Slow-fast systems on algebraic varieties bordering piecewise-smooth dynamical systems

This article extends results contained in Buzzi et al. (2006) [4], Llibre et al. (2007, 2008) [12,13] concerning the dynamics of non-smooth systems. In those papers a piecewise C-k discontinuous vector field Z on R-n is considered when the discontinuities are concentrated on a codimension one submanifold. In this paper our aim is to study the dynamics of a discontinuous system when its discontinuity set belongs to a general class of algebraic sets. In order to do this we first consider F :U -> R a polynomial function defined on the open subset U subset of R-n. The set F-1 (0) divides U into subdomains U-1, U-2,...,U-k, with border F-1(0). These subdomains provide a Whitney stratification on U. We consider Z(i) :U-i -> R-n smooth vector fields and we get Z = (Z(1),...., Z(k)) a discontinuous vector field with discontinuities in F-1(0). Our approach combines several techniques such as epsilon-regularization process, blowing-up method and singular perturbation theory. Recall that an approximation of a discontinuous vector field Z by a one parameter family of continuous vector fields is called an epsilon-regularization of Z (see Sotomayor and Teixeira, 1996 [18]; Llibre and Teixeira, 1997 [15]). Systems as discussed in this paper turn out to be relevant for problems in control theory (Minorsky, 1969 [16]), in systems with hysteresis (Seidman, 2006 [17]) and in mechanical systems with impacts (di Bernardo et al., 2008 [5]). (C) 2011 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Redescription and reevaluation of the generic status of Leptodactylus dantasi (Amphibia, Anura, Leptodactylidae) and description of its unusual advertisement call

Leptodactylus dantasi Bokermann is redescribed from adult specimens collected in Parque Nacional da Serra do Divisor, State of Acre, Brazil, near the border between the Brazilian state of Acre and Peru. We propose the inclusion of this species in the genus Hydrolaetare. A new diagnostic character observed for the genus is the presence of fringes of fingers, and fringes and webbing of toes, finely serrate; the serrate edge of the fringe and webbing can be keratinized in males, females, and subadults. Hydrolaetare dantasi (Bokermann) is characterized by robust body and limbs, a broad and depressed head, slightly shorter than wide, and long, pointed and basally webbed toes. Hydrolaetare dantasi differs from the only other species in this genus, Hydrolaetare schmidti (Cochran and Goin), mainly by having toes webbed basally (fully webbed in H. schmidti). The advertisement call of H. dantasi is composed of two components; an initial note produced by the impact of the vocal sac against the ground and a second note corresponding to a long whistle of ascending frequency. The initial note is a percussive sound and represents an unusual form of sound emission in anurans; the second note is a vocalization.

Bioaerossóis bacterianos em um hospital

Microbial contamination of an enclosed area may come from outside or be generated within the area itself. In the study described here, bioaerosol levels in hospital air were quantified and related to those found in the air outside, taking into account some of the environmental variables that affect air quality, such as the number of occupants of a room and the type of ventilation. Airborne bacteria were collected for five minute by blowing air at 500 L min -1 in high speed jets on to the surface on plates culture in a single-stage bioaerosol impactor. The mean viable count of bacteria in the air outside in the hospital, São Paulo State, was 77 ± 4 CFU m -3, while in the air inside the hospital it was 302 ± 260 CFU m-3. The operating theatre was the only space sampled with a controlled environment and, after orthopedic surgery, it had the highest bioaerosol count recorded (867 ± 482 CFU m-3). In the enclosed environments, nine bacterial species were identified. Despite the difficulty in establishing precise numbers of bacteria in the bioaerosols in hospital environments, the values obtained demonstrate a need to instigate suitable programs to keep the microbial density low in these environments, and eliminate microorganisms presenting a significant risk to their occupants. It is also recommended that such programs include the monitoring of hospital air, with the aim of defining standards for acceptable numbers of bacteria in the bioaerosol.

Dentin hypersensitivity after teeth bleaching with in-office systems. randomized clinical trial

Purpose: To comparatively and prospectively compare in a randomized clinical trial, dentin hypersensitivity after treatment with three in-office bleaching systems, based on hydrogen peroxide at different concentrations, with and without light source activation. Methods: 88 individuals were included according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. Subjects were randomly divided into the following three treatment groups: Group 1 was treated with three 15-minute applications of hydrogen peroxide at 15% with titanium dioxide (Lase Peroxide Lite) that was light-activated (Light Plus Whitening Lase) with five cycles of 1 minute and 30 seconds each cycle, giving a total treatment time of 45 minutes; Group 2 was treated with three 10-minute applications of hydrogen peroxide at 35% (Lase Peroxide Sensy), activated by light (LPWL) same activation cycles than Group 1, with a total treatment time of 30 minutes; Group 3 was treated with only one application for 45 minutes of hydrogen peroxide at 35% (Whitegold Office) without light activation. Each subject underwent one session of bleaching on the anterior teeth according to the manufacturers' instructions. Dentin sensitivity was recorded with a visual analogue scale (VAS) at baseline, immediately after, and at 7 and 30 days after treatment using a stimulus of an evaporative blowing triple syringe for 3 seconds on the upper central incisors from a distance of 1 cm. A Kruskal-Wallis test followed by Mann-Whitney test was performed for statistical analysis. Results: All groups showed increased sensitivity immediately after treatment. Group 1 displayed less changes relative to baseline with no significant differences (P= 0.104). At 7 and 30 days after treatment, a comparison of VAS values indicated no significant differences between all groups (P= 0.598 and 0.489, respectively).

Construção e validação de um túnel de vento para ensaios de estimativa da deriva em pulverizações agrícolas

Pós-graduação em Agronomia (Energia na Agricultura) - FCA

Ensino da reanimação neonatal para parteiras tradicionais - do aprendizado à prática nas Regiões Norte e Nordeste do Brasil

Pós-graduação em Ginecologia, Obstetrícia e Mastologia - FMB

Avaliação de sistemas de manejo de palhiço de cana-de-açúcar no campo e na indústria

This work presents and it evaluates the systems of crop of sugar-cane trash for energy ends, through studies accomplished in three industries of sugar and alcohol, of the State of São Paulo, as withdrawal in the field and crop partially integral with separation of the trash in the industry (cleaning the dry). it is Treated of a development of opportunities, because only when there is pulp shortage it is that remembers the energy use of the trash, which presents a larger cost for equivalent ton in energy again that the pulp of the sugar-cane, that already has a very spread trade in the section the sugar and alcohol. Another factor that should be outstanding is the environmental, because the Environmental Protocol exists, sanctioned by most of the producing of sugar-cane, that reduces the period for elimination burned of the sugar-cane before the crop implanted by the Law 11.241 of 2002. However it is important to highlight that the crop of the sugar-cane without it burns her previous, it increases the difficulty in the combat the pest denominated “cigarrinha-da-raiz”, turning necessary the retreat of part of the trash non beneficial for the soil, contributing like this, with the practice of removal of the trash for energy use. Of the obtained results it is ended that the most interesting modality economically, was the separation of the trash in the industry and that for better efficiency, the sugar-cane should go by a double process of blowing for cleaning, pointing out, however, that there was reduction of the capacity of transport of the sugar-cane as adult was the amount of trash partially in the crop integral.

Construção e validação de um túnel de vento para ensaios de estimativa da deriva em pulverizações agrícolas

The aim of this study was to build and validate a low cost reduced-scale wind tunnel for drift evaluation on pesticide application technology. The work was carried out at the NEMPA - Núcleo de Ensaio de Máquinas e Pneus Agroflorestais (NEMPA), FCA/UNESP, Departamento de Engenharia Rural, Botucatu/SP, Brazil. The wind tunnel main characteristics were an open circuit and a closed working section with a fan blowing air into the tunnel. Screens were fitted downstream after the fan in order to stabilize the air flow on the working section. The tunnel was built with 3.0 mm eucalyptus hardboard, with a total length of 4.8 m and a squared section of 0.56 m. The air flow was provided by a 180 W axial fan. The system was adjusted and calibrated to provide a laminar and stable flow at 2.0 m s-1. Validation studies were carried out by using a Teejet XR 8003 flat fan nozzle at 200 kPa (medium droplets) to apply a spray solutions containing water plus a food dye (Blue FDC) at 0,6% m v-1 mixed with two adjuvants: a polymer based anti drift formulation at 0,06% m v-1 and a sodium lauryl ether sulfate based surfactant at 0,2% v v-1. After a 10-second application the drift was collected on nylon strips transversally fixed along the tunnel at different distances from the nozzle and different high from the bottom part of the tunnel. Drift deposits were evaluated by spectrophotometry. The wind tunnel had low levels of turbulence and high repeatability of the data, which means that the flow was uniform and able to be used for carrying out measures to estimate drift. The validation results showed that the tunnel was effective to enable comparative drift measurements on the spray solution used in this work making possible the evaluation of drift risk potential under those spray technologies. The use of an adjuvant based on a polymer reduced the amount of drift from the nozzle compared to the surfactant.

EC31-133 The Management of Nebraska Soils (Revised March 1936)

The agricultural lands of this country are its greatest natural resource. History points out that nations with vast areas of good farm land are most likely to prosper and survive over long periods of time. Local communities, too, prosper and flourish in proportion to the productiveness of the surrounding land. Schools, social life, and business develop best in areas where the land is productive and properly managed and conserved. Nebraska, in common with other states, has suffered by the depletion of soil fertility. The reduction in acres in legumes and grasses, and the deplation of the organic matter in the surface soils, has likewise had its effect on the run-off of precipitation, soil blowing, and damage from drouth. In order to know what elements of fertility may become deficient and how soil fertility may be restored and maintained, we should understand the composition, character, and management of soils. In the following pages, some fundamentals of soil feritlity are given, followed later by a discussion of practical soil-management practices.

The influence of large-scale circulation, transient and local processes on the seasonal circulation of the Eastern Brazilian Shelf, 13 degrees S

The circulation at the Eastern Brazilian Shelf (EBS), near 13 degrees S, is discussed in terms of the currents and hydrography, associating large-scale circulation, transient and local processes to establish a regional picture of the EBS circulation. The results show that the circulation within the continental shelf and slope region is strongly affected by the seasonal changes in the wind field and mesa/large-scale circulation. Transient processes associated to the passage of Cold Front systems or meso-scale activity and the presence of a local canyon add more complexity to the system. During the austral spring and summer seasons, the prevailing upwelling favorable winds blowing from E-NE were responsible for driving southwestward shelf currents. The interaction with the Western Boundary Current (the Brazil Current), especially during summer, was significant and a considerable vertical shear in the velocity field was observed at the outer shelf. The passage of a Cold Front system during the springtime caused a complete reversal of the mean flow and contributed to the deepening of the Mixed Layer Depth (MLD). In addition, the presence of Salvador Canyon, subject to an upwelling favorable boundary current, enhanced the upwelling system, when compared to the upwelling observed at the adjacent shelf. During the austral autumn and winter seasons the prevailing downwelling favorable winds blowing from the SE acted to total reverse the shelf circulation, resulting in a northeastward flow. The passage of a strong Cold Front, during the autumn season, contributed not only to the strengthening of the flow but also to the deepening of the MLD. The presence of the Salvador Canyon, when subject to a downwelling favorable boundary current, caused an intensification of the downwelling process. Interestingly, the alongshore velocity at the shelf region adjacent to the head of the canyon was less affected when compared to the upwelling situation.

Estudio de los sonidos emitidos por las crías de tortuga boba, Caretta caretta, en el momento de la eclosión

Las crías Caretta caretta durante la eclosión y antes de salir del nido, emiten sonidos asociados a crujido y raspado del corion, así como chillidos, silbidos y tos, en un rango de frecuencia entre los 300 y 2600 Hz. No obstante, los silbidos y chillidos, que pueden ser asociables a un sistema de vocalización, se emiten a una frecuencia (1500-2600 Hz) mucho mayor al rango de sensibilidad descrito para esta especie (250-1000 Hz) y por tanto imperceptibles para ellas. Sin embargo, los sonidos producidos como consecuencia de ejercicios de respiración y expulsión de arena de las vías respiratorias, acompañados de tos (300-1200 Hz), por parte de las crías recién eclosionadas, son los únicos sonidos que podrían servir de señal y estimulación a la eclosión del resto de crías en el nido. ABSTRACT The hatchlings Caretta caretta, during the eclosion and before the abandon of their nest, produce sounds associated to creakling and scrape of the eggshell, and howl, whistle and cough, in a frequency range between 300 and 2600 Hz. Nevertheless, the howls and whistles, that could be associated to a vocalization apparatus, were emitted at a higher frequency (1500-2600 Hz) than the auditory range describe for this species (250-1000 Hz), and therefore probably inaudible for them. However, sounds generated as a consequence of breathing exercises and sand expulsion from the airways through coughs (300- 1200 Hz), by the recently hatched turtles, could be used as signal or stimulus for the hatch of the reminder eggs in the nest.

Correlazioni tra proprietá reologiche, struttura e processabilitá di blend di LLDPE/LDPE

Polymer blends constitute a valuable way to produce relatively low cost new materials. A still open question concerns the miscibility of polyethylene blends. Deviations from the log-additivity rule of the newtonian viscosity are often taken as a signature of immiscibility of the two components. The aim of this thesis is to characterize the rheological behavior in shear and elongation of five series of LLDPE/LDPE blends whose parent polymers have been chosen with different viscosity and SCB content and length. Synergistic effects have been measured for both zero shear viscosity and melt strength. Both SCB length and viscosity ratio between the components have been found to be key parameters for the miscibility of the pure polymers. In particular the miscibility increases with increasing SCB length and with decreasing the LDPE molecular weight and viscosity. This rheological behavior has significant effects on the processability window of these blends when the uni or biaxial elongational flows are involved. The film blowing is one of the processes for which the synergistic effects above mentioned can be crucial. Small scale experiments of film blowing performed for one of the series of blends has demonstrated that the positive deviation of the melt strength enlarges the processability window. In particular, the bubble stability was found to improve or disappear when the melt strength of the samples increased. The blending of LDPE and LLDPE can even reduce undesired melt flow instability phenomena widening, as a consequence, the processability window in extrusion. One of the series of blends has been characterized by means of capillary rheometry in order to allow a careful morphological analysis of the surface of the extruded polymer jets by means of Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) with the aim to detect the very early stages of the small scale melt instabilty at low shear rates (sharksin) and to follow its subsequent evolution as long as the shear rate was increased. With this experimental procedure it was possible to evaluate the shear rate ranges corresponding to different flow regions: smooth extrudate surface (absence of instability), sharkskin (small scale instability produced at the capillary exit), stick-slip transition (instability involving the whole capillary wall) and gross melt fracture (i.e. a large scale "upstream" instability originating from the entrance region of the capillary). A quantitative map was finally worked out using which an assessment of the flow type for a given shear rate and blend composition can be predicted.

Modello di calcolo per la valutazione delle prestazioni propulsive di un motore ibrido

Questo lavoro di tesi, svolto presso AVIO S.P.A, sede di Colleferro (RM), divisione spazio, si inserisce all'interno del progetto Theseus, che ha come scopo finale lo sviluppo di un dimostratore di un motore ibrido a combustibile solido e ossidante gassoso. In particolare, in questo momento è richiesto un codice di calcolo, preciso ma allo stesso tempo abbastanza contenuto nei tempi di calcolo, che permetta l'analisi e le previsioni della balistica interna di tale motore ibrido. Il codice di calcolo si basa su una versione già esistente per i motori a solido (CUBIC) scritto in ambiente FORTRAN, ed è stato riadattato ai motori ibridi. In particolare è stata scritta una routine per il calcolo della velocità di combustione che tiene conto di diversi fattori, tra cui blowing e il fenomeno di entrainment presente in superficie. Sempre per quanto riguarda la velocità di combustione, nel suo calcolo si tiene conto dell'impingement dell'iniettore sul grano e del valore locale (per quanto riguarda la temperatura di fiamma) dell'O/F. Inoltre è stato anche modellato il comportamento termodinamico delle eventuali protezioni termiche presenti internamente al motore, considerando tutti i fenomeni di pirolisi e ablazione che caratterizzano tali materiali. In fine il modello completo è stato testato e validato grazie al fatto che si disponeva di alcuni tiri al banco di un motore ibrido, effettuati presso il dipartimento di Ingegneria Aerospaziale dell'Università di Napoli Federico II.

Integrazione p-adica e teorema di Igusa

Questa tesi si prefigge lo scopo di dimostrare il teorema di Igusa. Inizia introducendo algebricamente i numeri p-adici e ne dà una rappresentazione grafica. Sviluppa poi un integrale definito dalla misura di Haar, invariante per traslazione e computa alcuni esempi. Utilizza il blow up come strumento per la risoluzione di alcuni integrali ed enuncia un'applicazione del teorema di Hironaka sulla risolubilità delle singolarità. Infine usa questi risultati per dimostrare il teorema di Igusa.

Study of a wind-wave numerical model and its integration with ocean and oil-spill numerical models

The ability to represent the transport and fate of an oil slick at the sea surface is a formidable task. By using an accurate numerical representation of oil evolution and movement in seawater, the possibility to asses and reduce the oil-spill pollution risk can be greatly improved. The blowing of the wind on the sea surface generates ocean waves, which give rise to transport of pollutants by wave-induced velocities that are known as Stokes’ Drift velocities. The Stokes’ Drift transport associated to a random gravity wave field is a function of the wave Energy Spectra that statistically fully describe it and that can be provided by a wave numerical model. Therefore, in order to perform an accurate numerical simulation of the oil motion in seawater, a coupling of the oil-spill model with a wave forecasting model is needed. In this Thesis work, the coupling of the MEDSLIK-II oil-spill numerical model with the SWAN wind-wave numerical model has been performed and tested. In order to improve the knowledge of the wind-wave model and its numerical performances, a preliminary sensitivity study to different SWAN model configuration has been carried out. The SWAN model results have been compared with the ISPRA directional buoys located at Venezia, Ancona and Monopoli and the best model settings have been detected. Then, high resolution currents provided by a relocatable model (SURF) have been used to force both the wave and the oil-spill models and its coupling with the SWAN model has been tested. The trajectories of four drifters have been simulated by using JONSWAP parametric spectra or SWAN directional-frequency energy output spectra and results have been compared with the real paths traveled by the drifters.