MGS Esmeralda: new large seed mungbean cultivar

Mungbean cultivar MGS Esmeralda was developed by Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center (Shanhua, Taiwan), as a result of crossing between the lines VC 1973A and VC 2768A. In ten trials conducted in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil, it produced 13.5% more grains than 'Ouro Verde MG-2' (control cultivar), and its highest yield was 2,550 kg ha-1. The cultivar MGS Esmeralda is more susceptible to lodging, and its pods mature more uniformly than Ouro Verde MG-2 pods. One hundred-seed mass of 'MGS Esmeralda' ranged between 5.5 and 6.8 g. Both cultivars are susceptible to powdery mildew and cercospora leaf spot.

Short-term storage in vitro and large-scale propagation of grapevine genotypes

The objective of this work was to evaluate the large-scale propagation of grapevine genotypes after short-term storage in vitro. Microshoots from ten grapevine genotypes were used. The following storage temperatures were evaluated: 10, 20, and 25°C. After short-term storage, the shoots were propagated in up to five successive subcultures, to assess the large-scale propagation of the germplasm maintained under conditions of minimal growth. The propagated shoots were rooted in different concentrations of indolbutiric acid (IBA) and acclimatized in greenhouse. The best temperature for short-term storage in vitro and survival of the genotypes was 20°C. In the propagation phase, the highest number of shoots per explant was found in the subcultures 4 and 5, with averages of 4.9 and 4.8 shoots per explant, respectively. In the rooting phase, the best results for number of roots were obtained using a culture medium supplemented with 0.4 µmol L-1 of IBA, with an average of three roots per shoot. During the acclimation phase, a survival rate higher than 95% was achieved after 30 days in the greenhouse. Grapevine genotypes maintained for six months in vitro, at 20ºC, can be micropropagated in large scale.

Implications, large and small, from chemical education research for the teaching of chemistry

Research studies in chemical education pose a communication problem for chemists. Unlike the findings from other specializations in chemistry the findings in chemical education tend to be reported in education journals that are not readily accessible to most chemists or chemistry teachers. This lecture is an attempt to remedy this gap in communication. Research studies fall into three broad categories. (i) issues related to the content of chemistry itself, that is, What content to teach? And What meaning of each topic is to be conveyed? (ii) issues related to how chemical content is taught, such as, the role of lectures, practical work, particular pedagogies, etc. and (iii) issues related to its learning, that is, learning of concepts, conceptual change, motivation, etc. Findings in each of these categories of research over the last twenty years have drawn attention to opportunities for improving the quality of chemical education in each of the levels of formal education where chemistry is taught. Sometimes the research findings seem small since they, in fact, merely diagnose the actual problem in teaching and learning. At other times, the research findings are large because they provide a solution to these problems. What remains to be done is to disseminate the findings so that appropriate teaching occurs more widely, with its consequent gains in the quality of learning. Research findings, of these small and large types will be used to illustrate the potential of research to make the practice of chemical education more effective.

Persistent organic pollutants in two reservoirs along the Paraíba do Sul-Guandu River system, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Sediment contamination is evaluated by determining organic micropollutants (organochlorine compounds - OCs and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons - PAHs) in two important Brazilian water reservoirs. Trace levels of OCs were observed in the Santana reservoir (44.8 ng g-1 d.w. of p,p'-DDT), while in the Funil reservoir the levels were below detection level. Forty-eight percent of the found sigmaocs were polychlorinated biphenyls, 29% dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), 18% Drins, and 5% other pesticides (HCB, Heptachlor, Heptachlor-epoxide, gamma-HCH and a-Endosulfan). We observed lower levels of sigmaPAH in the Funil reservoir (1 to 275 ng g-1d.w.) than in the Santana reservoir (2.2 to 26.7 µg g-1 d.w.).

Química Sem Fronteiras: o desafio da energia

Coal, natural gas and petroleum-based liquid fuels are still the most widely used energy sources in modern society. The current scenario contrasts with the foreseen shortage of petroleum that was spread out in the beginning of the XXI century, when the concept of "energy security" emerged as an urgent agenda to ensure a good balance between energy supply and demand. Much beyond protecting refineries and oil ducts from terrorist attacks, these issues soon developed to a portfolio of measures related to process sustainability, involving at least three fundamental dimensions: (a) the need for technological breakthroughs to improve energy production worldwide; (b) the improvement of energy efficiency in all sectors of modern society; and (c) the increase of the social perception that education is a key-word towards a better use of our energy resources. Together with these technological, economic or social issues, "energy security" is also strongly influenced by environmental issues involving greenhouse gas emissions, loss of biodiversity in environmentally sensitive areas, pollution and poor solid waste management. For these and other reasons, the implementation of more sustainable practices in our currently available industrial facilities and the search for alternative energy sources that could partly replace the fossil fuels became a major priority throughout the world. Regarding fossil fuels, the main technological bottlenecks are related to the exploitation of less accessible petroleum resources such as those in the pre-salt layer, ranging from the proper characterization of these deep-water oil reservoirs, the development of lighter and more efficient equipment for both exploration and exploitation, the optimization of the drilling techniques, the achievement of further improvements in production yields and the establishment of specialized training programs for the technical staff. The production of natural gas from shale is also emerging in several countries but its production in large scale has several problems ranging from the unavoidable environmental impact of shale mining as well as to the bad consequences of its large scale exploitation in the past. The large scale use of coal has similar environmental problems, which are aggravated by difficulties in its proper characterization. Also, the mitigation of harmful gases and particulate matter that are released as a result of combustion is still depending on the development of new gas cleaning technologies including more efficient catalysts to improve its emission profile. On the other hand, biofuels are still struggling to fulfill their role in reducing our high dependence on fossil fuels. Fatty acid alkyl esters (biodiesel) from vegetable oils and ethanol from cane sucrose and corn starch are mature technologies whose market share is partially limited by the availability of their raw materials. For this reason, there has been a great effort to develop "second-generation" technologies to produce methanol, ethanol, butanol, biodiesel, biogas (methane), bio-oils, syngas and synthetic fuels from lower grade renewable feedstocks such as lignocellulosic materials whose consumption would not interfere with the rather sensitive issues of food security. Advanced fermentation processes are envisaged as "third generation" technologies and these are primarily linked to the use of algae feedstocks as well as other organisms that could produce biofuels or simply provide microbial biomass for the processes listed above. Due to the complexity and cost of their production chain, "third generation" technologies usually aim at high value added biofuels such as biojet fuel, biohydrogen and hydrocarbons with a fuel performance similar to diesel or gasoline, situations in which the use of genetically modified organisms is usually required. In general, the main challenges in this field could be summarized as follows: (a) the need for prospecting alternative sources of biomass that are not linked to the food chain; (b) the intensive use of green chemistry principles in our current industrial activities; (c) the development of mature technologies for the production of second and third generation biofuels; (d) the development of safe bioprocesses that are based on environmentally benign microorganisms; (e) the scale-up of potential technologies to a suitable demonstration scale; and (f) the full understanding of the technological and environmental implications of the food vs. fuel debate. On the basis of these, the main objective of this article is to stimulate the discussion and help the decision making regarding "energy security" issues and their challenges for modern society, in such a way to encourage the participation of the Brazilian Chemistry community in the design of a road map for a safer, sustainable and prosper future for our nation.

Georeferenced database generation with the purpose of hydrologic molding in reservoirs of the hydrographic basin of Jaguaribe river in the state of Ceará, Brazil

The edafoclimatic conditions of the Brazilian semiarid region favor the water loss by surface runoff. The state of Ceará, almost completely covered by semiarid, has developed public policies for the construction of dams in order to attend the varied water demand. Several hydrological models were developed to support decisive processes in the complex management of reservoirs. This study aimed to establish a methodology for obtaining a georeferenced database suitable for use as input data in hydrological modeling in the semiarid of Ceará. It was used images of Landsat satellite and SRTM Mission, and soil maps of the state of Ceará. The Landsat images allowed the determination of the land cover and the SRTM Mission images, the automatic delineation of hydrographic basins. The soil type was obtained through the soil map. The database was obtained for Jaguaribe River hydrographic basin, in the state of Ceará, and is applicable to hydrological modeling based on the Curve Number method for estimating the surface runoff.

Closure of large wounds using rubber bands in rabbits

OBJECTIVE: to verify the effectiveness of the rubber elastic band in the treatment of large wounds of the body wall of rabbits by means of traction of its edges. METHODS: we studied 30 New Zealand rabbits, divided into three groups (n=10): Group 1- healing by secondary intention; Group 2- removal and eutopic repositioning of skin as full thickness skin graft; Group 3- Approximation of wound edges with elastic rubber band. In all animals, we removed a segment of the back skin and subcutaneous tissue down to the fascia, in accordance with an acrylic mold of 8cm long by 12cm wide. All animals were observed for 21 days. RESULTS: two animals of groups 1 and 2 had wound abscess. In Group 2, there was partial or total graft loss in 90% of animals. The complete closure of the wounds was observed in four animals of Group 1, six of Group 2 and eight of Group 3. There was no difference between the scar resistance values of groups 2 and 3, which were higher than those in Group 1. The scars of the three groups were characterized by the presence of mature connective tissue mixed with blood vessels and inflammatory infiltration, predominantly polymorphonuclear. CONCLUSION: the tensile strength of the wound edges with rubber elastic band is as efficient as the skin graft to treat rabbits' large body wounds.

Outbreak of infectious laryngotracheitis in large multi-age egg layer chicken flocks in Minas Gerais, Brazil

A recent (November 2010) outbreak of infectious laryngotracheitis (ILT) in a multi-age laying hen facility in Minas Gerais state, Brazil, is described. Previous ILT outbreak in laying hens was only notified in São Paulo state, Brazil, in 2002. In the outbreak described here, the affected population was approximately eight million hens, with flock sizes ranging from 100,000 to 2,900,000 chickens. The average mortality ranged from 1 to 6%, and morbidity was around 90% (most of the twenty seven farms of the area were positive for ILT virus). Three multi-age laying farms from one company were selected for this report. Clinical signs included prostration, dyspnea, conjunctivitis, occasional swelling of the paranasal sinuses and bloody mucous nasal discharge. Severely affected chickens presented with dyspnea, gasping and became cyanotic before death. At necropsy, these chickens had fibrinous exudate blocking the larynx and the lumen of cranial part of the trachea. In addition, conjunctivitis with intense hyperemia, edema and sinuses with caseous exudate were present. On histopathology, there were marked necrosis and desquamation of respiratory ephitelium and conjunctiva with numerous syncytial cells formation and fibrinous exudate. Moderate to marked non suppurative (especially lymphocytes and plasma cells) infiltration in the lamina propria also was observed. Sixteen out of 20 examined chickens, eosinophilic intranuclear inclusion bodies were observed in the syncytial cells. The DNA extracted from larynx and trachea produced positive PCR results for ILT virus (ILTV) DNA using formalin-fixed, paraffin embedded (FFPE) samples. Amplicons from a small region of ICP4 gene were submitted to sequencing and showed 100% identity with ILTV EU104910.1 (USA strain), 99% with ILTV JN596963.1 (Australian strain) and 91% with ILTV JN580316.1 (Gallid herpesvirus 1 CEO vaccine strain) and JN580315.1 (Gallid herpesvirus 1 TCO vaccine strain).

Dynamics of coherent vortices in mixing layers using direct numerical and large-eddy simulations

Coherent vortices in turbulent mixing layers are investigated by means of Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) and Large-Eddy Simulation (LES). Subgrid-scale models defined in spectral and physical spaces are reviewed. The new "spectral-dynamic viscosity model", that allows to account for non-developed turbulence in the subgrid-scales, is discussed. Pseudo-spectral methods, combined with sixth-order compact finite differences schemes (when periodic boundary conditions cannot be established), are used to solve the Navier- Stokes equations. Simulations in temporal and spatial mixing layers show two types of pairing of primary Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) vortices depending on initial conditions (or upstream conditions): quasi-2D and helical pairings. In both cases, secondary streamwise vortices are stretched in between the KH vortices at an angle of 45° with the horizontal plane. These streamwise vortices are not only identified in the early transitional stage of the mixing layer but also in self-similar turbulence conditions. The Re dependence of the "diameter" of these vortices is analyzed. Results obtained in spatial growing mixing layers show some evidences of pairing of secondary vortices; after a pairing of the primary Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) vortices, the streamwise vortices are less numerous and their diameter has increased than before the pairing of KH vortices.

Horizontal Slug Flow in a Large-Size Pipeline: Experimentation and Modeling

The knowledge of the slug flow characteristics is very important when designing pipelines and process equipment. When the intermittences typical in slug flow occurs, the fluctuations of the flow variables bring additional concern to the designer. Focusing on this subject the present work discloses the experimental data on slug flow characteristics occurring in a large-size, large-scale facility. The results were compared with data provided by mechanistic slug flow models in order to verify their reliability when modelling actual flow conditions. Experiments were done with natural gas and oil or water as the liquid phase. To compute the frequency and velocity of the slug cell and to calculate the length of the elongated bubble and liquid slug one used two pressure transducers measuring the pressure drop across the pipe diameter at different axial locations. A third pressure transducer measured the pressure drop between two axial location 200 m apart. The experimental data were compared with results of Camargo's1 algorithm (1991, 1993), which uses the basics of Dukler & Hubbard's (1975) slug flow model, and those calculated by the transient two-phase flow simulator OLGA.

Aquatic plant community in porto primavera reservoir

Aiming to identify the populations of aquatic plants present in the Porto Primavera reservoir and evaluate the behavior of Hydrilla verticillata colonization of this water body a survey was carried out in 2007. The data was based on presence or absence, only were assessed the presence or absence of the species and the data were subjected to cluster analysis to establish differences in distribution and occurrence of populations. The community of aquatic plants showed 24 species distributed in 16 botanical families. Cyperaceae and Pontederiaceae were the most representative in terms of species richness. The submerged macrophyte Hydrilla verticillata showed the highest frequency of occurrence in the water body, showing a different behavior from the other populations of the water body. Species like Eichhornia crassipes, Eichhornia azurea, Typha dominguensis and Oxycaryum cubense also showed different behavior in relation to other populations within the community, forming large populations in lagoons and backwater areas.

Planktic Cyanobacteria from upper Tietê basin reservoirs, SP, Brazil

Considering the great ecological and sanitary importance of the cyanobacteria and the need of detailed information about these organisms in Brazilian water bodies, the present study aims at contributing towards the knowledge of the cyanobacterial flora of five reservoirs belonging to the upper Tietê Basin, São Paulo: Billings, Guarapiranga, Jundiaí, Pirapora, Ponte Nova and Taiaçupeba. In the past several years, these reservoirs have been submitted to severe environmental deterioration and have repeatedly presented cyanobacterial blooms, including those of toxic species. The samples were collected between 1997 and 2003 either with plankton net (20 µm mesh) or van Dorn's bottle, and preserved with lugol solution or formaldehyde. Some species were isolated and maintained in culture. Forty-eight species of cyanobacteria were identified, with predominance of the order Chroococcales (58%), followed by the orders Oscillatoriales (21%) and Nostocales (21%). Among the 48 studied species, 17 (35%) were considered potentially toxic. The occurrence and biodiversity of the cyanobacteria in each reservoir depend on the environmental conditions. Among the five water bodies, Billings Reservoir presented the most adequate situation for the development of a greater number of species (34), probably due to its high pH values (around 8). Pirapora Reservoir on the other hand, with highest conductivity (445.0 µS cm-1) and lowest Secchi depth values (0.2 m), presented the lowest cyanobacterial biodiversity (14 species).

Cyanobacterial occurrence and detection of microcystin by planar chromatography in surface water of Billings and Guarapiranga Reservoirs, SP, Brazil

Billings and Guarapiranga Reservoirs were deeply affected by environmental disturbances, which more evident consequence are the cyanobacterial blooms. Microcystins are the most common cyanotoxin in freshwaters and more than 70 types are known. Different methods for microcystins analysis in water can be used, among which ELISA and HPLC are the most frequently employed. However, less sophisticated and more economic methods can also be used. This is the case of planar chromatography (thin-layer chromatography) method previously used in cyanotoxins purification but gradually replaced by others. Posterior optimization of the microcystin chromatography conditions and because of its simplicity, rapidity, efficiency and low cost, this method is again considered an option for the analysis of microcystins and nodularins. Considering the importance of Billings and Guarapiranga Reservoirs for drinking water supplies and the few scientific data about cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins in these water bodies, the aims of this work are to analyze the biodiversity of cyanobacteria in the Billings and Guarapiranga Reservoirs and the detection of dissolved microcystins in the water. It was possible to identify 17 species of cyanobacteria, 9 of them being potentially toxic. In Billings Reservoir Microcystis aeruginosa (Kützing) Kützing and Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii (Woloszynska) Seenayya & Subba Raju are the most common species, while in Guarapiranga Reservoir only M. aeruginosa was considered as a common species. Microcystins were detected in all Billings Reservoir samples and in only one sample from Guarapiranga Reservoir.

Floristic surveys of aquatic macrophytes in reservoirs in the Agreste zone of Pernambuco State, Brazil

We surveyed the aquatic macrophytes in reservoirs in Camocim de São Félix in the Agreste zone of Pernambuco State, Brazil. Plants were collected on a bimonthly schedule from November/2008 to May/2009 in four reservoirs, and 33 taxa distributed among 23 families were encountered. The family Cyperaceae had the greatest number of species, followed by Lemnaceae. The predominant biologic form was emergent (33.3%) reflecting the extensive shorelines around the reservoirs analyzed.

Large-scale production and purification of recombinant protein from an insect cell/baculovirus system in Erlenmeyer flasks: application to the chicken poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase catalytic domain

A simple and inexpensive shaker/Erlenmeyer flask system for large-scale cultivation of insect cells is described and compared to a commercial spinner system. On the basis of maximum cell density, average population doubling time and overproduction of recombinant protein, a better result was obtained with a simpler and less expensive bioreactor consisting of Erlenmeyer flasks and an ordinary shaker waterbath. Routinely, about 90 mg of pure poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase catalytic domain was obtained for a total of 3 x 109 infected cells in three liters of culture