Compression waves and kinetic energy losses in collisions between balls and rods of different lengths

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

Kinetic Analysis of Gill (Na+,K+)-ATPase Activity in Selected Ontogenetic Stages of the Amazon River Shrimp, (Decapoda, Palaemonidae): Interactions at ATP- and Cation-Binding Sites

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

A kinetic model for Xylella fastidiosa adhesion, biofilm formation, and virulence

Xylella fastidiosa is the causal agent of citrus variegated chlorosis and Pierce's disease which are the major threat to the citrus and wine industries. The most accepted hypothesis for Xf diseases affirms that it is a vascular occlusion caused by bacterial biofilm, embedded in an extracellular translucent matrix that was deduced to be the exopolysaccharide fastidian. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis demonstrated that virulent cells which form biofilm on glass have low fastidian content similar to the weak virulent ones. This indicates that high amounts of fastidian are not necessary for adhesion. In this paper we propose a kinetic model for X fastidiosa adhesion, biofilm formation, and virulence based on electrostatic attraction between bacterial surface proteins and xylem walls. Fastidian is involved in final biofilm formation and cation sequestration in dilute sap. (C) 2004 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Kinetic characterization of a membrane-specific ATPase from rat osseous plate and its possible significance on endochondral ossification

Treatment with phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C of rat osseous plate membranes released up to 90-95% of alkaline phosphatase, but a specific ATPase activity (optimum pH = 7.5) remained bound to the membrane. The hydrolysis of ATP by this ATPase was negligible in the absence of magnesium or calcium ions. However, at millimolar concentrations of magnesium and calcium ions, the membrane-specific ATPase activity increased to about 560-600 U/mg, exhibiting two classes of ATP-hydrolysing sites, and site-site interactions. GTP, UTP, ITP, and CTP were also hydrolyzed by the membrane-specific ATPase. Oligomycin, ouabain, bafilomycin A(1), thapsigargin, omeprazole, ethacrynic acid and EDTA slightly affected membrane-specific ATPase activity while vanadate produced a 18% inhibition. The membrane-specific ATPase activity was insensitive to theophylline, but was inhibited 40% by levamisole. These data suggested that the membrane-specific ATPase activity present in osseous plate membranes, and alkaline phosphatase, were different proteins. (C) 1998 Elsevier B.V. B.V.

Kinetic Analysis of Substrate Utilization by Native and TNAP-, NPP1-, or PHOSPHO1-Deficient Matrix Vesicles

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

Supercritical fluid extraction from Lippia alba: global yields, kinetic data, and extract chemical composition

In this work, experimental data for the system Lippia alba + CO2 is presented. The major constituents of the L. alba volatile oil are limonene and carvone. Thus, literature data for the systems limonene + CO2 and carvone + CO2, and the Peng-Robinson equation of state (PR-EOS) were used to select the operating temperature and pressure, which maximize the global yield in L. alba extract. Global yields were determined at 80, 100, and 120 bar and 40, 45, and 50 degrees C. L. alba extracts were also obtained by conventional processes (hydrodistillation, low-pressure ethanol extraction and Soxhlet ethanol). The chemical compositions of the extracts were determined by gas and thin layer chromatography (TLC). The secretor structures of L. alba were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) before and after supercritical extraction. The largest yield (similar to 7%, mass of extract/mass of dry solid) of the CO2-extract was obtained at 318 K and 100 bar. The chemical compositions of the CO2-extracts were different from those of the extracts obtained by Soxhlet and low-pressure solvent extraction (LPSE) because of the co-extraction of heavy substances by ethanol. The operating conditions that maximized the carvone and limomene yields were 80 bar and 323 K (80 mass%) and 120 bar and 323 K (17 mass%), respectively. (c) 2004 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved.

Reduction of enantioselectivity in the kinetic disposition and metabolism of verapamil in rats exposed to toluene

Toluene and verapamil are subject to extensive oxidative metabolism mediated by CYP enzymes, and their interaction can be stereoselective. In the present study we investigated the influence of toluene inhalation on the enantioselective kinetic disposition of verapamil and its metabolite, norverapamil, in rats. Male Wistar rats (n = 6 per group) received a single dose of racemic verapamil (10 mg/kg) orally at the fifth day of nose-only toluene or air (control group) inhalation for 6 h/day (25, 50, and 100 ppm). Serial blood samples were collected from the tail up to 6 h after verapamil administration. The plasma concentrations of verapamil and norverapamil enantiomers were analyzed by LC-MS/MS by using a Chiralpak AD column. Toluene inhalation did not influence the kinetic disposition of verapamil or norverapamil enantiomers (p > 0.05, Kruskal-Wallis test) in rats. The pharmacokinetics of verapamil was enantioselective in the control group, with a higher plasma proportion of the S-verapamil (AUC 250.8 versus 120.4 ng.h.mL(-1); p <= 0.05, Wilcoxon test) and S-norverapamil (AUC 72.3 versus 52.3 ng.h.mL(-1); p <= 0.05, Wilcoxon test). Nose-only exposure to toluene at 25, 50, or 100 ppm resulted in a lack of enantioselectivity for both verapamil and norverapamil. The study demonstrates the importance of the application of enantioselective methods in studies on the interaction between solvents and chiral drugs.

Electrocatalysis of oxidation of hydrogen on platinum ordered intermetallic phases: Kinetic and mechanistic studies

An experimentally based kinetic and mechanistic study of the hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) on platinum and platinum ordered intermetallic materials in acid medium is presented. RDE kinetic data were re-evaluated and complemented by Tafel plots obtained from chronoamperometric measurements. Among the materials evaluated, PtSb and PtSn exhibited markedly improved kinetic current densities and exchange current densities, compared to Pt in the same experimental conditions. It is proposed that the intermetallic phase enhanced the adsorptive characteristic of the surface sites and, as a consequence, improved the kinetics of the adsorption steps (Tafel or Heyrovsky) of the mechanism involved. (c) 2006 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Polymeric precursor method to the synthesis of XWO(4) (X = Ca and Sr) thin films-Structural, microstructural and spectroscopic investigations

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

Monitoring of cure kinetic prepreg and cure cycle modeling

Cure kinetic model is an integral part of composite process simulation, which is used to predict the degree of curing and the amount of the generated heat. The parameters involved in kinetic models are usually determined empirically from isothermal or dynamic differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) data. In this work, DSC and rheological techniques were used to investigate some of the kinetic parameters of cure reactions of carbon/F161 epoxy prepreg and to evaluate the cure cycle used to manufacture polymeric composites for aeronautical applications. As a result, it was observed that the F161 prepreg presents cure kinetic with total order 1.2-1.9. (c) 2006 Springer Science + Business Media, Inc.

Cure Kinetic of Castor Oil-Based Polyurethane

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Monte Carlo investigations of intermolecular interactions in water-amide mixtures

Monte Carlo simulations of water-amides (amide=fonnamide-FOR, methylfonnamide-NMF and dimethylformamide-DMF) solutions have been carried out in the NpT ensemble at 308 K and 1 atm. The structure and excess enthalpy of the mixtures as a function of the composition have been investigated. The TIP4P model was used for simulating water and six-site models previously optimized in this laboratory were used for simulating the liquid amides. The intermolecular interaction energy was calculated using the classical 6-12 Lennard-Jones potential plus a Coulomb term. The interaction energy between solute and solvent has been partitioned what leads to a better understanding of the behavior of the enthalpy of mixture obtained for the three solutions experimentally. Radial distribution functions for the water-amides correlations permit to explore the intermolecular interactions between the molecules. The results show that three, two and one hydrogen bonds between the water and the amide molecules are formed in the FOR, NMF and DMF-water solutions, respectively. These H-bonds are, respectively, stronger for DMF-water, NMF-water and FOR-water. In the NMF-water solution, the interaction between the methyl group of the NMF and the oxygen of the water plays a role in the stabilization of the aqueous solution quite similar to that of an H-bond in the FOR-water solution. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effects of glass-forming histories on the crystallization kinetic of the 20Li(2)O-80TeO(2) glass

In the present work, tellurite 20Li(2)O-80TeO(2) glasses were prepared with identical nominal composition under different glass-forming histories to produce a stressed and stress-free samples. X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) techniques were used to study the effects of the glass-forming histories on the thermal and structural properties of these glasses. The gamma-TeO2 (metastable), alpha-TeO2 and alpha-Li2Te2O5 phases were identified during the controlled devitrification in these glasses. The mestastable character of the gamma-TeO2 phase was clearly observed in the glass under stress but this effect is not so clear in the stress-free glass. The gamma-TeO2 and alpha-TeO2 phases crystallizes during the initial stages of crystallization in both studied glasses while the alpha-Li2Te2O5 phase crystallize in the final stages of the crystallization. The activation energies and Avrami exponent were calculated for both studied glasses with different particle size leading to E-3 > E-2 > E-1 for stressed glass and E-3 > E-2 approximate to E-1 for stress-free glass, where E-1, E-2 and E-3 were associated to the gamma-TeO2, alpha-TeO2 and alpha-Li2Te2O5 phases, respectively. The observed distinct (n) over bar (1) < <(n)over bar>(2) < <(n)over bar>(3) in both glasses is an indicative that nucleation and growth takes place by more than one mechanism in the early stages of the crystallization. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Dielectric investigations in Sr0.75Ba0.25Nb2O6 relaxor ferroelectric thin films

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

Vocal Fold Nodules: Morphological and Immunohistochemical Investigations

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