Thermally activated exchange narrowing of the Gd3+ ESR fine structure in a single crystal of Ce1-xGdxFe4P12 (x approximate to 0.001) skutterudite

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

Dynamical evolution of Saturn's F ring dust particles

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

Orbital evolution of the mu and nu dust ring particles of Uranus

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

Effects of carbon nanotube fillers dispersion on mechanical behavior of phenolic/carbon nanotube nanocomposite

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

Numeric simulation of pollutant dispersion by a control-volume based on finite element method

The dispersion of pollutants in the environment is an issue of great interest as it directly affects air quality, mainly in large cities. Experimental and numerical tools have been used to predict the behavior of pollutant species dispersion in the atmosphere. A software has been developed based on the control-volume based on the finite element method in order to obtain two-dimensional simulations of Navier-Stokes equations and heat or mass transportation in regions with obstacles, varying position of the pollutant source. Numeric results of some applications were obtained and, whenever possible, compared with literature results showing satisfactory accordance. Copyright (C) 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The structure and optical dispersion of the refractive index of tellurite glass

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Tissue Reaction to Silver Nanoparticles Dispersion as an Alternative Irrigating Solution

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

Variance dispersion graphs for comparing blocked response surface designs

In this paper, we extend the use of the variance dispersion graph (VDG) to experiments in which the response surface (RS) design must be blocked. Through several examples we evaluate the prediction performances of RS designs in non-orthogonal block designs compared with the equivalent unblocked designs and orthogonally blocked designs. These examples illustrate that good prediction performance of designs in small blocks can be expected in practice. Most importantly, we show that the allocation of the treatment set to blocks can seriously affect the prediction properties of designs; thus, much care is needed in performing this allocation.

Cytogenetic characterization of Eurysternus caribaeus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae): evidence of sex-autosome fusion and diploid number reduction prior to species dispersion

Mitotic and meiotic chromosomes of several populations of Eurysternus caribaeus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) were analysed through conventional staining, C-banding, base-specific fluorochromes, silver nitrate staining and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH). All specimens showed 2n = 8 in their karyotypes, with a neo-XY sex system (Y is a submetacentric and X a metacentric) and three pairs of submetacentric autosomes. The analysis of constitutive heterochromatin (CH) revealed small blocks located in the centromeric region of all chromosomes which do not present positive staining under the fluorochromes CMA3 and DAPI. Silver nitrate staining revealed that the nucleolar organizer region (NORs) is associated with the sex chromosomes. The FISH technique revealed that rDNA sites in the X and Y are different in size. Data from different populations indicate that the diploid number reduction (2n = 8) observed in E. caribaeus is established and presumably has preceded the dispersion of this species. Moreover, this reduction occasioned the translocation of rDNA sites to the sex chromosomes, X and Y, an uncommon pattern in Scarabaeidae that was observed for the first time by the FISH in this work.

ESR dating of a subfossil shell from Couve Island, Ubatuba, Brazil

The occurrence of subfossil material in bottom sediments of Couve Island, Ubatuba region, São Paulo State, is confirmed. The analyzed material consists of a bivalve shell that was dated by the electron spin resonance technique. By the additive irradiation method an archaeological absorbed dose of (25 +/- 5) Gy was obtained and calibration with other dating works in the same area allows the inference of an age of (25 +/- 5) x 10(2) years. The importance of this finding and its paleoecological implications could contribute to elucidating the nature of short-term environmental changes in the Brazilian coastline during the Holocene, as well as becoming an important tool to the understanding of the distribution and biological aspects of the bivalve fauna. (C) 2002 Elsevier B.V. Ltd. All rights reserved.

Chromosomal mapping of rDNAs and H3 histone sequences in the grasshopper rhammatocerus brasiliensis (acrididae, gomphocerinae): extensive chromosomal dispersion and co-localization of 5S rDNA/H3 histone clusters in the A complement and B chromosome

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Physiological diversity in tolerance to water deprivation among species of South American desert rodents

Rodents from and and semi-arid deserts are faced with the problem of water conservation. The physiological responses of small rodents to such conditions have been intensively investigated over broad geographically disjunct areas. Despite the presence of xeric habitats in South America since the late Tertiary, some studies suggest that sigmodontine South-American desert rodents do not display the same diversity of physiological responses at the species level as those observed in other desert-dwelling species of rodents. In this paper, we analyzed the physiological responses to water deprivation, at the interespecific and interindividual level, among eight species of sigmodontine desert-dwelling rodents from different geographical areas within South-American deserts. Using randomization tests, we found no significant phylogenetic signal for resistance to water deprivation or for individual variability in this response. Contrary to our initial predictions, we observed that sigmodontine rodents from arid/semi-arid habitats (Monte Desert) had significantly lower rates of body mass loss per day (higher tolerances to water deprivation) than species from the hyperarid deserts. We showed that sigmodontine rodents from South America showed a remarkable diversity of physiological mechanisms for coping with water shortage resulting from different evolutionary adaptive strategies. This diversity, however, displays a rather unexpected pattern in terms of its geographical distribution. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Study of the combined radial post-feeding dispersion of the blowflies Chrysomya megacephala (Fabricius) and C. albiceps (Wiedemann) (Diptera, Calliphoridae)

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

Interaction of sodium cholate with dioctadecyldimethylammonium chloride vesicles in aqueous dispersion

Mixtures of dioctadecyldimethylammonium chloride (DODAC) cationic vesicle dispersions with aqueous micelle solutions of the anionic sodium cholate (NaC) were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry, DSC, turbidity and light scattering. Within the concentration range investigated (constant 1.0 mM DODAC and varying NaC concentration up to 4 mM), vesicle -> micelle -> aggregate transitions were observed. The turbidity of DODAC/NaC/water depends on time and NaC/DODAB molar concentration ratio R. At equilibrium, turbidity initially decreases smoothly with R to a low value (owing to the vesicle-micelle transition) when R = 0.5-0.8 and then increases steeply to a high value (owing to the micelle-aggregate transition) when R = 0.9-1.0. DSC thermograms exhibit a single and sharp endothermic peak at T-m approximate to 49 degrees C, characteristic of the melting temperature of neat DODAC vesicles in water. Upon addition of NaC, T-m initially decreases to vanish around R = 0.5, and the main transition peak broadens as R increases. For R > 1.0 two new (endo- and exothermic) peaks appear at lower temperatures indicating the formation of large aggregates since the dispersion is turbid. All samples are non-birefringent. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) data indicate that both DODAC and DODAC/NaC dispersions are highly polydisperse, and that the mean size of the aggregates tends to decrease as R increases. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.