Statistical models of mixtures with a biaxial nematic phase

We consider a simple Maier-Saupe statistical model with the inclusion of disorder degrees of freedom to mimic the phase diagram of a mixture of rod-like and disc-like molecules. A quenched distribution of shapes leads to the existence of a stable biaxial nematic phase, in qualitative agreement with experimental findings for some ternary lyotropic liquid mixtures. An annealed distribution, however, which is more adequate to liquid mixtures, precludes the stability of this biaxial phase. We then use a two-temperature formalism, and assume a separation of relaxation times, to show that a partial degree of annealing is already sufficient to stabilize a biaxial nematic structure.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figure

Ocorrência do pulgão-do-milho Rhopalosiphum maidis (Fitch, 1856): identificação, biologia e danos.

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Uso do processo oxidativo avançado na degradação de mistura de resíduos orgânicos coloridos provenientes de análises espectrofotométricas.

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Eumelanin-based coloration and fitness parameters in birds: a meta-analysis

Although melanin is the most common pigment in animal integuments, the adaptive function of variation in melanin-based coloration remains poorly understood. The individual fitness returns associated with melanin pigments can be variable across species as these pigments can have physical and biological protective properties and genes involved in melanogenesis may vary in the intensity of pleiotropic effects. Moreover, dark and pale coloration can also enhance camouflage in alternative habitats and melanin-based coloration can be involved in social interactions. We investigated whether darker or paler individuals achieve a higher fitness in birds, a taxon wherein associations between melanin-based coloration and fitness parameters have been studied in a large number of species. A meta-analysis showed that the degree of melanin-based coloration was not significantly associated with laying date, clutch size, brood size, and survival across 26 species. Similar results were found when restricting the analyses to non-sexually dimorphic birds, colour polymorphic and monomorphic species, in passerines and non-passerines and in species for which inter-individual variation in melanism is due to colour intensity. However, eumelanic coloration was positively associated with clutch and brood size in sexually dimorphic species and those that vary in the size of black patches, respectively. Given that greater extent of melanin-based coloration was positively associated with reproductive parameters and survival in some species but negatively in other species, we conclude that in birds the sign and magnitude of selection exerted on melanin-based coloration is species- or trait-specific

Demandas tecnológicas para o processamento de castanha (Bertholletia excelsa Humb e Bompl) no estado do Acre.

o Estado do Acre apresenta forte aptidão e tradição extrativistas, possuindo cerca de dois terços de sua área total ocupados por reservas extrativistas, áreas indígenas e outras áreas de conservação e preservação. No entanto, o modelo tradicional de extrativismo não-madeireiro, praticado ao longo deste século, caracterizado pelo baixo nível tecnológico, tem se mostrado não-sustentável, sob o ponto de vista econômico e social, diante da estrutura de mercado local e externo, especialmente em sua baixa capacidade competitiva.bitstream/item/136880/1/3715.pd