Acesso a inovação e reestruturação produtiva da agricultura familiar no tropico Semi-Arido: o caso das comunidades rurais de Massaroca (Juazeiro, BA).

Esse artigo trata da reestruturacao da agricultura familiar nas comunidades rurais de Massaroca (Juazeiro, BA) em decorrencia do acesso as inovacoes e aos recursos, resultantes da intervencao das instituicoes de pesquisa e de desenvolvimento. Analisa-se a difusao da informacao e da inovacao via as redes de relacoes apropriadas da inovacao e dos recursos, assim como as consequencias. Os resultados das operacoes de desenvolvimento local mostram os beneficios coletivos para as comunidades em termos de representatividade e de acesso aos equipamentos. Evidenciam, tambem, uma diferenciacao social entre os produtores, estimulada pela valorizacao diferenciada da informacao e do credito rural

Itinerário de um dispositivo de pesquisa-ação em cooperação.

Sair da estação experimental; Da difusão de tecnologias ao desenvolvimento local; Do desenvolvimento local ao desenvolvimento regional; Uma rede de projetos de desenvolvimento local; Apoio ao planejamento do desenvolvimento rural em escala do município; Apoio ao planejamento do desenvolvimento rural

Modular microfluidic system as a model of cystic fibrosis airways

A modular microfluidic airways model system that can simulate the changes in oxygen tension in different compartments of the cystic fibrosis (CF) airways was designed, developed, and tested. The fully reconfigurable system composed of modules with different functionalities: multichannel peristaltic pumps, bubble traps, gas exchange chip, and cell culture chambers. We have successfully applied this system for studying the antibiotic therapy of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the bacteria mainly responsible for morbidity and mortality in cystic fibrosis, in different oxygen environments. Furthermore, we have mimicked the bacterial reinoculation of the aerobic compartments (lower respiratory tract) from the anaerobic compartments (cystic fibrosis sinuses) following an antibiotic treatment. This effect is hypothesised as the one on the main reasons for recurrent lung infections in cystic fibrosis patients

Direct immobilization of DNA probes on non-modified plastics by UV irradiation and integration in microfluidic devices for rapid bioassay

DNA microarrays have become one of the most powerful tools in the field of genomics and medical diagnosis. Recently, there has been increased interest in combining microfluidics with microarrays since this approach offers advantages in terms of portability, reduced analysis time, low consumption of reagents, and increased system integration. Polymers are widely used for microfluidic systems, but fabrication of microarrays on such materials often requires complicated chemical surface modifications, which hinders the integration of microarrays into microfluidic systems. In this paper, we demonstrate that simple UV irradiation can be used to directly immobilize poly(T)poly(C)-tagged DNA oligonucleotide probes on many different types of plastics without any surface modification. On average, five- and fourfold improvement in immobilization and hybridization efficiency have been achieved compared to surface-modified slides with aminated DNA probes. Moreover, the TC tag only costs 30% of the commonly used amino group modifications. Using this microarray fabrication technique, a portable cyclic olefin copolymer biochip containing eight individually addressable microfluidic channels was developed and used for rapid and parallel identification of Avian Influenza Virus by DNA hybridization. The one-step, cost-effective DNA-linking method on non-modified polymers significantly simplifies microarray fabrication procedures and permits great flexibility to plastic material selection, thus making it convenient to integrate microarrays into plastic microfluidic systems

Living biointerfaces based on non-pathogenic bacteria to direct cell differentiation

Genetically modified Lactococcus lactis, non-pathogenic bacteria expressing the FNIII7-10 fibronectin fragment as a protein membrane have been used to create a living biointerface between synthetic materials and mammalian cells. This FNIII7-10 fragment comprises the RGD and PHSRN sequences of fibronectin to bind α5β1 integrins and triggers signalling for cell adhesion, spreading and differentiation. We used L. lactis strain to colonize material surfaces and produce stable biofilms presenting the FNIII7-10 fragment readily available to cells. Biofilm density is easily tunable and remains stable for several days. Murine C2C12 myoblasts seeded over mature biofilms undergo bipolar alignment and form differentiated myotubes, a process triggered by the FNIII7-10 fragment. This biointerface based on living bacteria can be further modified to express any desired biochemical signal, establishing a new paradigm in biomaterial surface functionalisation for biomedical applications

Diversidade das formas de integração ao mercado: o caso da valorização dos laticínios pela agricultura familiar no sertão sergipano.

O leite representa, hoje, um dos principais vetores de integracao ao mercado da agricultura familiar nordestina. O diagnostico dos circuitos de comercializacao do leite e derivados produzidos na bacia leiteira centrada em Nossa Senhora da Gloria, no semi-arido sergipano, mostra que a diversidade dos sistemas de producao corresponde tambem, uma diversidade das formas de comercializacao. A valorizacao dos produtos da agricultura familiar nordestina realiza-se segundo diferentes logicas: domestica, artesanal, mercantil e industrial que podem operar num mesmo lugar de maneira paralela, complementar ou contraditoria. O enfoque dinamico da valorizacao dos laticinios no Estado de Sergipe contribui para identificar os impactos locais do contexto da globalizacao economica: emergencia de novos atores agro-industriais com uma logica multinacional, evolucao dos mercados internos e das normas de qualidade, entre outros. Mesmo assim, permanece uma grande diversidade de atores economicos, marcada pelo papel dos intermediarios que se situam na interface dessas diversas logicas