Erbium- and ytterbium-doped sol-gel SiO2-HfO2 crack-free thick films onto silica on silicon substrate

Aware of the difficulties in applying sol-gel technology on the preparation of thin films suitable for optical devices, the present paper reports on the preparation of crack-free erbium- and ytterbium-doped silica: hafnia thick films onto silica on silicon. The film was obtained using a dispersion of silica-hafnia nanoparticles into a binder solution, spin-coating, regular thermal process and rapid thermal process. The used methodology has allowed a significant increase of the film thickness. Based on the presented results good optical-quality films with the required thickness for a fiber matching single mode waveguide were obtained using the erbium- and ytterbium-activated sol-gel silica:hafnia system. The prepared film supports two transversal electric modes at 1550 nm and the difference between the transversal electric mode and the transversal magnetic mode is very small, indicating low birefringence. Photoluminescence of the I-4(13/2) -> I-4(15/2) transition of erbium ions shows a broad band centered at 1.53 mu m with full width at a half maximum of 28 nm. Up-conversion emission was carried out under different pump laser powers, and just one transition at red region was observed. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The generation and utilization of a cancer-oriented representation of the human transcriptome by using expressed sequence tags

Whereas genome sequencing defines the genetic potential of an organism, transcript sequencing defines the utilization of this potential and links the genome with most areas of biology. To exploit the information within the human genome in the fight against cancer, we have deposited some two million expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from human tumors and their corresponding normal tissues in the public databases. The data currently define approximate to23,500 genes, of which only approximate to1,250 are still represented only by ESTs. Examination of the EST coverage of known cancer-related (CR) genes reveals that <1% do not have corresponding ESTs, indicating that the representation of genes associated with commonly studied tumors is high. The careful recording of the origin of all ESTs we have produced has enabled detailed definition of where the genes they represent are expressed in the human body. More than 100,000 ESTs are available for seven tissues, indicating a surprising variability of gene usage that has led to the discovery of a significant number of genes with restricted expression, and that may thus be therapeutically useful. The ESTs also reveal novel nonsynonymous germline variants (although the one-pass nature of the data necessitates careful validation) and many alternatively spliced transcripts. Although widely exploited by the scientific community, vindicating our totally open source policy, the EST data generated still provide extensive information that remains to be systematically explored, and that may further facilitate progress toward both the understanding and treatment of human cancers.

alpha-Hydroxynitrile lyase protein from Xylella fastidiosa: Cloning, expression, and characterization

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Structural and Electronic Properties of Lithiated SnO2. A Periodic DFT Study

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Analysis of aluminum plates under heating in electrical and natural gas furnaces

This paper analyzes the thermal storage characteristics of aluminum plates in furnaces during their heating for lamination under two sources of heat: an electrical resistance bank and a combustion process carried out with natural gas. The set of equations to model the furnace under operation with electrical energy, for air as the fluid, is presented. This supports the theoretical analysis for the system under operation with natural gas combustion products. A numerical procedure, using the software ANSYS, is applied to determine the convection heat transfer coefficients for heating by the air flow. Temperatures measured in a plate inside a real furnace are used as parameters to determine these coefficients. Then convection and radiation heat transfer coefficients are determined for the natural gas combustion products. Results are compared, indicating a possible gain of 5.5 h in relation to a 19.5 h period of conventional electrical heating per plate.

Foraging Behavior and Subtask Hierarchical Structure in Acromyrmex spp. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

This study considers the function and complexity of tasks during foraging of three Acromyrmex species. Foraging was classified as a team task composed of 2 or 3 processes: recruitment, selection, and collection. Each process was subdivided into different subtasks. Points were attributed to subtasks considering their hierarchical level to compare the complexity of foraging among species. Total scores obtained were 19 for A. balzani and 14 for A. crassispinus and A. rugosus, indicating different degrees of social complexity for grass-cutting and leaf-cutting ant species. Acromyrmex balzani, a grass-cutting ant species, shows a behavioral repertoire composed of more variable subtasks during foraging.

Influence of temperature and concentration on thermophysical properties of yellow mombin (Spondias mombin, L.)

Thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity, and density of yellow mombin juice were determined at 8.8-49.4 °Brix and at temperature from 0.4 to 77.1 °C. Apparent viscosity was also measured between 7.8 and 30 °Brix and at temperature from 0 to 60 °C. Yellow mombin juice was produced from fruits of two different batches and the concentration process was performed using a roto evaporator or a rising film evaporator, single effect, with recirculation, under vacuum, to obtain concentrated juice. In order to obtain different concentrations, concentrated juice was diluted with distilled water. Multiple regression analysis was performed to fit thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity and density experimental data obtaining a good fit. Arrhenius and power law relationships were proposed to fit apparent viscosity as a function of temperature and juice concentration at typical shear rates found during processing. The rheological parameters together with experimental values of pressure loss in tube flow were used to calculate friction factors, which were compared to those resulting from theoretical equation.

Heterogeneous photocatalytic treatment of organic dyes in air and aqueous media

This review focuses on the heterogeneous photocatalytic treatment of organic dyes in air and water. Representative studies spanning approximately three decades are included in this review. These studies have mostly used titanium dioxide (TiO2) as the inorganic semiconductor photocatalyst of choice for decolorizing and decomposing the organic dye to mineralized products. Other semiconductors such as ZnO, CdS, WO3, and Fe2O3 have also been used, albeit to a much smaller extent. The topics covered include historical aspects, dark adsorption of the dye on the semiconductor surface and its role in the subsequent photoreaction, semiconductor preparation details, photoreactor configurations, photooxidation kinetics/mechanisms and comparison with other Advanced Oxidation Processes (e.g., UV/H2O2, ozonation, UV/O3, Fenton and photo-Fenton reactions), visible light-induced dye decomposition by sensitization mechanism, reaction intermediates and toxicity issues, and real-world process scenarios. © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Monitoring the dressing operation in the grinding process

This work was based on a methodology of development and experimentation, and involved monitoring the dressing operation by processing the acoustic emission and electric power signals to detect the optimal dressing moment. Dressing tests were performed in a surface grinding machine with an aluminium grinding wheel. Dressing analysis software was developed and used to process the signals collected earlier in order to analyse not only the dressing parameters but also the software's ability to indicate the instant when the dressing operation could be concluded. Parameters used in the study of burn in grinding were implemented in order to ascertain if they would also prove efficient in monitoring dressing. A comparative study revealed that some parameters are capable of monitoring the dressing operation. It was possible to verify the parameters effectiveness that today are utilised in burning to monitor dressing as well as to create new parameters for monitoring this operation. Copyright © 2009, Inderscience Publishers.

Dietary intake and blood lipid profile in overweight and obese schoolchildren

Abstract. Background: The high blood lipid levels and obesity are one of the main risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, and the atherosclerotic process begins in childhood. Some environmental factors are supposed to be involved in this relationship, such as dietary factors. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between dietary intake and blood lipids levels in overweight and obese schoolchildren. Methods. This is a cross-sectional study with 147 overweight and obese schoolchildren in Botucatu city, Brazil. The anthropometric measurements (body weight, height, body mass index, waist circumference and skinfolds), pubertal staging evaluation and biochemical tests were taken in all children. Three 24h-recall were applied in order to estimate the dietary intake and its relationship with blood lipid levels. The Student t test and multiple linear regression analysis were used for statistical analysis. Statistical significance was assessed at the level of 0.05. The data were processed in SAS software (version 9.1.3; SAS Institute). Results: At this study, 63% of children were obese (body mass index higher than 95§ssup§th§esup§ percentile) and 80% showed high body fat percentage. The percentage of children with abnormal total cholesterol and triglycerides was 12% and 10%, respectively, and 28% presented at least one abnormal lipid levels. The average values of anthropometric measurements were higher in children with elevated lipid levels. Total cholesterol levels were positively related to full-fat dairy products and triglycerides levels to saturated fat percentage. Conclusions: Saturated fat was positively associated with elevated lipid levels in overweight and obese schoolchildren. These results reinforce the importance of healthy dietary habits since childhood in order to reduce the risks of cardiovascular diseases in adulthood. © 2012 Rinaldi et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

Validation of the portuguese simple measure of impact of lupus erythematosus in youngsters (SMILEY) in Brazil

Background and Objective: Simple Measure of the Impact of Lupus Erythematosus in Youngsters (SMILEY) is a health-related quality of life (HRQOL) assessment tool for pediatric systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), which has been translated into Portuguese for Brazil. We are reporting preliminary data on cross-cultural validation and reliability of SMILEY in Portuguese (Brazil). Methods: In this multi-center cross-sectional study, Brazilian children and adolescents 5-18 years of age with SLE and parents participated. Children and parents completed child and parent reports of Portuguese SMILEY and Portuguese Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQLTM) Generic and Rheumatology modules. Parents also completed the Childhood Health Assessment Questionnaire (CHAQ). Physicians completed the SLE disease activity index (SLEDAI), Physician's Global Assessment of disease activity (PGA) and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus International Collaborating Clinics ACR Damage Index (SDI). Results: 99 subjects (84 girls) were enrolled; 93 children and 97 parents filled out the SMILEY scale. Subjects found SMILEY relevant and easy to understand and completed SMILEY in 5-15 minutes. Brazilian SMILEY was found to have good psychometric properties (validity and reliability), and the child-parent agreement was moderate. Conclusion: SMILEY may eventually be used routinely as a research/clinical tool in Brazil. It may be also adapted for other Portuguese-speaking nations offering critical information regarding the effect of SLE on HRQOL for children with SLE. © The Author(s), 2012.

Eletroestimulador funcional de oito canais com malha de realimentação utilizando Controlador Digital

Pós-graduação em Engenharia Elétrica - FEIS

A pauta jornalística na convergência digital: outros caminhos e novos desafios

Pós-graduação em Televisão Digital: Informação e Conhecimento - FAAC

O trabalho do professor e a educação voltada ao ensino de valores

Pós-graduação em Serviço Social - FCHS

Cobertura vegetal e erosão em entressulcos sob pastagem irrigada em Uberaba-MG

Pós-graduação em Agronomia (Ciência do Solo) - FCAV