Pion to upsilon from kappa-deformed Poincare phenomenology

In the extreme rarity of meaningful results for four dimensional physics produced from the mathematically very well developed theory of quantum groups, we present a phenomenological fit to the rotational and radial excitations of mesons with very few parameters, From pion to upsilon, the heavy and light mesons are fitted with the same degree of precision.

Downregulation of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappa B) pathway by silibinin in human monocytes challenged with Paracoccidioides brasiliensis

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

Increased Levels of NOTCH1, NF-kappa B, and Other Interconnected Transcription Factors Characterize Primitive Sets of Hematopoietic Stem Cells

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

Kappa-casein gene study with molecular markers in female buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis)

Caseins comprise make up about 80% of the total protein content of milk and present polymorphism with change in the amino acid sequence. Within this abundance of proteins, kappa-casein is noteworthy, since it has been associated with differences in milk yield, composition and processing. The objective of this study was to observe the existence of polymorphism in the kappa-casein gene in female buffaloes. For this purpose, blood samples from 115 female buffaloes, collected with vacutainer by needle punctionure of the jugular vein, were used. for genomic DNA extraction was done from blood samples. The PCR-RFLP and SSCP techniques demonstrated that the studied animals were monomorphic for the kappa-casein gene. Only allele B was observed in these animals, which was present in homozygosis. Therefore, it was not possible to quantify the gene action on milk yield and its constituents. The monomorphism observed in the population studied would allow the development of a method to identify mixtures of cow and buffalo milk in mozzarella cheese production, especially because, in cattle, the kappa-casein gene is polymorphic. Copyright by the Brazilian Society of Genetics.

Influência do número kappa, dos ácidos hexenurônicos e da lignina no desempenho da deslignificação com oxigênio

This study aimed at determining the effect of kappa number, lignin and hexenuronic acid contents on oxygen stage performance. Industrial brown pulps produced by the ITC and KobudoMARI cooking technologies, of kappa number and HexA's contents varying in the range of 10-21.7 and 23.2-56.7 mmol/kg, respectively, were collected in a period of 6 months and delignified with oxygen under fixed conditions. Kappa number was fractionated into lignin and hexenuronic acid and each fraction correlated with oxygen stage performance. It was concluded that O-stage efficiency, selectivity and yield does not correlate significantly with kappa number, lignin or hexenuronic acid contents for the ITC and KobudoMARI pulps at 5% of significance.

Scientific article in vitro evaluation of the influence of air abrasion on detection of occlusal caries lesions in primary teeth

The purpose of this study was to assess the influence of cleaning pits and fissures with an aluminum oxide air abrasion system on the detection of occlusal caries in primary teeth using laser fluorescence (LF) and visual examination. Methods: The sample comprised 65 pit and fissure sites on extracted primary teeth suspected to be carious. The sites were submitted to 2 visual examinations (examiner JAR) and 2 LF readings (examiner TMV). Next, the occlusal surfaces were air-abraded and re-examined thereafter using both methods. The teeth were sectioned, and the histological analysis of the sites with a stereoscopic magnifying lens at X32 magnifi cation was used as the gold standard. Results: Cohen's kappa statistic for LF and visual examination were, respectively, 0.282/0.884 before and 0.896/0.905 after air abrasion. LF showed a sensitivity of 0.28 increasing to 0.49 and a specifi city of 0.50 increasing to 0.92. Visual examination showed sensitivity of 0.78 and specifi city of 0.73. Both increased after air abrasion. Conclusion: The findings suggest that cleaning pits and fissures with aluminum oxide air abrasion increased the accuracy of LF and visual examination for detection of occlusal caries in primary teeth.

Atitudes em relação à Bioestatística de discentes e docentes da Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Araraquara-UNESP

In this study, the attitudes of students and teachers at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Araraquara (UNESP University) towards Biostatistics were assessed. The Survey of Attitudes Toward Statistics (SATS) scale was used as the measuring instrument. The reproducibility of the scale was estimated by Cohen's Kappa (κ) coefficient with linear weighting and its internal consistency by Cronbach's alpha coefficient (α). The individuals were first placed in two groups, according to their positive or negative attitude toward Statistics; then, the association of their attitude with the variables of interest was tested by the chi-squared (χ 2) test at a significance level of 5%. The sample consisted of 272 undergraduate students, 83 graduate students and 24 teachers, predominantly female (78.2%). Among the students, 67.5% participated in the scientific research initial training program. Reproducibility and internal consistency of the scale were adequate (κ=0.7093; α=0.9334). Most of the subjects (74.4%) had a positive attitude toward Statistics. Significant association was found between attitude and functional activity (p=0.0204), the course taken (p=0.0316) and effort (p=0.0002). Thus, it was concluded that the great majority of the participants had a positive attitude towards Biostatistics and that undergraduate students and those who reported good performance in Biostatistics showed a significantly higher proportion of positive attitude than the other students.

Peripheral kappa and delta opioid receptors are involved in the antinociceptive effect of crotalphine in a rat model of cancer pain

Cancer pain is an important clinical problem and may not respond satisfactorily to the current analgesic therapy. We have characterized a novel and potent analgesic peptide, crotalphine, from the venom of the South American rattlesnake Crotalus durissus terrificus. In the present work, the antinociceptive effect of crotalphine was evaluated in a rat model of cancer pain induced by intraplantar injection of Walker 256 carcinoma cells. Intraplantar injection of tumor cells caused the development of hyperalgesia and allodynia, detected on day 5 after tumor cell inoculation. Crotalphine (6 μg/kg), administered p.o., blocked both phenomena. The antinociceptive effect was detected 1 h after treatment and lasted for up to 48 h. Intraplantar injection of nor-binaltorphimine (50 g/paw), a selective antagonist of κ-opioid receptors, antagonized the antinociceptive effect of the peptide, whereas N,N-diallyl-Tyr-Aib-Phe-Leu (ICI 174,864, 10 μg/paw), a selective antagonist of δ-opioid receptors, partially reversed this effect. On the other hand, D-Phe-Cys-Tyr-D-Trp-Orn-Thr-Pen-Thr amide (CTOP, 20 g/paw), an antagonist of μ-opioid receptors, did not modify crotalphine-induced antinociception. These data indicate that crotalphine induces a potent and long lasting opioid-mediated antinociception in cancer pain. © 2013 Elsevier Inc.

Kappa-PSO-ARTMAP Fuzzy: uma metodologia para detecção de intrusos baseado em seleção de atributos e otimização de parâmetros numa rede neural ARTMAP Fuzzy

Pós-graduação em Engenharia Elétrica - FEIS

Single Nucleotide Variations in the Buffalo Kappa-Casein Gene (CSN3)

Caseins are the major milk proteins associated with lactation performance, milk composition and cheese yield efficiency, representing around 80% of the total amount of proteins found in milk. Among the caseins, kappa-casein is the protein that stabilizes micelle structure during milk coagulation process and being used during the cheese production. The kappa-casein gene (CSN3) has been previously mapped to buffalo chromosome 7 using a radiation hybrid panel and a comparative map was established using the sequence from bovine chromosome 6. The molecular structure of this gene has also been established in river buffalo, with a total length of 13,191 bp (GenBank: AM900443.1) and containing five exons. In this study we searched for single nucleotide variations in specific regions of the CSN3 gene in three animals representing the Murrah breed. Sequencing reactions were performed using ABI3730xl sequencer. The primer walking method was used to span the 5'-UTR and intron 2 regions of the gene, for which ten primer pairs were designed using Oligo 6 software. BLAST tool was used to verify the primers specificity. DNA sequences assemblies from all three animals were performed with Sequencher (R) software 4.1, while multiple alignments were performed using Clustal W software to identify single nucleotide variations. The sequencing revealed a total of 19 single nucleotide variations with 13 located in the upstream regulatory region of the gene (5'-UTR) and six on intron 2. These variations can be validated using commercial populations segregating specific economic traits.

Otimização da extração alcalina com peróxido de hidrogênio em seqüência de branqueamento com aplicação de baixo fator kappa

The new market, focused on sustainability and other environmental concerns, refers to innovations that seek alternative forms of production. In pulp and paper bleaching alternative reagents are studied, for example, hydrogen peroxide, in partial substitution of chlorine dioxide in order to reduce the formation of organochlorines. In this context, this study examined the burden of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) on alkaline extraction stage (stage Ep) required for the bleaching of pulp with eucalyptus kraft pulp, pre-oxygen delignified to obtain equivalent brightness at 90 ± 0.5% ISO, as well as its effect on quality of pulp produced. The pulp was bleached by the sequence D(Ep)DP, with the application of factor kappa of 0.14 and varying the concentration of hydrogen peroxide in Ep stage three, five, seven and nine kilograms of reagent per ton of pulp absolutely drought. The final P stage was optimized with the use of six, nine and twelve pounds of hydrogen peroxide per ton of absolutely dry pulp to achieve the required brightness. The quality of the pulp produced was analyzed based on the kappa number, the brightness and the viscosity. The methods were performed according to standards set by the standard TAPPI (Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry). The best result was obtained using the following D0Ep(7)D1P(6), which showed a viscosity of 19.9 cP, 89.6% ISO brightness, consumption of 94.9 kg / t of reagents and reagent costs of US$ 28.15, because it showed better pulp quality for a lower cost compared to the others. It was found that the greater the amount of hydrogen peroxide in alkaline extraction, the lower the kappa number and increased the amount of residual hydrogen peroxide. The higher the charge of hydrogen peroxide in Ep stage, the lower the need for hydrogen peroxide in the final P stage, reducing the cost of bleaching

In vitro performance of a pen-type laser fluorescence device and bitewing radiographs for approximal caries detection in permanent and primary teeth

To evaluate the performance of a pen‑type laser fluorescence device (DIAGNOdent 2190; LFpen, KaVo, Germany) and bitewing radiographs (BW) for approximal caries detection in permanent and primary teeth. Materials and Methods: A total of 246 anterior approximal surfaces (102 permanent and 144 primary) were selected. Contact points were simulated using sound teeth. Two examiners assessed all approximal surfaces using LFpen and BW. The teeth were histologically assessed for the reference standard. Optimal cut‑off limits were calculated for LFpen for primary and permanent teeth. Sensitivity, specificity, accuracy and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (Az) were calculated for D1 (enamel and dentin lesions) and D3 (dentin lesions) thresholds. The reproducibility was assessed by intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and Cohen's weighted kappa values. Results: For permanent teeth, the LFpen cut‑off were 0– 27 (sound), 28– 33 (enamel caries) and >33 (dentin caries). For primary teeth, the LFpen cut‑off were 0– 7 (sound), 8– 32 (enamelcaries) and >32 (dentin caries). The LFpen presented higher sensitivity values than BW for primary teeth (0.58 vs. 0.32 at D1 and 0.80 vs. 0.47 at D3) and permanent teeth (0.80 vs. 0.57 at D1 and 0.94 vs. 0.51 at D3). Specificity did not show a significant difference between the methods. Rank correlations with histology were 0.59 and 0.83 (LFpen) and 0.36 and 0.70 (BW) for primary and permanent teeth, respectively, considering all lesions. ICC values for LFpen were 0.71 (inter) and 0.86 (intra) for permanent teeth and 0.94 (inter) and 0.90/0.99 for primary teeth. Kappa values for BW were 0.69 (inter) and 0.68/0.90 (intra) for permanent teeth and 0.64 (inter) and 0.89/0.89 for primary teeth. Conclusion: LFpen presented better reproducibility for primary and permanent teeth and higher accuracy in detecting caries lesions at D1 threshold than BW for permanent teeth. LFpen should be used as an adjunct method for approximal caries detection.

Can repair increase the longevity of composite resins? Results of a 10-year clinical trial

The aim of this double-blind clinical trial was to assess the longevity of repairs to localized clinical defects in composite resin restorations that were initially planned to be treated with a restoration replacement. Methods Twenty-eight patients aged 18–80 years old with 50 composite resin restorations (CR) were recruited. The restorations with localized, marginal, anatomical deficiencies and/or secondary caries adjacent to CR that were “clinically judged” to be suitable for repair or replacement according to the USPHS criteria were randomly assigned to Repair (n = 25) or Replacement (n = 25) groups, and the quality of the restorations was scored according to the modified USPHS criteria. The restorations were blind and two examiners scored them at baseline (Cohen Kappa agreement score 0.74) and at ten years (Cohen Kappa agreement score 0.87) restorations. Wilcoxon tests were performed for comparisons within the same group (95% CI), and Friedman tests were utilized for multiple comparisons between the different years within each group. Results Over the decade, the two groups behaved similarly on the parameters of marginal adaptation (MA) (p > 0.05), secondary caries (SC) (p > 0.05), anatomy (A) (p < 0.05), and colour (C) (p > 0.05). Conclusions Given that the MA, SC, A and C parameters behaved similarly in both groups, the repair of composite resins should be elected when clinically indicated, because it is a minimally invasive treatment that can consistently increase the longevity of restorations. Clinical significance The repair of defective composite resins as an alternative treatment to increase their longevity proved to be a safe and effective treatment in the long term.