JURISDIÇÃO CONSTITUCIONAL E DEMOCRACIA NA CONSTITUIÇÃO BRASILEIRA: ENTRE O ATIVISMO E A AUTO-CONTENÇÃO: BREVE ANÁLISE SOBRE O PAPEL DO JUDICIÁRIO FRENTE ÀS QUESTÕES LIGADAS À LIBERDADE DE PESQUISA E À MANIPULAÇÃO DA VIDA HUMANA

Busca-se analisar o papel do Poder Judiciário frente às diversas questões envolvendo a manipulação genética humana e as pesquisas realizadas no Brasil, nos dias atuais, para tal fim. Utilizando-se dos conceitos de ativismo e auto-contenção, verifica-se, a partir de alguns constitucionalistas, de que forma o Judiciário deve posicionar-se diante do desenvolvimento da pesquisas envolvendo os seres humanos

Fruit abundance and trait matching determine diet type and body condition across frugivorous bird populations

Research on seed‐dispersal mutualisms has been highly unbalanced towards the plants, largely overlooking the fitness effects of fruit resources on frugivorous animals. Moreover, despite morphological mismatches like gape limitation may reduce the abundance of fruits that are actually accessible to a frugivore species, there is very little evidence on the trait‐matching implications from a frugivore's perspective. Here, we refine recent resource‐provisioning models to comprehensively test the joint effects of fruit abundance and trait matching on diet type and body condition (a surrogate of fitness) across frugivorous bird populations: Sardinian warblers Curruca melanocephala inhabiting ten Mediterranean forests differing in the abundance and composition of fleshy fruits. We hypothesised the abundance of fruit resources to have positive effects on the degree of frugivory and body condition of warblers, and such effects to be more pronounced when accounting for both trait matching (accessible fruits) and resource provisioning (energy in accessible fruits). We found a sharp threshold over which warblers shifted from a diet with very little or even no fruits to a predominantly frugivorous diet with increasing the local abundance of accessible fruits. We also found a strong positive relationship between the abundance of accessible fruits and the body condition of warblers (body mass and residual body mass), an effect that was more pronounced in females than in males. Although diet type and body condition were much better predicted when accounting for trait matching, accounting for resource provisioning did not improve the explanatory power of fruit resources. The fact that we detected strong and sex‐dependent effects of fruit resources on body condition just a few weeks before the breeding season suggests that fruit resources likely affect the timing and success of reproduction, a question that deserves further research. Our findings provide new insight into the fitness consequences of seed‐dispersal mutualisms for frugivorous animals.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Rate effect in inclined fibre pull-out for smooth and hooked-end fibres: a numerical study

Based on a numerical model to simulate the static behaviour of a smooth fibre extracted from a cementitious matrix, a rate dependent friction law, widely used in earthquake engineering for steady-state slip phenomena, is proposed to capture the rate effect observed in dynamic pull-out tests for both smooth and hooked-end fibres. After calibrating the friction coefficients with the experimental results of smooth fibres, the model is subsequently applied to predict the pullout behaviour of both smooth and hooked-end fibres at different inclination angles (0∘, 30∘ and 60∘) loaded at three different velocities (0.01, 0.1 and 1 mm/s). The global tendency of all the pull-out curves was captured, fibre’s cross sectional deformations were also reproduced remarkably well. Moreover, the developed model helps to cast light on the different mechanisms related to the pull-out process.Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, Spain, through the projects BIA2015-68678-C2-1-R and RTC-2017-6736-3, is acknowledged. Elisa Poveda appreciates the funding from the International Campus of Excellence CYTEMA, as well as, the University of Castilla-La Mancha, throughout Ayudas para estancias en universidades en el extranjero en 2019 en el ámbito del plan propio de investigación susceptibles de co-financiación por el Fondo FEDER, Programa 010100021 to fund her stay in the University of Minho during 2018 and 2019, respectively. Manuel Tarifa acknowledges the financial support from the Department of Applied Mechanics and Project Engineering, UCLM (2018), and from the Programa propio de I+D+i de la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid para realizar estancias de investigación internacional igual o superior a un mes (2019), with the same purpose. The last two authors acknowledge the support provided by the project ICoSyTec (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-027990) financed by FCT and co-funded by FEDER through the Operational Competitiveness and Internationalization Programme (POCI). The authors thank BEKAERT for the supply of fibre

CDC2 mediates progestin initiated endometrial stromal cell proliferation: a PR signaling to gene expression independently of its binding to chromatin

Although non-genomic steroid receptor pathways have been studied over the past decade, little is known about the direct gene expression changes that take place as a consequence of their activation. Progesterone controls proliferation of rat endometrial stromal cells during the peri-implantation phase of pregnancy. We showed that picomolar concentration of progestin R5020 mimics this control in UIII endometrial stromal cells via ERK1-2 and AKT activation mediated by interaction of Progesterone Receptor (PR) with Estrogen Receptor beta (ERb) and without transcriptional activity of endogenous PR and ER. Here we identify early downstream targets of cytoplasmic PR signaling and their possible role in endometrial stromal cell proliferation. Microarray analysis of global gene expression changes in UIII cells treated for 45 min with progestin identified 97 up- and 341 down-regulated genes. The most over-represented molecular functions were transcription factors and regulatory factors associated with cell proliferation and cell cycle, a large fraction of which were repressors down-regulated by hormone. Further analysis verified that progestins regulate Ccnd1, JunD, Usf1, Gfi1, Cyr61, and Cdkn1b through PR-mediated activation of ligand-free ER, ERK1-2 or AKT, in the absence of genomic PR binding. ChIP experiments show that progestin promoted the interaction of USF1 with the proximal promoter of the Cdc2 gene. Usf1 knockdown abolished Cdc2 progestin-dependent transcriptional regulation and cell proliferation, which also blocked Cdc2 knockdown. We conclude that progestin-induced proliferation of endometrial stromal cells is mediated by ERK1-2 and AKT dependent early regulation of USF1, which directly induces Cdc2. To our knowledge, this is the first description of early target genes of progestin-activated classical PR via crosstalk with protein kinases and independently of hormone receptor binding to the genomic targets.Fil: Vallejo, Griselda. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental (i); ArgentinaFil: la Greca, Alejandro Damián. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental (i); ArgentinaFil: Tarifa Reischle, Inti C.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental (i); ArgentinaFil: Mestre Citrinovitz, Ana Cecilia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental (i); ArgentinaFil: Ballaré, Cecilia. Centro de Regulación Genómica; EspañaFil: Beato, Miguel. Centro de Regulación Genómica; España. Universitat Pompeu Fabra; EspañaFil: Saragüeta, Patricia Esther. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental (i); Argentin

Size of the fracture process zone in high-strength concrete at a wide range of loading rates

Abstract. Compared with the extensive research on properties of the fracture process zone (FPZ) under quasi-static loading conditions, much less information is available on its dynamic characterization, especially for high-strength concrete (HSC). This paper presents the very recent results of an experimental program aimed at disclosing the loading rate effect on the size and velocity of the (FPZ) in HSC. Eighteen three-point bending specimens were conducted under a wide range of loading rates from from 10 -4 mm/s to 10 3 mm/s using either a servo-hydraulic machine or a self-designed drop-weight impact device. Four strain gauges mounted along the ligament of the specimen were used to measure the FPZ size. Surprisingly, the FPZ size remains almost constant (around 20 mm) when the loading rate varies seven orders of magnitude

Efecto de la velocidade y la inclinación en ensayos de arrancamiento de fibras lisas y conformadas

En el presente artıculo se recopilan los resultados de una reciente campaña experimental sobre el efecto de la velocidad de solicitación y del angulo de inclinación, en ensayos de arrancamiento de fibras de acero de una matriz de hormigon. Para ello, se obtuvieron probetas de placas fabricadas con hormigón auto-compactante de 86 MPa de resistencia. En el programa experimental se emplearon fibras de acero de extremos conformados de nueva generación, sección circular, con ´ 60 mm de longitud y una relación de aspecto de 80. Los ensayos se llevaron a cabo con fibras de extremos conformados ´ y fibras lisas, obteniendo estas últimas mediante el corte del gancho de las primeras. Para ambos tipos, la longitud de ´ fibra embebida en el hormigón fue de 20 mm, estudiando la influencia de la inclinación de la fibra para valores de 0 ´ o, 30o y 60o. Las fibras lisas se obtuvieron cortando el extremo conformado de las anteriores. Los ensayos se realizaron a tres velocidades de solicitación 0.01, 0.1 y 1 mm/s. Como resultado, se obtuvo que las fibras más inclinadas incrementaron la ´ carga necesaria para arrancarlas de la matriz de hormigón en todos los casos, aunque de manera más pronunciada en las ´ fibras lisas. Además, el incremento en la velocidad de solicitación hizo que la carga máxima en el ensayo se incrementará para el caso de las fibras lisas, mientras que permaneció prácticamente estable para las fibras conformadas.This paper summarizes the results obtained in a recent experimental campaign on the effect of the loading pullout rate and the inclination angle of the steel fiber pullout test. For that purpose, specimens were obtained from a self-compacting concrete with a compressive strength of 86 MPa. In the experimental program hooked-end steel fibres of new generation, of circular cross section, length of 60 mm and aspect ratio of 80, were used. Tests were executed with both hooked-end and smooth fibers, being these last ones obtained from the first ones by cutting the hooked-end. For both type of fibers, their embedment length into concrete was 20 mm, and the influence of fiber inclination angle was investigated by adopting values of 0o , 30o and 60o . The tests were performed at displacement rates of 0.01, 0.1 and 1 mm/s. As a result, the peak pullout load increased with the inclination angle, in particular for the smooth series. Furthermore, higher displacement rates produced higher peak forces for the pullout of the smooth fibers, while the peak remained almost stable for hook-end fibers

Desarrollo de herramientas para la operabilidad de procesos productivos

El presente proyecto tiene como objetivo general desarrollar herramientas para la operabilidad de procesos productivos. Para ello se desarrollarán, adaptarán y aplicarán herramientas propias de la Ingeniería de Procesos. Los objetivos particulares del proyecto propuesto son los siguientes: 1) Desarrollar métodos para determinar y aumentar la flexi-bilidad de los procesos productivos; 2) Desarrollar sistemas de control avanzados para aumentar la controlabilidad y robustez de los sistemas productivos-en especial, se emplearán técnicas de Inteligencia Artificial-; 3) Desarrollar sistemas de diagnóstico de fallas para aumentar la operabilidad de los procesos productivos; 4) Desarrollar material para la enseñanza de Ingeniería Química (simuladores, optimizadores, sistemas de control, publicaciones y apuntes). Los procesos a estudiar serán procesos productivos vinculados a la industria química, a la industria de alimentos y a todo proceso productivo de la región que pueda beneficiarse con las herramientas a desarrollar.Eje: Procesamiento de Señales y Sistemas de Tiempo RealRed de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

Desarrollo de herramientas para la operabilidad de procesos productivos

El presente proyecto tiene como objetivo general desarrollar herramientas para la operabilidad de procesos productivos. Para ello se desarrollarán, adaptarán y aplicarán herramientas propias de la Ingeniería de Procesos. Los objetivos particulares del proyecto propuesto son los siguientes: 1) Desarrollar métodos para determinar y aumentar la flexi-bilidad de los procesos productivos; 2) Desarrollar sistemas de control avanzados para aumentar la controlabilidad y robustez de los sistemas productivos-en especial, se emplearán técnicas de Inteligencia Artificial-; 3) Desarrollar sistemas de diagnóstico de fallas para aumentar la operabilidad de los procesos productivos; 4) Desarrollar material para la enseñanza de Ingeniería Química (simuladores, optimizadores, sistemas de control, publicaciones y apuntes). Los procesos a estudiar serán procesos productivos vinculados a la industria química, a la industria de alimentos y a todo proceso productivo de la región que pueda beneficiarse con las herramientas a desarrollar.Eje: Procesamiento de Señales y Sistemas de Tiempo RealRed de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI