LAURENCIA MARILZAE (CERAMIALES, RHODOPHYTA) FROM THE MEXICAN CARIBBEAN: A NEW RECORD FOR THE TROPICAL WESTERN ATLANTIC

Laurencia marilzae Gil-Rodriguez, Senties & MT Fujii is recorded for the first time for the tropical western Atlantic Ocean, occurring in Isla Mujeres, Quintana Roo, Mexican Caribbean. The specimens were collected in November 2008 and June 2009, growing epilithically in the lower intertidal zone on moderately exposed rocky shores. This species is characterized by its distinctive yellow-orange color in the natural environment, four pericentral cells per vegetative axial segment, the presence of secondary pit-connections between adjacent cortical cells, which are markedly projecting at the apices, and by the presence of one ""corp en cerise"" per cell in all cells of the thallus: cortical, medullary, including pericentral and axial cells, and trichoblasts. Morphological similarities and molecular data support the determination of this material as L. marilzae. The present study expands the geographical distribution of L. marilzae to the Caribbean Sea in the tropical Western Atlantic Ocean.

Palisada flagellifera (Ceramiales, Rhodophyta) from the Canary Islands, Spain: a new record for the eastern Atlantic Ocean based on morphological and molecular evidence

Palisada flagellifera (Ceramiales, Rhodophyta) is recorded for the first time in the eastern Atlantic Ocean off Tenerife, La Gomera, La Palma and Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, Spain. The specimens were collected in 2006-2009 growing from the lower intertidal to subtidal zones to 2 m depth at sites exposed to wave action. The species possesses a palisade-like arrangement of cortical cells in cross section, lacks secondary pit connections between them, and has tetrasporangia produced by three fertile pericentral cells (the third and the fourth additional and the second that becomes fertile), and a right-angled arrangement of tetrasporangia. Gametangia were not observed. The phylogenetic relationships were inferred by analyses of the chloroplast-encoded rbcL gene sequences from 46 taxa. The Canarian and Brazilian P. flagellifera specimens formed a highly supported clade with a low level of genetic variation in the rbcL sequences (0.02-0.04%), confirming that they are the same taxonomic entity. This study expands the geographical distribution of P. flagellifera to the eastern Atlantic Ocean.

Evidence for the conspecificity of Palisada papillosa with P. perforata (Ceramiales, Rhodophyta) from the western and eastern Atlantic Ocean on the basis of morphological and molecular analyses

Morphological and molecular studies were carried out on Palisada papillosa and P. perforata from the Canary Islands (type locality of P. perforata), Mexico and Brazil. The two species have been distinguished by features of their external morphology such as size and degree of compactness of the thalli, presence or absence of arcuate branches, branching pattern and basal system. A detailed morphological comparison between these taxa showed that none of the vegetative anatomical or reproductive characters was sufficient to separate these species. The presence or absence of cortical cells in a palisade-like arrangement, also previously used to. distinguish these species, is not applicable. The species present all characters typical of the genus, and both share production of the first pericentral cell underneath the basal cell of the trichoblast, production of two fertile pericentral cells (the second and the third additional, the first remaining sterile), spermatangial branches produced from one of two laterals on the suprabasal cell of trichoblasts, and the procarpbearing segment with four pericentral cells. Details of the procarp are described for the species for the first time. The phylogenetic position of these species was inferred by analysis of the chloroplast-encoded rbcL gene sequences from 39 taxa, using one other Rhodomelacean taxon and two Ceramiaceae as outgroups. Relationships within the clade formed by P. papillosa and P. perforata have not been resolved due to the low level of genetic variation in their rbcL sequences (0-0.4%). Considering this and the morphological similarities, we conclude that P. papillosa is a taxonomic synonym of P. perforata. The phylogenetic analyses also supported the nomenclatural transfer of two species of Chondrophycus to Palisada, namely, P. patentiramea (Montagne) Cassano, Senties, Gil-Rodriguez & M.T. Fujii comb. nov. and P. thuyoides (Kutzing) Cassano, Senties, Gil-Rodriguez & M.T. Fujii comb. nov.

Genetic and Functional Evidence Implicating DLL1 as the Gene That Influences Susceptibility to Visceral Leishmaniasis at Chromosome 6q27

Background. Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is caused by Leishmania donovani and Leishmania infantum chagasi. Genome-wide linkage studies from Sudan and Brazil identified a putative susceptibility locus on chromosome 6q27. Methods. Twenty-two single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at genes PHF10, C6orf70, DLL1, FAM120B, PSMB1, and TBP were genotyped in 193 VL cases from 85 Sudanese families, and 8 SNPs at genes PHF10, C6orf70, DLL1, PSMB1, and TBP were genotyped in 194 VL cases from 80 Brazilian families. Family-based association, haplotype, and linkage disequilibrium analyses were performed. Multispecies comparative sequence analysis was used to identify conserved noncoding sequences carrying putative regulatory elements. Quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction measured expression of candidate genes in splenic aspirates from Indian patients with VL compared with that in the control spleen sample. Results. Positive associations were observed at PHF10, C6orf70, DLL1, PSMB1, and TBP in Sudan, but only at DLL1 in Brazil (combined P = 3 x 10(-4) at DLL1 across Sudan and Brazil). No functional coding region variants were observed in resequencing of 22 Sudanese VL cases. DLL1 expression was significantly (P = 2 x 10(-7)) reduced (mean fold change, 3.5 [SEM, 0.7]) in splenic aspirates from patients with VL, whereas other 6q27 genes showed higher levels (1.27 x 10(-6) < P < .01) than did the control spleen sample. A cluster of conserved noncoding sequences with putative regulatory variants was identified in the distal promoter of DLL1. Conclusions. DLL1, which encodes Delta-like 1, the ligand for Notch3, is strongly implicated as the chromosome 6q27 VL susceptibility gene.

LARVICIDAL ACTIVITY OF GRANDISIN AGAINST AEDES AEGYPTI

Dengue is a tropical disease caused by an arbovirus transmitted by the mosquito Aedes aegypti. Because no effective vaccine is available for the disease, the strategy for its prevention has focused on vector control by the use of natural insecticides. The aim of this study was to evaluate the larvicidal activity of the lignan grandisin, a leaf extract from Piper solmsianum, against Ae. aegypti.

Computer-Assisted Approach to Structural Elucidation of Lignans

This paper reports an expert system (SISTEMAT) developed for structural determination of diverse chemical classes of natural products, including lignans, based mainly on 13C NMR and 1H NMR data of these compounds. The system is composed of five programs that analyze specific data of a lignan and shows a skeleton probability for the compound. At the end of analyses, the results are grouped, the global probability is computed, and the most probable skeleton is exhibited to the user. SISTEMAT was able to properly predict the skeletons of 80% of the 30 lignans tested, demonstrating its advantage during the structural elucidation course in a short period of time.

Os fatores de influência na decisão de escolha entre softwares de business intelligence

O cenário empresarial atual leva as empresas a terem atuações cada vez mais dinâmicas, buscando utilizar as informações disponíveis de modo a melhorar seu processo de decisão. Com esse objetivo, diversas organizações têm adquirido sistemas de business intelligence. O processo de seleção de sistemas é difícil, diferente do utilizado em outras aquisições empresariais e sofre influência de diversos aspectos intangíveis, o que impossibilita o uso das técnicas de análise financeira normalmente utilizadas pelas companhias para apoiar decisões de investimento. Dessa forma, pode-se dizer que a decisão de escolha de um software de business intelligence é baseada em um conjunto de fatores tanto tangíveis quanto intangíveis. Este trabalho teve como objetivo principal identificar e estabelecer um ranking dos principais fatores que influenciam a decisão de escolha entre sistemas de business intelligence, tendo como foco empresas do setor de incorporação imobiliária atuantes na grande São Paulo e como objetivo secundário procurar identificar a possível existência de aspectos determinantes para a decisão de escolha entre a lista de fatores apurados. Essa pesquisa foi realizada através de doze entrevistas com pessoas que participaram de processos de decisão de escolha de sistemas de business intelligence, sendo algumas da área de TI e outras de área de negócio, atuantes em sete empresas incorporadoras da grande São Paulo. Essa avaliação teve como resultado a identificação dos fatores mais importantes e a sua classificação hierárquica, possibilitando a apuração de um ranking composto pelos catorze fatores mais influentes na decisão de escolha e statisticamente válido segundo o coeficiente de concordância de Kendall. Desse total, apenas três puderam ser classificados como determinantes ou não determinantes; o restante não apresentou padrões de resposta estatisticamente válidos para permitir conclusões sobre esse aspecto. Por fim, após a análise dos processos de seleção utilizados pelas sete empresas dessa pesquisa, foram observadas duas fases, as quais sofrem influência de distintos fatores. Posteriormente, estudando-se essas fases em conjunto com os fatores identificados no ranking, pôde-se propor um processo de seleção visando uma possível redução de tempo e custo para a realização dessa atividade. A contribuição teórica deste trabalho está no fato de complementar as pesquisas que identificam os fatores de influência no processo de decisão de escolha de sistemas, mais especificamente de business intelligence, ao estabelecer um ranking de importância para os itens identificados e também o relacionamento de fatores de importância a fases específicas do processo de seleção identificadas neste trabalho.

Characteristics of the biological cycle of lutzomyia evandroi Costa Lima & Antunes, 1936 (diptera: psychodidae) under experimental conditions

XIMENES, Maria de Fátima Freire de Melo; MACIEL, Janaína Cunha; JERONIMO, Selma Maria Bezerra. Characteristics of the Biological Cycle of Lutzomyia evandroi Costa Lima & Antunes, 1936 (diptera: psychodidae) under experimental conditions. Memorias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, v.96, n.6, p.883-886, ago. 2001. Disponivel em: Acesso em: 4 out. 2010.

Evidence for Reductive Genome Evolution and Lateral Acquisition of Virulence Functions in Two Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis Strains

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Controle vetorial de velocidade de uma máquina de indução sem mancais trifásica com bobinado dividido utilizando estimação neural de fluxo

This work describes the study and the implementation of the vector speed control for a three-phase Bearingless induction machine with divided winding of 4 poles and 1,1 kW using the neural rotor flux estimation. The vector speed control operates together with the radial positioning controllers and with the winding currents controllers of the stator phases. For the radial positioning, the forces controlled by the internal machine magnetic fields are used. For the radial forces optimization , a special rotor winding with independent circuits which allows a low rotational torque influence was used. The neural flux estimation applied to the vector speed controls has the objective of compensating the parameter dependences of the conventional estimators in relation to the parameter machine s variations due to the temperature increases or due to the rotor magnetic saturation. The implemented control system allows a direct comparison between the respective responses of the speed and radial positioning controllers to the machine oriented by the neural rotor flux estimator in relation to the conventional flux estimator. All the system control is executed by a program developed in the ANSI C language. The DSP resources used by the system are: the Analog/Digital channels converters, the PWM outputs and the parallel and RS-232 serial interfaces, which are responsible, respectively, by the DSP programming and the data capture through the supervisory system

Controle vetorial para velocidade de um motor de indução trifásico utilizando estimador filtro de Kalman

This paper describes the study, computer simulation and feasibility of implementation of vector control speed of an induction motor using for this purpose the Extended Kalman Filter as an estimator of rotor flux. The motivation for such work is the use of a control system that requires no sensors on the machine shaft, thus providing a considerable cost reduction of drives and their maintenance, increased reliability, robustness and noise immunity as compared to control systems with conventional sensors

Compósito para fabricação de blocos para construção de casas: estudos térmico e de materiais

We present two models of blocks made of composite material obtained from the use of cement, plaster, EPS crushed, shredded tire, mud, sand and water, for the construction of popular housing. Were made metal molds for the manufacture of blocks to be used in the construction of a residence for low-income families. Performed tests of compressive strength of the composite for various formulations that met the specific standard for blocks used in construction. To study the thermal conductivity of the composite for further study of thermal comfort generated in a residence built with the proposed composite. We also determined the mass-specific and water absorption for each formulation studied. Using a home already built with another composite material, made up the closing of a window with the building blocks and found the thermal insulation, measuring external and internal temperatures of the blocks. The blocks had made good thermal insulation of the environment, resulting in differences of up to 12.6°C between the outer and inner faces. It will be shown the feasibility of using composite for the end proposed and chosen the most appropriate wording

Serological detection of West Nile virus in horses and chicken from Pantanal, Brazil

In an effort to detect West Nile virus (WNV) in Brazil, we sampled serum from horses and chickens from the Pantanal region of the state of Mato Grosso and tested for flavivirus-reactive antibodies by blocking ELISA. The positive samples were further confirmed for serological evidence of WNV infection in three (8%) of the 38 horses and one (3.2%) of the 31 chickens using an 80% plaque-reduction neutralisation test (PRNT80). These results provide evidence of the circulation of WNV in chickens and horses in Pantanal.

Mídia e gênero: análise crítica da violência contra a mulher no telejornalismo

This thesis is consisted of a theoretical and empirical study about the treatment given by media, particularly on telejournalism, to violence against women. It aims to analyze and reflect about the role of media, particularly television, on the process of reproduction of patriarchy system of gender on the context of Brazilian society, from content and narrative news about crimes committed against Andreia Rodrigues and Eliza Samudio. In light of the critical perspective, we seek to apprehend the particularities of patriarchy as a system of domination and subjugation of women, and also reveal the involvement of traditional means of media on reproduction and maintenance of inequality between men and women. To apprehend that reality, we had as guidance a critical social theory, grounded in historical-dialectical materialism which enabled us to apprehend the phenomenon under investigation actually enrolled in a dynamic and contradictory reality. The research had qualitative approach. We appeal to the specialized literature of the area from classical and contemporary authors. We conducted a content analysis of categorized matters, and interviews with individuals involved in issues of gender and / or communication. The critical examination of the matters indicated that television journalism is permeated by the contradictions inherent in social life, means that states and restates the ideology of ruling classes, their values and worldviews, but also express conflicts and social demands. The study revealed that prevails on television playing stereotypes and gender inequalities. We could also see that violence against women gets a sensationalist overblown approach and with no insights on the social relations that determine and base it.

Microbiological evaluation of different strategies for management of snakes in captivity

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)