trail, about history and the main characteristics of different areas of knowledge; and the Light Trail, which is aimed at children

Polarized Dirac fermions in de Sitter spacetime

The tetrad gauge invariant theory of the free Dirac field in two special moving charts of the de Sitter spacetime is investigated pointing out the operators that commute with the Dirac one. These are the generators of the symmetry transformations corresponding to isometries that give rise to conserved quantities according to the Noether theorem. With their help the plane wave spinor solutions of the Dirac equation with given momentum and helicity are derived and the final form of the quantum Dirac field is established. It is shown that the canonical quantization leads to a correct physical interpretation of the massive or massless fermion quantum fields.Comment: 19 pages, LaTeX w AMS sym

Carcass Characteristics Of Purebred And Crossbred Nellore Females Fed Solely Pasture

This research aimed to compare carcasses of purebred and crossbred Nellore females reared uniquely on pasture (Brachiaria decumbens and Brachiaria brizantha cv. Marandu). Breeds assessed consisted of purebred Nellore (16) and Nellore x Santa Gertrudis crossbred (16), being 32 ± 1.5 months old. All animals were slaughtered as they reached 450 kg. Crossbred females showed higher slaughter, hot and cold carcass weights and longer lengths (P < 0.05). Conversely, purebred animals attained greater carcass yields (P < 0.05). Nonetheless, crossbred females had higher primal cut weights and plate/ flank percentage (P < 0.05). Also, non-carcass components as kidneys, liver, kidney-pelvic-heart fat showed higher weights for crossbred females (P < 0.05). Thus, regarding beef cattle reared and finished exclusively on grazing areas, crossbred females (Nellore x Santa Gertrudis) may be the most profitable ones for cattle raisers, since they produce heavier slaughtering carcasses. Notwithstanding, they might be interesting for meat industry, for yielding more in prime cuts than purebreds, even if raised at the same conditions and slaughtered at same age.3764213422

ESTILOS FLUVIAIS NAS BACIAS HIDROGRÁFICAS DA VILA DOIS RIOS, ILHA GRANDE (RJ)

Em duas bacias hidrográficas localizadas na Ilha Grande/RJ foram realizados estudos sobre a dinâmica fluvial a partir da investigação de características ambientais e da interferência antrópica com objetivo de identificar os Estilos Fluviais. Foram realizadas pesquisas de campo, consultas a trabalhos análogos e mapeamento utilizando imagens de satélite. Seguindo a metodologia River Styles®, foram identificados três tipos de estilos fluviais: florestados, rochosos e meândricos com sedimento fino

Markov evolutions and hierarchical equations in the continuum I. One-component systems

General birth-and-death as well as hopping stochastic dynamics of infinite particle systems in the continuum are considered. We derive corresponding evolution equations for correlation functions and generating functionals. General considerations are illustrated in a number of concrete examples of Markov evolutions appearing in applications.Comment: 47 page

Family Health Development in Life Course Research: A Scoping Review of Family Functioning Measures

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Our objective is to identify common family functioning measurement tools and assess their compatibility with family-health development and life-course perspectives. METHODS: Data sources include PubMed, ERIC, CINAHL, Families and Societies Worldwide, PsychInfo, Web of Science, PsychNet, and Health and Psychosocial Instruments. Title and abstract screening and full-text review of articles were conducted by multiple reviewers based on prespecified inclusion criteria. Data extraction focused on features of identified measurements tools, including: (1) name (2) domains of family functioning measured, (3) established psychometric properties, and (4) original context of psychometric evaluation (eg, details about the study sample). RESULTS: Of the 50 measurement tools identified, 94% measured organizational patterns (eg, flexibility, connectedness, or resources), 46% measured belief systems (eg, making meaning of adversity, or positive outlook), and 54% measured communication processes (eg, open emotional sharing, or collaborative problem-solving). CONCLUSIONS: Existing measures of family functioning can aid life-course researchers in understanding family processes as contexts for health and well-being. There also remain opportunities to refine or develop measures of family functioning more compatible with a life-course perspective that assess family processes (1) at various life stages; (2) with various backgrounds, identities, structures, and experiences; and (3) embedded in or impacted by various contexts that may facilitate or hinder family functioning

Different proportion of root cutting and shoot pruning influence the growth of citronella plants

Environment concern, sustainable products demand, and natural components conscious are currently global movement factors. Related to the global movement factors, citronella grass (Cymbopogon nardus L.) is being widely used in folk medicine, and has insect repellent activity, fungal and bactericidal action. Its essential oil has high content of citronellal, citronellol, geraniol. The essential oil is mostly extracted from leaves which turns this plant with high commercial demand. However, to obtain the best therapeutic quality and productivity of medicinal plants, which culminates in greater quantity and quality of the active compounds, the proper management of the crop is fundamental, as several factors can interfere during its growth and development. Thus, we analyzed the growth of citronella plants submitted to different levels of shoot and root cuts. Five different proportions of root pruning (0, 25, 50, 75, 100%), after 145 days of seedling planting and four cuttings in the shoots: blunt; a cut at 145 DAP (days after planting) along with the root cut; a cut at 228 DAP; and cuts at 145 and 228 DAP (two cuts). Four harvesting for dry matter accumulation and photoassimilate partition data were performed. The treatment with 100% root cut, but without leaf cut, increased the total dry mass accumulation of the plant in relation to the other treatments, for the last analysis period, demonstrating a recovery. Thus, the application of two leaf cuts or no leaf cutting within the 100% root cut treatment for leaf dry mass accumulation is more effective when compared to the blunt root treatment

Carcass characteristics and meat quality of sheep fed buffelgrass silage to replace corn silage

The aim of the study was to evaluate the carcass characteristics, proximate composition, and sensorial attributes of meat from sheep fed diets in which buffelgrass silage replaced corn silage. Thirty-two intact male crossbred Santa Inês sheep with an average live weight of 20.09 ± 2.0 kg were housed in individual stalls and allotted at random to four treatments in which corn silage was replaced by buffelgrass silage at the levels of 0 (control), 33.3%, 66.6%, and 100%. After an adaption period of 10 days, the sheep were fed for an additional 61 days. Feed was offered ad libitum and corn silage comprised 60% of the diet for the control group. Carcass characteristics, non-carcass components and meat quality were evaluated. Hot carcass yield, cold carcass yield, true carcass yield, trimmings, fat weight, and mesenteric and omental fat weight were highest for the control group (P &lt;0.05). Loin eye area had a quadratic response (P =0.02), with the largest areas being observed in animals fed the diet containing 66.6% buffelgrass silage. Liver weight (P &lt;0.01), luminosity of the meat (P &lt;0.05), and cooking loss (P &lt;0.05) likewise had nonlinear responses to the concentration of buffelgrass silage in the diet. The treatments did not have significant negative influence on the nutritional and organoleptic characteristics of the meat

Generation and characterization of a recombinant chimeric protein (rCpLi) consisting of B-cell epitopes of a dermonecrotic protein from Loxosceles intermedia spider venom

AbstractA chimeric protein was constructed expressing three epitopes of LiD1, a dermonecrotic toxin from the venom of Loxosceles intermedia spider. This species is responsible for a large number of accidents involving spiders in Brazil. We demonstrated that the chimeric protein (rCpLi) generated is atoxic and that antibodies previously developed in rabbits against synthetic epitopes reactive with rCpLi in ELISA and immunoblot assays. The antibody response in rabbits against the rCpLi was evaluated by ELISA and we have detected an antibody response in all immunized animals. Overlapping peptides covering the amino acid sequence of the rCpLi were synthesized on a cellulose membrane, and their recognition by rabbit anti-rCpLi serum assessed. Three different antigenic regions were identified. The percentage of inhibition of the dermonecrotic, hemorrhagic and edematogenic activities caused by the recombinant protein LiD1r in naïve rabbits was assessed by pre-incubation with anti-rCpLi antibodies. Anti-rCpLi induced good dermonecrotic and hemorrhagic protection. The levels of protection were similar to the antiboides anti-LiD1r. In summary, we have developed a polyepitope recombinant chimeric protein capable of inducing multiple responses of neutralizing antibodies in a rabbit model. This engineered protein may be a promising candidate for therapeutic serum development or vaccination