Application of Microsystems Technology in the Fabrication of Thermoelectric Micro-Converters

The use of thin-film deposition techniques with microsystems technologies renewed the interest in the thermoelectricity in the last years. Integration of efficient solid-state thermoelectric (TE) microdevices with microelectronics is desirable for local cooling and, since they can be used to stabilise the temperature of devices, decrease noise levels and increase operation speed. Their use in thermoelectric microgeneration (energy harvesting) can also supply energy to low power consumption electronic devices. In this chapter, the fabrication of thermoelectric microconverters is compared, both on materials from thin-film composites to supperlattice structures, and on its fabrication techniques

Composição corporal e perfil metabólico na deficiência de vitamina D sérica em adultos

sem informaçãoTo investigate the body composition and metabolic profile in individuals in terms of different concentrations of serum vitamin D, ranging from deficiency to sufficiency. A cross-sectional study of 106 adults of both genders, who were divided into three g304419430sem informaçãosem informaçãosem informaçã

Nutrição De Tithonia Diversifolia E Atributos Do Solo Adubado Com Biofertilizante Em Sistema Irrigado

The fertilization with biofertilizer associated with the use of irrigation favors nutrient uptake by plants and soil chemical properties; however, these effects are little studied in Tithonia diversifolia in semiarid regions. This study evaluated the effect of doses of bovine biofertilizer and irrigation on accumulation of nutrients in the leaves of Tithonia diversifolia plants and on soil chemical attributes. The study was carried out from December 3, 2014 to November 28, 2015, and arranged in a 2 x 5 factorial scheme, consisting of five doses of bovine biofertilizer (0, 40, 80, 120 and 160 m3 ha-1), combined with and without irrigation. The experiment was set in a randomized block design, using three replicates. Irrigation promoted increased accumulation of N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S, Zn, Fe, Mn, Cu and B in leaves of Tithonia diversifolia in the first cutting. However, the high bicarbonate concentration in the irrigation water and the occurrence of rainfall during the second crop increased the accumulation of Cu in the leaves of Tithonia diversifolia under rainfed condition, compared with irrigated plants. The increase in biofertilizer doses contributed to the increment of base saturation and the contents of organic matter, P and K in soil. © 2016, Departamento de Engenharia Agricola - UFCG/Cnpq. All rights reserved.20111008101

Thermal environment in two broiler barns during the first three weeks of age

The objective of this research was to evaluate the internal thermal environment of two broiler barns featuring different ventilation systems representative of Brazilian and South American poultry production industry: (a) a negative-pressure tunnel and (b) a positive- pressure lateral ventilation system. Environmental parameters such as dry bulb temperature, relative humidity and temperature-humidity index were assessed; temperature maps for day and night average conditions were determined for the first three weeks of life. Better uniformity of the thermal environment and comfort conditions inside the negative-pressure tunnel were found

Epidemiological characterization of resistance and PCR typing of Shigella flexneri and Shigella sonnei strains isolated from bacillary dysentery cases in Southeast Brazil

Shigella spp are Gram-negative, anaerobic facultative, non-motile, and non-sporulated bacilli of the Enterobacteriaceae family responsible for "Shigellosis" or bacillary dysentery, an important cause of worldwide morbidity and mortality. However, despite this, there are very few epidemiological studies about this bacterium in Brazil. We studied the antibiotic resistance profiles and the clonal structure of 60 Shigella strains (30 S. flexneri and 30 S. sonnei) isolated from shigellosis cases in different cities within the metropolitan area of Campinas, State of São Paulo, Brazil. We used the following well-characterized molecular techniques: enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus, repetitive extragenic palindromic, and double-repetitive element-polymerase chain reaction to characterize the bacteria. Also, the antibiotic resistance of the strains was determined by the diffusion disk method. Many strains of S. flexneri and S. sonnei were found to be multi-resistant. S. flexneri strains were resistant to ampicillin in 83.3% of cases, chloramphenicol in 70.0%, streptomycin in 86.7%, sulfamethoxazole in 80.0%, and tetracycline in 80.0%, while a smaller number of strains were resistant to cephalothin (3.3%) and sulfazotrim (10.0%). S. sonnei strains were mainly resistant to sulfamethoxazole (100.0%) and tetracycline (96.7%) and, to a lesser extent, to ampicillin (6.7%) and streptomycin (26.7%). Polymerase chain reaction-based typing supported the existence of specific clones responsible for the shigellosis cases in the different cities and there was evidence of transmission between cities. This clonal structure would probably be the result of selection for virulence and resistance phenotypes. These data indicate that the human sanitary conditions of the cities investigated should be improved

Aneurismas Toracoabdominais Rotos [ruptured Thoracoabdominal Aneurysms]

Objective: To evaluate the pre-, intra- and postoperative data of ruptured thoracoabdominal aneurysms operated at Hospital de Clínicas da Universidade Estadual de Campinas. Methods: A retrospective study of five patients submitted to repair of ruptured thoracoabdominal aneurysm at Hospital de Clínicas da Universidade Estadual de Campinas from September 2000 to April 2004. All patients presented a ruptured type IV thoracoabdominal aneurysm, and four of them were hemodynamically stable. Three patients were operated by the simple supraceliac aortic clamping and saline solution infusion at 4°C in the renal arteries; one patient died during the surgery before the aneurysm was opened; and one patient was operated by perfusion of oxygenated blood in the visceral arteries. Results: Of the five patients operated, two died (40%). One of them presented hemodynamic instability and died during the surgery; the other patient died on the 26 th postoperative day due to multiple organ failure. All three surviving patients progressed well, with no sequelae. Among patients who were taken to the operating room hemodynamically stable, the mortality rate was 25%. Conclusions: Patients with ruptured type IV thoracoabdominal aneurysm, hemodynamically stable, achieved satisfactory surgical results, similar to infrarenal ruptured aneurysms. Copyright © 2006 by Sociedade Brasileira de Angiologia e de Cirurgia Vascular.513741Bradbury, A.W., Bulstrode, N.W., Gilling-Smith, G., Stansby, G., Mansfield, A.O., Wolfe, J.H., Repair of ruptured thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm is worthwhile in selected cases (1999) Eur J Vasc Endovasc Surg, 17, pp. 160-165Lewis, M.E., Ranasinghe, A.M., Revell, M.P., Bonser, R.S., Surgical repair of ruptured thoracic and thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms (2002) Br J Surg, 89, pp. 442-445Cowan Jr., J.A., Dimick, J.B., Wainess, R.M., Henke, P.K., Stanley, J.C., Upchurch Jr., G.R., Ruptured thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm treatment in the United States: 1988 to 1998 (2003) J Vasc Surg, 38, pp. 319-322LeMaire, S.A., Rice, D.C., Schmittling, Z.C., Coselli, J.S., Emergency surgery for thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms with acute presentation (2002) J Vasc Surg, 35, pp. 1171-1178Rocha, E.F., Luccas, G.C., Baldini Neto, L., Aneurisma tóracoabdominal inflamatório (2005) J Vasc Br, 4, pp. 301-306Rocha, E.F., Guillaumon, A.T., Antunes, N., Vieira, R.W., Aneurisma toracoabdominal roto: Modificação do circuito de perfusão visceral (2004) Rev Bras Cir Cardiovasc, 19, pp. 413-416Mastroroberto, P., Chello, M., Emergency thoracoabdominal aortic repair: Clinical outcome (1999) J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg, 118, pp. 477-481Cota, A.M., Omer, A.A., Jaipersad, A.S., Wilson, N.V., Elective versus ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm repair: A 1-year cost-effectiveness analysis (2005) Ann Vasc Surg, 19, pp. 858-861Girardi, L.N., Krieger, K.H., Altorki, N.K., Mack, C.A., Lee, L.Y., Isom, O.W., Ruptured descending and thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms (2002) Ann Thorac Surg, 74, pp. 1066-1070Schepens, M.A., Defauw, J.J., Hamerlijnck, R.P., De Geest, R., Vermeulen, F.E., Surgical treatment of thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms by simple crossclamping. Risk factors and late results (1994) J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg, 107, pp. 134-142Cambria, R.P., Davison, J.K., Zannetti, S., L'Italien, G., Atamian, S., Thoracoabdominal aneurysm repair: Perspectives over a decade with the clamp-and-sew technique (1997) Ann Surg, 226, pp. 294-303Anacleto, A., Anacleto, J.C., Aneurismas da aorta torácica e toracoabdominal (2002) Cirurgia Vascular: Cirurgia Endovascular, Angiologia, pp. 439-459. , Brito CJ. Rio de Janeiro: RevinterSantos, V.P., Ignácio, M.R., Da Silveira, D.R., Caffaro, R.A., Aneurisma toracoabdominal roto: Relato de um caso com o uso de anel rígido sulcado de Delrin intraluminal na anastomose proximal (2004) J Vasc Br, 3, pp. 383-38

A study towards drug discovery for the management of type 2 diabetes: Mellitus through inhibition of the carbohydrate-hydrolyzing enzymes α-amylase and α-glucosidase by chalcone derivatives

The inhibition of carbohydrate-hydrolyzing enzymes, α-amylase and α-glucosidase, is one of the major therapeutic strategies for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Chalcones have been recognized for their multiple biological activities, including antidiabetic properties, through unclear mechanisms. In the present work, a panel of chalcones bearing hydroxy, methoxy, methyl, nitro, chloro, fluoro and bromo substituents were evaluated against α-amylase and α-glucosidase activities, most of them for the first time. The results showed that the substitution patterns and the type of substituents of chalcones influence their inhibitory activity. The presence of hydroxy groups at C-2’- and C-4’ of the A ring and at C-3 and C-4 of the B ring favors the intended effect. Chalcones holding nitro groups and chloro substituents, together with a hydroxy group in the chalcone scaffold, showed strong inhibition of the α-glucosidase activity. The present study provides related scaffolds that may serve as the basis for the design and synthesis of new structures in order to obtain the ideal antidiabetic chalcone.This work received financial support from the European Union (FEDER funds POCI/01/0145/FEDER/007265) and National Funds (FCT/MEC, Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia and Ministério da Educação e Ciência) under the Partnership Agreement PT2020 UID/QUI/50006/2013, and “Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização” (COMPETE) (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029241). Thanks are due to University of Aveiro, Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, FCT/ MEC for the financial support to the QOPNA (FCT UID/QUI/ 00062/2013) and CIMO (UID/AGR/00690/2013) research Units through national funds and where applicable co-financed by the FEDER, within the PT2020 Partnership Agreement, and also to the Portuguese NMR Network. Sónia Rocha acknowledges FCT the financial support for the PhD grant (PD/BD/ 145169/2019), in the ambit of “QREN – POPH – Tipologia 4.1 – Formação Avançada”, co-sponsored by Fundo Social Europeu (FSE) and by national funds of Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior (MCTES).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Some aspects of the venom proteome of the Colubridae snake Philodryas olfersii revealed from a Duvernoy’s (venom) gland transcriptome

AbstractWe investigated the putative toxins of Philodryas olfersii (Colubridae), a representative of a family of snakes neglected in venom studies despite their growing medical importance. Transcriptomic data of the venom gland complemented by proteomic analysis of the gland secretion revealed the presence of major toxin classes from the Viperidae family, including serine proteases, metalloproteases, C-type lectins, Crisps, and a C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP). Interestingly, the phylogenetic analysis of the CNP precursor showed it as a linker between two related precursors found in Viperidae and Elapidae snakes. We suggest that these precursors constitute a monophyletic group derived from the vertebrate CNPs