1,359 research outputs found
Magnetovac Cylinder to Magnetovac Torus
A method for mapping known cylindrical magnetovac solutions to solutions in
torus coordinates is developed. Identification of the cylinder ends changes
topology from R1 x S1 to S1 x S1. An analytic Einstein-Maxwell solution for a
toroidal magnetic field in tori is presented. The toroidal interior is matched
to an asymptotically flat vacuum exterior, connected by an Israel boundary
layer.Comment: to appear in Class. Quant. Gra
Seletividade do óleo de mamona em adultos do Trichogramma pretiosum Riley, 1978 (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae).
Testes de seletividade tornaram-se obrigatórios quando o objetivo é estudar o efeito de um inseticida, mesmo que de origem vegetal, em organismos benéficos. Neste sentido, foi avaliada a seletividade do Óleo de mamona® nas concentrações de 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 e 6% (v/v), do detergente neutro Zupp® a 2% (v/v) (emulsificante para o óleo), do inseticida clorpirifós a 0,5 L i.a./ha (testemunha positiva) e da água destilada em adultos do T. pretiosum, de acordo com protocolos da IOBC/WPRS.Resumo
Uncharted Source of Medicinal Products : The Case of the Hedychium Genus
A current research topic of great interest is the study of the therapeutic properties of plants and of their bioactive secondary metabolites. Plants have been used to treat all types of health problems from allergies to cancer, in addition to their use in the perfumery industry and as food. Hedychium species are among those plants used in folk medicine in several countries and several works have been reported to verify if and how effectively these plants exert the effects reported in folk medicine, studying their essential oils, extracts and pure secondary metabolites. Hedychium coronarium and Hedychium spicatum are the most studied species. Interesting compounds have been identified like coronarin D, which possesses antibacterial, antifungal and antitumor activities, as well as isocoronarin D, linalool and villosin that exhibit better cytotoxicity towards tumor cell lines than the reference compounds used, with villosin not affecting the non-tumor cell line. Linalool and α-pinene are the most active compounds found in Hedychium essential oils, while β-pinene is identified as the most widespread compound, being reported in 12 different Hedychium species. Since only some Hedychium species have been investigated, this review hopes to shed some light on the uncharted territory that is the Hedychium genus.This research was funded by project MACBIOPEST (MAC2/1.1a/289), program Interreg MAC 2014–2020 co-financed by DRCT (Azores Regional Government), supporting W.R. Tavares’s grant, as well as by FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, the European Union, QREN, FEDER, and COMPETE, through funding the cE3c center (UIDB/00329/2020) and the LAQV-REQUIMTE (UIDB/50006/2020).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Asparagopsis Genus : What We Really Know About Its Biological Activities and Chemical Composition
Although the genus Asparagopsis includes only two taxonomically accepted species, the published literature is unanimous about the invasive nature of this genus in different regions of the globe, and about the availability of large amounts of biomass for which it is important to find a commercial application. This review shows that extracts from Asparagospsis species have already been evaluated for antioxidant, antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, antifouling, cytotoxic, antimethanogenic and enzyme-inhibitory activity. However, the tables presented herein show, with few exceptions, that the activity level displayed is generally low when compared with positive controls. Studies involving pure compounds being identified in Asparagopsis species are rare. The chemical compositions of most of the evaluated extracts are unknown. At best, the families of the compounds present are suggested. This review also shows that the volatile halogenated compounds, fatty acids and sterols that are biosynthesized by the Asparagopsis species are relatively well known. Many other non-volatile metabolites (halogen compounds, flavonoids, other phenolic compounds) seem to be produced by these species, but their chemical structures and properties haven’been investigated. This shows how much remains to be investigated regarding the secondary-metabolite composition of these species, suggesting further studies following more targeted methodologies.This study was financed by ASPAZOR project (DRCT: ACORES-01-0145-FEDER-00060-ASPAZOR); Portuguese National Funds, through FCT-Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia, and as applicable co-financed by the FEDER within the PT2020 Partnership Agreement by funding the LAQVREQUIMTE (UIDB/50006/2020) and the cE3c centre (FCT Unit funding (UID/BIA/00329/2019).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Interplay between bending and stretching in carbon nanoribbons
We investigate the bending properties of carbon nanoribbons by combining
continuum elasticity theory and tight-binding atomistic simulations. First, we
develop a complete analysis of a given bended configuration through continuum
mechanics. Then, we provide by tight-binding calculations the value of the
bending rigidity in good agreement with recent literature. We discuss the
emergence of a stretching field induced by the full atomic-scale relaxation of
the nanoribbon architecture. We further prove that such an in-plane strain
field can be decomposed into a first contribution due to the actual bending of
the sheet and a second one due to edge effects.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figure
Riemannian Geometry of Noncommutative Surfaces
A Riemannian geometry of noncommutative n-dimensional surfaces is developed
as a first step towards the construction of a consistent noncommutative
gravitational theory. Historically, as well, Riemannian geometry was recognized
to be the underlying structure of Einstein's theory of general relativity and
led to further developments of the latter. The notions of metric and
connections on such noncommutative surfaces are introduced and it is shown that
the connections are metric-compatible, giving rise to the corresponding Riemann
curvature. The latter also satisfies the noncommutative analogue of the first
and second Bianchi identities. As examples, noncommutative analogues of the
sphere, torus and hyperboloid are studied in detail. The problem of covariance
under appropriately defined general coordinate transformations is also
discussed and commented on as compared with other treatments.Comment: 28 pages, some clarifications, examples and references added, version
to appear in J. Math. Phy
Minimal resonances in annular non-Euclidean strips
Differential growth processes play a prominent role in shaping leaves and
biological tissues. Using both analytical and numerical calculations, we
consider the shapes of closed, elastic strips which have been subjected to an
inhomogeneous pattern of swelling. The stretching and bending energies of a
closed strip are frustrated by compatibility constraints between the curvatures
and metric of the strip. To analyze this frustration, we study the class of
"conical" closed strips with a prescribed metric tensor on their center line.
The resulting strip shapes can be classified according to their number of
wrinkles and the prescribed pattern of swelling. We use this class of strips as
a variational ansatz to obtain the minimal energy shapes of closed strips and
find excellent agreement with the results of a numerical bead-spring model.
Within this class of strips, we derive a condition under which a strip can have
vanishing mean curvature along the center line.Comment: 14 pages, 13 figures. Published version. Updated references and added
2 figure
Laurus azorica : Valorization through Its Phytochemical Study and Biological Activities
Laurus azorica (Seub.) Franco is an endemic species from the Azores, traditionally used in all the islands as a seasoning in cooking. The studies carried out with this species refer mainly to its essential oils. The study that was developed here allowed, for the first time, to determine the chemical composition and biological activities of the ethanol extract, fractions, and pure compounds from L. azorica. The hexane fraction was analyzed by GC–MS and revealed the presence of 48 compounds, comprising mainly fatty acids, fatty alcohols and terpenes, the family of fatty alcohols identified here for the first time in the genus Laurus. Three sesquiterpene lactones—costunolide, 11,13-dehydrosantonin and reynosin—were isolated for the first time in L. azorica from the same fraction, and structurally characterized using spectroscopic techniques. The compounds identified belong to families known to have relevant medicinal and nutritional properties. Regarding antioxidant activities, the results obtained showed a moderate radical scavenging effect of extracts and fractions, while in the β-carotene bleaching assay, costunolide was shown to be the most active (IC₅₀ = 4.08 ± 0.76 μg/mL), about 3.6 times more active than the standard, gallic acid, which presented IC₅₀ = 14.56 ± 0.13 μg/mL. Although the inhibition of extracellular matrix-degrading enzymes was not detected, the ethanol extract showed good inhibitory activity of tyrosinase, with an IC₅₀ of 12.04 ± 0.23 μg/mL, only 6.6-fold lower than the control kojic acid. The results presented deepen the knowledge about a little studied species, opening new perspectives for the development of value-added applications in the food and cosmeceutical fields.This research was funded by project MACBIOPEST (MAC2/1.1a/289), Interreg MAC 2014-2020, co-financed by DRCT (Azores Regional Government), as well as by FCT-Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia, the European Union, QREN, FEDER and COMPETE, through funding the cE3c center-CHANGE (UIDB/00329/2020) and the LAQV-REQUIMTE (UIDB/50006/2020).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
A note on the computation of geometrically defined relative velocities
We discuss some aspects about the computation of kinematic, spectroscopic,
Fermi and astrometric relative velocities that are geometrically defined in
general relativity. Mainly, we state that kinematic and spectroscopic relative
velocities only depend on the 4-velocities of the observer and the test
particle, unlike Fermi and astrometric relative velocities, that also depend on
the acceleration of the observer and the corresponding relative position of the
test particle, but only at the event of observation and not around it, as it
would be deduced, in principle, from the definition of these velocities.
Finally, we propose an open problem in general relativity that consists on
finding intrinsic expressions for Fermi and astrometric relative velocities
avoiding terms that involve the evolution of the relative position of the test
particle. For this purpose, the proofs given in this paper can serve as
inspiration.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure
On the differential geometry of curves in Minkowski space
We discuss some aspects of the differential geometry of curves in Minkowski
space. We establish the Serret-Frenet equations in Minkowski space and use them
to give a very simple proof of the fundamental theorem of curves in Minkowski
space. We also state and prove two other theorems which represent Minkowskian
versions of a very known theorem of the differential geometry of curves in
tridimensional Euclidean space. We discuss the general solution for torsionless
paths in Minkowki space. We then apply the four-dimensional Serret-Frenet
equations to describe the motion of a charged test particle in a constant and
uniform electromagnetic field and show how the curvature and the torsions of
the four-dimensional path of the particle contain information on the
electromagnetic field acting on the particle.Comment: 10 pages. Typeset using REVTE
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