Soil texture spatial variability of different parent material in pereira barreto, São Paulo state

The variation of soil textural characteristics is a function of the relief and parent materials. The objective of this work was to study soil texture spatial variability from different parent material in Pereira Barreto, SP. An area of 530.67 hectares was mapped through the use of Global Positioning System receivers and obtaining of Digital Elevation Models. A set of 201 soil samples was collected from every seven hectares, at three depths: 0 - 0.25 m; 0.25 - 0.50 m; and 0.80 - 1.00 m. The amounts of sand, silt and clay were obtained by the pipette method and analyzed by both descriptive statistics and geostatistics. Soil textures varied as a function of parent materials and topography.

Assessment of the Ability to Relate Anterior Tooth Form and Arrangement to Gender

Purpose: This study evaluated the assumption that there are morphological differences between the natural anterior dentition of men and women. The goal of the study was to determine the gender of patients based on the appearance of the anterior teeth in photographs. Materials and Methods: Laymen and observers from different specialties were asked to determine the gender of individuals based on the shape and arrangement of anterior teeth. Forty anterior dentition photographs of dental students of both genders (20 women, 20 men) between 18 and 26 years old were selected, coded, and randomly arranged in an album. The albums were delivered to five groups of observers: general practitioners (recently graduated dentists), prosthodontists, orthodontists, restorative dentists (specialists in cosmetic and restorative dentistry), and laymen (control group). The observers evaluated the photographs twice at 1-week intervals. Results: The average correctly identified values in women and men were 57.6% and 58.8%, respectively. There was no statistical difference between observers and between each group of professionals and the laymen group (p > 0.05). An intraobserver agreement was not observed between the evaluations (kappa =-0.01). Conclusion: The results of this limited study indicated that it was not possible to differentiate gender by viewing photographs of anterior teeth.

Health related quality of life is differently associated with leisure-time physical activity intensities according to gender: a cross-sectional approach

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Seroprevalence of and risk factors for Toxoplasma gondii in sheep raised in the Jaboticabal microregion, São Paulo State, Brazil

Seroprevalence of and risk factors for toxoplasmosis in sheep from different properties in the Jaboticabal microregion, São Paulo State, Brazil were determined. Antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii were found in sera of 52.0% of 488 sheep tested by indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT >= 64). T gondii seropositivity in sheep was significantly associated with gender of the sheep, pasturing system, contact with cats, and the use of mineral supplements and the type of feed. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A new short and simple health-related quality of life measurement for paediatric rheumatic diseases: initial validation in juvenile idiopathic arthritis

Objective. To develop and validate a new short and simple measure of health-related quality of life (HRQL) in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA).Methods. The Paediatric Rheumatology Quality of Life Scale (PRQL) is a 10-item questionnaire that explores HRQL in two domains: physical health (PhH) and psychosocial health (PsH). Validation of the parent proxy report and child self-report versions of the instrument was accomplished by evaluating 472 JIA patients and similar to 800 healthy children. Validation analyses included assessment of feasibility, face and content validity; construct and discriminative ability; internal structure and consistency; test-retest reliability; responsiveness to clinical change; and minimal clinically important difference.Results. The PRQL was found to be feasible and to possess both face and content validity. The PRQL score correlated in the predicted range with most of the other JIA outcome measures, thereby demonstrating good construct validity, and discriminated well between different levels of disease severity. Assessment of internal structure (factor analysis) revealed that the PhH and PsH subscales identify two unambiguously separated domains. The internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) was 0.86. The intraclass correlation coefficient for test-retest reliability was 0.91. The PRQL revealed fair responsiveness, with a standardized response mean of 0.67 in improved patients. Overall, the PRQL appeared to be more able to capture physical HRQL than psychosocial HRQL.Conclusion. The PRQL was found to possess good measurement properties and is, therefore, a valid instrument for the assessment of HRQL in children with JIA. This tool is primarily proposed for use in standard clinical care.

On the V-type asteroids outside the Vesta family - II. Is (21238) 1995 WV7 a fragment of the long-lost basaltic crust of (15) Eunomia?

Context. The V-type asteroids are associated with basaltic composition. Apart from ( 1459) Magnya, an asteroid that is clearly dynamically and mineralogically unconnected to the Vesta family, all currently known V-type asteroids are either members of the Vesta family, or are hypothesized to be former members of the dynamical family that migrated to their current orbital positions. The recent identification of ( 21238) 1995 WV7 as a V-type asteroid introduces the possibility that a second basaltic asteroid not connected with the Vesta family exists. This asteroid is on the opposite side of the 3: 1 mean motion resonance with respect to Vesta, and it would be very unlikely that a member of the Vesta family of its size (D > 5km) migrating via either the Yarkovsky effect or repeated close encounters with Vesta survived the passage through such a resonance.Aims. In this work we investigate the possibility that ( 21238) 1995 WV7 originated as a fragment of the parent body of the Eunomia family and then migrated via the interplay of the Yarkovsky effect and some powerful nonlinear secular resonances, such as the (s - s(6)) - ( g(5) - g(6)). If (15) Eunomia is, as claimed, a differentiated object whose originally pyroxene-enriched crust layer was lost in a collision that either created the Eunomia family or preceded its formation, can (21238) be a fragment of its long-lost basaltic crust that migrated to the current position?Methods. We mapped the phase space around (21238) and determined which of the nonlinear secular resonances that we identified are stronger and more capable of having caused the current difference in proper i between (21238) and members of the Eunomia family. We simulated the Yarkovsky effect by using the SWIFT-RMVSY integrator.Results. Our results suggest that it is possible to migrate from the Eunomia dynamical family to the current orbital location of ( 21238) via the interplay of the Yarkovsky effect and the (s - s6) - (g5 - g6) nonlinear secular resonance, on time-scales of at least 2.6 Gyr.Conclusions. (15) Eunomia might be the third currently known parent body for V-type asteroids.

Thermal decomposition of crystalline Ni-II-Cr-III layered double hydroxide: A structural study of the segregation process

A structural study of the thermal evolution of Ni0.69Cr0.31(OH)(2)(CO3)(0.155)(.)nH(2)O into NiO and tetragonal NiCr2O4 is reported. The characteristic structural parameters of the two coexisting crystalline phases, as well as their relative abundance, were determined by Rietveld refinement of powder x-ray diffraction (PXRD) patterns. The results of the simulations allowed us to elucidate the mechanism of the demixing process of the oxides. It is demonstrated that nucleation of a metastable nickel chromite within the common oxygen framework of the parent Cr-III-doped bunsenite is the initial step of the cationic redistribution. The role that trivalent cations play in the segregation of crystalline spinels is also discussed.

ELECTROACTIVE BLENDS OF POLY(VINYLIDENE FLUORIDE) AND POLYANILINE DERIVATIVES

The conditions for processing and doping of blends of poly(o-alkoxyaniline)s and poly(vinylidene fluoride) were investigated. Flexible, free-standing and stretchable films of blends of various compositions were obtained by casting. A low percolation threshold was observed with the onset of conductivity at low polyalkoxyaniline contents (i.e. 5%). Interestingly, these blends displayed electrochromism with colour changes similar to those of the parent conducting polymer, as observed from cyclic voltammetry measurements. This behaviour is seen even for low contents of the conducting polymer, indicating that a continuous conducting pathway, which is capable of exchanging charge, is formed within the insulating matrix.

An examination of constraints affecting the intralimb coordination of hemiparetic gait

A dynamical systems approach to the study of locomotor intralimb coordination in those with hemiparesis led to an examination of the utility of the shank-thigh relative phase (RP) as a collective variable and the identification of potential constraints that may shape this coordination. Eighteen non-disabled individuals formed three groups matched to the age and gender of six participants with chronic right hemiparesis. The three groups differed in the constraints imposed on their walking: (1) walking at their preferred walking speed; (2) walking as slowly as those with hemiparesis; and, (3) walking slowly with a right ankle-foot orthosis (AFO). The results revealed an asymmetry in intralimb coordination between the unaffected and affected leg of those with hemiparesis localized to the latter third of the gait cycle when the limb is advanced from the end of stance to the reestablishment of a new stance. Walking slowly with or without an AFO resulted in no measureable effect in the non-disabled, but accounts for 22% of the variance in the intralimb coordination of the hemiplegic's affected limb and 16% in the unaffected limb. The AFO offered little additional contribution. These results derive from shank-thigh RP that is shown to provide more information about intralimb coordination than knee angle displacement. Implications for these results and the use of RP for rehabilitation are discussed. (C) 2000 Elsevier B.V. B.V. All rights reserved. PsycINFO classification. 3297. 2330.

Gaussian basis sets by generator coordinate Hartree-Fock method to ab initio calculations of electron affinities of enolates

The Generator Coordinate Hartree-Fock (GCHF) method is employed to generate uncontracted 15s and 18s11p gaussian basis sets for the H, C and O atoms, respectively. These basis sets are then contracted to 3s and 4s H atom and 6s5p, for C and O atoms by a standard procedure. For quality evaluation of contracted basis sets in molecular calculations, we have accomplished calculations of total and orbital energies in the Hartree-Fock-Roothaaii (HFR) approach for CH, C(2) and CO molecules. The results obtained with the uncontracted basis sets are compared with values obtained with the standard D95, 6-311G basis sets and with values reported in the literature. The 4s and 6s5p basis sets are enriched with polarization and diffuse functions for atoms of the parent neutral systems and of the enolates anions (cycloheptanone enolate, 2,5-dimethyleyelopentanone enolate, 4-heptanone enolate, and di-isopropyl ketone enolate) from the literature, in order to assess their performance in ab initio molecular calculations, and applied for calculations of electron affinities of the enolates. The calculations were performed at the DFT (BLYP and B3LYP) and HF levels and compared with the corresponding experimental values and with those obtained by using other 6-3 1 + +G((*)) and 6-311 + +G((*)) basis sets from literature. For the enolates studied, the differences between the electron affinities obtained with GCHF basis sets, at the B3LYP level, and the experimental values are -0.001, -0,014, -0.001, and -0.001 eV. (C) 2002 Elsevier B.V. B.V. All rights reserved.

Distribution of refractory and volatile elements in CoRoT exoplanet host stars

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EXAFS and XRD analyses of the structural evolutions involved during drying of SnO2 hydrogels

In order to determine structural changes during drying of inorganic gels, the local and long-range order structure of SnO2-x(OH)2x xerogels resulting from drying hydrogels with different concentrations of electrolyte (Cl- and NH+ 4) have been measured by extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and N2 adsorption techniques. EXAFS measurements performed at the Sn K edge on the hydrogels and xerogels show the existence of microcrystallites with the cassiterite structure. Two drying modes have been used: freeze drying and drying by evaporation at 45°C. It is shown that the microcrystallite size determined by XRD and EXAFS techniques on the drying mode and on the electrolyte concentrations. The microcrystallite size measured on the freeze dried xerogels is similar to that of their parent hydrogels, whatever the concentration of electrolyte; however, during drying by evaporation, a preferential growth of microcrystallites along the c-axis of the cassiterite structure is observed. The size of these crystallites is enhanced with a decrease of the electrolyte concentration. Specific surface areas calculated by the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller method indicate that this preferential growth is related to the improvement of the network connectivity. The comparison of both drying processes indicates that crystallization and polycondensation are independent phenomena. © 1995 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

The Brazilian version of the Childhood Health Assessment Questionnaire (CHAQ) and the Child Health Questionnaire (CHQ)

We report the cross-cultural adaptation and validation into Brazilian-Portuguese of the parent's version of two health related quality of life instruments. The Childhood Health Assessment Questionnaire (CHAQ) is a disease specific health instrument that measures functional ability in daily living activities in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). The Child Health Questionnaire (CHQ) is a generic health instrument designed to capture the physical and psychosocial well-being of children regardless the underlying disease. The Brazilian CHAQ was revalidated, while the CHQ has been derived from the Portuguese version. A total of 471 subjects were enrolled: 157 patients with JIA (27% systemic onset, 38% polyarticular onset, 9% extended oligoarticular subtype, and 26% persistent oligoarticular subtype) and 314 healthy children. The CHAQ discriminated clinically healthy subjects from JIA patients, with the systemic, polyarticular and extended oligoarticular subtypes having a higher degree of disability, pain, and lower overall well-being scores when compared to their healthy peers. Also the CHQ discriminated clinically healthy subjects from JIA patients, with the systemic onset, polyarticular onset and extended oligoarticular subtypes having a lower physical and psychosocial well-being score when compared to their healthy peers. In conclusion the Brazilian versions of the CHAQ-CHQ are reliable and valid tools for the combined physical and psychosocial assessment of children with JIA. © Copyright Clinical and Experimental Rheumatology 2001.

Conformational basis for the biological activity of TOAC-labeled angiotensin II and bradykinin: Electron paramagnetic resonance, circular dichroism, and fluorescence studies

N-Terminally and internally labeled analogues of the hormones angiotensin (AII, DRVYIHPF) and bradykinin (BK, RPPGFSPFR) were synthesized containing the paramagnetic amino acid 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl-4-amino-4- carboxylic acid (TOAC). TOAC replaced Asp 1 (TOAC 1-AII) and Val 3 (TOAC 3-AII) in AII and was inserted prior to Arg 1 (TOAC 0-BK) and replacing Pro 3 (TOAC 3-BK) in BK. The peptide conformational properties were examined as a function of trifluoroethanol (TFE) content and pH. Electron paramagnetic resonance spectra were sensitive to both variables and showed that internally labeled analogues yielded rotational correlation times (TC) considerably larger than N-terminally labeled ones, evincing the greater freedom of motion of the N-terminus. In TFE, τ C increased due to viscosity effects. Calculation of τ Cpeptide/τ CTOAC ratios indicated that the peptides acquired more folded conformations. Circular dichroism spectra showed that, except for TOAC 1-AII in TFE, the N-terminally labeled analogues displayed a conformational behavior similar to that of the parent peptides. In contrast, under all conditions, the TOAC 3 derivatives acquired more restricted conformations. Fluorescence spectra of All and its derivatives were especially sensitive to the ionization of Tyr 4. Fluorescence quenching by the nitroxide moiety was much more pronounced for TOAC 3-AII The conformational behavior of the TOAC derivatives bears excellent correlation with their biological activity, since, while the N-terminally labeled peptides were partially active, their internally labeled counterparts were inactive [Nakaie, C. R., et al., Peptides 2002, 23, 65-70]. The data demonstrate that insertion of TOAC in the middle of the peptide chain induces conformational restrictions that lead to loss of backbone flexibility, not allowing the peptides to acquire their receptor-bound conformation. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The electrochemical reduction of the purines guanine and adenine at platinum electrodes in several room temperature ionic liquids

The reduction of guanine was studied by microelectrode voltammetry in the room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) N-hexyltriethylammonium bis (trifluoromethanesulfonyl) imide [N6,2,2,2][N(Tf)2], 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorosphosphate [C4mim][PF6], N-butyl-N-methyl-pyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide [C4mpyrr][N(Tf)2], 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide [C4mim][N(Tf)2], N-butyl-N-methyl-pyrrolidinium dicyanamide [C4mpyrr][N(NC)2] and tris(P-hexyl)-tetradecylphosphonium trifluorotris(pentafluoroethyl)phosphate [P14,6,6,6][FAP] on a platinum microelectrode. In [N6,2,2,2][NTf2] and [P14,6,6,6][FAP], but not in the other ionic liquids studied, guanine reduction involves a one-electron, diffusion-controlled process at very negative potential to produce an unstable radical anion, which is thought to undergo a dimerization reaction, probably after proton abstraction from the cation of the ionic liquid. The rate of this subsequent reaction depends on the nature of the ionic liquid, and it is faster in the ionic liquid [P14,6,6,6][FAP], in which the formation of the resulting dimer can be voltammetrically monitored at less negative potentials than required for the reduction of the parent molecule. Adenine showed similar behaviour to guanine but the pyrimidines thymine and cytosine did not; thymine was not reduced at potentials less negative than required for solvent (RTIL) decomposition while only a poorly defined wave was seen for cytosine. The possibility for proton abstraction from the cation in [N6,2,2,2][NTf2] and [P14,6,6,6][FAP] is noted and this is thought to aid the electrochemical dimerization process. The resulting rapid reaction is thought to shift the reduction potentials for guanine and adenine to lower values than observed in RTILs where the scope for proton abstraction is not present. Such shifts are characteristic of so-called EC processes where reversible electron transfer is followed by a chemical reaction. © 2009 Elsevier B.V.