Generating unexpected spin echoes in dipolar solids with pi pulses

NMR spin echo measurements of 13C in C60, 89Y in Y2O3, and 29Si in silicon are shown to defy conventional expectations when more than one pi pulse is used. Multiple pi-pulse echo trains may either freeze out or accelerate the decay of the signal, depending on the pi-pulse phase. Average Hamiltonian theory, combined with exact quantum calculations, reveals an intrinsic cause for these coherent phenomena: the dipolar coupling has a many-body effect during any real, finite pulse.     

Current status of biodiesel development in Brazil

In recent years, the concept of producing biodiesel from renewable lipid sources has regained international attention. In Brazil, a national program was launched in 2002 to evaluate the technical, economic, and environmental competitiveness of biodiesel in relation to the commercially available diesel oil. Several research projects were initiated nationwide to investigate and/or optimize biodiesel production from renewable lipid sources and ethanol derived from sugarcane (ethyl esters). Once implemented, this program will not only decrease our dependence on petroleum derivatives but also create new market opportunities for agribusiness, opening new jobs in the countryside, improving the sustainability of our energy matrix, and helping the Brazilian government to support important actions against poverty. This article discusses the efforts to develop the Brazilian biodiesel program in the context of technical specifications as well as potential oilseed sources.     

Differential operators in terms of Clebsch-Gordon (C-G) coefficients and the wave equation of massless tensor fields

The quantum theory of angular momentum affords a treatment of tensors and vectors in a spherical basis. By using this theory we define the tensor differential operators: divergence, curl and gradient which act on a tensor of any rank, in terms of C-G coefficients. With these definitions we obtain a matrix representation and useful properties for those operators. An interesting application of this formalism is to find the wave equation of a tensor of any rank in a linear theory. This provides a new common way to look at the wave equations associated with both Maxwell's equations and the Maxwell-like equations for the linearized Weyl curvature tensor in gravitoelectromagnetism describing gravitational radiation on a Minkowski spacetime background.     

Aromatic compounds produced by endophytic fungi isolated from red alga Asparagopsis taxiformis - Falkenbergia stage

Endophytic fungi were isolated from red alga Asparagopsis taxiformis - Falkenbergia stage, collected from the Brazilian coast, and were identified as Annulohypoxylon stygium (AT-03) and A. yungensis (AT-06) based on their macro/micromorphological and molecular features. Bioassay-guided fractionation of the EtOAc extract from laboratory cultures of both strains yielded known compounds pyrogallol from A. stygium, (3R)-scytalone and (3R,4R)-4-hydroxy-scytalone from A. yungensis. Pyrogallol was active against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Escherichia coli strains. An inactive fraction from A. stygium afforded two additional compounds, (3R,4R)-3,4,5-trihydroxy-1-tetralone and tyrosol. Optically active compounds had their stereochemistry determined by circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy.     

Towards experiments with highly charged ions at HESR

The atomic physics collaboration SPARC is a part of the APPA pillar at the future Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research. It aims at atomic-physics research across virtually the full range of atomic matter. An emphasis of this contribution are the atomic physics experiments addressing the collision dynamics in strong electro-magnetic fields as well as the fundamental interactions between electrons and heavy nuclei at the HESR. Here we give a short overview about the central instruments for SPARC experiments at this storage ring.     

Biomedical application of VIMP: screening of malignant cells in the prostate

An electrochemical method for discriminating healthy and malignant tissues in prostate biopsies using the voltammetry of immobilized particles methodology is described. The method involves the sampling with graphite bars 0.5 mm in diameter on paraffin-impregnated cross sections of prostate tissues used in ordinary cytological evaluation after local staining with methylene blue (MB). The subsequent record of the voltammetric response of sample-modified graphite electrodes displays clearly different MB-centered features for healthy and malignant regions due to the different association of the dye to the respective cells.

     

Effects of NR1 splicing on NR1/NR3B-type excitatory glycine receptors

Background  

N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) are the most complex of ionotropic glutamate receptors (iGluRs). Subunits of this subfamily assemble into heteromers, which – depending on the subunit combination – may display very different pharmacological and electrophysiological properties. The least studied members of the NMDAR family, the NR3 subunits, have been reported to assemble with NR1 to form excitatory glycine receptors in heterologous expression systems. The heterogeneity of NMDARs in vivo is in part conferred to the receptors by splicing of the NR1 subunit, especially with regard to proton sensitivity.