Insecticidal activity of a protein extracted from bulbs of Phycella australis Ravenna against the aphids Acyrthosiphon pisum Harris and Myzus persicae Sulzer

Aphids cause significant losses in many agricultural crops and in many cases cause repeated insecticide sprays, which increase the risk of resistance. Therefore, other alternatives are needed to control them. The toxic, antireproductive, and feeding deterrent effects of a mannosebinding lectin isolated from bulbs of Phycella australis Ravenna (Amaryllidaceae), named Phycella australis agglutinin (PAA) was assayed on nymphs of the aphids Acyrthosiphon pisum Harris and Myzus persicae Sulzer fed with an artificial diet. After 72 h of PAA exposure, lethal concentration (LC50) values were 109 and 313 μg mL-1 for A. pisum and M. persicae, respectively, while LC90 values were 248 and 634 μg mL-1. Sub-lethal concentrations of PAA significantly reduced the aphid fecundity at a concentration of 80 μg mL-1. Only a total of 5.7 descendants per female were recorded for A. pisum (32% control progeny) and 12.4 for M. persicae (39% control progeny). Acyrthosiphon pisum was strongly deterred by PAA under choice conditions, as after 72 h exposed to 80 μg PAA mL-1 of diet, the feeding deterrent index was 0.91 for A. pisum and only 0.38 for M. persicae. In conclusion, the mannosebinding lectin isolated from bulbs of P. australis showed acute and chronical insecticidal activity against the pea and green peach aphids.

The contribution of the entrepreneurial orientation to SMEs profitability: a contingent analysis that considers the environment role

This paper aims first to show the effect of the Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) on SMEs financial performance, and second, to propose a contingency model which explores the moderating effects of environmental hostility of the relationship EO –financial performance -- To examine the research hypotheses, a sample of 121 manufacturing SMEs located in Catalonia, Spain has been used -- The results confirm a positive EO-financial performance relation, and suggest that a more positive relation exists when there is an adjustment between the EO and the environment -- Finally, the academic and entrepreneurial implications related to the EO and the SMEs environment are presented and discussed

Assessing the safety of Pseudomonas putida introduction in the environment: an overview of ecotoxicological tests.

Risk assessment guidelines for the environmental release of microbial agents are performed in a tiered sequence which includes evaluation of exposure effects on non target organisms. However, it becomes important to verify whether environmental risk assessment from temperate studies is applicable to tropical countries, as Brazil. Pseudomonas putida is a bacteria showing potential to be used for environmental applications as bioremediation and plant disease control. This study investigates the effects of this bacteria exposure on rodents and aquatic organisms (Daphnia similes) that are recommended to be used as non-target organism in environmental risk assessments. Also, the microbial activity in three different soils under P. putida exposure was evaluated. Rats did not show clinical alterations, although the agent was recovered 16 h after the exposure in lung homogenates. The bacteria did not reduce significantly the reproduction and survival of D. similis. The soil enzymatic activities presented fluctuating values after inoculation with bacteria. The measurement of perturbations in soil biochemical characteristics is presented as an alternative way of monitoring the overall effects of the microbial agent to be introduced even in first stage (Tier I) of the risk assessment in tropical ecosystems.

Activity of Ricinus communis (Euphorbiaceae) and ricinine against the leaf-cutting ant Atta sexdens rubropilosa (Hymenoptera : Formicidae) and the symbiotic fungus Leucoagaricus gongylophorus

The focus of this study was the identification of compounds from plant extracts for use in crop protection. This paper reports on the toxic activity of fractions of leaf extracts of Ricinus communis L (Euphorbiaceae) and isolated active compounds in the leaf-cutting ant Atta sexdens rubropilosa Forel and its symbiotic fungus Leucoagaricus gongylophorus (Singer) Moller. The main compounds responsible for activity against the fungus and ant in leaf extracts of R communis were found to be fatty acids for the former and ricinine for the ants. (C) 2004 Society of Chemical Industry.

Don't get mad, get even: How employees abused by their supervisor retaliate against the organization and undermine their spouses

My study investigated the effects of abusive supervision on work and family outcomes including supervisor-directed and organization-directed deviance and spousal undermining. Using a moderated-mediation model, the relationship of abusive supervision on outcome variables was proposed to be mediated by moral courage and moderated by leader-member exchange (a-path) and work and family role quality (b-path). Two separate studies were conducted using a sample (N=200) recruited through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk and through relatives of students at a large US public southeastern university (N=150 dyads). Results confirm the effects of abusive supervision on work and family outcomes while analyses of contextual and conditional factors are mixed. Confirmatory factor analyses, factor loadings, and model fit statistics are provided and implications for research and practice are discussed.^

Genetic diversity of Mycobacterium avium isolates recovered from clinical samples and from the environment: molecular characterization for diagnostic purposes

Isolation of Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) organisms from clinical samples may occur in patients without clinical disease, making the interpretation of results difficult. The clinical relevance of MAC isolates from different types of clinical samples (n = 47) from 39 patients in different sections of a hospital was assessed by comparison with environmental isolates (n = 17) from the hospital. Various methods for identification and typing (commercial probes, phenotypic characteristics, PCR for detection of IS1245 and IS901, sequencing of the hsp65 gene, and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis) were evaluated. The same strain was found in all the environmental isolates, 21 out of 23 (91.3%) of the isolates cultured from urine samples, and 5 out of 19 (26.3%) isolates from respiratory specimens. This strain did not cause disease in the patients. Testing best characterized the strain as M. avium subsp. hominissuis, with the unusual feature that 81.4% of these isolates lacked the IS1245 element. Contamination of certain clinical samples with an environmental strain was the most likely event; therefore, characterization of the environmental mycobacteria present in health care facilities should be performed to discard false-positive isolations in nonsterile samples, mainly urine samples. Molecular techniques applied in this study demonstrated their usefulness for this purpose.

Social Representations of Violence against the Elderly

The repercussions of violence on the mental, social, and physical well-being of the elderly are some of the most challenging problems in public health today. Using a qualitative design, we conducted a study in Portugal and the United States that applied both descriptive and comparative methods in order to understand the social representations of violence against the elderly. Utilizing the Theory of Social Representations, we explored the perspectives of the elderly, their families, and healthcare professionals on the subject of violence against the elderly. The data on which the findings were based were obtained in two very different cultural contexts, yet the representations of violence against the elderly revealed no significant cross-cultural differences. However, conceptualizations regarding expectations of care and protection for the elderly proved to be distinct. We discussed concerns about the general attitudes of tolerance toward violence, including those of the elderly who self-identified as eventual victims. Violence against the elderly was portrayed as a part of old age and also somehow was justified by it. The results also indicated the need to better prepare healthcare professionals and society in general to deal with the consequences of the problem and not, as we would like to report, to prevent it from happening.

Exploiting the environment for structural health monitoring: Strategies, algorithms, and technologies

A densely built environment is a complex system of infrastructure, nature, and people closely interconnected and interacting. Vehicles, public transport, weather action, and sports activities constitute a manifold set of excitation and degradation sources for civil structures. In this context, operators should consider different factors in a holistic approach for assessing the structural health state. Vibration-based structural health monitoring (SHM) has demonstrated great potential as a decision-supporting tool to schedule maintenance interventions. However, most excitation sources are considered an issue for practical SHM applications since traditional methods are typically based on strict assumptions on input stationarity. Last-generation low-cost sensors present limitations related to a modest sensitivity and high noise floor compared to traditional instrumentation. If these devices are used for SHM in urban scenarios, short vibration recordings collected during high-intensity events and vehicle passage may be the only available datasets with a sufficient signal-to-noise ratio. While researchers have spent efforts to mitigate the effects of short-term phenomena in vibration-based SHM, the ultimate goal of this thesis is to exploit them and obtain valuable information on the structural health state. First, this thesis proposes strategies and algorithms for smart sensors operating individually or in a distributed computing framework to identify damage-sensitive features based on instantaneous modal parameters and influence lines. Ordinary traffic and people activities become essential sources of excitation, while human-powered vehicles, instrumented with smartphones, take the role of roving sensors in crowdsourced monitoring strategies. The technical and computational apparatus is optimized using in-memory computing technologies. Moreover, identifying additional local features can be particularly useful to support the damage assessment of complex structures. Thereby, smart coatings are studied to enable the self-sensing properties of ordinary structural elements. In this context, a machine-learning-aided tomography method is proposed to interpret the data provided by a nanocomposite paint interrogated electrically.

Analytical pyrolysis to study microplastics and other polymers in the environment

Synthetic polymers constitute a wide class of materials which has enhanced the quality of human life, providing comforts and innovations. Anyway, the increasing production and the incorrect waste management, are leading to the occurrence of polymers in the environment, generating concern. To understand the extent of this issue, analytical investigation holds an essential position. Standardised methods have not established yet, and additional studies are required to improve the present knowledge. The main aim of this thesis was to provide comprehensive information about the potential of pyrolysis coupled with gas-chromatography and mass spectrometry (Py-GC-MS) for polymers investigation, from their characterisation to their identification and quantification in complex matrices. Water-soluble (poly(dimethylsiloxanes), PDMS bearing poly(ethylene glycol), PEG, side chains) and water-insoluble polymers (microplastics, MPs, and bioplastics) were studied. The different studies revealed the possibility to identify heterogeneous classes of polymers, fingerprinting the presence of PDMS copolymers and distinguishing chemically different polyurethanes (PURs). The occurrence of secondary reactions in pyrolysis of polymer mixtures was observed as possible drawback. Pyrolysis products indicative of secondary reactions and their reaction mechanisms were identified. Py-GC-MS also revealed its fundamental role for the identification of polymers composing commercial bioplastics items based. The results aided to identify chemicals that have the potential to migrate in sea waters. Investigations of environmental samples demonstrated the capability of Py-GC-MS to provide reliable, reproducible and comparable results about polymers in complex matrices (PEG-PDMS in sewage sludges and PURs and other MPs in road dusts and spider webs). Criticisms were especially found in quantitation, such as the retrieval reference materials, the construction of reliable calibration protocols and the occurrence of bias due to interferences between pyrolysis products. This thesis pursues the greater purpose to develop harmonised and standardised methods for environmental investigations of polymers, that is fundamental to assess the real state of the environment.

Evaluation of some residual bioactivities of microencapsulated Phaseolus lunatus protein fraction with carboxymethylated flamboyant (Delonix regia) gum/sodium alginate

Recent studies have shown the beneficial effect of peptides, an unexploited source could be Phaseolus lunatus being an important raw material for those functional products in order to improve their utilization. In addition to improve the beneficial effect of bioactive peptides the microencapsulation could be a way to protect the peptides against the environment to which they are exposed. P. lunatus protein fraction (<10 kDa of weight) was encapsulated using a blend of carboxymethylated flamboyant gum (CFG) and sodium alginate (SA) at different concentrations of CaCl2 and hardening times. After in vitro digestion of microcapsules the residual activity, in the intestinal system, both inhibition of agiotensin-converting enzyme (I-ACE) and antioxidant activity obtained were in a range of 0.019-0.136 mg/mL and 570.64-813.54 mM of TEAC respectively. The microencapsulation employed CFG/SA blends could be used controlled delivery of peptide fractions with potential use as a nutraceutical or therapeutic agents.

A eficácia, no ordenamento jurídico brasileiro, da responsabilização penal da pessoa jurídica pela prática de crimes ambientais

The environment, which fundamental importance has already been recognized in all the world, is an actual national and international discussion subject, whose interest grows for the society, and consequently to the Law, in order to prevent the natural resources to the present and future generations. The 1988 Brazilian Constitution, recognizing the importance of the environment, treated about it in many of its parts, even dedicating a specific chapter (Chapter V About Environment, inserted in Title VIII About Social Order). The brazilian constitutional text established to everyone the fundamental right of enjoying an equilibrated environment, obligating the State and all society to defend and preserve the environment to the present and future generations. The economic growing process, that predominated and still persist in the big majority of the countries, where is practiced the capitalist system, has in the enterprises (legal persons) one of its main actors. Many times, these enterprises, especially in the actual globalized world in where we live, where the gain of money is priorized, ends, at the moment they act, making damages to the environment. These damages are, many times, considered by the law. crimes against the environment. The 1988 Brazilian Constitution, according to the Modern Criminal Law, realizing that many crimes were being committed by the enterprises, established in article 225, §3rd, the criminal responsibility of the legal persons. Almost ten years after the 1988 Brazilian Constitution, was published the Law number 9.605/98, in which third article established the penal responsibility of the legal persons that practice crimes against the environment, without excluding the individual responsibility

Um estudo sobre Projovem Adolescente e seus impactos sobre as condições de trabalho e vulnerabilidade das jovens do sexo feminino no município de Barretos/SP

Pós-graduação em Serviço Social - FCHS

Novel wireless-communicating textiles made from multi-material and minimally-invasive fibers

The ability to integrate multiple materials into miniaturized fiber structures enables the realization of novel biomedical textile devices with higher-level functionalities and minimally-invasive attributes. In this work, we present novel textile fabrics integrating unobtrusive multi-material fibers that communicate through 2.4 GHz wireless networks with excellent signal quality. The conductor elements of the textiles are embedded within the fibers themselves, providing electrical and chemical shielding against the environment, while preserving the mechanical and cosmetic properties of the garments. These multi-material fibers combine insulating and conducting materials into a well-defined geometry, and represent a cost-effective and minimally-invasive approach to sensor fabrics and bio-sensing textiles connected in real time to mobile communications infrastructures, suitable for a variety of health and life science applications.