Summability of multilinear mappings: Littlewood,Orlicz and beyond

In this paper we prove new results concerning summability properties of multilinear mappings between Banach spaces, such as an extension of Littlewood’s 4/3 Theorem. The role of the Littlewood–Orlicz property in the theory is established, especially in the question of determining when multilinear mappings are (1; 2, . . . , 2)-summing.     

A piezoelectric immunosensor for <Emphasis Type="Italic">Leishmania chagasi</Emphasis> antibodies in canine serum

The American visceral leishmaniasis is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in Brazil for both humans and dogs. Attempts to make a diagnosis of this disease need to be improved, especially in endemic areas, and in the tracking and screening of asymptomatic dogs, which are their main host in urban areas. A quartz crystal microbalance immunosensor for the diagnosis of the canine visceral leishmaniasis using a recombinant antigen of Leishmania chagasi (rLci2B-NH6) was developed. The rLci2B-NH6 was tightly immobilized on a quartz crystal gold electrode by self-assembled monolayer based on short-chain length thiol. The strategy was the use of the antigen-histidine tail covalently linked to glutaraldehyde performing a Schift base which permits a major exposure of epitopes and a reduced steric hindrance. The immunosensor showed good results regarding sensitivity and reproducibility, being able to distinguish positive and negative canine serum for L. chagasi. Furthermore, the immunosensor can be reused through exposure to sodium dodecyl sulfate solution, which promotes the dissociation of antigen–antibody binding, restoring the sensor surface with immobilized biologically active antigens for further analysis.     

Slurry sampling and high-resolution continuum source flame atomic absorption spectrometry using secondary lines for the determination of Ca and Mg in dairy products

The present paper proposes a simple and fast analytical procedure for the sequential multi-element determination of Ca and Mg in dairy products employing sampling slurry and high resolution-continuum source flame atomic absorption spectrometry (HR-CS FAAS). Considering the high concentration of these species in these matrices, the analytical measurements were carried out at the secondary lines of 239.856 and 202.852 for Ca and Mg, respectively. The experimental conditions established for the preparation of the slurries during the optimization step were: 2.0 mol L^{− 1} hydrochloric acid, sonication time of 20 min and sample mass of 1.0 g for a slurry volume of 25 mL. Experiments demonstrated that the analytical curves can be established using the external calibration technique employing aqueous standards. The method allows the determination of Ca and Mg with limits of quantification of 0.038 and 0.016 mg g^{− 1}, respectively. The precision was evaluated under reproducibility and repeatability conditions and expressed as relative standard deviation. The results varied from 2.7 to 2.9% (all tests with n = 10) and using a yogurt sample containing Ca and Mg concentrations of 1.40 and 0.13 mg g^{− 1}, respectively.The accuracy was confirmed by the analysis of a certified reference material of non-fat milk powder furnished by the National Institute of Standard and Technology. The proposed method was applied for the determination of Ca and Mg in yogurt, cow milk and milk powder samples. The samples were also analyzed after complete acid digestion and Ca and Mg determination by HR-CS FAAS. No statistical difference was observed between the results obtained by both of the procedures performed.     

Almost Summing Polynomials

This paper introduces the class of almost summing homogeneous polynomials between Banach spaces. A characterization by means of vector‐valued sequences is proved, connections with the theory of absolutely summing polynomials are established and several examples are given. Some composition and coincidence theorems are obtained and the case of spaces with type or cotype is also investigated.     

Mössbauer studies of heterobimetallic and heterotrimetallic compounds containing iron and tin

A series of ferrocene derivatives was prepared and studied by⁵⁷Fe and¹¹⁹Sn Mössbauer spectroscopy, as well as by other techniques such as NMR and IR spectroscopies. These complexes can be divided into three types: mercurated, organotin derivatives of ferrocene, and bi- and trimetallic derivatives of 1,1-bis(diphenylphosphino)ferrocene. Iron did not show great variation in its Mössbauer parameters in the compounds, in spite of their diversity; tin, however, gave important Mössbauer data for the elucidation of bonding and structural features of the complexes.     

A new generation of track etched membranes for microfiltration and ultrafiltration. Part I. Preparation and characterisation

A new experimental apparatus for porous track etched membrane production has been designed, tested and installed near the core of the IEA-R1 nuclear reactor at IPEN-Sao Paulo. The thermal neutron flux close to the centre of the reactor core has been used to produce fission fragments from uranium sample which was deposited on a rod located at the centre of an evacuated aluminium chamber.     

Minor gamma-lactones from Trichilia catigua (Meliaceae) and its precursors by GC-MS

NMR and GC-MS analysis of fractions of the CHCl3 extract of Trichilia catigua bark led to the identification of a mixture of three omega-phenyl alkanes, three omega-phenyl alkanoic acids, five omega-phenyl-gamma-lactones, two alkyl-gamma-lactones, one alkenyl-gamma-lactone and a mixture of fatty acids ranging from C-14 to C-26. Beta-sitosterol, stigmasterol and campesterol as free alcohols were also identified.     

Determination of molybdenum in silicates by flame atomic absorption spectrometry exploiting activated carbon as collector

An analytical procedure has been developed for molybdenum determination in geological silicate materials using flame atomic absorption spectrometry (injection method), after sorption of the molybdenum-ammonium pyrrolidinedithiocarbamate complex (MoAPDC) on activated carbon.