New far-infrared laser lines from CH3OD methanol deuterated isotope

We report on a study of the CH3OD molecule in a search for new far-infrared (FIR) laser lines. For optical pumping of large offset vibrational absorption transitions, a continuous-wave waveguide CO2 laser with 300 MHz tunability around each line was used for the first time. As a consequence, 17. new far-infrared laser emissions were observed. For these lines, we also present data on wavelength, intensity, offset, relative polarization, and optimum operation pressure.

Development of a method to determine Ni and Cd in biodiesel by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry

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

Alterações do pH, da P O2 e da P CO2 arteriais e da concentração de lactato sangüíneo de cavalos da raça Árabe durante exercício em esteira de alta velocidade

Avaliaram-se as alterações do pH, da P O2 e da P CO2 do sangue arterial e da concentração de lactato sangüíneo de 11 cavalos adultos da raça Árabe, submetidos a exercício progressivo em esteira de alta velocidade. Antes do exercício, no intervalo dos 15 segundos finais de cada mudança de velocidade e aos 1, 3 e 5 minutos após o término do exercício foram coletadas amostras de sangue arterial e venoso para a mensuração dos gases sangüíneos e da concentração de lactato. O exercício resultou em diminuição do pH, da pressão parcial de O2 (P O2) e da pressão parcial de CO2 (P CO2). A concentração de lactato sangüíneo elevou-se exponencialmente a partir da velocidade de 8,0m/s até os momentos após término do exercício.

Analytical procedure based on slurry sampling for determining selenium in organic vegetable samples by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry

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

Effect of thermocycling on hardness, absorption, solubility and colour change of soft liners

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Effect of addition of pigments and opacifier on the hardness, absorption, solubility and surface degradation of facial silicone after artificial ageing

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

Crescimento e índices de troca gasosa em plantas de pepino irrigadas com água enriquecida com CO2

Avaliou-se o efeito do enriquecimento da água de irrigação com CO2 sobre índices fisiológicos de desenvolvimento e troca gasosa de folhas de plantas de pepino do tipo japonês, cultivados em ambiente protegido. Os experimentos realizados em duas épocas do ano foram instalados em delineamento experimental de blocos ao acaso com 4 tratamentos e 5 repetições. Os tratamentos foram constituídos pelos híbridos Hokuho e Tsuyataro, irrigados com água comum ou enriquecida com CO2, em uma concentração de 1 no primeiro e 0,25 no segundo experimento. A produção de massa de material seco e área foliar adotaram tendência exponencial, não sendo possível observar o início da diminuição da taxa de produção de massa do material seco aos 63 dias após transplante (DAT). A taxa de crescimento da comunidade e taxa de crescimento relativa do híbrido Hokuho irrigado com água comum foi diferente do irrigado com água enriquecida com CO2, no entanto, no híbrido Tsuyataro foram semelhantes. A taxa de assimilação líquida atingiu a máxima pendente na fase de crescimento vegetativo e floração, e foi reduzida drasticamente após os 20 DAT no híbrido Hokuho, e após os 35 DAT no híbrido Tsuyataro. A razão de área foliar diminuiu ligeiramente nos dois híbridos com o desenvolvimento do cultivo. No início observaram-se diferenças entre irrigação com água comum e enriquecida com CO2, porém após 20 DAT não se apreciaram mais diferenças. Quanto a troca gasosa, a taxa assimilatória líquida de CO2 e de transpiração, conductância estomática e eficiência no uso da água foram semelhantes entre plantas irrigadas com água comum e enriquecida com CO2 durante o primeiro semestre. Já no segundo semestre, maiores valores foram registrados pelas plantas irrigadas com água enriquecida.

Application of cellulose modified with p-aminobenzoic groups in preconcentration system for determination of Cu, Fe, Ni, and Zn in fuel ethanol samples by flame atomic absorption spectrometry

Cellulose chemically modified with p-aminobenzoic groups, abbreviated as Cel-PAB, was used for preconcentration of copper, iron, nickel, and zinc from ethanol fuel, normally used in Brazil as engine fuel. The surface characteristics and the surface area of the cellulose were obtained before and after chemical modification using FT-IR, elemental analysis, and surface area analysis (B.E.T.). The retention and recovery of the analyte elements were studied by applying batch and column techniques.

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, x-ray absorption spectroscopy, and x-ray diffraction characterization of CuO-TiO2-CeO2 catalyst system

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), x-ray diffraction (XRD), and x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) techniques have been applied to characterize the surface composition and structure of a series of CuO-TiO2-CeO2 catalysts. For a small loading of cerium, ceria was mainly dispersed on the titania surface and a minor amount of CeO2 crystallite appeared. At higher loading of cerium, the CeO2 phase increased and the atomic Ce/Ti ratio values were smaller than the nominal composition, as a consequence of cerium agglomeration. This result suggests that only a fraction of cerium can be spread on the titania surface. For titanium-based mixed oxide, we observed that cerium is found as Ce3+ uniquely on the surface. The atomic Cu/(Ce+Ti) ratio values showed no influence from cerium concentration on the dispersion of copper, although the copper on the surface was shown to be dependent on the cerium species. For samples with a high amount of cerium, XPS analysis indicated the raise of second titanium species due cerium with spin-orbit components at higher binding energies than those presented by Ti4+ in a tetragonal structure. The structural results obtained by XAS are consistent with those obtained by XRD and XPS. (C) 2001 American Vacuum Society.

Effect of narcosis with CO2 on the ovarian development in queens of Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera, Apini)

Exposure of 1, 4, 7 & 10 day-old virgin queens of Apis mellifera Linne 1758 for 1 min to CO2 accelerated their ovarian development, having a similar effect as mating on the initial formation of the ovarian follicles. In 3 day-old queens the exposure to CO2 enhanced the initial stage of germ cell differentiation into oocytes and nurse cells in the ovarioles, a developmental stage only seen in 5 day-old untreated virgin queens, the age at which they are ready to mate. In 10 day-old untreated virgin queens, some regions of the ovarioles presented tissue disorganization and many cells with pycnotic nuclei. However, narcotized virgin queens of the same age did not present such ovary degeneration. Conversely, they showed nitid follicle formation, arising in the ovarioles' initial differentiation between nurse and oocytic chambers, although still without vitellogenesis. The accelerative effect of CO2 is limited to the ages near to those proper for mating, since 15 and 18 day-old treated virgin queens presented ovaries with extensive regions of high tissue disorganization and a great number of cells with pycnotic nuclei. According to the results, the narcosis presented three levels of effect on the ovary of honeybee virgin queens: 1) accelerated the germ cell differentiation, 2) preserved the tissue integrity even after the queen mating period and 3) stimulated the initial differentiation of a vitellarium. This later condition was only seen in untreated queens after mating. All these effects are not maintained if the queen is kept virgin beyond 15 days old.

Ovarian ultrastructure in virgin queens of Apis mellifera L. narcotized by CO2

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

WATER ABSORPTION of THE FUR and SWIMMING BEHAVIOR of SEMIAQUATIC and TERRESTRIAL ORYZOMINE RODENTS

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Regulation of ventilation in the caiman (Caiman latirostris): effects of inspired CO2 on pulmonary and upper airway chemoreceptors

In order to study the relative roles of receptors in the upper airways, lungs and systemic circulation in modulating the ventilatory response of caiman (Caiman latirostris) to inhaled CO2, gas mixtures of varying concentrations of CO2 Were administered to animals breathing through an intact respiratory system, via a tracheal cannula by-passing the upper airways (before and after vagotomy), or via a cannula delivering gas to the upper airways alone. While increasing levels of hypercarbia led to a progressive increase in tidal volume in animals with intact respiratory systems (Series 1), breathing frequency did not change until the CO2 level reached 7%, at which time it decreased. Despite this, at the higher levels of hypercarbia, the net effect was a large and progressive increase in total ventilation. There were no associated changes in heart rate or arterial blood pressure. on return to air, there was an immediate change in breathing pattern; breathing frequency increased above air-breathing values, roughly to the same maximum level regardless of the level of CO2 the animal had been previously breathing, and tidal volume returned rapidly toward resting (baseline) values. Total ventilation slowly returned to air breathing values. Administration of CO2 via different routes indicated that inhaled CO2 acted at both upper airway and pulmonary CO2-sensitive receptors to modify breathing pattern without inhibiting breathing overall. Our data suggest that in caiman, high levels of inspired CO2 promote slow, deep breathing. This will decrease deadspace ventilation and may reduce stratification in the saccular portions of the lung.

Locus coeruleus noradrenergic neurons and CO2 drive to breathing

The Locus coeruleus (LC) has been suggested as a CO2 chemoreceptor site in mammals. In the present study, we assessed the role of LC noradrenergic neurons in the cardiorespiratory and thermal responses to hypercapnia. To selectively destroy LC noradrenergic neurons, we administered 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) bilaterally into the LC of male Wistar rats. Control animals had vehicle (ascorbic acid) injected (sham group) into the LC. Pulmonary ventilation (plethysmograph), mean arterial pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR), and body core temperature (T-c, data loggers) were measured followed by 60 min of hypercapnic exposure (7% CO2 in air). To verify the correct placement and effectiveness of the chemical lesions, tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactivity was performed. Hypercapnia caused an increase in pulmonary ventilation in all groups, which resulted from increases in respiratory frequency and tidal volume (V-T) in sham-operated and 6-OHDA-lesioned groups. The hypercapnic ventilatory response was significantly decreased in 6-OHDA-lesioned rats compared with sham group. This difference was due to a decreased V-T in 6-OHDA rats. LC chemical lesion or hypercapnia did not affect MAP, HR, and T-c. Thus, we conclude that LC noradrenergic neurons modulate hypercapnic ventilatory response but play no role in cardiovascular and thermal regulation under resting conditions.

Paracellular Absorption: A Bat Breaks the Mammal Paradigm

Bats tend to have less intestinal tissue than comparably sized nonflying mammals. The corresponding reduction in intestinal volume and hence mass of digesta carried is advantageous because the costs of flight increase with load carried and because take-off and maneuverability are diminished at heavier masses. Water soluble compounds, such as glucose and amino acids, are absorbed in the small intestine mainly via two pathways, the transporter-mediated transcellular and the passive, paracellular pathways. Using the microchiropteran bat Artibeus literatus (mean mass 80.6 +/- 3.7 g), we tested the predictions that absorption of water-soluble compounds that are not actively transported would be extensive as a compensatory mechanism for relatively less intestinal tissue, and would decline with increasing molecular mass in accord with sieve-like paracellular absorption. Using a standard pharmacokinetic technique, we fed, or injected intraperitonealy the metabolically inert carbohydrates L-rhamnose (molecular mass = 164 Da) and cellobiose (molecular mass = 342 Da) which are absorbed only by paracellular transport, and 3-O-methyl-D-glucose (3OMD-glucose) which is absorbed via both mediated (active) and paracellular transport. As predicted, the bioavailability of paracellular probes declined with increasing molecular mass (rhamnose, 90 +/- 11%; cellobiose, 10 +/- 3%, n = 8) and was significantly higher in bats than has been reported for laboratory rats and other mammals. In addition, absorption of 3OMD-glucose was high (96 +/- 11%). We estimated that the bats rely on passive, paracellular absorption for more than 70% of their total glucose absorption, much more than in non-flying mammals. Although possibly compensating for less intestinal tissue, a high intestinal permeability that permits passive absorption might be less selective than a carrier-mediated system for nutrient absorption and might permit toxins to be absorbed from plant and animal material in the intestinal lumen.