SOLUTION OF 1D AND 2D POISSON'S EQUATION BY USING WAVELET SCALING FUNCTIONS

The use of multiresolution techniques and wavelets has become increasingly popular in the development of numerical schemes for the solution of partial differential equations (PDEs). Therefore, the use of wavelet scaling functions as a basis in computational analysis holds some promise due to their compact support, orthogonality and localization properties. Daubechies and Deslauriers-Dubuc functions have been successfully used as basis functions in several schemes like the Wavelet- Galerkin Method (WGM) and the Wavelet Finite Element Method (WFEM). Another possible advantage of their use is the fact that the calculation of integrals of inner products of wavelet scaling functions and their derivatives can be made by solving a linear system of equations, thus avoiding the problem of using approximations by some numerical method. These inner products were defined as connection coefficients and they are employed in the calculation of stiffness matrices and load vectors. In this work, some mathematical foundations regarding wavelet scaling functions, their derivatives and connection coefficients are reviewed. A scheme based on the Galerkin Method is proposed for the direct solution of Poisson's equation (potential problems) in a meshless formulation using interpolating wavelet scaling functions (Interpolets). The applicability of the proposed method and some convergence issues are illustrated by means of a few examples

Petroleum-Degrading Enzymes: Bioremediation and New Prospects

Anthropogenic forces, such as petroleum spills and the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels, have caused an accumulation of petroleum hydrocarbons in the environment. The accumulation of petroleum and its derivatives now constitutes an important environmental problem. Biocatalysis introduces new ways to improve the development of bioremediation strategies. The recent application of molecular tools to biocatalysis may improve bioprospecting research, enzyme yield recovery, and enzyme specificity, thus increasing cost-benefit ratios. Enzymatic remediation is a valuable alternative as it can be easier to work with than whole organisms, especially in extreme environments. Furthermore, the use of free enzymes avoids the release of exotic or genetically modified organisms (GMO) in the environment

Superdiffusion of massive particles induced by multi-scale velocity fields

We study drag-induced diffusion of massive particles in scale-free velocity fields, where superdiffusive behavior emerges due to the scale-free size distribution of the vortices of the underlying velocity field. The results show qualitative resemblance to what is observed in fluid systems, namely the diffusive exponent for the mean square separation of pairs of particles and the preferential concentration of the particles, both as a function of the response time.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication in EP

Kinetics of fluorene biodegradation by a mixed culture

The present study intended to determine the kinetics of biological degradation of fluorene by a mixed culture of microorganisms. Batch experiments were performed, being the inoculum an enriched mixed culture from a contaminated wastewater. Fluorene was quantified in the aqueous phase by solid phase micro-extraction (SPME), and analyzed in a GC-FID. The mixed culture was able to degrade fluorene and experimental results showed that biosorption had no influence on fluorene removal. The kinetic parameters, maximum reaction rate (kmax) and half saturation constant (Ks), respectively, 3.20×10–4 h–1 ± 0.93×10–4 h–1 and 126 μg L–1, were calculated

The Network of Epicenters of the Olami-Feder-Christensen Model of Earthquakes

We study the dynamics of the Olami-Feder-Christensen (OFC) model of earthquakes, focusing on the behavior of sequences of epicenters regarded as a growing complex network. Besides making a detailed and quantitative study of the effects of the borders (the occurrence of epicenters is dominated by a strong border effect which does not scale with system size), we examine the degree distribution and the degree correlation of the graph. We detect sharp differences between the conservative and nonconservative regimes of the model. Removing border effects, the conservative regime exhibits a Poisson-like degree statistics and is uncorrelated, while the nonconservative has a broad power-law-like distribution of degrees (if the smallest events are ignored), which reproduces the observed behavior of real earthquakes. In this regime the graph has also a unusually strong degree correlation among the vertices with higher degree, which is the result of the existence of temporary attractors for the dynamics: as the system evolves, the epicenters concentrate increasingly on fewer sites, exhibiting strong synchronization, but eventually spread again over the lattice after a series of sufficiently large earthquakes. We propose an analytical description of the dynamics of this growing network, considering a Markov process network with hidden variables, which is able to account for the mentioned properties.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figures. Smaller number of figures, and minor text corrections and modifications. For version with full resolution images see http://fig.if.usp.br/~tpeixoto/cond-mat-0602244.pd

Divergência genética entre acessos de batata-doce utilizando descritores morfoagronômicos das raízes.

Objetivou-se caracterizar morfoagronômicamente 23 genótipos de batata-doce do banco ativo de germoplasma mantido na Embrapa Hortaliças; utilizar estas características para avaliar a variabilidade genética entre os materiais pela aplicação dos métodos de Análise por agrupamento hierárquico e análise por componentes principais e estimar parâmetros populacionais

Production and characterization of a bovine liver candidate reference material.

The preparation of a bovine liver candidate reference material and the steps are taken to confirm its homogeneity, long and short term stabilities, and consensus values are described. Details of the sample preparation and the final collaborative exercise are presented. The material elemental composition was characterized by 17 elements (As, Ca, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mo, Mn, Na, P, Pb, Se, Sr, V, and Zn) of nutritional and toxicological significance

Uma proposta para a identificação de tendências de pesquisa e desenvolvimento em agroinformática.

RESUMO: Neste trabalho experimenta-se a identificação semi-automática das linhas de pesquisa e desenvolvimento em agroinformática refletidas pelos principais fóruns da área. Para isso, tomaram-se as publicações textuais desses fóruns, disponíveis em formato eletrônico, e aplicou-se um processo de mineração de textos. O processo de mineração de textos foi adaptado para esse fim, para permitir o uso de vocabulário controlado da área e o julgamento subjetivo de especialistas do domínio de conhecimento mediante os resultados semi-automaticamente obtidos. Os resultados apresentados, embora parciais, nitidamente mostram que as tendências concentram-se em modelos de simulação, geoprocessamento e análise de dados, em geral, em áreas como análise de mercado e modelagem agroambiental.SBIAgro 2011

Desempenho de cultivares de batata-doce no Distrito federal.

O presente trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar o desempenho agronômico de seis cultivares e três variedades de batata-doce nas condições edafoclimáticas no Recanto das Emas, DF