Alelopatia de extratos aquosos de canela-sassafrás (Ocotea odorifera (Vell.) Rohwer)

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Compensatory rebound of body movements during sleep, after asphyxia in neonatal rats

OBJETIVO: A utilidade dos movimentos corporais (MC) que ocorrem durante o sono para diagnosticar e predizer as conseqüências, em longo prazo, da asfixia perinatal é contraditório. Este estudo investigou se ratos recém-nascidos (RN) manifestam MC em resposta compensatória à asfixia, e se estas alterações podem ter alguma importância na sua patogênese. MÉTODOS: Oito ratos RN (6-48h de vida) foram submetidos à implantação de pequenos eletrodos para registros da eletromiografia e eletrocardiografia. Os MC e a freqüência cardíaca (FC) foram registrados durante períodos de 30 min: fase controle (F1), fases de asfixia (F2; F3) e fase de recuperação pós-asfixia (F4). A asfixia foi promovida pelo envolvimento completo do animal com uma lâmina de polivinil. RESULTADOS: A FC diminuiu progressivamente durante F2 e F3 até a bradicardia. em F2 houve grande agitação dos animais e aumento dos períodos de vigília. em F3 houve redução significante dos MC de 12,5 ± 0,5 (Md ± SE/2min) para 9,0 ± 0,44 (P<0,05). A freqüência dos MC aumentou em F4 para 15,0 ± 0,49. CONCLUSÃO: Estes dados mostram que ratos RN com asfixia apresentam MC compensatórios durante o sono que podem ajudar no diagnóstico desta afecção e de outros problemas relacionados aos parâmetros do sono.

Nutritional-requirements of Cryptococcus-laurentii in sugar-cane vinasse medium

The growth of the yeast Cryptococcus laurentii in complete broth for yeast and in liquid and semi-solid sugar cane vinasse media supplemented with several nitrogen and phosphorus sources was analysed in order to evaluate its potential utilization as biomass producer from vinasse. The trials were performed in a 1-liter fermentor, at 30-degrees-C, under magnetic agitation for 48 hours, and initial pH 5.0 for the liquid media. The parameters analysed were biomass, protein, and final pH. For the semi-solid media, agitated flasks under rotational agitation for 24 hours, at 30-degrees-C, and initial pH 5.0 were used. The results obtained showed that the yeast did not grow well in liquid sugar cane vinasse media, both supplemented or not, in comparison to the complete broth for yeast. The protein content was also lower in liquid sugar cane vinasse media. The medium pH did not alter markedly during the cultivation. The best results were obtained in semi-solid sugar cane vinasse media with supplementation, probably due to the known polysaccharide production by this species, which allows a better survival to solid substrates.

Pectinolytic activity secreted by yeasts isolated from fermented citrus molasses

Aims: the aim of this study was to obtain improved strains of pectinolytic yeasts adapted to the conditions of an industrial fermentation process, which was continuously operated to convert citrus molasses into ethanol.Methods and Results: the starter yeast of the industrial fermentation process was a commercial baker's yeast, which was capable of growing without forming any secretion halo of pectinase activity on solid medium. Nevertheless, isolates showing secretion of pectinolytic activity on plates were obtained from the fermentation process. The secretion of pectin-degrading activity by isolates on plates was repressed by galactose and improved as the result of colony aging on polygalacturonic acid plates at 30 degrees C. Liquefaction of polygalacturonate gels as well as the splitting of the pectin-degrading activity into a wall-linked and a supernatant fraction were also observed when the starter yeast was propagated under agitation in liquid medium containing pectin.Conclusions: Isolates capable of secreting pectinolytic activity on plates were predominant at the end of the citrus molasses fermentation. Nevertheless, the sizes of the secretion haloes on plates were not necessarily an indication of the levels of pectinolytic activity secreted in the liquid medium.Significance and Impact of the Study: Improved pectinolytic strains of Saccharomyces can be used as a source of pectinases for a variety of applications. This organism also participates in plant deterioration processes.

THERMOTOLERANCE BEHAVIOR IN SUGAR-CANE SYRUP FERMENTATIONS OF WILD-TYPE YEAST STRAINS SELECTED UNDER PRESSURES OF TEMPERATURE, HIGH SUGAR AND ADDED ETHANOL

The selected yeast strains were examined for their ability lo grow, to retain cell viability and to ferment diluted sugar cane juice (15% total sugar, w/v) to ethanol at 40-degrees-C. The degree of agitation (aeration) affects the thermotolerance while the method used for isolation of the strains appears to have no significant effect. The yeast isolated are aerobically fermentative with increased levels of fermentation and growth resulting from agitation (aeration), the exact level of these increases being dependent on the strain used.

Sympathetic hyperactivity, respiratory failure, pruritus, and anesthesia after unintentional epidural injection of potassium chloride: Case report

Background and Objectives. A combination of epidural and general anesthesia has been widely used to attenuate the surgical stress response and to provide postoperative analgesia. This case report illustrates the use of this anesthetic technique. Analgesia was induced with local anesthetic in the immediate postoperative period using unintentional 19.1% potassium chloride (KCI) as diluent. Methods. An ASA I male patient was scheduled for surgical correction of idiopathic megaesophagus under continuous epidural anesthesia combined with general anesthesia. In the postoperative period, while preparing 10 mt 0.125% bupivacaine to be administered through the epidural catheter for pain control, 5 mt 19.1% KCI was unintentionally used as diluent, resulting in a 9.55% potassium solution concentration. Results. The patient developed warmness of the lower limbs, tachycardia, hypertension, intense pruritus on the chest, agitation, exacerbation of sensory and motor blocks, and respiratory failure secondary to pulmonary edema, requiring ventilatory support. Total recovery was observed after 24 hours. Conclusions. Epidurally injected potassium leads to severe clinical manifestations caused by autonomic dysfunction, spinal cord irritation, and possible release of histamine. Despite continuous recommendations, ampule misidentification still happens in hospitals, frequently leading to serious accidents.

A Via Campesina Brasil e a avaliação da primeira década de impactos da reforma agrária do Banco Mundial

During the past decade, influenced strongly by World Bank land policies, many governments instituted a new mode of recreating the peasantry, one supposedly led by market forces through credit programs secured by land. Supported by large landowner organizations, defended as a conquest by the rural labor movement and combated by member organizations of the Via Campesina, the new mode of peasant renovation has inspired a diversity of interpretations both positive and negative. To evaluate these events, this article seeks to demonstrate the World Bank's intentionality in urging the implementation of market-led agrarian reform in developing countries; discusses the construction of immaterial territories in the context of this policy; analyzes the development of a people's think tank in response to the agitation of the Via Campesina Brazil and the negative impact of the credit system on peasants.

Hyolith-dominated shell beds from the Lampazar Formation in NW Argentina: patterns and processes of origin in the Late Cambrian (Furongian) seas of western Gondwana.

Late Cambrian (Furongian) shell beds in the Salta Province of NW Argentina are unique because of the presence of abundant hyolith skeletal remains within them. Hyolith shell beds are located in the mid-upper part of the Lampazar Formation at the Angosto de La Quesera locality, and are the first recorded accumulations of this type in the lower Palaeozoic of the South American Andean Basin. The shell beds are of the order of several mm thick, and are laterally persistent within outcrop scale, with a few metres of lateral development. Two types of hyolith shell beds are recognised: Type 1 is a storm-dominated, event concentration, represented by dispersed to densely packed accumulations of well preserved hyolith and gastropod shells (Strepsodiscus austrinus). Hyolith conchs are current oriented with the long axes parallel to unidirectional flow on the sandstones surfaces. Type 2 shell beds are background, composite concentrations, of poorly preserved, comminuted debris of hyolith shells with associated gastropod and trilobite sclerites (dominated by Parabolina, Beltella and Leiostegium). The genesis of both shell beds was controlled primarily by physical processes, such as storms and current and/or wave agitation. The thickness, simple internal fabric and geometry shown by both accumulations are typical of Cambrian-style shell-beds.

Extracellular tannase from Emericella nidulans showing hypertolerance to temperature and organic solvents

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

Culture of Candida in vinasse and molasses: Effect of acid and salt addition on biomass and raw protein production

Species of the genera Candida grown in vinasse and molasses were studied under the following conditions: agitation of containers, pH 4.6, culture time of 24 hours at 30°C. The greatest biomass production of C. krusei grown in vinasse was obtained with the addition of 0.1% H3PO4, and of C. guilliermondii and C. utilis with the addition 0.02% urea plus 0.03% H3PO4. Protein levels near 50% were found in C. utilis in vinasse supplemented either with molasses, with 0.05% MgSO4, or with 0.02% urea plus 0.03% H3PO4. © 1982 Springer-Verlag.

Produção de biomassa por fungos Filamentosos em meio de vinhaça de cana-de-açúcar suplementado com melaço

Three species of filamentous fungi, Aspergillus niger, Penicillium fellutanum and Mucor hiemalis, were selected and cultivated in vinasse media with different addition of molasses, pasteurized to 85°C for 30 minutes and with pH = 5.0. The microorganisms, previously adapted to the respective medium for 48 hours, from a solution of 107 spores.ml-1, were cultivated in pure and mixed cultures in Erlenmeyer vessel of 500ml, to 30°C, with constant agitation of 170 rpm, for 24, 48 and 72 hours, with four repetition for each samples. The biomass was separated by vacuum filtration in filter Whatman #1 and dried in oven at 105°C until right weight, the obtained liquid was submited to COD analysis. The datas were statistically analysed using a response surface methodology, to improve the effect on the molasses proportion and culture time, in the biomass production by microorganism in research. According to the obtained results (5.02% of molasses, 55.59h, 70% of spores solution of A. niger and 30% of spores solution of P. fellutanum), cultivating was carried out in Microferm Fermentor New Brunswick for 48 hours at 300 rpm, aired at 1v/v/m, using 5 liters of medium added with 5.0% of molasses on the conditions above described. The average of the results obtained (6.81g.l-1) was higher than the confidence interval (5.937 ; 6.369) and was inside the prediction interval (4.471 ; 7.834) both of them significant at 95% by the statistical test employed.

Electrolytic treatment of wastewater from a fowl slaughterhouse using cast-iron electrodes

A viability study of an electrolytic process for the transformation of organic matter and free sulphide contained in wastewater from a fowl slaughterhouse in order to minimise odours was carried out Cast iron and aluminium electrodes were tried at 7.09 mA/cm2, under strong agitation, at 297 K. Conductivity, pH, chemical oxygen demand (COD), amount of settleable solids, and sulphide content were monitored with electrolysis duration. The cast iron electrodes were found to be viable for the elimination of soluble sulphides in the wastewater, leading to the elimination of its strong odour after short times of electrolysis. A significant decrease in COD was also attained.

Bacillus thuringiensis development from 1971 to 1996: Cases of a research group in Brazil

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

Isolamento de fungos produtores de ácido γ-linolênico de solo da Estação Ecologica de Juréia-Itatins, SP

Fungi producing γ-linolenic acid (GLA) were isolated from soil of the Ecological Station of Juréia-Itatins, SP. This essential fatty acid has aroused great interest due to its increasing by applications in pharmaceutical industry. The GLA production by zygomycetous fungi is an alternative way of comparing seed extraction. Thirty-two zygomycetous strains of Mucorales were isolated, most of them belonging to Mucor genus. The GLA production was evaluated after 4 days of incubation at 25°C on a rotary shaker at 150 rpm in medium containing 2% glucose, and 1% yeast extract, following new medium addition (20%) and incubation for an additional period of 3 days at 12°C, without agitation. The GLA production varied according to the microorganism and the strain.

Viability of Streptococcus mutans on transparent and opaque toothbrushes.

PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to evaluate the viability of the microorganism Streptococcus mutans on toothbrushes made of opaque and transparent materials. METHODS: Twenty-eight toothbrushes (14 opaque and 14 transparent) were inoculated in tubes with brain heart infusion (BHI) broth of a standard strain of S. mutans and incubated in candle jars at 37 degrees C for 24 hours. Both the opaque and transparent toothbrushes were removed at T = 0 h (control); T = 0.5 h; T = 1 h; T = 2 h; T = 4 h; T = 8 h; and T = 24 h. Individual toothbrushes were subjected to agitation in a saline solution and samples of the solution were diluted and inoculated in Bacitracin Sucrose Agar--SB-20. RESULTS: After half an hour (T2) there was a significant decrease in the number of microorganisms on the transparent and opaque toothbrushes, respectively 6.0 x 10(5) and 9.4 x 10(5), when compared to the control. After the T3 = 1 hour, T4 = 2 hours, T5 = 4 h, the number of microorganisms decreased from 4.1 x 10(5); 2.1 x 10(5); 1.4 x 10(5); and 9.2 x 10(5); 5.7 x 10(5); 1.2 x 10(5) to zero (0.0) in T6 = 8 h, respectively on the transparent and opaque toothbrushes. The reduction in viable microorganisms was more obvious with the transparent toothbrushes, although the number of viable microorganisms was not significantly different for the two types of toothbrushes at the end of the experiment, T5 = 1.4 x 10(5) (transparent) and T5 = 1.2 x 10(5) (opaque). CONCLUSIONS: With both opaque and transparent toothbrushes, the number of microorganisms decreased with time. A reduction in the number of microorganisms on the transparent toothbrushes was observed following inoculation and incubation. This suggests the transparent toothbrushes inhibit the viability of the S. mutans.