Quantum dynamical characterization of unimolecular resonances

We give a selective review of quantum mechanical methods for calculating and characterizing resonances in small molecular systems, with an emphasis on recent progress in Chebyshev and Lanczos iterative methods. Two archetypal molecular systems are discussed: isolated resonances in HCO, which exhibit regular mode and state specificity, and overlapping resonances in strongly bound HO2, which exhibit irregular and chaotic behavior. Future directions in this field are also discussed.

Repair of three pathologic fractures in a dog with multiple myeloma

Three pathological fractures occurred secondary to osteolytic lesions of multiple myeloma. Two long bone fractures were each stabilised using interlocking nail fixation augmented with polymethyl meth acral ate bone cement. One vertebral fracture was stabilised using Steinmann pins and PMMA. Successful stabilisation, rapid return to function and improvement in quality of life occurred in all fractures. The patient survived approximately eight months on concurrent chemotherapy.

Comparison of the in vitro neuromuscular activity of venom from three Australian snakes (Hoplocephalus stephensi, Austrelaps superbus and Notechis scutatus): Efficacy of tiger snake antivenom

1. Tiger snake antivenom, raised against Notechis scutatus venom, is indicated not only for the treatment of envenomation by this snake, but also that of the copperhead (Austrelaps superbus ) and Stephen's banded snake (Hoplocephalus stephensi ). The present study compared the neuromuscular pharmacology of venom from these snakes and the in vitro efficacy of tiger snake antivenom. 2. In chick biventer cervicis muscle and mouse phrenic nerve diaphragm preparations, all venoms (3-10 mug/mL) produced inhibition of indirect twitches. In the biventer muscle, venoms (10 mug/mL) inhibited responses to acetylcholine (1 mmol/L) and carbachol (20 mumol/L), but not KCl (40 mmol/L). The prior (10 min) administration of 1 unit/mL antivenom markedly attenuated the neurotoxic effects of A. superbus and N. scutatus venoms (10 mug/mL), but was less effective against H. stephensi venom (10 mug/mL); 5 units/mL antivenom attenuated the neurotoxic activity of all venoms. 3. Administration of 5 units/mL antivenom at t(90) partially reversed, over a period of 3 h, the inhibition of twitches produced by N. scutatus (10 mug/mL; 41% recovery), A. superbus (10 mug/mL; 25% recovery) and H. stephensi (10 mug/mL; 50% recovery) venoms. All venoms (10-100 mug/mL) also displayed signs of in vitro myotoxicity. 4. The results of the present study indicate that all three venoms contain neurotoxic activity that is effectively attenuated by tiger snake antivenom.

Dryout phenomena in a three-phase fixed-bed reactor

Understanding the mechanism of liquid-phase evaporation in a three-phase fixed-bed reactor is of practical importance, because the reaction heat is usually 7-10 times the vaporization heat of the liquid components. Evaporation, especially the liquid dryout, can largely influence the reactor performance and even safety. To predict the vanishing condition of the liquid phase, Raoult's law was applied as a preliminary approach, with the liquid vanishing temperature defined based on a liquid flow rate of zero. While providing correct trends, Raoult's law exhibits some limitation in explaining the temperature profile in the reactor. To comprehensively understand the whole process of liquid evaporation, a set of experiments on inlet temperature, catalyst activity, liquid flow rate, gas flow rate, and operation pressure were carried out. A liquid-region length-predicting equation is suggested based on these experiments and the principle of heat balance.

Critical behavior of a three-dimensional hardcore-cylinder composite system

In this work the critical indices β, γ , and ν for a three-dimensional (3D) hardcore cylinder composite system with short-range interaction have been obtained. In contrast to the 2D stick system and the 3D hardcore cylinder system, the determined critical exponents do not belong to the same universality class as the lattice percolation,although they obey the common hyperscaling relation for a 3D system. It is observed that the value of the correlation length exponent is compatible with the predictions of the mean field theory. It is also shown that, by using the Alexander-Orbach conjuncture, the relation between the conductivity and the correlation length critical exponents has a typical value for a 3D lattice system.

Phenotypic correlations and path analysis for plant architecture traits and grain production in three generations of cowpea

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to analyze the phenotypic correlation and path analysis of traits related to plant architecture, earliness and grain yield in F2, BC1 and BC2 generations, from crosses between cowpea cultivars BRS Carijó and BR14 Mulato. Most phenotypic correlations of the examined traits were concordant in statistical significance, with approximate values ​​among the examined generations. For the trait seed weight, significant and positive phenotypic correlations were observed in the three generations only for the trait number of secondary branches. The values ​​of the direct effects were in agreement with the values ​​of the phenotypic correlations, which indicate true association by the phenotypic correlation among the traits of grain yield examined. Path analysis indicated that the selection of productive plants will result in early plants and an increased number of secondary branches. In F2, plants with shorter length of the main branch and shorter length of secondary branches can be obtained. The causal model explained 15 to 30% of the total variation in grain weight in relation to the traits examined. The analyses indicated the possibility of selecting plants with a higher and early grain yield, shorter length of primary branches and lower number of nodes, which are important variables for mechanical or semi-mechanical harvesting.

Network dynamics in scientific knowledge acquisition: an analysis in three public universities in the state of Bahia

This paper aims to cast some light on the dynamics of knowledge networks in developing countries by analyzing the scientific production of the largest university in the Northeast of Brazil and its influence on some of the remaining regional research institutions in the state of Bahia. Using a methodology test to be employed in a larger project, the Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA) (Federal University of Bahia), the Universidade do Estado da Bahia (Uneb) (State of Bahia University) and the Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz (Uesc)'s (Santa Cruz State University) scientific productions are discussed in one of their most traditionally expressive sectors in academic production - namely, the field of chemistry, using social network analysis of co-authorship networks to investigate the existence of small world phenomena and the importance of these phenomena in research performance in these three universities. The results already obtained through this research bring to light data of considerable interest concerning the scientific production in unconsolidated research universities. It shows the important participation of the UFBA network in the composition of the other two public universities research networks, indicating a possible occurrence of small world phenomena in the UFBA and Uesc networks, as well as the importance of individual researchers in consolidating research networks in peripheral universities. The article also hints that the methodology employed appears to be adequate insofar as scientific production may be used as a proxy for scientific knowledge.

Viabilidade da aplicação do teste tuberculínico com o dermo-jet

Foram estudadas as reações de hipersensibilidade tuberculínica induzidas por aplicações simultâneas, em adultos jovens, de tuberculina (PPD. RT-23, 2UT), com agulha e seringa e com o dermo-jet. Foram encontrados 61,3% de reatores nas aplicações com agulha e seringa para 40,0% de reatores nas aplicações com o dermo-jet. Os resultados não são considerados favoráveis ao uso do injetor a jato na prática corrente de aplicação do teste tuberculínico.

Reações locais e níveis de antitoxina circulante decorrentes de administração do toxóide tetânico: estudo comparativo entre Ped-o-Jet e seringa hipodérmica

Com o objetivo de comparar reações locais e conversão sorológica apresentadas por adultos que receberam o toxóide tetânico através de Ped-o-Jet (via subcutânea) ou de seringa hipodérmica (via intramuscular), o toxóide foi administrado a 472 recrutas do Exército. Em observações realizadas 4 e 24 horas após a vacinação verificou-se que as reações locais dos indivíduos vacinados com Ped-o-Jet eram significativamente mais freqüentes e mais intensas do que aquelas dos vacinados com seringa hipodérmica, não tendo ocorrido, entretanto, reações graves. A conversão sorológica dos não imunes vacinados com Ped-o-Jet ocorreu numa freqüência maior do que nos indivíduos vacinados com seringa hipodérmica. Conclui-se portanto, que o Ped-o-Jet pode ser utilizado em campanhas de vacinação em massa contra o tétano, embora a via de administração preferencial, até o momento, seja a intramuscular.

Vector competence experiments with Rocio virus and three mosquito species from the epidemic zone in Brazil

First-generation progeny of field-collected Psorophora ferox, Aedes scapularis, and Aedes serratus from the Rocio encephalitis epidemic zone in S.Paulo State, Brazil, were tested for vector competency in the laboratory. Psorophora ferox and Ae. scapularis are susceptible to per os infection with Rocio virus and can transmit the virus by bite following a suitable incubation period. Oral ID50S for the two species (10(4.1) and 10(4.3) Vero cell plaque forming units, respectively) did not differ significantly. Infection rates in Ae. serratus never exceeded 36%, and, consequently, an ID50 could not be calculated for this species. It is unlikely that Ae. serratus is an epidemiologically important vector of Rocio virus. The utility of an in vitro feeding technique for demonstrating virus transmission by infected mosquitoes and difficulties encountered in working with uncolonized progeny of field-collected mosquitoes are discussed.

Simple thermodynamics of jet engines

We use the first and second laws of thermodynamics to analyze the behavior of an ideal jet engine. Simple analytical expressions for the thermal efficiency, the overall efficiency, and the reduced thrust are derived. We show that the thermal efficiency depends only on the compression ratio r and on the velocity of the aircraft. The other two performance measures depend also on the ratio of the temperature at the turbine to the inlet temperature in the engine, T-3/T-i. An analysis of these expressions shows that it is not possible to choose an optimal set of values of r and T-3/T-i that maximize both the overall efficiency and thrust. We study how irreversibilities in the compressor and the turbine decrease the overall efficiency of jet engines and show that this effect is more pronounced for smaller T-3/T-i.

Health financing changes in the context of health care decentralization: the case of three Latin American countries

OBJECTIVE: The results of an evaluative longitudinal study, which identified the effects of health care decentralization on health financing in Mexico, Nicaragua and Peru are presented in this article. METHODS: The methodology had two main phases. In the first, secondary sources of data and documents were analyzed with the following variables: type of decentralization implemented, source of financing, funds for financing, providers, final use of resources, mechanisms for resource allocation. In the second phase, primary data were collected by a survey of key personnel in the health sector. RESULTS: Results of the comparative analysis are presented, showing the changes implemented in the three countries, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of each country in matters of financing and decentralization. CONCLUSIONS: The main financing changes implemented and quantitative trends with respect to the five financing indicators are presented as a methodological tool to implement corrections and adjustments in health financing.

Fabrication of Three-Dimensional Dendritic Ni-Co Films By Electrodeposition on Stainless Steel Substrates

Co-deposition of nickel and cobalt was carried out on austenitic stainless steel (AISI 304) substrates by imposing a square waveform current in the cathodic region. The innovative procedure applied in this work allows creating a stable, fully developed, and open porous three-dimensional (3D) dendritic structure, which can be used as electrode for redox supercapacitors. This study investigates in detail the influence of the applied current density on the morphology, mass, and chemical composition of the deposited Ni-Co films and the resulting 3D porous network dendritic structure. The morphology and the physicochemical composition were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (W). The electrochemical behavior of the materials was evaluated by cyclic voltammetry (CV). The results highlight the mechanism involved in the coelectrodeposition process and how the lower limit current density tailors the film composition and morphology, as well as its electrochemical activity.

Colunas de jet-grouting na construção de túneis

A crescente utilização do espaço subterrâneo, em particular nos meios urbanos densamente ocupados em superfície e em condições geotécnicas difíceis, tem exigido um crescente desenvolvimento das técnicas de reforço dos terrenos com o objetivo de mitigar riscos de danos nas edificações. Dentro das várias técnicas seguidas o jet-grouting tem vindo a assumir um papel relevante no tratamento de solos de fraca qualidade geotécnica, pela sua versatilidade no modo de aplicação, quer em superfície quer em subterrâneo. Com a realização deste trabalho pretende-se efetuar um levantamento das técnicas de tratamento de terrenos por jet-grouting e a sua aplicação à construção de túneis. Assim, numa primeira fase, descreve-se o que é o jet-grouting, o modo como é aplicada a técnica de jet-grouting, quais as suas características, quais as propriedades adquiridas pelo produto final, como se realiza o controlo de qualidade de todo o processo de execução. Também se faz referência aos equipamentos e materiais utilizados, tal como às suas vantagens e desvantagens. Posteriormente faz-se referência aos problemas decorrentes da construção de túneis, da forma como influenciam o meio onde são escavados e o porquê da necessidade de reforço, chegando-se ao modo como a técnica de jet-grouting tem vindo a ser utilizada na construção dos túneis, citando-se alguns casos práticos. Por fim resumem-se os pontos mais importantes da realização deste trabalho.