Observational constraints on late-time Lambda(t) cosmology

The cosmological constant, i.e., the energy density stored in the true vacuum state of all existing fields in the Universe, is the simplest and the most natural possibility to describe the current cosmic acceleration. However, despite its observational successes, such a possibility exacerbates the well known cosmological constant problem, requiring a natural explanation for its small, but nonzero, value. In this paper we study cosmological consequences of a scenario driven by a varying cosmological term, in which the vacuum energy density decays linearly with the Hubble parameter. We test the viability of this scenario and study a possible way to distinguish it from the current standard cosmological model by using recent observations of type Ia supernova (Supernova Legacy Survey Collaboration), measurements of the baryonic acoustic oscillation from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and the position of the first peak of the cosmic microwave background angular spectrum from the three-year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe.Comment: Some important revisions. To appear in Physical Review

Directive Ultra-Wideband Planar Antennas

Two different techniques for Directive Ultra-Wideband Planar Antennas were presented throughout chapter 1: the operation of a novel bow-tie antenna with high front-to-back ratio and directivity and a differential planar UWB antenna characterized by higher gain (more than 11 dB around 7 GHz) with respect to conventional printed radiators has been demonstrated

Modelo unidimensional de transferência de calor em um absorverdor trapezoidal multi-tubos para concentradores Fresnel lineares

CIES2020 - XVII Congresso Ibérico e XIII Congresso Ibero-americano de Energia SolarRESUMO: Este artigo descreve o modelo matemático unidimensional de transferência de calor em um absorvedor multi-tubos com cavidade trapezoidal utilizado em um concentrador solar do tipo Fresnel Linear. Todas as taxas de transferência de calor foram modeladas analiticamente e o modelo foi validado experimentalmente. Os experimentos para a validação do modelo foram realizados em um Fresnel com 60 m² de área localizados na cidade de Florianópolis. Nas condições analisadas, com diferenças de temperatura entre o fluido e o ambiente de até 200°C, aproximadamente 70% das perdas térmicas ocorrem por convecção das chapas metálicas com o ar externo e 30% por radiação e convecção pela janela de vidro. Na comparação dos resultados do modelo com os dos testes experimentais foi observado uma diferença média de 10%, sendo superior no modelo. As trocas de calor pelo ar no interior da cavidade foram consideradas como por difusão apenas, desconsiderando efeitos advectivos e, esta consideração não implicou em erros significativos.ABSTRACT: This article describes the one-dimensional heat transfer mathematical model of a multi-tube trapezoidal cavity absorber used in a linear Fresnel concentrator. All heat transfer rates were modeled analytically and the model was experimentally validated. The experiments for the validation of the model were carried out in a Fresnel with 60 m² of area located in the city of Florianópolis. Under the conditions analyzed, with temperature differences between the fluid and the environment of up to 200 ° C, approximately 70% of the thermal losses occur by convection of the metal plates with the external air and 30% by radiation and convection through the glass window. When comparing the results of the model with those of the experimental tests, an average difference of 10% was observed, being higher in the model. The heat exchanges for air inside the cavity were considered to be by diffusion only, disregarding advective effects and, this consideration did not imply significant errors.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Evolution of density perturbations in decaying vacuum cosmology

We study cosmological perturbations in the context of an interacting dark energy model, in which the cosmological term decays linearly with the Hubble parameter, with concomitant matter production. A previous joint analysis of the redshift-distance relation for type Ia supernovas, baryonic acoustic oscillations, and the position of the first peak in the anisotropy spectrum of the cosmic microwave background has led to acceptable values for the cosmological parameters. Here we present our analysis of small perturbations, under the assumption that the cosmological term, and therefore the matter production, are strictly homogeneous. Such a homogeneous production tends to dilute the matter contrast, leading to a late-time suppression in the power spectrum. Nevertheless, an excellent agreement with the observational data can be achieved by using a higher matter density as compared to the concordance value previously obtained. This may indicate that our hypothesis of homogeneous matter production must be relaxed by allowing perturbations in the interacting cosmological term.Comment: Revised version. To appear in Physical Review

Supernova constraints on decaying vacuum cosmology

There is mounting observational evidence that the expansion of our Universe is undergoing a late-time acceleration. Among many proposals to describe this phenomenon, the cosmological constant seems to be the simplest and the most natural explanation. However, despite its observational successes, such a possibility exacerbates the well known cosmological constant problem, requiring a natural explanation for its small, but nonzero, value. In this paper we consider a cosmological scenario driven by a varying cosmological term, in which the vacuum energy density decays linearly with the Hubble parameter. We show that this model is indistinguishable from the standard one in that the early radiation phase is followed by a long dust-dominated era, and only recently the varying cosmological term becomes dominant, accelerating the cosmic expansion. In order to test the viability of this scenario we have used the most recent type Ia supernova data, i.e., the High-Z SN Search (HZS) Team and the Supernova Legacy Survey (SNLS) Collaboration data. In particular, for the SNLS sample we have found the present matter density and Hubble parameters in the intervals [0.27, 0.37] and [0.68, 0.72], respectively (at 95% c.l.), which is in good agreement with the currently accepted estimates for these parameters.Comment: Version accepted for publication in Physical Review

Inhomogeneous vacuum energy

Vacuum energy remains the simplest model of dark energy which could drive the accelerated expansion of the Universe without necessarily introducing any new degrees of freedom. Inhomogeneous vacuum energy is necessarily interacting in general relativity. Although the four-velocity of vacuum energy is undefined, an interacting vacuum has an energy transfer and the vacuum energy defines a particular foliation of spacetime with spatially homogeneous vacuum energy in cosmological solutions. It is possible to give a consistent description of vacuum dynamics and in particular the relativistic equations of motion for inhomogeneous perturbations given a covariant prescription for the vacuum energy, or equivalently the energy transfer four-vector, and we construct gauge-invariant vacuum perturbations. We show that any dark energy cosmology can be decomposed into an interacting vacuum+matter cosmology whose inhomogeneous perturbations obey simple first-order equations.Comment: 8 pages; v2 clarified discussion of Chaplygin gas model, references adde

Observational tests for \Lambda(t)CDM cosmology

We investigate the observational viability of a class of cosmological models in which the vacuum energy density decays linearly with the Hubble parameter, resulting in a production of cold dark matter particles at late times. Similarly to the flat \Lambda CDM case, there is only one free parameter to be adjusted by the data in this class of \Lambda(t)CDM scenarios, namely, the matter density parameter. To perform our analysis we use three of the most recent SNe Ia compilation sets (Union2, SDSS and Constitution) along with the current measurements of distance to the BAO peaks at z = 0.2 and z = 0.35 and the position of the first acoustic peak of the CMB power spectrum. We show that in terms of $\chi^2$ statistics both models provide good fits to the data and similar results. A quantitative analysis discussing the differences in parameter estimation due to SNe light-curve fitting methods (SALT2 and MLCS2k2) is studied using the current SDSS and Constitution SNe Ia compilations. A matter power spectrum analysis using the 2dFGRS is also performed, providing a very good concordance with the constraints from the SDSS and Constitution MLCS2k2 data.Comment: Revised version, to appear in JCA

Adaptation of life-cycle inventories of sawn timber used in the structure of roofs in the state of São Paulo

Este trabalho teve como objetivo desenvolver o inventário de ciclo de vida para madeira empregada na estrutura de telhado de edificações populares do Estado de São Paulo, com base na adaptação de inventários existentes na base de dados ecoinvent (versão 3.1) para a realidade da produção madeireira no Brasil. Considerou-se como sistema de produto a produção de 1m3 de madeira serrada de cambará proveniente de manejo florestal sustentável na Amazônia, desde a extração das toras até a peça de madeira serrada estocada em São Paulo. As informações nacionais foram obtidas da literatura. A despeito das semelhanças entre o sistema de produto da base ecoinvent e a realidade nacional na extração das toras na floresta, há diferenças referentes ao transporte até a serraria, ao desdobro das toras e à geração e destinação de resíduos: no Brasil, todas as etapas são executadas próximas à região de exploração, resultando em alterações no modelo de transporte, máquinas empregadas e resíduos gerados. Além disso, os valores de consumo de diesel e eletricidade apresentaram ordens de grandeza diferentes dos ICVs de referência. Com base nessa análise, conclui-se que a estrutura de dados dos ICVs existentes na base ecoinvent auxilia a construção de inventários nacionais e que a adaptação dos inventários é imprescindível para a realização de estudos de avaliação do ciclo de vida condizentes com as condições do Brasil. Entretanto, considerando as diferenças observadas, é recomendada a apuração dos índices de consumo nacionais por meio de verificação e coleta de dados inloc

Basal and one-month differed neutrophil, lymphocyte and platelet values and their ratios strongly predict the efficacy of checkpoint inhibitors immunotherapy in patients with advanced BRAF wild-type melanoma

Background To evaluate the capability of basal and one-month differed white blood cells (WBC), neutrophil, lymphocyte and platelet values and their ratios (neutrophils-to-lymphocytes ratio, NLR, and platelets-to-lymphocytes ratio, PLR) in predicting the response to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) in metastatic melanoma (MM). Methods We performed a retrospective study of 272 BRAF wild-type MM patients treated with first line ICI. Bivariable analysis was used to correlate patient/tumor characteristics with clinical outcomes. Variations between time 1 and time 0 (Delta) of blood parameters were also calculated and dichotomized using cut-off values assessed by ROC curve. Results At baseline, higher neutrophils and NLR negatively correlated with PFS, OS and disease control rate (DCR). Higher PLR was also associated with worse OS. In multivariable analysis, neutrophils (p = 0.003), WBC (p = 0.069) and LDH (p = 0.07) maintained their impact on PFS, while OS was affected by LDH (p < 0.001), neutrophils (p < 0.001) and PLR (p = 0.022), while DCR by LDH (p = 0.03) and neutrophils (p = 0.004). In the longitudinal analysis, PFS negatively correlated with higher Delta platelets (p = 0.039), Delta WBC (p < 0.001), and Delta neutrophils (p = 0.020), and with lower Delta lymphocytes (p < 0.001). Moreover, higher Delta NLR and Delta PLR identified patients with worse PFS, OS and DCR. In the multivariable model, only Delta NLR influenced PFS (p = 0.004), while OS resulted affected by higher Delta WBC (p < 0.001) and lower Delta lymphocytes (p = 0.038). Higher Delta WBC also affected the DCR (p = 0.003). When clustering patients in 4 categories using basal LDH and Delta NLR, normal LDH/lower Delta NLR showed a higher PFS than high LDH/higher Delta NLR (20 vs 5 months). Moreover, normal LDH/higher Delta lymphocytes had a higher OS than high LDH/lower Delta lymphocytes (50 vs. 10 months). Conclusions Baseline and early variations of blood cells, together with basal LDH, strongly predict the efficacy of ICI in MM. Our findings propose simple, inexpensive biomarkers for a better selection of patient treatments. Prospective multicenter studies are warranted to confirm these data. © 2022, The Author(s)