Temperature-dependent fecundity and life table of the fennel aphid hyadaphis foeniculi (passerini) (hemiptera: aphididae)

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Dendrimer nanocarriers for transport modulation across models of the pulmonary epithelium

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of PEGylation on the interaction of poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimer nanocarriers (DNCs) with in vitro and in vivo models of the pulmonary epithelium. Generation-3 PAMAM dendrimers with varying surface densities of PEG 1000 Da were synthesized and characterized. The results revealed that the apical to basolateral transport of DNCs across polarized Calu-3 monolayers increases with an increase in PEG surface density. DNC having the greatest number of PEG groups (n = 25) on their surface traversed at a rate 10-fold greater than its non-PEGylated counterpart, in spite of their larger size. This behavior was attributed to a significant reduction in charge density upon PEGylation. We also observed that PEGylation can be used to modulate cellular internalization. The total uptake of PEG-free DNC into polarized Calu-3 monolayers was 12% (w/w) vs 2% (w/w) for that with 25 PEGs. Polarization is also shown to be of great relevance in studying this in vitro model of the lung epithelium. The rate of absorption of DNCs administered to mice lungs increased dramatically when conjugated with 25 PEG groups, thus supporting the in vitro results. The exposure obtained for the DNC with 25PEG was determined to be very high, with peak plasma concentrations reaching 5 mu gmL(-1) within 3 h. The combined in vitro and in vivo results shown here demonstrate that PEGylation can be potentially used to modulate the internalization and transport of DNCs across the pulmonary epithelium. Modified dendrimers thereby may serve as a valuable platform that can be tailored to target the lung tissue for treating local diseases, or the circulation, using the lung as pathway to the bloodstream, for systemic delivery.

Fermentation by gut microbiota cultured in a simulator of the human intestinal microbial ecosystem is improved probiotic Enterococcus faecium CRL 183

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Sobre revoluções científicas na matemática

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Numerical solution of the eXtended Pom-Pom model for viscoelastic free surface flows

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Dimensional reduction of the ABJM model

We dimensionally reduce the ABJM model, obtaining a two-dimensional theory that can be thought of as a 'master action'. This encodes information about both T- and S-duality, i.e. describes fundamental (F1) and D-strings (D1) in 9 and 10 dimensions. The Higgsed theory at large VEV, (v) over tilde, and large k yields D1-brane actions in 9d and 10d, depending on which auxiliary fields are integrated out. For N = 1 there is a map to a Green-Schwarz string wrapping a nontrivial circle in C(4)/Z(k).

Neutrino masses and the scalar sector of a B-L extension of the standard model

We consider an electroweak model based on the gauge symmetry SU(2)(L) circle times U(1)(Y') circle times U(1)(B-L) which has right-handed neutrinos with different exotic B - L quantum numbers. Because of this particular feature we are able to write Yukawa terms, and right-handed neutrino mass terms, with scalar fields that can develop vacuum expectation values belonging to different energy scales. We make a detailed study of the scalar and the Yukawa neutrino sectors to show that this model is compatible with the observed solar and atmospheric neutrino mass scales and the tribimaximal mixing matrix. We also show that there are dark matter candidates if a Z(2) symmetry is included.

Non-Hermitian multichannel theory of ultracold collisions modified by intense light fields tuned to the red of the trapping transition

We develop a systematic scheme to treat binary collisions between ultracold atoms in the presence of a strong laser field, tuned to the red of the trapping transition. We assume that the Rabi frequency is much less than the spacing between adjacent bound-state resonances, In this approach we neglect fine and hyperfine structures, but consider fully the three-dimensional aspects of the scattering process, up to the partial d wave. We apply the scheme to calculate the S matrix elements up to the second order in the ratio between the Rabi frequency and the laser detuning, We also obtain, fur this simplified multichannel model, the asymmetric line shapes of photoassociation spectroscopy, and the modification of the scattering length due to the light field at low, but finite, entrance kinetic energy. We emphasize that the present calculations can be generalized to treat more realistic models, and suggest how to carry out a thorough numerical comparison to this semianalytic theory. [S1050-2947(98)04902-6].

Hamiltonian quantization of the non-anomalous generalized Schwinger model

We quantize a generalized version of the Schwinger model, where the two chiral sectors couples with different strengths to the U(1) gauge field. Starting from a theory which includes a generalized Wess-Zumino term, we obtain the equal time commutation relation for physical fields, both the singular and non-singular cases are considered. The photon propagators are also computed in their gauge dependent and invariant versions. © 1995 Springer-Verlag.

Compatibility of a model for the QCD-Pomeron and chiral-symmetry breaking phenomenologies

The phenomenology of a QCD-Pomeron model based on the exchange of a pair of non-perturbative gluons, i.e. gluon fields with a finite correlation length in the vacuum, is studied in comparison with the phenomenology of QCD chiral symmetry breaking, based on non-perturbative solutions of Schwinger-Dyson equations for the quark propagator including these non-perturbative gluon effects. We show that these models are incompatible, and point out some possibles origins of this problem.

Constraints on free parameters of the simplest bilepton gauge model from the neutral kaon system mass difference

We consider the contributions of the exotic quarks and gauge bosons to the mass difference between the short- and the long-lived neutral kaon states in the SU(3)C×SU(3)L×U(1)N model. The lower bound MZ′∼14 TeV is obtained for the extra neutral gauge boson Z′0. Ranges for values of one of the exotic quark masses and quark mixing parameters are also presented.

Confinement and soliton solutions in the SL(3) Toda model coupled to matter fields

We consider an integrable conformally invariant two-dimensional model associated to the affine Kac-Moody algebra sl3(ℂ). It possesses four scalar fields and six Dirac spinors. The theory does not possesses a local Lagrangian since the spinor equations of motion present interaction terms which are bilinear in the spinors. There exists a submodel presenting an equivalence between a U(1) vector current and a topological current, which leads to a confinement of the spinors inside the solitons. We calculate the one-soliton and two-soliton solutions using a procedure which is a hybrid of the dressing and Hirota methods. The soliton masses and time delays due to the soliton interactions are also calculated. We give a computer program to calculate the soliton solutions. © 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.

Note on the nonuniqueness of the massive Fierz-Pauli theory and spectator fields

It is possible to show that there are three independent families of models describing a massive spin-2 particle via a rank-2 tensor. One of them contains the massive Fierz-Pauli model, the only case described by a symmetric tensor. The three families have different local symmetries in the massless limit and can not be interconnected by any local field redefinition. We show here, however, that they can be related with the help of a decoupled and nondynamic (spectator) field. The spectator field may be either an antisymmetric tensor B μν=-Bνμ, a vector Aμ or a scalar field φ, corresponding to each of the three families. The addition of the extra field allows us to formulate master actions which interpolate between the symmetric Fierz-Pauli theory and the other models. We argue that massive gravity models based on the Fierz-Pauli theory are not expected to be equivalent to possible local self-interacting theories built up on top of the two new families of massive spin-2 models. The approach used here may be useful to investigate dual (nonsymmetric) formulations of higher-spin particles. © 2013 American Physical Society.

Nonperturbative aspects of the two-dimensional massive gauged Thirring model

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Yang-Lee zeros of the two- and three-state Potts model defined on π3 Feynman diagrams

We present both analytical and numerical results on the position of partition function zeros on the complex magnetic field plane of the q=2 state (Ising) and the q=3 state Potts model defined on phi(3) Feynman diagrams (thin random graphs). Our analytic results are based on the ideas of destructive interference of coexisting phases and low temperature expansions. For the case of the Ising model, an argument based on a symmetry of the saddle point equations leads us to a nonperturbative proof that the Yang-Lee zeros are located on the unit circle, although no circle theorem is known in this case of random graphs. For the q=3 state Potts model, our perturbative results indicate that the Yang-Lee zeros lie outside the unit circle. Both analytic results are confirmed by finite lattice numerical calculations.