André Luís Lopes da Silva

In vitro embryo rescue of interspecific hybrids of oil palm (Elaeis oleifera x Elaeis guineensis)

In the present study, we investigated the relationship between polymorphisms in the estrogen-metabolizing genes CYP17, CYP1B1, CYP1A1, and COMT and genomic instability in the peripheral blood lymphocytes of 62 BC patients and 62 controls considering that increased or prolonged exposure to estrogen can damage the DNA molecule and increase the genomic instability process in breast tissue. Our data demonstrated increased genomic instability in BC patients and that individuals with higher frequencies of MN exhibited higher risk to BC when belonging Val/Met genotype of the COMT gene. We also observed that CYP17 and CYP1A1 polymorphisms can modify the risk to BC depending on the menopause status. We can conclude that the genetic background in estrogen metabolism pathway can modulate chromosome damage in healthy controls and patients and thereby influence the risk to BC. These findings suggest the importance to ally biomarkers of susceptibility and effects to estimate risk groups.The oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) is the major source of plant oil in the world. Nevertheless, is susceptible to the fatal yellowing disease, which is affecting the oil palm production in Para state, Brazil. To overcome this problem, interspecific hybrids of Elaeis oleifera x Elaeis guineensis is a viable alternative. Some protocols for in vitro embryo rescue were already established, but it is necessary to optimize it. The aim of this paper was to optimize the in vitro protocol for culture of embryos from interspecific hybrids of oil palm (E. oleifera x E. guineensis). Disinfection embryos were carried out with 1 and 2% NaOCl for 20 or 40 minutes. Embryos were germinated in vitro on the presence of 0, 0.1, 0.2 and 0.25% activated charcoal and Embryos were cultured in vitro on the presence of 2.4Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2.4-D) at 375, 500 and 625 µM for callus induction. Activated charcoal (0.25%) is necessary to reduce oxidation in the embryos. Seed disinfection can be suitable reached with 1% NaOCl for 20 minutes. Different varieties have different ideal levels of 2.4-D for callus induction. The best level of 2.4-D for callus induction is 375 and 625 µM for the varieties SJ-167 and SJ-165, respectively.

Germinação e propagação in vitro de porongo

The objective was to develop a protocol of in vitro germination and propagation of bottlegourd (Lagenaria siceraria). Experiments of in vitro disinfestation and germination were carried out with intact seeds and seeds without tegument. Cotyledonary explants, apical and nodal segments were propagated in MS medium, supplemented with 30g L-1 of sucrose. Bottlegourd intact seeds only germinated on germitest paper. Seeds without tegument, disinfected in alcohol 70% for 1min. and sodium hypochlorite (3 to 4%) for 10min., geminated in a culture medium of distilled water and 30g L-1 of sucrose, making possible the in vitro establishment of bottlegourd seedlings. Cotyledonary explants produce adventitious shoots and apical and nodal segments grow and root in MS medium without growth regulators. Direct organogenesis of cotyledonary explants and regeneration of apical and nodal segments make easy bottlegourd in vitro propagation and offer a good opportunity to use tissue culture as a complementary tool for breeding and genetics or other applications.

Organogênese direta de explantes cotiledonares e regeneração de plantas de mogango

The objectives were to induce direct organogenesis of squash cotyledons and to study the regeneration of complete plantlets from adventitious shoot. Cotyledon explants of 20-day seedlings were cultured in MS (MURASHIGE & SKOOG, 1962) medium supplemented with 30g L-1 of sucrose and 7g L-1 of agar. The 6-benzilaminopurina (BAP) concentrations of 0, 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0mg L-1 were tested. Apical and nodal explants from adventitious shoots were transferred to MS medium supplemented with 30g L-1 of sucrose and 7g L-1 of agar. Increasing BAP concentrations in the MS medium enhance the percentage of adventitious shoot and reduce the percentage of root organogenesis of squash cotyledon explants. Apical and nodal explants from adventitious shoot regenerated plantlets with roots in MS medium without growth regulators. High percentage of plantlet rooting depends upon the size of the explants.

Fuzzy adaptive extended Kalman filter for UAV INS/GPS data fusion

This paper uses the extended Kalman filter (EKF) for estimation of position, velocity and attitude of an UAV of quadrotor type. The sensors used are low cost microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) accelerometer and gyroscope, MEMS barometer and GPS. The standard EKF is improved with adaptive approaches. Two innovation adaptive estimation methods were taken from the literature. One involves the change of the theoretical matrix of the innovation covariance, by another one which is determined experimentally; the second one involves the computation of the output noise covariance matrix of the Kalman filter (KF) via fuzzy logic. A new method for adaptive estimation was also developed by extending an approach of heuristic metrics of bias and amplitude of oscillation taken from the literature. It consists in the use of the metrics, together with fuzzy logic, for adjusting the input and output noise covariance matrices of the EKF. The adaptive and standard filters were both implemented in hardware and simulated. The hardware implementation involves rotation filters in indoor tests performed in open loop; these observations were exclusively carried out in a hand-controlled environment, with no flight of the quadrotor itself. The simulations were performed in conditions of the full capability of the filters, in a scenario representing a fault condition in the gyroscope. The tests showed the ability of the adaptive filters of correcting the covariance matrix for improving performance.

GERMINAÇÃO IN VITRO DE SEMENTES DE MOGANGO (CUCURBITA PEPO L.) - CUCURBITACEAE

An increase in osmotic pressure reduces the free energy of waterthrough an increase in solute concentration. The objective of this study wasto verify the effect of reduced osmotic pressure in in vitro germination ofsquash (Cucurbita pepo). Seed disinfestation was done with by an immersionin alcohol 70% for three min, washing three times with sterile distilled water,immersion in a solution of NaOCl (2.5%) for 10, 20, 30 or 40 min, and washingthree times with sterile distilled water. The culture medium was distilled waterand agar (7 g L-1), pH adjusted to 5.7. The concentrations of 0, 10, 20 or 30 g L-1 ofsucrose were used to increase osmotic pressure in the medium. A completerandom design was used with five replications of 10 seeds. The germinationindex, average time for germination day, germination energy of Baldwin, andgermination rate of viable seeds were evaluated. The osmotic pressure of 20and 30 g L-1 of sucrose in the culture medium showed the highest index ofgermination. The reduction of osmotic pressure do not increase the in vitrogermination percentage of squash seeds.

Sistema de Controle de Atitude Proposto para a Missão Espacial SERPENS II

A missao SERPENS envolve pesquisas e desenvolvimentos na area de nanossatelites exa0pertence ao conjunto de atividades conjuntas realizadas por universidades brasileiras no âmbito dasxa0atividades espaciais coordenadas pela Agencia Espacial Brasileira – AEB. A missao SERPENS I,xa0primeira da serie, tem lancamento previsto para agosto de 2015. A missao SERPENS II encontra-sexa0correntemente em projeto. Este trabalho trata da missao SERPENS II e descreve as atividadesxa0ligadas ao projeto do Sistema de Determinacao e Controle de Atitude (ADCS) do CubeSat 3Uxa0SERPENS II. A missao e os respectivos requisitos em atitude sao descritos. Uma proposta dexa0ADCS adequada ao cumprimento dos objetivos da missao e apresentada. A modelagem doxa0satelite e sua dinâmica de atitude sao efetuadas, em funcao do ADCS proposto (hardware exa0software), e os resultados obtidos referentes ao primeiro modo de controle (descapotamento)xa0sao apresentados e considerados satisfatorios, corroborando a proposta inicial.

Determination of an Attitude Estimation Unit with Inertial Sensors Modeled by Allan Variance

This article deal with the identification, by Allan variance, of the associated noises in signals from microelectromechanical (MEMS) inertial sensors accelerometer and gyroscope, whose data are used in attitude calculus of rigid bodies. An Arduino Uno microprocessor was used to collect sensor data while the software MATLAB was applied for post processing. The results were used for building error models to improve simulators and also to refine attitude estimation with Kalman filter.