RESUMO Em 1649, o governo português criou a Companhia Geral de Comércio do Brasil sob os auspícios do rei d. João IV. A ideia original era atrair os comerciantes e homens de negócio mais ativos da época para participarem do lucrativo comércio praticado no Atlântico português, especialmente com o Brasil. Desta maneira, se fomentaria o comércio internacional de Portugal com as suas colônias, utilizando os contatos de muitos cristãos novos e suas redes de caráter transnacional. Este artigo pretende analisar o funcionamento da rede europeia da Companhia Geral de Comércio do Brasil, assim como as competências, funções e atividades dos seus agentes.

ABSTRACT In 1649, the Portuguese Government established the General Trade Company of Brazil under the protection of King João IV. The original plan was to engage the most active traders at that time to promote the profitable route offered by the Portuguese Atlantic, particularly with Brazil. These would, therefore, promote the trade between Portugal and his colonies by deploying the connections of the New Christians (forcibly converted Jews) and their transnational networks. This paper aims not only to disclose the European network of the General Trade Company of Brazil, but also to shed light on its agents’ role and duties within the Company.

RESUMEN En 1649 fue creada la Companhia Geral de Comércio do Brasil por parte del gobierno portugués bajo los auspicios del rey João IV. La idea primigenia fue la de atraer a los comerciantes y hombres de negocios más activos del momento para que participaran del lucrativo comercio que ofrecía el Atlántico portugués, concretamente las tierras de Brasil. De esta manera, se fomentaría el comercio internacional de Portugal con Brasil utilizando los contactos de muchos cristianos nuevos y sus redes de naturaleza transnacional. Este artículo pretende analizar el funcionamiento de la red europea de la Companhia Geral de Comércio do Brasil así como las competencias, funciones y actividades de sus agentes.

Los marcadores moleculares han mostrado su gran utilidad en la caracterización de los animales domésticos, por ello, el objetivo de este trabajo fue caracterizar genéticamente al cerdo criollo de Ecuador mediante el uso de microsatélites. Se recolectaron muestras de pelo de 15 animales. Se utilizó un panel de 25 microsatélites, la amplificación de los mismos se realizó mediante la reacción en cadena de la polimerasa y los fragmentos amplificados, separados por electroforesis en geles de poliacrilamida. Se calcularon el número medio de alelos por locus (MNA), las frecuencias alélicas, las heterocigosidades esperada (He) y observada (Ho), el contenido de información polimórfica (PIC), así como el equilibrio Hardy-Weinberg (EHW) y el F IS por marcador. El número medio de alelos encontrado por locus ha sido de 6.2 y el porcentaje de individuos heterocigotos se comportó por encima de del 60%. De la totalidad de los loci estudiados el 68 % mostró un PIC elevado. Estos resultados muestran que el cerdo Criollo ecuatoriano posee una elevada diversidad genética, información esencial para optimizar las estrategias nacionales de conservación y mejora de este genotipo en el Ecuador.

The molecular markers have shown their great utility in the characterization of the domestic animals, hence, the objective of this work was to characterize, genetically, the Creole pig of Ecuador by means of microsatellites. Samples of hair of 15 animals were gathered. A panel of 25 microsatellites, the amplification of the same was carried out by means of the reaction in chain of the polymerase and the amplified fragments, separated by electrophoresis in gels of polyacrylamide. In addition, were calculated the half number of alleles by locus (MNA), the allelic frequencies, the expected (He) and the observed (Ho) heterozygosity , the content of polymorphic information (PIC), as well as the balance Hardy-Weinberg (EHW) and the F IS for marker. The half number of alleles found by locus has been of 6.2 and the percentage of individual heterozygote behaved above of 60%. Of the entirety of the studied loci the 68% showed a high PIC. These results show that the Ecuadorian Creole pig possesses a high genetic diversity, essential information to optimize the national strategies of conservation and it improvement of this genotype in Ecuador.

The present study analyzed the psychometric properties and the validity of the Spanish version of the Team Climate Inventory (TCI). The TCI is a measure of climate for innovation within groups at work and is based on the four-factor theory of climate for innovation (West, 1990). Cronbach's alpha and omega indexes revealed satisfactory reliabilities and exploratory factor analysis extracted the four original factors with the fifth factor as reported in other studies. Confirmatory factorial analysis confirmed that the five-factor solution presented the best fit to our data. Two samples (Spanish health care teams and Latin American software development teams) for a total of 1099 participants were compared, showing metric measurement invariance. Evidences for validity based on team performance and team satisfaction prediction are offered.

El presente estudio analiza las propiedades psicométricas y la validez de una versión española del Team Climate Inventory (TCI). El TCI es un instrumento para la medición del clima de los equipos de trabajo, que se desarrolla a partir de una teoría de cuatro factores aplicada a la innovación de equipo (West, 1990). El estudio muestra una fiabilidad satisfactoria del instrumento, estimada con índices Alpha de Cronbach y Omega. El análisis factorial explotatorio retuvo cuatro factores más un quinto, tal como se encontró en otras validaciones del TCI. El análisis factorial confirmatorio permitió averiguar que el mejor ajuste a los datos se obtuvo con el modelo de cinco factores. En el estudio, además, se compararon dos muestras (una de equipos de trabajo sanitarios españoles y otra de equipos de trabajo latinoamericanos pertenecientes a una empresa de desarrollo informático) con un total de 1099 participantes, cuya comparación muestra evidencias de invarianza factorial. Finalmente, se aportan evidencias de validez basadas en la predicción del rendimiento de equipo y de la satisfacción de los miembros.

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is one of the essential foods of the human diet; advances in agronomic crop management can improve productivity and profitability as well as reduce adverse environmental impacts. Nitrogen rates in Chile are generally based on crop yield without considering other agronomic factors. The objective of this experiment was to determine the effect of increasing N rates on plant nutrient composition and N apparent recovery in rice cultivated in five different locations in Chile. The five sites located in central Chile belong to one of the following soil orders: Inceptisol, Alfisol, and Vertisol; they were cropped in field conditions with ’Zafiro-INIA’ rice fertilized with 0, 80, and 160 kg N ha-1. Whole-plant total DM, macronutrient composition, and N apparent recovery efficiency (NARE) were determined at grain harvest. Results indicate that all evaluated parameters, with the exception of K concentration, were affected by the soil used. Nitrogen rates only affected total DM production and P, K, and Mg concentrations in plants. Phosphorus and K response decreased when N was added to some soils, which is associated with its chemical properties. Magnesium concentration exhibited an erratic effect, but it was not affected by the N rate in most soils. Nitrogen apparent recovery efficiency was not affected by the N rate and accounted for approximately 49% and 41% for 80 and 160 kg N ha-1, respectively. Macronutrient composition was 5.1-7.7 g N, 1.3-1.8 g P, 5.4-10.8 g K, 1.68-2.57 g Ca, and 0.81-1.45 g Mg kg-1 of total DM.

OBJETIVO: Validar e desenvolver um método de dosagem de alfa-1 antitripsina (AAT) por imunonefelometria em amostras de sangue em papel-filtro em pacientes com DPOC no Brasil. MÉTODOS: Amostras de soro e de sangue em papel-filtro de 192 pacientes com DPOC foram utilizadas para a dosagem de AAT. Para a preparação das amostras de sangue em papel-filtro, um disco do papel com diâmetro de 6 mm foi colocado em um tubo e eluído com 200 µL de PBS, permanecendo por toda a noite a 4ºC. Todas as amostras foram analisadas em duplicata por imunonefelometria. O método de reamostragem bootstrap foi utilizado para a determinação de um ponto de corte para o nível de AAT nas amostras de sangue em papel-filtro. RESULTADOS: O coeficiente de correlação entre os níveis de AAT em soro e em sangue em papel-filtro foi de r = 0,45. Para as amostras em papel-filtro, o ponto de corte foi de 2,02 mg/dL (IC97%: 1,45-2,64 mg/dL), com sensibilidade, especificidade, valor preditivo positivo e valor preditivo negativo de 100%, 95,7%, 27,2% e 100%, respectivamente. CONCLUSÕES: Este método de determinação dos níveis de AAT em sangue em papel-filtro se mostrou uma ferramenta confiável para o rastreamento de pacientes com deficiência de AAT.

OBJECTIVE: To validate and develop an immunonephelometric assay for the determination of alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) levels in dried blood spots from COPD patients in Brazil. METHODS: We determined AAT levels in serum samples and dried blood spots from 192 COPD patients. For the preparation of dried blood spots, a disk (diameter, 6 mm) was placed into a tube, eluted with 200 µL of PBS, and stored overnight at 4ºC. All of the samples were analyzed by immunonephelometry in duplicate. We used the bootstrap resampling method in order to determine a cut-off point for AAT levels in dried blood spots. RESULTS: The correlation coefficient between the AAT levels in serum samples and those in dried blood spots was r = 0.45. For dried blood spots, the cut-off value was 2.02 mg/dL (97% CI: 1.45-2.64 mg/dL), with a sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of 100%, 95.7%, 27.2%, and 100%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This method for the determination of AAT levels in dried blood spots appears to be a reliable screening tool for patients with AAT deficiency.

El caracol rosado Strombus gigas es una especie amenzada en México y otros sitios del Caribe. Su conservación a largo plazo requiere la comprensión de la conectividad entre sus poblaciones. En este estudio se evaluó la diversidad y diferenciación genética de muestras recolectadas en tres sitios del Caribe y Golfo de México adyacentes a la Península de Yucatán. Las muestras se obtuvieron de la captura comercial en Banco Chinchorro (n=50) e Isla Cozumel (n=40) en marzo de 2004. En noviembre de 2004 se obtuvieron muestras de Arrecife Alacranes (n=65) de animales vivos, mediante un método no invasivo diseñado para la obtención de hemolinfa; los organismos muestreados se liberaron de vuelta al medio natural. Se analizó la diversidad genética de dos genes del ADN mitocondrial (COI y Cyt-b). La diversidad genética en las tres localidades varió entre 0.55 - 0.65 en COI y 0.87 - 0.94 en Cyt-b no indicando reducción por cuello de botella. Un índice de fijación no significativamente diferente de cero (F ST=0.019, p=0.161) y un árbol en Red de Máxima Parsimonia que no mostró clados particulares asociados con localidades específicas, sugiere que no hay diferencias genéticas significativas entre sitios. Sin embargo, los patrones clinales observados en la diversidad genética y en las frecuencias haplotípicas, así como la mayor distancia genética registrada entre las localidades más alejadas (Banco Chinchorro y Arrecife Alacranes) sugiere un posible un patrón de aislamiento por distancia. Se discute el papel de los sistemas de corrientes principales del Caribe mexicano sobre la posible diferenciación genética de S. gigas. Asimismo, se discute el manejo de las localidades estudiadas como unidades discretas.

In Mexico and elsewhere in the Caribbean, the queen conch Strombus gigas is an endangered species. Understanding the genetic connectivity of their populations will support management strategies for long term conservation of the species. Genetic diversity and population differentiation was assessed from samples collected at Banco Chinchorro and Isla Cozumel in the Mexican Caribbean and at Arrecife Alacranes in the Gulf of Mexico. Samples were obtained from the commercial capture at Banco Chinchorro (n=50) and Isla Cozumel (n=40) on March 2004. On November 2004, a non-invasive method for the Arrecife Alacranes sampling was applied, taking the hemolymph of live animals (n=65) and releasing them to the wild. The mitochondrial DNA variation at two genes (COI and Cyt-b) was analyzed. Genetic diversity at the three locations ranged between 0.55-0.65 in COI and 0.87-0.94 in Cyt-b, showing no bottleneck evidences. A non-significant fixation index (F ST=0.019, p=0.161) and a Maximum Parsimony Network tree that did not show particular clades associated with any of the geographical locations, suggested a lack of statistically significant genetic differentiation among populations. Nevertheless, the cline patterns observed in both genetic diversity and haplotypic frequencies from Banco Chinchorro through Arrecife Alacranes, and the larger genetic distance between these locations from those between Isla Cozumel, Banco Chinchorro and Arrecife Alacranes, suggest the possibility of a pattern of isolation-by distance. The role of the main current systems over the potential genetic differences in S. gigas populations along the Mexican Caribbean, and the conservation management of S. gigas at these locations as discrete units is discussed. Rev. Biol. Trop. 59 (3): 1115-1126. Epub 2011 September 01.

Growth response of a two-year-old Pinus taeda L. (loblolly pine) plantation is evaluated for differing soil preparation and phosphorus fertilization regimes. The study was of first and second rotation sites on the Díaz de Vivar soil series, Kandihumults subgroup of the ultisols order, Corrientes Province, Argentina. A divided plot design was used in each trial, using a factorial experiment of 3 x 2 with three replicates. Treatment was: plowing; 50 and 80 cm ripping plus plowing, combined with 0 and 120 g/plant of triple super phosphate (0 - 46 - 0). On first rotation sites, higher responses resulted from 50 and 80 cm ripping showing a large difference compared with plowed-only areas. At second rotation sites, no significant distinction was seen between soil preparation methods. For both site types, the application of phosphorus had a significant positive effect on growth.

Se evalúa la respuesta del crecimiento de una plantación de Pinus taeda L. de dos años, bajo diferentes modalidades de roturación de suelos y fertilización con fósforo en terrenos de primera y segunda rotación de la serie Díaz de Vivar, pertenecientes al subgrupo de los Kandihumultes típicos del orden Ultisoles, del Noreste de la provincia de Corrientes, Argentina. El diseño utilizado en cada ensayo corresponde a parcelas divididas en un experimento factorial de 3 x 2 con tres repeticiones. Los tratamientos corresponden a la aplicación de rastra, subsolado a 50 y 80 cm de profundidad más rastra, combinados con 0 y 120 g pl-1 de superfosfato triple (0 - 46 - 0). Para el sector de primera rotación los mejores crecimientos se logran subsolando a 50 y 80 cm de profundidad, diferenciándose significativamente de las áreas preparadas sólo con rastra. En cambio, para el área de segunda rotación no se observan diferencias significativas entre los métodos de roturación de suelo. En ambos ensayos la aplicación de fósforo tuvo un efecto positivo y significativo sobre el crecimiento.