Geomagnetic field variations at the equatorial electrojet station in Sri Lanka, Peredinia

The paper discusses the variations of the horizontal (<i>H</i>), vertical (<i>Z</i>) and eastward (<i>Y</i>) components of the geomagnetic field at Peredinia (PRD), an electrojet station in Sri Lanka, with the time of the day, season, sudden commencement (SSC) and during geomagnetic storms. The daily variation of <i>H</i> showed a large peak around midday. The daily variation of <i>Z</i> appeared to be almost a time gradient curve of the daily variation of <i>H</i>, showing a maximum around 09:00 LT (75° EMT) when the <i>H</i> field was increasing fastest and not at noon when Δ <i>H</i> was the maximum. Storm time variation of <i>H</i> resembled the variation of the <i>D<sub>st</sub></i> index but that of <i>Z</i> showed a large minimum about 2-3h before the time of minimum <i>D<sub>st</sub></i> or at the time of maximum time gradient of <i>D<sub>st</sub></i> variation. These features are compared with corresponding variations at the equatorial stations Trivandrum (TRD) in India, and remarkable similarity in all observations is noticed at PRD and TRD. It is suggested that the observed abnormal features of <i>Z</i> variations at electrojet stations in India-Sri Lanka are due to (i) direct effect of the ionospheric electrojet current (ii) the induction effect of the image current by the average spatially extended conductivity region and (iii) the induction current in the local subsurface conductor. It is suggested that the conductor responsible for the observed features in <i>Z</i> in India and Sri Lanka has to have extended spatial domain to latitudes well south of India, rather than confined to narrow Palk Strait

Final Evolution and Delayed Explosions of Spinning White Dwarfs in Single Degenerate Models for Type Ia Supernovae

We study the occurrence of delayed SNe~Ia in the single degenerate (SD) scenario. We assume that a massive carbon-oxygen (CO) white dwarf (WD) accretes matter coming from a companion star, making it to spin at the critical rate. We assume uniform rotation due to magnetic field coupling. The carbon ignition mass for non-rotating WDs is M_{ig}^{NR} \approx 1.38 M_{\odot}; while for the case of uniformly rotating WDs it is a few percent larger (M_{ig}^{R} \approx 1.43 M_{\odot}). When accretion rate decreases, the WD begins to lose angular momentum, shrinks, and spins up; however, it does not overflow its critical rotation rate, avoiding mass shedding. Thus, angular momentum losses can lead the CO WD interior to compression and carbon ignition, which would induce an SN~Ia. The delay, largely due to the angular momentum losses timescale, may be large enough to allow the companion star to evolve to a He WD, becoming undetectable at the moment of explosion. This scenario supports the occurrence of delayed SNe~Ia if the final CO WD mass is 1.38 M_{\odot} < M < 1.43 M_{\odot}. We also find that if the delay is longer than ~3 Gyr, the WD would become too cold to explode, rather undergoing collapse.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, 809, L6 (2015), added some corrections for errat

Rotating dust solutions of Einstein's equations with 3-dimensional symmetry groups, Part 3: All Killing fields linearly independent of u^{\alpha} and w^{\alpha}

This is the third and last part of a series of 3 papers. Using the same method and the same coordinates as in parts 1 and 2, rotating dust solutions of Einstein's equations are investigated that possess 3-dimensional symmetry groups, under the assumption that each of the Killing vectors is linearly independent of velocity $u^{\alpha}$ and rotation $w^{\alpha}$ at every point of the spacetime region under consideration. The Killing fields are found and the Killing equations are solved for the components of the metric tensor in every case that arises. No progress was made with the Einstein equations in any of the cases, and no previously known solutions were identified. A brief overview of literature on solutions with rotating sources is given.Comment: One missing piece, signaled after eq. (10.7), is added after (10.21). List of corrections: In (3.7) wrong subscript in vorticity; In (3.10) wrong subscript in last term of g_{23}; In (4.23) wrong formulae for g_{12} and g_{22}; In (7.17) missing factor in velocity; In (7.18) one wrong factor in g_{22}; In (10.9) factor in vorticity; In (10.15) - (10.20) y_0 = 0; In (10.20) wrong second term in y. The rewriting typos did not influence result

Ion-induced nucleation in polar one-component fluids

We present a Ginzburg-Landau theory of ion-induced nucleation in a gas phase of polar one-component fluids, where a liquid droplet grows with an ion at its center. By calculating the density profile around an ion, we show that the solvation free energy is larger in gas than in liquid at the same temperature on the coexistence curve. This difference much reduces the nucleation barrier in a metastable gas.Comment: 9 pagers, 9 figures, to be published in J. Chem. Phy

Avaliação de impacto ambiental da inovação tecnológica agropecuária: AMBITEC-AGRO.

O sistema de avaliação de impacto ambiental da inovação tecnológica agropecuária (AMBITEC-AGRO) apresentado neste trabalho compõe-se de quatro aspectos de caracterização do impacto ambiental, expressos por oito indicadores e trinta e seis componentes, todos integrados em matrizes de ponderação formuladas em planilhas eletrônicas automatizadas. Cada componente é avaliado a campo em uma entrevista/vistoria aplicada pelo usuário do sistema a um conjunto de produtores/responsáveis pela atividade à qual aplica-se a inovação tecnológica. O produtor expressa seu conhecimento sobre o coeficiente de alteração do componente devido à influência da tecnologia avaliada sobre a atividade. Este coeficiente de alteração é então ponderado segundo a escala da ocorrência e o peso do componente para formação do indicador de impacto ambiental e os resultados das avaliações dos indicadores são expressos graficamente nas planilhas. Finalmente, os resultados dos indicadores são ponderados pelo peso dos indicadores para composição do índice de impacto ambiental (Índice I.A.) da inovação tecnológica agropecuária.bitstream/CNPMA/5806/1/documentos_34.pd

An environmental impact assessment system for agricultural R&D.

A strategic planning process has been implemented at the Brazilian Agricultural Research Agency (Embrapa) to introduce sustainable agriculture concepts in all steps of Research and Development (R&D). An essential part of the devised mission statement called for the impact assessment of all technology innovation resulting from R&D, under field conditions (ex-post). However, methods for impact assessment of technology innovations at the farmstead level appropriate for the institutional context were lacking. The environmental impact assessment (EIA) system (AMBITEC-AGRO) developed to attend that demand is composed by a set of weighing matrices constructed in an electronic spreadsheet. Impact indicators are evaluated in the field in an interview/survey, and weighed according to their spatial scale and importance toward effecting environmental impacts. The results of these weighing procedures are expressed graphically in the assessment spreadsheets. Finally, the indicator evaluations are composed into an Environmental Impact Index for the agricultural technology innovation

Mesangial cell-derived transforming growth factor-β1 reduces macrophage adhesiveness with consequent deactivation

Mesangial cell-derived transforming growth factor-β1 reduces macrophage adhesiveness with consequent deactivation. Adhesion of macrophages is a crucial event that determines the number and function of macrophages at inflammatory sites. The aim of this study was to elucidate the role of mesangial cells in the regulation of macrophage adhesiveness. J774.2 macrophages were suspended in serial dilutions of mesangial cell conditioned medium (MC medium) and seeded on plastic tissue culture plates. MC medium did not affect the initial adhesion of macrophages but induced subsequent detachment in a concentration-dependent manner. A similar effect was observed when macrophages were plated on plastic coated with laminin, collagen type IV or Matrigel. The reduced adhesiveness was reversible, and cell viability was unaffected by MC medium, indicating that the effect is not due to cytotoxicity. Conditioned media from fibroblastic, epithelial and endothelial cell lines did not induce macrophage detachment. To identify the active component in MC medium, we examined the involvement of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) in the process. Mesangial cells constitutively expressed TGF-β1 mRNA, and MC medium contained the active form of TGF-β1. Exogenously added TGF-β1 induced macrophage detachment in a dose-dependent manner, and an anti-TGF-β1 neutralizing antibody partially abolished the activity of MC medium, indicating the involvement of TGF-β1 as an active component. Compared to adherent cells, detached macrophages showed reduced mitogenic activity and blunted induction of IL-1β and IL-6 in response to lipopolysaccharide. These data demonstrate that TGF-β1 is a mesangial cell-derived factor that impairs adhesiveness of macrophages and confers blunted responses to a specific stimulus. These findings suggest one potential mechanism for macrophage clearance from inflamed glomeruli

Consórcio temporário de espécies florestais nativas com caupi no planalto do Tapajós - PA.

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Minimum Distance Estimation of Search Costs using Price Distribution

Hong and Shum (2006) show equilibrium restrictions in a search model can be used to identify quantiles of the search cost distribution from observed prices alone. These quantiles can be difficult to estimate in practice. This paper uses a minimum distance approach to estimate them that is easy to compute. A version of our estimator is a solution to a nonlinear least squares problem that can be straightforwardly programmed on softwares such as STATA. We show our estimator is consistent and has an asymptotic normal distribution. Its distribution can be consistently estimated by a bootstrap. Our estimator can be used to estimate the cost distribution nonparametrically on a larger support when prices from heterogeneous markets are available. We propose a two-step sieve estimator for that case. The first step estimates quantiles from each market. They are used in the second step as generated variables to perform nonparametric sieve estimation. We derive the uniform rate of convergence of the sieve estimator that can be used to quantify the errors incurred from interpolating data across markets. To illustrate we use online bookmaking odds for English football leagues' matches (as prices) and find evidence that suggests search costs for consumers have fallen following a change in the British law that allows gambling operators to advertise more widely

Análise do complexo pecuário no nordeste paraense.

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