Diagnóstico de plasma de cátodo oco: análise da ação de plasma de argônio e Ar-H2 para a deposição de filmes finos de titânio em pós-descarga

Plasma DC hollow cathode has been used for film deposition by sputtering with release of neutral atoms from the cathode. The DC Plasma Ar-H2 hollow cathode currently used in the industry has proven to be effective in cleaning surfaces and thin film deposition when compared to argon plasma. When we wish to avoid the effects of ion bombardment on the substrate discharge, it uses the post-discharge region. Were generated by discharge plasma of argon and hydrogen hollow cathode deposition of thin films of titanium on glass substrate. The optical emission spectroscopy was used for the post-discharge diagnosis. The films formed were analyzed by mechanical profilometry technique. It was observed that in the spectrum of the excitation lines of argon occurred species. There are variations in the rate of deposition of titanium on the glass substrate for different process parameters such as deposition time, distance and discharge working gases. It was noted an increase in intensity of the lines of argon compared with the lines of titanium. Deposition with argon and hydrogen in glass sample observed a higher rate deposition of titanium as more closer the sample was in the discharge

Beneficiamento de sementes de café e efeitos na qualidade física

A pesquisa foi realizada com o objetivo de verificar a possibilidade de uso da máquina de pré-limpeza, da máquina de limpeza e classificação (ventiladores e peneiras) e da mesa densimétrica para o beneficiamento de sementes de café e, paralelamente, avaliar seus efeitos na qualidade física do lote. Para essa finalidade, um lote de sementes de café arábica 'Catuaí Amarelo IAC 62' foi submetido ao beneficiamento nesses três equipamentos, em diversas combinações. As frações retidas pelas peneiras 22/64 e 20/64 avos de polegada, na máquina de ventiladores e peneiras, constituíram a maior parte do lote e foram processadas, separadamente, em mesa densimétrica. Foram realizadas avaliações de pureza física, massa de mil sementes, peso hectolítrico, teor de água, tipos de sementes predominantes e integridade do endocarpo. Observou-se que: a) A máquina de pré-limpeza, a máquina de ventiladores e peneiras e a mesa densimétrica foram eficientes para a homogeneização do lote de sementes de café, proporcionando obtenção de melhor qualidade física na seqüência operacional em que foram utilizadas de forma conjugada; b) O uso de peneiras com crivos oblongos e crivos circulares, intercaladas na máquina de ventiladores e peneiras, possibilitou a separação de sementes mocas, de sementes com resíduos de exocarpo aderidos ao endocarpo e de sementes desprovidas de endocarpo, melhorando a aparência do lote; c) A mesa densimétrica foi o equipamento que proporcionou melhor separação de sementes com endocarpo danificado, bem como alterações favoráveis à qualidade física do lote; d) As sementes pequenas, retidas nas menores peneiras da máquina de ventiladores e peneiras, e as sementes de menor massa específica, classificadas ou não por tamanho e coletadas na descarga inferior da mesa densimétrica, foram as de baixa qualidade física.

Uso urbano não potável de água de lagoas do sistema de drenagem de Natal

The detention and infiltration ponds of urban drainage system has function to protect the population from undesirable effects of floods. In general these ponds are not completly used and it potential is wasted. As it are disseminated at different places at cities it can reduce costs with water transport and permit water preservation of best quality. Some it utilities includes use in green areas irrigation, industrial among than cooling towers and boiler, soil compaction, cleaning urban road, pisciculture and fire fighting system. The quality these water is influenced by anauthorized sewage in the drainage system. This study was performed in six detention and infiltration ponds at drainage system of Natal, which aim was to verify the non-portable use these ponds on urban environment. As indirect aim would to incentive the water utilization these ponds as a water source to another uses in urban environment. These ponds represents the characteristics of detention and infiltration of Natal city and consequently of Brazil. As the water quality, the ponds presents following characteristics: three has apparently good quality, other showed intermediate condition and two had water polluted. Were performed twenty sample in each ponds and the following parameters assessed: pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, electrical conductivity, coliform thermotolerant, ammonia, organic nitrogen, TKN, nitrate, total phosphorus and alkalinity, bicarbonate, chloride, total hardness, calcium and magnesium hardness, total solids, TSS, TDS, COD and SAR°. To utilization on pisciculture we recommend use in ponds which presents the best quality. Only one pond presented higher pollutants and it not being appropriated for use in cooling tower. The content of solids suspension restricted the water use in all ponds in boilers. As water use in soil compaction, cleaning urban road and fire fighting system the water from these ponds are not appropriated. However, the recommended limits from literature are to domestic sewage, due to this, the parameters are restrictive to diminish the sanitary risk that could be offered with it utilization. The infiltration velocity of water these assessed ponds restrict a moderato use, however the effects are potentiated only in soil less sandy, which not occur in Natal. It is recommend the unrestricted irrigation utilization in ponds with best quality of water, and a restricted irrigation to ponds with worst quality of water. As load of pollutants, it is recommended a complementary treatment in those ponds whit higher load to diminish sanitary risks. In only one pond was found one helminth eggs and due to the convention formula of results, it was found for all ponds less than 1 helminth/liter eggs.

Remoção de Microalgas de efluentes de lagoas de estabilização utilizando biofiltro

This research evaluated the microalgae removal produced in a stabilization pond system using biofilters as post-treatment, besides characterizing the effluents of stabilization ponds and filters in relation to concentrations of algal biomass (chlorophyll a and suspended solids), organic matter (BOD and COD), total phosphorus, orthophosphate, pH and dissolved oxygen, and tried to correlate physicochemical parameters with chlorophyll "a". It was held at the Ponta Negra ETE which is constituted by three stabilization ponds, with a primary facultative pond and two of maturation. For the algae removal were used two submerged bio-filters: the filter FPF (Facultative Pond Filter), fed with facultative pond effluent; and the filter MPF (Maturation Pond Filter), fed with second maturation pond effluent. The filling material of both filters was predominantly gravel no. 2, although it contains portions of gravel no. 1 and no. 3. The filters operating conditions were bad, they were nearly 10 years without maintenance, without cleaning or removal of sludge since the time of its construction, and part of the filling material may be obstruct. Despite poor operating conditions were obtained satisfactory results, in level of posttreatment. Removal efficiencies in relation to BOD and COD were 7 and 25% in FPF and 9 and 19% and in MPF, respectively. In relation to TSS efficiencies in MPF and FPF were 37 and 20%, respectively. As for the chlorophyll "a" removal, the FPF efficiency was 44% and the MPF was 40%. There was 50% of consumption of dissolved oxygen, on average, within the filters. Two profiles were performed in the filters, and it was possible to conclude that variations throughout the day were not statistically significant, and that, regardless of the time of collection, they would have the same representation comparing to the time of data collection (7 am) and the daily average, although individual variations throughout the day have been shown to be significant. Another important observation is that the correlations between Chlorophyll a and TSS were bigger and more significant in the effluent of the filters than in the effluent of the ponds

A nação pela pedra: coleções de paleontologia no Brasil, 1836-1844

A formação e o estudo de coleções de história natural e de paleontologia participaram da instauração da ordem política do Império do Brasil, delineando também uma ordem científica. A simbiose entre ciência e nação encontrou em Peter W. Lund, iniciador dos estudos de paleontologia em nosso país, um agente ativo e constante. As coleções e escritos desse naturalista deram amparo à visualização do passado e à escrita da história em museus, instituições científicas e culturais brasileiras e europeias. As disputas pelo ordenamento político sob as Regências e a Maioridade foram acompanhadas de perto pelo estudo e a explicação das formas de vida e do globo no passado.

Uma proposta de ensino e aprendizagem de Língua Inglesa integrada ao uso das TICS para o desenvolvimento da autonomia dos aprendizes

This study focuses on the teaching and learning of English based on a new theoretical perspective concerning the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), which points to the apprehension of metacognitive processes as the way to reach learning autonomy. The theoretical set underline this study is those of a new pedagogy based on the symbiosis of Bruner‟s (2002) and Freire‟s (2009) concepts and in the metacognitive theory. In a social context dominated by the Communication and Information Technologies (CIT), the integration between teacher and learners with the support of the internet has been used as the way to operationalize this new emergent proposal of the theoretical perspectives. The analyses have been conducted through Systemic and Integral Action Research. The results at the end of this study corroborate our hypothesis that the enlargement of spontaneous knowledge of the learners can facilitate the understanding of scientific concepts, stimulating their metacognition and thus promoting their autonomy.

Exposure to chronic stress increases the locomotor response to cocaine and the basal levels of corticosterone in adolescent rats

Repeated exposure to stress results in augmentation in the locomotor response to psychostimulant drugs. We investigated the locomotor response to a novel environment or cocaine [ 10 mg/kg, intraperitoneally (i.p.)] and basal corticosterone levels in male adolescent rats exposed to chronic restraint or variable stress. Animals in the chronic restraint group were restrained for 1 hour daily. The chronic variable stress protocol consisted of exposure to different stressors twice a day in random order. Chronic restraint and variable stress regimens began simultaneously on postnatal day (P) 25 and were applied for 10 days. During this period the control group was left undisturbed except for cleaning the cages. Three days after the last exposure to stress, cocaine- and novelty-induced locomotion were recorded in an activity cage. Plasma corticosterone levels were determined in a subset of stress and control animals. Exposure to both chronic restraint and variable stress increased cocaine- induced locomotion and basal corticosterone plasma levels, while no change was observed in the response to a novel environment. Moreover, rats exposed to variable stress displayed the greatest locomotor response following a challenge dose with cocaine when compared to control and chronic restraint stress groups. This observation indicates that the stress regimen is relevant to the degree of stress-induced sensitization to cocaine.

Sistemas de liberação de fármaco intrabolsa periodontal

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Implementação da técnica de difração de elétrons de baixa energia

The purpose of this study is to describe the implementation of the Low Energy Electron Diffaction (LEED) technique in the Laboratory of Magnetic Nanostructures and Semiconductors of the Department of Theoretical and Experimental Physics of the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Natal, Brazil. During this work experimental apparatus were implemented for a complete LEED set-up. A new vacuum system was also set up. This was composed of a mechanical pump, turbomolecular pump and ionic pump for ultra-high vacuum and their respective pressure measurement sensors (Pirani gauge for low vacuum measures and the wide range gauge -WRG); ion cannon maintenance, which is basically mini-sputtering, whose function is sample cleaning; and set-up, maintenance and handling of the quadrupole mass spectrometer, whose main purpose is to investigate gas contamination inside the ultra-high vacuum chamber. It should be pointed out that the main contribution of this Master's thesis was the set-up of the sample heating system; that is, a new sample holder. In addition to the function of sample holder and heater, it was necessary to implement the function of sustaining the ultra-high vacuum environment. This set of actions is essential for the complete functioning of the LEED technique

Maternal separation stress in male mice: long-term increases in alcohol intake

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Stress induces behavioral sensitization, increases nicotine-seeking behavior and leads to a decrease of CREB in the nucleus accumbens

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

Comprovação da real comunicação entre o endodonto e o periodonto através do canal cavo inter-radicular e sua prevalência em molares inferiores humanos

The neurovascular system of the pulp and of the periodontium is interconnected and among the possible intercommunications between these two tissues, there is the cavo inter-radicular canal. It is a small canal that goes through any inter-radicular dentine and arises in the furca region of the multi-radicular teeth. Its predominance has been studied in the literature, by several methodologies, with divergent results. The objective of this work was to establish, in vitro, the predominance of the cavo inter-radicular canal, in human lower molars, through the diaphanization technique and dye leakage. For this research, 140 teeth (100 first and second 40 lower molars) were selected, extracted due to different reasons, belonging to a teeth bank of the Endodontics discipline of the Dentistry College at Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte. The teeth were preserved in formol until the moment of use and immersed in physiological solution. Had the endodontic access fulfilled and the whole external surface, except for the furcation, sealed with two layers of nail enamel. The cleaning of the pulpar chamber floor was carried out with sodium hypochlorite solution 5%, being this solution renewed every 5 minutes, during 1 hour. The teeth were immersed in Indian dye and, after drying of the dye, they had their crowns split up in the amelo-cemental junction. Then, they were examined in a stereomicroscope, where marks of the coloring were observed in the furcation and on the pulpar floor. After this recording, the sample was diaphanized and with the transparent teeth, it was possible to observe in the stereomicroscope, the true inter-radicular canals. As a result of this experiment, the presence of these canals was observed in 13 % of the first and 7, 5 % of the second evaluated molars. The study showed that both the presence of the cavo inter-radicular canal is real and the diaphanization and dye leakage is an efficient method for this type of research

Limpeza da superfície de corte de rebolos por um sistema de ar comprimido na retificação cilíndrica externa de mergulho de materiais cerâmicos refrigerados com a técnica da mínima quantidade de lubrificante (MQL)

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

Fatores de influência na produção de leite bovino sobre os níveis da contagem bacteriana total

The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of milking procedures on the levels of total bacterial count (TBC) in bovine milk. In the first study the influences of procedures for hygienic milking, cleaning of milking equipment and milk cooling tanks on the TBC levels were evaluated. Four bulk samples of milk were collected from each tank in eight properties for TBC analysis, employing the flow cytometry method. A questionnaire was applied in each property to assess the current situation of milking procedures on each production system that took part on this research, followed by training of employees in good agricultural practices in the production of milk and monitoring of the TBC measurements. The methodology for analysis of longitudinal data was considered, focusing on random effects models. The results showed that the handling procedures for milking and the cleanliness of the cooling tank contributed to a further reduction in the levels of TBC raw milk cooling tanks. The second study aimed to describe the percentage of the properties that comply with the Normative Instruction Nº 51 (Brazil s IN 51) with regard to total bacterial count (TBC) in bovine milk. The study was conducted from January 2010 to July 2011. Milk samples were collected from the eight properties selected for TBC analysis by the flow cytometry method. Again, on each property a questionnaire was applied to assess the current situation of milking procedures on each production system that took part on this research, followed by training of employees in good agricultural practices in the production of milk and monitoring of the TBC measurements. The methodology of marginal models based on Generalized Estimate Equations (GEEs) was followed in the statistical analysis. The results showed that the handling procedures of the milking and the cleanliness of the cooling tanks contributed to a considerable percentage of the properties that reached the limits of TBC established by IN 51

Distribuição diária do comportamento da mosca da fruta Anastrepha zenildae Zucchi, (Diptera: Tephritidae) em laboratório.

The knowledge of Anastrepha zenildae behavioral aspects combined with the biology of Tephritidae may contribute to monitoring and control programs of this fruit fly that is considered as economically important to the Rio Grande do Norte state. In order to characterize the daily activity profile of this species, we studied the behaviors of resting, locomotion, feeding, cleaning, courtship, copulation and oviposition of animals submitted to an artificial 12:12h light-dark cycle (750:1lux) with controlled temperature (26±2 °C). The observations were made with groups of 16 males and 16 females during 3 consecutive days each generation from parental to F5. Resting, locomotion, feeding and cleaning data were recorded as frequency and time of occurrence by scanning technique in 15 minutes windows per hour, with a record each minute. Courtship, copulation and oviposition were recorded as frequency, time of occurrence and duration by al occurrences technique. Resting was the most frequent behavior with males resting more than females. Locomotion was more evident in the first half of the ligh phase with higher values in females. Cleaning and feeding behaviors were more frequent in the second half of the light phase for both sexes with females eating more frequently than males. During the courtship, males were grouped in lek formations showing wings vibration and pheromone liberation. Courtship occurred more frequently 4 to 7 h after lights on (81,9%) with copulations being more frequent 6 h after lights on with a mean duration of 58,1±40,4 min. Copulation attempts were observed in males inside and outside the lek with aggressive behavior being observed only between males in the lek. Oviposition behavior was similar to that described for other species of the genus with a peak of this activity 2-3 h after the lights on, mean duration of 43, 7±34, 8 sec and 2 to 5 eggs by event. According to the results, sexual behavior of A. zenildae is temporally different of other sympatric species of the genus, being favorable to the reproductive isolation as well as the use of resources as oviposition substrate.