A focus on focal surfaces

We make a systematic study of the focal surface of a congruence of lines in the projective space. Using differential techniques together with techniques from intersection theory, we reobtain in particular all the invariants of the focal surface (degree, class, class of its hyperplane section, sectional genus and degrees of the nodal and cuspidal curve). We study in particular the congruences of chords to a smooth curve and the congruences of bitangents or flexes to a smooth surface. We find that they possess unexpected components in their focal surface, and conjecture that they are the only ones with this property.Comment: Plain TeX, 33 pages with no figure

Ecoprofit environmental certification as a public good: SWOT analysis of a relationship network

The present work aims at carrying out an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the Ecoprofit certification through an institutionalist framework capable of incorporating the role of enterprises, institutions and relationship networks. Through the analysis of case studies on cooperation and on the food farming industry it is possible to subdivide the possible markets into 4 stages of maturity, according to the different degree of interaction among the agents, and to investigate the present and future role of environmental certifications seen as social capital increase vectors, thanks to their capability of recognizing and producing a culture of quality and, therefore, of sustainable development

Topological BF Description of 2D Accelerated Chiral Edge Modes

In this paper, we consider the topological abelian BF theory with radial boundary on a generic 3D manifold, as we were motivated by the recently discovered accelerated edge modes on certain Hall systems. Our aim was to research if, where, and how the boundary keeps the memory of the details of the background metrics. We discovered that some features were topologically protected and did not depend on the bulk metric. The outcome was that these edge excitations were accelerated, as a direct consequence of the non-flat nature of the bulk spacetime. We found three possibilities for the motion of the edge quasiparticles: same directions, opposite directions, and a single-moving mode. However, requiring that the Hamiltonian of the 2D theory is bounded by below, the case of the edge modes moving in the same direction was ruled out. Systems involving parallel Hall currents (for instance, a fractional quantum Hall effect with \u3bd = 2/5) cannot be described by a BF theory with the boundary, independently from the geometry of the bulk spacetime, because of positive energy considerations. Thus, we were left with physical situations characterized by edge excitations moving with opposite velocities (for example, the fractional quantum Hall effect with \u3bd = 1 12 1/n, with the n positive integer, and the helical Luttinger liquids phenomena) or a single-moving mode (quantum anomalous Hall). A strong restriction was obtained by requiring time reversal symmetry, which uniquely identifies modes with equal and opposite velocities, and we know that this is the case of topological insulators. The novelty, with respect to the flat bulk background, is that the modes have local velocities, which correspond to topological insulators with accelerated edge modes

Anomalies and Tadpoles in Open/Closed String Duality

We discuss the role played by the divergences appearing in the interaction between a fractional D3 brane dressed with an SU(N) gauge field and a stack of N fractional D3 branes on the orbifolds C^2/Z_2 and C^3/(Z_2 x Z_2). In particular we show that the logarithmic divergences in the closed string channel, interpreted as due to twisted massless tadpoles, are mapped, under open/closed string duality, in the logarithmic ones in the open string channel, due to the massless states circulating in the annulus diagram and corresponding to the one-loop divergences that one finds in the gauge theory living in the world volume of the brane. This result provides a quantitative evidence of why the chiral and scale anomalies of the supersymmetric and non conformal gauge theories supported by the world volume of the branes can be inferred from supergravity calculations.Comment: LaTeX, 8 pages. Contribution to the proceedings of the workshop of the RTN Network "The quantum structure of space-time and the geometric nature of fundamental interactions", Copenhagen, September 200

Growth conditions influence at strutural and virulence characterístics of Candida and Streptococcus biofilms developed on in vitro models of human oral mucosa

Orientador: Altair Antoninha Del Bel CuryTese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Odontologia de PiracicabaResumo: O patógeno oportunista Candida albicans e Streptococcus do grupo Mitis formam comunidades complexas em múltiplos sítios da cavidade oral, nos quais o ambiente e a disponibilidade de nutrientes sofrem mudanças constantes. Objetivou-se estudar as características estruturais e de virulência de biofilmes de Candida albicans na presença e ausência de S. oralis crescendo sobre um modelo tri dimensional de mucosa oral humana, em diferentes condições: (1) umidade da superfície mucosa (molhada ou semi seca), (2) disponibilidade de nutrientes (suplementação do meio de cultura com BHI) e (3) morfotipo da hifa (hifa ou pseudo hifa). Para isso foram utilizados modelos tri dimensionais de mucosa oral humana formado por queratinócitos imortalizados (linhagens celulares OKF6-TERT2 ou SCC15) sobre uma matriz colágena com fibroblastos para o crescimento dos biofilmes. Estes foram infectados por Streptococcus oralis 34, e/ou Candida albicans, sendo uma cepa de referência e cepas mutantes para a formação de pseudo-hifas, pela deleção dos genes ndt80 ou tup1. A determinação do biovolume e estrutura do biofilme foram realizadas por microscopia confocal a laser, com os biofilmes sendo corados por imunofluorescência com anticorpo especifico para C. albicans e sonda para Streptococcus. Como determinante de virlência secções de tecido com 5 ?m de espessura foram coradas da mesma maneira anterior ou por hematoxilina e eosina, com o intuito de se detectar a invasão de microorganismos. O dano tecidual também foi mensurado pela liberação de lactato desicrogenase no meio de cultura. Os dados foram avaliados por análises de variâncias (ANOVA) e os procedimentos para comparações múltiplas pareadas por Bonferroni t-test, com ? = 5%. Em condições úmidas C. albicans estendeu hifas longas e entrelaçadas, formando um biofilme de superfície homogênea. Biofilmes mistos apresentaram uma estrutura estratificada, com S. oralis crescendo em contato com a mucosa e a C. albicans cobrindo a superfície bacteriana. Em condições de semi-secas a C. albicans formou densos focos de crescimento localizados a partir dos quais as hifas estenderam-se radialmente para se entrelaçarem com hifas de focos adjacentes. Em biofilmes mistos este fenômeno provocou o acúmulo focal de S. oralis co-localizado com os focos de C. albicans. Embora o biovolume do biofilme de C. albicans tenha sido significativamente maior em condições úmidas (P<0,001), houve uma invasão tecidual mínima em comparação com as condições semi-secas, na qual a barreira epitelial foi completamente destruída. A suplementação do meio de cultura, em condições semi-secas não alterou a arquitetura do biofilme, mas intensificaram o crescimento, o biovolume e a invasão/dano tecidual (P<0,001), proporcionalmente as concentrações testadas. Mutantes para a formação de pseudo-hifas formaram biofilmes defeituosos, nos quais a maioria dos S. oralis estava em contato com a superfície epitelial, abaixo das pseudo-hifas. A presença de S. oralis promoveu invasão e dano tecidual em todas as condições. Conclui-se que a umidade, a disponibilidade de nutrientes, o morfotipo da Candida e a presença de S. oralis afetam fortemente a arquitetura e virulência de biofilmes de C. albicans crescidos sobre nas mucosasAbstract: The opportunistic pathogen Candida albicans and streptococci of the Mitis group form complex communities in multiple oral sites, where the environment and nutrient availability change constantly. We aimed to study structural and virulence characteristics of Candida albicans biofilms in the presence or absence of S. oralis, growing on a three-dimensional model of human oral mucosa, under different conditions: (1) moisture of mucosal surface (wet or semi dry), (2) nutrient availability (BHI supplementation on culture media) and (3) hyphal morphotype (hyphae or pseudohyphae). For this it was used a three-dimensional model of the human oral mucosa formed by immortalized oral keratinocytes (OKF6-TERT2 or SCC15 cell lines) on a fibroblast-embedded collagenous matrix to grow biofilms. Infections were carried out using Streptococcus oralis 34, a C. albicans reference strain and pseudohyphal mutants with a homozygous deletion of the ndt80, or tup1 gene. Determination of biofilm biovolume and structure was done by confocal scanning laser microscopy with biofilms stained by immunofluorescence using an anti-Candida antibody and a Streptococcus probe. As determinant of virulence, 5-?m-thick tissue sections were stained same way or with hematoxylin and eosin in order to detect invasion of microorganisms. Also tissue damage was measured by lactate dehydrogenase release in the culture media. Statistical analyses were performed using SigmaPlot 12 software at 5% significance level. Data were evaluated by analysis of variance (ANOVA) and when statistical significances were found, all pairwise multiple comparison procedures were performed with Bonferroni t-test, with ? = 5%. Under wet conditions C. albicans extended long intertwined hyphae, forming a homogeneous surface biofilm. Mixed biofilms had a stratified structure, with S. oralis growing in close contact to the mucosa and C. albicans growing on the bacterial surface. Under semi-dry conditions, C. albicans formed localized foci of dense growth from which hyphae extended radially to intertwine with hyphae from adjacent foci. In mixed biofilms this promoted focal growth of S. oralis co-localizing with C. albicans. Although Candida biofilm biovolume was significantly greater under wet conditions (P<0.001), there was minimal tissue invasion compared to semidry conditions where the epithelial barrier was completely destroyed. Supplementing the infection medium with nutrients under semidry conditions did not change the biofilm architecture but intensified focal growth and increased biofilm biovolume and tissue invasion/damage (P<0.001), proportionally to the tested concentrations. Pseudohyphal mutants formed defective mixed biofilms, with most S. oralis in contact with the epithelial surface, below the pseudohyphal mass. Interestingly, the presence of S. oralis promoted fungal invasion and tissue damage under all conditions. Moisture, nutrient availability, hyphal morphotype and presence of S. oralis strongly affect architecture and virulence of mucosal fungal biofilmsDoutoradoProtese DentalDoutora em Clínica Odontológic

Flavour changing neutral currents and CP violating processes in generalized supersymmetric theories

We consider supersymmetric extensions of the standard model with general non-universal soft breaking terms. We analyse in a model-independent way the constraints on these terms at the electroweak energy scale coming from gluino mediated flavour (F) changing neutral current and CP-violating processes. We have computed the complete $\Delta F=1$ and $\Delta F=2$ effective hamiltonian for gluino mediated processes, including for the first time the effect of box diagrams in the evaluation of $\epsilon^{\prime}/\epsilon$. We present numerical results for the constraints on these non-universal soft breaking terms for different values of the parameters, extending the analysis also to the leptonic sector. A comparison with previous results in the literature is given.Comment: LaTeX, 17 pages, 3 uuencoded figure

On CP-Odd Effects in K_L \to 2\pi and K^{\pm} \to \pi^{\pm} \pi^{\pm} \pi^{\mp} Decays Generated by Direct CP Violation

The amplitudes of the K^{\pm} \to 3\pi and K \to 2\pi decays are expressed in terms of different combinations of one and the same set of CP-conserving and CP-odd parameters. Extracting the magnitudes of these parameters from the data on K \to 2\pi decays, we estimate an expected CP-odd difference between the values of the slope parameters g^+ and g^- of the energy distributions of "odd" pions in K^+ \to \pi^+\pi^+\pi^- and K^- \to \pi^-\pi^-\pi^+ decays.Comment: 12 pages, no figure

Using cost benefit analysis as a learning process: identifying interventions for improving communication and trust

Integrated transportation plans require assessment approaches that can adequately support their multi-dimensional, context-specific needs. The suitability of cost benefit analysis (CBA) for answering this need has been studied in recent research: an analysis of participant perceptions in the Netherlands showed several problematic process issues when assessing integrated transportation plans with CBA (Beukers et al., 2012). CBA was perceived by the participants as a final test, in contrast to the desired outcome of using CBA as a learning tool to optimize the plans. Furthermore, the two main groups of participants (plan owners and evaluators) appeared to hold different and sometimes clashing rationales. This clash was expressed through lack of communication and mutual trust. Using a literature review of the fields of deliberative planning and organizational learning to explore how to improve communication and build trust, this paper provides a deeper understanding of the process issues at hand and contends that strong communication and trust between plan owners and evaluators are crucial conditions for employing CBA as a learning tool. Finally, based on these theoretical insights, this paper proposes an approach for supporting the practical use of CBA as a learning tool

On the Gauge/Gravity Correspondence and the Open/Closed String Duality

In this article we review the conditions for the validity of the gauge/gravity correspondence in both supersymmetric and non-supersymmetric string models. We start by reminding what happens in type IIB theory on the orbifolds C^2/Z_2 and C^3/(Z_2 x Z_2), where this correspondence beautifully works. In these cases, by performing a complete stringy calculation of the interaction among D3 branes, it has been shown that the fact that this correspondence works is a consequence of the open/closed duality and of the absence of threshold corrections. Then we review the construction of type 0 theories with their orbifolds and orientifolds having spectra free from both open and closed string tachyons and for such models we study the validity of the gauge/gravity correspondence, concluding that this is not a peculiarity of supersymmetric theories, but it may work also for non-supersymmetric models. Also in these cases, when it works, it is again a consequence of the open/closed string duality and of vanishing threshold corrections.Comment: Invited review article for Int. J. Mod. Phys. A, 95 pages, 2 figures, 3 tables, LaTeX. References and acknowledgements adde