Isolasi, Skrining Dan Identifikasi Jamur Xilanolitik Lokal Yang Berpotensi Sebagai Agensia Pemutih Pulp Yang Ramah Lingkungan (Isolation, Screening and Identification Xylanolytic Local Fungi That Potentially as Pulp Bleaching Agents)

Xilanase merupakan enzim yang berfungsi luas dalam bidang industri. Xilanase digunakan sebagai perlakuan awal proses pemutihan kertas di industri pulp dan kertas sehingga dapat mengurangi penggunaan senyawa klorin yang berbahaya bagi lingkungan. Xilanase yang cocok digunakan dalam industri pulp dan kertas seharusnya bebas dari aktivitas selulase. Jamur merupakan salah satu kelompok mikrobia yang mampu menghasilkan xilanase. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk memperoleh isolat jamur unggul lokal penghasil xilanase dari tanah yang diasumsikan memiliki kandungan xilan tinggi. Tanah di sekitar industri pulp dan kertas; hutan akasia di Kab. Muara Enim dan Ogan Ilir, Sumatera Selatan; hutan Wanagama, Yogyakarta; penggergajian kayu di kota Palembang dan Yogyakarta serta TPA Palembang digunakan sebagai sumber isolat jamur. Berdasarkan skrining awal dalam media basal xilan agar diketahui bahwa dari 111 isolat jamur yang diperoleh, sebagian besar mempunyai potensi menghasilkan xilanase, akan tetapi hanya 12 isolat yang mempunyai kemampuan xilanolitik tinggi. Skrining selanjutnya dilakukan pada media basal xilan cair menunjukkan bahwa jamur yang diidentifikasi sebagai Chaetomium globosum, Penicillium simplicissimum, Aspergillus tamarii dan Monocillium sp. berpotensi unggul dalam menghasilkan xilanase dibandingkan isolat lainnya berdasarkan aktivitas enzim spesifiknya. Keempat jamur tersebut diketahui juga memiliki aktivitas lignolitik dan selulolitik. Oleh karena itu, xilanase yang diproduksi ke empat jamur tersebut berpotensi dikembangkan sebagai agen pemutih pulp

ISOLASI, SKRINING DAN IDENTIFIKASI JAMUR XILANOLITIK LOKAL YANG BERPOTENSI SEBAGAI AGENSIA PEMUTIH PULP YANG RAMAH LINGKUNGAN (Isolation, Screening and Identification Xylanolytic Local Fungi that Potentially as Pulp Bleaching Agents)

ABSTRAKXilanase merupakan enzim yang berfungsi luas dalam bidang industri. Xilanase digunakan sebagai perlakuan awal proses pemutihan kertas di industri pulp dan kertas sehingga dapat mengurangi penggunaan senyawa klorin yang berbahaya bagi lingkungan. Xilanase yang cocok digunakan dalam industri pulp dan kertas seharusnya bebas dari aktivitas selulase. Jamur merupakan salah satu kelompok mikrobia yang mampu menghasilkan xilanase. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk memperoleh isolat jamur unggul lokal penghasil xilanase dari tanah yang diasumsikan memiliki kandungan xilan tinggi. Tanah di sekitar industri pulp dan kertas; hutan akasia di Kab. Muara Enim dan Ogan Ilir, Sumatera Selatan; hutan Wanagama, Yogyakarta; penggergajian kayu di kota Palembang dan Yogyakarta serta TPA Palembang digunakan sebagai sumber isolat jamur. Berdasarkan skrining awal dalam media basal xilan agar diketahui bahwa dari 111 isolat jamur yang diperoleh, sebagian besar mempunyai potensi menghasilkan xilanase, akan tetapi hanya 12 isolat yang mempunyai kemampuan xilanolitik tinggi. Skrining selanjutnya dilakukan pada media basal xilan cair menunjukkan bahwa jamur yang diidentifikasi sebagai Chaetomium globosum, Penicillium simplicissimum, Aspergillus tamarii dan Monocillium sp. berpotensi unggul dalam menghasilkan xilanase dibandingkan isolat lainnya berdasarkan aktivitas enzim spesifiknya. Keempat jamur tersebut diketahui juga memiliki aktivitas lignolitik dan selulolitik. Oleh karena itu, xilanase yang diproduksi ke empat jamur tersebut berpotensi dikembangkan sebagai agen pemutih pulp.ABSTRACTXylanase has great potential for industry application. Application of xylanase can be done in pretreatment of pulp bleaching in the pulp and paper industry. Enzyme application can reduce the use of chlorine compounds that are harmful to the environment. Therefore, xylanase that used in pulp bleaching should be free of cellulase activity. Fungi are one of the groups of microbes that are able to produce xylanase. The aims of this study was to obtain local xylanase-producing fungal isolates from soil that assumed contain of xylan. The source of fungal isolates were the soil around the pulp and paper industry; Acacia forests in the district Ogan Ilir and Muara Enim, South Sumatra; Wanagama, Yogyakarta; sawmills in Palembang and Yogyakarta; and Palembang landfill. Based on the initial screening in the agar basal medium, 111 fungal isolates were obtained. Most of them were the xylanase-producing fungi, but only 12 fungal isolates that have high xylanolytic capabilities. Further screening was performed on xylan liquid basal medium. The results showed that the fungus identified as Chaetomium globosum, Penicillium simplicissimum, Aspergillus tamarii and Monocillium have higher xylanase specific activity than the other isolates. They were also have lignolytic and cellulolytic activities. Therefore, fungal xylanase potentially developed as a pulp bleaching agent

ENSINO RELIGIOSO PARA A AUTONOMIA: NOTAS SOBRE RELIGIOSIDADE, EDUCAÇÃO E DIVERSIDADE

In a project of education for autonomy, the notion of citizenship is important and is provided with political significance, since it aims at the formation of autonomous, creative and critical individuals, capable of the responsible exercise of their freedoms, as well as their obligations. In this sense, every curriculum is dynamic and involves several social agents who are based on different ideologies. For this reason, every curriculum is also a field of dispute. In this article, we present a discussion about the disputes involving Religious Education, and we advocate for a scientific curriculum built on and by the epistemological foundations of Religious Studies, as an area of knowledge that serves theoretically and methodologically to Religious Education. By linking a brief history of the theme to the process of secularism in Brazil, we make a distinction, even if limited, between religion and religiosity, in order to improve and expand the understanding of what the object of Religious Education is, namely: the religious phenomenon. We argue that it is by gathering the theoretical bases of a secular and reflective Religious Education that a project of formation of creative and autonomous students is built, strengthening a model of education of and for diversity.Em um projeto de educação para a autonomia, a noção de cidadania é importante e é dotada de significado político, tendo em vista que objetiva a formação de sujeitos autônomos, criativos e críticos, aptos ao exercício responsável de suas liberdades, bem como de suas obrigações. Nesse sentido, todo currículo é dinâmico e envolve diversos agentes sociais que partem de diferentes ideologias. Por isso mesmo, todo currículo é também um campo de disputa. No presente artigo, apresentamos uma discussão sobre as disputas envolvendo o Ensino Religioso, e advogamos por um currículo científico construído nas e pelos fundamentos epistemológicos da Ciência da Religião, como área de conhecimento que serve teórica e metodologicamente ao Ensino Religioso. Articulando um breve histórico da temática ao processo de laicidade no Brasil, tecemos uma distinção, ainda que limitada, entre religião e religiosidade, com vistas ao aprimorando e expansão da compreensão do que seja o objeto do Ensino Religioso, a saber: o fenômeno religioso. Defendemos que é através do angariamento das bases teóricas de um Ensino Religioso laico e reflexivo que se constrói um projeto de formação de estudantes criativos e autônomos, fortalecendo um modelo de educação de e para a diversidade

Conteúdo de carboidrato foliar em híbridos de milho submetidos à restrição hídrica

Water deficit is one of the main problems of agriculture and the ability of plants to overcome this stress is of great importance for the development of cultivars in breeding programs, especially in crops such as maize. The objectives of this work was to study the response of the carbohydrate content in the leaves and to verify the performance of the biometric characters in contrasting maize hybrids as to the drought tolerance during the water deficit in two phenological stages of the crop. The hybrids used in the study were DAS2B707 and DAS2B710 considered drought tolerant, due to hight performance and yield when submitted to water shortage conditions and FT510 and AS1522, considered sensitive according to results in the regional maize trials in second season at São Paulo state. A split plots design was used with three replications. The plots consisted of the three water regimens: (a) control – plants irrigated throughout the cycle; (b) water deficit from the vegetative stage (V5); and (c) water deficit from the flowering stage (R1), while the subplots consisted of the four hybrids. In general, the water deficit in the two phenological stages of the crop reduced leaf carbohydrate content, plant height, stem diameter, grain mass and total dry mass of practically all evaluated hybrids. The DAS2B707 showed a higher grain yield when there was a water deficit from the vegetative stage, indicating a higher potential under drought conditions. AS1522 was considered drought tolerant from the flowering stage due to the high content of sucrose obtained under water deficit conditions, characterizing an osmotic adjustment.O déficit hídrico é um dos principais problemas da agricultura e a habilidade das plantas superarem esse estresse é de grande importância para o desenvolvimento de cultivares em programas de melhoramento genético, principalmente em culturas como a do milho. O objetivo do trabalho foi estudar a resposta do teor de carboidrato nas folhas e verificar o desempenho dos caracteres biométricos em híbridos de milho contrastantes quanto à tolerância à seca, durante o déficit hídrico, em dois estádios fenológicos da cultura. Para isso, foram utilizados os híbridos DAS2B707 e DAS2B710, considerados tolerantes segundo informações da empresa e resultados de experimentos de avaliação de cultivares, e os híbridos FT510 e AS1522, considerados sensíveis pelas observações em experimentos de Safrinha no Estado de São Paulo. O delineamento empregado foi o de blocos casualizados, com parcelas subdivididas e três repetições. As parcelas constituíram-se nos tratamentos hídricos impostos: (a) controle – plantas irrigadas durante todo o ciclo; (b) déficit hídrico a partir do estádio vegetativo (V5); e (c) déficit hídrico a partir do estádio de florescimento (R1). De maneira geral, o déficit hídrico nos dois estádios fenológicos da cultura reduziu o conteúdo de carboidrato foliar, a altura da planta, o diâmetro do colmo, a massa de grãos e a massa seca total de praticamente todos os híbridos avaliados. O DAS2B707 se destacou por apresentar maior produtividade de grãos quando houve déficit hídrico a partir do estádio vegetativo, indicando um maior potencial produtivo em condições de seca nesse período. O AS1522 foi considerado tolerante à seca a partir do estádio de florescimento em razão do elevado teor de sacarose obtido em condições de déficit hídrico, caracterizando um ajustamento osmótico

Normal and pathogenic variation of RFC1 repeat expansions: implications for clinical diagnosis

Cerebellar Ataxia, Neuropathy and Vestibular Areflexia Syndrome (CANVAS) is an autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disease, usually caused by biallelic AAGGG repeat expansions in RFC1. In this study, we leveraged whole genome sequencing (WGS) data from nearly 10,000 individuals recruited within the Genomics England sequencing project to investigate the normal and pathogenic variation of the RFC1 repeat. We identified three novel repeat motifs, AGGGC (n=6 from 5 families), AAGGC (n=2 from 1 family), AGAGG (n=1), associated with CANVAS in the homozygous or compound heterozygous state with the common pathogenic AAGGG expansion. While AAAAG, AAAGGG and AAGAG expansions appear to be benign, here we show a pathogenic role for large AAAGG repeat configuration expansions (n=5). Long read sequencing was used to fully characterise the entire repeat sequence and revealed a pure AGGGC expansion in six patients, whereas the other patients presented complex motifs with AAGGG or AAAGG interruptions. All pathogenic motifs seem to have arisen from a common haplotype and are predicted to form highly stable G quadruplexes, which have been previously demonstrated to affect gene transcription in other conditions. The assessment of these novel configurations is warranted in CANVAS patients with negative or inconclusive genetic testing. Particular attention should be paid to carriers of compound AAGGG/AAAGG expansions, since the AAAGG motif when very large (>500 repeats) or in the presence of AAGGG interruptions. Accurate sizing and full sequencing of the satellite repeat with long read is recommended in clinically selected cases, in order to achieve an accurate molecular diagnosis and counsel patients and their families

Localization of anatomical changes in patients during proton therapy with in-beam PET monitoring: a voxel-based morphometry approach exploiting Monte Carlo simulations

Purpose: In-beam positron emission tomography (PET) is one of the modalities that can be used for in vivo noninvasive treatment monitoring in proton therapy. Although PET monitoring has been frequently applied for this purpose, there is still no straightforward method to translate the information obtained from the PET images into easy-to-interpret information for clinical personnel. The purpose of this work is to propose a statistical method for analyzing in-beam PET monitoring images that can be used to locate, quantify, and visualize regions with possible morphological changes occurring over the course of treatment. Methods: We selected a patient treated for squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) with proton therapy, to perform multiple Monte Carlo (MC) simulations of the expected PET signal at the start of treatment, and to study how the PET signal may change along the treatment course due to morphological changes. We performed voxel-wise two-tailed statistical tests of the simulated PET images, resembling the voxel-based morphometry (VBM) method commonly used in neuroimaging data analysis, to locate regions with significant morphological changes and to quantify the change. Results: The VBM resembling method has been successfully applied to the simulated in-beam PET images, despite the fact that such images suffer from image artifacts and limited statistics. Three dimensional probability maps were obtained, that allowed to identify interfractional morphological changes and to visualize them superimposed on the computed tomography (CT) scan. In particular, the characteristic color patterns resulting from the two-tailed statistical tests lend themselves to trigger alarms in case of morphological changes along the course of treatment. Conclusions: The statistical method presented in this work is a promising method to apply to PET monitoring data to reveal interfractional morphological changes in patients, occurring over the course of treatment. Based on simulated in-beam PET treatment monitoring images, we showed that with our method it was possible to correctly identify the regions that changed. Moreover we could quantify the changes, and visualize them superimposed on the CT scan. The proposed method can possibly help clinical personnel in the replanning procedure in adaptive proton therapy treatments

In-vivo range verification analysis with in-beam PET data for patients treated with proton therapy at CNAO

Morphological changes that may arise through a treatment course are probably one of the most significant sources of range uncertainty in proton therapy. Non-invasive in-vivo treatment monitoring is useful to increase treatment quality. The INSIDE in-beam Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanner performs in-vivo range monitoring in proton and carbon therapy treatments at the National Center of Oncological Hadrontherapy (CNAO). It is currently in a clinical trial (ID: NCT03662373) and has acquired in-beam PET data during the treatment of various patients. In this work we analyze the in-beam PET (IB-PET) data of eight patients treated with proton therapy at CNAO. The goal of the analysis is twofold. First, we assess the level of experimental fluctuations in inter-fractional range differences (sensitivity) of the INSIDE PET system by studying patients without morphological changes. Second, we use the obtained results to see whether we can observe anomalously large range variations in patients where morphological changes have occurred. The sensitivity of the INSIDE IB-PET scanner was quantified as the standard deviation of the range difference distributions observed for six patients that did not show morphological changes. Inter-fractional range variations with respect to a reference distribution were estimated using the Most-Likely-Shift (MLS) method. To establish the efficacy of this method, we made a comparison with the Beam's Eye View (BEV) method. For patients showing no morphological changes in the control CT the average range variation standard deviation was found to be 2.5 mm with the MLS method and 2.3 mm with the BEV method. On the other hand, for patients where some small anatomical changes occurred, we found larger standard deviation values. In these patients we evaluated where anomalous range differences were found and compared them with the CT. We found that the identified regions were mostly in agreement with the morphological changes seen in the CT scan

Microfinance, Microcredit, and Women’s Empowerment: An Exploration of the Grameen Bank Experience for Social Inclusion

Microfinance, originating in the mid-1800s but gaining modern prominence with Muhammad Yunus's Grameen Bank in 1970, has emerged as a potent tool for poverty alleviation. This paper explores the profound impact of microcredit on marginalized communities globally, particularly the empowerment of women, who constitute a majority of borrowers. Microcredit not only provides financial opportunities but also fosters confidence and belief in women's potential, transcending religious and national boundaries. Examining the origins and operations of microfinance, notably Grameen Bank, the paper distinguishes microfinance institutions from traditional banks. It addresses concerns about interest rates and presents compelling evidence linking microfinance access to poverty reduction. The core contribution of this research lies in its exploration of microcredit's dual function as an instrument for socioeconomic development and a catalyst for women's empowerment. We provide insights into how microcredit can contribute to fostering a more equitable world characterized by reduced poverty

Factors affecting Culicoides species composition and abundance in avian nests

Mechanisms affecting patterns of vector distribution among host individuals may influence the population and evol- utionary dynamics of vectors, hosts and the parasites transmitted. We studied the role of different factors affecting the species composition and abundance of Culicoides found in nests of the blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus). We identified 1531 females and 2 males of 7 different Culicoides species in nests, with C. simulator being the most abundant species, followed by C. kibunensis, C. festivipennis, C. segnis, C. truncorum, C. pictipennis and C. circumscriptus. We conducted a medi- cationrfumigation experiment randomly assigning bird’s nests to different treatments, thereby generating groups of medicated and control pairs breeding in fumigated and control nests. Medicated pairs were injected with the anti-malarial drug Primaquine diluted in saline solution while control pairs were injected with saline solution. The fumigation treatment was carried out using insecticide solution or water for fumigated and control nests respectively. Brood size was the main factor associated with the abundance of biting midges probably because more nestlings may produce higher quantities of vector attractants. In addition, birds medicated against haemoparasites breeding in non-fumigated nests supported a higher abundance of C. festivipennis than the rest of the groups. Also, we found that the fumigation treatment reduced the abundance of engorged Culicoides in both medicated and control nests, thus indicating a reduction of feeding success produced by the insecticide. These results represent the first evidence for the role of different factors in affecting the Culicoides infracommunity in wild avian nests.Peer reviewe