Resumo O mamão (Carica papaya L.) está entre as principais espécies frutíferas produzidas em clima tropical e subtropical. A condição de salinidade da água nas áreas agrícolas pode ser considerada um fator limitante para a expansão do mamão. Este estudo teve como objetivo avaliar o extrato de microalga enriquecido com cálcio (EMa-Ca) como atenuador do estresse salino em água de irrigação no crescimento e na fisiologia de mudas de mamão Formosa, híbrido Tainung. O experimento foi conduzido em ambiente protegido, com tratamentos distribuídos em esquema fatorial 5 × 2, compreendendo cinco condutividades elétricas da água de irrigação (0,50; 1,10; 2,50; 3,90 e 4,50 dSm-1) com a presença e ausência no substrato de EMa-Ca. As características avaliadas foram: altura da planta, número de folhas, diâmetro do caule, área foliar, peso de massa seca das raízes, partes aérea e total. Também foram avaliadas as trocas gasosas e os índices de clorofila (a, b e total). A aplicação de EMa-Ca resultou em aumento de 6,05% na altura e 6,33% no diâmetro do tronco. O número de folhas diminuiu com aumento da condutividade elétrica e a área foliar reduziu 33%. Todas as massas secas das mudas apresentaram maiores declínios na ausência do EM-Ca. O EMa-Ca aumentou a fotossíntese líquida, concentração de CO2, transpiração e condutância estomática em 39,13%, 30,43%, 38,88% e 42,85%, respectivamente. Para a clorofila sem a utilização do EMa-Ca observa-se uma taxa de diminuição de 1,21%, 0,41% e 1,62% para Chla, Chlb e Chlt, respectivamente. Portanto, a aplicação de EMa-Ca (1,0 ml/L) melhora significativamente o desenvolvimento vegetativo, as trocas gasosas e os índices de clorofila de mudas de mamoeiro sob condições de estresse salino.

Abstract The papaya (Carica papaya L.) is among the mainly fruit species produced in tropical and subtropical climate. The salinity of water in agricultural areas is considered a limiting factor for the expansion of papaya. This study aimed to evaluate calcium-enriched microalgae extract (EMa-Ca) as an attenuator of saline stress in irrigation water on the growth and physiology of Formosa papaya seedlings, hybrid Tainung. The experiment was conducted in a protected environment, with treatments distributed in a 5 × 2 factorial scheme, comprising five electrical conductivities of irrigation water (0.50; 1.10; 2.50; 3.90 and 4.50 dSm-1) with the presence and absence of EMa-Ca in the substrate. Evaluated characteristics were: plant height, number of leaves, stem diameter, leaf area, dry masses weight of roots, aboveground parts and total. Gas exchanges and chlorophyll indices (a, b and total) were also evaluated. The application of EMa-Ca resulted in an increase of 6.05% in height and 6.33% in trunk diameter. The number of leaves decreased with an increase in electrical conductivity, and the leaf area was reduced by 33%. All seedling dry masses showed greater declines in the absence of EM-Ca. The EMa-Ca increased net photosynthesis, CO2 concentration, transpiration and stomatal conductance by 39.13%, 30.43%, 38.88% and 42.85%, respectively. For chlorophyll without the use of EMa-Ca, a decrease rate of 1.21%, 0.41% and 1.62% was observed for Chla, Chlb and Chlt, respectively. Therefore, the EMa-Ca application (1.0 ml/L) significantly enhance the vegetative development, gas exchanges, and chlorophyll indices of papaya seedlings under saline stress conditions.

Resumo Objetivou-se avaliar a produtividade, qualidade, incidência de nematoides, teor de clorofila e macronutrientes primários foliares do inhame em função das doses de nitrogênio e potássio. O delineamento experimental de blocos casualizados foi utilizado em esquema fatorial (5 x 5), com cinco doses de nitrogênio (0; 60; 120; 180 e 240 kg ha-1 de N), e cinco doses de potássio (0; 60; 120; 180 e 240 kg ha-1 de K2O), com quatro repetições. As características avaliadas foram à massa média, produtividade total e comercial de túberas, teor de amido, cinzas, teor de N, P e K foliar, clorofila e a incidência de nematoides. A massa média de túberas foi de 1,935 kg com uso de 133 kg ha-1 de N e 105 kg ha-1 de K2O. A dose de 178 kg ha-1 de N proporcionou máxima produtividade total de túberas (22,56 t ha-1). As doses de 132 kg ha-1 de N e 118 kg ha-1 de K2O, foram responsáveis pela produtividade máxima de túberas comerciais de 20,35 t ha-1. Os teores de N e K foliar, amido e cinzas ficaram dentro padrão para o inhame. A incidência de Meloidogyne, Scutellonema e Pratylenchus foram reduzidas com aumento das doses de efeito simples de N e K2O. A clorofila máxima foi observada na dose de 240 kg ha-1 de N. A interação nitrogênio e potássio apesar dos efeitos antagônicos sobre o acúmulo de P foliar e amido, promove aumento da produtividade e massa média de túberas comerciais, consequentemente, garante a rentabilidade do cultivo de inhame.

Abstract This study aimed to evaluate yield, quality, nematode incidence, chlorophyll content, and primary foliar macronutrients of yam in response to nitrogen and potassium fertilization. A complete randomized block design was used in a factorial scheme (5 x 5), with five nitrogen (0; 60; 120; 180 and 240 kg ha-1 of N) and five potassium doses (0; 60; 120; 180 and 240 kg ha-1 of K2O), with four replicates. The mass, total and commercial productivity of tubers, starch content, ash, leaf N, P, and K content, chlorophyll, and nematode incidence were evaluated. The average mass of tubers obtained was 1.935 kg with doses of 133 kg ha-1 of N and 105 kg ha-1 of K2O. The dose of 178 kg ha-1 of N promoted maximum total tuber productivity (22.56 t ha-1). The doses of 132 kg ha-1 of N and 118 kg ha-1 of K2O resulted in maximum productivity of commercial tubers with 20.35 t ha-1. Leaf N and K, starch, and ash contents were within the standards for yam. The incidence of Meloidogyne, Scutellonema, and Pratylenchus reduced with the increasing simple effect doses of N and K2O. The maximum chlorophyll content was obtained at the dose of 240 kg ha-1 of N. The nitrogen and potassium interaction, despite the antagonistic effects on the accumulation of foliar P and starch, increased the productivity and average mass of commercial tubers, consequently ensuring the profitability of yam cultivation.

The objective of the present randomized, open-label, naturalistic 8-week study was to compare the efficacy and safety of treatment with clonazepam (N = 63) and paroxetine (N = 57) in patients with panic disorder with or without agoraphobia. Efficacy assessment included number of panic attacks and clinician ratings of the global severity of panic disorders with the clinical global impression (CGI) improvement (CGI-I) and CGI severity (CGI-S) scales. Most patients were females (69.8 and 68.4% in the clonazepam and paroxetine groups, respectively) and age (mean ± SD) was 35.9 ± 9.6 years for the clonazepam group and 33.7 ± 8.8 years for the paroxetine group. Treatment with clonazepam versus paroxetine resulted in fewer weekly panic attacks at week 4 (0.1 vs 0.5, respectively; P < 0.01), and greater clinical improvements at week 8 (CGI-I: 1.6 vs 2.9; P = 0.04). Anxiety severity was significantly reduced with clonazepam versus paroxetine at weeks 1 and 2, with no difference in panic disorder severity. Patients treated with clonazepam had fewer adverse events than patients treated with paroxetine (73 vs 95%; P = 0.001). The most common adverse events were drowsiness/fatigue (57%), memory/concentration difficulties (24%), and sexual dysfunction (11%) in the clonazepam group and drowsiness/fatigue (81%), sexual dysfunction (70%), and nausea/vomiting (61%) in the paroxetine group. This naturalistic study confirms the efficacy and tolerability of clonazepam and paroxetine in the acute treatment of patients with panic disorder.

The main objective of this work was to assess the influence of temperature and pressure on the chemical characteristics of the essential oil obtained from CO2 extraction of grape bagasses in the production of jam. The experiments were performed in a laboratory-scale unit, where the effect of temperature (290 and 303 K) and pressure (15 and 25 Mpa) was investigated in terms of liquid yield and chemical composition of the extracts. The CO2 mass flow rate was kept within a range of 2.5 to 3.0 g/min. The instrumental analysis was performed by gas chromatography with a mass spectrometer detector (GC-MS). The extraction conditions investigated in this work had no significant influence on the mass of essencial oil extracted. The main compounds identified in the extracts by the GC-MS spectra library (match quality higher tan 90%) were octadecane, dihydroxy ergostene-dione and phenylethyl n-decanoate when the temperature was increased from 290 to 303 K. Heptanal, ethyl ester of decosonoic acid and hexatriacontane were the individual compounds with the greatest increase in the chromatographic peak area when the pressure was increased from 15 to 25 Mpa. The most important class of compounds were hydrocarbons at 303 K and 15 MPa and were ketones and aldehydes at 25 Mpa and 290 K.

The experimental results on the Alfvén mode structure identification by the microwave reflectometry in TCABR tokamak are presented. The knowledge of the spatial spectrum of the excited waves is crucial for optimization of Alfvén wave plasma heating and noninductive current drive scenarios in tokamak plasmas. No less important is the possibility to use the Alfvén wave excitation for diagnostic purposes. A microwave reflectometer with fixed frequency was used to register plasma density oscillations driven by the excited Alfvén waves, under the condition of the spectrum scanned by a controlled plasma density rise. It is shown that when the position of the local Alfvén resonance, rA, which is defined by relation omega = k||(rA)C A(rA), is close to the plasma zone where the microwave signal is reflected, the high-frequency modulation of the output signal of the reflectometer at the RF generator frequency increases. The possibility to use the observed effect for finding the plasma current profile in tokamaks is discussed.

Our aim was to compare the clinical features of panic disorder (PD) patients sensitive to hyperventilation or breath-holding methods of inducing panic attacks. Eighty-five PD patients were submitted to both a hyperventilation challenge test and a breath-holding test. They were asked to hyperventilate (30 breaths/min) for 4 min and a week later to hold their breath for as long as possible, four times with a 2-min interval. Anxiety scales were applied before and after the tests. We selected the patients who responded with a panic attack to just one of the tests, i.e., those who had a panic attack after hyperventilating (HPA, N = 24, 16 females, 8 males, mean age ± SD = 38.5 ± 12.7 years) and those who had a panic attack after breath holding (BHPA, N = 20, 11 females, 9 males, mean age ± SD = 42.1 ± 10.6 years). Both groups had similar (chi² = 1.28, d.f. = 1, P = 0.672) respiratory symptoms (fear of dying, chest/pain disconfort, shortness of breath, paresthesias, and feelings of choking) during a panic attack. The criteria of Briggs et al. [British Journal of Psychiatry, 1993; 163: 201-209] for respiratory PD subtype were fulfilled by 18 (75.0%) HPA patients and by 14 (70.0%) BHPA patients. The HPA group had a later onset of the disease compared to BHPA patients (37.9 ± 11.0 vs 21.3 ± 12.9 years old, Mann-Whitney, P < 0.001), and had a higher family prevalence of PD (70.8 vs 25.0%, chi² = 19.65, d.f. = 1, P = 0.041). Our data suggest that these two groups - HPA and BHPA patients - may be specific subtypes of PD.

Epidemiological and clinical studies have shown a positive correlation between smoking and psychiatric disorders. To investigate the prevalence of cigarette smoking, 277 psychiatric outpatients with anxiety or depressive disorders (DSM-IV) answered a self-evaluation questionnaire about smoking behavior and were compared with a group of 68 control subjects. The diagnoses (N = 262) were: 30.2% (N = 79) major depressive disorder, 23.3% (N = 61) panic disorder, 15.6% (N = 41) social anxiety disorder, 7.3% (N = 19) other anxiety disorders, and 23.7% (N = 62) comorbidity disorders. Among them, 26.3% (N = 69) were smokers, 23.7% (N = 62) were former smokers and 50.0% (N = 131) were nonsmokers. The prevalence of nicotine dependence among the smokers was 59.0% (DSM-IV). The frequency of cigarette smoking did not show any significant difference among the five classes of diagnosis. The social anxiety disorder patients were the heaviest smokers (75.0%), with more unsuccessful attempts to stop smoking (89.0%). The frequency of former smokers was significantly higher among older subjects and nonsmokers were significantly younger (c² = 9.13, d.f. = 2, P = 0.01). Our data present some clinical implications suggesting that in our psychiatric outpatient sample with anxiety disorder, major depression and comorbidity (anxiety disorder and major depression), the frequency of cigarette smoking did not differ from the frequency found in the control group or in general population studies. Some specific features of our population (outpatients, anxiety and depressive disorders) might be responsible for these results.

The aim of the present study was to verify the sensitivity to the carbon dioxide (CO2) challenge test of panic disorder (PD) patients with respiratory and nonrespiratory subtypes of the disorder. Our hypothesis is that the respiratory subtype is more sensitive to 35% CO2. Twenty-seven PD subjects with or without agoraphobia were classified into respiratory and nonrespiratory subtypes on the basis of the presence of respiratory symptoms during their panic attacks. The tests were carried out in a double-blind manner using two mixtures: 1) 35% CO2 and 65% O2, and 2) 100% atmospheric compressed air, 20 min apart. The tests were repeated after 2 weeks during which the participants in the study did not receive any psychotropic drugs. At least 15 of 16 (93.7%) respiratory PD subtype patients and 5 of 11 (43.4%) nonrespiratory PD patients had a panic attack during one of two CO2 challenges (P = 0.009, Fisher exact test). Respiratory PD subtype patients were more sensitive to the CO2 challenge test. There was agreement between the severity of PD measured by the Clinical Global Impression (CGI) Scale and the subtype of PD. Higher CGI scores in the respiratory PD subtype could reflect a greater sensitivity to the CO2 challenge due to a greater severity of PD. Carbon dioxide challenges in PD may define PD subtypes and their underlying mechanisms.

Plasma resistivity is estimated in runaway discharges on TCABR tokamak from the decay of positive voltage spikes using method developed in I. El Chamaa Neto et al., Phys. Plasmas 7, 2894 (2000). In this regime, the plasma detachment from the limiter is observed experimentally indicating that plasma recombination is the main process of plasma particle losses. In order to investigate if this process is actually taking place, measurements of electron temperature in the plasma are necessary. The electron temperature deduced from the plasma resistivity is in the range 0.2 - 1.5 eV.

There is a renewed interest in using Alfvén waves (AW) in tokamak plasmas. Previously, AW were actively explored mostly for current drive and plasma heating in tokamaks. Presently, the possibility of the anomalous and neoclassical transport suppression by AW in tokamak plasmas is being vividly discussed. AW can also induce poloidal and toroidal plasma rotation. Toroidal plasma rotation can reach the subsonic level. These flows can substantially affect neoclassical transport both in collisional and weakly collisional plasmas. In this paper, the effect of plasma subsonic toroidal flows induced by Alfvén waves on transport processes in the edge of elongated tokamak is investigated. The dependence of poloidal plasma rotation and ion heat conductivity on the elongation parameter and the ratio of induced toroidal velocity to the sonic speed are analytically obtained.

Our aim was to observe the induction of panic attacks by a hyperventilation challenge test in panic disorder patients (DSM-IV) and their healthy first-degree relatives. We randomly selected 25 panic disorder patients, 31 healthy first-degree relatives of probands with panic disorder and 26 normal volunteers with no family history of panic disorder. All patients had no psychotropic drugs for at least one week. They were induced to hyperventilate (30 breaths/min) for 4 min and anxiety scales were applied before and after the test. A total of 44.0% (N = 11) panic disorder patients, 16.1% (N = 5) of first-degree relatives and 11.5% (N = 3) of control subjects had a panic attack after hyperventilating (chi² = 8.93, d.f. = 2, P = 0.011). In this challenge test the panic disorder patients were more sensitive to hyperventilation than first-degree relatives and normal volunteers. Although the hyperventilation test has a low sensitivity, our data suggest that there is no association between a family history of panic disorder and hyperreactivity to an acute hyperventilation challenge test. Perhaps cognitive variables should be considered to play a specific role in this association since symptoms of a panic attack and acute hyperventilation overlap.

A specially designed probe system was constructed and installed at the TBR tokamak to investigate the relation between plasma transport and plasma turbulence. The experimental data confirm the influence of temperature fluctuations in the amplitude and correlation of density and potential fluctuations, and consequently on transport parameters.

Este trabalho mostra como modelos estatísticos podem ajudar na obtenção de misturas poliméricas complexas. Neste caso foram estudadas misturas poliméricas ternárias cujos valores de energia e tensão de ruptura foram medidos para treze amostras com proporções diferentes. As respostas foram tratadas estatisticamente usando modelos cúbicos especial e completo. O comportamento dos valores das respostas para toda a faixa de composição das blendas PS/PMMA/PVDF e PS/PBMA/PVDF foram adequadamente descrito pelo modelo cúbico completo. Diagramas ternários marcados por valores de curvas de nível são úteis para analisar como estas propriedades mecânicas mudam quando se varia a proporção dos componentes. Uma modelagem estatística correta para toda a faixa de proporção de componentes para a blenda PS/PEMA/PVDF requer modelos de misturas mais sofisticados.

The paper shows how statistical models can help taylor complex polymeric mixtures. Ternary polymer mixtures were studied. Energy and strength at break response values were measured for thirteen samples of varying component proportions. The responses were statistically treated using special and full cubic models. The behaviors of these response values for the whole range of compositions of the PS/PMMA/PVDF and for PS/PBMA/PVDF blends are adequately described by full cubic models. Ternary diagrams marked by isoresponse value contour lines are useful for analyzing how these mechanical properties change with varying component proportions. Successful statistical modeling of the whole range of component proportions of the PS/PEMA/PVDF blends evidently requires more sophisticated mixture models.