Viabilidade do Código MCNPX para o Estudo da Técnica de Fluorescência de Raios-X por Reflexão Total

The X-ray fluorescence analysis (XRF) is an important technique for the qualitative and quantitative determination of chemical components in a sample. It is based on measurement of the intensity of the emitted characteristic radiation by the elements of the sample, after being properly excited. One of the modalities of this technique is the total reflection x-ray fluorescence (TXRF). In TXRF, the angle of refraction of the incident beam tends to zero and the refracted beam is tangent to the sample-support interface. Thus, there is a minimum angle of incidence that there is no refracted beam and all the incident radiation undergoes total reflection. As it is implemented in very small samples, in a film format, self-absorption effects should not very relevant. In this study, we evaluated the feasibility of using code MCNPX (Monte Carlo N - Particle eXtended), to simulate a measure implemented by the TXRF technique. In this way, it was verified the quality of response of a system by TXRF spectroscopy using synchrotron radiation as excitation beam for a simple setup, by retrieving the characteristic energies and the concentrations of the elements in the sample. The steps of data processing, after obtaining the excitation spectra, were the same as in a real experiment and included the obtaining of the sensitivity curve for the simulated system. The agreement between the theoretical and simulated values of Ka characteristic energies for different elements was lower than 1 % .The obtained concentration of the elements of the sample had high relatively errors ( between 6 and 60 % ) due mainly to lack of knowing about some realistic physical parameters of the sample , such as density . In this way, this result does not preclude the use of MCNPX code for this type of application

Search for displaced supersymmetry in events with an electron and a muon with large impact parameters

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Spermatozoon ultrastructure and semen parameters of Brycon vermelha (Characiformes, Characidae)

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

Metabolism and ruminal parameters of Holstein × Gir heifers fed sugarcane and increasing levels of crude protein

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

Approximate analytic expression for the eigenenergies of the anharmonic oscillator V(x)=Ax6+Bx2

An approximate analytic expression for the eigenenergies of the anharmonic oscillator V(x)=Ax6+Bx2 is introduced, starting from particular analytic solutions which are valid when certain relations between the parameters A and B are held. © 1995 The American Physical Society.

Optical parameters and crystallization of flash evaporated amorphous gallium antimonide films

Flash-evaporated GaSb films are analysed using a combination of optical, surface and x-ray diffraction techniques. The effects of thermal annealings on nearly stoichiometric GaSb films are studied.

Estudos da polpação kraft, branqueamento e refino de eucalyptus grandis x eucalyptus urophylla

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Introdução a álgebra no ensino fundamental: o “X” da questão

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Problemas ergonômicos enfrentados por profissionais de enfermagem em ambientes hospitalares: aspectos da interface trabalhadores x equipamentos

The ergonomic design seeks to establish parameters to improve the interface between the technologies (products, systems and environments) and between man (users). Among the many factors involved, there are the activities performed in hospital settings, both by patients and by clinical staff. Accordingly, efforts have been demonstrated biomechanical with a leading occupational problem, especially regarding the transfer of patients.

Problemas ergonômicos enfrentados por profissionais de enfermagem em ambientes hospitalares: aspectos da interface trabalhadores x equipamentos

The ergonomic design seeks to establish parameters to improve the interface between the technologies (products, systems and environments) and between man (users). Among the many factors involved, there are the activities performed in hospital settings, both by patients and by clinical staff. Accordingly, efforts have been demonstrated biomechanical with a leading occupational problem, especially regarding the transfer of patients.

Estudo genético de populações de soja com fonte de resistência à Heterodera glycines (raça 3) oriundas de topocruzamentos tipo alimento x tipo grão

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

A New Birth-Interval Approach to Estimating Demographic Parameters of Humpback Whales

A demographic model is developed based on interbirth intervals and is applied to estimate the population growth rate of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the Gulf of Maine. Fecundity rates in this model are based on the probabilities of giving birth at time t after a previous birth and on the probabilities of giving birth first at age x. Maximum likelihood methods are used to estimate these probabilities using sighting data collected for individually identified whales. Female survival rates are estimated from these same sighting data using a modified Jolly–Seber method. The youngest age at first parturition is 5 yr, the estimated mean birth interval is 2.38 yr (SE = 0.10 yr), the estimated noncalf survival rate is 0.960 (SE = 0.008), and the estimated calf survival rate is 0.875 (SE = 0.047). The population growth rate (l) is estimated to be 1.065; its standard error is estimated as 0.012 using a Monte Carlo approach, which simulated sampling from a hypothetical population of whales. The simulation is also used to investigate the bias in estimating birth intervals by previous methods. The approach developed here is applicable to studies of other populations for which individual interbirth intervals can be measured.

Contributions of demography and dispersal parameters to the spatial spread of a stage-structured insect invasion

Stage-structured models that integrate demography and dispersal can be used to identify points in the life cycle with large effects on rates of population spatial spread, information that is vital in the development of containment strategies for invasive species. Current challenges in the application of these tools include: (1) accounting for large uncertainty in model parameters, which may violate assumptions of ‘‘local’’ perturbation metrics such as sensitivities and elasticities, and (2) forecasting not only asymptotic rates of spatial spread, as is usually done, but also transient spatial dynamics in the early stages of invasion. We developed an invasion model for the Diaprepes root weevil (DRW; Diaprepes abbreviatus [Coleoptera: Curculionidae]), a generalist herbivore that has invaded citrus-growing regions of the United States. We synthesized data on DRW demography and dispersal and generated predictions for asymptotic and transient peak invasion speeds, accounting for parameter uncertainty. We quantified the contributions of each parameter toward invasion speed using a ‘‘global’’ perturbation analysis, and we contrasted parameter contributions during the transient and asymptotic phases. We found that the asymptotic invasion speed was 0.02–0.028 km/week, although the transient peak invasion speed (0.03– 0.045 km/week) was significantly greater. Both asymptotic and transient invasions speeds were most responsive to weevil dispersal distances. However, demographic parameters that had large effects on asymptotic speed (e.g., survival of early-instar larvae) had little effect on transient speed. Comparison of the global analysis with lower-level elasticities indicated that local perturbation analysis would have generated unreliable predictions for the responsiveness of invasion speed to underlying parameters. Observed range expansion in southern Florida (1992–2006) was significantly lower than the invasion speed predicted by the model. Possible causes of this mismatch include overestimation of dispersal distances, demographic rates, and spatiotemporal variation in parameter values. This study demonstrates that, when parameter uncertainty is large, as is often the case, global perturbation analyses are needed to identify which points in the life cycle should be targets of management. Our results also suggest that effective strategies for reducing spread during the asymptotic phase may have little effect during the transient phase. Includes Appendix.

Pressure Dependence of N-15 Chemical Shifts in Model Peptides Ac-Gly-Gly-X-Ala-NH2

High pressure NMR spectroscopy has developed into an important tool for studying conformational equilibria of proteins in solution. We have studied the amide proton and nitrogen chemical shifts of the 20 canonical amino acids X in the random-coil model peptide Ac-Gly-Gly-X-Ala-NH2, in a pressure range from 0.1 to 200 MPa, at a proton resonance frequency of 800 MHz. The obtained data allowed the determination of first and second order pressure coefficients with high accuracy at 283 K and pH 6.7. The mean first and second order pressure coefficients <B-1(15N)> and <B-2(15N)> for nitrogen are 2.91 ppm/GPa and -2.32 ppm/GPa(2), respectively. The corresponding values <B-1(1H)> and <B-2(1H)> for the amide protons are 0.52 ppm/GPa and -0.41 ppm/GPa(2). Residual dependent (1)J(1H15N)-coupling constants are shown.

Constraining H-0 in general dark energy models from Sunyaev-Zeldovich/X-ray technique and complementary probes

In accelerating dark energy models, the estimates of the Hubble constant, Ho, from Sunyaev-Zerdovich effect (SZE) and X-ray surface brightness of galaxy clusters may depend on the matter content (Omega(M)), the curvature (Omega(K)) and the equation of state parameter GO. In this article, by using a sample of 25 angular diameter distances of galaxy clusters described by the elliptical beta model obtained through the SZE/X-ray technique, we constrain Ho in the framework of a general ACDM model (arbitrary curvature) and a flat XCDM model with a constant equation of state parameter omega = p(x)/rho(x). In order to avoid the use of priors in the cosmological parameters, we apply a joint analysis involving the baryon acoustic oscillations (BA()) and the (MB Shift Parameter signature. By taking into account the statistical and systematic errors of the SZE/X-ray technique we obtain for nonflat ACDM model H-0 = 74(-4.0)(+5.0) km s(-1) Mpc(-1) (1 sigma) whereas for a fiat universe with constant equation of state parameter we find H-0 = 72(-4.0)(+5.5) km s(-1) Mpc(-1)(1 sigma). By assuming that galaxy clusters are described by a spherical beta model these results change to H-0 = 6(-7.0)(+8.0) and H-0 = 59(-6.0)(+9.0) km s(-1) Mpc(-1)(1 sigma), respectively. The results from elliptical description are in good agreement with independent studies from the Hubble Space Telescope key project and recent estimates based on the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe, thereby suggesting that the combination of these three independent phenomena provides an interesting method to constrain the Bubble constant. As an extra bonus, the adoption of the elliptical description is revealed to be a quite realistic assumption. Finally, by comparing these results with a recent determination for a, flat ACDM model using only the SZE/X-ray technique and BAO, we see that the geometry has a very weak influence on H-0 estimates for this combination of data.