Sistema de orientação automática de espelhos para painéis fotovoltaicos

Trabalho de Conclusão de Curso (graduação)—Universidade de Brasília, Faculdade de Tecnologia, Departamento de Engenharia Elétrica, 2018.Estudo para verificar a possibilidade do aumento da produção de energia elétrica de módulos solares por intermédio do uso de espelhos. Para isso, confeccionou-se um protótipo, que utiliza motores de passo para movimentar espelhos, visando redirecionar, de forma controlada, os raios solares para um painel fotovoltaico. Diante disso, tem-se uma análise empírica para averiguar a eficiência do painel com o uso de espelhos.This research presents a study to verify the possibility of increasing the production of electricity through solar modules by using mirrors. In this regard, a prototype was made, which one uses motors to move the mirrors aiming for redirect, in a controlled way, the sun's rays to a photovoltaic panel. In addition, there are an empirical analysis in order to check the efficiency of the panel using mirrors

NAHG increases transient transformation of arabidopsis leaves by agrobacterium

Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transient transformation has demonstrated to be an invaluable tool in plant molecular biology studies. However, low efficiency and inconsistency of this method in Arabidopsis has forced the implementation of Nicotiana benthamiana as a surrogate system, limiting applicability. One of the main reasons to underlie the recalcitrance of Arabidopsis to Agrobacterium-mediated transformation is the activation of plant immune responses upon perception of the bacteria. Perception of bacterial pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs), including EF-Tu, leads to activation of PAMP-triggered immunity (PTI). Activation of PTI ultimately induces salicylic acid (SA) accumulation, which in turn shuts down expression of the vir genes, potentially interfering with the transfer of the T-DNA, and therefore T-DNA gene expression (Yuan et al., 2007; Anand et al., 2008). However, previous results suggested that besides depletion of SA other hormone-mediated defence responses, including jasmonic acid (JA), might be responsible for the low efficiency of transient transformation in Arabidopsis (Tsuda et al., 2012). In this work, we evaluate the efficiency of Agrobacterium-mediated transient transformation in Arabidopsis genotypes affected in JA perception or signalling (coi1, jin1), or with low SA or JA content (sid2, NahG, aos). The results show that impairment of JA signalling reduces or does not affect transient expression in mature leaves, but expression of the NahG transgene dramatically improves this process. We demonstrate that Arabidopsis NahG plants can be efficiently used for transient expression-based functional assays routinely performed in N. benthamiana, such as determination of subcellular localization of GFP-fused proteins or analysis of protein-protein interactions by Bimolecular Fluorescent Complementation.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

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

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

Combination of Intravitreal Ranibizumab and Laser Photocoagulation for Aggressive Posterior Retinopathy of Prematurity

Purpose: To report on 2 cases of aggressive posterior retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) treated with intravitreal ranibizumab (Lucentis®) and laser photocoagulation. Methods: Two premature females, born at 25 and 26 weeks’ gestation with a birth weight of 530 and 550 g, respectively, with aggressive posterior ROP received combined treatment with laser photocoagulation and intravitreal ranibizumab (0.3 mg [30 µl]) to each eye. Structural outcomes were evaluated by indirect ophthalmoscopy and documented by retinography. Results: An intravitreal injection was made at 34 weeks of postmenstrual age in the first case, followed by laser photocoagulation 1 week later. There was a partial regression of ROP with treatment. Five weeks later, neovascularization regrowth with bleeding in both eyes (intraretinal and subhyaloid) occurred and retreatment with combined therapy was performed. In the second case, single therapy with laser photocoagulation was made at 34 weeks of postmenstrual age. In spite of the confluent photocoagulation in the avascular area, progression to 4A ROP stage occurred 1 week later. Both eyes were retreated 1 week later with intravitreal ranibizumab and laser photocoagulation. Treatment resulted in ROP regression in both cases. There were no signs of systemic or ocular adverse side effects. Conclusion: The cases presented show that combination therapy of indirect laser photocoagulation and intravitreal ranibizumab can be effective in the management of aggressive posterior ROP. Further investigation on anti-VEGF safety in premature infants is necessary . Additional studies are needed to define the role of anti-VEGF in ROP treatment

Morphotectonics and Strain Partitioning at the Iberia-Africa plate boundary from multibeam and seismic reflection data

19 pages, 18 figures, 1 tableThe Gulf of Cadiz, off SW Iberia and the NW Moroccan margin, straddles the cryptic plate boundary between Africa and Eurasia, a region where the orogenic Alpine compressive deformation in the continental collision zone passes laterally to the west to strike-slip deformation. A set of new multibeam bathymetry, multi-channel and single channel seismic data presented here image the main morphological features of tectonic origin of a significant part of the Gulf of Cadiz from the continental shelf to the abyssal plain. These morphotectonic features are shown to result from the reactivation of deeply rooted faults that changed their kinematics from the early Mesozoic rifting, through the Late Cretaceous-Paleogene collision, to Pliocene-Quaternary thrusting and wrenching. The old faults control deep incised, more than 100 km long canyons and valleys. Several effects of neotectonics on deep water seabed are shown. These include: i) the complex morphology caused by wrenching on the 230 km long WNW-ESE faults that produced en echelon folds on the sediments; ii) the formation of up to 5 km wide crescent shaped scours at roughly 4 km water depth by reactivation of thrusts; iii) 10 km long creep folds on the continental slope; and iv) the formation of landslides on active fault escarpments. The present day deformation is partitioned on NE-SW thrusts and WNW-ESE to W-E strike-slip faults and is propagating northwards on N-S trending thrusts along the West Iberia Margin from 35.5°N to 38°N, which should be considered for seismic hazardThe work was sponsored by MATESPRO (PDCTM/P/MAR/15264/1999), EUROMARGINS SWIM (01-LEC-EMA09F), MVSEIS (01-LEC_EMA24F; PDCTM 72003/DIV/40018) and TOPOMED (TOPOEUROPE/0001/2007) projects. Instituto Scienze Marine (CNR) Bologna contribution 1587. JD and VV benefited from PhD grants from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (SFRH/BD/31188/2006, SFRH/BD/17603/2004). We acknowledge the PARSIFAL Project MAR1998-1837-CE for the use of bathymetry data. We acknowledge the financial support from the ESF EuroMargins Program, contract n. 01-LEC-EMA09F and from EU Specific Programme "Integrating and Strengthening the European Research Area", Sub-Priority 1.1.6.3, "Global Change and Ecosystems", contract n. 037110 (NEAREST)Peer reviewe