Organic-resistant screen-printed graphitic electrodes: Application to on-site monitoring of liquid fuels.

This work presents the potential application of organic-resistant screen-printed graphitic electrodes (SPGEs) for fuel analysis. The required analysis of the antioxidant 2,6-di-tert-butylphenol (2,6-DTBP) in biodiesel and jet fuel is demonstrated as a proof-of-concept. The screen-printing of graphite, Ag/AgCl and insulator inks on a polyester substrate (250 μm thickness) resulted in SPGEs highly compatible with liquid fuels. SPGEs were placed on a batch-injection analysis (BIA) cell, which was filled with a hydroethanolic solution containing 99% v/v ethanol and 0.1 mol L(-1) HClO4 (electrolyte). An electronic micropipette was connected to the cell to perform injections (100 μL) of sample or standard solutions. Over 200 injections can be injected continuously without replacing electrolyte and SPGE strip. Amperometric detection (+1.1 V vs. Ag/AgCl) of 2,6-DTBP provided fast (around 8 s) and precise (RSD = 0.7%, n = 12) determinations using an external calibration curve. The method was applied for the analysis of biodiesel and aviation jet fuel samples and comparable results with liquid and gas chromatographic analyses, typically required for biodiesel and jet fuel samples, were obtained. Hence, these SPGE strips are completely compatible with organic samples and their combination with the BIA cell shows great promise for routine and portable analysis of fuels and other organic liquid samples without requiring sophisticated sample treatments

Genetic changes that increase 5-hydroxymethyl furfural resistance in ethanol-producing Escherichia coli LY180

The ability of a biocatalyst to tolerate furan inhibitors present in hemicellulose hydrolysates is important for the production of renewable chemicals. This study shows EMFR9, a furfural-tolerant mutant of ethanologenic E. coli LY180, has also acquired tolerance to 5-hydroxymethyl furfural (5-HMF). The mechanism of action of 5-HMF and furfural appear similar. Furan tolerance results primarily from lower expression of yqhD and dkgA, two furan reductases with a low Km for NADPH. Furan tolerance was also increased by adding plasmids encoding a NADPH/NADH transhydrogenase (pntAB). Together, these results support the hypothesis that the NADPH-dependent reduction of furans by YqhD and DkgA inhibits growth by competing with biosynthesis for this limiting cofactor

Overview on the phenomenon of two-qubit entanglement revivals in classical environments

The occurrence of revivals of quantum entanglement between separated open quantum systems has been shown not only for dissipative non-Markovian quantum environments but also for classical environments in absence of back-action. While the phenomenon is well understood in the first case, the possibility to retrieve entanglement when the composite quantum system is subject to local classical noise has generated a debate regarding its interpretation. This dynamical property of open quantum systems assumes an important role in quantum information theory from both fundamental and practical perspectives. Hybrid quantum-classical systems are in fact promising candidates to investigate the interplay among quantum and classical features and to look for possible control strategies of a quantum system by means of a classical device. Here we present an overview on this topic, reporting the most recent theoretical and experimental results about the revivals of entanglement between two qubits locally interacting with classical environments. We also review and discuss the interpretations provided so far to explain this phenomenon, suggesting that they can be cast under a unified viewpoint.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures. Chapter written for the upcoming book "Lectures on general quantum correlations and their applications

A Potent Tartrate Resistant Acid Phosphatase Inhibitor to Study the Function of TRAP in Alveolar Macrophages.

The enzyme tartrate resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP, two isoforms 5a and 5b) is highly expressed in alveolar macrophages, but its function there is unclear and potent selective inhibitors of TRAP are required to assess functional aspects of the protein. We found higher TRAP activity/expression in lungs of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma compared to controls and more TRAP activity in lungs of mice with experimental COPD or asthma. Stimuli related to asthma and/or COPD were tested for their capacity to induce TRAP. Receptor activator of NF-κb ligand (RANKL) and Xanthine/Xanthine Oxidase induced TRAP mRNA expression in mouse macrophages, but only RANKL also induced TRAP activity in mouse lung slices. Several Au(III) coordination compounds were tested for their ability to inhibit TRAP activity and [Au(4,4'-dimethoxy-2,2'-bipyridine)Cl2][PF6] (AubipyOMe) was found to be the most potent inhibitor of TRAP5a and 5b activity reported to date (IC50 1.3 and 1.8 μM respectively). AubipyOMe also inhibited TRAP activity in murine macrophage and human lung tissue extracts. In a functional assay with physiological TRAP substrate osteopontin, AubipyOMe inhibited mouse macrophage migration over osteopontin-coated membranes. In conclusion, higher TRAP expression/activity are associated with COPD and asthma and TRAP is involved in regulating macrophage migration

Impact of gestational weight gain on obstetric and neonatal outcomes in obese diabetic women

Both obesity and gestational diabetes mellitus are increasing in prevalence, being a major health problem in pregnancy with independent and additive impact on obstetrics outcomes. It is recognized that inadequate gestational weight gain is an independent risk factor for pregnancy-related morbidity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of gestational weight gain on obstetric and neonatal outcomes in obese women with gestational diabetes

Manual de Fotoeducação para prevenção do câncer de pele / Photoeducation manual for skin cancer prevention

Introduc?a?o: O câncer de pele é a neoplasia mais frequente no Brasil e seu principal agente causal é a radiação ultravioleta proveniente do sol. O grande número de casos de neoplasia de pele, possíveis mutilações e o alto custo do tratamento, tornam esse, um importante problema de saúde pública. Ressalta-se a necessidade de abordagem personalizada de fotoeducação, principalmente dos grupos de risco, quanto à fotoproteção e à fotoexposição. Objetivo: Desenvolver e validar manual de fotoeducação, direcionado a trabalhadores que exercem suas atividades ao ar livre, como medida de prevenção ao câncer de pele. Me?todos: Estudo descritivo, aprovado pelo comitê de ética em pesquisa da Unifesp, com levantamento bibliográfico, busca de anterioridade, seleção do público-alvo para desenvolvimento e validação com juízes especialistas pela Técnica Delphi calculando o I?ndice de Validac?a?o de Conteu?do (IVC) e avaliação por público alvo. Resultados: Foi desenvolvido o “Manual de Fotoeducação para Prevenção do Câncer de Pele” com 24 páginas, 13 capítulos e registrado no ISBN. O manual foi validado por especialistas em dois ciclos pela Técnica Delphi. No primeiro ciclo o IVC global foi de 0,93, no segundo, após adequações sugeridas pelos juízes o IVC global foi 0,99. Em ambos os ciclos o IVC para cada item foi maior que 0,78, alcançando a meta para validação pelos especialistas. A concordância entre os avaliadores do público alvo foi de 100%.  Conclusa?o: Foi desenvolvido e validado manual de fotoeducação, direcionado a trabalhadores que exercem suas atividades ao ar livre, como medida de prevenção ao câncer de pele

Beliefs and traditions related to a child´s first year of life : a study of the Northwest of Portugal

In this paper we propose an approach to investigate, in the North-west of Portugal, the parents’ behaviour at birth and during the first year of life of their children. We compare the heritage, specifically the beliefs and traditions, with the changes that resulted from the recent and deep cultural transformations that have taken place in Portugal in the last few decades. In parallel, we tried to determine if the parents’ behaviours, based on beliefs and traditions, can affect the children’s health. We based our investigation on standardized interviews with 76 mothers of one-year-old children (born between January and December 2001) who lived in two parishes of Vizela city. This is a territory where a more traditional way of life prevails than in other territories of the centre and south of the country, where there is a strong attachment for religious and social values and where the influence of the ancestral traditions is still alive. The paper concludes that cultural heritage can have important impact on individual health. Health professionals, who work in primary care and in hospitals, must be aware of the responsibility they have to change this scenario.(undefined