Sustainable management of miombo woodlands in the Northern part of Mozambique (Niassa National Reserve - NNR).

Poster presented at Commiting Science to Global Development. Lisbon (Portugal). 29-30 Sep 2009

Reply to ``Comment on ``Lateral Casimir Force beyond the Proximity Force Approximation'' ''

We reply to the comment arXiv:quant-ph/0702060 on our letter arXiv:quant-ph/0603120 [Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 100402 (2006)]Comment: 1 pag

Surviving opinions in Sznajd models on complex networks

The Sznajd model has been largely applied to simulate many sociophysical phenomena. In this paper we applied the Sznajd model with more than two opinions on three different network topologies and observed the evolution of surviving opinions after many interactions among the nodes. As result, we obtained a scaling law which depends of the network size and the number of possible opinions. We also observed that this scaling law is not the same for all network topologies, being quite similar between scale-free networks and Sznajd networks but different for random networks.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure

Superconducting charge qubits from a microscopic many-body perspective

The quantised Josephson junction equation that underpins the behaviour of charge qubits and other tunnel devices is usually derived through cannonical quantisation of the classical macroscopic Josephson relations. However, this approach may neglect effects due to the fact that the charge qubit consists of a superconducting island of finite size connected to a large superconductor. We show that the well known quantised Josephson equation can be derived directly and simply from a microscopic many-body Hamiltonian. By choosing the appropriate strong coupling limit we produce a highly simplified Hamiltonian that nevertheless allows us to go beyond the mean field limit and predict further finite-size terms in addition to the basic equation.Comment: Accepted for J Phys Condensed Matte

Dielectric properties measurements of brown and white adipose tissue in rats from 0.5 to 10 GHz

Brown adipose tissue (BAT) plays an important role in whole body metabolism and with appropriate stimulus could potentially mediate weight gain and insulin sensitivity. Although imaging techniques are available to detect subsurface BAT, there are currently no viable methods for continuous acquisition of BAT energy expenditure. Microwave (MW) radiometry is an emerging technology that allows the quantification of tissue temperature variations at depths of several centimeters. Such temperature differentials may be correlated with variations in metabolic rate, thus providing a quantitative approach to monitor BAT metabolism. In order to optimize MW radiometry, numerical and experimental phantoms with accurate dielectric properties are required to develop and calibrate radiometric sensors. Thus, we present for the first time, the characterization of relative permittivity and electrical conductivity of brown (BAT) and white (WAT) adipose tissues in rats across the MW range 0.5-10GHz. Measurements were carried out in situ and post mortem in six female rats of approximately 200g. A Cole-Cole model was used to fit the experimental data into a parametric model that describes the variation of dielectric properties as a function of frequency. Measurements confirm that the dielectric properties of BAT (εr = 14.0-19.4, σ = 0.3-3.3S/m) are significantly higher than those of WAT (εr = 9.1-11.9, σ = 0.1-1.9S/m), in accordance with the higher water content of BAT

Urban Cholera transmission hotspots and their implications for Reactive Vaccination: evidence from Bissau city, Guinea Bissau

Use of cholera vaccines in response to epidemics (reactive vaccination) may provide an effective supplement to traditional control measures. In Haiti, reactive vaccination was considered but, until recently, rejected in part due to limited global supply of vaccine. Using Bissau City, Guinea-Bissau as a case study, we explore neighborhood-level transmission dynamics to understand if, with limited vaccine and likely delays, reactive vaccination can significantly change the course of a cholera epidemic