Dinâmica de Sedimentação de Lodo em Lagoas de Estabilização

Stabilization ponds are an effective sewage treatment alternative for the climatic conditions prevailing in Brazil. In the present work, a primary facultative pond was studied, in the city of Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Northeast Brazil. The aim of this study was to evaluate the sedimentation dynamics in the facultative pond. The pond was divided in three section or zones along its length starting from the inlet end namely A1, A2 and A3. The research was accomplished in three phases. In the first the mapping of the sludge layer was done, sludge core samples were also collected for analysis for total, fixed and volatile solids and the depth of the sludge layer was determined using a portable echo sounder. In the second solids sedimentation rates were measured using traps placed in the inlet and outlet zones and in the third phase resuspension sludge was evaluate using a tracer. The amount accumulated sludge since the start operation was 13.583 m3. The sedimentation constant averages changed between 0.93 to 2.94 and 3.90 to 5.80 for the depths of 0.5 and 1.0 m respectively. The relationship between volatile and fixed solids (SV/SF) increased along the pond. The removal efficiencies were 52.12%, 36.09%, and 37.50% for BOD, COD and SS, respectively. The sludge accumulation model proposed had a good adjustment with 0.17 m3/hab.year rate. The results presented here demonstrated that the wind had a direct influence on the sedimentation of solids in this pond affecting the efficiency and sludge accumulation

Evolução da biodegradabilidade da matéria orgânica em um sistema de lagoas de estabilização

Waste stabilization ponds (WSP) have been widely used for sewage treatment in hot climate regions because they are economic and environmentally sustainable. In the present study a WSP complex comprising a primary facultative pond (PFP) followed by two maturation ponds (MP-1 and MP-2) was studied, in the city of Natal-RN. The main objective was to study the bio-degradability of organic matter through the determination of the kinetic constant k throughout the system. The work was carried out in two phases. In the first, the variability in BOD, COD and TOC concentrations and an analysis of the relations between these parameters, in the influent raw sewage, pond effluents and in specific areas inside the ponds was studied. In the second stage, the decay rate for organic matter (k) was determined throughout the system based on BOD tests on the influent sewage, pond effluents and water column samples taken from fixed locations within the ponds, using the mathematical methods of Least Squares and the Thomas equation. Subsequently k was estimated as a function of a hydrodynamic model determined from the dispersion number (d), using empirical methods and a Partial Hydrodynamic Evaluation (PHE), obtained from tracer studies in a section of the primary facultative pond corresponding to 10% of its total length. The concentrations of biodegradable organic matter, measured as BOD and COD, gradually reduced through the series of ponds, giving overall removal efficiencies of 71.95% for BOD and of 52.45% for COD. Determining the values for k, in the influent and effluent samples of the ponds using the mathematical method of Least Squares, gave the following values respectively: primary facultative pond (0,23 day-1 and 0,09 day-1), maturation 1 (0,04 day-1 and 0,03 day-1) and maturation 2 (0,03 day-1 and 0,08 day-1). When using the Thomas method, the values of k in the influents and effluents of the ponds were: primary facultative pond (0,17 day-1 and 0,07 day-1), maturation 1 (0,02 day-1 and 0,01 day-1) and maturation 2 (0,01 day-1 and 0,02 day-1). From the Partial Hydrodynamic Evaluation, in the first section of the facultative pond corresponding to 10% of its total length, it can be concluded from the dispersion number obtained of d = 0.04, that the hydraulic regime is one of dispersed flow with a kinetic constant value of 0.20 day-1

"O núcleo supraquiasmático e o folheto intergeniculado do mocó (Kerodon rupestris): Projeções retinianas e caracterização imuno-histoquímica

In this study, two circadian related centres, the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) and the intergeniculate leaflet (IGL) were evaluated in respect to their cytoarchitecture, retinal afferents and chemical content of major cells and axon terminals with a tract tracer and immunohistochemical techniques in the rock cavy (Kerodon rupestris), a Brazilian caviidae rodent species. The rock cavy SCN is innervated in its ventral portion by terminals from the predominantly contralateral retina. It also contains neurophisin and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide immunoreactive cell bodies and neuropeptide Y and enkephalin immunopositive fibres and terminals and is marked by intense GFAP immunoreactivity. The IGL receives a predominantly contralateral retinal projection, contains neuropeptide Y and nitric oxide synthase producing neurons and enkephalin immunopositive terminals and is characterized by dense GFAP immunoreactivity. This is the first report examining the neural circadian system in a crepuscular rodent species for which circadian properties have been described. The results are discussed comparing with what has been described for other species and in the context of the functional significance of these centres

O trato retino-hipotalâmico no mocó (Kerodon rupestris): Um estudo de traçado anterógrado com a subunidade b da toxina colérica

The light, besides the vision stimuli, controls other process completely independent of image formation, such as the synchronization of the organismic circadian rhythms to the enviromental light/dark cycle. In mammals, this adjust occurs through the retinohypothalamic tract, a direct retinal projection to the suprachiasmatic nucleus, considered to be the major circadian pacemaker. Early studies have identified only the suprachiasmatic nucleus as a retinal target in the hypothalamus. However, using more sensitive neuroanatomic tracers, other retinorecipient hypothalamic regions outside to suprachiasmatic nucleus were pointed in a great number of mammalian species. In this study, the retinohypothalamic tract was shown in the rock cavy (Kerodon rupestris), an endemic rodent of the semiarid region of the Brazilian Northeast, using unilateral intravitreal injections of cholera toxin subunit b as a neuronal tracer. The results reveal that in the rock cavy, besides the suprachiasmatic nucleus, several hypothalamic regions receive direct retinal projection, such as the ventrolateral preoptic nucleus, medial and lateral preoptic areas, the supraoptic nucleus and bordering areas, anterior, lateral and rectrochiasmatic hypothalamic areas, and the subparaventricular zone. The results are discussed by comparing with those of the literature, into a functional context