RESUMO: Com a possibilidade do uso de amônio-glufosinate no milho, são fundamentais estudos com associações desse herbicida junto a outros. O objetivo do presente trabalho foi avaliar o controle de plantas daninhas e a seletividade de herbicidas em associação ao amônio-glufosinate em milho contendo os genes pat e cp4-epsps. O experimento foi realizado em campo em duas localidades, dispostos em blocos ao acaso com quatro repetições. Os tratamentos foram: amônio-glufosinate; glyphosate; amônio-glufosinate + glyphosate; amônio-glufosinate + nicosulfuron; amônio-glufosinate + atrazine; amônio-glufosinate + tembotrione; amônio-glufosinate + mesotrione; amônio-glufosinate + carfentrazone ethyl; amônio-glufosinate + bentazon; amônio-glufosinate + 2,4-D; e testemunha sem capina e testemunha capinada. Foram feitas realizadas avaliações visuais de injúria, fluxo de transporte de elétrons do fotossistema II (ETR), quantificação de amônia, altura e rendimento de grãos das plantas de milho, além de controle das plantas daninhas em ambos os locais. A adoção da aplicação de glufosinate e suas associações não proporcionou redução de produtividade quando comparada à testemunha capinada; alguns tratamentos apresentaram maiores níveis de injúria visual e acúmulo de amônia, porém sem redução de produtividade. Portanto, a mistura de herbicidas com o amônio-glufosinate pode ser uma alternativa para o controle de plantas daninhas, sem causar danos à cultura do milho, que apresenta na sua constituição genética os genes cp4-epsps e pat.

ABSTRACT: With the possibility of using ammonium glufosinate in corn, studies on its association with other herbicides are essential. The aim of this study was to assess weed control and herbicide selectivity in association with ammonium glufosinate in corn containing the pat and cp4-epsps genes. The experiment was carried out under field conditions in two sites in a randomized block design with four replications. Treatments consisted of ammonium glufosinate, glyphosate, ammonium glufosinate + glyphosate, ammonium glufosinate + nicosulfuron, ammonium glufosinate + atrazine, ammonium glufosinate + tembotrione, ammonium glufosinate + mesotrione, ammonium glufosinate + carfentrazone ethyl, ammonium glufosinate + bentazon, ammonium glufosinate + 2,4-D, control without weeding, and hand-weeded control. Visual assessments were performed regarding damage, electron transport rate in photosystem II (ETR), ammonia quantification, height, and grain yield of corn plants, as well as weed control at both sites. The application of ammonium glufosinate and its associations did not provide a reduction in productivity when compared to the hand-weeded control. Some treatments presented higher levels of visual damage and ammonia accumulation, but without a yield reduction. Therefore, herbicide mixture with ammonium glufosinate may be an alternative to weed control without damaging corn crop, which presents in its genetic constitution the cp4-epsps and pat genes.

RESUMO: O uso de herbicidas é amplamente difundido no manejo de plantas daninhas, e os adjuvantes são acrescentados à calda de pulverização para melhorar a eficiência das aplicações. Assim, objetivou-se neste estudo avaliar a influência dos adjuvantes em adição aos herbicidas saflufenacil e glyphosate isolados ou em mistura, bem como os efeitos na tensão superficial, deposição e eficiência em aplicações em pós-emergência para o controle de Conyza sumatrensis. Foram realizados experimentos em delineamento experimental inteiramente casualizado, para avaliar a tensão superficial (TS), deposição e eficiência dos herbicidas. Os tratamentos utilizados foram glyphosate, glyphosate + saflufenacil e saflufenacil, com ou sem os adjuvantes. Para os experimentos de deposição das caldas e eficácia dos herbicidas, adotou-se esquema fatorial 3 x 5 no experimento realizado em abril, em que o fator A correspondeu à combinação entre os herbicidas glyphosate, saflufenacil e glyphosate + saflufenacil, e o fator B, à adição dos adjuvantes Natur’al óleo®, Assist®, Aterbane® e Silwet L-77®. No experimento realizado em novembro, o adjuvante Dash HC® foi adicionado e adotou-se um esquema fatorial 3 x 6. Os adjuvantes reduziram a TS das caldas dos herbicidas, sendo o Silwet L-77® o mais eficiente. Contudo a redução da TS não influenciou na deposição das caldas sobre as plantas de C. sumatrensis. O uso de adjuvantes não resultou em controle eficiente para as aplicações apenas com glyphosate.

ABSTRACT: The use of herbicides is widespread in weed management, and adjuvants are added to the spray solution to improve the effectiveness of applications. The goal was to evaluate the influence of adjuvants added to the herbicides saflufenacil and glyphosate, isolated or in combination, and the effects on the surface tension, deposition and effectiveness in post-emergence applications to control Conyza sumatrensis. Experiments were conducted completely randomized experimental design to evaluate surface tension (TS), deposition and herbicide effectiveness. The treatments were glyphosate, glyphosate + saflufenacil and saflufenacil with or without the adjuvants Natur’al óleo®, Assist®, Aterbane®, Sillwet L-77 and Dash HC® (surface tension). For the experiments about mixture deposition and herbicide effectiveness, the factorial scheme 3 x 5 was adopted in the experiment performed in April, where factor A corresponded to the combination of the herbicieds glyphosate, saflufenacil and glyphosate + saflufenacil, and factor B was the addition of the adjuvants Natur’al óleo®, Assist®, Aterbane®, Sillwet L-77. For experiments conducted in November, the adjuvant Dash HC® was added, and the 3x6 factorial design was adopted. The adjuvants reduced the ST of the herbicide mixture, and Silwet L-77® was the most effective one. However, the ST reduction did not influence the mixture deposition on C. sumatrensis plants. The use of adjuvants did not result in an effective control for the applications with sole glyphosate.

Genetic and functional aberrations of guanine nucleotide-binding protein, alpha stimulating (GNAS), aryl hydrocarbon receptor interacting protein (AIP), and pituitary tumor transforming gene (PTTG) are among the most prominent events in pituitary tumorigenesis. A cohort of Brazilian patients with somatotropinomas (n=41) and non-functioning pituitary adenomas (NFPA, n=21) from a single tertiary-referral center were evaluated for GNAS and AIP mutations and gene expression of AIP and PTTG. Results were compared to the clinical and biological (Ki67 and p53 expression) characteristics of tumors and their response to therapy, if applicable. Genetic analysis revealed that 27% of somatotropinomas and 4.8% of NFPA harbored GNAS mutations (P=0.05). However, no differences were observed in clinical characteristics, tumor extension, response to somatostatin analog therapy, hormonal/surgical remission rates, Ki67 index, and p53 expression between mutated and non-mutated somatotropinomas patients. PTTG overexpression (RQ mean=10.6, min=4.39, max=11.9) and AIP underexpression (RQ mean=0.56, min=0.46-max=0.92) were found in virtually all cases without a statistically significant relationship with clinical and biological tumor features. No patients exhibited somatic or germline pathogenic AIP mutations. In conclusion, mutations in GNAS and abnormal PTTG and AIP expression had no impact on tumor features and treatment outcomes in this cohort. Our data support some previous studies and point to the need for further investigations, probably involving epigenetic and transcriptome analysis, to improve our understanding of pituitary tumor behavior.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the immobilization of lipase on a chitosan support by physical adsorption, aiming at its application in hydrolytic and synthetic reactions. Two types of chitosan (flakes and porous) were used for immobilizing lipase from a microbial source (Candida rugosa) and animal cells (porcine pancreas). The best results for recovery of total activity after immobilization were obtained for microbial lipase and porous chitosan beads. This set was selected for further immobilization studies, including full characterization of the immobilized derivative in aqueous and organic media. In aqueous medium, the operational and thermal stabilities of this preparation were quantified. In organic medium, the direct synthesis of n-butyl butyrate in organic solvent was chosen as a model reaction. The influence of several parameters, such as temperature, initial butyric acid concentration and amount of enzyme in the reaction system, was analyzed. Production of n-butyl butyrate was optimized and an ester yield response equation was obtained, making it possible to predict ester yields from known values of the three main factors. Use of this immobilized preparation was extended to the direct esterification of a large range of carboxylic acids (from C2 to C12) with a variety of alcohols (from C2 to C10).

O presente estudo acompanhou durante 82 dias o curso da infecção experimental com T. evansi em quatro cães, realizando a avaliação dos achados hematológicos, bioquímicos e anatomopatológicos. Os animais infectados mostraram declínio acentuado na contagem de hemácias, hematócrito e teor de hemoglobina, permanecendo anêmicos a partir da terceira semana de infecção até o final do período experimental. Leucopenia com neutropenia foram observadas entre a segunda e a quinta semanas após a infecção. Os cães inoculados desenvolveram hiperproteinemia, sendo constatada diminuição na relação albumina:globulina. As atividades séricas de alamina aminotransferase e aspartato aminotransferase aumentaram significativamente nos cães infectados em relação aos animais controle. O exame histopatológico revelou hiperplasia linfóide no baço e linfonodos e infiltrado mononuclear periportal e esteatose de padrão centrolobular no fígado de todos os cães infectados. Intenso infiltrado mononuclear foi observado no miocárdio de três cães e acúmulos de células mononucleares junto às meninges foram evidenciados em dois animais infectados.

The course of experimental T. evansi infection in four dogs was followed for 82 days and hematological, biochemical and anatomopathological findings were studied. Infected animals showed progressive decrease in red blood cell count and hemoglobin concentration, leading to anemia which persisted from the third week post-infection until the end of the study. Leucopenia and neutropenia were observed between weeks 2 and 5 of the infection. The infected dogs developed hyperproteinemia and a decrease in the albumin:globulin ratio was observed. Aspartate aminotransferase and alamine aminotransferase levels increased significantly in infected dogs in comparison to control dogs. Histological changes observed in all infected animals consisted of lymphoid hyperplasia in spleens and lymph nodes and centrilobular degeneration and periportal mononuclear cell accumulation in the liver. A massive mononuclear cell infiltration of the myocardium was seen in three dogs and a nonsuppurative meningoencephalitis was evidente in two infected animals.

The enzymatic synthesis of selected low molecular weight esters such as acetate esters by direct esterification using acetic acid as acyl donor usually display low yields. The acetic acid changes the polarity of the reaction medium, which in this turn modifies the partitioning of water between the solid phase (enzyme preparation) and the liquid phase (substrate), resulting in its accumulation on the enzyme solid phase. This may reduce the enzyme´s local pH. Therefore, the enzyme active site is modified and the reaction became nearly impossible. Our previous work showed that there is a negative relationship between enzyme activity and substrate partition coefficient (Ps); that is, the higher the substrate partition coefficient the lower the amount of product formed. This work investigated the feasibility of minimizing this inhibition by replacing the esterification reaction for alcoholysis reaction using several acetate esters. This approach enhanced the reaction yields to 46%, which is about 3 times higher than that one obtained in the esterification route.

O momento atual sugere programas de qualidade para laboratórios. Assim formas de controle e identificação de variações e valores "aberrantes" se mostram cada vez mais necessárias. Este trabalho demonstra o emprego de estatística exploratória através desenhos esquemáticos ("boxplots"), bastante simples, com intuito de identificar comportamento "aberrante" em análises de proteínas e cinzas, em duplicatas para 30 de farinhas de trigo integral diferentes, podendo ser generalizado para triplicatas ou qualquer outro número de replicações. Os métodos empregados para proteínas e cinzas foram, respectivamente, Kjeldahl (semi-micro) e incineração. Foram obtidos limite inferior de 12,89% e superior de 15,08% para proteínas no conjunto dos 60 resultados, bem como limite inferior de 1,35% e limite superior de 1,99% para cinzas. Não houve valores "aberrantes" nos resultados para proteínas ou cinzas. No entanto, para as diferenças em valor absoluto entre duplicatas de cada farinha foram obtidos limite inferior de 0,010% e superior de 0,295% para proteínas, enquanto limite inferior de 0,01% e limite superior de 0,19% para cinzas. Foram "aberrantes" 2 (duas) diferenças para proteínas, correspondentes às farinhas 2 e 8, com valores 0,40 e 0,31%, enquanto que 3 (três) diferenças para cinzas nas farinhas 9, 15 e 16, com valores 0,21, 0,26 e 0,39%. Estas farinhas, cujas diferenças se mostraram "aberrantes", deverão ser novamente analisadas e nenhum valor, "aberrante" ou não, deve ser imediatamente descartado

Nowadays quality programs have been receiving great attention, so methods and techniques for control and identify variations and outliers are being needed more and more. This paper shows the use of boxplots, very simple, to identify outliers in measures of protein and ash on doubles of 30 wheat flours. The same approach in this article may be used in any other material, analysis and number of repetitions. Were employed Kjeldahl (half micro) for protein and incineration for ashes. The results of protein (60 observations) showed lower and upper limits 12.89 and 15.08%, and the limits for ashes were 1.35 and 1.99%. There were no outliers for protein and ashes. Nevertheless, refering to the absolute value of the differences between the doubles in the 30 flours, the lower limit for protein was 0.010 and the upper was 0.295%, while those limits for ashes were 0.01 and 0.19%. Two outliers in the differences for protein were identified, corresponding to flours 2 and 8 with values 0.40 and 0.31, while three outliers in the differences for ashes were identified, wich corresponded to flours 9, 15 and 16, with values 0.21, 0.26 and 0.39%. Those flours whose differences were found being outliers must be analysed again and no value, outlier or not, must be dismissed.