Strontium-90 determination in fish from the Brazilian coast

A radiochemical procedure for low level strontium-90 analysis in fish samples as well as the levels of this radionuclide in fish collected along the Brazilian coast are presented. The method developed was applied in reference samples from the IAEA in order to verify the precision and accuracy of the methodology established. Results obtained for strontium and yttrium yields were about 90%. Strontium-90 levels in fish bones varied from 3 to 12 mBq.g^–1 Ca and these data are reference values to our country.     

Pyrazolino[60]fullerene-oligophenylenevinylene dumbbell-shaped arrays: synthesis, electrochemistry, photophysics, and self-assembly on surfaces

Symmetrically substituted oligophenylenevinylene (OPV) derivatives bearing terminal p-nitrophenylhydrazone groups have been prepared and used for the synthesis of dumbbell-shaped bis(pyrazolino[60]fullerene)-OPV systems. In these triad arrays, the OPV-type fluorescence is dramatically quenched as a consequence of ultrafast OPV-->C60 singlet energy transfer. In its turn the fullerene singlet state is quenched by pyrazoline-->C60 electron transfer, in line with the behavior of the corresponding reference fullerene molecule. The occurrence of electron transfer in the multicomponent arrays is evidenced by recovery of fullerene fluorescence at 77 K in CH2Cl2 and in toluene at 298 K. Under these conditions the OPV-->C60 energy transfer is unaffected. The rate of this process turns out to be higher for the OPV trimer than for the corresponding pentameric OPV arrays, in agreement with energy-transfer theory expectations. Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and scanning force microscopy (SFM) revealed that the bis(pyrazolino[60]fullerene)-OPV can self-assemble into ordered layered crystalline architectures on the basal plane of highly oriented pyrolitic graphite.     

Arsenic and cadmium content in edible mushrooms from São Paulo,Brazil determined by INAA and GF AAS

Arsenic and cadmium contents in eight edible mushroom species (Agaricus bisporus, Agaricus sp, Pleurotus ostreatus, Pleorotus florida, Pleorotus eryngui, Pleurotus osteatus, Pleurotus salmoneostramineus, Lentinula edodes) consumed by Brazilian population were determined by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) and graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GF AAS), respectively. Arsenic concentrations varied from 0.009 mg/kg in P. eryngui to 0.210 mg/kg dry weight in L. edodoes and Cd from 0.011 g/kg in P. eryngui to 0.229 mg/kg dw in P. salmoneostramineus. The consumption of mushrooms in São Paulo-Brazil may be considered safe from a toxicological point of view as As and Cd presented levels of ingestion are below the maximum levels recommended by the World Health Organization.     

On the computation of all supported efficient solutions in multi-objective integer network flow problems

This paper presents a new algorithm for identifying all supported non-dominated vectors (or outcomes) in the objective space, as well as the corresponding efficient solutions in the decision space, for multi-objective integer network flow problems. Identifying the set of supported non-dominated vectors is of the utmost importance for obtaining a first approximation of the whole set of non-dominated vectors. This approximation is crucial, for example, in two-phase methods that first compute the supported non-dominated vectors and then the unsupported non-dominated ones. Our approach is based on a negative-cycle algorithm used in single objective minimum cost flow problems, applied to a sequence of parametric problems. The proposed approach uses the connectedness property of the set of supported non-dominated vectors/efficient solutions to find all integer solutions in maximal non-dominated/efficient facets.     

5‐Phenyl‐3,4‐dihydro‐2H‐pyrrole: the first example of a planar monosubstituted 1‐pyrroline

In the title compound, C₁₀H₁₁N, the molecules assemble as pseudo‐dimers through π–π interactions, each dimer being rotated by about 90° with respect to its neighbours. The relative positioning of the dimers and C—H...π interactions give, when seen along a, a supramolecular zigzag arrangement. The compound contains a planar pyrroline ring and, as a whole, its molecular conformation is also planar, which represents the first example of a totally planar 2‐substituted 1‐pyrroline and the simplest ever reported by X‐ray diffraction.     

Modeling centrality measures in social network analysis using bi-criteria network flow optimization problems

Centrality measures play an important role in the field of network analysis. In the particular case of social networks, the flow represents the way in which information passes through the network nodes. Freeman et al. (1991) were the first authors to relate centrality measures to network flow optimization problems in terms of betweenness, closeness, and the influence of one node over another one. Such measures are single dimensional and, in general, they amalgamate several heterogeneous dimensions into a single one, which is not suitable for dealing with most real-world problems. In this paper we extend the betweenness centrality measure (or concept) to take into account explicitly several dimensions (criteria). A new closeness centrality measure is defined to deal not only with the maximum flow between every ordered pair of nodes, but also with the cost associated with communications. We shall show how the classical measures can be enhanced when the problem is modeled as a bi-criteria network flow optimization problem.     

Redox method for the determination of stability constants of some trivalent metal complexes

Stability constants determination of very stable metal complexes using the redox method, based on the equilibrium of Fe (3+)Fe (2+) followed by a couple of platinum/reference electrodes, was undertaken and tested to complexes of some trivalent metal ions with well known polyaminopolycarboxymethylated linear ligands (edta, nta, cdta, dtpa and ttha) and also to some new macrocyclic ligands. SUPERQUAD program was used for the calculations, after adaptation of the experimental data. The method proved to be very useful for Fe(3+) and In(3+) complexes, if no polynuclear complexes are formed or/and if the kinetics of the complexation reaction is not very slow. However, for the Ga(3+) complexes the applicability of this method is very limited and the competition with OH(-) using the displacement reaction which occurs at pH higher than 6 with formation of Ga(OH)(4)(-) seems to give more accurate results. A complete data of stability constants for the case of the complexes of ttha with In(3+) is given.