Tectonic fabric revealed by AARM of the proterozoic mafic dike swarm in the Salvador city (Bahia state): Sao Francisco Craton, NE Brazil

Magnetic fabric and rock magnetism studies were performed on 25 unmetamorphosed mafic dikes of the Meso-Late Proterozoic (similar to 1.02 Ga) dike swarm from Salvador (Bahia State, NE Brazil). This area lies in the north-eastern part of the Sao Francisco Craton, which was dominantly formed/reworked during the Transamazonian orogeny (2.14-1.94 Ga). The dikes crop out along the beaches and in quarries around Salvador city, and cut across both amphibolite dikes and granulites. Their widths range from a few centimeters up to 30 m with an average of similar to 4 m, and show two main trends N 140-190 and N 100-120 with vertical dips. Magnetic fabrics were determined using both anisotropy of low-field magnetic susceptibility (AMS) and anisotropy of anhysteretic remanent magnetization (AARM). The magnetic mineralogy was investigated by many experiments including remanent magnetization measurements at variable low temperatures (10-300 K), Mossbauer spectroscopy, high temperature magnetization curves (25-700 degrees C) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The rock magnetism study suggests pseudo-single-domain magnetite grains carrying the bulk magnetic susceptibility and AARM fabrics. The magnetite grains found in these dikes are large and we discard the presence of single-domain grains. Its composition is close to stoichiometric with low Ti substitution, and its Verwey transition occurs around 120 K. The main AMS fabric recognized in the swarm is so-called normal, in which the K(max)-K(int) plane is parallel to the dike plane and the magnetic foliation pole K(min)) is perpendicular to it. This fabric is interpreted as due to magma flow, and analysis of the K m inclination permitted to infer that approximately 80% of the dikes were fed by horizontal or sub-horizontal flows (K(max) < 30 degrees). This interpretation is supported by structural field evidence found in five dikes. In addition, based on the plunge of K(max), two mantle sources could be inferred; one of them which fed about 80% of the swarm would be located in the southern part of the region, and the other underlied the Valeria quarry. However, for all dikes the AARM tensors are not coaxial with AMS fabrics and show a magnetic lineation (AARM(max)) oriented to N30-60E, suggesting that magnetite grains were rotated clockwise from dike plane. The orientation of AARM lineation is similar to the orientation of a system of faults in which the Salvador normal fault is the most important. These faults were formed during Cretaceous rifting in the Reconcavo-Tucano-jatoba assemblage that corresponds to an aborted intra-continental rift formed during the opening of the South Atlantic. Therefore, the AARM fabric found for the Salvador dikes is probably tectonic in origin and suggests that the dike swarm was affected by the important tectonic event responsible for the break-up of the Gondwanaland. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Tectonic implications of a paleomagnetic study of the Sarmiento Ophiolitic Complex, southern Chile

A paleomagnetic study was carried out on the Late Jurassic Sarmiento Ophiolitic Complex (SOC) exposed in the Magallanes fold and thrust belt in the southern Patagonian Andes (southern Chile). This complex, mainly consisting of a thick succession of pillow-lavas, sheeted dikes and gabbros, is a seafloor remnant of the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous Rocas Verdes basin that developed along the south-western margin of South America. Stepwise thermal and alternating field demagnetization permitted the isolation of a post-folding characteristic remanence, apparently carried by fine grain (SD?) magnetite, both in the pillow-lavas and dikes. The mean ""in situ"" direction for the SOC is Dec: 286.9 degrees, Inc: -58.5 degrees, alpha-95: 6.9 degrees, N: 11 (sites). Rock magnetic properties, petrography and whole-rock K-Ar ages in the same rocks are interpreted as evidence of correlation between remanence acquisition and a greenschist facies metamorphic overprint that must have occurred during latest stages or after closure and tectonic inversion of the basin in the Late Cretaceous. The mean remanence direction is anomalous relative to the expected Late Cretaceous direction from stable South America. Particularly, a declination anomaly over 50 degrees is suggestively similar to paleomagnetically interpreted counter clockwise rotations found in thrust slices of the Jurassic El Quemado Fm. located over 100 km north of the study area in Argentina. Nevertheless, a significant ccw rotation of the whole SOC is difficult to reconcile with geologic evidence and paleogeographic models that suggest a narrow back-arc basin sub-parallel to the continental margin. A rigid-body 30 degrees westward tilting of the SOC block around a horizontal axis trending NNW, is considered a much simpler explanation, being consistent with geologic evidence. This may have occurred as a consequence of inverse reactivation of old normal faults, which limit both the SOC exposures and the Cordillera Sarmiento to the East. The age of tilting is unknown but it must postdate remanence acquisition in the Late Cretaceous. Two major orogenic events of the southern Patagonian Andes, in the Eocene (ca. 42 Ma) and Middle Miocene (ca. 12 Ma), respectively, could have caused the proposed tilting. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The impact of big-boxes on local retail : What happens when IKEA comes to town?

The development of large discount retailers, or big-boxes as they are sometimes referred to, are often subject to heated debate and their entry on a market is greeted with either great enthusiasm or dread. For instance, the world’s largest retailer Wal-Mart (Forbes 2014) has a number of anti- and pro-groups dedicated to its being and the event of a Wal-Mart entry tends to be met with protests and campaigns (Decamme 2013) but also welcomed by, for instance, consumers (Davis & DeBonis 2013). Also in Sweden, the entry of a big box is a hot topic and before IKEA’s opening i Borlänge 2013, the first in Sweden in more than five years, great expectations were mixed with worry (Västerbottens-Kuriren 2011).The presence of large scale discount retailers is not, however, a novel phenomenon but a part of a long-term change in retailing that has taken place globally over the past couple of decades (Taylor & Smalling, 2005). As noted by Dawson (2006), the trend in Europe has over the past few decades gone towards an increasing concentration of large firms along with a decrease of smaller firms.This trend is also detectable in the Swedish retail industry. Over the past decade, the retailing industry in Sweden has increased by around 190 Billion SEK, and its share of GDP has risen from 2,7% to 2,9%, while the number of employees have increased from 200 000 to 250 000 (HUI 2013). This growth, however, has not been distributed evenly but rather it has been oriented mainly towards out-of-town retail clusters. Parallel to this development, the number of large retailers has risen at the expense of market shares of smaller independent firms (Rämme et al 2010). Thereby, the presence of large scale retailers is simply part of a changing retail landscape.The effects of this development, where large scale retailing agents relocate shopping to out-of-town shopping areas, have been heavily debated. On the one hand, the big-boxes are accused of displacing independent small retail businesses in the city-centers and the residential areas, resulting in, to some extent, reduced employment opportunities and less availability for the consumers - especially the elderly (Ljungberg et al 2006). In addition, as access to shopping now tends to require some sort of a motorized vehicle, environmental aspects to the discussion have emerged. Ultimately these types of concerns have resulted in calls for regulations against this development (Olsson 2010). On the other hand, the proponents of the new shopping landscape argue that this evolution implies productivity gains, the benefits of lower prices and an increased variety of products (Maican & Orth 2012). Moreover it is argued that it leads to, for instance, better services (such as longer opening hours) and a creative destruction transformation pressure on retailers, which brings about a renewal of city-centerIIretail and services, increasing their attractivity (Bergström 2010). The belief in benefits of a big box entry can be exemplified by the attractivity of IKEA, and the fact that municipalities are prepared to commit to expenses amounting up to hundreds of millions in order to attract the entry of this big-box. Borlänge municipality, for instance, agreed to expenses of about 350 million SEK in order to secure the entry of IKEA, which opened in 2013 (Blomgren 2009).Against this backdrop, the overall effects of large discount retailers become important: Are the economic benefits enough to warrant subsidies or are there, on the contrary, some very compelling grounds for regulations against these types of establishments? In other words; how is overall retail in a region where a store like IKEA enters affected? And how are local retail firms affected?In order to answer these questions, the purpose of this thesis is to study how entry of a big-box retailer affects the entry region. The object of this study is IKEA - one of the world’s largest retailers, with 345 stores, active in over 40 countries and with profits of about 3.3 billion (IKEA 2013; IKEA 2014). By studying the effects of IKEA-entry, both on an aggregated level and on firm level, this thesis intends to find indications of how large discount retail establishments in general can be expected to affect the economic development both in a region overall, but also on the local firm level, something which is of interest to both policymakers as well as the retailing industry in general.The first paper examines the effects of IKEA on retail revenues and employment in the municipalities that IKEA chose to enter between 2000 and 2011; Gothenburg, Haparanda, Kalmar and Karlstad. By means of a matching method we first identify non-entry municipalities that have a similar probability of IKEA entry as the true entry municipalities. Then, using these non-entry municipalities as a control group, the causal effects of IKEA entry can be estimated using a treatment-control approach. We also extend the analysis to examine the spatial impact of IKEA by estimating the effects on retail in neighboring municipalities. It is found that a new IKEA store increases revenues in durable goods trade with 20% in the entry municipality and the number of employees with 17%. Only small, and in most cases statistically insignificant, negative effects were found in neighboring municipalities.It appears that there is a positive net effect on durables retail sales and employment in the entry municipality. However, the analysis is based on data on an aggregated municipality level and thereby it remains unclear if and how the effects vary within the entry municipalities. In addition, the data used in the first study includes the sales and employment of IKEA itself, which could account for the majority of the increases in employment and retail. Thereby the potential spillover effects on incumbent retailers in the entry municipalities cannot be discerned in the first study.IIITo examine effects of IKEA entry on incumbent retail firms, the second paper in this thesis analyses how IKEA entry affects the revenues and employment of local retail firms in three municipalities; Haparanda, Kalmar and Karlstad, which experienced entry by IKEA between 2000 and 2010. In this second study, we exclude Gothenburg due to the fact that big-box entry appears to have weaker effects in metropolitan areas (as indicated by Artz & Stone 2006). By excluding Gothenburg we aim to reduce the geographical heterogeneity in our study. We obtain control municipalities that are as similar as possible to the three entry municipalities using the same method as in the previous study, but including a slightly different set of variables in the selection equation. Using similar retail firms in the control municipalities as our comparison group, we estimate the impact of IKEA entry on revenues and employment for retail firms located at varying distances from the IKEA entry site.The results generated in this study imply that entry by IKEA increases revenues in incumbent retail firms by, on average, 11% in the entry municipalities. In addition, we do not find any significant impact on retail revenues in the city centers of the entry municipalities. However, we do find that retail firms within 1 km of the IKEA experience increases in revenues of about 26%, which indicates large spillover effects in the area nearby the entry site. As expected, this impact decreases as we expand the buffer zone: firms located between 0-2 km experiences a 14% increase and firms in 2-5 km experiences an increase of 10%. We do not find any significant impacts on retail employment.

Physiological responses of the brown mussel Perna perna (Mollusca, Bivalvia) exposed to the anionic surfactant linear alkylbenzene sulphonate (LAS).

The effects of the Linear Alkylbenzene Sulphonate (LAS) were evaluated on the mussel Perna perna, using physiological and genotoxic biomarkers. The Micronuclei (MN) assay was used to estimate effects at nuclear level, whereas the physiological effects were evaluated by measuring the oxygen consumption and ammonia excretion rates. Significant effects were observed for the MN assay and the ammonia excretion rate, even in low concentrations. The oxygen consumption was not affected in the tested concentrations. For MN and ammonia excretion, the animals exposed to intermediate concentrations were not affected, but responded to the higher concentrations, indicating the existence of compensatory mechanisms at physiological level. However, parallel to this study other authors indicate the presence of progressive effects at the cellular level, suggesting that the organisms are not capable to recover of such increasing effects. Additionally, the results show that the levels of LAS observed for Brazilian coastal waters may chronically affect the biota.

Influence of oxygen flow on crystallization and morphology of LiNbO3 thin films

Polymeric precursor solution (Pechini method) was used to deposit LiNbO3 thin films by spin-coating on (100) silicon substrates. X-ray diffraction data of thin films showed that the increase of oxygen flow promotes a preferred orientation of (001) LiNbO3 planes parallel to the substrate surface. Surface roughness and grain size, observed by atomic force microscopy, change also with oxygen flow.

Relationship between grain-boundary capacitance and bulk shallow donors in SnO2 polycrystalline semiconductor

The relationship between grain-boundary capacitance and extrinsic shallow donors caused by Nb addition to SnO2 center dot COO binary polycrystalline system has been investigated by means of combined techniques such as I-V characteristic response, complex impedance and capacitance analysis and electrostatic force microscopy. The estimated role of the Nb doping is to increase the concentration of shallow donors that are capable of enhancing the electronic donation to grain-boundary acceptors. This effect leads to the formation of potential barriers at grain boundaries with a simultaneous increase of grain-boundary capacitance and non-Ohmic features of the polycrystalline device doped with Nb atoms.

Admittance and dielectric spectroscopy of polycrystalline semiconductors

This text discusses about advantageous, powerful and limitations of admittance and dielectric spectroscopy in the characterization of polycrystalline semiconductors. In the context of polycrystalline semiconductors or dielectric materials, the admittance or dielectric frequency response analyses are shown to be sometimes more useful than impedance spectra analysis, mainly because information on the capacitances or deep trap states are possible to be monitored from admittance or dielectric spectra as a function of dopant concentration or annealing effects. The majority of examples of the application of admittance or dielectric analysis approach were here based on SnO2- and ZnO-based polycrystalline semiconductors devices presenting nonohmic properties. Examples of how to perform the characterization of Schottky barrier in such devices are clearly depicted. The approach is based on findings of the true Mott-Schottky pattern of the barrier by extracting the grain boundary capacitance value from complex capacitance diagram analysis. The equivalent circuit of such kind of devices is mainly consistent with the existence of three parallel elements: the high-frequency limit related to grain boundary capacitances, the complex incremental capacitance at intermediate frequency related to the deep trap relaxation and finally at low frequency region the manifestation of the conductance term representing the dc conductance of the multi-junction device. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Electrical Properties of Textured Niobium-Doped Bismuth Titanate Ceramics

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

Influence of oxygen flow on crystallization and morphology of LiNbO 3 thin films

Polymeric precursor solution (Pechini method) was used to deposit LiNbO 3 thin films by spin-coating on (100) silicon substrates. X-ray diffraction data of thin films showed that the increase of oxygen flow promotes a preferred orientation of (001) LiNbO 3 planes parallel to the substrate surface. Surface roughness and grain size, observed by atomic force microscopy, change also with oxygen flow. © 2002 Taylor & Francis.

Classificação Estrutural e Qualidade da Madeira do Clone GT 1 de Hevea brasiliensis Muell. Arg

Latex is the main product extracted from rubber trees (Hevea brasiliensis). In Brazil, at the end of the production cycle of latex, the wood of rubber tree is traditionally used for energy purposes, but several international studies have reported consolidated practices of adding value to it. The objective of this paper was to evaluate the quality of wood and classify it structurally based on its mechanical properties. Six 20-year-old trees of the clone GT 1 of rubber tree proceeding from Itajobi, State of Sao Paulo, Brazil were sampled. Reduced dimensions specimens in the radial direction of the wood were produced to evaluate the quality by compression parallel to the grain, static bending and Janka hardness tests. Two specimens, one from the lower log (since the ground up to breast height) and one from the higher log (from breast height up to 2.50 m) were produced for structural classification of the wood based on the characteristic strength in compression parallel to the grain (NBR 7190 norm, 1997). The wood was classified as C40 (fc0k ≥ 40 MPa) class. Results revealed that the strength was not statistically different in the radial direction (except for the Janka hardness), though tending to increase from pith to bark.

Prospects for the use of municipal tree pruning wastes in particleboard production

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the physical and mechanical properties of particleboard made with pruning wastes from Ipê (Tabebuia serratifolia) and Chapéu-de-Sol (Terminalia catappa) trees. Particleboards were prepared with both wood species, using all the material produced by grinding the pruning wastes. The particleboards had dimensions of 45×45 cm, a thickness of approximately 11.5 mm and an average density of 664 kg/m3. A urea-formaldehyde adhesive was used in the proportion of 12% of the dry particle mass. The particleboards were pressed at a temperature of 130 C for 10 mins. The physical and mechanical properties analyzed were density, moisture content, thickness swelling, percentage of lignin and cellulose, modulus of resilience, modulus of elasticity and tensile strength parallel to the grain, accordingly to the standards NBR 14810 and CS 236-66 (1968). The particleboards were considered to be of medium density. The particle size significantly affected the static bending strength and tensile strength parallel to the grain. Ipê presented better results, demonstrating a potential for the production and use of particleboard made from this species. © The Author(s) 2013.

Modelo fractal para resistividade complexa de rochas: interpretação petrofísica e aplicação à exploração geoelétrica

Rochas contendo metálicos disseminados ou partículas de argila em ambiente natural onde soluções eletrolíticas normalmente preenchem os poros das rochas, exibem um tipo de polarização em baixas freqüências conhecido como polarização induzida. Nesta tese foi desenvolvido um novo modelo para descrever o fenômeno de polarização das rochas, não apenas em baixas freqüências, mas compreendendo todo o espectro eletromagnético, possível de utilização na prospecção geoelétrica. Este novo modelo engloba a maioria dos modelos utilizados até o momento como casos especiais, além de superar as limitações dos mesmos. Seu circuito analógico inclui uma impedância não linear do tipo r (iwtf)^-n que simula o efeito das superfícies rugosas das interfaces entre os grãos bloqueadores (partículas metálicas e/ou de argilas) e o eletrólito. A impedância de Warburg generalizada está em série com a resistência dos grãos bloqueadores da passagem de corrente e em paralelo com a impedância da dupla camada associada a essas interfaces. Esta combinação está em série com a resistência do eletrólito nas passagens dos poros bloqueados. Os canais não bloqueados são representados por uma resistência que corresponde à resistividade normal CC da rocha. A combinação desta resistência com a capacitância "global" da rocha é finalmente conectada em paralelo ao resto do circuito mencionado acima. Os parâmetros deste modelo incluem a resistividade CC (p₀), a cargueabilidade (m), três tempos de relaxação (t, Tf and T2), um fator de resistividade de grãos (δ_r), e o expoente de freqüência (η). O tempo de relaxação fractal (Tf), e o expoente de frequencia (η) estão relacionados à geometria fractal das interfaces rugosas entre os minerais condutivos (grãos metálicos e/ou partículas de argila bloqueando os canais dos poros) e o eletrólito. O tempo de relaxação (T) é um resultado da relaxação em baixa freqüência das duplas camadas elétricas formadas nas interfaces eletrólito-cristais, enquanto (T₀) é o tempo de relaxação macroscópico da amostra como um todo. O fator de resistividade dos grãos (δ_r) relaciona a resistividade dos grãos condutivos com o valor de resistividade CC da rocha. A resistividade CC da rocha (p₀), e δ_r estão relacionados à porosidade, à condutividade do eletrólito e às relações mineralógicas entre a matriz e os grãos condutivos. O modelo foi testado sobre um intervalo largo de freqüências contra dados experimentais de amplitude e fase da resistividade bem como para dados de constante dielétrica complexa. Os dados utilizados neste trabalho foram obtidos a partir da digitalização de dados experimentais publicados, obtidos por diversos autores e englobando amostras de rochas sedimentares, ígneas e metam6rficas. É mostrado neste trabalho que os parâmetros deste modelo permitem identificar diferenças texturais e mineralógicas nas rochas. Bote modelo foi introduzido, primeiramente, como propriedade intrínseca de um semiespaço homogêneo sendo demonstrado, neste trabalho, que a resposta observada em superfície reflete as propriedades intrínsecas do meio polarizável, sendo o acoplamento eletromagnético desprezível em freqüências menores que 104 Hz. Em seguida, o meio polarizável foi embebido em um pacote de N camadas sendo demonstrado que os parâmetros fractais do meio polarizável podem ser obtidos do levantamento em superfície para diferentes espessuras dessa camada. Isto justifica a utilização pura e simples de modelos de polarização desenvolvidos para amostras em laboratório para ajustar dados de campo, o que vem sendo feito sem uma justificativa bem fundamentada. Estes resultados demonstram a importância para a prospecção geolétrica do modelo proposto nesta tese.

Comparação entre valores de ensaios experimentais e calculados da resistência ao embutimento da madeira de Pinus taeda L.

To design connections between timber parts with metal dowels (nails or bolts), two phenomena must be considered: bending of the metal dowel and the embedment strength in the wood. The Brazilian Standard ABNT NBR 7190:1997 proposes the methods used in the laboratory tests to determine the embedment strength with the metal dowell and, in the absence of testing, specifies relations to calculate the embedment strength from the compression strength. The aim of this research was to compare the embedment strength values obtained by experimental tests and calculated by the relationships established by the Brazilian Standard ABNT NBR 7190:1997. By the results of the hypothesis tests, it was possible to conclude that the estimate of the embedment strength parallel to the grain proposed by the Brazilian standard ABNT NBR 7190:1997, establishing equivalence with the strength compression results in the same direction, must be effective to the wood species Pinus taeda L., however, the same was not found in the perpendicular direction with respect to the grain, possibly explained by the alpha(e) values in the equation to calculed fe(90)

Bifurcations Leading to Nonlinear Oscillations in a 3D Piecewise Linear Memristor Oscillator

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

Ecologia das populações e comunidades dos camarôes Decapoda no litoral norte de Santa Catarina

Pós-graduação em Ciências Biológicas (Zoologia) - IBB