Noncommutative Thermofield Dynamics

The real-time operator formalism for thermal quantum field theories, thermofield dynamics, is formulated in terms of a path-integral approach in non-commutative spaces. As an application, the two-point function for a thermal non-commutative $\lambda \phi^4$ theory is derived at the one-loop level. The effect of temperature and the non-commutative parameter, competing with one another, is analyzed.Comment: 13 pages; to be published in IJMP-A

Current status of the whitefly Aleurodicus dispersus as an invasive pest in the CapeVerte Islands

In the last three decades, the spiralling whitefly (Aleurodicus dispersus) has become an important international pest. The movement of plants and parts of plants (such as fruits) in international trade and tourism, and by natural dispersal, has favoured its introduction to new areas. In common with others whiteflies of economic importance, the immature and adult stages cause direct feeding damage by piercing and sucking of sap from foliage, and indirect damage following the accumulation all over host plants of honeydew and waxy flocculent material produced by the insects. Spiralling whitefly is a pest of tropical and subtropical crops, and highly polyphagous. Up to the 1970s, it had been recorded on 44 genera of plants, belonging to 26 botanical families (Mound & Halsey, 1978). This situation changed with the dispersal of the pest to new areas. Nowadays, the spiralling whitefly is one of the major pest of vegetable, ornamental and fruit crops around the globe (Lambkin, 1999). Important host crops include: banana (Musa sapientum), Citrus spp., coconut (Cocos nocifera), eggplant (Solanum melanogena), guava (Psidium guajava), Hibiscus rosa sinensis, Indian almond (Terminalia catappa), papya (Carica papaya), Rosa sp. and tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) (Saminathan & Jayaraj, 2001). Spiralling whitefly has its origin in the tropical Americas, including Brazil. Although the pest has been recorded only once in Brasil, in the 1920s in the state of Bahia (Bondar, 1923), it now has official quarantine status because of its economic importance. In the Cape Verte Islands, on the West African coast, the pest was initially introduced in the first half of 2000; it has since become established, reaching urban, natural and agricultural areas of the islands that constitute the archipelago. Since then, the pest has been causing damage to many native plants, ornamentals and cultivated food crops (Anon., 2001; Monteiro, 2004). The present study was done in order to produce an inventory of the most common host plants of spiralling whitefly in this new habitat

Taxa de pegamento de frutos de melancia em polinizacoes artificiais e implicacoes na producao de semente hibrida.

A cultura da melancia no Brasil, e feita, principalmente, com cultivares desenvolvidas para os EUA e Japao, nao adaptadas as condicoes edafoclimaticas brasileiras. Assim, programas de melhoramento para o desenvolvimento de cultivares adaptadas aos ambientes dos diferentes polos de producao tornam-se necessarios. Em programas de melhoramento com melancia, normalmente sao necessarias polinizacoes controladas, que apresentam na literatura corrente, 20% de pegamento de frutos, em media. Considerando que o programa de melhoramento da Embrapa Semi-Arido dispoe de linhas parcialmente endogamicas e que foi desenvolvida uma tecnica de polinizacao para utilizacao expedita em campo, foram realizados dois experimentos visando estimar as percentagens de pegamento em polinizacoes controladas de linhas de melancia (autofecundações e cruzamentos com as cultivares Charleston Gray e Sunshade), bem como averiguar preliminarmente a producao de semente hibrida. Os experimentos foram realizados no Campo Experimental de Bebedouro, Petrolina-PE, no ano de 2000. No primeiro experimento, conduzido de maio a agosto onde foram cultivadas 200 plantas de 12 linhas, foram realizadas 870 polinizacoes das quais, 197 frutificaram (23% ) e no segundo, conduzido de setembro a novembro, disponde de 600 plantas de 31 linhas, 569 polinizacoes, onde 184 resultaram em frutos (32% ). Quando se examinou o pegamento de linhas individuais, no primeiro experimento a amplitude foi de 16 a 37% e no segundo, de 11 a 75%. Estes dados mostram que existem diferencas de comportamento das linhagens quanto ao pegamento e que algumas delas se prestam para a producao de semente hibrida comercial a partir de polinizacoes controladas.Suplemento. Edição dos Resumos do 41 Congresso Brasileiro de Olericultura; 1 Encontro sobre Plantas Medicinais, Aromáticas e Condimentares, Brasília, DF, jul. 2001

Indicadores ecotoxicológicos para águas de consumo humano.

Testes de toxicidade utilizando organismos vivos, são de alta vantagem em termos de custo e benefício. Mostram com rapidez a qualidade das amostras testadas quanto a toxicidade. Utiliza-se organismos padronizados, de vários níveis tróficos, os quais respondem de maneira diversa aos diversos componentes das amostras ambientais. A qualidade de águas tratadas por ETAs das cidades de Limeira e Piracicaba, SP, foram avaliadas quanto a toxicidade para o microcrustáceo Daphnia magna, celenterado Hydra attenuata, alga Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata e a bactéria Vibrio fischeri . As Daphnias e as algas mostraram se altamente sensíveis a cloração, as Hydras e Vibrio mostraram-se resistentes sendo possível ser realizados testes com águas tratadas e cloradas. O tiossulfato de sódio foi utilizado para precipitar o cloro das amostras cloradas, entretanto precipitou também outras substâncias, diminuindo a toxicidade das águas brutas, sem cloro. Análises de resíduos mostrou a presença de herbicidas e trihalometanos nas amostras de água tratada do rio Corumbataí. O crescimento da alga P.subcapitata foi inibido em concentrações de atrazina de 7 a 10 microgramas L-1, mas não de 3 a 3,7 microgramas g L-1 . Os testes toxicológicos são importantes ferramentas para indicar presença de compostos tóxicos em amostras de água e podem mostrar a qualidade das águas tratadas

Genomic islands of divergence in the Yellow Tang and the Brushtail Tang Surgeonfishes.

The current ease of obtaining thousands of molecular markers challenges the notion that full phylogenetic concordance, as proposed by phylogenetic species concepts, is a requirement for defining species delimitations. Indeed, the presence of genomic islands of divergence, which may be the cause, or in some cases the consequence, of speciation, precludes concordance. Here, we explore this issue using thousands of RAD markers on two sister species of surgeonfishes (Teleostei: Acanthuridae), Zebrasoma flavescens and Z. scopas, and several populations within each species. Species are readily distinguished based on their colors (solid yellow and solid brown, respectively), yet populations and species are neither distinguishable using mitochondrial markers (cytochrome c oxidase 1), nor using 5193 SNPs (pairwise Φst = 0.034). In contrast, when using outlier loci, some of them presumably under selection, species delimitations, and strong population structure follow recognized taxonomic positions (pairwise Φst = 0.326). Species and population delimitation differences based on neutral and selected markers are likely due to local adaptation, thus being consistent with the idea that these genomic islands of divergence arose as a consequence of isolation. These findings, which are not unique, raise the question of a potentially important pathway of divergence based on local adaptation that is only evident when looking at thousands of loci

Efeito do silício no aumento da resistência do Eucalyptus camaldulensis ao ácaro Oligonychus punicae (Acari: Tetranychidae)

Resumo

Temporal and spatial trends of adult mortality in small areas of Brazil, 1980–2010

To determine the variations and spatial patterns of adult mortality across regions, over time, and by sex for 137 small areas in Brazil, we first apply TOPALS to estimate and smooth mortality rates and then use death distribution methods to evaluate the quality of the mortality data. Lastly, we employ spatial autocorrelation statistics and cluster analysis to identify the adult mortality trends and variations in these areas between 1980 and 2010. We find not only that regions in Brazil’s South and Southeast already had complete death registration systems prior to the study period, but that the completeness of death count coverage improved over time across the entire nation—most especially in lesser developed regions—probably because of public investment in health data collection. By also comparing adult mortality by sex and by region, we document a mortality sex differential in favor of women that remains high over the entire study period, most probably as a result of increased morbidity from external causes, especially among males. This increase also explains the concentration of high male mortality levels in some areas76CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQCOORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DE PESSOAL DE NÍVEL SUPERIOR - CAPES470866/2014-4; 454223/2014-5não te

Domain size effects in Barkhausen noise

The possible existence of self-organized criticality in Barkhausen noise is investigated theoretically through a single interface model, and experimentally from measurements in amorphous magnetostrictive ribbon Metglas 2605TCA under stress. Contrary to previous interpretations in the literature, both simulation and experiment indicate that the presence of a cutoff in the avalanche size distribution may be attributed to finite size effects.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, submitted so Physical Review