Manganese Phthalocyanine as a Biomimetic Electrocatalyst for Phenols in the Development of an Amperometric Sensor

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Development of Intra- and Interxylary Secondary Phloem in Coccinia indica (Cucurbitaceae)

Stern anatomy and the development of intraxylary phloem were investigated in six to eight years old Coccinia indica L. (Cucurbitaceae). Secondary growth in the stems was achieved by the normal cambial activity. In the innermost part of the thicker stems, xylem parenchyma and pith cells dedifferentiated into meristematic cells at several points. In some of the wider rays, ray cells dedifferentiate and produce secondary xylem and phloem with different orientations and sometimes a complete bicollateral vascular bundle. The inner cambial segments of the bicollateral vascular bundle (of primary growth) maintained radial arrangement even in the mature stems but in most places the cambia were either inactive or showed very few cell divisions. Concomitant with the obliteration and collapse of inner phloem (of bicollateral vascular bundles), parenchyma cells encircling the phloem became meristematic forming a circular sheath of internal cambia. These internal cambia produce only intraxylary secondary phloem centripetally and do not produce any secondary xylem. In the stem, secondary xylem consisted mainly of axial parenchyma, small strands of thick-walled xylem derivatives, i.e. vessel elements and fibres embedded in parenchymatous ground mass, wide and tall rays along with exceptionally wide vessels characteristic of lianas. In thick stems, the axial parenchyma de-differentiated into meristem, which later re-differentiated into interxylary phloem. Fibre dimorphism and pseudo-vestured pits in the vessels are also reported.

Canine cerebral leishmaniasis: Potential role of matrix metalloproteinase-2 in the development of neurological disease

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Protective Effect of HLA-DRB1*11 and Predisposition of HLA-C*04 in the Development of Severe Liver Damage in Brazilian Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Infection

The objective of this study was to investigate human leucocyte antigen (HLA) genes in patients chronically infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) and to analyse the possible role of these genes in the progression of chronic hepatitis C. One hundred and forty-five (145) Brazilian patients infected only with HCV genotype 1 were evaluated. HLA class I (A*, B*, C*) and class II (DRB1*, DQA1*, DQB1*) typing were carried out by PCR-SSO, through Luminex technology. Associations were found with protection against development of liver damage by both DRB1*11 (5.0% versus 18.2%, P = 0.0016, OR = 0.23, CI 95% = 0.090.58; Pc=0.0208) and DRB1*11-DQA1*05-DQB1*03 haplotype (4.2% versus 15.3%, P = 0.0032; OR = 0.24, CI 95% = 0.08-0.64). Liver damage was associated with HLA-C*04 in patients with <20 years of infection (38.4% versus 9.1%, P = 0.002, OR = 6.25, CI 95% = 1.9719.7; Pc=0.0238). It is concluded that HLA alleles can influence the development of liver damage in HCV type-1 chronically infected Brazilian patients.

Bovine dominant follicular fluid promotes the in vitro development of goat preantral follicles

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

A case study of concurrent engineering application on the development of parts for the white goods industry in Brazil

This classical way to manage product development processes for massive production seems to be changing: high pressure for cost reduction, higher quality standards, markets reaching for innovation lead to the necessity of new tools for development control. Into this, and learning from the automotive and aerospace industries factories from other segments are starting to understand and apply manufacturing and assembly oriented projects to ease the task of generate goods and from this obtain at least a part of the expected results. This paper is intended to demonstrate the applicability of the concepts of Concurrent Engineering and DFM/DFA (Design for Manufacturing and Assembly) in the development of products and parts for the White Goods industry in Brazil (major appliances as refrigerators, cookers and washing machines), showing one case concerning the development and releasing of a component. Finally is demonstrated in a short term how was reached a solution that could provide cost savings and reduction on the time to delivery using those techniques.

Effect of sequential medium with fibroblast growth factor-10 and follicle stimulating hormone on in vitro development of goat preantral follicles

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Genetic parameters and investigation of genotype x environment interactions in Nellore x Hereford crossbred for resistance to cattle ticks in different regions of Brazil

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Influence of Insulin-like Growth Factor I (IGF-I) on the survival and the in vitro development of caprine preantral follicles

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Evaluation of the use of probiotic acid lactic bacteria in the development of chicken hambúrguer

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of fermentation with Lactobacillus acidophilus CRL 1014 on the physicochemical, microbiological and sensory characteristics of a hamburger product like processed with chicken meat and okara flour, with reduction of curing salts. A mixture of ingredients containing 90% chicken meat and 10% okara flour was subjected to the following treatments: F1: fermented with Lactobacillus acidophilus; F2:75 mg nitrite/kg and fermented with Lactobacillus acidophilus; F3: 150 mg nitrite/kg and unfermented. The quality of the “hamburgers” was assessed by physical and chemical analysis (pH, cooking yield and shrinkage), chemical composition, microbiological tests (Salmonella spp., count of sulphite-reducing clostridia, staphylococos coagulase-positive, total coliforms and Escherichia coli) and sensory analysis (sensory acceptance and purchase intent). During the first six days of fermentation, there was a decrease in pH from approximately 6.33 to 5.10. All the samples showed the same chemical composition (p < 0.05). The fermentation process was observed to inhibit the multiplication of microorganisms of several groups: coagulasepositive staphylococci, sulphite-reducing clostridia, Salmonella spp. and E. coli. The different “hamburgers” formulations showed high scores for all the sensory attributes evaluated, without differing from each other (p < 0.05). The results showed that the use of L. acidophilus CRL 1014 enabled the production of a safe product, with good physicochemical and sensory characteristics, in the absence of curing salts.

Development of technologies and methods for monitoring the spatial variability of air temperature in greenhouse environment

Climatic factors directly influence growth and productivity of plants inside greenhouses, where temperature can be considered one of the major parameter in this context. Thus, the aim of this research was to develop a low cost device for thermal sensing and data acquisition, and use it in data collection and analysis of spatial variability of temperature inside a greenhouse with tropical climate. The developed equipment for thermal measurements showed a high degree of accuracy and fast responses in measurements, proving its efficiency. The data analysis interpretations were made from the elaborations of variograms and of tridimensional maps generated by a geostatistical software. The processed data analysis presented that a greenhouse without thermal control has spatial variations of air temperature, both in the sampled horizontals layers as in the three analyzed vertical columns, presenting variations of up to 3.6 ºC in certain times.