Accretion of non-minimally coupled generalized Chaplygin gas into black holes

The mass evolution of Schwarzschild black holes by the absorption of scalar fields is investigated in the scenario of the generalized Chaplygin gas (GCG). The GCG works as a unification picture of dark matter plus dark energy that naturally accelerates the expansion of the Universe. Through elements of the quasi-stationary approach, we consider the mass evolution of Schwarzschild black holes accreted by non-minimally coupled cosmological scalar fields reproducing the dynamics of the GCG. As a scalar field non-minimally coupled to the metrics, such an exotic content has been interconnected with accreting black holes. The black hole increasing masses by the absorption of the gas reflects some consistence of the accretion mechanism with the hypothesis of the primordial origin of supermassive black holes. Our results effectively show that the non-minimal coupling with the GCG dark sector accelerates the increasing of black hole masses. Meanwhile some exotic features can also be depicted for specific ranges of the non-minimal coupling in which the GCG dynamics is substantially modified.Comment: 13 pages, 03 figure

Sugar-hydrolysing enzymes in gustatory mutants of Drosophila

The distribution of the isozymes of α-glucosidase in different parts of Drosophila melanogaster was examined. Two of the eight glucosidase bands are associated with tarsi. The gustatory mutations in the genes gustB and gustC greatly reduce tarsal glucosidase activity, but the enzyme deficiency is not correlated with inability to taste sugars

Study of the impact of breeding seasons in the dynamics of dairy goat herds.

Abstract: The competitiveness in the animal production field has forced the smaller activities to be more efficient when compared to big business of the agro-industries. The dairy goat production is one of those market niches that need a better understand of its sector. For those reasons it has been proposed that by changing the number of reproduction seasons would increase income of the producers. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the impact of 1 or 2 annual reproductive cycles on production and economical health of dairy goats and to identify differences of production costs and revenues associated with changes in the herd dynamics as predicted by a mathematical model. A previously developed goat model using the System Dynamics approach to study long-term changes in the dynamics of the herd was used in these simulations. The model simulations used feeds, labor, and fixed costs as inputs and the outputs were revenues from milk production sales and sales of animals from all categories of the herd. The simulation time unit was ?month? and a long-term horizon of 10 years was considered for these simulations. The model was set up to simulate a freestall facility of a herd in equilibrium with 100 does in lactation. All parameters considered in this model assumed average values reported in production systems in the Southeast region of Brazil. The simulations results indicated that improvements of 10% in the fertility rate would increase the number animals in the herd up to 185% and 35% for one and two breeding season, respectively. Establishing a milk price as US$0.68 the break even for one and two breeding seasons was respectively US$0.62, and US$0.50, giving the systems with two breeding a capacity to support reductions on milk price up to 26% against 9% with one breeding season. When comparing the models with 1 or 2 breeding seasons was found that models with 2 breeding seasons was considerably more profitable and had a higher turnover than the model with 1 breeding season. The results indicate that the use of a second (artificial) breeding season might be an important management strategy to improve the efficiency of the dairy goat production systems. [Estudio del impacto de la estación reproductiva sobre la dinâmica de los rebaños lecheros]

A dairy goat model to study the impacts on herd dynamics.

The understanding of a dairy goat production system is crucial to establish a more competitive activity. Therefore, a simulation model was built to evaluate the dynamics of dairy goat herd under different scenarios of production. A System Dynamics approach was used to identify management policies that affect the behavior of the herd. All parameters considered in this model assumed average values reported in production systems in the Southeast region of Brazil. To simulate a herd in dynamic equilibrium, the culling and retention rates were used. Thereafter, simulations were performed based on changes in reproductive and mortality rates. All the simulations were planned to take the variation in herd development based on simple management strategies over 10 years of simulation. The dynamic equilibrium of 50 lactating does was obtained when fixed culling and retention rates of 20 and 70%, respectively, were assigned to the does after 36 months of simulation. A sensitivity analysis was made and indicated that an increase of 20% in the reproduction rates increased the number of animals in the herd in 56%. A decrease in the reproduction rate of 20% reduced the number of animals in 43%. A third simulation indicated that increasing mortality rate from 4 to 10% of the female kids decreased the number of lactating does by 36%. These results indicated that small changes in reproduction and mortality rates can considerably affect the dynamics of the herd, even though the herd may not be immediately affected because of the intrinsic delays in the system. This result is extremely important to justify the need of activity planning to consider the gap between a measurement taken and the consequences, preparing the producers to potential delays in the system. The use of mathematical models is important to understand the relationships between variables and the dynamic of the system and to assist in applying best management strategies to enhance productivity of dairy goats. [Modelo de cabras lecheras para evaluar el impacto de las estrategias de manejo en la dinámica del rebaño]

Rigorous Formulation of Duality in Gravitational Theories

In this paper we evince a rigorous formulation of duality in gravitational theories where an Einstein like equation is valid, by providing the conditions under which the Hodge duals (with respect to the metric tensor g) of T^a and R_b^a may be considered as the torsion and curvature 2-forms associated with a connection D', part of a Riemann-Cartan structure (M,g',D'), in the cases g = g' and g does not equal g', once T^a and R_b^a are the torsion and curvature 2-forms associated with a connection D part of a Riemann-Cartan structure (M,g,D). A new form for the Einstein equation involving the dual of the Riemann tensor of D is also provided, and the result is compared with others appearing in the literature.Comment: 15 page

Arruda: (Ruta graveolens L.)

Publicação com informações sintéticas sobre a arruda e sua aplicação medicinal.bitstream/item/100482/1/Folder-arruda.pd

Peripheral Nerve Repair with Cultured Schwann Cells: Getting Closer to the Clinics

Peripheral nerve injuries are a frequent and disabling condition, which affects 13 to 23 per 100.000 persons each year. Severe cases, with structural disruption of the nerve, are associated with poor functional recovery. The experimental treatment using nerve grafts to replace damaged or shortened axons is limited by technical difficulties, invasiveness, and mediocre results. Other therapeutic choices include the adjunctive application of cultured Schwann cells and nerve conduits to guide axonal growth. The bone marrow is a rich source of mesenchymal cells, which can be differentiated in vitro into Schwann cells and subsequently engrafted into the damaged nerve. Alternatively, undifferentiated bone marrow mesenchymal cells can be associated with nerve conduits and afterward transplanted. Experimental studies provide evidence of functional, histological, and electromyographical improvement following transplantation of bone-marrow-derived cells in animal models of peripheral nerve injury. This paper focuses on this new therapeutic approach highlighting its direct translational and clinical utility in promoting regeneration of not only acute but perhaps also chronic cases of peripheral nerve damage

Interaction effects on galaxy pairs with Gemini/GMOS- II: Oxygen abundance gradients

In this paper we derived oxygen abundance gradients from HII regions located in eleven galaxies in eight systems of close pairs. Long-slit spectra in the range 4400-7300A were obtained with the Gemini Multi-Object Spec- trograph at Gemini South (GMOS). Spatial profiles of oxygen abundance in the gaseous phase along galaxy disks were obtained using calibrations based on strong emission-lines (N2 and O3N2). We found oxygen gradients signifi- cantly flatter for all the studied galaxies than those in typical isolated spiral galaxies. Four objects in our sample, AM1219A, AM1256B, AM 2030A and AM2030B, show a clear break in the oxygen abundance at galactocentric radius R/R25 between 0.2 and 0.5. For AM1219A and AM1256B we found negative slopes for the inner gradients, and for AM2030B we found a positive one. In all these three cases they show a flatter behaviour to the outskirts of the galaxies. For AM2030A, we found a positive-slope outer gradient while the inner one is almost compatible with a flat behaviour. A decrease of star forma- tion efficiency in the zone that corresponds to the oxygen abundance gradient break for AM1219A and AM2030B was found. For the former, a minimum in the estimated metallicities was found very close to the break zone that could be associated with a corotation radius. On the other hand, AM1256B and AM2030A, present a SFR maximum but not an extreme oxygen abundance value. All the four interacting systems that show oxygen gradient breakes the extreme SFR values are located very close to break zones. Hii regions lo- cated in close pairs of galaxies follow the same relation between the ionization parameter and the oxygen abundance as those regions in isolated galaxies.Comment: 30 pages, 14 figures, accepted MNRAS, (Figs. 1 and 2 are in low resolution