Measurement of the Lambda(0)(b) lifetime in the decay Lambda(0)(b)-> J/psi Lambda(0) with the D0 detector

We present measurements of the Lambda(b)(0) lifetime in the exclusive decay channel Lambda(b)(0)-> J/psi Lambda(0), with J/psi ->mu(+)mu(-) and Lambda(0)-> p pi(-), the B-0 lifetime in the decay B-0-> J/psi K-S(0) with J/psi ->mu(+)mu(-) and K-S(0)->pi(+)pi(-), and the ratio of these lifetimes. The analysis is based on approximately 250 pb(-1) of data recorded with the D0 detector in p (p) over bar collisions at root s = 1.96 TeV. The Lambda(b)(0) lifetime is determined to be tau(Lambda(b)(0))=1.22(-0.18)(+0.22)(stat)+/- 0.04(syst) ps, the B-0 lifetime tau(B-0)=1.40(-) (+0.11)(0.10)(stat)+/- 0.03(syst) ps, and the ratio tau(Lambda(b)(0))/tau(B-0)=0.87(-) (+0.17)(0.14)(stat)+/- 0.03(syst). In contrast with previous measurements using semileptonic decays, this is the first determination of the Lambda(b)(0) lifetime based on a fully reconstructed decay channel.

Simultaneous measurement of the ratio R = B(t -> Wb)/B(t -> Wq) and the top-quark pair production cross section with the D0 detector at root s=1.96 TeV

We present the first simultaneous measurement of the ratio of branching fractions, R = B(t --> Wb)/B(t --> Wq), with q being a d, s, or b quark, and the top-quark pair production cross section sigma(t (t) over bar) in the lepton plus jets channel using 0.9 fb(-1) of p (p) over bar collision data at root s = 1.96 TeV collected with the D0 detector. We extract R and sigma(t (t) over bar) by analyzing samples of events with 0, 1, and >= 2 identified b jets. We measure R = 0.97(-0.08)(+0.09) (stat + syst) and sigma(t (t) over bar) = 8.18(-0.84)(+0.90) (stat + syst) +/- 0.50(lumi) pb, in agreement with the standard model prediction.

Observation and properties of the orbitally excited B-s2* meson

We report the direct observation of the excited L=1 state B-s2* in fully reconstructed decays to B+K-. The mass of the B-s2* meson is measured to be 5839.6 +/- 1.1(stat)+/- 0.7(syst) MeV/c(2), and its production rate relative to the B+ meson is measured to be [1.15 +/- 0.23(stat)+/- 0.13(syst)]%.

Observation of the Doubly Strange b Baryon Omega(-)(b)

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Measurement of the Lifetime of the B-c(+/-) Meson in the Semileptonic Decay Channel

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

Measurement of gamma + b + X and gamma + c + X Production Cross Sections in pp > Collisions at s=1.96 TeV

First measurements of the differential cross sections d(3)sigma/(dp(T)(gamma)dy(gamma)dy(jet)) for the inclusive production of a photon in association with a heavy quark (b, c) jet are presented, covering photon transverse momenta 30 < p(T)(gamma)< 150 GeV, photon rapidities |y(gamma)|< 1.0, jet rapidities |y(jet)|< 0.8, and jet transverse momenta p(T)(jet)> 15 GeV. The results are based on an integrated luminosity of 1 fb(-1) in pp collisions at s=1.96 TeV recorded with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. The results are compared with next-to-leading order perturbative QCD predictions.

Measurement of the B-0 Production Cross Section in pp Collisions at root s=7 TeV

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Observation of a New Xi(b) Baryon

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Reduction of mercury(II) by tropical river humic substances (Rio Negro) - Part II. Influence of structural features (molecular size, aromaticity, phenolic groups, organically bound sulfur)

The influence of structural features of tropical river humic substances (HS) on their capability to reduce mercury(II) in aqueous solutions was studied. The HS investigated were conventionally isolated from Rio Negro water-Amazonas State/Brazil by means of the collector XAD 8. In addition, the isolated HS were on-line fractionated by tangential-flow multistage ultrafiltration (nominal molecular-weight cut-offs: 100, 50, 30, 10, 5 kDa) and characterized by potentiometry and UV/VIS spectroscopy. The reduction of Hg(II) ions to elemental Hg by size-fractions of Rio Negro HS was assessed by cold-vapor AAS (CVAAS). UV/VIS spectrometry revealed that the fractions of high molecular-size (F-1 > 100 kDa and F-2: 50-100 kDa) have a higher aromaticity compared to the fractions of small molecular-size (F-5: 5-10 kDa, F-6: < 5 kDa). In contrast, the potentiometric study showed different concentration of functional groups in the studied HS fractions. The reduction of Hg(II) by aquatic HS fractions at pH 5 proceeded in two steps (I, II) of slow first order kinetics (t(1/2) of I: 160 min, t(1/2) of II: 300 min) weakly influenced by the molecular-size, in contrast to the differing degree of Hg(II) reduction (F-5 > F-2 > > F-1 > F-3 > F-4 > > F-6). Accordingly, Hg(II) ions were preferably reduced by HS molecules having a relatively high ratio of phenolic/carboxylic groups and a small concentration of sulfur. From these results a complex 'competition' between reduction and complexation of mercury(II) by aquatic HS occurring in tropical rivers such as the Rio Negro can be suggested. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Methyl- and phenylmercury(II) derivatives of 2-mercaptobenzothiazole. Crystal structure of (2-mercaptobenzothiazolato)methylmercury(II)

The complexes MeHgL and PhHgL (HL = 2-mercaptobenzothiazole) have been obtained from the reaction of the ligand with methylmercury hydroxide and phenylmercury acetate, respectively, in methanol. MeHgL, which has been characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis (crystal data: triclinic, space group P1, with a = 8.009 (4) Å, b = 10.042 (4) Å, c = 13.074 (3) Å, α = 101.25 (2)°, β = 102.61(3)°, γ = 101.42 (3)°, R = 0.067), crystallizes with two independent molecules, I and I′, contained in each asymmetric unit with a coordination geometry based on the almost linear C-Hg-S group (Hg-S = 2.369 (6) Å, Hg-C = 2.06 (2) Å, and C-Hg-S = 177.7 (7)° for I; Hg-S = 2.375 (6) Å, Hg-C = 2.10 (3) Å, and C-Hg-S = 178.8 (6)° for I′). A secondary intramolecular interaction between the mercury atom and the C=N group of the ring and some weak intermolecular interactions between the metal and sulfur atoms were also found. The vibrational spectra of this compound and the phenylmercury(II) compound are discussed in light of the crystal structure. Diagnostic criteria of the bonding modes for the ligand are assessed. © 1985 American Chemical Society.

Development and validation of a D-loop mtDNA SNP assay for the screening of specimens in forensic casework

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis is usually a last resort in routine forensic DNA casework. However, it has become a powerful tool for the analysis of highly degraded samples or samples containing too little or no nuclear DNA, such as old bones and hair shafts. The gold standard methodology still constitutes the direct sequencing of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products or cloned amplicons from the HVS-1 and HVS-2 (hypervariable segment) control region segments. Identifications using mtDNA are time consuming, expensive and can be very complex, depending on the amount and nature of the material being tested. The main goal of this work is to develop a less labour-intensive and less expensive screening method for mtDNA analysis, in order to aid in the exclusion of non-matching samples and as a presumptive test prior to final confirmatory DNA sequencing. We have selected 14 highly discriminatory single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) based on simulations performed by Salas and Amigo (2010) [1] to be typed using SNaPShotTM (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA, USA). The assay was validated by typing more than 100 HVS-1/HVS-2 sequenced samples. No differences were observed between the SNP typing and DNA sequencing when results were compared, with the exception of allelic dropouts observed in a few haplotypes. Haplotype diversity simulations were performed using 172 mtDNA sequences representative of the Brazilian population and a score of 0.9794 was obtained when the 14 SNPs were used, showing that the theoretical prediction approach for the selection of highly discriminatory SNPs suggested by Salas and Amigo (2010) [1] was confirmed in the population studied. As the main goal of the work is to develop a screening assay to skip the sequencing of all samples in a particular case, a pair-wise comparison of the sequences was done using the selected SNPs. When both HVS-1/HVS-2 SNPs were used for simulations, at least two differences were observed in 93.2% of the comparisons performed. The assay was validated with casework samples. Results show that the method is straightforward and can be used for exclusionary purposes, saving time and laboratory resources. The assay confirms the theoretic prediction suggested by Salas and Amigo (2010) [1]. All forensic advantages, such as high sensitivity and power of discrimination, as also the disadvantages, such as the occurrence of allele dropouts, are discussed throughout the article. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.

Influence of the Freeze-Drying Process on the Physicochemical and Biological Properties of Pre-heated Amphotericin B Micellar Systems

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Exploring the properties of the pure spinor b ghost

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

Narrow-band search of continuous gravitational-wave signals from Crab and Vela pulsars in Virgo VSR4 data

In this paper we present the results of a coherent narrow-band search for continuous gravitational-wave signals from the Crab and Vela pulsars conducted on Virgo VSR4 data. In order to take into account a possible small mismatch between the gravitational-wave frequency and two times the star rotation frequency, inferred from measurement of the electromagnetic pulse rate, a range of 0.02 Hz around two times the star rotational frequency has been searched for both the pulsars. No evidence for a signal has been found and 95% confidence level upper limits have been computed assuming both that polarization parameters are completely unknown and that they are known with some uncertainty, as derived from x-ray observations of the pulsar wind torii. For Vela the upper limits are comparable to the spin-down limit, computed assuming that all the observed spin-down is due to the emission of gravitational waves. For Crab the upper limits are about a factor of 2 below the spin-down limit, and represent a significant improvement with respect to past analysis. This is the first time the spin-down limit is significantly overcome in a narrow-band search.

Combustion of coal, bagasse and blends thereof Part II: Speciation of PAH emissions

This work reports on emissions of unburned hydrocarbon species from batch combustion of fixed beds of coal, sugar-cane bagasse, and blends thereof in a pre-heated two-stage laboratory furnace operated in the temperature range of 800-1000 degrees C. The effects of fuel blending, combustion staging, and operating furnace temperatures on emissions of pollutants were assessed. Furnace effluents were analyzed for products of incomplete combustion (PICs) including CO, volatile and semi-volatile hydrocarbons, and particulate matter, as has been reported in Ref. [1]. Emitted unburned hydrocarbons include traces of potentially health-hazardous Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are the focus of this work. Under the batch combustion conditions implemented herein, PAH were only generated during the volatile combustion phase of the fuels. The most prevalent species were in descending order: naphthalene, acenaphthylene, phenanthrene, fluoranthene, pyrene, dibenzofuran, benzofuran, byphenyl, fluorene, 9H-fluoren-9-one, acephenantrylene, benzo[b] fluoranthene, 1-methyl-naphthalene; 2-methyl-naphthalene, benz[a] anthracene and benzo[a] pyrene. PAH yields were the highest from combustion of neat bagasse. Combustion of the blends resulted in lower yields of PAH, than combustion of either of their neat fuel constituents. Increasing the furnace operating temperature enhanced the PAH emissions from bagasse, but had little effect on those from the coal or from the blends. Flue gas treatment in a secondary-stage furnace, upon with additional air, typically reduced PAH yields by promoting oxidation of the primary-stage furnace effluents. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.