Spatial modeling of techno‐economic potential of biojet fuel production in Brazil

It is expected that Brazil could play an important role in biojet fuel (BJF) production in the future due to the long experience in biofuel production and the good agro‐ecological conditions. However, it is difficult to quantify the techno‐economic potential of BJF because of the high spatiotemporal variability of available land, biomass yield, and infrastructure as well as the technological developments in BJF production pathways. The objective of this research is to assess the recent and future techno‐economic potential of BJF production in Brazil and to identify location‐specific optimal combinations of biomass crops and technological conversion pathways. In total, 13 production routes (supply chains) are assessed through the combination of various biomass crops and BJF technologies. We consider temporal land use data to identify potential land availability for biomass production. With the spatial distribution of the land availability and potential yield of biomass crops, biomass production potential and costs are calculated. The BJF production cost is calculated by taking into account the development in the technological pathways and in plant scales. We estimate the techno‐economic potential by determining the minimum BJF total costs and comparing this with the range of fossil jet fuel prices. The techno‐economic potential of BJF production ranges from 0 to 6.4 EJ in 2015 and between 1.2 and 7.8 EJ in 2030, depending on the reference fossil jet fuel price, which varies from 19 to 65 US$/GJ across the airports. The techno‐economic potential consists of a diverse set of production routes. The Northeast and Southeast region of Brazil present the highest potentials with several viable production routes, whereas the remaining regions only have a few promising production routes. The maximum techno‐economic potential of BJF in Brazil could meet almost half of the projected global jet fuel demand toward 2030.     

Optimization of the immobilization of sweet potato amylase using glutaraldehyde-agarose support. Characterization of the immobilized enzyme

A simplified procedure for the preparation of immobilized beta-amylase using non-purified extract from fresh sweet potato tubers is established in this paper, using differently activated agarose supports. Beta-amylase glutaraldehyde derivative was the preparation with best features, presenting improved temperature and pH stability and activity. The possibility of reusing the amylase was also shown, when this immobilized enzyme was fully active for five cycles of use. However, immobilization decreased enzyme activity to around 15%. This seems to be mainly due to diffusion limitations of the starch inside the pores of the biocatalyst particles. A fifteen-fold increase in the Km was noticed, while the decrease of Vmax was only 30% (10.1 U mg^?1 protein and 7.03 U mg^?1 protein for free and immobilized preparations, respectively).     

Nucleolar organizer regions in Sittasomus griseicapillus and Lepidocolaptes angustirostris (Aves,Dendrocolaptidae): Evidence of a chromosome inversion

Cytogenetic studies in birds are still scarce compared to other vertebrates. Woodcreepers (Dendrocolaptidae) are part of a highly specialized group within the Suboscines of the New World. They are forest birds exclusive to the Neotropical region and similar to woodpeckers, at a comparable evolutionary stage. This paper describes for the first time the karyotypes of the Olivaceous and the Narrow-billed Woodcreeper using conventional staining with Giemsa and silver nitrate staining of the nucleolar organizer regions (Ag-NORs). Metaphases were obtained by fibular bone marrow culture. The chromosome number of the Olivaceous Woodcreeper was 2n = 82 and of the Narrow-billed Woodcreeper, 2n = 82. Ag-NORs in the largest macrochromosome pair and evidence of a chromosome inversion are described herein for the first time for this group.     

Suppressed Retinal Degeneration in Aged Wild Type and APPswe/PS1ΔE9 Mice by Bone Marrow Transplantation

Alzheimer''s disease (AD) is an age-related condition characterized by accumulation of neurotoxic amyloid β peptides (Aβ) in brain and retina. Because bone marrow transplantation (BMT) results in decreased cerebral Aβ in experimental AD, we hypothesized that BMT would mitigate retinal neurotoxicity through decreased retinal Aβ. To test this, we performed BMT in APPswe/PS1ΔE9 double transgenic mice using green fluorescent protein expressing wild type (wt) mice as marrow donors. We first examined retinas from control, non-transplanted, aged AD mice and found a two-fold increase in microglia compared with wt mice, prominent inner retinal Aβ and paired helical filament-tau, and decreased retinal ganglion cell layer neurons. BMT resulted in near complete replacement of host retinal microglia with BMT-derived cells and normalized total AD retinal microglia to non-transplanted wt levels. Aβ and paired helical filament-tau were reduced (61.0% and 44.1% respectively) in BMT-recipient AD mice, which had 20.8% more retinal ganglion cell layer neurons than non-transplanted AD controls. Interestingly, aged wt BMT recipients also had significantly more neurons (25.4%) compared with non-transplanted aged wt controls. Quantitation of retinal ganglion cell layer neurons in young mice confirmed age-related retinal degeneration was mitigated by BMT. We found increased MHC class II expression in BMT-derived microglia and decreased oxidative damage in retinal ganglion cell layer neurons. Thus, BMT is neuroprotective in age-related as well as AD-related retinal degeneration, and may be a result of alterations in innate immune function and oxidative stress in BMT recipient mice.     

Intraoperative breast radiotherapy: survival,local control and risk factors for recurrence

BackgroundWhole breast irradiation reduces loco-regional recurrence and risk of death in patients submitted to breast-conserving treatment. Data show that radiation to the index quadrant alone may be enough in selected patients.AimTo report the experience with intra-operative radiotherapy (IORT) with Electron-beam Cone in Linear Accelerator (ELIOT) and the results in overall survival, local control and late toxicity of patients submitted to this treatment.Materials and Methods147 patients treated with a median follow up of 6.9 years (0.1?11.5 years). The actuarial local control and overall survival probabilities were estimated using the Kaplan Meier method. All tests were two-sided and p ? 0.05 was considered statistically significant.ResultsOverall survival of the cohort in 5 years, in the median follow up and in 10 years was of 98.3%, 95.1% and 95.1%, respectively, whereas local control in 5 years, in the median follow up and in 10 years was of 96%, 94.9% and 89.5%, respectively. Two risk groups were identified for local recurrence depending on the estrogen or progesterone receptors, axillary or margin status and lymphovascular invasion (LVI) (p = 0.016).ConclusionsIORT is a safe and effective treatment. Rigorous selection is important to achieve excellent local control results.     

Sperm cryopreservation of Prochilodus brevis using different concentrations of non-permeable cryoprotectants

The action of substances with non-permeable cryoprotectant potential, besides glucose, has not yet been studied for the species Prochilodus brevis. The objective of this work was to evaluate the action of four non-permeable cryoprotectants on this species sperm cryopreservation. Five pools were cryopreserved in a solution of 5% glucose and 10% dimethyl sulfoxide (Me₂SO) associated or not (control) with cryoprotectants egg yolk (5, 10 or 12%), soy lecithin (2.5, 7.5 or 10%), sucrose (5, 10 or 20%) and lactose (5, 8 or 15%). After thawing, samples were evaluated for sperm kinetics (total motility, motility duration, velocities, and wobble - WOB), morphology and membrane and DNA integrity. The treatments containing egg yolk improved significantly (P<0.05) results when compared the control for the membrane integrity parameter. When compared to other treatments, egg yolk, at any concentration, presented higher results (P<0.05) for membrane integrity, total motility, curvilinear velocity (VCL) and average path velocity (VAP) parameters. Egg yolk also showed the best results for WOB, but it did not differ from 5% and 8% lactose and 5% and 20% sucrose. Soy lecithin had the lowest percentages of morphologically normal sperm (P<0.05), while the other treatments did not differ from each other. There was no difference regarding DNA integrity data. Thus, 5% egg yolk is indicated as a non-permeable cryoprotectant for P. brevis, in association with 5% glucose and 10% Me₂SO.     

Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated genetic transformation of the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana

Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation (agro-transformation) was successfully applied to the entomogenous fungus Beauveria bassiana. Conidia of B. bassiana were transformed to hygromycin B resistance using the hph gene of Escherichia coli as the selective trait, under the control of a heterologous fungal promoter and the Aspergillus nidulans trpC terminator. The efficiency of transformation was up to 28 and 96 transformants per 10(4) and 10(5) target conidia, respectively, using three distinct vectors. High mitotic stability of the transformants (80-100%) was demonstrated after five successive transfers on a nonselective medium. Abortive transformants were observed for all the hph(r) vectors used. Putative transformants were analysed for the presence of the hph gene by PCR and Southern analysis. The latter analysis revealed the integration of two or more copies of the hph gene in the genome. The agro-transformation method was found to be effective for the isolation of B. bassiana hygromycin resistant transformants and may represent a useful tool for insertional mutagenesis studies in this fungus.     

Recent trends on the molecular biology of pneumococcal capsules, lytic enzymes, and bacteriophage

Streptococcus pneumoniae has re-emerged as a major cause of morbidity and mortality throughout the world and its continuous increase in antimicrobial resistance is rapidly becoming a leading cause of concern for public health. This review is focussed on the analysis of recent insights on the study of capsular polysaccharide biosynthesis, and cell wall (murein) hydrolases, two fundamental pneumococcal virulence factors. Besides, we have also re-evaluated the molecular biology of the pneumococcal phage, their possible role in pathogenicity and in the shaping of natural populations of S. pneumoniae. Precise knowledge of the topics reviewed here should facilitate the rationale to move towards the design of alternative ways to combat pneumococcal disease.     

Evaluation of the impact of Bacillus thuringiensis serovar israelensis and Temephos,used for the control of Simulium (Chirostilbia) pertinax Kollar, 1832 (Diptera,Simuliidae) on the associated entomofauna,Paraty, state of Rio de Janeiro,Brazil

The study was set up to evaluate the impact of two commercial larvicide formulations, Bacillus thuringiensis serovar israelensis base (Bti) at 15 ppm/1 min and temephos at 0.03 ppm of active ingredient, used to control Simulium pertinax populations, on associated non-target entomofauna occupying the same breeding sites. The experiments were carried out on the Pedra Branca and Muricana rivers, on the slopes of Serra do Mar massif, municipality of Paraty, state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Bti was applied to the river Pedra Branca and temephosto theriver Muricana. On both rivers, treatment and control sections were labeled as such, each one with two observation posts: slow moving water and fast water regions respectively. Artificial substrata was used to evaluate the abundance of associated entomofauna. Attached immature stages of arthropods were removed from both of its surfaces fortnightly. Were collected, from the two rivers, 28 477 specimens of the entomofauna associated with S. pertinax. The families Hydropsychidae, Chironomidae, Bactidae, Simuliidae, Blephariceridae and Megapodagrionidae were represented. These was an impact of temephos on the entomofauna associated with S. pertinax only in Simuliidae and Chironomidae, and to Bti only in Simuliidae. However, the reduction in their numbers was not statistically significant.