Abstract Meat products represent an important component of the human diet and are a good source of nutrients. Food-borne microorganisms are the main pathogens that cause human diseases as a result of food consumption, especially products of animal origin. The objective of the present research was to verify the antibacterial activity of the essential oil of Thymus vulgaris against strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus saprophyticus isolated from meat products. For this, the analyses of Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC) were performed in microdilution plates. The association of the product with antimicrobials was also studied using disk diffusion. And the anti-adherent activity, which was determined in the presence of sucrose, in glass tubes. Thyme oil showed a strong inhibitory activity against K. pneumoniae, P. aeruginosa and S. saprophyticus, with the MIC values ranging from 64 to 512 μg/mL, and bactericidal effect for most strains, with MBC values ranging from 256 to 1,024 μg/mL. T. vulgaris oil exhibited varied interactions in association with the antimicrobials, with synergistic (41.67%), indifferent (50%) and antagonistic (8.33%) effects. Regarding the anti-adherent activity, the test product was effective in inhibiting the adherence of all bacterial strains under study. Therefore, thyme oil presents itself as an antibacterial and anti-adherent agent against K. pneumoniae, P. aeruginosa and S. saprophyticus, being a natural product that can represent an interesting alternative in the efforts to combat foodborne diseases.

Resumo Os produtos cárneos representam um importante componente da dieta humana e constituem uma boa fonte de nutrientes. Microrganismos de origem alimentar são os principais patógenos que causam doenças humanas como resultado do consumo de alimentos, principalmente, produtos de origem animal. O objetivo da presente pesquisa foi verificar a atividade antibacteriana do óleo essencial de Thymus vulgaris frente às cepas de Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa e Staphylococcus saprophyticus isoladas de produtos cárneos. Para isso, foram realizadas as análises de Concentração Inibitória Mínima (CIM) e a Concentração Bactericida Mínima (CBM) em placas de microdiluição. Assim como, o estudo de associação do produto com antimicrobianos, realizado por difusão em disco. E a atividade antiaderente, que foi determinada na presença de sacarose, em tubos de vidro. O óleo de tomilho apresentou uma forte atividade inibitória contra K. pneumoniae, P. aeruginosa e S. saprophyticus, com os valores de CIM variando entre 64 a 512 μg/mL, e efeito bactericida para a maioria das cepas, com valores de CBM entre 256 a 1.024 μg/mL. O óleo de T. vulgaris exibiu interações variadas na associação com os antimicrobianos, com efeitos sinérgicos (41,67%), indiferente (50%) e antagonista (8,33%). Em relação a atividade antiaderente, o produto teste foi eficaz na inibição a aderência de todas cepas bacterianas em estudo. Portanto, o óleo de tomilho apresenta-se como agente antibacteriano e antiaderente frente a K. pneumoniae, a P. aeruginosa e a S. saprophyticus, sendo um produto natural que pode representar uma alternativa interessante nos esforços para combater doenças transmitidas por alimentos.

Resumo Este trabalho apresenta a utilização e proposição de técnica de identificação e localização de danos, por meio de modelos numéricos, adotando-se o método de localização de danos por meio da Diferença de Curvatura Modal (DCM) como referência para análise de uma estrutura de concreto biapoiada. Em seguida, apresenta-se uma proposta de formulação empírica capaz de localizar danos nesta estrutura. Neste método, denominado Diferença das Somatórias das Acelerações (DSA), calcula-se a diferença das amplitudes de aceleração em estruturas íntegras e com dano, representadas por placas de concreto sobre apoios de borracha nas extremidades. O modelo numérico foi elaborado com auxílio do pacote computacional em Elementos Finitos SAP2000®. Por meio destas técnicas conclui-se que é possível determinar a posição aproximada de um ou mais danos, com algumas restrições, tendo o método proposto (DSA), baseado na alteração da amplitude de aceleração, apresentando bons resultados na localização de um único dano e de múltiplos danos.

Abstract This paper presents the use of numerical model techniques for identification and damage location adopting the Modal Curvature Difference (MCD) method as reference for the analysis of a simply supported concrete structure. Then, an empirical formulation to detect damages in this structure is proposed. In this method, called Acceleration Summation Difference (ASD), the difference of acceleration amplitude between intact and damaged structures are calculated for concrete plates simply supported on rubber bearings. During the analyses, the finite element models were developed using SAP2000® software. The results obtained depicted that it is possible to determine the approximate position of one or more damages in the structure, with some restrictions, and the proposed ASD method presented good correlation to localize the position of single or multiple damages.

Resumo Um estudo analítico voltado para o projeto de tanques cilíndricos para armazenagem de líquidos, apoiados sobre fundação deformável, é desenvolvido neste trabalho. O solo sob os tanques é modelado como um meio elástico linear. A parede cilídrica é considerada rigidamente conectada à placa de fundação. Aqui, tanques de concreto são enfatizados, mas o estudo pode ser estendido para outros materiais de construção. Para a análise dos esforços atuantes sobre os tanques, eficientes e simplificadas expressões aproximadas são deduzidas com base em teorias analíticas rigorosas para cascas delgadas e placas circulares sobre fundações elásticas. Para verificar as expressões aproximadas propostas e investigar a influência da deformabilidade das fundações sobre os esforços e deslocamentos, análises paramétricas de tanques de concreto com diferentes valores de rigidez do solo são apresentadas. Os resultados ilustram a forte influência da rigidez da fundação sobre grandezas de projeto dos tanques e um desempenho muito bom das expressões aproximadas.

Abstract An analytical study aiming the design of cylindrical liquid storage tanks resting on deformable foundations is developed in this work. The soil under the tanks is modeled as an elastic linear medium. The cylindrical wall is considered rigidly connected to the plate foundation. Here, concrete tanks are emphasized, although the study can be extended to other construction materials. For the analysis of the design forces acting on the tanks, efficient and simplified approximate expressions are derived based on rigorous analytical theories for thin shells and circular plate on elastic foundations. To verify the proposed approximate expressions and investigate the influence of the foundation deformability on displacements and design forces, parametric analyses of concrete tanks with different soil stiffness values are presented. The results illustrate the strong influence of the foundation stiffness on the tank design quantities and a very good performance of the simplified expressions.

In DNA vaccines, the gene of interest is cloned into a bacterial plasmid that is engineered to induce protein production for long periods in eukaryotic cells. Previous research has shown that the intramuscular immunization of BALB/c mice with a naked plasmid DNA fragment encoding the Mycobacterium leprae 65-kDa heat-shock protein (pcDNA3-Hsp65) induces protection against M. tuberculosis challenge. A key stage in the protective immune response after immunization is the generation of memory T cells. Previously, we have shown that B cells capture plasmid DNA-Hsp65 and thereby modulate the formation of CD8+ memory T cells after M. tuberculosis challenge in mice. Therefore, clarifying how B cells act as part of the protective immune response after DNA immunization is important for the development of more-effective vaccines. The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanisms by which B cells modulate memory T cells after DNA-Hsp65 immunization. C57BL/6 and BKO mice were injected three times, at 15-day intervals, with 100 µg naked pcDNA-Hsp65 per mouse. Thirty days after immunization, the percentages of effector memory T (TEM) cells (CD4+ and CD8+/CD44high/CD62Llow) and memory CD8+ T cells (CD8+/CD44high/CD62Llow/CD127+) were measured with flow cytometry. Interferon γ, interleukin 12 (IL-12), and IL-10 mRNAs were also quantified in whole spleen cells and purified B cells (CD43−) with real-time qPCR. Our data suggest that a B-cell subpopulation expressing IL-10 downregulated proinflammatory cytokine expression in the spleen, increasing the survival of CD4+ TEM cells and CD8+ TEM/CD127+ cells.

We investigated the effect of adding the field-dependent recombination process, namely field-enhanced trapping, to the generation-recombination processes of charge carriers that model current oscillations in semiconductors. The main new features arising from this modification are identified in bifurcation diagrams with the electric field as the control parameter. The characteristic of the bifurcation diagrams is a function of impurity energy. Thus, we generated a set of bifurcation diagrams for a range of the impurity energy and applied bias. The energy dependence of the bifurcation diagrams is discussed considering the context of the competition between the generation-recombination mechanisms impact ionization and field-enhanced trapping.

We present an experimental study of bifurcation diagrams from low frequency current oscillations (LFO) measurements obtained from semi-insulating GaAs samples grown by low temperature molecular beam Epitaxy (LT-MBE). The considered growth temperatures were 215ºC and 265ºC. LFO are considered to be spontaneously generated oscillations under constant applied bias V. These oscillations were measurement and recorded in the form of time series. The bifurcation diagrams were obtained from the sequence of minima as a function of the applied bias. The standard measurement procedure was described elsewhere. As the control parameter, the bias allows the identification of a bifurcation route to chaos.

Electric transport properties measured by Van der Pauw resistivity experiments of Low-Temperature Molecular Beam Epitaxy (LT-MBE) GaAs samples are used to identify a method to improve the resistivity of GaAs material. We present results on five samples grown at 265, 310, 315, 325, and 345 ºC. The electric measurements were carried out at temperatures ranging from 130 to 300 K. In this temperature range the dominant transport process is identified as variable range hopping. The hopping parameter plotted against the growth temperature is shown to present a maximum. The mechanisms responsible for this behavior are discussed in relation to the compensation ratio.

O uso de plantas medicinais tem aumentado bastante na população mundial. O objetivo desta pesquisa é avaliar os efeitos do extrato aquoso das folhas da Hyptis pectinata, popularmente conhecida como "sambacaitá" ou "canudinho", sobre a regeneração hepática após hepatectomia parcial de 70%. Foram utilizados 24 ratos, divididos em 4 grupos: grupo OS, em que se realizou operação simulada e aplicação oral de água destilada por 4 dias; grupo OSD200, também submetido à laparotomia com manipulação do fígado e aplicação de 200 mg de extrato/Kg de animal durante o mesmo período; grupo HP, hepatectomizado a 70% após 4 dias de aplicação por via oral de água destilada; e grupo HPD200, hepatectomizado a 70% após 4 dias de administração de 200 mg extrato/Kg de animal. Foram dosadas fosfatase alcalina, bilirrubina total e as aminotransferases e estudou-se o estado III da função mitocondrial. O grupo OSD200, quando comparado ao OS, apresentou redução significativa da fosfatase alcalina. O grupo HPD200, em comparação ao HP, teve redução estatisticamente significativa no nível da AST e do estado III da função mitocondrial.

The use of medicinal plants has strongly increased by the world population. The objetive of this study is to assess the effects of the aqueous extract of Hyptis pectinata leaves, popularly known as "sambacaitá" or "canudinho", on liver regeneration after 70% partial hepatectomy. Twenty four rats were divided into 4 groups: group OS, submitted to sham operation and oral administration of distilled water during 4 days; group OSD200, also submitted to sham operation and ingestion of 200 mg of extract/Kg of animal for the same period of time; group HP, which underwent 70% hepatectomy after 4 days of distilled water administration; and group HPD200, which underwent 70% hepatectomy after 4 days of oral administration of 200 mg of extract/Kg of animal. Alkaline phosphatase, total bilirubin and the serum level of aminotransferases were measured and state III of mitochondrial respiratory activity was assessed. Group OSD200, when compared to OS, presented significant decrease of alcaline fosfatase. Group HPD200, when compared to HP, showed statistically significant decrease of AST level and state III respiratory process.