Feeding level and frequency for freshwater angelfish

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

NH3+N2O3 reaction. High level calculations

We have undertaken a comprehensive study of the NH3 + N2O3 reaction in gas phase. Total energies of reactants, intermediates, transition states, and products have been calculated at CBS-QB3 level of theory. The corresponding BSSE analysis were performed at the highest level of theory, i.e. MP2 using the complete basis set (CBS) extrapolation at CBS-QB3 optimized geometries. A detailed mechanism was proposed for 2NH(3) - N2O3 -> 2N(2) - 3H(2)O with Delta H-r= - 170.08 kcal/mol N-2. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effect of low-level laser irradiation on odontoblast-like cells

Low-level laser therapy (LLLT), also referred to as therapeutic laser, has been recommended for a wide array of clinical procedures, among which the treatment of dentinal hypersensitivity. However, the mechanism that guides this process remains unknown. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate in vitro the effects of LLL irradiation on cell metabolism (MTT assay), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) expression and total protein synthesis. The expression of genes that encode for collagen type-1 (Col-1) and fibronectin (FN) was analyzed by RT-PCR. For such purposes, oclontoblast-like cell line (MDPC-23) was previously cultured in Petri dishes (15000 cells/cm(2)) and submitted to stress conditions during 12 h. Thereafter, 6 applications with a monochromatic near infrared radiation (GaAlAs) set at predetermined parameters were performed at 12-h intervals. Non-irradiated cells served as a control group. Neither the MTT values nor the total protein levels of the irradiated group differed significantly from those of the control group (Mann-Whitney test; p > 0.05). on the other hand, the irradiated cells showed a decrease in ALP activity (Mann-Whitney test; p < 0.05). RT-PCR results demonstrated a trend to a specific reduction in gene expression after cell irradiation, though not significant statistically (Mann-Whitney test; p > 0.05). It may be concluded that, under the tested conditions, the LLLT parameters used in the present study did not influence cell metabolism, but reduced slightly the expression of some specific proteins.

Analysis of plant LTR-retrotransposons at the fine-scale family level reveals individual molecular patterns

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

Correlation between balance and the level of functional independence among elderly people

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

Finding best urban routes based on analyses of high level and IOPT Petri net models

This paper presents a tool that combines two kinds of Petri Net analyses to set the fastest routes to one vehicle in a bounded area of traffic urban. The first analysis consists of the discovery of possible routes in a state space generated from an IOPT Petri net model given the initial marking as the vehicle position. The second analysis receives the routes found in the first analysis and calculates the state equations at incidence matrix created from the High Level Petri net model to define the fastest route for each vehicle that arrive in the roads. It was considered the exchange of information between vehicle and infrastructure (V2I) to get the position and speed of all vehicles and support the analyses. With the results obtained we conclude that is possible optimizing the urban traffic flow if this tool is applied to all vehicles in a bounded urban traffic. © 2012 IEEE.

Spurious shifts in the pattern of diurnal variation of sea level pressure of reanalysis datasets

The main purpose of this work is to report the presence of spurious discontinuities in the pattern of diurnal variation of sea level pressure of the three reanalysis datasets from: the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) and National Center for Atmospheric Science (R1), the NCEP and Department of Energy (R2), and the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (ERA-40). Such discontinuities can be connected to the major changes in the global observing system that have occurred throughout reanalyses years. In the R1, the richest period in discontinuities is 1956-1958, coinciding with the start of modern radiosonde observation network. Rapid increase in the density of surface-based observations from 1967 also had an important impact on both R1 and ERA-40, with larger impact on R1. The reanalyses show discontinuities in the 1970s related to the assimilation of radiances measured by the Vertical Temperature Profile Radiometer and TIROS-N Operational Vertical Sounders onboard satellites. In the ERA-40, which additionally assimilated Special Sensor Microwave/Imager data, there are discontinuities in 1987-1989. The R1 also presents further discontinuities, in 1988-1993 likely connected to replacement/introduction of NOAA-series satellites with different biases, and to the volcanic eruption of Mount Pinatubo in June 1991, which is known to have severely affected measurements of infrared radiances for several years. The discontinuities in 1996-1998 might be partially connected to change in the type of radiosonde, from VIZ-B to VIZ-B2. The R2, which covers only satellite era (1979-on), shows discontinuities mainly in 1992, 1996-1997, and 2001. The discontinuities in 1992 and 2001 might have been caused by change in the satellite measurements and those in 1996-1997 by some changes in land-based observations network. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.

In vitro transdentinal effect of low-level laser therapy

Low-level laser therapy (LLLT) has been used for the treatment of dentinal hypersensitivity. However, the specific LLL dose and the response mechanisms of these cells to transdentinal irradiation have not yet been demonstrated. Therefore, this study evaluated the transdentinal effects of different LLL doses on stressed odontoblast-like pulp cells MDPC-23 seeded onto the pulpal side of dentin discs obtained from human third molars. The discs were placed in devices simulating in vitro pulp chambers and the whole set was placed in 24-well plates containing plain culture medium (DMEM). After 24 h incubation, the culture medium was replaced by fresh DMEM supplemented with either 5% (simulating a nutritional stress condition) or 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS). The cells were irradiated with doses of 15 and 25 J cm-2 every 24 h, totaling three applications over three consecutive days. The cells in the control groups were removed from the incubator for the same times as used in their respective experimental groups for irradiation, though without activating the laser source (sham irradiation). After 72 h of the last active or sham irradiation, the cells were evaluated with respect to succinic dehydrogenase (SDH) enzyme production (MTT assay), total protein (TP) expression, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) synthesis, reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for collagen type 1 (Col-I) and ALP, and morphology (SEM). For both tests, significantly higher values were obtained for the 25 J cm-2 dose. Regarding SDH production, supplementation of the culture medium with 5% FBS provided better results. For TP and ALP expression, the 25 J cm-2 presented higher values, especially for the 5% FBS concentration (Mann-Whitney p < 0.05). Under the tested conditions, near infrared laser irradiation at 25 J cm -2 caused transdentinal biostimulation of odontoblast-like MDPC-23 cells. © 2013 Astro Ltd.

Metodologia para análise e interpretação de alarmes em tempo real de sistemas de distribuição de energia elétrica

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

Episode of Low Level Jets in the north and northeast coast of state of Para: a case study of 2002 april 21st to 22nd

Neste estudo descreve-se as características da estrutura vertical de um episódio de Jatos de Baixos Níveis (JBN) ocorrido no litoral do Pará, utilizando-se para tal, dados das radiossondagens de Ajuruteua, Município de Bragança coletados durante o experimento DESMATA (Impacto do Desmatamento Junto ao Litoral Atlântico da Amazônia) realizado no período de 08 a 22 de abril de 2002. Dentre os casos detectados no período chuvoso, selecionou-se um que se manteve por 12 horas com velocidade média de 15m/s e que estava direcionado de Nordeste para Leste, no ponto de máxima velocidade. Os resultados observacionais indicaram que, este JBN localizado no litoral Paraense foi resultado da ação combinada de dois fatores: (1) oscilação inercial e (2) baroclinia superficial. Estes dois fatores combinados sustentaram este JBN com intensidades entre 10 e 13m/s durante o dia e entre 14 e 16m/s durante a noite, localizado a uma altitude média de 800m acima da superfície.

Peanut mechanized digging regarding to plant population and soil water level

The largest losses in mechanical harvesting of peanuts occur during the stage of digging, and its assessment is still incipient in Brazil. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the quantitative losses and the performance of the tractor-digger-inverter, according to soil water content and plant populations. The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized block design with a factorial scheme 2 x 3, in which the treatments consisted of two soil, water content (19.3 and 24.8%) and three populations of plants (86,111, 127,603 and 141,144 plants ha-1), with four replications. The quantitative digging losses and the set mechanized performance were evaluated. The largest amount of visible and total losses was found in the population of 141.144 plants ha-1 for the 19.3% soil water content. The harvested material flow and the tractor-digger-inverter performance were not influenced by soil water content and plant population. The water content in the pods was higher in 24.8% soil water content only for the population of 86,111 plants ha-1; the yield was higher in the populations of 141.144 and 127.603 plants ha-1, in the 19.3 e 24.8% soil water content, respectively.

A genetic algorithm/mathematical programming approach to solve a two-level soft drink production problem

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Analysis of plant LTR-retrotransposons at the fine-scale family level reveals individual molecular patterns

Background: Sugarcane is an important crop worldwide for sugar production and increasingly, as a renewable energy source. Modern cultivars have polyploid, large complex genomes, with highly unequal contributions from ancestral genomes. Long Terminal Repeat retrotransposons (LTR-RTs) are the single largest components of most plant genomes and can substantially impact the genome in many ways. It is therefore crucial to understand their contribution to the genome and transcriptome, however a detailed study of LTR-RTs in sugarcane has not been previously carried out. Results: Sixty complete LTR-RT elements were classified into 35 families within four Copia and three Gypsy lineages. Structurally, within lineages elements were similar, between lineages there were large size differences. FISH analysis resulted in the expected pattern of Gypsy/heterochromatin, Copia/euchromatin, but in two lineages there was localized clustering on some chromosomes. Analysis of related ESTs and RT-PCR showed transcriptional variation between tissues and families. Four distinct patterns were observed in sRNA mapping, the most unusual of which was that of Ale1, with very large numbers of 24nt sRNAs in the coding region. The results presented support the conclusion that distinct small RNA-regulated pathways in sugarcane target the lineages of LTR-RT elements. Conclusions: Individual LTR-RT sugarcane families have distinct structures, and transcriptional and regulatory signatures. Our results indicate that in sugarcane individual LTR-RT families have distinct behaviors and can potentially impact the genome in diverse ways. For instance, these transposable elements may affect nearby genes by generating a diverse set of small RNA's that trigger gene silencing mechanisms. There is also some evidence that ancestral genomes contribute significantly different element numbers from particular LTR-RT lineages to the modern sugarcane cultivar genome.

Self-Assembly of Poly(4-vynil-N-alkylpyridinium) Bromide onto Silica: Effect of Side-Chain Length on Structural Aspects at a Molecular Level

Self-assembly of poly(4-vynil-N-alkyl)pyridinium bromide with alkyl side chains of 2, 5, 7, 10, or 16 carbons from ethanolic solutions onto flat silica surfaces was studied by means of ellipsometry, atomic force microscopy (AFM), contact angle measurements, and sum-frequency generation (SFG) vibrational spectroscopy in the CH3 and CH2 stretch region. Ab initio quantum-chemical calculations on the N-alkylpyridinium side-group with restricted Hartree-Fock (RHF) method and 6-311G (d,p) basis set were C one to estimate the charge distribution along the pyridinium ring and the alkyl side-chain. SFG results showed that longer side chains promote the disorientation of the alkyl groups at the surface, corroborating with the contact angle values. AFM images revealed film homogeneity, regardless the alkyl side group. However, after 24 h contact with water, ringlike structures appeared on the film surfaces, when the polycation alkyl side chain had 7 or less carbons, and as the alkyl chain increased to 10 or 16 carbons, the films dewetted because the hydrophobic interactions prevailed over the electrostatic interactions between the pyridinium charged groups and the negatively charged SiO2 surface. Under acid conditions (HCl 0.1 mol.L-1), the film mean thickness values decreased up to 50% of original values when the alkyl side chains were ethyl or pentyl groups due to ion-pair disruption, but for longer groups they remained unchanged. Quantum-chemical optimization and Mulliken electron population showed that (i) from C2 to C15 the positive charge at the headgroup (HG) decreased 0.025, while the charge at combined HG + alpha-CH2 increased 0.037; and (ii) for C6 or longer, the alkyl side group presents a tilt in the geometry, moving away from the plane. Such effects summed up over the whole polymer chain give support to suggest that when the side chains are longer than 7 carbons, the hydrophobic interaction decreases film stability and increases acid resistance.

A communication infrastructure to support knowledge level agents on the web

Agent Communication Languages (ACLs) have been developed to provide a way for agents to communicate with each other supporting cooperation in Multi-Agent Systems. In the past few years many ACLs have been proposed for Multi-Agent Systems, such as KQML and FIPA-ACL. The goal of these languages is to support high-level, human like communication among agents, exploiting Knowledge Level features rather than symbol level ones. Adopting these ACLs, and mainly the FIPA-ACL specifications, many agent platforms and prototypes have been developed. Despite these efforts, an important issue in the research on ACLs is still open and concerns how these languages should deal (at the Knowledge Level) with possible failures of agents. Indeed, the notion of Knowledge Level cannot be straightforwardly extended to a distributed framework such as MASs, because problems concerning communication and concurrency may arise when several Knowledge Level agents interact (for example deadlock or starvation). The main contribution of this Thesis is the design and the implementation of NOWHERE, a platform to support Knowledge Level Agents on the Web. NOWHERE exploits an advanced Agent Communication Language, FT-ACL, which provides high-level fault-tolerant communication primitives and satisfies a set of well defined Knowledge Level programming requirements. NOWHERE is well integrated with current technologies, for example providing full integration for Web services. Supporting different middleware used to send messages, it can be adapted to various scenarios. In this Thesis we present the design and the implementation of the architecture, together with a discussion of the most interesting details and a comparison with other emerging agent platforms. We also present several case studies where we discuss the benefits of programming agents using the NOWHERE architecture, comparing the results with other solutions. Finally, the complete source code of the basic examples can be found in appendix.