Carbon nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopic fingerprinting of commercial gasoline: Pattern-recognition analyses for screening quality control purposes

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Classification of Aristolochia species based on GC-MS and chemometric analyses of essential oils

Essential oils were obtained from roots of 10 Aristolochia species by hydrodistillation and analysed by GC MS. A total of 75 compounds were identified in the analysed oils. Multivariate analyses of the chemical constituents of the roots enabled classification of the species into four morphological groups. These forms of analysis represent an aid in identification of further specimens belonging to these species. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Chemometrics in fuel science: demonstration of the feasibility of chemometrics analyses applied to physicochemical parameters to screen solvent tracers in Brazilian commercial gasoline

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Development of a potentiometric flufenamate ISE and its application to pharmaceutical and clinical analyses

The characteristics, performance, and application of an electrode, namely, Pt vertical bar Hg vertical bar Hg-2(FF)(2)vertical bar Graphite, where FF stands for flufenamate ion, are described. This electrode responds to FF with sensitivity of (-58.6 +/- 1.2) mV decade(-1) over the range 1.0 x 10(-6) - 1.0 x 10(-2) mol L-1 at pH 6.0-9.0 and a detection limit of 7.1 x 10(-7) mol L-1. The electrode is easily constructed at a relatively low cost with fast response time (within 10-25 s) and can be used for a period of 5 months without any considerable change in its performance characteristics. The proposed electrode displayed good selectivity for flufenamate in the presence of several substances as well as in the presence of some carboxylate and inorganic anions. The electrode was successfully applied to the determination of flufenamic acid in pharmaceuticals and human serum samples.

(1)H NMR Fingerprinting of Brazilian Commercial Gasoline: Pattern-Recognition Analyses for Origin Authentication Purposes

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Yield of four Agaricus bisporus strains in three compost formulations and chemical composition analyses of the mushrooms

Três formulações de composto, à base de palhas de Cynodom dactylon (L.) Pers. (cultivares Coast-cross e Tyfton) e Aveia-Avena sativa, foram testadas no cultivo das linhagens ABI-01/01, ABI-04/02, ABI-05/03 e ABI-06/04 de A. bisporus. O delineamento experimental foi em esquema fatorial, inteiramente casualizado com 12 tratamentos (4 linhagens de A. bisporus x 3 tipos de composto) e 8 repetições. Cada unidade experimental constou de uma caixa com 1212,5 kg de composto fresco úmido. Os dados foram submetidos à análise de variância e as médias foram comparadas pelo teste de Tukey. de acordo com os resultados obtidos verificou-se que a produção de cogumelos foi influenciada pela linhagem e/ou pelo tipo de composto. Também verificou-se que o teor de proteína bruta, cinzas e fibra bruta de basidiomas variou com a linhagem de A. bisporus e com o tipo de palha utilizada na formulação do composto.

Cytogenetic analyses of two Curimatidae species (Pisces; Characiformes) from the Paranapanema and Tietê Rivers

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

Modulation of coronary flow and cardiomyocyte size by sensory fibers

Cardiac tissue is densely innervated by sensory neurons that an believed to play important modulatory roles in cardiac functions. In this study, pretreatment of neonate mts with capsaicin was performed. In adult rats, cardiomyocyte size and amount of fibrous tissue in left ventricles as well as in vitro coronary flow were evaluated, the chronotropic and inotropic responses to beta-adrenoceptor agonists (norepinephrine and isoproterenol), muscarinic agonists (carbachol and pilocarpine), and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) were also investigated with the use of the isolated right atria preparation. Capsaicin pretreatment significantly (P<0.05) reduced both basal coronary flow (18% reduction) and cardiomyocyte size (34% reduction) without affecting the amount of fibrous tissues in the left ventricles. The positive inotropic and chronotropic effects in response to norepinephrine in the isolated rat heart did not significantly differ between control and capsaicin-treated rats, Similarly, the positive chronotropic effects in response to norepinephrine, isoproterenol, and CGRP as well as the negative chronotropic responses to carbachol and pilocarpine in the isolated light atria were not affected by capsaicin pretreatment, Our data are consistent with the suggestion that reductions of both basal coronary flow and cardiomyocyte size seen in hearts from capsaicin-pretreated rats may be consequences of CGRP depletion. The cardiomyocyte size reduction produced by capsaicin treatment may be related to a modulatory role of CGRP as a growth factor.

Analyses of fatigue data in 4340 high strength steel after cadmium electroplating

Bending fatigue tests were carried out to clarify the effects of heat treatment parameters: temperature and time after cadmium electroplating on a high strength steel, to avoid hydrogen embrittlement. Temperatures heat of 190 degrees C, 230 degrees C, 250 degrees C and 300 degrees C at 3, 8 and 24 hours together with the base material electroplated, with and without heat treatment, resulted in 14 conditions studied with respect to fatigue behaviour. Statistical data analysis was performed to identify the best combination temperature/time regarding fatigue strength of the ABNT 4340 steel and the results obtained revealed that the fatigue strength depend on temperature/time conditions.

Microbiological analyses of poultry litter used for ruminant feeding

The aims of this study were to estimate the changes in total bacterial counts (TBC) in poultry litter samples, consisting of rice hulls, after storage, and to identify pathogenic bacteria. For the countings Plate Count agar (Difco) was used. Enrichment and selective media such as blood agar, MacConkey, Baird Parker, brain and heart agar, and egg yolk solid media, and cooked meat and brain and heart infusion, incubated under aerobic or anaerobic conditions were used to isolate Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella sp, Clostridium perfringens, C. botulinum, C. chauvoei, Campylobacter sp, Escherichia coli, and Corynebacterium sp. Litter samples were collected from the houses of the Veterinary School experimental aviary. A fully randomized experimental design was used with four treatments and four replications, for a total of 16 samples. A decrease in TBC was detected when treatment T1 (zero days of storage) was compared with treatments T2 (14 days of storage). on the other hand the treatments T3 (28 days of storage) and T4 (42 days of storage) presented significantly superior counting in relation to treatment T1. Some pathogenic bacteria of Enterobacteriaceae such as Escherichia coil, Proteus, Arizona, Providencia, Edwardsiella, as well as Staphylococcus aureus, S. epidermidis, different species of genus Clostridium as C. perfringens, C. sordelli, C. chauvoei, C. tetani and C. novyi as well as some strains of Corynebacterium pyogenes were isolated.

A natural triploid in Trichomycterus davisi (Siluriformes, Trichomycteridae): mitotic and meiotic characterization by chromosome banding and synaptonemal complex analyses

Within a total of 50 analyzed specimens a male individual of Trichomycterus davisi has been recorded with 81 chromosomes including 60 metacentric, 18 submetacentric and three subtelocentric chromosomes. When compared with diploid individuals (2n = 54) and the morphological standard of chromosomes, this male is a triploid with 3 = 81 chromosomes. Since staining with silver nitrate indicates three active nucleolar organizer regions (NORs), the three NOR- bearing chromosomes in this individual are genetically active. Analysis of the synaptonemal complex (SC) by electronic microscopy shows that there is an incomplete pairing of the third set of chromosomes in the triploid individual.

Use of comet assay to assess DNA damage in patients infected by Helicobacter pylori - Comparisons between visual and image analyses

Studies of DNA damage in gastric epithelial cells of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori)-infected patients are conflicting, possibly due to different methods used for scoring DNA damage by Comet assay. Therefore, we compared the sensitivity of visual microscopic analysis (arbitrary units-scores and comets%) and image analysis system (tail moment), in the gastric epithelial cells from the antrum and corpus of 122 H. pylori-infected and 32 non-infected patients. The feasibility of cryopreserved peripheral blood lymphocytes and whole-blood cells for DNA damage biomonitoring was also investigated. In the antrum, the levels of DNA damage were significantly higher in H. pylori-infected patients with gastritis than in non-infected patients with normal mucosa, when evaluated by image analysis system, arbitrary units and comets%. In the corpus, the comets% was not sufficiently sensitive to detect the difference between H. pylori-infected patients with gastritis and non-infected patients with normal mucosa. The image analysis system was sensitive enough to detect differences between non-infected patients and H. pylori-infected patients with mild gastritis and between infected patients with moderate and severe gastritis, in both antrum, and corpus, while arbitrary units and comets% were unable to detect these differences. In cryopreserved peripheral blood lymphocytes, the levels of DNA damage (tail moment) were significantly higher in H. pylori-infected patients with moderate and severe gastritis than in non-infected patients. Overall, our results indicate that the image analysis system is more sensitive and adequate to measure the levels of DNA damage in gastric epithelial cells than the other methods assayed. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Structural carbon/epoxy prepregs properties comparison by thermal and rheological analyses

Two different carbon/epoxy prepreg materials were characterized and compared using thermal (DSC, TGA, and DMA) and rheological analyses. A prepreg system (carbon fiber preimpregnated with epoxy resin F584) that is currently used in the commercial airplane industry was compared with a prepreg system that is a prospective candidate for the same applications (carbon fiber prepreg/epoxy resin 8552). The differences in the curing kinetics mechanisms of both prepreg systems were identified through the DSC, TGA, DMA, and rheological analyses. Based on these thermal analysis techniques, it was verified that the curing of both epoxy resin systems follow a cure kinetic of n order. Even though their reaction heats were found to be slightly different, the kinetics of these systems were nevertheless very similar. The activation energies for both prepreg systems were determined by DSC analysis, using Arrhenius's method, and were found to be quite similar. DMA measurements of the cured prepregs demonstrated that they exhibited similar degrees of cure and different glass transition temperatures. Furthermore, the use of the rheological analysis revealed small differences in the gel temperatures of the two prepreg systems that were examined.