16,813 research outputs found
The unphysical character of dark energy fluids
It is well known that, in the context of general relativity, an unknown kind
of matter that must violate the strong energy condition is required to explain
the current accelerated phase of expansion of the Universe. This unknown
component is called dark energy and is characterized by an equation of state
parameter . Thermodynamic stability requires that and positiveness of entropy that . In this paper we
proof that we cannot obtain a differentiable function to represent the
dark energy that satisfies these conditions trough the entire history of the
Universe.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figur
A Method to Tackle First Order Differential Equations with Liouvillian Functions in the Solution - II
We present a semi-decision procedure to tackle first order differential
equations, with Liouvillian functions in the solution (LFOODEs). As in the case
of the Prelle-Singer procedure, this method is based on the knowledge of the
integrating factor structure.Comment: 11 pages, late
Solving 1ODEs with functions
Here we present a new approach to deal with first order ordinary differential
equations (1ODEs), presenting functions. This method is an alternative to the
one we have presented in [1]. In [2], we have establish the theoretical
background to deal, in the extended Prelle-Singer approach context, with
systems of 1ODEs. In this present paper, we will apply these results in order
to produce a method that is more efficient in a great number of cases.
Directly, the solving of 1ODEs is applicable to any problem presenting
parameters to which the rate of change is related to the parameter itself.
Apart from that, the solving of 1ODEs can be a part of larger mathematical
processes vital to dealing with many problems.Comment: 31 page
Clone size distributions in networks of genetic similarity
We build networks of genetic similarity in which the nodes are organisms
sampled from biological populations. The procedure is illustrated by
constructing networks from genetic data of a marine clonal plant. An important
feature in the networks is the presence of clone subgraphs, i.e. sets of
organisms with identical genotype forming clones. As a first step to understand
the dynamics that has shaped these networks, we point up a relationship between
a particular degree distribution and the clone size distribution in the
populations. We construct a dynamical model for the population dynamics,
focussing on the dynamics of the clones, and solve it for the required
distributions. Scale free and exponentially decaying forms are obtained
depending on parameter values, the first type being obtained when clonal growth
is the dominant process. Average distributions are dominated by the power law
behavior presented by the fastest replicating populations.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures. One figure improved and other minor changes. To
appear in Physica
Non universality of entanglement convertibility
Recently, it has been suggested that operational properties connected to
quantum computation can be alternative indicators of quantum phase transitions.
In this work we systematically study these operational properties in 1D systems
that present phase transitions of different orders. For this purpose, we
evaluate the local convertibility between bipartite ground states. Our results
suggest that the operational properties, related to non-analyticities of the
entanglement spectrum, are good detectors of explicit symmetries of the model,
but not necessarily of phase transitions. We also show that thermodynamically
equivalent phases, such as Luttinger liquids, may display different
convertibility properties depending on the underlying microscopic model.Comment: 5 pages + references, 4 figures - improved versio
Extractability and mobility of mercury from agricultural soils surrounding industrial and mining contaminated areas
This study focussed on a comparison of the extractability of mercury in soils with two different contamination sources (a chlor-alkali plant and mining activities) and on the evaluation of the influence of specific soil properties on the behaviour of the contaminant. The method applied here did not target the identification of individual species, but instead provided information concerning the mobility of mercury species in soil. Mercury fractions were classified as mobile, semi-mobile and non-mobile. The fractionation study revealed that in all samples mercury was mainly present in the semi-mobile phase (between 63 and 97%). The highest mercury mobility (2.7 mg kg-1) was found in soils from the industrial area. Mining soils exhibited higher percentage of non-mobile mercury, up to 35%, due to their elevated sulfur content. Results of factor analysis indicate that the presence of mercury in the mobile phase could be related to manganese and aluminum soil contents. A positive relation between mercury in the semi-mobile fraction and the aluminium content was also observed. By contrary, organic matter and sulfur contents contributed to mercury retention in the soil matrix reducing the mobility of the metal. Despite known limitations of sequential extraction procedures, the methodology applied in this study for the fractionation of mercury in contaminated soil samples provided relevant information on mercury's relative mobility
Supercritical antisolvent precipitation of PHBV microparticles
The micronization of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) from organic solutions using supercritical antisolvent (SAS)
technique has been successfully achieved.
SASexperiments were carried out at different operational conditions and microspheres with mean diameters ranging from 3 to 9 mwere obtained.
The effect of CO2 and liquid flow, temperature and pressure on particle size and particle size distribution was evaluated. The microspheres were
precipitated from a dichloromethane (DCM) solution. The best process conditions for this mixture were, according to our study, 40 âŠC, 100 bar,
1mLminâ1 liquid flow and 10 L minâ1 carbon dioxide flow.
Experiments with polymers containing different HV percentages were carried out. The powders obtained became more spherical as the HV
content decreased
Public Health England's recovery tools: potential teaching resources?
The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version.Training to combat chemical and radiation accidents, incidents or attacks is critical for health professionals
due to recent events involving these hazards or their use as unconventional weapons, such as the use of
the nerve agent novichok in Salisbury, UK. Health professionals need to have appropriate knowledge and
skills to effectively respond to future events involving any of these substances, which requires a rapid and
coordinated response from different professionals to protect the environment and minimise the number of
people exposed and reduce morbidity and mortality. However, despite chemical and radiation incidents
becoming increasingly prevalent, literature reviews have shown that there is a lack of teaching of
appropriate competences to face future crises in Europe, particularly amongst clinicians and other health
professionals that would be part of the initial response. Thus, De Montfort University (DMU, UK) in
collaboration with different academics from the University of AlcalĂĄ (Spain) and researchers from Public
Health England (PHE) with comprehensive experience in environmental decontamination and restoration,
have created a short training course for providing undergraduate/postgraduate students with basic skills
to respond to chemical incidents, basic skills that are based on the major competences recently identified
by the European Commission [1]. This novel training has been tested with students from different
backgrounds in various European universities, recording high degrees of acquisition of the various basic
competences that we developed to initially respond to chemical events [2]. To develop the practical part
of this chemical training, we have incorporated the novel guidance and methodology developed by PHE
to successfully tailor a protection and recovery response to any incident involving chemical substances,
which is available in the âUK Recovery Handbook for Chemical Incidentsâ [3] and its web-based tools:
âChemical Recovery Navigation Toolâ (CRNT, [4]) and âChemical Recovery Record Formâ (CRRF, [5]).
These innovative resources aid the user to select effective protection, decontamination and restoration
techniques or strategies from a pool of up-to-date options applicable to different environments according
to the physicochemical properties of the chemical(s) involved and the area affected. The CRNT is
accompanied by the CRRF, which facilitates collection and analysis of the necessary data to inform
decisions, and an e-learning resource named âChemical Recovery: Backgroundâ (CRB, [6]), which could
facilitate the learning of environmental decontamination and restoration. We are currently developing a
short training course to cover minor radiation incidents; this radiation training will follow the same methods
used to develop the chemical training, but with the specific PHE recovery tools to tackle such events,
specifically the âUK Recovery Handbooks for Radiation Incidentsâ [7] and its associated web-based tools
âRadiation Recovery Navigation Toolâ (Rad RNT, [8]), one for each environment: food production systems,
inhabited areas and drinking water supplies. This communication will explore the use of the PHEâs
Recovery Navigation Tools as potential resources to facilitate the acquisition of basic knowledge to tailor
protection and recovery interventions for minor chemical and radiation incidents to protect the public
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