Effect of Water Exchange and Mechanical Aeration on Grow-out of the Amazon River Prawn in Ponds

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Evaluation of Different Conditions of Contact for Caprolactam Migration from Multilayer Polyamide Films into Food Simulants

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Hybridization effects on the out-of-plane electron tunneling properties of monolayers: is h-BN more conductive than graphene?

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Knowledge of nursing undergraduate students about the use of contact precautions measures

To assess knowledge of nursing undergraduate students about the use of contact precautions. Methodology. There were 106 nursing undergraduate students from three universities within the state of Sao Paulo. The data collection was done between April and May 2012. A questionnaire was elaborated with questions assessing knowledge regarding contact precautions. The data were submitted to statistical procedures in the package MINITAB version 16. The knowledge were rated as adequate, partially adequate and inadequate. Results. There was a predominance of females (86%) and age group between 20 and 29 years (70%). Regarding the definition of contact precaution of diseases in which these measures are used, undergraduate’s knowledge was partially adequate (92% and 44%, respectively). The knowledge was considered adequate for the preventive measures used during assistance (86%). As difficulties mentioned in the use of these measures were discomfort, lack of material, personnel and time. Conclusion. Although undergraduate students know what measures to be used in contact precaution, they do not have adequate knowledge about which diseases they should use them. The three participating universities should reflect on the quality of training for nursing students regarding biosecurity and contact precautions.

The Effect of Contact on the Filter Paper Method for Measuring Soil Suction

The filter paper method is one of the most commonly used and critiqued techniques for measuring soil suction. However, many aspects related to its use still require some clarification. The results of a comprehensive study on the effect of the contact between the soil grains and soil water and the filter paper are presented herein. We investigated the influence of the equilibration time, the texture of the porous material and the degree of contact, or lack thereof, between the soil grains and the filter paper using Miamian #42 and three different types of porous material. To enhance the difference between the total suction and the matrix suction, osmotic suction was induced by saturating the specimens with a sodium chloride solution.

Experimental investigations of heat transfer coefficients of cutting fluids in metal cutting processes: analysis of workpiece phenomena in a given case study

This paper reports an experimental method to estimate the convective heat transfer of cutting fluids in a laminar flow regime applied on a thin steel plate. The heat source provided by the metal cutting was simulated by electrical heating of the plate. Three different cooling conditions were evaluated: a dry cooling system, a flooded cooling system and a minimum quantity of lubrication cooling system, as well as two different cutting fluids for the last two systems. The results showed considerable enhancement of convective heat transfer using the flooded system. For the dry and minimum quantity of lubrication systems, the heat conduction inside the body was much faster than the heat convection away from its surface. In addition, using the Biot number, the possible models were analyzed for conduction heat problems for each experimental condition tested.

Knock out of neuronal nitric oxide synthase exacerbates intestinal ischemia/reperfusion injury in mice

Recent investigation of the intestine following ischemia and reperfusion (I/R) has revealed that nitric oxide synthase (NOS) neurons are more strongly affected than other neuron types. This implies that NO originating from NOS neurons contributes to neuronal damage. However, there is also evidence of the neuroprotective effects of NO. In this study, we compared the effects of I/R on the intestines of neuronal NOS knockout (nNOS(-/-)) mice and wild-type mice. I/R caused histological damage to the mucosa and muscle and infiltration of neutrophils into the external muscle layers. Damage to the mucosa and muscle was more severe and greater infiltration by neutrophils occurred in the first 24 h in nNOS(-/-) mice. Immunohistochemistry for the contractile protein, alpha-smooth muscle actin, was used to evaluate muscle damage. Smooth muscle actin occurred in the majority of smooth muscle cells in the external musculature of normal mice but was absent from most cells and was reduced in the cytoplasm of other cells following I/R. The loss was greater in nNOS(-/-) mice. Basal contractile activity of the longitudinal muscle and contractile responses to nerve stimulation or a muscarinic agonist were reduced in regions subjected to I/R and the effects were greater in nNOS(-/-) mice. Reductions in responsiveness also occurred in regions of operated mice not subjected to I/R. This is attributed to post-operative ileus that is not significantly affected by knockout of nNOS. The results indicate that deleterious effects are greater in regions subjected to I/R in mice lacking nNOS compared with normal mice, implying that NO produced by nNOS has protective effects that outweigh any damaging effect of this free radical produced by enteric neurons.

Can activity be understood out of subjectivity?

The PSR echo a crisis of the relation of the organization with the subjectivity, which is at the same time a crisis of the relation of the organization with the reality that subjectivity is confronting through activity. Thus, they also raise, with ergonomics, the question to know which place it grants itself to subjectivity in the relation health-effectiveness.

Effect of contact and systemic insecticides on the sharpshooter Bucephalogonia xanthophis (Hemiptera: cicadellidae), a vector of Xylella fastidiosa in citrus

The knockdown and toxic effects of insecticides of different chemical groups and modes of action registered for citrus in Brazil were investigated for effective control of Bucephalogonia xanthophis, a sharpshooter vector of Xylella fastidiosa in citrus. The active ingredients dimethoate (1.2 mL/1.2L), imidacloprid (0.24 mL/1.2L) and lambda-cyhalothrin (0.24 mL/1.2L), as well as a control (water), were sprayed onto branches of potted-citrus nursery trees to evaluate the effect of residual contact. The insects were confined on sprayed branches by using sleeve cages, in groups of 10 per branch (5 branches/treatment). Lambdacyhalothrin showed a knockdown effect on B. xanthophis (>70% mortality within 2 h of exposure), and the residues were effective for approximately one wk. Imidacloprid, lambdacyhalothrin and dimethoate suppressed the vector populations for up to 3 wk after application, when the insects were exposed to sprayed plants for at least 24 h. In another experiment, 2 neonicotinoid insecticides (thiamethoxam and imidacloprid) were applied by soil drench to potted nursery trees, in order to study their systemic effect, i.e., mortality by ingestion on sharpshooter adults. Thiamethoxam and imidacloprid effectively controlled the vectors at all concentrations tested, when the insects were exposed to treated plants for 24 h (>80% mortality) or 48 h (near 100% mortality). The knockdown effect of thiamethoxam and lambda-cyhalothrin might be particularly important to prevent vector transmission of X. fastidiosa in citrus groves.

Literacy Practices in and out of School in Karagwe : the Case of Primary School Literacy in Rural Tanzania

This study has investigated the question of relation between literacy practices in and out of school in rural Tanzania. By using the perspective of linguistic anthropology, literacy practices in five villages in Karagwe district in the northwest of Tanzania have been analysed. The outcome may be used as a basis for educational planning and literacy programs. The analysis has revealed an intimate relation between language, literacy and power. In Karagwe, traditional élites have drawn on literacy to construct and reconstruct their authority, while new élites, such as individual women and some young people have been able to use literacy as one tool to get access to power. The study has also revealed a high level of bilingualism and a high emphasis on education in the area, which prove a potential for future education in the area. At the same time discontinuity in language use, mainly caused by stigmatisation of what is perceived as local and traditional, such as the mother-tongue of the majority of the children, and the high status accrued to all that is perceived as Western, has turned out to constitute a great obstacle for pupils’ learning. The use of ethnographic perspectives has enabled comparisons between interactional patterns in schools and outside school. This has revealed communicative patterns in school that hinder pupils’ learning, while the same patterns in other discourses reinforce learning. By using ethnography, relations between explicit and implicit language ideologies and their impact in educational contexts may be revealed. This knowledge may then be used to make educational plans and literacy programmes more relevant and efficient, not only in poor post-colonial settings such as Tanzania, but also elsewhere, such as in Western settings.

Biodiversity challenges out of the blue

Miquel Becerro es científico del Instituto de Productos Naturales y Agrobiología -IPNA- (CSIC)

Development and applications of hollow fiber flow field-flow fractionation in the bioanalytical field. Studies of aggregation phenomena in complex protein samples

Recent advances in the fast growing area of therapeutic/diagnostic proteins and antibodies - novel and highly specific drugs - as well as the progress in the field of functional proteomics regarding the correlation between the aggregation of damaged proteins and (immuno) senescence or aging-related pathologies, underline the need for adequate analytical methods for the detection, separation, characterization and quantification of protein aggregates, regardless of the their origin or formation mechanism. Hollow fiber flow field-flow fractionation (HF5), the miniaturized version of FlowFFF and integral part of the Eclipse DUALTEC FFF separation system, was the focus of this research; this flow-based separation technique proved to be uniquely suited for the hydrodynamic size-based separation of proteins and protein aggregates in a very broad size and molecular weight (MW) range, often present at trace levels. HF5 has shown to be (a) highly selective in terms of protein diffusion coefficients, (b) versatile in terms of bio-compatible carrier solution choice, (c) able to preserve the biophysical properties/molecular conformation of the proteins/protein aggregates and (d) able to discriminate between different types of protein aggregates. Thanks to the miniaturization advantages and the online coupling with highly sensitive detection techniques (UV/Vis, intrinsic fluorescence and multi-angle light scattering), HF5 had very low detection/quantification limits for protein aggregates. Compared to size-exclusion chromatography (SEC), HF5 demonstrated superior selectivity and potential as orthogonal analytical method in the extended characterization assays, often required by therapeutic protein formulations. In addition, the developed HF5 methods have proven to be rapid, highly selective, sensitive and repeatable. HF5 was ideally suitable as first dimension of separation of aging-related protein aggregates from whole cell lysates (proteome pre-fractionation method) and, by HF5-(UV)-MALS online coupling, important biophysical information on the fractionated proteins and protein aggregates was gathered: size (rms radius and hydrodynamic radius), absolute MW and conformation.

A 5-year follow-up of patients discharged with non-specific abdominal pain: out of sight, out of mind?

Acute non-specific abdominal pain (NSAP) is prevalent in 6-25% of the general population and is a common cause of admission to the emergency department (ED). Despite involvement of substantial financial and human resources, there are few data on long-term outcome after initial diagnosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate long-term outcome of patients initially admitted with NSAP to an ED.

Out of Eastern Africa: defibulation and sexual function in woman with female genital mutilation

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the female external genitalia and/or injury to the female genital organs for cultural or any other non-therapeutic reasons.