Activity pattern of Cuniculus paca (Rodentia: Cuniculidae) in relation to lunar illumination and other abiotic variables in the southern Brazilian Amazon

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

EMG amplitude and frequency parameters of muscular activity: Effect of resistance training based on electromyographic fatigue threshold

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Screening of bacterial strains for pectinolytic activity: characterization of the polygalacturonase produced by Bacillus sp

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

Relic abundance of mass-varying cold dark matter particles

In models of coupled dark energy and dark matter the mass of the dark matter particle depends on the cosmological evolution of the dark energy field. In this Letter we exemplify in a simple model the effects of this mass variation on the relic abundance of cold dark matter. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Powder X-ray characterization of lithium thiazoildine-4-carboxylate

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

Mutagenic activity removal of selected disperse dye by photoeletrocatalytic treatment

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

Abundance of MyoD and myostatin transcripts in chicken embryos submitted to distinct incubation temperatures and timing exposures

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

Study of Ti-modified columbite route and the effect of lithium doping in 0.9PMN-0.1PT ceramics

The influence of lithium on the structural characteristics of PMN-PT ceramic was studied. The synthesis of PMN-PT powders using this precursor leads to the formation of high amount of perovskite phase. The insertion of Li(+) ions in B-site affects the microstructure because the rise in mass transport changes the mechanical characteristics of sintered ceramic. Higher values of K(m) and T(m) were gotten when lithium is inserted into perovskite phase. Secondary phase was found when lithium content increase beyond 1 mol%, besides the occurrence of transgranular fractures in sintered ceramic. Also, the additive acts increasing the relaxor behavior.

Effects of lithium and myoinositol on the rat bisected vas deferens

1. The effects of lithium (Li+) on the concentration-response curves (CRC) to norepinephrine (NE) and acetylcholine (Ach) on the bisected rat vas deferens (RVD) were investigated, as well as its action on the neuronal uptake of [H-3] NE.2. Li+ did not affect the 50% effective concentration (EC(50)) of NE and Ach in the epididymal (EP) portion of the RVD.3. Li+ caused a significant increase of the EC(50) to NE and Ach in the prostatic (PP) portion of the RVD. This shift to the right of the CRC to NE was prevented by the presence of myoinositol.4. Incubation of the PP of the RVD with Li+, increased the neuronal uptake of NE. The simultaneous incubation with myoinositol prevented this increase.5. After the pre-treatment of the rats with 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA), or in the presence of cocaine, Li+ failed to desensitize the PP of the RVD to NE.6. These results suggest that the effect of Li+ on the PP of the RVD occurs mainly at the pre-synaptic level and may be related to the increase of neuronal uptake and to the interference of Li+ on phosphatidylinositol hydrolysis.

Composition and abundance of marine shrimps (Crustacea, Decapoda, Penaeidea) in Ubatuba bay, Ubatuba (SP), Brazil

This work aims to analyse the composition, abundance and distribution of the Penaeidea species which occur in the Ubatuba Bay (23 degrees 26'S and 45 degrees 02'W). The samples were monthly collected from October/1992 to September/1993. Each collect was composed of two parallel radials: the first (radial ''A'') was carried out in the mid region of the bay and the second one (radial ''B'') in the bay mouth. The trawls took one hour in a boat equipped with one otter-trawl (10 mm of mesh). The registered environmental factors were depth, bottom water temperature, granulometric composition and organic content of the sediment. After the trawls, the shrimp were separated from other marine organisms and counted. Eight species of shrimp were obtained: Xiphopenaeus kroyeri; Artemesia longinaris; Penaeus (L.) schmitti; P. (F.) brasiliensis; Trachypenaeus; constrictus; Sicyonia typica; S. dorsalis and Pleoticus muelleri. The most abundant species were X. kroyeri, A. longinaris, P. muelleri and T. constrictus. It was verified a very strong seasonality among the species. The X. kroyeri species occurred in both radials along the months but its abundance decreased from a November to March. Such fact is attributed to the temperature which reached a minimum value of 20 degrees C during this period. The species A. longinaris and P. muelleri were more frequent in the radial B which was caracterized by 14 +/- 1.3 m of depth, low organic content in the sediment (2.97%) and granulometric composition of medium sand. The distribution and abundance of these shrimps in the bay, beyond the hydrological features can be related to biotic factors as food availability, migration, inter and intra specific relations (competition, predation, etc.).

Red and blue emissions of europium doped gadolinium silicate from porous silica matrix and hydroxide carbonate with spherical shaped particles

In this work, Eu(III) and Eu(II) doped gadolinium silicates has been obtained as compact tubes starting from spherical gadolinium hydroxide carbonate using the pores of silica matrix as support and its surface as reagent. Eu(III) doped gadolinium silicate with hexagonal phase shows an interesting visible shifted charge transfer band when compared to disilicate with orthorhombic phase that was also obtained. Eu(II) gadolinium silicate has been prepared using CO atmosphere presenting an intense blue emission. The divalent europium system shows a potential application as an UV-blue converter. The samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray powder diffractometry (XRD) and photoluminescence spectroscopy. (C) 2002 Elsevier B.V. B.V. All rights reserved.

Electrical percolation during gelation of lithium doped siloxane-poly(oxyethylene) hybrids

Gelation mechanisms of lithium-doped Siloxane-Poly(oxyethylene) (PEO) hybrids containing polymer of two different molecular weight (500 and 1900 g/mol) were investigated through the evolution of the electrical properties during the solgel transition. The results of electrical measurements, performed by in-situ complex impedance spectroscopy, were correlated with the coordination and the dynamical properties of the lithium ions during the process as shown by Li-7 NMR measurements. For both hybrids sols, a decrease of the conductivity is observed at the initial gelation stage, due to the existence of an inverted percolation process consisting of the progressive separation of solvent molecules containing conducting species in isolated islands during the solid network formation. An increase of conductivity occurs at more advanced stages of gelation and aging, attributed to the increasing connectivity between PEO chains promoted by the formation of crosslinks of siloxane particles at their extremities, favoring hopping motions of lithium ions along the chains.

Effects of sex and locality on the abundance of lice on the wild rodent Oligoryzomys nigripes

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Fluctuations in Richness and Abundance of Social Wasps During the Dry and Wet Seasons in Three Phyto-Physiognomies at the Tropical Dry Forest of Brazil

The social wasp nests were quantified in three different plant physiognomies (forested Caatinga, shrubby Caatinga, and agricultural systems) to analyze the effect of environmental seasonality and plant physiognomy on the richness, nest abundance, and species composition of social wasps in the region of tropical dry forest of Brazil. The forested Caatinga physiognomy had the greatest richness of species (S = 16), followed by shrubby Caatinga (S 13) and by agricultural system (S = 12). The first axis of detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) explained 67.8% of the variability and shows a gradient of the fauna from agricultural system and shrubby Caatinga to forested Caatinga. In the first axis, wet season scores were much higher than those for the dry season in forested Caatinga. The second axis explained 18.7% of the variability and shows a separation of samples collected during the wet or the dry periods in shrubby Caatinga. This separation was less evident in the agricultural system. Variations in nest abundance were more intense in arbustive caatinga (45% decrease in number of active nests in the dry period), moderate in forested Caatinga (24% decrease in number of active nests in the dry period), and low in agricultural systems (8% decrease in the dry period).

Intercalation processes and diffusion paths of lithium ions in spinel-type structured Li(1+x)Ti(2)O(4): Density functional theory study

Intercalation processes and corresponding diffusion paths of Li ions into spinel-type structured Li(1+x)Ti(2)O(4) (0 <= x <= 0.375) are systematically studied by means of periodic density functional theory calculations for different compositions and arrangements. An analysis of the site preference for intercalation processes is carried out, while energy barriers for the diffusion paths have been computed in detail. Our results indicate that the Li insertion is thermodynamically favorable at octahedral sites 16c in the studied composition range, and Li migration from tetrahedral sites 8a to octahedral sites 16c stabilizes the structure and becomes favorable for compositions x >= 0.25. Diffusion paths from less stable arrangements involving Li migrations between tetrahedral and octahedral sites exhibit the lowest energy barrier since the corresponding trajectories and energy profiles take place across a triangle made by three neighboring oxygen anions without structural modification. Theoretical and experimental diffusion coefficients are in reasonable agreement.