Molecular Evaluation of exons 8 and 22 of the SHANK3 gene in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Autism spectrum disorders are a group of neurodevelopmental disorders with a complex and heterogeneous etiology. Studies have shown that genetic factors play an important role in the aetiology of these diseases. Recently, de novo mutations, frameshifts and deletions have been described in the SHANK3 gene, also known as ProSAP2 gene, which encodes a synaptic scaffolding protein. All the participants of this study had normal karyotypes and underwent screening for Fragile-X syndrome. Subsequently, they were analyzed by direct sequencing of different points of exons 8 and 22 of the SHANK3 gene. None of the study participants presented with changes in these regions. These findings may be due to the fact that mutations, deletions and duplications of the SHANK3 gene are rare

Bound state structure and electromagnetic form factor beyond the ladder approximation

We investigate the response of the bound state structure of a two-boson system, within a Yukawa model with a scalar boson exchange, to the inclusion of the cross-ladder contribution to the ladder kernel of the Bethe-Salpeter equation. The equation is solved by means of the Nakanishi integral representation and light-front projection. The valence light-front wave function and the elastic electromagnetic form factor beyond the impulse approximation, with the inclusion of the two-body current, generated by the cross-ladder kernel, are computed. The valence wave function and electromagnetic form factor, considering both ladder and ladder plus cross-ladder kernels, are studied in detail. Their asymptotic forms are found to be quite independent of the inclusion of the cross-ladder kernel, for a given binding energy. The asymptotic decrease of form factor agrees with the counting rules. This analysis can be generalized to fermionic systems, with a wide application in the study of the meson structure.Comment: 19 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Phys. Lett.

Optical Bell-state analysis in the coincidence basis

Many quantum information protocols require a Bell-state measurement of entangled systems. Most optical Bell-state measurements utilize two-photon interference at a beam splitter. By creating polarization-entangled photons with spontaneous parametric down-conversion using a first-order Hermite-Gaussian pump beam, we invert the usual interference behavior and perform an incomplete Bell-state measurement in the coincidence basis. We discuss the possibility of a complete Bell-state measurement in the coincidence basis using hyperentangled states [Phys. Rev. A, \textbf{58}, R2623 (1998)].Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Multimode Hong-Ou-Mandel Interferometry

We review some recent experiments based upon multimode two-photon interference of photon pairs created by spontaneous parametric down-conversion. The new element provided by these experiments is the inclusion of the transverse spatial profiles of the pump, signal and idler fields. We discuss multimode Hong-Ou-Mandel interference, and show that the transverse profile of the pump beam can be manipulated in order to control two-photon interference. We present the basic theory and experimental results as well as several applications to the field of quantum information.Comment: 20 pages, 14 figures, Brief Review to be published in Modern Physics Letters

SOLUTION OF MULTIPHASE HEAT CONDUCTION PROBLEMS VIA THE GENERALIZED INTEGRAL TRANSFORM TECHNIQUE WITH DOMAIN CHARACTERIZATION THROUGH THE INDICATOR FUNCTION

The Generalized Integral Transform Technique (GITT) has appeared in the literature as an alternative to conventional discrete numerical methods for partial differential equations in heat transfer and fluid flow. This method permits the automatic control of the error and is easy to program, since there is no need for a discretization. The method has being constantly improved, but there still a vast number of practical problems that has not being solved satisfactory. In several brands of engineering, the transport equations have to be solved for a combination of different phases or materials or inside irregular domains. In this case, the mathematical resource of the Indicator Function can be employed. This function is a representation of the phases or parts of the domain with the numbers 0 and 1 for each phase. According to the method, the Indicator Function is defined by Poisson’s equation, which is added to the system of the transport equations. An integral is done along the curve that defines the interface that will generate the source term in Poisson’ equation used to calculate the Indicator Function distribution. The solution of the system of equations is done using the common GITT approach. Then, an analytical expression for each transformed potential of the indicator function and the other variables are available. Once the transformed potentials are known, the Indicator Function can be analytically operated, and the interface can be represented by an analytical continuous function. In this work, the use of the GITT in conjunction with the Indicator Function is proposed. The methodology is described and some previous results are presented. GITT is applied to a two-dimensional heat conduction problem in a multiphase domain with an irregular geometry, inside a square domain. The methodology presented here can be extended to all brands of convection-diffusion problems already solved via GITT

Utilização de Base de Dados Georreferenciados na criação e gestão da APA de Descalvado.

O trabalho divulga as técnicas de geoprocessamento e sensoriamento remoto, utilizadas na caracterização ambiental da Área de Proteção Ambiental (APA) de Descalvado, em São Paulo, visando a elaboração de diagnósticos, estabelecimento de bases para o zoneamento e produção de material cartográfico

Taxa de prenhez de vacas Nelore submetidas a protocolos de IATF no Planalto Boliviano.

Os benefícios da utilização de métodos reprodutivos alternativos como a inseminação artificial (IA) tem proporcionado avanços significativos no melhoramento do rebanho bovino mundial, além de permitir o controle de doenças venéreas e diminuição de custos de reposição. São também algumas das vantagens apontadas na utilização desta tecnologia a redução na frequência de genes recessivos indesejáveis e difusão genética de touros comprovadamente superiores para regiões do mundo onde sua criação não seria possível.bitstream/item/56917/1/CT101-lancado.pdfNa publicação: Juliana Correa Borges

Utilização de SPE e GC/MS para extração e quantificação de clorfenvinfos e cipermetrina em amostras de águas residuais.

A aplicação de produtos carrapaticidas na forma de banhos é comumente empregada para o controle dos carrapatos, sendo gastos em média de 4 a 5 L por animal, na forma de aspersão. O descarte do resíduo gerado pode ocasionar problemas ambientais. O objetivo do estudo foi desenvolver uma metodologia analítica, empregando a extração em fase sólida (SPE) seguida pela cromatografia gasosa acoplada à espectrometria de massas (GC/MS), para avaliar diferentes processos foto-oxidativos utilizados no tratamento de resíduos gerados dos banhos carrapaticidas aplicados no rebanho bovino da Embrapa Pecuária Sudeste. Foram avaliadas duas formulações comerciais: Supocade® (contendo em cada litro 25 g de cipermetrina e 138 g de clorfenvinfos) e Colosso® (contendo em cada litro 150 g de cipermetrina, 10 g de citronelal e 250 g de clorpirifós). A partir dos espectros de massas obtidos no GC/MS, modo SCAN, injetando os padrões analíticos dos carrapaticidas na concentração de 1 mg/L, selecionou-se três íons de maior intensidade para cada analito em estudo, cipermetrina e clorfenvinfos, operando em seguida o MS no modo SIM. Entre 9,5 e 10,5 min, o detector monitorou os íons m/z 170, 267 e 323, correspondendo ao clorfenvinfos e no tempo de 15,2 a 16,0 min, os íons m/z 163, 181 e 165, correspondentes à cipermetrina. Foram testados os adsorventes florisil, C18 e sílica e como fase móvel os solventes hexano, acetonitrila e metanol. Os melhores resultados de recuperação foram obtidos utilizando florisil e cetonitrila. Para validação da metodologia analítica desenvolvida, SPE-GC/MS, foram considerados os parâmetros: precisão, recuperação, linearidade, coeficiente de orrelação linear, limite de detecção (LOD) e limite de quantificação (LOQ). Para ambos pesticidas as faixas lineares das curvas de calibração se apresentaram entre 50 e 10 mg L- 1. As figuras de mérito obtidas foram R2 = 0,9975 e 0,9967, LOD = 0,010 e 0,020 mg L-1 e LOQ = 0,033 mg L-1 e 0,066 mg L-1, respectivamente para clorofenvinfos e cipermetrina. As concentrações dos carrapaticidas originais e posteriores ao tratamento, presentes nos resíduos foram determinadas, sendo a metodologia desenvolvida adequada na análise de águas residuárias, indicando que a reação foto-Fenton foi mais eficiente no tratamento dos banhos