ETHOPHARMACOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF RAT BEHAVIOR ON THE ELEVATED PLUS-MAZE

Behavioral categories were measured in rats left on an elevated plus-maze for 5 min, in addition to the traditional measures. Four independent factors emerged from a factor analysis. The variables that loaded highly and positively on Factor 1, seemingly related with anxiety, were: number of entries onto open arms, time spent on open arms, percentage of open/total arm entries, percentage of time on open arms, scanning over the edge of an open arm, and open arm end-exploring. The time spent on enclosed arms loaded highly, but negatively on the same factor. Risk-assessment from an enclosed arm also loaded negatively on Factor 1. Number of enclosed arm entries, total number of arm entries and rearing loaded highly on Factor 2, probably related to motor activity. However, the total number of entries also loaded on Factor 1, being thus a mixed index. Similarly, the number of open arm entries loaded on both Factors 1 and 2. As expected, the variables having high loads on Factor 1 were changed to one direction by administration of two anxiolytics (nitrazepam and midazolam) and to the opposite direction by two anxiogenic drugs (pentylenetetrazol and FG 7142). Such pattern of drug effects was not observed with the remaining variables.

Settling analysis of MOS regulated current mirrors applied to micropower D/A converters

This paper provides an insight to the trade-off between settling time and power consumption in regulated current mirrors as building parts in micropower current-switching D/A converters. The regulation-loop frequency characteristic is obtained and difficulties to impose a dominant-pole condition to the resulting 2nd-order system are evaluated. Raising pole frequencies in micropower circuits, while meeting consumption requirements, is basically limited by parasitic capacitances. For such cases, an alternative is to impose a twin-pole condition in which design constraints are somewhat relieved and settling slightly improved. Relationships between pole frequencies, transistor geometry and bias are established and design guidelines for regulated current mirrors founded. By placing loop-transistors in either weak or strong inversion, small (W/L) ratios are allowed and stray capacitances reduced. Simulated waveforms suggest a good agreement with theory. The proposed approach applied to the design of a micropower current-mode D/A converter improves both simulated and experimental settling performance.

Conductivity mechanism analysis at high temperature in bismuth titanate: A single crystal with sillenite-type structure

Conductivity behavior of the Bi12TiO20 single crystal was investigated by the electric modulus spectroscopy, which was carried out in the frequency range from 5 Hz to 13 MHz and at temperatures higher than 400 degrees C. The resistance curve exhibits a set of properties correlated to a negative temperature coefficient thermistor. In the temperature range investigated, the characteristic parameter (,8) of the thermistor is equal to 4834 degrees C. Temperature coefficients of the resistance (a) were derived being equal to -3.02 x 10(-2) degrees C-1 at 400 degrees C and equal to -9.86 x 10(-3) degrees C-1 at 700 degrees C. The nature of the electric relaxation phenomenon and magnitude dc conductivity are approached. (c) 2005 American Institute of Physics.

Extraction and exchange behavior of metal species in therapeutically applied peat

The binding and availability of metals (Al, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn) in therapeutically applied peat (GroBes Gifhorner Moor, Sassenburg/North Germany) was characterized by means of a versatile extraction approach. Aqueous extracts of peat were obtained by a standardized batch equilibrium procedure using high-purity water (pH 4.5 and 5.0), 0.01 mol l(-1) calcium chloride solution, 0.0 1 mol l(-1) ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and 0.01 mol l(-1) diethylenetriarnine pentaacetic acid (DTPA) solution as metal extractants. In addition, the availability of peat-bound metal species was kinetically studied by collecting aliquots of extracts after different periods of extraction time (5, 10, 15, 30, 60 and 120 min). Metal determinations were performed by atomic spectrometry methods (AAS, ICP-OES) and dissolved organic matter (DOM) was characterized by UV/Vis measurements at 254 and 436 nm, respectively. of the extractants studied Ca, Mg and Mn were the most available metals, in contrast to peat-bound Fe and Al. The relative standard deviation s(r) of the developed extraction procedures was mostly in the range of 4 to 20%, depending on the metal and its concentration in peat. A pH increase favored the extraction of metals and DOM from peat revealing complex extraction kinetics. Moreover, a competitive exchange between peat-bound metal species and added Cu(II) ions showed that > 100 mg of Cu(II) per 50 g wet peat was necessary to exchange the maximum of bound metals (e.g. 21.8% of Al, 3.9% of Fe, 79.0% of Mn, 81.9% of Sr, related to their total content). (C) 2002 Elsevier B.V. B.V. All rights reserved.

Morphological analysis of pits formed on Al 2024-T3 in chloride aqueous solution

It has been used a new image analysis method, based on segmentation by shape parameters, for pits morphology examination from Al 2024 aluminum-copper alloy in chloride aqueous solution. Corrosion behavior of this alloys in naturally aerated 3.5% NaCl solution has been investigated through open circuit potential measurements. Afterwards, pits have been characterized by image analysis taking density and size measurements right from corroded surfaces. Morphological investigation has been conducted for profiles, cut orthogonally from mean surface planes, and observed through light microscopy. Image analysis data could demonstrate that pits are wider than deep, evoluting for conical, quasi-conical or irregular shapes. Most pits have presented a quasi-conical morphology, but the wider ones have evoluted to an irregular shape influenced by sub-surface microstructure. Image analysis based on shape segmentation could enhance the differences on morphological behavior. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Viscoelastic behavior of persimmons dried at constant air temperature

The viscoelastic behavior of dried persimmons at different air-drying temperatures and velocities was evaluated. Air temperatures and velocities were varied according to a second-order central composite design, with temperature ranging from 40degreesC to 70degreesC and air velocity from 0.8 to 2.0 m/s. After drying, persimmons were equilibrated at four different water activities: 0.432, 0.576, 0.625 and 0.751. The rheological behavior of dried and conditioned persimmons was studied under uniaxial compression-relaxation tests. Three different rheological models were fitted to the experimental relaxation curves: Maxwell, Generalized Maxwell and Peleg and Normand. Based on the root mean square of residuals, the Generalized Maxwell model showed the best fit and a regression analysis was applied to obtain response surfaces for the model parameters. The dependence of the rheological properties on water activity was also analysed. Results showed that only the linear effect of air temperature was significant at a 5% level on the equilibrium stress and relaxation times. In a general way, these parameters increased with increasing air temperature and decreasing water activity. (C) 2004 Swiss Society of Food Science and Technology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Square-wave voltammetry applied to the analysis of the dye marker, solvent blue 14, in kerosene and fuel alcohol

The purpose of this paper is to develop an electroanalytical method based on square-wave voltammetry (SWV) for the determination of the solvent blue 14 (SB-14) in fuel samples. The electrochemical reduction of SB-14 at glassy carbon electrode in a mixture of Britton-Robinson buffer with N,N-dimethyiformamide (1:1, v/v) presented a well-defined peak at-0.40 V vs. Ag/AgCl. All parameters of the SWV technique were optimized and the electroanalytical method presented a linear response from 1.0 x 10(-6) to 6.0 x 10(-6) mol L-1 (r = 0.998) with a detection limit of 2.90 x 10(-7) mol L-1. The developed method was successfully utilized in the quantification of the dye SB-14 in kerosene and alcohol samples with average recovery from 93.00 to 98.10%.

Dielectric thermal analysis as a tool for quantitative-evaluation of the viscosity and the kinetics of epoxy resin cure

Dielectric thermal analysis has been proved as a valuable tool for monitoring the epoxy curing process and the related rheological properties in the fabrication of polymer-matrix composite materials. This technique also has the potential to be applied in the monitoring of magnet impregnation processes as well as in quality control. In this work we present the quantitative evaluation of the viscosity changing and the curing kinetics for a commercial Stycast epoxy resin system at different temperatures through the impedance analysis. The results showed correlation between the real component of the complex impedance and the isothermal reaction extent. Comparing the dielectric analysis result with the viscosity measured by rotational rheometer we observed a similar behavior reported for dynamic mechanic analysis. The results comparison have shown that the kinetics parameters obtained from DSC and DETA analysis showed different sensitivities related to the characteristics of curing stages. We concluded that the dielectric thermal analysis should be applied in quantitative evaluation of cure kinetics.

Remote sensing techniques applied to slope failure analysis

The paper evaluates the applicability of products of remote sensing in studies related to the structural conditionings of slope stability in saprolites, usually conducted through field surveys. In this article we use a regional approach concentrating on an area of lane duplication of a major highway. In that area, resistance reduction to stress and the low cohesions of muscovite saprolites - schists and gneiss which are associated to geological discontinuities, all result in inumerous instabilities. The joints and foliations were extracted from satellite images as well as aerial photographs. Following that, the study area was divided into various sectors based on the directions and dips of the foliation. Different relationships between the structures and the slopes were analyzed in order to indicate the most feasible type of slope failure in each sector of analysis. The aim of the study is to subsidize further detailed future research.

Analysis of the ethical aspects of professional confidentiality in dental practice

From the point of view of deontological ethics, privacy is a moral right that patients are entitled to and it is bound to professional confidentiality. Otherwise, the information given by patients to health professionals would not be reliable and a trustable relationship could not be established. The aim of the present study was to assess, by means of questionnaires with open and closed questions, the awareness and attitudes of 100 dentists working in the city of Andradina, São Paulo State, Brazil, with respect to professional confidentiality in dental practice. Most dentists (91.43%) reported to have instructed their assistants on professional confidentiality. However, 44.29% of the interviewees showed to act contradictorily as reported talking about the clinical cases of their patients to their friends or spouses. The great majority of professionals (98.57%) believed that it is important to have classes on Ethics and Bioethics during graduation and, when asked about their knowledge of the penalties imposed for breach of professional confidentiality, only 48.57% of them declared to be aware of it. Only 28.57% of the interviewees affirmed to have exclusive access to the files; 67.14% reported that that files were also accessed by their secretary; 1.43% answered that their spouses also had access, and 2.86% did not answer. From the results of the present survey, it could be observed that, although dentists affirmed to be aware of professional confidentiality, their attitudes did not adhere to ethical and legal requirements. This stand of health professionals has contributed to violate professional ethics and the law itself, bringing problems both to the professional and to the patient.

Thermal analysis applied in the crystallization study of SrSnO3

SrSnO3 was synthesized by the polymeric precursor method with elimination of carbon in oxygen atmosphere at 250 A degrees C for 24 h. The powder precursors were characterized by TG/DTA and high temperature X-ray diffraction (HTXRD). After calcination at 500, 600 and 700 A degrees C for 2 h, samples were evaluated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared spectroscopy (IR) and Rietveld refinement of the XRD patterns for samples calcined at 900, 1,000 and 1,100 A degrees C. During thermal treatment of the powder precursor ester combustion was followed by carbonate decomposition and perovskite crystallization. No phase transition was observed as usually presented in literature for SrSnO3 that had only a rearrangement of SnO6 polyhedra.

Multivariated variance analysis applied to biological experiments: An analysis with curves of rats teeth growth as influenced by colchicine

The evaluation of the growth of incisor teeth of rats as influenced by colchicine (doses of 25, 50, 100 and 200 μg/kg) injected during 10 and 18 days is performed using a multivariated variance analysis, which allowed a global view of the results, showing that: there are differences in the growth of teeth of control group (untreated rats) and those treated with colchicine, in the measurements made at the 4th, 7th and 10th days of experiment); there is no difference in the growth of the teeth between the groups treated during 10 and 18 days, except in the measurements made at the 7th day; there is no influence of the doses of colchicine in the group treated during 10 days and in the group treated during 18 days - only at the 7th day is observed an influence of the doses used; and there was no significant interaction between treatment and days of measurement, showing the similarity of the groups during the experiment.

Thermoeconomic functional analysis applied in cogeneration systems associated to cellulose plants

Thermoeconomic Functional Analysis is a method developed for the analysis and optimal design of improvement of thermal systems (Frangopoulos, 1984). The purpose of this work is to discuss the cogeneration system optimization using a condensing steam turbine with two extractions. This cogeneration system is a rational alternative in pulp and paper plants in regard to the Brazilian conditions. The objective of this optimization consists of minimizing the global cost of the system acquisition and operation, based on the parametrization of actual data from a cellulose plant with a daily production of 1000 tons. Among the several possible decision variables, the pressure and temperature of live steam were selected. These variables significantly affect the energy performance of the cogeneration system. The conditions which determine a lower cost for the system are presented in conclusion.

Measurement of sealant surface area by clinical/computerized analysis: 11-year results.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the clinical behavior of 2 pit and fissure sealants through clinical/computerized evaluation. METHOD AND MATERIALS: Occlusal sealants were placed on maxillary and mandibular first and second premolars according to a split-mouth design. All premolars were sealed with either Concise (3M Espe) or Prisma Shield (Caulk/Dentsply) sealant agents. A hematoxylin-based staining solution was applied on the occlusal surface 7 days, 18 months, 36 months, and 11 years after occlusal sealing to allow checking of the sealant material on the surface. At each analysis time all occlusal surfaces were photographed, and the photographs corresponding to each time period were analyzed with SigmaScan 4.0 Software. The alterations of the sealed area of each sealant were analyzed with the software and recorded. Next, the measurements of the areas were tabulated and analyzed according to each period. Analysis of variance (ANOVA), with parts subdivided into time, and the t test, with a significance level of 5%, were used. RESULTS: The greatest sealed area was maintained by the sealant Concise. However, over the course of 11 years, all sealants began to show the same level of alteration in sealed area. CONCLUSION: The sealing materials showed alteration in sealed area over time, but they were efficient in controlling caries lesion formation on premolar pits and fissures.