Análise de um queimador infravermelho funcionando com combustível híbrido : GLP/Bio-óleo

Biomass is considered the largest renewable energy source that can be used in an environmentally sustainable. From the pyrolysis of biomass is possible to obtain products with higher energy density and better use properties. The liquid resultant of this process is traditionally called bio-oil. The use of infrared burners in industrial applications has many advantages in terms of technical-operational, for example, uniformity in the heat supply in the form of radiation and convection, with a greater control of emissions due to the passage of exhaust gases through a macroporous ceramic bed. This paper presents a commercial infrared burner adapted with an ejector proposed able to burn a hybrid configuration of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and bio-oil diluted. The dilution of bio-oil with absolute ethanol aimed to decrease the viscosity of the fluid, and improving the stability and atomization. It was introduced a temperature controller with thermocouple modulating two stages (low heat / high heat), and solenoid valves for fuels supply. The infrared burner has been tested, being the diluted bio-oil atomized, and evaluated its performance by conducting energy balance. The method of thermodynamic analysis to estimate the load was used an aluminum plate located at the exit of combustion gases and the distribution of temperatures measured by thermocouples. The dilution reduced the viscosity of the bio-oil in 75.4% and increased by 11% the lower heating value (LHV) of the same, providing a stable combustion to the burner through the atomizing with compressed air and burns combined with LPG. Injecting the hybrid fuel there was increase in the heat transfer from the plate to the environment in 21.6% and gain useful benefit of 26.7%, due to the improved in the efficiency of the 1st Law of Thermodynamics of infrared burner

Ecologia do fitoplâncton impactado por cultivo de tilápia do Nilo, oreochromis niloticus, em tanques-rede no açude Ministro João Alves, Parelhas, Rio Grande do Norte

The dams are limnic ecosystems of great importance for its multiple uses, among them, water supply for the public and to culture of artisanal fish are most relevant. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the physical-chemical characteristics and the phytoplankton community in two chosen sites (Point 1 littoral zone of point source; Point 2 pelagic zone of non-point source) of the Minister João Alves dam, which is also known as Boqueirão de Parelhas/RN. This represents the spatial distribution of the phytoplankton species in order to understand any possible alterations of the water quality and the phytoplankton composition in relation to the water quality originating from the impact of the tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus, culture. The study period also encompasses temporal variations exhibited in two seasons of an annual cycle, one during the dry season (Oct, Nov and Dec of 2008 and Jan of 2009), and the other rainy season (Mar, Apr, May and June of 2008) to extend the observation. The physicalchemical parameters, such as pH, temperature, electrical conductivity, concentration of dissolved oxygen were measured in situ and the values of the inorganic nutrients (nitrate, ammonium and orto-phosfato) and chlorophyll in the laboratory. The quali-quantitative analyses of the phytoplankton had been carried through sedimentation technique and the enumeration of the random of 400 cells, colonies and filaments counted using Sedgwick-Rafter counting chamber. The results of pH varied widely from the acidic to alkaline range with the minimum of 5.8 (± 0.8) and the maximum of 9.2 (± 0.7-0.8), at point 1 and 2. The dissolved oxygen content was higher in the rainy period than that in the dry period. The maximum electrical conductivity was of 1409 μScm-1 in point 1 and 431 minim of μScm-1, in point 2. There was a considerable alteration in the levels of inorganic nutrients such as nitrate-nitrogen, ammoniacal nitrogen and orthophosphate during the two cycles of study period. Phytoplankton assemblages presented a picture of alternate dominance among species Cyanobacteria, Bacillariophyceae and Chlorophyceae. The trophic state index diagnosed to the category of mesotrophic, which is based on the values of chlorophyll, total phosphorus and Secchi-disc measurements. The wind driven turbulence of the water column and the fresh inflow of water (flushing and dilution) during rainy season acted as constraint and did-not allow an exaggerated growth of the species of cyanobacteria. On the basis of the present we conclude that the culture of tilapias in cage-culture fails to produce pollution load that could compromise the quality of the water of the dam, probably be due to small dimension of the culture in relation to the size, volume of the water and the reservoir capacity support its own environment

Frequência da infecção por Toxoplasma gondii em galinhas caipira e frangos de corte em regiões dos Estados do Rio Grande do Norte e Paraíba

Toxoplasmosis is a zoonosis caused by Toxoplasma gondii, a protozoan that has a cosmopolitan geographic distribution and low host specificity. Usually a benign and selflimiting, infection can manifest itself in a severe systemic becoming overwhelming in fetuses and patients with immunosuppression. Domestic fowl are considered one of the most important hosts in the epidemiology of toxoplasmosis, since they are potential sources of infection for humans, in addition to playing the role of important indicators of environmental contamination by oocysts of T. gondii. We studied the prevalence of infection by the protozoan in chickens of different breeding systems mesoregions from the states of Rio Grande do Norte and Paraiba: broilers from commercial farms (200/PB) and free-range chickens of small farms (322/RN and PB). Were standardized IFAT and ELISA techniques for detecting specific antibodies in blood samples of birds, and commercial kit was used to determine the prevalence by IHAT. There was no seropositive reaction by T. gondii in the samples of broilers tested, indicating that the particularities of intensive management limit the chances of infection for these animals. Among the hens, the frequency of IgG anti-T. gondii diagnosed by the techniques of IHAT, IFAT and ELISA, respectively, were 3.73% (12/322), 37.88% (122/322) and 40.37% (130/322), for both young and adult animals. Amongst the seropositive samples by IFAT, 33 (27.05%) were positive at a dilution of 1:16, in 1:32, 31 (25.41%), in 1:64, 24 (19.67%), 15 (12.29%) in 1:128, and 19 presented titer greater than or equal to 1:256 (15.57%). The evaluation of the presence of anti-T. gondii should be careful, and reagents IHAT provided erratic results in this measure for the specie studied. This suggests the need for own standardization of the kit before the use in epidemiological studies in animal species. On the other hand, substantial agreement observed between IFAT and ELISA techniques (Kappa = 0.62) enables these methods as effective methodologies for the diagnosis of toxoplasmosis in chickens. The high prevalence of specific antibodies among poultry in the region studied attempts to the potential risk of transmission of toxoplasmosis to humans

Dose inseminante para fertilização artificial de ovócitos de dourado

Objetivou-se determinar a dose inseminante adequada para uso na fertilização artificial de ovócitos de dourado (Salminus brasiliensis). Os ovócitos foram distribuídos em delineamento inteiramente casualizado, e fertilizados com uma das relações espermatozoides/ovócito 6,0×10³; 6,0×10(4); 6,0×10(5); 6,0×10(6) ou 3,0×10(7), cada uma com quatro repetições. Considerou-se unidade experimental uma incubadora de volume útil de 2,5 L, contendo 2,0 mL de ovócitos não-hidratados. As taxas de fertilização foram mensuradas 8 horas após o início da fertilização. Com intuito de verificar possíveis efeitos da diluição seminal na movimentação dos espermatozoides, realizou-se a mensuração do tempo de duração da motilidade espermática dos espermatozoides de dourado, ativados por meio de diferentes relações de diluição: 6,8×10-5; 6,8×10-4; 6,8×10-3; 6,8×10-2; 3,4×10-1 e 1,0 mL de sêmen por mL de água. O tempo de duração da motilidade foi avaliado em delineamento inteiramente casualizado composto de seis tratamentos e três repetições. As taxas de fertilização apresentaram relação quadrática com o número de espermatozoides por ovócito. As relações de diluição do sêmen tiveram efeito inversamente proporcional sobre a duração da motilidade espermática. A relação que proporcionou melhores taxas de fertilização artificial de ovócitos de dourado (Salminus brasiliensis) foi de 30.722 espermatozoides por ovócio.

Artificial fertilization of oocytes and sperm activation in pacu: effects of the spermatozoa:oocyte ratio, water volume, and in natura semen preservation

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Stress in pacu exposed to ammonia in water

The present study evaluated stress indicators in pacu exposed to ammonia in water under the following conditions: without NH4Cl (0.00 g/L); with 0.0078 g NH4Cl/L; and with 0.078 g NH4Cl/L (pH 8.3 and 27 ºC). After the salt dilution the water flow was interrupted and reestablished in 24 hours. Sampling occurred prior to the addition of NH4Cl (control) and after 12, 24 and 48 hours. Glycaemia increased only in fish with the highest salt concentration when compared with group control, regardless of time, and at 24 hours, regardless of treatment. Plasma ammonia, highest in fish exposed to the highest NH4Cl concentration, decreased progressively up to 48 hours. Plasma chloride only decreased in fish not exposed to salt when compared with control and osmolality increased after 24 hours. Hematocrit (Ht), number and volume of erythrocytes and hemoglobin did not change when NH4Cl was added; Ht decrease was reported after 12 hours, but it was not followed by the other blood parameters. The results show tolerance of the pacu to ammonia in the environment.

Effects of the spermatozoa: oocyte ratio, water volume and water temperature on artificial fertilization and sperm activation of cascudo-preto

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of water volume and water temperature on the sperm motility duration and the number of spermatozoa, and the water volume on the fertilization rates of oocytes of Rhinelepis aspera. Experiments were carried out to evaluate the effect of semen dilutions (1.74×10-5, 1.74×10-4, 1.74×10-3, 1.74×10-2, 1.74×10-1 and 1.00 mL of sperm.mL-1 of water) and water temperature (5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, and 50 ºC) on spermatozoa motility duration. In addition, the effects of insemination dose (7×10³, 7×10(4), 7×10(5), 7×10(6) and 7×10(7) spermatozoa.oocyte-1) and water volume (1.0, 30.0, 60.0, 90.0 and 120.0 mL water.2.0 mL-1 oocytes) on the artificial fertilization rates of oocytes were evaluated. The longest sperm motility duration were observed for the semen dilution of 1.74×10-5 mL semen.mL-1 water and in water at 5 ºC. The highest fertilization rates were obtained for insemination doses between 7.00×10³ and 1.23×10(7) spermatozoa. oocyte-1 and water volume of 28.11 mL water.2.0 mL-1 oocytes.

Desenvolvimento de microemulsões contendo fotoprotetores inorgânicos nanoparticulador

The inorganic actives, represented mainly by microfine zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, have shown great potential to protect against large UV spectrum. The aim of this study is the development, characterization and analysis of stability in the short term of microemulsions containing inorganic fotoprotection agents. The microemulsions identified by the phases diagram containing the metallic oxides were produced by two different methods and subjected to the centrifugation test and thermal stress cycles, and subsequently characterized by macroscopic evaluation, test dilution, electrical conductivity, pH, particle size, and zeta potential. This study highlights the influence of the metal oxides addition in the structure and distribution of micelles in the microemulsions

Imunorreatividade da p53 associada à ausência de mutações no gene TP53 em linfomas caninos

Sabendo-se da influência das mutações no gene TP53 no desenvolvimento das neoplasias e da discrepância entre os resultados obtidos pelas técnicas de sequenciamento e imunoistoquímica, esta pesquisa teve como objetivo relacionar a sequência do TP53 com a imunorreatividade da p53. Foram obtidas amostras de linfoma de 12 cães. O diagnóstico histopatológico foi determinado pela classificação de Kiel. O imunofenótipo e a imunomarcação da p53 foram determinados por imunoistoquímica. Para reação com a p53, utilizou-se anticorpo policlonal anti-p53 (CM1) na diluição de 1:500. A região do gene TP53 compreendida entre os exons quatro e nove foi amplificada por PCR e submetida ao sequenciamento. Apesar dos resultados obtidos pela imunoistoquímica, nenhuma mutação foi encontrada nas sequências analisadas. Conclui-se que a imunorreatividade da p53 pela imunoistoquímica não pode ser atribuída à presença de mutações no domínio central do gene TP53.

Avaliação in vitro da eficácia de produtos homeopáticos contendo momordica charantia através de bioensaios

Homeopathic medicines have been used for over two hundred years without the examination of their effects on in vivo and in vitro assays, due to the peculiarity of homeopathic preparations, the high dilution, which creates a challenge for the use of usual analytical techniques of quality control of medicine.Although there is scarcity of literature and variety of experiments, recently there have been some studies with few in vitro assays which have shown positive responses when evaluating the mechanism of action of homeopathic medicines which are able to act on a specific system.The present study aims to evaluate the efficacy of homeopathic products containing Momordica charantia through bioassays.Homeopathic products were tested by the MTT to assess cytotoxicity in RAW 264.7 (macrophage-like cells) and in tumor cells HeLa (human cervical adenocarcinoma cells), CHO K1 (Chinese hamster ovary cells), PANC-1 (human pancreas cancer cells) and PC-3 (human prostate cancer cells), dosage of inflammatory mediators NO, TNF-α and IL-6 released by RAW 264.7 cells, analysis of the death process and cell cycle changes of PC-3 by flow cytometry. The data demonstrate that homeopathic products of Momordica charantia did not show cytotoxicity to RAW 264.7, increased the production of inflammatory mediators by RAW 264.7 synergistically with LPS, showed cytotoxicity to PC-3 with change in its cell cycle inhibiting its proliferation, being the 30CH the most potent sample. Correlation studies were conducted in order to evaluate the possible in vitro applicable models to the quality control of homeopathic products with Momordica charantia. The data showed that the best applicable models in assessing the quality are the MTT to assess cytotoxicity in RAW 264.7 and PC-3 in 24 hours for Momordica charantia fruit products and dosage of NO production by RAW 264.7 with and without LPS

A non-invasive method for silencing gene transcription in honeybees maintained under natural conditions

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

Germination and mycelial growth of Bipolaris euphorbiae Muchovej & Carvalho as influenced by herbicides and surfactants

Bipolaris euphorbiae Muchovej & Carvalho é um forte candidato para o controle de Euphorbia heterophylla L. (amendoim bravo). Este fungo pode ser aplicado em combinação com herbicidas para controlar um maior espectro de espécies daninhas. Para tanto, experimentos laboratoriais foram realizados para verificar a possibilidade da utilização de mistura de tanque de esporos de B. euphorbiae e herbicidas ou surfatantes recomendados para a cultura da soja. Crescimento micelial e germinação de conídios foram avaliados em meio BDA acrescido dos herbicidas, nas concentrações recomendadas dos produtos comerciais, oxasulfuron (80 g/ha), glifosato (4 L/ha), bentazon (1.5 L/ha), fomesafen (1 L/ha), chlorimuron-ethyl (80 g/ha), lactofen (1 L/ha) e imazetaphyr (1 L/ha) e dos surfatantes Energic (2 ml/L), Aterbane (2,5 ml/L), Silwet L-77Ag (1 ml/L), Herbitensil (2 ml/L) e Natur L'óleo (10 ml/L). Diluições dos herbicidas de 50% e 25% foram avaliadas com um consumo de calda equivalente a 300 L/ha. Os surfatantes foram somente utilizados nas concentrações recomendadas. O crescimento micelial não foi afetado por bentazon e fomesafen e apenas levemente por oxasulfuron. Porém, glifosato, chlorimuron-ethyl, lactofen, Energic, Herbitensil, Silwet, e Aterbane o reduziram drasticamente. A redução observada com imazetaphyr foi intermediária e Natur L' óleo promoveu o crescimento micelial. Na presença dos surfatantes, observou-se que todos permitiram uma porcentagem de germinação equivalente àquela alcançada na presença de água. Energic e Herbitensil causaram um retardamento expressivo. Com Herbitensil, o processo germinativo iniciou somente aos 120 minutos. Com herbicidas, foi observado que somente na presença de glifosato e imazetaphyr a germinação dos conídios não seguiu a tendência observada com água, como ocorreu com os outros produtos testados.

Comparison between a soluble antigen-based ELISA and IFAT in detecting antibodies against Babesia canis in dogs

O presente trabalho estudou um ensaio imunoenzimático (ELISA) indireto para a detecção de anticorpos anti-Babesia canis no soro de cães, tendo a Reação de Imunofluorescência Indireta (RIFI), como teste de referência O antígeno utilizado no ELISA do presente estudo consistiu em uma preparação antigênica solúvel de merozoítas B. canis e as diluições ótimas do antígeno, soros e conjugado foram determinadas por titulação em bloco, utilizando soros de referência positivos e negativos. A preparação antigênica solúvel de B. canis ótima foi de 10 µg.mL-1, com soros de referência positivos e negativos em uma única diluição de 1:100, e conjugado a 1:4.000. Um total de 246 amostras séricas foram colhidas em cães, durante a campanha de vacinação anti-rábica em Jaboticabal, São Paulo, Brasil e a presença de anticorpos anti-B. canis foi avaliada pelo ELISA e RIFI. Nestas condições, a média de absorbância dos soros de referência negativos foi de 0,129 ± 0,025, resultando em um ponto de corte de 0,323 (Nível de ELISA 3) e a média da absorbância dos soros de referência positivos foi de 2,156 ± 1,187. As amostras com sorologia positiva para B. canis por ELISA e RIFI foram 67,89% (n = 167) e 59,35% (n = 146), respectivamente. Os resultados obtidos sugerem que o ELISA descrito revelou-se um teste sorológico eficaz no diagnóstico da babesiose canina.

ACUTE TOXICITY and ENVIRONMENTAL RISK of OXYTETRACYLINE and FLORFENICOL ANTIBIOTICS TO PACU (Piaractus mesopotamicus)

The oxytetracyline (OTC) and florfenicol (FLO) are the most used antibiotics for bacterial disease control in fish. The aims are: estimating the lethal concentration 50% initial (LC(I) 50;48h) of OTC (Terramicina (R)) and FLO (Aquaflor (R)) for pacu (Piaractus mesopotamicus); classifying OTC and FLO according to the acute toxicity and the risk of environmental intoxication; and assessing OTC and FLO dilution effect in water quality variables. Fish were acclimatized for 10 days in a bioassay room at 27 +/- 2 degrees C. Then nine animals (three each concentration) were exposed to 7.0; 7.5; 8.0 or 8.5 mg L(-1) of OTC or to 600.0; 700.0; 800.0; 900.0 and 1000.0 mg L(-1) of FLO and a control treatment. The water quality variables recorded daily were: pH, temperature, electric conductivity, and dissolved oxygen. OTC and FLO were classified according to acute toxicity and environmental risk. The estimated OTC LC(I) 50;48h for pacu is 7.6 mg L(-1) and the estimated FLO is > 1000 mg L(-1). OTC reduced the dissolved oxygen concentration, and it was considered moderately toxic, causing risk of environmental intoxication to pacu. FLO is not toxic; it does not cause risk of environmental intoxication to pacu and does not change water quality variables.

First isolation and molecular characterization of Toxoplasma gondii from finishing pigs from São Paulo State, Brazil

Toxoplasma gondii infection is widely prevalent in humans in Brazil. Among the food animals, pigs are considered the most important meat source of T. gondii for infection in humans. In the present study, we report the first isolation of viable T. gondii from finishing pigs in Brazil. Antibodies to T. gondii were found in 49 (17%) of 286 pigs prior slaughter using the modified agglutination test (MAT) at a serum dilution of 1:25. Attempts were made to isolate T. gondii from 28 seropositive pigs. Samples of heart, brain, and tongue from each pig were pooled, digested in acid pepsin, and bioassayed in five mice per pig. Viable T. gondii was isolated from seven pigs; all isolates were lethal for mice. Restriction fragment length polymorphism on products of SAG2 locus amplified by PCR revealed that two isolates were Type I and five were Type III. The results indicate that phenotypically and genetically T. gondii isolates from pigs from Brazil are distinct from isolates of T gondii from pigs in the USA. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.