Investigação da capacidade intelectiva de pacientes pediátricos diagnosticados com tumores de fossa posterior

Central Nervous System are the most common pediatric solid tumors. 60% of these tumors arise in posterior fossa, mainly in cerebellum. The first therapeutic approach is surgical resection. Malignant tumors require additional strategies - chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The increasing survival evidences that childhood brain tumors result in academic and social difficulties that compromise the quality of life of the patients. This study investigated the intellectual functioning of children between 7 to 15 years diagnosed with posterior fossa tumors and treated at CEHOPE - Recife / PE. 21 children were eligible - including 13 children with pilocytic astrocytoma (G1) who underwent only surgery resection, and eight children with medulloblastoma (G2) - submitted to surgical resection, chemotherapy and craniospinal radiotherapy. Participants were evaluated by the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children - WISC-III. Children of G1 scored better than children of G2. Inferential tools (Mann-Whitney Ü Test) identified significant diferences (p ≤ 0.05) between the Performance IQ (PIQ) and Processing Speed Index (PSI) as a function of treatment modality; Full Scale IQ (FSIQ), PIQ and PSI as a function of parental educational level; PIQ, FSIQ, IVP and Freedom from Distractibility (FDI) as a function of time between diagnosis and evaluation. These results showed the late and progressive impact of radiotherapy on white matter and information processing speed. Furthermore, children whose parents have higher educational level showed better intellectual performance, indicating the influence of xxii socio-cultural variables on cognitive development. The impact of cancer and its treatment on cognitive development and learning should not be underestimated. These results support the need to increase the understanding of such effects in order to propose therapeutic strategies which ensure that, in addition to the cure, the full development of children with this pathology

Estudo de um compósito Nb-15%pCu obtidos por moagem de alta energia e sinterizados por fase líquida

There is great difficulty in forming a composite refractory metal niobium with copper. This is due to the fact that Nb-Cu system is almost mutually immiscible and may be neglected solubility between them. These properties hinder or prevent obtaining homogeneous and high-density structures, conventionally prepared. This study aims to analyze the use of high-energy milling process (MAE) to implement these natural difficulties, with regard to the densification of the sintered bodies. The MAE and the press were used in the preparation of powders, to obtain a fine and homogeneous distribution of the grain size. Four loads Nb and Cu powders containing 15% by weight of Cu were then milled for MAE in a planetary type ball mill under various milling times and speeds. The results obtained by MAE were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), according to the parameters of time and grinding speed. The samples were compacted under pressure of 200 MPa, were then sintered in liquid phase in a vacuum furnace at temperatures of 1100 ° C / 60 min and 1200 ° C / 60 min. Then it was used to characterize diffraction of X-rays to identify the phases. The microstructures of the sintered samples were observed and evaluated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Vickers Microhardness tests were performed, obtaining higher values for the sintered bodies in the largest of the post milling times and the larger grinding speeds. It was found that the liquid phase sintering of the samples that were processed by MAE produced at the end of a homogeneous and densified structure in 77,4% relative to the value of the theoretical density of the composite

Estudo da sinterização do aço inox 316L reforçado com 3% Carbeto de Tântalo - TaC

The present work shows a contribution to the studies of development and solid sinterization of a metallic matrix composite MMC that has as starter materials 316L stainless steel atomized with water, and two different Tantalum Carbide TaC powders, with averages crystallite sizes of 13.78 nm and 40.66 nm. Aiming the metallic matrix s density and hardness increase was added different nanometric sizes of TaC by dispersion. The 316L stainless steel is an alloy largely used because it s high resistance to corrosion property. Although, its application is limited by the low wear resistance, consequence of its low hardness. Besides this, it shows low sinterability and it cannot be hardened by thermal treatments traditional methods because of the austenitic structure, face centered cubic, stabilized mainly in nickel presence. Steel samples added with TaC 3% wt (each sample with different type of carbide), following a mechanical milling route using conventional mill for 24 hours. Each one of the resulted samples, as well as the pure steel sample, were compacted at 700 MPa, room temperature, without any addictive, uniaxial tension, using a 5 mm diameter cylindrical mold, and quantity calculated to obtain compacted final average height of 5 mm. Subsequently, were sintered in vacuum atmosphere, temperature of 1290ºC, heating rate of 20ºC/min, using different soaking times of 30 and 60 min and cooled at room temperature. The sintered samples were submitted to density and micro-hardness analysis. The TaC reforced samples showed higher density values and an expressive hardness increase. The complementary analysis in optical microscope, scanning electronic microscope and X ray diffractometer, showed that the TaC, processed form, contributed with the hardness increase, by densification, itself hardness and grains growth control at the metallic matrix, segregating itself to the grain boarders

Obtenção de filtro cerâmico a partir da diatomita e casca de arroz carbonizada visando tratamento de efluente têxtil

The effluents released by the textile industry have high concentrations of alkali, carbohydrates, proteins, in addition to colors containing heavy metals. Therefore, a filter was prepared aiming primarily to the removal of color. In order to prepare this filter, rice hulls and diatomite were used, which have in their structure, basically amorphous hydrated silica. The silica exists in three crystalline forms: quartz, tridymite and cristobalite. In accordance with the above considerations, this study was divided into two stages; the first corresponds to the preparation of the filter and the second to carry out the tests in the effluent/filter in order to verify the efficiency of the color removal. First, the raw material was subjected to a chemical analysis and XRD, and then the diatomite was mixed, via humid, with a planetarium windmill with 20 %, 40 %, 60 % and 80 % of rice husk ash. To the mixture, 5 % carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) was added as a binder at room temperature. The samples were uniaxially compacted into metallic matrix of 0.3 x 0.1 cm² of area at a pressure of 167 MPa by means of hydraulic press and then sintered at temperatures of 1,000 °C, 1,200 °C and 1,400 °C for 1 h and submitted to granulometry test using laser, linear retraction, water absorption, apparent porosity and resistance to bending, DTA, TMA and XRD. To examine the pore structure of the samples scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used. Also tests were carried out in a mercury porosimeter to verify the average size of the pores and real density of the samples. In the second stage, samples of the effluent were collected from a local industry, whose name will be preserved, located in Igapó, in the State of Rio Grande do Norte - RN. The effluent was first pretreated before filtration and then subjected to a treatment of flotation. The effluent was then characterized before and after filtration, with parameters of color, turbidity, suspended solids, pH, chemical and biochemical oxygen demand (COD and BOD). Thus, through the XRD analysis the formation of cristobalite α in all samples was observed. The best average size of pore was found to be 1.75 μm with 61.04 % apparent porosity, thus obtaining an average 97.9 % color removal and 99.8 % removal of suspended solid

Estudo da sinterabilidade de ligas de níquel obtidas por meio dos portadores de liga sic, si3n4 ou si metálico com grafita

Nickel alloys are frequently used in applications that require resistance at high temperatures associated with resistance to corrosion. Alloys of Ni-Si-C can be obtained by means of powder metallurgy in which powder mixtures are made of metallic nickel powders with additions of various alloying carriers for such were used in this study SiC, Si3N4 or Si metal with graphite. Carbonyl Ni powder with mean particle size of 11 mM were mixed with 3 wt% of SiC powders with an average particle size of 15, 30 and 50 μm and further samples were obtained containing 4 to 5% by mass of SiC with average particle size of 15 μm. Samples were also obtained by varying the carrier alloy, these being Si3N4 powder with graphite, with average particle size of 1.5 and 5 μm, respectively. As a metallic Si graphite with average particle size of 12.5 and 5 μm, respectively. The reference material used was nickel carbonyl sintered without adding carriers. Microstructural characterization of the alloys was made by optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy with semi-quantitative chemical analysis. We determined the densities of the samples and measurement of microhardness. We studied the dissociation of carriers alloy after sintering at 1200 ° C for 60 minutes. Was evaluated also in the same sintering conditions, the influence of the variation of average particle size of the SiC carrier to the proportion of 3% by mass. Finally, we studied the influence of variation of the temperatures of sintering at 950, 1080 and 1200 ° C without landing and also with heights of 30, 60, 120 and 240 minutes for sintering where the temperature was 950 °C. Dilatometry curves showed that the SiC sintered Ni favors more effectively than other carriers alloy analyzed. SiC with average particle size of 15 μm active sintering the alloy more effectively than other SiC used. However, with the chemical and morphological analyzes for all leagues, it was observed that there was dissociation of SiC and Si3N4, as well as diffusion of Si in Ni matrix and carbon cluster and dispersed in the matrix, which also occurred for the alloys with Si carriers and metallic graphite. So the league that was presented better results containing Si Ni with graphite metallic alloy as carriers, since this had dispersed graphite best in the league, reaching the microstructural model proposed, which is necessary for material characteristic of solid lubricant, so how we got the best results when the density and hardness of the alloy

Avaliação de concentrações do C-Telopeptideo de Colágeno (CTX) em mulheres no climatério

Fundação de Apoio à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio Grande do Norte

Estudo da desidratação osmótica da cenoura (Daucus carota) em fatias

In the area of food dehydration, drying of vegetables has a very representative position, it has the objective to preserve the surplus of crops and began with sun drying. Among the vegetable is the carrot, which had its origin in Southeast Asia and in Brazil is a vegetable cultivated enough. The principal objective of this works is to find alternative ways for the conservation of carrot slices by osmotic dehydration with additional drying in heart. Were initially defined the best conditions of pre-osmotic dehydration (temperature, immersion time, type of osmotic solution) based on the results of humidity loss, solid gain, weight reduction and efficiency ratio of predehydrated carrots slices. The osmotic solutions used were composed by NaCl (10%) and sucrose (50 ° Brix) named DO1 and sucrose (50 ° Brix) called DO2. Was made experiment of pre-osmotic dehydration of carrot slices in two temperature levels, with complementary drying in heart with air circulation at 70 º C. Sensory analysis was performed and the study of slices dehydration osmotically and the slices without osmotic treatment. The best results were obtained with the solution DO1 60°C with immersion time of 60 min. The drying of carrot slices presented period of constant rate and decreasing rate. The osmotic pre-treatment reduced the initial humidity of carrot slices, reducing the time to the product to reach the same humidity content. Fick's model, considering the shrinkage, and the Page s model, adapt satisfactorily to experimental datas, allowing the determination of effective diffusion coefficients, consistent with the references. The results of sensory analysis of dry product, showed greater acceptance of sliced carrots with osmotic treatment

Secagem do resíduo de acerola (Malphigia emarginata D.C.): estudo do processo e avaliação do impacto sobre o produto final

Brazil, one of the largest agricultural producers in the world, has managed in recent years to significantly improve its production. However, in response to this advance in the agro-industrial sector, the generation of agro-industrial residues has also increased. New technological alternatives have to be implemented in order to bring economic and rational use of this material and drying is one of the possible choices. Considering the great importance that bioactive compounds present for food science and technology, this research aims to evaluate the air-drying process of acerola residue in a tray convective drier under controlled temperature (60, 70 e 80ºC), air velocity (4.0, 5.0 e 6.0 m/s) and material width (0.5, 0.62 e 0.75 cm) by applying an experimental planning 23 + 3. Based on that, the impact on physical-chemical characteristics, color, bioactive compounds concentration and antioxidant activity of dried acerola waste was evaluated, having the in natura and freeze dried waste as control groups. Dried acerola residue presented natural pigments, mainly carotenoids (143.68 - 68.29 mg/g) and anthocyanins (290.92 - 90.11 mg/100 g), which explain the red and yellow instrumental color parameters observed. The acerola residue powder is also rich in phenolic compounds (3261.11 -2692.60 mgGAEeq/100g), proanthocyanidins (61.33-58.46 eq/100g), ascorbic acid (389.44 739.29 mg/100 g) and DPPH antioxidant activity (20.91 24.72 μg Trolox eq/g). Results show decreased concentration of phenolic compounds, anthocyanins, carotenoids, proanthocyanidins and ascorbic acid caused by the air-drying process. However, even after the observed drying losses, the acerola residue powder can be considered a high value food ingredient, considering the high bioactive compounds concentration found in the final product, as well as the colorimetric characterization and microbiological stability of the dried powder

Estudo da digestão de sedimento de curtume visando a extração do cromo por microemulsão

Leather tanneries generate effluents with high content of heavy metals, especially chromium, which is used in the mineral tanning process. Microemulsions have been studied in the extraction of heavy metals from aqueous solutions. Considering the problems related with the sediment resulting from the tanning process, due to its high content in chromium, in this work this sediment was characterized and microemulsion systems were applied for chromium removal. The extraction process consists in the removal of heavy metal ions present in an aqueous feeding solution (acid digestion solution) by a microemulsion system. First three different solid sludge digestion methods were evaluated, being chosen the method with higher digestion capacity. For this digestion method, seeking its optimization, was evaluated the influence of granule size, temperature and digestion time. Experimental results showed that the method proposed by USEPA (Method A) was the most efficient one, being obtained 95.77% of sample digestion. Regarding to the evaluated parameters, the best results were achieved at 95°C, 14 Mesh granule size, and 60 minutes digestion time. For chromium removal, three microemulsion extraction methods were evaluated: Method 1, in a Winsor II region, using as aqueous phase the acid digestion solution; Method 2, in a Winsor IV region, being obtained by the addition of the acid digestion solution to a microemulsion phase, whose aqueous phase is distilled water, until the formation of Winsor II system; and Method 3, in a Winsor III region, consisting in the formation of a Winsor III region using as aqueous phase the acid digestion solution, diluted in NaOH 0.01N. Seeking to optimize the extraction process only Method 1 (Systems I, II, and VIII) and Method 2 (System IX) were evaluated, being chosen points inside the interest regions (studied domains) to study the influence of contact time and pH in the extraction percentiles. The studied systems present the following compositions: System I: Surfactant Saponified coconut oil, Cosurfactant 1-Butanol, Oil phase Kerosene, Aqueous phase 2% NaCl solution; System II: Aqueous phase Acid digestion solution with pH adjusted using KOH (pH 3.5); System VIII: Aqueous phase - Acid digestion solution (pH 0.06); and System IX Aqueous phase Distilled water (pH 10.24), the other phases of Systems II, VIII and IX are similar to System I. Method 2 showed to be the more efficient one regarding chromium extraction percentile (up to 96.59% - pH 3.5). Considering that with Method 2 the microemulsion region only appears in the Winsor II region, it was studied Method 3 (System X) for the evaluation and characterization of a triphasic system, seeking to compare with a biphases system. System X is composed by: Surfactant Saponified coconut oil, Cosurfactant 1-Butanol, Oil phase Kerosene, Aqueous phase Acid digestion solution diluted with water and with its pH adjusted using 0.01N NaOH solution. The biphasic and triphasic microemulsion systems were analyzed regarding its viscosity, extraction efficiency and drop effective diameter. The experimental results showed that for viscosity studies the obtained values were low for all studied systems, the diameter of the drop is smaller in the Winsor II region, with 15.5 nm, reaching 46.0 nm in Winsor III region, being this difference attributed to variations in system compositions and micelle geometry. In chromium extraction, these points showed similar results, being achieved 99.76% for Winsor II system and 99.62% for Winsor III system. Winsor III system showed to be more efficient due to the obtaining of a icroemulsion with smaller volume, with the possibility to recover the oil phase in excess, and the use of a smaller proportion of surfactant and cosurfactant (C/S)