379 research outputs found

    Avalanches in the Weakly Driven Frenkel-Kontorova Model

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    A damped chain of particles with harmonic nearest-neighbor interactions in a spatially periodic, piecewise harmonic potential (Frenkel-Kontorova model) is studied numerically. One end of the chain is pulled slowly which acts as a weak driving mechanism. The numerical study was performed in the limit of infinitely weak driving. The model exhibits avalanches starting at the pulled end of the chain. The dynamics of the avalanches and their size and strength distributions are studied in detail. The behavior depends on the value of the damping constant. For moderate values a erratic sequence of avalanches of all sizes occurs. The avalanche distributions are power-laws which is a key feature of self-organized criticality (SOC). It will be shown that the system selects a state where perturbations are just able to propagate through the whole system. For strong damping a regular behavior occurs where a sequence of states reappears periodically but shifted by an integer multiple of the period of the external potential. There is a broad transition regime between regular and irregular behavior, which is characterized by multistability between regular and irregular behavior. The avalanches are build up by sound waves and shock waves. Shock waves can turn their direction of propagation, or they can split into two pulses propagating in opposite directions leading to transient spatio-temporal chaos. PACS numbers: 05.70.Ln,05.50.+q,46.10.+zComment: 33 pages (RevTex), 15 Figures (available on request), appears in Phys. Rev.

    Silver(I) 1,10-Phenanthroline Complexes Are Active against Fonsecaea Pedrosoi Viability and Negatively Modulate Its Potential Virulence Attributes

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    The genus Fonsecaea is one of the etiological agents of chromoblastomycosis (CBM), a chronic subcutaneous disease that is difficult to treat. This work aimed to evaluate the effects of copper(II), manganese(II) and silver(I) complexes coordinated with 1,10-phenanthroline (phen)/1,10- phenanthroline-5,6-dione (phendione) on Fonsecaea spp. Our results revealed that most of these complexes were able to inhibit F. pedrosoi, F. monophora and F. nubica conidial viability with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values ranging from 0.6 to 100 M. The most effective complexes against F. pedrosoi planktonic conidial cells, the main etiologic agent of CBM, were [Ag(phen)2]ClO4 and [Ag2(3,6,9-tdda)(phen)4].EtOH, (tdda: 3,6,9-trioxaundecanedioate), displaying MIC values equal to 1.2 and 0.6 M, respectively. These complexes were effective in reducing the viability of F. pedrosoi biofilm formation and maturation. Silver(I) tdda-phen, combined with itraconazole, reduced the viability and extracellular matrix during F. pedrosoi biofilm development. Moreover, both silver(I) complexes inhibited either metallo- or aspartic-type peptidase activities of F. pedrosoi as well as its conidia into mycelia transformation and melanin production. In addition, the complexes induced the production of intracellular reactive oxygen species in F. pedrosoi. Taken together, our data corroborate the antifungal action of metal-phen complexes, showing they represent a therapeutic option for fungal infections, including CBM

    Influence of yeasts of the genus Saccharomyces and not Saccharomyces in elaboration of white wines

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    Traditionally the Serra Gaúcha region, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, is known as a barn productor of excellent quality wines. The aromatic complexity of wine in general, and white wine in particular, is what is essential to satisfy an increasingly demanding consumer. Among the most used techniques to achieve this purpose is the addition of yeasts of different genres, thus providing a range of aromatic characteristics that are accentuated in it. In this sense, the objective of this work was to evaluate the use of different strains of yeasts in white wines of Riesling Italic variety, made from grapes grown in the Serra Gaúcha region, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Based on the results, it was possible to observe that there were no significant differences between the treatments in relation to the variables pH, total acidity and alcoholic degree. However, with respect to the fermentation yield, T3 was the treatment that obtained the best performance, reaching the ideal density (below 1000 g.cm3) in the course of 6 to 7 days, followed by treatments T1 (Saccharomyces cerevisae) and T5 (Levulia pulcherrima) (7 to 8 days), with treatments T2 (Saccharomyces cerevisaecerevisae) and T4 (Torulaspora delbrueckii), which had the lowest performance (9 to 10 days). The T4 treatment was also the one that presented a higher amount of residual sugars, which proves the less activity of this yeast in more alcoholic means. All the yeasts used have a low production of volatile acidity, but the lowest concentration was Saccharomyces cerevisae cerevisae, used in treatment T2 (0.1 gL−1), and the other treatments presented higher concentrations (0, 4 to 0.5 gL−1), although it is still within the parameters considered ideal for obtaining quality white wines. T2 was also the treatment with lower concentrations of glycerol (5.1 g.L−1). This compound is mainly formed by glyceropyruvic fermentation through the metabolism of yeasts at the beginning of alcoholic fermentation, usually being produced by the first 50 grams of fermented sugars, which may indicate a greater activity of this yeast in this fermentation period. In general, we can say that all the yeasts used have the potential to produce quality white wines, since they had good fermentation yields, satisfactory production of alcohol and glycerol, and low production of volatile acidity

    Measurements of long-range near-side angular correlations in sNN=5\sqrt{s_{\text{NN}}}=5TeV proton-lead collisions in the forward region

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    Two-particle angular correlations are studied in proton-lead collisions at a nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass energy of sNN=5\sqrt{s_{\text{NN}}}=5TeV, collected with the LHCb detector at the LHC. The analysis is based on data recorded in two beam configurations, in which either the direction of the proton or that of the lead ion is analysed. The correlations are measured in the laboratory system as a function of relative pseudorapidity, Δη\Delta\eta, and relative azimuthal angle, Δϕ\Delta\phi, for events in different classes of event activity and for different bins of particle transverse momentum. In high-activity events a long-range correlation on the near side, Δϕ0\Delta\phi \approx 0, is observed in the pseudorapidity range 2.0<η<4.92.0<\eta<4.9. This measurement of long-range correlations on the near side in proton-lead collisions extends previous observations into the forward region up to η=4.9\eta=4.9. The correlation increases with growing event activity and is found to be more pronounced in the direction of the lead beam. However, the correlation in the direction of the lead and proton beams are found to be compatible when comparing events with similar absolute activity in the direction analysed.Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://lhcbproject.web.cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/LHCbProjectPublic/LHCb-PAPER-2015-040.htm

    Evidence for the strangeness-changing weak decay ΞbΛb0π\Xi_b^-\to\Lambda_b^0\pi^-

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    Using a pppp collision data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.0~fb1^{-1}, collected by the LHCb detector, we present the first search for the strangeness-changing weak decay ΞbΛb0π\Xi_b^-\to\Lambda_b^0\pi^-. No bb hadron decay of this type has been seen before. A signal for this decay, corresponding to a significance of 3.2 standard deviations, is reported. The relative rate is measured to be fΞbfΛb0B(ΞbΛb0π)=(5.7±1.80.9+0.8)×104{{f_{\Xi_b^-}}\over{f_{\Lambda_b^0}}}{\cal{B}}(\Xi_b^-\to\Lambda_b^0\pi^-) = (5.7\pm1.8^{+0.8}_{-0.9})\times10^{-4}, where fΞbf_{\Xi_b^-} and fΛb0f_{\Lambda_b^0} are the bΞbb\to\Xi_b^- and bΛb0b\to\Lambda_b^0 fragmentation fractions, and B(ΞbΛb0π){\cal{B}}(\Xi_b^-\to\Lambda_b^0\pi^-) is the branching fraction. Assuming fΞb/fΛb0f_{\Xi_b^-}/f_{\Lambda_b^0} is bounded between 0.1 and 0.3, the branching fraction B(ΞbΛb0π){\cal{B}}(\Xi_b^-\to\Lambda_b^0\pi^-) would lie in the range from (0.57±0.21)%(0.57\pm0.21)\% to (0.19±0.07)%(0.19\pm0.07)\%.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://lhcbproject.web.cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/LHCbProjectPublic/LHCb-PAPER-2015-047.htm

    Study of the production of Λb0\Lambda_b^0 and B0\overline{B}^0 hadrons in pppp collisions and first measurement of the Λb0J/ψpK\Lambda_b^0\rightarrow J/\psi pK^- branching fraction

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    The product of the Λb0\Lambda_b^0 (B0\overline{B}^0) differential production cross-section and the branching fraction of the decay Λb0J/ψpK\Lambda_b^0\rightarrow J/\psi pK^- (B0J/ψK(892)0\overline{B}^0\rightarrow J/\psi\overline{K}^*(892)^0) is measured as a function of the beauty hadron transverse momentum, pTp_{\rm T}, and rapidity, yy. The kinematic region of the measurements is pT<20 GeV/cp_{\rm T}<20~{\rm GeV}/c and 2.0<y<4.52.0<y<4.5. The measurements use a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3 fb13~{\rm fb}^{-1} collected by the LHCb detector in pppp collisions at centre-of-mass energies s=7 TeV\sqrt{s}=7~{\rm TeV} in 2011 and s=8 TeV\sqrt{s}=8~{\rm TeV} in 2012. Based on previous LHCb results of the fragmentation fraction ratio, fΛB0/fdf_{\Lambda_B^0}/f_d, the branching fraction of the decay Λb0J/ψpK\Lambda_b^0\rightarrow J/\psi pK^- is measured to be \begin{equation*} \mathcal{B}(\Lambda_b^0\rightarrow J/\psi pK^-)= (3.17\pm0.04\pm0.07\pm0.34^{+0.45}_{-0.28})\times10^{-4}, \end{equation*} where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second is systematic, the third is due to the uncertainty on the branching fraction of the decay B0J/ψK(892)0\overline{B}^0\rightarrow J/\psi\overline{K}^*(892)^0, and the fourth is due to the knowledge of fΛb0/fdf_{\Lambda_b^0}/f_d. The sum of the asymmetries in the production and decay between Λb0\Lambda_b^0 and Λb0\overline{\Lambda}_b^0 is also measured as a function of pTp_{\rm T} and yy. The previously published branching fraction of Λb0J/ψpπ\Lambda_b^0\rightarrow J/\psi p\pi^-, relative to that of Λb0J/ψpK\Lambda_b^0\rightarrow J/\psi pK^-, is updated. The branching fractions of Λb0Pc+(J/ψp)K\Lambda_b^0\rightarrow P_c^+(\rightarrow J/\psi p)K^- are determined.Comment: 29 pages, 19figures. All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://lhcbproject.web.cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/LHCbProjectPublic/LHCb-PAPER-2015-032.htm

    BB flavour tagging using charm decays at the LHCb experiment

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    An algorithm is described for tagging the flavour content at production of neutral BB mesons in the LHCb experiment. The algorithm exploits the correlation of the flavour of a BB meson with the charge of a reconstructed secondary charm hadron from the decay of the other bb hadron produced in the proton-proton collision. Charm hadron candidates are identified in a number of fully or partially reconstructed Cabibbo-favoured decay modes. The algorithm is calibrated on the self-tagged decay modes B+J/ψK+B^+ \to J/\psi \, K^+ and B0J/ψK0B^0 \to J/\psi \, K^{*0} using 3.0fb13.0\mathrm{\,fb}^{-1} of data collected by the LHCb experiment at pppp centre-of-mass energies of 7TeV7\mathrm{\,TeV} and 8TeV8\mathrm{\,TeV}. Its tagging power on these samples of BJ/ψXB \to J/\psi \, X decays is (0.30±0.01±0.01)%(0.30 \pm 0.01 \pm 0.01) \%.Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and additional information, are available at http://lhcbproject.web.cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/LHCbProjectPublic/LHCb-PAPER-2015-027.htm
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