Resumo Este artigo analisa a permanência de marcas do Regionalismo na prosa da literatura brasileira contemporânea. Considerado ultrapassado pela crítica literária e renegado pelos escritores, o Regionalismo entrou para a história da literatura brasileira como sinônimo de arte de baixa qualidade estética. No entanto, percebe-se que os temas regionais nunca deixaram de ser matéria para a narrativa ficcional brasileira, desde Guimarães Rosa, Erico Verissimo e Josué Guimarães, até Luiz Antonio de Assis Brasil, Antônio Torres e Milton Hatoum. Observa-se que a diferença entre o presente e o passado reside na ênfase dada pelos escritores ao contexto e ao espaço regionais, em um primeiro momento ufanistas em relação às particularidades da terra, e na contemporaneidade preocupados com a problematização dos contrastes culturais. Conclui-se que a literatura brasileira contemporânea deve muito à tradição regionalista, sem que isso implique questionamentos de qualidade estética, e que cabe à crítica investigar os temas e as formas da narrativa como chaves de interpretação para problemas históricos que perduram.

Abstract This article analyzes traces of Regionalism in contemporary Brazilian fiction. Regarded as outdated by literary critics and disavowed by writers, Regionalism, within the history of Brazilian Literature, has long been considered to be of low aesthetic value. Nevertheless, regional themes have never ceased to appear in Brazilian fictional narrative, from Guimarães Rosa, Erico Verissimo, and Josué Guimarães, to Luiz Antonio de Assis Brasil, Antônio Torres, and Milton Hatoum. The difference between the past and present Regionalism resides in the emphasis writers assign to regional context and space: when it first appeared there was a nationalist preoccupation with regional particularities, and, in its contemporary manifestation, there appears a concern for problematizing cultural contrasts. Thus, one can conclude that contemporary Brazilian literature is indebted to the regionalist tradition, though this should not question its aesthetic value, and that literary criticism is responsible for treating theme and narrative form as interpretative keys of persisting historical problems.

Resumen Este artículo analiza la permanencia de marcas de Regionalismo en la prosa de la literatura brasileña contemporánea. Considerado superado por la crítica literaria y renegado por los escritores, el Regionalismo entró a la historia de la literatura brasileña como sinónimo de arte de baja calidad estética. Sin embargo, se percibe que los temas regionales nunca dejaron de ser materia para la narrativa ficcional brasileña, desde Guimarães Rosa, Erico Verissimo y Josué Guimarães, hasta Luiz Antonio de Assis Brasil, Antônio Torres y Milton Hatoum. Se observa que la diferencia entre el presente y el pasado reside en el énfasis dado por los escritores al contexto y al espacio regionales, en un primer momento orgullosos de las particularidades regionales, y en la contemporaneidad preocupados por la problematización de los contrastes culturales. Se concluye que la literatura brasileña contemporánea debe mucho a la tradición regionalista, sin que ello implique cuestionamientos de calidad estética, y que corresponde a la crítica investigar los temas y las formas de la narrativa como claves de interpretación de problemas históricos que perduran.

A simple and low cost experiment is proposed to chemistry students associating the Photodynamic Activity involving Chemical and Biochemical concepts. The inclusion of this experiment in undergraduate courses in Chemistry promotes interdisciplinarity and contextualization, combining current and relevant topics to the teaching of program content. The experiment used the Methylene Blue and Erythrosine B as dyes to demonstrate the photodynamic action of these photosensitizers in the inhibition of microbial growth. Both dyes presented satisfactory results against environmental microorganisms. The growth inhibition was caused exclusively by the photochemical processes undergone by the dye/light/oxygen, with LED light exposure.

Visitantes ao Sul é o título do conjunto de romances publicados por Luiz Antonio de Assis Brasil entre 2001 e 2012. Neles, o escritor retoma o tema da viagem na literatura, pondo em cena personagens em constante deslocamento. Neste ensaio, analisa-se não só o trânsito por que passam os quatro protagonistas, em seus contatos com diferentes espaços culturais, como também a sua inserção na temporalidade específica da modernidade e do chamado fin de siècle. Característica do conjunto de romances, investiga-se também a temática musical que não raras vezes empresta cadência à mobilidade das personagens, desdobrando-se em metáfora expansiva e propondo novos significados às narrativas.

Visitantes ao Sul is the title of a set of novels written by Luis Antonio de AssisBrasil and published from 2001 to 2012. In such novels, the writer deals with traveling as a literary theme, presenting characters in constant movement and, sometimes, in situations of displacement. This paper aims at analysing not only the transit experienced by the four protagonists of the novels, taking into account their contacts with diverse cultural spaces, but also intends to reflect upon their insertion in the specific temporality of modernity and in the so-called fin de siècle. This paper also discusses one feature that characterises that set of novels: music, which frequently provides the characters' mobility with a rhythm, implying the development of a comprehensive metaphor and suggesting new meanings to those narratives.

An experiment was proposed applying the Chemometric approach of Multivariate Analysis for inclusion in undergraduate Chemistry courses to promote and expand the use of this analytical-statistical tool. The experiment entails the determination of the acid dissociation constant of dyes via UV-Vis electronic spectrophotometry. The dyes used show from simple equilibrium to very complex systems involving up to four protolytic species with high spectral overlap. The Chemometric methodology was more efficient than univariate methods. For use in classes, it is up to the teacher to decide which systems should be utilized given the time constraints and laboratory conditions.

The self-aggregation of pheophytin, a possible photosensitizer for Photodynamic Therapy, is solved by formulation in polymeric surfactant as P-123. The photosensitizer incorporation was found to be time dependent, exhibiting two steps: a partition at the micellar interface followed by an incorporation into the micelle core. The photodynamic efficiency of the formulation was tested by the bioassays against Artemia salina. In order to evaluate how the experimental parameters: pheophytin concentration, P-123 percentage and illumination time influenced the death of artemia, the factorial design 2³ was chosen. The illumination time was found to be the main factor contributing to the mortality of artemia.

The modern stopped-flow reaction analyzer has shown high efficiency and flexibility, which provides outstanding sample economy with a dead-time of less than 1 ms. However the cost of the equipment imposes a serious restriction to many Brazilian scientists and teachers. In this work we describe the construction of a low-cost stopped-flow system coupled to a UV-Vis spectrophotometer. The performance of the system was checked by monitoring the kinetics of two reactions: the fading of phenolphthalein in aqueous alkaline solution and the chlorophyll a demetallation in acid medium. The apparatus showed reasonable efficiency with a dead-time of 0.3 to 0.5 s. The very good results obtained in these two illustrative processes show that the system is satisfactory for determining rate constants with mean reaction times ranging from seconds to minutes.

An experiment is proposed that can be included in undergraduate courses of chemistry. The subject is the acidity of organic compounds, which are employed as pH indicators, particularly in acid-base titrations. The indicators used are methyl orange, bromophenol blue and bromocresol green in aqueous medium. The influence of colloidal systems on the equilibrium is evaluated by the pKa. The colloids employed are surfactants like sodium dodecyl sulfate, cetyl-trimethylammonium bromide and a polymeric non-ionic F127 (pluronics). The effect of stabilization promoted by the system on the acidic or basic structureof the indicator establishes the action mechanism of the colloid on the pKa values.