Aroma volatiles recovered in the water phase of cashew apple (Anacardium occidentale L.) juice during concentration

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Multiresidue determination of pesticides in honey samples by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and application in environmental contamination

A simple and fast multiresidue method has been developed to determine 48 pesticides within the major groups of pesticides (organohalogen, organophosphorous, pyrethroids and organonitrogen) in representative samples of locally produced honey, in Bauru (State of São Paulo, Brazil) during 2003-2004. The recovery results found ranged from 76% to 95% and the limits of detection were lower than 0.01 mg/kg for gas chromatography with electron impact mass spectrometric detection in the selected ion monitoring mode (GC-MS-SIM). The results indicated that most pesticides found in the samples belonged to the organohalogen and organophosphorous groups and lower levels of residues of some organonitrogen and pyretroids were also detected. Malathion residues were detected in all the samples, in a high concentration, owing to its applications to control dengue mosquitoes in the area studied. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Probing neutrino mass with displaced vertices at the Fermilab Tevatron

Supersymmetric extensions of the standard model exhibiting bilinear R-parity violation can generate naturally the observed neutrino mass spectrum as well as mixings. One interesting feature of these scenarios is that the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP) is unstable, with several of its decay properties predicted in terms of neutrino mixing angles. A smoking gun of this model in colliders is the presence of displaced vertices due to LSP decays in large parts of the parameter space. In this work we focus on the simplest model of this type that comes from minimal supergravity with universal R-parity conserving soft breaking of supersymmetry augmented with bilinear R-parity breaking terms at the electroweak scale (RmSUGRA). We evaluate the potential of the Fermilab Tevatron to probe the RmSUGRA parameters through the analysis of events possessing two displaced vertices stemming from LSP decays. We show that requiring two displaced vertices in the events leads to a reach in m(1/2) twice the one in the usual multilepton signals in a large fraction of the parameter space.

Nonuniqueness of the Fierz-Pauli mass term for a nonsymmetic tensor

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Effect of the calcium level and limestone particle size on the performance of semi-heavy layers in the second cycle of egg production

An experiment was carried out at the Research and Development Unit of Brotas aiming at evaluating dietary calcium level and limestone particle size on the production performance of commercial (Hy-Line Brown) layers in the second lay cycle. Experiment duration was 112 days. A total number of 288 hens, with 83 weeks of age in the beginning of the experiment, were used in a completely randomized experimental design in a factorial arrangement of 2x3, with two calcium levels (3.5 and 4.0%) and three limestone particle size compositions: 100% fine limestone (FL), 30% coarse limestone (CL) + 70% fine limestone (FL), and 50% (CL) + 50% (FL), with six replicates of eight birds each. Egg weight (g), egg production (%), egg mass (%), feed intake (g), feed conversion ratio (kg/dz and kg/kg), mortality (%), and egg loss (%) were evaluated. The analysis of variance did not detect significant differences (p>0.05) among treatments on any of the evaluated performance parameters. It was concluded that the tested calcium levels and limestone particle composition did not influence the performance of semi-heavy layers in second production cycle.

The volumetric fraction of inorganic particles and the flexural strength of composites for posterior teeth

Objective. To evaluate the content of inorganic particles and the flexural strength of new condensable composites for posterior teeth in comparison to hybrid conventional composites.Method. The determination of the content of inorganic particles was performed by mass weighing of a polymerized composite before and after the elimination of the organic phase. The volumetric particle content was determined by a practical method based on Archimedes' principle, which calculates the volume of the composite and their particles by differential mass measured in the air and in water. The flexural. strength of three points was evaluated according to the norm ISO 4049:1988.Results. The results showed the following filter content: Alert, 67.26%; Z-100, 65.27%; Filtek P 60, 62.34%; Ariston pHc, 64.07%; Tetric Ceram, 57.22%; Definite, 54.42%; Solitaire, 47.76%. In the flexural strength test, the materials presented the following decreasing order of resistance: Filtek P 60 (170.02 MPa) > Z-100 (151.34 MPa) > Tetric Ceram (126.14 MPa) = Alert (124.89 MPa) > Ariston pHc (102.00 MPa) = Definite (93.63 MPa) > Solitaire (56.71 MPa).Conclusion. New condensable composites for posterior teeth present a concentration of inorganic particles similar to those of hybrid composites but do not necessarily present higher flexural strength. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. Ltd. Alt rights reserved.

The shielding effect of glycerol against protein ionization in electrospray mass spectrometry

Most commercial recombinant proteins used as molecular biology tools, as well as many academically made preparations, are generally maintained in the presence of high glycerol concentrations after purification to maintain their biological activity. The present study shows that larger proteins containing high concentrations of glycerol are not amenable to analysis using conventional electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) interfaces. In this investigation the presence of 25% (v/v) glycerol suppressed the signals of Taq DNA polymerase molecules, while 1% (v/v) glycerol suppressed the signal of horse heart myoglobin. The signal suppression was probably caused by the interaction of glycerol molecules with the proteins to create a shielding effect that prevents the ionization of the basic and/or acidic groups in the amino acid side chains. To overcome this difficulty the glycerol concentration was decreased to 5% (v/v) by dialyzing the Taq polymerase solution against water, and the cone voltage in the ESI triple-quadrupole mass spectrometer was set at 80-130 V. This permitted observation of a mass spectrum that contained ions corresponding to protonation of up to 50% of the ionizable basic groups. In the absence of glycerol up to 85% of the basic groups of Taq polymerase became ionized, as observed in the mass spectrum at relatively low cone voltages. An explanation of these and other observations is proposed, based on strong interactions between the protein molecules and glycerol. For purposes of comparison similar experiments were performed on myoglobin, a small protein with 21 basic groups, whose ionization was apparently suppressed in the presence of 1% (v/v) glycerol, since no mass spectrum could be obtained even at high cone voltages. Copyright (C) 2003 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.

Effective diffusion coefficients behavior in osmotic dehydration of apple slices considering shrinking and local concentration dependence

The mass transfer during osmotic dehydration of apple slices immersed in 40, 50 and 60% (w/w) aqueous sucrose solutions was investigated to evaluate the influence of solution concentration on diffusivities. In the mathematical model, the diffusion coefficients were functions of the local water and sucrose concentration. The mass transfer equations were, simultaneously, solved for water and sucrose using an implicit numerical method. Material coordinates following the shrinkage of the solid were used. The predicted concentration profiles were integrated and compared to experimental data, showing a reasonable agreement with the measured data. on average, the effective diffusion coefficients for water and sucrose decreased as the osmotic solution concentration increased; that is the behavior of the binary coefficients in water-sucrose solutions. However, the diffusivities expressed as a function of the local concentration in the slices varied between the treatments. Water diffusion coefficients showed a remarkable variation throughout the slice and unusual behavior, which was associated to the cellular structure changes observed in tissue immersed in osmotic solutions. Cell structure changes occurred in different ways: moderate plasmolysis at 40%, accentuated plasmolysis at 50% and generalized damage of the cells at 60%. Intact vacuoles were observed after a long time of exposure (30 h) to 40 and 50% solutions. Effects of the concentration on tissue changes make it difficult to generalize the behavior of diffusion coefficients.

Photon mass and gravitational deflection

The deflection of a massive photon by an external gravitational field is energy-dependent. Interesting enough, any massive quantum particle, no matter what its spin is, undergoes dispersive deflection in external gravitational fields. Exploiting the dispersive deflection of the quantized massive electromagnetic radiation by the gravitational field of the Sun, we find an upper bound for the photon mass.

Relic abundance of mass-varying cold dark matter particles

In models of coupled dark energy and dark matter the mass of the dark matter particle depends on the cosmological evolution of the dark energy field. In this Letter we exemplify in a simple model the effects of this mass variation on the relic abundance of cold dark matter. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Kerr-Newman solution as a Dirac particle

For m(2) < a(2) + q(2), with m, a, and q respectively the source mass, angular momentum per unit mass, and electric charge, the Kerr-Newman (KN) solution of Einstein's equation reduces to a naked singularity of circular shape, enclosing a disk across which the metric components fail to be smooth. By considering the Hawking and Ellis extended interpretation of the KN spacetime, it is shown that, similarly to the electron-positron system, this solution presents four inequivalent classical states. Making use of Wheeler's idea of charge without charge, the topological structure of the extended KN spatial section is found to be highly non-trivial, leading thus to the existence of gravitational states with half-integral angular momentum. This property is corroborated by the fact that, under a rotation of the space coordinates, those inequivalent states transform into themselves only after a 4π rotation. As a consequence, it becomes possible to naturally represent them in a Lorentz spinor basis. The state vector representing the whole KN solution is then constructed, and its evolution is shown to be governed by the Dirac equation. The KN solution can thus be consistently interpreted as a model for the electron-positron system, in which the concepts of mass, charge and spin become connected with the spacetime geometry. Some phenomenological consequences of the model are explored.

Semiclassical particle spectrum of double sine-Gordon model

We present new theoretical results on the spectrum of the quantum field theory of the double sine-Gordon model. This non-integrable model displays different varieties of kink excitations and bound states thereof. Their mass can be obtained by using a semiclassical expression of the matrix elements of the local fields. In certain regions of the coupling-constants space the semiclassical method provides a picture which is complementary to the one of the form factor perturbation theory, since the two techniques give information about the mass of different types of excitations. In other regions the two methods are comparable, since they describe the same kind of particles. Furthermore, the semiclassical picture is particularly suited to describe the phenomenon of false vacuum decay, and it also accounts in a natural way the presence of resonance states and the occurrence of a phase transition. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Search for a scalar or vector particle decaying into Z gamma in p(p)over-bar collisions at root s=1.96 TeV

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Observation of a new boson at a mass of 125 GeV with the CMS experiment at the LHC

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

A New Boson with a Mass of 125 GeV Observed with the CMS Experiment at the Large Hadron Collider

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)