VALORES DE REFERÊNCIA PARA O PERFIL ELETROFORÉTICO DE PROTEÍNAS SÉRICAS EM CABRAS

Electrophoretic profiles of serum proteins can help on the diagnosis of several pathologies. However, the establishment of local reference values is important for accurate interpretation of this laboratory assay, since those values may be variable depending on local conditions. Thus, the aim of the present research work was to determine the reference values for eletrophoretic separation of serum proteins in goats from Rio Grande do Norte State (RN) Brazil farms. Blood samples were collected from 22 adult goats, negative for caprine arthritis and encephalitis virus, from farms at Afonso Bezerra city. Serum levels of total proteins were assayed and separation of gobulins performed by electrophoresis. The following results were found: Total proteins, 70.0 g/L, albumin, 37.0 g/ L, a- globulins, 7.63 g/L, b1 globulins, 10.4 g/l, b2- globulins, 10.2 g/L, g-globulins, 4.76 g/L, and albumin/ globulins ratio 1.16. Thus, data from this research work may be useful as a tool on the diagnosis of goat diseases.O perfil eletroforético de proteínas séricas é uma ferramenta que pode ser utilizada como auxílio ao diagnóstico de diversas patologias. No entanto, para adequada interpretação deste exame, é necessário o estabelecimento dos valores de referência locais, uma vez que estes podem divergir daqueles obtidos em outras condições. Assim, o objetivo do presente trabalho foi determinar valores de referência para o exame eletroforético de proteínas séricas em caprinos criados no estado do Rio Grande do Norte. Foram coletadas amostras de sangue de 22 caprinos adultos negativos para o vírus da artrite e encefalite caprinas, de propriedades localizadas no município de Afonso Bezerra, RN. Foram determinados os níveis séricos de proteínas totais e das diferentes frações de proteínas separadas por eletroforese. Os resultados obtidos foram: proteínas totais - 70,0g/L; albumina - 37,0g/L; a- globulinas - 7,63g/L; b1-globulinas - 10,4g/L; b2- globulinas - 10,2g/L; g-globulinas - 4,76g/L e relação albumina/globulinas - 1,16. Assim, os resultados obtidos poderão ser utilizados no auxílio ao diagnóstico de doenças em caprinos

Recharge assessment in the context of expanding agricultural activity: Urucuia Aquifer System, western State of Bahia, Brazil

Groundwater recharge rate estimation is crucial to sustainable development of aquifers in intensely pumped regions, such as the Urucuia Aquifer System (UAS). A sedimentary aquifer in Western Bahia, Brazil, that underlies one of the major agricultural areas of the country where there has been major growth of irrigated areas. This study seeks to evaluate the recharge component of the water budget in the UAS area, based on three complementary techniques. The double-ring infiltrometer test was used to evaluate surface infiltration capacity, an important control on recharge. Water level data from wells (2011–2019 period, 19 wells) in the Brazilian Geological Survey’s Integrated Groundwater Monitoring Network (RIMAS-CPRM) was used to estimate the aquifer recharge using the water table fluctuation (WTF) method. Additionally, this study used the Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model in two selected sub-basins to estimate deep recharge from the surface hydrological data. The results of the infiltrometer tests show a notable difference in the infiltration rates between the natural vegetation zones and cropped areas. The WTF and SWAT simulations results suggest similar ranges of recharge rate (an average of 24% of precipitation, in both methods). Results of the study indicate equivalence of these methods to estimate the recharge in sedimentary unconfined aquifers as UAS

Topological Charged Black Holes in High Dimensional Spacetimes and Their Formation from Gravitational Collapse of a Type II Fluid

Topological charged black holes coupled with a cosmological constant in $R^{2}\times X^{D-2}$ spacetimes are studied, where $X^{D-2}$ is an Einstein space of the form ${}^{(D-2)}R_{AB} = k(D-3) h_{AB}$. The global structure for the four-dimensional spacetimes with $k = 0$ is investigated systematically. The most general solutions that represent a Type $II$ fluid in such a high dimensional spacetime are found, and showed that topological charged black holes can be formed from the gravitational collapse of such a fluid. When the spacetime is (asymptotically) self-similar, the collapse always forms black holes for $k = 0, -1$, in contrast to the case $k = 1$, where it can form either balck holes or naked singularities.Comment: 14 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Horizontal Branch Stars: The Interplay between Observations and Theory, and Insights into the Formation of the Galaxy

We review HB stars in a broad astrophysical context, including both variable and non-variable stars. A reassessment of the Oosterhoff dichotomy is presented, which provides unprecedented detail regarding its origin and systematics. We show that the Oosterhoff dichotomy and the distribution of globular clusters (GCs) in the HB morphology-metallicity plane both exclude, with high statistical significance, the possibility that the Galactic halo may have formed from the accretion of dwarf galaxies resembling present-day Milky Way satellites such as Fornax, Sagittarius, and the LMC. A rediscussion of the second-parameter problem is presented. A technique is proposed to estimate the HB types of extragalactic GCs on the basis of integrated far-UV photometry. The relationship between the absolute V magnitude of the HB at the RR Lyrae level and metallicity, as obtained on the basis of trigonometric parallax measurements for the star RR Lyrae, is also revisited, giving a distance modulus to the LMC of (m-M)_0 = 18.44+/-0.11. RR Lyrae period change rates are studied. Finally, the conductive opacities used in evolutionary calculations of low-mass stars are investigated. [ABRIDGED]Comment: 56 pages, 22 figures. Invited review, to appear in Astrophysics and Space Scienc