A política pública para resposta às ameaças químicas, biológicas, radiológicas, nucleares e explosivas

Esta pesquisa objetiva verificar de que forma, no Brasil, as políticas públicas relacionadas às ameaças químicas, biológicas, radiológicas, nucleares e explosivas (QBRNE) contribuem para o preparo de resposta a um incidente de tal natureza. No mundo contemporâneo há uma concentração das populações nos centros urbanos, tornando-as vulneráveis a desastres químicos, biológicos, radiológicos e nucleares, os quais podem ser desencadeados por eventos adversos, intencionais ou não, resultando em grandes impactos humanos, ambientais, materiais, sociais e econômicos à nação. O terrorismo é uma das possibilidades de ocorrência de um grande desastre, utilizando-se principalmente de atentados com explosivos e podendo se valer dos efeitos dos agentes contaminantes. Então, foram pesquisadas e apresentadas políticas públicas e ações do governo federal norte-americano para o trato de ameaças QBRNE, as quais são comparadas à situação prospectada no território brasileiro, por meio da legislação, políticas públicas, orçamento, documentos e bibliografia. Diversas instituições foram avaliadas quanto ao papel a ser desempenhado em uma situação emergencial, sendo os dados tratados por análise de conteúdo e historiografia. A literatura sobre política pública é ampla, com rica discussão sobre as boas práticas de gestão pública, a evolução do papel dos servidores públicos para um ser técnico e político simultaneamente e de que maneira é influenciada a concepção de uma política pública. O Modelo de Fluxos Múltiplos e a Teoria de Equilíbrio Pontuado são usados para compreender o processo dinâmico de construção da agenda decisória no governo federal para o tema estudado. Concluiu-se que as políticas públicas de resposta para ameaças QBRNE surgem dispersas em diversas instituições, promovidas pelas equipes técnicas, de maneira descentralizada e sem uma orientação do governo central, o que acarreta sobreposição de atividades, havendo casos de problemas não tratados, desprezando-se a complementação de recursos e efetivos.

O novo federalismo social e o Rio: desenho de programas complementares de transferência de renda condicionada

Brazilian public policy entered in the so-called new social federalism through its conditional cash transfers. States and municipalities can operate together through the nationwide platform of the Bolsa Familia Program (BFP), complementing federal actions with local innovations. The state and the city of Rio de Janeiro have created programs named, respectively, Renda Melhor (RM) and Família Carioca (FC). These programs make use of the operational structure of the BFP, which facilitates locating beneficiaries, issuing cards, synchronizing payment dates and access passwords and introducing new conditionalities. The payment system of the two programs complements the estimated permanent household income up to the poverty line established, giving more to those who have less. Similar income complementation system was subsequently adopted in the BFP and the Chilean Ingreso Ético Familiar, which also follow the principle of estimation of income used in the FC and in the RM. Instead of using the declared income, the value of the Rio cash transfers are set using the extensive collection of information obtained from the Single Registry of Social Programs (Cadastro Único): physical configuration of housing, access to public services, education and work conditions for all family members, presence of vulnerable groups, disabilities, pregnant or lactating women, children and benefits from other official transfers such as the BFP. With this multitude of assets and limitations, the permanent income of each individual is estimated. The basic benefit is defined by the poverty gap and priority is given to the poorest. These subnational programs use international benchmarks as a neutral ground between different government levels and mandates. Their poverty line is the highest of the first millennium goal of the United Nations (UN): US$ 2 per person per day adjusted for the cost of living. The other poverty line of the UN, US$ 1.25, was implicitly adopted as the national extreme poverty line in 2011. The exchange of methodologies between federal entities has happened both ways. The FC began with the 575,000 individuals living in the city of Rio de Janeiro who were on the payroll of the BFP. Its system of impact evaluation benefited from bi-monthly standardized examinations. In the educational conditionalities, the two programs reward students' progress, a potential advantage for those who most need to advance. The municipal program requires greater school attendance than that of the BFP and the presence of students’ parents at the bimonthly meetings held on Saturdays. Students must achieve a grade of 8 or improve at least 20% in each exam to receive a bi-monthly premium of R$50. In early childhood, priority is given to the poor children in the program Single Administrative Register (CadÚnico) to enroll in kindergarten, preschools and complementary activities. The state program reaches more than one million people with a payment system similar to the municipal one. Moreover, it innovates in that it transfers awards given to high school students to savings accounts. The prize increases and is paid to the student, who can withdraw up to 30% annually. The total can reach R$3,800 per low-income student. The State and the city rewarded already education professionals according to student performance, now completing the chain of demand incentives on poor students and their parents. Increased performance is higher among beneficiaries and the presence of their guardians at meetings is twice compared to non beneficiaries; The Houston program, also focuses on aligning the incentives to teachers, parents and students. In general, the plan is to explore strategic complementarities, where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The objective is to stimulate, through targets and incentives, synergies between social actors (teachers, parents, students), between areas (education, assistance, work) and different levels of government. The cited programs sum their efforts and divide labor so as to multiply interactions and make a difference in the lives of the poor.

Modulação da expressão da proteína XPA em resposta ao tratamento com azul de metileno fotossensibilizado

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are produced by aerobic metabolism and react with biomolecules, such as lipids, proteins and DNA. In high concentration, they lead to oxidative stress. Among ROS, singlet oxygen (1O2) is one of the main ROS involved in oxidative stress and is one of the most reactive forms of molecular oxygen. The exposure of some dyes, such as methylene blue (MB) to light (MB+VL), is able to generate 1O2 and it is the principle involved in photodynamic therapy (PDT). 1O2 e other ROS have caused toxic and carcinogenic effects and have been associated with ageing, neurodegenerative diseases and cancer. Oxidative DNA damage is mainly repaired by base excision repair (BER) pathway. However, recent studies have observed the involvement of nucleotide excision repair (NER) factors in the repair of this type of injury. One of these factors is the Xeroderma Pigmentosum Complementation Group A (XPA) protein, which acts with other proteins in DNA damage recognition and in the recruitment of other repair factors. Moreover, oxidative agents such as 1O2 can induce gene expression. In this context, this study aimed at evaluating the response of XPA-deficient cells after treatment with photosensitized MB. For this purpose, we analyzed the cell viability and occurrence of oxidative DNA damage in cells lines proficient and deficient in XPA after treatment with MB+VL, and evaluated the expression of this enzyme in proficient and complemented cells. Our results indicate an increased resistance to treatment of complemented cells and a higher level of oxidative damage in the deficient cell lines. Furthermore, the treatment was able to modulate the XPA expression up to 24 hours later. These results indicate a direct evidence for the involvement of NER enzymes in the repair of oxidative damage. Besides, a better understanding of the effects of PDT on the induction of gene expression could be provided

Papel da proteína de reparo XPC na regulação das proteínas de reparo APE1, OGG1 e PARP-1 em células humanas e de camundongos

studies using UV as a source of DNA damage. However, even though unrepaired UV-induced DNA damages are related to mutagenesis, cell death and tumorigenesis, they do not explain phenotypes such as neurodegeneration and internal tumors observed in patients with syndromes like Xeroderma Pigmentosum (XP) and Cockayne Syndrome (CS) that are associated with NER deficiency. Recent evidences point to a role of NER in the repair of 8-oxodG, a typical substrate of Base Excision Repair (BER). Since deficiencies in BER result in genomic instability, neurodegenerative diseases and cancer, it was investigated in this research the impact of XPC deficiency on BER functions in human cells. It was analyzed both the expression and the cellular localization of APE1, OGG1 e PARP-1, the mainly BER enzymes, in different NER-deficient human fibroblasts. The endogenous levels of these enzymes are reduced in XPC deficient cells. Surprisingly, XP-C fibroblasts were more resistant to oxidative agents than the other NER deficient fibroblasts, despite presenting the highest of 8-oxodG. Furthermore, subtle changes in the nuclear and mitochondrial localization of APE1 were detected in XP-C fibroblasts. To confirm the impact of XPC deficiency in the regulation of APE1 and OGG1 expression and activity, we constructed a XPC-complemented cell line. Although the XPC complementation was only partial, we found that XPC-complemented cells presented increased levels of OGG1 than XPC-deficient cells. The extracts from XPC-complemented cells also presented an elevated OGG1 enzimatic activity. However, it was not observed changes in APE1 expression and activity in the XPCcomplemented cells. In addition, we found that full-length APE1 (37 kDa) and OGG1- α are in the mitochondria of XPC-deficient fibroblasts and XPC-complemented fibroblasts before and after induction of oxidative stress. On the other hand, the expression of APE1 and PARP-1 are not altered in brain and liver of XPC knockout mice. However, XPC deficiency changed the APE1 localization in hypoccampus and hypothalamus. We also observed a physical interaction between XPC and APE1 proteins in human cells. In conclusion, the data suggest that XPC protein has a role in the regulation of OGG1 expression and activity in human cells and is involved mainly in the regulation of APE1 localization in mice. Aditionally, the response of NER deficient cells under oxidative stress may not be only associated to the NER deficiency per se, but it may include the new functions of NER enzymes in regulation of expression and cell localization of BER proteins

Identificação de genes em Chromobacterium violaceum relacionados à resposta ao estresse

The sequencing of the genome of Chromobacterium violaceum identified one single circular chromosome of 4.8 Mb, in which approximately 40% of the founded ORFs are classified as hypothetical conserved or hypothetical. Some genic regions of biotechnological and biological interest had been characterized, e. g., environmental detoxification and DNA repair genes, respectively. Given this fact, the aim of this work was to identify genes of C. violaceum related to stress response, as the ones involved with mechanisms of DNA repair and/or genomic integrity maintenance. For this, a genomic library of C. violaceum was built in Escherichia coli strain DH10B (RecA-), in which clones were tested to UVC resistance, resulting in five candidates clones. In the PLH6A clone were identified four ORFs (CV_3721 to 3724). Two ORFs, CV_3722 and CV_3724, were subcloned and a synergic complementation activity was observed. The occurrence of an operon was confirmed using cDNA from C. violaceum in a RT-PCR assay. Further, it was observed the induction of the operon after the treatment with UVC. Thus, this operon was related to the stress response in C. violaceum. The mutagenesis assay with rifampicin after the treatment with UVC light showed high frequency of mutagenicity for the ORF CV_3722 (Pol III δ subunit). In this way, we propose that the C. violaceum δ subunit can act in DH10B in the translesion synthesis using Pol IV in a RecA independent-manner pathway. In growth curve assays other four clones (PLE1G, PLE7B, PLE10B and PLE12H) were able to complement the function at the dose 5 J/m2 and in mutagenicity assays PLE7B, PLE10B and PLE12H showed frequencies of mutation with significant differences upon the control (DH10B), demonstrating that in some way they are involved with the stress response in C. violaceum. These clones appear to be interrelated, probably regulated by a messenger molecule (eg., nucleotide c-di-GMP) and/or global regulatory molecule (eg., σS subunit of RNA polymerase).The results obtained contribute for a better genetic knowledge of this specie and its response mechanisms to environmental stress.

Functional XPB/RAD25 redundancy in Arabidopsis genome: characterization of AtXPB2 and expression analysis

The xeroderma pigmentosum complementation group B (XPB) protein is involved in both DNA repair and transcription in human cells. It is a component of the transcription factor IIH (TFIIH) and is responsible for DNA helicase activity during nucleotide (nt) excision repair (NER). Its high evolutionary conservation has allowed identification of homologous proteins in different organisms, including plants. In contrast to other organisms, Arabidopsis thaliana harbors a duplication of the XPB orthologue (AtXPB1 and AtXPB2), and the proteins encoded by the duplicated genes are very similar (95% amino acid identity). Complementation assays in yeast rad25 mutant strains suggest the involvement of AtXPB2 in DNA repair, as already shown for AtXPB1, indicating that these proteins may be functionally redundant in the removal of DNA lesions in A. thaliana. Although both genes are expressed in a constitutive manner during the plant life cycle, Northern blot analyses suggest that light modulates the expression level of both XPB copies, and transcript levels increase during early stages of development. Considering the high similarity between AtXPB1 and AtXPB2 and that both of predicted proteins may act in DNA repair, it is possible that this duplication may confer more flexibility and resistance to DNA damaging agents in thale cress. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Eficácia de herbicidas aplicados nas épocas seca e úmida para o controle de Euphorbia heterophylla na cultura da cana-de-açúcar

Objetivou-se estudar o efeito de herbicidas aplicados em pré e pós-emergência, isolados e em combinações nas épocas seca e úmida, para o controle de leiteiro (Euphorbia heterophylla) na cultura de cana-de-açúcar. O experimento foi desenvolvido no período de agosto de 2008 a junho de 2009, em área de produção comercial de cana-de-açúcar localizada no município de Jaboticabal-SP. O delineamento experimental foi o de blocos ao acaso, com quatro repetições, em esquema de parcela subdividida. Na época seca foram avaliados os herbicidas amicarbazone (1.400 g ha-1), imazapic (147 g ha-1) e sulfentrazone (900 g ha-1), aplicados em 1º/8/2008 após a colheita da cana, e testemunha sem manejo prévio das plantas daninhas. Os herbicidas utilizados na época úmida foram: mesotrione isolado (192 g ha-1) e em mistura (120 g ha-1) com ametryn (1.500 gha-1), atrazine (1.500 gha-1) ou diuron + hexazinone (702 + 198 g ha-1), aplicados em 14/11/2008, além de testemunha capinada e outra sem manejo das plantas daninhas. A aplicação de imazapic na época seca foi eficaz no controle de E. heterophylla, dispensando a complementação de manejo na época úmida. No entanto, para os herbicidas amicarbazone e sulfentrazone houve necessidade da aplicação de mesotrione, isolado ou em mistura com ametryn, atrazine ou diuron + hexazinone, para a manutenção do controle de E. heterophylla na época úmida (de 105 a 230 dias após a aplicação na época seca). Quando não foi realizada a aplicação de herbicida na época seca, constatou-se melhor controle de E. heterophylla na época úmida com o herbicida mesotrione associado a ametryn, atrazine ou diuron + hexazinone do que quando aplicado isoladamente. Apesar dos sintomas visuais de fitointoxicação ocasionados pelos tratamentos mesotrione + ametryn e mesotrione + (diuron + hexazinone) pulverizados na época úmida, nenhum dos manejos adotados ou combinações entre eles interferiu no número de colmos viáveis por metro linear, no diâmetro e na altura de colmos de cana-de-açúcar.

Eficácia de herbicidas aplicados nas épocas seca e úmida para o controle de Merremia aegyptia na cultura da cana-de-açúcar

Objetivou-se estudar o efeito de herbicidas aplicados em pré e pós-emergência, isolados e em combinações nas épocas seca e úmida, para o controle de corda-de-viola (Merremia aegyptia) na cultura de cana-de-açúcar colhida mecanicamente sem queima. O experimento foi desenvolvido no período de julho de 2008 a maio de 2009, em área de produção comercial de cana-de-açúcar localizada no município de Pradópolis, SP. O delineamento experimental foi o de blocos ao acaso, com quatro repetições, em esquema de parcela subdividida. Foram avaliados na época seca os herbicidas amicarbazone (1.400 g ha ¹), clomazone + hexazinone (800 + 200 g ha-1) e imazapic (147 g ha-1), aplicados em 16/7/2008 após a colheita da cana, e o tratamento sem manejo prévio das plantas daninhas nessa época. Os herbicidas estudados na época úmida foram: mesotrione isolado (192 g ha-1) e em mistura (120 g ha-1) com atrazine (1.500 g ha-1), metribuzin (960 g ha-1) ou diuron + hexazinone (702 + 198 g ha-1), aplicados em 6/11/2008, além de testemunha capinada e outra sem manejo das plantas daninhas. Dos herbicidas utilizados na época seca, o amicarbazone promoveu o melhor controle de M. aegyptia. No entanto, para todos eles, a complementação de manejo com a aplicação de herbicidas na época úmida mostrou-se obrigatória. Nesta época, a associação de mesotrione aos herbicidas atrazine, metribuzin e diuron + hexazinone foi mais eficaz no controle de M. aegyptia do que quando aplicado sozinho. Nenhum dos tratamentos com herbicidas interferiu no número de colmos por metro linear, diâmetro e altura de colmos de cana-de-açúcar (variedade SP 81-3250).

Glyphosate e adubação foliar com manganês na cultura da soja transgênica

Com base na hipótese de que a soja transgênica tolerante ao glyphosate necessitaria da adição complementar de manganês devido a alterações na absorção e no metabolismo do elemento pelas plantas, objetivou-se estudar a interação da soja transgênica pulverizada com glyphosate e a adubação foliar com manganês. Foi desenvolvido experimento em campo, no ano agrícola 2007/2008, na Fazenda de Ensino, Pesquisa e Produção da UNESP, campus de Jaboticabal, SP. O delineamento experimental foi o de blocos ao acaso, no esquema fatorial 4 x 4, com quatro repetições. Foram avaliados quatro manejos de plantas daninhas [glyphosate (p.c. Roundup Ready) a 0,72 e 1,20 kg ha-1 de equivalente ácido, fluazifop-p-butyl + fomesafen (p.c. Fusiflex) a 0,25 + 0,25 kg ha-1 e testemunha capinada, sem herbicida] e quatro doses (0, 42, 84 e 126 g ha-1) de manganês em aplicação foliar na soja. Os tratamentos estudados não alteraram significativamente a produtividade de grãos, os teores de manganês no solo, a altura e a matéria seca das plantas de soja. Apenas a mistura fluazifop-p-butyl mais fomesafen ocasionou injúrias visuais nas plantas, porém os sintomas ficaram restritos às folhas que interceptaram o jato de pulverização. Para massa de 100 grãos, os herbicidas estudados não diferiram da testemunha; no entanto, as plantas tratadas com 0,72 kg ha-1 de glyphosate apresentaram menor massa de grãos. A aplicação de manganês não influenciou os teores do elemento nas plantas tratadas com glyphosate e naquelas sem herbicida. Portanto, o glyphosate não prejudicou a absorção ou o metabolismo do manganês pela planta, e o crescimento e desenvolvimento das plantas tratadas foram estatisticamente similares aos das não tratadas com herbicidas.

Zona adensável de Ponta Negra em Natal/ RN: as conseqüências decorrentes da lei complementar 27/2000 na visão dos moradores da área

The quarrel on the urban intensific use of determined areas of the city is carried through in some levels of the society, which had to the fact to bring direct influences the population that inhabits it. The question to become an area to intensific use, implies in determining that the local infrastructure has the capacity to take care of to a bigger amount of people, inhabitants or passers-by. In the quarter of Ponta Negra, in Natal city (state of RN), its condition of area to intensific use to the municipal Law 27/2000 happened due that it starts to allow a bigger level of occupation of part of the quarter. This law has a direct relation with the installation of a complementary infrastructure in the quarter, to put does not send to its complementation and maintenance, what it takes the consequences that are felt by the population. This work has as main objective the identification of the decurrent significant consequences of the creation of Ponta Negra s Intensific Use Zone, according to vision of the population of the quarter. The way followed for this involves the compatible bibliography research with the subject, analysis of documents that treat on the quarter, mappings of the area in search of a physical characterization and mainly, an application of questionnaire next to local population. In this questionnaire it is the main point of the necessary collection of data to the work, indicating the point of view of the population not only on the negative points, but also on the positive points that had happened since the creation of Intensific Use Zone. The answers indicate problems of natures social, infrastructure and enviromental, compatible with the problems of other areas that had passed the same for process, as point the studied bibliography, indicating imperfections in the planning process and maintenance of Ponta Negra s Intensific Use Zone

Identification of Rv3852 as a nucleoid-associated protein in Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

The Importance of Bees for Eggplant Cultivations (Hymenoptera: Apidae, Andrenidae, Halictidae)

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Biochemical characterization of Neurospora crassa glycogenin (GNN), the self-glucosylating initiator of glycogen synthesis

Glycogenin acts in the initiation step of glycogen biosynthesis by catalyzing a self-glucosylation reaction. In a previous work [de Paula et al., Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 435 (2005) 112-124], we described the isolation of the cDNA gnn, which encodes the protein glycogenin (GNN) in Neurospora crassa. This work presents a set of biochemical and functional studies confirming the GNN role in glycogen biosynthesis. Kinetic experiments showed a very low GNN K-m (4.41 mu M) for the substrate UDP-glucose. Recombinant GNN was produced in Escherichia coli and analysis by mass spectroscopy identified a peptide containing an oligosaccharide chain attached to Tyr196 residue. Site-directed mutagenesis and functional complementation of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutant strain confirmed the participation of this residue in the GNN self-glucosylation and indicated the Tyr198 residue as an additional, although less active, glucosylation site. The physical interaction between GNN and glycogen synthase (GSN) was analyzed by the two-hybrid assay. While the entire GSN was required for full interaction, the C-terminus in GNN was more important. Furthermore, mutation in the GNN glucosylation sites did not impair the interaction with GSN. (c) 2005 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of the Federation of European Biochemical Societies.

Effects of mutations in acetate metabolism on high-cell-density growth of Escherichia coli

To study the role played by acetate metabolism during high-cell-density growth of Escherichia coli cells, we constructed isogenic null mutants of strain W3100 deficient for several genes involved either in acetate metabolism or the transition to stationary phase. We grew these strains under identical fed-batch conditions to the highest cell densities achievable in 8 h using a predictive-plus-feedback-controlled computer algorithm that maintained glucose at a set-point of 0.5 g/l, as previously described. Wild-type strains, as well as mutants lacking the sigma(s) subunit of RNA polymerase (rpoS), grew reproducibly to high cell densities (44-50 g/l dry cell weights, DCWs). In contrast, a strain lacking acetate kinase (ackA) failed to reach densities greater than 8 g/l. Strains lacking other acetate metabolism genes (pta, acs, poxB, iciR, and fadR) achieved only medium cell densities (15-21 g/l DCWs). Complementation of either the acs or the ackA mutant restored wild-type high-cell-density growth, on a dry weight basis, poxB and fadR strains produced approximately threefold more acetate than did the wild-type strain. In contrast, the pta, acs, or rpoS strains produced significantly less acetate per cell dry weight than did the wild-type strain. Our results show that acetate metabolism plays a critical role during growth of E. coli cultures to high cell densities. They also demonstrate that cells do not require the sigma(s) regulon to grow to high cell densities, at least not under the conditions tested.

GNN is a self-glucosylating protein involved in the initiation step of glycogen biosynthesis in Neurospora crassa

The initiation of glycogen synthesis requires the protein glycogenin, which incorporates glucose residues through a self-glucosylation reaction, and then acts as substrate for chain elongation by glycogen synthase and branching enzyme. Numerous sequences of glycogenin-like proteins are available in the databases but the enzymes from mammalian skeletal muscle and from Saccharomyces cerevisiae are the best characterized. We report the isolation of a cDNA from the fungus Neurospora crassa, which encodes a protein, GNN, which has properties characteristic of glycogenin. The protein is one of the largest glycogenins but shares several conserved domains common to other family members. Recombinant GNN produced in Escherichia coli was able to incorporate glucose in a self-glucosylation reaction, to trans-glucosylate exogenous substrates, and to act as substrate for chain elongation by glycogen synthase. Recombinant protein was sensitive to C-terminal proteolysis, leading to stable species of around 31 kDa, which maintained all functional properties. The role of GNN as an initiator of glycogen metabolism was confirmed by its ability to complement the glycogen deficiency of a S. cerevisiae strain (glg1 glg2) lacking glycogenin and unable to accumulate glycogen. Disruption of the gnn gene of N. crassa by repeat induced point mutation (RIP) resulted in a strain that was unable to synthesize glycogen, even though the glycogen synthase activity was unchanged. Northern blot analysis showed that the gnn gene was induced during vegetative growth and was repressed upon carbon starvation. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.