Attosecond electron spectroscopy using a novel interferometric pump-probe technique

We present an interferometric pump-probe technique for the characterization of attosecond electron wave packets (WPs) that uses a free WP as a reference to measure a bound WP. We demonstrate our method by exciting helium atoms using an attosecond pulse with a bandwidth centered near the ionization threshold, thus creating both a bound and a free WP simultaneously. After a variable delay, the bound WP is ionized by a few-cycle infrared laser precisely synchronized to the original attosecond pulse. By measuring the delay-dependent photoelectron spectrum we obtain an interferogram that contains both quantum beats as well as multi-path interference. Analysis of the interferogram allows us to determine the bound WP components with a spectral resolution much better than the inverse of the attosecond pulse duration.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Renormalization Group Flow in Scalar-Tensor Theories. II

We study the UV behaviour of actions including integer powers of scalar curvature and even powers of scalar fields with Functional Renormalization Group techniques. We find UV fixed points where the gravitational couplings have non-trivial values while the matter ones are Gaussian. We prove several properties of the linearized flow at such a fixed point in arbitrary dimensions in the one-loop approximation and find recursive relations among the critical exponents. We illustrate these results in explicit calculations in $d=4$ for actions including up to four powers of scalar curvature and two powers of the scalar field. In this setting we notice that the same recursive properties among the critical exponents, which were proven at one-loop order, still hold, in such a way that the UV critical surface is found to be five dimensional. We then search for the same type of fixed point in a scalar theory with minimal coupling to gravity in $d=4$ including up to eight powers of scalar curvature. Assuming that the recursive properties of the critical exponents still hold, one would conclude that the UV critical surface of these theories is five dimensional.Comment: 14 pages. v.2: Minor changes, some references adde

The Orbital Order Parameter in La0.95Sr0.05MnO3 probed by Electron Spin Resonance

The temperature dependence of the electron-spin resonance linewidth in La0.95Sr0.05MnO3 has been determined and analyzed in the paramagnetic regime across the orbital ordering transition. From the temperature dependence and the anisotropy of linewidth and $g$-value the orbital order can be unambiguously determined via the mixing angle of the wave functions of the $e_{\rm g}$-doublet. The linewidth shows a similar evolution with temperature as resonant x-ray scattering results

Tomada de decisão e empreendedorismo rural: um caso da exploração comercial de ovinos de leite.

O objetivo deste trabalho é apresentar um estudo que auxilia identificar a lógica das decisões tomadas pelo produtor rural, analisando o caso da propriedade pioneira em exploração comercial de ovinos de leite no Brasil. Foi utilizado o método de estudo de caso, aplicado por meio de questionário, entrevista e visita à Cabanha Dedo Verde em Viamão-RS, buscando entender um pouco mais em que os agricultores baseiam suas decisões e como eles percebem e tratam as incertezas. Verificou-se que o processo de comunicação e o trabalho em equipe desempenham papéis relevantes para resolver algumas das dificuldades essenciais no processo de tomada de decisão. O fator preponderante para evolução do processo decisório e também do empreendedorismo rural parece estar na capacidade do produtor não só de entender, mas de intervir no ambiente social, não sendo mero agente passivo e espectador das mudanças no ambiente institucional em que está inserido

Cosmology of the Lifshitz universe

We study the ultraviolet complete non-relativistic theory recently proposed by Horava. After introducing a Lifshitz scalar for a general background, we analyze the cosmology of the model in Lorentzian and Euclidean signature. Vacuum solutions are found and it is argued the existence of non-singular bouncing profiles. We find a general qualitative agreement with both the picture of Causal Dynamical Triangulations and Quantum Einstein Gravity. However, inflation driven by a Lifshitz scalar field on a classical background might not produce a scale-invariant spectrum when the principle of detailed balance is assumed.Comment: 23 pages. v2: one reference and one equation added, main conclusions unchanged; v3: matches published version, discussion improved, typos correcte

A-type Antiferromagnetic and C-type Orbital-Ordered State in LaMnO3_3 Using Cooperative Jahn-Teller Phonons

The effect of Jahn-Teller phonons on the magnetic and orbital structure of LaMnO$_3$ is investigated using a combination of relaxation and Monte Carlo techniques on three-dimensional clusters of MnO$_6$ octahedra. In the physically relevant region of parameter space for LaMnO$_3$, and after including small corrections due to tilting effects, the A-type antiferromagnetic and C-type orbital structures were stabilized, in agreement with experiments.Comment: 4 pages, Revtex, with 3 figures embedded in the text. Submitted to Phys. Rev.

Cellular and humoral immune responses and protection against schistosomes induced by a radiation-attenuated vaccine in chimpanzees

The radiation-attenuated Schistosoma mansoni vaccine is highly effective in rodents and primates but has never been tested in humans, primarily for safety reasons. To strengthen its status as a paradigm for a human recombinant antigen vaccine, we have undertaken a small-scale vaccination and challenge experiment in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Immunological, clinical, and parasitological parameters were measured in three animals after multiple vaccinations, together with three controls, during the acute and chronic stages of challenge infection up to chemotherapeutic cure. Vaccination induced a strong in vitro proliferative response and early gamma interferon production, but type 2 cytokines were dominant by the time of challenge. The controls showed little response to challenge infection before the acute stage of the disease, initiated by egg deposition. In contrast, the responses of vaccinated animals were muted throughout the challenge period. Vaccination also induced parasite-specific immunoglobulin M (IgM) and IgG, which reached high levels at the time of challenge, while in control animals levels did not rise markedly before egg deposition. The protective effects of vaccination were manifested as an amelioration of acute disease and overall morbidity, revealed by differences in gamma-glutamyl transferase level, leukocytosis, eosinophilia, and hematocrit. Moreover, vaccinated chimpanzees had a 46% lower level of circulating cathodic antigen and a 38% reduction in fecal egg output, compared to controls, during the chronic phase of infection

Spin Waves in Canted Phases: An Application to Doped Manganites

We present the effective lagrangian for low energy and momentum spin waves in canted phases at next to leading order in the derivative expansion. The symmetry breaking pattern SU(2) --> 1 of the internal spin group and that of the crystallographic space group imply that there is one ferromagnetic and one antiferromagnetic spin wave. The interaction of the spin waves with the charge carriers is also discussed for canted, ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic phases. All this together allows us to write the doping dependence of the dispersion relation parameters for doped manganites. We point out that the spin waves posses distinctive characteristics which may allow us to experimentally differentiate canted phases from phase separation regions in doped manganites.Comment: 34 pages, latex file, 1 eps included figure. Minor changes, published versio

An overview of the first 5 years of the ENIGMA obsessive–compulsive disorder working group: The power of worldwide collaboration

Abstract Neuroimaging has played an important part in advancing our understanding of the neurobiology of obsessive?compulsive disorder (OCD). At the same time, neuroimaging studies of OCD have had notable limitations, including reliance on relatively small samples. International collaborative efforts to increase statistical power by combining samples from across sites have been bolstered by the ENIGMA consortium; this provides specific technical expertise for conducting multi-site analyses, as well as access to a collaborative community of neuroimaging scientists. In this article, we outline the background to, development of, and initial findings from ENIGMA's OCD working group, which currently consists of 47 samples from 34 institutes in 15 countries on 5 continents, with a total sample of 2,323 OCD patients and 2,325 healthy controls. Initial work has focused on studies of cortical thickness and subcortical volumes, structural connectivity, and brain lateralization in children, adolescents and adults with OCD, also including the study on the commonalities and distinctions across different neurodevelopment disorders. Additional work is ongoing, employing machine learning techniques. Findings to date have contributed to the development of neurobiological models of OCD, have provided an important model of global scientific collaboration, and have had a number of clinical implications. Importantly, our work has shed new light on questions about whether structural and functional alterations found in OCD reflect neurodevelopmental changes, effects of the disease process, or medication impacts. We conclude with a summary of ongoing work by ENIGMA-OCD, and a consideration of future directions for neuroimaging research on OCD within and beyond ENIGMA