699 research outputs found
Modern seawater acidification: The response of foraminifera to high-CO<inf>2</inf> conditions in the Mediterranean Sea
The seas around the island of Ischia (Italy) have a lowered pH as a result of volcanic gas vents that emit carbon dioxide from the sea floor at ambient seawater temperatures. These areas of acidified seawater provide natural laboratories in which to study the long-term biological response to rising CO2 levels. Benthic foraminifera (single-celled protists) are particularly interesting as they have short life histories, are environmentally sensitive and have an excellent fossil record. Here, we examine changes in foraminiferal assemblages along pH gradients at CO2 vents on the coast of Ischia and show that the foraminiferal distribution, diversity and nature of the fauna change markedly in the living assemblages as pH decreases. © 2010 Geological Society of London
Consumer-based brand equity and brand performance
The relation between consumer-based brand equity and brand performance was investigated across 15 product categories in Brazil and the UK. Brand equity was conceptualized as related to the level of social benefit offered by each brand and was measured with a simple questionnaire that asked consumers to rate brands with respect to their familiarity and quality levels. These measures were then related to brand market share and revenue. Results showed that the relation between consumer-based brand equity and brand performance varies across product categories, indicating that products differ with respect to their level of brandability and suggesting ways to measure it
Percolation approach to quark gluon plasma in high energy pp collisions
We apply continuum percolation to proton-proton collisions and look for the
possible threshold to phase transition from confined nuclear matter to quark
gluon plasma. Making the assumption that J/Psi suppression is a good signal to
the transition, we discuss this phenomenon for pp collisions, in the framework
of a dual model with strings.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure
Study on the use of Typha spp. for the phytotreatment of water contaminated with ibuprofen
Several studies on phytotoxic effects caused by organic xenobiotics and their
removal from water by macrophytes have already been performed to evaluate the
usefulness of these plants for phytoremediation technologies. In this context,
a study was conducted to assess Typha spp.’s ability to withstand and remove,
from water, the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen. For an initial
ibuprofen concentration of 20 mgL 1, Typha removed nearly 60% of it within the
first 24 h, attaining over 99% removal by the end of the assay (21 days). Exposure
to higher ibuprofen concentrations did affect Typha’s growth but, by the end of
the assays, plants’ growth as well as photosynthetic pigments approached normal
values. An alteration in antioxidant enzymes activities (superoxide dismutase,
catalase, guaiacol peroxidase) indicated that both roots and leaves were affected
by the xenobiotic. Eventually, Typha seemed able to cope with ibuprofen’s
induced oxidative damage suggesting its ability for phytotreatment of waters
contaminated with ibuprofen
Explaining the Higgs Decays at the LHC with an Extended Electroweak Model
We show that the recent discovery of a new boson at the LHC, which we assume
to be a Higgs boson, and the observed enhancement in its diphoton decays
compared to the SM prediction, can be explained by a new doublet of charged
vector bosons from an extended electroweak gauge sector model with
SU(3)_C\otimesSU(3)_L\otimesU(1)_X symmetry. Our results show a good
agreement between our theoretical expected sensitivity to a 126--125 GeV Higgs
boson and the experimental significance observed in the diphoton channel at the
8 TeV LHC. Effects of an invisible decay channel for the Higgs boson are also
taken into account, in order to anticipate a possible confirmation of deficits
in the branching ratios into , , bottom quarks, and tau leptons.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figure
Avaliação do Risco de Desenvolvimento de Problemas Relacionados com Medicamentos em Pacientes de Baixa Renda Atendidos em uma Clínica-Escola
No posee resumen.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire
Two-body decays in the minimal 331 model
The two-body decays of the extra neutral boson Z_2 predicted by the minimal
331 model are analyzed. At the three-level it can decay into standard model
particles as well as exotic quarks and the new gauge bosons predicted by the
model. The decays into a lepton pair are strongly suppressed, with and . In the bosonic
sector, Z_2 would decay mainly into a pair of bilepton gauge bosons, with a
branching ratio below the 0.1 level. The Z_2 boson has thus a leptophobic and
bileptophobic nature and it would decay dominantly into quark pairs. The
anomaly-induced decays and , which occurs
at the one-loop level are studied. It is found that and at most. As for the and decays, with H a relatively light Higgs boson, they
are induced via Z'-Z mixing. It is obtained that
and . We also examine the flavor changing neutral
current decays and , which may have branching
fractions as large as and , respectively, and thus may be of
phenomenological interest.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Physical Review
Effect Of Pasteurization On The Decay Of Mycobacterium Bovis In Milk Cream
Milk cream must be pasteurized in order to be sold in Brazil. However, there are no specific legal requirements for this product, and producers set their own pasteurization parameters using the ones approved for milk as a reference. Considering that fat protects bacteria from heat, that no thermal inactivation studies have been performed on Mycobacterium bovis present in cream, and that bovine tuberculosis is endemic in Brazil, the aim of this study was to evaluate the inactivation of M. bovis in milk cream subjected to commercial parameters of pasteurization. Milk cream samples were contaminated and pasteurized in a water bath at 75, 80, 85, and 90°C for 5 and 15 s. M. bovis cells were plated onto Stonebrink-Leslie medium, incubated at 36°C for 45 days, and quantified; the result was expressed in log CFU mL-1. The fat content of the samples ranged from 34% to 37% and the average initial load of M. bovis was 8.0 Log CFU mL-1. The average decay of the M. bovis populations was 4.0, 4.3, 4.9 and 6.7 log CFU mL-1 when the cream was treated for 15 sec at 75, 80, 85 and 90°C, respectively, showing that the efficiency of the heat treatment was improved by increasing the temperature of the process. Given the lipophilic nature of M. bovis, the cream should be subjected to more intense parameters of pasteurization than those applied to milk.3753737374
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