ABSTRACT Inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) is a strategy to improve the efficiency of forest plantations, reducing costs and increasing the survival of plant species. The objective of this study was to assess the response and mycorrhizal dependency of seedlings of the forest species Apuleia leiocarpa (Vogel) J.F. Macbr to inoculation with AMF. The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design using a 5 × 5 factorial arrangement with six replications. The treatments consisted of combinations of five P rates (0, 24, 71, 213, and 650 mg kg-1) with five types of inoculations with AMF (inoculation with the fungi Rhizophagus clarus, Gigaspora margarita, Dentiscutata heterogama, inoculation with an AMF mix of these three species, and a treatment without inoculation). The A. leiocarpa showed the highest biomass accumulations in inoculation with D. hetorogama combined with the P rates of 213 and 650 mg kg-1, and in the AMF mix combined with the P rates of 71, 213, and 650 kg-1. Biomass accumulation showed a linear, positive response to inoculation with D. heterogama combined with the different P rates, and a positive square root fit to inoculation with the AMF mix. The plants inoculated with G. margarita had no significant biomass accumulation. The plant species had a positive response to inoculation with R. clarus combined with the lowest P rates; however, it had a negative response to combination with the highest P rate (650 mg kg-1). The relative benefit of inoculation with these fungi was more than 100 % in most treatments, showing the high mycorrhizal dependency of A. leiocarpa and the nutritional benefit of AMF inoculation for this species. However, this response is dependent on the fungus species that colonize the plant roots. The best combination between fungus and P rate was inoculation with the AMF mix combined with the P rate of 71 mg kg-1.

Este artigo de revisão aborda 1½ séculos de história da espectrometria de absorção atômica com fonte contínua (CS AAS), partindo dos primeiros experimentos de Kirchhoff e Bunsen nos anos 1860. Ele também tenta explicar porque a técnica foi abandonada na primeira metade do século XX, porque ela foi redescoberta nos anos 60 nos EUA, onde vários grupos de pesquisa trabalharam intensamente no desenvolvimento da CS AAS por cerca de quatro décadas e, finalmente, não obtiveram sucesso. Esta revisão também discute as principais vantagens da moderna técnica de CS AAS de alta resolução (HR-CS AAS), que usa um monocromador duplo de alta resolução e um detector com arranjo de dispositivos de carga acoplada, o qual adiciona o comprimento de onda como terceira dimensão. A literatura sobre as aplicações de HR-CS AAS foi cuidadosamente revisada. Finalmente, será feita uma tentativa de prever os avanços futuros desta técnica nova e antiga.

This review article covers 1½ centuries of history of continuum source atomic absorption spectrometry (CS AAS), starting with the early experiments of Kirchhoff and Bunsen in the 1860s. It also tries to explain why the technique was abandoned in the first half of the 20th century, why it was "re-discovered" in the 1960s in the USA, where several research groups worked intensively on the development of CS AAS for about four decades, and why they finally failed. This review also discusses the major advantages of modern high-resolution CS AAS (HR-CS AAS), which uses a high-resolution double monochromator and a charge coupled device array detector, which adds the wavelength as third dimension to the usual display of absorbance over time. The literature about applications of this technique has been carefully revised. Finally an attempt will be made to foresee future developments of this technique, which is obviously not an easy task.

A method based on pyrohydrolysis was proposed for cement sample preparation and further chloride determination by spectrophotometry using flow injection analysis. Analytical parameters were evaluated and, under the selected conditions, the calibration curve was linear in the range of 0.2 to 10.0 µg mL-1 with r2 = 0.998. The limit of detection was5 µg g-1 of chloride and the relative standard deviation was less than 7%. The proposed pyrohydrolysis method is relatively simple and can be used for sample preparation for further spectrophotometric determination of low concentrations of chloride in cement.

Elementos traço e majoritários foram determinados em mexilhão dourado (Limnoperna fortunei) coletados no canal São Gonçalo (Rio Grande-RS, Brasil). Digestão assistida por microondas em sistema fechado foi utilizada para decomposição das amostras com subsequente determinação elementar por técnicas espectrométricas. Os resultados mostraram que o tecido de mexilhão contém Ag, Al, As, B, Ba, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Li, Mg, Mn, Mo, P, Pb, S, Sn, Sr, Ti, V e Zn, enquanto que na casca foram encontrados os mesmo elementos, exceto Ag e Hg, evidenciando seu potencial como biomarcador. Neste sentido, estes resultados podem ser utilizados para estabelecer um panorama inicial e contribuir para futuros estudos relacionados a contaminantes inorgânicos na área estudada.

Major and trace element content was determined in golden mussel (Limnoperna fortunei) collected in the São Gonçalo Channel (Rio Grande City, Brazil). A microwave-assisted digestion procedure in closed vessels was applied to mussel decomposition and subsequent determination of elements by spectrometric techniques. Results showed that the mussel tissue contains Ag, Al, As, B, Ba, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Li, Mg, Mn, Mo, P, Pb, S, Sn, Sr, Ti, V and Zn, while the same elements (except Ag and Hg) were quantified in its shell, demonstrating its potential as a biomarker. In this sense, these results can be used to establish an initial view and to contribute to further studies related to element contamination in the area under study.