An interdisciplinary approach to the study of colour in portuguese manuscript illuminations

Dissertação apresentada para obtenção do Grau de Doutor em Conservação e Restauro, especialidade Teoria, História e Técnicas, pela Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia

Características estruturais e mecanísticas da enzima desnitrificante Redutase do Nitrito Citocromo cd1

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Biotecnologia

Decoloración de tintes por lacasa

Informe de investigación realizado a partir de una estancia en el Instituto de Biotecnología Medioambiental de la Universidad Tecnológica de Graz, Austria, entre Julio y Agosto de 2006. Se ha estudiado la decoloración de varios tintes sintéticos de estructuras químicas diferentes (Rojo Congo, Azul de Naftol, Indigo Carmín, Lanaset Gris, Azul de Nilo) por la enzima lacasa inmovilizada. La inmovilización de la enzima lacasa se llevó a cabo sobre esferas de alúmina (Al2O3) de 3 mm de diámetro debido a la resistecia mecánica de este material. La lacasa y la proteína inmovilizada se determinaron como la diferencia entre las concentraciones iniciales y residuales (obtenidas en los lavados). El porcentaje de lacasa inmovilizada fue del 68% y la cantidad de proteína inmovilizada por gramo de soporte de 5,6 mg. La enzima lacasa inmovilizada fue capaz de decolorar tintes de diferente estructura sin la necesidad de añadir mediadores redox, lo cual la hace una enzima muy adecuada para su aplicación en la decoloración de efluentes procedentes de la industria textil. De todas formas, son necesarios más estudios para optimizar la técnica de inmovilización así como el proceso de decoloración. Es interesante destacar que aunque hay muchos estudios basados en la oxidación de tintes textiles por lacasa la mayoría utilizan la enzima libre y hay muy poca información disponible sobre la aplicación de lacasas inmovilizadas, por lo que el presente estudio constituye una aportación muy interesante y novedosa.

Morphological study of adult male worms of Schistosoma mansoni Sambon, 1907 by confocal laser scanning microscopy

Aiming to detail data obtained through brightfield microscopy (BM) on reproductive, excretory and digestive system, specimens of Schistosoma mansoni eight weeks old, were recovered from SW mice, stained with Langeron's carmine and analyzed under a confocal laser scanning microscope CLSM 410 (Carl Zeiss). The reproductive system presented a single and lobate testis, with intercommunications between the lobes without efferent duct. Supernumerary testicular lobe was amorphous and isolated from the normal ones. Collecting tubules (excretory ducts), followed by the excretory bladder, opening to the external media through the excretory pore, were observed at the posterior extremity of the body. In the digestive tract, a cecal swelling was noted at the junction that originates the single cecum. It was concluded that through confocal laser scanning microscopy, new interpretations of morphological structures of S. mansoni worms could be achieved, modifying adopted and current descriptions. The gonad consists of a single lobed testis, similar to that observed in some trematode species. Moreover, the same specimens can be observed either by BM or CLSM, considering that the latter causes only focal and limited damage in tissue structures.

Morphometric study of Schistosoma mansoni adult worms recovered from undernourished infected mice

Some unfavourable effects of malnutrition of the host on Schistosoma mansoni worm biology and structure have been reported based upon brigthfield microscopy. This paper aims to study by morphometric techniques, some morphological parameters in male and female adult worms recovered from undernourished albino mice in comparison with parasites recovered from well-fed infected mice. Undernourished animals were fed a multideficient and essentially low protein diet (RBD diet) and compared to well-fed control mice fed with the commercial diet NUVILAB. Seventy-five days post-infection with 80 cercarie (BL strain) animals were sacrificed. All adult worms were fixed in 10% formalin and stained with carmine chloride. One hundred male and 60 female specimens from each group (undernourished and control) were examined using an image system analysis Leica Quantimet 500C and the Sigma Scan Measurement System. The following morphometrical parameters were studied: body length and width, oral and ventral suckers, number and area of testicular lobes, length and width of ovary and uterine egg. For statistical analysis, the Student's t test for unpaired samples was applied. Significant differences (p < 0.05) were detected in body length and width, in parameters of suckers, uterine egg width, ovary length and area of testicular lobes, with lower values for specimens from undernourished mice. The nutritional status of the host has negative influence on S. mansoni adult worms, probably through unavailability of essential nutrients to the parasites.

Mutations inducing divergent shifts of constitutive activity reveal different modes of binding among catecholamine analogues to the beta(2)-adrenergic receptor.

1. We compared the changes in binding energy generated by two mutations that shift in divergent directions the constitutive activity of the human beta(2) adrenergic receptor (beta(2)AR). 2. A constitutively activating mutant (CAM) and the double alanine replacement (AA mutant) of catechol-binding serines (S204A, S207A) in helix 5 were stably expressed in CHO cell lines, and used to measure the binding affinities of more than 40 adrenergic ligands. Moreover, the efficacy of the same group of compounds was determined as intrinsic activity for maximal adenylyl cyclase stimulation in wild-type beta(2)AR. 3. Although the two mutations had opposite effects on ligand affinity, the extents of change were in both cases largely correlated with the degree of ligand efficacy. This was particularly evident if the extra loss of binding energy due to hydrogen bond deletion in the AA mutant was taken into account. Thus the data demonstrate that there is an overall linkage between the configuration of the binding pocket and the intrinsic equilibrium between active and inactive receptor forms. 4. We also found that AA mutation-induced affinity changes for catecholamine congeners gradually lacking ethanolamine substituents were linearly correlated to the loss of affinity that such modifications of the ligand cause for wild-type receptor. This indicates that the strength of bonds between catechol ring and helix 5 is critically dependent on the rest of interactions of the beta-ethanolamine tail with other residues of the beta(2)-AR binding pocket.

Designing institutions for financial stability: Regulation and supervision by objective for the Euro area

In this paper, we discuss pros and cons ofdifferent models for financial market regulationand supervision and we present a proposal forthe re-organisation of regulatory and supervisoryagencies in the Euro Area. Our arguments areconsistent with both new theories and effectivebehaviour of financial intermediaries inindustrialized countries. Our proposed architecturefor financial market regulation is based on theassignment of different objectives or "finalities"to different authorities, both at the domesticand the European level. According to thisperspective, the three objectives of supervision- microeconomic stability, investor protectionand proper behaviour, efficiency and competition- should be assigned to three distinct Europeanauthorities, each one at the centre of a Europeansystem of financial regulators and supervisorsspecialized in overseeing the entire financialmarket with respect to a single regulatoryobjective and regardless of the subjective natureof the intermediaries. Each system should bestructured and organized similarly to the EuropeanSystem of Central Banks and work in connectionwith the central bank which would remain theinstitution responsible for price and macroeconomicstability. We suggest a plausible path to buildour 4-peak regulatory architecture in the Euro area.

Should banking supervision and monetary policy tasks be given to different agencies?

This paper adds some new arguments to the thesis that the responsibility forbanking supervision should be assigned to an agency formally separated bythe Central bank. We also provide some additional evidence on the macroand microeconomic performance of OECD countries whose banking systems areclassified according to the regulatory regime in place. We find that theinflation rate is considerably higher and more volatile in countries wherethe Central bank acts as a monopolist in banking supervision. Besides,although banks seem to be more profitable when Central banks supervise them,they incur into higher costs and rely more on deposits with respect to moresophisticated liabilities as a funding source.The data are not definitively in favor of functional separation. However, we argue that the evolution of financial intermediaries, moral hazard problems and especially cost accountability seem to suggest that separation would be a better solution for industrialized countries.We also critically discuss the current arrangement of financial regulationand supervision in the EMU: our proposal is to establish an independentEuropean System of Financial Supervisors (ESFS) structured similarly to theESCB.

A new species of Homalocerus Schoenherr from the Atlantic coast of the State of São Paulo, Brazil (Coleoptera, Belidae, Belinae), with notes on color pattern and on the sclerites of the internal sac

A new species of Homalocerus Schoenherr from the Atlantic coast of the State of São Paulo, Brazil (Coleoptera, Belidae, Belinae), with notes on color pattern and on the sclerites of the internal sac. Homalocerus bimaculatus sp. nov. (type locality: Brazil, São Paulo) is described and illustrated, and comments on the sclerites of the internal sac of aedeagus and on color pattern are provided. The new species is compared to other similar species of the genus, being distinguished by having three clusters of carmine pubescence on pronotum and two lateral whitish oval spots located slightly before the middle of each elytron. Six species of Homalocerus, including the new one, are known from the State of São Paulo. The previously published identification key for species of Homalocerus is updated to include H. bimaculatus.

[Illustrations de Rome et l'Italie méridionale.] / J.D. Harding, dess. ; L. De Sivry, aut. du texte

Comprend : [pl. en reg. de la page de titre : vue du Château Saint-Ange, du pont des Anges et du Tibre à Rome. [Cote K 1728/Microfilm R 122016] ; [Fig. au titre : vue de la ville de Sorrente.] Sorrente. [Cote K 1728/Microfilm R 122016] ; [pl. en reg. p.17 :] Rome (Vue de l'Eglise St-Pierre et de la Place du Vatican). [Cote K 1728/Microfilm R 122016] ; [pl. en reg. p.27. Chapitre III : Saint-Pierre de Rome.] [Cote K 1728/Microfilm R 122016] ; [pl. en reg. p.49 : le Forum de Rome.] [Cote K 1728/Microfilm R 122016] ; [pl. en reg. p.197. Chapitre XII : vue de Tivoli.] [Cote K 1728/Microfilm R 122016] ; [pl. en reg. p.247. Chapitre XIV : paysage du Sud de l'Italie. Environs de Naples avec vue sur le Golfe.] [Cote K 1728/Microfilm R 122016] ; [pl. en reg. p.264 : Naples et le Pausilippe (tombeau de Viegile) et la plage de la Mergellina.] [Cote K 1728/Microfilm R 122016] ; [pl. en reg. p.276 : paysage du lac Lucrin et le Monte-Nuovo (?) qui jaillit en une nuit, en 1538, d'une éruption volcanique et engloutit le village de Tripergola] [Cote K 1728/Microfilm R 122016] ; [pl. en reg. p.279 : une île du Golfe de Naples (Ischia?).] [Cote K 1728/Microfilm R 122016] ; [pl. en reg. p.296 : vue de l'intérieur de l'église du Carmine à Naples] [Cote K 1728/Microfilm R 122016] ; [pl. en reg. p.305 : vue d'Herculanum] [Cote K 1728/Microfilm R 122016] ; [pl. en reg. p.327 : vue d'Amalfi et de son couvent des Capucins suspendu aux flancs de la montagne.] [Cote K 1728/Microfilm R 122016] ; [pl. en reg. p.331. Chapitre XX : vue de vestiges de temples antiques dans la région de Paestum (?).] [Cote K 1728/Microfilm R 122016] ; [pl. en reg. p.339 : vue du Couvent de Saint-Martin, non loin de Palerme, en Sicile.] [Cote K 1728/Microfilm R 122016]

Padrões de liberação de urediniósporos e desenvolvimento da ferrugem do jambeiro

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar padrões epidemiológicos de campo do fungo (Puccinia psidii Winter) que causa a ferrugem em jambeiro (Syzygium jambos). Entre 29/3 e 31/12/1988, levantou-se a incidência da doença e a população aérea de urediniósporos, na Universidade de Brasília, DF. Avaliaram-se dez plantas, sendo que, entre duas delas, instalou-se uma armadilha Burkard caça-esporos de sete dias. A maior quantidade de urediniósporos capturada foi de 23 de junho a 6 de julho. A principal carga de esporos ocorreu de maio a julho, entre as 10h e as 13 horas. Os maiores números de brotos de jambeiro com pústulas esporulantes ocorreram entre 28 de abril e 20 de julho. O número de brotos terminais infectados foi positivamente correlacionado com a quantidade de esporos. A temperatura (às 12h) foi negativamente correlacionada com a quantidade de urediniósporos dispersos no ar. O número de dias com umidade relativa (UR) do ar (às 24h) > ou = 80% foi positivamente correlacionado com a quantidade de brotos deformados. A quantidade de urediniósporos foi positivamente correlacionada com o número de dias com temperatura <=20ºC e UR(24h) > ou = 80%. Ao maior pico de urediniósporos capturados precedeu um período sem precipitação, porém com vários dias de UR(24h) > ou = 80% e temperatura <=20ºC. Estes dados mostraram que a doença foi favorecida por temperaturas <=20ºC e por UR noturna > ou = 80%.

Scripta diversa super rhetoricam et grammaticam. Carmina.

Catalogus codicum manuscriptorum Bibliothecae regiae. Pars tertia. Tomus tertius (-quartus), Parisiis : ex typographia regia, 1744 : "1.° Anonymi grammatica, in qua de verborum conjugatione. — 2.° Bedae, Presbyteri, de arte metrica liber ad Gutbertum. — 3.° Ejusdem de schematibus et tropis liber ad eundem. — 4.° Claudii Marii Victoris Massiliensis, de Genesi libri tres : carmine heroïco ; porro hi libri iidem prorsus cum illis qui commentariorum in Genesim in editis titulum prae se ferunt : praemittitur Victoris precatio ad Deum, oratione soluta. — 5.° Sancti Paulini carmina ad Ausonium. — 6.° Ausonii, qui in hoc codice sanctus appellatur, carmina ad Paulinum. — 7.° Anonymi carmen in laudem sancti Joannis Baptistae. — 8.° Anonymi carmen cujus is est titulus : laudes Domini cum miraculo quod accidit in Aedrico. — 9.° Anonymi carmen in laudem Christi Domini ; incipit : Jam mihi polliceor. — 10.° Bebiani carmen de uxore sua morti proxima, è variis versuum generibus contextum ; incipit : ô vir beatus cui remissa iniquitas. — 11.° Drepanii Flori Diaconi Lugdunensis, carmen de cereo paschali. — 12.° Hymnus in solemnitate S. Michaëlis, Archangeli. — 13.° Drepanii Flori, Diaconi Lugdunensis, epistola ad Modoinum, Episcopum Augustodunensem. — 14.° Servii Honorati de ultimarum syllabarum natura liber ad Aquilinum. — 15.° Anonymi grammatica. — 16.° Epigrammata quorumdam psalmorum, sive potiùs, psalmi XXII. XXVI. XXVII. versibus haeroïcis expositi ; authore Drepanio Floro. — 17.° Canticum trium puerorum, versibus heroïcis : eodem authore. — 18.° Anonymi cohortatio ad Wlfinum, Aurelianensem Grammaticum. — 19.° Sedulii carmen elegiacum de incarnatione Christi. Saeculo nono videtur exaratus."

A rota dos estudos sobre a cochonilha em Portugal e no Brasil no século XIX: caminhos desencontrados

For imparting an intense and long-lasting red to fabrics, cochineal remained in high demand during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This period witnessed, accordingly, several initiatives aimed at producing the precious dye: publication of specialized texts, cultivation of the cactus and the insect from which the dye is extracted, and, also, attempts to obtain the secrets of production through espionage. The present paper analyses certain aspects of the measures adopted by the Portuguese government towards Brazil in this field. The work shows how people sought to take part in the network of cochineal production (yet they were unsuccessful most of the time).

Cytogenetics of Colletotrichum lindemuthianum (Glomerella cingulata f. sp. phaseoli)

Cytogenetic and morphological studies were conducted with Colletotrichum lindemuthianum (Glomerella cingulata f. sp. phaseoli), the pathogen responsible for anthracnose of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris). In this species, there is some evidence of genomic variation but it is unknown whether the process occurs in a manner similar to other fungal genetic models. Six isolates from bean plants were used and sexual reproduction was observed in vitro. Meiosis and ascospore formation were investigated by cytogenetical approaches and light microscopy. To study the nucleus and chromosome numbers, a mixture of carmine and orcein propionic dyes was used. Nucleus divisions as well as ascospore maturation were asynchronous. Meiosis was observed in three isolates. In the asexual form, chromosomal polymorphism in conidia was also observed microscopically and the mitosis process was described.