Comparation Between Pulsed Nd: Yag Laser Superficial Treatment and Ceramic Coating in Creep Test of Ti-6aAl-4V Alloy

The objective of this work was evaluating the creep resistance of the Ti-6Al-4V alloy with superficial treatment of pulsed Nd:YAG laser and ceramic coating in creep test of Ti-6Al-4V alloy. It was used Ti-6Al-4V alloy as cylindrical bars under forged and annealing of 190oC by 6 hours condition and cooled by air. The Ti-6Al-4V alloy after the superficial treatment of pulsed Nd:YAG laser and ceramic coating was submitted to creep tests at 600°C and 125 at 319 MPa, under constant load mode. In the Nd:YAG pulsed laser treatment was used an environment of 40 % N and 60 % Ar, with 2.1 W of power and 10 m/s of speed. Yttria (8 wt.%) stabilized zirconia (YSZ) with a CoNiCrAlY bond coat was atmospherically plasma sprayed on Ti-6Al-4V substrates by Sulzer Metco Type 9 MB. The obtained results suggest the laser treatment on Ti-6Al-4V alloy improved its creep resistance

Desenvolvimento de recursos didácticos informatizados no âmbito da educação para o desenvolvimento sustentável. o exemplo do courseware SeRe

A falta de recursos didácticos informatizados de qualidade para o 1º e 2º Ciclos do Ensino Básico (1º/2º CEB), concebidos no âmbito da Educação para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável (EDS), numa perspectiva de Ensino por Pesquisa, determinou a organização de uma equipa multidisciplinar para o desenvolvimento do «Courseware Sere - O Ser Humano e os Recursos Naturais». Ajustando alguns princípios de desenvolvimento de software, particularmente de Design Centrado no Utilizador (DCU), o trabalho da equipa multidisciplinar, constituída por elementos com diversas competências (ao nível da Didáctica das Ciências, da Tecnologia Educativa, de Design e de Programação), centrou-se no desenvolvimento de um recurso didáctico informatizado que integra várias tipologias de software, nomeadamente simulações e visualizações, com as actividades didácticas. A orientação do recurso, as temáticas propostas e as metodologias e estratégias de exploração privilegiadas fundamentam-se: i) na identificação das orientações nacionais e internacionais da EDS; ii) na identificação das necessidades e interesses dos professores quanto à implementação de actividades com orientação EDS (Sá, 2008; Sá e Martins, 2007), iii) no paradigma de ensino por competências (Cachapuz, Sá-Chaves e Paixão, 2004) e iv) no recurso a um design interactivo centrado no utilizador (Costa, Loureiro, Reis, Sá, Guerra e Vieira, 2009; Guerra, 2007). Neste artigo faz-se uma apresentação do processo de desenvolvimento do recurso didáctico, das temáticas propostas e das metodologias e estratégias de exploração perspectivadas pelos autores do recurs

Geochemistry, mineralogy, solid-phase fractionation and oral bioaccessibility of lead in urban soils of Lisbon

An urban survey of Lisbon, the largest city in Portugal, was carried out to investigate its environmental burden, emphasizing metallic elements and their public health impacts. This paper examines the geochemistry of lead (Pb) and its influence on human health data. A total of 51 soil samples were collected from urban recreational areas used by children to play outdoors. The semi-quantitative analysis of Pb was carried out by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry after an acid digestion. X-ray diffraction was used to characterize the soil mineralogy. The solid-phase distribution of Pb in the urban soils was investigated on a subset of 7 soils, out of a total of 51 samples, using a non-specific sequential extraction method coupled with chemometric analysis. Oral bioaccessibility measurements were obtained using the Unified BARGE Method developed by the Bioaccessibility Research Group of Europe. The objectives of the study are as follows: (1) investigation of Pb solid-phase distribution; (2) interpretation of Pb oral bioaccessibility measurements; (3) integration of metal geochemistry with human health data; and (4) understanding the influence of geochemistry and mineralogy on oral bioaccessibility. The results show that the bioaccessible fraction of Pb is lower when major metal fractions are associated with less soluble soil phases such as Fe oxyhydroxides, and more increased when the metal is in the highly soluble carbonate phase. However, there is some evidence that the proportion of carbonates in the soil environment is also a key control over the oral bioaccessibility of Pb, irrespective of its solid-phase fractionation

The two-dimensional random-bond Ising model, free fermions and the network model

We develop a recently-proposed mapping of the two-dimensional Ising model with random exchange (RBIM), via the transfer matrix, to a network model for a disordered system of non-interacting fermions. The RBIM transforms in this way to a localisation problem belonging to one of a set of non-standard symmetry classes, known as class D; the transition between paramagnet and ferromagnet is equivalent to a delocalisation transition between an insulator and a quantum Hall conductor. We establish the mapping as an exact and efficient tool for numerical analysis: using it, the computational effort required to study a system of width $M$ is proportional to $M^{3}$, and not exponential in $M$ as with conventional algorithms. We show how the approach may be used to calculate for the RBIM: the free energy; typical correlation lengths in quasi-one dimension for both the spin and the disorder operators; even powers of spin-spin correlation functions and their disorder-averages. We examine in detail the square-lattice, nearest-neighbour $\pm J$ RBIM, in which bonds are independently antiferromagnetic with probability $p$, and ferromagnetic with probability $1-p$. Studying temperatures $T\geq 0.4J$, we obtain precise coordinates in the $p-T$ plane for points on the phase boundary between ferromagnet and paramagnet, and for the multicritical (Nishimori) point. We demonstrate scaling flow towards the pure Ising fixed point at small $p$, and determine critical exponents at the multicritical point.Comment: 20 pages, 25 figures, figures correcte

Oral PTCTS (Particulated Transialidase) Removes Serum Microparticles and Decreases Inflammation in Atherosclerotic Plaques of Rabbits

Background: Previous studies showed that atherosclerotic plaque vulnerability was related with microparticles (MPs)-vesicles larger than 100 nm, which released MMP9 collagenase. In our pre- vious study, intramuscular injection of a new drug (PTCTS) normalized oxidized LDL serum levels and reduced rabbit atherosclerosis. Now, we studied administration of oral PTCTS in order to cla- rify anti-atherosclerotic mechanism of action, analyzing if the treatment removed MPs containing ox-LDL and Mycoplasma pneumoniae antigens and improved the immune response. Methods: We compared two groups of rabbits. Control group (CG, n = 6)—1% cholesterol enriched diet for 12 weeks; Treated group (TG, n = 8)—1% cholesterol enriched diet for 12 weeks with administration of PTCTS (400 μl/day) during the last 6 weeks of diet. The animals had their blood collected, in three different phases of the protocol before being fed with hypercholesterolemic diet, before be- ing treated with water or PTCTS and at the moment of sacrifice. The serum was submitted to im- munofluorescence technique to evaluate the quantity of microparticles marked with antibodies against Mycoplasma pneumoniae and ox-LDL. A fragment of aorta was submitted to immunohisto- chemical detection of antigens from MMP9, ox-LDL, NF-κB and IL-1β. Results: PTCTS showed significant reduction in MMP-9 (P = 0.001) and a tendency of reducing IL-1β (P = 0.09) in the aortic plaques compared with CG. In the serum, PTCTS was able to remove microparticles containing an- tigen of ox-LDL (P = 0.004) and Mycoplasma pneumoniae (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Oral treatment with PTCTS presented more adequate inflammatory response by reducing levels of ox-LDL, IL-1β and mycoplasma, as well as a better stabilization of the atheromatous plaque by reducing levels of MMP-9, avoiding plaque rupture, without causing mortality or toxicity.This work was supported by FAPESP (Fundation that supports research in the State of São Paulo, grant number 2012/12656-5) and Zerbini Foundation

Epidermis recreation in spongy-like hydrogels: New opportunities to explore epidermis-like analogues

[Excerpt] On the road to successfully achieving skin regeneration, 3D matrices/scaffolds that provide the adequate physico-chemical and biological cues to recreate the ideal healing environment are believed to be a key element [1], [2] and [3]. Numerous polymeric matrices derived from both natural [4] and [5] and synthetic [6], [7] and [8] sources have been used as cellular supports; nowadays, fewer matrices are simple carriers, and more and more are ECM analogues that can actively participate in the healing process. Therefore, the attractive characteristics of hydrogels, such as high water content, tunable elasticity and facilitated mass transportation, have made them excellent materials to mimic cells’ native environment [9]. Moreover, their hygroscopic nature [10] and possibility of attaining soft tissues-like mechanical properties mean they have potential for exploitation as wound healing promoters [11], [12], [13] and [14]. Nonetheless, hydrogels lack natural cell adhesion sites [15], which limits the maximization of their potential in the recreation of the cell niche. This issue has been tackled through the use of a range of sophisticated approaches to decorate the hydrogels with adhesion sequences such as arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD) derived from fibronectin [16], [17] and [18], and tyrosine-isoleucine-glycine-serine-arginine (YIGSR) derived from laminin [18] and [19], which not only aim to modulate cell adhesion, but also influencing cell fate and survival [18]. Nonetheless, its widespread use is still limited by significant costs associated with the use of recombinant bioactive molecules

A novel enzymatically-mediated drug delivery carrier for bone tissue engineering applications: combining biodegradable starch-based microparticles and differentiation agents

In many biomedical applications, the performance of biomaterials depends largely on their degradation behavior. For instance, in drug delivery applications, the polymeric carrier should degrade under physiological conditions slowly releasing the encapsulated drug. The aim of this work was, therefore, to develop an enzymaticmediated degradation carrier system for the delivery of differentiation agents to be used in bone tissue engineering applications. For that, a polymeric blend of starch with polycaprolactone (SPCL) was used to produce a microparticle carrier for the controlled release of dexamethasone (DEX). In order to investigate the effect of enzymes on the degradation behavior of the developed system and release profile of the encapsulated osteogenic agent (DEX), the microparticles were incubated in phosphate buffer solution in the presence of a-amylase and/or lipase enzymes (at physiological concentrations), at 37 C for different periods of time. The degradation was followed by gravimetric measurements, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transformed infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and the release of DEX was monitored by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The developed microparticles were shown to be susceptible to enzymatic degradation, as observed by an increase in weight loss and porosity with degradation time when compared with control samples (incubation in buffer only). For longer degradation times, the diameter of the microparticles decreased significantly and a highly porous matrix was obtained. The in vitro release studies showed a sustained release pattern with 48% of the encapsulated drug being released for a period of 30 days. As the degradation proceeds, it is expected that the remaining encapsulated drug will be completely released as a consequence of an increasingly permeable matrix and faster diffusion of the drug. Cytocompatibility results indicated the possibility of the developed microparticles to be used as biomaterial due to their reduced cytotoxic effects

Estrutura da mesofauna num ensaio de produção de biomassa lenhosa para energia no Nordeste de Portugal: padrão espacial e relação com variáveis edáficas

A produção de energia a partir de sistemas intensivos de biomassa lenhosa constitui uma alternativa interessante para solos agrícolas abandonados. Um dos parâmetros de sustentabilidade destes sistemas é a manutenção da biodiversidade do solo uma vez que a fauna edáfica desempenha funções ecológicas importantes. Pretende-se neste estudo (1) analisar o padrão espacial da abundância da comunidade de mesofauna e (2) relacionar a sua estrutura com variáveis edáficas num ensaio de biomassa lenhosa para produção de energia num solo de uso agrícola do Nordeste de Portugal. A amostragem da mesofauna decorreu na fase que antecedeu a instalação do ensaio constituindo assim o ponto de partida para avaliar a evolução temporal da estrutura da mesofauna resultante da alteração do uso do solo. Em Outubro de 2007 recolheram-se 105 amostras de solo (cilindro de la cm de altura e 5 cm de diâmetro) distribuídas por 14 transectos. A mesofauna foi retirada usando um extractor McFadyen e depois identificada por grandes grupos e o solo foi analisado quanto ao teor de humidade, pH, % de matéria orgânica, % de carbono, % de azoto e C/No No total das amostras foram quantificados 20719 indivíduos pertencentes a 19 taxa sendo os ácaros e os colêmbolos os grupos dominantes, com uma abundância relativa de 82% e 15.4% respectivam ente. Os parâmetros de abundância da mesofauna foram utilizados para analisar a distribuição espacial com base em métodos geoestatísticos. Nenhuma das variáveis analisadas relativas à mesofauna indicou a existência de continuidade espacial. A análise canónica de correspondência mostrou que os parâmetros químicos do solo explicam 16.2 % do total da variabilidade encontrada nos taxa_ No entanto, não foram encontradas associações evidentes entre as variáveis explanatórias (solo) e as variáveis de resposta (abundância), o que pode ser explicado pela história recente de utilização agrícola intensiva deste solo com mobilizações frequentes que conduzem à homogeneização de todos os parâmetros do solo e consequente destruição de um eventual padrão espacial