Development and applications of three-dimensional gamma ray tomography system using ray casting volume rendering techniques

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

The Brazilian Research Consortium on Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders: recruitment, assessment instruments, methods for the development of multicenter collaborative studies and preliminary results

OBJETIVO: Descrever o recrutamento de pacientes, instrumentos de avaliação, métodos para o desenvolvimento de estudos colaborativos multicêntricos e os resultados preliminares do Consórcio Brasileiro de Pesquisa em Transtornos do Espectro Obsessivo-Compulsivo, que inclui sete centros universitários. MÉTODO: Este estudo transversal incluiu entrevistas semi-estruturadas (dados sociodemográficos, histórico médico e psiquiátrico, curso da doença e diagnósticos psiquiátricos comórbidos) e instrumentos que avaliam os sintomas do transtorno obsessivo-compulsivo (Escala para Sintomas Obsessivo-Compulsivos de Yale-Brown e Escala Dimensional para Sintomas Obsessivo-Compulsivos de Yale-Brown), sintomas depressivos (Inventário de Depressão de Beck), sintomas ansiosos (Inventário de Ansiedade de Beck), fenômenos sensoriais (Escala de Fenômenos Sensoriais da Universidade de São Paulo), juízo crítico (Escala de Avaliação de Crenças de Brown), tiques (Escala de Gravidade Global de Tiques de Yale) e qualidade de vida (questionário genérico de avaliação de qualidade de vida, Medical Outcome Quality of Life Scale Short-form-36 e Escala de Avaliação Social). O treinamento dos avaliadores consistiu em assistir cinco entrevistas filmadas e entrevistar cinco pacientes junto com um pesquisador mais experiente, antes de entrevistar pacientes sozinhos. A confiabilidade entre todos os líderes de grupo para os instrumentos mais importantes (Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV, Dimensional Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale, Universidade de São Paulo Sensory Phenomena Scale ) foi medida após seis entrevistas completas. RESULTADOS: A confiabilidade entre avaliadores foi de 96%. Até março de 2008, 630 pacientes com transtorno obsessivo-compulsivo tinham sido sistematicamente avaliados. A média de idade (±SE) foi de 34,7 (±0,51), 56,3% eram do sexo feminino e 84,6% caucasianos. Os sintomas obsessivo-compulsivos mais prevalentes foram os de simetria e os de contaminação. As comorbidades psiquiátricas mais comuns foram depressão maior, ansiedade generalizada e transtorno de ansiedade social. O transtorno de controle de impulsos mais comum foi escoriação neurótica. CONCLUSÃO: Este consórcio de pesquisa, pioneiro no Brasil, permitiu delinear o perfil sociodemográfico, clínico e terapêutico do paciente com transtorno obsessivo-compulsivo em uma grande amostra clínica de pacientes. O Consórcio Brasileiro de Pesquisa em Transtornos do Espectro Obsessivo-Compulsivo estabeleceu uma importante rede de colaboração de investigação clínica padronizada sobre o transtorno obsessivo-compulsivo e pode abrir o caminho para projetos semelhantes destinados a integrar outros grupos de pesquisa no Brasil e em todo o mundo.

Development of an experimental glass ionomer cement containing niobium and fluoride

Glass ionomer cements (GICs) are currently used for various dental applications such as luting cements or as restorative materials. The calcium fluoro-alumino-silicate system is the basis for degradable glasses used to obtain the GICs. The purpose of the present paper is to add niobium to conventional glass system because according to previous papers niobium addition improves the chemical resistance and the mechanical properties of glasses. Therefore, the GICs prepared from these glasses would result in cements with higher chemical and mechanical resistance. The niobium fluoride powders were prepared using the sol-gel process and were characterized by X-ray diffraction, differential thermal analysis (DTA) and Al-27 and Si-29 MAS NMR. The results obtained by XRD showed that the powders prepared by this method are glass-ceramic. In the DTA curve was detected the presence of T-g and T-c temperatures. The analysis of MAS NMR spectra indicated that the framework of the powders is formed by SiO4 and AlO4 linked tetrahedra which are essential structures to yield the cements. Thus, we concluded that niobium fluoride silicate powders can be used in the preparation of GICs. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Development and testing of anode-supported solid oxide fuel cells with slurry-coated electrolyte and cathode

A laboratory setup was designed and put into operation for the development of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). The whole project consisted of the preparation of the component materials: anode, cathode and electrolyte, and the buildup of a hydrogen leaking-free sample chamber with platinum leads and current collectors for measuring the electrochemical properties of single SOFCs. Several anode-supported single SOFCs of the type (ZrO(2):Y(2)O(3)+NiO) thick anode/(ZrO(2):Y(2)O(3)) thin electrolyte/(La(0.65)Sr(0.35)MnO(3)+ZrO(2):Y(2)O(3)) thin cathode have been prepared and tested at 700 and 800 degrees C after in situ H(2) anode reduction. The main results show that the slurry-coating method resulted in single-cells with good reproducibility and reasonable performance, suggesting that this method can be considered for fabrication of SOFCs. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Development of rapidly fermenting strains of saccharomyces-diastaticus for direct conversion of starch and dextrins to ethanol

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

Effect of doses of fungicides and plant resistance activators on the control of Rhizoctonia foliar blight of soybean, and on Rhizoctonia solani AG1-IA in vitro development

Rhizoctonia foliar blight (RFB) of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill] occurs in many tropical and subtropical regions, causing yield reductions of up to 70% and in Brazil, up to 60%. The disease is caused by Rhizoetonia solani AG1-IA and AG1-IB, and by AG2-3 in Japan. RFB occurs in the North, Northeast and Mid-west regions of Brazil. Chemical control remains the only effective method of controlling RFB, but its efficiency depends upon environmental conditions. In this study, 18 fungicides, salicylic acid (SA) and acibenzolar-s-methyl (ASM) were evaluated on R. solani AG1-IA in vitro, by mycelial growth rating and estimating effective concentration for 50% (EC 50) and 90% (EC 90) inhibition of mycelial growth, and in vivo by reduction of disease severity on soybean plants in greenhouse conditions. Mycelial growth was strongly inhibited by the fungicides pyraclostrobin + boscalid and fludioxonil. Preventive fungicide applications were the most effective. Strobilurins were more efficient both in preventive and curative applications. Best results with plant resistance activators were obtained with SA (2.5 mM) sprayed at 20 d before inoculation and with ASM (12.5 mg a.i. l(-1)) 10 d before inoculation. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development of a pressure nociceptive threshold testing device for evaluation of analgesics in cats

A pressure analgesiometric device was developed for unrestrained cats. Eleven cats were studied. Stimulation was via three rounded pins within a bracelet on the forearm. The pins were advanced by manual bladder inflation. Bladder pressure was measured using a strain gauge pressure transducer. The threshold was recorded at the behavioural end point. Thresholds were measured at 5 and 15 min intervals for 2-4 h, after removal/replacement of the cuff, for 120 min after SC butorphanol (0.4 mg/kg), and with mild skin inflammation at the testing site. Data were analysed using ANOVA. Pressure thresholds in untreated cats were around 150 mmHg. The minimum interval for testing was established as 15 min. Data were reproducible over 4 h and beyond 24 h. Thresholds in 5 cats increased (P < 0.05) above baseline for 45 min after butorphanol with a maximum increase of 270 +/- 182 mmHg at 10 min. Thresholds decreased with inflammation. The method appears suitable for feline analgesia investigations. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A combined wavelet-element free Galerkin method for numerical calculations of electromagnetic fields

A combined wavelet-element free Galerkin (EFG) method is proposed for solving electromagnetic EM) field problems. The bridging scales are used to preserve the consistency and linear independence properties of the entire bases. A detailed description of the development of the discrete model and its numerical implementations is given to facilitate the reader to. understand the proposed algorithm. A numerical example to validate the proposed method is also reported.

Enhanced electrical property of nanostructured Sb-doped SnO2 thin film processed by soft chemical method

The effect of the Sb addition on the microstructural and electrical conductivity of the SnO2 thin film was studied in this work. Experimental results show that the Sb addition allowed to control the grain size and electrical conductivity of the SnO2 thin film, resulting in a nanostructured material. The nanostructured Sb-doped SnO2 thin films present high electrical conductivity, even in the presence of high porosity, supporting the hypothesis that nanostructured material must possess strong electrical conductivity. This work involves important aspects that can be applied to the development of high performance transparent conducting thin film. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Product development process: Using real options for assessments and to support the decision-making at decision gates

Enterprises need continuous product development activities to remain competitive in the marketplace. Their product development process (PDP) must manage stakeholders' needs - technical, financial, legal, and environmental aspects, customer requirements, Corporate strategy, etc. -, being a multidisciplinary and strategic issue. An approach to use real option to support the decision-making process at PDP phases in taken. The real option valuation method is often presented as an alternative to the conventional net present value (NPV) approach. It is based on the same principals of financial options: the right to buy or sell financial values (mostly stocks) at a predetermined price, with no obligation to do so. In PDP, a multi-period approach that takes into account the flexibility of, for instance, being able to postpone prototyping and design decisions, waiting for more information about technologies, customer acceptance, funding, etc. In the present article, the state of the art of real options theory is prospected and a model to use the real options in PDP is proposed, so that financial aspects can be properly considered at each project phase of the product development. Conclusion is that such model can provide more robustness to the decisions processes within PDP.

Initial Development and Characterization of PLGA Nanospheres Containing Ropivacaine

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

Development of new standard procedures for the evaluation of dental composite abrasive wear

This article discusses the development of a test bench and a methodology for the study of composite resin abrasive wear. To evaluate the operation of the test bench and to compare the proposed methodology with other existing ones, a study was made of the five composites most commonly used by dentists.The one-way ANOVA method and the Tukey test were used to statistically analyze the results by multiple comparisons of the groups of resins tested. Using the proposed methodology, these resins were classified in an increasing order of abrasive wear strength, as follows: Charisma (the lowest abrasive wear strength), Tetric, TPH, Herculite and Z-100 (the highest abrasive wear strength) (P < 0.05). In comparison to other methodologies, the results of the proposed methodology presented the lowest coefficient of variation. (C) 2002 Elsevier B.V. B.V. All rights reserved.

Development of alpha-SiAlON-SiC ceramic composites by liquid phase sintering

In this work, in situ alpha-SiAlON-SiC ceramic composites were obtained,by, liquid phase sintering, using SiC as reinforcement. Different beta-SiC powder contents (0-20 wt.%), were added to Si3N4-AlN-RE2O3. powder mixtures, and compacted by cold isostatic pressing. The samples were sintered at 1950 degrees C for 1 h, in N-2 atmosphere. Sintered: samples were characterized by relative density, weight loss, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. Furthermore, mechanical properties such as hardness and fracture toughness were determined by Vickers indentation method. Lattice parameters of the alpha' phase did not considerably change with increase of SiC content. However, morphology, average grain size and aspect ratio of the alpha' phase were considerably changed with increase of the SiC content. These behavior influences significantly the mechanical properties of this hard ceramic composite. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development of basis sets to calculations of the electronic structure of YMnO3

The generator coordinate Hartree-Fock method was used to develop 20s17p, 30s20p14d, and 30s21p16d Gaussian basis sets for the O ((3)p), Mn (S-6), and Y (D-2) atoms, respectively. The Gaussian basis sets were contracted to 20s17p/9s7p, 30s20p14d/11s7p7d, and 30s21p16d/14s7p7d and utilized in calculations of total energy and orbital energies of the (MnO1+)-Mn-5 and (YO1+)-Y-3 fragments to evaluate its quality in molecular studies. Finally, the contracted basis set for O atom was supplemented with one polarization function of d symmetry and used along with the other contracted basis sets (for Mn and Y) to calculate dipole moments, total energy, and total atomic charges in YMnO3 in space group D-6h. The analysis of those properties showed that is reasonable to believe that YMnO3 present behavior of piezoelectric material. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Preparation of new glass systems by the polymeric precursor method for dental applications

Glass ionomer cements (GICs) are largely employed in Dentistry for several applications, such as luting cements for the attachment of crowns, bridges, and orthodontic brackets as well as restorative materials. The development of new glass systems is very important in Dentistry to improve of the mechanical properties and chemical stability. The aim of this study is the preparation of two glass systems containing niobium in their compositions for use as GICs. Glass systems based on the composition SiO2,Al2O3-Nb2O5-CaO were prepared by chemical route at 700degreesC. The XRD and DTA results confirmed that the prepared materials are glasses. The structures of the obtained glasses were compared to commercial material using FTIR, Al-27 and Si-29 MAS-NMR. The analysis of FTIR and MAS-NMR spectra indicated that the systems developed and commercial material are formed by SiO4 and AlO4 linked tetrahedra. These structures are essential to get the set time control and to have cements. These results encourage further applications of the experimental glasses in the formation of GICs. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.