Espectro de Polariton de Plasmons e Ondas de Luz em Quasi-Cristais

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Ondas de spin em nanofilmes nagnéticos acoplados quasiperiodicamente

We studied the spin waves modes that can propagate in magnetic multilayers composed of ferromagnetic metallic films in the nanometer scale. The ferromagnetic films (iron) are separated and coupled through the nonmagnetic spacer films (chromium). The films that make up the multilayer are stacked in a quasiperiodic pattern, following the Fibonacci and double period sequences. We used a phenomenological theory taking into account: the Zeeman energy (between the ferromagnetic films and the external magnetic field), the energy of the magneto-crystalline anisotropy (present in the ferromagnetic films), the energy of the bilinear and biquadratic couplings (between the ferromagnetic films) and the energy of the dipole-dipole interaction (between the ferromagnetic films), to describe the system. The total magnetic energy of the system is numerically minimized and the equilibrium angles of the magnetization of each ferromagnetic film are determined. We solved the equation of motion of the multilayer to find the dispersion relation for the system and, as a consequence, the spin waves modes frequencies. Our theoretical results show that, in the case of trilayers (Fe/Cr/Fe), our model reproduces with excellent agreement experimental results of Brillouin light scattering, known from the literature, by adjusting the physical parameters of the nanofilms. Furthermore, we generalize the model to N ferromagnetic layers which allowed us to determine how complex these systems become when we increase the number of components. It is worth noting that our theoretical calculations generalize all the results known from the literature

Ondas de spin em quasi-cristais magnônicos

In this paper we investigate the spectra of band structures and transmittance in magnonic quasicrystals that exhibit the so-called deterministic disorders, specifically, magnetic multilayer systems, which are built obeying to the generalized Fibonacci (only golden mean (GM), silver mean (SM), bronze mean (BM), copper mean (CM) and nickel mean (NM) cases) and k-component Fibonacci substitutional sequences. The theoretical model is based on the Heisenberg Hamiltonian in the exchange regime, together with the powerful transfer matrix method, and taking into account the RPA approximation. The magnetic materials considered are simple cubic ferromagnets. Our main interest in this study is to investigate the effects of quasiperiodicity on the physical properties of the systems mentioned by analyzing the behavior of spin wave propagation through the dispersion and transmission spectra of these structures. Among of these results we detach: (i) the fragmentation of the bulk bands, which in the limit of high generations, become a Cantor set, and the presence of the mig-gap frequency in the spin waves transmission, for generalized Fibonacci sequence, and (ii) the strong dependence of the magnonic band gap with respect to the parameters k, which determines the amount of different magnetic materials are present in quasicrystal, and n, which is the generation number of the sequence k-component Fibonacci. In this last case, we have verified that the system presents a magnonic band gap, whose width and frequency region can be controlled by varying k and n. In the exchange regime, the spin waves propagate with frequency of the order of a few tens of terahertz (THz). Therefore, from a experimental and technological point of view, the magnonic quasicrystals can be used as carriers or processors of informations, and the magnon (the quantum spin wave) is responsible for this transport and processing

Sistemas Nanoestruturados: Heteroestruturas Quasi-Periódicas de Nitretos e Cálculos Ab initio em Polimorfos CaCO3

The physical properties and the excitations spectrum in oxides and semiconductors materials are presented in this work, whose the first part presents a study on the confinement of optical phonons in artificial systems based on III-V nitrides, grown in periodic and quasiperiodic forms. The second part of this work describes the Ab initio calculations which were carried out to obtain the optoeletronic properties of Calcium Oxide (CaO) and Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3) crystals. For periodic and quasi-periodic superlattices, we present some dynamical properties related to confined optical phonons (bulk and surface), obtained through simple theories, such as the dielectric continuous model, and using techniques such as the transfer-matrix method. The localization character of confined optical phonon modes, the magnitude of the bands in the spectrum and the power laws of these structures are presented as functions of the generation number of sequence. The ab initio calculations have been carried out using the CASTEP software (Cambridge Total Sequential Energy Package), and they were based on ultrasoft-like pseudopotentials and Density Functional Theory (DFT). Two di®erent geometry optimizations have been e®ectuated for CaO crystals and CaCO3 polymorphs, according to LDA (local density approximation) and GGA (generalized gradient approximation) approaches, determining several properties, e. g. lattice parameters, bond length, electrons density, energy band structures, electrons density of states, e®ective masses and optical properties, such as dielectric constant, absorption, re°ectivity, conductivity and refractive index. Those results were employed to investigate the confinement of excitons in spherical Si@CaCO3 and CaCO3@SiO2 quantum dots and in calcium carbonate nanoparticles, and were also employed in investigations of the photoluminescence spectra of CaCO3 crystal

Controle circadiano e homeostático do sono-virgília em pacientes com acidente vascular encefálico e correlações com a qualidade de vida e o nível de atividade física

The cerebral vascular accident is a neurological dysfunction of vascular origin that leds to development of motor sensibility, cognitive, perceptive and language deficits. Despite the fact that the main sleep disorders in stroke patients are well known, it is still necessary to analyze which mechanisms of regulation of sleep and wakefulness are affected. The objective of this study was to evaluate the changes in the circadian and homeostatic control of sleep-wakefulness in stroke patients and the correlations with quality of life and level of physical activity. The study analyzed 22 stroke patients (55± 12 years old) and 24 healthy subjects (57 ±11 years old). The instruments used in this study were questionnaires on sleep quality, daytime sleepiness, quality of life, physical activity level and the actigraphy. The data were analyzed using the Student `t test, Mann-Whitney test, ANOVA and Spearman's correlation tests. The results showed stability in the sleep-wake circadian expression with changes in the amplitude of the rhythm. However, significant changes were found related to the homeostatic component characterized by increased sleep duration, increased latency, fragmented sleep and lower sleep efficiency. Additional data showed decreased quality of sleep and increased daytime sleepiness, as well as decreased quality of life and level of physical activity. The results indicate that the interaction of circadian and homeostatic control of sleep-wake is compromised and the main reason might be because of the homeostatic component and the lower activity level resulting from the brain damage. Thus, further studies may be developed to evaluate whether behavioral interventions such as increased daytime activity and restriction of sleep during the day can influence the homeostatic process and its relation to circadian component, resulting in improved quality of nocturnal sleep in stroke patients

Estudos ecogenômicos e bioprospectivos de Shewanella ssp

Bacteria trom Shewanella and Geobacter ganera are the most studied iron-reducing microorganisms particularly due to their electron transport systems and contribution to some industrial and environmental problems, including steel corrosion, bioenergy and bioremediation of petroleum-impacted sites. The present study was focused in two ways: the first is an in silico comparative ecogenomic study of Shewanella spp. with sequenced genomes, and the second is an experimental metagenomic work to detect iron-reducing Shewanella through PCR-DGGE of a metabolic gene. The in silico study resulted in positive correIation between copy number of 16S rDNA and genome size in Shewanella spp., with clusters of rrn near lhe origin of replication. This way, the genus is inferred as opportunist. There are no compact genomes and their sequences length varied, ranging from 4306142 nt in S. amazonensis SB2B to 5935403 nt in S. woodyi ATCC 51908, without correIation to temperature range characteristic of each specie. Intragenomic 16S rDNA sequences possess little divergence, but reasonable to resuIt in different phyIogenetic trees, depending on the sequence that is chosen to compare. For moIecuIar detection of iron-reducing Shewanella, it is proposed the mtrB gene as new biomarker. because it codes to a fundamental protein at Fe (III)-reduction. The specific primers were designed and evaluated in silico and resulted in a fragment of 360 pb. In the second study, these primers were tested in a genomic sample from S. oneidensis MR-1, amplifying the expected region. After this successfuI resuIt, the primer set was used as a tool to assess the iron-reducing communities of ShewaneIla genus under an environmental stress, i.e. crude oil contamination in mangrove sediment in Rio Grande do Norte State (Brazil). The primers presented high specificity and the reactions performed resulted in one single band of ampIification in the metagenomic samples. The fingerprinting obtained at DGGE reveaIed temporal variation of Shewanella spp. in analyzed samples. The resuIts presented show the detection of a biotechnological important group of microorganisms, the iron-reducing Shewanella spp. using a metabolic gane as target. It is concluded there are eight or more 16S rDNA sequences in Shewanella genus, with little divergence among them that affects the phylogeny; the pair of primers designed to ampIify mtrB sequences is a viable alternative to detect iron-reducing ShewanelIa in metagenomic approaches; such bacteria are present in the mangrove sediment anaIyzed, with temporal variations in the samples. This is the first experimental study that screened the iron-reducing Shewanella genus in a metagenomic experiment of mangrove sediments subjected to oil contamination through a key metabolic gene

A cafeína exerce efeitos positivos sobre a memória tipo episódica em ratos adultos sem influenciar a sobrevivência neural no giro dentado

The caffeine is a mild psychostimulant that has positive cognitive effects at low doses, while promotes detrimental effects on these processes at higher doses. The episodic-like memory can be evaluated in rodents through hippocampus-dependent tasks. The dentate gyrus is a hippocampal subregion in which neurogenesis occurs in adults, and it is believed that this process is related to the function of patterns separation, such as the identification of spatial and temporal patterns when discriminating events. Furthermore, neurogenesis is influenced spatial and contextual learning tasks. Our goal was to evaluate the performance of male Wistar rats in episodic-like tasks after acute or chronic caffeine treatment (15mg/kg or 30mg/kg). Moreover, we assessed the chronic effect of the caffeine treatment, as well as the influence of the hippocampus-dependent learning tasks, on the survival of new-born neurons at the beginning of treatment. For this purpose, we used BrdU to label the new cells generated in the dentate gyrus. Regarding the acute treatment, we found that the saline group presented a tendency to have better spatial and temporal discrimination than caffeine groups. The chronic caffeine group 15 mg/kg (low dose) showed the best discrimination of the temporal aspect of episodic-like memory, whereas the chronic caffeine group 30mg/kg (high dose) was able to discriminate temporal order, only in a condition of greater difficulty. Assessment of neurogenesis using immunohistochemistry for evaluating survival of new-born neurons generated in the dentate gyrus revealed no difference among groups of chronic treatment. Thus, the positive mnemonic effects of the chronic caffeine treatment were not related to neuronal survival. However, another plastic mechanism could explain the positive mnemonic effect, given that there was no improvement in the acute caffeine groups

Caracterização comportamental e distribuição de neurônios inibitórios em um modelo animal de autismo induzido por ácido valpróico

Autism comprises a heterogeneous group of neurodevelopmental disorders that affects the brain maturation and produces sensorial, motor, language and social interaction deficits in early childhood. Several studies have shown a major involvement of genetic factors leading to a predisposition to autism, which are possibly affected by environmental modulators during embryonic and post-natal life. Recent studies in animal models indicate that alterations in epigenetic control during development can generate neuronal maturation disturbances and produce a hyper-excitable circuit, resulting in typical symptoms of autism. In the animal model of autism induced by valproic acid (VPA) during rat pregnancy, behavioral, electrophysiological and cellular alterations have been reported which can also be observed in patients with autism. However, only a few studies have correlated behavioral alterations with the supposed neuronal hyper-excitability in this model. The aim of this project was to generate an animal model of autism by pre-natal exposure to VPA and evaluate the early post-natal development and pre-puberal (PND30) behavior in the offspring. Furthermore, we quantified the parvalbumin-positive neuronal distribution in the medial prefrontal cortex and Purkinje cells in the cerebellum of VPA animals. Our results show that VPA treatment induced developmental alterations, which were observed in behavioral changes as compared to vehicle-treated controls. VPA animals showed clear behavioral abnormalities such as hyperlocomotion, prolonged stereotipies and reduced social interaction with an unfamiliar mate. Cellular quantification revealed a decrease in the number of parvalbumin-positive interneurons in the anterior cingulate cortex and in the prelimbic cortex of the mPFC, suggesting an excitatory/inhibitory unbalance in this animal model of autism. Moreover, we also observed that the neuronal reduction occurred mainly in the cortical layers II/III and V/VI. We did not detect any change in the density of Purkinje neurons in the Crus I region of the cerebellar cortex. Together, our results strengthens the face validity of the VPA model in rats and shed light on specific changes in the inhibitory circuitry of the prefrontal cortex in this autism model. Further studies should address the challenges to clarify particular electrophysiological correlates of the cellular alterations in order to better understand the behavioral dysfunctions

Efeitos da administração aguda de quetamina sobre as oscilações eletrofisiológicas da região CA1 hipocampal

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O tratamento odontológico sob o olhar da criança :um estudo de representações sociais

Oral health measures directed to children are characterized by the lack of policies that consider the individual and his biopsychosocial aspects. As a consequence, it can be observed that a child´s dental experience has normally been prejudged as unpleasant and threatening. Thus, this study is aimed at investigating dental treatment from the child´s viewpoint using the theory of social representations for theoretical/methodological support. This theory was selected for being able to build practical knowledge surrounding the interrelations between social actors, the phenomenon and the world around them. The investigation was performed at the Professor José Fernandes Machado State School, located in the Ponta Negra district of Natal-RN-Brazil. The participants consisted of 30 children from the public elementary school system in the 6-10 year age group, who had undergone dental treatment within the previous year or were being treated at the time of data collection. An in-depth interview and story drawing within a theme were used as collection instruments. Thematic Content Analysis (Bardin, 2002) was used to analyze the material collected in the interviews, whereas for story drawing within a theme, in addition to content analysis, the data were also analyzed by the Coutinho model (2001). The two instruments demonstrated similarity of content as well as complementarity and contained categories associated to the model for dental treatment in children, the description of the dental office environment., the perception of the image of the dentist, as well as psychological and behavioral manifestations. The results enable us to understand determinate reactions of the children in relation to dental treatment, which has been characterized by its technical-curative approach, where the motive for seeking treatment, the manner in which it is performed and the relation of the dentist with the child are all in evidence. Thus, this study intends not only to reveal the viewpoint of children faced with dental treatment, but also to contribute to a dental practice directed towards them, in this way instilling in the professionals who attend them a more concrete awareness of the needs, anxieties and feelings of these young patients

Influência de fatores de risco na prevalência de hábitos bucais deletérios em crianças de 0 a 5 anos na cidade do Natal-RN

Literature has demonstrated to the narrow relation between deleterious habits and the occurrence of malocclusion in minors of 5 years. The existence of these habits, however, already considered as risk factors, having also, its determinative ones, which present cultural dimensions and economic social, many of them related to the parents of the child, having in account that such habits if develop in phases in which the child establish a narrow relation of dependence. This study it had an objective to investigate the prevalence of deleterious buccal habits in children and its relation with the economic social and characteristics of the parents. It was developed an epidemiologist study of transversal character with interview, through daily pay-tested form, with 218 parents in the day of the National Campaign of Vaccination. In the cast of the variable that had composed the study, they had been used, as changeable dependents, the use of the baby's bottle, bottle and the digital suction, being considered as outcomes of the research. Amongst the independent variable, the economic social factors (type of occupation, number of children, civil state, sort, schooling and age) and staffs of the parents (self perception in oral health) had entered as the variable to be analyzed in the problems of the infantile odontology. The collected data had been submitted to the analysis descriptive and inferential statistics, being used the test qui-square and the analysis of the possibility reasons. As main results, it was found that breast feeding before the six months if presents as one of the main factors of risk for the use of baby's bottle (p< 0.001, OR= 2.8, I.C= 1.589 4.906), bottle (p< 0.001, OR= 3.7, I.C.= 2.076 6.624) and digital suction (p< 0.014, OR= 3.5, I.C.= 1.225 10.181). From the data found, one concludes that breast-feeding is considered a primordial factor for not the installation of deleterious oral habits and that the economic social and cultural factors can reflect in central way in the performance of this act

Estudo comportamental, hormonal e histopatológico de animais com perda de peso progressina (SEP) e da variável peso associada a uma nova classificação ontogenética em Callithrix jacchus

The use of non-human primates in scientific research has contributed significantly to the biomedical area and, in the case of Callithrix jacchus, has provided important evidence on physiological mechanisms that help explain its biology, making the species a valuable experimental model in different pathologies. However, raising non-human primates in captivity for long periods of time is accompanied by behavioral disorders and chronic diseases, as well as progressive weight loss in most of the animals. The Primatology Center of the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) has housed a colony of C. jacchus for nearly 30 years and during this period these animals have been weighed systematically to detect possible alterations in their clinical conditions. This procedure has generated a volume of data on the weight of animals at different age ranges. These data are of great importance in the study of this variable from different perspectives. Accordingly, this paper presents three studies using weight data collected over 15 years (1985-2000) as a way of verifying the health status and development of the animals. The first study produced the first article, which describes the histopathological findings of animals with probable diagnosis of permanent wasting marmoset syndrome (WMS). All the animals were carriers of trematode parasites (Platynosomum spp) and had obstruction in the hepatobiliary system; it is suggested that this agent is one of the etiological factors of the syndrome. In the second article, the analysis focused on comparing environmental profile and cortisol levels between the animals with normal weight curve evolution and those with WMS. We observed a marked decrease in locomotion, increased use of lower cage extracts and hypocortisolemia. The latter is likely associated to an adaptation of the mechanisms that make up the hypothalamus-hypophysis-adrenal axis, as observed in other mammals under conditions of chronic malnutrition. Finally, in the third study, the animals with weight alterations were excluded from the sample and, using computational tools (K-means and SOM) in a non-supervised way, we suggest found new ontogenetic development classes for C. jacchus. These were redimensioned from five to eight classes: infant I, infant II, infant III, juvenile I, juvenile II, sub-adult, young adult and elderly adult, in order to provide a more suitable classification for more detailed studies that require better control over the animal development

"O núcleo supraquiasmático e o folheto intergeniculado do mocó (Kerodon rupestris): Projeções retinianas e caracterização imuno-histoquímica

In this study, two circadian related centres, the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) and the intergeniculate leaflet (IGL) were evaluated in respect to their cytoarchitecture, retinal afferents and chemical content of major cells and axon terminals with a tract tracer and immunohistochemical techniques in the rock cavy (Kerodon rupestris), a Brazilian caviidae rodent species. The rock cavy SCN is innervated in its ventral portion by terminals from the predominantly contralateral retina. It also contains neurophisin and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide immunoreactive cell bodies and neuropeptide Y and enkephalin immunopositive fibres and terminals and is marked by intense GFAP immunoreactivity. The IGL receives a predominantly contralateral retinal projection, contains neuropeptide Y and nitric oxide synthase producing neurons and enkephalin immunopositive terminals and is characterized by dense GFAP immunoreactivity. This is the first report examining the neural circadian system in a crepuscular rodent species for which circadian properties have been described. The results are discussed comparing with what has been described for other species and in the context of the functional significance of these centres

Avaliação da resposta comportamental, morfofisiológica e produção de leite de cabras puras e mestiças da raça Saanen no semi-árido do Rio Grande do Norte

Goat breeding in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil has promising economic possibilities, with the proper handling of the natural resources. The introduction of specialized animals has been one of the ways used to improve herd genetics and increase productivity. However, climate has been one of the regional factors that most interferes with the adaptation of the new genetic prevalence resulting from the introduction of exotic breeds, because in their country of origin, the air temperature during most of the year is lower than the animals body temperature. With this in mind, the aim of this study was to characterize behavioral, physiological and morphological profiles and milk production of female Saanen goats belonging to different genetic groups raised in the semi-arid region of Rio Grande do Norte in Northeast Brazil. The study was conducted in the city of Lages (5° 42 00 S and 36° 14 41 W). We used 25 lactating female Saanen goats, distributed into 3 genetic groups: 5 purebred animals, 11 three-quarter bred and 9 half-bred. Behavioral observations were made over three consecutive days in the months of August and September, between 09:00 and 11:30h, when the animals were grazing. Physiological and meteorological data were recorded in the last three days of June, July, August and September at 05:00h and at 16:00h. In the semi-intensive breeding system, the animals from different genetic groups were similar in both field behavior and physiological response patterns. Although the purebred goats had longer hair, they did not show symptoms of thermal discomfort. Their white hair helped to reflect the short wavelength rays and thus eliminate those at the longer wave lengths. We concluded that the animals raised in the semi-intensive milk production system in this study seem to have adapted to the climatic conditions of the semi-arid region of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil

Distribuição diária do comportamento da mosca da fruta Anastrepha zenildae Zucchi, (Diptera: Tephritidae) em laboratório.

The knowledge of Anastrepha zenildae behavioral aspects combined with the biology of Tephritidae may contribute to monitoring and control programs of this fruit fly that is considered as economically important to the Rio Grande do Norte state. In order to characterize the daily activity profile of this species, we studied the behaviors of resting, locomotion, feeding, cleaning, courtship, copulation and oviposition of animals submitted to an artificial 12:12h light-dark cycle (750:1lux) with controlled temperature (26±2 °C). The observations were made with groups of 16 males and 16 females during 3 consecutive days each generation from parental to F5. Resting, locomotion, feeding and cleaning data were recorded as frequency and time of occurrence by scanning technique in 15 minutes windows per hour, with a record each minute. Courtship, copulation and oviposition were recorded as frequency, time of occurrence and duration by al occurrences technique. Resting was the most frequent behavior with males resting more than females. Locomotion was more evident in the first half of the ligh phase with higher values in females. Cleaning and feeding behaviors were more frequent in the second half of the light phase for both sexes with females eating more frequently than males. During the courtship, males were grouped in lek formations showing wings vibration and pheromone liberation. Courtship occurred more frequently 4 to 7 h after lights on (81,9%) with copulations being more frequent 6 h after lights on with a mean duration of 58,1±40,4 min. Copulation attempts were observed in males inside and outside the lek with aggressive behavior being observed only between males in the lek. Oviposition behavior was similar to that described for other species of the genus with a peak of this activity 2-3 h after the lights on, mean duration of 43, 7±34, 8 sec and 2 to 5 eggs by event. According to the results, sexual behavior of A. zenildae is temporally different of other sympatric species of the genus, being favorable to the reproductive isolation as well as the use of resources as oviposition substrate.