Weak Galactic Halo--Fornax dSph Connection from RR Lyrae Stars

For the first time accurate pulsation properties of the ancient variable stars of the Fornax dwarf spheroidal galaxy (dSph) are discussed in the broad context of galaxy formation and evolution. Homogeneous multi-band $BVI$ optical photometry of spanning {\it twenty} years has allowed us to identify and characterize more than 1400 RR Lyrae stars (RRLs) in this galaxy. Roughly 70\% are new discoveries. We investigate the period-amplitude distribution and find that Fornax shows a lack of High Amplitude (A_V\gsim0.75 mag) Short Period fundamental-mode RRLs (P\lsim0.48 d, HASPs). These objects occur in stellar populations more metal-rich than [Fe/H]$\sim$-1.5 and they are common in the Galactic halo (Halo) and in globulars. This evidence suggests that old (age older than 10 Gyr) Fornax stars are relatively metal-poor. A detailed statistical analysis of the role of the present-day Fornax dSph in reproducing the Halo period distribution shows that it can account for only a few to 20\% of the Halo when combined with RRLs in massive dwarf galaxies (Sagittarius dSph, Large Magellanic Cloud). This finding indicates that Fornax-like systems played a minor role in building up the Halo when compared with massive dwarfs. We also discuss the occurrence of HASPs in connection with the luminosity and the early chemical composition of nearby dwarf galaxies. We find that, independently of their individual star formation histories, bright (M_V\lsim-13.5 mag) galaxies have HASPs, whereas faint ones (M_V\gsim-11 mag) do not. Interestingly enough, Fornax belongs to a luminosity range (--11$<$M$_V<$--13.5 mag) in which the occurrence of HASPs appears to be correlated with the early star formation and chemical enrichment of the host galaxy.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, A&A, accepte

Glueball Regge trajectories from gauge/string duality and the Pomeron

The spectrum of light baryons and mesons has been reproduced recently by Brodsky and Teramond from a holographic dual to QCD inspired in the AdS/CFT correspondence. They associate fluctuations about the AdS geometry with four dimensional angular momenta of the dual QCD states. We use a similar approach to estimate masses of glueball states with different spins and their excitations. We consider Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions and find approximate linear Regge trajectories for these glueballs. In particular the Neumann case is consistent with the Pomeron trajectory.Comment: In this revised version we made some additional remarks on the text. We also included 2 more references. The glueball spectrum and Regge trajectories are unchanged. 10 pages, 2 eps figure

Impact of distance determinations on Galactic structure. II. Old tracers

Here we review the efforts of a number of recent results that use old tracers to understand the build up of the Galaxy. Details that lead directly to using these old tracers to measure distances are discussed. We concentrate on the following: (1) the structure and evolution of the Galactic bulge and inner Galaxy constrained from the dynamics of individual stars residing therein; (2) the spatial structure of the old Galactic bulge through photometric observations of RR Lyrae-type stars; (3) the three\--dimensional structure, stellar density, mass, chemical composition, and age of the Milky Way bulge as traced by its old stellar populations; (4) an overview of RR Lyrae stars known in the ultra-faint dwarfs and their relation to the Galactic halo; and (5) different approaches for estimating absolute and relative cluster ages.Comment: Review article, 80 pages (25 figures); Space Science Reviews, in press (chapter of a special collection resulting from the May 2016 ISSI-BJ workshop on Astronomical Distance Determination in the Space Age

An analysis of rainfall based on entropy theory

The principle of maximum entropy can provide consistent basis for analyzing rainfall and for geophysical processes in general. The daily rainfall data was assessed using the Shannon entropy for a 10-years period from 189 stations in the northeastern region of Brazil. Mean values of marginal entropy were computed for all observation stations and isoentropy maps were then constructed for delineating annual and seasonal characteristics of rainfall. The Mann-Kendall test was used to evaluate the long-term trend in marginal entropy for two sample stations. The marginal entropy values of rainfall were higher for locations and periods with highest amount of rainfall. The results also showed that the marginal entropy decreased exponentially with increasing coefficient of variation. The Shannon theory produced spatial patterns which led to a better understanding of rainfall characteristics throughout the northeastern region of Brazil. Trend analysis indicated that most time series did not have any significant trends

Avaliação da qualidade protéica do milho carunchado através de ensaio metabólico com ratas.

Um experimento foi realizado com o objetivo de avaliar a qualidade proteica do milho carunchado atraves de ensaios metabolicos com ratas. 36 ratas de peso medio inicial de 53,9 g foram distribuidas em um delineamento inteiramente casualizado para seis tratamentos com seis repeticoes. Os tratamentos consistiram de racoes com milho 1,79; 10,27; 17,49; 38,15% carunchado, uma racao a base de caseina e outra aproteica. Observou-se que a proteina do milho carunchado apresentou uma razao proteica liquida de 57,95% da caseina e pior digestibilidade e desempenho do que a caseina

Efeito de diferentes proporções de sulfato/cloreto de potássio no potencial produtivo do morangueiro.

O objetivo do trabalho foi avaliar o efeito de duas fontes de fertilizante potássico aplicadas em diferentes proporções, nas variáveis agronòmicas do morangueiro.Suplemento. Trabalho apresentado no 52. Congresso Brasileiro de Olericultura, Salvador, 2012

Anti-de Sitter boundary in Poincare coordinates

We study the space-time boundary of a Poincare patch of Anti-de Sitter (AdS) space. We map the Poincare AdS boundary to the global coordinate chart and show why this boundary is not equivalent to the global AdS boundary. The Poincare AdS boundary is shown to contain points of the bulk of the entire AdS space. The Euclidean AdS space is also discussed. In this case one can define a semi-global chart that divides the AdS space in the same way as the corresponding Euclidean Poincare chart.Comment: In this revised version we add a discussion of the physical consequences of the choice of a coordinate system for AdS space. We changed figure 1 and added more references. Version to be published in Gen. Relat. Grav