SPECTRUM OF SCREENING MASSES FOR SU(2) GAUGE THEORY: UNIVERSALITY CLASS

In this work we study the spectrum of the lowest screening masses for Yang-Mills theories on the lattice. We used the SU(2) gauge group in (3 + 1) dmensions. We adopted the multiple exponential method and the so-called ""variational"" method, in order to detect possible excited states. The calculations were done near the critical temperature of the confinement-deconfinement phase transition. We obtained values for the ratios of the screening masses consistent with predictions from universality arguments. A Monte Carlo evolution of the screening masses in the gauge theory confirms the validity of the predictions.

High T/P evolution and metamorphic ages of the migmatitic basement of northern Sierras Pampeanas, Argentina: Characterization of a mid-crustal segment of the Famatinian belt

New petrologic, thermobarometric and U-Pb monazite geochronologic information allowed to resolve the metamorphic evolution of a high temperature mid-crustal segment of an ancient subduction-related orogen. The EI Portezuelo Metamorphic-Igneous Complex, in the northern Sierras Pampeanas, is mainly composed of migmatites that evolved from amphibolite to granulite metamorphic facies, reaching thermal peak conditions of 670-820 degrees C and 4.5-5.3 kbar. The petrographic study combined with conventional and pseudosection thermobarometry led to deducing a short prograde metamorphic evolution within migmatite blocks. The garnet-absent migmatites represent amphibolite-facies rocks, whereas the cordierite-garnet-K-feldspar-sillimanite migmatites represent higher metamorphic grade rocks. U-Pb geochronology on monazite grains within leucosome record the time of migmatization between approximate to 477 and 470 Ma. Thus, the El Portezuelo Metamorphic-Igneous Complex is an example of exhumed Early Ordovician anatectic middle crust of the Famatinian mobile belt. Homogeneous exposure of similar paleo-depths throughout the Famatinian back-arc and isobaric cooling paths suggest slow exhumation and consequent longstanding crustal residence at high temperatures. High thermal gradients uniformly distributed in the Famatinian back-arc can be explained by shallow convection of a low-viscosity asthenosphere promoted by subducting-slab dehydration. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Molecular masses and sedimentation coefficients of extracellular hemoglobin of Glossoscolex paulistus: Alkaline oligomeric dissociation

The giant extracellular hemoglobin of Glossoscolex paulistus (HbGp) has a molecular mass (M) of 3600 +/- 100 kDa and a standard sedimentation coefficient (s(20.w)(0)) of 58 S. estimated by analytical ultracentrifugation (AUC). In the present work, further AUC studies were developed for HbGp, at pH 10.0, which favors oligomeric dissociation into lower M species. The HbGp oligomer is formed by globin chains a, b, c and d plus the linker chains. The pure monomeric fraction, subunit d, and HbGp at pH 10.0, in the presence of beta-mercaptoethanol, were also studied. Our results indicate that for samples of pure subunit d, besides the monomeric species with s(20.w)(0) of 2.0 S, formation of dimer of subunit d is observed with s(20.w)(0) of around 2.9 S. For the whole HbGp at pH 10.0 contributions from monomers, trimers and linkers are observed. No contribution from 58 S species was observed for the sample of oxy-HbGp at pH 10.0, showing its complete dissociation. For cyanomet-HbGp form a contribution of 17% is observed for the un-dissociated oligomer, consistent with data from other techniques that show the cyanomet-form is more stable as compared to oxy-HbGp. Masses of HbGp subunits, especially trimer abc and monomeric chains a, b, c and d, were also estimated from sedimentation equilibrium data, and are in agreement with the results from MALDI-TOF-MS. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Gravitational self-localization for spherical masses

In this work, I consider the center-of-mass wave function for a homogenous sphere under the influence of the self-interaction due to Newtonian gravity. I solve for the ground state numerically and calculate the average radius as a measure of its size. For small masses, M≲10−17 kg, the radial size is independent of density, and the ground state extends beyond the extent of the sphere. For masses larger than this, the ground state is contained within the sphere and to a good approximation given by the solution for an effective radial harmonic-oscillator potential. This work thus determines the limits of applicability of the point-mass Newton Schrödinger equations for spherical masses. In addition, I calculate the fringe visibility for matter-wave interferometry and find that in the low-mass case, interferometry can in principle be performed, whereas for the latter case, it becomes impossible. Based on this, I discuss this transition as a possible boundary for the quantum-classical crossover, independent of the usually evoked environmental decoherence. The two regimes meet at sphere sizes R≈10−7 m, and the density of the material causes only minor variations in this value.

Motion Cues Analysis for Parkinson Gait Recognition

Background: Previous assessment methods for PG recognition used sensor mechanisms for PG that may cause discomfort. In order to avoid stress of applying wearable sensors, computer vision (CV) based diagnostic systems for PG recognition have been proposed. Main constraints in these methods are the laboratory setup procedures: Novel colored dresses for the patients were specifically designed to segment the test body from a specific colored background. Objective: To develop an image processing tool for home-assessment of Parkinson Gait(PG) by analyzing motion cues extracted during the gait cycles. Methods: The system is based on the idea that a normal body attains equilibrium during the gait by aligning the body posture with the axis of gravity. Due to the rigidity in muscular tone, persons with PD fail to align their bodies with the axis of gravity. The leaned posture of PD patients appears to fall forward. Whereas a normal posture exhibits a constant erect posture throughout the gait. Patients with PD walk with shortened stride angle (less than 15 degrees on average) with high variability in the stride frequency. Whereas a normal gait exhibits a constant stride frequency with an average stride angle of 45 degrees. In order to analyze PG, levodopa-responsive patients and normal controls were videotaped with several gait cycles. First, the test body is segmented in each frame of the gait video based on the pixel contrast from the background to form a silhouette. Next, the center of gravity of this silhouette is calculated. This silhouette is further skeletonized from the video frames to extract the motion cues. Two motion cues were stride frequency based on the cyclic leg motion and the lean frequency based on the angle between the leaned torso tangent and the axis of gravity. The differences in the peaks in stride and lean frequencies between PG and normal gait are calculated using Cosine Similarity measurements. Results: High cosine dissimilarity was observed in the stride and lean frequencies between PG and normal gait. High variations are found in the stride intervals of PG whereas constant stride intervals are found in the normal gait. Conclusions: We propose an algorithm as a source to eliminate laboratory constraints and discomfort during PG analysis. Installing this tool in a home computer with a webcam allows assessment of gait in the home environment.

Where did all these books come from? The Publishing Industry and American Intellectual Life

The American book publishing industry shapes the character of American intellectual life. While the newspaper and television industries have been accused of and investigated for bias and lowering America’s intellectual standards, book publishing has gone largely unexamined by scholars. The existing studies of the publishing industry have focused on finance, procedure and history. “There are few ‘theories’ of publishing – efforts to understand the ‘whys’ as well as the ‘hows.’ Few scholarly scientists have devoted significant scholarly attention to publishing” (Altbach and Hoshino, xiii). There are many possible reasons for this lacuna. First, there is a perception that books have always been around, that they are an “old” technology and therefore they don’t appear to have had as much of an impact on our society as television and other media (which were developed quickly and suddenly) seem to have had (Altbach and Hoshino, xiv). Also, despite books’ present and past popularity, television, radio, and now the internet reach more people more easily, and are therefore more topical points of study and observation. In studying the effects of mass media on everyday American life, television and the internet may be the most logical points of study. Regarding public intellectual life however, books play a much more important role. Public intellectual life has always been associated with independent thinkers publishing their work for the masses. For this reason, this I focus on trade publishing. Trade publishing produces fiction and non-fiction works for the general reading public, as opposed to technical manuals, textbooks, and other fiction and nonfiction books targeted to small and specific audiences. Although, quantitatively speaking, “the largest part of book publishing business is embodied in that great complex of companies and activities producing educational, business, scientific, technical, and reference books and materials,” (Tebbel 1987, 439) the trade industry publishes most of the books that most people read. It is the most public segment of the industry, and the most likely place to find public intellectualism. Trade publishing is not only the most public segment of the industry, but it is also the most susceptible to corruption and lowered intellectual standards. Unlike specialty publishing, which caters to a specific, known segment of society, trade publishers must compete with countless other publications, as well as with other forms of media, for the patronage of the general public. As John Tebbel (author of a widely referenced history of the publishing industry) puts it, “The textbook, scientific, or technical book is subjected to much more rigorous scrutiny by buyers and users, and in an intensively competitive market inferior products are quickly lost" (Tebbel 1987, xiv). Since the standards for trade publishing are not nearly as specific – trade books simply need to catch the attention of a significant number of readers, they don’t have to measure up to a given level of quality – the quality of trade books is much more variable. And yet, a successful trade publication can have a much greater impact on society than the most rigorously researched and edited textbook or scholarly study.

Prevalence of biomicroscopic findings in the anterior segment and ocular adnexa among schoolchildren in Natal/Brazil

Objective: To determine the prevalence of ocular findings of the external structures and anterior segment of the eye, detected by biomicroscopic examination in schoolchildren in Natal (RN) - Brazil. Methods: After previous random selection, 1,024 pupils from elementary and secondary public and private schools in the city of Natal were evaluated from March to June 2001. All were submitted to preestablished standard research norms, consisting of identification, demographic information, ophthalmologic biomicroscopic examination, with slit lamp, performed by ophthalmologists from the “Onofre Lopes” University Hospital. Results: Alterations of the conjunctival and palpebral conditions were the most prevalent (10.4% and 6.2% respectively). Follicles (4.2%) and papillae (3.0%) were the frequent conjunctival lesions, while blepharitis (3.5%) and meibomitis (1.1%) were the most detected abnormalities in the eyelids. Upon examining the cornea, iris, lens and anterior vitreous, the most encountered findings were nubecula (0.5%), papillary membrane reliquiae (0.5%), posterior capsula opacity (0.8%) and hyaloid arteria reliquiae (2.0%). Conclusion: The most prevalent findings affecting the external structures of the eye such as eyelids and conjunctiva, consisted of blepharitis followed by follicular reaction of the conjunctiva. The most prevalent abnormalities in the cornea, iris, lens and anterior vitreous were nubecula, papillary membrane reliquiae, posterior capsular opacity and hyaloid arteria reliquiae, in that order

Calculable lepton masses, seesaw relations, and four neutrino mixings in a 3-3-1 model with an extra U(1) symmetry

We propose a scheme in which the masses of the heavier leptons obey seesaw type relations. The light lepton masses, except the electron and the electron neutrino ones, are generated by one loop level radiative corrections. We work in a version of the 3-3-1 electroweak model that predicts singlets (charged and neutral) of heavy leptons beyond the known ones. An extra U(1)(Omega) symmetry is introduced in order to avoid the light leptons getting masses at the tree level. The electron mass induces an explicit symmetry breaking at U(1)(Omega). We discuss also the mixing matrix among four neutrinos. The new energy scale required is not higher than a few TeV.

Maize-Dwelling insects omnivory in Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) egg masses

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Synthesis and physical properties of lipid-based poly(ester-urethane)s, I: Effect of varying polyester segment length

Four aliphatic thermoplastic poly(ester-urethane)s (PEUs) with similar molecular weights but varying polyesters molecular weight (534-1488 g/mol) were prepared from polyester diols, obtained by melt condensation of Azelaic acid and 1,9-Nonanediol, and 1,7-heptamethylene di-isocyanate (HPMDI) all sourced from vegetable oil feedstock. The thermal, and mechanical properties, and crystal structure of PEUs were investigated using DSC, TGA, DMA, tensile analysis and WAXD. For sufficiently long polyester chain, WAXD data indicated no hydrogen bonds polyethylene (PE)-like crystalline packing and for short polyester chains, small crystal domains with significant H-bonded polyamide (PA)-like packing. Crystallinity decreased with decreasing polyester molecular weights. The polymorphism of PEUs and consequently their melting characteristics were found to be largely controlled by polyester segment length. TGA of the PEUs indicated improved thermal stability with decreasing polyester chain length, suggesting a stabilization effect by urethane groups. Mechanical properties investigated by DMA and tensile analysis were found to scale predictably with the overall crystallinity of PEUs. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Estudo do potencial refratário de argilas sílico-aluminosas do Rio Grande do Norte

The segment of the structural ceramics industry is one of the most important to the economy of Rio Grande do Norte. The supply chain makes a total of 206 companies that are distributed in 39 counties, concentrated in three regional centers: Seridó Apodi / Assu and great Natal. The ceramic industry in the state is around 80 million pieces per month, with 50,186 million of these tiles, which makes the Rio Grande do Norte one of the largest manufacturers of product in the Country. Different ceramic products can be manufactured by mixing two or more clays and accessory minerals. Mixtures acquire characteristics and form what is called the ceramic body. Refractory masses have a high melting point and thermal shock support. Its composition contains refractory clays with a little iron oxide and material fluxes. A line of semi-refractory ceramic products that stands out for its high added value are the bricks in ivory or red, used in building barbecues, fireplaces, wood stoves and braziers. The aim of this study was to use alumina-clay or silica- alumina-clay to the industrial RN, for the production of refractory bricks semi-refractory burning light. Clay and Kaolin were characterized for their chemical and mineralogical composition, immediately after ceramic bodies were made with different concentrations of the components, they were raised, pressed and sintered. After sintering the resulting products were characterized in terms of mechanical, thermal and dimensional than the characterization by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. After obtaining the results, we concluded that the studied clay can be used for the production of semi-refractory bricks

Superconducting state in a mesoscopic segment ring

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Evolução tectono-estrutural do Campo de Xaréu (Sub-bacia de Mundaú, Bacia do Ceará - NE do Brasil: abordagem multiescala e pluriferramental

The Xaréu Oil Field, located in the center-southern portion of the Mundaú Sub-Basin (eastern portion of the Ceará Basin), is characterized by a main Iramework of NW-trending and NE-dipping faults. The faults in the Xaréu Oil Field, among which the Xaréu Fautt stands out, are arranged according to an extensional-listriclan, rooted on a detachment surface corresponding to the Mundaú Fault, the border fautt of Mundaú Sub-Basin. During the tectonic-structural evolution of the Xaréu Oil Field and the Mundaú Sub-Basin, the Mundaú Fault played a crucial role on the control of the geometry of both compartments. The main carbonatic unit in the Xaréu Oil Field, named the Trairí Member(Paracuru Formation of Late Aptian to Early Albian age), contains the largest oil volume in the field, concentrated in structurally-controlled accumulations. The Trairí Member is composed by a variety of carbonatic rocks (massive, bedded or laminated calcilutites, ostracodites, calcarenites and carbonatic rudites, all of them presenting variable degrees of dolomitization). The carbonatic rocks are interbedded into thick packages of black shales and marls, besides local beds of siliciclastic conglomerates, sandstones, siltnes and argillites. From the spatial association and the genetic relationships between the carbonatic and siliciclastic units, it is possible to group them in three lithofacies associations (Marginal Plain, Ramp and Lacustrine Interior) that, together, were developed in a lacustrine system associated to a marginal sabkha. Structural studies based on drill coresthat sample the Trairí Member in the Xaréu Oil Field allowed to characterize two generations of meso- to microscale structures: the D1 group presents a typical hydroplastic character, being characterized by intra/interstratal to oblique-bedding shear zones. The hydroplastic character related to these structures allowed to infer their development at an early-lithilication stage of the Trairí Member, leading to infer an Early Cretaceous age to them. The second group of structures identified in the drill cores, nominated D2 and ascribed to a Neogene age, presents a strictly brttle character, being typilied by normal faults and slickenfibers of re-crystallized clayminerals, ali olthem displaying variable orientations. Although the present faults in the Xaréu Oil Field (and, consequently, in the Mundaú Sub-Basin) were classically relerred as struetures of essentially normal displacement, the kinematics analysis of the meso-to microscaie D1 struetures in the drill cores led to deline oblique displacements (normal with a clockwise strike-slip component) to these faults, indicating a main tectonic transport to ENE. These oblique movements would be responsible for the installation of a transtensive context in the Mundaú Sub-Basin, as part of the transcurrent to translormant opening of the Atlantic Equatorial Margin. The balancing of four struetural cross-sections ofthe Xaréu Oil Field indicates that the Mundaú Fault was responsible for more than 50% of the total stretching (ß factor) registered during the Early Aptian. At the initial stages of the "rifting", during Early Aptianuntil the Holocene, the Mundaú Sub-Basin (and consequently the Xaréu Oil Fleld) accumulated a total stretching between 1.21 and 1.23; in other words, the crust in this segment of the Atlantic Equatorial Margin was subjeeted to an elongation of about 20%. From estimates of oblique displacements related to the faults, it ws possible to construct diagrams that allow the determination of stretching factors related to these displacements. Using these diagrams and assuming the sense 01 dominant teetonictransport towards ENE, it was possible to calculate the real stretching lactors related to the oblique movement 0 of the faults in the Mundaú Sub-Basin. which reached actual values between 1.28 and 1.42. ln addnion to the tectonic-structural studies in the Xaréu Oil Field, the interpretation of remote sensing products, coupled wnh characterization of terrain analogues in seleeted areas along the northern Ceará State (continental margins of the Ceará and Potiguar basins), provided addnional data and constraints about the teetonic-structural evolution of the oil lield. The work at the analogue sites was particularly effective in the recognition and mapping, in semidetail scale, several generations of struetures originated under a brittle regime. Ali the obtained information (from the Xaréu Oil Field, the remote sensor data and the terrain analogues) were jointly interpreted, culminating with the proposnion of an evolutionary model lor this segment of the Atlantic Equatorial Margin; this model that can be applied to the whole Margin, as well. This segmentof the Atlantic Equatorial Margin was delormedin an early E-W (when considered lhe present-day position of the South American Plate) transcurrent to transform regime with dextral kinematics, started Irom, at least, the Early Aptian, which left its record in several outcrops along the continental margin of the Ceará State and specilically in the Xaréu off Field. The continuous operation of the regime, through the Albian and later periods, led to the definitive separation between the South American and African plates, with the formation of oceanic lithosphere between the two continental blocks, due to the emplacement off spreading centers. This process involved the subsequent transition of the transcurrent to a translorm dextral regime, creating lhe Equatorial Atlantic Oceano With the separation between the South American and African plates already completed and the increasing separation between lhe continental masses, other tecton ic mechanisms began to act during the Cenozoic (even though the Cretaceous tectonic regime lasted until the Neogene), like an E-W compressive stress líeld (related to the spreading olthe oceanic floor along lhe M id-Atlantic Ridge and to the compression of the Andean Chain) effective Irom the Late Cretaceous, and a state of general extension olthe horizontal surface (due to the thermal uplift ofthe central portion of Borborema Province), effective during the Neogene. The overlap of these mechanisms during the Cenozoic led to the imprint of a complex tectonic framework, which apparently influenced the migration and entrapment 01 hydrocarbon in the Ceará Basin

Cytogenetic characterization of a supernumerary chromosome segment and of B-chromosomes in Astyanax scabripinnis (Teleostei, Characidae)

The chromosome complement of a local population of Astyanax scabripinnis in Brazil was investigated with emphasis on the study of the heterochromatin attached to the A-chromosomes and present in the macro B-chromosome. Analysis after C-banding, silver and CMA(3) staining, incorporation of 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine and chromosome digestion with nine restriction endonucleases revealed that the heterochromatin in the B-chromosomes was different from that found in the A-chromosomes. A polymorphism due to the presence of a supernumerary heterochromatic chromosome segment was observed in the population investigated. Some aspects related to the origin of the heterochromatin polymorphism in Astyanax scabripinnis are discussed.

Lepton masses from a TeV scale in a 3-3-1 model

In this work, using the fact that in 3-3-1 models the same leptonic bilinear contributes to the masses of both charged leptons and neutrinos, we develop an effective operator mechanism to generate mass for all leptons. The effective operators have dimension five for the case of charged leptons and dimension seven for neutrinos. By adding extra scalar multiplets and imposing the discrete symmetry Z(9)xZ(2) we are able to generate realistic textures for the leptonic mixing matrix. This mechanism requires new physics at the TeV scale.