Optimization of a homogeneous ternary solvent system for the quantification of lead in crystal sugar samples.

During sugar production, contamination of the sugar by potentially toxic metals may occur. Therefore, it is necessary to develop methods to quantify these contaminants. Analytical method for monitoring of lead in sugar samples was developed with the use of homogeneous ternary system of solvents and UV-Vis spectrophotometry. Ternary system was optimized using multivariate experiments and the best condition was: 10% water, 80% ethanol and 10% methyl isobutyl ketone. As the complexing agent, monosodium 4-(2-pyridylazo) resorcinol used. Calibration curve was linear from 0.64 to 5.00 mg L-1, ABS = 0.0873 [Pb2 +] - 0.0032 and R? = 0.9988. The limit of quantification was 0.53 mg L-1 and limit of detection was 0.45 mg L-1 with 95% confidence level, the standard addition curve was linear, ABS = 0.0736 [Pb2+] + 0.0846 And R? = 0.9971. Three samples were analyzed in triplicate and the concentration of lead obtained ranged from 84.74 ? 3.70 mg kg-1; 69.93 ? 11.84 mg kg-1 and 76.45 ? 7.12 mg kg-1. For the standard addition curve, the concentration found was approximately 230.00 mg kg-1. Considering the Brazilian standard, the lead concentration should not exceed 2.00 mg kg-1, thus, it?s concluded that the values obtained were not within the norm for this metal

Planejamento estrat?gico organizacional : reflex?es a partir da utiliza??o das matrizes SWOT e GUT em uma associa??o de catadores de materiais recicl?veis.

O trabalho teve como objetivo aplicar as matrizes SWOT e GUT na Associa??o de Materiais Recicl?veis do Munic?pio de Jo?o Monlevade- MG para analisar sua situa??o atual e estabelecer prioridades em rela??o aos principais problemas levantados, de modo a servir de insumos para a constru??o de um planejamento estrat?gico. Para tanto, utilizou-se as matrizes SWOT e GUT, que s?o ferramentas que promovem o diagn?stico do ambiente organizacional, priorizando algumas a??es estrat?gicas que ampliam a possibilidade de sucesso da organiza??o, tanto no presente como no futuro. Quanto aos procedimentos metodol?gicos, o estudo fundamenta-se em pesquisas bibliogr?ficas e documentais, pesquisa-a??o, acompanhamento das atividades di?rias da associa??o, participa??o nas reuni?es internas e externas dos associados e/ou parceiros da organiza??o, di?logo com os catadores, acompanhamento e an?lise do programa da coleta seletiva implantada. Observa-se que a aplica??o das matrizes SWOT e GUT colabora para o reconhecimento de caracter?sticas que inviabilizam a sustentabilidade, produtividade, fideliza??o dos clientes, vantagem competitiva, entre outras, t?o importantes quanto as destacadas. O resultado da pesquisa apresenta fatores que auxiliaram na edifica??o de novas fases e a??es de curto, m?dio e/ou longo prazo na associa??o, de modo a tentar garantir sucesso e sustentabilidade

Dor e trabalho nas enfermeiras

Ap?s revis?o da literatura, verificamos necessidade de evid?ncia referente ? dor em Enfermeiros de Cuidados de Sa?de Prim?rios (CSP). A amostra constitu?da por 7 Enfermeiras dos CSP da regi?o Norte. Foi aplicado, sob forma de entrevista semi-dirigida, o inqu?rito INSAT 2010 e realizada a an?lise de conte?do. Os dados evidenciaram que as Enfermeiras apresentam qualidade de vida e sa?de afetadas, devido a constrangimentos f?sicos, organizacionais e relacionais no ambiente de trabalho que podem, eventualmente, causar stresse, fadiga, sofrimento e dor.B910-DDDF-6BB2 | Lu?s Carlos Carvalho da Gra?ainfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Quantitative analysis of cardiac lesions in chronic canine chagasic cardiomyopathy.

Lesions observed in chronic chagasic cardiopathy frequently produce electrocardiographic alterations and affect cardiac function. Through a computerized morphometrical analysis we quantified the areas occupied by cardiac muscle, connective and adipose tissues in the right atrium of dogs experimentally infected with Trypanosoma cruzi. All of the infected dogs showed chronic myocarditis with variable reduction levels of cardiac muscle, fibrosis and adipose tissue replacement. In the atrial myocardium of dogs infected with Be78 and Be62 cardiac muscle represented 34 and 50%, fibrosis 28 and 32% and adipose tissue 38 and 18%, respectively. The fibrosis observed was both diffuse and focal and mostly intrafascicular, either partially or completely interrupting the path of muscle bundles. Such histological alterations probably contributed to the appearance of electrocardiographic disturbances verified in 10 out 11 dogs which are also common in human chronic chagasic cardiopathy. Fibrosis was the most important microscopic occurrence found since it produces rearrangements of collagen fibers in relation to myocardiocytes which causes changes in anatomical physiognomy and mechanical behavior of the myocardium. These abnormalities can contribute to the appearance of cardiac malfunction, arrhythmias and congestive cardiac insufficiency as observed in two of the analyzed dogs. Strain Be78 caused destruction of atrial cardiac muscle higher than that induced by strain Be62

Planck intermediate results. XIX. An overview of the polarized thermal emission from Galactic dust

This paper presents an overview of the polarized sky as seen by Planck HFI at 353GHz, which is the most sensitive Planck channel for dust polarization. We construct and analyse maps of dust polarization fraction and polarization angle at 1 degrees resolution, taking into account noise bias and possible systematic effects. The sensitivity of the Planck HFI polarization measurements allows for the first time a mapping of Galactic dust polarized emission on large scales, including low column density regions. We find that the maximum observed dust polarization fraction is high (p(max) = 19.8%), in particular in some regions of moderate hydrogen column density (N-H <2 x 10(21) cm(-2)). The polarization fraction displays a large scatter at NH below a few 10(21) cm(-2). There is a general decrease in the dust polarization fraction with increasing column density above N-H similar or equal to 1 x 10(21) cm(-2) and in particular a sharp drop above N-H similar or equal to 1.5 x 10(22) cm(-2). We characterize the spatial structure of the polarization angle using the angle dispersion function. We find that the polarization angle is ordered over extended areas of several square degrees, separated by filamentary structures of high angle dispersion function. These appear as interfaces where the sky projection of the magnetic field changes abruptly without variations in the column density. The polarization fraction is found to be anti-correlated with the dispersion of polarization angles. These results suggest that, at the resolution of 1 degrees, depolarization is due mainly to fluctuations in the magnetic field orientation along the line of sight, rather than to the loss of grain alignment in shielded regions. We also compare the polarization of thermal dust emission with that of synchrotron measured with Planck, low-frequency radio data, and Faraday rotation measurements toward extragalactic sources. These components bear resemblance along the Galactic plane and in some regions such as the Fan and North Polar Spur regions. The poor match observed in other regions shows, however, that dust, cosmic-ray electrons, and thermal electrons generally sample different parts of the line of sight.Peer reviewe

Planck intermediate results. XXI. Comparison of polarized thermal emission from Galactic dust at 353 GHz with interstellar polarization in the visible

The Planck survey provides unprecedented full-sky coverage of the submillimetre polarized emission from Galactic dust. In addition to the information on the direction of the Galactic magnetic field, this also brings new constraints on the properties of dust. The dust grains that emit the radiation seen by Planck in the submillimetre also extinguish and polarize starlight in the visible. Comparison of the polarization of the emission and of the interstellar polarization on selected lines of sight probed by stars provides unique new diagnostics of the emission and light scattering properties of dust, and therefore of the important dust model parameters, composition, size, and shape. Using ancillary catalogues of interstellar polarization and extinction of starlight, we obtain the degree of polarization, p(V), and the optical depth in the V band to the star, tau(V). Toward these stars we measure the submillimetre polarized intensity, P-S, and total intensity, I-S,I- in the Planck 353 GHz channel. We compare the column density measure in the visible, E(B - V), with that inferred from the Planck product map of the submillimetre dust optical depth and compare the polarization direction (position angle) in the visible with that in the submillimetre. For those lines of sight through the di ff use interstellar medium with comparable values of the estimated column density and polarization directions close to orthogonal, we correlate properties in the submillimetre and visible to find two ratios, R-S/V = (P-S/I-S) = (p(V)/tau(V)) and R-P/p = P-S/p(V), the latter focusing directly on the polarization properties of the aligned grain population alone. We find R-S/V = 4.2, with statistical and systematic uncertainties 0.2 and 0.3, respectively, and R-P/p = 5.4 MJy sr(-1), with uncertainties 0.2 and 0.3 MJy sr(-1), respectively. Our estimate of R-S/V is compatible with predictions based on a range of polarizing dust models that have been developed for the di ff use interstellar medium. This estimate provides new empirical validation of many of the common underlying assumptions of the models, but is not yet very discriminating among them. However, our estimate of R-P/p is not compatible with predictions, which are too low by a factor of about 2.5. This more discriminating diagnostic, R-P/p, indicates that changes to the optical properties in the models of the aligned grain population are required. These new diagnostics, together with the spectral dependence in the submillimetre from Planck, will be important for constraining and understanding the full complexity of the grain models, and for interpreting the Planck thermal dust polarization and refinement of the separation of this contamination of the cosmic microwave background.Peer reviewe

Impact of clinical phenotypes on management and outcomes in European atrial fibrillation patients: a report from the ESC-EHRA EURObservational Research Programme in AF (EORP-AF) General Long-Term Registry

Background: Epidemiological studies in atrial fibrillation (AF) illustrate that clinical complexity increase the risk of major adverse outcomes. We aimed to describe European AF patients\u2019 clinical phenotypes and analyse the differential clinical course. Methods: We performed a hierarchical cluster analysis based on Ward\u2019s Method and Squared Euclidean Distance using 22 clinical binary variables, identifying the optimal number of clusters. We investigated differences in clinical management, use of healthcare resources and outcomes in a cohort of European AF patients from a Europe-wide observational registry. Results: A total of 9363 were available for this analysis. We identified three clusters: Cluster 1 (n = 3634; 38.8%) characterized by older patients and prevalent non-cardiac comorbidities; Cluster 2 (n = 2774; 29.6%) characterized by younger patients with low prevalence of comorbidities; Cluster 3 (n = 2955;31.6%) characterized by patients\u2019 prevalent cardiovascular risk factors/comorbidities. Over a mean follow-up of 22.5 months, Cluster 3 had the highest rate of cardiovascular events, all-cause death, and the composite outcome (combining the previous two) compared to Cluster 1 and Cluster 2 (all P &lt;.001). An adjusted Cox regression showed that compared to Cluster 2, Cluster 3 (hazard ratio (HR) 2.87, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.27\u20133.62; HR 3.42, 95%CI 2.72\u20134.31; HR 2.79, 95%CI 2.32\u20133.35), and Cluster 1 (HR 1.88, 95%CI 1.48\u20132.38; HR 2.50, 95%CI 1.98\u20133.15; HR 2.09, 95%CI 1.74\u20132.51) reported a higher risk for the three outcomes respectively. Conclusions: In European AF patients, three main clusters were identified, differentiated by differential presence of comorbidities. Both non-cardiac and cardiac comorbidities clusters were found to be associated with an increased risk of major adverse outcomes