Determination of dental decay rates with optical coherence tomography

We report the use of optical coherence tomography (OCT) to detect and quantify demineralization process induced by S. mutans biofilm in third molars human teeth. Artificial lesions were induced by a S. mutans microbiological culture and the samples (N = 50) were divided into groups according to the demineralization time: 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11days. The OCT system was implemented using a light source delivering an average power of 96 mu W in the sample arm, and spectral characteristics allowing 23 mu m of axial resolution. The images were produced with lateral scans step of 10 pan and analyzed individually. As a result of the evaluation of theses images, lesion depth was calculated as function of demineralization time. The depth of the lesion in the root dentine increased from 70 pm to 230,urn (corrected by the enamel refraction index, 1.62 @ 856 nm), depending of exposure time. The lesion depth in root dentine was correlated to demineralization time, showing that it follows a geometrical progression like a bacteria growth law. [GRAPHICS] Progression of lesion depth in root dentine as function of exposure time, showing that it follows a geometrical progression like a bacteria growth law(C) 2009 by Astro Ltd. Published exclusively by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA

Blurred femtoscopy in two-proton decay

We study the effects of final state interactions in two-proton emission by nuclei. Our approach is based on the solution the time-dependent Schrodinger equation. We show that the final relative energy between the protons is substantially influenced by the final state interactions. We also show that alternative correlation functions can be constructed showing large sensitivity to the spin of the diproton system. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Short-term temporal changes of soil carbon losses after tillage described by a first-order decay model

Tillage stimulates soil carbon (C) losses by increasing aeration, changing temperature and moisture conditions, and thus favoring microbial decomposition. In addition, soil aggregate disruption by tillage exposes once protected organic matter to decomposition. We propose a model to explain carbon dioxide (CO2) emission after tillage as a function of the no-till emission plus a correction due to the tillage disturbance. The model assumes that C in the readily decomposable organic matter follows a first-order reaction kinetics equation as: dC(sail)(t)/dt = -kC(soil)(t) and that soil C-CO2 emission is proportional to the C decay rate in soil, where C-soil(t) is the available labile soil C (g m(-2)) at any time (t). Emissions are modeled in terms soil C available to decomposition in the tilled and non-tilled plots, and a relationship is derived between no-till (F-NT) and tilled (F-Gamma) fluxes, which is: F-T = a1F(NT)e(-a2t), where t is time after tillage. Predicted and observed fluxes showed good agreement based on determination coefficient (R-2), index of agreement and model efficiency, with R-2 as high as 0.97. The two parameters included in the model are related to the difference between the decay constant (k factor) of tilled and no-till plots (a(2)) and also to the amount of labile carbon added to the readily decomposable soil organic matter due to tillage (a,). These two parameters were estimated in the model ranging from 1.27 and 2.60 (a(1)) and - 1.52 x 10(-2) and 2.2 x 10(-2) day(-1) (a(2)). The advantage is that temporal variability of tillage-induced emissions can be described by only one analytical function that includes the no-till emission plus an exponential term modulated by tillage and environmentally dependent parameters. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Short-term temporal changes of bare soil CO2 fluxes after tillage described by first-order decay models

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

Effects of time-periodic linear coupling on two-component Bose-Einstein condensates in two dimensions

We examine two-component Gross-Pitaevskii equations with nonlinear and linear couplings, assuming self-attraction in one species and self-repulsion in the other, while the nonlinear inter-species coupling is also repulsive. For initial states with the condensate placed in the self-attractive component, a sufficiently strong linear coupling switches the collapse into decay (in the free space). Setting the linear-coupling coefficient to be time-periodic (alternating between positive and negative values, with zero mean value) can make localized states quasi-stable for the parameter ranges considered herein, but they slowly decay. The 2D states can then be completely stabilized by a weak trapping potential. In the case of the high-frequency modulation of the coupling constant, averaged equations are derived, which demonstrate good agreement with numerical solutions of the full equations. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Recurrence of particles in static and time varying oval billiards

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Decay of energy and suppression of Fermi acceleration in a dissipative driven stadium-like billiard

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

First-order decay models to describe soil C-CO2 Loss after rotary tillage

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

Exponential decay for Kirchhoff wave equation with nonlocal condition in a noncylindrical domain

In this paper, we prove the exponential decay as time goes to infinity of regular solutions of the problem for the Kirchhoff wave equation with nonlocal condition and weak dampingu(tt) - M (\\delU\\(2)(2)) Deltau + integral(0)(t) g(t - s)Deltau(.,s) ds + alphau(t) = 0, in (Q) over cap,where (Q) over cap is a noncylindrical domain of Rn+1 (n greater than or equal to 1) with the lateral boundary (&USigma;) over cap and alpha is a positive constant. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Residue decay of insecticides applied with mineral oil on clementine fruits

Three insecticides (chlorpyrifos methyl, dimethoate and fenthion) were applied on clementine fruits with and without mineral oil to assess the effect of mineral oil on pesticide residues. In both experiments the residues on the fruits after the last treatment and at harvest time were not significantly different.

Escape of particles in a time-dependent potential well

We investigate the escape of an ensemble of noninteracting particles inside an infinite potential box that contains a time-dependent potential well. The dynamics of each particle is described by a two-dimensional nonlinear area-preserving mapping for the variables energy and time, leading to a mixed phase space. The chaotic sea in the phase space surrounds periodic islands and is limited by a set of invariant spanning curves. When a hole is introduced in the energy axis, the histogram of frequency for the escape of particles, which we observe to be scaling invariant, grows rapidly until it reaches a maximum and then decreases toward zero at sufficiently long times. A plot of the survival probability of a particle in the dynamics as function of time is observed to be exponential for short times, reaching a crossover time and turning to a slower-decay regime, due to sticky regions observed in the phase space.

Neutrinoless double beta decay with and without Majoron-like boson emission in a 3-3-1 model

We consider the contributions to the neutrinoless double beta decays in a SU(3)L⊗U(1)N electroweak model. We show that for a range of parameters in the model there are diagrams involving vector-vector-scalar and trilinear scalar couplings which can be potentially as contributing as the light massive Majorana neutrino exchange one. We use these contributions to obtain constraints upon some mass scales of the model, such as the masses of the new charged vector and scalar bosons. We also consider briefly the decay in which, in addition to the two electrons, a Majoron-like boson is emitted. ©2001 The American Physical Society.

Search for violation of Lorentz invariance in top quark pair production and decay

Using data collected with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider, corresponding to 5.3fb -1 of integrated luminosity, we search for violation of Lorentz invariance by examining the tt̄ production cross section in lepton+jets final states. We quantify this violation using the standard-model extension framework, which predicts a dependence of the tt̄ production cross section on sidereal time as the orientation of the detector changes with the rotation of the Earth. Within this framework, we measure components of the matrices (c Q) μν33 and (c U) μν33 containing coefficients used to parametrize violation of Lorentz invariance in the top quark sector. Within uncertainties, these coefficients are found to be consistent with zero. © 2012 American Physical Society.

Assessment of force decay in orthodontic elastomeric chains: An in vitro study

Introduction: Elastomeric materials are considered important sources of orthodontic forces. Objective: To assess force degradation over time of four commercially available orthodontic elastomeric chains (Morelli, Ormco, TP and Unitek). Methods: The synthetic elastics were submerged in 37 oC synthetic saliva and stretched by a force of 150 g (15 mm - Morelli and TP; 16mm - Unitek and Ormco). With a dynamometer, the delivered force was evaluated at different intervals: 30 minutes, 7 days, 14 days and 21 days. The results were subjected to ANOVA and Tukey's test. Results: There was a force decay between 19% to 26.67% after 30 minutes, and 36.67% to 57% after 21 days of activation. Conclusions: TP elastomeric chains exhibited the smallest percentage of force decay, with greater stability at all time intervals tested. Meanwhile, the Unitek chains displayed the highest percentage of force degradation, and no statically significant difference was found in force decay between Ormco and Morelli elastomeric chains during the study period.

Dynamics of hypernuclear nonmesonic weak decay

Simple and coincidence spectra of the NM weak decay of light hypernuclei have been evaluated in a systematic way for the first time. We have only considered 1N induced processes, neglecting entirely the events induced by 2N emission, as well as the effects of the FSIt's. As the theoretical frameworkwe have used the IPSM with three different parametrizations for the transition potential. The comparison with data strongly suggests that the soft π + K exchange model could be a good starting point to describe the dynamics in the NM weak decays of s- and p-shell hypernuclei. © 2012 American Institute of Physics.