Stochastic Skellam model

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Measurement of the W boson helicity in top quark decays using 5.4 fb(-1) of p(p)over-bar collision data

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Search for leptonic decays of W ' bosons in pp collisions at root s=7TeV

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Phase-Locked loops lock-in range in Frequency Modulated-Atomic Force Microscope nonlinear control system

Since the mid 1980s the Atomic Force Microscope is one the most powerful tools to perform surface investigation, and since 1995 Non-Contact AFM achieved true atomic resolution. The Frequency-Modulated Atomic Force Microscope (FM-AFM) operates in the dynamic mode, which means that the control system of the FM-AFM must force the micro-cantilever to oscillate with constant amplitude and frequency. However, tip-sample interaction forces cause modulations in the microcantilever motion. A Phase-Locked loop (PLL) is used to demodulate the tip-sample interaction forces from the microcantilever motion. The demodulated signal is used as the feedback signal to the control system, and to generate both topographic and dissipation images. As a consequence, a proper design of the PLL is vital to the FM-AFM performance. In this work, using bifurcation analysis, the lock-in range of the PLL is determined as a function of the frequency shift (Q) of the microcantilever and of the other design parameters, providing a technique to properly design the PLL in the FM-AFM system. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ferroelectric and dielectric properties of Ba0.5Sr0.5(Ti0.80Sn0.20)O-3 thin films grown by the soft chemical method

Polycrystalline Ba0.5Sr0.5(Ti0.80Sn0.20)O-3 (BST:Sn) thin films with a perovskite structure were prepared by the soft chemical method on a platinum-coated silicon substrate from spin-coating technique. The resulting thin films showed a dense structure with uniform grain size distribution. The dielectric constant of the films estimated from C-V curve is around 1134 and can be ascribed to a reduction in the oxygen vacancy concentration. The ferroelectric nature of the film indicated by butterfly-shaped C-V curves and confirmed by the hysteresis curve, showed remnant polarization of 14 mu C/cm(2) and coercive field of 74 kV/cm at frequency of 1 MHz. At the same frequency, the leakage current density at 1.0 V is equal to 1.5 x 10(-7) A/cm(2). This work clearly reveals the highly promising potential of BST:Sn for application in memory devices. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Spectroscopic characterization of the reduction and removal of chromium (VI) by tropical peat and humin

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Synthesis and characterization of CuO flower-nanostructure processing by a domestic hydrothermal microwave

The synthesis and characterization of CuO flower-nanostructure processed in domestic hydrothermal microwave oven was presented. Phase analysis was carried out using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and micro-Raman scattering (MRS) and the results confirmed the CuO flower-nanostructure as a single-phase. The field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FEG-SEM) was used to estimate the average spheres diameter while transmission electron microscope (TEM) to observe the thorn of the flower-nanostructures. The mechanism of CuO flower-nanostructures formation is proposed and explained. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Metabolite fingerprint of "capim dourado" (Syngonanthus nitens), a basis of Brazilian handcrafts

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Efeito de casca de camarão, hidrolisado de peixe e quitosana no controle da murcha de Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. chrysanthemi em crisântemo

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Associação genética de escores de conformação com características de crescimento em bovinos da raça Angus

O objetivo deste trabalho foi determinar a associação genética entre escores visuais de conformação e as características de ganho de peso médio diário e de velocidade de crescimento em bovinos da raça Angus à desmama e ao sobreano. Os componentes de covariância foram estimados por modelo animal de análise tetracaracterística, com uso do método de inferência bayesiana, tendo-se assumido o modelo linear para: ganho de peso médio diário do nascimento à desmama (GMD) e da desmama ao sobreano (GMS); e velocidade de ganho de peso do nascimento à desmama (VD) e da desmama ao sobreano (VS). Um modelo não linear (de limiar) foi utilizado para os escores de conformação à desmama (CD) e ao sobreano (CS). As médias a posteriori, para a herdabilidade direta, foram: 0,12±0,023 (CD), 0,15±0,020 (GMD), 0,15±0,024 (VD), 0,17±0,020 (CS), 0,17±0,023(GMS), e 0,17±0,023 (VS). A correlação genética variou de -0,09±0,11 a 0,60±0,06, entre os escores CD e CS e as características de ganho médio diário de peso e velocidade de ganho de peso. A correlação entre CD e CS foi 0,52±0,089. A seleção direta para escores visuais de conformação, ganho médio diário e velocidade de ganho responde de forma lenta à seleção, tanto à desmama como ao sobreano.

Caracterização citogenética em Anadenanthera colubrina (Vell.) Brenan (Mimosoideae) e Guazuma ulmifolia Lam. (Sterculiaceae)

Análises cariotípicas são importantes ferramentas de auxílio aos estudos de relações taxonômicas dentro dos grupos vegetais. Espécies arbóreas nativas encontradas no cerrado brasileiro têm sido pouco analisadas do ponto de vista citogenético e citotaxonômico. Com o objetivo de determinar o número cromossômico diplóide, a biometria e a morfologia cromossômica de Anadenanthera colubrina (angico-branco) e Guazuma ulmifolia (mutambo), sementes dessas espécies foram coletadas no município de Três Lagoas, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brasil. A utilização de 8-hidroxiquinoleína 0,003M a 36ºC, durante três horas possibilitou a separação cromossômica. Coloração Giemsa 2% por três minutos permitiu o estudo cariológico. A classificação cromossômica foi baseada no índice centromérico. Anadenanthera colubrina possui 2n = 26 cromossomos com comprimento cromossômico médio de 1,349 µm ± 0,017 e formulação cariotípica 8SM + 14M + 2T + 2AC. Guazuma ulmifolia apresenta 2n = 16 cromossomos com comprimento médio de 1,225 µm ± 0,023 e formulação cariotípica 4SM + 10M + 2T. Esses resultados podem subsidiar estudos de taxonomia, de manipulação cromossômica, bem como auxiliar na produção de progênies híbridas em programas de melhoramento.

Allometric growth in the fiddler crab Uca thayeri (Brachyura, Ocypodidae) from a subtropical mangrove

The relative growth of U. thayeri was studied for a subtropical mangrove population in the estuary of the Comprido and Escuro rivers, Ubatuba, São Paulo State, Brazil. The evaluation of the morphological sexual maturity of U. thayeri was performed using the allometric technique. Remarkable ontogenetic changes were observed in the allometric growth of the male major cheliped and the female abdomen, indicating that these structures are closely connected to the timing of sexual maturity. For males, the relative-growth analysis of cheliped propodus length rendered an estimate of 13.8 mm of carapace width for the size at onset of sexual maturity. A distinct growth pattern was observed for the abdomen of U. thayeri females. It has a wide puberty size range (from 10.7 to 16.8 mm of CW) compared to other brachyurans previously studied. Thus, the females' abdominal growth can be represented by three growth phases: immature, transitional, and mature. The major cheliped is the fight one in 50% of males. The median length of the male major cheliped did not differ between right- and left-handed crabs.

TiO2 films organofunctionalized with 2-aminothiazole ligand and adsorbed Pd(II) ions applied in the photocatalytic degradation of phenol in an aqueous medium

This paper describes the preparation of thin titanium films via sol-gel route and their subsequent chemical modification by anchoring with 2-aminothiazole ligand and Pd(II) ion sorption, aiming to maximize the photocatalytic activity. The material was characterized by diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy, ultraviolet and visible spectrometry, X-ray diffractometry, and scanning electronic microscopy. The amount of palladium adsorbed on the film's surface, determined by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry, showed a value of 2.69 x 10(16) atoms CM-2. The photocatalytic tests indicated that the functionalization with 2-aminothiazole and the adsorption of palladium (II) were determinants in the semiconductor's enhanced photocatalytic activity. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automatic identification of terpenoid skeletons by feed-forward neural networks

Feed-forward neural networks (FFNNs) were used to predict the skeletal type of molecules belonging to six classes of terpenoids. A database that contains the (13)C NMR spectra of about 5000 compounds was used to train the FFNNs. An efficient representation of the spectra was designed and the constitution of the best FFNN input vector format resorted from an heuristic approach. The latter was derived from general considerations on terpenoid structures. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Photoconductivity excitation spectrum for stretch-oriented PPV

We have obtained the photoconductivity (PC) excitation spectrum for a stretch-oriented poly(paraphenylene vinylene) film over a wide spectral range (up to 5 eV). The measurements were performed in the surface cell configuration with the electric field parallel or perpendicular to the stretch direction. Although the sample had a stretch ratio of similar to 4, the dark conductivity and the steady-state photoconductivity were both about 40 and 20 times higher with the electric field parallel to the average chain direction, respectively. However, the shape of the PC excitation spectrum was independent of field direction and did not show a significant rise in the ultraviolet, as is usually observed for measurements in the photodiode configuration. The implications of these results to the charge photogeneration mechanism in conjugated polymers are discussed.