Evaluation of Ten Tropical Grasses in the Northwest Region of the State of São Paulo-Brazil

The experiment was carried out in the northwest region of the State of São Paulo-Brazil to evaluate ten grasses recently introduced in the region. The grasses studied were: Cynodon nlemfuensis cv. Tifton 68, C. dactylon cv. Tifton 78, Cynodon spp. cv. Tifton 85, C. dactylon cv. Florakirk, C. nlemfuensis cv. Florico, C. nlemfuensis cv. Florona, C. dactylon cv. Coastcross, Paspalum notatum cv. Tifton 9, Brachiaria brizantha cv. Marandu, Panicum maximum cv. Tanzânia 1. The following variables were determined: DM production, growth rate, IVDMD, CP, ADF and NDF. The GRs varied from 81 to 102 and from 14 to 26 Kg DM ha-1 day-1 during the rainy and dry seasons, respectively. The average contents of CP, NDF and ADF were different (P\u3c 0.05) among grasses. Higher values of CP (124 to 143 g.kg-1) and NDF (717 to 749 g.kg-1) were observed in the Cynodon cultivars while lower values of CP (102 and 107 g.kg-1) and NDF (697 and 705 g.kg-1) were registered in the cvs. Marandu and Tanzânia 1. The contents of ADF were higher in the the cvs. Tanzânia 1 and Tifton 9. The average values of IVDMD differed (P≤ 0.05) among grasses and were all above 564 g.kg-1, except for cv. Tifton-9 (499 g.kg-1). The results obtained in this work allowed to conclude that the cvs. Tifton 78, Tifton 85, Coastcross, Florona, and Tanzânia 1 are interesting options for pastures establishment in the northwest region of the State of São Paulo-Brazil

Investigação das argamassas antigas de revestimento da Redução Jesuítica Guarani, São Miguel Arcanjo, Brasil

A Redução Guaranítica de São Miguel Arcanjo, um dos sete povos missioneiros que se instalaram no noroeste do estado do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil, por volta de 1687 no atual sítio, e parte de um dos trinta povos formados pela Companhia de Jesus. Dada a sua relevância histórica para o Brasil, este estudo tem como objetivo principal caracterizar analiticamente a constituição físicoquímica das argamassas originais, que ainda pontualmente são encontradas na Ruína, identificar seus principais materiais constituintes, bem como a existência ou não da cal e a forma com que esta se apresenta. Resultados obtidos, por microscopia eletrônica de varredura (MEV-EDS), difração de raios X (DRX), espectroscopia no infravermelho por transformada de Fourier (FTIR), análise granulométrica e análise por termogravimétrica (TG/DTG) indicam que a fonte principal de aglomerante era a cal. Cal, de origem animal ou pétrea, com a presença da cal calcítica em ambos os conjuntos de amostras. Os estudos mostram a presença da variação do carbonato de cálcio em aragonita nas amostras internas e de hidroxiapatita nas externas. Assim, com base neste estudo, busca-se de modo simplificado facilitar o trabalho de investigação de uma obra de restauro, com a criação de uma rotina básica para conhecimento e caracterização da matéria a ser restaurada se necessário para posterior intervenção

The influence of silicon on components of resistance to anthracnose in susceptible and resistant sorghum lines.

Suplemento. Edição do IX International Congress of Plant PathologyLOGY, 2008, Torino. Abstracts on invited and offered papers

Biocompatibility of the biopolymer cyanoflan for applications in skin wound healing

There is a great demand for the development of novel wound dressings to overcome the time and costs of wound care performed by a vast number of clinicians, especially in the current overburdened healthcare systems. In this study, Cyanoflan, a biopolymer secreted by a marine unicellular cyanobacterium, was evaluated as a potential biomaterial for wound healing. Cyanoflan effects on cell viability, apoptosis, and migration were assessed in vitro, while the effect on tissue regeneration and biosafety was evaluated in healthy Wistar rats. The cell viability and apoptosis of fibroblasts and endothelial cells was not influenced by the treatment with different concentrations of Cyanoflan, as observed by flow cytometry. Moreover, the presence of Cyanoflan did not affect cell motility and migratory capacity, nor did it induce reactive oxygen species production, even revealing an antioxidant behavior regarding the endothelial cells. Furthermore, the skin wound healing in vivo assay demonstrated that Cyanoflan perfectly adapted to the wound bed without inducing systemic or local oxidative or inflammatory reaction. Altogether, these results suggest that Cyanoflan is a promising biopolymer for the development of innovative applications to overcome the many challenges that still exist in skin wound healing.This work was supported by FEDER—Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional— through the COMPETE 2020—Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalization (POCI), Portugal 2020—and by Portuguese funds through FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e a Tec-nologia/Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior—in the framework of the project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-028779 (PTDC/BIA-MIC/28779/2017), by NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000012, Structured Programme on Bioengineering Therapies for Infectious Diseases and Tissue Regeneration, supported by Norte Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and in the framework of the project “Institute for Research and Innovation in Health Sciences” (UID/BIM/04293/2020)

Impact of pelvic radiotherapy on female sexuality

PURPOSE: To assess physical and psychological morbidity, sexual functioning and social and relationship satisfaction among women treated with pelvic radiotherapy. METHODS: Observational (case-control) study of 199 women: 98 submitted to pelvic radiotherapy for the treatment of uterine, rectal or anal cancers and 101 without a personal history of cancer and similar socio-demographic variables. These completed a socio-demographic and clinical questionnaire, and validated measures of psychological health (DASS: Lovibond and Lovibond in Behav Res Ther 33:353-343, 1995), sexual function (FSFI: Rosen et al. in J Sex Marital Ther 26:191-208, 2007), social support (ESSS: Ribeiro in Analise Psicologica 3:547-558, 1999) and relationship satisfaction (IMS: Hudson in The WALMYR assessment scales scoring manual 1992). RESULTS: Women submitted to pelvic irradiation reported a higher rate of adverse physical symptoms in the last month: fatigue 59 versus 25% (p < 0.001), lack of strength 42 versus 20% (p = 0.001), diarrhoea 24 versus 12% (p = 0.032), vaginal discharge 17 versus 7% (p = 0.024), skin erythema 9 versus 2% (p = 0.026). Levels of depression, anxiety and stress were higher among radiotherapy patients, but only reach statistical significance for the stress parameter (6.1 vs. 4.0, p = 0.012). Also these women reported lower scores of satisfaction with social support (57.2 vs. 62.2, p = 0.005) and sexual function (8.5 vs. 13.5, p = 0.049). No statistically significant differences occurred between the two groups regarding scores of relationship satisfaction (20.8 vs. 19.9, p = n.s.). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggested that pelvic radiotherapy had a negative impact on female sexuality. Thus, interventions that would help to reduce this impact need to be designed and integrated into routine clinical practice

Assessment of the impact of conservation measures by modeling soil loss in Minas Gerais, Brazil.

ABSTRACT: Gullies are significant contributors to soil degradation in several regions of Brazil, including Minas Gerais, where erosion processes have caused soil loss. The characterization of erosion processes is crucial for the application of measures for recovering degraded areas and reducing erosion impacts. This study models soil loss with the use of InVEST software and assesses the impact of three different scenarios, namely (1) implementation of soil conservation practices and replacement of pasture areas for temporary agriculture, (2) reforestation of pasture areas, and (3) preservation of ciliary forests. Soil loss, sediment exportation, retention, and deposition for the present scenario (2019), as well as the three aforementioned hypothetical scenarios, were estimated. In the present scenario, the estimated mean annual soil loss was 2.75 t/ha year, with 1,449.54 t/year sediment exportation, 9,042.13 t/year retention, and 1,449.54 t/year deposition. The model predicted scenario 1 would result in 2.23 t/ha year mean annual soil loss, 1,300.59 t/year sediment exportation, 9,191.08 t/year retention, and 11,755.76 t/year deposition. Scenario 2 showed 1.92 t/ha year mean annual soil loss, 1,046.69 t/year sediment exportation, 9,444.98 t/year retention, and 10,229.77 t/year deposition, whereas the results for scenario 3 were 2.36 t/ha year, 616.65 t/year, 9,862.06 t/year, and 13,206.47 t/year, respectively. Reforestation and preservation of ciliary forests, along with soil conservation practices, were effective measures for reducing soil loss. Such findings are valuable for the management of areas degraded by erosion processes

Identification and characterization of Aspergillus flavus and aflatoxins

Aspergillus flavus is the main producer of the well known carcinogenic aflatoxins. The presence of this fungus and aflatoxins is of huge concern in terms of food safety. The identification of A. flavus is not straightforward due to similarities with closely related species (e.g. A. parasiticus and A. nomius). Also, from the biochemical point of view the closely-related species are able to produce different mycotoxins. In order to clarify the differentiation between species the identification schemes is revisited. Selective media, data from mycotoxins production and molecular biology tools are discussed in order to clarify the concept of A. flavus species.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT