Scintillation efficiency of liquid xenon for nuclear recoils with the energy down to 5 keV

The scintillation efficiency of liquid xenon for nuclear recoils has been measured to be nearly constant in the recoil energy range from 140 keV down to 5 keV. The average ratio of the efficiency for recoils to that for gamma-rays is found to be 0.19+-0.02.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figure

Cultivo de Calophyllum braziliense em várzea e terraço fluvial e seleção de espécies para a conversão agroflorestal.

O cultivo agroflorestal de Guanandi - Calophyllum braziliense nas várzeas e terraços fluviais do Vale do Paraíba é sustentável e representa baixo impacto ambiental na principal bacia hidrográfica da região Sudeste do Brasil. Este estudo de caso contém informações do Projeto desenvolvido na centenária Fazenda Coruputuba, em Pindamonhangaba, SP. Aborda aspectos ecofisiológicos do gênero Calophyllum que torna o guanandi apto ao cultivo sob inundação e contém uma seleção de espécies adaptadas aos dois ambientes: várzea inundável e terraço fluvial

Anaerobic digestion in sustainable biomass chains

This thesis evaluates the potential contribution of anaerobic digestion (AD) to the sustainability of biomass chains. Results provide insights in the technological potential to recover energy and valuable by-products from energy crops and residues, and evaluate biomass cascades involving AD technology for their feasibility and desirability. Embedding AD in biomass chains addresses current constraints towards increased use of biomass for energy production considering land competition and environmental pollution. In this context, so far the major advantages of AD to improve energy efficiency and closing material cycles have received, thus far, limited attention. As part of the experimental research an Oxitop® protocol was refined for screening plant material suitable for anaerobic digestion based on their energy content. Environmental factors influencing the test outcome are the use of NaOH pellets for CO2 scavenging, substrate pretreatment, microbial culture, and type of buffer. The use of NaOH pellets and substrate pretreatments were most influential on the results. By means of the developed Oxitop® protocol the relationship between plant ligno-cellulosic composition and the Biochemical Methane Potential (BMP) and first-order hydrolysis constant (kh) was researched. The Acid Detergent Fibre (ADF) and the Neutral Detergent Fibre (NDF) as analyzed by the van Soest method were proposed as suitable plant characterization techniques for predicting BMP and kh, respectively. The model proposed was further used to predict the biodegradability of 114 European plant samples identifying interesting crops and crop residues suitable for anaerobic digestion. Batch experiments on digestate quality during codigestion of maize silage and manure showed an increase of 20-26% and 0-36% in solublised NH4+ and PO43-, respectively, after 2 months of digestion. The largest fraction of the inorganic nutrients was found in the liquid fraction of the digestate, i.e. 80-92% NH4+ and 65-74% PO43-. Increase in manure content in the mixture showed a positive effect in the methane production rate. Digestion time and increased proportion of maize silage in the mixture positively influenced the availability of PO43-. The added value of AD within different biomass cascades was evaluated by means of a sustainability framework developed for the purpose. The sensitivity analysis of the energy balance of an AD facility showed that the most important energy loss when a high value substrate such as energy maize is employed are heat losses induced by restricted reuse possibilities within the cascade. In contrast, when low energy substrates such as manure are used, indirect energy inputs embedded in infrastructure become significant. The developed sustainability framework was applied for the Colombian case. Results show that production of bio-ethanol from cassava is only sustainable from an energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) perspective when energy recovery from the process residues, using AD, is part of the process. The exact outcome of the evaluation largely depends on variables like substrate drying, type of fuel used, reuse possibilities for the digestate and type of applied AD system. During the study of other Colombian biofuel cascades the contribution of by-products was shown to be crucial, constituting 41-68% of the sum of all energy flows. For oil palm, sugarcane, panelacane and cassava, the estimated energy contribution of the by-products to the different biofuel systems fluctuate between 51-158, 122-290, 71-170, and 36-71 GJ.ha-1yr-1, respectively. AD had also a positive impact on nutrient recovery and water savings in the studied chains. The energy, nutrient and water benefits were set in perspective by giving an indication on the economic benefits and land savings potentially attainable under Colombian conditions. <br/

The in vitro bioactivity of two novel hydrophilic, partially degradable bone cements

Composite bone cements were prepared with bioactive glasses (MgO–SiO2–3CaO Æ P2O5) of different reactivities. The matrix of these so-called hydrophilic, partially degradable and bioactive cements was composed of a starch/cellulose acetate blend and poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate). The addition of 30 wt.% of glasses to this system made them bioactive in acellular medium: a dense apatite layer formed on the surface after 7 days of immersion in simulated body fluid. This was demonstrated both by microscopic and infrared spectroscopic techniques. The composition of the glass and, consequently, its structure was found to have important effects on the rate of the apatite formation. The combination of reactivity obtained by one formulation with the hydrophilic and degradable character of these cements makes them a very promising alternative to conventional acrylic bone cements, by allowing a better stabilization of the implant and a stronger adhesion to the bone

Diversity of seed mineral composition of Phaseolus vulgaris L. germplasm

A collection of 155 accessions of ancient Portuguese common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) was evaluated in relation to the content of 8minerals (Zn, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ca, Mg, P and K) important for human nutrition. A high degree of variability for P, Fe, Zn, Cu, Mn and Ca was observed in the collection. Total correlation matrix analysis revealed the existence of two important sets of strong positive correlations (P 0.0001), one involving P, Fe, Zn, Cu and protein, and the other Ca and Mn. The principal component analysis showed that Zn, Fe and Cu are highly correlated to the first component (27% of variability) and Mn and Ca to the second component (22% of the variability). The high mineral variability observed in the seeds of this common bean collection could be useful for the selection of cultivars with higher nutrition value and for the improvement of seed nutrition quality traits

Inclusive cross section and double helicity asymmetry for \pi^0 production in p+p collisions at sqrt(s)=200 GeV: Implications for the polarized gluon distribution in the proton

The PHENIX experiment presents results from the RHIC 2005 run with polarized proton collisions at sqrt(s)=200 GeV, for inclusive \pi^0 production at mid-rapidity. Unpolarized cross section results are given for transverse momenta p_T=0.5 to 20 GeV/c, extending the range of published data to both lower and higher p_T. The cross section is described well for p_T < 1 GeV/c by an exponential in p_T, and, for p_T > 2 GeV/c, by perturbative QCD. Double helicity asymmetries A_LL are presented based on a factor of five improvement in uncertainties as compared to previously published results, due to both an improved beam polarization of 50%, and to higher integrated luminosity. These measurements are sensitive to the gluon polarization in the proton, and exclude maximal values for the gluon polarization.Comment: 375 authors, 7 pages, 3 figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev. D, Rapid Communications. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be) publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm

Formation of dense partonic matter in relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions at RHIC: Experimental evaluation by the PHENIX collaboration

Extensive experimental data from high-energy nucleus-nucleus collisions were recorded using the PHENIX detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The comprehensive set of measurements from the first three years of RHIC operation includes charged particle multiplicities, transverse energy, yield ratios and spectra of identified hadrons in a wide range of transverse momenta (p_T), elliptic flow, two-particle correlations, non-statistical fluctuations, and suppression of particle production at high p_T. The results are examined with an emphasis on implications for the formation of a new state of dense matter. We find that the state of matter created at RHIC cannot be described in terms of ordinary color neutral hadrons.Comment: 510 authors, 127 pages text, 56 figures, 1 tables, LaTeX. Submitted to Nuclear Physics A as a regular article; v3 has minor changes in response to referee comments. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be) publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm

Measurement of Bottom versus Charm as a Function of Transverse Momentum with Electron-Hadron Correlations in p+p Collisions at sqrt(s)=200 GeV

The momentum distribution of electrons from semi-leptonic decays of charm and bottom for mid-rapidity |y|<0.35 in p+p collisions at sqrt(s)=200 GeV is measured by the PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) over the transverse momentum range 2 < p_T < 7 GeV/c. The ratio of the yield of electrons from bottom to that from charm is presented. The ratio is determined using partial D/D^bar --> e^{+/-} K^{-/+} X (K unidentified) reconstruction. It is found that the yield of electrons from bottom becomes significant above 4 GeV/c in p_T. A fixed-order-plus-next-to-leading-log (FONLL) perturbative quantum chromodynamics (pQCD) calculation agrees with the data within the theoretical and experimental uncertainties. The extracted total bottom production cross section at this energy is \sigma_{b\b^bar}= 3.2 ^{+1.2}_{-1.1}(stat) ^{+1.4}_{-1.3}(syst) micro b.Comment: 432 authors, 6 pages text, 3 figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be) publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm

Subcritical multiplicative chaos for regularized counting statistics from random matrix theory

For an N×N random unitary matrix U_N, we consider the random field defined by counting the number of eigenvalues of U_N in a mesoscopic arc of the unit circle, regularized at an N-dependent scale Ɛ_N>0. We prove that the renormalized exponential of this field converges as N → ∞ to a Gaussian multiplicative chaos measure in the whole subcritical phase. In addition, we show that the moments of the total mass converge to a Selberg-like integral and by taking a further limit as the size of the arc diverges, we establish part of the conjectures in [55]. By an analogous construction, we prove that the multiplicative chaos measure coming from the sine process has the same distribution, which strongly suggests that this limiting object should be universal. The proofs are based on the asymptotic analysis of certain Toeplitz or Fredholm determinants using the Borodin-Okounkov formula or a Riemann-Hilbert problem for integrable operators. Our approach to the L¹-phase is based on a generalization of the construction in Berestycki [5] to random fields which are only asymptotically Gaussian. In particular, our method could have applications to other random fields coming from either random matrix theory or a different context

System Size and Energy Dependence of Jet-Induced Hadron Pair Correlation Shapes in Cu+Cu and Au+Au Collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 and 62.4 GeV

We present azimuthal angle correlations of intermediate transverse momentum (1-4 GeV/c) hadrons from {dijets} in Cu+Cu and Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 62.4 and 200 GeV. The away-side dijet induced azimuthal correlation is broadened, non-Gaussian, and peaked away from \Delta\phi=\pi in central and semi-central collisions in all the systems. The broadening and peak location are found to depend upon the number of participants in the collision, but not on the collision energy or beam nuclei. These results are consistent with sound or shock wave models, but pose challenges to Cherenkov gluon radiation models.Comment: 464 authors from 60 institutions, 6 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables. Submitted to Physical Review Letters. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be) publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm