The influence of mouthrinses and simulated toothbrushing on the surface roughness of a nanofilled composite resin

The aim of this study was to determine the influence of mouthrinses on the surface roughness of a nanofilled composite resin after toothbrushing. One hundred nanofilled composite resin specimens were prepared and randomly distributed into two groups-brushed and non-brushed-and then assigned to five subgroups, according to the mouthrinse solutions (n = 10): Colgate Plax Fresh Mint, Oral B, Cepacol, Colgate Plax, and artificial saliva. Each sample was immersed in 20 mL of the mouthrinses for 1 minute, 5 days per week, twice a day, for a 3-week period. The control group used in the study was one in which the specimens were not subjected to brushing and remained only in artificial saliva. Toothbrushing was performed once a week for 1 minute, for 3 weeks. Surface roughness measurements (Ra) were performed after the immersion period and toothbrushing, by means of a profilometer. Data were analyzed by two-way ANOVA and Tukey's test. Analysis revealed that the association between toothbrushing and Colgate Plax Fresh Mint produced the lowest surface roughness (p < 0.05). All other groups tested (Oral B, Cepacol, Colgate Plax, artificial saliva) exhibited no statistically significant differences between surfaces, whether subjected to toothbrushing or not (p < 0.05). It was concluded that the surface roughness of the nanofilled composite resin tested can be influenced by the mouthrinse associated with toothbrushing.

Hybrid Materials Based on Smectite Clays and Nutraceutical Anthocyanins from the Acai Fruit

Hybrid materials were prepared by combining clay mineral (montmorillonite SWy-2 and saponite SapCa-1) and dyes extracted from the acai (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) fruit, which contains mainly anthocyanins from the 3-glucoside class, to increase the stability of the dye and facilitate its handling and storage. Clay minerals are common ingredients in therapeutic and pharmaceutical products and acai phytochemicals show disease prevention properties. The extract of the acai fruit was mixed with water suspensions of layered silicates in different proportions. The dyeclay hybrids presented incorporated organic material in amounts up to 24 wt.-%. X ray diffractometry and vibrational (FTIR and Raman) and electronic spectroscopic data showed that flavylium cations were successfully intercalated between the inorganic layers. Mass-coupled thermogravimetric analysis (TGA-MS) data showed a significant gain in the thermostability of the organic species in relation to anthocyanins in the extract. MS curves related to CO2 release (m/z = 44) are ascendant above 200 degrees C when the dye cations are confined to the inorganic structure. The radical scavenging activity of the hybrid materials was monitored by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) toward the stable radical DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) and compared to the activity of the acai extract. In addition to the fact that interaction with clay minerals improves the stability of the acai dyes against heat, their properties as radical scavengers are preserved after intercalation. The improvement in the properties of the nutraceutical species by intercalation by using biocompatible inorganic structures can be valuable for human therapy.

Protection of Bifidobacterium lactis and Lactobacillus acidophilus by microencapsulation using spray-chilling

The aim of this study was to produce and evaluate solid lipid microparticles containing Bifidobacterium lactis or Lactobacillus acidophilus. Survival assays were conducted to evaluate the resistance of the probiotics to spray-chilling process, their resistance to simulated gastric fluid (SGF) and simulated intestinal fluid (SIF) and their stability during 90 d of storage. The viability of the cells was not affected by microencapsulation. The free and encapsulated cells of B. lactis were resistant to SGF and SIF. The microencapsulation, however, provided protection for L. acidophilus against SGF and SIF. The free and encapsulated microorganisms lost their viability when they were stored at 37 degrees C. However, promising results were obtained when refrigerated and frozen storage was applied. The study indicates that spray-chilling using fat as carrier can be considered an innovative technology and matrix, respectively, for the protection, application and delivery of probiotics. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An online data access prediction and optimization approach for distributed systems

Current scientific applications have been producing large amounts of data. The processing, handling and analysis of such data require large-scale computing infrastructures such as clusters and grids. In this area, studies aim at improving the performance of data-intensive applications by optimizing data accesses. In order to achieve this goal, distributed storage systems have been considering techniques of data replication, migration, distribution, and access parallelism. However, the main drawback of those studies is that they do not take into account application behavior to perform data access optimization. This limitation motivated this paper which applies strategies to support the online prediction of application behavior in order to optimize data access operations on distributed systems, without requiring any information on past executions. In order to accomplish such a goal, this approach organizes application behaviors as time series and, then, analyzes and classifies those series according to their properties. By knowing properties, the approach selects modeling techniques to represent series and perform predictions, which are, later on, used to optimize data access operations. This new approach was implemented and evaluated using the OptorSim simulator, sponsored by the LHC-CERN project and widely employed by the scientific community. Experiments confirm this new approach reduces application execution time in about 50 percent, specially when handling large amounts of data.

Roof modular system in wood and particle board (OSB) to rural construction

Wood is a material of great applicability in construction, with advantageous properties to form various structural systems, such as walls and roof. Most of the roof structural systems follow models that have remained unchanged for a long time. A roof modular system in distinguished materials is proposed: reforested wood (Pine), oriented strand board (OSB) and roof tiles made of recycled long-life packaging material in order to be applied in rural construction. In this alternative, besides the benefit of giving destination packages with long-life thermal comfort, it also highlights the use of reforestated wood being the cultivation of such species that provides incentive for agribusiness. The structural performance of this alternative was evaluated through computer modeling and test results of two modular panels. The analysis is based on the results of vertical displacements, deformations and stresses. A positive correlation between theoretical and experimental values was observed, indicating the model's feasibility for use in roof structures. Therefore, the modular system represents a solution to new architecture conceptions to rural construction, for example, storage construction, cattle handling and poultry, with benefits provided by prefabricated building systems.

Insecticidal Activity of the Granulosis Virus in Combination with Neem Products and Talc Powder Against the Potato Tuberworm Phthorimaea operculella (Zeller) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae)

The potato tuberworm Phthorimaea operculella (Zeller) is an important agricultural pest that causes significant economic losses to potato growers worldwide. The addition of an effective method of biological control for the potato tuberworm is greatly needed, and is currently unavailable in Brazil. The granulosis virus (Baculoviridae) is a promising biological control agent to protect post-harvest potatoes and in storage from the potato tuberworm. However, the control measure must be economically feasible. Liquid suspensions of a granulosis virus applied alone or in mixture with two commercial neem oil-based products (DalNeem (TM) and NeemAzal (TM)), and a dry powder formulation of viral granules were evaluated for control of potato tuberworm larvae by treating potato tubers under laboratory conditions. High larval mortality (86.7%) was achieved when DalNeem and virus were applied together at 4 mg of azadirachtin/L and 10(4) occlusion bodies (OBs)/mL, respectively. This combination resulted in a parts per thousand yen50% efficacy in relation to their counterparts alone. Conversely, NeemAzal did not enhance virus effectiveness against larvae of the potato tuberworm. The talc-based virus formulation was used for dusting seed tubers at different concentrations and resulted in 100% larval mortality at 5 x 10(8) OBs/g. Formulated and unformulated virus provided 50% mortality at 166 OBs/g and at 5.0 x 10(5) OBs/mL, respectively. As a result, talc-based virus formulation had a better control efficiency on potato tuberworm than the aqueous virus suspension. The granulosis virus combined with DalNeem at low rates or formulated with talc powder is a viable option to control the potato tuberworm under storage conditions.

The influence of captive breeding on the fatty acid profiles of Salminus hilarii (Characiformes: Characidae) eggs and larvae

In addition to the strong influence of the broodstock diet on the development and survival of offspring, domestication may also interfere with the larval life success. We obtained eggs from wild and domesticated Salminus hilarii females and domesticated males. Wild females were caught in the Tiete River and tributaries, and the domesticated females were born three years before the beginning of the experiment in the Ponte Nova Fish Farm. Animals from both groups were fed with the same feed to exclude feed variables. The eggs and larvae were sampled at 0, 8, 16, and 28 h after spawning (HAS), with the last sampling (28 HAS) coinciding with hatching time. After hatching, samplings proceeded at 32, 48, 66, and 96 HAS, with the last sampling (96 HAS) corresponding to the end of yolk sac consumption. Finally, the last experimental period was during the larvae exogenous feeding phase, at 102, 118, 166, and 214 HAS. Our data revealed that domestication of S. hilarii females influenced fatty acid (FA) metabolism during embryo and larva development. However, the structure of membrane phospholipid FA remained mostly stable, with changes principally in the neutral fraction. When the external conditions, mainly water and feed quality, remained constant, domestication of S. hilarii females did not significantly affect the structural FA composition but influenced the selectivity of consumption and/or storage of specific FA.

Surface ecophysiological behavior across vegetation and moisture gradients in tropical South America

Surface ecophysiology at five sites in tropical South America across vegetation and moisture gradients is investigated. From the moist northwest (Manaus) to the relatively dry southeast (Pé de Gigante, state of São Paulo) simulated seasonal cycles of latent and sensible heat, and carbon flux produced with the Simple Biosphere Model (SiB3) are confronted with observational data. In the northwest, abundant moisture is available, suggesting that the ecosystem is light-limited. In these wettest regions, Bowen ratio is consistently low, with little or no annual cycle. Carbon flux shows little or no annual cycle as well; efflux and uptake are determined by high-frequency variability in light and moisture availability. Moving downgradient in annual precipitation amount, dry season length is more clearly defined. In these regions, a dry season sink of carbon is observed and simulated. This sink is the result of the combination of increased photosynthetic production due to higher light levels, and decreased respiratory efflux due to soil drying. The differential response time of photosynthetic and respiratory processes produce observed annual cycles of net carbon flux. In drier regions, moisture and carbon fluxes are in-phase; there is carbon uptake during seasonal rains and efflux during the dry season. At the driest site, there is also a large annual cycle in latent and sensible heat flux.

Natural radionuclides distribution in the shelf and upper slope off southeast Brazil

In recent decades, Oceanography has been using a variety of radionuclides as tracers to understand the ocean dynamic processes, handling and disposal of sediments of seabed. In this context, the determination of natural radionuclides distributions (238U, 232Th and 40K) has been carried out with sediments samples from the shelf and upper slope off Southeast Brazil using a gamma spectrometry technique. The samples were sliced into strata of 2 cm, dried, ground and properly packed to be analysed. The concentration of activities was performed in a hyperpure Ge detector with a resolution of 1,9 keV for the peak of 1332,3 keV of 60Co, model GEM50P by EGG&ORTEC. The study area is located between latitudes 28°40'S and 23°00'S and extends from Cabo Frio (RJ) to Cabo de Santa Marta Grande (SC). The activity concentrations varied from 0,6 to 52,8 BqKg-1 for 238U, from 1,6 to 50,9BqKg-1 for 232Th and from 65,4 to 873,3 BqKg-1 for 40K. From these results it is possible to establish a correlation between the depositional area dynamics and the samples size parameters