Study of the discovery potential of light custodians in a clean decay channel at the LHC

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

ELKO SPINOR FIELDS: LAGRANGIANS FOR GRAVITY DERIVED FROM SUPERGRAVITY

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

Particle Competition and Cooperation in Networks for Semi-Supervised Learning

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

The influence of thermal treatment on the preparation of PNM and PMN-PT thin films

Ferroelectric thin films belong to a class of materials with great technological importance in optic fibers, micro-electromechanical systems, and microprocessors and computers memories.The (1-x)PbMg1/3Nb2/3O3(x)PbTiO3 (PMN-PT) thin films, with x=0, 0.1, 0.35 and 0.5, were prepared by Pechini's process and deposited by spin-coating on Si(100), Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si(100) and quartz substrates. The goal of the present paper is to verify the thermal treatment influence on the perovskite phase formation, which is desirable for these applications. The phase formation was analyzed by X-ray diffraction. The film's surface was characterized by atomic force microscopy to analyze the roughness and the homogeneity. The results of this study indicate that the optimum conditions for obtaining the perovskite phase using a Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si(100) substrate, were drying each deposited layer at 140 degreesC (heating plate), and a final thermal treatment at 600 degreesC for 3 h in a closed system with a lead-rich atmosphere. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Social disability of Brazilian mood disorder patients

Mood disorders cause many social problems, often involving family relationships. Few studies are available in the literature comparing patients with bipolar, unipolar, dysthymic, and double depressive disorders concerning these aspects. In the present study, demographic and disease data were collected using a specifically prepared questionnaire. Social adjustment was assessed using the Disability Adjustment Scale and family relationships were evaluated using the Global Assessment of Relational Functioning Scale. One hundred patients under treatment for at least 6 months were evaluated at the Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic of the Botucatu School of Medicine, UNESP. Most patients were women (82%) more than 50 (49%) years old with at least two years of follow-up, with little schooling (62% had less than 4 years), and of low socioeconomic level. Logistic regression analysis showed that a diagnosis of unipolar disorder (P = 0.003, OR = 0.075, CI = 0.014-0.403) and dysthymia (P = 0.001, OR = 0.040, CI = 0.006-0.275) as well as family relationships (P = 0.002, OR = 0.953, CI = 0914-0.992) played a significant role in social adjustment. Unipolar and dysthymic patients presented better social adjustment than bipolar and double depressive patients (P < 0.001), results that were not due to social class. These patients, treated at a teaching hospital, may represent the severest mood disorder cases. Evaluations were made knowing the diagnosis of the patients, which might also have influenced some of the results. Social disabilities among mood disorder patients are very frequent and intensive.

Ensino de conceitos físicos de termologia para alunos com deficiência visual: dificuldades e alternativas encontradas por licenciandos para o planejamento de atividades

Relatamos aqui resultados parciais de um estudo que analisou o desempenho de futuros professores quando, durante o desenvolvimento de uma disciplina de Prática de Ensino de Física, foram solicitados a planejar, elaborar e ministrar, em situações reais de sala de aula, tópicos de ensino de termologia a uma turma de estudantes, dentre os quais se incluíam alunos com deficiência visual. Os dados coletados mostram que as principais dificuldades apresentadas pelos futuros professores referem-se à abordagem do conhecer fenômenos físicos como dependente do ver. Por outro lado, como alternativas, os futuros professores mostraram criatividade em superar atitudes passivas relativas à problemática educacional considerada e a elaboração de estratégias metodológicas destituídas da relação conhecer/ver.

Discrete approximations for strict convex continuous time problems and duality

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Aspartic acid racemization dating of Holocene brachiopods and bivalves from the southern Brazilian shelf, South Atlantic

The extent of racemization of aspartic acid (Asp) has been used to estimate the ages of 9 shells of the epifaunal calcitic brachiopod Bouchardia rosea and 9 shells of the infaunal aragonitic bivalve Semele casali. Both taxa were collected concurrently from the same sites at depths of 10 m and 30 m off the coast of Brazil. Asp D/L values show an excellent correlation with radiocarbon age at both sites and for both taxa (r(Site)(2) (9) (B. rosea) = 0.97 r(Site)(2) (1) (B.) (rosea) = 0.997, r(Site)(2) (9) (S.) (casali) = 0.9998, r(2) (Site) (1) (S.casali) = 0.93). The Asp ratios plotted against reservoir-corrected AMS radiocarbon ages over the time span of multiple millennia can thus be used to develop reliable and precise geochronologies not only for aragonitic mollusks (widely used for dating previously), but also for calcitic brachiopods. At each collection site, Bouchardia specimens display consistently higher D/L values than specimens of Semele. Thermal differences between sites are also notable and in agreement with theoretical expectations, as extents of racemization for both taxa are greater at the warmer, shallower site than at the cooler, deeper one. In late Holocene marine settings, concurrent time series of aragonitic and calcitic shells can be assembled using Asp racemization dating, and parallel multi-centennial to multi-millennial records can be developed simultaneously for multiple biomineral systems. (c) 2006 University of Washington. All rights reserved.

The SU(2) Skyrme model and anomaly

The SU(2) Shyrme model, expanding in the collective coordinates variables, gives rise to second-class constraints. Recently this system was embedded in a more general Abelian gauge theory using the BFFT Hamiltonian method. in this work we quantize this gauge theory computing the Noether current anomaly using for this two different methods: an operatorial Dirac first class formalism and the non-local BV quantization coupled with the Fujikawa regularization procedure. (C) 2000 Elsevier B.V. B.V. All rights reserved.

Algorithms for network piecewise-linear programs: A comparative study

Piecewise-Linear Programming (PLP) is an important area of Mathematical Programming and concerns the minimisation of a convex separable piecewise-linear objective function, subject to linear constraints. In this paper a subarea of PLP called Network Piecewise-Linear Programming (NPLP) is explored. The paper presents four specialised algorithms for NPLP: (Strongly Feasible) Primal Simplex, Dual Method, Out-of-Kilter and (Strongly Polynomial) Cost-Scaling and their relative efficiency is studied. A statistically designed experiment is used to perform a computational comparison of the algorithms. The response variable observed in the experiment is the CPU time to solve randomly generated network piecewise-linear problems classified according to problem class (Transportation, Transshipment and Circulation), problem size, extent of capacitation, and number of breakpoints per arc. Results and conclusions on performance of the algorithms are reported.

Remark on the Neves-Wotzasek constraints conversion method

In this work we give an alternative way which generalizes the recently implemented Neves-Wotzasek method of conversion from second to first-class systems. We have proved that this generalization is correct reproducing the results given in the literature using the case of a sphere with an antisymmetric generator as an example. ©2000 The American Physical Society.

Gaussian extended cubature formulae for polyharmonic functions

The purpose of this paper is to show certain links between univariate interpolation by algebraic polynomials and the representation of polyharmonic functions. This allows us to construct cubature formulae for multivariate functions having highest order of precision with respect to the class of polyharmonic functions. We obtain a Gauss type cubature formula that uses ℳ values of linear functional (integrals over hyperspheres) and is exact for all 2ℳ-harmonic functions, and consequently, for all algebraic polynomials of n variables of degree 4ℳ - 1.

Inclusion complex of S(-) bupivacaine and 2-hydroxypropyl- β-cyclodextrin: Study of morphology and cytotoxicity

Local anesthetics (LA) belong to a class of pharmacological compounds that attenuate or eliminate pain by binding to the sodium channel of excitable membranes, blocking the influx of sodium ions and the propagation of the nerve impulse. S (-) bupivacaine (S(-) bvc) is a local anesthetic of amino-amide type, widely used in surgery and obstetrics for sustained peripheral and central nerve blockade. This article focuses on the characterization of an inclusion complex of S(-) bvc in 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD). Differential scanning calorimetry, scanning electron microscopy and X-Ray diffraction analysis showed structural changes in the complex. In preliminary toxicity studies, the cell viability tests revealed that the inclusion complex decreased the toxic effect (p<0.001) produced by S(-) bvc. These results suggest that the S(-) bvc:HP-β-CD inclusion complex represents a promising agent for the treatment of regional pain.

Análise da incerteza na representação de classes de cobertura do solo urbano resultantes da aplicação de uma rede neural artificial

The great diversity of materials that characterizes the urban environment determines a structure of mixed classes in a classification of multiespectral images. In that sense, it is important to define an appropriate classification system using a non parametric classifier, that allows incorporating non spectral (such as texture) data to the process. They also allow analyzing the uncertainty associated to each class from the output alues of the network calculated in relation to each class. Considering these properties, an experiment was carried out. This experiment consisted in the application of an Artificial Neural Network aiming at the classification of the urban land cover of Presidente Prudente and the analysis of the uncertainty in the representation of the mapped thematic classes. The results showed that it is possible to discriminate the variations in the urban land cover through the application of an Artificial Neural Network. It was also possible to visualize the spatial variation of the uncertainty in the attribution of classes of urban land cover from the generated representations. The class characterized by a defined pattern as intermediary related to the impermeability of the urban soil presented larger ambiguity degree and, therefore, larger mixture.

Dificuldades e alternativas encontradas por licenciandos para o planejamento de atividades de ensino de óptica para alunos com deficiência visual

Partial outcomes of a study aimed to verify future High School teachers performance during the development of a Teaching Practice undergraduate course. The student teachers were asked to plan, elaborate and teach, in a classroom situation, optics topics to a class which included visual handicapped pupils. Data analysis shows that the main difficulties found by the student physics' teachers are related to which approach will be used to perceive phenomena dependent on vision and also to the need to break away from traditional pedagogy.. On the other hand, as alternatives, future teachers have shown creativity in order to overcome passive aptitudes related to this educational problem, working out methodological strategies that do not require the knowing/seeing relation, as well as, emphasizing oral communication within the physics teaching context. Copyright by the Sociedade Brasileira de Física.