Theory with a unique thermal effective potential

We show that for the pion-nucleon theory the thermal bubble graph is analytic at the origin of the momentum-frequency space, although the internal propagators in the loop have the same mass. This means that, for this theory, the thermal effective potential is uniquely defined. We then examine how a slight modification of the interaction term results in a theory for which the thermal bubble graph displays the usual nonanalyticity at the origin and the thermal effective potential is not uniquely defined.

Studies on the respiration rate of free and immobilized cells of Cephalosporium acremonium in cephalosporin C production

Bioprocesses using filamentous fungi immobilized in inert supports present many advantages when compared to conventional free cell processes. However, assessment of the real advantages of the unconventional process demands a rigorous study of the limitations to diffusional mass transfer of the reagents, especially concerning oxygen. In this work, a comparative study was carried out on the cephalosporin C production process in defined medium containing glucose and sucrose as main carbon and energy sources, by free and immobilized cells of Cephalosporium acremonium ATCC 48272 in calcium alginate gel beads containing alumina. The effective diffusivity of oxygen through the gel beads and the effectiveness factors related to the respiration rate of the microorganism were determined experimentally. By applying Monod kinetics, the respiration kinetics parameters were experimentally determined in independent experiments in a complete production medium. The effectiveness factor experimental values presented good agreement with the theoretical values of the approximated zero-order effectiveness factor, considering the dead core model. Furthermore, experimental results obtained with immobilized cells in a 1.7-L tower bioreactor were compared with those obtained in 5-L conventional fermenter with free cells. It could be concluded that it is possible to attain rather high production rates working with relatively large diameter gel beads (ca. 2.5 mm) and sucrose consumption-based productivity was remarkably higher with immobilized cells, i.e., 0.33 gCPC/kg sucrose/h against 0.24 gCPC/kg sucrose/h in the aerated stirred tank bioreactor process. (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Vehicle influence on calcium hydroxide pastes diffusion in human and bovine teeth

The purpose of this study was to compare the pH and calcium ion liberation after use of calcium hydroxide pastes with different paste vehicles in human or bovine teeth. Ninety-two single-rooted human and bovine roots were used. The roots were instrumented and an external cavity preparation was performed. The roots were divided in to human and bovine groups. Each group was subdivided into four subgroups (SB) according to the vehicle:SB1, detergent; SB2, saline; SB3, polyethylenoglycol + camphorated paramonochlorophenol (Calen PMCC) and SB4, polyethylenoglycol + furacyn paramonochlorophenol (FPMC). Specimens were immersed into saline solution at 37 degrees C and after 7 and 14 days pH and calcium ion measurements were made. The results were analyzed by ANOVA and Tukey tests (P < 0.05). There was no statistical difference between bovine and human teeth in the pH analysis (P < 0.05), but bovine teeth provided larger calcium ion liberation than human teeth. Calen PMCC was statistically more effective for pH increase and calcium ion liberation in all analyses, followed by FPMC and saline. Detergent showed the lowest pH alterations and calcium ion liberation. The period of 14 days showed more calcium ionic liberation than the 7-day period.

Influence of Ag addition on the thermal behavior of the Cu-11 mass% Al alloy

In this work the influence of Ag additions on the thermal behavior of the Cu-11 mass% Al alloy was studied using differential scanning calorimetry, in situ X-ray diffractometry and scanning electron microscopy. The results indicated that changes in the heating rate shift the peak attributed to alpha phase formation to higher temperatures, evidencing the diffusive character of this reaction. The activation energy value for the alpha phase formation reaction, obtained from a non-isotherm kinetic model, is close to that corresponding to Cu atoms self diffusion, thus confirming that this reaction is dominated by Cu atoms diffusion through the martensite matrix.

(alpha + gamma(1)) Complex phase formation in the Cu-10 mass% Al-6mass% Ag alloy

In this work the (alpha + gamma(1)) complex phase formation reaction in the Cu-10mass% Al-6mass% Ag alloy was studied using Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Differential Thermodilatometry (DTD), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), Optical (OM) and Scanning Electron Microscopies (SEM). The results indicated the presence of two different processes, related to a change in the Ag diffusion route from the alpha matrix to the (alpha + gamma(1)) complex phase.

Effective action for QED in 2+1 dimensions at finite temperature

Both the parity-breaking and parity-invariant parts of the effective action for the gauge field in QED 3 with massive fermions at finite temperature are obtained exactly. This is feasible because we use a particular configuration of the background gauge field, namely a constant magnetic field and a time-dependent time component of the background gauge field. Our results allow us to compute exactly physically interesting quantities such as the induced charge density and fermion condensate whose dependence on the temperature, fermion mass and gauge field is discussed. ©1999 The American Physical Society.

Quadratic effective action for QED in D=2,3 dimensions

We calculate the effective action for quantum electrodynamics (QED) in D=2,3 dimensions at the quadratic approximation in the gauge fields. We analyze the analytic structure of the corresponding nonlocal boson propagators nonperturbatively in k/m. In two dimensions for any nonzero fermion mass, we end up with one massless pole for the gauge boson. We also calculate in D=2 the effective potential between two static charges separated by a distance L and find it to be a linearly increasing function of L in agreement with the bosonized theory (massive sine-Gordon model). In three dimensions we find nonperturbatively in k/m one massive pole in the effective bosonic action leading to screening. Fitting the numerical results we derive a simple expression for the functional dependence of the boson mass upon the dimensionless parameter e2/m. ©2000 The American Physical Society.

Nonforward parton distributions of the pion within an effective single instanton approximation

We develop a relativistic quark model for pion structure, which incorporates the nontrivial structure of the vacuum of quantum chromodynamics as modelled by instantons. Pions are bound states of quarks and the strong quark-pion vertex is determined from an instanton induced effective Lagrangian. The interaction of the constituents of the pion with the external electromagnetic field is introduced in gauge invariant form. The parameters of the model, i.e., effective instanton radius and constituent quark mass, are obtained from the vacuum expectation values of the lowest dimensional quark and gluon operators and the low-energy observables of the pion. We apply the formalism to the calculation of the pion form factor by means of the isovector nonforward parton distributions and find agreement with the experimental data. © 2000 Elsevier Science B.V.

Exact solvability of potentials with spatially dependent effective masses

We discuss the relationship between exact solvability of the Schroedinger equation, due to a spatially dependent mass, and the ordering ambiguity. Some examples show that, even in this case, one can find exact solutions. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that operators with linear dependence on the momentum are nonambiguous. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V.

Off-Diagonal Quark Distributions in Pions in the Effective Single-Instanton Approximation

Nonperturbative functions that parametrize off-diagonal hadronic matrix elements of the light-cone leading-twist quark operators are considered. These functions are calculated within the proposed relativistic quark model allowing for the nontrivial structure of the QCD vacuum, special attention being given to gauge invariance. Hadrons are treated as bound states of quarks; strong-interaction quark-pion vertices are described by effective interaction Lagrangians generated by instantons. The parameters of the instanton vacuum, such as the effective radius of the instanton and the quark mass, are related to the vacuum expectation values of the quark-gluon operators of the lowest dimension and to low-energy pion observables. © 2000 MAIK Nauka/Interperiodica.

Gluon mass generation in the PT-BFM scheme

In this article we study the general structure and special properties of the Schwinger-Dyson equation for the gluon propagator constructed with the pinch technique, together with the question of how to obtain infrared finite solutions, associated with the generation of an effective gluon mass. Exploiting the known all-order correspondence between the pinch technique and the background field method, we demonstrate that, contrary to the standard formulation, the non-perturbative gluon self-energy is transverse order-by-order in the dressed loop expansion, and separately for gluonic and ghost contributions. We next present a comprehensive review of several subtle issues relevant to the search of infrared finite solutions, paying particular attention to the role of the seagull graph in enforcing transversality, the necessity of introducing massless poles in the three-gluon vertex, and the incorporation of the correct renormalization group properties. In addition, we present a method for regulating the seagull-type contributions based on dimensional regularization; its applicability depends crucially on the asymptotic behavior of the solutions in the deep ultraviolet, and in particular on the anomalous dimension of the dynamically generated gluon mass. A linearized version of the truncated Schwinger-Dyson equation is derived, using a vertex that satisfies the required Ward identity and contains massless poles belonging to different Lorentz structures. The resulting integral equation is then solved numerically, the infrared and ultraviolet properties of the obtained solutions are examined in detail, and the allowed range for the effective gluon mass is determined. Various open questions and possible connections with different approaches in the literature are discussed. © SISSA 2006.

Analyzing dynamical gluon mass generation

We study the necessary conditions for obtaining infrared finite solutions from the Schwinger-Dyson equation governing the dynamics of the gluon propagator. The equation in question is set up in the Feynman gauge of the background field method, thus capturing a number of desirable features. Most notably, and in contradistinction to the standard formulation, the gluon self-energy is transverse order-by-order in the dressed loop expansion, and separately for gluonic and ghost contributions. Various subtle field-theoretic issues, such as renormalization group invariance and regularization of quadratic divergences, are briefly addressed. The infrared and ultraviolet properties of the obtained solutions are examined in detail, and the allowed range for the effective gluon mass is presented.

Absolute neutrino mass from helicity measurements

The possibility to access the absolute neutrino mass scale through the measurement of the wrong helicity contribution of charged leptons is investigated in pion decay. Through this method, one may have access to the same effective mass m 2β extractable from the tritium beta decay experiments for electron neutrinos as well as the analogous effective mass $(m 2nuμ}){eff} for muon neutrinos. In the channel π-→ ē-v̄, the relative probability of producing an antineutrino with left helicity is enhanced if compared with the naive expectation (m ν/2E ν) 2. The possibility to constrain new interactions in the context of two-Higgs-Doublet models is also investigated. © 2009 World Scientific Publishing Company.

Cost-effective composite electrode for the fast voltammetric screening and determination of riboflavin (B2) and pyridoxine (B6) in pharmaceuticals

Different solid composites made by mechanical dispersions of graphite particles into heated paraffin (from 65 to 80% graphite, in mass) were prepared and assessed in order to optimize their use in electrochemical and electroanalytical procedures for bioanalysis. Besides these, composites were also evaluated by thermoanalytical techniques aiming to study their conservation and long-term stability (over eight months without special care), among others. Best results were found at 80% m/m graphite in paraffin. Such electrode combines low-cost, stability, sensitivity, ease of maintenance and clearance, besides the possibilities of manufacture in many different forms and shapes (with or without modifications) and applicability in a wide range of pH. Electrochemical studies by different voltammetric techniques involving vitamins from complex B (riboflavin and pyridoxine) leaded to a better understanding about their electrooxidative processes onto carbon-composite electrodes, specially regarding reversibility and pH-dependence. Data were also acquired and optimized with analytical purposes, being square-wave voltammetry in pH 4.2 chosen by its many advantages. Good linearity between peak responses as function of concentration were reached from 5 to 43 μmol L-1 for riboflavin (peak at -0.257 V) and up to 8.5 × 10-4 mol L -1 for pyridoxine (peak at +1.04 V), best studied conditions; limits of detection (at an S/N of 3) for both analites showed to be circa 1.0 mol L-1. Different commercial samples were analyzed for riboflavin (EMS® complex B syrup) and pyridoxine (Citoneurin 5000 Merck® ampoules) providing 96.6% and 98.7% recoveries, respectively.

Avaliação da atividade antifúngica dos extratos de buchenavia tomentosa sobre Candida spp

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)