2,562 research outputs found

    PROCESSO DE ORGANIZAÇÃO DA AGROECOLOGIA E CONSTRUÇÃO PARTICIPATIVA NO ESTADO DE MATO GROSSO DO SUL

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    O trabalho objetiva situar o processo histórico da agroecologia no cenário brasileiro e principalmente no Estado do Mato Grosso do Sul, levantando uma importante discussão a respeito da temática e sua importância na construção socioeconômica no estado. A pesquisa se utilizou de técnica qualitativa, empregando-se dados secundários do Censo Agropecuário de 2006, realizado pelo Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE), do Catálogo dos Produtores Orgânicos do Ministério da Agricultura, Pecuária e Abastecimento (MAPA), da Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisas Agropecuárias (EMBRAPA), da Agência de Desenvolvimento Agrário e Extensão Rural (AGRAER), entre outros. Na absorção e utilização de teorias e estudos de importantes autores estaduais e nacionais, se compreendeu o considerável desafio que os sistemas agroecológicos e de práticas ecossistêmicas enfrentarão no médio e longo prazo. Historicamente a agroecologia no MS se insere concomitante aos desafios endógenos do desenvolvimento sustentável, no que tange o alinhamento equitativo do crescimento econômico, do bem estar social e ambiental. Junto aos programas sociais da agricultura familiar, as iniciativas agroecológicas no estado necessitam formar multiplicadores locais. Diferentes órgãos governamentais assumiram essa responsabilidade com planejamentos de médio e longo prazo, conscientizando os agentes e atores locais das potencialidades da biodiversidade sul-mato-grossense, bem como, fortalecendo iniciativas sustentáveis. Apesar da transição agroecológica no Estado ser considerada recente, cada vez mais os atores – sociedade civil organizada, órgãos públicos e privados – estão envolvidos neste processo evolutivo que vem fortalecendo e potencializando as ações do processo endógeno na região e aliando-se ao cenário nacional

    The Repetitive Cytoskeletal Protein H49 of Trypanosoma cruzi Is a Calpain-Like Protein Located at the Flagellum Attachment Zone

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    Background: Trypanosoma cruzi has a single flagellum attached to the cell body by a network of specialized cytoskeletal and membranous connections called the flagellum attachment zone. Previously, we isolated a DNA fragment (clone H49) which encodes tandemly arranged repeats of 68 amino acids associated with a high molecular weight cytoskeletal protein. in the current study, the genomic complexity of H49 and its relationships to the T. cruzi calpain-like cysteine peptidase family, comprising active calpains and calpain-like proteins, is addressed. Immunofluorescence analysis and biochemical fractionation were used to demonstrate the cellular location of H49 proteins.Methods and Findings: All of H49 repeats are associated with calpain-like sequences. Sequence analysis demonstrated that this protein, now termed H49/calpain, consists of an amino-terminal catalytic cysteine protease domain II, followed by a large region of 68-amino acid repeats tandemly arranged and a carboxy-terminal segment carrying the protease domains II and III. the H49/calpains can be classified as calpain-like proteins as the cysteine protease catalytic triad has been partially conserved in these proteins. the H49/calpains repeats share less than 60% identity with other calpain-like proteins in Leishmania and T. brucei, and there is no immunological cross reaction among them. It is suggested that the expansion of H49/calpain repeats only occurred in T. cruzi after separation of a T. cruzi ancestor from other trypanosomatid lineages. Immunofluorescence and immunoblotting experiments demonstrated that H49/calpain is located along the flagellum attachment zone adjacent to the cell body.Conclusions: H49/calpain contains large central region composed of 68-amino acid repeats tandemly arranged. They can be classified as calpain-like proteins as the cysteine protease catalytic triad is partially conserved in these proteins. H49/calpains could have a structural role, namely that of ensuring that the cell body remains attached to the flagellum by connecting the subpellicular microtubule array to it.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Beca Presidente de la Republica-ChileUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Microbiol Imunol & Parasitol, Escola Paulista Med, São Paulo, BrazilUniv Antofagasta, Lab Bioquim, Dept Biomed, Antofagasta, ChileUniv Bandeirante São Paulo, São Paulo, BrazilUniv Brasilia, Dept Biol Celular, Inst Biol, Brasilia, DF, BrazilFiocruz MS, Ctr Pesquisa Rene Rachou CPqRR, Belo Horizonte, MG, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Microbiol Imunol & Parasitol, Escola Paulista Med, São Paulo, BrazilWeb of Scienc

    The repetitive cytoskeletal protein H49 of Trypanosoma cruzi is a calpain-like protein located at the flagellum attachment zone

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    Paracoccidioides brasiliensis causes paracoccidioidomycosis, a systemic mycosis in Latin America. Formamidases hydrolyze formamide, putatively plays a role infungal nitrogen metabolism. An abundant 45-kDa protein was identified as the P. brasiliensis formamidase. In this study, recombinant formamidase was over-expressed in bacteria and a polyclonal antibody to this protein was produced. Weidentified a 180-kDa protein species reactive to the antibody produced in miceagainst the P. brasiliensis recombinant purified formamidase of 45 kDa. The180-kDa purified protein yielded a heat-denatured species of 45 kDa. Both protein species of 180 and 45 kDa were identified as formamidase by peptide massfinger printing using MS. The identical mass spectra generated by the 180 and the45-kDa protein species indicated that the fungal formamidase is most likely homotetrameric in its native conformation. Furthermore, the purified formami-dase migrated as a protein of 191 kDa in native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, thus revealing that the enzyme forms a homotetrameric structure in its native state. This enzyme is present in the fungus cytoplasm and the cell wall. Use of a yeast two-hybrid system revealed cell wall membrane proteins, in addition to cytosolic proteins interacting with formamidase. These data provide new insights intoformamidase structure as well as potential roles for formamidase and its interaction partners in nitrogen metabolism

    Copper nanoparticles stabilized with cashew gum: Antimicrobial activity and cytotoxicity against 4T1 mouse mammary tumor cell line

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    Copper nanoparticles stabilized with cashew (CG-CuNPs) were synthesized by reduction reaction using ascorbic acid and sodium borohydride, using the cashew gum (CG) as a natural polymer stabilizer. Dynamic light scattering, atomic force microscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, UV-Vis spectrophotometry, and x-ray diffraction were used to characterize the nanoparticles (CG-CuNPs), and copper was quantified by electrochemical measurement. The UV-vis spectra of the CG-CuNPs confirmed the formation of nanoparticles by appearance of a surface plasmon band at 580 nm after 24 h of reaction. The Fourier-transform infrared spectrum of CG-CuNPs showed the peak at 1704 cm−1 from cashew gum, confirming the presence of the gum in the nanoparticles. The average size of CG-CuNPs by dynamic light scattering and atomic force microscopy was around 10 nm, indicating small, approximately spherical particles. Antimicrobial assays showed that CG-CuNPs had activity against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 29213 with a minimal inhibitory concentration of 0.64 mM. The cytotoxicity assay on BALB/c murine macrophages showed lower cytotoxic effects for CG-CuNPs than CuSO4·5H2O. Viability cell assays for CG-CuNPs at (0.250 mM) inhibited by 70% the growth of 4T1 LUC (4T1 mouse mammary tumor cell line) and NIH 3T3 cells (murine fibroblast cells) over a 24-h period. Therefore, CG-CuNPs can be used as an antimicrobial agent with lower cytotoxic effects than the CuSO4·5H2O precursor.The author would like to thank at UCM for performingDPV, USP by X-ray diffraction experiment, REQUIMTE/LAQV for FTIR, UnB and UFPI for the cytotoxicityassays, as well as at UFPI for help with DLS, UV-Vis,AFM, and microbiological experiments. This work was supported by Project 400398/2014-1—Desenvolvimento de Nanopartículas Estabilizadas com Goma de Cajueiro para Aplicações Biotecnologicas, financed by CNPq. AlexandraPlácido is grateful to FCT by her grant SFRH/BD/97995/2013, financed by POPH-QREN-Tipologia 4.1-Formação Avançada, subsidized by Fundo Social Europeu and Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

    Proyectar y difundir el patrimonio: modelos de acción

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    El proyecto 119 ha tenido como objetivo concienciar al alumnado especialmente del Grado en Historia del Arte, pero también de otros grados de la UCM como Historia, Historia y Filología, y Turismo acerca de su responsabilidad y posibilidades de actuación con relación a la conservación y difusión del patrimonio cultural, mediante acciones desarrolladas de acuerdo con dos instituciones líderes en la materia, como son Hispania Nostra y la Fundación Santa María la Real del Patrimonio Histórico. Las acciones se han ordenado en tres niveles de implicación creciente, integradas en las asignaturas de dichos Grados: A) Presentación de las instituciones: responsables de ambas instituciones expondrían los objetivos y una selección de actuaciones de las mismas ante los estudiantes, incidiendo en el papel que en este tipo de actuaciones pueden desarrollar tanto los estudiantes como los jóvenes profesionales (atendiendo especialmente a las posibilidades de profesionalización). B) Favorecimiento de la implicación de los estudiantes en acciones en favor del patrimonio, como puedan ser su participación en el blog de Hispania Nostra o sus propuestas con relación a la lista roja del patrimonio que dicha asociación publicita. La participación se evaluaría con criterios propios de la asignatura correspondiente en el apartado de participación. C) En la medida de los recursos obtenidos, se iban a programar visitas a obras incluidas en la lista roja, o bien susceptibles de ser incorporadas a ella, así como a otras que ya han pasado a la lista verde

    Clonal chromosomal mosaicism and loss of chromosome Y in elderly men increase vulnerability for SARS-CoV-2

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    The pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19) had an estimated overall case fatality ratio of 1.38% (pre-vaccination), being 53% higher in males and increasing exponentially with age. Among 9578 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 in the SCOURGE study, we found 133 cases (1.42%) with detectable clonal mosaicism for chromosome alterations (mCA) and 226 males (5.08%) with acquired loss of chromosome Y (LOY). Individuals with clonal mosaic events (mCA and/or LOY) showed a 54% increase in the risk of COVID-19 lethality. LOY is associated with transcriptomic biomarkers of immune dysfunction, pro-coagulation activity and cardiovascular risk. Interferon-induced genes involved in the initial immune response to SARS-CoV-2 are also down-regulated in LOY. Thus, mCA and LOY underlie at least part of the sex-biased severity and mortality of COVID-19 in aging patients. Given its potential therapeutic and prognostic relevance, evaluation of clonal mosaicism should be implemented as biomarker of COVID-19 severity in elderly people. Among 9578 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 in the SCOURGE study, individuals with clonal mosaic events (clonal mosaicism for chromosome alterations and/or loss of chromosome Y) showed an increased risk of COVID-19 lethality

    Canagliflozin and Cardiovascular and Renal Outcomes in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Chronic Kidney Disease in Primary and Secondary Cardiovascular Prevention Groups

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    Background: Canagliflozin reduces the risk of kidney failure in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and chronic kidney disease, but effects on specific cardiovascular outcomes are uncertain, as are effects in people without previous cardiovascular disease (primary prevention). Methods: In CREDENCE (Canagliflozin and Renal Events in Diabetes With Established Nephropathy Clinical Evaluation), 4401 participants with type 2 diabetes mellitus and chronic kidney disease were randomly assigned to canagliflozin or placebo on a background of optimized standard of care. Results: Primary prevention participants (n=2181, 49.6%) were younger (61 versus 65 years), were more often female (37% versus 31%), and had shorter duration of diabetes mellitus (15 years versus 16 years) compared with secondary prevention participants (n=2220, 50.4%). Canagliflozin reduced the risk of major cardiovascular events overall (hazard ratio [HR], 0.80 [95% CI, 0.67-0.95]; P=0.01), with consistent reductions in both the primary (HR, 0.68 [95% CI, 0.49-0.94]) and secondary (HR, 0.85 [95% CI, 0.69-1.06]) prevention groups (P for interaction=0.25). Effects were also similar for the components of the composite including cardiovascular death (HR, 0.78 [95% CI, 0.61-1.00]), nonfatal myocardial infarction (HR, 0.81 [95% CI, 0.59-1.10]), and nonfatal stroke (HR, 0.80 [95% CI, 0.56-1.15]). The risk of the primary composite renal outcome and the composite of cardiovascular death or hospitalization for heart failure were also consistently reduced in both the primary and secondary prevention groups (P for interaction >0.5 for each outcome). Conclusions: Canagliflozin significantly reduced major cardiovascular events and kidney failure in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and chronic kidney disease, including in participants who did not have previous cardiovascular disease

    Optimasi Portofolio Resiko Menggunakan Model Markowitz MVO Dikaitkan dengan Keterbatasan Manusia dalam Memprediksi Masa Depan dalam Perspektif Al-Qur`an

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    Risk portfolio on modern finance has become increasingly technical, requiring the use of sophisticated mathematical tools in both research and practice. Since companies cannot insure themselves completely against risk, as human incompetence in predicting the future precisely that written in Al-Quran surah Luqman verse 34, they have to manage it to yield an optimal portfolio. The objective here is to minimize the variance among all portfolios, or alternatively, to maximize expected return among all portfolios that has at least a certain expected return. Furthermore, this study focuses on optimizing risk portfolio so called Markowitz MVO (Mean-Variance Optimization). Some theoretical frameworks for analysis are arithmetic mean, geometric mean, variance, covariance, linear programming, and quadratic programming. Moreover, finding a minimum variance portfolio produces a convex quadratic programming, that is minimizing the objective function ðð¥with constraintsð ð 𥠥 ðandð´ð¥ = ð. The outcome of this research is the solution of optimal risk portofolio in some investments that could be finished smoothly using MATLAB R2007b software together with its graphic analysis

    Juxtaposing BTE and ATE – on the role of the European insurance industry in funding civil litigation

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    One of the ways in which legal services are financed, and indeed shaped, is through private insurance arrangement. Two contrasting types of legal expenses insurance contracts (LEI) seem to dominate in Europe: before the event (BTE) and after the event (ATE) legal expenses insurance. Notwithstanding institutional differences between different legal systems, BTE and ATE insurance arrangements may be instrumental if government policy is geared towards strengthening a market-oriented system of financing access to justice for individuals and business. At the same time, emphasizing the role of a private industry as a keeper of the gates to justice raises issues of accountability and transparency, not readily reconcilable with demands of competition. Moreover, multiple actors (clients, lawyers, courts, insurers) are involved, causing behavioural dynamics which are not easily predicted or influenced. Against this background, this paper looks into BTE and ATE arrangements by analysing the particularities of BTE and ATE arrangements currently available in some European jurisdictions and by painting a picture of their respective markets and legal contexts. This allows for some reflection on the performance of BTE and ATE providers as both financiers and keepers. Two issues emerge from the analysis that are worthy of some further reflection. Firstly, there is the problematic long-term sustainability of some ATE products. Secondly, the challenges faced by policymakers that would like to nudge consumers into voluntarily taking out BTE LEI

    Search for stop and higgsino production using diphoton Higgs boson decays

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    Results are presented of a search for a "natural" supersymmetry scenario with gauge mediated symmetry breaking. It is assumed that only the supersymmetric partners of the top-quark (stop) and the Higgs boson (higgsino) are accessible. Events are examined in which there are two photons forming a Higgs boson candidate, and at least two b-quark jets. In 19.7 inverse femtobarns of proton-proton collision data at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV, recorded in the CMS experiment, no evidence of a signal is found and lower limits at the 95% confidence level are set, excluding the stop mass below 360 to 410 GeV, depending on the higgsino mass
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