Propriedade fotoluminescente da ZrO2: Tb+3, Eu+3, Tm+3 obtida pelo método de polimerização de complexos

Recent studies are investigating a new class of inorganic materials which arise as a promising option for high performance applications in the field of photoluminescence. Highlight for rare earth (TR +3 ) doped, which have a high luminous efficiency, long decay time and being able to emit radiation in the visible range, specific to each element. In this study, we synthesized ZrO2: Tb +3 , Eu +3 , Tm +3 nanoparticles complex polymerization method (CPM). We investigated the influences caused by the heat treatment temperature and the content of dopants in zirconia photoluminescent behavior. The particles were calcined at temperature of 400, 500 and 600 ° C for two hours and ranged in concentration of dopants 1, 2, 4 and 8 mol% TR +3 . The samples were characterized by thermal analysis, X-ray diffraction, photoluminescence of measurements and uv-visible of spectroscopies. The results of X-ray diffraction confirmed the formation of the tetragonal and cubic phases in accordance with the content of dopants. The photoluminescence spectra show emission in the region corresponding simultaneous to blue (450 nm), green (550 nm) and red (615 nm). According to the results, ZrO2 particles co-doped with rare earth ions is a promising material white emission with a potential application in the field of photoluminescence

Síndrome metabólica e risco cardiovascular na pós- menopausa: avaliação por diferentes critérios diagnósticos e influência de fatores sócio-econômicos

The metabolic syndrome (MetS) involves a group of risk factors and is associated with a significantly higher risk of developing cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and type 2 diabetes. Recent studies have shown the importance of preventing CVD through early diagnosis and treatment of patients with MetS. The objective of our study was to determine the prevalence of MetS by different diagnostic criteria in postmenopausal women and analyze the influence of socioeconomic factors on cardiovascular risk in this sample of the population. A cross-sectional study involving 127 postmenopausal women (45 to 64 years) from Natal and Mossoró, Brazil. The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte. The experimental protocol consisted of applying structured interview, clinical examination and implementation of dosages blood. The diagnosis of MetS was based on NCEP-ATP III (National Cholesterol Education Program-Adult Treatment Panel III) and IDF (International Diabetes Federation) criteria. The research was accomplished with the participation of an interdisciplinary team in their several phases. The result of the sample studied had mean age of 53.9 ± 4.6 years and per capita income of 54.5 dollars. The prevalence of MetS, according to NCEP-ATP III and IDF criteria, was 52.8% and 61.4$, respectively. The agreement rate between NCEP-ATP III and IDF criteria was 81.9%, with a kappa value of 0.63 (CI 95%, 0.49-0.76), indicating good agreement between the two definitions. The most prevalent cardiovascular risk factor was HDL < 50 mg/dl, observed in 96.1% of the women analyzed, followed by increased waist circumference (≥ 80 cm) in 78.0%, elevated blood pressure in 51.2%, triglycerides ≥ 150 mg/dl in 40.9% and glycemia ≥ 100 mg/dl in 37.0% of the women. The occurrence of MetS was significantly associated with schooling and body mass index (BMI). High blood pressure was significantly associated with low family income, low schooling and weight gain. There was no significant association between the intensity of climacteric symptomatology and the occurrence of MetS. The conclusions of the research were that MetS and its individual components show a high prevalence in postmenopausal Brazilian women, and significant associations with weight gain and low socioeconomic indicators. The data point to the need for an interdisciplinary approach at the basic health care level, directed toward the early identification of risk factors and the promotion of cardiovascular health of climacteric women.

Chromatin and morphometry alterations of bovine sperm head after Percoll (TM) density gradient centrifugation

The aim of this work was to assess the morphometry and chromatin integrity of bovine sperm head after a three layers discontinuous Percoll (TM) density gradient centrifugation. Frozen semen doses were obtained from six bulls of different breeds, including three taurine and three Zebu animals. Three ejaculates per bull were evaluated. The semen doses were thawed and two smears were made from each sample before (control) and after the Percoll (TM) centrifugation (Percoll (TM) group). The smears were stained with toluidine blue and grayscale digital images were captured and processed in Scilab environment software. It was observed that chromatin heterogeneity was reduced (P<0.05) and chromatin decondensation was increased (P<0.05) after the Percollm treatment utilized. In addition, it was observed that sperm head length was higher (P<0.05) and the side symmetry was lower (P<0.05) in centrifuged sperm cells. When analyzed separately by subspecies, it was observed that the decrease (P<0.05) in chromatin heterogeneity and the increase (P<0.05) in chromatin decondensation occurred in Zebu sperm heads. In addition, the length and the width:length ratio of sperm heads was affected by Percoll (TM) centrifugation in Zebu semen. In conclusion, the three layers discontinuous Percoll (TM) centrifugation increased the chromatin decondensation and the morphometric alterations of frozen-thawed bovine semen. However, the real implication of these findings in fertility rates of centrifuged sperm must be investigated. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Concepções de alunos do Curso de Pedagogia da UFRN acerca da natureza da ciência: subsídios à formação de professores

En el campo de la Educación en Ciencias, los estudios acerca de las concepciones de profesores sobre la naturaleza de la ciencia están en crecimiento en las últimas décadas en virtud de la importancia atribuida al saber sobre las ciencias. Manifestando preocupación con la temática, los trabajos de esta línea de pesquisa están investigando concepciones de profesores en formación como también los en ejercicio. Inserido en esa problemática, y preocupado con la formación inicial de profesores, este trabajo tuvo como objetivo principal investigar las concepciones de los alumnos de la Carrera de Pedagogía de UFRN (Universidad Federal de Rio Grande do Norte) acerca de la naturaleza de la ciencia, una vez que los alumnos son, o lo serán, profesores que darán clases de ciencia. El aporte teórico del estudio fue el abordaje ofrecido por la filosofía de la ciencia contemporánea, como también trabajos de literatura especializada sobre la temática NdC (Naturaleza de la Ciencia). En la parte empírica del trabajo utilizamos, como principal instrumento de colecta de datos, un cuestionario abierto, en el cual los alumnos marcaron posiciones sobre varios aspectos de la naturaleza de la ciencia. Fueron sujetos de la investigación 81 alumnos de Pedagogía, que estaban en el primer, quinto y noveno semestres (también dichos períodos ). Los resultados presentaron un acercamiento a las concepciones de los sujetos sobre la temática, indicando la presencia de una serie de concepciones poco satisfactorias de la ciencia, al lado de concepciones más consistentes con la epistemología contemporánea. En el comparativo entre los grupos, el quinto semestre presentó resultados un poco mejores que los demás, trayendo a la superficie elementos para evaluar el impacto de la formación en la construcción de las concepciones de ciencia por los alumnos

Condutas de profissionais que realizam a consulta pré-natal na Estratégia Saúde da Família quanto à detecção, tratamento e acompanhamento da gestante com sífilis

The objective of this exploratory descriptive quantitative study was to analyze the behaviors in the detection, treatment and followup of the pregnant woman with syphilis, by health professionals that conduct the pre-natal consultation in the Family Health Strategy, as to the adherence to the recommendations of the Ministry of Health. The study was conducted in nine municipalites of the Trairi region in the state of Rio Grande do Norte. Data were collected during the months of July through September 2007, by means of a questionnaire with a population of 53 health professionals, 30 nurses and 23 physicians. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics. The results were organized in three major items: knowledge of the health professionals about the symptomatology of syphilis and their actions in the detection of the disease; actions in the treatment of the pregnant woman with syphilis; and the actions of followup of the desease. We identified that 81,2% of the professionals have knowledge about the symptomatology of syphilis in the pregnant woman;79,2% request the VDRL exam in the adequate intervals and approximately 50% conduct the treatment in conformity with the recommendations of the Ministry of Health. For the followup care of the infected woman, 79,2% request a monthly VDRL examination, 69,8% explain the disease to the pregnant woman, and 20,7% affirm that they conduct a proper reception to the woman.We conclude that the majority of the health professionals have knowledge of the detection, treatment and followup of the pregnant woman with syphilis. However, the actions of some professionals diverge from the conduct procedures recommended by the Ministry of Health, as to the requesting of the examinations, medication prescription and notification of the iesease. This indicates the need for improved

Acidentes de Trabalho : análise em profissionais de enfermagem que atuam nas unidades de terapia intensiva e urgência Natal/RN

It is a descriptive-exploratory research, with a quantitative approach, aiming to characterize typical occupational accident suffered by the professionals from nursery group, in the Intensive Care Units and Emergency in a hospital in Natal-RN, trying to identify the factors that contribute to those accidents; to identify some information taken by those professionals related to the accident risks; to know the procedures taken after each accident. This sample is composed by 176 professionals that are 44 nurses and 132 nursing technicians/auxiliaries, collected from March to April 2010. The results related to the personal characterization of the nursery group showed that 31 (18.61%) are between the 36-40 years of age; 148 (84.09%) females and 96 (55.68%) had finished High School. Related to the professional characterization, 53 (30.11%) are nurses, and 123 (69.88%) nursing technicians and auxiliaries; 44 (25.00%) are working as nurses, and 132 (75.00%) as nursing technicians and auxiliaries; 45 (25.56%) are working in the nursery area between 15 to 20 years and 11 months; 53 (30.11%) are in this institution between 10 to 14 years and 11 months; 79 (44.88%) work in the ICU; 55 (31.25%) are working in this area from 1 to 4 years and 11 months; 110 (62.50%) like to work in this area; 161 (91.47%) work 30 to 40 hours per week; 90 (51,13%) have another employment. Related to knowledge about typical occupational accident, 167 (94.88%) said they know about it; 96 (54.54%) know the accident rules; 103 (58.52%) think it is important to talk about this subject in the nursery courses; 92 (52.27%) said this subject is important to be discussed in the work and 372 (87.73%) think education is necessary to reduce accident. Related to the data about accidents, 104 (59.09%) have suffered typical occupational accident, among them 69 (39.20%) have suffered it once; 47 (36.19%) did not register any accident; 60 (57.69%) were caring some patient during the accident; 47 (45.19%) of them occurred in the ICU; 50 (48.07%) professionals were working during the night period; 69 (66.34%) have suffered perforation; 86 (82.69%) had upper limbs affected; 64 (61.53%) were affected by needle; about the reason of the accident, 89 (60.54%) said it occurred due to carelessness. Related to the accident evolution, 88 (85.57%) did not need to remain off work after accident; 13 (81.25%) remained off work during 15 days; 87 (83.65%) had no sequelae and for 101 (97.11%) it was not necessary rehabilitation. We conclude that typical occupational accident can occur with young workers who admit a knowledge about the subject, however they do almost nothing to prevent it. We believe this research has contributed to the characterization of this kind of accident suffered by the nursery group of a public hospital in Natal, and it can stimulate the creation and reformulation of personal protection against typical occupational accident suffered by nursery professionals

Ensino do processo de enfermagem: visão dos discentes de graduação de Natal/RN

The nursing process (NP) it s the systematized way of offering humanized care with the objective of reaching the expected results. The concern of the health and education institutions of elaborating implementation strategies of it is growing. The objective of this research was to know the vision of the senior students of the nursing graduation courses from Natal/RN, about the teaching of the NP. It s about a descriptive and exploratory study of the qualitative and quantitative type, done in five teaching institutions of the undergraduate nursing course of the municipality of Natal- RN in 2011. The research was composed by 48 students of the last 2 years of the nursing course. The gathering of the data was done through an online survey with open and closed questions via SurveyMonkey. For the quantitative data it was used the descriptive statistics from Microsoft Office Excel and for the qualitative data the Content Analysis of Bardin. The results pointed a predominance of female students (81,25%) with an age between 21- 39 years old (75,00%) and in the last year of the course (62,50%). As the opinion of the students about the NP two categories emerged: 1) Nursing Process as grounded method in scientific knowledge and established in two stages; 2) Nursing Assistance Quality, with two subcategories: Nursing Process as Nursing Practice and Nursing Process as instrument of improvement of the aid quality and promotion of well-being. In relation to the tuition of the NP the students (45,83%) said that the knowledge on the subject of the instructor was good; 81,25% reported that the professors use a traditional teaching methodology with the problem solving components and 45,83% answered that is addressed in specific disciplines in an isolated way starting from the professional line. The phase of NP that the nursing students have more difficulties of learning and implementing, being mentioned 22 times (29,70%). In relation to the student s difficulties, in the fields of supervised internships, in applying the NP it was stated for 83,50% that the barriers were related to the non implementation of the practice, overwork and the lack of trust of the nurse in the NP. The teaching-care strategies described as the internship fields were: the training of nurses to be able to contribute with the University in the implementation of the service and teaching; and the need of the universities to focus, continuously throughout the course, the NP with the involvement and incentive of the instructors in this process. These results show that the NP for the nursing students is a work methodology of the profession that needs to be implemented effectively in the practical reality for its teaching to turn effective and for the future professionals to be able to bring real contributions in the achievement of systematized actions trying to improve the assistance quality and the nursing actions. It is expected that this study could help bringing some strategies to facilitate the merging between theory and practice in teaching the NP and stimulate a discussion about the topic at the Nursing Schools where the research was held together with the coordinators, instructors and students

Genetic characterization and nitrogen fixation capacity of Rhizobium strains on common bean

O objetivo deste trabalho foi a caracterização genética de quatro novas estirpes de Rhizobium e a avaliação de sua capacidade de fixação de N2 e nodulação, comparadas a estirpes comerciais e à população nativa de rizóbios de um Latossolo Vermelho. Dois experimentos foram conduzidos em blocos ao acaso, em casa de vegetação. No primeiro experimento, conduzido em tubetes com vermiculita, avaliaram-se a nodulação e a capacidade de fixação das novas estirpes, em comparação com as estirpes comerciais CIAT-899 e PRF-81 e com a população nativa do solo. Das colônias puras isoladas, extraiu-se o DNA genômico e realizou-se o seqüenciamento do espaço intergênico, para a caracterização genética das estirpes e da população nativa de rizóbios. O segundo experimento foi realizado em vasos com solo, para determinação da produtividade e da nodulação do feijoeiro, cultivar Pérola, com o uso das estirpes isoladamente ou em mistura com a PRF-81. A população nativa do solo foi identificada como Rhizobium sp. e se mostrou ineficiente na fixação de nitrogênio. Foram encontradas três espécies de Rhizobium entre as quatro novas estirpes. As estirpes LBMP-4BR e LBMP-12BR estão entre as que têm maior capacidade de nodulação e fixação de N2, e apresentam respostas diferenciadas quando misturadas à PRF-81.

Impactos da legislação ambiental brasileira na exportação de camarão: um estudo com exportadores de camarão do Rio Grande do Norte

Brazilian exportations come growing in a constant form in the last years, stimulated for the globalization and public politics directed toward the increase of the internal surplus. In this context the objective of this work was to investigate the perception of the shrimp exporting entrepreneurs of Rio Grande do Norte, with relation to the impact of the Brazilian environmental legislation in the companies competitiveness at the external market. From data collected from the controllers of the companies, it was used a survey methodology, with exploratory and descriptive character. The results found in this study indicate that the companies, in general way, understand that the environmental legal requirements do not confuse nor help in the search and conquest of new international markets. A little more of the half of the researched companies, does not see the legislation rigid as important factor of competitiveness. However a sufficiently significant percentage, already has a more strategical vision on the subject, or at least already it heard to speak on such possibility

Síntese de superfícies seletivas de frequência atráves de técnicas de computação natural

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior

Palma forrageira (Opuntia ficus indica e Nopalea cochenillifera) como matéria-prima para produção de etanol celulósico e enzimas celulolíticas

The need for new sources of energy and the concern about the environment have pushed the search for renewable energy sources such as ethanol. The use of lignocellulosic biomass as substrate appears as an important alternative because of the abundance of this raw material and for it does not compete with food production. However, the process still meets difficulties of implementation, including the cost for production of enzymes that degrade cellulose to fermentable sugars. The aim of this study was to evaluate the behavior of the species of cactus pear Opuntia ficus indica and Nopalea cochenillifera, commonly found in northeastern Brazil, as raw materials for the production of: 1) cellulosic ethanol by simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) process, using two different strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (PE-2 and LNF CA-11), and 2) cellulolytic enzymes by semi-solid state fermentation (SSSF) using the filamentous fungus Penicillium chrysogenum. Before alcoholic fermentation process, the material was conditioned and pretreated by three different strategies: alkaline hydrogen peroxide, alkaline using NaOH and acid using H2SO4 followed by alkaline delignification with NaOH. Analysis of composition, crystallinity and enzymatic digestibility were carried out with the material before and after pretreatment. In addition, scanning electron microscopy images were used to compare qualitatively the material and observe the effects of pretreatments. An experimental design 2² with triplicate at the central point was used to evaluate the influence of temperature (30, 40 and 45 °C) and the initial charge of substrate (3, 4 and 5% cellulose) in the SSF process using the material obtained through the best condition and testing both strains of S. cerevisiae, one of them flocculent (LNF CA-11). For cellulase production, the filamentous fungus P. chrysogenum was tested with N. cochenillifera in the raw condition (without pretreatment) and pretrated hydrothermically, varying the pH of the fermentative medium (3, 5 and 7). The characterization of cactus pear resulted in 31.55% cellulose, 17.12% hemicellulose and 10.25% lignin for N. cochenillifera and 34.86% cellulose, 19.97% hemicellulose and 15.72% lignin for O. ficus indica. It has also been determined, to N. cochenillifera and O. ficus indica, the content of pectin (5.44% and 5.55% of calcium pectate, respectively), extractives (26.90% and 9.69%, respectively) and ashes (5.40% and 5.95%). Pretreatment using alkaline hydrogen peroxide resulted in the best cellulose recovery results (86.16% for N. cochenillifera and 93.59% for O. ficus indica) and delignification (48.79% and 23.84% for N. cochenillifera and O. ficus indica, respectively). This pretreatment was also the only one which did not increase the crystallinity index of the samples, in the case of O. ficus indica. However, when analyzing the enzymatic digestibility of cellulose, alkali pretreatment was the one which showed the best yields and therefore it was chosen for the tests in SSF. The experiments showed higher yield of conversion of cellulose to ethanol by PE-2 strain using the pretreated N. cochenillifera (93.81%) at 40 °C using 4% initial charge of cellulose. N. cochenillifera gave better yields than O. ficus indica and PE-2 strain showed better performance than CA-11. N. cochenillifera proved to be a substrate that can be used in the SSSF for enzymes production, reaching values of 1.00 U/g of CMCase and 0.85 FPU/g. The pretreatment was not effective to increase the enzymatic activity values

Jambolão (Syzygium cumini) desidratado por liofilização e secagem em leito de jorro: avaliação do impacto do processo de secagem e caracterização do potencial funcional do produto final

Tropical fruits have been extensively studied due to their functional potential attributed to the presence of natural bioactive compounds. The exotic fruit jambolan (Syzygium cumini) has been reported for its appreciable amount of phenolic compounds, especially anthocyanins and antioxidant capacity. Nevertheless, there are hardly any derived jambolan products in the Brazilian market. In addition to that, considerable volumes of fruit are lost due to their high perishability. Dried fruits have become an important fruit market segment due to its weight and volume reduction and decreased transportation and storage costs. Thus, this study evaluated the jambolan pulp submitted to spouted bed drying (JLJ) and lyophilization (JLI), besides assessing the drying impact on the final product. In order to achieve this, the process performance was calculated and compared, as well the physicochemical and bioactive characteristics (moisture, water activity (aw), solubility, hygroscopicity, density, color, structure through images obtained by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), concentration of bioactive (total phenolic compounds (TPC), anthocyanins, proanthocyanidins and ascorbic acid) and antioxidant activity. The results showed drying efficiency higher than 60% for both products and that JLJ group showed higher moisture and water activity when compared to the JLI group (p<0.05). The two types of drying were able to produce stable final product in the microbiological point of view, given that both showed aw < 0.6. The final products exhibited high solubility (73.7 to 81.6%) and low hygroscopicity (9.8 to 11.6%), desirable characteristics for dehydrated foods. Despite the losses caused by drying, the dried jambolan pulp by both methods showed high TPC (468.6 to 534.0 mg GAE/100g dm), anthocyanins (from 491.9 to 673.4 mg. eq. cyanidin-3-glicoside/100g dm), proanthocyanidins (66.9 to 76.6 mg QTE/g dm) and ascorbic acid (156.4 to 186.8 mg/100 g dm). Taken together, the results of this study reveal spouted dried and freeze dried jambolan pulp as bioactive-rich natural products with suitable physicochemical and functional characteristics to be used as food ingredients. The data also demonstrate the drying techniques as rational strategies for the exploitation of the exotic fruit jambolan

Educação superior no período noturno no Brasil: políticas, intenções e omissões

Neste artigo analisa-se a oferta de vagas para o período noturno nos cursos de graduação da educação superior no país, com foco nas universidades públicas estaduais paulistas, a fim de se verificar como estas têm atendido à exigência da Constituição Paulista no sentido de se ofertar pelo menos um terço do total de suas vagas a este período. Avalia-se o impacto dessa exigência no contexto maior da oferta de vagas para a educação superior no país, considerando que a Reforma Universitária em trâmite propõe este mesmo índice para as universidades federais. Uma retrospectiva histórica apresenta a origem da educação superior no país, a presença exclusiva das instituições públicas até meados do século XX, a entrada das instituições religiosas no setor privado em 1946, e os desdobramentos da Reforma Universitária de 1968, marco da expansão do setor privado, que contempla atualmente 71,7% das 4,1 milhões de matrículas em cursos de graduação no país. As reflexões indicam que a expansão da educação superior deve priorizar o crescimento da oferta de vagas no sistema público, buscando uma melhor relação de vagas entre o sistema público e o privado, com ênfase nas demandas crescentes do período noturno, visando a um projeto maior de desenvolvimento do país, ordenado pelo Estado e alicerçado na valorização da Educação.