Integrated biomarker responses as environmental status descriptors of a coastal zone (Sao Paulo, Brazil)

Sao Paulo state (Brazil) has one of the most overpopulated coastal zones in South America, where previous studies have already detected sediment and water contamination. However, biological-based monitoring considering signals of xenobiotic exposure and effects are scarce. The present study employed a battery of biomarkers under field conditions to assess the environmental quality of this coastal zone. For this purpose, the activity of CYP 450, antioxidant enzymes, DNA damage, lipid peroxidation and lysosomal membrane were analysed in caged mussels and integrated using Factorial Analysis. A representation of estimated factor scores was performed in order to confirm the factor descriptions characterizing the studied areas. Biomarker responses indicated signals of mussels` impaired health during the monitoring, which pointed to the impact of different sources of contaminants in the water quality and identified critical areas. This integrated approach produced a rapid, sensitive and cost-effective assessment, which could be incorporated as a descriptor of environmental status in future coastal zones biomonitoring. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of tropical water sources and mollusks in southern Brazil using microbiological, biochemical, and chemical parameters

Florianopolis, a city located in the Santa Catarina State in southern Brazil, is the national leading producer of bivalve mollusks. The quality of bivalve mollusks is closely related to the sanitary conditions of surrounding waters where they are cultivated. Presently, cultivation areas receive large amounts of effluents derived mainly from treated and non-treated domestic, rural, and urban sewage. This contributes to the contamination of mollusks with trace metals, pesticides, other organic compounds, and human pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, and protozoan. The aim of this study was to perform a thorough diagnosis of the shellfish growing areas in Florianopolis, on the coast of Santa Catarina. The contamination levels of seawater, sediments, and oysters were evaluated for their microbiological, biochemical, and chemical parameters at five sea sites in Florianopolis, namely three regular oyster cultivation areas (Sites 1, 2, and oyster supplier), a polluted site (Site 3), and a heavily polluted site (Site 4). Samples were evaluated at day zero and after 14 days. Seawater and sediment samples were collected just once, at the end of the experiment. Antioxidant defenses, which may occur in contaminated environments in response to the increased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by organisms, were analyzed in oysters, as well as organic compounds (in oysters and sediment samples) and microbiological contamination (in oysters and seawater samples). The results showed the presence of the following contaminants: fecal coliforms in seawater samples (four sites), human adenovirus (all sites), human noroviruses GI and GII (two sites), Hepatitis A viruses (one site), JC Polyomavirus in an oyster sample from the oyster supplier, Giardia duodenalis cysts, and Cryptosporidium sp oocysts (one site). Among organochlorine pesticides, only DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) and HCH (hexachlorocyclohexane) were detected in some sediment and oysters samples in very low levels; site 4 had the highest concentrations of total aliphatic hydrocarbons. PAHs, and linear alkylbenzenes (LABs) found either in oysters or in sediment samples. The major concentration of fecal sterol coprostanol was found at site 4, followed by site 3. After 14 days of allocation in the four selected sites, there was a significant difference in the enzymes analyzed at the monitored spots. The detection of different contaminants in oysters, seawater, and sediment samples in the present study shows the impact untreated or inadequately treated effluents have on coastal areas. These results highlight the need for public investment in adequate wastewater treatment and adequate treatment of oysters, ensuring safe areas for shellfish production as well as healthier bivalve mollusks for consumption.

Politics and protestant Lordship in North East Scotland during the reign of James VI: The life of George Keith, fourth Earl Marischal, 1554-1623

George Keith, fourth Earl Marischal is a case study of long-term, quietly successful and stable lordship through the reign of James VI. Marischal’s life provides a wholly underrepresented perspective on this era, where the study of rebellious and notorious characters has dominated. He is also a counter-example to the notion of a general crisis among the European nobility, at least in the Scottish context, as well as to the notion of a ‘conservative’ or ‘Catholic’ north east. In 1580 George inherited the richest earldom in Scotland, with a geographical extent stretching along the east coast from Caithness to East Lothian. His family came to be this wealthy as a long term consequence of the Battle of Flodden (1513) where a branch of the family, the Inverugie Keiths had been killed. The heiress of this branch was married to the third earl and this had concentrated a large number of lands, and consequently wealth, in the hands of the earls. This had, however, also significantly decreased the number of members and hence power of the Keith kindred. The third earl’s conversion to Protestantism in 1544 and later his adherence to the King’s Party during the Marian Civil War forced the Keiths into direct confrontation with their neighbours in the north east, the Gordons (led by the Earls of Huntly), a Catholic family and supporters of the Queen’s Party. Although this feud was settled for a time at the end of the war, the political turmoil caused by a succession of short-lived factional regimes in the early part of the personal reign of James VI (c.1578-1585) led the new (fourth) Earl Marischal into direct confrontation with the new (sixth) Earl of Huntly. Marischal was outclassed, outmanoeuvred and outgunned at both court and in the locality in this feud, suffering considerably. However, Huntly’s over-ambition in wider court politics meant that Marischal was able to join various coalitions against his rival, until Huntly was exiled in 1595. Marischal also came into conflict briefly with Chancellor John Maitland of Thirlestane as a consequence of Marischal’s diplomatic mission to Denmark in 1589-1590, but was again outmatched politically and briefly imprisoned. Both of these feuds reveal Marischal to be relatively cautious and reactionary, and both reveal the limitations of his power. Elsewhere, the study of Marischal’s activities in the centre of Scottish politics reveal him to be unambitious. He was ready to serve King James, the two men having a healthy working relationship, but Marischal showed no ambition as a courtier, to woo the king’s favour or patronage, instead delegating interaction with the monarch to his kinsmen. Likewise, in government, Marischal rarely attended any of the committees he was entitled to attend, such as the Privy Council, although he did keep a keen eye on the land market and the business conducted under the Great Seal. Although personally devout and a committed Protestant, the study of Marischal’s interaction with the national Kirk and the parishes of which he was patron reveal that he was at times a negligent patron and exercised his right of ministerial presentation as lordly, not godly patronage. The notion of a ‘conservative North East’ is, however, rejected. Where Marischal was politically weak at court and weak in terms of force in the locality, we see him pursuing sideways approaches to dealing with this. Thus he was keen to build up his general influence in the north and in particular with the burgh of Aberdeen (one result of this being the creation of Marischal College in 1593), pursued disputes through increasing use of legal methods rather than bloodfeud (thus exploiting his wealth and compensating for his relative lack of force) and developed a sophisticated system of maritime infrastructure, ultimately expressed through the creating of the burghs of Peterhead and Stonehaven. Although his close family caused him a number of problems over his lifetime, he was able to pass on a stable and enlarged lordship to his son in 1623.

Celso Furtado, o teórico do movimento nacional-desenvolvimentista cepalino-isebiano

Este trabalho tem como objetivo principal apreender as mais importantes elaborações de Celso Furtado a partir do debate sobre o desenvolvimento brasileiro nas décadas de 1950 e 1960. Enfocando a construção teórico-metodológica da sua interpretação do subdesenvolvimento brasileiro e sua importância para o movimento nacionalista desenvolvimentista, bem como sua participação no debate político e intelectual que esta vertente do pensamento social e político brasileiro travou com alguns acadêmicos do Departamento de Ciências Sociais da USP. A análise deste debate destaca as divergências entre os conceitos de subdesenvolvimento de Celso Furtado e de dependência segundo a interpretação elaborada por Fernando Henrique Cardoso.

A peregrinação ocidental no teatro de Afonso Álvares (XVI) e Xavier Lama (século XX)

Esta dissertação tem por objetivo mostrar como o mito de São Tiago Maior e a peregrinação religiosa na Idade Média são retratados na dramaturgia portuguesa e galega. Para isso, reporta-se a duas obras: Auto de Santiago de Afonso Álvares (Portugal - séc. XVI) e O Peregrino errante que cansou ó demo de Xavier Lama (Galícia séc. XX). Objetiva verificar como os discursos das personagens, associados aos demais elementos que estruturam as obras, têm por finalidade acentuar a importância, no contexto da religiosidade ibérica, do culto à Virgem de Guadalupe e de São Tiago em sua tríplice representação: São Tiago Apóstolo, Peregrino ou Mata-mouros. E, sobretudo, demonstrar o caráter doutrinador e moralizante das peças, principalmente na recomendação das virtudes a serem seguidas e dos pecados a serem evitados pelo cristão em sua peregrinação existencial, objetivando a ascenção espiritual

Maria Eugenia Celso: entre o impresso feminino, a casa e o espaço público (1920-1941)

Esta dissertação se situa no campo de estudos da História da Educação e privilegia o período compreendido entre 1920 e 1941, com vistas a destacar a dimensão educativa dos escritos de Maria Eugenia Celso em diálogo com estudos sobre a história das mulheres no Brasil e no ocidente, com a questão de gênero. Para dar tratamento a esse propósito, investe-se nas possibilidades de pesquisa do texto jornalístico e literário de Maria Eugenia Celso, elencando-se seus escritos na coluna Pagina de Eva do periódico Revista da Semana, reportagens em prol da Federação Brasileira pelo Progresso Feminino publicados pelo Jornal do Brasil e documentos desta entidade, bem como o livro Diário de Ana Lúcia. A escolha pelos referidos escritos justifica-se pela presença de discursos que encaminham para uma educação da mulher. Nesta perspectiva, neste texto acadêmico, busca-se lançar luz sobre a trajetória da escritora, para que suas obras tenham mais visibilidade. Almeja-se, da mesma forma, possibilitar uma leitura mais aprofundada da sociedade à época tanto quanto da dimensão educativa do impresso para a história das mulheres brasileiras. Neste estudo, destaco a mulher presente no espaço doméstico e no espaço público, abordando diferentes representações da mulher nas primeiras décadas do século XX

Appointment of John B. Parkynn [Parkin] (J.P. Bradley’s brother) to be an Ensign of the 1st Company of the Royal Quebec Volunteers

Appointment of John B. Parkynn [Parkin] (J.P. Bradley’s brother) to be an Ensign of the 1st Company of the Royal Quebec Volunteers. This is signed by the Governor General, the Earl of Gosford and Governor General, Secretary J. Walcott, Nov. 27, 1837.

Pesquisa Histórica da Educação do Tempo Presente

Nosso objetivo neste trabalho foi expor e defender a relevância da história da educação do tempo presente para a pesquisa histórico-educacional. Partimos dos alicerces da história do tempo presente, destacando alguns conceitos construtores desse campo oriundos de autores como Rémond, François e Chartier (1996). A seguir, trabalhamos os avanços e os desafios enfrentados pelos pesquisadores desse campo. As fontes disponíveis para as pesquisa da história da educação do tempo presente foram destacadas, argumentando que a abundância delas e a proximidades do pesquisador em relação ao tempo da sua ação não facilitam a pesquisa e não diminuem sua necessária rigorosidade. Os alicerces da história do tempo presente, os desafios, os avanços, suas fontes abundantes e sua aplicação rigorosa constroem uma nova epistemologia para a história da educação, marcada pelas incertezas que referenciam a centralidade da problematização na pesquisa histórica. Toda essa argumentação é reforçada pela idéia originária de que a educação, como uma prática social, exige de seus pesquisadores a consecução dos depoimentos orais, das informações e de todos os tipos de documentação oriundas dos sujeitos que a fizeram/fazem.

Salinity influences glutathione S-transferase activity and lipid peroxidation responses in the Crassostrea gigas oyster exposed to diesel oil

Biochemical responses in bivalve mollusks are commonly employed in environmental studies as biomarkers of aquatic contamination. The present study evaluated the possible influence of salinity (35, 25,15 and 9 ppt) in the biomarker responses of Crassostrea gigas oysters exposed to diesel at different nominal concentrations (0.01, 0.1 and 1 mLL(-1)) using a semi-static exposure system. Salinity alone did not resulted in major changes in the gill`s catalase activity (CAT), glutathione S-transferase activity (GST) and lipid peroxidation levels (measured as malondialdehyde. MDA), but influenced diesel related responses. At 25 ppt salinity, but not at the other salinity levels, oysters exposed to diesel showed a strikingly positive concentration-dependent GST response. At 25 ppt and 1 mLL(-1) diesel, the GST activity in the gills remained elevated, even after one week of depuration in clean water. The increased MDA levels in the oysters exposed to diesel comparing to control groups at 9, 15 and 35 ppt salinities suggest the occurrence of lipid peroxidation in those salinities, but not at 25 ppt salinity. The MDA quickly returned to basal levels after 24 h of depuration. CAT activity was unaltered by the treatments employed. High toxicity for 1 mLL(-1) diesel was observed only at 35 ppt salinity, but not in the other salinities. Results from this study strongly suggest that salinity influences the diesel related biomarker responses and toxicity in C. gigas, and that some of those responses remain altered even after depuration. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Salinity influences glutathione S-transferase activity and lipid peroxidation responses in the Crassostrea gigas oyster exposed to diesel oil

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Caracterização das inclusões e da estrutura bruta de fusão de aço superclean para aplicações em molas dinâmicas

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Estudo da viabilidade do emprego da técnica de subtração radiográfica digital em radiografias periapicais com registro a posteriori

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Influência da reposição hormonal na densidade óssea avaliada em radiografias panorâmicas digitais por meio da análise fractal em mulheres na menopausa

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Physical objects on navigation channal simulation models

This paper presents the results of a simulation using physical objects. This concept integrates the physical dimensions of an entity such as length, width, and weight, with the usual process flow paradigm, recurrent in the discrete event simulation models. Based on a naval logistics system, we applied this technique in an access channel of the largest port of Latin America. This system is composed by vessel movement constrained by the access channel dimensions. Vessel length and width dictates whether it is safe or not to have one or two ships simultaneously. The success delivered by the methodology proposed was an accurate validation of the model, approximately 0.45% of deviation, when compared to real data. Additionally, the model supported the design of new terminals operations for Santos, delivering KPIs such as: canal utilization, queue time, berth utilization, and throughput capability

ELEMENTOS DA OBRA FREIREANA E DA TEOLOGIA DA LIBERTAÇÃO NAS DÉCADAS DE 1950 A 1970: UMA ANÁLISE COMBINADA DE SUA GÊNESE E IDENTIDADE

A presente pesquisa se propõe a analisar o contexto histórico, político, social, econômico e ideológico em que surge a pedagogia crítica de Paulo Freire e posteriormente a Teologia da Libertação, visando encontrar influências deste peculiar contexto na gênese do pensamento freireano e nas concepções dos teólogos Rubem Alves e Gustavo Gutiérrez, que foram os primeiros publicar obras sobre Teologia da Libertação, corrente teológica considerada genuinamente latino-americana. Ainda procura observar em que medida as concepções pedagógicas de Freire podem ter sido acolhidas pelos teólogos Alves e Gutiérrez em suas obras aqui analisadas. Em ambos os pensamentos encontramos a visão de valorização do ser humano e de uma práxis que busca sua libertação de sistemas opressores. Tanto em Paulo Freire como nos fundamentos desta corrente teológica se apresentam princípios humanistas e elementos da tradição cristã. A partir da ferramenta metodológica de análise do materialismo histórico dialético marxista, procura identificar temas comuns que são abordados pelos autores em suas obras surgidas entre as décadas de 1950 a 1970, detendo-se ao estudo de alguns temas subjacentes a esse contexto histórico, a saber: práxis, história, humanismo e libertação.