Convergence of equilibria of thin elastic plates under physical growth conditions for the energy density

The asymptotic behaviour of the equilibrium configurations of a thin elastic plate is studied, as the thickness of the plate goes to zero. More precisely, it is shown that critical points of the nonlinear elastic functional converge to critical points of the Γ-limit. This is proved under the physical assumption that the energy density blows up as the determinant of the deformation gradient becomes infinitesimally small

A Virtual Element Method for elastic and inelastic problems on polytope meshes

We present a Virtual Element Method (VEM) for possibly nonlinear elastic and inelastic problems, mainly focusing on a small deformation regime. The numerical scheme is based on a low-order approximation of the displacement field, as well as a suitable treatment of the displacement gradient. The proposed method allows for general polygonal and polyhedral meshes, it is efficient in terms of number of applications of the constitutive law, and it can make use of any standard black-box constitutive law algorithm. Some theoretical results have been developed for the elastic case. Several numerical results within the 2D setting are presented, and a brief discussion on the extension to large deformation problems is included

Current noise through a Kondo quantum dot in a SU(N) Fermi liquid state

The current noise through a mesoscopic quantum dot is calculated and analyzed in the Fermi liquid regime of the SU(N) Kondo model. Results connect the Johnson-Nyquist noise to the shot noise for an arbitrary ratio of voltage and temperature, and show that temperature corrections are sizeable in usual experiments. For the experimentally relevant SU(4) case, quasiparticle interactions are shown to increase the shot noise.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev. Lett. (revised version

Covariant Lagrangian Formulation of Chern-Simons and BF Theories

We investigate the covariant formulation of Chern-Simons theories in a general odd dimension which can be obtained by introducing a vacuum connection field as a reference. Field equations, Noether currents and superpotentials are computed so that results are easily compared with the well-known results in dimension 3. Finally we use this covariant formulation of Chern-Simons theories to investigate their relation with topological BF theories.Comment: 23 pages, refs. adde

History of Surgical Treatment of Breast Cancer - Empiricism and Science

A História do tratamento cirúrgico do cancro da mama é bem demonstrativa de que a verdade em Medicina é circunstancial, e que o caminho a percorrer no sentido de a alcançar é árduo. Mostra, também, como ao longo dos séculos o empirismo vai dando lugar ao método científico, e como os estudos prospectivos, controlados e randomizados determinam a alteração dos conceitos e a consequente modificação das técnicas cirúrgicas. Estas vão desde os métodos bárbaros, à luz dos conceitos actuais, que, da Grécia antiga se estendem até à descoberta da anestesia – em que se destacam nomes como Henri de Mondeville, Guy de Chaulliac e Lanfranco na Idade Média, von Hilden e Ambroise Paré no Renascimento, ou H.F. Le Dran, J.L. Petit e Benjamim Bell, no tempo do Iluminismo – até às técnicas cada vez mais meticulosas e racionais, já na Idade Contemporânea, sucessivamente devidas a James Paget, Joseph Pancoast, Charles Moore, William Stewart Halsted, William e Richard Handley, Geoffrey Keynes, Robert McWhirter, George Crile Jr., Cushman Haagensen, Dahl-Iversen, Jerome Urban, David Patey, Bernard Fisher e Umberto Veronesi, entre outros que souberam criar novos paradigmas na História do Tratamento Cirúrgico do Cancro da Mama, para se chegar à prática actual de cirurgia conservadora (mamária e axilar)com reconstrução