Phase transition of quantum corrected Schwarzschild black hole

We study the thermodynamic phase transition of a quantum-corrected Schwarzschild black hole. The modified metric affects the critical temperature which is slightly less than the conventional one. The space without black holes is not the hot flat space but the hot curved space due to vacuum fluctuations so that there appears a type of Gross-Perry-Yaffe phase transition even for the very small size of black hole, which is impossible for the thermodynamics of the conventional Schwarzschild black hole. We discuss physical consequences of the new phase transition in this framework.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, added : version accepted for publication in PL

MAXIMIZING THE SHELF LIFE OF MONOXENICALLY PRODUCED CARRIER-BASED AM FUNGAL BIO-INOCULA FOR MAINTAINING ITS LONG-TERM VIABILITY

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are often applied as bio-inoculants due to their plant growth promoting benefits. The objectives of the present work were to maximize the shelf life of monoxenically produced carrier-based AM fungal bio-inocula of Rhizoglomus intraradices and Funneliformis mosseae. Shelf life of in vitro produced inoculum was studied by assessing the infectivity potential of in vitro produced inocula in an optimum carrier formulation (vermiculite: cow dung powder: wood powder: wood ash in the ratio of 20:8:2:1) during storage at three different temperatures viz., 4 °C, 25 °C and room temperature (RT). The re-germination potential of in vitro produced spores from carrier-based inocula to in vitro conditions was also examined. The in vitro produced inocula stored at 25 °C remained viable up to 6 mo in the organic carrier formulation. 100 % germination was recorded when the spores of both AM species were cultured back to in vitro conditions indicating high viability, and efficiency of the carrier formulation in maintaining vigour of in vitro produced propagules

Antimicrobial and antiadhesive properties of a biosurfactant isolated from Lactobacillus paracasei ssp. paracasei A20

Aims: The aim of this study was to determine the antimicrobial and antiadhesive properties of a biosurfactant isolated from Lactobacillus paracasei ssp. paracasei A20 against several micro-organisms, including Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, yeasts and filamentous fungi. Methods and Results: Antimicrobial and antiadhesive activities were determined using the microdilution method in 96-well culture plates. The biosurfactant showed antimicrobial activity against all the micro-organisms assayed, and for twelve of the eighteen micro-organisms (including the pathogenic Candida albicans, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis and Streptococcus agalactiae), the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) were achieved for biosurfactant concentrations between 25 and 50 mg ml−1. Furthermore, the biosurfactant showed antiadhesive activity against most of the micro-organisms evaluated. Conclusions: As far as we know, this is the first compilation of data on antimicrobial and antiadhesive activities of biosurfactants obtained from lactobacilli against such a broad group of micro-organisms. Although the antiadhesive activity of biosurfactants isolated from lactic acid bacteria has been widely reported, their antimicrobial activity is quite unusual and has been described only in a few strains. Significance and Impact of the Study: The results obtained in this study regarding the antimicrobial and antiadhesive properties of this biosurfactant opens future prospects for its use against micro-organisms responsible for diseases and infections in the urinary, vaginal and gastrointestinal tracts, as well as in the skin, making it a suitable alternative to conventional antibiotics.This work was supported by FCT (Portugal) under the scope of the Project BIOSURFA: Biosurfactants: potential applications for microbial adhesion inhibition in medical devices (PTDC/SAU-BEB/73498/2006)

Probing the role of a non-thermal plasma (NTP) in the hybrid NTP catalytic oxidation of methane

Three recurring hypotheses are often used to explain the effect of non-thermal plasmas (NTPs) on NTP catalytic hybrid reactions; namely, modification or heating of the catalyst or creation of new reaction pathways by plasma-produced species. NTP-assisted methane (CH4) oxidation over Pd/Al2O3 was investigated by direct monitoring of the X-ray absorption fine structure of the catalyst, coupled with end-of-pipe mass spectrometry. This in situ study revealed that the catalyst did not undergo any significant structural changes under NTP conditions. However, the NTP did lead to an increase in the temperature of the Pd nanoparticles; although this temperature rise was insufficient to activate the thermal CH4 oxidation reaction. The contribution of a lower activation barrier alternative reaction pathway involving the formation of CH3(g) from electron impact reactions is proposed

A Comparative Study of Pentaquark Interpolating Currents

In a diquark-diquark-antiquark picture of pentaquarks, we use two interpolating currents to calculate the mass of the recently measured $\Xi^{--}$ state in the framework of QCD sum rules. We show that, even though yielding similar values for $m_{\Xi^{--}}$ (and close to the experimental value), these currents differ from each other in what concerns the strength of the pole, convergence of the OPE and sensitivity to the continuum threshold parameter.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figures, replaced version accepted for publication in Phys. Lett.

Carbon nanotube, graphene, nanowire, and molecule-based electron and spin transport phenomena using the non-equilibrium Green function method at the level of first principles theory

Based on density functional theory (DFT), we have developed algorithms and a program code to investigate the electron transport characteristics for a variety of nanometer scaled devices in the presence of an external bias voltage. We employed basis sets comprised of linear combinations of numerical type atomic orbitals and k-point sampling for the realistic modeling of the bulk electrode. The scheme coupled with the matrix version of the non-equilibrium Green function method enables determination of the transmission coefficients at a given energy and voltage in a self-consistent manner, as well as the corresponding current-voltage (I-V) characteristics. This scheme has advantages because it is applicable to large systems, easily transportable to different types of quantum chemistry packages, and extendable to describe time-dependent phenomena or inelastic scatterings. It has been applied to diverse types of practical electronic devices such as carbon nanotubes, graphene nano-ribbons, metallic nanowires, and molecular electronic devices. The quantum conductance phenomena for systems involving quantum point contacts and I-V curves are described for the dithiol-benzene molecule in contact with two Au electrodes using the k-point sampling method.Comment: 20 pages, 14 figures. submitte

Using agro-industrial wastes for mixotrophic growth and lipids production by the green microalga Chlorella sorokiniana

There has been growing interest in the use of microalgae for the production of biofuels, but production costs continue to be too high to compete with fossil fuel prices. One of the main limitations for photobioreactor productivity is light shielding, especially at high cell densities. The growth of the green microalga Chlorella sorokiniana, a robust industrial species, has been evaluated under different trophic conditions with traditional carbon sources, such as glucose and sucrose, and alternative low cost carbon sources, such as carob pod extract, industrial glycerol and acetate-rich oxidized wine waste lees. The mixotrophic cultivation of this microalga with wine waste lees alleviated the problems of light shielding observed in photoautotrophic cultures, improving specific growth rate (0.052 h-1) compared with the other organic sources. The fed-batch mixotrophic culture of Chlorella sorokiniana in a 2 L stirred tank reactor, with optimized nutritional conditions, 100 mM of acetate coming from the oxidized wine waste lees and 30 mM of ammonium, produced an algal biomass concentration of 11 g L-1 with a lipid content of 38 % (w/w). This fed-batch strategy has been found to be a very effective means to enhance the biomass and neutral lipid productivity.Research grants from theSpanish (AGL2016-74866-C32R-AEI/FEDER) and European governments(INTERREG VA-POCTEP- 2014-2020; 0055_ALGARED_PLUS_5_E) and the Portuguese Science Foundation (FCT) through the grant UID/MAR/00350/2013 to the CIMA of the University of Algarve. We thank Dr.Molinari from the University of Milan, for kindly providing the Acetobacteracetiistrain. The help of CEIMAR University Excellence Campus is also acknowledged.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Guest Editorial Special Issue on Advances in Underwater Acoustic Sensor Networks

[EN] With the advances in vehicle and sensor technologies, there is a growing interest in the design and deployment of Underwater Acoustic Sensor Networks (UASNs). A typical UASN employs underwater nodes, surface sinks, autonomous underwater vehicles and low-power gliders to collaboratively perform underwater operating missions. For the ease of deployment as well as the ability in intellectualization information processing, UASNs are envisioned to enable marine applications for oceanographic data collection, pollution monitoring, offshore exploration, disaster prevention, assisted navigation and tactical surveillance. Compared with traditional monitoring technologies, e.g., remote sensing or sonar sweeping, USANs have clear advantages in terms of infrastructureless, real-time, high-precision and low-cost detectionHan, G.; Shu, L.; Rodrigues, JJPC.; Kim, K.; Lloret, J.; Wu, H. (2016). Guest Editorial Special Issue on Advances in Underwater Acoustic Sensor Networks. IEEE Sensors Journal. 16(11):3994-3994. https://doi.org/10.1109/JSEN.2016.2550282S39943994161

Pentaquark Decay in QCD Sum Rules

In a diquark-diquark-antiquark picture of the pentaquark we study the decay $\Theta \to K^{+} n$ within the framework of QCD sum rules. After evaluation of the relevant three-point function, we extract the coupling $g_{\Theta nK}$ which is directly related to the pentaquark width. Restricting the decay diagrams to those with color exchange between the meson-like and baryon-like clusters reduces the coupling constant by a factor of four. Whereas a small decay width might be possible for a positive parity pentaquark, it seems difficult to explain the measured width for a pentaquark with negative parity.Comment: 14pages, 5 eps figures. Contribution to the proceedings of LC200