The use of Rich and Suter diagrams to explain the electron configurations of transition elements

Rich and Suter diagrams are a very useful tool to explain the electron configurations of all transition elements, and in particular, the s¹ and s0 configurations of the elements Cr, Cu, Nb, Mo, Ru, Rh, Pd, Ag, and Pt. The application of these diagrams to the inner transition elements also explains the electron configurations of lanthanoids and actinoids, except for Ce, Pa, U, Np, and Cm, whose electron configurations are indeed very special because they are a mixture of several configurations.

Susceptibility of fruits of the 'Valência' and 'Natal' sweet orange varieties to Guignardia citricarpa and the influence of the coexistence of healthy and symptomatic fruits

The importance of the presence of symptomatic fruits with citrus black symptoms (CBS) on the disease severity level in subsequent crop production was assessed in an orchard planted with Valência and Natal sweet orange varieties. Additionally, the period of susceptibility of the fruits of these varieties was evaluated. Fruits were covered with paper bags at the stage of 75% fallen petals and were then exposed to natural infection at weekly intervals, from October 2000 to April 2001. This process was carried out in plants where the fruits from the previous harvest had been picked as well as in plants where fruits remained until natural drop. The evaluation of disease severity used a scale that varied from 0 (absence of symptoms) to 6 (severe symptoms). It was observed that, for the Valência and Natal varieties, conidia of Phyllosticta citricarpa that had formed on the lesions of fruits from the previous harvest did not significantly increase the severity of disease on the fruits of the subsequent harvest period. In this study, the protection of the fruits until 10 weeks after petal drop did not affect the number of lesions, indicating that ascospore discharges after that date were, probably, responsible for disease severity. Fruits exposed between the 20th and 24th week after 75% of the petals had fallen were symptomatic, indicating that, at this stage, the fruits were still susceptible to the pathogen.

Exploring potentialities of the HR-CS FAAS technique in the determination of Ni and Pb in mineral waters

National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) established in the decree number 54 maximum allowed levels for Ni and Pb in mineral and natural waters at 20 µg L-1 and 10 µg L-1, respectively. For screening analysis purposes, the high-resolution continuum source flame atomic absorption spectrometry technique (HR-CS FAAS) was evaluated for the fast-sequential determination of nickel and lead in mineral waters.Two atomic lines for Ni (232.003 nm - main and 341.477 nm - secondary) and Pb (217.0005 nm - main and 283.306 nm - secondary) at different wavelength integrated absorbance (number of pixels) were evaluated. Sensitivity enhanced with the increase of the number of pixels and with the summation of the atomic lines absorbances. The main figures of merit associated to the HR-CS FAAS technique were compared with that obtained by line-source flame atomic absorption spectrometry (LS FAAS). Water samples were pre-concentrated about 5-fold by evaporation before analysis. Recoveries of Pb significantly varied with increased wavelength integrated absorbance. Better recoveries (92-93%) were observed for higher number of pixels at the main line or summating the atomic lines (90-92%). This influence was irrelevant for Ni, and recoveries in the 92-104% range were obtained in all situations.

A simple spectrophotometric method for the determination of tetracycline and doxycycline in pharmaceutical formulations using chloramine-T

A simple, rapid, accurate and inexpensive spectrophotometric method for the determination of tetracycline and doxycycline has been developed. The method is based on the reaction between these drugs and chloramine-T in alkaline medium producing red color products with absorbance maximum at the Λ = 535 and 525 nm for the tetracycline and doxycycline, respectively. The best conditions for the reactions have been found using multivariate method. Beer´s law is obeyed in a concentration ranges 1.03 x 10-5 to 3.61 x 10-4 mol L-1 and 1.75 x 10-5 to 3.48 x 10-4 mol L-1 for the tetracycline and doxycycline, respectively. The quantification limits were 5.63 x 10-6 mol L-1 and 7.12 x 10-7 mol L-1 for the tetracycline and doxycycline, respectively. The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of these drugs in pharmaceutical formulations and the results obtained were in good agreement with those obtained by the comparative method at the 95% confidence level.

THE FORMAL AND THE FORMALIZED: THE CASES OF SYLLOGISTIC AND SUPPOSITION THEORY

As a discipline, logic is arguably constituted of two main sub-projects: formal theories of argument validity on the basis of a small number of patterns, and theories of how to reduce the multiplicity of arguments in non-logical, informal contexts to the small number of patterns whose validity is systematically studied (i.e. theories of formalization). Regrettably, we now tend to view logic 'proper' exclusively as what falls under the first sub-project, to the neglect of the second, equally important sub-project. In this paper, I discuss two historical theories of argument formalization: Aristotle's syllogistic theory as presented in the "Prior Analytics", and medieval theories of supposition. They both illustrate this two-fold nature of logic, containing in particular illuminating reflections on how to formalize arguments (i.e. the second sub-project). In both cases, the formal methods employed differ from the usual modern technique of translating an argument in ordinary language into a specially designed symbolism, a formal language. The upshot is thus a plea for a broader conceptualization of what it means to formalize.

Effect of the concentration of inoculum and tensoactive on the efficiency of Bipolaris sorokiniana infection in wheat leaves

Techniques that result in increased pathogen infection rates by employing reduced quantities of fungal spores with sparse sporulation have been developed. Experiments under controlled environment conditions were conducted to evaluate the effect of the density of Bipolaris sorokiniana conidia on the intensity of wheat helminthosporiosis. Using a selected inoculum density, the concentration of the tensoactive (Tween 20) that promoted maximum infection by the causal agent of the disease was determined. The density of lesions and the estimated severity of the disease were quantified. The selected inoculum density was 1.5 x 10(4) spores.mL-1 plus 480 µL tensoactive.L-1 water, resulting in a disease severity that allows selecting wheat cultivars resistant to B. sorokiniana.

Cover layers to the growth of trees and shrobs over a sulfide spoil from gold mining

This work was done at a gold mine company in Paracatu, MG, Brazil, and was conducted from March 2000 to November 2005. The substrate (spoil) studied was a phillite rock which contains sulfides such as pyrite and arsenopyrite. This study aimed to evaluate the survival and growth of plant species on different combinations of substrate layers over the spoil. These layers were a cover layer and a sealing layer, both deposited over the spoil. The treatment 1 had saprolite (B1) in the sealing layer (SL) and B1 with liming (B1L) in the cover layer (CL). The treatment 2 had B1 in SL and B1L + soil with liming (SoL) in the CL. The treatment 3 had B1 + SoL in the SL and B1L in the CL. The treatment 4 had B1 + SoL in the SL and B1L + SoL in the CL. The plant species used were Acacia farnesiana, A. holosericea, A. polyphylla, Albizia lebbeck, Clitoria fairchildiana, Flemingia sp., Mimosa artemisiana, M. bimucronata e Enterolobium contortisiliquum. Forty and 57 months after planting, collardiameter, height, and living plants were evaluated. The greatest survival rate was oobservedintreatmentwith B horizon of an Oxisoil in both layers, with 80 %. In general, M. bimucronata and A. farnesiana species showed the highest survival rate. The arsenic-content by Mehlich 3 in the cover layer ranged from 0.00 to 14.69 mg dm- 3 among treatments. The experimental results suggest that layers combinations above the sulfide substrate allow the rapid revegetation of the spoil.

Determination of the influence of the variation of reducing and non-reducing sugars on coffee quality with use of artificial neural network

The present study aimed at evaluating the use of Artificial Neural Network to correlate the values resulting from chemical analyses of samples of coffee with the values of their sensory analyses. The coffee samples used were from the Coffea arabica L., cultivars Acaiá do Cerrado, Topázio, Acaiá 474-19 and Bourbon, collected in the southern region of the state of Minas Gerais. The chemical analyses were carried out for reducing and non-reducing sugars. The quality of the beverage was evaluated by sensory analysis. The Artificial Neural Network method used values from chemical analyses as input variables and values from sensory analysis as output values. The multiple linear regression of sensory analysis values, according to the values from chemical analyses, presented a determination coefficient of 0.3106, while the Artificial Neural Network achieved a level of 80.00% of success in the classification of values from the sensory analysis.

Impact of irrigation on yield and energy balance of the production of oil and cake of two sunflower varieties

The energy balance for the production of sunflower oil and cake was carried out during the agricultural and industrial stage phase, where it was considered a cold extraction by hydraulic pressing, with the plant location in a rural area with a radius of 30km range. Data on productivity was used in two varieties of sunflower (Helio 358 and Aguará 04) grown in different seasons (2007/2008, 2008/2009), under different irrigation levels. Data showed that irrigation resulted in an increase in productivity of both varieties, and the best response was observed for Aguará 04 variety. Moreover, the increased intensity of irrigation negatively affected the energy balance, reducing the ratio between energy produced and energy used in the production chain. The most significant inputs in the energy intake were fertilizer followed by diesel oil, when irrigation was not used for. When the irrigation technique was used, the most significant inputs, in order of representativeness, were: energy, fertilizer and equipment.

The role of P16ink4a and P53 immunostaining in predicting recurrence of HG-CIN after conization treatment

Objective: Io evaluate the expression of p16INK4a and p53 biomarkers in conization specimens from patients with high grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (HG-CIN), correlating them with the ability to predict the recurrence. Methods : we conducted a retrospective study of patients with HG-CIN in cervical biopsy treated with conization between January 1999 and January 2006 who had a minimum follow-up of 18 months. The expression of the p16 and p53 was assessed by tissue microarrays and correlated with disease recurrence. For analysis, we used the test of proportions (chi-square), considering value p<0.05, 95% CI and calculations of sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of these immunomarkers in predicting recurrence. Results : the series comprised 83 patients aged between 16 and 86 years (35±11.7), divided into two groups: 30 with HG-CIN recurrence (study group) and 53 without recurrence (control group). Mean age, parity, smoking and conization technique were similar in both groups. The p53 expression was present in 43% of the study group and 57% of the control group, and the p16 was present in 43% of the study group and in 57% of the control group (p>0.05). p53 had a positive predictive value (PPV) of 42% and negative predictive value (NPV) of 73%, sensitivity 70%, specificity of 47% and accuracy of 59%. The p16, PPV 42%, NPV 72%, sensitivity 66%, specificity of 49% and accuracy of 56%. Conclusion : immunohistochemistry expression of p53 and p16 showed low sensitivity and low specificity as predictors of HG-CIN recurrence after conization treatment.

Accuracy of sonography and hysteroscopy in the diagnosis of premalignant and malignant polyps in postmenopausal women

PURPOSE: To evaluate the accuracy of sonographic endometrial thickness and hysteroscopic characteristics in predicting malignancy in postmenopausal women undergoing surgical resection of endometrial polyps. METHODS: Five hundred twenty-one (521) postmenopausal women undergoing hysteroscopic resection of endometrial polyps between January 1998 and December 2008 were studied. For each value of sonographic endometrial thickness and polyp size on hysteroscopy, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) were calculated in relation to the histologic diagnosis of malignancy. The best values of sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of malignancy were determined by the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve. RESULTS: Histologic diagnosis identified the presence of premalignancy or malignancy in 4.1% of cases. Sonographic measurement revealed a greater endometrial thickness in cases of malignant polyps when compared to benign and premalignant polyps. On surgical hysteroscopy, malignant endometrial polyps were also larger. An endometrial thickness of 13 mm showed a sensitivity of 69.6%, specificity of 68.5%, PPV of 9.3%, and NPV of 98% in predicting malignancy in endometrial polyps. Polyp measurement by hysteroscopy showed that for polyps 30 mm in size, the sensitivity was 47.8%, specificity was 66.1%, PPV was 6.1%, and NPV was 96.5% for predicting cancer. CONCLUSIONS: Sonographic endometrial thickness showed a higher level of accuracy than hysteroscopic measurement in predicting malignancy in endometrial polyps. Despite this, both techniques showed low accuracy for predicting malignancy in endometrial polyps in postmenopausal women. In suspected cases, histologic evaluation is necessary to exclude malignancy.

The Influence of Education and Depression on Autonomy of Women with Chronic Pelvic Pain: A Cross-sectional Study

Objective Patient autonomy has great importance for a valid informed consent in clinical practice. Our objectives were to quantify thedomains of patient autonomy and to evaluate the variables that can affect patient autonomy in women with chronic pelvic pain. Methods This study is a cross sectional survey performed in a tertiary care University Hospital. Fifty-two consecutive women scheduled for laparoscopic management of chronic pelvic were included. Three major components of autonomy (competence, information or freedom) were evaluated using a Likert scale with 24 validated affirmatives. Results Competence scores (0.85 vs 0.92; p = 0.006) and information scores (0.90 vs 0.93; p = 0.02) were low for women with less than eight years of school attendance. Information scores were low in the presence of anxiety (0.91 vs 0.93; p = 0.05) or depression (0.90 vs 0.93; p = 0.01). Conclusions Our data show that systematic evaluation of patient autonomy can provide clinical relevant information in gynecology. Low educational level, anxiety and depression might reduce the patient autonomy in women with chronic pelvic pain.

Ultrastructural observation of the airways of recovered and susceptible pigs after inoculation with Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae

To determine the morphological differences in the epithelium of the airways of recovered and susceptible pigs after Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae challenge, twenty-four 4-week-old M. hyopneumoniae-free pigs were intratracheally inoculated with 107ccu/ml of a pure low-passaged culture of the P5722-3 strain of M. hyopneumoniae challenge material. Eight pigs (group I) were challenged at the beginning of the experiment and rechallenged 3 months later. Group II pigs were also challenged at the beginning of the experiment and necropsied 3 months later. Group III pigs were challenged at the same time as the rechallenge of group I pigs. Eight nonchallenged pigs served as controls (group IV). Three days after the second challenge of group I and the first challenge of group III, and every 3 and 4 days thereafter, two pigs from each group were euthanatized by electrocution and necropsied. Samples of bronchi and lung tissue were examined using light and electron microscopy (SEM and TEM). Macroscopic lesions were observed in the lungs of all group III pigs (average = 4.74%) and were characterized by purple-red areas of discoloration and increased firmness affecting the cranioventral aspect of the lungs. Macroscopic lesions of pneumonia in groups I and II were minimal (less than 1%). There were no gross lesions of pneumonia in control (group IV) pigs. Microscopic lesions were characterized by hyperplasia of the peribronchial lymphoid tissue and mild neutrophilic infiltrates in alveoli. Electron microscopy showed patchy areas with loss of cilia and presence of leukocytes and mycoplasmas in bronchi of susceptible pigs (group III). The bronchial epithelium of rechallenged (group I), recovered (group II), and control (group IV) pigs was ultrastructurally similar indicating recovery of the former two groups. Although mycoplasmas were seen among cilia, a second challenge on pigs of group I did not produce another episode of the disease nor did it enhance morphological changes, suggesting that those pigs could become carriers of M. hyopneumoniae.

Effect of multidrug resistance modulators on the activity of ivermectin and moxidectin against selected strains of Haemonchus contortus infective larvae

Nematode parasites have shown resistance to the anthelmintics, ivermectin and moxidectin, and there is evidence that the over-expression of parasite P-glycoprotein (P-gp) may account, at least in part, for resistance to ivermectin. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether the multidrug resistance (MDR) modulators, verapamil, CL 347.099 (an analog of verapamil) and cyclosporin A, would enhance the efficacy of ivermectin and moxidectin against selected strains of Haemonchus contortus using an in vitro larval migration assay. The modulators had no effects on the number of migrating larvae when used alone. Ivermectin and moxidectin showed a significant (P<0.05) increase in its efficacy by 52.8 and 58.5% respectively, when used in association with verapamil against a moxidectin-selected strain. CL 347,099 also increased significantly (P<0.05) the ivermectin and moxidectin efficacy by 24.2 and 40.0% respectively, against an ivermectin-selected strain and by 40.0 and 75.6% respectively, against an moxidectin-selected strain. At the concentrations tested cyclosporin A showed a variable effect on increasing the efficacy of the anthelmintics against the susceptible and resistant strains.