Assinaturas antropogênicas de elementos maiores e traços em poeira urbana na cidade do Natal-RN

Although there are many studies on urban dust contamination by heavy metals in developed countries, little attention has been paid to this type of study in developing countries, including Brazil. Therefore, a series of investigations were performed to provide signatures of heavy metals in urban dust and assess the potential sources in the city of Natal - RN-Brazil. The fraction of these sediments was studied to pass through a sieve of 63 micrometers. For the study analyzed two groups of samples, one collected in September 2009 at the end of the rainy season (9 samples) and one collected in January 2010 in the dry season (21 samples). So in all, thirty sediment samples were collected from the street. Then, in Fluorescence Spectrometry X-rays were determined major elements SiO2, Na2O, K2O, Al2O3, MgO, P2O5, Fe2O3, MnO, TiO2 and CaO, and trace Rb, Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Sr and Pb by an ICPOES was determined Zn, V, Na, K, Ni, Mn, Mg, P, Fe, Cr, Cu, Pb, Ba, Ca and Al from leaching HCl 0.5 mol L-1 . The results of the concentrations of elements show that the greater presence of these occurs in the dry season, except for Si which is higher in the rainy season. Analyses by geoaccumulation Index (IGEO) Enrichment Factor (EF), Contamination Factor (CF), analysis correlation and Hierarchical Cluster, confirm that Zn, Cu and Pb is anthropogenic character. Zinc may be derived from various sources related to motor vehicles or the road signs and street grids. The elements Na, K, Mg and Ca may be related to droplets suspended in air containing cations and anions present in seawater (salty), common in Christmas throughout the year, brought by winds SE-NW. The elements Na, Mg, Ca and K are the most abundant in seawater and were analyzed in this study. This indicates that the source of these additional elements detected by analyzing the contamination factor may be the very sea. Moreover, Ni, Fe, Cr and Ba can be either as a source of anthropogenic geogênica. The source of Ca is different, because it comes in lime and paint (painting guides of buildings and streets) in construction materials, but may also be present in sediments in the fragments of shells or carbonate bioclasts common in the coastal area

Modos de aplicação de calcário e de micronutrientes em pomar de laranjeira 'Natal' e análise comparativa de custos

De acordo com o Agrianual (2005), a produção citrícola brasileira é de 17,7 milhões de toneladas ano-1,ocupando aproximadamente 1 milhão de hectares no território brasileiro e, deste total, 810 mil hectares localizam-se no Estado de São Paulo. A maioria dos solos brasileiros, inclusive aqueles onde foram instalados os pomares cítricos, apresenta reação ácida. Esta é, sem dúvida, a principal condição desfavorável dos solos e um dos fatores limitantes da produção em solos tropicais. O presente trabalho teve por objetivo estudar o efeito de diferentes modos de aplicação de calcário e de micronutrientes e analisar, de forma comparativa, os custos destes tratamentos em um pomar de laranjeira. O experimento foi desenvolvido na Fazenda Morumbi, município de Estrela D'Oeste-SP, num Argissolo Vermelho-Amarelo. A variedade de laranjeira utilizada foi a 'Natal', enxertada em limão Cravo, com 6 anos de idade e espaçamento 5 x 8 m. O delineamento experimental foi em parcelas subdivididas, com 3 repetições, com 5 tratamentos principais (sem calcário; a necessidade total de calcário (NC) incorporado; NC sem incorporação; ¹/2 NC no primeiro ano + ¹/2 NC no segundo ano e ¹/3 NC no primeiro ano, + ¹/3 NC no segundo ano, + ¹/3 NC no terceiro ano) e dois tratamentos secundários [micronutrientes via solo (FTE-BR 12: 11,5 % de ZnO e B2O3; 1% CuO; 5,4% de Fe2O3; 5,5% de MnO2; 0,2% de MoO3) e micronutrientes via foliar (sulfato de zinco a 0,5% e ácido bórico a 0,08%)], distribuídos em blocos casualizados. Não houve efeito significativo dos modos de aplicação da calagem e de micronutrientes sobre as variáveis avaliadas (produção, sólidos solúveis totais, acidez total titulável). Para massa média do fruto, o efeito significativo aconteceu apenas no primeiro ano, com a calagem em dose única e sem incorporação, e micronutrientes via solo. Concluiu-se que não houve efeito significativo dos modos de aplicação do calcário e dos micronutrientes para produção e massa média dos frutos da laranjeira 'Natal', e a receita líquida foi positiva em todos os tratamentos, sendo que o tratamento 5 [¹/3 da necessidade total de calcário (NC) no 1º ano + ¹/3 da NC no 2º ano, + ¹/3 da NC no 3º ano] apresentou o melhor valor acumulado (U$ 3.721,85 ha-1).

Carregadores de oxigênio a base de níquel suportado em materiais mesooros para aplicação na recirculação química com reforma (RQR)

Oxygen carriers are metal oxides which have the ability to oxidize and reduce easily by various cycles. Due to this property these materials are widely usedin Chemical-Looping Reforming processes to produce H2 and syngas. In this work supports based on MCM-41 and La-SiO2 were synthesized by hydrothermal method. After the synthesis step they were calcined at 550°C for 2 hours and characterized by TG, XRD, surface area using the BET method and FTIR spectroscopy. The deposition of active phase, in this case Nickel, took place in the proportions of 5, 10 and 20% by weight of metallic nickel, for use as oxygen carriers.The XRD showed that increasing in the content of Ni supported on MCM-41 resulted in a decrease in spatial structure and lattice parameter of the material. The adsorption and desorption curves of the MCM-41 samples exhibited variations with the increase of Ni deposited. Surface area, average pore diameter and wall density of silica showed significant changes , due to the increase of the active phase on the mesoporous material. By other hand, in the samples with La-SiO2 composition was not observed peaks characteristic of hexagonal structure, in the XRD diffractogram. The adsorption/desorption isotherms of nitrogen observed are type IV, characteristic of mesoporous materials. The catalytic test indicates that the supports have no influence in the process, but the nickel concentration is very important, because the results for minor concentration of nickel are not good. The ratio H2/O2 was close to 2, for all 15 cycles involving the test storage capacity of O2, indicating that the materials are effective for oxygen transport

Síntese e caracterização de óxidos de zinco e de magnésio suportados em A1SBA-15 para produção de biodiesel

To overcome the challenge of meeting growing energy demand in a sustainable way, biodiesel has shown very promising as alternative energy can replace fossil fuels, even partially. Industrially, the biodiesel is produced by homogeneous transesterification reaction of vegetable oils in the presence of basic species used as catalysts. However, this process is the need for purification of the esters obtained and the removal of glycerin formed after the reaction. This context, the alternative catalysts have that can improve the process of biodiesel production, aiming to reduce costs and facilitate its production. In this study, the AlSBA-15 support with Si / Al ratio = 50 was synthesized, as like as the heterogeneous catalysts of zinc oxide and magnesium supported on mesoporous AlSBA-15 silica, in the concentrations of 5, 10, 15 and 30 %, relative to the support. The textural properties and structural characterization of catalysts and supports were determined by techniques: X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) coupled to the chemical analyzer, adsorption / desorption of N2, thermal analysis (TG / DTG), absorption spectroscopy in the infrared (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Characterization results indicated that the support AlSBA-15 retained the hexagonal ordered after the incorporation of zinc oxide and magnesium oxide in the holder. For heterogeneous catalysts, ZnO-AlSBA-15, that was observed the presence of zinc oxide nanoparticles dispersed in the surface and interior channels of the mesoporous and microporous support. The catalytic activity was evaluated by the transesterification reaction of sunflower oil via methylic route, and some reaction parameters were optimized with the most active catalyst in biodiesel production by sunflower oil. For the series of heterogeneous catalysts, the sample with 30 % ZnO supported on AlSBA-15 showed a better conversion of triglyceride to methyl esters, about 95.41 % of reaction conditions: temperature 175 °C, with molar ratio of 42:1, stirring at 200 rpm and under a pressure of 14 bar for 6 h. The catalyst MgO-AlSBA-15 showed no catalytic activity in the studied reactions

Síntese e caracterização da ferrita de MnZn obtida pelo método dos citratos precursores

It was synthesized MnZn ferrite with general formulae Mn1-xZnxFe2O4 (mol%), 0,3 ≤ x ≤ 0,7 by using the citrate precursor method. The precursors decomposition was studied by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential thermogravimetric analysis (DTG), differential thermal analysis (DTA) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) of powder calcined at 350ºC/3,5h. X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD) of samples was done from 350 to 1200ºC/2h using various atmospheres. The power calcined at 350ºC/3,5h formed spinel phase. It is necessary atmosphere control to avoid secondary phase such as hematite. From 900 to 1200ºC was obtained 90,66 and 100% of MnZn spinel ferrite phase, respectively. Analysis by dispersive energy scanning (EDS) at 350ºC shows high Mn and Zn dispersion, indicating that the diffusion process was homogeneous. Semi-quantitative analysis by EDS verified that despite the atmosphere control during calcinations at high temperatures (< 800ºC) occurred ZnO evaporation causing stoichiometric deviation. Vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) measures show soft ferrite material characteristics with Hc from 6,5 x 10-3 to 11,1 x 10-2 T. Saturation magnetization (Ms) and initial permeability (µi) of MnZn spinel phase obtained, respectively, from 14,3 to 83,8 Am2/kg and 14,1 to 62,7 (Am2/kg)T

Condutividade térmica de rochas: uma aplicação para granitos ornamentais

This dissertation focuses on rock thermal conductivity and its correlations with petrographic, textural, and geochemical aspects, especially in granite rocks. It aims at demonstrating the relations of these variables in an attempt to enlighten the behavior of thermal effect on rocks. Results can be useful for several applications, such as understanding and conferring regional thermal flow results, predicting the behavior of thermal effect on rocks based upon macroscopic evaluation (texture and mineralogy), in the building construction field in order to provide more precise information on data refinement on thermal properties emphasizing a rocky material thermal conductivity, and especially in the dimension stone industry in order to open a discussion on the use of these variables as a new technological parameter directly related to thermal comfort. Thermal conductivity data were obtained by using Anter Corporation s QuicklineTM -30 a thermal property measuring equipment. Measurements were conducted at temperatures ranging between 25 to 38 OC in samples with 2cm in length and an area of at least 6cm of diameter. As to petrography data, results demonstrated good correlations with quartz and mafics. Linear correlation between mineralogy and thermal conductivity revealed a positive relation of a quartz percentage increase in relation to a thermal conductivity increase and its decrease with mafic minerals increase. As to feldspates (K-feldspate and plagioclase) they show dispersion. Quartz relation gets more evident when compared to sample sets with >20% and <20%. Sets with more than 20% quartz (sienogranites, monzogranites, granodiorites, etc.), exhibit to a great extent conductivity values which vary from 2,5 W/mK and the set with less than 20% (sienites, monzonites, gabbros, diorites, etc.) have an average thermal conductivity below 2,5 W/mK. As to textures it has been verified that rocks considered thick/porphyry demonstrated in general better correlations when compared to rocks considered thin/medium. In the case of quartz, thick rocks/porphyry showed greater correlation factors when compared to the thin/medium ones. As to feldspates (K-feldspate and plagioclase) again there was dispersion. As to mafics, both thick/porphyry and thin/medium showed negative correlations with correlation factor smaller than those obtained in relation to the quartz. As to rocks related to the Streckeisen s QAP diagram (1976), they tend to fall from alcali-feldspates granites to tonalites, and from sienites to gabbros, diorites, etc. Thermal conductivity data correlation with geochemistry confirmed to a great extent mineralogy results. It has been seen that correlation is linear if there is any. Such behavior could be seen especially with the SiO2. In this case similar correlation can be observed with the quartz, that is, thermal conductivity increases as SiO2 is incremented. Another aspect observed is that basic to intermediate rocks presented values always below 2,5 W/mK, a similar behavior to that observed in rocks with quartz <20%. Acid rocks presented values above 2,5 W/mK, a similar behavior to that observed in rocks with quartz >20% (granites). For all the other cases, correlation factors are always low and present opposite behavior to Fe2O3, CaO, MgO, and TiO2. As to Al2O3, K2O, and Na2O results are not conclusive and are statistically disperse. Thermal property knowledge especially thermal conductivity and its application in the building construction field appeared to be very satisfactory for it involves both technological and thermal comfort aspects, which favored in all cases fast, cheap, and precise results. The relation between thermal conductivity and linear thermal dilatation have also shown satisfactory results especially when it comes to the quartz role as a common, determining phase between the two variables. Thermal conductivity studies together with rocky material density can function as an additional tool for choosing materials when considering structural calculation aspects and thermal comfort, for in the dimension stone case there is a small density variation in relation to a thermal conductivity considerable variation

Genotoxicity in primary human peripheral lymphocytes after exposure to radiopacifiers in vitro

Taking into consideration that DNA damage plays an important role in carcinogenesis, the purpose of this study was to evaluate whether some radiopacifiers widely used in clinical practice are able to induce genetic damage in primary human cells in vitro. Human peripheral lymphocytes obtained from 10 healthy volunteers were exposed to barium sulphate (BaSO(4)), zirconium oxide (ZnO(2)) and bismuth oxide (Bi(2)O(3)) at final concentrations ranging from 1 to 1000 mu g/mL for 1 h at 37 degrees C. The negative control group was treated with vehicle control (phosphate buffer solution) for 1 h at 37 degrees C and the positive control group was treated with hydrogen peroxide (at 100 mu M) for 5 min on ice. Results were analyzed by the Friedman non-parametric test. The results pointed all compounds tested out did not induce DNA breakage in human peripheral lymphocytes as depicted by the mean tail moment and tail intensity in all concentrations tested. In summary, our results indicate that exposure to these radiopacifiers may not be a factor that increases the level of DNA lesions in human peripheral lymphocytes as detected by single cell gel (comet) assay.

Feed digestibility and productive performance of bullfrogs fed in high and low frequency

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

Fontes orgânicas e inorgânicas de zinco e cobre como melhoradores de desempenho em leitões desmamados

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

Characterization of the columbite precursor and (1-x)PMN-xPT powders prepared by Ti-modified columbite route

This study proposes to synthesize (1-x)PMN-xPT powders, where 0.10 < x < 0.45, using the T-modified columbite route. This methodology consists in the preparation of the MNT columbite precursor via the polymeric precursor method, followed by the solid state reaction with PbO to get the PMN-PT powders. It was verified that from 15 mol% of Ti, the MNT presents the coexistence of two main phases with different crystal symmetry: Rutile and Columbite. However, the synthesis of (1-x)PMN-xPT powders is not affected by this event. A detailed study of structural effects in MNT and PMN-PT powders as function of Ti content was made using the Rietveld method. It was also demonstrated that powders possess high chemical and microstructural homogeneity.

Effect of phenobarbital on inducing insecticide tolerance and esterase changes in Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae)

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

Bond strength durability of a resin composite on a reinforced ceramic using various repair systems

Objectives. This study compared the durability of repair bond strength of a resin composite to a reinforced ceramic after three repair systems.Methods. Alumina-reinforced feldspathic ceramic blocks (Vitadur-alpha(R)) (N=30) were randomly divided into three groups according to the repair method: PR-Porcelain Repair Kit (Bisco) [etching with 9.5% hydrofluoric acid + silanization + adhesive]; CJ-CoJet Repair Kit (3M ESPE) [(chairside silica coating with 30 mu m SiO2 + silanization (ESPE(R)-Sil) + adhesive (Visio(TM)-Bond)]; CL-Clearfil Repair Kit [diamond surface roughening, etching with 40% H3PO4 + Clearfil Porcelain Bond Activator + Clearfil SE Bond)]. Resin composite was photo-polymerized on each conditioned ceramic block. Non-trimmed beam specimens were produced for the microtensile bond strength (mu TBS) tests. In order to study the hydrolytic durability of the repair methods, the beam specimens obtained from each block were randomly assigned to two conditions. Half of the specimens were tested either immediately after beam production (Dry) or after long-term water storage (37 degrees C, 150 days) followed by thermocyling (12,000 cycles, 5-55 degrees C) in a universal testing machine (1 mm/min). Failure types were analyzed under an optical microscope and SEM.Results. mu TBS results were significantly affected by the repair method (p=0.0001) and the aging conditions (p=0.0001) (two-way ANOVA, Tukey's test). In dry testing conditions, PR method showed significantly higher (p < 0.001) repair bond strength (19.8 +/- 3.8 MPa) than those of CJ and CL (12.4 +/- 4.7 and 9.9 +/- 2.9, respectively). After long-term water storage and thermocycling, CJ revealed significantly higher results (14.5 +/- 3.1 MPa) than those of PR (12.1 +/- 2.6 MPa) (p < 0.01) and CL (4.2 +/- 2.1 MPa) (p < 0.001). In all groups when tested in dry conditions, cohesive failure in the composite accompanied with adhesive failure at the interface (mixed failures), was frequently observed (76%, 80%, 65% for PR, CJ and CL, respectively). After aging conditions, while the specimens treated with PR and CJ presented primarily mixed failure types (52% and 87%, respectively), CL group presented mainly complete adhesive failures at the interface (70%).Significance. Hydrolytic stability of the repair method based on silica coating and silanization was superior to the other repair strategies for the ceramic tested. (C) 2009 Academy of Dental Materials. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect of silica coating combined to a MDP-based primer on the resin bond to Y-TZP ceramic

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of silica coating and 10-methacryloyloxydecyl dihydrogen phosphate (MDP)-based primer applications upon the bonding durability of a MDP-based resin cement to a yttrium stabilized tetragonal zirconia (Y-TZP) ceramic. Ninety-six Y-TZP tabs were embedded in an acrylic resin (free surface for adhesion: 5 x 5 mm(2)), ground finished and randomly divided into four groups (N = 24) according to the ceramic surface conditioning: (1) cleaning with isopropanol (ALC); (2) ALC + phosphoric acid etching + MDP-based primer application (MDP-primer); (3) silica coating + 3-methacryloyloxypropyl trimethoxysilane (MPS)-based coupling agent application (SiO(2) + MPS-Sil); and (4) SiO(2) + MDP-primer. The MDP-based resin cement was applied on the treated surface using a cylindrical mold (diameter=3 mm). Half of the specimens from each surface conditioning were stored in distilled water (37 C, 24 h) before testing. Another half of the specimens were stored (90 days) and thermo-cycled (12,000x) during this period (90d/TC) before testing. A shear bond strength (SBS) test was performed at a crosshead speed of 0.5 mm/min. Two factors composed the experimental design: ceramic conditioning strategy (in four levels) and storage condition (in two levels), totaling eight groups. After 90d/TC (Tukey; p < 0.05), SiO(2) + MDP-primer (24.40 MPa) promoted the highest SBS. The ALC and MDP-primer groups debonded spontaneously during 90d/TC. Bonding values were higher and more stable in the SiO2 groups. The use of MDP-primer after silica coating increased the bond strength. (C) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part 8: Appl Biomater 95B: 69-74, 2010.

Structural characteristics of silica sonogels prepared with different proportions of TEOS and TMOS

Sonohydrolysis of mixtures of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and tetramethoxysilane (TMOS) with different TMOS/(TMOS + TEOS) molar ratio R was carried out to obtain similar to 2.0 x 10(-3) mol SiO2/cm(3) and similar to 86%-volume liquid phase wet gels. Aerogels were obtained by supercritical CO2 extraction in autoclave. The samples were analyzed by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and nitrogen adsorption. The structure of the wet gels can be described as a mass fractal structure with fractal dimension D similar to 2.2 and characteristic length increasing from similar to 4.6 nm for pure TEOS to similar to 6.4 nm for pure TMOS. A fraction of the porosity is eliminated with the supercritical process. The fundamental role of the TMOS/(TMOS + TEOS) molar ratio on the structure of the aerogels is to increase the porosity and the pore mean size as R changes from pure TEOS to pure TMOS. The supercritical process increases the mass fractal dimension and shortens the fractality domain in the mesopore region. A secondary structure appearing in the micropore region of the aerogels can be described as a mass/surface fractal structure with correlated mass fractal dimension D-m similar to 2.6 and surface fractal dimension D-s similar to 2.3. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Síntese e caracterização da cerâmica PZT dopada com íons bário

Pós de titanato zirconato de chumbo (PZT) puros e dopados com bário foram obtidos pelo método de precursores poliméricos, conformados uniaxialmente, na forma de cilindros, utilizando 15 MPa, e prensados isostaticamente à 210MPa. Com o objetivo de estudar o comportamento de sinterização os compactos foram divididos em dois lotes. Sendo um sinterizado em um forno acoplado a um dilatômetro até a temperatura de 1300 °C e o outro sinterizado em forno tipo mufla, em sistema fechado, na temperatura de 1100 °C por 4 horas. Verificou-se que a adição do íon bário influencia na cinética de sinterização, na densificação final, na microestrutura e nas propriedades elétricas da cerâmica. A adição de bário aumenta a concentração da fase tetragonal no PZT, em função da substituição do chumbo por bário na rede perovskita. As amostras dopadas com concentrações maiores que 5,0 mol % em bário apresentaram segregação de PbO no contorno de grão, inibindo seu crescimento.