Quantitative Phase Analyses Through The Rietveld Method with X-Ray Powder Diffraction Data of Heat-Treated Carbamazepine Form III

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

Search for Randall-Sundrum gravitons with 1 fb(-1) of data from p(p)over-bar collisions at root s=1.96 TeV

We search for decays of Kaluza-Klein excitations of the graviton in the Randall-Sundrum model of extra dimensions to e+e- and in 1 fb-1 of pp collisions at s=1.96 TeV collected by the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron. We set 95% confidence level upper limits on the production cross section times branching fraction, which translate into lower limits on the mass of the lightest excitation between 300 and 900 GeV for values of the coupling k/M Pl between 0.01 and 0.1. © 2008 The American Physical Society.

Interior-exterior point method with global convergence strategy for solving the reactive optimal power flow problem

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Rapid preparation of (BiO)(2)CO3 nanosheets by microwave-assisted hydrothermal method with promising photocatalytic activity under UV-Vis light

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

On the Reaction of Lupulones, Hops beta-Acids, with 1-Hydroxyethyl Radical

Lupulones, hops beta-acids, are one of the main constituents of the hops resin and have an important contribution to the overall bacteriostatic activity of hops during beer brewing. The use of lupulones as natural alternatives to antibiotics is increasing in the food industry and also in bioethanol production. However, lupulones are easy oxidizable and have been shown to be very reactive toward 1-hydroxyethyl radical with apparent bimolecular rate constants close to diffusion control k = 2.9 x 10(8) and 2.6 x 10(8) L mol(-1) s(-1) at 25.0 +/- 0.2 degrees C in ethanol water solution (10% of ethanol (v/v)) as probed by EPR and ESI-IT-MS/MS spin-trapping competitive kinetics, respectively. The free energy change for an electron-transfer mechanism is Delta G degrees = 106 kJ/mol as calculated from the oxidation peak potential experimentally determined for lupulones (1.1 V vs NHE) by cyclic voltammetry and the reported reduction potential for 1-hydroxyethyl radical. The major reaction products identified by LC-ESI-IT-MS/MS and ultrahigh-resolution accurate mass spectrometry (orbitrap FT-MS) are hydroxylated lupulone derivatives and 1-hydroxyethyl radical adducts. The lack of pH dependence for the reaction rate constant, the calculated free energy change for electron transfer, and the main reaction products strongly suggest the prenyl side chains at the hops beta-acids as the reaction centers rather than the beta,beta'-triketone moiety.

A generalized finite element method with global-local enrichment functions for confined plasticity problems

The main feature of partition of unity methods such as the generalized or extended finite element method is their ability of utilizing a priori knowledge about the solution of a problem in the form of enrichment functions. However, analytical derivation of enrichment functions with good approximation properties is mostly limited to two-dimensional linear problems. This paper presents a procedure to numerically generate proper enrichment functions for three-dimensional problems with confined plasticity where plastic evolution is gradual. This procedure involves the solution of boundary value problems around local regions exhibiting nonlinear behavior and the enrichment of the global solution space with the local solutions through the partition of unity method framework. This approach can produce accurate nonlinear solutions with a reduced computational cost compared to standard finite element methods since computationally intensive nonlinear iterations can be performed on coarse global meshes after the creation of enrichment functions properly describing localized nonlinear behavior. Several three-dimensional nonlinear problems based on the rate-independent J (2) plasticity theory with isotropic hardening are solved using the proposed procedure to demonstrate its robustness, accuracy and computational efficiency.

Performance Optimization of a Floating Breakwater Model Using SPH Method, with a Practical Application

Máster en Oceanografía

Comparison of the meccano method with standard mesh generation techniques

[EN]The meccano method is a novel and promising mesh generation technique for simultaneously creating adaptive tetrahedral meshes and volume parameterizations of a complex solid. The method combines several former procedures: a mapping from the meccano boundary to the solid surface, a 3-D local refinement algorithm and a simultaneous mesh untangling and smoothing. In this paper we present the main advantages of our method against other standard mesh generation techniques. We show that our method constructs meshes that can be locally refined by using the Kossaczky bisection rule and maintaining a high mesh quality. Finally, we generate volume T-mesh for isogeometric analysis, based on the volume parameterization obtained by the method…

T-spline parameterization of 2D geometries based on the meccano method with a new T-mesh optimization algorithm

[EN]We present a new method, based on the idea of the meccano method and a novel T-mesh optimization procedure, to construct a T-spline parameterization of 2D geometries for the application of isogeometric analysis. The proposed method only demands a boundary representation of the geometry as input data. The algorithm obtains, as a result, high quality parametric transformation between 2D objects and the parametric domain, the unit square. First, we define a parametric mapping between the input boundary of the object and the boundary of the parametric domain. Then, we build a T-mesh adapted to the geometric singularities of the domain in order to preserve the features of the object boundary with a desired tolerance…

Adaptive Finite Element Method with a local element parametrization nested meses

[EN]This work presents a novel approach to solve a two dimensional problem by using an adaptive finite element approach. The most common strategy to deal with nested adaptivity is to generate a mesh that represents the geometry and the input parameters correctly, and to refine this mesh locally to obtain the most accurate solution. As opposed to this approach, the authors propose a technique using independent meshes : geometry, input data and the unknowns. Each particular mesh is obtained by a local nested refinement of the same coarse mesh at the parametric space…

Effect of volume loading with 1 liter intravenous infusions of 0.9% saline, 4% succinylated gelatine (Gelofusine) and 6% hydroxyethyl starch (Voluven) on blood volume and endocrine responses: a randomized, three-way crossover study in healthy volunteers

To study the changes in blood volume and hormones controlling sodium and water homeostasis after infusions of 0.9% saline, Gelofusine (4% succinylated gelatin in 0.7% saline, weight-average molecular weight 30 kD), and Voluven (6% hydroxyethyl starch in 0.9% saline, weight-average molecular weight 130 kD) in healthy volunteers.

Craniofacial morphology in complete unilateral cleft lip and palate patients consecutively treated with 1-stage repair of the cleft

OBJECTIVE: To retrospectively evaluate the craniofacial morphology of children with a complete unilateral cleft lip and palate treated with a 1-stage simultaneous cleft repair performed in the first year of life. METHODS: Cephalograms and extraoral profile photographs of 61 consecutively treated patients (42 boys, 19 girls) who had been operated on at 9.2 (SD, 2.0) months by a single experienced surgeon were analyzed at 11.4 (SD, 1.5) years. The noncleft control group comprised 81 children (43 boys and 38 girls) of the same ethnicity at the age of 10.4 (SD, 0.5) years. RESULTS: In children with cleft, the maxilla and mandible were retrusive; the palatal and mandibular planes were more open, and sagittal maxillomandibular relationship was less favorable in comparison to noncleft control subjects. Soft tissues in patients with cleft reflected retrusive morphology of hard tissues--subnasal and supramental regions were less convex, profile was flatter, and nasolabial angle was more acute relative to those of the control subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Craniofacial morphology after 1-stage repair was deviated in comparison with noncleft control subjects. However, the degree of deviation was comparable with that found after treatment with alternative surgical protocols.

Whole brain radiotherapy with a conformational external beam radiation boost for lung cancer patients with 1-3 brain metastasis: a multi institutional study

To determine the outcome of patients with brain metastasis (BM) from lung cancer treated with an external beam radiotherapy boost (RTB) after whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT).

Rapid exclusion or confirmation of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia: a single-center experience with 1,291 patients

The current gold-standard for diagnosing heparin-induced thrombocytopenia is the detection of platelet-activating antibodies by means of functional assays which, since they are time consuming and not widely available, are not suited to guiding acute treatment decisions. The objective of our study was to assess the ability of more rapid immunoassays to predict the presence of functionally relevant anti-platelet factor 4/heparin-antibodies.

A double-blind, randomized study comparing pure chromated glycerin with chromated glycerin with 1% lidocaine and epinephrine for sclerotherapy of telangiectasias and reticular veins

Chromated glycerin (CG) is an effective, although painful, sclerosing agent for telangiectasias and reticular leg veins treatment.