Comparison of the quantification of caffeine in human plasma by gas chromatography and ELISA

In the present study we evaluated the precision of the ELISA method to quantify caffeine in human plasma and compared the results with those obtained by gas chromatography. A total of 58 samples were analyzed by gas chromatography using a nitrogen-phosphorus detector and routine techniques. For the ELISA test, the samples were diluted to obtain a concentration corresponding to 50% of the absorbance of the standard curve. To determine whether the proximity between the I50 of the standard curve and that of the sample would bring about a more precise result, the samples were divided into three blocks according to the criterion of difference, in modulus, of the I50 of the standard curve and of the I50 of the sample. The samples were classified into three groups. The first was composed of 20 samples with I50 up to 1.5 ng/ml, the second consisted of 21 samples with I50 ranging from 1.51 to 3 ng/ml, and the third of 17 samples with I50 ranging from 3.01 to 13 ng/ml. The determination coefficient (R² = 0.999) showed that the data obtained by gas chromatography represented a reliable basis. The results obtained by ELISA were also reliable, with an estimated Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.82 between the two methods. This coefficient for the different groups (0.88, 0.79 and 0.49 for groups 1, 2 and 3, respectively) showed greater reliability for the test with dilutions closer to I50.

Physical and mechanical properties of thermally modified wood from E. grandis

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

Effect of the Oxygen on the Mechanical Properties of Ti-Mo Systems Alloys

Titanium alloys normally contain oxygen, nitrogen, or carbon as impurities, and although this concentration is low, these impurities cause changes in the mechanical properties of Ti alloys. Oxygen is a strong alpha-phase stabilizer and its addition causes solid-solution strengthening, shape memory effect, and superelasticity. The most promising alloys are those with Nb, Zr, Ta, and Mo as alloying elements. In this paper, the preparation, processing, and characterization of Ti-Mo alloys (5 and 10 wt%) used as biomaterials are presented, along with the influence of oxygen on their mechanical properties. The addition of oxygen causes an increase in the elasticity modulus of the Ti-5Mo alloy due to an increase in the alpha' phase volume fraction, which possesses a higher modulus than the alpha '' phase. Ti-10Mo possesses a mixture between alpha '' and beta phases, oxygen enters these two structures and causes a dominating effect.

Finite-Element Analysis of Stress on Dental Implant Prosthesis

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

Evaluation of fatigue behavior on repaired carbon fiber/epoxy composites

The continuous use of structural polymer composites in aeronautical industry has required the development of repairing techniques of damages found in different types of laminates. The most usually adopted procedure to investigate the repair of composite laminates has been by repairing damages simulated in laminated composite specimens. This work shows the influence of structural repair technique on mechanical properties of a typical carbon fiber/epoxy laminate used in aerospace industry. When analyzed by tensile test, the laminates with and without repair present tensile strength values of 670 and 892 MPa, respectively, and tensile modulus of 53.0 and 67.2 GPa, respectively. By this result, it is possible to observe a decrease of the measured mechanical properties of the repaired composites. When submitted to fatigue test, it is observed that in loads higher than 250 MPa, this laminate presents a low life cycle (lower than 400,000 cycles). The fatigue performance of both laminates is comparable, but the non-repaired laminate presented higher tensile and fatigue resistance when compared with the repaired laminate.

Effects of carbon nanotube fillers dispersion on mechanical behavior of phenolic/carbon nanotube nanocomposite

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

Determination of Population Size of Glass-like Carbon Sampling Used in Weibull Analysis

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

Changes in the stiffness of demineralized dentin following application of tooth whitening agents

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

Long-term nano-mechanical properties of biomodified dentin-resin interface components

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

Nanomechanical properties of biochemically modified dentin bonded interfaces

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

Cyclic-loading of the human gracilis and semitendinosus muscle tendons: Study of young adult cadavers

During knee ligament reconstruction, the tendon graft is tensioned to prevent the occurrence of excessive graft elongation during the postoperative period. Tensioning may be achieved by applying a cyclic or static load to the graft during fixation. Although this procedure is part of the surgery, there is no consensus in international literature regarding ideal tension levels to be used in this procedure. This study was conducted on 10 tendons of the human gracilis muscle and 10 tendons of semitendinosus muscle removed from five male cadavers whose mean age was 20.8 years. These tendons underwent 10 in vitro strain cycles at three levels of deformation (2.5, 3, and 4%) and the value of the deforming load used for each cycle was recorded. The statistical analysis demonstrated that in order to attain the same level of deformation during the 10 cycles there was a reduction in the value of strain applied to the graft, observed at the three levels of deformation. It was concluded that the semitendinosus tendon presents a more uniform mechanical behavior and that there is a need for new graft tensioning protocols that consider the force associated with deformation.

Giant monopole resonance and nuclear compression modulus for Ca-40 and O-16

Using a collective potential derived previously on the basis of the generator coordinate method with Skyrme interactions, we obtain values for the compression modulus of Ca-40 which are in good agreement with a recently obtained experimental value. Calculated values for the compression modulus for O-16 are also given. The procedure involved in the derivation of the collective potential is briefly reviewed and discussed.

Effect of partial crystallization on the mechanical properties and cytotoxicity of bioactive glass from the 3CaO center dot P2O5-SiO2-MgO system

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

Effect of addition of different hydrocolloids on pasting, thermal, and rheological properties of cassava starch

Amidos e gomas são hidrocoloides frequentemente usados em sistemas alimentícios com a finalidade de fornecer textura, umidade e mobilidade de água. A interação amido-goma em sistemas alimentícios pode alterar o inchamento do grânulo de amido e as suas propriedades de gelatinização e reológicas. Neste trabalho, o efeito da adição de goma xantana (GX), carboximetilcelulose sódica (CMC) e carragena (CAR) nas concentrações de 0,15, 0,25, 0,35 e 0,45% (p/v) sobre as propriedades de pasta, térmicas e reológicas do amido de mandioca foi estudado. O Poder de inchamento (PI) e a Microscopia Eletrônica de Varredura (MEV) dos géis de amido também foram avaliados. Os resultados obtidos mostraram que a GX apresentou forte interação com o amido, penetrando entre os grânulos e provocando aumento das viscosidades de pasta, PI, G' e G, e redução da retrogradação do amido; CMCS aumentou as viscosidades de pasta, PI, G' e G das misturas, principalmente em função da sua maior capacidade de reter água, e não por causa da interação com o amido; CAR não modificou qualquer das propriedades do amido, porque não houve nenhuma interação entre essa goma e o amido de mandioca nas concentrações usadas.

Dynamical scaling properties of nanoporous undoped and Sb-doped SnO2 supported thin films during tri- and bidimensional structure coarsening

The coarsening of the nanoporous structure developed in undoped and 3% Sb-doped SnO2 sol-gel dip-coated films deposited on a mica substrate was studied by time-resolved small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) during in situ isothermal treatments at 450 and 650 degrees C. The time dependence of the structure function derived from the experimental SAXS data is in reasonable agreement with the predictions of the statistical theory of dynamical scaling, thus suggesting that the coarsening process in the studied nanoporous structures exhibits dynamical self-similar properties. The kinetic exponents of the power time dependence of the characteristic scaling length of undoped SnO2 and 3% Sb-doped SnO2 films are similar (alpha approximate to 0.09), this value being invariant with respect to the firing temperature. In the case of undoped SnO2 films, another kinetic exponent, alpha('), corresponding to the maximum of the structure function was determined to be approximately equal to three times the value of the exponent alpha, as expected for the random tridimensional coarsening process in the dynamical scaling regime. Instead, for 3% Sb-doped SnO2 films fired at 650 degrees C, we have determined that alpha(')approximate to 2 alpha, thus suggesting a bidimensional coarsening of the porous structure. The analyses of the dynamical scaling functions and their asymptotic behavior at high q (q being the modulus of the scattering vector) provided additional evidence for the two-dimensional features of the pore structure of 3% Sb-doped SnO2 films. The presented experimental results support the hypotheses of the validity of the dynamic scaling concept to describe the coarsening process in anisotropic nanoporous systems.