Structural and magnetic characterization of MnxZn1-xFe2O4 (x=0.2; 0.35; 0.65; 0.8; 1.0) ferrites obtained by the citrate precursor method

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Atmospheric particulate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from road transport in southeast Brazil

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Determination of sugar cane herbicides in soil and soil treated with sugar cane vinasse by solid-phase extraction and HPLC-UV

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in raw cane sugar (rapadura) in Brazil

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Diesel Degradation in Soil by Fenton Process

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Evaluating the use of predatory insects as bioindicators of metals contamination due to sugarcane cultivation in neotropical streams

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

On Ti-18Si-6B and Ti-7.5Si-22.5B powder alloys prepared by high-energy ball milling and sintering

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

RAPD analysis of the sexual state and sterile mycelium of the fungus cultivated by the leaf-cutting ant Acromyrmex hispidus fallax

That the symbiotic fungus of leaf-cutting ants only occasionally produces the sexual phase makes their identification confusing. This has occurred so rarely, either in laboratory nests, or in unbalanced field nests. that the possibility of contamination of the fungal garden by other fungi cannot be disregarded. In this paper we describe the formation of several basidiomata in a healthy and free-living nest of the leaf-cutting ant Acromyrmex hispidus fallax. The cultivation in vitro of the sterile mycelia (isolated from the fungal garden) with their typical inflated tips, and the similarity of both forms confirmed by RAPD analysis of their genomic DNA. The fungus was identified as Leucoagaricus gongylophorus.

Comparative procedures for the sample decomposition of rocks used in organic agriculture and the determination of Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn by FAAS

The aim of this work was to develop an appropriate sample preparation procedure for the flame atomic absorption spectrometry determination of Cu, Fe, Mn, and, Zn in rocks used in organic agriculture as a source of macro- and micronutrients.Six different procedures were evaluated and are classified into three groups: (a) pressure digestion system with Teflon bombs, (b) conventional wet digestion in a digester heating block, and (c) closed microwave system with pressure and temperature control.Two standard reference materials and two commercial samples were analyzed. It was found that the closed microwave system required low reagent consumption, less time, and resulted in low contamination.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from wood pyrolyis in charcoal production furnaces

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) were measured in smoke samples from wood carbonization during charcoal production, in both particulate matter (PM) and gaseous phases. Samples were acquired using a medium-volume air sampler at 1.5 m distance from the furnace. Particle-bound PAH were collected on Fluoropore polytetrafluoroethylene filters and gas-phase PAH were collected into sorbent tubes with XAD-2 resin. PAH were extracted with dichloromethane-methanol and analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The results showed total emission from the furnace of 26 mu g/m(3) for the 16 PAH and 2.8 mu g/m(3) for the 10 genotoxic PAH (from fluoranthene to benzo[g,h,i]perylene). High emission of 16 PAH in the first 8 h of wood carbonization was detected (64 mu g/m(3); 56% of the total emission). Associated with PM, 11% of the total emission of 16 PAH (in both phases) and 60% of 10 genotoxic PAH were found. Relative ratios (for example, [Phe]/[Phe] + [Ant]) for the PAH of the same molecular weight were obtained and compared with the published data. The concentrations of benzo[a]pyrene equivalent (BaPeq) were estimated using the list of toxic equivalent factors suggested by Nisbet and LaGoy, 1992. The values of 0.30 and 0.06 mg/m3 were obtained for the total concentrations of BaPeq in PM and gaseous phase, respectively. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Identification of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and methoxylated phenols in wood smoke emitted during production of charcoal

More than 130 organic substances in dichloromethane-methanol (4: 1) extracts of particulate matter and the gaseous phase from wood burning for the production of charcoal have been identified by capillary gas chromatography coupled with low-resolution mass spectrometry (GC-MS), use of GC retention indices, and comparison with authentic standards. Many of the substances identified are methoxyphenols (derivatives of syringol and guaiacol), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), oxidized PAH (oxy-PAH), and levoglucosan, the last being a monosoccharide derivative from the thermal breakdown of cellulose. The amount of unsubstituted PAH was greater than that of methyl- and dimethyl-substituted homologs.

Screening and confirmation of PAHs in vegetable oil samples by use of supercritical fluid extraction in conjunction with liquid chromatography and fluorimetric detection

A fast, simple, non-destructive method for the direct screening of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in vegetable oil samples is proposed. The method uses a supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) system coupled on-line with a fluorimetric detector to determine PAHs. This special assembly avoids the main problems encountered in the determination of PAHs in complex matrices such as vegetable oils. PAHs are selectively extracted by using silica gel in the thimble and cleaned up by passage through a C18 column. Interferences are preferentially retained by the silica gel during the SFE process while PAHs are adsorbed in the C18 column and the remainder of the matrix is sent to waste. Finally, the C18 column is purged to remove residual CO2 gas and adsorbed PAHs are recovered by desorption with a solvent. The extracts from positive samples are subsequently analyzed by liquid chromatography (LC) with fluorescence detection. The proposed method allows the confirmation of vegetable oil safety and hence provides a new tool for consumer protection. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and other selected organic compounds in ambient air of Campo Grande City, Brazil

Fourteen samples of particulate matter and semi-volatile organic compounds were collected during 6 months in the city of Campo Grande, South Mato Grosso State, Brazil. Particle-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were collected on Fluoropore PTFE filters and gas-phase PAHs were collected into sorbent tubes with XAD-2 resin. Both types of samples were extracted with a dichloromethane/methanol mixture (4:1 v/v), then the extracts were subjected to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. PAHs, oxidized PAH (oxy-PAHs), phenols and methoxyphenols were identified by use of GC retention indices and MS files. The average value obtained for the sum of 15 PAHs was 21.05 ng m(-3) (range: 8.94-62.5 ng m(-3)). The presence of specific tracers and calculations of characteristic ratios (e.g. [Phe]/[Phe] + [Ant]) were used to identify the sources of the emissions of PAHs in the atmospheric samples. Levoglucosan (the anhydride of beta-glucose), retene (1-methyl-7-isopropylphenanthrene) and methoxyphenols (derivatives of syringol and guaiacol) and tracers for wood burning were identified. This study demonstrates that biomass burning from the rural zone is the main source of PAHs and emissions of other substances in the investigated site of Campo Grande. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Solid-phase extraction of sugar cane soot extract for analysis by gas chromatography with flame ionisation and mass spectrometric detection

The incomplete combustion of biomass is one of the most important sources of emissions of organic compounds into the atmosphere, like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) which show genotoxic activity. Since environmental samples generally contain interferents and trace amounts of PAHs of interest, concentration and clean-up procedures are usually required prior to the final chromatographic analysis. This paper discusses the performance of Sep-Pak cartridges (silica gel and RP18) on clean-up of sugar cane soot extract. The best results were obtained with a silica Sep-Pak cartridge. The recoveries ranged from 79% (benzo[b]fluoranthene) to 113% (benzo[e]pyrene). (C) 2000 Elsevier B.V. B.V. All rights reserved.

A possible stellar metallic enhancement in post-T Tauri stars by a planetesimal bombardment

The photospheres of stars hosting planets have larger metallicity than stars lacking planets. This could be the result of a metallic star contamination produced by the bombarding of hydrogen-deficient solid bodies. In the present work we study the possibility of an earlier metal enrichment of the photospheres by means of impacting planetesimals during the first 20-30 Myr. Here we explore this contamination process by simulating the interactions of an inward migrating planet with a disc of planetesimal interior to its orbit. The results show the percentage of planetesimals that fall on the star. We identified the dependence of the planet's eccentricity (e(p)) and time-scale of migration (tau) on the rate of infalling planetesimals. For very fast migrations (tau= 10(2) and 10(3) yr) there is no capture in mean motion resonances, independently of the value of e(p). Then, due to the planet's migration the planetesimals suffer close approaches with the planet and more than 80 per cent of them are ejected from the system. For slow migrations (tau= 10(5)and 10(6) yr) the percentage of collisions with the planet decreases with the increase of the planet's eccentricity. For e(p) = 0 and 0.1 most of the planetesimals were captured in the 2:1 resonance and more than 65 per cent of them collided with the star. Whereas migration of a Jupiter mass planet to very short pericentric distances requires unrealistic high disc masses, these requirements are much smaller for smaller migrating planets. Our simulations for a slowly migrating 0.1 M-Jupiter planet, even demanding a possible primitive disc three times more massive than a primitive solar nebula, produces maximum [Fe/H] enrichments of the order of 0.18 dex. These calculations open possibilities to explain hot Jupiter exoplanet metallicities.