First-Principles Study of Substitutional Metal Impurities in Graphene: Structural, Electronic and Magnetic Properties

We present a theoretical study using density functional calculations of the structural, electronic and magnetic properties of 3d transition metal, noble metal and Zn atoms interacting with carbon monovacancies in graphene. We pay special attention to the electronic and magnetic properties of these substitutional impurities and found that they can be fully understood using a simple model based on the hybridization between the states of the metal atom, particularly the d shell, and the defect levels associated with an unreconstructed D3h carbon vacancy. We identify three different regimes associated with the occupation of different carbon-metal hybridized electronic levels: (i) bonding states are completely filled for Sc and Ti, and these impurities are non-magnetic; (ii) the non-bonding d shell is partially occupied for V, Cr and Mn and, correspondingly, these impurties present large and localized spin moments; (iii) antibonding states with increasing carbon character are progressively filled for Co, Ni, the noble metals and Zn. The spin moments of these impurities oscillate between 0 and 1 Bohr magnetons and are increasingly delocalized. The substitutional Zn suffers a Jahn-Teller-like distortion from the C3v symmetry and, as a consequence, has a zero spin moment. Fe occupies a distinct position at the border between regimes (ii) and (iii) and shows a more complex behavior: while is non-magnetic at the level of GGA calculations, its spin moment can be switched on using GGA+U calculations with moderate values of the U parameter.Comment: 13 figures, 4 tables. Submitted to Phys. Rev. B on September 26th, 200

Diferentes teores de proteína metabolizável em rações com cana-de-açúcar para vacas em lactação.

O presente trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar o efeito de diferentes teores de proteína metabolizável (PM) na ração de vacas lactantes alimentadas com cana-de-açúcar

Chondroitin-based nanoplexes as peptide delivery systems-Investigations into the self-assembly process, solid-state and extended release characteristics

YesA new type of self-assembled polyelectrolyte complex nanocarrier composed of chondroitin (CHON) and protamine (PROT) was designed and the ability of the carriers to bind salmon calcitonin (sCT) was examined. The response of sCT-loaded CHON/PROT NPs to a change in the properties of the liquid medium, e.g. its pH, composition or ionic strength was studied and in vitro peptide release was assessed. The biocompatibility of the NPs was evaluated in Caco-2 cells. CHON/PROT NPs were successfully obtained with properties that were dependent on the concentration of the polyelectrolytes and their mixing ratio. X-ray diffraction determined the amorphous nature of the negatively charged NPs, while those with the positive surface potential were semi-crystalline. sCT was efficiently associated with the nanocarriers (98-100%) and a notably high drug loading (13-38%) was achieved. The particles had negative zeta potential values and were homogenously dispersed with sizes between 60 and 250 nm. CHON/PROT NPs released less than 10% of the total loaded peptide in the first hour of the in vitro release studies. The enthalpy of the decomposition exotherm correlated with the amount of sCT remaining in NPs after the release experiments. The composition of medium and its ionic strength was found to have a considerable influence on the release of sCT from CHON/PROT NPs. Complexation to CHON markedly reduced the toxic effects exerted by PROT and the NPs were compatible and well tolerated by Caco-2 cells

Intelligent system to detect violations in pedestrian areas committed by vehicles in the city of Cartagena de Indias

his article presents applied research which proposes an approach to a low-cost electronic system that allows the detection of violations in pedestrian areas. For this purpose, we proposed an electronic system that implements artificial intelligence algorithms and Internet of Things architectures to detect in realtime these events. The proposal focuses on experimental laboratory work through which we developed and validated a system by analyzing a real pedestrian zone scenario and invasion of the pedestrian zone. As a result of this work, we deliver a labeled dataset to the scientific community that can serve as input to new projects and the development of better offender detection algorithms.Universidad Tecnológica de Bolíva

The Mediterranean diet protects against waist circumference enlargement in 12Ala carriers for the PPARgamma gene: 2 years' follow-up of 774 subjects at high cardiovascular risk.

The PPARgamma gene regulates insulin sensitivity and adipogenesis. The Pro12Ala polymorphism of this gene has been related to fat accumulation. Our aim was to analyse the effects of a 2-year nutritional intervention with Mediterranean-style diets on adiposity in high-cardiovascular risk patients depending on the Pro12Ala polymorphism of the PPARgamma gene. The population consisted of a substudy (774 high-risk subjects aged 55-80 years) of the Prevención con Dieta Mediterránea (PREDIMED) randomised trial aimed at assessing the effect of the Mediterranean diet for CVD prevention. There were three nutritional intervention groups: two of them of a Mediterranean-style diet and the third was a control group advised to follow a conventional low-fat diet. All the participants were genotyped by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). The results showed that carriers of the 12Ala allele allocated to the control group had a statistically significant higher change in waist circumference (adjusted difference coefficient = 2.37 cm; P = 0.014) compared with wild-type subjects after 2 years of nutritional intervention. This adverse effect was not observed among 12Ala carriers allocated to both Mediterranean diet groups. In diabetic patients a statistically significant interaction between Mediterranean diet and the 12Ala allele regarding waist circumference change was observed ( - 5.85 cm; P = 0.003). In conclusion, the Mediterranean diet seems to be able to reduce waist circumference in a high-cardiovascular risk population, reversing the negative effect that the 12Ala allele carriers of the PPARgamma gene appeared to have. The beneficial effect of this dietary pattern seems to be higher among type 2 diabetic subjects

Voltage dip generator for testing wind turbines connected to electrical networks

This paper describes a new voltage dip generator that allows the shape of the time profile of the voltage generated to be configured. The use of this device as a tool to test the fault ride-through capability of wind turbines connected to the electricity grid can provide some remarkable benefits: First, this system offers the possibility of adapting the main features of the time–voltage profile generated (dip depth, dip duration, the ramp slope during the recovery process after clearing fault, etc.) to the specific requirements set forth by the grid operation codes, in accordance with different network electrical systems standards. Second, another remarkable ability of this system is to provide sinusoidal voltage and current wave forms during the overall testing process without the presence of harmonic components. This is made possible by the absence of electronic converters. Finally, the paper includes results and a discussion on the experimental data obtained with the use of a reduced size laboratory prototype that was constructed to validate the operating features of this new device

Composição morfológica e bromatológica de pastagens de Pennisetum pirpureum submetidas a diferentes intervalos entre pastejos.

As composições bromatológica e morfológica são duas características qualitativas das plantas forrageiras de grande importância para o desempenho de bovinos em pastejo. Desse modo, o objetivo do ensaio experimental foi avaliar os efeitos de dois diferentes intervalos entre pastejos sobre a composição bromatológica e morfológica de pastagens de capim Elefante, pastejada por vacas lactantes. Os tratamentos testados foram: intervalo entre pastejos variável, determinado pela entrada dos animais na área a ser pastejada, quando o dossel atingisse 95% de interceptação de luz e intervalo entre pastejos fixo em 27 dias. O delineamento experimental foi o inteiramente casualizado com medidas repetidas no tempo (4 sub-periodos). Foram observados maiores (P<0,05) teores de extrato etéreo, fibra em detergente neutro e fibra em detergente ácido para o intervalo entre pastejos fixo em 27 dias. O intervalo entre pastejos variável proporcionou maior (P<0,05) teor de matéria mineral na forragem. Não foram observados efeitos dos tratamentos sobre os teores de matéria seca, proteína bruta e lignina. Houve maior massa de material senescido (P<0,05) e tendência (P~0,08) de maior massa de colmos para o intervalo entre pastejo fixo de 27 dias no pré e pós-pastejo. Houve também tendência (P=O,10) de maior massa de folhas para o intervalo entre pastejo variável no resíduo pós-pastejo. O intervalo entre pastejo variável melhorou os aspectos bromatológicos e morfológicos do capim Elefante

Características produtivas e qualitativas de pastagens de Pennisetum purpureum submetidas a diferentes intervalos entre pastejos.

O intervalo entre pastejos pode exercer forte influência nos aspectos produtivos e qualitativos das plantas forrageiras tropicais, com reflexos na produção dos animais mantidos em pastagens. Assim, o objetivo do ensaio experimental foi comparar os efeitos de dois diferentes intervalos entre pastejos sobre algumas caracteristicas produtivas e qualitativas do dossel de capim Elefante pastejado por vacas em lactação. Os tratamentos foram: intervalo entre pastejos variável, determinado pela entrada dos animais na área a ser pastejada, quando o dossel atingisse 95% de interceptação de luz e intervalo entre pastejos fixados em 27 dias. O delineamento experimental foi o inteiramente casualizado com medidas repetidas no tempo. A frequência de desfolha, a altura do dossel no pré e pós-pastejo,. a interceptação de luz pelo dossel e o índice de área foliar, foram maiores (PO,O5) dos tratamentos sobre a massa de forragem em pré e pós-pastejo. O intervalo entre pastejos fixado em 27 dias, durante a época das águas, proporcionou forragem de pior qualidade