Development of the male reproductive system in Callinectes ornatus Ordway, 1863 (Brachyura: Portunidae)

This study describes the histology and histochemistry of the male reproductive system in Callinectes ornatus, comparing juvenile and adult developmental stages. We also analyzed changes in the gonadosomatic (GSI) and hepatosomatic (HSI) indices, and the weights of the testis and vas deferens during the development. The results showed that all stages, beginning with the juvenile (JUV), through developing (DEV) and mature (MAT) adult males of C. ornatus produce sperm and spermatophores. During development, testicular lobes showed the same characteristics of production and release of sperm into the seminiferous duct. The vas deferens showed little histological and histochemical change in the epithelium in juvenile and adult males. The differences consisted of the larger amount of secretion in MAT males compared to JUV and DEV ones. The chemical composition of the seminal fluid was similar, but MAT males produced a more homogeneous secretion. Morphological and physiological maturation are not synchronized in C. ornatus, since JUV males produced spermatophores similar to those in DEV and MAT males. However, these JUV are not yet able to reproduce, since they still have the abdomen attached to the cephalothoracic sternum. The increase of the GSI during development was significant for MAT males, and is related to the production of sufficient volume of seminal fluid to form the sperm plug in the female seminal receptacle. The HSI decreased from DEV to MAT adult stages, indicating that reserves from the hepatopancreas are used to develop the reproductive system after the pubertal molt.

Ultrastructural features of spermatogenesis in Melanorivulus punctatus (Cyprinodontiformes: Rivulidae)

Fish belonging to the family Rivulidae possess one of the most complex reproductive systems. Rivulus, a genus of freshwater fish in the Rivulidae family, was recently reclassified into five genera, including Melanorivulus. Its type species, M. punctatus, is widely distributed and probably represents a species complex. The ultrastructure of sperm has been broadly used in systematics, and we hereby describe the ultrastructural features of spermatogenesis in M. punctatus. Ten M. punctatus males were collected from the reservoir of Parque Estadual da Quineira, municipality of Chapada dos Guimardes, Mato Grosso, Brazil, and prepared for analysis by light microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. M. punctatus undergoes cystic spermatogenesis. Its cysts consist of groups of germ cells that are in synchronous development and are surrounded by cytoplasmic projections of Sertoli cells. With the breakdown of the cysts, the spermatozoa are released and their maturation is completed in the duct, where part of the cytoplasmic material is discarded through the vesicles. The mature spermatozoon is characterized by a spherical head with homogeneously condensed chromatin, a symmetric midpiece consisting of a pair of perpendicular centrioles, a ring of mitochondria, several vesicles, and one flagellum medial to the nucleus. Early stages of spermatogenesis show no peculiarities; however, in spermiogenesis, we observed that the spermatids remain interconnected by cytoplasmic bridges and have pockets of residual cytoplasm. The sperm is of the aquasperm type and is similar to that observed in the members of the family Rivulidae. The spermatozoa have a single flagellum that consists of a classic axoneme (9 +2), as found in most groups of fish, despite the lateral extensions. (c) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Male Gonadal Differentiation and the Paedomorphic Evolution of the Testis in Teleostei

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

Inhibition of inducible nitric oxide synthase-derived nitric oxide as a therapeutical target for acute pancreatitis induced by secretory phospholipase A(2)

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

Testes of Astyanax altiparanae: The Sertoli cell functions in a semicystic spermatogenesis

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

A genetic algorithm/mathematical programming approach to solve a two-level soft drink production problem

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Performance and emissions of a gas turbine engine using ox tallow ethyl-ester blended with kerosene

The performance and emissions behavior of a Rover 1S/60 turboshaft engine when operated with several blends of aviation kerosene and ox tallow ethyl-ester are shown in this article. The tests were performed with a compressor shaft coupled to an hydraulic dynamometer where data of power and mass fuel flow were collected to determine the brake specific fuel consumption. A flue gas analyzer was positioned at the exhaust duct to collect oxygen, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and nitrous oxides. An increase in the specific fuel consumption was observed due to the lesser lower heating value of the most oxygenated blends. However, reductions of CO, CO2 and NO (x) have been observed and no-significant ill effects have occurred in the turbine operation.

Estudo imuno-histoquímico da co-expressão de citoqueratinas, vimentina e actina em neoplasias de glândula salivar

Human salivary gland tumors originated from intercalated ducts present a broad range of histologic and cytologic patterns, mainly due to the presence of myoepithelial cells. The aim of this study is to verify the differentiation grade of neoplastic cells and a possible relation between myoepithelial cell differentiation and the presence of luminal secretory contents. The expression of vimentin and cytokeratin (CK) intermediate filaments, actin myofilament and epithelial membrane antigen (EMA) was investigated by double labeling immunocytochemical technique, in thirty salivary gland neoplasms: 5 pleomorphic adenomas, 5 myoepitheliomas, 3 basal cell adenomas, 7 adenoid cystic carcinomas (ACC) and 10 polimorphous low grade adenocarcinomas (PLGA). Tumors with intercalated duct differentiation (pleomorphic adenomas, basal cell adenomas and ACC) express CKs 7, 8, 18 and 19 in the luminal cells and coexpress eventually CK14 with these CKs. Some luminal cells stained with anti-EMA antibody, mainly where a secretory content in the lumen was observed. Outer ductal cells and other myoepithelial-like cells express vimentin, sometimes coexpressing actin and/or CK14 with vimentin. Plasmacytoid cells in myoepitheliomas and pleomorphic adenomas express vimentin and rarely CKs 7, 8, 18 and 19, sometimes coexpressing these CKs with CK14 but they are negative for the remaining antigens. Tumors without intercalated duct differentiation (solid basal cell adenoma and PLGA) express vimentin and CKs 7, 8, 14 and 18, sometimes coexpressing CKs 8 and 18 with CK14. In conclusion, in tumors with intercalated duct differentiation, myoepithelial cells express vimentin and sometimes coexpress actin and/or CK14 with vimentin, never coexpressing other CKs with vimentin. CK14 and actin are independently expressed by myoepithelial cells, so their expression is probably induced by different stimulus. However, the secretory function of luminal cells, visualized by EMA staining, ....

Avaliação de desempenho do dispositivo de medida de resistividade elétrica em laboratório

Pós-graduação em Engenharia Civil e Ambiental - FEB

Development of a knowledge-based system for cogeneration plant design: Verification, validation and lessons learned

This paper presents the development of a knowledge-based system (KBS) prototype able to design natural gas cogeneration plants, demonstrating new features for this field. The design of such power plants represents a synthesis problem, subject to thermodynamic constraints that include the location and sizing of components. The project was developed in partnership with the major Brazilian gas and oil company, and involved interaction with an external consultant as well as an interdisciplinary team. The paper focuses on validation and lessons learned, concentrating on important aspects such as the generation of alternative configuration schemes, breadth of each scheme description created by the system, and its module to support economic feasibility analysis. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Study of Different Subsequence Elimination Strategies for the Soft Drink Production Planning

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Transportador de correia: componentes e cálculos básicos para seu dimensionamento

Increasingly, people searches for an efficient and economic way for transporting bulk materials. Transport through belts is now the most widely used mean for transporting bulk materials, used by companies from various sectors such as mining, quarrying, agribusiness, etc. There are many advantages of using a conveyor belt as compared to rail or by truck. Trucks needs a driver, have a high risk of accidents as well as a high cost for maintenance and as well as trains, after making the downloading of the material, return empty to the next load. The cost for the construction of a railway is very high, making it often impossible. The conveyor belt have a high cost of installation, but it works 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The upper side of the belt is always loaded, the maintenance cost is average and the risk of accidents is low, causing it to be the ideal way to transport bulk materials. This monography aims to interest the reader about what is a conveyor belt, what are its main components and demonstrate the basic calculations for their sizing and selection of components. Throughout the work, scaled a belt conveyor for use in the mining sector, but the concepts demonstrated apply to the transport of any material

Utilização de água pluvial para fins não potáveis: análise do atendimento da demanda pelo método de eficiências para dimensionamento de reservatório para diferentes regimes pluviométricos brasileiros

Brazil has about 12 % of a life´s essential resource: the superficial fresh water of the planet. However, today it is possible to observe the bad management of this resource, generating serious consequences on the quality that results in the loss of the use´s availability. In this scenario, the catchment of rainwater for undrinkable use is an alternative that has been broadly studied for the scientific community. When planning a system of rainwater catchment, the sizing of the required volume of the tank that will keep the water has a fundamental importance for the project, seeing that the supersizing of the tank can bring high costs and the undersizing can bring shortage in the water supply. This paper used a methodology based on two concepts: the harvesting efficiencies and the attending efficiencies of the system. This method takes as principle that exist a perfect demand that minimize the repayment time, condition that happened when the efficiencies are equal. Brazilian’s cities with different weathers and different rainfalls where chosen to simulate the attending for different demands for a typical residence. The data where parameterized according to the roof area and the number of residents, that way is possible that a future conference can be easily done and it also ensure results closer to the reality. The results showed that cities with a lower period of drought, even those with high level of rainfall on the raining mouths, have lower potential of water supply. The cities where the rainfall is more constant and also more high, even small roofs areas and small tank´s volumes – about half of the size compare to the cities with less propitious conditions – can generate high levels of water saving. With an eye to promote the environmental sustainability, the investment on projects for the catchment of rainwater is a good alternative

Analise dos esforços de laminação no dimensionamento de um laminador de bancada

The industry produces rolled, starting to and passing through casting forming processes, for example, in the case in question the rolling. A large portion of rolled products are flat, these have specific characteristics during their production and properties after finished that must be analyzed. For this a study of these properties must be made in materials samples, in order to be able to first know the material in question or provide new properties to the material through the process of rolling flat products. In this way is interesting that the students of mechanical engineering have knowledge of rolling trials, and from this can better understand the behavior of rolled. With this purpose the project of a benchtop rolling mill for the rolling of flat is needed, this work is the project of a sizing of one rolling mill non-ferrous materials

Avaliação de funcionamento das bombas hidráulicas do sistema de tratamento de efluentes da Empresa Parker Hannifin

On the field of the projects of hydraulic systems exists a lot of worries when we talk about the calculate of hydraulic pumps. In this case some facts must be considerate: length of tubes, fluid characteristics, height gauge, temperature, pressure, characteristics of tubes, flow required and others. For that mathematic calculates must be developed with the objective to optimize hydraulic pumps and agree to find an ideal machine (that don't requires more energy than necessary or less energy than it requires; that is the more critical case, cause exists the risk that the fluid pumped do not agree to become in your destiny). The wrong calculate of this machine can super-size its, bringing an excessive energy consumption. Actually it's an important subject because we are in the age of lack of energy what turn it more expensive. So the correct sizing of a hydraulic pump is connected with the fact that you have to uses the enough energy resources avoiding waste. The calculate of ideal pump in the pumping system is studied during years and a lot of specialists in this subject develop equations and theories to calculate its. Some researches study about this subject and all of them become to the same conclusion: to find the ideal pump we have to know the characteristics of fluid (cinematic viscosity), the required flow , overall yield (overall of motor x overall of pump) the high gauge or discharge pressure and the loss of repression. The pressure drop can be calculated with different theories: using Hazen-Williams, Darcy e Weisbach or Chézy (1775 - that starts the researches to calculate the pressure drop). Although the most used theory and what is most near to reality is the Darcy's equation. So, in this job the Darcy's equation were choice to calculate the drop pressure that consider what kind of flow we are studying: laminar or turbulent. The determination of the best pump to be used in the ... ( complete abstract click eletronic access below)