Ladder type operators and recurrence relations for the radial wave functions of the N-th dimensional oscillators and hydrogenlike atoms

Using the method described in [11], we present some new ladder type operators and recurrence relations for the radial wave functions of the N-th dimensional isotropic harmonic oscillators and the hydrogenlike atoms

Demographics, social position, dental status and oral health-related quality of life in community-dwelling older adults

Purpose To identify demographic, socioeconomic and dental clinical predictors of oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) in elderly people. Methods Cross-sectional study involving 613 elderly people aged 65–74 years in Manaus, Brazil. Interviews and oral examinations were carried out to collect demographic characteristics (age and sex) and socioeconomic data (income and education), dental clinical measures (DMFT, need of upper and lower dentures) and OHRQoL (GOHAI questionnaire). Structural equation modelling was used to estimate direct and indirect pathways between the variables. Results Being older predicted lower schooling but higher income. Higher income was linked to better dental status, which was linked to better OHRQoL. There were also indirect pathways. Age and education were linked to OHRQoL, mediated by clinical dental status. Income was associated with dental clinical status via education, and income predicted OHRQoL via education and clinical measures. Conclusion Our findings elucidate the complex pathways between individual, environmental factors and clinical factors that may determine OHRQoL and support the application of public health approaches to improve oral health in older people

Critical analysis of autoregressive and fast Fourier transform markers of cardiovascular variability in rats and humans

The autonomic nervous system plays an important role in physiological and pathological conditions, and has been extensively evaluated by parametric and non-parametric spectral analysis. To compare the results obtained with fast Fourier transform (FFT) and the autoregressive (AR) method, we performed a comprehensive comparative study using data from humans and rats during pharmacological blockade (in rats), a postural test (in humans), and in the hypertensive state (in both humans and rats). Although postural hypotension in humans induced an increase in normalized low-frequency (LFnu) of systolic blood pressure, the increase in the ratio was detected only by AR. In rats, AR and FFT analysis did not agree for LFnu and high frequency (HFnu) under basal conditions and after vagal blockade. The increase in the LF/HF ratio of the pulse interval, induced by methylatropine, was detected only by FFT. In hypertensive patients, changes in LF and HF for systolic blood pressure were observed only by AR; FFT was able to detect the reduction in both blood pressure variance and total power. In hypertensive rats, AR presented different values of variance and total power for systolic blood pressure. Moreover, AR and FFT presented discordant results for LF, LFnu, HF, LF/HF ratio, and total power for pulse interval. We provide evidence for disagreement in 23% of the indices of blood pressure and heart rate variability in humans and 67% discordance in rats when these variables are evaluated by AR and FFT under physiological and pathological conditions. The overall disagreement between AR and FFT in this study was 43%.FINEPFAPESPZerbini Foundatio

Qualidade sanitária e fisiológica de sementes de abóbora variedade menina Brasileira.

O trabalho teve como objetivos avaliar e correlacionar a qualidade sanitária e fisiológica de sementes de abóbora, variedade Menina Brasileira (Cucurbita moschata.). Foram avaliados dois lotes de sementes de abóbora produzidas no sistema agroecológico e quatro no sistema convencional, com e sem tratamento químico. Os lotes foram submetidos aos testes de sanidade, seguindo a metodologia do “Blotter test”, com congelamento, germinação e vigor (primeira contagem, índice de velocidade de germinação, envelhecimento acelerado e emergência de plântulas). Os resultados indicaram a separação dos lotes de diferentes origens a partir da qualidade sanitária e fisiológica, onde as maiores incidências de fungos foram observadas nos lotes agroecológicos e o maior potencial fisiológico foi observado nos lotes de origem convencional não tratados. Foram encontrados os fungos Fusarium oxysporum, Alternaria alternata, Cladosporium cucumerinum, Aspergillus niger, Penicillium digitatum, Rhizopus stolonifer e Phoma terrestris. A qualidade sanitária não interferiu na qualidade fisiológica das sementes de abóbora, variedade Menina Brasileira

Characterization of large area avalanche photodiodes in X-ray and VUV-light detection

The present manuscript summarizes novel studies on the application of large area avalanche photodiodes (LAAPDs) to the detection of X-rays and vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) light. The operational characteristics of four different LAAPDs manufactured by Advanced Photonix Inc., with active areas of 80 and 200 mm^2 were investigated for X-ray detection at room temperature. The best energy resolution was found to be in the 10-18% range for 5.9 keV X-rays. The LAAPD, being compact, simple to operate and with high counting rate capability (up to about 10^5/s), proved to be useful in several applications, such as low-energy X-ray detection, where they can reach better performance than proportional counters. Since X-rays are used as reference in light measurements, the gain non-linearity between 5.9 keV X-rays and light pulses was investigated. The gain ratio between X-rays and VUV light decreases with gain, reaching 10 and 6% variations for VUV light produced in argon (~128 nm) and xenon (~172 nm), respectively, for a gain 200, while for visible light (~635 nm) the variation is lower than 1%. The effect of temperature on the LAAPD performance was investigated. Relative gain variations of about -5% per Celsius degree were observed for the highest gains. The excess noise factor was found to be independent on temperature, being between 1.8 and 2.3 for gains from 50 to 300. The energy resolution is better for decreasing temperatures due mainly to the dark current. LAAPDs were tested under intense magnetic fields up to 5 T, being insensitive when used in X-ray and visible-light detection, while for VUV light a significant amplitude reduction was observed at 5 T.Comment: 25 pages, 40 figures, submitted to JINS

Characterization of large area avalanche photodiodes in X-ray and VUV-light detection

The present manuscript summarizes novel studies on the application of large area avalanche photodiodes (LAAPDs) to the detection of X-rays and vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) light. The operational characteristics of four different LAAPDs manufactured by Advanced Photonix Inc., with active areas of 80 and 200 mm^2 were investigated for X-ray detection at room temperature. The best energy resolution was found to be in the 10-18% range for 5.9 keV X-rays. The LAAPD, being compact, simple to operate and with high counting rate capability (up to about 10^5/s), proved to be useful in several applications, such as low-energy X-ray detection, where they can reach better performance than proportional counters. Since X-rays are used as reference in light measurements, the gain non-linearity between 5.9 keV X-rays and light pulses was investigated. The gain ratio between X-rays and VUV light decreases with gain, reaching 10 and 6% variations for VUV light produced in argon (~128 nm) and xenon (~172 nm), respectively, for a gain 200, while for visible light (~635 nm) the variation is lower than 1%. The effect of temperature on the LAAPD performance was investigated. Relative gain variations of about -5% per Celsius degree were observed for the highest gains. The excess noise factor was found to be independent on temperature, being between 1.8 and 2.3 for gains from 50 to 300. The energy resolution is better for decreasing temperatures due mainly to the dark current. LAAPDs were tested under intense magnetic fields up to 5 T, being insensitive when used in X-ray and visible-light detection, while for VUV light a significant amplitude reduction was observed at 5 T.Comment: 25 pages, 40 figures, submitted to JINS