Anisotropic Lifshitz Point at O(ϵL2)O(\epsilon_L^2)

We present the critical exponents $\nu_{L2}$, $\eta_{L2}$ and $\gamma_{L}$ for an $m$-axial Lifshitz point at second order in an $\epsilon_{L}$ expansion. We introduced a constraint involving the loop momenta along the $m$-dimensional subspace in order to perform two- and three-loop integrals. The results are valid in the range $0 \leq m < d$. The case $m=0$ corresponds to the usual Ising-like critical behavior.Comment: 10 pages, Revte

Effectiveness of the ADEC as a level 2 screening test for young children with suspected autism spectrum disorders in a clinical setting

Background The Autism Detection in Early Childhood (ADEC) is a clinician-administered, Level 2 screening tool. A retrospective file audit was used to investigate its clinical effectiveness. Method Toddlers referred to an Australian child development service between 2008 and 2010 (N?=?53, M age?=?32.2 months) were screened with the ADEC. Their medical records were reviewed in 2013 when their mean age was 74.5 months, and the original ADEC screening results were compared with later diagnostic outcomes. Results The ADEC had good sensitivity (87.5%) and moderate specificity (62%). Three behaviours predicted autism spectrum disorders (ASDs): response to name, gaze switching, and gaze monitoring (p???.001). Conclusions The ADEC shows promise as a screening tool that can discriminate between young children with ASDs and those who have specific communication disorders or developmental delays that persist into middle childhood but who do not meet the criteria for ASDs

Perturbing Topological Field Theories

The abelian Chern-Simons theory is perturbed by introducing local gauge-invariant interaction terms depending on the curvature. The computation of the correlation function of two Wilson lines for two smooth closed nonintersecting curves is reported up to four loops and is shown to be unaffected by radiative corrections. This result ensures the stability of the linking number of the two curves with respect to the local perturbations which may be added to the Chern-Simons action.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, corrected some typo

On the physical interpretation of effective actions using Schwinger's formula

We show explicitly that Schwinger's formula for one-loop effective actions corresponds to the summation of energies associated with the zero-point oscillations of the fields. We begin with a formal proof, and after that we confirm it using a regularization prescription.Comment: 5 p., REVTEX, IF-UFRJ-9

Monitoramento e gestão ambiental da piscicultura em tanques-rede em reservatórios.

A estratégia mais adequada e eficiente para manter o ritmo atual de crescimento da aquicultura no Brasil é a adoção de sistemas de produção mais competitivos e sustentáveis. Dessa forma, a aquisição de dados em alta frequência temporal e a descoberta de possíveis relações entre os parâmetros ambientais e os sistemas de produção de peixes em tanques-rede podem-se tornar ferramentas para a melhoria da gestão dos empreendimentos, diminuindo possíveis impactos ambientais. Apresentam-se ferramentas já consolidadas em outras cadeias de produção e sua adaptação ao monitoramento ambiental da aquicultura em reservatórios. Geotecnologias, como imagens de satélite e Sistema de Informações Geográficas (SIG) estão sendo utilizadas para estudar a relação entre a qualidade da água no sistema aquícola e as condições do seu entorno. Nesse sentido, aspectos de uso e ocupação do solo, manejo dos sistemas agropecuários e condições meteorológicas e de relevo estão sendo avaliados com vistas a compreender sua influência no sistema de produção de peixes em tanques-rede. Assim, métodos quantitativos de análises dos dados, incluindo modelos matemáticos, serão aplicados na busca de melhor compreensão sistêmica dos processos biogeoquímicos diretamente envolvidos com a produção de peixes em tanques-rede. Apresenta-se ainda a adequação de um procedimento integrado para avaliar os impactos, verificar as Boas Práticas de Manejo (BPM) e a gestão ambiental da aquicultura. As ferramentas apresentadas são parte de um projeto em execução. Espera-se que os avanços e os resultados obtidos possam subsidiar, com bases científicas e tecnológicas, a elaboração de políticas públicas e estratégias de gestão, e fazer parte de processos de monitoramento, prevenção e redução de impactos ambientais

Fractional Distillation of Organic Liquid Compounds Produced by Catalytic Cracking of Fats, Oils, and Grease

This work aims to investigate the fractional distillation of organic liquid products (OLP) obtained by catalytic cracking of palm oil (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) at 450°C, 1.0 atm, with 5, 10, and 15% (wt) Na2CO3, using a stirred tank reactor of 143 L. The fractional distillations of OLP were carried out in laboratory scale with and without reflux using columns of different heights, and a pilot‐packed distillation column with internal reflux. OLP and distillation fractions (gasoline, kerosene, light diesel, and heavy diesel) were physicochemically characterized for density, kinematic viscosity, acid value, saponification value, refractive index, flash point, and copper strip corrosion. The OLP and light diesel fractions were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT‐IR) and gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry (GC‐MS). For the experiments in laboratory scale, the yields of distillates decrease along with column height, with and without reflux, while those of bottoms products increase. The yields of distillates and gas increase with increasing Na2CO3 content, while those of bottoms products decrease. The densities of gasoline, kerosene, and light diesel produced in laboratory scale with reflux superpose exactly those of kerosene, light diesel, and heavy diesel produced in laboratory scale without reflux. The kinematic viscosity decreases with increasing column height for the experiments in laboratory scale. The acid values of distillation fractions decrease along with the column height for the experiments with and without reflux. The FT‐IR of distillation fractions in pilot and laboratory scales identified the presence of aliphatic hydrocarbons and oxygenates. The GC‐MS analysis identified OLP composition of 92.84% (area) hydrocarbons and 7.16% (area) oxygenates. The light diesel fraction contains 100% hydrocarbons with an acid value of 0.34 mg KOH/g, proving the technical feasibility of OLP de‐acidification by the fractional distillation process

Lem benchmark database for tropical agricultural remote sensing application.

Abstract: The monitoring of agricultural activities at a regular basis is crucial to assure that the food production meets the world population demands, which is increasing yearly. Such information can be derived from remote sensing data. In spite of topic?s relevance, not enough efforts have been invested to exploit modern pattern recognition and machine learning methods for agricultural land-cover mapping from multi-temporal, multi-sensor earth observation data. Furthermore, only a small proportion of the works published on this topic relates to tropical/subtropical regions, where crop dynamics is more complicated and difficult to model than in temperate regions. A major hindrance has been the lack of accurate public databases for the comparison of different classification methods. In this context, the aim of the present paper is to share a multi-temporal and multi-sensor benchmark database that can be used by the remote sensing community for agricultural land-cover mapping. Information about crops in situ was collected in Luís Eduardo Magalhães (LEM) municipality, which is an important Brazilian agricultural area, to create field reference data including information about first and second crop harvests. Moreover, a series of remote sensing images was acquired and pre-processed, from both active and passive orbital sensors (Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2/MSI, Landsat-8/OLI), correspondent to the LEM area, along the development of the main annual crops. In this paper, we describe the LEM database (crop field boundaries, land use reference data and pre-processed images) and present the results of an experiment conducted using the Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 data