Functionalizing self-assembled GaN quantum dot superlattices by Eu-implantation

Self-assembled GaN quantum dots (QDs) stacked in superlattices (SL) with AlN spacer layers were implanted with Europium ions to fluences of 1013, 1014, and 1015 cm−2. The damage level introduced in the QDs by the implantation stays well below that of thick GaN epilayers. For the lowest fluence, the structural properties remain unchanged after implantation and annealing while for higher fluences the implantation damage causes an expansion of the SL in the [0001] direction which increases with implantation fluence and is only partly reversed after thermal annealing at 1000 °C. Nevertheless, in all cases, the SL quality remains very good after implantation and annealing with Eu ions incorporated preferentially into near-substitutional cation sites. Eu3+ optical activation is achieved after annealing in all samples. In the sample implanted with the lowest fluence, the Eu3+ emission arises mainly from Eu incorporated inside the QDs while for the higher fluences only the emission from Eu inside the AlN-buffer, capping, and spacer layers is observed. © 2010 American Institute of PhysicsFCT-PTDC/CTM/100756/2008program PESSOA EGIDE/GRICESFCT-SFRH/BD/45774/2008FCT-SFRH/BD/44635/200

Meretoja's Syndrome: Lattice Corneal Dystrophy, Gelsolin Type

Lattice corneal dystrophy gelsolin type was first described in 1969 by Jouko Meretoja, a Finnish ophthalmologist. It is caused by an autosomal dominant mutation in gelsolin gene resulting in unstable protein fragments and amyloid deposition in various organs. The age of onset is usually after the third decade of life and typical diagnostic triad includes progressive bilateral facial paralysis, loose skin, and lattice corneal dystrophy. We report a case of a 53-year-old female patient referred to our Department of Ophthalmology by severe dry eye and incomplete eyelid closure. She had severe bilateral facial paresis, significant orbicularis, and perioral sagging as well as hypoesthesia of extremities and was diagnosed with Meretoja's syndrome at the age of 50, confirmed by the presence of gelsolin mutation. At our observation she had bilateral diminished tear film break-up time and Schirmer test, diffuse keratitis, corneal opacification, and neovascularization in the left eye. She was treated with preservative-free lubricants and topical cyclosporine, associated with nocturnal complete occlusion of both eyes, and underwent placement of lacrimal punctal plugs. Ocular symptoms are the first to appear and our role as ophthalmologists is essential for the diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring of ocular alterations in these patients.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Metástase ocular como apresentação inicial de carcinoma de células renais: relato de dois casos

Authors report the cases of 2 patients who had an ocular lesion as the first sign leading to diagnosis of renal cell carcinoma, an uncommon presentation of this neoplasm. The first patient was a 59-year-old man presented with a mass in the right eye. The histological and immunohistochemical profile of the biopsy showed a probable renal cell carcinoma. A CT scan showed a solid mass in the left kidney. The patient underwent radical nephrectomy and excision of the ocular lesion and had an uneventful evolution. The second patient was a 72-year-old man presenting with an ulcerated lesion on the right inferior tarsal conjunctiva. An excisional biopsy of the lesion showed histological and immunohistochemical patterns of a clear cell carcinoma. Abdominal tomography disclosed a right peripheral renal tumor. A right radical nephrectomy was performed. Renal cell carcinoma may present atypically with metastases to quite uncommon organs. Nephrectomy may be of value in selected cases; the ocular metastases are usually excised for aesthetic and functional reasons.Os autores apresentam dois casos de metástase ocular como o primeiro sinal que levou ao diagnóstico de carcinoma renal, uma apresentação incomum desta neoplasia. O primeiro paciente era um homem de 59 anos com uma massa no olho direito. O perfil histológico e imunohistoquimico demonstraram um provável carcinoma de células renais. A tomografia computadorizada revelou uma massa sólida no rim esquerdo, e o paciente foi submetido a nefrectomia radical esquerda, apresentando uma evolução sem complicações. O segundo paciente era um homem com 72 anos portador de uma lesão ulcerada na conjuntiva tarsal inferior direita. Uma biopsia excisional da lesão demonstrou um padrão histológico e imunohistoquimico de carcinoma de células renais. A tomografia de abdômen demonstrou um tumor periférico em rim direito, sendo o paciente submetido a nefrectomia radical. O carcinoma de células renais pode se apresentar atipicamente com metástases para órgãos incomuns. Nefrectomia pode ser útil em casos selecionados. As metástases oculares geralmente são excisadas por razoes estéticas e funcionais

Joint Carrier-Phase Estimation for Digital Subcarrier Multiplexing Systems With Symbol-Rate Optimization

Digital subcarrier multiplexing (SCM) has recently emerged as a promising solution for next-generation ultra-high-baudrate coherent optical communication systems. Among its distinctive advantages over traditional single-carrier modulation, SCM enables the exploitation of symbol-rate optimization (SRO), which has been shown to enable the passive mitigation of the nonlinear interference noise (NLIN) that is generated during propagation over dispersion-unmanaged optical fiber systems. However, the full exploitation of SRO-based NLIN mitigation is severely hindered by the uncompensated distortion caused by laser phase noise (LPN) and non-linear phase noise (NLPN), whose impact is magnified by the use of low-baudrate subcarriers. Resorting to low-complexity carrier phase estimation (CPE) algorithms, in this paper we experimentally demonstrate that it is possible to overcome the hurdles posed by LPN and NLPN in SCM systems, provided that adequate joint-subcarrier CPE processing is employed. A dual-stage joint-processing approach composed of a pilot-based CPE optionally followed by a blind phase search (BPS)-based estimator is implemented and experimentally assessed, enabling to effectively optimize the symbol-rate per subcarrier down to 3 GBaud, in accordance with the theoretical SRO predictions for the system under test. In addition, we demonstrate that signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) gains of more than 1 dB can be achieved through joint-subcarrier CPE processing in shorter-reach links, while this gain tends to progressively reduce with increasing propagation distance, down to about 0.5 dB gain after 3000 km propagation

Avaliação antropométrica de crianças no ensino pré-escolar da rede pública do município da Azambuja

Dada a crescente prevalência de perturbações alimentares em crianças e adolescentes, a avaliação nutricional e o conhecimento dos hábitos alimentares e do estilo de vida, são uma importante contribuição para o estabelecimento de estratégias de intervenção. O estudo realizado incidiu sobre crianças entre os 3 e os 6 anos do ensino pré-escolar da rede pública do Município da Azambuja, tendo-se realizado avaliações antropométricas a 194 crianças. A antropometria permitiu identificar 89 casos de excesso de peso e obesidade (46% da amostra total), verificando-se que as crianças do sexo masculino apresentam maior percentagem de obesidade e obesidade severa. A prevalência de obesidade infantil é preocupante no Município da Azambuja, tal como no resto do pais. Assim, consideramos necessário reforçar as estratégias de prevenção da saúde infantil, associadas à reeducação alimentar já em curso.Nutrition assessment and knowledge of dietary habits and lifestyle in children and adolescents, are fundamental to prevent the increasing prevalence of eating disorders in these age groups. Anthropometric evaluation were made on 194 children between 3 and 6 years of public pre-schools in the municipality of Azambuja, where 46% cases of overweight and obesity were identified. The male children group showed higher values of obesity and severe obesity. Therefore we suggest that more reinforce must be given to the preventive community measures, without neglecting the already started reeducation for adoption of a healthy eating pattern

Effects of Different between Test Rest Intervals in Reproducibility of the 10-Repetition Maximum Load Test: A Pilot Study with Recreationally Resistance Trained Men

International Journal of Exercise Science 12(4): 932-940, 2019. The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of 24-, 36-, 48-, 72- and 96-hours between-test rest intervals on the reproducibility of the 10-RM smith machine back squat (BS), bench press (BP) and leg press at 45 degrees (LP45) exercises. Twelve resistance trained men (26.6 ± 4.5 yrs; 179.0 ± 5.5 cm; 92.2 ± 24.6 kg) performed five sets of identical 10-repetition maximum (10-RM) tests for the BS, BP, LP45 exercises, each set with a different interval between tests: 1) twenty-four hours (Post-24), 2) thirty-six hours (Post-36), 3) forty-eight hours (Post-48), 4) seventy-two (Post-72), and 5) ninety-six hours (Post-96). Significant differences in 10-RM from pretest to posttest were observed for BS in Post-24 (p \u3c 0.001; ∆% = -12.62), Post-36 (p \u3c 0.001; ∆% = -6.57), and Post-96 (p = 0.015; ∆% = 6.84). Similarly, significant differences in 10-RM from pretest to posttest were observed for BP in Post-24 (p \u3c 0.001; ∆% = -9.22), Post-36 (p = 0.032; ∆% = -3.04), and Post-96 (p \u3c 0.001; ∆% = 5.37). Finally, significant differences in 10-RM from pretest to posttest were observed for LP45 in Post-24 (p \u3c 0.001; ∆% = -16.55), Post-36 (p = 0.032; ∆% = -5.09), and Post-96 (p \u3c 0.001; ∆% = 5.54). The reproducibility of 10-RM was examined using intraclass correlation coefficients; BS: 0.944, 0.977, 0.988, 0.986, and 0.954 for Post-24, Post-36, Post-48, Post-72, and Post-96, respectively; BP: 0.894, 0.966, 0.966, 0.960, and 0.976; and LP45: 0.832, 0.957, 0.984, 0.974, and 0.977 5. Based on the findings, the optimal between test rest interval duration for 10-RM testing, to provide the best reproducibility, in resistance trained men appears to be 48 to 72 hours for the BS, BP, and LP45 exercises

GLP-1 Increases Circulating Leptin Levels in Truncal Vagotomized Rats

GLP-1 is a gastro-intestinal hormone acting within the gut/brain axis for energy balance regulation. We aimed to evaluate the role of the vagus nerve in whole-body energy homeostasis and in mediating GLP-1 effects. For this, rats submitted to truncal vagotomy and sham-operated controls underwent a comprehensive evaluation, including eating behavior, body weight, percentage of white (WAT) and brown adipose tissue (BAT), resting energy expenditure (REE) and acute response to GLP-1. Truncal vagotomized rats had significantly lower food intake, body weight, body weight gain, WAT and BAT, with a higher BAT/WAT ratio, but no significant difference in REE when compared to controls. Vagotomized rats also had significantly higher fasting ghrelin and lower glucose and insulin levels. After GLP-1 administration, vagotomized rats depicted a blunted anorexigenic response and higher plasma leptin levels, as compared to controls. However, in vitro stimulation of VAT explants with GLP-1 resulted in no significant changes in leptin secretion. In conclusion, the vagus nerve influences whole-body energy homeostasis by modifying food intake, body weight and body composition and by mediating the GLP-1 anorectic response. The higher leptin levels in response to acute GLP-1 administration observed after truncal vagotomy suggest the existence of a putative GLP-1-leptin axis that relies on the integrity of gut-brain vagal pathway

Waste management in a school of Agriculture: a paradigm change

Em outubro de 2006, o Governo Federal, através do Decreto 5.940, de 25 de outubro de 2006, determina que os órgãos e entidades da administração pública direta e indireta instituam a separação dos resíduos recicláveis descartados destinando-os ás associações e cooperativas de catadores de materiais recicláveis, gerenciando os resíduos produzidos. As instituições passaram, então, a estudar e elaborar planos de ação para que essa política se efetive de acordo com a realidade de cada local, que apresenta essa problemática sócioambiental. No sentido de cumprir o decreto foi realizado um estudo com o objetivo de verificar os resíduos gerados pelo Instituto Federal de Ensino Sul-rio-grandense campus Pelotas Visconde da Graça, na intenção de elaborar um plano de ação para gerenciamento dos resíduos. Constatou-se que os resíduos gerados pela instituição, devido as suas características, são em grande parcela resíduos orgânicos ou úmidos. Temos conhecimento de que para que essa política seja implementada não podemos nos ater apenas ás normas técnicas e fluxogramas, mas necessitamos de uma mudança de paradigma da comunidade escolar, com transformações nas concepções a respeito da responsabilidade que todos temos diante de questões tão importantes para o todo.In October 2006, the Federal Government, trough Decree 5940 of October 25, 2006, provides that agencies ando public entities to establish direct and indirect separation of recyclable waste disposed of allocating them to associations and cooperatives of pickers recyclable materials, managing the waste generated. Institutions began then to study and develop action plans for this policy to become affective in accordance with the reality of each site, which features the socio-environmental problems. In order to fulfill the decree Was a study in order to check the waste generated by the Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia Sul-Rio-grandense Campus Pelotas Visconde da Graça, in the intention to prepare an action plan for waste management. It was found that the waste generated by that institution, because its features are a large portion or wet organic waste. We know that for this policy is implemented we can not just stick to technical standards and flowcharts, but we need a paradigm shift in the school community, with changes in conceptions about the responsibility we all have before such important issues for whole.Asociación de Universidades Grupo Montevide