Switching of Magnetic Moments of Nanoparticles by Surface Acoustic Waves

We report evidence of the magnetization reversal in nanoparticles by surface acoustic waves (SAWs). The experimental system consists of isolated magnetite nanoparticles dispersed on a piezoelectric substrate. Magnetic relaxation from a saturated state becomes significantly enhanced in the presence of the SAW at a constant temperature of the substrate. The dependence of the relaxation on SAW power and frequency has been investigated. The effect is explained by the effective ac magnetic field generated by the SAW in the nanoparticles.Comment: Accepted in Europhysics Letter

Características químicas de compostos orgânicos para o cultivo de bananeiras em sistema orgânico.

Com a expansão da produção agrícola, houve aumento na demanda por fertilizantes importados. O Brasil ocupa a quarta posição no consumo de fertilizantes no mundo, correspondendo em 2010 a 5,9% do total, ficando apenas atrás de China, Índia e EUA

Searching for new sources of innovative products for the food industry within halophyte aromatic plants: In vitro antioxidant activity and phenolic and mineral contents of infusions and decoctions of Crithmum maritimum L.

Aromatic halophyte plants are an outstanding source of bioactive compounds and natural products with potential use in the food industry. This work reports the in vitro antioxidant activity, toxicity, poly phenolic profile and mineral contents of infusions and decoctions from stems, leaves and flowers of Crithmum maritimum L, an aromatic and edible maritime halophyte (sea fennel). Aspalathus linearis (Burm.f.) Dahlg. (rooibos) herbal tea was used as a reference. Sea fennel's tisanes, particularly from leaves, were rich in phenolic compounds and five of them (p-hydroxybenzoic and ferulic acids, epicatechin, pyrocatechol and 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde) were here described in C maritimum for the first time. Chlorogenic acid was the dominant phenolic determined. Na was the most abundant mineral in all tisanes followed by Ca and Mg in leaves' tisanes and K in flowers. Sea fennel's samples had a similar antioxidant activity than those from A. linearis, and had no significant toxicity towards four different mammalian cell lines. Altogether, our results suggest that sea fennel can be a source of products and/or molecules for the food industry with antioxidant properties and minerals in the form, for example, of innovative health-promoting herbal beverages.FCT Investigator Programme [IF/00049/2012

Biological Evidences and Sexual Assault in Forensic Medicine

Trabalho apresentado sob a forma de poster no evento: IV Mediterranean Academy of Forensic Sciences Meeting, em Belek, Antalya, TurkyeIntroduction Sexual assault crimes are ubiquitous; usually unwitnessed, so victim’s statements may be the only direct evidence that it has occurred. Medical examination and biological samples collection are of inequivocal importance. Presence of spermatozoa in smears, elevated acid phosphatase and the presence of Y-STR profiler in the victim’s evidence’s, could be crucial to corroborate victim’s testimony. The Y chromosome is far the most important scientific evidence, not only due to it’s gender specificity and easy amplification in a male/female mixtures, but also because it can easily contribute for the number of unrelated male contributor’s estimation in an biological evidence. The aim of this study is to ascertain a few characteristics concerning sexual harassment and a Y-haplotype profile obtention, which may help to prove or disprove a link between individuals and objects or places. Methodology Biological samples from 782 sexual assault cases were studied. Glass slide vaginal and anal smears were stained with Papanicolau’s and Harris Hematoxilin Solution. For the phosphatase test, a commercially available test paper strip was used (Phosphatesmo KM). DNA was extracted by phenol chloroform method and PCR amplification was performed with Powerplex® Y (Promega) or AmpF1STR Y-Filer (Applied Biosystems). Fragment analysis was done by capillary electrophoresis in an ABI 3130xl. Laboratory results were compared with other data such as, victim age, alleged assailant number, time between the act and collection of biological samples. Significant variables were entered in a logistic regression model using SPSS 17.0 for data analysis. Results and conclusion Descriptive analysis reveals that victim’s age varies between 1 to 90 years old, but almost 20% were under 12 years old. Almost 87% of cases had one perpetrator. Only 10% of the victim’s declared that they had consent sexual intercourse, in the previous 48 hours and 32% take a bath before the exam. Another variable studied was the mean time of 15 hours between the act and biological sample collection. Logistic regression demonstrates that the last two variables are of considerable importance in Y-profile obtention. Concerning acid phosphatase results a male genetic identification was obtained in 12,5 % of the negative cases. In conclusion, Y-STRs study, due to their sensitivity and specificity, should be used in every sexual assault cases, contributing to the final identification of perpetrator’s, and corroborating the victim’s story.info:eu-repo/semantics/draf

Caracterização química de compostos orgânicos para aplicação em cultivos de bananeiras no sistema orgânico.

Com a expansão da produção agrícola, houve aumento na demanda por fertilizantes importados. Os resíduos orgânicos enriquecidos ou não podem ser alternativas na obtenção de compostos orgânicos. O trabalho objetivou quantificar os macroelementos e microelementos em compostos orgânicos produzidos na Embrapa Mandioca e Fruticultura para uso em bananeiras cultivadas no sistema orgânico. Quatro formulações de diferentes compostos orgânicos foram avaliadas quimicamente. O composto 1 apresentou maior teor de N e ausência de contaminação por metais pesados. Os compostos 2, 3 e 4 enriquecidos com fosfato natural da Argélia apresentaram altas concentrações de metais pesados tornando-se não permitidos no sistema orgânico. O composto 1 (grama + esterco + torta de mamona) apresentou 15,7 g kg-1 de N e pode ser utilizado no sistema orgânico da bananeira

Bioactivity of wollastonite/aerogels composites obtained from a TEOS-MTES matrix

Organic-inorganic hybrid materials were synthesized by controlled hydrolysis of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS), methyltrimethoxysilane (MTES), synthetic wollastonite powders and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) in an ethanol solution. Aerogels were prepared from acid hydrolysis of TEOS and MTES with different volume ratio in ethanol, followed by addition of wollastonite powder and PDMS in order to obtain aerogels with 20 wt% of PDMS and 5 wt% of CaO of the total silica. Finally, when the wet gels were obtained, they were supercritically dried at 260°C and 90 bar, in ethanol. In order to obtain its bioactivity, one method for surface activation is based on a wet chemical alkaline treatment. The particular interest of this study is that we introduce hybrid aerogels, in a 1 M solution of NaOH, for 30 s at room temperature. We evaluate the bioactivity of TEOS-MTES aerogel when immersed in a static volume of simulated body fluid (SBF). An apatite layer of spherical-shaped particles of uniform size smaller than 5 microns is observed to form on the surface of the aerogels after 25 days soaking in SBF.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación MAT2005-01583Junta de Andalucía TEP 79

Forensic Genetics as a Tool for Peace and Justice: An Overview on DNA Quantification

In Forensic Genetics, DNA analysis is performed to obtain a Short Tandem Repeat (STR) profile from an evidence sample, which is then compared with the victim and suspect(s) reference sample STR profile, to determine their contribution to that evidence sample. However, forensic biological samples can be present in low quantities and be exposed to different environmental insults leading to DNA degradation and contamination by inhibitor compounds. Thus, it is desirable for a forensic scientist to have useful information about the forensic sample quantity and quality prior to STR amplification. New methods in Forensic DNA analysis for detecting, preserving, and quantifying DNA, as well as its recovery from different biological materials are continually being developed. Real-Time PCR (RT-PCR) assays for DNA quantification, like the recent Quantifiler® Duo DNA quantification kit (Applied Biosystems) proved to be very useful in forensic samples. Since many samples, mainly those resulting from sexual assault cases are often composed by unbalanced male/female DNA mixtures, the knew RT-PCR quantification assay, developed to quantify relative male/ female DNA ratio contributes not only to total DNA determination but also to ascertain the presence and quantity of enough male DNA in the sample. These results are important to guide the optimal STR analysis selection, such as autosomal STR, Y-STR, or mini-STR, increasing downstream analysis success rates. In this work we present real forensic casework where the DNA amount and quality were important to guide the selection of the appropriate STR amplification kit in order to increase the success of profiling in the first attempt, reducing the number of samples that need to be reprocessed and thereby decreasing the turn around time in a forensic laboratory.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The impact of a curriculum for resilience promotion in deaf children and adolescents

Resilience is an interactive process involving internal skills that should be promoted, especially in the early stages of development. This study aims to adapt and implement two themes from the European Curriculum for Resilience Promotion – RESCUR, namely, ‘Developing Communication Skills’ and ‘Establishing and Maintaining Healthy Relationships’, for deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) students. The study included 37 children and adolescents from three Portuguese regions and its impact was evaluated through the perspectives of the students, their guardians and their teachers. Each 90-minute session was implemented weekly. The sessions followed the RESCUR curriculum structure with necessary adaptations to the mindfulness activities, stories, role-play and worksheets. The mean scores increased from pre- to post-intervention assessment on all instruments, namely, KIDSCREEN-10 (children/adolescents), KIDSCREEN-10 (guardians) and CYRM-28 (teachers). The implementation of adapted curricula promoting resilience seems to be beneficial to DHH children, allowing the development of specific resilience-associated skills, and thus enhancing health, well-being and quality of life.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio