Isolation, chemical composition and anti-inflammatory activity of Copaifera langsdorffii desf. fruit peels essential oil according to successive hydrodistillations

In this study, the isolation and characterization of chemical composition of C. langsdorffii (copaiba) fruit peel volatile oil from Alfenas - MG was carried out according to successive hydrodistillations, likewise the anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated by rat paw edema model. The chemical composition of the oil was determined by GC-MS analysis. The major components were (E)-caryophyllene, germacrene B, 1,5-epoxysalvial-4(14)-ene, caryophyllene oxide and isospathulenol. The inflammatory process was inhibited in 39 +/- 6 % (p<0.05, Tukey-Kramer) by one sample of essential oil. The C. langsdorffii fruit peel is a rich source of essential oil (3.8% w/w), and due to potential industrial interest of its components this ecotype presents feasible crop seeking productivity and it could constitutes in a good alternative to the sustainable use of this specie.

RNA Isolation method for polysaccharide rich algae: agar producing Gracilaria tenuistipitata (Rhodophyta)

RNA isolation is essential to study gene expression at the molecular level. However, RNA isolation is difficult in organisms (plants and algae) that contain large amounts of polysaccharides, which co-precipitate with RNA. Currently, there is no commercial kit available, specifically for the isolation of high-quality RNA from these organisms. Furthermore, because of the large amounts of polysaccharides, the common protocols for RNA isolation usually result in poor yields when applied to algae. Here we describe a simple method for RNA isolation from the marine red macroalga Gracilaria tenuistipitata var. liui Zhang et Xia (Rhodophyta), which can be applied to other plants and algae.

Improving the Fluorescence Detectability of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons for Evaluation of Workplace Environments of Cement Industries Processing Organic Residues

The burning of organic residues and wastes in furnaces of cement industries has been an attractive and lucrative approach to eliminate stocks of these pollutants. There is a potential risk for producing PAH in the workplace of industries burning organic wastes, so that highly sensitive analytical methods are needed for monitoring the air quality of these environments. An official method for determination of PAH is based on liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection at fixed excitation and emission wavelengths. We demonstrate that a suitable choice of these wavelengths, which are changed during the chromatographic run, significantly improves the detectability of PAH in atmosphere and particulate matter collected in cement industries.

Isolation of Brazilian marine fungi capable of growing on DDD pesticide

The fungi Aspergillus sydowii Ce15, Aspergillus sydowii Ce19, Aspergillus sydowii Gc12, Bionectria sp. Ce5, Penicillium miczynskii Gc5, Penicillium raistrickii Ce16 and Trichoderma sp. Gc1, isolated from marine sponges Geodia corticostylifera and Chelonaplysylla erecta, were evaluated for their ability to grow in the presence of DDD pesticide. Increasing concentrations of DDD pesticide, i.e., 5.0 mg (1.56 x 10(-12) mmol), 10.0 mg (3.12 x 10(-2) mmol) and 15.0 mg (4.68 x 10(-2) mmol) in solid and liquid culture media were tested. The fungi Trichoderma sp. Gc1 and Penicillium miczynskii Gc5 were able to grow in the presence of up to 15.0 mg of DDD, suggesting their potential for biodegradation. A 100% degradation of DDD was attained in liquid culture medium when Trichoderma sp. Gc1 was previously cultivated for 5 days and supplemented with 5.0 mg of DDD in the presence of hydrogen peroxide. However, the quantitative analysis showed that DDD was accumulated on mycelium and biodegradation level reached a maximum value of 58% after 14 days.

Immobilized analogues of sunflower trypsin inhibitor-1 constitute a versatile group of affinity sorbents for selective isolation of serine proteases

Sunflower trypsin inhibitor-1 (SFI-1), a natural 14-residue cyclic peptide, and some of its synthetic acyclic variants are potent protease inhibitors displaying peculiar inhibitory profiles. Here we describe the synthesis and use of affinity sorbents prepared by coupling SFTI-1 analogues to agarose resin. Chymotrypsinand trypsin-like proteases could then be selectively isolated from pancreatin; similarly, other proteases were obtained from distinct biological sources. The binding capacity of [Lys5]-SFTI-1-agarose for trypsin was estimated at over 10 mg/mL of packed gel. SFTI-1-based resins could find application either to improve the performance of current purification protocols or as novel protease-discovery tools in different areas of biological investigation. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Gender Equality a case study of Sweden : Gender Equality Gender Equity and policies of combating inequality at workplace to make the society equal.

The paper analyses Gender Equality, Gender Equity and policies of combating inequality at workplace to make the society equal as a case study of Sweden. The aim of paper is see the gender equality, gender equity, discrimination against women at workplace and to describe the policies combating inequality in the welfare state of Sweden. This work highlights the gender equality in terms of institutionalizing gender equality, gender equity, gender and pay gap, parental leave, gender and the pension system and sexual behavior directed towards women and policies combating inequality to bring equality in society. For my research I used the secondary data the fact sheets, scientific literature, statistics from eurostate of Sweden and case studies about Swedish society and the theoretical explanation to explain the phenomena. To achieve my aim I used the combination of both qualitative and quantitative methods of research. I showed the empirical evidences of these phenomena from the Swedish society and theoretical analysis about equality and equity of gender in different wakes of life. I found an interesting conclusion that there are good policies and legislation to combat inequality to bring society but there are no policies to change the perception of society about male and female role.

Young peoples’ entrance to the workplace : Introduction to occupational health and safety

Negative outcomes of a poor work environment are more frequent among young workers. The aim of the current study was to study former pupils’ conditions concerning occupational health and safety by investigating the workplaces’, safety climate, the degree of implementation of SWEM and the their introduction programs. Four branches were included in the study: Industrial, Restaurant, Transport and Handicraft, specialising in wood. Semi-structured dialogues were undertaken with 15 employers at companies in which former pupils were employed. They also answered a questionnaire about SWEM. Former pupils and experienced employees were upon the same occasion asked to fill in a questionnaire about safety climate at the workplace. Workplace introduction programs varied and were strongly linked to company size. Most of the former pupils and experienced employees rated the safety climate at their company as high, or good. Employers in three of the branches rated the SWEM implemented at their workplaces to be effective. The Industry companies, which had the largest workplaces, gave the most systematic and workplace introduction for new employees. There are no results from this study explaining the fact that young workers have a higher risk for workplace accidents.

Manager's task to support integrated autonomy at the workplace : Results from an intervention

A new managerial task arises in today’s working life: to provide conditions for and influence interaction between actors and thus to enable the emergence of organizing structure in tune with a changing environment. We call this the enabling managerial task. The goal of this paper is to study whether training first line managers in the enabling managerial task could lead to changes in the work for the subordinates. This paper presents results from questionnaires answered by the subordinates of the managers before and after the training. The training was organized as a learning network and consisted of eight workshops carried out over a period of one year (September 2009–June 2010), where the managers met with each other and the researchers once a month. Each workshop consisted of three parts, during three and a half hours. The first hour was devoted to joint reflection on a task that had been undertaken since the last workshop; some results were presented from the employee pre-assessments, followed by relevant theory and illuminating practices, finally the managers created new tasks for themselves to undertake during the following month. The subordinates’ answers show positive change in all of the seventeen scales used to assess it. The improvements are significant in scales measuring the relationship between the manager and the employees, as well as in those measuring interaction between employees. It is concluded that the result was a success for all managers that had the possibility of using the training in their management work.

The Isolation and Characterization of Multiply Antibiotic Resistant Strains of Fish Pathogenic Flavobacterium Species

Since the development of the first antibiotics in the 1940’s, there has been widespread overuse in both clinical and agricultural applications. Antibiotic resistance has become a significant problem as a result of subsequent dissemination of antibiotics into the environment, and multiply-resistant strains of bacteria are now a major pathogenic threat. In this study eight separate strains of Flavobacterium responsible for recent disease outbreaks in fish hatcheries throughout Maine were collected and analyzed. All eight strains were found to be resistant to high levels of a number of different antibiotics, including those used for aquaculture as well as human chemotherapeutic applications. Flavobacterium isolates were also shown phenotypically to transfer antibiotic resistance determinants using a conjugation mating system in which Flavobacterium was the donor and Escherichia coli DH5- alpha was the recipient. This experiment suggests that it may be possible for Flavobacterium strains to transfer their multiple antibiotic resistance determinants to human pathogenic bacterial strains. Importantly, none of the hatcheries from which the Flavobacterium isolates were obtained had ever used antibiotics to treat their fish stock. It is possible that there is another selective agent responsible for the development of antibiotic resistance in the absence of antibiotic pressure. Mercury is one possible candidate, as all of the strains tested were resistant to mercuric chloride and it is known that genes encoding antibiotic resistance can be carried on the same mobile genetic elements that encode for mercury resistance. Preliminary data also suggest that the majority of the Flavobacterium isolates contain genes for mercuric ion reduction, which would confirm the mercury resistance genotype.

Study of Proteinuria: Isolation of Proteins from the Nephrotic Syndrome

One of the most puzzling phenomena of abnormal renal physiology is the occurrence of the nephrotic syndrome. The syndrome has been defined by a collection of clinical and pathological symptoms, but there is no correlation between the clinical and pathological symptoms nor is the etiology of the syndrome known. Proteinuria is probably the most distinguishing feature in the nephrotic syndrome, and there are two possible explanations for its occurrence: (1) the excessive amounts of protein found in nephrotic urine could be due to an increased basement membrane permeability in the glomerulus of the kidney or (2) dysproteinemia. An attempt has been made to evaluate the theory of dysproteinemia in connection with the syndrome. The albumin fractions of nephrotic urine have been studied for their amino acid composition by separating them from the urine by paper electrophoresis, hydrolyzing them, and identifying the amino acids present by two-dimensional chromatography. There seem to be no variations in the qualitative makeup of nephrotic albumin from that of normal albumin, but the literature shows that there are some slight variations in the quantitative amino acid composition of nephrotic albumin compared with normal albumin. More extensive and highly developed experimentation along the lines of protein structure and composition must be done before it can conclusively be stated that dysproteinemia is of importance in the nephrotic syndrome.

Workplace diversity and incentive contracts : theory and evidence

This paper presents a simple theory of the provision of incentives in firms in which the principal optimally chooses both compensation contracts and the composition of the work force. Assuming that individuals display group loyalty, a less diverse (more homogeneous) work force will be more cooperative. Simple comparative statics provide some testable implications relating risk, diversity and incentive pay. I also analyze the case in which workers’ characteristics cannot be readily observed ex ante. The theory then predicts that firms are more likely to prevent workers from interacting with each other when workers are expected to have similar characteristics. This shows a surprising effect of diversity in the workplace: more diverse firms will promote more interactions between workers of different types, i.e. they will be less segregated. I test the main predictions of the model using a cross-sectional sample of corporate boards. I use the proportion of women on boards as a measure of diversity. There are three main empirical findings: (1) a significant negative correlation between firm risk and diversity, (2) a significant positive relationship between performance-based compensation and diversity and (3) a significant positive correlation between the number of board meetings (a measure of interactions among directors) and diversity. The evidence is broadly consistent with the implications of the theory.

Isolation and characterization of Flavobacterium columnare (Bernardet et al. 2002) from four tropical fish species in Brazil

Flavobacterium columnare é o agente etiológico da columnariose em peixes de água doce, ocasionando enfermidade na pele e nas brânquias, provocando freqüentemente um grande número de mortalidade. O objetivo deste estudo foi o isolamento e a caracterização de Flavobacterium columnare em peixes tropicais no Brasil. Piracanjuba (Brycon orbignyanus), pacu (Piaractus mesopotamicus), tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum) e cascudo (Hypostomus plecostomus) foram examinados externamente com relação a sinais característicos de columnariose, como manchas acinzentadas na cabeça, região dorsal e pedúnculo caudal dos peixes. A amostragem compreendeu a coleta de 50 exemplares de peixes, representando as quatro diferentes espécies escolhidas para este estudo. Amostras para o isolamento foram obtidas através de raspado com swab estéril das lesões e do rim dos peixes clinicamente diagnosticados como acometidos por columnarios e imediatamente semeados em meios de culturas artificiais (líquido e sólido) próprios para o estudo de Flavobacterium segundo Carlson e Pacha (1968). No meio líquido, houve o desenvolvimento de microrganismos que observados em gota pendente apresentaram a forma de bacilos finos, longos, móveis por deslizamento. Através da coloração de Gram, apresentaram morfologia de bacilos finos, Gram negativos, agrupados em colunas. em meio sólido, as colônias eram pequenas, cinza-amareladas, com borda em forma de raiz. No total, foram obtidos quatro isolamentos: 01 cepa de Brycon orbignyanus; 01 cepa de Piaractus mesopotamicus; 01 cepa de Colossoma macropomum; e 01 cepa de Hypostomus plecostomus. A caracterização bioquímica das amostras, como absorção do vermelho Congo, produção de flexirrubina, produção de H2S e redução do nitrato, sugere que os isolamentos poderiam ser classificados como Flavobacterium columnare.

Isolation and maintenance of symbiotic fungi of ants in the tribe Attini (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

O isolamento e a manutenção de fungos basidiomicetos simbiontes de formigas da tribo Attini tem sido dificultado pela baixa velocidade de crescimento desses fungos, bem como pela presença de muitos microrganismos que vivem na superfície do material que as formigas mantêm no interior nos ninhos como substrato para o crescimento dos seus fungos simbiontes. No presente trabalho nós descrevemos um método que aumenta em mais de sete vezes a eficiência de isolamento desses fungos, quando comparada àquela obtida por procedimentos tradicionais. Ninhos subterrâneos de formigas atíneas dos gêneros Atta, Acromyrmex, Trachymyrmex e Mycetarotes foram localizados e deles foram coletadas amostras contendo fungos simbiontes e formigas, que foram transportadas para o laboratório, onde as formigas foram capazes de limpar a cultura do fungo e estimular o seu crescimento. em seguida, porções dos micélios foram assepticamente coletadas e transferidas para meio Yeast Nitrogen Base contendo glicose e cloranfenicol. Para facilitar a manutenção dos isolados em culturas de laboratório, diferentes nutrientes foram analisados para a elaboração de um meio de cultivo complexo, que possibilitou aumentar a velocidade de crescimento dos fungos e estocá-los por longos períodos. O método foi aplicado com sucesso para os fungos simbiontes de todos os gêneros de formigas estudados, gerando, assim, um procedimento extremamente útil para a formação e manutenção de uma coleção representativa de diferentes fungos simbiontes de formigas da tribo Attini.

Isolation of Bacillus thuringiensis strains that contain Dipteran-specific cry genes from Ilha Bela (São Paulo, Brazil) soil samples

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