Bacterial sterilization by a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) in air

Cold atmospheric plasma treatment of microorganisms and living tissues has become a popular topic in modern plasma physics and in medical science. The plasma is capable of bacterial inactivation and noninflammatory tissue modification, which makes it an attractive tool for treatment of skin diseases, open injuries and dental caries. Because of their enhanced plasma chemistry, Dielectric Barrier Discharges (DBDs) have been widely investigated for some emerging applications such as biological and chemical decontamination of media at ambient conditions. Despite the high breakdown voltage in air at atmospheric pressure, the average current of DBD discharges is low. Therefore, a DBD can be applied in direct contact with biological objects without causing any damage. In this work a 60 Hz DBD reactor, which generates cold atmospheric plasma inside Petri dishes with bacterial culture, is investigated. Samples of Staphylococcus aureus, a Gram-positive bacterium and Escherichia coil a Gram-negative bacterium were selected for this study. The bacterial suspensions were evenly spread on agar media planted in Petri dishes. The reactor electrodes were placed outside the Petri dish, thus eliminating the risk of samples microbial contamination. The covered Petri dish with agar medium in it serves as dielectric barrier during the treatment. The plasma processing was conducted at same discharge power (similar to 1.0 W) with different exposure time. Sterilization of E. coil and S. aureus was achieved for less than 20 min. Plasma induced structural damages of bacteria were investigated by Scanning Electron Microscopy. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Comparative degradation of ZnO- and SnO(2)-based polycrystalline non-ohmic devices by current pulse stress

The degradation behaviour of SnO(2)-based varistors (SCNCr) due to current pulses (8/20 mu s) is reported here for the first time in comparison with the ZnO-based commercial varistors (ZnO). Puncturing and/or cracking failures were observed in ZnO-based varistors possessing inferior thermo-mechanical properties in comparison with that found in a SCNCr system free of failures. Both systems presented electric degradation related to the increase in the leakage current and decrease in the electric breakdown field, non-linear coefficient and average value of the potential barrier height. However, it was found that a more severe degradation occurred in the ZnO-based varistors concerning their non-ohmic behaviour, while in the SCNCr system, a strong non-ohmic behaviour remained after the degradation. These results indicate that the degradation in the metal oxide varistors is controlled by a defect diffusion process whose rate depends on the mobility, the concentration of meta-stable defects and the amount of electrically active interfaces. The improved behaviour of the SCNCr system is then inferred to be associated with the higher amount of electrically active interfaces (85%) and to a higher energy necessary to activate the diffusion of the specific defects.

Influence of vanadium on electrical and microstructural properties of CaCu3Ti4O12/CaTiO3

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

A New Approach for Real Time Fault Diagnosis in Induction Motors Based on Vibration Measurement

Condition monitoring is used to increase machinery availability and machinery performance, reducing consequential damage, increasing machine life, reducing spare parts inventories, and reducing breakdown maintenance. An efficient real time vibration measurement and analysis instruments is capable of providing warning and predicting faults at early stages. In this paper, a new methodology for the implementation of vibration measurement and analysis instruments in real time based on circuit architecture mapped from a MATLAB/Simulink model is presented. In this study, signal processing applications such as FIR filters and fast Fourier transform are treated as systems, which are implemented in hardware using a system generator toolbox, which translates a Simulink model in a hardware description language - HDL for FPGA implementations.

Arranjos urbanos e subjetivos contemporâneos na invenção de territórios turísticos

We seek consistency empirical and analytical rigor to the concept of touristification in the course of the contemporary arrangements of subjectivity and urbanity stations through a landscape of social (dis)encounters between residents and foreigners living in the capital of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal. In the last three decades the city has become a major destination country for national and international tourism, making tourism an important monitor of choreography in search of synchrony between cities and subjectivities, orchestrated by the cyclical crises and the relentless battle for systemic capitalistic expansion and survival. We proceed with an ethnographic and cartographic inspiration in Ponta Negra, where the waterfront redevelopment in 2000 conducted by the government, influenced the implementation of various establishments, services and practices related to the construction of Natal s major industry hub of tourism and entertainment. We proposed an arch-genealogy of touristification inspared on Michel Foucault analytical perspective, increased by authors in confluence or in different theoretical and methodological approaches, among which stand out Karl Marx, Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri. The reflections that initially turned to the advancement of the sphere of consumerism as the issue capable of articulating the developmental trajectory of the capitalist system and the practice of tourism, promoting some effects (un)desirable in the conflictual dynamics of the condition of the district of Ponta Negra, territory each again (re) produces the designs to meet the consumption by affluent portion of the population and foreign, encountering social exclusion and inclusion differentiated a growing trend. We go forward with an analysis of the "liberation of desire" phenomenal features of the process of producing subjective, providing a breakdown of the recent world s financial crisis initially, but proved social and political crisis also, through a plot derived from the operation of real estate speculation, which Natal is mainly caught through touristification, showing the outlines of a generalized crisis in establishing a new order buoyed by the emergence of a context "biopolitical" since it is a major route that uses the capital to survive and expand, while guiding the process of "strategic beautification" held in Ponta Negra, problematized by us. We conclude by assessing the appropriateness of proposing on further analysis to explore the establishment of a "new social ontology in terms of interference touristification ongoing and the constitution of a "new order" local/global, away from that characterize a system's capitalist overcoming, try to give emphasis in the current stage of the radicalization of a capitalistic utopia

Resposta de cultivares de trigo ao nitrogênio em relação às fontes e épocas de aplicação sob plantio direto e irrigação por aspersão

A adubação nitrogenada é de suma importância para a cultura do trigo, já que o nitrogênio constitui um dos nutrientes mais exigidos por essa cultura e o rendimento desta é função direta da quantidade de nutrientes acumulados pela planta. Foram testados os adubos nitrogenados: sulfonitrato de amônio com inibidor de nitrificação, sulfato de amônio e uréia, na dose de 70 kg de N ha-1; em duas épocas de aplicação, na linha de semeadura ou em cobertura, além da testemunha que não recebeu nitrogênio como tratamento, em quatro cultivares de trigo irrigado: Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (EMBRAPA) 21, Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (EMBRAPA) 22, Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (EMBRAPA) 42 e IAC 370. O experimento foi conduzido sob irrigação por aspersão em dois anos (2005 e 2006) em área experimental pertencente à Faculdade de Engenharia de Ilha Solteira UNESP/São Paulo - Brasil. As fontes de nitrogênio sulfonitrato de amônio com inibidor de nitrificação, sulfato de amônio e uréia não diferiram entre si, porém foram superiores à testemunha, em relação à produtividade de grãos. A aplicação do N todo em cobertura proporcionou aumento na produtividade de grãos. O comportamento das cultivares quanto aos componentes de produção e produtividade foram dependentes do ano em estudo.

Response of irrigated wheat cultivars to different nitrogen rates and sources

Altas produtividades de trigo requerem um bom manejo da adubação nitrogenada. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar os efeitos de diferentes doses de nitrogênio na semeadura usando o Entec (fonte de N com inibidor de nitrificação), ou em cobertura, utilizando a ureia, em quatro cultivares de trigo. O experimento foi desenvolvido em área experimental pertencente à Faculdade de Engenharia de Ilha Solteira - UNESP, em um Latossolo Vermelho distrófico epieutrófico álico textura argilosa, o qual foi nativamente ocupado por vegetação de Cerrado. O delineamento estatístico foi o de blocos ao acaso, com quatro doses de N (0, 60, 120 e 180 kg ha-1) na semeadura, usando o Entec, ou em cobertura aos 40 dias (início do alongamento), empregando a ureia e os cultivares E 21, E 22, E 42 e IAC 370, em quatro repetições. Os cultivares de trigo mais produtivos foram o E 21 e o E 42. O cultivar E 22 apresentou maior altura de plantas e altas notas de acamamento, com consequente menor produtividade de grãos. Não houve diferença significativa entre o Entec (aplicado na semeadura) e a ureia (aplicada em cobertura) para produtividade de grãos e para nenhuma das outras avaliações, porém a ureia proporcionou maior teor de N foliar, e o Entec, maior número de espiguetas não desenvolvidas. O incremento das doses de N influenciou negativamente a massa hectolítrica, alterando assim a qualidade dos grãos de trigo. O N aumentou a produtividade de grãos de trigo até a dose de 82 kg ha-1 de N, usando Entec aplicado na semeadura ou ureia aplicada em cobertura.

Influência de fontes e modos de aplicação de nitrogênio nos componentes da produção e produtividade do milho irrigado no cerrado

O objetivo do trabalho foi comparar os efeitos de fontes nitrogenadas: sulfonitrato de amônio com inibidor de nitrificação, sulfato de amônio e uréia, aplicadas na semeadura e/ou em cobertura, sobre teores de N foliar e clorofila, componentes da produção e produtividade do milho no verão, na região de cerrado sob irrigação. O trabalho foi desenvolvido em Latossolo Vermelho Distroférrico, nos anos agrícolas de 2006/2007 e 2007/2008. O delineamento experimental utilizado foi em blocos casualizados com quatro repetições, em esquema fatorial 3x5, sendo: três fontes de nitrogênio aplicadas na semeadura e/ou em cobertura, no estádio de 8 folhas completamente desdobradas, em 5 modos de aplicação (0 + 120; 30 + 90; 60 + 60; 90 + 30 e 120 + 0 kg ha-1 de N). O sulfonitrato de amônio + inibidor de nitrificação difere em relação ao sulfato de amônio quantos aos componentes da produção do milho cultivado no verão, independentemente da época de aplicação. A aplicação de 120 kg ha-1 de nitrogênio usando a uréia em aplicação única no estádio de oito folhas na cultura do milho e em períodos com alta precipitação pluvial afeta negativamente os teores foliares de N no milho e resulta em menor produtividade de grãos em relação à aplicação da mesma dose na semeadura.

Doses, fontes e épocas de aplicação de nitrogênio em trigo irrigado em plantio direto

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar os efeitos de doses e fontes de nitrogênio, sobre os componentes de produção e a produtividade de trigo irrigado (Triticum aestivum), aplicados na semeadura ou em cobertura, sob plantio direto. Foram utilizadas fontes com e sem inibidor de nitrificação (Entec), aplicadas ao sulco de semeadura ou em cobertura. O trigo foi cultivado em Selvíria, MS, em região de cerrado de baixa altitude. Utilizou-se o delineamento experimental de blocos ao acaso, com quatro repetições, em esquema fatorial 5x3x2. Os tratamentos consistiram da combinação de: cinco doses de N, 0, 50, 100, 150 e 200 kg ha-1; três fontes, Entec, sulfato de amônio e ureia; e duas épocas de aplicação, na semeadura, ao lado das linhas, ou em cobertura. As fontes de N tiveram efeito semelhante sobre a altura de plantas e a produtividade de grãos do trigo irrigado. A aplicação total de N na semeadura e a aplicação tradicional, em semeadura e cobertura, são igualmente viáveis. O incremento das doses de N até a dose de 121,5 kg ha-1, em média, aumenta a produtividade de grãos, independentemente da época de aplicação e da fonte de N utilizada.

Application times, sources and doses of nitrogen on wheat cultivars under no till in the Cerrado region

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

Avaliação de fontes de nitrogênio e épocas de aplicação em cobertura para o cultivo do trigo

The mineral nutrition, mainly to concern to nitrogen, is essential to obtain high productivity in the corn crop. This work was accomplished at experimental station of State University of São Paulo - UNESP - Ilha Solteira Campus, UNESP/FEIS, in Selviria-MS, in a Red dystrophic Latosol (Oxisol), in the agricultural year 2004/05. The objective of this study was to evaluate sources and times of nitrogen application on corn yield. A randomized blocks design was used with four replications, in a 3x5 factorial scheme. The treatments were three sources of nitrogen (Entec - Ammonium sulfonitrate with nitrification inhibitor, Ammonium sulfate and Urea) applied at sowing and/or at covering, stadium of 6-8 leaves completely unfolded, in 5 combinations (0 + 120; 30 + 90; 60 + 60; 90 + 30 and 120 + 0 kg of N ha(-1)). The nitrogen sources as Entec and the combination of 60 kg ha(-1) at sowing and at 6-8 leaf stadium provided the larger N leaf content. The higher grain yield was reached in the treatment that received the higher N doses at covering.

Produtividade e composição bromatológica do capim-marandu a fontes e doses de nitrogênio

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of doses and sources of nitrogen in the productivity and quality characteristics of Brachiaria brizantha cv. Marandu. A randomized block design in a factorial scheme 5x3x3, with 4 repetitions was used. The treatments were constituted by 5 doses of nitrogen: 0, 50, 100, 150, 200 kg/ha/cut, 3 sources: Entec - amonium sulfonitrate + nitrification inhibitor - dymethilpirazolphosphate, Ammonium sulfate and Urea, in 3 cuts, accomplished with intervals of 30, 30 and 34 days to evaluate the production of dry mass, crude protein content (PB), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), total digestible nutrients (NDT) and chlorophyll content. The chlorophilometer data increased when user as a function of N doses with Entec and Urea sources and up to 174 kg/ha of N with ammonium sulfate; showing significant correlation with N content in plants. Independently of the source, the application up to 200 kg N/ha/application in Brachiaria brizantha cv. Marandu provided increment in the production of dry mass improving the quality composition for increasing the PB and NDT content and, decreasing the FDN and FDA contents.

Doses, fontes e épocas de aplicação de nitrogênio em cultivares de arroz

As exigências das culturas pelo nitrogênio são diferenciadas, tanto no que se refere às quantidades, quanto à época de aplicação, sendo que este nutriente pode ser perdido por lixiviação, volatilização e erosão. Conduziu-se este trabalho, com o objetivo de avaliar a resposta das cultivares de arroz BRSMG Curinga e IAC 202 à aplicação de doses, fontes e épocas de aplicação de nitrogênio. Os tratamentos constituíram-se de cinco doses de nitrogênio (0, 50, 100, 150 e 200 kg de N ha-1), sob a forma de três fontes nitrogenadas (sulfonitrato de amônio com inibidor de nitrificação, sulfato de amônio e uréia), em duas épocas de aplicação (semeadura ou perfilhamento), cultivado com irrigação suplementar. O delineamento experimental utilizado foi o de blocos ao acaso em esquema fatorial 5x3x2x2, com quatro repetições. A cultivar de arroz BRSMG Curinga apresentou a maior produtividade. As doses de N aumentaram o teor de N foliar, a altura de plantas, o número de panículas m-2, o número e a massa de espiguetas granadas panícula-1 e a produtividade de grãos, mas não influenciou a massa de 100 grãos. As fontes nitrogenadas e as épocas de aplicação tiveram efeito semelhante para todas as avaliações. A maior produtividade foi alcançada com a dose de 122 kg de N ha-1, independente da fonte utilizada.

Adubação nitrogenada na cultura do milho safrinha irrigado em plantio direto

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

Comércio internacional e meio ambiente: estímulo à produção sustentável ou mero protecionismo comercial a posição do Brasil em dois casos de litígio

The World Trade Organization (WTO) was established in 1994 as a result of the Uruguay Round, and has as its principal aim advocate for the maintenance of free trade between nations. The preamble of its Constitutive Agreement specifically cites as an institution the goal of achieving sustainable development and the pursuit of protecting and preserving the environment, bringing into the sphere of world trade the idea that concern for the environmental cause is not restricted only the group of environmentalists, but rather has entered the economic landscape in a way not only ideological, but also pragmatic. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1947, part of the GATT 1994, contains a device that allows the adoption of trade restrictive measures, provided that such measures aimed at protecting the environment - Article XX. The Settlement Body (DSB) is part of the WTO and acts in dissolving disputes between the countries motivated by trade. It examines two cases where countries have imposed restrictive trade measures with environmental justification. The first case was closed in 1996, with award of damages given to Brazil, on the breakdown of U.S. environmental legislation imposed on imported gasoline from Brazil - and the second, begun in 2005 and closed in 2007, coming out victorious again Brazil is on the import ban on retreaded tires to Brazil. The objective is to answer the question: how the environment is treated in the midst of trade discussions - which is aimed at its protection or its use with economic objectives in disguise? For the preparation of this work, extensive documentary research was undertaken with the virtual site of the WTO to review the entire production of legal cases and subsequent analysis of the key issue for the work, and literature of authors who have studied the tense relationship between trade international environment. The first case, it could be seen that the political movement performed by the U.S. with the aim of achieving acceptable standards of air quality was an institutional effort to ensure the quality of air, and thus would be inappropriate to say that the regulation of gasoline was merely a disguised trade barrier.However, a careful analysis of the implementation and operation of gasoline regulation may reveal intentions disguised trade and U.S. environmental argument did not hold. The weight of this environment was relegated, since there were clearly outside interests to the environmental cause. The second case, it was realized that, despite clear attempts by the EC to promote ecological dumping, send when brought to Brazil, supposedly a country with weaker environmental structure on surveillance, a residue that, pursuant to internal policies, as could not be sent to their own landfills, the Brazilian discourse remained focused on the environmental cause, and this sort there was the existence of disguised trade barriers, but of importance, at least a priori, the discussion of foreign forces on the environment environment because there is no way to legally justify the reversal of the total understanding of the first judging body, the sight of all the arguments presented by Brazil and the nonsubmission of new facts upon appeal. Still, quite heartening to reflect on the role of trade liberalization on the environment in general, because, while they do not reach a definitive conclusion will reveal positions in both directions, both for and against, the that only adds to the discussions and makes this a very fertile topic for future research