Alterações ambientais em Parelhas, Rio Grande do Norte: metais pesados em sedimentos de drenagens e percepção de comunidades rurais em relação a mudanças na paisagem

The conservation of natural resources is essential and constitutes the main subject of many researches, which characterize important aspects concerning the environmental alterations in the ground, water, landscape and socioeconomic information. This study aimed to investigate the anthropogenic input of heavy metals in the environment, in the area of the Parelhas dump site and in part of the Seridó River and to determine the concentration of heavy metals in the sediments. This can result in risk to the environment and human health. In addition, we sought to establish the socioeconomic profile of rural communities adjacent to Seridó River and to comprehend the perception of these dwellers about the changes in the places they live. The area of this study is located in the city of Parelhas/RN, in the centralsouthern part of the State, in the micro-region of the Oriental Seridó. This area comprehends the place where the dump site is located, next to RN 086, the Caldeirão dam, the Quintos river called by local citizens Caldeirão creek and part of Seridó river, perpetuated by the Boqueirão dam, which crosses the city and it includes the rural communities of Almas, Domingas, Sussuarana II and Colonos. Regarding the study with bottom sediments, the samples were collected and taken to the laboratory of geochemistry, where they were dried, sieved, weighted and submitted to weak acid attack. The analysis of heavy metals was held by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer - Flame AAS. We applied 23 closed questionnaires constituted by 38 questions to collect informations in the rural communities, oriented to establish the socioeconomic profile and the environmental perception of the participants. The participants were distributed in the communities of Almas (1), Domingas (2), Sussuarana II (10) and Colonos (10). Most of them presented similar socioeconomic profiles. They are from 45 to 60 years old and live in these localities for 20 to 30 years or more. The families are composed by 3 or 4 people; the agriculture is the main activity, livestock is the secondary and 48% of them earn the minimal wage. Regarding the environmental perception, the participants can realize some changes in vegetation, soil, water and landscape. People living longer in the community, and with more years of experience on the local reality can perceive the depletion of the soil, pastures and changes in the landscape. These changes portray how the place was previously and what it represents today. The perception of these changes, besides the environmental ones, includes others concerning the increasing number of dwellers in the last years, as well as the number of houses. The changes happened through activities developed by the dwellers over the years, including agricultural practices, livestock, grass planting and even the cultivation of cotton. The study provided the acquisition of new data about the environmental reality of this region. It can subsidize the definition of public policies that can be implemented from the perspective of conservation of water resources and of the coexistence and survival of man in the semi-arid

Avaliação do potencial tóxico de águas oriundas de irrigação agrícola no Baixo-Açu/RN: um problema socioambiental

For many decades the problematic raised about the indiscriminate use of pesticides in modern agriculture has incited the interest of many researchers to discover the effects caused by such products in the environment and consequently in the life of the ones which use that products (farmers) and those people who live in places next to the agricultural areas. Facing these facts, this research had the intention of comprehend the environmental perception of habitants of the Distrito Irrigado do Baixo-Açu (DIBA), located in the semiarid of Rio Grande do Norte, by using agro toxics and its possible environmental effects, as well as evaluate the levels of toxicity of waters from agricultural runoff in this region by using eco-toxicological exams with Ceriodaphnia silvestii. Were done 86 interviews with dwellers and farmers from DIBA. With the results reached in the evaluation of the interviews it was possible to identify that one of major problems is the inappropriate discard of empty packs of the pesticides used at that place. The samples collected for eco-toxicological evaluation showed a variation in its toxicity, once that the point of collect which receives waters from different cultures presented in four out of five samples toxicity for the tested species. Therefore, it concludes that the indiscriminate use of pesticides agricultural practice presented a potential to pollute to the irrigation waters, and the absence of elucidation by the farmers about the manipulation of these products contribute to the risk of environmental contamination and the possible decrease of the quality of life of the dwellers of the region

Perfil eletroforético e concentração de imunoglobulinas G (IgG) do soro sanguíneo de cabras Saanen com mastite experimental induzida por Staphylococcus aureus suplementadas com vitamina E

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

Novos arranjos institucionais: gestão local e conselhos municipais de Assistência Social

As discussões que envolvem as dimensões do Poder Local no Brasil ganham visibilidade pós Constituição de 1988, e em meio a este cenário estão presentes os Conselhos Municipais de Políticas Públicas que, apesar de terem filosofias e estruturas semelhantes, guardam particularidades, dependendo da política pública a que se referem. Na especificidade da Assistência Social, os conselhos municipais gestores emergem da condição da Assistência Social como política pública, inscrita na constituição de 1988, e aprovação da Lei Orgânica da Assistência Social – LOAS. Circunscrito neste debate, o presente artigo propõe-se a refletir sobre os Conselhos Municipais de Assistência Social (CMAS) na sua relação com a gestão local, tendo como campo empírico de análise a experiência do município de Mossoró, localizado no Estado do Rio Grande do Norte

Antropologia das mediações: um estudo sobre trocas, tensões e hierarquias em Coqueiros, Vale do Ceará Mirim

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior

Arcabouço geofísico, isostasia e causas do magmatismo cenozóico da província Borborema e de sua margem continental (Nordeste do Brasil)

The Borborema Province (BP) is a geologic domain located in Northeastern Brazil. The BP is limited at the south by the São Francisco craton, at the west by the Parnaíba basin, and both at the north and east by coastal sedimentary basins. Nonetheless the BP surface geology is well known, several key aspects of its evolution are still open, notably: i)its tectonic compartmentalization established after the Brasiliano orogenesis, ii) the architecture of its cretaceous continental margin, iii) the elastic properties of its lithosphere, and iv) the causes of magmatism and uplifting which occurred in the Cenozoic. In this thesis, a regional coverage of geophysical data (elevation, gravity, magnetic, geoid height, and surface wave global tomography) were integrated with surface geologic information aiming to attain a better understanding of the above questions. In the Riacho do Pontal belt and in the western sector of the Sergipano belt, the neoproterozoic suture of the collision of the Sul domain of the BP with the Sanfranciscana plate (SFP) is correlated with an expressive dipolar gravity anomaly. The positive lobule of this anomaly is due to the BP lower continental crust uplifting whilst the negative lobule is due to the supracrustal nappes overthrusting the SFP. In the eastern sector of the Sergipano belt, this dipolar gravity anomaly does not exist. However the suture still can be identified at the southern sector of the Marancó complex arc, alongside of the Porto da Folha shear zone, where the SFP N-S geophysical alignments are truncated. The boundary associated to the collision of the Ceará domain of the BP with the West African craton is also correlated with a dipolar gravity anomaly. The positive lobule of this anomaly coincides with the Sobral-Pedro II shear zone whilst the negative lobule is associated with the Santa Quitéria magmatic arc. Judging by their geophysical signatures, the major BP internal boundaries are: i)the western sector of the Pernambuco shear zone and the eastern continuation of this shear zone as the Congo shear zone, ii) the Patos shear zone, and iii) the Jaguaribe shear zone and its southwestern continuation as the Tatajuba shear zone. These boundaries divide the BP in five tectonic domains in the geophysical criteria: Sul, Transversal, Rio Grande do Norte, Ceará, and Médio Coreaú. The Sul domain is characterized by geophysical signatures associated with the BP and SFP collision. The fact that Congo shear zone is now proposed as part of the Transversal domain boundary implies an important change in the original definition of this domain. The Rio Grande do Norte domain presents a highly magnetized crust resulted from the superposition of precambrian and phanerozoic events. The Ceará domain is divided by the Senador Pompeu shear zone in two subdomains: the eastern one corresponds to the Orós-Jaguaribe belt and the western one to the Ceará-Central subdomain. The latter subdomain exhibits a positive ENE-W SW gravity anomaly which was associated to a crustal discontinuity. This discontinuity would have acted as a rampart against to the N-S Brasiliano orogenic nappes. The Médio Coreaú domain also presents a dipolar gravity anomaly. Its positive lobule is due to granulitic rocks whereas the negative one is caused by supracrustal rocks. The boundary between Médio Coreaú and Ceará domains can be traced below the Parnaíba basin sediments by its geophysical signature. The joint analysis of free air anomalies, free air admittances, and effective elastic thickness estimates (Te) revealed that the Brazilian East and Equatorial continental margins have quite different elastic properties. In the first one 10 km < Te < 20 km whereas in the second one Te ≤ 10 km. The weakness of the Equatorial margin lithosphere was caused by the cenozoic magmatism. The BP continental margin presents segmentations; some of them have inheritance from precambrian structures and domains. The segmentations conform markedly with some sedimentary basin features which are below described from south to north. The limit between Sergipe and Alagoas subbasins coincides with the suture between BP and SFP. Te estimates indicates concordantly that in Sergipe subbasin Te is around 20 km while Alagoas subbasin has Te around 10 km, thus revealing that the lithosphere in the Sergipe subbasin has a greater rigidity than the lithosphere in the Alagoas subbasin. Additionally inside the crust beneath Sergipe subbasin occurs a very dense body (underplating or crustal heritage?) which is not present in the crust beneath Alagoas subbasin. The continental margin of the Pernambuco basin (15 < Te < 25 km) presents a very distinct free air edge effect displaying two anomalies. This fact indicates the existence in the Pernambuco plateau of a relatively thick crust. In the Paraíba basin the free air edge effect is quite uniform, Te ≈ 15 km, and the lower crust is abnormally dense probably due to its alteration by a magmatic underplating in the Cenozoic. The Potiguar basin segmentation in three parts was corroborated by the Te estimates: in the Potiguar rift Te ≅ 5 km, in the Aracati platform Te ≅ 25 km, and in the Touros platform Te ≅ 10 km. The observed weakness of the lithosphere in the Potiguar rift segment is due to the high heat flux while the relatively high strength of the lithosphere in the Touros platform may be due to the existence of an archaean crust. The Ceará basin, in the region of Mundaú and Icaraí subbasins, presents a quite uniform free air edge effect and Te ranges from 10 to 15 km. The analysis of the Bouguer admittance revealed that isostasy in BP can be explained with an isostatic model where combined surface and buried loadings are present. The estimated ratio of the buried loading relative to the surface loading is equal to 15. In addition, the lower crust in BP is abnormally dense. These affirmations are particularly adequate to the northern portion of BP where adherence of the observed data to the isostatic model is quite good. Using the same above described isostatic model to calculate the coherence function, it was obtained that a single Te estimate for the entire BP must be lower than 60 km; in addition, the BP north portion has Te around 20 km. Using the conventional elastic flexural model to isostasy, an inversion of crust thickness was performed. It was identified two regions in BP where the crust is thickened: one below the Borborema plateau (associated to an uplifting in the Cenozoic) and the other one in the Ceará domain beneath the Santa Quitéria magmatic arc (a residue associated to the Brasiliano orogenesis). On the other hand, along the Cariri-Potiguar trend, the crust is thinned due to an aborted rifting in the Cretaceous. Based on the interpretation of free air anomalies, it was inferred the existence of a large magmatism in the oceanic crust surrounding the BP, in contrast with the incipient magmatism in the continent as shown by surface geology. In BP a quite important positive geoid anomaly exists. This anomaly is spatially correlated with the Borborema plateau and the Macaú-Queimadas volcanic lineament. The integrated interpretation of geoid height anomaly data, global shear velocity model, and geologic data allow to propose that and Edge Driven Convection (EDC) may have caused the Cenozoic magmatism. The EDC is an instability that presumably occurs at the boundary between thick stable lithosphere and oceanic thin lithosphere. In the BP lithosphere, the EDC mechanism would have dragged the cold lithospheric mantle into the hot asthenospheric mantle thus causing a positive density contrast that would have generated the main component of the geoid height anomaly. In addition, the compatibility of the gravity data with the isostatic model, where combined surface and buried loadings are present, together with the temporal correlation between the Cenozoic magmatism and the Borborema plateau uplifting allow to propose that this uplifting would have been caused by the buoyancy effect of a crustal root generated by a magmatic underplating in the Cenozoic

Evolução da paisagem do baixo curso do rio de Piranhas-Assu (1988-2024): uso de autômatos celulares em modelo dinâmico espacial para simulação de cenários futuros

The lower course of Piranhas-Assu river, located in the north coast of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, arouses a keen interest as a study field, once it concentrates, besides petroleum and gas exploration, activities related to shrimp culture, salt and horticulture, factors that also deserve special attention. Thus, the awareness of the study field environmental stage demands studies from researchers and discernment from society, as a way of understanding the inter-relation between environment and men. Therefore, this work attempts at understanding and studying the dynamics of land use in the lower course of Piranhas-Assu river, through a multitemporal analysis of present and past, accomplishing future projections through simulation models. The work is divided in stages that include the research, analysis, interpretation of results, and the generation of simulation models, to analyze the landscape tendencies, making possible to identify indicators which cause such changes in the lower course of the river. From Geographical Database, the necessary exploratory analyses were accomplished to the following items: land use evolution, natural and environmental vulnerability, multiple geodiversity indexes, and preparation of the data to be used in the simulation model. Later, the construction of the landscape simulation model was conducted. Sequentially, simulations of future sceneries were accomplished through the execution of the model in a specific software environment. Last, the analyses of landscape tendencies in the study field were carried out. The lower course of Piranhas-Assu River didn't show any intense dynamics in landscape changing, once in the period taken into account (from 1988 to 2004) class stability proved to be superior to its transformations. Activities related to agriculture and livestock are the ones that influence, mostly, the landscape dynamics. The production of sea shrimp and petroleum also infers in the landscape, although in smaller proportion. INCRA s public policies excessively determined the dynamics of the landscape in the lower course of Piranhas-Assu River, RN. In respect to its natural vulnerability, the lower course of Piranhas-Assu River, RN, features more vulnerable than stable areas. The landscape simulation, in the first taken period (2004-2009), indicated considerable increases and decreases of antropic activities, if compared to its sequent periods (2009-2014, 2014-2019 and 2019-2024). The simulation, in a wider analysis, showed that the determining factors for the space mobility of antropic activities, in the focused area, are related to the pre-existence of communities with agricultural capability and to the existence of access routes and drainage. Considering the area that features fixed and mobile dunes, located in Porto do Mangue district, we recommend its conversion into a conservation area

Morfologia e sedimentologia da plataforma continental brasileira adjacente a São Bento do Norte e Caiçara do Norte-RN/NE-Brasil

This dissertation the results of a research developed in the area of São Bento do Norte and Caiçara do Norte, northern coast of the State of Rio Grande do Norte, during the period of June of 2000 to August of 2001, in the ambit of the projects MAMBMARÉ (CNPq/CTPETRO) and PROBRAL (CAPES/DAAD). The objective principal of this research was the characterization of the sedimentary dynamics of this coast, with base in data of coastal process (winds, currents, waves and tides), with topographical risings (beach profiles and dunes), satellite images and sedimentary analyses. The more specific objectives were accomplished the coastal monitoring of this coast, to verify the maintenance of an erosive tendency or progradacional after the groynes construction for contention of the erosion in the beach of Caiçara do Norte, as well as to verify the influence of the features of bottom of the platform interns adjacent on the pole petroliferous of Guamaré. The executed monitoramento allowed to identify that the movement of the sediments, along the year, in that area, is cyclical, reaching the largest oscillations during the months of winter (deposition) and they will summer (erosion). The sedimentologic studies indicated a general tendency for sands quartzosas, with gravel presence, moderately to good selected, with asymmetry predominantly negative. In agreement with the parameter of Dean (1957), used in the identification of the state morfodinâmico of the beaches, monitored beaches, are basically reflectivas with tendency to middlemen, what frames that space of the coast norte-riograndense, as a space strongly vulnerable to erosive processes. The studies developed in the platform, it interns of this area, allowed to visualize for the first time, in large scale, the distribution of the features of the submarine bottom to the batométrico coat of 25 meters. Being pointed out the presence of a high one topographical submerged, with about 5 meters of height, 1 km of width and more than 24 meters of extension, located in the platform it interns in front of São Bento do Norte; coincident with the trend of the system of flaws of Carnaubais. This feature relay an important paper on the control of the sedimentary processes and oceanographic, as well as in the coastal evolution of this area of the RN state, and they affect the area of the pole petroliferous of Guamaré directly. These results contribute to a better knowledge of the processes in the area, and consequently as subsidies implantation of measures of coastal and environmental protection for the cities of São Bento do Norte and Caiçara do Norte, as well as to understand how the geological-sedimentary processes and oceanographic, in this area, are influencing the characteristics geoambientais of the pole petroliferous of Guamaré

Evolução morfodinâmica da região de influência estuarina do Rio Curimataú/RN, com ênfase nas alternativas do ambiente deposicional de manguezal e a integração de geodados em Sig

The estuaries are important investigation zones of the actual morphodynamic and of depositional facies of recent geological history. They are constituted in important receptor means of the coastal area sediments, where the evolutionary processes occur quickly. They are also attractive means for the development of anthropic activities, which in a disordered way interfere in the active processes in the sedimentary balance of the coastal areas. Among the human interventions, the alterations of the depositional environment of mangroves in areas of tropical estuary is deserving relevance, whose implications for the environment estuarine and the coastal adjacent, they are still far to be known. Due to the interest of the sedimentologic component in the comprehension of the processes linked to the evolution of the environments estuarine and coastal adjacent, this work, aimed at the understanding of the morphodynamic coastal phenomena that comprise the region of estuarine influence of the River Curimataú / RN. It was also evaluated in the morphodynamic context the implications due to alterations of the depositional environment of mangrove by anthropic activity. The Curimataú Estuary, located in the south portion of the oriental coast of Rio Grande do Norte, in the last decades has been objective of the overwhelming occupation of the shrimp farm in areas of mangroves, which were implanted with perspectives of development in a short to medium period. On the other hand, the estuary and its region of coastal influence lacks enough information to subsidize the planning and reorganization more effective of the surrounding activities. Thus, it was intended with this work to give a contribution target tothe maintainable use of the coastal resources of this region. A series of studies using data of orbital and acoustic remote sensing, as of sediments sampling, were executed in the gutter of the estuary. The obtained results starting from the interpretation of bathymetric maps, echo sounder graphics and of distribution of sediments made possible the location of the estuary based in morpho-sedimentar criteria. The estuarine tidal flat was dissected in environments of intertidal mangroves, supratidal mangroves and apicuns with base in the integration of data of sensor optic and of radar following by the field control. The adjacent coast that is influenced by the Curimataú estuary, was segmented according to their geomorphologic characteristics, where each segment had a point of observation of the beach morphodynamic, during the period from january/2001 to february/2002. Once every month, beaches profiles, collections of sediments in the beach zones, as measurement of hydrodynamic parameters were executed. The results of the observations of the tidal environment showed that the area of estuarine influence of the Curimataú begins to suffer negative sedimentary taxes, where in some beaches, the erosive processes are already observed. The granulometric characteristics of the beach sediments start to tend for the increase of thin sand in the erosive periods. The destruction of the depositional environments of mangroves of the Curimataú estuary, to the construction of shrimp farms, can be providing the diminution of the tidal prism of the estuary, enlarging the effects of the local increasing of the sea level, through the smaller supplying of sediments to the adjacent coast. Besides this, it was verified the possibility of the sanding of the tidal channel in the margins of the destroyed areas of mangroves, where very high taxes of sedimentation of thin materials were estimated in case of these areas were preserve

Processamento e interpretação de dados 2D e 3D de GPR :aplicações no imageamento de feições kársticas e estruturas de dissolução no campo de petróleo de Fazenda Belém-CE

In Fazenda Belém oil field (Potiguar Basin, Ceará State, Brazil) occur frequently sinkholes and sudden terrain collapses associated to an unconsolidated sedimentary cap covering the Jandaíra karst. This research was carried out in order to understand the mechanisms of generation of these collapses. The main tool used was Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR). This work is developed twofold: one aspect concerns methodology improvements in GPR data processing whilst another aspect concerns the geological study of the Jandaíra karst. This second aspect was strongly supported both by the analysis of outcropping karst structures (in another regions of Potiguar Basin) and by the interpretation of radargrams from the subsurface karst in Fazenda Belém. It was designed and tested an adequate flux to process GPR data which was adapted from an usual flux to process seismic data. The changes were introduced to take into account important differences between GPR and Reflection Seismic methods, in particular: poor coupling between source and ground, mixed phase of the wavelet, low signal-to-noise ratio, monochannel acquisition, and high influence of wave propagation effects, notably dispersion. High frequency components of the GPR pulse suffer more pronounced effects of attenuation than low frequency components resulting in resolution losses in radargrams. In Fazenda Belém, there is a stronger need of an suitable flux to process GPR data because both the presence of a very high level of aerial events and the complexity of the imaged subsurface karst structures. The key point of the processing flux was an improvement in the correction of the attenuation effects on the GPR pulse based on their influence on the amplitude and phase spectra of GPR signals. In low and moderate losses dielectric media the propagated signal suffers significant changes only in its amplitude spectrum; that is, the phase spectrum of the propagated signal remains practically unaltered for the usual travel time ranges. Based on this fact, it is shown using real data that the judicious application of the well known tools of time gain and spectral balancing can efficiently correct the attenuation effects. The proposed approach can be applied in heterogeneous media and it does not require the precise knowledge of the attenuation parameters of the media. As an additional benefit, the judicious application of spectral balancing promotes a partial deconvolution of the data without changing its phase. In other words, the spectral balancing acts in a similar way to a zero phase deconvolution. In GPR data the resolution increase obtained with spectral balancing is greater than those obtained with spike and predictive deconvolutions. The evolution of the Jandaíra karst in Potiguar Basin is associated to at least three events of subaerial exposition of the carbonatic plataform during the Turonian, Santonian, and Campanian. In Fazenda Belém region, during the mid Miocene, the Jandaíra karst was covered by continental siliciclastic sediments. These sediments partially filled the void space associated to the dissolution structures and fractures. Therefore, the development of the karst in this region was attenuated in comparison to other places in Potiguar Basin where this karst is exposed. In Fazenda Belém, the generation of sinkholes and terrain collapses are controlled mainly by: (i) the presence of an unconsolidated sedimentary cap which is thick enough to cover completely the karst but with sediment volume lower than the available space associated to the dissolution structures in the karst; (ii) the existence of important structural of SW-NE and NW-SE alignments which promote a localized increase in the hydraulic connectivity allowing the channeling of underground water, thus facilitating the carbonatic dissolution; and (iii) the existence of a hydraulic barrier to the groundwater flow, associated to the Açu-4 Unity. The terrain collapse mechanisms in Fazenda Belém occur according to the following temporal evolution. The meteoric water infiltrates through the unconsolidated sedimentary cap and promotes its remobilization to the void space associated with the dissolution structures in Jandaíra Formation. This remobilization is initiated at the base of the sedimentary cap where the flow increases its abrasion due to a change from laminar to turbulent flow regime when the underground water flow reaches the open karst structures. The remobilized sediments progressively fill from bottom to top the void karst space. So, the void space is continuously migrated upwards ultimately reaching the surface and causing the sudden observed terrain collapses. This phenomenon is particularly active during the raining season, when the water table that normally is located in the karst may be temporarily located in the unconsolidated sedimentary cap

Geomorfologia e neotectônica no Vale do Apodi-Mossoró RN

Numerous studies have indicated that the Potiguar Basin is affected by Cenozoic tectonics. The reactivation of Cretaceous fault systems affect the post-rift units, witch include Neogene and overlying Quaternary sediments. In this context, the objectives of this thesis are the followings: (1) to characterize the effects of post-rift tectonics in the morphology of Apodi Mossoró-river valley located in the central portion of the Potiguar, (2) to characterize the drainage of the Apodi Mossoró river valley and investigate the behavior of their channels across active faults, and (3) to propose a geologic-geomorphological evolutionary model for the study area. This study used a geological and geomorphological mapping of the central part of the basin, with emphasis on the Quaternary record, luminescence dating of sediments, and geoelectric profiles of the area. The results reveal by maps of structural lineaments and drainage channels of the rivers form valleys that are affected by faults and folds. In Apodi-Mossoró valley, anomalies of channel morphology are associated with the deformation of the post-rift basin. These anomalies show the reactivation of major fault systems in the Potiguar Basin in Cenozoic. On a regional scale, can be seen through the vertical electric profiles that the Cenozoic tectonics is responsible for the elevation of a macro dome NE-SE-trending 70-km long and 50km wide and up to 270 above sea level. In this sector, the vertical electric profiles data show that the contact between the Cretaceous and Neogene rise more than 100m. This Is an important feature of inversion data obtained in this work showed that the deposits that cover the macro dome (Serra do Mel) have ages of 119 ka to 43 ka. In the river valley and surrounding areas Apodi-Mossoró ages vary between 319 ka and 2.7 ka. From these data it was possible to establish the correct geochronological posiconamento paleodepósitos of distinguishing them from the fluvial deposits of the Neogene (Barreiras Formation)

Efeito do sítio de venopunção nos parâmetros hematológicos em tigre-d'água-americano, Trachemys scripta elegans

O objetivo do presente estudo foi realizar a comparação entre dois sítios de coleta sanguínea em 24 exemplares de tigre-d'água-americano (Trachemys scripta elegans) oriundos de um criadouro comercial, localizado no município de Antonina, litoral do Paraná, Brasil. Os animais foram submetidos a contenção física e as venopunções foram realizadas no seio supraocciptal e na veia coccígea dorsal. As amostras heparinizadas foram identificadas e refrigeradas para posterior análise laboratorial. A contagem total de eritrócitos e leucócitos foi realizada pela técnica de hemocitometria. O hematócrito (Ht) e a hemoglobina (Hb) foram determinados pelo método de microhematócrito e cianometahemoglobina, respectivamente. A proteína plasmática total (PPT) foi determinada por refratometria e a contagem diferencial de leucócitos foi realizada através da técnica de Shilling. Houve diferença significativa no número de leucócitos e no valor da proteína plasmática total, e em ambos os casos os valores encontrados nas amostras provenientes da veia coccígea dorsal foram inferiores. A diferença encontrada no número de leucócitos provavelmente foi devido à contaminação por linfa, que também justifica o menor valor na concentração da proteína plasmática total. Conclui-se que é mais indicada a venopunção no seio supraocciptal quando comparado a veia coccígea dorsal.

Avaliação da utilização de biópsia transbrônquica em pacientes com suspeita clínica de doença pulmonar intersticial

OBJETIVO: Estudar os padrões clínicos, radiológicos e histopatológicos da biópsia transbrônquica (BTB) utilizados para a confirmação diagnóstica em pacientes com suspeita clinica de doença pulmonar intersticial (DPI) atendidos em um hospital universitário de nível terciário. MÉTODOS: Os prontuários, laudos radiológicos e de biópsias transbrônquicas de todos os pacientes com suspeita de DPI submetidos a BTB entre janeiro de 1999 e dezembro de 2006 no Hospital das Clínicas de Botucatu, localizado na cidade de Botucatu (SP), foram revisados. RESULTADOS: Foram incluídos no estudo 56 pacientes. Desses, 11 (19,6%) apresentaram o diagnóstico definitivo de fibrose pulmonar idiopática (FPI), que foi significativamente maior nos casos nos quais DPI era uma possibilidade diagnóstica em comparação com aqueles nos quais DPI era a principal suspeita (p = 0,011), demonstrando a contribuição da BTB para a definição diagnóstica dessas doenças. O exame histopatológico dessas biópsias revelou que 27,3% dos pacientes com FPI apresentavam o padrão de pneumonia organizante, o que pode sugerir doença mais avançada. O padrão histológico indeterminado foi o mais frequente, refletindo a característica periférica da FPI. Entretanto, o padrão fibrose apresentou alta especificidade e alto valor preditivo negativo. Para os padrões sugestivos de FPI em TC, a curva ROC indicou que a melhor relação entre sensibilidade e especificidade ocorreu com a presença de cinco alterações radiológicas, sendo o aspecto de favo de mel fortemente sugestivo de FPI (p = 0,01). CONCLUSÕES: Nas DPIs, a TC de tórax deve ser sempre realizada e a BTB usada em situações individualizadas, conforme a suspeita e distribuição das lesões.

Parâmetros físico-químicos de estrelas com planetas na missão CoRoT

In the present study we compute the atmospheric parameters (Teff , log g and vmic, [Fe/H]) and chemical abundance of 16 ions (Fe I, Fe II, O I, Si I, Na I, Mg I, Al I, Ca I, Ti I, Co I, Ni I, Rb I, Zr I, Ba II, La II and Cr I) for 16 solar-like stars with masses between 0:8 and 1:2 Mfi aproximatedly, including 10 planet-host stars detected by the CoRoT Space Mission. For this study, we use data from the ESO public archive: (i) high resolution spectra (R 47000) from the UVES spectrograph on the VLT/UT2-ESO (for 7 stars, covering the wavelength range 3450-4515 Å and 5500-9400 Å) and (ii) high resolution spectra from HARPS spectrograph on the La Silla-ESO 3.60 m telescope (for 9 stars, covering the wavelength range 4200-6865 Å). Our spectral analysis is based on MARCS models of atmosphere and Turbospectrum spectroscopic tools. On the base of the computed parameters, the referred abundances appears to follow the same behavior of the solar curve abundances. Further, one observes a signifficant correlation between the abundance ratio [m/Fe] and condensation temperature (Tc) of refractory elements (Tc > 900 K). The behavior of the projected rotational velocity (v sin i) versus the computed abundances [m/Fe] is also analyzed, presenting no clear trends. This study oers additional constraints to trace the evolutive history of solar-like stars with planets, including the search for chemical dierences between stars with and without transit planets and anomalies in the studied abundances

Transporte eletrônico e propriedades termodinâmicas de nanobiomoléculas

We use a tight-binding formulation to investigate the transmissivity and the currentvoltage (I_V) characteristics of sequences of double-strand DNA molecules. In order to reveal the relevance of the underlying correlations in the nucleotides distribution, we compare theresults for the genomic DNA sequence with those of arti_cial sequences (the long-range correlated Fibonacci and RudinShapiro one) and a random sequence, which is a kind of prototype of a short-range correlated system. The random sequence is presented here with the same _rst neighbors pair correlations of the human DNA sequence. We found that the long-range character of the correlations is important to the transmissivity spectra, although the I_V curves seem to be mostly inuenced by the short-range correlations. We also analyze in this work the electronic and thermal properties along an _-helix sequence obtained from an _3 peptide which has the uni-dimensional sequence (Leu-Glu-Thr- Leu-Ala-Lys-Ala)3. An ab initio quantum chemical calculation procedure is used to obtain the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) as well as their charge transfer integrals, when the _-helix sequence forms two di_erent variants with (the so-called 5Q variant) and without (the 7Q variant) _brous assemblies that can be observed by transmission electron microscopy. The di_erence between the two structures is that the 5Q (7Q) structure have Ala ! Gln substitution at the 5th (7th) position, respectively. We estimate theoretically the density of states as well as the electronic transmission spectra for the peptides using a tight-binding Hamiltonian model together with the Dyson's equation. Besides, we solve the time dependent Schrodinger equation to compute the spread of an initially localized wave-packet. We also compute the localization length in the _nite _-helix segment and the quantum especi_c heat. Keeping in mind that _brous protein can be associated with diseases, the important di_erences observed in the present vi electronic transport studies encourage us to suggest this method as a molecular diagnostic tool