Influence of the external pressure on the quantum correlations of molecular magnets

The study of quantum correlations in solid state systems is a large avenue for research and their detection and manipulation are an actual challenge to overcome. In this context, we show by using first-principles calculations on the prototype material KNaCuSi$_{4}$O$_{10}$ that the degree of quantum correlations in this spin cluster system can be managed by external hydrostatic pressure. Our results open the doors for research in detection and manipulation of quantum correlations in magnetic systems with promising applications in quantum information science

Recurrent Nevus. A 5-Year Review

A persistência de uma lesão melanocítica, em local onde tenha sido previamente excisado um nevo melanocítico pode colocar, clínica e histologicamente, problemas no diagnóstico diferencial com melanoma, designado por alguns autores como ‘pseudomelanoma’. Neste estudo, os autores pretendem realizar uma análise comparativa entre os achados clínicos e histopatológicos das lesões melanocíticas primárias e dos nevos recorrentes. Procura-se também avaliar eventuais factores predisponentes para este fenómeno

Comparative study of hydroxyapatite coatings obtained by Sol-Gel and electrophoresis on titanium sheets

A comparative study of two coating methods on titanium (Ti) substrates, sol-gel and electrophoresis processes, was performed. Before coating, two different surface treatments were employed. The hydroxyapatite (HA) powder were characterized by infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) while coated samples were examined by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). Both techniques seem to be suitable to coat Ti. A previous surface treatment on metallic titanium seems to be fundamental to enhance coat uniformity and adhesion that was estimated by the adhesive tape test. The decrease in calcination temperature did not affect the coating adhesion.The authors thank the financial support of CAPES, CNPq, FAPERJ, and the cooperative project between CNPq/Brasil and MES/Cuba.Peer reviewe

SLFS: Semi-supervised light-field foreground-background segmentation

Efficient segmentation is a fundamental problem in computer vision and image processing. Achieving accurate segmentation for 4D light field images is a challenging task due to the huge amount of data involved and the intrinsic redundancy in this type of images. While automatic image segmentation is usually challenging, and because regions of interest are different for different users or tasks, this paper proposes an improved semi-supervised segmentation approach for 4D light field images based on an efficient graph structure and user's scribbles. The recent view-consistent 4D light field superpixels algorithm proposed by Khan et al. is used as an automatic pre-processing step to ensure spatio-angular consistency and to represent the image graph efficiently. Then, segmentation is achieved via graph-cut optimization. Experimental results for synthetic and real light field images indicate that the proposed approach can extract objects consistently across views, and thus it can be used in applications such as augmented reality applications or object-based coding with few user interactions.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

In silico characterization of microRNAs-like sequences in the genome of Paracoccidioides brasiliensis

Eukaryotic cells have different mechanisms of post-transcriptional regulation. Among these mechanisms, microRNAs promote regulation of targets by cleavage or degradation of the mRNA. Fungi of the Paracoccidioides complex are the etiological agents of the main systemic mycosis of Latin America. These fungi present a plasticity to adapt and survive in different conditions, and the presence of microRNAs-like molecules could be part of the mechanisms that provide such plasticity. MicroRNAs produced by the host influence the progression of this mycosis in the lungs besides regulating targets involved in apoptosis in macrophage, activation of T and B cells and the production of cytokines. Therefore, this work analyzed the presence of regions in the genome of this fungus with a potential to encode microRNAs-like molecules. Here we show by analysis of sequence similarity the presence of 18 regions, putatively coding for microRNAs-like molecules in the Paracoccidioides brasiliensis genome. We also described the conservation of dicer and argonaut proteins and the cognate transcripts induced in the yeast parasitic phase. This work represents a starting point for the analysis of the presence of those molecules in the morphological stages of the fungus and their role in fungal development

Effect of extrusion-cooking in total carotenoids content in cream and orange flesh sweet potato cultivars.

Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) is a food crop that supplies energy, minerals and vitamins C and B. Some cultivars are very rich in carotenoids (pro-vitamin A). In this study were evaluated and compared the total carotenoids content of two cultivars and the losses on the dehydrated extruded sweet potato flour. Samples from organic and conventional crops were analyzed, in the form of fresh and dehydrated extruded samples. Total carotenoids content of the fresh product, expressed on wet basis, was of 437 µg 100 g-1 for the cream cultivar and 10,12 µg 100 g-1 for the orange cultivar. After dehydration, losses of total carotenoids were of 41% and 38%, respectively. The fresh orange cultivar presented high total carotenoids content in comparison to the cream cultivar. The extruded orange sweet potato flour showed the lowest losses in total carotenoids. Therefore, the processed flour of orange sweet potato could be used to obtain pre-gelatinized extruded flour with high total carotenoids content.A batata-doce (Ipomoea batatas) é um alimento fonte rico em energia, minerais, vitaminas C e B. Algumas cultivares são ricas em pró-vitamina A. O objetivo do presente trabalho foi avaliar e comparar o conteúdo de carotenóides totais em duas cultivares de batata-doce e determinar suas perdas na obtenção da farinha desidratada e processada por extrusão. Foram analisadas amostras de sistema de cultivo orgânico e convencional, tanto as frescas como as extrusadas desidratadas. O conteúdo de carotenóides totais do produto fresco, expressos em base úmida, foi de 437 µg 100 g-1 para a cultivar creme e de 10,120 µg 100g-1 para a cultivar alaranjada. Após o processo de desidratação das amostras, as perdas de carotenóides totais foram de 41% para a batata-doce creme e 38% para a alaranjada, respectivamente. Os resultados indicaram alto conteúdo de carotenóides totais para a cultivar alaranjada fresca, quando comparado com a cultivar creme. A amostra de farinha de batata-doce extrusada apresentou menor perda de carotenóides totais. Desta forma, verifica-se que a farinha de batata-doce alaranjada pode ser utilizada na obtenção de uma farinha pré-gelatinizada com alto conteúdo de carotenóides totais