People of my side ≈ people of the other side

In this philosophical inquiry into the foundations of Xavante mathematical thought, numbers emerge as categories structured by social praxis in central Brazil. Clans, moieties, age-sets, and specific kin relations can be viewed as conventional symbols, or numerals, representing essential constituencies of the Xavante socionumerical system. As in other Gé-speaking societies of the Brazilian Amazon, Xavante numbers catalyze a set of presuppositions about dialectical mathematical systems whose rationality is informed by the pervasive dualism that governs social interaction for an estimated 8,000 Xavante today. The binary nature of this numerical system is a product of an omnipresent dialectical view of the world, always oscillating between an “us” and a “them”—or people of my side ≈ people of the other side. Accordingly, a unit is defined as the union of 2 fundamental parts, and numerical place value assumes the significance of reciprocal social relationships. The dialectical association of beings, human or not, material or symbolic, within the dynamism of Xavante dualism synthesizes these and other key ideas about the philosophy of Gě mathematical thought.     

Flux tracking in drug delivery

The dynamics of diffusive and stress-induced transport in polymeric delivery systems was investigated. Partial and ordinary differential equations were first written to describe drug release behaviors in Maxwell and Maxwell–Voigt materials. The time constants governing the flux and concentration responses of a permeating species were determined from a Laplace transform solution of the original model. A “tracking strategy”, based on the estimated characteristic times, was proposed to estimate the delivery rate and the concentration near the exit side of the membrane. The methodology was more efficient at times greater than the time constant and the prediction error decreased further as the process approached steady state. Numerical illustrations and comparisons made with published data show the effectiveness of the proposed approach in describing the influence of the Young modulus, viscosity and relaxation time on the transient regime.     

Topological <Emphasis Type=Italic>K</Emphasis>-equivalence of analytic function-germs

We study the topological K-equivalence of function-germs (ℝ ⁿ , 0) → (ℝ, 0). We present some special classes of piece-wise linear functions and prove that they are normal forms for equivalence classes with respect to topological K-equivalence for definable functions-germs. For the case n = 2 we present polynomial models for analytic function-germs.     

Conditions for equivalence between Mallows distance and convergence to stable laws

Convergence in Mallows distance is of particular interest when heavy-tailed distributions are considered. For 1≦α<2, it constitutes an alternative technique to derive central limit type theorems for non-Gaussian α-stable laws. In this note, we further explore the connection between Mallows distance and convergence in distribution. Conditions for their equivalence are presented.     

Electrochemical enzymatic biosensor for tyramine based on polymeric matrix derived from 4-mercaptophenylacetic acid

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - In this paper, we investigated a novel functionalized polymeric film derived from 4-mercaptophenylacetic acid (MPAA). The polymerization was carried out...     

Toxicological evaluation in silico and in vivo of secondary metabolites of Cissampelos sympodialis in Mus musculus mice following inhalation

The ethanolic extract of the leaves of Cissampelos sympodialis showed great pharmacological potential, with inflammatory and immunomodulatory activities, however, it showed some toxicological effects. Therefore, this study aims to verify the toxicological potential of alkaloids of the genus Cissampelos through in silico methodologies, to develop a method in LC-MS/MS verifying the presence of alkaloids in the infusion and to evaluate the toxicity of the infusion of the leaves of C. sympodialis when inhaled by Swiss mice. Results in silico showed that alkaloid 93 presented high toxicological potential along with the products of its metabolism. LC-MS/MS results showed that the infusion of the leaves of this plant contained the alkaloids warifteine and methylwarifteine. Finally, the in vivo toxicological analysis of the C. sympodialis infusion showed results, both in biochemistry, organ weights and histological analysis, that the infusion of C. sympodialis leaves presents a low toxicity.     

Electron-Induced Reactions in 3-Bromopyruvic Acid

3-Bromopyruvic acid (3BP) is a potential anti-cancer drug, the action of which on cellular metabolism is not yet entirely clear. The presence of a bromine atom suggests that it is also reactive towards low-energy electrons, which are produced in large quantities during tumour radiation therapy. Detailed knowledge of the interaction of 3BP with secondary electrons is a prerequisite to gain a complete picture of the effects of 3BP in different forms of cancer therapy. Herein, dissociative electron attachment (DEA) to 3BP in the gas phase has been studied both experimentally by using a crossed-beam setup and theoretically through scattering and quantum chemical calculations. These results are complemented by a vacuum ultraviolet absorption spectrum. The main fragmentation channel is the formation of Br⁻ close to 0 eV and within several resonant features at 1.9 and 3–8 eV. At low electron energies, Br⁻ formation proceeds through σ* and π* shape resonances, and at higher energies through core-excited resonances. It is found that the electron-capture cross-section is clearly increased compared with that of non-brominated pyruvic acid, but, at the same time, fragmentation reactions through DEA are significantly altered as well. The 3BP transient negative ion is subject to a lower number of fragmentation reactions than those of pyruvic acid, which indicates that 3BP could indeed act by modifying the electron-transport chains within oxidative phosphorylation. It could also act as a radio-sensitiser.     

Influence of the Insertion Method of Aryl-Extended Calix[4]pyrroles into Liposomal Membranes on Their Properties as Anion Carriers

We disclose the results of our investigations on the influence that the insertion method of aryl-extended calix[4]pyrrole into liposomal membranes exerts on their properties as anion carriers. We use the standard HPTS assay to assess the transport properties of the carriers. We show that the post-insertion of the carrier, as DMSO solution, assigns better transport activities to the “two-wall” α,α-aryl-extended calix[4]pyrrole 1 compared to the “four-wall” α,α,α,α-counterpart 2 . Notably, opposite results were obtained when the carriers were pre-inserted into the liposomal membranes. We assign this difference to an improved incorporation of carrier 2 into the membrane when delivered by the pre-insertion method. On the other hand, carrier 1 shows comparable levels of transport independently of the method used for its incorporation. Thus, an accurate comparison of the chloride transport activities featured by these two carriers demands their pre-incorporation in the liposomal membranes. In contrast, using the lucigenin assay with the pre-insertion method both carriers displayed similar transport efficiencies.