Atividade diurética dos extratos aquoso e etanólico de Bugre (Hedyosmum brasiliense Miq.) e seus efeitos na pressão arterial média em testes pré-clÍnicos

The object of this study was assess through pre-clinical tests, the possible diuretic activity and the effects on the mean arterial pressure of the aqueous and ethanolic extracts of branches of “bugre”, Hedyosmum brasiliense Miq., species used in the treatment of renal and urinary disorders The tests were made in males anesthetized Wistar rats and randomly distributed into 4 experimental groups: Group I – Water control, group II – treated with aqueous extract (EA) of “bugre”, Group III – water control + “tween 80”, group IV – treated with ethanol extract (EE) and “bugre”. All groups were subjected to experimental protocol, composed of three periods: Balance (40 minutes), Basal (30 minutes) and Experimental (90 minutes), occurring the urine collection every 30 minutes, from the basal period and measuring blood pressure every 10 minutes. The results presented validate the ethnobotany indication of the use of H. brasiliense tea in the treatment of renal problems, because increased significantly the urinary flow in anesthetized Wistar rats (diuretic effect), without changing significantly (p>0,05) the arterial pressure

An Optimal Control Framework for Resources Management in Agriculture

An optimal control framework to support the management and control of resources in a wide range of problems arising in agriculture is discussed. Lessons extracted from past research on the weed control problem and a survey of a vast body of pertinent literature led to the specification of key requirements to be met by a suitable optimization framework. The proposed layered control structure—including planning, coordination, and execution layers—relies on a set of nested optimization processes of which an “infinite horizon” Model Predictive Control scheme plays a key role in planning and coordination. Some challenges and recent results on the Pontryagin Maximum Principle for infinite horizon optimal control are also discussed.

On some extension of optimal control theory

Some problems of Calculus of Variations do not have solutions in the class of classic continuous and smooth arcs. This suggests the need of a relaxation or extension of the problem ensuring the existence of a solution in some enlarged class of arcs. This work aims at the development of an extension for a more general optimal control problem with nonlinear control dynamics in which the control function takes values in some closed, but not necessarily bounded, set. To achieve this goal, we exploit the approach of R.V. Gamkrelidze based on the generalized controls, but related to discontinuous arcs. This leads to the notion of generalized impulsive control. The proposed extension links various approaches on the issue of extension found in the literature.

Phytotherapy in the control of helminthiasis in production animals

Parasitic diseases constitute one of the main problems affecting livestock; however the use of chemical medicaments provides drug resistance residues in animal and environmental contamination. Changes in production concepts require that food must be produced in hygienic conditions, per healthy animals and that are not eliminating antibiotic residues, pesticides or other drugs. This scenario has favored organic production and the use of medicinal plants. For the control of endoparasites, several studies have published the benefits of Azadirachta indica A. Juss., Punica granatum Linn., Musa sp., Operculina hamiltonii G. DON., propolis, among others. However, despite the existence in- vitro studies that demonstrate the pharmacological properties of phytotherapics, there is still need for clinical trials to determine dosage and its effects in- vivo. Investigations of new bioactive natural substances can be of great value for the control of animal health and food safety, which is particularly important for organic production systems in which the use of chemical drugs is a limiting factor for certification.

Análise de agrupamentos para o reconhecimento de padrões de infestação de aracnídeos em zonas urbanas

Pós-graduação em Biociências - FCLAS

Multi-task control strategy for grid-tied inverters based on conservative power theory

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

Discrete-time sliding mode control for uncertain networked system subject to time delay

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Multiobjective Genetic Algorithm applied to dengue control

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

The benefits of soft sensor and multi-rate control for the implementation of wireless networked control systems

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

SDRE control strategy applied to a nonlinear robotic including drive motor

A robotic control design considering all the inherent nonlinearities of the robot-engine configuration is developed. The interactions between the robot and joint motor drive mechanism are considered. The proposed control combines two strategies, one feedforward control in order to maintain the system in the desired coordinate, and feedback control system to take the system into a desired coordinate. The feedback control is obtained using State-Dependent Riccati Equation (SDRE). For link positioning two cases are considered. Case I: For control positioning, it is only used motor voltage; Case II: For control positioning, it is used both motor voltage and torque between the links. Simulation results, including parametric uncertainties in control shows the feasibility of the proposed control for the considered system.

Characterization of grazing bifurcation in airfoils with control surface freeplay nonlinearity

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

Genome-wide association study of reproductive traits in Nellore heifers using Bayesian inference

An important goal of Zebu breeding programs is to improve reproductive performance. A major problem faced with the genetic improvement of reproductive traits is that recording the time for an animal to reach sexual maturity is costly. Another issue is that accurate estimates of breeding values are obtained only a long time after the young bulls have gone through selection. An alternative to overcome these problems is to use traits that are indicators of the reproductive efficiency of the herd and are easier to measure, such as age at first calving. Another problem is that heifers that have conceived once may fail to conceive in the next breeding season, which increases production costs. Thus, increasing heifer's rebreeding rates should improve the economic efficiency of the herd. Response to selection for these traits tends to be slow, since they have a low heritability and phenotypic information is provided only later in the life of the animal. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) are useful to investigate the genetic mechanisms that underlie these traits by identifying the genes and metabolic pathways involved. Data from 1853 females belonging to the Agricultural Jacarezinho LTDA were used. Genotyping was performed using the BovineHD BeadChip (777 962 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)) according to the protocol of Illumina - Infinium Assay II ® Multi-Sample HiScan with the unit SQ ™ System. After quality control, 305 348 SNPs were used for GWAS. Forty-two and 19 SNPs had a Bayes factor greater than 150 for heifer rebreeding and age at first calving, respectively. All significant SNPs for age at first calving were significant for heifer rebreeding. These 42 SNPs were next or within 35 genes that were distributed over 18 chromosomes and comprised 27 protein-encoding genes, six pseudogenes and two miscellaneous noncoding RNAs. The use of Bayes factor to determine the significance of SNPs allowed us to identify two sets of 42 and 19 significant SNPs for heifer rebreeding and age at first calving, respectively, which explain 11.35 % and 6.42 % of their phenotypic variance, respectively. These SNPs provide relevant information to help elucidate which genes affect these traits.

Isolamento e identificação das micobactérias em águas tratadas provenientes do sistema de abastecimento de Araraquara-SP

Water quality is very important for the health and the population welfare, and the public supply system must provide water quality and suffi cient quantity for the entire population. Water treatment stations, are the main way to obtain water quality. When this doesn’t occur, several problems can affect the population, in this case, using water with poor quality is a constant risk of emergence causing various diseases. The elimination of microorganisms in treated water reduces competition, encouraging the multiplication of chlorine resistant bacteria as Mycobacterium genus frequently isolated from treated and chlorinated water. Considering the lack of indication from examinations of mycobacteria routine laboratory for quality control of drinking water and other human uses, the objective was to verify the presence isolate and identify the environmental mycobacteria in the system water source surface of Araraquara - SP. We analyzed 40 water samples, distributed as follows: ten water gross collected at Station Water Treatment Plant (WTP), harvested after ten fi ltration; ten collected in the reservoir after chlorination and ten in the network distribution. Were recovered 43 isolates of mycobacteria. All isolates were subjected to PCR-PRA. The mycobacteria were identifi ed as M. lentifl avum, M. parafortuitum, M. genavense, M. gordonae, M. fortuitum, M. confl uent, M. duvalii, M. avium subspecies paratuberculosis and M. szulgai. With these results, was concluded that water is an important source of environmental mycobacteria probably related to several human diseases, suggesting the carrying out continuous monitoring of the microorganisms in the system drinking water.

Colombian results of the interlaboratory quality control exercise 2009 2010

Colombian Reference National Laboratory, GENES LTDA, have organized and coordinated for the past two years (2009 and 2010) the Quality Control Exercise for laboratories undertaking paternity, maternity and forensic tests with DNA markers. Twenty-two laboratories have participated in 2009, increasing the number to 27 in 2010. Laboratories in Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Dominican Republic and Panama have participated in these exercises. There have been some similarities in the two controls: A practical exercise, three blood samples on FTA cards were sent to each participating laboratory to be genotyped for DNA markers using the routine methodologies in their laboratories; theoretical exercises including optional and obligatory cases. For the theoretical exercises, the participating laboratories should calculate the partial and final PI or BRI (Biological Relationship Index or Paternity Index). Forty-nine and 52 markers were under consensus for 2009 and 2010, respectively, distributed in autosomal, Y and X chromosomes STR. With respect to 2008, 12 and 15 additional markers were under consensus for 2009 and 2010, respectively. The rate of reporting error was 2.9% in 2009 while in 2010, 4.7% error was reported. The Proficiency Test conducted through the Colombian National Reference Laboratory has become a useful tool for quality assurance of all Colombian laboratories and some of Latin America that do DNA testing to establish biological relationships and an excellent opportunity for ongoing training of experts from the region.

Growth Control of Microbial in Miscible Cutting Fluids Using Ultraviolet Radiation

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)