Evapotranspiration of the brazilian Pampa biome: seasonality and influential factors

Experimentally characterizing evapotranspiration (ET) in different biomes around the world is an issue of interest for different areas of science. ET in natural areas of the Brazilian Pampa biome has still not been assessed. In this study, the actual ET (ETact) obtained from eddy covariance measurements over two sites of the Pampa biome was analyzed. The objective was to evaluate the energy partition and seasonal variability of the actual ET of the Pampa biome. Results showed that the latent heat flux was the dominant component in available energy in both the autumn–winter (AW) and spring–summer (SS) periods. Evapotranspiration of the Pampa biome showed strong seasonality, with highest ET rates in the SS period. During the study period, approximately 65% of the net radiation was used for the evapotranspiration process in the Pampa biome. The annual mean ET rate was 2.45 mm d1. ET did not show to vary significantly between sites, with daily values very similar in both sites. The water availability in the Pampa biome was not a limiting factor for ET, which resulted in a small difference between the reference ET and the actual ET. These results are helpful in achieving a better understanding of the temporal pattern of ET in relation to the landscape of the Pampa biome and its meteorological, soil, and vegetation characteristicsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Inclusion Complex Of S(-) Bupivacaine And 2-hydroxypropyl- β-cyclodextrin: Study Of Morphology And Cytotoxicity

Local anesthetics (LA) belong to a class of pharmacological compounds that attenuate or eliminate pain by binding to the sodium channel of excitable membranes, blocking the influx of sodium ions and the propagation of the nerve impulse. S (-) bupivacaine (S(-) bvc) is a local anesthetic of amino-amide type, widely used in surgery and obstetrics for sustained peripheral and central nerve blockade. This article focuses on the characterization of an inclusion complex of S(-) bvc in 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD). Differential scanning calorimetry, scanning electron microscopy and X-Ray diffraction analysis showed structural changes in the complex. In preliminary toxicity studies, the cell viability tests revealed that the inclusion complex decreased the toxic effect (p<0.001) produced by S(-) bvc. These results suggest that the S(-) bvc:HP-β-CD inclusion complex represents a promising agent for the treatment of regional pain.273207212Araújo, D.R., Cereda, C.M., Brunetto, G.B., Pinto, L.M.A., Santana, M.H., de Paula, E., Encapsulation of mepivacaine prolongs the analgesia provided by sciatic nerve blockade in mice (2004) Can J Anaesth, 51, pp. 566-572Araújo, D.R., Fraceto, L.F., Braga, A.F.A., de Paula, E., Drug-delivery systems for racemic bupivacaine (S50-R50) and bupivacaine enantiomeric mixture (S75-R25):cyclodextrins complexation effects on sciatic nerve blockade in mice (2005) Rev Bras Anestesiol, 55, pp. 316-328Araújo, D.R., Moraes, C.M., Fraceto, L.F., Braga, A.F.A., de Paula, E., Cyclodextrin-bupivacaine enantiomeric mixture (S75-R25) inclusion complex and intrathecal anesthesia in rats (2006) Rev Bras Anestesiol, 56, pp. 495-506Bibby, D., Davies, N.M., Tueker, I.G., Mechanisms by which cyclodextrins modify drug release from polymeric drug delivery systems (2000) Int J Pharm, 197, pp. 1-11Covino, B.G., Vassalo, H.G., (1976) Local anesthetics: Mechanisms of action and clinical use, , New York: Grune and Stratton;, 255pFoster, R.H., Markham, A., Levobupivacaine. A review of its pharmacology and use as a local anaesthetic (2000) Drugs, 59, pp. 551-579Grant, G.J., Bansinath, M., Liposomal delivery systems for local anesthetics (2001) Reg Anesth Pain Med, 26, pp. 61-63Gristwood, R.W., Cardiac and CNS toxicity of levobupivacaine: Strengths of evidence for advantage over bupivacaine (2002) Drug Saf, 25, pp. 153-163Hirayama, F., Uekama, K., Cyclodextrin-based controlled drug release system (1999) Adv Drug Deliv Rev, 36, pp. 125-141Huang, Y.F., Pryor, M.E., Mather, L.E., Veering, B.T., Cardiovascular and central nervous system effects of intravenous S-bupivacaine and bupivacaine in sheep (1998) Anesth Analg, 86, pp. 797-804Jong, R.H., (1994) Local anesthetics, , Springfield: CC. Thomas;, 325pKohata, S., Jyodi, K., Ohyoshi, A., Thermal decomposition of cyclodextrins (α -, β-, γ, and modified β-CyD) and of metal-(β-CyD) complex in the solid phase (1993) Thermochim Acta, 217, pp. 187-198Loftsson, T., Brewster, M.E., Pharmaceutical application of Cyclodextrin. 1. Drug solubilization and stabilization (1996) J Pharm Sci, 85, pp. 1017-1025Loukas, Y.L., Vraka, V., Gregoriadis, G., Novel non-acidic formulations of haloperidol complexed with beta-cyclodextrin derivatives (1997) J Pharm Biomed Anal, 16, pp. 263-268Mather, L.E., McCall, P., McNicol, P.L., Bupivacaine enantiomer pharmacokinetics after intercostal neural blockade in liver transplant patients (1995) Anesth Analg, 80, pp. 328-335Michaud, M., Icart, S., Determination of the substitution of hydroxypropylbetadex using fourier transform infrared spectrophotometry (2001) PharmEuropa, 13, pp. 714-716Naidu, N.B., Chowdary, K.P.R., Murthy, K.V.R., Satyanarayana, V., Hayman, A.R., Becket, G., Physicochemical characterization and dissolution properties of meloxicam-cyclodextrin binary systems (2004) J Pharm Biomed Anal, 35, pp. 75-86Pinto, L.M.A., Fraceto, L.F., Santana, M.H.A., Pertinhez, T.A., Oyama, S., de Paula, E., Physico-chemical characterization of benzocaine-β-cyclodextrin inclusion complexes (2005) J Pharm Biomed Anal, 39, pp. 956-963Ren, X., Xue, Y., Liu, J., Zhang, K., Zheng, J., Lou, G., Gou, C., Shen, J., A novel cyclodextrin-deri ved tellurium compound with glutathione peroxidase (2002) Chembiochem, 3, pp. 363-365Rose, J.S., Neal, J.M., Kopacz, D.J., Extended-duration analgesia: Update on microspheres and liposomes (2005) Reg Anesth Pain Med, 30, pp. 275-285Strichartz, G.R., Ritchie, J.M., (1987) Local anesthetics: Handbook of experimental pharmacology, , Berlin: Springer-Verlag;, 445pThompson, D.O., Cyclodextrin-enabling excipients: Their present and future use in pharmaceuticals (1997) Crit Rev Ther Drug Carrier Syst, 14, pp. 1-10

Effect of continuum couplings in fusion of halo 11^{11}Be on 208^{208}Pb around the Coulomb barrier

The effect of continuum couplings in the fusion of the halo nucleus $^{11}$Be on $^{208}$Pb around the Coulomb barrier is studied using a three-body model within a coupled discretised continuum channels (CDCC) formalism. We investigate in particular the role of continuum-continuum couplings. These are found to hinder total, complete and incomplete fusion processes. Couplings to the projectile $1p_{1/2}$ bound excited state redistribute the complete and incomplete fusion cross sections, but the total fusion cross section remains nearly constant. Results show that continuum-continuum couplings enhance the irreversibility of breakup and reduce the flux that penetrates the Coulomb barrier. Converged total fusion cross sections agree with the experimental ones for energies around the Coulomb barrier, but underestimate those for energies well above the Coulomb barrier.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures, accepted in Phys. Rev.

Excess adiposity and low physical fitness hamper Supine-to-Stand test performance among sedentary adolescents

Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between body adiposity and physical fitness with performance in the Supine-to-Stand test (STS-test) in sedentary adolescents. Methods: Sixty-two adolescents, of both sexes, between 10 and 16 years old, participated in the study. Body mass (BM), height, waist circumference (WC), fat mass (FM), fat-free mass (FFM), right and left handgrip strength (HGS-right, HGS-left), abdominal resistance (ABDO), flexibility (FLEX), and cardiorespiratory fitness (VO2peak) were measured. Body mass index (BMI), z-score BMI (BMI-z), tri-ponderal mass index (TMI) and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) were calculated. The STS-test was applied to evaluate the STS-MC by the movement patterns in the execution of the test. The STS-time in seconds (s) was categorized into terciles: fast (FG  2.6 s). One-way ANOVA, Chi-square, Spearman's correlation coefficient as well as non-parametric tests were used, with significance p ≤ 0.05. Results: The SG presented higher BMI, BMI-z, TMI, WHtR, FM, %FM, as well as lower averages for %FFM, HGS-right, HGS-left, FLEX, ABDO, VO2peak, VO2peak relative to BM (VO2peakBM) in relation to GF. The BMI, BMI-z, TMI, WC, WHtR and FM showed moderate and direct correlations with STS-time and inverse with STS-MC (p < 0.01). HGS-right, HGS-left, ABDO, and VO2peakBM showed moderate and an inverse correlation with STS-time (p < 0.05). The VO2peakBM was moderate and with direct correlations to STS-MC (p < 0.01). Conclusion: It is concluded that excess fat and low physical fitness hamper STS-test performance. Therefore, the STS-test can be used for screening students to assess MC

Search for direct production of charginos and neutralinos in events with three leptons and missing transverse momentum in √s = 7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for the direct production of charginos and neutralinos in final states with three electrons or muons and missing transverse momentum is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in three signal regions that are either depleted or enriched in Z-boson decays. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set in R-parity conserving phenomenological minimal supersymmetric models and in simplified models, significantly extending previous results

Jet size dependence of single jet suppression in lead-lead collisions at sqrt(s(NN)) = 2.76 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

Measurements of inclusive jet suppression in heavy ion collisions at the LHC provide direct sensitivity to the physics of jet quenching. In a sample of lead-lead collisions at sqrt(s) = 2.76 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of approximately 7 inverse microbarns, ATLAS has measured jets with a calorimeter over the pseudorapidity interval |eta| < 2.1 and over the transverse momentum range 38 < pT < 210 GeV. Jets were reconstructed using the anti-kt algorithm with values for the distance parameter that determines the nominal jet radius of R = 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5. The centrality dependence of the jet yield is characterized by the jet "central-to-peripheral ratio," Rcp. Jet production is found to be suppressed by approximately a factor of two in the 10% most central collisions relative to peripheral collisions. Rcp varies smoothly with centrality as characterized by the number of participating nucleons. The observed suppression is only weakly dependent on jet radius and transverse momentum. These results provide the first direct measurement of inclusive jet suppression in heavy ion collisions and complement previous measurements of dijet transverse energy imbalance at the LHC.Comment: 15 pages plus author list (30 pages total), 8 figures, 2 tables, submitted to Physics Letters B. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at http://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/HION-2011-02

Latin American consumption of major food groups: Results from the ELANS study

Background The Latin American (LA) region is still facing an ongoing epidemiological transition and shows a complex public health scenario regarding non-communicable diseases (NCDs). A healthy diet and consumption of specific food groups may decrease the risk of NCDs, however there is a lack of dietary intake data in LA countries. Objective Provide updated data on the dietary intake of key science-based selected food groups related to NCDs risk in LA countries. Design ELANS (Latin American Study of Nutrition and Health) is a multicenter cross-sectional study assessing food consumption from an urban sample between15 to 65 years old from 8 LA countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela). Two 24-HR were obtained from 9, 218 individuals. The daily intake of 10 food groups related to NCDs risk (fruits; vegetables; legumes/beans; nuts and seeds; whole grains products; fish and seafood; yogurt; red meat; processed meats; sugar-sweetened beverages (ready-to-drink and homemade)) were assessed and compared to global recommendations. Results Only 7.2% of the overall sample reached WHO's recommendation for fruits and vegetables consumption (400 grams per day). Regarding the dietary patterns related to a reduced risk of NCDs, among the overall sample legumes and fruits were the food groups with closer intake to the recommendation, although much lower than expected (13.1% and 11.5%, respectively). Less than 3.5% of the sample met the optimal consumption level of vegetables, nuts, whole grains, fish and yogurt. Largest country-dependent differences in average daily consumption were found for legumes, nuts, fish, and yogurt. Mean consumption of SSB showed large differences between countries. Conclusion Diet intake quality is deficient for nutrient-dense food groups, suggesting a higher risk for NCDs in the urban LA region in upcoming decades. These data provide relevant and up-to-date information to take urgent public health actions to improve consumption of critically foods in order to prevent NCDs. Copyright