Mangrove habitat partitioning by Ucides cordatus (Ucididae): Effects of the degree of tidal flooding and tree-species composition during its life cycle

Environmental factors strongly affect mangrove crabs, and some factors modulate population structure and habitat partitioning during the crabs' life cycle. However, the effect of these environmental factors on habitat selection by mangrove crabs is still unknown. We evaluated habitat selection by the mangrove crab Ucides cordatus in mangrove forests with different degrees of predominance of Rhizophora mangle, Laguncularia racemosa or Avicennia schaueriana, two tidal flooding levels (less- and more-flooded), and two biological periods (breeding and non-breeding seasons). Sampling was conducted in four mangrove forests with different influences of these biotic and abiotic parameters. We used the data for sex ratio to explain environmental partitioning by this species. Females predominated in R. mangle mangroves, independently of the biological period (breeding or non-breeding seasons), and males predominated only in the less-flooded L. racemosa mangroves. The flooding level affected the sex ratio of U. cordatus, with a predominance of males in less-flooded mangroves, independently of the biological period; and a gender balance in the more-flooded mangroves only during the breeding season. Outside the breeding season, the largest specimens were recorded in the R. mangle mangroves, but in the breeding season, the largest crabs were recorded in the L. racemosa mangroves with a higher level of flooding. These results suggest that tree-species composition and tidal flooding level can have a significant effect on the habitat partitioning of sexes and sizes of the mangrove crab U. cordatus both during and outside the breeding season. © 2012 Springer-Verlag and AWI.

The effects of pinning on critical currents of superconducting films

Using molecular dynamics simulations, we analyze the effects of artificial periodic arrays of pinning sites on the critical current of superconducting thin films as a function of vortex density. We analyze two types of periodic pinning array: hexagonal and Kagomé. For the Kagome pinning network we make calculations using two directions of transport current: along and perpendicular to the main axis of the lattice. Our results show that the hexagonal pinning array presents higher critical currents than the Kagomé and random pinning configuration for all vortex densities. In addition, the Kagomé networks show anisotropy in their transport properties. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

Critical currents and melting temperature of a two-dimensional vortex lattice with periodic pinning

The critical current and melting temperature of a vortex system are analyzed. Calculations are made for a two-dimensional film at finite temperature with two kinds of periodic pinning: hexagonal and Kagomé. A transport current parallel and perpendicular to the main axis of the pinning arrays is applied and molecular dynamics simulations are used to calculate the vortex velocities to obtain the critical currents. The structure factor and displacements of vortices at zero transport current are used to obtain the melting temperature for both pinning arrays. The critical currents are higher for the hexagonal pinning lattice and anisotropic for both pinning arrays. This anisotropy is stronger with temperature for the hexagonal array. For the Kagomé pinning lattice, our analysis shows a multi stage phase melting; that is, as we increase the temperature, each different dynamic phase melts before reaching the melting temperature. Both the melting temperature and critical currents are larger for the hexagonal lattice, indicating the role for the interstitial vortices in decreasing the pinning strength. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media New York.

Preenchimento de vales incisos por associações de fácies estuarinas, formação Rio Bonito, nordeste do Paraná

Pós-graduação em Geociências e Meio Ambiente - IGCE

Search for Flavor-Changing Neutral Currents in Top-Quark Decays t -> Zq in pp Collisions at root s=8 TeV

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Erythrina mulungu Alkaloids Are Potent Inhibitors of Neuronal Nicotinic Receptor Currents in Mammalian Cells

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Flavor-changing neutral currents in the minimal 3-3-1 model revisited

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Estudo do comportamento em fadiga de uma chapa de aço microligado, grau API 5L X70

In engineering, for correct designing the structural components required for cyclical stresses, it is necessary to determine a limit of resistance to fatigue, which is the maximum amplitude of the applied tension under which the fatigue failure does not occurs after a certain number cycles. The marine environment is hostile, not only by the high pressure, corrosion, but also by low temperatures. Petrol Production units, composed of the risers (pipelines connecting the oil well to the ship), are dimensioned to remain installed for periods of 20 up to 30 years, and must therefore be prepared to support various efforts, such as tidal, wind currents and everything that is related. This paper focuses on a study on the fatigue behavior of microalloyed steel, API 5L Grade X70, used to transport oil and gas by pipelines. For analysis, we obtained the curves S-N (stress vs. number of cycles) using laboratory data collected from cylindrical longitudinal and transverse specimens used in axial fatigue test in accordance with ASTM E466. The tensile tests and microhardness were performed to characterize the mechanical properties of the samples, and it was found that the values meet the specifications of the standard API 5L. To characterize microstructurally the material, it was also made a metallographic analysis of the steel under study, and the origin of the fatigue crack was investigated with the support of a scanning electron microscope (SEM).

Profile and crowding of currents in mesoscopic superconductors with an array of antidots

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

Deformation and tidal evolution of close-in planets and satellites using a Maxwell viscoelastic rheology

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