Archaeofacies Analysis: Using Depositional Attributes to Identify Anthropic Processes of Deposition in a Monumental Shell Mound of Santa Catarina State, Southern Brazil

In the coast of Santa Catarina State (southern Brazil), a large population of monumental shell mounds characterizes a highly dynamic coastal setting. In this paper, sedimentary facies analysis was adapted for description, sampling, and interpretation of shell mound complex and repetitive archaeostratigraphic successions. Archaeofacies identification in the field, according to depositional attributes, is tested by contrasting field description with multi-element chemical analyses, total carbon and nitrogen determinations, and micromorphological descriptions. Two vertical sequences at the black deposit of Jabuticabeira II shell mound were studied and preliminary results showed that: (1) depositional attributes are a reliable base for archaeofacies identification in the field, (2) the formation process of this site involved a sequence of anthropic depositional processes, where burned refuse was redeposited over the shell mound following a ritual construction pattern, and (3) the black deposit includes a double palimpsest that refers to provenance and meaning of mound construction material. (C) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Patterns and processes of diversification in a widespread and ecologically diverse avian group, the buteonine hawks (Aves, Accipitridae)

Buteonine hawks represent one of the most diverse groups in the Accipitridae, with 58 species distributed in a variety of habitats on almost all continents. Variations in migratory behavior, remarkable dispersal capability, and unusual diversity in Central and South America make buteonine hawks an excellent model for studies in avian evolution. To evaluate the history of their global radiation, we used an integrative approach that coupled estimation of the phylogeny using a large sequence database (based on 6411 bp of mitochondrial markers and one nuclear intron from 54 species), divergence time estimates, and ancestral state reconstructions. Our findings suggest that Neotropical buteonines resulted from a long evolutionary process that began in the Miocene and extended to the Pleistocene. Colonization of the Nearctic, and eventually the Old World, occurred from South America, promoted by the evolution of seasonal movements and development of land bridges. Migratory behavior evolved several times and may have contributed not only to colonization of the Holarctic, but also derivation of insular species. In the Neotropics, diversification of the buteonines included four disjunction events across the Andes. Adaptation of monophyletic taxa to wet environments occurred more than once, and some relationships indicate an evolutionary connection among mangroves, coastal and varzea environments. On the other hand, groups occupying the same biome, forest, or open vegetation habitats are not monophyletic. Refuges or sea-level changes or a combination of both was responsible for recent speciation in Amazonian taxa. In view of the lack of concordance between phylogeny and classification, we propose numerous taxonomic changes. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Analysis of phase transition and dehydration processes of nevirapine

Solid-state characterization of crystalline drugs is an important pre-formulation step for the development and design of solid dosage forms, such as pellets and tablets. In this study, phase transition and dehydration processes of nevirapine have been studied by differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetry differential thermal analysis to overcome the problems of drug formulation, namely poor solubility and poor content uniformity. Phase solubility studies elucidated the mechanism of enhanced nevirapine solubility.

Post-conventional Political Cultures via Processes of Direct Democracy: Theoretical Considerations Based on Jurgen Habermas and Lawrence Kohlberg

In this article, it is proposed to differentiate political cultures in two dimensions. First, inspired by Habermas' distinction of the contents of discourse, a distinction is suggested between moral, ethical-political and pragmatic elements of political culture as well as of an element of culture of balancing interests. Second, inspired by Kohlberg's stage models for the development of the individual moral consciousness and for moral culture, a distinction is similarly suggested between two pre-conventional, two conventional and two post-conventional collective stages of political culture. It can be shown that from a normative point of view, only deliberations made in a post-conventional political culture can produce reasonable or at least fair results. Conceptual considerations indicate processes of direct democracy as the method for promoting post-conventional political cultures. The more liberty that the citizens have to formulate and trigger processes of direct democracy, the more one can expect from them to generate post-conventional political cultures.

Assessment of integration of the Leprosy Program into primary health care in Aracaju, State of Sergipe, Brazil

Introduction: The aim of this study was to assess the epidemiological and operational characteristics of the Leprosy Program before and after its integration into the Primary Healthcare Services of the municipality of Aracaju-Sergipe, Brazil. Methods: Data were drawn from the national database. The study periods were divided into preintegration (1996-2000) and postintegration (2001-2007). Annual rates of epidemiological detection were calculated. Frequency data on clinico-epidemiological variables of cases detected and treated for the two periods were compared using the Chi-squared (chi(2)) test adopting a 5% level of significance. Results: Rates of detection overall, and in subjects younger than 15 years, were greater for the postintegration period and were higher than rates recorded for Brazil as a whole during the same periods. A total of 780 and 1,469 cases were registered during the preintegration and postintegration periods, respectively. Observations for the postintegration period were as follows: I) a higher proportion of cases with disability grade assessed at diagnosis, with increase of 60.9% to 78.8% (p < 0.001), and at end of treatment, from 41.4% to 44.4% (p < 0.023); II) an increase in proportion of cases detected by contact examination, from 2.1% to 4.1% (p < 0.001); and III) a lower level of treatment default with a decrease from 5.64 to 3.35 (p < 0.008). Only 34% of cases registered from 2001 to 2007 were examined. Conclusions: The shift observed in rates of detection overall, and in subjects younger than 15 years, during the postintegration period indicate an increased level of health care access. The fall in number of patients abandoning treatment indicates greater adherence to treatment. However, previous shortcomings in key actions, pivotal to attaining the outcomes and impact envisaged for the program, persisted in the postintegration period.

Assessment of integration of the leprosy program into primary health care in Aracaju, state of Sergipe, Brazil

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to assess the epidemiological and operational characteristics of the Leprosy Program before and after its integration into the Primary healthcare Services of the municipality of Aracaju-Sergipe, Brazil. METHODS: Data were drawn from the national database. The study periods were divided into preintegration (1996-2000) and postintegration (2001-2007). Annual rates of epidemiological detection were calculated. Frequency data on clinico-epidemiological variables of cases detected and treated for the two periods were compared using the Chi-squared (χ2) test adopting a 5% level of significance. RESULTS: Rates of detection overall, and in subjects younger than 15 years, were greater for the postintegration period and were higher than rates recorded for Brazil as a whole during the same periods. A total of 780 and 1,469 cases were registered during the preintegration and postintegration periods, respectively. Observations for the postintegration period were as follows: I) a higher proportion of cases with disability grade assessed at diagnosis, with increase of 60.9% to 78.8% (p < 0.001), and at end of treatment, from 41.4% to 44.4% (p < 0.023); II) an increase in proportion of cases detected by contact examination, from 2.1% to 4.1% (p < 0.001); and III) a lower level of treatment default with a decrease from 5.64 to 3.35 (p < 0.008). Only 34% of cases registered from 2001 to 2007 were examined. CONCLUSIONS: The shift observed in rates of detection overall, and in subjects younger than 15 years, during the postintegration period indicate an increased level of health care access. The fall in number of patients abandoning treatment indicates greater adherence to treatment. However, previous shortcomings in key actions, pivotal to attaining the outcomes and impact envisaged for the program, persisted in the postintegration period.

Atomic Force Microscopy Studies of the Amyloidogenic Processes of Intrinsically Unstructured Proteins related to Neurodegenerative Diseases

Protein aggregation and formation of insoluble aggregates in central nervous system is the main cause of neurodegenerative disease. Parkinson’s disease is associated with the appearance of spherical masses of aggregated proteins inside nerve cells called Lewy bodies. α-Synuclein is the main component of Lewy bodies. In addition to α-synuclein, there are more than a hundred of other proteins co-localized in Lewy bodies: 14-3-3η protein is one of them. In order to increase our understanding on the aggregation mechanism of α-synuclein and to study the effect of 14-3-3η on it, I addressed the following questions. (i) How α-synuclein monomers pack each other during aggregation? (ii) Which is the role of 14-3-3η on α-synuclein packing during its aggregation? (iii) Which is the role of 14-3-3η on an aggregation of α-synuclein “seeded” by fragments of its fibrils? In order to answer these questions, I used different biophysical techniques (e.g., Atomic force microscope (AFM), Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and Fluorescence spectroscopy (FS)).

Proteins control in biomineralization processes of the freshwater pearl mussel Hyriopsis cumingii

Pearls are an amazing example of calcium carbonate biomineralization. They show a classic brick and mortar internal structure in which the predominant inorganic part is composed by aragonite and vaterite tablets. The organic matrix is disposed in concentric layers tightly associated to the mineral structures. Freshwater cultivate pearls (FWCPs) and shells nacreous layers of the Chinese mussel Hyriopsis cumingii were demineralized using an ion exchange resin in order to isolate the organic matrix. From both starting materials a soluble fraction was obtained and further analyzed. The major component of the soluble extracts was represented by a similar glycoprotein having a molecular weight of about 48 kDa in pearls and 44 kDa in shells. Immunolocalization showed their wide distribution in the organic sheet surrounding calcium carbonate tablets of the nacre and in the interlamellar and intertabular matrix. These acidic glycoprotein also contained inside the aragonite platelets, are direct regulators during biomineralization processes, participating to calcium carbonate precipitation since the nucleation step. Selective calcium carbonate polymorph precipitation was performed using the two extracts. The polysaccharides moiety was demonstrate to be a crucial factor in polymorphs selection. In particular, the higher content in sugar groups found in pearls extract was responsible of stabilization of the high energetic vaterite during the in vitro precipitation assay; while irregular calcite was obtained using shells protein. Furthermore these polypeptides showed a carbonic anhydrase activity that, even if not directly involved in polymorphs determination, is an essential regulator in CaCO3 formation by means of carbonate anions production. The structural and functional characterization of the proteins included in biocomposites, gives important hints for understanding the complicated process of biomineralization. A better knowledge of this natural mechanism can offer new strategies for producing environmental friendly materials with controlled structures and enhanced chemical-physical features.

Elemetary processes of radiation damage in organic molecules of biological interest

It was observed in the ‘80s that the radiation damage on biological systems strongly depends on processes occurring at the microscopic level, involving the elementary constituents of biological cells. Since then, lot of attention has been paid to study elementary processes of photo- and ion-chemistry of isolated organic molecule of biological interest. This work fits in this framework and aims to study the radiation damage mechanisms induced by different types of radiations on simple halogenated biomolecules used as radiosensitizers in radiotherapy. The research is focused on the photofragmentation of halogenated pyrimidine molecules (5Br-pyrimidine, 2Br-pyrimidine and 2Cl-pyrimidine) in the VUV range and on the 12C4+ ion-impact fragmentation of the 5Br-uracil and its homogeneous and hydrated clusters. Although halogen substituted pyrimidines have similar structure to the pyrimidine molecule, their photodissociation dynamics is quite different. These targets have been chosen with the purpose of investigating the effect of the specific halogen atom and site of halogenation on the fragmentation dynamics. Theoretical and experimental studies have highlighted that the site of halogenation and the type of halogen atom, lead either to the preferential breaking of the pyrimidinic ring or to the release of halogen/hydrogen radicals. The two processes can subsequently trigger different mechanisms of biological damage. To understand the effect of the environment on the fragmentation dynamic of the single molecule, the ion-induced fragmentation of homogenous and hydrated clusters of 5Br-uracil have been studied and compared to similar studies on the isolated molecule. The results show that the “protective effect” of the environment on the single molecule hold in the homogeneous clusters, but not in the hydrated clusters, where several hydrated fragments have been observed. This indicates that the presence of water molecules can inhibit some fragmentation channels and promote the keto-enol tautomerization, which is very important in the mutagenesis of the DNA.