Women''s opinion on abortion legalization in a middle size county in southern Brazil

To study pancreas enzyme content regulation when the diet was modified in suckling goats, a comparison was made between kids fed a milk replacer and ones fed maternal milk. A total of 25 preruminant Granadina breed goats were bottle-fed a milk replacer ad libitum from postnatal days 3 to 28 (until the age of 3 days kids had been fed colostrum). Body weight, pancreas weight, total protein concentration, and enzyme activities in pancreatic tissue were determined at 3, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days of age, and the results were compared to those previously obtained in kids fed maternal milk for the same period. Lipase activity was significantly lower in the group fed milk replacer, which was poorer in fat. Amylase activity was higher in this group, perhaps due to the starch products present in the milk substitute. However, the postnatal evolution of chymotrypsin activity followed a similar pattern regardless of diet. Our results seem to confirm that in preruminant kids there is a nutritional regulation of pancreatic amylase and lipase activities, depending on the amounts of their respective substrates in the diet, similar to that described in nonruminants.     

Pathogenic action of Penicillium species on mosquito vectors of human tropical diseases

In vitro bioassays were performed in order to assess the pathogenicity of 13 Penicillium strains in 2nd stage larvae of Aedes aegypti, Aedes fluviatilis, Anopheles aquasalis and Culex quinquefasciatus. Mortality rates began in the first 24 hours, ranging from 0 to 100%. P. corylophilum, P. fellutanum, P. implicatum, P. janthinellum, P. viridicatum and P. waksmanii species tested on Aedes aegypti larvae and at different concentrations presented mortality rates from 0 to 6.6%. These species, when tested on Aedes fluviatilis, Anopheles aquasalis and Culex quinquefasciatus larvae, presented a mortality rate of 3.33% to 100%. Susceptibility of Aedes fluviatilis, Aedes aegypti, Anopheles aquasalis and Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes to the tested agents, turn P. corylophilum and P. janthinellum into candidates for potential use in biological control of vectors.     

Design of a stable adaptive controller for driving aerobic fermentation processes near maximum oxygen transfer capacity

In many industrial fermentation processes oxygen availability is the main limiting factor for product production. Typically the dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration decreases continuously at the beginning of the batch until it reaches a critical level where the oxygen transfer rate is very close to the vessel's maximum transfer capacity. The process may be further driven close to this sensitive operating point with a controller that manipulates the carbon source feed rate. This operating strategy is linked with important productivity issues and is still frequently realised in open-loop at production scale. The main purpose of the present study is to derive an effective closed-loop control solution and to demonstrate its economical advantage in relation to the open-loop form of operation. A stable model reference adaptive controller (MRAC) was designed based on a phenomenological model of the process. The implementation requires two on-line measurements: the DO tension and oxygen transfer rate (OTR) between gas–liquid phases, which are nowadays standard and easily available in production facilities. The controller performance is accessed with a simulation case study. The main results show that the adaptive controller is precise, stable and robust to disturbances and to inaccuracies like variability in raw materials typical in fermentations run in complex media. The controller is simple, easy to implement, and could possibly improve productivity in processes for which oxygen transfer capacity is limiting growth and product production.     

Performance of lattice codes over the Gaussian channel

We derive an upper bound on the error probability of lattice codes combined with Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (qam) over the additive white Gaussian noise channel. This bound depends on a lattice figure of merit and is readily put in exponential form by using Chernoff bound. An interesting lower bound is derived by a similar reasoning. We also examine the estimation of the average information rate based upon the continuous approximation of the average power normalized to two dimensions, and suggest to improve it by using the sphere packing idea. Examples of performance evaluation are given for a few lattices. Finally, we present upper and lower bounds on the best fundamental coding gains per dimension (due to both density and thickness) for an arbitrarily large number of dimensions. It is shown in the Appendix that, as the Ungerboeck codes, the lattice codes do not shape the signal power spectrum.     

Clinico-epidemiologic profile of Chagas disease patients attending an ambulatory referral center and proposal of a model of care for the Chagas patient under the perspective of a comprehensive health care

A significant number of patients with acute leukaemias fail in their treatment as a result of the development of resistance to chemotherapy. Several evidences indicate that the expression of a mdr 1 gen, which codifies for P glycoprotein (PgP), contributes to this resistance in leukaemic cells. PgP functions as an energy-dependent efflux pump transporting a variety of unrelated drugs to the outside of the cells. It is possible to modulate this efflux using a number of drugs known as multidrug resistance (MDR) reversors or modulating agents. The present paper discusses some of the methods used for detecting the MDR phenotype, although the most reliable results are the ones that take into account an association of various methods. Despite the existence of disagreements regarding which method presents the greatest sensitivity or specificity the majority of authors agrees that the MDR phenotype, in isolation, affects the prognosis of leukaemias. The, coexpression of PgP with the molecule CD34 confers the worst prognosis in acute leukaemias. The authors demonstrate using cell cultures testing chemotherapeutic agents, alone or associated to modulating agents, that this line of research may allow in the future to elaborate an individualized clinical treatment. They emphasize the necessity of integration between haematologists and basic research as this may lead to a new therapeutic option for refractory patients to conventional treatment.     

Crystalline modifications of lineartrans-quinacridone pigments

Different crystalline structures of lineartrans-quinacridone were prepared and analysed by combination of X-ray diffraction, specific surface areas, optical and scanning electron microscopy, infrared spectroscopy, spectrophotometric analysis and differential thermal analysis. The lattice parameters of each crystalline phase were determined by X-ray diffraction. A new crystalline phase of this pigment was obtained and named the-phase. Isothermal crystallization studies indicated that the crystallographic texture induced by pressure has a strong influence on the crystallization behaviour of this dyestuff.     

Structural Stability and Optical Studies of Poly(3-hexylthiophene) in an ITO/PEDOT:PSS/P3HT Interface

An interface between poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) doped with poly(4-styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) was prepared in LiClO_4-–acetonitrile (ACN) over indium-doped tin oxide (ITO), known as the ITO/PEDOT:PSS/P3HT system. This system was compared with ITO/P3HT with the aim of studying the stability of aromatic, quinone, and semiquinone segments in the polymer matrix and also elucidating the influence of the structure on the efficiency of organic photovoltaic cells (OPVs). Initially, Raman spectroscopy was used, varying the laser power to verify the destabilization of radical cation segments to dication segments in the ITO/P3HT system. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was used to show the behavior of the charged species and the charge-transfer processes of the different P3HT segments as a function of time since preparation of the studied systems. In addition, photoluminescence (PL) and time-resolved PL spectroscopy showed the optical properties of the interfaces formed, based on the different quantities of segments present. It was possible to conclude that the modification introduced into the interface by PEDOT:PSS favors stabilization of the P3HT radical cation segment, which remains stable in this interface for lengthy periods (240 h). This should in turn boost hole extraction, increasing OPV efficiency.