Aquatic macrophyte distribution in relation to water and sediment conditions in the Itaipu Reservoir, Brazil

Aquatic macrophyte community distribution along the eastern shoreline of the Itaipu Reservoir (one of the South America's largest impoundments) is described in relation to limnological and sedimentological factors. The central body of the reservoir is mesotrophic, while the arms (flooded influent river valleys) along the eastern shore may be oligo-mesotrophic to eutrophic, depending on time of year and sub-catchment characteristics. Macrophyte community composition and species cover were surveyed at 30 sites in four arms, in relation to sediment total P and organic matter; underwater light regime; and water total P and Kjeldahl N concentration, alkalinity, conductivity, depth and pH. Seventeen euhydrophyte and six emergent macrophyte species were recorded. Large stands of Egeria najas dominated the euhydrophyte vegetation, together with free-floating weed species (Pistia stratiotes Linn., Salvinia auriculata Aublet and Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms.). Canonical Correspondence Analysis of the data showed that two sets of variables were important predictors of aquatic macrophyte community structure. Floating macrophyte assemblage was closely related to concentration of nutrients in both water and sediment, while light penetration was the strongest predictor of submerged species occurrence. Although a large number of potential nuisance species were present, dense growths were restricted to shallower areas of the Itaipu Reservoir, causing localised problems. The possibility of increasing interference by these plants with fisheries, recreational use, transport and hydroelectricity generation suggests a need for continued monitoring of weed distribution and abundance, and investigation of appropriate management measures.

Interaction between Advanced Glycation End Products Formation and Vascular Responses in Femoral and Coronary Arteries from Exercised Diabetic Rats

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

Classification and characterization of places for mapping of environment using hierarchical neural network and omnivision

Mobile robots need autonomy to fulfill their tasks. Such autonomy is related whith their capacity to explorer and to recognize their navigation environments. In this context, the present work considers techniques for the classification and extraction of features from images, using artificial neural networks. This images are used in the mapping and localization system of LACE (Automation and Evolutive Computing Laboratory) mobile robot. In this direction, the robot uses a sensorial system composed by ultrasound sensors and a catadioptric vision system equipped with a camera and a conical mirror. The mapping system is composed of three modules; two of them will be presented in this paper: the classifier and the characterizer modules. Results of these modules simulations are presented in this paper.

Mixing and motion of rice particles in a rotating drum

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

Assessment of Donana National Park contamination in Procambarus clarkii: Integration of conventional biomarkers and proteomic approaches

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of pulp capping materials in two cell lines

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Paracetamol degradation intermediates and toxicity during photo-Fenton treatment using different iron species

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

Prevalence of precancerous skin lesions and non-melanoma skin cancer in Japanese-Brazilians in Bauru, São Paulo State, Brazil

Manifestações cutâneas pré-neoplásicas e neoplásicas em asiáticos são infreqüentes e pouco documentadas. O Brasil possui o maior contingente de imigrantes japoneses e 70% deles residem no Estado de São Paulo. A prevalência dessas lesões em nipo-brasileiros é desconhecida. O presente estudo tem como objetivo avaliar a prevalência de queratoses actínicas e tumores cutâneos não melanomas em nipo-brasileiros acima de trinta anos de 1ª geração ou 2ª geração, sem miscigenação, residentes na cidade de Bauru, no ano de 2006. Dos 567 nipo-brasileiros submetidos a exame dermatológico, diagnosticou-se queratose actínica em 76 pacientes, com média de idade de 68,9 anos, e único carcinoma basocelular em paciente do sexo feminino de 39 anos. No Japão, a prevalência de queratose actínica é de 0,76% a 5% e a incidência de tumores cutâneos não melanomas é de 1,2 a 5,4/100 mil. Os nipo-brasileiros de Bauru apresentaram prevalência de 13,4% de queratoses actínicas e idade mais precoce de aparecimento. Proximidade com o Equador e atividades rurais contribuem para esses achados. A presença de melanose solar demonstrou risco 1,9 vez maior de desenvolver queratose actínica.

Comparison of simulated periodontal bone defect depth measured in digital radiographs in dedicated and non-dedicated software systems

Objectives: To compare simulated periodontal bone defect depth measured in digital radiographs with dedicated and non-dedicated software systems and to compare the depth measurements from each program with the measurements in dry mandibles.Methods: Forty periodontal bone defects were created at the proximal area of the first premolar in dry pig mandibles. Measurements of the defects were performed with a periodontal probe in the dry mandible. Periapical digital radiographs of the defects were recorded using the Schick sensor in a standardized exposure setting. All images were read using a Schick dedicated software system (CDR DICOM for Windows v.3.5), and three commonly available non-dedicated software systems (Vix Win 2000 v.1.2; Adobe Photoshop 7.0 and Image Tool 3.0). The defects were measured three times in each image and a consensus was reached among three examiners using the four software systems. The difference between the radiographic measurements was analysed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and by comparing the measurements from each software system with the dry mandibles measurements using Student's t-test.Results: the mean values of the bone defects measured in the radiographs were 5.07 rum, 5.06 rum, 5.01 mm and 5.11 mm for CDR Digital Image and Communication in Medicine (DICOM) for Windows, Vix Win, Adobe Photoshop, and Image Tool, respectively, and 6.67 mm for the dry mandible. The means of the measurements performed in the four software systems were not significantly different, ANOVA (P = 0.958). A significant underestimation of defect depth was obtained when we compared the mean depths from each software system with the dry mandible measurements (t-test; P congruent to 0.000).Conclusions: the periodontal bone defect measurements in dedicated and in three non-dedicated software systems were not significantly different, but they all underestimated the measurements when compared with the measurements obtained in the dry mandibles.

Evaluating distributed time-varying generation through a multiobjective index

In the last decade, distributed generation, with its various technologies, has increased its presence in the energy mix presenting distribution networks with challenges in terms of evaluating the technical impacts that require a wide range of network operational effects to be qualified and quantified. The inherent time-varying behavior of demand and distributed generation (particularly when renewable sources are used), need to be taken into account since considering critical scenarios of loading and generation may mask the impacts. One means of dealing with such complexity is through the use of indices that indicate the benefit or otherwise of connections at a given location and for a given horizon. This paper presents a multiobjective performance index for distribution networks with time-varying distributed generation which consider a number of technical issues. The approach has been applied to a medium voltage distribution network considering hourly demand and wind speeds. Results show that this proposal has a better response to the natural behavior of loads and generation than solely considering a single operation scenario.

The induction of cytotoxicity, oxidative stress, and genotoxicity by root canal sealers in mammalian cells

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

Polyradiculoneuropathy and neurocysticercosis: Case report

Report of a patient with the hydrocephalic and meningoencephalitic form of neurocysticercosis who simultaneously developed polyradiculoneuropathy and intracranial hypertension syndrome during the first week of treatment with albendazole. Etiologic agents associated with polyradiculoneuropathy related in the literature are cited. Some comments about the possible physiopathogeny of this entity in the presence of cysticercosis are also done. It is mentioned another case who presented polyradiculoneuropathy as the only manifestation of a probable cysticercosis of the nervous system. In this presented case, including the neurocysticercosis and even a mere coincidence of facts, some factors can have a relationship with the appearance of polyradiculoneuropathy as the surgical stress, the stress due to the severity of the clinical picture and the possible side effect of albendazole.

Two-Way Selection for Daily Gain and Feed Conversion in a Composite Rabbit Population

We conducted a two-way selection experiment in a composite rabbit population to investigate the responses to selection for postweaning ADG and feed conversion (FC). Two generations of crossing, followed by four generations of random pair matings, preceded three generations of selection. Selection was practiced within four lines: high-feed conversion (HFC), low-feed conversion (LFC), high gain (HG), and low gain (LG). Data on 1,446 rabbits from the random mating and selection generations were fitted to an animal model to estimate heritabilities of and the genetic correlation between ADG and FC. The two-trait model included rabbit and common litter random effects and line, generation, and sex fixed effects. Estimates of heritability of ADG and FC were .48 and .29, respectively, and the genetic correlation between them was -.82. Common litter environmental effects accounted for a proportion of .11 and . 13 of the phenotypic variation of the two traits, respectively. For ADG (in g/d) the regressions of mean breeding values on generation number during the selection period were 1.23 ± .12 (P < .01) in the HG line and -.86 ± .12 (P < .01) in the LG line; the regressions for FC (in g feed/g gain) were -.07 ± .01 (P < .01) in the HFC line and .03 ± .01 (P < .05) in the LFC line. Selection for ADG was effective in improving ADG and FC.

Harmonics filtering and detection of disturbances using wavelets

Traditional mathematical tools, like Fourier Analysis, have proven to be efficient when analyzing steady-state distortions; however, the growing utilization of electronically controlled loads and the generation of a new dynamics in industrial environments signals have suggested the need of a powerful tool to perform the analysis of non-stationary distortions, overcoming limitations of frequency techniques. Wavelet Theory provides a new approach to harmonic analysis, focusing the decomposition of a signal into non-sinusoidal components, which are translated and scaled in time, generating a time-frequency basis. The correct choice of the waveshape to be used in decomposition is very important and discussed in this work. A brief theoretical introduction on Wavelet Transform is presented and some cases (practical and simulated) are discussed. Distortions commonly found in industrial environments, such as the current waveform of a Switched-Mode Power Supply and the input phase voltage waveform of motor fed by inverter are analyzed using Wavelet Theory. Applications such as extracting the fundamental frequency of a non-sinusoidal current signal, or using the ability of compact representation to detect non-repetitive disturbances are presented.

Morphometric study by image analysis of Ag-stained nucleoli in thyroids bearing proliferating lesions

The Ag-NOR staining technique and image analysis were used to evaluate morphological parameters (area, perimeter and axis ratio) in nucleoli from normal thyroids and from thyroids bearing proliferating lesions (carcinomas, adenomas and hyperplasias). Regions with normal appearance located close to adenomatous and carcinomatous regions, in the thyroid of every patient, were also analyzed for comparison with the respective pathological regions and with normal thyroids. Statistical analysis of data for the nucleolar area and perimeter allowed the separation of adenomas and carcinomas from hyperplasias and normal tissue but not the two components in each of these two groups. However, if we look at the numbers, a sequence of increasing nucleolar mean areas in the order: normal, hyperplasia, adenoma and carcinoma may be observed, indicating the sequence of increasing rRNA requirements in these different kinds of cells. The axis ratio that denotes the nucleolar shape (round or oblong) did not show significant differences among tissues, suggesting that shape is not important in the characterization of these pathologies. Differences in nucleolar areas and perimeter between normal and affected regions from each patient were statistically significant for adenomas and carcinomas. When these normal regions were compared with the normal thyroids, significant differences were not obtained in the three evaluated parameters. The observations and their importance for histopathological diagnosis are discussed.