Transition amplitude, partition function and the role of physical degrees of freedom in gauge theories

This work explores the quantum dynamics of the interaction between scalar (matter) and vectorial (intermediate) particles and studies their thermodynamic equilibrium in the grand-canonical ensemble. The aim of the article is to clarify the connection between the physical degrees of freedom of a theory in both the quantization process and the description of the thermodynamic equilibrium, in which we see an intimate connection between physical degrees of freedom, Gibbs free energy and the equipartition theorem. We have split the work into two sections. First, we analyze the quantum interaction in the context of the generalized scalar Duffin-Kemmer-Petiau quantum electrodynamics (GSDKP) by using the functional formalism. We build the Hamiltonian structure following the Dirac methodology, apply the Faddeev-Senjanovic procedure to obtain the transition amplitude in the generalized Coulomb gauge and, finally, use the Faddeev-Popov-DeWitt method to write the amplitude in covariant form in the no-mixing gauge. Subsequently, we exclusively use the Matsubara-Fradkin (MF) formalism in order to describe fields in thermodynamical equilibrium. The corresponding equations in thermodynamic equilibrium for the scalar, vectorial and ghost sectors are explicitly constructed from which the extraction of the partition function is straightforward. It is in the construction of the vectorial sector that the emergence and importance of the ghost fields are revealed: they eliminate the extra non-physical degrees of freedom of the vectorial sector thus maintaining the physical degrees of freedom

Engorda de bovinos em pastagem irrigada de capim Tifton-85 ("Cynodon spp".) na região do Sub-Médio São Francisco.

Avaliou-se a capacidade de suporte de uma pastagem irrigada de capim Tifton-85 (“Cynodon spp.”) e o ganho de peso de garrotes das raças Sindi e Crioula nesta pastagem. Utilizou-se o sistema de pastejo rotacionado com carga variável “put and take” com três garrotes “testes” por piquete, com quatro dias de pastejo e 24 dias de repouso. A pastagem suportou uma lotação de 12 garrotes por hectare. Os animais da raça Crioula apresentaram ganho de peso diário de 999,0 g, o que foi significativamente superior (P<0,05) aos animais da raça Sindi, que ganharam 673,0 g/dia. A utilização de pastagem de capim Tifton-85 irrigado, em sistema de pastejo racional rotacionado, pode suportar 12 garrotes da raça Sindi ou Crioula por hectare. A raça Crioula apresentou uma produção de 11,99 kg por hectare por dia, o que pode reduzir a idade de abate dos bovinos na regiã

Engorda de ovinos em pastagem irrigada de capim Tifton-85 ("Cynodon Spp.") na região do Sub-Médio São Francisco.

Avaliou-se a capacidade de suporte de uma pastagem irrigada de capim Tifton-85 (Cynodon spp.) e o ganho de peso de cordeiros desmamados da raça Santa Inês com peso vivo médio de 21 Kg e submetidos a dois níveis de suplementação com mistura múltipla das águas: 0,1 % e 0,3 % do peso vivo. Utilizou-se o sistema de pastejo rotacionado com carga variável ?put and take? com seis cordeiros testes por piquete, com 4 dias de pastejo e 24 dias de repouso. A pastagem suportou uma lotação média de 69,6 cordeiros por hectare. A suplementação, nos níveis utilizados de 0,1 e 0,3 % do peso vivo, não influenciou (P>0,05) no ganho de peso dos animais, que tiveram ganhos diários de 135,36 e 129,55 g, respectivamente. Com 84 dias de pastejo os cordeiros apresentavam peso vivo de 31,46 kg, peso este suficiente para atender a exigências de tamanho mínimo de abate. Os resultados obtidos indicaram que a pastagem de capim Tifton-85 irrigado, em sistema de pastejo rotacionado, suportou 69,6 cordeiros Santa Inês por hectare com um ganho de peso de 9,22 Kg/ ha/dia. Com isso, os cordeiros podem ser abatidos com seis a sete meses de idade

Experimental envenomation with Crotalus durissus terrificus venom in dogs treated with antiophidic serum - part I: clinical evaluation, hematology and myelogram

The present study aimed at evaluating clinical and laboratory aspects during experimental envenomation by Crotalus durissus terrificus in dogs treated with antiophidic serum. Twenty-one dogs were divided into three groups of seven animals each. Group I received 1mg/kg venom (sc); Group II received 1mg/kg venom (sc), 50mg antiophidic serum (iv), and fluid therapy including 0.9% NaCl solution (iv); and Group III received 1mg/kg venom (sc), 50mg antiophidic serum (iv), and fluid therapy including 0.9% NaCl solution containing sodium bicarbonate diluted to the dose of 4mEq/kg. The clinical signs of ataxia, sedation, flaccid paralysis, mydriasis, eyeball paralysis, mandible ptosis, sialorrhea, vomiting and diarrhea observed in the dogs were very similar to those observed in humans. The decrease in hemoglobin, hematocrit, erythrocyte, platelet and fibrinogen levels, prolongation of clotting time, prothrombin time (PT) and activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), as well as hypocellularity in the bone marrow characterized anemia, thrombocytopenia and blood incoagulability, as well as hypofibrinogenemia and decreased bone-marrow activity. Important bleeding was not observed. Increased numbers of leukocytes and neutrophils and decreased numbers of lymphocytes and eosinophils characterized an acute inflammatory response and stress caused by generalized pain. The employed antiophidic serum was effective and all animals survived

Identification of Aluminium Fractions in Serum Using the Techniques of High Performance Liquid Chromatography, Ultrafiltration and Zeeman Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

Peer Reviewe

ANALYSIS OF INTERFACIAL AND MASS TRANSFER EFFECTS ON FORCED CONVECTION IN GAS-LIQUID ANNULAR TWO-PHASE FLOW

In a gas-liquid annular two-phase flow one of the main factors influencing the determination of heat transfer rates is the average thickness of the liquid film. A model to accurately represent the heat transfer in such situations has to be able of determining the average liquid film thickness to within a reasonable accuracy. A typical physical aspect in gas-liquid annular flows is the appearance of interface waves, which affect heat, mass and momentum transfers. Existing models implicitly consider the wave effects in the momentum transfer by an empirical correlation for the interfacial friction factor. However, this procedure does not point out the difference between interface waves and the natural turbulent effects of the system. In the present work, the wave and mass transfer effects in the theoretical estimation of average liquid film thickness are analyzed, in comparison to a model that does not explicitly include these effects, as applied to the prediction of heat transfer rates in a thermally developing flow situation

The new automated daily mortality surveillance system

The experience reported in an earlier Eurosurveillance issue on a fast method to evaluate the impact of the 2003 heatwave on mortality in Portugal, generated a daily mortality surveillance system (VDM) that has been operating ever since jointly with the Portuguese Heat Health Watch Warning System. This work describes the VDM system and how it evolved to become an automated system operating year-round, and shows briefly its potential using mortality data from January 2006 to June 2009 collected by the system itself. The new system has important advantages such as: rapid information acquisition, completeness (the entire population is included), lightness (very little information is exchanged, date of death, age, sex, place of death registration). It allows rapid detection of impacts (within five days) and allows a quick preliminary quantification of impacts that usually took several years to be done. These characteristics make this system a powerful tool for public health action. The VDM system also represents an example of inter-institutional cooperation, bringing together organisations from two different ministries, Health and Justice, aiming at improving knowledge about the mortality in the population

Towards a knowledge-based system to assist the Brazilian data-collecting system operation

A study is reported which was carried out to show how a knowledge-based approach would lead to a flexible tool to assist the operation task in a satellite-based environmental data collection system. Some characteristics of a hypothesized system comprised of a satellite and a network of Interrogable Data Collecting Platforms (IDCPs) are pointed out. The Knowledge-Based Planning Assistant System (KBPAS) and some aspects about how knowledge is organized in the IDCP's domain are briefly described