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ABSTRACT The growing demand for clean energy aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with the oil crises has encouraged the search for biofuels, among which biodiesel has stood out in the gradual replacement of diesel. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of an agricultural tractor fueled with four types of biodiesels (peanut, sunflower, soybean, and waste frying oil) added to diesel at five proportions (0, 25, 50, 75, and 100% biodiesel, that is, B0, B25, B50, B75, and B100, respectively). The experiment was carried out at the Laboratory of Biofuel and Machinery Testing at FCAV–UNESP. A Valtra BM100 4×2 FWD tractor with a power of 74 kW (100 hp) was used. The drawbar pull force (DF), displacement velocity (V), drawbar power (DP), volumetric fuel consumption (VC), weight fuel consumption (WC), and specific fuel consumption (SC) were studied. The factors did not influence DF, V, and DP. The proportion factor influenced (p

The increasing water scarcity affects the agricultural sector, and it is a significant constraining factor for crop production in many areas of the world. Water resource management and use related to crop productivity is the most important factor in many crops. Since consumer demands healthy food, the nutritive quality and the active ingredient need to be considered within the productive issue. The objective of this study was to determine water technical efficiency related to seed yield and seed protein content and composition in quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) under water stress using data envelopment analysis (DEA). The study was conducted in Chillan, Chile in two growing seasons. As water availability increased, seed yield, globulin, and albumin yield increased, particularly in the genotype Cahuil. The higher average efficiency levels for the DEA were 46.7% and 39.2% in Cahuil in both seasons at 20% available water (AW). The highest average efficiency of globulin yield was recorded in the same genotype (Cahuil). The highest multi-product technical efficiency levels in all input and output included in this study were observed in Cahuil, Regalona, and Morado under water scarcity in both seasons. In future studies related to crop management, DEA provides a good framework for estimating efficiency under restricted factors and multi-product results.

Abstract Background The 24-h urine protein (24-hUP) excretion is the gold standard for evaluating proteinuria. This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of protein/creatinine ratio (PCR) for estimating 24-hUP at various levels of renal function and proteinuria levels. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted between December 2021 and December 2023 in Salvador, Bahia-Brazil, as an extension of previously published data from the TUNARI study. The study included 217 samples from 152 patients with various levels of renal function and proteinuria. PCR in isolated samples and 24-hUP were determined conventionally within a 24-h timeframe. Patients were classified into three groups according to the level of renal function (Group 1 = 10 to 60 mL/min) and level of proteinuria ( 3.5 g/day). The data were analyzed using the Spearman correlation (rs), coefficient of determination (r2), Bland–Altman plots and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Likelihood ratios, positive (LR +), and negative (LR-) were derived from the sensitivity and specificity of PCR. Results Mean age was 41.5 ± 15.7 years, 61.8% were women, 36.8% Black and 52% Mixed-race. Glomerulopathies constituted 80.3%; 46.1% with lupus nephritis. Of the total urine samples, we observed a high correlation between PCR in the total sample of 24-hUP sample (rs = 0.86, p 0.3–3.5 g/day, the sensitivity was 64.1%, the specificity was 84.6%, and the AUC was 0.76 (95% CI = 0.67; 0.84), PCR detected all cases > 3.5 g/day. Conclusions PCR is a suitable measure to be used as an indicator of 24-hUP at different levels of renal function, but may have limitations at higher levels of proteinuria. Analysis of PCR by proteinuria level found that agreement as well as sensitivity decreases at higher levels, but it maintains good specificity and is able to identify nephrotic range proteinuria.

La propuesta de Gilles Deleuze para la música de Hacer audibles fuerzas que en sí mismas no lo son encuentra como fuerza privilegiada al tiempo mismo, un tiempo ya definido por Bergson cómo heterogeneidad y que se dispone no sólo para nuestra conciencia, sino también para nuestros sentidos. Es así como, en cuanto la música se despliega para la sensibilidad en el tiempo de la conciencia, la experiencia musical se alza como territorio privilegiado para conocer cómo se produce la configuración del tiempo psicológico. Intentando develar los aspectos de la música que modelan el tiempo de la conciencia se abordará la relación establecida por Heidegger entre tiempo y técnica, dos modos de sacar de lo oculto.

O objetivo do trabalho foi avaliar a exigência de fósforo disponível (Pd) com o uso do fosfato monoamônio (MAP) como fonte de fósforo para frangos de corte na fase inicial (1 a 21 dias). Oitocentos pintos de corte machos de um dia de idade foram distribuídos em esquema fatorial com cinco níveis de Pd (0,28; 0,34; 0,40; 0,46 e 0,52%) associados a dois níveis de cálcio (Ca) (1,00 e 0,60%), totalizando dez tratamentos e oito repetições. Houve interação significativa entre os níveis de fósforo e cálcio da dieta, para as variáveis de desempenho, cinzas ósseas, retenção e excreção de P. Utilizando o nível de 1,0% de Ca na ração, os melhores resultados de desempenho e de cinzas ósseas foram obtidos quando utilizado o nível de 0,42% e 0,439% de Pd, respectivamente. O uso de 0,60% de Ca proporcionou maiores teores de cinzas ósseas apenas com a utilização de 0,28 % de Pd. Os maiores níveis de Pd proporcionaram maior excreção de P. Ao utilizar o MAP como fonte de P em rações de frangos de corte na fase inicial, a utilização dos níveis de 0,43% de Pd e 1,00% de Ca é suficiente para promover resultados satisfatórios de desempenho e mineralização óssea. PALAVRAS-CHAVE: desempenho; fonte de fósforo; frango de corte; mineralização óssea.

Abstract Background: Basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas (BCC and SCC) are the most common types of cancer worldwide. Intraoperative assessment of surgical margins by frozen section has been widely used to ensure disease-free margins. The intraoperative ‟en face” freezing technique evaluates all peripheral and deep margins. Objective: To report the results of the ‟en face” freezing technique in relation to tumor recurrence and agreement with paraffin-embedded tissue examination. Methods: Retrospective analysis of patients undergoing surgical excision of BCC and SCC at the A. C. Camargo Cancer Center, Brazil. Results: This study included 542 skin carcinomas, which were excised from 397 patients. A total of 201 male patients (50.6%), and 196 female patients (49.4%) were assessed, whose mean age was 64 years. The tumors were mostly located on the head and neck region (87.8%). BCC corresponded to 79.7% of the cases. The mean follow-up was 38 months. Tumor relapse occurred in 0.86% of the primary tumors and 3.7% of recurrent tumors. The result of the intraoperative ‟en face” frozen section evaluation was in agreement with the final result of the anatomopathological examination (paraffin test) in 98% of the lesions. Study limitations: Not having a minimum follow-up time of 5 years for all patients. Conclusion: The ‟en face” freezing technique shows low tumor relapse, being reliable and safe to guarantee negative surgical margins of the tumor.

Natural extracts, and particularly plant by-product extracts, can represent an eco-friendly alternative to synthetic pesticides to control crop diseases. We produced an extract from a mix of grapevine trunk and roots that contain a high amount of complex stilbenes (grapevine phytoalexins), especially ε- and r-viniferins. This extract conferred protection to grapevines against Plasmopara viticola (the causal agent of downy mildew) by displaying antimicrobial activities towards zoospore mobility and sporulation and by stimulating plant defences. From the perspective of its application in the field, a formulated preparation of the extract was proposed using polysorbate and sophorolipids. The formulated extract reduced the development of various oomycetes impacting grapevine, potato, tomato and melon in semi-controlled conditions. Thus, such grapevine extract constitutes a promising strategy to protect major cultivated plants against downy mildews.

The use of agricultural mechanization has become more efficient in several agricultural practices, highlighting the tractor as the main machine used in carrying out these activities, thus allowing more efficient cultivation practices. The objective was to determine the field length that obtains field efficiency of 90% in the soil tillage operation with a medium harrow depending on the displacement speed and the length of the field. The experiment was carried out in a completely randomized design, in an 8x3 factorial scheme, with six replications, totaling 96 observations. The first factor was eight field lengths (30, 60, 90, 120, 150, 180, 210 and 240 m). The second was three travel speeds (3.0; 4.1 and 4.7 km h-1). With the effective field yield data, a response curve was generated to select the field length that provides an effective field yield of 90%. In the displacement speed factor, the greatest operational field capacity occurred with 4.7 km h-1. For the field length factor, the greatest operational field capacity and field yield effective was observed with 240 m. The effective field yield of 90% is achieved with a field length of 120 meters. Maximum field capacity occurred at a speed of 4.7 km h-1 (0.93 ha h-1) with a field length of 214 m.

Abstract Background Malaria can be transmitted by blood transfusion through donations collected from asymptomatic donors. Transfusion-transmitted malaria (TTM) poses a great risk to blood services worldwide. A good screening tool for Plasmodium spp. detection in blood banks must have a high sensitivity for prevention of TTM. However, in Brazilian blood banks, screening for malaria still relies on microscopy. Methods In Brazil, screening for human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV), RNA/DNA for hepatitis C (HCV) and hepatitis B (HBV) viruses is mandatory for every blood donation and uses nucleic acid amplification testing (NAT). The aim of this study was to evaluate the inclusion of an assay for malaria to identify Plasmodium sp. from total nucleic acid (TNA; DNA/RNA) by targeting the 18S rRNA gene of the parasite. Results Considering the limitations of microscopy and the wide availability of the Brazilian NAT platform in the screening of blood units for HIV, HCV, and HBV, a molecular diagnostic tool was validated for detection of Plasmodium sp. in blood banks; a pilot study showed that using this novel NAT assay could reduce the risk of TTM. Conclusion The prototype HIV/HCV/HBV/malaria NAT assay was effective in detecting infected candidate donors and has good prospects to be applied in routine screening for preventing TTM.

rancisco Romero Robledo (1838-1906) fue uno de los artífices de la entronización de Alfonso XII y el advenimiento de la Restauración Borbónica (1875-1931). Como Ministro de la Gobernación al servicio de Antonio Cánovas, en el Partido Conservador, se encargó de garantizar el buen funcionamiento del sistema caciquil en España. Poco antes de morir, enfermo de cáncer, ejercería como Presidente del Congreso de los Diputados (1903-1905). Fue entonces cuando el periodista Azorín solicitó entrevistarse con él, a lo que Romero accedió de buen grado. Tras un fin de semana en casa del cacique, la finca antequerana de «El Romeral» (Málaga), Azorín decidió incumplir su misión, publicando, en lugar de la entrevista, las confidencias del personaje en un entorno informal que molestó a este y sus allegados, y que se analiza con detenimiento en el presente artículo. Abstract Francisco Romero Robledo (1838-1905) sponsored the coronation of Alfonso XII and the start of the Spanish Restauración Borbónica (1875-1931). As Ministry of Internal Affairs in the government of Antonio Cánovas, head of the Partido Conservador, he guaranteed the proper working of state corruption. Before dying of cancer in 1906, they appointed him chairman of the Parliament. It was then that journalist Azorín asked to interview him. Romero accepted, and after spending a weekend at his home, at the state known as «El Romeral», in Antequera (Malaga), Azorín changed his mind: instead of interviewing the despot, he published an accurate description of Romero’s private conversations that the latter took as an offense. In this article I study the elements that Azorín mentions in that article.

No Nordeste a cultura é cultivada quase que exclusivamente por produtores da agricultura familiar, com baixos níveis tecnológico, além do baixo uso de insumos, essenciais para garantir melhores produtividades. O presente trabalho objetivou avaliar o desempenho e produtividade do amendoim submetido a doses de adubação e espaçamentos entre plantas, em sistema de sequeiro e com irrigação complementar. O experimento foi realizado na Universidade Federal do Cariri. Foram conduzidos dois experimentos em blocos ao acaso em esquema de parcelas subdivididas, com quatro repetições. As parcelas foram quatro doses de adubação na semeadura (0, 50, 100 e 150%) e as subparcelas dois espaçamentos entre plantas (10 e 20 cm). A cultivar de amendoim utilizada foi a BRS151L7. A semeadura foi realizada manualmente, depositando-se 5 e 10 conforme o espaçamento entre plantas. A colheita foi realizada manualmente aos 90 dias após a semeadura. As variáveis população inicial e final apresentaram significância (p

Objetivou-se no trabalho avaliar o cultivo do amendoim em função da adubação de semeadura e do espaçamento entre plantas, em sistema de irrigação complementar e sequeiro no Cariri-CE. Foi utilizado o delineamento experimental em bloco ao acaso, em esquema de parcela subdividida com quatro repetições. As parcelas foram constituídas pelas doses de adubação de semeadura (0, 50, 100 e 150% da dose recomendada) e as subparcelas por dois espaçamentos entre plantas (10 e 20 cm). As variáveis avaliadas foram população inicial, população final, altura da planta, Massa de grãos por planta, número de vagens por planta, Massa de vagens por planta, Massa de grãos por vagens, Massa de1000 grãos e massa de 100 vagens, Produtividade de vagens, Produtividade de grãos e Porcentagem de grãos não comerciais. Os resultados demonstraram que o sistema sequeiro e irrigação influenciaram na produção do amendoim e a adubação no número vagens e a massa de vagens por planta foram significativas obtendo o ponto de máxima nas doses de 82,58 e 80,37%, respectivamente. O espaçamento de 20 cm ampliou a produtividade de grãos por plantas e a massa de 1000 grãos em 10,77% e 14,8% respectivamente.

Aquatic animals, such as freshwater turtles, are much dependent on the water bodies where they live. Here we describe the size distribution of a population of Phrynops geoffroanus complex that died after the total drought of the artificial water reservoir where it lived in Caatinga. Amongst the 438 animals we found dead in the Cedro water reservoir, we measured the maximum carapace length of 72 individuals. The population was mainly composed of adult individuals and dead turtles measured in areas that kept water for longer were larger than animals from areas that dried up early.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a multifactorial disease and the most common form of dementia. There are no treatments to cure, prevent or slow down the progression of the disease. Natural products hold considerable interest for the development of preventive neuroprotectants to treat neurodegenerative disorders like AD, due to their low toxicity and general beneficial effects on human health with their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant features. In this work we describe regioselective synthesis of 7-O-ester hybrids of the flavonoid taxifolin with the phenolic acids cinnamic and ferulic acid, namely 7-O-cinnamoyltaxifolin and 7-O-feruloyltaxifolin. The compounds show pronounced overadditive neuroprotective effects against oxytosis, ferroptosis and ATP depletion in the murine hippocampal neuron HT22 cell model. Furthermore, 7-O-cinnamoyltaxifolin and 7-O-feruloyltaxifolin reduced LPS-induced neuroinflammation in BV-2 microglia cells as assessed by effects on the levels of NO, IL6 and TNFα. In all in vitro assays the 7-O-esters of taxifolin and ferulic or cinnamic acid showed strong overadditive activity, significantly exceeding the effects of the individual components and the equimolar mixtures thereof, which were almost inactive in all of the assays at the tested concentrations. In vivo studies confirmed this overadditive effect. Treatment of an AD mouse model based on the injection of oligomerized Aβ25-35 peptide into the brain to cause neurotoxicity and subsequently memory deficits with 7-O-cinnamoyltaxifolin or 7-O-feruloyltaxifolin resulted in improved performance in an assay for short-term memory as compared to vehicle and mice treated with the respective equimolar mixtures. These results highlight the benefits of natural product hybrids as a novel compound class with potential use for drug discovery in neurodegenerative diseases due to their pharmacological profile that is distinct from the individual natural components. Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, Natural product hybrids, Flavonoids, Phenolic acids, Microglia, In vivo studies

O diagnóstico das lesões pigmentadas da face é considerado desafiador uma vez que lesões benignas e malignas podem compartilhar características clínicas e dermatoscópicas semelhantes, principalmente em lesões iniciais, sendo muitas vezes difícil de identificar as lesões de lentigo maligno da face. Assim, a microscopia confocal de reflectância pode se tornar uma ferramenta útil no diagnóstico dos lentigos malignos bem como para o seu planejamento cirúrgico.

Background: Transfusion‐transmitted malaria (TTM) is a public health problem in endemic and nonendemic areas. The Brazilian Ministry of Health (MH) requested the development of a nucleic acid amplification test (NAT) for the detection of Plasmodium spp. in public blood centers to increase blood safety. Study Design and Methods: The new Brazilian NAT kit named NAT PLUS HIV/HBV/HCV/Malaria Bio‐Manguinhos was first implemented in HEMORIO, a public blood center in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Since October 1, 2022, this blood center has been testing all its blood donations for malaria in a pool of six plasma samples to detect Plasmodium spp. by real‐time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results: Since the implementation of the NAT PLUS platform until February 2023, HEMORIO has successfully received and tested 200,277 donations. The platform detected two asymptomatic donors in the city of Rio de Janeiro, which is a nonendemic region for malaria. Our analyses suggested a malaria from the Amazon region caused by Plasmodium vivax, in the first case, while an autochthonous transmission case by Plasmodium malariae was identified in the rural area of Rio de Janeiro state. Discussion: The NAT PLUS platform detects Plasmodium spp. in plasma samples with sensitivity capable of detecting subpatent infections. This is the first time worldwide that a group developed and implemented molecular diagnosis for Plasmodium spp. to be used by public blood centers to avoid TTM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work presents an example of how to explore an historical experiment as a problem to be investigated in an inquiry-based laboratory model. The elaborated and executed purpose is one of the possibilities to insert History of Science in Science classroom. The inquiry-based experimental activity, the texts with historical approach based on modern historiography of science and teacher’s pedagogical knowledge allowed the development of argumentative skills and the comprehension of electromagnetism concepts. This study was developed with 3rd grade high school students from a public school of State of Paraiba.