Toxocara (Ascarididae) eggs in a Franciscan from Portugal (XVII-XVIII century): case report

Poster presented at the 43rd Annual North American Meeting of the Paleopatology Association. April 12-12, 2016, Atlanta, USAThe presence of adults of Toxocara in humans is rare, and it has been usually attributed to ingestion of adult worms and not the development of the larval stage in this host.This work represents the first report of Toxocara eggs associated with human burial.N/

Real-time thermo-optical analysis of polymer samples by quantitative polarized optical microscopy

An experimental setup using a polarized optical microscope fitted with a detection module capable of measuring the cross-polarized transmitted light intensity and the transmitted light intensity of the polymer sample being analyzed, together with an accompanying calculation procedure, is proposed in order to characterize in real-time thermal transitions and degree of crystallinity, as well as birefringence (which is a measure of orientation) and turbidity. The experimental assessment of the technique was carried out studying commercial poly(ethylene terephthalate) multifilaments with different crystallinity and stretching levels and by direct comparison with the features of conventional DSC curves obtained under similar experimental conditions. While an excellent correlation was found between the type and temperature ranges of thermal events as detected by thermal and optical techniques, the measured birefringence was shown to be sensitive to distinct filament stretching levels, but unaffected by geometrical factors. Contrarily, turbidity is influenced by the latterThe authors would like to acknowledge UNIFI, ECOFABRIL and DOW, Brazil, for donating materials, as well as Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES) for scholarship to L. A. Bicalho, grant BJT 019/2012 to J. M. J. Silva, grant PVE 30484/2013-01 to J. A. Covas and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico (CNPq) for a PQ scholarship 311790/2013-5 to S. V. Canevarolo. The assistance of the technicians from DEMa is also gratefully acknowledged.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Curvas dadas por la intersección transversal de dos superficies en el espacio tridimesional de Minkowski

In this paper, we study the differential geometry of the transversal intersection curve of two surfaces in Minkowski 3-space, where each pair satisfies the following types spacelike-lightlike, timelike-lightlike and lightlike-lightlike. Surfaces are generally give by their parametric or implicit equations, then the surfacesurface intersection problem appear commonly as parametric-parametric, parametric-implicit and implicitimplicit.We derive the Frenet frame, Darboux frame, curvature, torsion, normal curvature and geodesic curvatures of transversal intersections for all types of intersection problems. We show the intersection curve may be spacelike (timelike, lightlike or pseudo null) curve. Finally, we show our methods by given several examples.En este artículo, estudiamos la geometría diferencial de la curva dada por la intersección transversal de dos superficies en el espacio tridimensional de Minkowski donde cada par satisface los siguientes tipos de superficies; tipo espacio - tipo luz, tipo tiempo - tipo luz y tipo luz - tipo luz. Generalmente, las superficies están dadas por sus ecuaciones paramétricas o implícitas, entonces el problema de intersección superficie superficie aparece comunmente como paramétrico-paramétrico, paramétrico-implícito e implícito-implícito. Obtenemos el Referencial de Frenet, el Referencial de Darboux, la curvatura, la torsión, la curvatura normal y las curvaturas geodésicas de las intersecciones transversales para todos los tipos de problemas de intersección. Mostramos que la curva de intersección puede ser una curva similar a una curva tipo espacio (tipo tiempo, tipo luz o pseudo nula). Finalmente, mostramos nuestros métodos por varios ejemplos

On the accumulation of organic matter on the southeastern Brazilian continental shelf: A case study based on a sediment core from the shelf off Rio de Janeiro

Sterol and fatty acid biomarkers and isotopic composition (delta 13C and delta 15N) of bulk organic matter (OM) were quantified in a sediment core to characterize the accumulation of autochthonous OM in an area on the continental shelf adjacent to Rio de Janeiro State. In the sediment surface (0-1 cm) the concentration of total sterols and fatty acids was at least one order of magnitude higher than that measured deeper down in the core and was dominated by labile and planktonic-derived biomarker compounds. These results suggest, as is confirmed by multivariate statistical analysis, the occurrence of an event of enhanced primary production in the water column and efficient export of particles to the bottom. Similar conditions have been observed at Cabo Frio, located 150 km to the north of our study site, during an upwelling event, suggesting that such events may exert a regional influence on primary production on the south-eastern Brazilian continental shelf. Beyond the signatures from this event, the presence of biomarker compounds from vascular plants suggests the additional influence of an outflow from Guanabara Bay at the study site. These results point to the need for further investigation of the relative influence of physical forcings and continental inputs on the biogeochemical processes on the section of the continental shelf considered in the present study

Tailoring carbon nanotubes to enhance their efficiency as electron shuttle on the biological removal of acid orange 10 under anaerobic conditions

Anaerobic treatments have been described for the biodegradation of pollutants. However, the reactions proceed slowly due to the recalcitrant nature of these compounds. Carbon nanomaterials (CNM) intermediate in, and favor, the electron transfer, accelerating the anaerobic reduction of pollutants, which act as final electron acceptors. In the present work, different carbon nanotubes (CNT) with modified surface chemistry, namely CNT oxidized with HNO3 (CNT_HNO3) and CNT doped with nitrogen in a ball milling process (CNT_N_MB) were prepared using commercial CNT as a starting material. The new CNM were tested as redox mediators (RM), 0.1 g L−1, in the biological reduction of the azo dye, Acid Orange 10 (AO10), with an anaerobic granular sludge, over 48 h of reaction. Methane production was also assessed to verify the microorganism’s activity and the CNM’s effect on the methanogenic activity. An improvement in the biological removal of AO10 occurred with all CNM (above 90%), when compared with the control without CNM (only 32.4 ± 0.3%). The best results were obtained with CNT_N_MB, which achieved 98.2 ± 0.1% biological AO10 removal, and an 11-fold reduction rate increase. In order to confer magnetic properties to the CNM, tailored CNT were impregnated with 2% of iron-samples: CNTThis study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2019 unit and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE‐01‐0145‐ FEDER‐000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020 ‐ Programa Operacional Regional do Norte, as well as FCT/MCTES trough national funds (PIDDAC) and Base Funding – UIDB/50020/20 of the Associate Laboratory LSRE‐LCM – funded by national funds rough FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC). Ana Rita Silva holds a Grant from FCT, reference SFRH/BD/131905/2017. Salomé. G.P. Soares acknowledges FCT funding under the Scientific Employment Stimulus ‐ Institutional Call CEECINST/00049/2018.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Bioinvasion in a Brazilian Bay: Filling Gaps in the Knowledge of Southwestern Atlantic Biota

Biological invasions are a major cause of global species change. Nevertheless, knowledge about the distribution and ecology of introduced species is regionally biased, and many gaps in knowledge exist for most developing countries.To study the zoobenthos on the hard substratum of the Ilha Grande Bay, a survey was conducted on both natural and artificial substrata at three depths and seven sites. The species recorded were classified as native, cryptogenic or introduced. Multivariate analyses were conducted to assess the prevalence of introduced species in these communities and to compare the distribution of species on natural and artificial substrata of this bay to identify possible discrepancies in habitat use. Of the 61 species, 25 were cryptogenic, 10 were introduced and 26 were native. Similar numbers of introduced species were found on both natural and artificial substrata, though the community composition was significantly different between them. We also compared the species composition of the Ilha Grande Bay survey to other inventories taken around the world. The highest similarities were found between the Ilha Grande Bay inventory and the Atlantic coastal region (Tampa Bay, USA and the Gulf of Mexico), American Samoa and Pearl Harbor (USA) inventories.This study presents the first published comprehensive list of hard substratum sessile marine invertebrate species in a Brazilian bay. The high percentage of cryptogenic species reveals gaps in both zoological records and information on introduced species for the Brazilian coast. The introduced species successfully colonized different sites in the Ilha Grande Bay, including both natural and artificial substrata. In addition, we find that artificial structures may not be good surrogates for natural rocky shores and may represent an ecological threat. Comparisons with other inventories suggest a history of broad-scale invasion, though more evidence is needed to support this conclusion