Modification and enhanced photocatalytic activity of TiO2 following exposure to non-linear irradiation sources

The effects of high power pulsed laser light on a TiO2 photocatalyst (powder and 0.1% (w/v) aqueous suspension) are reported. When this material was irradiated with a laser of power over 0.8 MW peak pulse power at 355 nm wavelength a visible change in colour from white to dark blue was observed. The initial rate of change of the total colour difference is related to the laser power; the stronger the laser power the darker the colour change. The result of X-ray diffraction studies indicates that the crystal structure of the TiO2 developed a more rutile form after laser exposure. Electron microscopic studies showed that spherical shaped particles of TiO2 were observed after laser treatment. Preliminary results show enhanced photocatalytic activity for the destruction of methylene blue. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.

Sex, Time and Place: Queer Histories of London, c.1850 to the Present

Sex, Time and Place extensively widens the scope of what we might mean by 'queer London studies'. Incorporating multidisciplinary perspectives – including social history, cultural geography, visual culture, literary representation, ethnography and social studies – this collection asks new questions, widens debates and opens new subject terrain. Featuring essays from an international range of established scholars and emergent voices, the collection is a timely contribution to this growing field. Its essays cover topics such as activist and radical communities and groups, AIDS and the city, art and literature, digital archives and technology, drag and performativity, lesbian London, notions of bohemianism and deviancy, sex reform and research and queer Black history. Going further than the existing literature on Queer London which focuses principally on the experiences of white gay men in a limited time frame, Sex, Time and Place reflects the current state of this growing and important field of study. It will be of great value to scholars, students and general readers who have an interest in queer history, London studies, cultural geography, visual cultures and literary criticism.

Water intake behavior of broiler chickens exposed to heat stress and drinking from bell or and nipple drinkers

The aspects involved in broiler water intake are not well known, despite the importance of water in animal nutrition and physiology. Water intake behavior should be taken into account when deciding on different types of drinkers. Bell and nipple drinkers are the most commonly used in commercial broiler production. Broilers were housed in cages equipped with two different drinker types and raised at two different environmental temperatures (25 and 34 ºC) to evaluate water intake behavior and volume. Broiler water intake behavior was influenced by drinker type. Birds visited bell drinkers less often, but presented higher total water intake per visit to the drinker as compared to those drinking from nipple drinkers. The results of this study suggest that both broilers drinking behavior and water intake volume should be taken into account when deciding on drinker type to equip broiler houses.

Fos-like immunoreactivity in central nervous system of mice simultaneously exposed to the elevated plus-maze and nociception

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

Hunger suppresses the onset and the freezing component of the antipredator response to conspecific skin extract in pintado catfish

Although the skin of an injured conspecific releases alarm substance in some fish species, it has been shown that such damage induces feeding behaviour rather than an alarm reaction under conditions of food scarcity. We studied chemical communication associated with this paradox in a Brazilian catfish, the pintado (Pseudoplatystoma coruscans). In preliminary tests pintado were confirmed to demonstrate an alarm reaction to conspecific skin extract. In the experiment we investigated whether skin extract of pintado induces either alarm response (panic or alert component) or feeding in hungry conspecifics. Fish feed-deprived for eight days and fed control fish were exposed to either conspecific skin extract or distilled water (as a control). Alarm reaction was restricted to the skin extract treatment and occurred in the fish irrespective of their hunger state, but the components of this response were significantly affected by hungry. Fed fish showed a complete alarm reaction (dashing and freezing behaviours). Feed-deprived fish exhibited only part of this biphasic response, the dashing component. We conclude that chemicals from injured fish elicit an alarm reaction, which is partially inhibited by feeding motivation.

Reproductive development and function of female rats exposed to di-eta-butyl-phthalate (DBP) in utero and during lactation

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

Micronucleus test and observation of nuclear alterations in erythrocytes of Nile tilapia exposed to waters affected by refinery effluent

Micronuclei and nuclear alterations tests were performed on erythrocytes of Oreochromis niloticus (Perciformes, Cichlidae) in order to evaluate the water quality from Paraiba do Sul river, in an area affected by effluents from an oil shale processing plant, located in the city of Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil-SP. Water samples were collected on 2004 May and August (dry season) and on 2004 November and 2005 January (rain season), in three distinct sites, comprising 12 samples. It was possible to detect substances of clastogenic and/or aneugenic potential, as well as cytotoxic substances, chiefly at the point corresponding to the drainage of oil shale plant wastes along the river. The highest incidence of micronuclei and nuclear alterations was detected during May and August, whereas the results obtained in November and January were insignificant. This work shows that the effluent treatment provided by the oil shale plant was not fully efficient to minimize the effect of cytotoxic and mutagenic substances in the test organism surveyed. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.