Yukawa particles confined in a channel and subject to a periodic potential: ground state and normal modes

We consider a classical system of two-dimensional (2D) charged particles, which interact through a repulsive Yukawa potential $exp(-r/\lambda)/r$, confined in a parabolic channel which limits the motion of the particles in the $y$-direction. Along the $x$-direction, the particles are also subject to a periodic potential substrate. The ground state configurations and the normal mode spectra of the system are obtained as function of the periodicity and strength of the periodic potential ($V_0$), and density. An interesting set of tunable ground state configurations are found, with first and second order structural transitions between them. A magic configuration with particles aligned in each minimum of the periodic potential is obtained for V_0 larger than some critical value which has a power law dependence on the density. The phonon spectrum of different configurations were also calculated. A localization of the modes into a small frequency interval is observed for a sufficient strength of the periodic potential. A tunable band-gap is found as a function of $V_0$. This model system can be viewed as a generalization of the Frenkel and Kontorova model.Comment: Submmited to PR

Involvement of the Rcs regulon in the persistence of Salmonella Typhimurium in tomatoes

It is becoming clear that human enteric pathogens, like Salmonella, can efficiently colonize vegetative and reproductive organs of plants. Even though the bacterium's ability to proliferate within plant tissues has been linked to outbreaks of salmonellosis, little is known about regulatory and physiological adaptations of Salmonella, or other human pathogens, to their persistence in plants. A screen of Salmonella deletion mutants in tomatoes identified rcsA and rcsB genes as those under positive selection. In tomato fruits, populations of Salmonella rcsB mutants were as much as 100-fold lower than those of the wild type. In the follow-up experiments, competitive fitness of rcsA and rcsB mutants was strongly reduced in tomatoes. Bioinformatics predictions identified a putative Salmonella RcsAB binding box (TTMGGAWWAABCTYA) and revealed an extensive putative RcsAB regulon, of which many members were differentially fit within tomatoes

Uncaria tomentosa for Reducing Side Effects Caused by Chemotherapy in CRC Patients: Clinical Trial

To evaluate the effectiveness of Uncaria tomentosa in minimizing the side effects of chemotherapy and improving the antioxidant status of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients, a randomized clinical trial was conducted. Patients (43) undergoing adjuvant/palliative chemotherapy with 5-Fluorouracil/leucovorin + oxaliplatin (FOLFOX4) were split into two groups: the UT group received chemotherapy plus 300 mg of Uncaria tomentosa daily and the C group received only FOLFOX4 and served as a control. Blood samples were collected before each of the 6 cycles of chemotherapy, and hemograms, oxidative stress, enzymes antioxidants, immunologic parameters, and adverse events were analyzed. The use of 300 mg of Uncaria tomentosa daily during 6 cycles of FOLFOX4 did not change the analyzed parameters, and no toxic effects were observed

Finite Temperature Phase Diagram of Quasi-Two-Dimensional Imbalanced Fermi Gases Beyond Mean-Field

We investigate the superfluid transition temperature of quasi-two-dimensional imbalanced Fermi gases beyond the mean-field approximation, through the second-order (or induced) interaction effects. For a balanced Fermi system the transition temperature is suppressed by a factor $\approx 2.72$. For imbalanced Fermi systems, the polarization and transition temperature of the tricritical point are significantly reduced as the two-body binding energy $|\epsilon_B|$ increases.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

Optimized perturbation theory for charged scalar fields at finite temperature and in an external magnetic field

Symmetry restoration in a theory of a self-interacting charged scalar field at finite temperature and in the presence of an external magnetic field is examined. The effective potential is evaluated nonperturbatively in the context of the optimized perturbation theory method. It is explicitly shown that in all ranges of the magnetic field, from weak to large fields, the phase transition is second order and that the critical temperature increases with the magnetic field. In addition, we present an efficient way to deal with the sum over the Landau levels, which is of interest especially in the case of working with weak magnetic fields.Comment: 18 pages, 7 eps figures. References added and some small improvements to the tex

Efeito de um retrocruzamento na média e na variância de uma população de soja.

O objetivo desse trabalho foi avaliar a eficiência de um retrocruzamento para o genitor mais produtivo para a obtenção de linhagens superiores para a produção de grãos (PG) em soja, a partir de um cruzamento biparental. Foram avaliadas experimentalmente 100 progênies de cada um dos dois tipos: progênies F2:4 e progênies RC1F3, em diferentes anos e locais, utilizando o delineamento em látice simples duplicado 10x10 (quatro repetições) e parcelas lineares de 2 m espaçadas de 0,5 m, contendo 30 plantas após o desbaste