The motion of a deformable drop in a second-order fluid

The cross-stream migration of a deformable drop in a unidirectional shear flow of a second-order fluid is considered. Expressions for the particle velocity due to the separate effects of deformation and viscoelastic rheology are obtained. The direction and magnitude of migration are calculated for the particular cases of Poiseuille flow and simple shear flow and compared with experimental data

Treatment of bimodality in proficiency test of pH in bioethanol matrix

The pH value in bioethanol is a quality control parameter related to its acidity and to the corrosiveness of vehicle engines when it is used as fuel. In order to verify the comparability and reliability of the measurement of pH in bioethanol matrix among some experienced chemical laboratories, reference material (RM) of bioethanol developed by Inmetro - the Brazilian National Metrology Institute - was used in a proficiency testing (PT) scheme. There was a difference of more than one unit in the value of the pH measured due to the type of internal filling electrolytic solutions (potassium chloride, KCl or lithium chloride, LiCl) from the commercial pH combination electrodes used by the participant laboratories. Therefore, bimodal distribution has occurred from the data of this PT scheme. This work aims to present the possibilities that a PT scheme provider can use to overcome the bimodality problem. Data from the PT of pH in bioethanol were treated by two different statistical approaches: kernel density model and the mixture of distributions. Application of these statistical treatments improved the initial diagnoses of PT provider, by solving bimodality problem and contributing for a better performance evaluation in measuring pH of bioethanol.Comment: 20 pages, 6 figures, Accepted for publication in Accreditation and Quality Assurance (ACQUAL

The stability of drop shapes for translation at zero Reynolds number through a quiescent fluid

Boundary-integral calculations are used to investigate the evolution of the shape of an initially nonspherical drop that translates at zero Reynolds through a quiescent, unbounded fluid. For finite capillary numbers, it is shown that the drop reverts to a sphere, provided the initial deformation is not too large. However, drops that are initially deformed to a greater extent are shown to deform continuously, forming an elongated shape with a tail when initially prolate, and a flattened shape with a cavity at the rear when initially oblate. The critical degree of deformation decreases as the capillary number increases and appears to be consistent with the results of Kojima et al. [Phys. Fluids 27, 19 (1984)], who showed that the spherical drop is unstable to infinitesimal disturbances in the limit Ca=∞

Living bacteria rheology: population growth, aggregation patterns and cooperative behaviour under different shear flows

The activity of growing living bacteria was investigated using real-time and in situ rheology -- in stationary and oscillatory shear. Two different strains of the human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus -- strain COL and its isogenic cell wall autolysis mutant -- were considered in this work. For low bacteria density, strain COL forms small clusters, while the mutant, presenting deficient cell separation, forms irregular larger aggregates. In the early stages of growth, when subjected to a stationary shear, the viscosity of both strains increases with the population of cells. As the bacteria reach the exponential phase of growth, the viscosity of the two strains follow different and rich behaviours, with no counterpart in the optical density or in the population's colony forming units measurements. While the viscosity of strain COL keeps increasing during the exponential phase and returns close to its initial value for the late phase of growth, where the population stabilizes, the viscosity of the mutant strain decreases steeply, still in the exponential phase, remains constant for some time and increases again, reaching a constant plateau at a maximum value for the late phase of growth. These complex viscoelastic behaviours, which were observed to be shear stress dependent, are a consequence of two coupled effects: the cell density continuous increase and its changing interacting properties. The viscous and elastic moduli of strain COL, obtained with oscillatory shear, exhibit power-law behaviours whose exponent are dependent on the bacteria growth stage. The viscous and elastic moduli of the mutant have complex behaviours, emerging from the different relaxation times that are associated with the large molecules of the medium and the self-organized structures of bacteria. These behaviours reflect nevertheless the bacteria growth stage.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figure

Orientation dynamics of weakly Brownian particles in periodic viscous flows

Evolution equations for the orientation distribution of axisymmetric particles in periodic flows are derived in the regime of small but non-zero Brownian rotations. The equations are based on a multiple time scale approach that allows fast computation of the relaxation processes leading to statistical equilibrium. The approach has been applied to the calculation of the effective viscosity of a thin disk suspension in gravity waves.Comment: 16 pages, 7 eps figures include

A Geometric Approach to Massive p-form Duality

Massive theories of abelian p-forms are quantized in a generalized path-representation that leads to a description of the phase space in terms of a pair of dual non-local operators analogous to the Wilson Loop and the 't Hooft disorder operators. Special atention is devoted to the study of the duality between the Topologically Massive and the Self-Dual models in 2+1 dimensions. It is shown that these models share a geometric representation in which just one non local operator suffices to describe the observables.Comment: 26 pages, LaTeX. The discussion about the equivalence between the Proca model and two seldual models, with opposite spins, was eliminated. Typos correcte

Modelling of epitaxial film growth with a Ehrlich-Schwoebel barrier dependent on the step height

The formation of mounded surfaces in epitaxial growth is attributed to the presence of barriers against interlayer diffusion in the terrace edges, known as Ehrlich-Schwoebel (ES) barriers. We investigate a model for epitaxial growth using a ES barrier explicitly dependent on the step height. Our model has an intrinsic topological step barrier even in the absence of an explicit ES barrier. We show that mounded morphologies can be obtained even for a small barrier while a self-affine growth, consistent with the Villain-Lai-Das Sarma equation, is observed in absence of an explicit step barrier. The mounded surfaces are described by a super-roughness dynamical scaling characterized by locally smooth (faceted) surfaces and a global roughness exponent $\alpha>1$. The thin film limit is featured by surfaces with self-assembled three-dimensional structures having an aspect ratio (height/width) that may increase or decrease with temperature depending on the strength of step barrier.Comment: To appear in J. Phys. Cond. Matter; 3 movies as supplementary materia

Banco de sementes em sistemas de produção de agricultura com queima e sem queima no município de Marapanim, Pará.

Na agricultura de corte e queima, a capoeira tem como papel principal a fertilização da terra após a queima de sua biomassa vegetal. Geralmente as repetidas queimadas acabam destruindo todas as formas de regeneração, incluindo o banco de sementes. Pensando nessa problemática, o Projeto Studies of Human Impact on Forests and Floodplains in the Tropics (SHIFT), no qual esta pesquisa se insere, após uma série de estudos básicos sobre as capoeiras da região Bragantina, vem desenvolvendo uma alternativa de produção agrícola em que a capoeira é usada como fonte de nutrientes e matéria orgânica para o solo em sistemas de produção de ?agricultura sem queima?. O trabalho desenvolvido no município de Marapanim foi um experimento participativo, uma nova abordagem do projeto, onde as áreas foram definidas pelos agricultores. O objetivo do trabalho foi avaliar o potencial do banco de sementes de áreas submetidas a diferentes práticas agrícolas, caracterizando qualitativa e quantitativamente sua composição florística. Foram testadas as hipóteses de que o fogo diminui o potencial do banco de sementes e cria condições favoráveis à regeneração de espécies invasoras herbáceas. A cobertura triturada minimiza os impactos provocados pela queima sobre a diversidade vegetal e aumenta a regeneração de espécies acumuladoras de biomassa. O potencial de germinação do banco de sementes nos tratamentos foi monitorado durante 270 dias. Nos tratamentos queima e cobertura triturada, foram avaliadas a densidade, riqueza de espécies, famílias e formas de vida predominantes. No banco de sementes antes do manejo do solo, a densidade média na queima foi de 284 indivíduos/m2 e na cobertura triturada 328 indivíduos/m2. Depois do manejo do solo na queima, foram encontrados em média 23 indivíduos/m2 e na cobertura triturada 139 indivíduos/m2. As espécies mais freqüentes nos dois momentos e nos dois tratamentos foram Borreria latifolia, Fimbristylis meliacea e Cyperus diffusus. As famílias Cyperaceae, Rubiaceae e Poaceae apareceram em alta frequência em todas as áreas e nos dois tratamentos. Além dessas, destacaram-se as famílias Euphorbiaceae, Melastomataceae, Malvaceae, Lamiaceae, Scrophulariaceae e Asteraceae. As formas de vida mais comuns encontradas nos tratamentos foram as ervas. Os diferentes tratamentos afetaram a abundância e riqueza florística, diminuindo o número de sementes de espécies arbóreas e arbustivas, acumuladoras de biomassa

Iatrogeny in Paediatrics. Reconsider Attitudes

A iatrogenia é uma alteração patológica provocada no doente que pode ocorrer nas várias fases do acto médico. Nos EUA é considerada a quarta causa de morte, mas em Portugal as referências na literatura são escassas e a sua incidência é desconhecida. Ainda que diferente de erro médico, continua tema tabu para os profissionais de saúde. Apresenta-se o caso clínico de iatrogenia relacional, diagnóstica e terapêutica, com consequências importantes para o doente. O médico tem um papel fundamental na redução da morbilidade e mortalidade por iatrogenia, sendo seu dever questionar e repensar diagnósticos e terapêuticas e manter uma atitude vigilante e autocrítica, de modo a identificar eventuais riscos de iatrogenia ou a corrigi-la o mais precocemente possível