Swarming of millipedes, a new case noticed in the District of Patrocinio-MG-Brazil

A population boom of the millipede Plusioporus setigerhas been recorded in coffee crops in the district of Patrocinio-MG, Brazil on the last five years. The millipedes spread over dwelling houses and to vegetable gardens, orchards and small plantations. It was suggested that population increase occurred as a consequence of the organic materials in high scale and also periodic irrigation in the coffee crop.

Influence of the yielding criterion on total forming force in metallic junctions using elastomers

The production of metallic junctions employing elastomers is an unconventional technique that has been in development in the last 20 years. The forming process gets successfull just if a simultaneous compression between the elastomers and the tube takes place. Exact solutions for problems involving forming with elastomers are quite difficult to determine. However, the upper-bound theory can be used in order to predict the necessary load for junctions forming. Thus, it is necessary to develop a model capable to provide an estimate of the total forming force, which is useful to set-up tools and equipments required for the process. In this work, Von Mises, Hill's 1948 and Hill's 1979 associated yielding theories, and the Hosford's theory (1979) as well, were used in order to study the anisotropic behaviour on total forming force of junctions using elastomers, insuring the functionality of the proposed model. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Genetic Parameters For the Somatic Cells Count In the Milk of Buffaloes Using Ordinary Test Day Models

The buffaloes dairy milk production (BDMP) has increased in the last 20 years, mainly for the manufacturing of mozzarella cheese, which is recognized by its high nutritional quality. However, this quality can be affected by several factors i. e. high somatic cells count (SCC) provokes changes in the milk's constituents. As in bovine dairy milk, the SCC is used as diagnostic tool for milk quality; because it enables the diagnosis of sub-clinic mastitis and also allows the selection of individuals genetically resistant to that disease. Based on it, we collected information about SCC and BDMP along the lactation in Murrah breed buffaloes, during the period between 1997 and 2005. Curves were designed to estimate genetic parameters. These parameters were estimated by ordinary test-day models. There were observed variations in the estimated heritability for both characteristics the lowest score for somatic cells count (SSCC) was seen at first month (0.01) and the highest at sixth months (0.29 the genetic correlation between these traits varied from -1 at the 1 and 9(th) months to 0.31 and 0.30 in the2 and 4(th) month of lactation. Phenotypic correlations were all negative (-0.07 in the second month and up to -0.35 in the eighth month of lactation). These results showed that environmental factors are more important than genetics in explain SCC, for this reason, selection for genetic resistance to mastitis in buffalos based in SCC should not be done. In the other hand, negative phenotypic correlations demonstrated that as the SCC increased, the milk production decreased.

Analytic solutions for the Lambda-FRW model

The high precision attained by cosmological data in the last few years has increased the interest in exact solutions. Analytic expressions for solutions in the Standard Model are presented here for all combinations of Lambda = 0, Lambda not equal 0, kappa = 0, and kappa = 0, in the presence and absence of radiation and nonrelativistic matter. The most complete case (here called the Lambda gamma CDM Model) has Lambda not equal 0, kappa not equal 0, and supposes the presence of radiation and dust. It exhibits clearly the recent onset of acceleration. The treatment includes particular models of interest such as the Lambda CDM Model (which includes the cosmological constant plus cold dark matter as source constituents).

Management of Osteonecrosis of the Jaws in Patients With History of Bisphosphonates Therapy

Bisphosphonates are compounds used in the treatment of various metabolic and malignant bone diseases. The relation between the use of bisphosphonates and ostenonecrosis of the jaws as an adverse effect of the drug has been intensely discussed during the last few years, and up to this moment, there is no consensus concerning an ideal treatment modality for this condition. Nevertheless, there is an agreement among researchers that the standard goal for controlling jaw osteonecrosis is to prevent it. Otherwise, the rationale for a randomized controlled trial is that current treatment has proven to be suboptimal, and no consensus has been reached yet on the best strategies to repair the exposed bone once bone necrosis is developed. This article is focused on reporting a case of moderate osteonecrosis of the upper jaw induced by bisphosphonates and discusses a possible role for surgical debridement associated to platelet-rich plasma, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and the cessation of the bisphosphonate use in managing this type of lesion. Moreover, the dentist, the oral surgeon, and the oncologist need to work together to reach better outcomes.

The Effects of Piece Size and Storage Temperatures on Minimally Processed 'Aurora-1' Peaches

The production of minimally processed fruit has increased significantly in the last few years due to the high nutritional value, convenience and safety of minimally processed fruit. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effects of the conservation temperature and processing conditions on the quality and shelf-life of minimally processed peaches. The processing procedure consisted of washing, sanitization, peeling and stone removal. To remove the stone, the fruit was cut longitudinally, and three types of products were obtained, including halves, quarters and one-eighth segments. The fruit pieces were immersed in 2% ascorbic acid for 3 min and were packed in rigid polystyrene trays (Meiwa (c) M-54) coated with 14 mu m PVC film (Omnifilm (TM)) (about 200 g per pack). The pieces were stored at 65% RH at 3, 6 or 9 degrees C for 12 days, and were evaluated every four days. The appearance, fresh mass loss, color, O-2 and CO2 concentration, acidity, total soluble solids, total and soluble pectin content and ascorbic acid concentration were measured. Minimally processed peaches stored at 3 degrees C maintained higher quality due to control of ripening and senescence Moreover, an interaction effect between one-eighth segments and a temperature of 3 degrees C was observed, and fruit with a superior appearance and higher soluble solids content was obtained.

Surveillance Programme for Healthcare Associated Infections in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. Implementation and the first three years' results

Governmental programmes should be developed to collect and analyse data on healthcare associated infections (HAIs). This study describes the healthcare setting and both the implementation and preliminary results of the Programme for Surveillance of Healthcare Associated Infections in the State of São Paulo (PSHAISP), Brazil, from 2004 to 2006. Characterisation of the healthcare settings was carried out using a national database. The PSHAISP was implemented using components for acute care hospitals (ACH) or long term care facilities (LTCF). The components for surveillance in ACHs were surgical unit, intensive care unit and high risk nursery. The infections included in the surveillance were surgical site infection in clean surgery, pneumonia, urinary tract infection and device-associated bloodstream infections. Regarding the LTCF component, pneumonia, scabies and gastroenteritis in all inpatients were reported. In the first year of the programme there were 457 participating healthcare settings, representing 51.1% of the hospitals registered in the national database. Data obtained in this study are the initial results and have already been used for education in both surveillance and the prevention of HAI. The results of the PSHAISP show that it is feasible to collect data from a large number of hospitals. This will assist the State of São Paulo in assessing the impact of interventions and in resource allocation. (C) 2010 The Hospital Infection Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Brazilian experience of sugarcane ethanol industry

Biomass has gained prominence in the last few years as one of the most important renewable energy sources. In Brazil, a sugarcane ethanol program called ProAlcohol was designed to supply the liquid gasoline substitution and has been running for the last 30 yr. The federal government's establishment of ProAlcohol in 1975 created the grounds for the development of a sugarcane industry that currently is one of the most efficient systems for the conversion of photosynthate into different forms of energy. Improvement of industrial processes along with strong sugarcane breeding programs brought technologies that currently support a cropland of 7 million hectares of sugarcane with an average yield of 75 tons/ha. From the beginning of ProAlcohol to the present time, ethanol yield has grown from 2,500 to around 7,000 l/ha. New technologies for energy production from crushed sugarcane stalk are currently supplying 15% of the electricity needs of the country. Projections show that sugarcane could supply over 30% of Brazil's energy needs by 2020. In this review, we briefly describe some historic facts of the ethanol industry, the role of sugarcane breeding, and the prospects of sugarcane biotechnology.

Increased B chromosome frequency and absence of drive in the fish Prochilodus lineatus

The neotropical freshwater fish species Prochilodus lineatus (Pisces, Prochilodontidae) shows 2n = 54 chromosomes plus supernumerary microchromosomes ranging in number from zero to seven among different animals. The transmission rates of B chromosomes were studied by the analysis of the parental and F1 generations in 10 controlled crosses performed with specimens from a natural population. The mean transmission rate observed for B chromosomes (k(B) = 0.511) was consistent with that expected from a regular meiotic behaviour orbs in both sexes and with the theoretical value under a Mendelian mode of transmission (0.5). Possible explanations for the dramatic increase in B frequency observed in this population during the last 10 years are discussed, bearing in mind the current absence of drive.

Reconsiderations about the clinical importance of the sympathetic skin response

Over the last few years, neurologists have been showing increasing interest in the study of the sympathetic skin response (SSR). In the present report we describe a simple method that permitted us to determine a wide variation of SSR in response to different stimuli such as respiration, deglutition, blinking, skeletal movements, biting, auditory or light stimuli, vocalization, and sphincter contraction. These results raise doubts about the role of SSR as a complementary diagnostic method.

Hydrochemistry on a waste disposal area of sand mining activities at Analandia, Sao Paulo State, Brazil, and their implications on the mobilization of uranium

Groundwaters and surface waters from an area of treatment of sand for industrial purposes at Analandia municipality, nearly in the center of Sao Paulo State, Brazil, were chemically and isotopically analyzed with two aims: to evaluate if the anthropogenic activities that has taken place for the last 6 years is affecting the quality of the hydrological resources and to relate the hydrogeochemical behaviour of the uranium isotopes 234U and 238U with the pattern of circulation of groundwaters.