On the nonlinear stability of mKdV breathers

A mathematical proof for the stability of mKdV breathers is announced. This proof involves the existence of a nonlinear equation satisfied by all breather profiles, and a new Lyapunov functional which controls the dynamics of small perturbations and instability modes. In order to construct such a functional, we work in a subspace of the energy one. However, our proof introduces new ideas in order to attack the corresponding stability problem in the energy space. Some remarks about the sine-Gordon case are also considered.Comment: 7 p

Evaluating Literacy Sensitive Client Education Materials for the SMMART Clinic

This master’s project was completed in collaboration with the St. Mary’s Medical and Rehabilitative Therapies (SMMART) Clinic, located on the campus of St. Catherine University in St. Paul, Minnesota. Through the completion of literature reviews, a needs assessment, and project activities, nine graduate occupational therapy students analyzed the needs of this clinic and aimed to improve client care. The SMMART clinic serves primarily Spanish-speaking clients who are low-income, uninsured, or underinsured. This population often faces obstacles in accessing primary health care and rehabilitation, including language and literacy-related barriers. Occupational therapy can play an important role in addressing these barriers and providing high quality care and education that is sensitive to clients’ literacy and language preferences

Thermoregulatory, metabolic, and cardiovascular responses during 88 min of full-body ice immersion - A case study.

Exposure to extreme cold environments is potentially life-threatening. However, the world record holder of full-body ice immersion has repeatedly demonstrated an extraordinary tolerance to extreme cold. We aimed to explore thermoregulatory, metabolic, and cardiovascular responses during 88 min of full-body ice immersion. We continuously measured gastrointestinal temperature (Tgi ), skin temperature (Tskin), blood pressure, and heart rate (HR). Oxygen consumption (VO2 ) was measured at rest, and after 45 and 88 min of ice immersion, in order to calculate the metabolic heat production. Tskin dropped significantly (28-34°C to 4-15°C) and VO2 doubled (5.7-11.3 ml kg-1  min-1 ), whereas Tgi (37.6°C), HR (72 bpm), and mean arterial pressure (106 mmHg) remained stable during the first 30 min of cold exposure. During the remaining of the trial, Tskin and VO2 remained stable, while Tgi gradually declined to 37.0°C and HR and mean arterial blood pressure increased to maximum values of 101 bpm and 115 mmHg, respectively. Metabolic heat production in rest was 169 W and increased to 321 W and 314 W after 45 and 80 min of ice immersion. Eighty-eight minutes of full-body ice immersion resulted in minor changes of Tgi and cardiovascular responses, while Tskin and VO2 changed markedly. These findings may suggest that our participant can optimize his thermoregulatory, metabolic, and cardiovascular responses to challenge extreme cold exposure

Processing and dimensional changes of cement based composites reinforced with surface-treated cellulose fibres

The objective of the present work is to evaluate the impact of the surface grafting of cellulose fibres on\ud the processing, dimensional stability and mechanical performance of fibre–cement composites. The surface\ud modification of the pulps was performed with methacryloxypropyltri-methoxysilane (MPTS),\ud aminopropyltri-ethoxysilane (APTS) and n-octadecyl isocyanate, an aliphatic isocyanate (AI). X-ray photoelectron\ud spectroscopy (XPS) showed that the chemical changes have indeed occurred at the surface,\ud and contact angle measurements showed that the surface energy has also changed. MPTS- and AI-treated\ud fibres presented lower hydrophilic character than untreated fibres, whereas APTS increased the water\ud retention value of the pulp. MPTS-treated fibres decreased the water retention and improved dimensional\ud stability of the fibre–cement composites, while the contrary occurred with other modified fibres. Fibre–\ud cement strength was little influenced by fibre treatment, whereas AI-treated fibres contributed to higher\ud specific energy (SE) and the lower SE value for APTS-treated fibres is an indication of the improvement on\ud fibre to cement adherence. These results are promising and contribute toward new strategies to improve\ud the processing and stability of natural fibre-reinforced cement products.CNPq Proc 305792/2009-1FAPESP - Proc 2005/59072-

Whey protein lowers systolic blood pressure and Ca-caseinate reduces serum TAG after a high-fat meal in mildly hypertensive adults

Epidemiological studies show an inverse association between dairy consumption and blood pressure (BP) but there are few data on the postprandial effects of milk proteins. This study examined their effects, compared to maltodextrin, on postprandial BP and other CVD risk markers in volunteers with mild and pre-hypertension over an 8 h period. In this double-blinded, randomised, cross-over, controlled study 27 adults ingested a high-fat, isoenergetic breakfast and lunch with 28 g whey protein, 28 g Ca-caseinate or 27 g maltodextrin. Whey protein reduced systolic BP compared with Ca-caseinate (−15.2 ± 13.6 mmHg) and maltodextrin (−23.4 ± 10.5 mmHg) up to 5 h post-ingestion. There was an improvement in arterial stiffness after whey protein compared with maltodextrin (incremental Area Under the Curve- iAUC0–8h: +14.4 ± 6.2%). Despite similar glucose levels after both whey protein and Ca-caseinate, whey protein induced a higher insulin response than Cacaseinate (iAUC0–8h: +219.5 ± 54.6 pmol/L). Ca-caseinate induced less suppression of non-esterified fatty acids than whey protein (iAUC0–5h: −58.9 ± 135.5 μmol/L) and maltodextrin (iAUC0–5h: −106.9 ± 89.4 μmol/L) and induced a smaller postprandial triacylglycerol response than whey protein (iAUC0–8h: −1.68 ± 0.6 mmol/L). Milk proteins co-ingestion with high-fat meals may have the potential to maintain or improve CVD risk factors

A system of ODEs for a Perturbation of a Minimal Mass Soliton

We study soliton solutions to a nonlinear Schrodinger equation with a saturated nonlinearity. Such nonlinearities are known to possess minimal mass soliton solutions. We consider a small perturbation of a minimal mass soliton, and identify a system of ODEs similar to those from Comech and Pelinovsky (2003), which model the behavior of the perturbation for short times. We then provide numerical evidence that under this system of ODEs there are two possible dynamical outcomes, which is in accord with the conclusions of Pelinovsky, Afanasjev, and Kivshar (1996). For initial data which supports a soliton structure, a generic initial perturbation oscillates around the stable family of solitons. For initial data which is expected to disperse, the finite dimensional dynamics follow the unstable portion of the soliton curve.Comment: Minor edit

CROWDED HYBRID PANEL MANUFACTURED WITH PEANUT HULLS REINFORCED WITH ITA aBA WOOD PARTICLES

In this paper, it was considered the study of the potential use of peanut hulls and wood particles of ita\ufaba ( Mezilaurus itauba ) species in order to add value to these materials through the manufacture of hybrid particle board in order to compare the physical and mechanical performances as well as durability. For these procedures, it was used the bi-component polyurethane resin based on castor beans (mammon) oil and urea-formaldehyde. The product quality was evaluated based on the requirements of the standards NBR 14.810:2006 APA PRP and 108, through physico-mechanical and microstructural durability. The results indicate that the incorporation of wood particles warrants an increase in physical-mechanical properties of the particleboard manufactured with peanut hulls, the polyurethane resin based on castor oil was effective as a particle adhesive binder and the durability assay indicated that the material should be used under conditions of low exposure to moisture.No presente trabalho, considerou-se o estudo do potencial de utiliza\ue7\ue3o de casca de amendoim e part\uedculas de madeira da esp\ue9cie ita\ufaba ( Mezilaurus itauba ) com o intuito de agregar valor a estes materiais, por meio da fabrica\ue7\ue3o de pain\ue9is de part\uedculas h\uedbridos, a fim de comparar os desempenhos f\uedsicos, mec\ue2nicos e durabilidade. Para esses procedimentos foram utilizadas a resina poliuretana bicomponente \ue0 base de \uf3leo de mamona e a ureia-formalde\ueddo. A qualidade dos produtos foi avaliada com base nas prescri\ue7\uf5es do documento normativo NBR 14.810:2006 e APA PRP 108, por meio de ensaios f\uedsico-mec\ue2nicos, microestruturais e de durabilidade. Com os resultados obtidos foi poss\uedvel verificar que a incorpora\ue7\ue3o de part\uedculas de madeira proporcionou aumento nas propriedades f\uedsico-mec\ue2nicas do painel de part\uedculas com casca de amendoim, a resina poliuretana \ue0 base de \uf3leo de mamona mostrou-se eficiente como adesivo aglomerante das part\uedculas e o ensaio de durabilidade indicou que o material deve ser utilizado em condi\ue7\uf5es de exposi\ue7\ue3o de baixo contato com umidade

New early Triassic Lingulidae (Brachiopoda) genera and species from South China

Two new genera, Sinolingularia gen. nov. and Sinoglottidia gen. nov., together with three new species, Sinolingularia huananensis gen. et sp. nov., Sinolingularia yini gen. et sp. nov. and Sinoglottidia archboldi gen. et sp. nov., are described on the basis of a large collection of well-preserved specimens from several sections straddling the Permian - Triassic boundary in South China. <br /