Covariance functions for body weight from birth to maturity in Nellore cows

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Gait and risk of falls associated with frontal cognitive functions at different stages of Alzheimer's disease

The decline in frontal cognitive functions contributes to alterations of gait and increases the risk of falls in patients with dementia, a category which included Alzheimer's disease (AD). The objective of the present study was to compare the gait parameters and the risk of falls among patients at different stages of AD, and to relate these variables with cognitive functions. This is a cross-sectional study with 23 patients with mild and moderate AD. The Clinical Dementia Rating was used to classify the dementia severity. The kinematic parameters of gait (cadence, stride length, and stride speed) were analyzed under two conditions: (a) single task (free gait) and (b) dual task (walking and counting down). The risk of falls was evaluated using the Timed Up-and-Go test. The frontal cognitive functions were evaluated using the Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB), the Clock Drawing Test (CDT) and the Symbol Search Subtest. The patients who were at the moderate stage suffered reduced performance in their stride length and stride speed in the single task and had made more counting errors in the dual task and still had a higher fall risk. Both the mild and the moderate patients exhibited significant decreases in stride length, stride speed and cadence in the dual task. Was detected a significant correlation between CDT, FAB, and stride speed in the dual task condition. We also found a significant correlation between subtest Similarities, FAB and cadence in the dual task condition. The dual task produced changes in the kinematic parameters of gait for the mild and moderate AD patients and the gait alterations are related to frontal cognitive functions, particularly executive functions.

Nucleolar Cycle and Its Correlation with Chromatoid Bodies in the Tilapia rendalli (Teleostei, Cichlidae) Spermatogenesis

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

Schur-SzegA composition of entire functions

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

Quantitative aspects of entanglement in the driven Jaynes-Cummings model

Adopting the framework of the Jaynes-Cummings model with an external quantum field, we obtain exact analytical expressions of the normally ordered moments for any kind of cavity and driving fields. Such analytical results are expressed in the integral form, with their integrands having a commom term that describes the product of the Glauber-Sudarshan quasiprobability distribution functions for each field, and a kernel responsible for the entanglement. Considering a specific initial state of the tripartite system, the normally ordered moments are then applied to investigate not only the squeezing effect and the nonlocal correlation measure based on the total variance of a pair of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen type operators for continuous variable systems, but also the Shchukin-Vogel criterion. This kind of numerical investigation constitutes the first quantitative characterization of the entanglement properties for the driven Jaynes-Cummings model.

Search for squeezed-pair correlations at RHIC

Squeezed correlations of particle-antiparticle pairs, also called back-to-back correlations (BBC), are predicted to appear if the hadron masses are modified in the hot and dense hadronic medium formed in high energy nucleus nucleus collisions. Although well established theoretically, the squeezed-particle correlations have not yet been searched for experimentally in high energy hadronic or heavy ion collisions, clearly requiring optimized forms to experimentally search for this effect. Within a non-relativistic treatment developed earlier we show that one promising way to search for the BBC signal is to look into the squeezed correlation function of pairs of phi's at RHIC energies, plotted in terms of the average momentum of the pair, K(12) = 1/2 (k(1) + k(2)). This variable's modulus, 2 vertical bar K(12)vertical bar, is the non-relativistic limit of the variable Q(bbc), introduced herewith. Some squeezing effects on the HBT correlation function are also discussed.

A two band model for superconductivity: probing interband pair formation

We propose a two band model for superconductivity. It turns out that the simplest nontrivial case considers solely interband scattering, and both bands can be modeled as symmetric (around the Fermi level) and flat, thus each band is completely characterized by its half-band width Wn (n=1,2). A useful dimensionless parameter is d, proportional to W2 - W1. The case delta = 0 retrieves the conventional BCS model. We probe the specific heat, the ratio gap over critical temperature, the thermodynamic critical field and tunneling conductance as functions of d and temperature (from zero to Tc). We compare our results with experimental results for MgB2 and good quantitative agreement is obtained, indicating the relevance of interband coupling. Work in progress also considers the inclusion of band hybridization and general interband as well as intra-band scattering mechanisms.

Correlation among order-disorder, electronic levels, and photoluminescence in amorphous CT : Sm

Ca0.95Sm0.05TiO3 (CT:Sm) powder was prepared by the polymeric precursor method (PPM). Order-disorder at short and long range has been investigated by means of Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and photoluminescence emission (PL) experimental techniques. The broad PL band and the Sm emission spectrum measured at room temperature indicate the increase of structural order with annealing temperature. The measured PL emission reveals that the PL intensity changes with the degree of disorder in the CT: Sm. The electronic structures were performed by the ab initio periodic method in the DFT level with the hybrid nonlocal B3LYP approximation. Theoretical results are analyzed in terms of DOS, charge densities, and Mulliken charges. Localized levels into the band gap of the CT: Sm material favor the creation of the electron-hole pair, supporting the observed room-temperature PL phenomenon.

Correlation of properties of Brazilian Haplustalfs with magnetic susceptibility measurements

Magnetic susceptibility (chi, mass specific) is useful for easy indirect estimation of other soil properties at a low cost. The aim of this study was to assess the use of chi as measured with an analytical balance for predicting properties with a substantial influence on the management of Typic Haplustalfs in southern Brazil. To achieve this 48 topsoil samples were taken at the intersection points in a rectangular grid of 20 m x 20 m cells, with 38 of these used for calibration and 10 for validation in regression analyses. The obtained chi values were slightly higher than, and highly correlated (r = 0.970; P < 0.001) with those measured with a susceptibility meter. Highly significant (P < 0.001) correlations were also found between chi and other soil properties relevant to soil classification and management such as clay content (r = 0.68), cation exchange capacity (r = 0.62), P sorption capacity (r = 0.76) and haematite content (r = 0.82). Results from a principal component analysis of eight properties important for soil classification explained 11% of the variance in the data set. The good predictive ability of chi was consistent with current knowledge on the formation pathways for pedogenic ferrimagnets. In summary, chi, which can be readily measured with an analytical balance, has the potential for quantifying soil attributes and may therefore be used in pedotransfer functions.

Estimates of covariance functions for growth from birth to 630 days of age in Nelore cattle

Weight records of Brazilian Nelore cattle, from birth to 630 d of age, recorded every 3 mo, were analyzed using random regression models. Independent variables were Legendre polynomials of age at recording. The model of analysis included contemporary groups as fixed effects and age of dam as a linear and quadratic covariable. Mean trends were modeled through a cubic regression on orthogonal polynomials of age. Up to four sets of random regression coefficients were fitted for animals' direct and maternal, additive genetic, and permanent environmental effects. Changes in measurement error variances with age were modeled through a variance function. Orders of polyno-mial fit from three to six were considered, resulting in up to 77 parameters to be estimated. Models fitting random regressions modeled the pattern of variances in the data adequately, with estimates similar to those from corresponding univariate analysis. Direct heritability estimates decreased after birth and tended to be lowest at ages at which maternal effect estimates tended to be highest. Maternal heritability estimates increased after birth to a peak around 110 to 120 d of age and decreased thereafter. Additive genetic direct correlation estimates between weights at standard ages (birth, weaning, yearling, and final weight) were moderate to high and maternal genetic and environmental correlations were consistently high. © 2001 American Society of Animal Science. All rights reserved.

Early impairment of cognitive functions in Parkinson's disease

Background: Impairment in non-motor functions such as disturbances of some executive functions are also common events in Parkinson's disease patients. Objective: To verify the performance of Parkinson's disease patients in activities requiring visuoconstructive and visuospatial skills. Method: Thirty elderly patients with mild or moderate stages of Parkinson's disease were studied. The assessment of the clinical condition was based on the unified Parkinson's disease rating scale (56.28; SD=33.48), Hoehn and Yahr (2.2; SD=0.83), Schwab and England (78.93%), clock drawing test (7.36; SD=2.51), and mini-mental state examination (26.48; SD=10.11). Pearson's correlation and stepwise multiple regression were used for statistical analyses. Results: The patients presented deterioration in visuospatial and visuoconstructive skills. Conclusion: The clock drawing test proved to be a useful predictive tool for identifying early cognitive impairment in these individuals.

Hydrogen bonding donation of N-methylformamide with dimethylsulfoxide and water

20% N-methylformamide (NMF) mixtures with water and with dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) have been studied. A comparison between the hydrogen bonding (H-bond) donation of N-methylformamide with both solvents in the mixtures is presented. Results of radial distribution functions, pair distribution energies, molecular dipole moment correlation, and geometry of the H-bonded species in each case are shown. The results indicate that the NMF-solvent H-bond is significantly stronger with DMSO than with water. The solvation shell is best organized in the DMSO mixture than in the aqueous one. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Search for a non-standard-model Higgs boson decaying to a pair of new light bosons in four-muon final states

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Correlation between structural and electronic order-disorder effects and optical properties in ZnO nanocrystals

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

Diagnóstico molecular da alteração mutagênica nt 230 (del4) no gene MDR1 em cães

P-glycoprotein is an adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-driven drug efflux carrier responsible for transport of xenobiotics and multiple classes of drugs, many usually use in veterinary medicine. Encoded by MDR1 gene, also referred to as ABCB1, located on chromosome 14, is expressed in many tissues with secretory or excretory functions, such as liver, kidney and intestine, where it limits drug absorption from the gut and promotes drug excretion into the bile and urine of their substrates. In 2001, a 4 base pair gene deletion mutation in the canine MDR1 gene was identified as MDR1-1▲, ABCB1-1▲, MDR1 MDR1 nt 230 (del4) and associated with an non-functional Pglycoprotein. The clinical correlation is the (hyper) sensitivity of certain dogs breeds, mostly collies, to a few classes of drugs such as anticancer drugs (doxorubicin, vincristine, vinblastine), immunosuppressants (cyclosporine), antiparasitic drugs (ivermectin, moxidectin), steroids hormones (aldosterone, cortisol, dexamethasone), antimicrobial agents (tetracycline, doxycycline, levofloxacin, ketoconazole, itraconazole), analgesics (morphine, methadone), antidiarrheals (loperamide), antiepileptic agents (phenothiazine), cardiac drugs (digoxin, diltiazem, verapamil, talinolol) and others. Dogs with homozygous MDR1 nt 230 (del4) MDR1 mutations (MDR1 - / -) have a higher predisposition to intoxication with substrates of P-gp than heterozygous (MDR1 + / -) and these are more likely than dogs homozygous nonmutant (MDR1 +/ +). After the identification of nt230 (del4) mutation, several molecular techniques have been developed for identification of mutant animals as a diagnostic method. The importance of molecular diagnosis is, after the identification of mutant animals, establish treatment protocols safe, exclude this animals from reproduction (genetic selection program) and investigating the history of adverse drugs reactions... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)