A volatolomic approach using cerumen as biofluid to diagnose bovine intoxication by Stryphnodendron rotundifolium

An innovative volatolomic approach employs the detection of biomarkers present in cerumen (earwax) to identify cattle intoxication by Stryphnodendron rotundifolium Mart., Fabaceae (popularly known as barbatimão). S. rotundifolium is a poisonous plant with the toxic compound undefined and widely distributed throughout the Brazilian territory. Cerumen samples from cattle of two local Brazilian breeds (‘Curraleiro Pé-Duro’ and ‘Pantaneiro’) were collected during an experimental intoxication protocol and analyzed using headspace (HS)/GC–MS followed by multivariate analysis (genetic algorithm for a partial least squares, cluster analysis, and classification and regression trees). A total of 106 volatile organic metabolites were identified in the cerumen samples of bovines. The intoxication by S. rotundifolium influenced the cerumen volatolomic profile of the bovines throughout the intoxication protocol. In this way, it was possible to detect biomarkers for cattle intoxication. Among the biomarkers, 2-octyldecanol and 9-tetradecen-1-ol were able to discriminate all samples between intoxicated and nonintoxicated bovines. The cattle intoxication diagnosis by S. rotundifolium was accomplished by applying the cerumen analysis using HS/GC–MS, in an easy, accurate, and noninvasive way. Thus, the proposed bioanalytical chromatography protocol is a useful tool in veterinary applications to determine this kind of intoxication.     

In Vivo Biological Behavior of Polymer Scaffolds of Natural Origin in the Bone Repair Process

Autologous bone grafts, used mainly in extensive bone loss, are considered the gold standard treatment in regenerative medicine, but still have limitations mainly in relation to the amount of bone available, donor area, morbidity and creation of additional surgical area. This fact encourages tissue engineering in relation to the need to develop new biomaterials, from sources other than the individual himself. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the effects of an elastin and collagen matrix on the bone repair process in critical size defects in rat calvaria. The animals (Wistar rats, n = 30) were submitted to a surgical procedure to create the bone defect and were divided into three groups: Control Group (CG, n = 10), defects filled with blood clot; E24/37 Group (E24/37, n = 10), defects filled with bovine elastin matrix hydrolyzed for 24 h at 37 °C and C24/25 Group (C24/25, n = 10), defects filled with porcine collagen matrix hydrolyzed for 24 h at 25 °C. Macroscopic and radiographic analyses demonstrated the absence of inflammatory signs and infection. Microtomographical 2D and 3D images showed centripetal bone growth and restricted margins of the bone defect. Histologically, the images confirmed the pattern of bone deposition at the margins of the remaining bone and without complete closure by bone tissue. In the morphometric analysis, the groups E24/37 and C24/25 (13.68 ± 1.44; 53.20 ± 4.47, respectively) showed statistically significant differences in relation to the CG (5.86 ± 2.87). It was concluded that the matrices used as scaffolds are biocompatible and increase the formation of new bone in a critical size defect, with greater formation in the polymer derived from the intestinal serous layer of porcine origin (C24/25).     

Periodic Néel skyrmion transport

In this work, we have used the MuMax3 software to simulate devices consisting of a ferromagnetic thin film placed over a heavy metal thin film. The devices are two interconnected partial-disks where a Néel domain wall is formed in the disks junction. In our simulations we investigate devices with disk radius $r=50$ nm and different distance d between the disks centers (from $d=12$ nm to $d=2R=100$ nm). By applying strong sinusoidal external magnetic fields, we find a mechanism able to create, annihilate and even manipulate a skyrmion in each side of the device. This mechanism is discussed in terms of interactions between skyrmion and domain wall. The Néel domain wall formed in the center of the device interacts with the Néel skyrmion, leading to a process of transporting a skyrmion from one disk to the other periodically. Our results have relevance for potential applications in spintronics such as logical devices.     

Large offset far infrared laser lines generation from the C-O stretching Q-branch of 13CD3OD

2 laser of wide tunability to pump ¹³CD₃OD we could observe 10 new far infrared laser lines ranging from 109 μm to 472 μm. The lines were generated by pumping infrared absorbing transitions of large offset appertaining to the C-O stretching Q-branch. All lines were characterised in wavelength, polarisation, optimum pressure of operation and precise offset measurements. Received: 17 September 1996/Revised version: 18 November 1996     

Gravitation as Anholonomy

A gravitational field can be seen as the anholonomy of the tetrad fields. This is more explicit in the teleparallel approach, in which the gravitational field-strength is the torsion of the ensuing Weitzenböck connection. In a tetrad frame, that torsion is just the anholonomy of that frame. The infinitely many tetrad fields taking the Lorentz metric into a given Riemannian metric differ by point-dependent Lorentz transformations. Inertial frames constitute a smaller infinity of them, differing by fixed-point Lorentz transformations. Holonomic tetrads take the Lorentz metric into itself, and correspond to Minkowski flat spacetime. An accelerated frame is necessarily anholonomic and sees the electromagnetic field strength with an additional term.     

Differentiators and the geometry of polynomials

In 1959, Davis introduced the concept of a differentiator of an operator on a finite-dimensional Hilbert space. We prove that every such operator possesses a differentiator. We also use the theory of differentiators to solve several problems in the geometry of polynomials. For instance, we answer in the affirmative a twenty year old unsolved conjecture of Schoenberg, a related conjecture of Katsoprinakis and a fifty year old unsolved conjecture of De Bruijn and Springer.     

Isotopic production cross sections of residues in reactions induced by relativistic heavy ions with protons and deuterons

The isotopic production cross sections of heavy residues in relativistic heavy-ion collisions have been investigated in inverse kinematics. The primary reaction products were fully identified in mass and atomic number prior to beta decay using the fragment separator FRS. The huge collection of data obtained helps in the understanding of the two main reaction mechanisms involved: fragmentation and fission. These data provide basic information for future radioactive ion beam facilities and for technical applications like intense neutron sources by means of spallation targets.     

New fir laser lines and frequency measurements from optically pumped13CD3OH3

We report the discovery of 57 new fir laser lines from¹³CD₃OH molecule optically pumped by a waveguide CO₂ laser of 300 MHz tunability. For all lines, precise frequency offset measurements between the CO₂ line center and the center of the absorbing¹³CD₃OH line were performed using the transferred Lamb-Dip technique. We have also measured directly the frequency of seven FIR laser lines by heterodyning with already known laser lines. We present a complete list of all known laser lines (134) and frequency measurements (24) for this molecule.Work supported by CNPq, FAPESP, FAEP-Brasil, and CNR-Italia     

Holographic dark energy and the universe expansion acceleration

By incorporating the holographic principle in a time-depending Λ-term cosmology, new physical bounds on the arbitrary parameters of the model can be obtained. Considering then the dark energy as a purely geometric entity, for which no equation of state has to be introduced, it is shown that the resulting range of allowed values for the parameters may explain both the coincidence problem and the universe accelerated expansion, without resorting to any kind of additional structures.