Multiple incursion pathways for Helicoverpa armigera in Brazil show its genetic diversity spreading in a connected world

The Old World cotton bollworm Helicoverpa armigera was first detected in Brazil with subsequent reports from Paraguay, Argentina, Bolivia, and Uruguay. This pattern suggests that the H. armigera spread across the South American continent following incursions into northern/central Brazil, however, this hypothesis has not been tested. Here we compare northern and central Brazilian H. armigera mtDNA COI haplotypes with those from southern Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay. We infer spatial genetic and gene flow patterns of this dispersive pest in the agricultural landscape of South America. We show that the spatial distribution of H. armigera mtDNA haplotypes and its inferred gene flow patterns in the southwestern region of South America exhibited signatures inconsistent with a single incursion hypothesis. Simulations on spatial distribution patterns show that the detection of rare and/or the absence of dominant mtDNA haplotypes in southern H. armigera populations are inconsistent with genetic signatures observed in northern and central Brazil. Incursions of H. armigera into the New World are therefore likely to have involved independent events in northern/central Brazil, and southern Brazil/Uruguay-Argentina-Paraguay. This study demonstrates the significant biosecurity challenges facing the South American continent, and highlights alternate pathways for introductions of alien species into the New World

Comparison of an automatic analysis and a manual analysis of conjunctival microcirculation in a sheep model of haemorrhagic shock

Life-threatening diseases of critically ill patients are known to derange microcirculation. Automatic analysis of microcirculation would provide a bedside diagnostic tool for microcirculatory disorders and allow immediate therapeutic decisions based upon microcirculation analysis

A new complimentary web-based tool for manual analysis of microcirculation videos: validation of the capillary mapper against the current gold standard AVA 3.2

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the current study was to compare a newly developed web-based freely accessible software program for manual analysis of the microcirculation, the Capillary Mapper (CM), with AVA 3.2 software (AVA; MicroVision Medical B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands), which is the current gold standard for analysis of microcirculation videos. METHODS: A web-based software program was developed, which enables manual analysis of videos of the microcirculation to be carried out according to recommendations of the 2018 consensus conference. A set of 50 high quality microcirculation videos was analyzed with AVA and CM with respect to total vessel density, perfused vessel density, proportion of perfused vessels, and the microvascular flow index. RESULTS: Comparison of the mean values derived from manual analysis with CM and AVA revealed no significant differences in microcirculatory variables. Analysis according to Bland and Altman revealed an acceptable bias between manual analysis with the CM and AVA for all variables tested with sufficient limits of agreement. The analysis of intraclass correlation showed "excellent" agreement for all microcirculatory variables analyzed. CONCLUSIONS: The newly developed CM was successfully validated for manual analyses of microcirculation videos against the current gold standard, the software AVA 3.2

Periplakin, a novel component of cornified envelopes and desmosomes that belongs to the plakin family and forms complexes with envoplakin

The cornified envelope is a layer of transglutaminase cross-linked protein that is assembled under the plasma membrane of keratinocytes in the outermost layers of the epidermis. We have determined the cDNA sequence of one of the proteins that becomes incorporated into the cornified envelope of cultured epidermal keratinocytes, a protein with an apparent molecular mass of 195 kD that is encoded by a mRNA with an estimated size of 6.3 kb. The protein is expressed in keratinizing and nonkeratinizing stratified squamous epithelia and in a number of other epithelia. Expression of the protein is upregulated during the terminal differentiation of epidermal keratinocytes in vivo and in culture. Immunogold electron microscopy was used to demonstrate an association of the 195-kD protein with the desmosomal plaque and with keratin filaments in the differentiated layers of the epidermis. Sequence analysis showed that the 195-kD protein is a member of the plakin family of proteins, to which envoplakin, desmoplakin, bullous pemphigoid antigen 1, and plectin belong. Envoplakin and the 195-kD protein coimmunoprecipitate. Analysis of their rod domain sequences suggests that the formation of both homodimers and heterodimers would be energetically favorable. Confocal immunofluorescent microscopy of cultured epidermal keratinocytes revealed that envoplakin and the 195-kD protein form a network radiating from desmosomes, and we speculate that the two proteins may provide a scaffolding onto which the cornified envelope is assembled. We propose to name the 195-kD protein periplakin

Development of an Adjustable Spiral-shaped Evaporator

The cooling of high heat flux is becoming increasingly important in technical applications. This is on the one hand due to the fact that the available installation space is becoming smaller and smaller due to progressive miniaturization, on the other hand to the ever-increasing performance, which has to be taken away in technically demanding processes such as Inconel machining. In order to meet this challenge, a new type of evaporator, the swirl evaporator, was developed. The swirl evaporator is a screw-shaped cylindrical evaporator with an internal diameter between 1 – 3 mm, which is inserted as a blind hole in components with high heat generation. The refrigerant is fed into the blind hole via a concentrically oriented capillary, deflected by 180° in the drilling base and flows out of the evaporator again in a helical way (twist flow) against the inflow direction. The evaporator\u27s design allows a compact size to be achieved, making it suitable for a wide range of technical applications. To enable a design for industrial needs, a 1-D simulation of the process had been conducted. The simulations showed ideal results for a hydraulic diameter of 2.05 mm and an evaporator length of 15 – 20 mm. According to the simulations an improvement of the energy efficiency of up to 19 % is possible when the mass flow is kept constant for R32. Based on the results of these simulations a design of the test-rig had been developed which allows different screw inserts to be tested with a variable length. Former experimental studies with R404A show that the average critical heat flux density of spot evaporators with a twist geometry increases by up to 33 % compared with spot evaporators without twist generation. The spot evaporators with swirl flow generation have a distinct, stable overheating zone with high heat flux (Humpfer, 2013)

Experimental Analysis Of Twisted Shaped Spot Evaporators At High Heat Fluxes

Devices for cooling high heat fluxes within small available spaces are called spot evaporators. Areas of application are for example the cooling of molds, power electronics or electrical mobility. The functionality of the spot evaporator bases on its geometry and is a combination of spray-cooling and pipe flow. Spray-cooling or jet impingement cooling is able to achieve high heat fluxes even at overcritical wall temperatures. To reach the same effects within the pipe-flow part of the spot evaporator, this part has to be twisted shaped. The paper focuses on the experimental analysis of the twisted shaped spot evaporator by varying fundamental parameters corresponding to the Model of Yagov. Two methods of generating the twist have been developed and compared to each other. The experimental results will be discussed. They show that the averaged critical heat flux can be raised up to 30 % compared to spot evaporators without twisted flow. As refrigerant R404A has been used

REFLEXÕES DE UM PROFESSOR EM FORMAÇÃO SOBRE O TRABALHO COM PRODUÇÃO TEXTUAL NO ENSINO MÉDIO NOTURNO

 Resumo: Este artigo objetiva compartilhar uma prática docente, desenvolvida, em situação de estágio, com produção textual, no gênero autobiografia e apresentar reflexões decorrentes dessa experiência, a qual foi realizada com uma turma de terceiro ano de Ensino Médio noturno pertencente a uma escola da rede pública estadual da cidade de Santa Maria – RS entre os meses de junho a dezembro de 2013. Para embasar teoricamente essa prática, buscamos aporte na perspectiva sociointeracionista de ensino, representada por Vygotsky (1991) e em Cosson (2011) no que tange ao gênero autobiografia. Quanto ao tratamento metodológico, utilizamos a metodologia dialética, segundo Vasconcellos (1992), além de trabalharmos com a proposta de sequências didáticas de Dolz e Schneuwly (2004) para sistematizarmos as atividades desenvolvidas em sala de aula. A realização dessa prática provocou-nos, enquanto professora em formação, alguns questionamentos e reflexões, referentes a aspectos que necessitam ser considerados no processo de ensino e aprendizagem em sala de aula, quais sejam: o público que frequenta a escola no turno da noite, seus objetivos de estudo e de trabalho, práticas docentes, horário reduzido no turno da noite e a construção da identidade desses estudantes por meio do trabalho com o gênero autobiografia

TRABALHO COM A INFORMAÇÃO EM SALA DE AULA:: Contribuições para o processo de ensino e aprendizagem

Este artigo foi desenvolvido a partir de uma pesquisa de doutorado realizada com uma turma de terceiro ano de Ensino Médio de uma escola pública, cuja pergunta de pesquisa é: Como se efetiva o uso de informações na construção da argumentação em gêneros textuais argumentativos escritos escolares?. A base teórica é constituída pela Linguística do Texto, em especial à informatividade, Beaugrande e Dressler (1981); Teoria da Argumentação, Perelman e Olbrechts-Tyteca (2014); perspectiva sociointeracionista de ensino e contribuições bakhtinianas. A Pesquisa-Ação, Burns (2010) e Thiollent (2011), configurou a metodologia de pesquisa basilar, à qual articulamos: o Desenvolvimento Profissional Corresponsável, a perspectiva de trabalho com gêneros textuais, a sequência didática e a pergunta problematizadora. Produções textuais de dois participantes de pesquisa compõem o corpus de análise. Dentre os resultados, destacamos que a adesão dos participantes de pesquisa ao enquadramento proposto conferiu-lhes o desenvolvimento de habilidades de escrita argumentativa a partir do uso de informações, envolvendo busca, seleção, apresentação e interpretação. Na esfera conclusiva, destacamos que este estudo propicia o entendimento do percurso de investigação até o alcance e proposição de uma contribuição metodológica, com base na informatividade, para o ensino do texto em sala de aula

The effects of cognitive competence and anxiety on depression in an elderly sample: a clinical assessment scales for the elderly (case) data analysis

This study investigates the impact of self- and other-report cognitive competence, anxiety and obsessive-compulsive behaviors on depression using a population sample from the archival data of the Clinical Assessment Scales of the Elderly (CASE). Structural Equation Modeling was used to test predictions of the abovementioned variables. Participants were a matched self-and other-report subset (N=123) of the CASE standardization sample (N=2,000). Structural equation modeling was used to test predictions. The results revealed that age does not predict self-report cognitive competence or other-report cognitive competence. A small covariance (0.42) was found between the errors of self-report cognitive competence and other-report cognitive competence. The data reports self-report depression mediates both self-report anxiety and self-report obsessive compulsive behaviors. Statistically significant large effects were found between self-report cognitive competence and all variables; self-report anxiety (0.72), self-report depression (0.62), and self-report obsessive compulsive behaviors (0.71). Moderate to large effects were found for other-report cognitive competence and all variables; other-report anxiety (.063), other-report depression (0.63), and other-report obsessive compulsive behaviors (0.35). The correlations between the anxiety and depression measures confirm the current literature regarding depression and anxiety. In this study depression has been found to have a mediating effect on both anxiety and obsessive compulsive behaviors in an elderly sample. The inclusion of obsessive compulsive behaviors as a measure of anxiety in this model has empirically demonstrated the variability of the presentation of depression. Psychological self-report measures continue to be the best determinant of a patient’s internal functioning. Research in the area of the presentation of depression in the elderly merits further investigation