Influence of the collection methodology on the Apis mellifera venom composition: Peptide analysis

Differences of venom peptide composition as function of two collection methodologies, electrical stimulation (ES) and reservoir disruption (RD), were analyzed by reverse-phase HPLC in Apis mellifera races - A. m. adansonii, A. m. ligustica and Africanized honeybee. The analyses were performed through determination of the relative number and percentage of each molecular form associated to the peaks eluted by chromatography. Comparison of these profiles revealed qualitative and quantitative differences related to the venom collection methodology as well to the three races analyzed. In contrast to data usually found for venom proteins, the three races presented a major number of peaks or molecular forms when venom was collected by ES. Besides, in general, the relative concentration of each peak was higher for ES in relation to RD. That indicates the presence of molecular precursors in the venom obtained by RD. The presence/absence pattern of the peaks, such as their relative concentrations showed a closer similarity between A. m. adansonii and the Africanized honeybees than that observed between these and A. m. ligustica. The obtained data allowed a discussion about the differences in the relative concentration of each venom component according to the collection methodology, and finally the biological action of the venom in different races. So, these results, apart from being useful to establish a peptide profile for each bee race as a function of the venom collection methodology, pointed out once more that the chromatographic techniques are a great tool for the identification of A. mellifera subspecies.

Evaluation of tropospheric and ionospheric effects on the geographic localization of data collection platforms

The Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (INPE) is operating the Brazilian Environmental Data Collection System that currently amounts to a user community of around 100 organizations and more than 700 data collection platforms installed in Brazil. This system uses the SCD-1, SCD-2, and CBERS-2 low Earth orbit satellites to accomplish the data collection services. The main system applications are hydrology, meteorology, oceanography, water quality, and others. One of the functionalities offered by this system is the geographic localization of the data collection platforms by using Doppler shifts and a batch estimator based on least-squares technique. There is a growing demand to improve the quality of the geographical location of data collection platforms for animal tracking. This work presents an evaluation of the ionospheric and tropospheric effects on the Brazilian Environmental Data Collection System transmitter geographic location. Some models of the ionosphere and troposphere are presented to simulate their impacts and to evaluate performance of the platform location algorithm. The results of the Doppler shift measurements, using the SCD-2 satellite and the data collection platform (DCP) located in Cuiabá town, are presented and discussed.

Malware distributed collection and pre-classification system using honeypot technology

Malware has become a major threat in the last years due to the ease of spread through the Internet. Malware detection has become difficult with the use of compression, polymorphic methods and techniques to detect and disable security software. Those and other obfuscation techniques pose a problem for detection and classification schemes that analyze malware behavior. In this paper we propose a distributed architecture to improve malware collection using different honeypot technologies to increase the variety of malware collected. We also present a daemon tool developed to grab malware distributed through spam and a pre-classification technique that uses antivirus technology to separate malware in generic classes. © 2009 SPIE.

A collection of documents on economic relations between the United States and Central America, 1906-1956

Includes bibliography

Exfoliative cytology of the oral mucosa: Comparison of two collection methods

This study compared the sampling efficacy cia cytobrush and metal spatula for exfoliative cytology of the oral mucosa. Thirty students with no detectable oral alterations upon clinical examination were submitted to exfoliative cytology of the lateral border of the tongue, using a metal spatula on the left side and a cytobrush on the right side. The smears were stained using the Papanicoiaou technique and evaluated for cellularity, cell type, cell distribution, homogeneity, and cellular distortion, as well as the presence ol mucus, inflammatory infiltrate, and hemorrhage. A statistical test (Z-test) with a 95% confdence interval (Cl) showed a significant difference between the metal spatula and cytobrush in terms of cellularity (p = 0.02) and homogeneity (p = 0.01). No difference between the two methods was observed regarding cell type (p = 0.4, Z-test) or cell distribution for the 95% confidence interval (p = 0.2, Fisher's test). Cell distortion and the presence of mucus were observed in five cases that used the metal spatula and in two cases that used the cytobrush. No hemorrhage or inflammatory infItrate was detected in any of the slides. Based on the results of this study, the cytobrush produced qualitatively better smears in terms of cellularity and homogeneity compared to the metal spatula.

Availability, collection and use of data on disability in the Caribbean subregion

Includes bibliography

Mobile application as a tool for urban traffic data collection and generation to advanced traveler information systems using Wi-Fi networks available in urban centers

This paper presents an Advanced Traveler Information System (ATIS) developed on Android platform, which is open source and free. The developed application has as its main objective the free use of a Vehicle-to- Infrastructure (V2I) communication through the wireless network access points available in urban centers. In addition to providing the necessary information for an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) to a central server, the application also receives the traffic data close to the vehicle. Once obtained this traffic information, the application displays them to the driver in a clear and efficient way, allowing the user to make decisions about his route in real time. The application was tested in a real environment and the results are presented in the article. In conclusion we present the benefits of this application. © 2012 IEEE.