Polinômios fracionários em modelos de regressão

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Brasilia Declaration: Second Regional Intergovernmental Conference on Ageing in Latin America and the Caribbean: towards a society for all ages and rights-based social protection

Spanish version available at the Library

Caribbean development report: Macroeconomic policy for structural transformation and social protection in small states

The second Caribbean Development Roundtable hosted by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, was held in Guyana, in May 30, 2012. The theme of the meeting was “Macroeconomic Policy for Structural Transformation and Social Protection in Small Sates.” The participants included the Ministers of Finance of Guyana and of Trinidad and Tobago, the Honourable Ashni Singh and the Honourable Winston Dookeran, and high level policy-makers and regional and international experts. Special guests were a delegation from Brazil.

Light-curing Time and Aging Effects on the Nanomechanical Properties of Methacrylate- and Silorane-based Restorations

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

Prostaglandin treatment at the onset of norgestomet and estradiol-based synchronization protocols did not alter the ovarian follicular dynamics or pregnancy per timed artificial insemination in cyclic Bos indicus heifers

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Design and Characterization of Silicone and Surfactant Based Systems for Topical Drug Delivery

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

Site Selection for Restoration Planning: A Protocol With Landscape and Legislation Based Alternatives

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Obtention and characterization of collagen and chitosan based cements for bone regerneration. Part 1: extraction and characterization of collagen

Several cements are used as biomaterials. Biopolymers such as chitosan and collagen exhibit excellent biocompatibility and can be used in the remodeling of bone tissue. The cement must have high mechanical strength and compatibility with original tissue. In this context, the objective of this study was to extract, characterize and cross-link collagen from bovine tendon, forlater associate it with chitosan and calcium phosphate to obtain cements for bone regeneration. Glutaraldehyde was used as cross-linker in 0.1, 0.5, 1.0 and 10% concentration. Infrared analysis confirmed the presence of functional groups characteristic of collagen, whereas the capacity of water absorption decreased with the increasing of cross-linking degree. Denaturation temperatures of collagen samples were obtained by Differential Scanning Calorimetry and Scanning Electron Microscopy showed the fiber structure characteristics of collagen, which were more organized for high degree of cross-linking samples.

The performance of conventional and fluorescence-based methods for occlusal caries detection: an in vivo study with histological validation

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES

Hydrogen ion and calcium releasing of MTA Fillapex® and MTA-based formulations

MTA is composed of various metal oxides, calcium oxide and bismuth. It has good biological properties and is indicated in cases of endodontic complications. Several commercial formulations are available and further studies are necessary to evaluate these materials. Objective: To evaluate pH and calcium releasing of MTA Fillapex® compared with gray and white MTA. Material and methods: Gray and white MTA (Angelus) and MTA Fillapex® (Angelus) were manipulated and placed into polyethylene tubes and immersed in distilled water. The pH of these solutions was measured at 24 hours, 7 days and 14 days. Simultaneously, at these same aforementioned periods, these materials' calcium releasing was quantified, through atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The results were submitted to ANOVA, with level of significance at 5%. Results: Concerning to pH, the materials present similar behaviors among each other at 24 hours (p > 0.05). At 7 and 14 days, MTA Fillapex® provided significantly lower pH values than the other materials (p < 0.05). Regarding to calcium releasing, at 24 hours and 7 days, MTA Fillapex® provided lower releasing than the other materials (p < 0.05). After 14 days, differences were found between MTA Fillapex® and gray MTA (p < 0.05). Conclusion: All materials showed alkaline pH and calcium releasing, with significantly lower values for MTA Fillapex® sealer.

Comparing de novo and reference-based transcriptome assembly strategies by applying them to the blood-sucking bug Rhodnius prolixus

High Throughput Sequencing capabilities have made the process of assembling a transcriptome easier, whether or not there is a reference genome. But the quality of a transcriptome assembly must be good enough to capture the most comprehensive catalog of transcripts and their variations, and to carry out further experiments on transcriptomics. There is currently no consensus on which of the many sequencing technologies and assembly tools are the most effective. Many non-model organisms lack a reference genome to guide the transcriptome assembly. One question, therefore, is whether or not a reference-based genome assembly gives better results than de novo assembly. The blood-sucking insect Rhodnius prolixus-a vector for Chagas disease-has a reference genome. It is therefore a good model on which to compare reference-based and de novo transcriptome assemblies. In this study, we compared de novo and reference-based genome assembly strategies using three datasets (454, Illumina, 454 combined with Illumina) and various assembly software. We developed criteria to compare the resulting assemblies: the size distribution and number of transcripts, the proportion of potentially chimeric transcripts, how complete the assembly was (completeness evaluated both through CEGMA software and R. prolixus proteome fraction retrieved). Moreover, we looked for the presence of two chemosensory gene families (Odorant-Binding Proteins and Chemosensory Proteins) to validate the assembly quality. The reference-based assemblies after genome annotation were clearly better than those generated using de novo strategies alone. Reference-based strategies revealed new transcripts, including new isoforms unpredicted by automatic genome annotation. However, a combination of both de novo and reference-based strategies gave the best result, and allowed us to assemble fragmented transcripts.

Fluoride concentrations of milk, infant formulae, and soy-based products commercially available in Brazil

To assess the fluoride (F) content in commercially available milk formulae in Brazil and to estimate the F intake in children from this source in the first year of life. Samples of cow's milk (n = 51), infant formulae (n = 15), powdered milk (n = 13), and soy-based products (n = 4) purchased in Araçatuba (Brazil) had their F content measured using an ion-specific electrode, after hexamethyldisiloxane-facilitated diffusion. Powdered milk and infant formulae were reconstituted with deionized water, while ready-to-drink products were analyzed without any dilution. Using average infant body masses and suggested volumes of formula consumption for infants 1-12 months of age, possible F ingestion per body mass was estimated. Data were analyzed by descriptive analysis. Mean F content ranged from 0.02 to 2.52 mg/L in all samples. None of the cow's milk provided F intake higher than 0.07 mg/kg. However, two infant formulae, one powdered milk, and one soy-milk led to a daily F intake above the suggested threshold for fluorosis when reconstituted with deionized water. Assuming reconstitution of products with tap water at 0.7 ppm F, two infant formulae, five powdered milk, and four soymilks led to daily F intake ranging from 0.108 to 0.851 mg/kg. The results suggest that the consumption of some brands of infant formulae, powdered milk, and soy-based milk in the first year of age could increase the risk of dental fluorosis, reinforcing the need for periodic surveillance of the F content of foods and beverages typically consumed by young children.

Comparative electrical behavior at low and high current of SnO(2)- and ZnO-based varistors

The complete I-V characteristics of SnO(2)-based varistors, particularly of the Pianaro system SCNCr consisting in 98.9%SnO(2)+1%CoO+0.05%Nb(2)O(5)+0.05%Cr(2)O(3), all in mol%, have been seldom reported in the literature. A comparative study at low and high currents of the nonohmic behavior of SCNCr- and ZnO-based varistors (modified Matsuoka system) is proposed in this work. The SCNCr system showed higher nonlinearity coefficients in the whole range of measured current. The electrical breakdown field (E(b)) was twice as high for the SCNCr system (5400 V/cm) than for the ZnO varistor (2600 V/cm) due to a smaller average grain size of the former (4.5 mu m) with respect to the latter (8.5 mu m). Nevertheless, we consider that another important factor responsible for the high E(b) in the SCNCr system is the great number of electrically active interfaces (85%) as determined with electrostatic force microscopy (EFM). It was also established that the SCNCr system might be produced in disks of smaller dimensions than that of commercial ZnO-based product, with a 5.0 cm(-1) minimal area-volume (A/V) ratio. The SCNCr reached the saturation current in a short time because of the high resistivity of the grains, which is five times higher than that of the grains in ZnO-based varistors.