Solid-state 13C NMR studies of activated carbons prepared from biomass using different chemical agents.

Activated carbons are largely employed in several chemical and physical processes nowadays, including water treatment, catalysis, gas storage and others [1]. The surface properties of the porous carbons are determinant for most of such applications. Oxygenated functional groups present at the edges of the aromatic lamellae are known to influence decisively the surface chemistry of these materials [2]. In this work, solid-state 13 C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was used for the analysis of a series of activated carbons prepared from a lignocellulosic precursor, using different chemical activating agents

Congenital Destructive Hemispheric Lesions And Epilepsy: Clinical Features And Relevance Of Associated Hippocampal Atrophy.

We studied the clinical, EEG and MRI findings in 19 patients with epilepsy secondary to congenital destructive hemispheric insults. Patients were divided in two groups: 10 with cystic lesions (group 1), and 9 with atrophic lesions (group 2). Seizure and EEG features, as well as developmental sequelae were similar between the two groups, except for the finding that patients of group 2 more commonly presented seizures with more than one semiological type. MRI showed hyperintense T2 signal extending beyond the lesion in almost all patients of both groups, and it was more diffuse in group 2. Associated hippocampal atrophy (HA) was observed in 70% of group 1 patients and 77.7% of group 2, and it was not correlated with duration of epilepsy or seizure frequency. There was a good concordance between HA and electroclinical localization. The high prevalence of associated HA in both groups suggests a common pathogenesis with the more obvious lesion. Our findings indicate that in some of these patients with extensive destructive lesions, there may be a more circumscribed epileptogenic area, particularly in those with cystic lesions and HA, leading to a potential rationale for effective surgical treatment.58990-100

CP-odd static electromagnetic properties of the W gauge boson and the t quark via the anomalous tbW coupling

In the framework of the electroweak chiral Lagrangian, the one-loop induced effects of the anomalous $tbW$ coupling, which includes both left- and right-handed complex components, on the static electromagnetic properties of the $W$ boson and the $t$ quark are studied. The attention is focused mainly on the CP-violating electromagnetic properties. It is found that the $tbW$ anomalous coupling can induce both CP-violating moments of the $W$ boson, namely, its electric dipole ($\tilde{\mu}_W$) and magnetic quadrupole ($\tilde{Q}_W$) moments. As far as the $t$ quark is concerned, a potentially large electric dipole moment $(d_t)$ can arise due to the anomalous $tbW$ coupling. The most recent bounds on the left- and right-handed parameters from $B$ meson physics lead to the following estimates $\tilde{\mu}_W ~ 10^{-23}-10^{-22}$ e-cm and $\tilde{Q}_W~ 10^{-38}-10^{-37}$ e-cm$^2$, which are 7 and 14 orders of magnitude larger than the standard model (SM) predictions, whereas $d_t$ may be as large as $10^{-22}$ e-cm, which is about 8 orders of magnitude larger than its SM counterpart.Comment: This paper has been merged with hep-ph/0612171 for publication in Physical Review

De Novo Psychogenic Seizures After Epilepsy Surgery: Case Report.

The occurrence of de novo psychogenic seizures after epilepsy surgery is rare, and is estimated in 1.8% to 3.6%. Seizures after epilepsy surgery should be carefully evaluated, and de novo psychogenic seizures should be considered especially when there is a change in the ictal semiology. We report a patient with de novo psychogenic seizures after anterior temporal lobe removal for refractory temporal lobe epilepsy. Once psychogenic seizures were diagnosed and psychiatric treatment was started, seizures stopped.58535-

Lippia sidoides essential oil at concentration of 0.25% provided improvements in microbiota and intestine integrity of Danio rerio.

Abstract: The study evaluated the effects of dietary supplementation with Lippia sidoides essential oil on the microbiota and intestinal morphology of Danio rerio. Resumo: O estudo avaliou os efeitos da suplementação dietária com óleo essencial de Lippia sidoides sobre a microbiota e a morfologia intestinal de Danio rerio. Para isso, 448 peixes foram distribuídos aleatoriamente em 28 tanques divididos em grupo controle alimentado com dieta comercial sem suplementação, grupo alimentado com dieta comercial contendo álcool de cereais e cinco grupos alimentados com dieta comercial contendo óleo essencial de L. sidoides (LSEO) em concentrações de 0,25%, 0,50%, 0,75%, 1,00% e 1,25%.Título em Português: O óleo essencial de Lippia sidoides em concentração 0,25% proporcionou melhorias na microbiota e integridade intestinal de Danio rerio

Fruit residues as diet ingredients for Symphysodon Discus: nutrient figestibility.

The selection of ingredients is an important aspect for diets formulation for fish in captivity. The use of fruit industry by-products can be an alternative for inclusion in diets for ornamental fish, as discus fish case, to improve health and reduction of production costs, further to reducing the environmental impacts of fruits industries residues. The objective the studies was to evaluate the bioavailability of fruit industry by-products in the diet for discus fish by coefficients of digestibility. The digestibility of three by-products: pineapple by-product, mango by-product, and passion fruit by-product were evaluated. Thirty-two discus fish (106 ± 26.6 g) were distributed in 4 tanks for feeding and fecal collection, constituting an experimental design in Latin square (4 diets test- x 4 periods of fecal collection x 4 replicates). The three by-products had digestibility coefficients above 80%, 70%, and 69% for dry matter, protein, and fat, respectively, being possible to use them as a source of these nutrients in diets for the discus fish. However, it was observed that the mango and passion fruit by-product had the lowest energy digestibility coefficient, with bioavailabilities less than 50% of utilization. The co-products of the fruit processing industry tested in this work have nutritional conditions to be used as food for root discs. The use of these co-products as food for ornamental fish can be an alternative use and value. O uso de coprodutos como componentes de uma ração fornece compostos bioativos, sendo economicamente acessível e ecologicamente viável. Neste sentido, o objetivo do estudo foi avaliar a biodisponibilidade de coprodutos da indústria de frutas na alimentação de acarás disco (Symphysodon aequifasciatus) determinando-se os coeficientes de digestibilidade dos macronutrientes. Foram avaliados a digestibilidade de três coprodutos: coproduto de abacaxi (Co-Ab), coproduto de manga (Co-Mg) e coproduto de maracujá (Co-Ma). Foram utilizados 32 acarás disco (106.0 ± 26.6 g) distribuídos em 4 incubadoras, constituindo-se de um delineamento experimental em quadrado latino (3 dietas-teste x 4 períodos de coleta de fezes x 4 repetições). Os coprodutos apresentaram coeficientes de digestibilidade acima de 82% para matéria seca, proteína e extrato etéreo, sendo possível sua utilização como fonte desses nutrientes em dietas para o acará disco. Porém os coprodutos de manga e de maracujá apresentaram os menores aproveitamentos com relação ao coeficiente de digestibilidade para energia, com biodisponibilidades menores de 50% de aproveitamento. Os coprodutos da indústria processadorade frutas testados neste trabalho possuem condições nutricionais para serem utilizados como alimento para acará disco. A utilização destes coprodutos como alimento para peixes ornamentais podem ser uma alternativa de uso e agregação de valor

Fractionation of cellulose nanocrystals : enhancing liquid crystal ordering without promoting gelation

Colloids of electrically charged nanorods can spontaneously develop a fluid yet ordered liquid crystal phase, but this ordering competes with a tendency to form a gel of percolating rods. The threshold for ordering is reduced by increasing the rod aspect ratio, but the percolation threshold is also reduced with this change; hence, prediction of the outcome is nontrivial. Here, we show that by establishing the phase behavior of suspensions of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) fractionated according to length, an increased aspect ratio can strongly favor liquid crystallinity without necessarily influencing gelation. Gelation is instead triggered by increasing the counterion concentration until the CNCs lose colloidal stability, triggering linear aggregation, which promotes percolation regardless of the original rod aspect ratio. Our results shine new light on the competition between liquid crystal formation and gelation in nanoparticle suspensions and provide a path for enhanced control of CNC self-organization for applications in photonic crystal paper or advanced composites