A case study of convective organization into precipitating lines in the Southwest Amazon during the WETAMC and TRMM-LBA

A case study of convective development in the Southwest Amazon region during the Wet Season Atmospheric Mesoscale Campaign (WETAMC) and Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM)/Large-Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere (LBA) Experiment in Amazonia is presented. The convective development during 7 February 1999 is shown to occur during a period of very weak large-scale forcing in the presence of topography and deforestation. The available data include dual Doppler radar analysis, radiosonde launches, and surface and boundary layer observations. The observational analysis is complemented with a series of model simulations using the RAMS with 2-km resolution over a 300 km 300 km area forced by a morning radiosonde profile. A comparison of the observed and simulated thermodynamic transformation of the boundary layer and of the formation of convective lines, and of their kinematic and microphysical properties is presented. It is shown that only a few very deep and intense convective cells are necessary to explain the overall precipitating line formation and that discrete propagation and coupling with upper atmosphere circulations may explain the appearance of several lines. The numerical simulation indicates that topography may be the cause of initial convective development, although later on the convective line is parallel to the midlevel shear. There are indications that small-scale deforestation may have an effect on increasing rainfall in the wet season when the large-scale forcing is very weak.

Produtividade de alface cv Lucy Brown influenciada por períodos de convivência com plantas infestantes e potencial alelopático da tiririca

This work was divided in two experiments, the first one to evaluate the lettuce productivity (cv Lucy Brown - American group) influenced by increasing and decreasing periods of coexisting with harmful plants, and a second moment, aiming at to evaluate the allelopathic potential of nutsedge (Cyperus rotundus L.) on the initial lettuce development.The experimental treatments constituted of six increasing and decreasing periods of coexisting with harmful plants, or control of it in the culture, considered from the plantation of the lettuce; being separate in two groups: Weeds and Clean weeds.In the second moment of the experiment, purple nutsedge aerial parts had been collected in the area of experiment 1, that drying had been after triturated and immersed in methylic alcohol P. A in ratios 10, 5,0 and 2.5% (w/ v) and later impregnated in germination paper, where had been placed lettuce seeds.The analyses of results, one concludes that the presence of C. rotundus plants can intervene with the germination, growth and development of the plants of lettuce cv Lucy Brown, and that initial periods of coexisting between the culture and the harmful are associate to an induction of the foliar area development, and can not express the reduction of productivity in the end of the cycle. Drawn out periods of competition induce the reduction of the lettuce foliar area, and then they will intervene with the yield productivity.

Colheita mecanizada e perdas quantitativas de sementes de crotalária

In mechanized harvesting of seeds can occur losses, which reduce productivity, decrease the profitability and can do serious damage to the producer. The objective of this work was to evaluate the quantitative seed losses of Crotalaria juncea depending on the harvester speed and the rotation of the threshing cylinder. The experiment was conducted in the area of Education, Research and Production Unesp/Jaboticabal, using a entirely casualized design on factorial away 2x3, with two-speed displacement of the machine (1.8 and 3.2 km h(-1)) and three rotations of threshing cylinder (750, 800 and 850 rpm), with 4 repetitions. It was concluded that the measures relating to the development of the plants showed homogeneous behavior, indicating little dispersion of the data. It was observed that the rate of displacement of the harvester and rotation of the drum track not affected the losses in the plataform of cutting. The largest losses of crotalaria seeds occurred on the plataform of cutting the harvester machine, in the form of pods not harvested. It was observed that the total losses in the harvest of crotalaria seed were high, and the losses in pods on the soil, responsible for almost all the losses encountered.

Avaliação das equações de predição das exigências de proteína para matrizes pesadas na fase de crescimento

Objetivou-se avaliar as equações para predição das exigências protéicas de matrizes pesadas em crescimento, desenvolvidas em estudos anteriores na Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias da UNESP, Jaboticabal, tendo como padrão de comparação as recomendações estabelecidas pelo manual de criação da linhagem. Foram utilizadas 288 matrizes pesadas da linhagem Hubbard Hy-Yield, com cinco semanas de idade, em delineamento inteiramente casualizado, com dois tratamentos e seis repetições, sendo 24 aves por unidade experimental até 14 semanas e, de 15 a 20 semanas de idade, 20 aves por unidade experimental. Um tratamento foi representado pelas recomendações protéicas para a linhagem (testemunha) e o outro pelas seguintes equações de predição das exigências de proteína: de 5 a 8 semanas PB (g/ave/dia) = 2,02.P0,75+ 0,350.G, 9 a 14 semanas - PB = 2,02.P0,75 + 0,406.G e de 15 a 20 semanas PB = 2,02.P0,75 + 0,463.G, em que P é o peso corporal (kg) e G, o ganho de peso diário (g). Os resultados indicaram que as equações de predição para proteína, apesar de não comprometerem o peso ou a uniformidade corporal em relação ao tratamento testemunha, determinaram menor porcentagem de peito e maior de gordura abdominal e maior teor de gordura na carcaça, sendo atribuído à menor ingestão de proteína proporcionada pelas equações de predição e, conseqüentemente, deficiência em relação a alguns aminoácidos que não foram suplementados.

Growth of the Symbiotic Fungus of the Grass-cutting Ant Atta capiguara (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): Effect of Grass Extracts

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

Mate attenuates DNA damage and carcinogenesis induced by diethylnitrosamine and thermal injury in rat esophagus

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Effects of the Er,Cr:YSGG laser on bone and soft tissue in a rat model

The purpose of this study was to investigate the histological changes that occur in rat soft and hard tissues after Er,Cr:YSGG laser surgery. Each of 20 rats was submitted to four procedures which were randomly distributed to the right and left sides of the animal: procedure 1 dorsal incision with a scalpel; procedure 2 dorsal incision with a 2.0-W Er,Cr:YSGG laser; procedure 3 skull defect created with a diamond bur; procedure 4 skull defect created with a 3.0-W Er,Cr:YSGG laser. The animals were killed 3, 7, 15 and 30 days after surgery, and histological examinations were performed. The histometric analysis of the bone defects was evaluated using an unpaired t-test. Initially, the dorsum showed more histological signs of repair following procedure 1, although similar healing responses following procedures 1 and 2 were seen on day 30 after surgery. By day 30 the bone formation observed following procedure 4 was much more evident than following procedure 3. The unpaired t-test identified significant differences in bone formation on day 30 (p = 0.01), whereas a greater bone percentage was seen following procedure 4 than following procedure 3 (79.96 +/- 10.30% and 58.23 +/- 9.99%, respectively). Thus, histological repair of the Er,Cr:YSGG laser wounds was similar to that of the scalpel wounds. However, skull defects created with the Er,Cr:YSGG laser showed greater bone formation than defects created with the bur. Within the limitations of this study, we can conclude that the Er,Cr:YSGG laser is a promising surgical instrument in vivo, particularly for bone surgery.

Análise histológica em tecido epitelial sadio de ratos Wistar (in vivo) irradiados com diferentes intensidades do ultrassom

CONTEXTUALIZAÇÃO: O Ultrassom (US) é um dos recursos físicos amplamente utilizado e pesquisado nos tratamentos de fisioterapia. Sabe-se que diante de uma escassa literatura sobre efeitos do US em tecidos sadios, muitos profissionais fisioterapeutas acabam realizando aplicações infundadas de métodos e parâmetros. OBJETIVO: Avaliar possíveis alterações histológicas e morfométricas do tecido sadio in vivo de ratos Wistar irradiados com diferentes intensidades de US. MÉTODOS: Trinta ratos da linhagem Wistar, distribuídos aleatoriamente em cinco grupos de seis animais cada foram tratados na região dorsal do lado direito numa área de 4cm². O lado esquerdo serviu como controle. O tratamento foi feito durante quatro dias com 2 minutos de irradiação. Verificou-se a intensidade de saída com dosímetro de precisão antes das aplicações. Analisou-se a histologia e a morfometria por meio do software Image Tool. RESULTADOS: Observou-se um discreto infiltrado inflamatório e adelgaçamento das fibras da derme, principalmente dos grupos irradiados com 1.5 e 2W/cm². Notou-se também um aumento na espessura da epiderme nas amostras dos animais irradiados. Para avaliar os resultados quantitativos, utilizou-se como análise estatística ANOVA one way e o teste post hoc de Tukey. Na espessura da epiderme, obtiveram-se diferenças significativas entre grupo controle e os grupos irradiados com 1.0, 1.5 e 2.0W/cm². CONCLUSÃO: Sob ação do US nas doses maiores houve alterações na epiderme e derme, respectivamente, o aumento da espessura e proliferação com adelgaçamento das fibras colágenas, o que alerta para possíveis implicações do uso do US em estética.

Adherence in vitro of Candida albicans to plasma treated acrylic resin. Effect of plasma parameters, surface roughness and salivary pellicle

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

Evaluation of fungal adherence to plasma-modified polymethylmethacrylate

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

Reactivity of mesenteric and aortic rings from trained rats fed with high caloric diet

A strong association between the benefits of physical exercise on the cardiovascular disease with an improvement of the endothelium-derived relaxing factor production has been consistently shown. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of exercise training associated with high caloric diet in the reactivity of rat mesenteric and aortic rings. Experimental protocol consisted of 4 weeks of high caloric diet consumption previous to 4 weeks of run training (1.2 km/h, 0% grade, in sessions of 60 min, 5 days/week). Concentrations of triglycerides, glucose, insulin and nitrite/nitrate levels were measured and atherogenic index was calculated. Concentration-response curves to acetylcholine (10 nM-100 mu M), sodium nitroprusside (100 pM-100 nM) and phenylephrine (1 nM-3 mu M) were obtained. Exercise training reduced body mass (6%) and triglyceride levels (about 54%), without changes in glucose and insulin concentrations. An improvement of endothelium-dependent relaxation responses to acetylcholine in mesenteric and aortic rings was observed in trained group. No changes were seen for sodium nitroprusside and phenylephrine. In conclusion, our study is the first to show clearly that run training promotes an improvement of the endothelium-dependent relaxing response in aorta and mesenteric rings from rats fed with high caloric diet and that is associated with increase of NO production. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Surgical treatment of earlobe keloid with CO2 laser radiation: Case report and clinical standpoints

Keloids are considered to be benign hyperproliferative growths of dense fibrous tissue and overabundant deposition of disorganized, thick, hyalinized collagen that result from an abnormal tissue response to cutaneous injury. Keloids do not have a specific cause, although genetic predisposition is heavily implicated. We present a case report of a patient with an earlobe keloid that was treated with carbon dioxide laser radiation (CO2) with an 0.8-mm focus, 7 W, a power density of 2.5 W/cm(2), in a continuous mode. The patient was seen for follow-up 6 months later. An intact hole for placement of an earring was observed with a very good esthetic and functional result.

Surgical treatment of squamous cell carcinoma of tongue with carbon dioxide laser radiation (CO2)

In this clinical study, we proposed to observe the efficacy of the treatment of squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue (SCCT) by carbon dioxide (CO2) laser surgery. Twelve patients with SCCT were treated with excisional surgery using the CO2 laser with a spot size of 0.8 mm, 10 W, power density of 2.5 W/cm(2) in continuous mode, and under constant vacuum removal of the plume. The post surgical clinical evaluations were done every day until the sutures were removed and then every 7 days up to 1 month postoperatively. Subjects were re-examined quarterly until the fifth year post surgery. After 5 yr of follow-up for all subjects, there was no recurrence of the SCCT at the involved sites. The functional and aesthetic results observed were excellent. It is concluded that CO2 laser ablation of SCCT is an extremely useful surgical technique that can provide a clean field and is capable of providing surgical results consistent with accepted principles of oncological surgery. (C) 2012 Laser Institute of America.

Grand unification and proton stability near the Peccei-Quinn scale

We show that in an SU(2)circle timesU(1) model with a Dine-Fischler-Srednicki-like invisible axion it is possible to obtain (i) the convergence of the three gauge coupling constants at an energy scale near the Peccei-Quinn scale; (ii) the correct value for sin(2)theta<^>(W)(M-Z); (iii) the stabilization of the proton by the cyclic Z(13)circle timesZ(3) symmetries which also stabilize the axion as a solution to the strong CP problem. Concerning the convergence of the three coupling constants and the prediction of the weak mixing angle at the Z peak, this model is as good as the minimal supersymmetric standard model with mu(SUSY)=M-Z. We also consider the standard model with six and seven Higgs doublets. The main calculations were done in the 1-loop approximation but we briefly consider the 2-loop contributions.

SU(5)circle times Z(13) grand unification model

We propose an SU(5) grand unified model with an invisible axion and the unification of the three coupling constants which is in agreement with the values, at M(Z), of alpha, alpha(s), and sin(2)theta(W). A discrete, anomalous, Z(13) symmetry implies that the Peccei-Quinn symmetry is an automatic symmetry of the classical Lagrangian protecting, at the same time, the invisible axion against possible semiclassical gravity effects. Although the unification scale is of the order of the Peccei-Quinn scale the proton is stabilized by the fact that in this model the standard model fields form the SU(5) multiplets completed by new exotic fields and, also, because it is protected by the Z(13) symmetry.