Dispersive analysis of KL mu 3 and KLe3 scalar and vector form factors using KTeV data

Using the published KTeV samples of K(L) -> pi(+/-)e(-/+)nu and K(L) -> pi(+/-)mu(-/+)nu decays, we perform a reanalysis of the scalar and vector form factors based on the dispersive parametrization. We obtain phase-space integrals I(K)(e) = 0.15446 +/- 0.00025 and I(K)(mu) = 0.10219 +/- 0.00025. For the scalar form factor parametrization, the only free parameter is the normalized form factor value at the Callan-Treiman point (C); our best-fit results in InC = 0.1915 +/- 0.0122. We also study the sensitivity of C to different parametrizations of the vector form factor. The results for the phase-space integrals and C are then used to make tests of the standard model. Finally, we compare our results with lattice QCD calculations of F(K)/F(pi) and f(+)(0).

AN UNIFIED DESCRIPTION OF HERA AND RHIC DATA

Perturbative Quantum Chromodynamics (pQCD) predicts that the small-x gluons in the hadron wavefunction should form a Color Glass Condensate (CGC), which has universal properties, which are the same for nucleon or nuclei. Making use of the results in V.P. Goncalves, M.S. Kugeratski, M.V.T. Machado, F.S. Navarra, Phys. Lett. B643, 273 (2006), we study the behavior of the anomalous dimension in the saturation models as a function of the photon virtuality and of the scaling variable rQ(s), since the main difference among the known parameterizations are characterized by this quantity.

Interpretation of MINOS data in terms of nonstandard neutrino interactions

The MINOS experiment at Fermilab has recently reported a tension between the oscillation results for neutrinos and antineutrinos. We show that this tension, if it persists, can be understood in the framework of nonstandard neutrino interactions (NSI). While neutral current NSI (nonstandard matter effects) are disfavored by atmospheric neutrinos, a new charged current coupling between tau neutrinos and nucleons can fit the MINOS data without violating other constraints. In particular, we show that loop-level contributions to flavor-violating tau decays are sufficiently suppressed. However, conflicts with existing bounds could arise once the effective theory considered here is embedded into a complete renormalizable model. We predict the future sensitivity of the T2K and NOvA experiments to the NSI parameter region favored by the MINOS fit, and show that both experiments are excellent tools to test the NSI interpretation of the MINOS data.

Geodynamic evolution of the SW Variscides: Orogenic collapse shown by new tectonometamorphic and isotopic data from western Ossa-Morena Zone, SW Iberia

The pre-Mesozoic geodynamic evolution of SW Iberia has been investigated on the basis of detailed structural analysis, isotope dating, and petrologic study of high-pressure (HP) rocks, revealing the superposition of several tectonometamorphic events: (1) An HP event older than circa 358 Ma is recorded in basic rocks preserved inside marbles, which suggests subduction of a continental margin. The deformation associated with this stage is recorded by a refractory graphite fabric and noncoaxial mesoscopic structures found within the host metasediments. The sense of shear is top to south, revealing thrusting synthetic with subduction (underthrusting) to the north. (2) Recrystallization before circa 358 Ma is due to a regional-scale thermal episode and magmatism. (3) Noncoaxial deformation with top to north sense of shear in northward dipping large-scale shear zones is associated with pervasive hydration and metamorphic retrogression under mostly greenschist facies. This indicates exhumation by normal faulting in a detachment zone confined to the top to north and north dipping shear zones during postorogenic collapse soon after 358 Ma ago (inversion of earlier top to south thrusts). (4) Static recrystallization at circa 318 Ma is due to regional-scale granitic intrusions. Citation: Rosas, F. M., F. O. Marques, M. Ballevre, and C. Tassinari (2008), Geodynamic evolution of the SW Variscides: Orogenic collapse shown by new tectonometamorphic and isotopic data from western Ossa-Morena Zone, SW Iberia, Tectonics, 27, TC6008, doi:10.1029/2008TC002333.

X-ray diffraction data of tibolone Delta(4) isomer (isotibolone)

Tibolone is used for hormone reposition of postmenopause women and isotibolone is considered the major degradation product of tibolone. Isotibolone can also be present in tibolone API raw materials due to some inadequate synthesis. Its presence is then necessary to be identified and quantified in the quality control of both API and drug products. In this work we present the indexing of an isotibolone X-ray diffraction pattern measured with synchrotron light (lambda=1.2407 angstrom) in the transmission mode. The characterization of the isotibolone sample by IR spectroscopy, elemental analysis, and thermal analysis are also presented. The isotibolone crystallographic data are a=6.8066 angstrom, b=20.7350 angstrom, c=6.4489 angstrom, beta=76.428 degrees, V=884.75 angstrom(3), and space group P2(1), rho(o)= 1.187 g cm(-3), Z=2. (C) 2009 International Centre for Diffraction Data. [DOI: 10.1154/1.3257612]

Effect of sugarcane harvesting systems on soil carbon stocks in Brazil: an examination of existing data

Agricultural management practices that promote net carbon (C) accumulation in the soil have been considered as an important potential mitigation option to combat global warming. The change in the sugarcane harvesting system, to one which incorporates C into the soil from crop residues, is the focus of this work. The main objective was to assess and discuss the changes in soil organic C stocks caused by the conversion of burnt to unburnt sugarcane harvesting systems in Brazil, when considering the main soils and climates associated with this crop. For this purpose, a dataset was obtained from a literature review of soils under sugarcane in Brazil. Although not necessarily from experimental studies, only paired comparisons were examined, and for each site the dominant soil type, topography and climate were similar. The results show a mean annual C accumulation rate of 1.5 Mg ha-1 year-1 for the surface to 30-cm depth (0.73 and 2.04 Mg ha-1 year-1 for sandy and clay soils, respectively) caused by the conversion from a burnt to an unburnt sugarcane harvesting system. The findings suggest that soil should be included in future studies related to life cycle assessment and C footprint of Brazilian sugarcane ethanol.

Physical controls on carbon dioxide transfer velocity and flux in low-gradient river systems and implications for regional carbon budgets

Outgassing of carbon dioxide (CO(2)) from rivers and streams to the atmosphere is a major loss term in the coupled terrestrial-aquatic carbon cycle of major low-gradient river systems (the term ""river system"" encompasses the rivers and streams of all sizes that compose the drainage network in a river basin). However, the magnitude and controls on this important carbon flux are not well quantified. We measured carbon dioxide flux rates (F(CO2)), gas transfer velocity (k), and partial pressures (p(CO2)) in rivers and streams of the Amazon and Mekong river systems in South America and Southeast Asia, respectively. F(CO2) and k values were significantly higher in small rivers and streams (channels <100 m wide) than in large rivers (channels >100 m wide). Small rivers and streams also had substantially higher variability in k values than large rivers. Observed F(CO2) and k values suggest that previous estimates of basinwide CO(2) evasion from tropical rivers and wetlands have been conservative and are likely to be revised upward substantially in the future. Data from the present study combined with data compiled from the literature collectively suggest that the physical control of gas exchange velocities and fluxes in low-gradient river systems makes a transition from the dominance of wind control at the largest spatial scales (in estuaries and river mainstems) toward increasing importance of water current velocity and depth at progressively smaller channel dimensions upstream. These results highlight the importance of incorporating scale-appropriate k values into basinwide models of whole ecosystem carbon balance.

Effects of land cover on chemical characteristics of streams in the Cerrado region of Brazil

The Cerrado is the second largest Brazilian biome and contains the headwaters of three major hydrological basins in Brazil. In spite of the biological and ecological relevance of this biome, there is little information about how land use changes affect the chemistry of low-order streams in the Cerrado. To evaluate these effects streams that drain areas under natural, rural, and urban land cover were sampled near Brasilia, Brazil. Water samples were collected between September 2004 and December 2006. Chemical concentrations generally followed the pattern of Urban > Rural > Natural. Median conductivity of stream water of 21.6 (interquartile: 22.7) mu S/cm in urban streams was three and five-fold greater relative to rural and natural areas, respectively. In the wet season, despite of increasing discharge, concentration of many solutes were higher, particularly in rural and natural streams. Streams also presented higher total dissolved N (TDN) loads from natural to rural and urban although DIN:DON ratios did not differ significantly. In natural and urban streams TDN was 80 and 77% dissolved organic N, respectively. These results indicate that alterations in land cover from natural to rural and urban are changing stream water chemistry in the Cerrado with increasing solute concentrations, in addition to increased TDN output in areas under urban cover, with potential effects on ecosystem function.

Support vector machines for detecting age-related changes in running kinematics

Age-related changes in running kinematics have been reported in the literature using classical inferential statistics. However, this approach has been hampered by the increased number of biomechanical gait variables reported and subsequently the lack of differences presented in these studies. Data mining techniques have been applied in recent biomedical studies to solve this problem using a more general approach. In the present work, we re-analyzed lower extremity running kinematic data of 17 young and 17 elderly male runners using the Support Vector Machine (SVM) classification approach. In total, 31 kinematic variables were extracted to train the classification algorithm and test the generalized performance. The results revealed different accuracy rates across three different kernel methods adopted in the classifier, with the linear kernel performing the best. A subsequent forward feature selection algorithm demonstrated that with only six features, the linear kernel SVM achieved 100% classification performance rate, showing that these features provided powerful combined information to distinguish age groups. The results of the present work demonstrate potential in applying this approach to improve knowledge about the age-related differences in running gait biomechanics and encourages the use of the SVM in other clinical contexts. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Multidimensional cluster stability analysis from a Brazilian Bradyrhizobium sp RFLP/PCR data set

The taxonomy of the N(2)-fixing bacteria belonging to the genus Bradyrhizobium is still poorly refined, mainly due to conflicting results obtained by the analysis of the phenotypic and genotypic properties. This paper presents an application of a method aiming at the identification of possible new clusters within a Brazilian collection of 119 Bradryrhizobium strains showing phenotypic characteristics of B. japonicum and B. elkanii. The stability was studied as a function of the number of restriction enzymes used in the RFLP-PCR analysis of three ribosomal regions with three restriction enzymes per region. The method proposed here uses Clustering algorithms with distances calculated by average-linkage clustering. Introducing perturbations using sub-sampling techniques makes the stability analysis. The method showed efficacy in the grouping of the species B. japonicum and B. elkanii. Furthermore, two new clusters were clearly defined, indicating possible new species, and sub-clusters within each detected cluster. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Artificial neural networks analysis of Sao Paulo subway tunnel settlement data

Artificial neural networks have been used to analyze a number of engineering problems, including settlement caused by different tunneling methods in various types of ground mass. This paper focuses on settlement over shotcrete- supported tunnels on Sao Paulo subway line 2 (West Extension) that were excavated in Tertiary sediments using the sequential excavation method. The adjusted network is a good tool for predicting settlement above new tunnels to be excavated in similar conditions. The influence of network training parameters on the quality of results is also discussed. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Rural and Urban Streams: Anthropogenic Influences and Impacts on Water and Sediment Quality

The Pirapo river watershed (Parana State, Brazil) compounds a relatively industrialized and urbanized region, undergoing great pressure from the discharge of industrial, agricultural and domestic wastes. We evaluated the environmental quality of ten streams belonging to this watershed in April and June 2008 by performing acute and chronic toxicity tests with Daphnia similis and Ceriodaphnia silvestrii from water and sediment samples. We tested the hypothesis that the streams located in urban areas are more exposed to the influence of pollutants, than those outside the city limits. In addition, we obtained the measures of physical and chemical parameters, and identified the main polluted sources. Contrary to what was expected, the rural streams were more toxic than those located in urban area. These results demonstrate that the water bodies located in rural areas are being affected by the pollution of aquatic ecosystems as far as those found in urban areas, requiring the same attention of environmental managers in relation to its monitoring.

Short-term experimental data of drying shrinkage of ground granulated blast-furnace slag cement concrete

This paper presents results of laboratory testing of unrestrained drying shrinkage during a period of 154 days of different concrete mixtures from the Brazilian production line that utilize ground granulated blast-furnace slag in their compositions. Three concrete mixtures with water/cement ratio of 0.78(M1), 0.41(M2), and 0.37(M3) were studied. The obtained experimental data were compared with the analytical results from prediction models available in the literature: the ACI 209 model (ACI), the B3 model (B3), the Eurocode 2 model (EC2), the GL 2000 model (GL), and the Brazilian NBR 6118 model (NBR), and an analysis of the efficacy of these models was conducted utilizing these experimental data. In addition, the development of the mechanical properties (compressive strength and modulus of elasticity) of the studied concrete mixtures was also measured in the laboratory until 126 days. From this study, it could be concluded that the ACI and the GL were the models that most approximated the experimental drying shrinkage data measured during the analyzed period of time.

Modelagem de dados de entrada para simulação estocástica de lavra

Mine simulation depends on data that is both coherent and representative of the mining operation. This paper describes a methodology for modeling operational data which has been developed for mine simulation. The methodology has been applied to a case study of an open-pit mine, where the cycle times of the truck fleet have been modeled for mine simulation purposes. The results obtained have shown that once the operational data has been treated using the proposed methodology, the system variables have proven to be adherent to theoretical distributions. The research indicated the need jar tracking the origin of data inconsistencies through the development of a process to manage inconsistent data from the mining operation.

Experimental data and modeling of the thermodynamic properties of bread dough at refrigeration and freezing temperatures

Thermodynamic properties of bread dough (fusion enthalpy, apparent specific heat, initial freezing point and unfreezable water) were measured at temperatures from -40 degrees C to 35 degrees C using differential scanning calorimetry. The initial freezing point was also calculated based on the water activity of dough. The apparent specific heat varied as a function of temperature: specific heat in the freezing region varied from (1.7-23.1) J g(-1) degrees C(-1), and was constant at temperatures above freezing (2.7 J g(-1) degrees C(-1)). Unfreezable water content varied from (0.174-0.182) g/g of total product. Values of heat capacity as a function of temperature were correlated using thermodynamic models. A modification for low-moisture foodstuffs (such as bread dough) was successfully applied to the experimental data. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.