Evidence for production of single top quarks

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

Precision Measurement of the Ratio B(t -> Wb)/B(t -> Wq) and Extraction of V-tb

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Improved determination of the width of the top quark

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Combined search for the quarks of a sequential fourth generation

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Application methods and dosages of thiamethoxam in thrips control on tomato plants

O tripes Frankliniella schultzei Trybom (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) é um dos mais importantes vetores de tomato spotted wilt tospovirus (TSWV) na cultura do tomate no Brasil. Dois métodos de aplicação do inseticida thiamethoxam foram comparados no controle de tripes em tomate. O experimento foi conduzido em delineamento de blocos ao acaso com sete tratamentos e quatro repetições. Utilizou-se um pulverizador costal manual com lança simples provida de ponta de pulverização com jato cônico vazio JD 14-2 ou modificada, com aplicador tipo esguicho, em substituição à ponta de pulverização. Dosagens de 150 e 200 g i.a. ha-1 foram usadas em única aplicação com esguicho e 50 g i.a. ha-1 em pulverizações semanais, iniciadas aos 48 dias após a semeadura. A eficiência do inseticida em teste foi comparada com diafenthiuron (400 g i.a. ha-1), profenofos + cypermethrin (320+32 g i.a. ha-1, respectivamente) e methamidophos (60 g i.a. 100 L-1 de água), aplicados em pulverização. Não houve diferença estatística entre os métodos de aplicação e doses com thiamethoxam no controle de F. schultzei aos 24 dias após a aplicação, sendo vantajosa a realização de uma única aplicação das maiores dosagens de thiamethoxam com esguicho em comparação às aplicações semanais da menor dosagem em pulverização. A eficiência de controle do tripes com o inseticida thiamethoxam variou de 93 a 95%, nos diferentes métodos e dosagens em teste. Diafenthiuron e profenofos + cypermethrin apresentaram eficiência menor (78 e 88%, respectivamente), porém foram superiores às obtidas com methamidophos (71%). Os produtos e doses utilizados não causaram fitotoxicidade às plantas de tomate.

Genetic analysis of phosphoprotein and matrix protein of rabies viruses isolated in Brazil

To investigate the genetic characteristics of phosphoprotein (P) and matrix protein (M) genes of variable rabies virus (RV) prevalent in Brazil, the authors genetically characterized the P and M genes from 30 Brazilian RV field isolates. Phylogenetic analysis based on the P and M genes revealed the presence of six RV variants that consisted primarily of three insectivorous bats, the vampire bat, dog and fox in Brazil. Specific amino acid substitutions corresponding to these phylogenetic lineages were observed, with ASP(42) and GlU(62) in the P protein found to be characteristic of Brazilian chiroptera- and carnivora-related RVs, respectively. Amino acid sequence motifs predicted to associate with a viral function in the P and M proteins were conserved among Brazilian RV variants.

Geographical distribution of vampire bat-related cattle rabies in Brazil

Seventy-seven rabies virus (RV) isolates originating from Brazilian cattle were genetically characterized. Partial nucleoprotein gene sequences of these isolates were phylogenetically and geographically analyzed. Cattle isolates, which clustered with the vampire bat-related RV group, were further subdivided into nine genetic subgroups. These subgroups were distributed widely in lowland regions, with some subgroups separated from each other by mountain ranges. In addition, separation of the groups in mountainous regions was correlated with altitude. These results indicate that cattle rabies is derived from several regionally-defined variants, which suggests that its geographical distribution is related to that of the vampire bat population.

Inversion polymorphism in laboratory strains and natural samples of Drosophila sturtevanti (saltans group, sturtevanti subgroup)

Drosophila sturtevanti (37 strains) showed eighteen inversions, five new and thirteen previously described. Among these strains, 24 were maintained for seven to 21 years under laboratory conditions, eight for less than 1 year, and six were natural samples analysed in the first generation after collection. Flies from natural samples were the most polymorphic in the number of different inversions as well as in the frequency of flies bearing heterozygous inversions. In all cases, chromosome III presented the greatest number of inversions, and most of them occurred in strains from the Amazonian region. The data obtained were consistent with the hypothesis that the inversion variability of a species is proportional to the variability of its habitats.

SOME CONSEQUENCES IN WEAK PROCESSES OF 3-GENERATION MIXING IN THE LEPTONIC SECTOR

We investigate the sensitivity of some weak processes to a Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa in the leptonic sector. Values for mixing angles and masses compatible with several experimental accelerator data were found. We discuss in this context neutrino oscillations and cosmological and astrophysical consequences as well.

Femtosecond nonlinear optical properties of tellurite glasses

The third-order nonlinear optical properties of tellurite glasses with different compositions were investigated in the femtosecond regime at 810 nm. Using the I-scan technique, positive nonlinear refractive indices of similar to 10(-15) cm(2)/W were measured. The authors also determined that nonlinear absorption was negligible for all studied samples. This result, added to their good chemical stability, indicates that tellurite glasses are promising materials for ultrafast photonic applications. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.

Fundamental fermion masses from deformed SUq(2) triplets

A spectrum-generating q-algebra, within the framework of SUq(2), as firstly suggested by Iachello, is studied in order to describe the mass spectrum of three generations of quarks and leptons. The SUq(2) quantum group is a q-deformed extension of SU(2), where q = e(alpha) (with alpha real) is the deformation parameter. In this work, the essential use of inequivalent representations of SUq(2) is introduced. The inequivalent representations are labelled by (j, nu(0)), where j = 0, 1/2, 1, ... and nu(0) is a positive real number. A formula for the fermion masses M-m(j, nu(0)), with -j less than or equal to m less than or equal to j is derived. As an example, a possible scheme which corresponds to two triplets (j = 1) associated to up and down quarks is presented here in some detail. They are associated to different values of the deformation parameter, indicating a dependence of the charge Q on the parameter alpha. The masses of the charged leptons are treated in a similar way. The current results show that some mass relations for quarks and leptons found in the literature can be considered as approximations of the equations obtained in the j = 1 representations. The breaking of SUq(2) necessary to describe the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) flavor mixing is briefly discussed.

Genetic characterization of rabies viruses isolated from frugivorous bat (Artibeus spp.) in Brazil

In Latin America, rabies cases related to frugivorous bats have been reported since 1930's. Recently, two viruses isolated from Artibeus lituratus were proved to be vampire bat variants by monoclonal antibodies panels [2], but their genetic information is not well known. In this report, four rabies viruses were isolated from frugivorous bats (Artibeus spp.) in Brazil and their nucleoprotein gene sequences were determined. These isolates were found to be genotype 1 of lyssavirus and showed the maximum nucleotide sequence homology of 97.6-99.4% with vampire bat-related viruses in Brazil [6]. These results indicate that the Brazilian frugivorous bat rabies viruses in this study are closely related to vampire bat-related viruses that play a main role in rabies virus transmission to livestock in Brazil.

Low genetic diversities of rabies virus populations within different hosts in Brazil

The low rates of nonsynonymous evolution observed in natural rabies virus (RABV) isolates are suggested to have arisen in association with the structural and functional constraints operating on the virus protein and the infection strategies employed by RABV within infected hosts to avoid strong selection by the immune response. In order to investigate the relationship between the genetic characteristics of RABV populations within hosts and the virus evolution, the present study examined the genetic heterogeneities of RABV populations within naturally infected dogs and foxes in Brazil, as well as those of bat RABV populations that were passaged once in suckling mice. Sequence analyses of complete RABV glycoprotein (G) genes showed that RABV populations within infected hosts were genetically highly homogeneous whether they were infected naturally or experimentally (nucleotide diversities of 0-0.95 x 10(-3)). In addition, amino acid mutations were randomly distributed over the entire region of the G protein, and the nonsynonymous/synonymous rate ratios (d(N)/d(S)) for the G protein gene were less than 1. These findings suggest that the low genetic diversities of RABV populations within hosts reflect the stabilizing selection operating on the virus, the infection strategies of the virus, and eventually, the evolutionary patterns of the virus. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Surface-plasmon-enhanced frequency upconversion in Pr(3+) doped tellurium-oxide glasses containing silver nanoparticles

A frequency upconversion process in Pr(3+) doped TeO(2)-ZnO glasses containing silver nanoparticles is studied under excitation with a nanosecond laser operating at 590 nm, in resonance with the (3)H(4)-->(1)D(2) transition. The excited Pr(3+) ions exchange energy in the presence of the nanoparticles, originating efficient conversion from orange to blue. The enhancement in the intensity of the luminescence at similar to 482 nm, corresponding to the (3)P(0)-->(3)H(4) transition, is due to the influence of the large local field on the Pr(3+) ions, which are located near the metallic nanoparticles. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.

Molecular and geographic analyses of vampire bat-transmitted cattle rabies in central Brazil

Background: Vampire bats are important rabies virus vectors, causing critical problems in both the livestock industry and public health sector in Latin America. In order to assess the epidemiological characteristics of vampire bat-transmitted rabies, the authors conducted phylogenetic and geographical analyses using sequence data of a large number of cattle rabies isolates collected from a wide geographical area in Brazil.Methods: Partial nucleoprotein genes of rabies viruses isolated from 666 cattle and 18 vampire bats between 1987 and 2006 were sequenced and used for phylogenetic analysis. The genetic variants were plotted on topographical maps of Brazil.Results: In this study, 593 samples consisting of 24 genetic variants were analyzed. Regional localization of variants was observed, with the distribution of several variants found to be delimited by mountain ranges which served as geographic boundaries. The geographical distributions of vampire-bat and cattle isolates that were classified as the identical phylogenetic group were found to overlap with high certainty. Most of the samples analyzed in this study were isolated from adjacent areas linked by rivers.Conclusion: This study revealed the existence of several dozen regional variants associated with vampire bats in Brazil, with the distribution patterns of these variants found to be affected by mountain ranges and rivers. These results suggest that epidemiological characteristics of vampire bat-related rabies appear to be associated with the topographical and geographical characteristics of areas where cattle are maintained, and the factors affecting vampire bat ecology.