Molecular investigation of zoonotic genotypes of Giardia intestinalis isolates in humans, dogs and cats, sheep, goats and cattle in Araçatuba (Sãoo Paulo State, Brazil) by the analysis of beta-giardin gene fragments

In the period from July 2009 to October 2010, fecal samples from 61 animals and 154 humans from the municipality of Aracatuba (São Paulo State, Brazil) were studied. Fecal samples from animals were collected in the Municipal Animal Shelter and the Veterinary Hospital of the Universidade Estadual Paulista. Human fecal specimens were collected in playschools in the outskirts of the city by the private network of clinical analysis laboratories of the municipal. Diagnosis was done by optical microscopy using the Faust and Hoffmann, Pons and Janer techniques. The genotypes of Giardia intestinalis were characterized by PCR-RFLP and confirmed by sequencing the ß-giardin gene. Human specimens were positive in 25.3% (39/154) of the cases with 26.8% (36/134) of the specimens from children and 15% (3/20) from adults being positive. The frequency of G. intestinalis among the animals was 23.0% (14/61). A total of 32 isolates of G. intestinalis obtained from human feces and six from dogs and cats were characteristic of the A genotype (AI and AII/AIII). The results of this study in respect to frequency of giardiasis are similar to reported in most studies in Brazil. The prevalence observed in animal populations conforms to worldwide infection rates. G. intestinalis genotypes considered zoonotic were detected in both pets and humans from the city of Aractuba, suggesting a possible zoonotic transmission of the parasite in the northwestern region of São Paulo State. The absence of these genotypes in farm animals may imply that they are not involved in the chain of transmission to humans in this region.

Lycopene-rich tomato oleoresin modulates plasma adiponectin concentration and mRNA levels of adiponectin, SIRT1, and FoxO1 in adipose tissue of obese rats

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

Survey of viruses belonging to different genera and species in noble garlic in Brazil

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

Quality management, environmental management maturity, green supply chain practices and green performance of Brazilian companies with ISO 14001 certification: Direct and indirect effects (Reprint from vol 67C, pg 39-51)

This study aims to test a new conceptual model based on the relationship between quality management (QM), environmental management maturity (EMM), adoption of external practices of green supply chain management (GSCM) (green purchasing and collaboration with customers) and green performance (GP) with data from 95 Brazilian firms with ISO 14001. To our knowledge, such links and relationships are not simultaneously identified and tested in the literature. The results indicate the validation of all of the research hypotheses. This paper highlights that an improvement in green performance will require attention to quality management, environmental management maturity, and green supply chain.

Comparative study between powers of sigmoid functions, MLP-backpropagation and polynomials in function approximation problems

Function approximation is a very important task in environments where the computation has to be based on extracting information from data samples in real world processes. So, the development of new mathematical model is a very important activity to guarantee the evolution of the function approximation area. In this sense, we will present the Polynomials Powers of Sigmoid (PPS) as a linear neural network. In this paper, we will introduce one series of practical results for the Polynomials Powers of Sigmoid, where we will show some advantages of the use of the powers of sigmiod functions in relationship the traditional MLP-Backpropagation and Polynomials in functions approximation problems.

Hemoplasmas in wild canids and felids in Brazil

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