Search

In this prospective cohort of 30 vaccinated healthcare workers with mild Omicron variant infection, we evaluated viral culture, rapid antigen test (RAT), and real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) of respiratory samples at days 5, 7, 10, and 14. Viral culture was positive in 46% (11/24) and 20% (6/30) of samples at days 5 and 7, respectively. RAT and RT-PCR (Ct ≤35) showed 100% negative predictive value (NPV), with positive predictive values (PPVs) of 32% and 17%, respectively, for predicting viral culture positivity. A lower RT-PCR threshold (Ct ≤24) improved culture prediction (PPV = 39%; NPV = 100%). Vaccinated persons with mild Omicron infection are potentially transmissible up to day 7. RAT and RT-PCR might be useful tools for shortening the isolation period.

This chapter interrogates the prevalent misconception of host governments that migration disrupts rather than transforms their communities. Reflecting upon the works of Takeyuki Tsuda (2008) in the context of East Asian countries, the chapter attempts to unpack the concept of local citizenship when local governments in the southern Philippines subtly grant some fundamental socio-political rights and services to Persons of Indonesian Descent (PID) as legitimate members of their local communities. This study argues that the local governments in the southern Philippines have a significant role in performing acts of local citizenship for PID. This independent research is drawn from the researchers’ direct observation and long-term engagement with PID in Sarangani province, and General Santos City in the southern Philippines. The study hopes to generate discussions and alternative discourse on ‘citizenship from below’ for migrants and host countries in the region.

Twenty-one known specialised metabolites were isolated from the flowers of Vernonanthura nudiflora (Less.) H. Rob., the structures of the compounds were established based on 1 D and 2 D NMR spectro...

The concomitant increase in skeletal muscle mass (SMM) and decrease in fat mass has been termed body recomposition. This study aimed to analyze the influence of pre-training levels of fat mass on body recomposition, muscular strength, and (phase angle) PhA after 24 weeks of resistance training (RT) in older women.Data from 99 older women (68.6 ± 5.7 years, 65.7 ± 8.6 kg, 155.1 ± 5.8 cm, 27.2 ± 3.1 kg/mResults indicated that after the RT period, a greater positive body recomposition was observed in the L-FM group than in M-FM and H-FM groups. Moreover, all groups increased muscular strength and phase angle with no significant difference among groups (P 0.05).The present study results suggest that the initial amount of fat mass influences the body recomposition induced by RT in older women, with those with lower pre-training fat mass levels presenting higher levels of body recomposition. However, improvements in muscular strength and phase angle are not dependent on the amount of initial fat mass in older women.

INTRODUCTION Praxelis genus comprises 24 species, however, only two species of this genus have been chemically investigated. Here we investigated Praxelis sanctopaulensis, a native plant from Brazil, that occurs mainly in Cerrado regions. OBJECTIVE The goal was to identify the specialised metabolites from P. sanctopaulensis, and compare with those described from Praxelis and Chromolaena species. METHODS The phytochemical study of P. sanctopaulensis was performed through different chromatography techniques, including high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), gas chromatography flame ionisation detector (GC-FID), and ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS/MS). The structures of the compounds were established based on spectroscopic analysis, total correlated spectroscopy (TOCSY), hydrogen decoupling and computational calculations was used to an unequivocal structural elucidation of a new sesquiterpene. The antioxidant activity was evaluated using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), and antimicrobial assay was performed by the microdilution method. Comparison of the flavonoids described P. sanctopaulensis was carried out using principal component analysis. RESULTS The phytochemical investigation of P. sanctopaulensis led to the isolation of a pair of diastereomers, praxilone A and praxilone B. Seven known compounds were isolated from this species, another 14 fatty acids were detected in hexane fraction, and 26 compounds were identified from ethyl acetate fraction. All these compounds are being described for the first time in this species, with the exception of viridifloric acid. The ethyl acetate fraction showed potent antioxidant activity. CONCLUSIONS Forty-seven compounds are described from P. sanctopaulensis. The combination of different techniques of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and computational calculations allowed the unequivocal structure elucidation of a new cadinene. The clustering analysis showed similarities between the flavonoids identified in P. sanctopaulensis and in Chromolaena species.

The chemical investigation of Chromolaena palmaris (Sch.Bip. ex Baker) R.M. King & H. Rob. expands the phytochemical composition knowledge of Chromolaena genus, since this is the first chemical investigation of this species. Twenty-five compounds were identified, including a phytoprostane, 17 flavonoids, 6 phenolic acids, and a caffeoyl-glucoside derivative obtained by classical chromatography and UHPLC-HRMS/MS analysis. Moreover, anti-Mycobacterium tuberculosis and antiproliferative activities of C. palmaris were evaluated. Dichloromethane fraction showed cytotoxicity towards human cancer cell lines, presenting TGI values on glioma (U251) of 27.8 μg mL-1. Furthermore, compounds 1 and 2 exhibited antimicrobial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis with MIC of 62.5 and 15.6 μg mL-1, respectively.

We present in this paper a method and apparatus for nonintrusive measurement of active energy in low-voltage ac installations. In the proposed method, the active power is calculated from the voltage and current waveforms, and the phase shift between them. No voltage amplitude measurement is required since the nominal voltage of the ac installation is considered as the actual voltage. This approach bypasses the main disadvantage of capacitive ac voltage probing: low accuracy in amplitude measurements due to variations on the sensor coupling capacitance. The energy meter that implements the technique is composed of a commercial nonintrusive current sensor (clamp-on current transformer) and a contactless capacitive voltage sensor—designed to measure the voltage phase and waveform. The voltage sensor includes a shield to isolate it from external electric fields, making the energy meter suitable for applications in polyphase systems. The developed energy meter does not require on-site calibration, galvanic contact to the phase conductors, neither electrical circuit opening, allowing for quick, safe, and easy installation on overhead service drop line. Due to these characteristics, it can be used by electricity distribution companies in the preinspection of consumer units suspected of fraud. Experimental results proved that the developed energy meter is insensitive to the characteristics of cables (width and insulation), external electrical fields, as well as to the voltage sensor capacitance variations. The error of the active energy measurement under real condition in a two-phase installation was 1%.

This paper presents the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) as the possible source mechanism of the medium-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances (MSTIDs) propagating to the southeast direction over the South American region. Using the data collected by the GNSS dual-frequency receivers network from January 2014 to December 2019, detrended TEC maps were generated to identify and characterize 144 MSTIDs propagating southeastward over the South American low-latitude and equatorial region. We also used images from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) 13 and 16 in the infrared (IR) and water vapor (WV) channel, and reanalisys data from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to study the daily features and seasonal migration of ITCZ. In the winter, when ITCZ migrates to the northern hemisphere around 10–15° N, 20 MSTIDs propagated southeastward. During summer, when the ITCZ lies within the continent, around 0–5° S 80 MSTIDs were observed to propagate southeastward; in the equinoxes (spring and fall), 44 MSTIDs were observed. Again, the MSTIDs propagating southeastward showed a clear seasonality of their local time dependence; in summer, the MSTIDs occurred frequently in the evening hours, whereas those in winter occurred during the daytime. We also found for the first time that the day-to-day observation of ITCZ position and MSTIDs propagation directions were consistent. With regard to these new findings, we report that the MSTIDs propagating southeastward over the South American region are possibly induced by the atmospheric gravity waves, which are proposed as being generated by the ITCZ in the troposphere. The mean distribution of the horizontal wavelength, period, and phase velocity are 698 ± 124 km, 38 ± 8 min, and 299 ± 89 m s−1, respectively. For the first time, we were able to use MSTID propagation directions as a proxy to study the source region.

We propose an autonomous energy wireless sensor node for monitoring rotation machines condition. The thermal energy dissipated during normal operation of the motor can be harvested to power an ultra low power wireless sensor. The harvested energy is stored in supercapacitors instead of lithium-ion battery, providing an extended life for the energy storage element and being able to handle high energy radio transmission pulses. The proposed system may be used on early fault diagnosis through pervasive data collection of machines condition. The collected data can provide a maintenance schedule programming with low impact in plant operation, reducing unexpected production stop due motors failures.

The chemical investigation of

SummaryCipo Canastero Asthenes luizae is a relict ovenbird restricted to rocky outcrops at high elevations within the campo rupestre vegetation of the Espinhaço Range in the state of Minas Gerais, south-eastern Brazil. This poorly known species is considered ‘Near Threatened’, but recent studies have suggested that it should be listed under a higher category of threat. To contribute to the knowledge of this species and its conservation assessment and related planning, we compiled all literature records of the species distribution (n = 16 locations), collected new data on its occurrence (n = 72 locations), and calculated its geographic range using four different approaches. First, we defined the sky islands where the species occurs (nine units) using the lowest elevation value recorded (1,100 m asl) as a cut-off. Second, we performed species distribution modelling (SDM) across the sky islands and identified an area of 2,225.21 km2. Third, we measured the species’ extent of occurrence (EOO = 24,555.85 km2) and used SDM to estimate its upper limit (EOOup = 30,697.58 km2). Fourth, we measured the area of occupancy (AOO = 228 km2) and used SDM to estimate its upper limit (AOOup = 1,827.39 km2). We analysed the Cipo Canastero sky islands in terms of landscape metrics including size, isolation, protected area coverage, shape index, core area index, and proportion covered by SDM. We observed a very fragmented distribution, especially in the North sector of the species distribution, composed of small and isolated populations (separated by up to 112 km); the South sector is the core of its distribution and is composed of larger, more connected patches with differences in shape complexity that are not strongly influenced by an edge effect. The range sizes calculated, along with other reported information regarding population and habitat trends, justifies the inclusion of the species in at least the ‘Vulnerable’ category.

We assessed the evolutionary histories of two hummingbirds, Augastes scutatus and Augastes lumachella, endemic to the highlands of the Espinhaco Range in Brazil. These hummingbirds are considered relictual taxa with phylogenetic affinities to members of the genus Schistes from the Andean region. We reconstructed phylogenetic relationships of Augastes through the use of mitochondrial DNA and nuclear sequences within the Polytminae hummingbird clade, and found that the inferred phylogenetic reconstructions placed A. scutatus as the sister species of A. lumachella and Augastes as sister to Schistes geoffroyi from the northern Andes, as previously suggested by similarities found in plumage and morphology. Our results are consistent with an initial divergence of Augastes and Schistes lineages in the Late Miocene, associated with geological and climatic changes across the South American landscape. A Late Pliocene vicariant event between A. scutatus and A. lumachella may be associated with climatically distinct environmental conditions influencing the local differentiation and adaptation of ancestral Augastes populations. Our findings represent additional important evidence of vicariant events between east and west in southern South America, and between north and south within the Espinhaco Range of Brazil.

In oil well cementing where high temperature are involved, a silica source is add to the cement composition to inhibit cement sheath compressive strength retrogression. The mechanical properties of cement used in oil wells may benefit from the incorporation of rice husk ash (RHA) due to its high silica content. RHA has also become attractive as cement additive owing to its low cost and renewability. The aim of the present study was to develop a cement slurry for high-temperature oil well using RHA as anti strength retrogression additive. A typical G cement slurry was prepared with 40% of RHA and submitted to curing cycles of 7–28 days to evaluate the influence of the RHA at both the bottom hole static temperature (BHST) and 300 °C. The results showed that the addition of RHA increased by 30.55% the compressive strength after curing for 28 days at BHST conditions and by 11.18% at 300 °C. XRD analysis of high temperature cycles showed the presence of xenotlite and tobermorite, which are crystalline phases responsible to maintain the cement compressive strength. The RHA has been shown to be a sustainable alternative to commercial silica flour. In addition, the present study envisages the RHA disposal to be considerably reduced by its application in the petroleum industry.

Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) is used worldwide to test and trace the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). "Extraction-less" or "direct" real time-reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is a transparent and accessible qualitative method for SARS-CoV-2 detection from nasopharyngeal or oral pharyngeal samples with the potential to generate actionable data more quickly, at a lower cost, and with fewer experimental resources than full RT-qPCR. This study engaged 10 global testing sites, including laboratories currently experiencing testing limitations due to reagent or equipment shortages, in an international interlaboratory ring trial. Participating laboratories were provided a common protocol, common reagents, aliquots of identical pooled clinical samples, and purified nucleic acids and used their existing in-house equipment. We observed 100% concordance across laboratories in the correct identification of all positive and negative samples, with highly similar cycle threshold values. The test also performed well when applied to locally collected patient nasopharyngeal samples, provided the viral transport media did not contain charcoal or guanidine, both of which appeared to potently inhibit the RT-PCR reaction. Our results suggest that direct RT-PCR assay methods can be clearly translated across sites utilizing readily available equipment and expertise and are thus a feasible option for more efficient COVID-19 coronavirus disease testing as demanded by the continuing pandemic.

The recently emerged variants of concern (VOC) B.1.1.7 in UK, B.1.1.35 in South Africa and P.1 in Brazil have increased transmissibility and are rapidly spreading worldwide. These variants have several substitutions that allow them to bypass the immune responses and are up to 10 times more contagious than the previous circulating SARS-COV-2 lineages. While in some regions P.1 predominates (as several estates in Brazil), in other countries B.1.1.7 or B.1.1.35 are most prevalent. Therefore, real-time surveillance of VOC is the key for rapid public health responses. In this matter, RT-PCR protocols that are capable of detecting VOCs easily and rapidly are needed. We developed and validated a protocol that detect simultaneously the 3 most widespread VOC. Although this protocol does not discriminate among the VOCs, it can reliably detect mixed infection. Importantly, our protocol successfully identified a co-infection by two SARS-COV-2 lineages (P.1 and B.1), confirmed through complete genome sequencing.

AimsThis study aimed to identify the symptoms associated with early stage SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) infections in healthcare professionals (HCP) using both clinical and laboratory data.MethodsA total of 1,297 patients, admitted between March 18 and April 8, 2020, were stratified according to their risk of developing COVID-19 using their responses to a questionnaire designed to evaluate symptoms and risk conditions.ResultsAnosmia/hyposmia (p ConclusionsThe significant clinical features for COVID-19 were identified as anosmia, fever, chills, and body pain. Elevated CRP, leukocytes under 5,400 x 109/L, and relative monocytosis (>9%) were common among patients with a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis. These variables may help, in the absence of RT-PCR tests, to identify possible COVID-19 infections during pandemic outbreaks.SummaryFrom March 19 to April 8 2020, 1,297 patients attended the Polyclinic Piquet Carneiro for COVID-19 detection. Healthcare professional data was analyzed, significant clinical features were anosmia, fever, chills and body pain. Elevated CRP, leukopenia and monocytosis were common in COVID-19.

Chemical investigation of

Chemical investigation of Lessingianthus brevifolius (Less.) H.Rob. aerial parts resulted in the isolation of the hirsutinolide-type sesquiterpene lactones piptocarphol, spicatolide D, piptocarphin D and 8α-acetoxy-10α-hydroxy-13-O-methylhirsutinolide, and also of a cadinanolide identified as 13-O-methylvernojalcanolide 8-O-acetate. Flavonoids, triterpenes and chlorogenic acids were also isolated. In addition, a dereplication study was carried out using UHPLC-HRMS and molecular networking, resulting in the identification of fifteen known compounds, being two sesquiterpene lactones and thirteen flavonoids. Some of the compounds are being described for the first time in L. brevifolius, and also in the Lessingianthus genus.

A preocupação pública com o uso rotineiro de antibióticos e ionóforos na dieta de ruminantes aumentou devido ao surgimento de bactérias resistentes aos antibióticos que podem representar riscos à saúde humana. Assim, esforços têm sido empregados para o desenvolvimento de compostos alternativos para substituir antibióticos e ionóforos na dieta de ruminantes. Este estudo foi realizado para avaliar os efeitos in vitro de uma mistura contendo óleos vegetais de caju e mamona e óleos essenciais de cravo-da-índia, eugenol, timol e vanilina sobre a atividade das bactérias Gram-negativas e Gram-positivas presentes no rúmen. O experimento foi elaborado de forma que cada bactéria fosse exposta às doses de 1,5, 3, 5 e 6,0 mg/mL da mistura, com seis repetições. As bactérias foram cultivadas em meio M2 de Hobson em tubos Hungate. A atividade antimicrobiana foi avaliada em espectrofotômetro a 600 nm. As leituras foram realizadas 0, 8, 12 e 24 horas após a inoculação a 39º C. As quatro concentrações (1,5, 3,0, 4,5 e 6,0 mg/mL) da mistura de óleos vegetais e essenciais inibiram o crescimento da Prevotella albensis, Prevotella bryantii, Prevotella ruminicola e Anaerovibrio lipolyticus 8 e 12 horas após a incubação. Para Ruminococcus albus e Ruminococcus flavefaciens a adição da mistura de óleos essenciais nas concentrações de 3,0 e 4,5 mg/mL resultou em maior impacto na dinâmica de crescimento, com redução na densidade óptica após 12 h de incubação. Em conclusão, os resultados mostram que a ação combinada dos óleos vegetais e essenciais influencia o crescimento de bactérias gram-negativas e gram-positivas e pode ser usado como um modulador ruminal. Deste modo, o estudo contribui com novas informações sobre a ação combinada dos óleos vegetais e essenciais como agentes antimicrobianos na produção de ruminantes.

Mine hoist systems play a vital role in gold ore transportation. They are the connection between the underground mine and the beneficiation plant. As a result, any hoist system interruption compromises the production. In this paper, it is proposed a mission critical analysis and design methodology for power converters in order to achieve proper reliability of the hoist drive system. Since the failure of power devices is responsible for a significant portion of the total downtime of power converters, a detailed study of the insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) power modules lifetime is carried out. The three level neutral-point-clamped and Active Neutral Point Clamped (ANPC) IGBT-based topologies are considered for this application. The recently presented Fault-Tolerant (FT)-ANPC converter is proposed as a higher reliability solution leading to longer power modules and drive system lifetimes. All the studies are based on practical operating data from a 900-m deep shaft hoist system operating in a gold mine in southeastern Brazil.

Sesquiterpene lactones are an important class of secondary metabolites frequently isolated from Vernonanthura genus that present a variety of biological properties, including antiproliferative activity. Due to the limitation of pharmacological studies on Vernonanthura nudiflora, the aim of this work was to investigate their antioxidant potential and antiproliferative activity against human tumor cells, as well as to isolate and identify the chemical constituents present in their aerial parts. The phytochemical investigation resulted in the isolation of the sesquiterpene lactones piptocarphins A, B, D, and a new hirsutinolide derivative, 8α-tigloyloxy-10α-hydroxy-hirsutinolide, besides triterpenes, glycosylated steroids, flavonoids, and one chlorogenic acid derivative. Also, other sesquiterpene lactones were identified by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-high resolution tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS/MS) from dichloromethane fraction. This fraction showed activity against the tumor cells tested, mainly against leukemia, glioma, ovarian and kidney, with growth inhibitory activity (GI50) less than 0.80 µg mL-1. Piptocarphins A and B, in mixture, showed strong activity against all human cancer cell lines tested, with GI50 values ≤ 0.15 µg mL-1. Piptocarphin D was selective for glioma and resistant ovarian cell lines. The new hirsutinolide derivative showed potent activity against breast (GI50= 0.96 µg mL-1) and resistant ovarian (GI50 = 3.60 µg mL-1) cell lines.

Flavonoids have been shown to be an important taxonomic marker for the identification of species, genera, tribes or even families. In this chapter, we evaluated the importance of flavonoids as chemotaxonomic marker of Ageratina and Chromolaena, which were previously classified as Eupatorium. The chemotaxonomic study of Ageratina genus showed that flavonoids occur in 28 out of 41 species investigated. Already in Chromolaena, this number is higher, of the 26 Chromolaena species studied, 20 showed the presence of flavonoid, which corroborates the importance of this class of secondary metabolites as chemotaxonomic marker for these genera. Flavonols are the predominant compounds, more than 50% of the flavonoids found in Ageratina and Chromolaena belongs to this class. Furthermore, about 80% of the flavonoids found in these two genera are methoxylated, and the methoxy group is usually attached at C-6, C-7 or/and C-4′. Highly methoxylated flavonoids were described from Ageratina and Chromolaena, however, pentamethoxy flavonoids were obtained exclusively from Chromolaena species. This review confirms that flavonoids are a useful marker for Ageratina and Chromolaena species, especially the mono- and di-methoxylated flavonoids.

Belt conveyors in mining industry constitute an efficient and economical way for minerals and heavy-load transportation from mines to their destination. The ongoing desire to further extend the length, speed, and capacity of the conveyors has led to the increasing size of the conveyor-drive systems. More and more frequently, high-capacity belt conveyors are efficiently driven employing medium-voltage power converters connected with large induction motors. Power converters in the megawatt (MW) range are often used, increasing the power-quality issues in the grid system. This work proposes a new true unit power factor active front end for regenerative multimotor conveyor-drive systems. The proposed solution eliminates all the current harmonics in the range considered by the international standards without using sinusoidal filters. Three-winding conventional transformer and well-established medium-voltage power converters are considered to ensure the robustness and simplicity requirements.

The integrated gate-commutated thyristor and presspack power diodes have been successfully applied in medium-voltage neutral point-clamped converters in the power range from hundreds of kilowatt to tenths of megawatt. Responsible for driving key processes in the industry, high reliability and availability are crucial for these converters, since their repair or replacement after failure events may take too long. Given the vital importance of such equipment for the drive systems, they are equipped with protection schemes that are usually reliable, but not infallible. If the protection scheme of the converter does not work properly in a short-circuit situation, serious damages may be expected on its power semiconductor devices. In this paper, the power semiconductors thermal behavior is investigated using finite-element models in the COMSOL Multiphysics software. Three-dimensional thermal models of the power devices were raised by industrial radiography techniques, aiming to expand the information provided by the manufacturers. The authors show how these results can be used in a real equipment to attenuate the catastrophic effects of the protection scheme malfunction, so limiting the damage pattern within the converter to their least complex power devices.

One of the unresolved issues in the ecology of parasites is the relationship between host specificity and performance. Previous studies tested this relationship in different systems and obtained all possible outcomes. This led to the proposal of two hypotheses to explain conflicting results: the trade-off and resource breadth hypotheses, which are treated as mutually exclusive in the literature and were corroborated by different studies. In the present study, we used an extensive database on avian malaria from Brazil and combined analyses based on specificity indices and network theory, in order to test which of those hypotheses might best explain our model system. Contrary to our expectations, there was no correlation between specificity and prevalence, which contradicts both hypotheses. In addition, we detected a strong modular structure in our host–parasite network and found that its modules were not composed of geographically close, but of phylogenetically close, host species. Based on our results, we reached the conclusion that trade-off and resource breadth hypotheses are not really mutually exclusive. As a conceptual solution we propose “The Integrative Hypothesis of Parasite Specialization”, a novel theoretical model that explains the contradictory results found in our study and reported to date in the literature.

Shikimic acid is the starting material for the synthesis of the antiviral oseltamivir phosphate, a front-line combatant against the human influenza A and B viruses. Nowadays, the demand for shikimic acid is met by seeds of Chinese star anise (Illicium verum), which grows exclusively in southern China. In the current work, the Calophyllum brasiliense plant is suggested as an alternative source of natural shikimic acid, which was extracted, purified and quantified by high performance liquid chromatography. The presence of shikimic acid in the extract of C. brasiliense was confirmed by nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry analysis. By using a simple and rapid extraction procedure, we showed that the content of shikimic acid in C. brasiliense leaves is 3.79%. Because C. brasiliense has some additional advantages over Chinese star anise, such as geographical distribution, ecological plasticity, natural regeneration, and versatility regarding large-scale cultivation, it may be a viable and promising source of shikimic acid, with potential industrial uses.

Parrots are one of the most distinct and intriguing groups of birds, with highly expanded brains [1], highly developed cognitive [2] and vocal communication [3] skills, and a long lifespan compared to other similar-sized birds [4]. Yet the genetic basis of these traits remains largely unidentified. To address this question, we have generated a high-coverage, annotated assembly of the genome of the blue-fronted Amazon (Amazona aestiva) and carried out extensive comparative analyses with 30 other avian species, including 4 additional parrots. We identified several genomic features unique to parrots, including parrot-specific novel genes and parrot-specific modifications to coding and regulatory sequences of existing genes. We also discovered genomic features under strong selection in parrots and other long-lived birds, including genes previously associated with lifespan determination as well as several hundred new candidate genes. These genes support a range of cellular functions, including telomerase activity; DNA damage repair; control of cell proliferation, cancer, and immunity; and anti-oxidative mechanisms. We also identified brain-expressed, parrot-specific paralogs with known functions in neural development or vocal-learning brain circuits. Intriguingly, parrot-specific changes in conserved regulatory sequences were overwhelmingly associated with genes that are linked to cognitive abilities and have undergone similar selection in the human lineage, suggesting convergent evolution. These findings bring novel insights into the genetics and evolution of longevity and cognition, as well as provide novel targets for exploring the mechanistic basis of these traits.

Pesquisas atuais apontam para um importante crescimento no interesse pela confiabilidade e disponibilidade de componentes e equipamentos eletronicos. A tolerância contra falhas em conversores eletronicos tem merecido especial atencao pela importância desses equipamentos em aplicacoes criticas. Este trabalho propoe a realizacao de um conversor ANPC, baseado em IGBT e tolerante a falhas (FT-ANPC), proposto em trabalhos recentes, bem como o monitoramento da degradacao dos modulos de potencia do conversor a partir da medicao da tensao coletor-emissor (VCE).

In a previous work, a real case of recurring bearing failures in an induction motor had been extensively studied. As a result, the cause of the problem was revealed to be the circulation of electric current through the bearings. In this way, the present paper deals with the high-frequency leakage currents in ac motors fed by pulsewidth-modulation inverters, contextualized in the analysis of an actual case. From the parameters of an equivalent circuit representing the connecting cable, motor, and inverter return path, a filter, characterized by a common-mode transformer, is designed to mitigate the common-mode quantities and the correlated problems. Both simulated and experimental results show that the proposed solution represents an advantageous alternative in comparison to the traditional $RC$ and $RLC$ filters, since, in addition to its effect on the common-mode quantities, it dissipates a negligible amount of power.

In this study, we verified the power of DNA barcodes to discriminate Neotropical birds using Bayesian tree reconstructions of a total of 7404 COI sequences from 1521 species, including 55 Brazilian species with no previous barcode data. We found that 10.4% of species were nonmonophyletic, most likely due to inaccurate taxonomy, incomplete lineage sorting or hybridization. At least 0.5% of the sequences (2.5% of the sampled species) retrieved from GenBank were associated with database errors (poor-quality sequences, NuMTs, misidentification or unnoticed hybridization). Paraphyletic species (5.8% of the total) can be related to rapid speciation events leading to nonreciprocal monophyly between recently diverged sister species, or to absence of synapomorphies in the small COI region analysed. We also performed two series of genetic distance calculations under the K2P model for intraspecific and interspecific comparisons: the first included all COI sequences, and the second included only monophyletic taxa observed in the Bayesian trees. As expected, the mean and median pairwise distances were smaller for intraspecific than for interspecific comparisons. However, there was no precise 'barcode gap', which was shown to be larger in the monophyletic taxon data set than for the data from all species, as expected. Our results indicated that although database errors may explain some of the difficulties in the species discrimination of Neotropical birds, distance-based barcode assignment may also be compromised because of the high diversity of bird species and more complex speciation events in the Neotropics.

Echinococcosis is a parasitic infection caused by Echinococcus granulosus, which, in its cystic state, forms the socalled hydatid cyst. It presents important morbidity, with possible sequelae related to the location, and high costs due to surgical and prolonged pharmacological treatment. The liver and the lung are the most common anatomical locations, and much rarer are the kidney, spleen, brain, and heart, where the latter represents 0.5 to 2% of total cases. Peru is an endemic country of this anthropozoonosis and mainly records cases in the central highlands (95%). This paper presents the case of a 10-year-old girl, diagnosed with this disease, CE1 ultrasound classification, clinical group 1 (confirmed by pathological anatomy) with specific surgical and pharmacological treatment (albendazole) afterward. The patient recovered satisfactorily from the surgery and was discharged at 16 days, without complications.La equinococosis es una infección parasitaria provocada por Echinococcus granulosus, que, en su estado quístico, forma al denominado quiste hidatídico. Presenta morbilidad importante, con posibles secuelas relacionadas con la ubicación, y altos costos debido al tratamiento quirúrgico y farmacológico prolongado. El hígado y el pulmón son las ubicaciones anatómicas más usuales, mucho más raras son el riñón, bazo, cerebro y corazón, este último representa el 0,5 % a 2 % del total de casos. El Perú es un país endémico de esta antropozoonosis y principalmente registra casos procedentes de la sierra central (95 %). Se presenta el caso de una niña de diez años, con diagnóstico de esta entidad, clasificación ecográfica CE 1, grupo clínico 1 (confirmado por anatomía patológica) con posterior tratamiento quirúrgico y farmacológico específico (albendazol). La paciente se recuperó satisfactoriamente de la cirugía practicada, y fue dada de alta a los 16 días, sin complicaciones.

In apartments, houses and hotels, showers are by far the biggest consumers of water, responding to about 25% of the total volume consumed every month. When winter hits big cities and temperatures fall, the hot water consumption increases dramatically. Since end users often dispense cold water present in the pipelines until the heated water from the reservoirs is perceived in showers or other points of use, hotels and residential buildings are responsible for a considerable waste of treated water. Several solutions based on local hardware have been proposed to partially overcome this problem, but many of them try to reduce the waste of water at the expense of reducing the efficiency of the heating and recirculating systems. The age of the IoT has brought to the smart buildings new perspectives regarding to rational use of resources, providing savings and real comfort for users. This work proposes a smart water heating scheme, mediated by IoT technology, for large buildings in urban settings. The main goal is ensuring the minimal waste of water as well as energy economy in pumping and heating systems. The proposed automated solution is built from an open-source Asterisk-based IP-PBX on cloud computing technology. A complete experimental setup considering a residential building in the southeastern region of Brazil is implemented and tested. The achieved benefits are tangible and significant when compared to the dedicated existing systems.

Mission Critical Application is a general term for any system whose loss could cause downtime in crucial operations for a company. Given the importance assumed by power converters in many critical systems, this research is conducted in the framework of the reliability engineering applied to a well-established medium voltage power converter in the industry environment. Condition monitoring techniques are used to detect changes in parameters of the IGBT power modules aiming to detect die and package degradation during operation. The main goal is anticipate degradation failures in power modules in such a way that the power converter can be reconfigured before a fatal fault. This fully proactive approach prevents the uncertainty related to different failure modes of power semiconductor devices. The premature detection of failure event allows a better equipment availability management.

We review the main biogeographic and phylogenetic hypotheses about the origin and distribution of the endemic birds from Brazilian mountaintops, a heterogeneous group composed of hummingbirds and passerines living in high-altitude open habitats of campos rupestres, campos de altitude and campos sulinos from southern to north-eastern Brazilian mountaintops (Espinhaco Range, Serra do Mar, Serra da Mantiqueira and Serra Geral). Some authors consider that these birds are probably closely related to other species distributed in cooler areas of South America. We used ranges of these birds, spatial pattern and discontinuities in the distribution of phytophysiognomies to determine potential geographic barriers to dispersal and centres of origin and speciation. We reanalysed biogeographical hypotheses regarding the evolution of the endemic birds from Brazilian mountaintops and their habitats in the light of recent phylogenetic reconstructions that included some of these species. The evolutionary histories of the s...

Parrots are among the most popular pets in the world and they are also some of the most illegally traded, particularly in Brazil. Some computational tools were recently developed by researchers based on molecular databases for taxonomy support, forensic identification and conservation purposes. In this study, the DNA Surveillance platform was used to build an online database tool for molecular identification of Brazilian Psittacids using DNA sequences of six mitochondrial genes. To illustrate possible taxonomic issues of the online tool due to interspecific hybridization or unresolved taxonomy, we focused on Amazona aestiva that is considered as one of the most common parrots in Brazil, commonly bred as pets, and considered to be part of a species complex with Amazona ochrocephala from South America. We provide three curated sequence databases, which allow the species identification of individuals or tissue samples of birds of the Psittacidae family using mitochondrial DNA markers, and a comprehensive description of a taxonomic issue involving the A. ochrocephala complex. The results obtained corroborate previous studies suggesting that these species are not reciprocally monophyletic, due to either an ancient hybridization in central Brazil, or, they maybe just are morpho-varieties of the same species. Alternatively, if A. aestiva and A. ochrocephala were considered as sister species, the data could be interpreted either as a result of secondary contact or incipient speciation. Beyond the use of mtDNA for species identification, the high mtDNA haplotype diversity observed in A. aestiva indicates its potential use in discrimination of lineages that could be an important auxiliary tool to certify the captive origin of legally commercialized parrots.

In underground mining industry, mineral transportation from lower levels to the surface is critical, thus demanding thorough equipment selection. The dc motor driven hoist dominated these applications, providing superior controllability. However, due to its increasing popularity, ac drive systems replaced dc application, including in mine hoisting. The high power ratings typical of these systems imply the use of medium voltage adjustable speed drive (MV-ASD), offering high power density, excellent efficiency and high reliability. This paper discusses two commonly used medium voltage topologies, namely the Three-Level Neutral-Point-Clamped and Active Neutral- Point-Clamped Voltage-Source Converter (3L-NPC and 3LANPC VSC). These topologies are compared to a recently proposed Fault-Tolerant realization of 3L-ANPC (FT-ANPC VSC). The hoist load cycle, which is severe in terms of thermal cycling profile, is used to evaluate the lifetime in power modules for all three topologies.

Belt conveyors constitute an efficient and economical way for minerals and heavy-load transportation from mines to their destination, serving vital process units whose success depends on continuous operation. To meet important operational requirements, modern high-capacity conveyor systems are equipped with medium-voltage variable-speed induction motor drives. The reliability and service continuity of such drives play a critical role in the entire conveyor availability. This paper proposes an alternative to significantly improve the availability of the conveyor systems by using fault-resilient medium-voltage ac drives. Based on recent studies and the authors' experience, it is shown in this paper how the conveyor drive downtime can be dramatically reduced after an internal short circuit, keeping the overall cost to repair to a minimum and avoiding financial losses that can reach several million dollars.

We describe Cinclodes espinhacensis (Furnariidae), a new species discovered at high elevation in the southern portion of the Espinhaco Range, in the state of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil. This new taxon is closely related to the Long-tailed Cinclodes Cinclodes pabsti, endemic to Serra Geral, southern Brazil. We present diagnostic morphological, genetic and vocal characters that support the rank of species for this allopatric taxon. It is readily distinguishable from C. pabsti by its much darker back, chest and flanks, lower body mass, shorter tarsus-length, lower frequency of vocalizations, and longer duration of calls. DNA sequence data estimate that the divergence time between this new species and Cinclodes pabsti occurred c. 220 000 years ago, during the late Pleistocene. This discovery illustrates remarkable biogeographical connections among the cold regions of South America. The new species has a restricted range and we suggest it meets the criteria of the IUCN Red List category of Endangered.

High-frequency problems involving long cable PWM motor drive systems are well documented in the literature. Solutions based on passive filters are conventionally used to suppress these undesired phenomena that take place in such systems, but, in turn, bring up new considerations concerning filter size, weight, cost, and electrical losses. In this context, a concept of an alternative motor drive system that overcomes all these problems was outlined by the authors in a previous paper, where the long cable was used to connect the rectifier to the inverter, thus establishing a dc power transmission link. In addition, other important issues concerning the proposed system have also been adressed, along with a comprehensive analysis of the power losses in the (long) dc or ac cable and a preliminary estimation of the copper amount reduction in favor of dc transmission. In the present paper, the results from a more recent and general study for the complete copper economy characterization are presented, demonstrating that the proposed drive system configuration, aside from eliminating the whole high-frequency problem, is always advantageous also from the copper economy point of view.

La equinococosis es una infección parasitaria provocada por Echinococcus granulosus, que, en su estado quístico, forma al denominado quiste hidatídico. Presenta morbilidad importante, con posibles secuelas relacionadas con la ubicación, y altos costos debido al tratamiento quirúrgico y farmacológico prolongado. El hígado y el pulmón son las ubicaciones anatómicas más usuales, mucho más raras son el riñón, bazo, cerebro y corazón, este último representa el 0,5 % a 2 % del total de casos. El Perú es un país endémico de esta antropozoonosis y principalmente registra casos procedentes de la sierra central (95 %). Se presenta el caso de una niña de diez años, con diagnóstico de esta entidad, clasificación ecográfica CE 1, grupo clínico 1 (confirmado por anatomía patológica) con posterior tratamiento quirúrgico y farmacológico específico (albendazol). La paciente se recuperó satisfactoriamente de la cirugía practicada, y fue dada de alta a los 16 días, sin complicaciones.

O presente texto aborda inicialmente a questão da concretização dos direitos fundamentais sociais no ordenamento italiano, tratando brevemente de questões tópicas, como a eficácia dos direitos prestacionais. Logo após, empreende discussão mais detalhada dos aspectos principais da proteção do direito ao trabalho na Itália, entre eles o da garantia de não-discriminação e o das férias. Por fim, discute ainda, brevemente, questões relacionadas aos direitos à moradia, à saúde e à educação.

Fault-tolerant operation of power converters has been a challenge for engineers and designers. Although several schemes have been proposed in recent years, they are typically restricted in terms of their capability to recover from successive failure events. The recently proposed Fault-tolerant ANPC converter has been shown to be able to deal with multiple failure events due to its flexible and reversible reconfiguration capability. In this paper, it is introduced a new thermal degradation management strategy, based on the FT-ANPC reconfiguration capabilities. Through an analytical lifetime estimation model, it is shown that the FT-ANPC converter can be available more than twice as much as an ordinary NPC converter. A metro-system application is studied to demonstrate the efficacy of the thermal degradation management of the FT-ANPC for mission-critical profiles.

This paper presents contributions to the reliability evaluation of drive systems constituted by induction motors supplied by frequency converters, taking into consideration the impact of environmental aspects on the failure rates of the system components, by means of fuzzy rules. As the main contributions of this work, can be cited: (i) a critical and comparative analysis of the main standards for failure rate prediction, as well as standards for ambient classification and environmental factors which degrade electronic components; (ii) the proposal of a method based on fuzzy rules to determine the stress factor on electronic components due to hostile environments. Finally, an application example of the proposed method is presented for a low voltage motor drive system, being the main reliability figures of merit determined and discussed.