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We study the nonrelativistic quantum Coulomb hamiltonian (i.e., inverse of distance potential) in R n , n = 1, 2, 3. We characterize their self-adjoint extensions and, in the unidimensional case, present a discussion of controversies in the literature, particularly the question of the permeability of the origin. Potentials given by fundamental solutions of Laplace equation are also briefly considered.

Abstract. The Γ-convergence of lower bounded quadratic forms is used to study the singular operator limit of thin tubes (i.e., the vanishing of the cross section diameter) of the Laplace operator with Dirichlet boundary conditions; a procedure to obtain the effective Schrödinger operator (in different subspaces) is proposed, generalizing recent results in case of compact tubes. Finally, after scaling curvature and torsion the limit of a broken line is briefly investigated.

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Mate (Ilex paraguariensis A.St.-Hil.) is generally recognized as safe (GRAS status) and has a high content of alkaloids, saponins, and phenolic acids. Addition of mate extract to broilers feed has been shown to increase the oxidative stability of chicken meat, however, its effect on beef quality from animals supplemented with mate extract has not been investigated so far. Addition of extract of mate to a standard maize/soy feed at a level of 0.5, 1.0 or 1.5% w/w to the diet of feedlot for cattle resulted in increased levels of inosine monophosphate, creatine and carnosine in the fresh meat. The content of total conjugated linoleic acid increased in the meat as mate extract concentration was increased in the feed. The tendency to radical formation in meat slurries as quantified by EPR spin-trapping decreased as increasing mate extract addition to feed, especially after storage of the meat, indicating higher oxidative stability. Mate supplementation in the diet did not affect animal performance and carcass characteristics, but meat from these animals was more tender and consequently more accepted by consumers. Mate extract is shown to be a promising additive to feedlot diets for cattle to improve the oxidative stability, nutritive value and sensory quality of beef.

Abstract. A 1D Dirac tight-binding model is considered and it is shown that its nonrelativistic limit is the 1D discrete Schrödinger model. For random Bernoulli potentials taking two values (without correlations), for typical realizations and for all values of the mass, it is shown that its spectrum is pure point, whereas the zero mass case presents dynamical delocalization for specific values of the energy. The massive case presents dynamical localization (excluding some particular values of the energy). Finally, for general potentials the dynamical moments for distinct masses are compared, especially the massless and massive Bernoulli cases.

We study the dynamics of a quantum particle in a triangular potential well under a monochromatic driving. We provide a purely quantal theory that accounts for the transition from localization to delocalization, without making reference to the chaotic transition occurring in the classical limit.

Chiral molecules in nature are involved in many biological events; their selectivity and specificity make them of great interest for understanding the behavior of bioactive molecules, by providing information about the chiral discrimination. Inspired by these conformational properties, we present the design and synthesis of novel chiral platinum(II) complexes featuring phosphine and chloroquine ligands with the general formula [PtCl(P)2(CQ)]PF6 (where (P)2 = triphenylphosphine (PPh3) (5), 1,3-bis(diphenylphosphine)propane (dppp) (6), 1,4-bis(diphenylphosphine)butane (dppb) (7), 1,1'-bis(diphenylphosphine)ferrocene (dppf) (8), and CQ = chloroquine] and their precursors of the type [PtCl2(P)2] are described. The complexes were characterized by elemental analysis, absorption spectroscopy in the infrared and ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) regions, multinuclear ((1)H, (13)C, (31)P, (15)N, and (195)Pt) NMR spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, and mass spectrometry (in the case of chloroquine complexes). The interactions of the new platinum-chloroquine complexes with both albumin (BSA), using fluorescence spectroscopy, and DNA, by four widely reported methods were also evaluated. These experiments showed that these Pt-CQ complexes interact strongly with DNA and have high affinities for BSA, in contrast to CQ and CQDP (chloroquine diphosphate), which interact weakly with these biomolecules. Additional assays were performed in order to investigate the cytotoxicity of the platinum complexes against two healthy cell lines (mouse fibroblasts (L929) and the Chinese hamster lung (V79-4)) and four tumor cell lines (human breast (MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7), human lung (A549), and human prostate (DU-145)). The results suggest that the Pt-CQ complexes are generally more cytotoxic than the free CQ, showing that they are promising as anticancer drugs.