Fold, transcritical and pitchfork singularities for time-reversible systems

This paper deals with a class of singularly perturbed reversible planar vector fields around the origin where the normal hyperbolicity assumption is not assumed. We exhibit conditions for the existence of infinitely many periodic orbits and hetero-clinic cycles converging to singular orbits with respect to the Hausdorf distance. In addition, generic normal forms of such singularities are presented.

Initial Development and Characterization of PLGA Nanospheres Containing Ropivacaine

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

NUMERICAL STUDY OF TRANSPORT IN A DISSIPATIVE MEDIUM

A numerical study of propagation of a particle through a one-dimensional dissipative medium is presented. The medium is composed of several dissipative sections, which are characterized by their friction coefficients eta. In particular, we have considered two types of friction coefficients distributed orderly or disorderly along the chain. For the same relative proportion of the coefficients, we have found that transport can be enhanced in the disordered distribution in comparison with the ordered one. We also show how this can be considered an approximated way to treat the propagation in a dissipative medium with a position-dependent friction coefficient.

When the Casimir energy is not a sum of zero-point energies

We compute the leading radiative correction to the Casimir force between two parallel plates in the lambdaPhi(4) theory. Dirichlet and periodic boundary conditions are considered. A heuristic approach, in which the Casimir energy is computed as the sum of one-loop corrected zero-point energies, is shown to yield incorrect results, but we show how to amend it. The technique is then used in the case of periodic boundary conditions to construct a perturbative expansion which is free of infrared singularities in the massless limit. In this case we also compute the next-to-leading order radiative correction, which turns out to be proportional to lambda(3/2).

Effects of ion beam on nanoindentation characteristics of glassy polymeric carbon surface

Glassy polymeric carbon (GPC) is a useful material for medical applications due to its chemical inertness and biocompatible characteristics. Mitral and aortic and hydrocephalic valves are examples of GPC prosthetic devices that have been fabricated and commercialized in Brazil. In this work, ion beam was used to improve the mechanical characteristics of GPC surface and therefore to avoid the propagation of microcracks where the cardiac valves are more fragile. A control group of phenolic resin samples heat-treated at 300, 400, 700, 1000, 1500, and 2500 degrees C was characterized by measuring their hardness and Young's reduced elastic modulus with the depth of indentation. The control group was compared to results obtained with samples heat-treated at 700, 1000, and 1500 degrees C and bombarded with energetic ions of silicon, carbon, oxygen, and gold at energies of 5, 6, 8, and 10 MeV, respectively, with fluences between 10x10(13) and 10x10(16) ions/cm(2). GPC nonbombarded samples showed that hardness depends on the heat treatment temperature (HTT), with a maximum hardness for heat treatment at 1000 degrees C. The comparison between the control group and bombarded group also showed that hardness, after bombardment, had a greater increase for samples prepared at 700 degrees C than for samples prepared at higher temperatures. The Young's elastic modulus presents an exponential relationship with depth. The parameters obtained by fitting depend on the HTT and on the ion used in the bombardment more than on energy and fluence. The hardness results show clearly that bombardment can promote carbonization, increase the linkage between the chains of the polymeric material, and promote recombination of broken bonds in lateral groups that are more numerous for samples heat-treated at 700 degrees C. (c) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Critical current degradation of Bi-2223 composite tapes induced by cyclic deformation and fatigue-related effects

Application of high temperature superconductor Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3Ox. (Bi-2223) compound embedded in an Ag matrix requires the knowledge of critical current as a function of mechanical properties. Commercial tapes available in different types have been developed in industrial production scale in which a combination of small diameter filaments, long tape lengths and a ductile matrix results in a conductor with low crack formation and good tolerance against strain. The measurement of critical current and the evaluation of n-index from V-I characteristic curves of Bi-2223/Ag composite tapes subjected to an initial bending strain as a function of number of thermal cycles were done for two types of Bi-2223/Ag composite tapes: with and without steel tape reinforcement. The results showed that tapes with reinforcement presented small critical current degradation as a function of the number of thermal cycles whereas tapes without reinforcement exhibited steadily critical current degradation caused by the propagation of cracks. The n-index followed the same critical current behavior.

Analytic element modelling for strip aquifers

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

Forum: social network for the surveillance and prevention of workplace accidents

In 2008, academic researchers and public service officials created a university extension studies platform based on online and on-site meetings denominated "Work-Related Accidents Forum: Analysis, Prevention, and Other Relevant Aspects. Its aim was to help public agents and social partners to propagate a systemic approach that would be helpful in the surveillance and prevention of work-related accidents. This article describes and analyses such a platform. Online access is free and structured to: support dissemination of updated concepts; support on-site meetings and capacity to build educational activities; and keep a permanent space for debate among the registered participants. The desired result is the propagation of a social-technical-systemic view of work-related accidents that replaces the current traditional view that emphasizes human error and results in blaming the victims. The Forum uses an educational approach known as permanent health education, which is based on the experience and needs of workers and encourages debate among participants. The forum adopts a problematizing pedagogy that starts from the requirements and experiences of the social actors and stimulates support and discussions among them in line with an ongoing health educational approach. The current challenge is to turn the platform into a social networking website in order to broaden its links with society.

Predation of the Buffy-fronted Seedeater Sporophila frontalis (Aves: Emberizidae) on Merostachys neesii (Poaceae: Babusoideae) seeds during a masting event in the Atlantic forest

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Apoptotic and developmental effects of bovine Herpesvirus type-5 infection on in vitro-produced bovine embryos

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

A Comparative Cytogenetic Analysis of 2 Bothriuridae Species and Overview of the Chromosome Data of Scorpiones

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

Unfolding of plasmon-polariton modes in one-dimensional layered systems containing anisotropic left-handed materials

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Axial anomaly through analytic regularization

In this work we consider the two-point Green's functions in (1 + 1)-dimensional quantum electrodynamics and show that the correct implementation of analytic regularization gives a gauge invariant result for the vacuum polarization amplitude and the correct coefficient for the axial anomaly.

Nonlinear short-wave propagation in ferrites

In this paper we discuss the propagation of nonlinear electromagnetic short waves in ferromagnetic insulators. We show that such propagation is perpendicular to an externally applied field. In the nonlinear regime we determine various possible propagation patterns: an isolated pulse, a modulated sinusoidal wave, and an asymptotic two-peak wave. The mathematical structure underlying the existence of these solutions is that of the integrable sine-Gordon equation.

Genetic relatedness of Plasmodium falciparum isolates and the origin of allelic diversity at the merozoite surface protein-1 (MSP-1) locus in Brazil and Vietnam

Background: Despite the extensive polymorphism at the merozoite surface protein-1 (MSP-1) locus of Plasmodium falciparum, that encodes a major repetitive malaria vaccine candidate antigen, identical and nearly identical alleles frequently occur in sympatric parasites. Here we used microsatellite haplotyping to estimate the genetic distance between isolates carrying identical and nearly identical MSP-1 alleles. Methods: We analyzed 28 isolates from hypoendemic areas in north-western Brazil, collected between 1985 and 1998, and 23 isolates obtained in mesoendemic southern Vietnam in 1996. MSP-1 alleles were characterized by combining PCR typing with allele-specific primers and partial DNA sequencing. The following single-copy microsatellite markers were typed: Polyα, TA42 (only for Brazilian samples), TA81, TA1, TA87, TA109 (only for Brazilian samples), 2490, ARAII, PfG377, PfPK2, and TA60. Results: The low pair-wise average genetic distance between microsatellite haplotypes of isolates sharing identical MSP-1 alleles indicates that epidemic propagation of discrete parasite clones originated most identical MSP-1 alleles in parasite populations from Brazil and Vietnam. At least one epidemic clone propagating in Brazil remained relatively unchanged over more than one decade. Moreover, we found no evidence that rearrangements of MSP-1 repeats, putatively created by mitotic recombination events, generated new alleles within clonal lineages of parasites in either country. Conclusion: Identical MSP-1 alleles originated from co-ancestry in both populations, whereas nearly identical MSP-1 alleles have probably appeared independently in unrelated parasite lineages.