Independent Eigenstates of Angular Momentum in a Quantum N-body System

The global rotational degrees of freedom in the Schr\"{o}dinger equation for an $N$-body system are completely separated from the internal ones. After removing the motion of center of mass, we find a complete set of $(2\ell+1)$ independent base functions with the angular momentum $\ell$. These are homogeneous polynomials in the components of the coordinate vectors and the solutions of the Laplace equation, where the Euler angles do not appear explicitly. Any function with given angular momentum and given parity in the system can be expanded with respect to the base functions, where the coefficients are the functions of the internal variables. With the right choice of the base functions and the internal variables, we explicitly establish the equations for those functions. Only (3N-6) internal variables are involved both in the functions and in the equations. The permutation symmetry of the wave functions for identical particles is discussed.Comment: 24 pages, no figure, one Table, RevTex, Will be published in Phys. Rev. A 64, 0421xx (Oct. 2001

Comment on "Critique of q-entropy for thermal statistics" by M. Nauenberg

It was recently published by M. Nauenberg [1] a quite long list of objections about the physical validity for thermal statistics of the theory sometimes referred to in the literature as {\it nonextensive statistical mechanics}. This generalization of Boltzmann-Gibbs (BG) statistical mechanics is based on the following expression for the entropy: S_q= k\frac{1- \sum_{i=1}^Wp_i^q}{q-1} (q \in {\cal R}; S_1=S_{BG} \equiv -k\sum_{i=1}^W p_i \ln p_i) . The author of [1] already presented orally the essence of his arguments in 1993 during a scientific meeting in Buenos Aires. I am replying now simultaneously to the just cited paper, as well as to the 1993 objections (essentially, the violation of "fundamental thermodynamic concepts", as stated in the Abstract of [1]).Comment: 7 pages including 2 figures. This is a reply to M. Nauenberg, Phys. Rev. E 67, 036114 (2003

Functional consequences of pre- and postsynaptic expression of synaptic plasticity

Growing experimental evidence shows that both homeostatic and Hebbian synaptic plasticity can be expressed presynaptically as well as postsynaptically. In this review, we start by discussing this evidence and methods used to determine expression loci. Next, we discuss functional consequences of this diversity in pre- and postsynaptic expression of both homeostatic and Hebbian synaptic plasticity. In particular, we explore the functional consequences of a biologically tuned model of pre- and postsynaptically expressed spike-timing-dependent plasticity complemented with postsynaptic homeostatic control. The pre- and postsynaptic expression in this model predicts 1) more reliable receptive fields and sensory perception, 2) rapid recovery of forgotten information (memory savings) and 3) reduced response latencies, compared to a model with postsynaptic expression only. Finally we discuss open questions that will require a considerable research effort to better elucidate how the specific locus of expression of homeostatic and Hebbian plasticity alters synaptic and network computations

Deep soils modify environmental consequences of increased nitrogen fertilizer use in intensifying Amazon agriculture

Agricultural intensification offers potential to grow more food while reducing the conversion of native ecosystems to croplands. However, intensification also risks environmental degradation through emissions of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O) and nitrate leaching to ground and surface waters. Intensively-managed croplands and nitrogen (N) fertilizer use are expanding rapidly in tropical regions. We quantified fertilizer responses of maize yield, N2O emissions, and N leaching in an Amazon soybean-maize double-cropping system on deep, highly-weathered soils in Mato Grosso, Brazil. Application of N fertilizer above 80 kg N ha−1 yr−1 increased maize yield and N2O emissions only slightly. Unlike experiences in temperate regions, leached nitrate accumulated in deep soils with increased fertilizer and conversion to cropping at N fertilization rates \u3e80 kg N ha−1, which exceeded maize demand. This raises new questions about the capacity of tropical agricultural soils to store nitrogen, which may determine when and how much nitrogen impacts surface waters

Black hole thermodynamical entropy

As early as 1902, Gibbs pointed out that systems whose partition function diverges, e.g. gravitation, lie outside the validity of the Boltzmann-Gibbs (BG) theory. Consistently, since the pioneering Bekenstein-Hawking results, physically meaningful evidence (e.g., the holographic principle) has accumulated that the BG entropy $S_{BG}$ of a $(3+1)$ black hole is proportional to its area $L^2$ ($L$ being a characteristic linear length), and not to its volume $L^3$. Similarly it exists the \emph{area law}, so named because, for a wide class of strongly quantum-entangled $d$-dimensional systems, $S_{BG}$ is proportional to $\ln L$ if $d=1$, and to $L^{d-1}$ if $d>1$, instead of being proportional to $L^d$ ($d \ge 1$). These results violate the extensivity of the thermodynamical entropy of a $d$-dimensional system. This thermodynamical inconsistency disappears if we realize that the thermodynamical entropy of such nonstandard systems is \emph{not} to be identified with the BG {\it additive} entropy but with appropriately generalized {\it nonadditive} entropies. Indeed, the celebrated usefulness of the BG entropy is founded on hypothesis such as relatively weak probabilistic correlations (and their connections to ergodicity, which by no means can be assumed as a general rule of nature). Here we introduce a generalized entropy which, for the Schwarzschild black hole and the area law, can solve the thermodynamic puzzle.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures. Accepted for publication in EPJ

Highlights of the São Paulo ISEV workshop on extracellular vesicles in cross-kingdom communication

In the past years, extracellular vesicles (EVs) have become an important field of research since EVs have been found to play a central role in biological processes. In pathogens, EVs are involved in several events during the host–pathogen interaction, including invasion, immunomodulation, and pathology as well as parasite–parasite communication. In this report, we summarised the role of EVs in infections caused by viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and helminths based on the talks and discussions carried out during the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV) workshop held in São Paulo (November, 2016), Brazil, entitled Cross-organism Communication by Extracellular Vesicles: Hosts, Microbes and Parasites. © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.11Ysciescopu

High prognostic value of measurable residual disease detection by flow cytometry in chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients treated with front-line fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, and rituximab, followed by three years of rituximab maintenance

It has been postulated that monitoring measurable residual disease (MRD) could be used as a surrogate marker of progression-free survival (PFS) in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients after treatment with immunochemotherapy regimens. In this study, we analyzed the outcome of 84 patients at 3 years of follow-up after first-line treatment with fludarabine, cyclophosphamide and rituximab (FCR) induction followed by 36 months of rituximab maintenance thearpy. MRD was assessed by a quantitative four-color flow cytometry panel with a sensitivity level of 10-4. Eighty out of 84 evaluable patients (95.2%) achieved at least a partial response or better at the end of induction. After clinical evaluation, 74 patients went into rituximab maintenance and the primary endpoint was assessed in the final analysis at 3 years of follow-up. Bone marrow (BM) MRD analysis was performed after the last planned induction course and every 6 months in cases with detectable residual disease during the 36 months of maintenance therapy. Thirty-seven patients (44%) did not have detectable residual disease in the BM prior to maintenance therapy. Interestingly, 29 patients with detectable residual disease in the BM after induction no longer had detectable disease in the BM following maintenance therapy. After a median followup of 6.30 years, the median overall survival (OS) and PFS had not been reached in patients with either undetectable or detectable residual disease in the BM, who had achieved a complete response at the time of starting maintenance therapy. Interestingly, univariate analysis showed that after rituximab maintenance OS was not affected by IGHV status (mutated vs. unmutated OS: 85.7% alive at 7.2 years vs. 79.6% alive at 7.3 years, respectively). As per protocol, 15 patients (17.8%), who achieved a complete response and undetectable peripheral blood and BM residual disease after four courses of induction, were allowed to stop fludarabine and cyclophosphamide and complete two additional courses of rituximab and continue with maintenance therapy for 18 cycles. Surprisingly, the outcome in this population was similar to that observed in patients who received the full six cycles of the induction regimen. These data show that, compared to historic controls, patients treated with FCR followed by rituximab maintenance have high-quality responses with fewer relapses and improved OS. The tolerability of this regime is favorable. Furthermore, attaining an early undetectable residual disease status could shorten the duration of chemoimmunotherapy, reducing toxicities and preventing long-term side effects. The analysis of BM MRD after fludarabine-based induction could be a powerful predictor of post-maintenance outcomes in patients with CLL undergoing rituximab maintenance and could be a valuable tool to identify patients at high risk of relapse, influencing further treatment strategies

Balanços energéticos agropecuários: uma importante ferramenta como indicativo de sustentabilidade de agroecossistemas.

No Brasil, pouca atenção se tem dado às formas e caminhos com que os fluxos energéticos se distribuem nos sistemas produtivos. Na agropecuária, a atenção tem sido voltada a novas fontes de energia (biomassa) ou em tecnologia alternativa, visando a racionalização do uso de energia fóssil ou elétrica. Entretanto, a agricultura tem se desenvolvido baseada fortemente na utilização intensiva de máquinas agrícolas, com conseqüente uso de combustíveis fósseis. Um fator de estrangulamento muito forte no consumo energético geral tem sido a utilização massiva de fertilizantes derivados do petróleo nos agroecossistemas. Estudos de Balanços Energéticos visam determinar os pontos de estrangulamento energético fundamentando a busca por tecnologias poupadoras de energia, especialmente aquelas de origem fóssil (combustível, fertilizante, agrotóxicos, energia despendida na fabricação das máquinas e implementos, etc.). No Brasil, a Região Sul, é onde se encontram vários trabalhos buscando uma agricultura mais auto-sustentável, do ponto de vista da utilização da energia. Em vista da possibilidade de eventuais futuras crises energéticas, o presente trabalho procura analisar o estado-da-arte dos estudos em Balanço Energético, no Brasil e no Mundo, como uma ferramenta de indicação da sustentabilidade dos sistemas agropecuários