Kinetical Foundations of Non Conventional Statistics

After considering the kinetical interaction principle (KIP) introduced in ref. Physica A {\bf296}, 405 (2001), we study in the Boltzmann picture, the evolution equation and the H-theorem for non extensive systems. The $q$-kinetics and the $\kappa$-kinetics are studied in detail starting from the most general non linear Boltzmann equation compatible with the KIP.Comment: 11 pages, no figures. Contribution paper to the proseedings of the International School and Workshop on Nonextensive Thermodynamics and Physical Applications, NEXT 2001, 23-30 May 2001, Cagliari Sardinia, Italy (Physica A

Rede de cooperação no êxito de iniciativas voltadas para a utilização de composto orgânico na produção de hortaliças por pequenos agricultores em Camaçari-Ba.

Este trabalho apresenta resultados da interação da pesquisa e da extensão na avaliação do efeito de composto orgânico no beneficiamento de solos agrícolas, instrumentalização de agricultores a pratica da agricultura orgânica e a valorização de produtos orgânicos. O trabalho foi desenvolvido em sistema de rede de cooperação com participação de instituições publicas, privadas, desenvolvimento de pesquisa de mestrado, alunos de graduação e pequenos agricultores. A rede busca a preservação do patrimônio ambiental através do reaproveitamento de lixo orgânico e o beneficiamento de solos com composto orgânico. A pesquisa de mestrado avaliou efeitos do composto na produção de hortaliças empregando-se indicadores de sustentabilidade. A disciplina da graduação desenvolve atividades praticas com cunho socioambiental. O experimento cientifico foi realizado na propriedade dos agricultores que acompanharam o efeito do composto proveniente de resíduos orgânicos no incremento da produção de hortaliças. Os resultados alcançados com este trabalho mostram a importância do sistema de rede de cooperação na integração da pesquisa e da extensão

Familial hypercholesterolemia: Molecular characterization of possible cases from the Azores Islands (Portugal)

Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is an autosomal dominant disorder of the cholesterol metabolism, which constitutes a risk factor for coronary arterial disease (CAD). In the Azores Islands (Portugal), where mortality from CAD doubles its rate comparatively to the rest of the country and where a high frequency of dyslipidemia has been reported, the prevalence and distribution of FH remain unknown. The molecular characterization of a group of 33 possible cases of FH of Azorean background was undertaken in this study. A DNA array was initially used to search mutations in the LDLR, APOB and PCSK9 loci in 10 unrelated possible cases of FH. No mutations were detected in the array; after sequencing the full LDLR gene, 18 variants were identified, corresponding to two missense (c.806G > A; c.1171G > A) and sixteen synonymous alterations. Six of the synonymous variants which are consistently described in the literature as associated with altered cholesterol levels were used to build haplotypes. The most frequent haplotype corresponded to TTCGCC (45%), a "risk" haplotype, formed exclusively by alleles that were reported to increase cholesterol levels. Some of the variants detected in the full sequencing of the LDLR gene fell within the ligand-binding domain of this gene, defined by exons 2 to 6. To add information as to the role of such variants, these exons were sequenced in the remaining 23 possible FH cases. Two missense alterations (c.185C > T; c.806G > A) were found in this subset of possible FH cases. The missense alteration c.185C > T, identified in one individual, is novel for the Portuguese population. In silico analysis was not conclusive for this alteration, whose role will have to be further investigated. This study represents the first approach to the establishment of the mutational profile of FH in the Azores Islands.This work was supported by the project entitled “High prevalence pathologies in the Azores: genetic and biochemical markers” with reference (M2.1.2/I/026/2008) funded by SRCTE. M. R. receives a PhD fellowship (M3.1.2/F/006/2011) from Fundo Regional para a Ciência. T.C. receives a post-doctoral fellowships from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (SFRH/BPD/38659/ 2007) and N. K. (M3.1.7/F/002/2008) and A. R. (M3.1.7/F/031/2011) both receives post-doctoral fellowships from Fundo Regional para a Ciência

On the Cut-Off Prescriptions Associated with Power-Law Generalized Thermostatistics

We revisit the cut-off prescriptions which are needed in order to specify completely the form of Tsallis' maximum entropy distributions. For values of the Tsallis entropic parameter $q>1$ we advance an alternative cut-off prescription and discuss some of its basic mathematical properties. As an illustration of the new cut-off prescription we consider in some detail the $q$-generalized quantum distributions which have recently been shown to reproduce various experimental results related to high $T_c$ superconductors

Direct and Inverse Magnetocaloric effects in A-site ordered PrBaMn2O6 manganite in low magnetic fields

The magnetocaloric effect (MCE) of A-site ordered PrBaMn2O6 manganite has been studied by direct methods and by the specific heat measurements. Direct measurements of the MCE in low magnetic fields were performed using recently proposed modulation technique and by classic direct method in high fields. Direct and inverse MCE are observed at Curie and Neel points correspondingly. A value of the inverse MCE in the heating run is less than in the cooling regime. This effect can be attributing to competition between ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic interactions. Indirectly estimated and direct MCE values considerably differ in around first order AF transition.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

Experimental implementation of a NMR entanglement witness

Entanglement witnesses (EW) allow the detection of entanglement in a quantum system, from the measurement of some few observables. They do not require the complete determination of the quantum state, which is regarded as a main advantage. On this paper it is experimentally analyzed an entanglement witness recently proposed in the context of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) experiments to test it in some Bell-diagonal states. We also propose some optimal entanglement witness for Bell-diagonal states. The efficiency of the two types of EW's are compared to a measure of entanglement with tomographic cost, the generalized robustness of entanglement. It is used a GRAPE algorithm to produce an entangled state which is out of the detection region of the EW for Bell-diagonal states. Upon relaxation, the results show that there is a region in which both EW fails, whereas the generalized robustness still shows entanglement, but with the entanglement witness proposed here with a better performance

High pressure phases in highly piezoelectric Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3

Two novel room-temperature phase transitions are observed, via synchrotron x-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy, in the Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 alloy under hydrostatic pressures up to 16 GPa. A monoclinic (M)-to-rhombohedral (R1) phase transition takes place around 2-3 GPa, while this R1 phase transforms into another rhombohedral phase, R2, at about 6-7 GPa. First-principles calculations assign the R3m and R3c symmetry to R1 and R2, respectively, and reveal that R2 acts as a pressure-induced structural bridge between the polar R3m and a predicted antiferrodistortive R-3c phase.Comment: REVTeX, 4 pages with 3 figures embedded. Figs 1 and 3 in colo

Overweight and Class I Obesity Are Associated with Lower 10-Year Risk of Mortality in Brazilian Older Adults: The Bambuí Cohort Study of Ageing

Background: Prospective studies mostly with European and North-American populations have shown inconsistent results r

C-Reactive Protein and B-Type Natriuretic Peptide Yield Either a Non-Significant or a Modest Incremental Value to Traditional Risk Factors in Predicting Long-Term Overall Mortality in Older Adults

Background:New biomarkers may aid in preventive and end-of-life decisions in older adults if they enhance the prognostic ability of traditional risk factors. We investigated whether C-reactive protein (CRP) and/or B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) improve the ability to predict overall mortality among the elderly of the Bambuí, Brazil Study of Aging when added to traditional risk factors.Methods:From 1997 to 2007, 1,470 community-dwelling individuals (≥60 years) were followed-up. Death was ascertained by continuous verification of death certificates. We calculated hazard ratios per 1 standard deviation change (HR) of death for traditional risk factors only (old model), and traditional risk factors plus CRP and/or BNP (new models) and assessed calibration of the models. Subsequently, we compared c-statistic of each of the new models to the old one, and calculated integrated discriminative improvement (IDI) and net reclassification improvement (NRI).Results:544 (37.0%) participants died in a mean follow-up time of 9.0 years. CRP (HR 1.28, 95% CI 1.17-1.40), BNP (HR 1.31 95% CI 1.19-1.45), and CRP plus BNP (HR 1.26, 95% CI 1.15-1.38, and HR 1.29, 95% CI 1.16-1.42, respectively) were independent determinants of mortality. All models were well-calibrated. Discrimination was similar among the old (c-statistic 0.78 [0.78-0.81]) and new models (p=0.43 for CRP; p=0.57 for BNP; and p=0.31 for CRP plus BNP). Compared to the old model, CRP, BNP, and CRP plus BNP models led to an IDI of 0.009 (p<0.001), -0.005 (p<0.001) and -0.003 (p=0.84), and a NRI of 0.04 (p=0.24), 0.07 (p=0.08) and 0.06 (p=0.10), respectively.Conclusions:Despite being independent predictors of long-term risk of death, compared to traditional risk factors CRP and/or BNP led to either a modest or non-significant improvement in the ability of predicting all-cause mortality in older adults

Muon-spin-relaxation study of the magnetic penetration depth in MgB2

The magnetic vortex lattice (VL) of polycrystalline MgB2 has been investigated by transverse-field muon-spin-relaxation (TF-MuSR). The evolution of TF-MuSR depolarization rate, sigma, that is proportional to the second moment of the field distribution of the VL has been studied as a function of temperature and applied magnetic field. The low temperature value s exhibits a pronounced peak near Hext = 75 mT. This behavior is characteristic of strong pinning induced distortions of the VL which put into question the interpretation of the low-field TF-MuSR data in terms of the magnetic penetration depth lambda(T). An approximately constant value of sigma, such as expected for an ideal VL in the London-limit, is observed at higher fields of Hext > 0.4 T. The TF-MuSR data at Hext = 0.6 T are analyzed in terms of a two-gap model. We obtain values for the gap size of D1 = 6.0 meV (2D1/kBTc = 3.6), D2 = 2.6 meV (2D2/kBTc = 1.6), a comparable spectral weight of the two bands and a zero temperature value for the magnetic penetration depth of lambda = 100 nm. In addition, we performed MuSR-measurements in zero external field (ZF-MuSR). We obtain evidence that the muon site (at low temperature) is located on a ring surrounding the center of the boron hexagon. Muon diffusion sets in already at rather low temperature of T > 10 K. The nuclear magnetic moments can account for the observed relaxation rate and no evidence for electronic magnetic moments has been obtained.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figure