Caracterização in situ e diversidade genética de algodoeiros mocós (Gossypium hissutum raça marie galante) da Região Nordeste do Brasil

Brazil is one of the major centers of diversity for polyploid cotton plants; these plants belong to the genus Gossypium, which has three known species: G. hirsutum, G. barbadense and G. mustelinum. The Northeast is the only region where the three species occur, the last group being endemic. Northeast s cotton plants can be important sources of variability for genetic breeding. It is believed that great part of local diversity is being lost, due to economic, political, cultural and agricultural problems. In an attempt to mitigate this loss and delineate conservation strategies it is necessary to know how the species are found where they occur. The objective was to characterize and determine how plants are maintained in situ in the states of Maranhão, Piauí, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte and Paraíba at the beginning of the XXI century. The in situ characterization of G. hirsutum and G. barbadense was conducted through structured interviews with the cotton plants owners and through the analysis of the environment. The data were collected during expeditions undertaken between the years 2004 to 2005. Twenty-two plants were collected in the state of Paraíba, forty-four in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, one hundred and forty-six in the state of Ceará, forty in the state of Maranhão and ninety-one plants in the state of Piauí. All plants collected in the states of Paraíba and Rio Grande do Norte belonged to moco type. Moco cotton plants also predominated in the other states, representing 92%, 62% and 78% of plants collected in Ceará, Piauí and Maranhão, respectively. The other cotton plants collected belong to the species G. barbadense. The cotton plants were found in situ as dooryard plants, roads side, feral populations, cultivation or local varieties. Great part were dooryard plants (45.2%), being major in Piauí and Maranhão. Cultivation predominated in Ceará; in Rio Grande do Norte feral populations were the most frequent and, in Paraíba, local varieties. The maintenance of moco plants is related, mainly, to the phytotherapic domestic use (20.9%) and to confection of lamp wicks (29.7%). Few inhabitants in Paraíba, Rio Grande do Norte, Piauí and none in Maranhão used harvest the plants, storage the seeds or gin; however, in Ceará, 40.5% of owners affirmed that they harvested and commercialized the fiber. It was found that the maintenance of species is dependent of the fragile cultural habits of local inhabitants, therefore the maintenance in situ is not a suitable way to conservation of genetic resources. The efforts must be directed to the continuity of collections, maintenance and characterization ex situ

caracterização in situ e estrutura genética de populações de Gossypium mustelinum

Gossypium mustelinum Miers ex Watt is the only cotton species native from Brazil. It is endemic of the semi-arid region from North-east of the country, where it occur near from resilient water sources. The threats to the in situ conservation of the populations are caused by human interference in its habitat, mainly by excessive cattle graze and deforestation. Establish efficient strategies of in situ conservation depend on the accomplishment of a diagnosis of how the specie is found in its natural environment, and the knowledge about the genetic structure of the populations. The objectives of this work were i) to determine the in situ conditions of two populations present in rivers from basin of Rio Paraguaçu at the Bahia State, ii) to evaluate the structure and genetic variability presented in both populations, iii) to establish in situ and ex situ conservation strategies. It were realized collection in november 2007, when was realized in situ characterization of G. mustelinum. SSR markers were used for analyze 218 genotypes deriving from two populations of the G. mustelinum, localized at Tocó river and the Capivara river. The allelic frequencies, the heterozigosity and the F statics were estimated. All the plants were classified as wild and natives, and there was no evidence of the use the plants or its parts. The populations showed different conservation conditions in situ. Few plantlets were found in sites with excessive cattle feed, an indication that the damages in young plants should be high enough to compromise the renovation of the populations. On the other hand, populations were well preserved when the anthropic damages was low or inexistent. The 14 SSR primer pairs amplified 17 loci with a medium number of 5 alleles per locus (a total of 85 alleles). The high level of endogamy estimated (FIS=0,808) and the low observed heterozygosity (H0=0,093) were indicatives that the populations reproduce mainly by selfing, geitonogamy and crosses between related individuals. The genetic diversity was high (HE=0,482) and the differentiation between the populations was very high (FST=0,328). At least two sites from both populations of G. mustelinum must be preserved to achieve suitable in situ conservation. Actions that preserve the gallery forest and keep the cattle away should implemented, and could be as simple as erecting a fence. It is not possible anticipated if the in situ preservation will be possible. Therefore collections and ex situ preservation of representative specimens are essential to conserve the genetic diversity of native G. mustelinum

Caracterização genética e in situ de Gossypium barbadense na região norte do Brasil

Brazil has been considered one of the diversity centers of Gossypium barbadense species. It is believed that a relatively big erosion genetic process occurs with the species, due to economic, cultural and agricultural problems. A local diagnostic about species situation is the first step for reducing the diversity loss and establishing conservation strategies in situ. This research aimed the identification of the presence of Gossypium populations, characterization, determination of the main risks and collection of the accesses to store in germoplam banks, in Para and Amapa States. Expeditions were conducted in November 2004. An interview was carried out with the plant proprietor for characterizing in situ of G. barbadense species and of the environment where the plants were inserted. On hundred seventy nine plants in 22 municipal districts were collected in Para State and 117 plants in nine municipal districts in Amapa State. The majority of plants belong to G. barbadense species (98% in Amapa and 94% in Para). Plants occur in back yards, beside roads and spontaneously. That ones from back yards were more abundant (97% in Amapa and 95% in Para) and maintained as medicinal plants as the principal reason. Plants in natural environments in both states evaluated were not found, therefore, the creation of reserves and the application of others conventional methods of maintenance in situ are not applicable. The plant proprietors do not use to store or process seeds. Seed storage was reported as a practice by only 1% of the plant proprietors from Para and 11% from Amapa. The most plants collected were from two to three years of age (58% in Amapa and 93% in Para). As conclusions G. barbadense is the species most spread in the two studied states and are found in back yards. In Amapa State the botanical variety barbadense or Quebradinho is predominant, whereas in Para State the predominant variety is brasiliense or Rim-de-boi. Adequate conservation of thestudied species must be carried out in germoplasm collections maintained ex situ

Desenvolvimento de novos procedimentos analíticos para diferenciação in situ de espécies lábeis e inertes em sistemas aquáticos e para especiação de Cu(II) e Pb(II) complexados com nanopartículas de sílica

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Utilização do defletómetro de impacto ligeiro, do GeoGauge e do densímetro elétrico para o controlo in situ da qualidade de materiais em obras de pavimentação rodoviária

A presente dissertação procura contribuir para avaliar a utilidade de três equipamentos ligeiros na caracterização in situ de materiais de pavimentação de infraestruturas de transporte. Aquele tipo de avaliação visa o controlo de qualidade dos materiais durante o processo construtivo, embora possa contribuir também para estimar o comportamento previsível dos materiais utilizados. O estudo centrou-se principalmente na utilização do Defletómetro de Impacto Ligeiro (DIL), do GeoGauge (GG) e do Densímetro Elétrico (DE). No entanto, realizaramse complementarmente ensaios com o Cone de Penetração Dinâmica (CPD), com o Gamadensímetro (GD) e com o Indicador de Qualidade de Pavimentos (IQP). O GG e o DIL foram concebidos com o objetivo de medirem o módulo de deformabilidade de camadas constituídas por solo ou por materiais granulares. O DE destina-se a avaliar a qualidade da compactação de camadas de solo. Numa fase inicial do trabalho, fez-se uma recolha bibliográfica sobre as características, os princípios de funcionamento e o modo operatório de cada um dos equipamentos, de modo a apoiar o estudo de caso que se realizou mais tarde no âmbito do trabalho. O estudo bibliográfico centrou-se ainda na procura dos parâmetros que é possível medir com cada um dos equipamentos estudados, bem como na procura de relações entre aqueles parâmetros. Para a realização da campanha de ensaios previamente estabelecida, o estudo incluiu a construção de um modelo físico de pavimento. O pavimento construído, com dimensões em planta da ordem de 2 1,5 m2, é constituído por duas estruturas diferentes, assentes sobre a mesma fundação, com uma espessura total de 29 cm: uma formada por uma camada granular e uma camada betuminosa; a outra constituída por uma camada de solo estabilizado com cimento e uma camada betuminosa. Os materiais constituintes do modelo foram caracterizados em laboratório e/ou in situ com recurso a ensaios convencionais. Nalguns casos recorreu-se às fichas de produto para recolher as propriedades necessárias. Na fundação estudou-se a utilização do DIL, do GG e do DE. Adicionalmente, avaliou-se o solo, com o CPD e com o GD. Nas camadas granular e de solo estabilizado estudou-se a utilização do DIL, do GG e do GD. Na camada betuminosa efetuaram-se ensaios com o DIL e com o IQP. Em cada um dos materiais colocados foi estudada a utilização dos equipamentos individualmente, de modo a obter os parâmetros caracterizadores dos materiais: o CBR (com o CPD), o módulo de deformabilidade (com o DIL, o GG e o CPD), a baridade seca e o teor em água (com o GD e o DE), a baridade (com o IQP). Quando se revelou útil, compararam-se resultados obtidos com os diferentes equipamentos para cada um dos materiais. Em termos gerais, pode afirmar-se que a utilização dos equipamentos testados pode contribuir de forma útil para avaliar os materiais in situ. Contudo, foram detetadas fragilidades no processo de caracterização, particularmente no que diz respeito à análise de sistemas multicamada com o DIL. O processo de calibração necessário à obtenção de resultados fiáveis com o DE revelou-se pouco prático. Além disso, o GG permitiu obter resultados com baixa variabilidade, embora geralmente bastante diferentes dos obtidos com o DIL. Os equipamentos complementares estudados neste trabalho mostraram ser úteis na avaliação dos materiais. Em suma, para que o controlo de qualidade seja efetivo, é necessário estabelecer, através de estudos mais alargados, quais os materiais em os equipamentos estudados podem ser utilizados com propriedade, e quais os critérios de aceitação/rejeição dos materiais que devem ser considerados em cada caso.

Síntese e caracterização de blendas borracha natural/polianilina e borracha natural/polipirrol obtidas por polimerização in situ

Pós-graduação em Ciência dos Materiais - FEIS

Caracterização morfológica, perfil químico, atividade biológica e conservação in situ do gênero Lychnophora Mart. (Asteraceae: Vernonieae: Lychnophorinae), Brasil

Many people who live in the cerrado regions use plant species for therapeutic purposes. However, due to intensive extraction of some species, native botanical populations are at risk of disappearing or suffering a dramatic decrease, such as, for instance, individuals of the Lychnophora genus. This has 24 species distributed into the categories vulnerable, endangered, critically endangered, and possibly extinct. These individuals are known in folk medicine as “arnica” and their leaves and flowers are commonly used as anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and healing agents. The chemical profile of the genus is characterized by the presence of sesquiterpene lactones, sesquiterpenes, diterpenes, triterpenes, flavonoids, steroids, polyacetylenes, and caryophyllene derivatives which also have lignans with analgesic activity. Studies with Lychnophora species show significant results with regard to their biological activities against Leishmania amazonensis, Staphylococcus aureus, and Tripanosoma cruzi. Therefore, this study aimed to perform a survey of the morphology, chemical composition, and biological activity, as well as the use and current conservation status of the Lychnophora genus in Brazil.

Síntese e avaliação de hidrogéis à base de alginato e nanopartículas magnéticas preparadas in situ para remoção de Mn(II) e Ni(II) de efluente industrial

Esta Dissertação teve como objetivo,a síntese de hidrogéis à base de alginato e nanopartículas magnéticas (maghemita) preparadas in situ. Os hidrogéis foram preparados em diferentes concentrações de alginato de sódio (2 e 3% m/v), FeSO4 (0,3 e 0,5 mol L-1) e CaCl2 (0,1 e 0,3 mol L-1). As propriedades físico-químicas dos hidrogéis foram analisadas e, posteriormente, foram avaliados quanto à capacidade de remoção de íons Ni2+ e Mn2+ de soluções aquosas. Para caracterização das amostras foram utilizadas diversas técnicas de análises, tais como, análise granulométrica, microscopia óptica (OM), microscopia eletrônica de varredura (SEM), microscopia eletrônica de transmissão (TEM), magnetometria de amostra vibrante (VSM), espectroscopia na região do infravermelho por transformada de Fourier (FTIR), difratometria de raios-X (XRD), espectroscopia Mössbauer, e análise termogravimétrica (TGA). Foram preparados hidrogéis com morfologia predominantemente esférica e dimensões micrométricas (500 a 850 m), com átomos de Fe e Ca dispersos uniformemente em sua estrutura. Os hidrogéis apresentaram boa resistência térmica e comportamento superparamagnético. As amostras foram intumescidas em água deionizada durante um intervalo de tempo a fim de avaliar o grau de intumescimento (Q) para determinar a amostra com a melhor resposta para posterior aplicação em solução aquosa contendo íons metálicos (Ni2+ e Mn2+). Os resultados revelaram que a amostra cuja concentração de 3% m/v de alginato de sódio, 0,3 mol L-1 de FeSO4 e 0,3 mol L-1 de CaCl2 obteve maior Q (50%). Em consequência deste resultado, optou-se por utilizar estaamostra, na remoção de metais pesados presentes em soluções aquosas e em efluentes industriais. Vários parâmetros,tais como: tempo de contato,pH, concentração inicial do íon e massa de hidrogel foram estudados.Os resultados, para efluente sintético, revelaram que o tempo de equilíbrio foi de 60 minutos; a capacidade de remoção dos metais melhora com o aumento de pH (3 a 9), sendo máxima em pH 7;quanto menor a concentração inicial da solução iônica (50 a 500 mg L-1), maior a capacidade de remoção, 52% de Ni2+ e 49% de Mn2+ (concentração inicial de 50 mg L-1). No efluente industrial, a remoção foi de 61% de Ni2+ e 57% de Mn2+(300 mg de hidrogel). Os resultados encontrados revelaram que os hidrogéis magnéticos produzidos à base de alginato têm potencial uso no tratamento de efluentes industriais contaminados com metais pesados

Atividade antibacteriana de óleo essencial de orégano (Origanum vulgare): ações in vitro e in situ para preservação de alimento

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

In Situ Observation of the Thermal Decomposition of Weddelite by Heating Stage Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy

The morphological and chemical changes occurring during the thermal decomposition of weddelite, CaC2O4·2H2O, have been followed in real time in a heating stage attached to an Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope operating at a pressure of 2 Torr, with a heating rate of 10 °C/min and an equilibration time of approximately 10 min. The dehydration step around 120 °C and the loss of CO around 425 °C do not involve changes in morphology, but changes in the composition were observed. The final reaction of CaCO3 to CaO while evolving CO2 around 600 °C involved the formation of chains of very small oxide particles pseudomorphic to the original oxalate crystals. The change in chemical composition could only be observed after cooling the sample to 350 °C because of the effects of thermal radiation.

Ceramic membranes for separation of proteins and DNA by in situ growth of alumina nanofibres with a nanomesh of metal oxide nanofibres

Ceramic membranes were fabricated by in situ synthesis of alumina nanofibres in the pores of an alumina support as a separation layer, and exhibited a high permeation selectivity for bovine serum albumin relative to bovine hemoglobin (over 60 times) and can effectively retain DNA molecules at high fluxes.

Synthesis of 4-arm star poly(L-Lactide) oligomers using an in situ-generated calcium-based initiator

Using an in situ-generated calcium-based initiating species derived from pentaerythritol, the bulk synthesis of well-defined 4-arm star poly(L-lactide) oligomers has been studied in detail. The substitution of the traditional initiator, stannous octoate with calcium hydride allowed the synthesis of oligomers that had both low PDIs and a comparable number of polymeric arms (3.7 – 3.9) to oligomers of similar molecular weight. Investigations into the degree of control observed during the course of the polymerization found that the insolubility of pentaerythritol in molten L-lactide resulted in an uncontrolled polymerization only when the feed mole ratio of L-lactide to pentaerythritol was 13. At feed ratios of 40 and greater, a pseudo-living polymerization was observed. As part of this study, in situ FT-Raman spectroscopy was demonstrated to be a suitable method to monitor the kinetics of the ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of lactide. The advantages of using this technique rather than FT-IR-ATR and 1H NMR for monitoring L-lactide consumption during polymerization are discussed.

Influence of spherical intraocular lens implantation and conventional laser in situ keratomileusis on peripheral ocular aberrations

Aim: To measure the influence of spherical intraocular lens implantation and conventional myopic laser in situ keratomileusis on peripheral ocular aberrations. Setting: Visual & Ophthalmic Optics Laboratory, School of Optometry & Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia. Methods: Peripheral aberrations were measured using a modified commercial Hartmann-Shack aberrometer across 42° x 32° of the central visual field in 6 subjects after spherical intraocular lens (IOL) implantation and in 6 subjects after conventional laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) for myopia. The results were compared with those of age matched emmetropic and myopic control groups. Results: The IOL group showed a greater rate of quadratic change of spherical equivalent refraction across the visual field, higher spherical aberration, and greater rates of change of higher-order root-mean-square aberrations and total root-mean-square aberrations across the visual field than its emmetropic control group. However, coma trends were similar for the two groups. The LASIK group had a greater rate of quadratic change of spherical equivalent refraction across the visual field, higher spherical aberration, the opposite trend in coma across the field, and greater higher-order root-mean-square aberrations and total root-mean-square aberrations than its myopic control group. Conclusion: Spherical IOL implantation and conventional myopia LASIK increase ocular peripheral aberrations. They cause considerable increase in spherical aberration across the visual field. LASIK reverses the sign of the rate of change in coma across the field relative to that of the other groups. Keywords: refractive surgery, LASIK, IOL implantation, aberrations, peripheral aberrations