Determinação do gradiente de pH na região interna a duas membranas em equilíbrio com eletrólito

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Study of pK Values and Effective Dielectric Constants of Ionizable Residues in Pentapeptides and in Staphylococcal Nuclease (SNase) Using a Mean-Field Approach

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Adsorção de polieletrólitos em superfícies opostamente carregadas

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

How do titanium and Ti6A14V corrode in fluoridated medium as found in the oral cavity? an in vitro study

The purpose of this work was to evaluate the corrosion of commercially pure (CP) titanium and Ti6Al4V in vitro at different F- concentrations regularly found in the oral cavity by using different electrochemical tests and surface analysis techniques. electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), open circuit potential (OCP) and potentio-dynamic polarization tests were associated to advanced characterization techniques such as SEM, EDS, AFM, ICP-MS and XPS. OCP tests revealed a higher reactivity of both CP titanium and Ti6Al4V at 12,300 ppm F- concentration than that recorded at 227 ppm F-. Also, a significant decrease of the corrosion resistance of both materials was noticed by EIS in fluoride solutions. Material loss caused by corrosion was noticed on titanium surfaces by SEM and AFM in the presence of high F- concentration. CP titanium degraded by pitting corrosion while Ti6Al4V suffered from general corrosion showing micro-cracks on surface. Furthermore, a high release of metallic ions from the test samples after immersion at high F concentrations was detected by ICP-MS, that can be potentially toxic to oral tissues. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Photo-Induced Dipole Relaxation Current in Natural Amethyst

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Case study: a 3D resistivity and induced polarization imaging from downstream a waste disposal site in Brazil

A contaminated site from a downstream municipal solid waste disposal site in Brazil was investigated by using a 3D resistivity and induced polarization (IP) imaging technique. This investigation purpose was to detect and delineate contamination plume produced by wastes. The area was selected based on previous geophysical investigations, and chemical analyses carried out in the site, indicating the presence of a contamination plume in the area. Resistivity model has successfully imaged waste presence (rho < 20 Omega m), water table depth, and groundwater flow direction. A conductive anomaly (rho < 20 Omega m) outside wastes placement was interpreted as a contamination plume. Chargeability model was also able to imaging waste presence (m > 31 mV/V), water table depth, and groundwater flow direction. A higher chargeability zone (m > 31 mV/V) outside wastes placement and following conductive anomaly was interpreted as a contamination plume. Normalized chargeability (MN = m/rho) confirmed polarizable zone, which could be an effect of a salinity increase (contamination plume), and the clay presence in the environment.

Prostate carcinogenesis induced by N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (mnu) in gerbils: Histopathological diagnosis and potential invasiveness mediated by extracellular matrix components

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Absence of promoting potential of bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum) in rat urinary bladder carcinogenesis induced by N-butyl-N-(4-hydroxybutyl)-nitrosamine and uracil

Conventional studies on bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum; PA) carcinogenicity have used high dietary concentrations (around 30%) and long-term exposure (up to 52-70 weeks) without consideration of the multistep character of the chemical carcinogenesis process. The present study evaluated specifically the promoting potential of 3-5% dietary crude PA in the rat urinary bladder mucosa in a 32-week-long initiation-promotion assay for chemical carcinogenesis. Initiation of urothelial carcinogenesis was accomplished with N-butyl-N-(4-hydroxybutyl)-nitrosamine (BBN). Uracil (U) was provided through the diet in order to expand the population of initiated cells. Seven groups (C) of male Wistar rats were submitted to the following treatments: G1 = BBN (n = 8); G2 = U (n = 10); G3 = BBN-U (n = 9); G4 = BBN-PA-U-PA (n = 16); G5 = PA (n = 8); G6 = BBN-PA (n = 10); G7 = PA-U-PA (n = 12). At the end of the experiment rats presenting epithelial papillary or nodular hyperplasia (PNH), papillomas (PAP), or simultaneous PNH plus PAP numbered, respectively G1: 2-0-1; G2: 0-0-0; G3: 3-0-2; G4: 4-3-2; G5: 1-0-1; G6: 8-0-0; and G7: 0-0-0, with no significant differences in the incidence of lesions among the groups. More frequent and more severe lesions occurred in BBN-initiated animals, predominantly in those also exposed to uracil (G3 and G4). Low-dose crude bracken fern in the diet does not promote rat urinary bladder carcinogenesis after a 32-week period of exposure, even when the initiated urothelial cell population has been expanded through a mechanical stimulus. (C) 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Qualitative evaluation of active potential barriers in SnO2-based polycrystalline devices by electrostatic force microscopy

This paper discuss the qualitative use of electrostatic force microscopy to study the grain boundary active potential barrier present in dense SnO2-based polycrystalline semiconductors. The effect of heat treatment under rich- and poor-oxygen atmospheres was evaluated while especially considering the number of active barriers at grain boundary regions. The results show that the number of active barriers decrease after heat treatment in an oxygen-poor atmosphere and increase after heat treatment in oxygen-rich atmospheres. The observed effect was explained by considering the presence of oxidized transition metal elements segregated at grain boundary regions which leads to the p-type character of this region, in agreement with the atomic barrier formation mechanism in metal oxide varistor systems.

Electrostatic force microscopy as a tool to estimate the number of active potential barriers in dense non-Ohmic polycrystalline SnO2 devices

In the present work, electroactive grain boundaries of highly dense metal oxide SnO2-based polycrystalline varistors were determined by electrostatic force microscopy (EFM). The EFM technique was applied to identify electroactive grain boundaries and thus estimate the amount of active grain boundary, which, in the metal oxide SnO2-based varistor, was calculated at around 85%, i.e., much higher than that found in traditional metal oxide ZnO-based varistors. The mean potential barrier height value obtained from the EFM analysis was in complete agreement with the values calculated from the C-V measurements, together with a complex capacitance plane analysis that validates the methodology proposed here. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.

Thermal annealing-induced electric dipole relaxation in natural alexandrite

Electrical properties of natural alexandrite (BeAl2O4:Cr3+) are investigated by the thermally stimulated depolarization current (TSDC) technique. Samples are submitted to consecutive annealing processes and TSDC is carried out after each annealing, yielding bands with different parameters. These bands are fitted by a continuous distribution of relaxation parameters: activation energy and pre-exponential factor of the Arrhenius equation. It has been observed that annealing influences the dipole relaxation behavior, since it promotes a modification of Fe3+ and C3+ impurity distributions on sites of distinct symmetry: Al-1 and Al-2. In order to have a reference for comparison, TSDC is also carried out on a synthetic alexandrite sample, where the only impurity present is Cr3+ ion.

Induced variational method from supersymmetric quantum mechanics and the screened Coulomb potential

The formalism of supersymmetric quantum mechanics supplies a trial wave function to be used in the variational method. The screened Coulomb potential is analyzed within this approach. Numerical and exact results for energy eigenvalues are compared.

Light-induced electric dipole relaxation in synthetic and natural alexandrite

We present results of thermally stimulated depolarization current (TSDC) measurements in synthetic and natural alexandrite, which show TSDC bands related to the presence of electric dipoles in both types of samples. Synthetic material shows a wide TSDC band with a peak at 179 K, which can be fitted by two distinct relaxing dipole distributions. For natural alexandrite the TSDC band has a maximum around 195 K and can be fitted by three different distributions. Both samples present one of the calculated curves with a peak about 179 K, with activation energy of 0.57 eV and constant relaxation time of 1 × 10-14 sec. Photo-induced TSDC shows that TSDC bands can also be generated by simultaneous application of light and an electric field at 77 K.

Absence of genotoxic effects of the coumarin derivative 4-methylesculetin in vivo and its potential chemoprevention against doxorubicin-induced DNA damage

4-Methylesculetin (4-ME) is a synthetic derivative of coumarin that displays a potent reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenger and metal chelating agent and therefore has been produced to help reduce the risk of human disease. The main objective of this study was to investigate the in vivo genotoxicity of 4-ME and initially to verify its potential antigenotoxicity on doxorubicin (DXR)-induced DNA damage. Different doses of 4-ME (500, 1000 and 2000mgkg -1 body weight) were administered by gavage only or with a simultaneous intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of DXR (80mgkg -1). The following endpoints were analyzed: DNA damage in peripheral blood, liver, bone marrow, brain and testicle cells according to an alkaline (pH>13) comet assay and micronucleus induction in bone marrow cells. Cytotoxicity was assessed by scoring polychromatic (PCE) and normochromatic (NCE) erythrocytes (PCE/NCE ratio). No differences were observed between the negative control and the groups treated with a 4-ME dose for any of the endpoints analyzed, indicating that it lacks genotoxic and cytotoxic effects. Moreover, 4-ME demonstrated protective effects against DXR-induced DNA damage at all tested doses and in all analyzed cell types, which ranged from 34.1% to 93.3% in the comet assay and 54.4% to 65.9% in the micronucleus test.