Susceptibility of planktonic cultures of Streptococcus mutans to photodynamic therapy with a light-emitting diode

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of photodynamic therapy with erythrosine and rose bengal using a light-emitting diode (LED) on planktonic cultures of S. mutans. Ten S. mutans strains, including nine clinical strains and one reference strain (ATCC 35688), were used. Suspensions containing 10 6 cells/mL were prepared for each strain and were tested under different experimental conditions: a) LED irradiation in the presence of rose bengal as a photosensitizer (RB+L+); b) LED irradiation in the presence of erythrosine as a photosensitizer (E+L+); c) LED irradiation only (P-L+); d) treatment with rose bengal only (RB+L-); e) treatment with erythrosine only (E+L-); and f) no LED irradiation or photosensitizer treatment, which served as a control group (P-L-). After treatment, the strains were seeded onto BHI agar for determination of the number of colony-forming units (CFU/mL). The results were submitted to analysis of variance and the Tukey test (p ≤ 0.05). The number of CFU/mL was significantly lower in the groups submitted to photodynamic therapy (RB+L+ and E+L+) compared to control (P-L-), with a reduction of 6.86 log 10 in the RB+L+ group and of 5.16 log 10 in the E+L+ group. Photodynamic therapy with rose bengal and erythrosine exerted an antimicrobial effect on all S. mutans strains studied.

Impedance spectroscopy study of solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells with varying Spiro-OMeTAD concentration

This work reports on the changes of performance of solid-state cells dye-sensitized solar cells with the variation of concentration of spiro-OMeTAD between 5% and 25% in the fabrication of the cell. Variations of charge recombination and capacitance correlate with the improvement of current-potential characteristics at increasing spiro-OMeTAD content, which is explained by reduction of transport resistance for hole transport, the increase of charge separation in the dye molecules, and importantly, with the increase of the β-factor in the recombination resistance, that causes a reduction of the diode ideality factor. © 2010 Materials Research Society.

Implementation of a DC-DC converter with variable structure control of switched systems

This paper presents a control method for a class of continuous-time switched systems, using state feedback variable structure controllers. The method is applied to the control of a two-cell dc-dc buck converter and a control circuit design using the software PSpice is proposed. The design is based on Lyapunov-Metzler-SPR systems and the performance of the resulting control system is superior to that afforded by a recently-proposed alternative sliding-mode control technique. The dc-dc power converters are very used in industrial applications, for instance, in power systems of hybrid electric vehicles and aircrafts. Good results were obtained and the proposed design is also inexpensive because it uses electric components that can be easily found for the hardware implementation. Future researches on the subject include the hardware validation of the dc-dc converter controller and the robust control design of switched systems, with structural failures. © 2011 IEEE.

Design and implementation of a dc-dc converter based on variable structure control of switched systems

This paper presents a control method for a class of continuous-time switched systems, using state feedback variable structure controllers. The method is applied to the control of a non-trivial dc-dc power converter and a simple and inexpensive control circuit design, that was simulated using the software PSpice, is proposed. The design is based on Lyapunov-Metzler-SPR systems and the performance of the resulting control system is superior to that afforded by a recently proposed alternative sliding-mode control technique. © 2011 IFAC.

Bridgeless interleaved boost PFC converter with variable duty cycle control

This paper proposes a bridgeless boost interleaved PFC (power factor correction) converter with variable duty cycle control. The application of bridgeless technique causes reduction of conduction losses, while the interleaving technique of converters cells allows division of efforts in semiconductor devices and reduction of weight and volume of the input EMI filter. The use of variable duty cycle control has the functions of regulating the output voltage and eliminating the low order harmonic components that appears in the input current of the common interleaved power factor converters working in Discontinuous Conduction Mode (DCM). The simulation results of the proposed converter presented high power factor and a good transient response in relation to the output voltage regulation in presence of high load variations and supply voltage variations. © 2011 IEEE.

¿Es la población una variable política?

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Estimacion de la mortalidad infantil y de la ninez en condiciones de mortalidad variable

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A new design methodology for multipulse rectifiers with Delta auto-connected transformers and a retrofit application in Adjustable Speed Drives (ASDs)

Multipulse rectifiers can replace a conventional six pulse three-phase rectifier (diode bridge) providing a DC voltage with low ripple, low Total Harmonic Distortion of current (THDi) and a high Power Factor (PF). In this context is presented a multipulse rectifier with generalized Delta-differential autotransformer topology, which can provide any level of DC output voltage for any level of three-phase AC input voltage. This paper presents all the possible configurations for Delta topology in order to choose, through graphics, one configuration that presents reduced weight and volume. The average voltage on the DC bus must be compatible with the DC voltage in the six pulse rectifier used in commercial ASDs. Therefore, it is possible to apply the retrofit technique to replace the conventional bridge rectifier by the proposed multipulse rectifier. Based on mathematic models and simulation results, an 18-pulse rectifier with Delta topology, 220 V of line voltage, 315 V of DC output, and rating 2.5 kW of power was designed, implemented and applied for three different commercial ASDs. Experimental results as voltage and current waveforms and results about PF and THDi will be presented. © 2012 IEEE.

Elucidating capacitance and resistance terms in confined electroactive molecular layers

Electrochemical analyses on confined electroactive molecular layers, herein exemplified with electroactive self-assembled monolayers, sample current contributions that are significantly influenced by additional nonfaradaic and uncompensated resistance effects that, though unresolved, can strongly distort redox analysis. Prior work has shown that impedance-derived capacitance spectroscopy approaches can cleanly resolve all contributions generated at such films, including those which are related to the layer dipolar/electrostatic relaxation characteristics. We show herein that, in isolating the faradaic and nonfaradaic contributions present within an improved equivalent circuit description of such interfaces, it is possible to accurately simulate subsequently observed cyclic voltammograms (that is, generated current versus potential patterns map accurately onto frequency domain measurements). Not only does this enable a frequency-resolved quantification of all components present, and in so doing, a full validation of the equivalent circuit model utilized, but also facilitates the generation of background subtracted cyclic voltammograms remarkably free from all but faradaic contributions. © 2012 American Chemical Society.

Search for supersymmetry in final states with missing transverse energy and 0, 1, 2, or ≥3 b-quark jets in 7 TeV pp collisions using the variable α T

A search for supersymmetry in final states with jets and missing transverse energy is performed in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of s=7 TeV. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 4.98 fb-1 collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. In this search, a dimensionless kinematic variable, α T, is used as the main discriminator between events with genuine and misreconstructed missing transverse energy. The search is performed in a signal region that is binned in the scalar sum of the transverse energy of jets and the number of jets identified as originating from a bottom quark. No excess of events over the standard model expectation is found. Exclusion limits are set in the parameter space of the constrained minimal supersymmetric extension of the standard model, and also in simplified models, with a special emphasis on compressed spectra and third-generation scenarios.[Figure not available: see fulltext.] © 2013 CERN for the benefit of the CMS Collaboration.

La variable color o raza en los censos demográficos brasileños: historia y estimación reciente de las asimetrías

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Characterization of the variable cow's age at last calving as a measurement of longevity by using the Kaplan-Meier estimator and the Cox model

In most studies on beef cattle longevity, only the cows reaching a given number of calvings by a specific age are considered in the analyses. With the aim of evaluating all cows with productive life in herds, taking into consideration the different forms of management on each farm, it was proposed to measure cow longevity from age at last calving (ALC), that is, the most recent calving registered in the files. The objective was to characterize this trait in order to study the longevity of Nellore cattle, using the Kaplan-Meier estimators and the Cox model. The covariables and class effects considered in the models were age at first calving (AFC), year and season of birth of the cow and farm. The variable studied (ALC) was classified as presenting complete information (uncensored = 1) or incomplete information (censored = 0), using the criterion of the difference between the date of each cow's last calving and the date of the latest calving at each farm. If this difference was >36 months, the cow was considered to have failed. If not, this cow was censored, thus indicating that future calving remained possible for this cow. The records of 11 791 animals from 22 farms within the Nellore Breed Genetic Improvement Program ('Nellore Brazil') were used. In the estimation process using the Kaplan-Meier model, the variable of AFC was classified into three age groups. In individual analyses, the log-rank test and the Wilcoxon test in the Kaplan-Meier model showed that all covariables and class effects had significant effects (P < 0.05) on ALC. In the analysis considering all covariables and class effects, using the Wald test in the Cox model, only the season of birth of the cow was not significant for ALC (P > 0.05). This analysis indicated that each month added to AFC diminished the risk of the cow's failure in the herd by 2%. Nonetheless, this does not imply that animals with younger AFC had less profitability. Cows with greater numbers of calvings were more precocious than those with fewer calvings. Copyright © The Animal Consortium 2012.

On the regularity of the pressure field of relaxed solutions to Euler equations with variable density

In this paper we improve the regularity in time of the gradient of the pressure field in the solution of relaxed version of variational formulation proposed by V. I. Arnold and by Y. Brenier, for the incompressible Euler equations with variable density. We obtain that the pressure field is not only a measure, but a function in Lloc2((0,T);BVloc(D)) as an extension of the work of Ambrosio and Figalli (2008) in [1] to the variable density case. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.

Estudo das propriedades de fotogeração e transporte de portadores de cargas em dispositivos optoeletrônicos orgânicos

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Proyección regional de la población económicamente activa con la migración considerada como variable endógena

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