Cationic dyes such as toluidin blue are commonly employed to visualize glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) on electrophoresis gels; however, the carbocyanine-based dye Stains-all have been increasingly used to stain the non-sulfated hyaluronic acid and other GAGs in submicrogram quantities. In this short communication, we demonstrate that Stains-all is able to stain the most common GAGs on polyacrylamide gels with distinct and contrasting colors in a reproducible manner. We also show that this staining method is useful to identify GAGs present both in mixtures and in submicrogram quantities. Therefore, Stains-all has shown to be useful in identifying GAGs on polyacrylamide gels with basis on their specific colors, at least on screening level.

The stability of shales rich in clay is deeply affected by its complex physical and chemical interactions with drilling fluids. Thus, these rocks with a high content of clay have shown significant changes, such as swelling or expanding, when placed in contact with aqueous fluids due to the adsorption of polar molecules of water or hydrated ions dissolved inside . These changes may cause the collapse of the rock during the drilling with water-based drilling fluids. For a better understanding of the phenomenon of interaction between the rock and the drilling fluid, this study aims to analyze reactivity of shales from the Bacia do Araripe through its characterization. In order to do so, the shales were characterized by CEC, XRF, XRD and Foster swelling. The results indicated that the shales showed significant values of CEC, FRX composition close to that of smectite, and XRD pattern with characteristic peaks of smectite. Regarding the Foster swelling, the shale that presented the highest CEC (F-IP) also presented the highest value of swelling, indicating that the CEC can be applied as an indicative parameter of the reactivity.