A study of the effect of molecular and aerosol conditions in the atmosphere on air fluorescence measurements at the Pierre Auger Observatory

The air fluorescence detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory is designed to perforin calorimetric measurements of extensive air showers created by Cosmic rays of above 10(18) eV. To correct these measurements for the effects introduced by atmospheric fluctuations, the Observatory contains a group Of monitoring instruments to record atmospheric conditions across the detector site, ail area exceeding 3000 km(2). The atmospheric data are used extensively in the reconstruction of air showers, and are particularly important for the correct determination of shower energies and the depths of shower maxima. This paper contains a summary of the molecular and aerosol conditions measured at the Pierre Auger Observatory since the start of regular operations in 2004, and includes a discussion of the impact of these measurements oil air shower reconstructions. Between 10(18) and 10(20) eV, the systematic Uncertainties due to all atmospheric effects increase from 4% to 8% in measurements of shower energy, and 4 g cm(-2) to 8 g cm(-2) in measurements of the shower maximum. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Frustración lorquiana : Metáforas y símbolos en La Casa de Bernarda Alba

El presente trabajo está orientado a detectar los símbolos y metáforas ambivalentes en la obraLa Casa de Bernarda Alba de Federico García Lorca. Debido a que hay pocos estudiosdedicados al simbolismo de la frustración, se ha concentrado en analizar dicha temática. Paraanalizar el concepto de frustración, primero ha sido necesario comprender cómo eraconcebida la moral de la época en que se inscribe la obra. En segundo lugar, ha sidofundamental entender cómo surge la frustración en el ser humano. Atendiendo a estascuestiones se ha aplicado la teoría del formalismo iluminista y una visión freudiana sobre lasteorías del psiquismo. En base a estas nociones se detectaron cuatro símbolos ambivalentesque connotan sentimientos de frustración: el blanco, el olivo, la maroma y el mar. Estossímbolos antitéticos contienen una fuerza negativa que se impone a la fuerza positiva, lo cualtiene como resultado la frustración. Las fuerzas contradictorias están presentes durante laobra entera. Esta característica no solo se manifiesta a través de los tropos estudiados, sinoque también se detectó que a menudo las fuerzas antitéticas se hacen presentes enprotagonistas que forman grupos ambivalentes, donde cada personaje actúa como una fuerzaopuesta, lo cual lleva hacia una tensión permanente entre una persona positiva y otranegativa.

Africanized honeybee stings: how to treat them

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

Assessment of cytokine values in serum by RT-PCR in HIV-1 infected individuals with and without highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART)

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

Risk factors for acquisition of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus among patients from a burn unit in Brazil

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is an important agent of colonization and infection in burn units. in order to identify risk factors for MRSA acquisition in a Brazilian burn unit, we performed two retrospective studies. In the first ("cohort" study), 175 patients who were not colonized with MRSA on admission were followed to assess risk factors for MRSA acquisition. in the second ("case-case-control" study), 143 individuals from the previous study who were negative for both MRSA and Methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) on admission were followed. Case-control studies were performed to investigate risk factors for MRSA and MSSA acquisition. MRSA and MSSA were recovered from 75 and 23 patients, respectively. In the "cohort" study, only the number of wound excisions (Odds Ratio [OR] = 1.55, 95% Confidence Interval [CI] = 1.21-1.98, P = 0.001) was associated with MRSA acquisition. in the "case-case-control" study, burns involving head (OR=3.43, 95%CI = 1.50-7.81, P = 0.003) and the number of wound excisions (OR = 1.83, 95%CI = 1.27-2.63, P = 0.001) were significant risk factors for MRSA. Burns involving perineum were negatively associated with MSSA acquisition (OR = 0.16, 95%CI = 0.03-0.75, P = 0.02). In conclusion, the acquisition of MRSA was related to the site of the burn and to the surgical manipulation of tissues, but not to the use of antimicrobials. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd and ISBI. All rights reserved.

Right-sided laryngeal hemiplegia and Horner's syndrome in a horse

This study describes right laryngeal hemiplegia (LH) and right-sided Horner's syndrome (HS) in a horse. The average temperature of the face was 3.5 degrees C higher on the right compared with the left side, as determined by thermographic imaging. The syndrome occurred following an episode of right mid-cervical cellulitis due to inadvertent perijugular deposition of gentamicin.

In vitro activity of Artemisia annua L (Asteraceae) extracts against Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus

A atividade de extratos vegetais sobre parasitas pode indicar grupos de substâncias de uso potencial no controle de Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus. O objetivo do presente estudo foi investigar a ação in vitro de extratos de Artemisia annua sobre esta espécie. A concentração das lactonas sesquiterpênicas artemisinina e deoxiartemisinina presentes nos extratos vegetais, foi quantificada via cromatografia líquida de alta eficiência. Quatro extratos produzidos a partir do extrato bruto concentrado (EBC) foram avaliados sobre larvas pela metodologia do papel impregnado, com leitura após 24 horas de incubação. As fêmeas ingurgitadas foram imersas por cinco minutos no EBC e nos seus quatro extratos derivados, e incubadas para posterior análise dos parâmetros biológicos. Os extratos não tiveram eficácia sobre as larvas nas concentrações avaliadas (de 3,1 a 50 mg.mL-1). O EBC apresentou melhor eficácia sobre as fêmeas ingurgitadas (CE 50 de 130,6 mg.mL-1 e CE 90 de 302,9 mg.mL-1) que os extratos derivados. Esses resultados tendem a confirmar que a ação da artemisinina sobre as fêmeas ingurgitadas de R. (B.) microplus estaria condicionada à sua ingestão através do sangue. Nesse caso, os métodos in vitro seriam inadequados para a efetiva avaliação da ação de A. annua R.(B.) microplus.

The Ni-Cu-PGE sulfide ores of the komatiite-hosted Fortaleza de Minas deposit, Brazil: Evidence of hydrothermal remobilization

The Fortaleza de Minas Ni-Cu-PGE sulfide deposit is hosted by Archean komatiitic rocks of the Morro do Ferro greenstone belt, near the southwestern margin of the Sa (aFrancisco) over tildeo Francisco craton, Minas Gerais state, Brazil. The deposit contains 6 million tonnes of ore with an average grade of 2.2 wt% Ni, 0.4% Cu, 0.05% Co and 1.2 ppm PGE+Au, and comprises (i) a main orebody, which is metamorphosed, deformed and transposed along a regional shear zone, consisting mainly of disseminated, brecciated and stringer sulfide ores that are interpreted to be of early magmatic origin, and (ii) PGE-rich discordant veins that are hosted in N-S- and NE-SW-trending late faults that cross-cut the main orebody. The discordant PGE-rich ore (up to 4 ppm total PGE) is characterized by thin, discontinuous and irregular veins and lenses of massive sulfides hosted by serpentinite and talc schist, and is relatively undeformed if compared with the early types of ore. It is composed mainly of pyrrhotite, pentlandite, chalcopyrite, magnetite, carbonates, and amphiboles, with minor cobaltite-gersdorffite, sphalerite, ilmenite, and quartz, and rarely maucherite (Ni11Asg), tellurides and platinum-group minerals (PGM). Omeeite, irarsite, sperrylite, and Ni-bearing merenskyite are the main PGM, followed by minor amounts of testibiopalladite and an unknown phase containing Ru, Te, and As. The PGM occur either included in, or at the margins of, sulfides, sulfarsenides, silicates and oxides, or filling fractures in pyrrhotite, pentlandite, and chalcopyrite, suggesting that they started to precipitate with these minerals and continued to precipitate after the sulfides were formed. The mantle-normalized metal distribution of the two samples of discordant veins shows distinct patterns: one richer in Ni-Pd-Ir-Rh-Ru-Os and another with higher amounts of Cu-Pt-Bi. Both are strongly depleted in Cr if compared with the metamorphosed magmatic ore of this deposit, which follows the general Kambalda-type magmatic trend. on the basis of structural, mineralogical and geochemical evidence, we propose that the PGE-rich discordant ore may have formed by remobilization of metals from the deformed, metamorphosed magmatic orebody (which shows a depleted pattern in these elements) by reduced (pyrrhotite - pentlandite - pyrite are stable), neutral to alkaline and carbonic fluids (carbonate-stable). The PGE may have been transported as bisulfide complexes, and precipitated as tellurides (mainly Pd) and arsenides (Pt, Rh, Ru, Os, Ir) in the late N-S and NE-SW-trending faults owing to a decrease in the activity of S caused by the precipitation of sulfides in the veins.

Actively transcribed GAL genes can be physically linked to the nuclear pore by the SAGA chromatin modifying complex

Recent work has demonstrated that some actively transcribed genes closely associate with nuclear pore complexes (NPC) at the nuclear periphery. The Saccharomyces cerevisiae Mlp1 and Mlp2 proteins are components of the inner nuclear basket of the nuclear pore that mediate interactions with these active genes. To investigate the physical link between the NPC and active loci, we identified proteins that interact with the carboxyl-terminal globular domain of Mlp1 by tandem affinity purification coupled with mass spectrometry. This analysis led to the identification of several components of the Spt-Ada-Gcn5-acetyltransferase ( SAGA) histone acetyltransferase complex, Gcn5, Ada2, and Spt7. We utilized co-immunoprecipitation and in vitro binding assays to confirm the interaction between the Mlp proteins and SAGA components. Chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments revealed that Mlp1 and SAGA components associate with the same region of the GAL promoters. Critically, this Mlp-promoter interaction depends on the integrity of the SAGA complex. These results identify a physical association between SAGA and the NPC, and support previous results that relied upon visualization of GAL loci at the nuclear periphery by microscopy ( Cabal, G. G. Genovesio, A., Rodriguez-Navarro, S., Zimmer, C., Gadal, O., Lesne, A., Buc, H., Feuerbach- Fournier, F., Olivo-Marin, J.-C., Hurt, E. C., and Nehrbass, U. ( 2006) Nature 441, 770-773). We propose that a physical interaction between nuclear pore components and the SAGA complex can link the actively transcribed GAL genes to the nuclear pore.

Eficácia de extratovegetais em nematódeos parasitas: avaliação invitro em Haemonchus contortud e avaliação in vitro em Strongyloides venezuelensis

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Estudo clínico e etiológico da diarréia em potros

Pós-graduação em Medicina Veterinária - FMVZ

Detection of A/B toxin and isolation of Clostridium difficile and Clostridium perfringens from foals

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Projeto arquitetônico para nova biblioteca pública na cidade de São José dos Campos

São José dos Campos, cidade do interior paulista, possui aproximadamente 62% de sua área territorial definida por legislação como Área de Proteção Ambiental – APA. Um fragmento desse total é formado pelo Banhado (ampla área alagada com características naturais preservadas avistada de toda a região central) e pelo Parque Burle Marx ou, como é conhecido pela população, o Parque da Cidade. Esse Parque é estruturado por jardins de Roberto Burle Marx e construções assinadas pelo arquiteto modernista Rino Levi (a residência de Olivo Gomes, a usina de leite e o galpão gaivotas - utilizado para grandes feiras e eventos). Apesar da riqueza desse conjunto o parque não é utilizado pela população de forma efetiva. A proposta deste trabalho nasceu da análise feita acima e do fato que existe ampla área livre pronta a receber novos equipamentos públicos de forma a estimular a população a utilizar o parque de forma mais assídua. Um dos equipamentos propostos é uma nova biblioteca, já que a biblioteca da cidade carece de ampliação

A search for anisotropy in the arrival directions of ultra high energy cosmic rays recorded at the Pierre Auger Observatory

Observations of cosmic rays arrival directions made with the Pierre Auger Observatory have previously provided evidence of anisotropy at the 99% CL using the correlation of ultra high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) with objects drawn from the Veron-Cetty Veron catalog. In this paper we report on the use of three catalog independent methods to search for anisotropy. The 2pt-L, 2pt+ and 3pt methods, each giving a different measure of self-clustering in arrival directions, were tested on mock cosmic ray data sets to study the impacts of sample size and magnetic smearing on their results, accounting for both angular and energy resolutions. If the sources of UHECRs follow the same large scale structure as ordinary galaxies in the local Universe and if UHECRs are deflected no more than a few degrees, a study of mock maps suggests that these three method can efficiently respond to the resulting anisotropy with a P-value = 1.0% or smaller with data sets as few as 100 events. using data taken from January 1, 2004 to July 31, 2010 we examined the 20, 30, ... , 110 highest energy events with a corresponding minimum energy threshold of about 49.3 EeV. The minimum P-values found were 13.5% using the 2pt-L method, 1.0% using the 2pt+ method and 1.1% using the 3pt method for the highest 100 energy events. In view of the multiple (correlated) scans performed on the data set, these catalog-independent methods do not yield strong evidence of anisotropy in the highest energy cosmic rays.

Anti-inflammatory Effects of Aerobic Exercise in Mice Exposed to Air Pollution

VIEIRA, R. D. P., A. C. TOLEDO, L. B. SILVA, F. M. ALMEIDA, N. R. DAMACENO-RODRIGUES, E. G. CALDINI, A. B. G. SANTOS, D. H. RIVERO, D. C. HIZUME, F. D. T. Q. S. LOPES, C. R. OLIVO, H. C. CASTRO-FARIA-NETO, M. A. MARTINS, P. H. N. SALDIVA, and M. DOLHNIKOFF. Anti-inflammatory Effects of Aerobic Exercise in Mice Exposed to Air Pollution. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc., Vol. 44, No. 7, pp. 1227-1234, 2012. Purpose: Exposure to diesel exhaust particles (DEP) results in lung inflammation. Regular aerobic exercise improves the inflammatory status in different pulmonary diseases. However, the effects of long-term aerobic exercise on the pulmonary response to DEP have not been investigated. The present study evaluated the effect of aerobic conditioning on the pulmonary inflammatory and oxidative responses of mice exposed to DEP. Methods: BALB/c mice were subjected to aerobic exercise five times per week for 5 wk, concomitantly with exposure to DEP (3 mg.mL (1); 10 mu L per mouse). The levels of exhaled nitric oxide, reactive oxygen species, cellularity, interleukin 6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) were analyzed in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, and the density of neutrophils and the volume proportion of collagen fibers were measured in the lung parenchyma. The cellular density of leukocytes expressing IL-1 beta, keratinocyte chemoattractant (KC), and TNF-alpha in lung parenchyma was evaluated with immunohistochemistry. The levels of IL-1 beta, KC, and TNF-alpha were also evaluated in the serum. Results: Aerobic exercise inhibited the DEP-induced increase in the levels of reactive oxygen species (P < 0.05); exhaled nitric oxide (P < 0.01); total (P < 0.01) and differential cells (P < 0.01); IL-6 and TNF-alpha levels in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (P < 0.05); the level of neutrophils (P < 0.001); collagen density in the lung parenchyma (P < 0.05); the levels of IL-6, KC, and TNF-alpha in plasma (P < 0.05); and the expression of IL-1 beta, KC, and TNF-alpha by leukocytes in the lung parenchyma (P < 0.01). Conclusions: We conclude that long-term aerobic exercise presents protective effects in a mouse model of DEP-induced lung inflammation. Our results indicate a need for human studies that evaluate the pulmonary responses to aerobic exercise chronically performed in polluted areas.