Applications of the Quon Algebra: 3-D Harmonic Oscillator and the Rotor Model

In this work we present a method to build in a systematic way a many-body quon basis state. In particular, we show a closed expression for a given number N of quons, restricted to the permutational symmetric subspace, which belongs to the whole quonic space. The method is applied to two simple problems: the three-dimensional harmonic oscillator and the rotor model and compared to previous quantum algebra results. The differences obtained and possible future applications are also discussed.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figure

Genetic analysis of members of the species Oropouche virus and identification of a novel M segment sequence

Oropouche virus (OROV) is a public health threat in South America, and in particular Northern Brazil, causing frequent outbreaks of febrile illness. Using a combination of deep sequencing and Sanger sequencing approaches we have determined complete genome sequences of eight clinical isolates that were obtained from patient sera during an Oropouche fever outbreak in Amapa state, northern Brazil in 2009. We also report complete genome sequences of two OROV reassortants isolated from two marmosets in Minas Gerais state, southeast Brazil in 2012 that contain a novel M genome segment. Interestingly, all ten isolates posses a 947 nucleotide long S segment that lacks 11 residues in the S segment 3' UTR compared to the recently redetermined Brazilian prototype OROV strain BeAn19991. OROV maybe circulating more widely in Brazil and in the non-human primate population than previously appreciated and the identification of yet another reassortant highlights the importance of bunyavirus surveillance in South America

Colimetry of marine waters off Fortaleza (Ceará State, Brazil) and detection of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli strains

Bacteriological analyses of seawater from three main beaches in Fortaleza, Brazil were performed during 1997. Thirty-six samples per beach were collected for a total of 108 samples. For Meireles Beach, 44% of the samples had MPN total coliforms values of at least 1100 or over 2400/100 ml, followed by Formosa and Diários beaches showing lower counts. For fecal coliforms the highest numbers were demonstrated for Formosa, followed by Meireles and Diários beaches in this descending order: 13.0%, 11.1% and 8.3%, respectively. Escherichia coli strains were identified in 76.8% of the 108 samples. Among 295 strains of E.coli, 21 belonged to serogroups O25, O26, O91, O112, O119, O158 and O164. Strains from serogroup O26 were tested using PCR, ELISA and Vero cells to detect Verotoxins VT1 and VT2 and all strains were negative. No LT and ST, as determined by ELISA and suckling mice assays, were detected among the 295 strains. All strains of E. coli were sensitive to ampicillin, cephalothin, gentamicin, tetracycline, sulfametox-trimethoprim, chloramphenicol and ciprofloxacin. Although the E. coli strains were not toxigenic, their presence in high numbers could be of public health significance

Qualidade De Mudas De Moringa Oleifera Lam. Cultivadas Em Substratos Com Fibra De Coco Verde E Compostos Orgânicos

Moringa oleifera Lam. is a vegetal species with great potential to use as food, medicine and forage as well as water clarifying and decontamination agent, biofuel, among others. Low cost techniques for seedling production using regional residues are useful to introduce this species in low-income communities. This research aimed to evaluate the nutritional responses and growth of moringa seedlings cultivated in substrates with different concentrations of green coconut fiber (GCF) associated to organic compounds (OC). The experiment was performed in randomized blocks. Two organic compounds were tested: the urban waste compost (UWC) and earthworm compost (EC) associated with GCF in various volumetric proportions (OC: GCF): 0: 100; 25:75; 50:50; 75:25 and 100:0%. The data after 51 days of cultivation showed that the increase of the concentration of GCF in relation to the organic compound decreased height, dry biomass, Dickson Quality Index and the contents of N, P, K, Ca and Mg of the seedlings. There was no difference for these characteristics between the use of UWC and the EC. The substrate with 100% of GCF without complementary fertilizers caused symptoms of N deficiency in the moringa seedlings.63454555

Local minimal energy landscapes in river networks

The existence and stability of the universality class associated to local minimal energy landscapes is investigated. Using extensive numerical simulations, we first study the dependence on a parameter $\gamma$ of a partial differential equation which was proposed to describe the evolution of a rugged landscape toward a local minimum of the dissipated energy. We then compare the results with those obtained by an evolution scheme based on a variational principle (the optimal channel networks). It is found that both models yield qualitatively similar river patterns and similar dependence on $\gamma$. The aggregation mechanism is however strongly dependent on the value of $\gamma$. A careful analysis suggests that scaling behaviors may weakly depend both on $\gamma$ and on initial condition, but in all cases it is within observational data predictions. Consequences of our resultsComment: 12 pages, 13 figures, revtex+epsfig style, to appear in Phys. Rev. E (Nov. 2000

Photonuclear reactions of actinides in the giant dipole resonance region

Photonuclear reactions at energies covering the giant dipole resonance (GDR) region are analyzed with an approach based on nuclear photoabsorption followed by the process of competition between light particle evaporation and fission for the excited nucleus. The photoabsorption cross section at energies covering the GDR region is contributed by both the Lorentz type GDR cross section and the quasideuteron cross section. The evaporation-fission process of the compound nucleus is simulated in a Monte-Carlo framework. Photofission reaction cross sections are analyzed in a systematic manner in the energy range of $\sim$ 10-20 MeV for the actinides $^{232}$Th, $^{238}$U and $^{237}$Np. Photonuclear cross sections for the medium-mass nuclei $^{63}$Cu and $^{64}$Zn, for which there are no fission events, are also presented. The study reproduces satisfactorily the available experimental data of photofission cross sections at GDR energy region and the increasing trend of nuclear fissility with the fissility parameter $Z^2/A$ for the actinides.Comment: 4 pages including 2 tables and 1 figur

Disentangling the impact of environmental and phylogenetic constraints on prokaryotic within-species diversity

Microbial organisms inhabit virtually all environments and encompass a vast biological diversity. The pangenome concept aims to facilitate an understanding of diversity within defined phylogenetic groups. Hence, pangenomes are increasingly used to characterize the strain diversity of prokaryotic species. To understand the interdependence of pangenome features (such as the number of core and accessory genes) and to study the impact of environmental and phylogenetic constraints on the evolution of conspecific strains, we computed pangenomes for 155 phylogenetically diverse species (from ten phyla) using 7,000 high-quality genomes to each of which the respective habitats were assigned. Species habitat ubiquity was associated with several pangenome features. In particular, core-genome size was more important for ubiquity than accessory genome size. In general, environmental preferences had a stronger impact on pangenome evolution than phylogenetic inertia. Environmental preferences explained up to 49% of the variance for pangenome features, compared with 18% by phylogenetic inertia. This observation was robust when the dataset was extended to 10,100 species (59 phyla). The importance of environmental preferences was further accentuated by convergent evolution of pangenome features in a given habitat type across different phylogenetic clades. For example, the soil environment promotes expansion of pangenome size, while host-associated habitats lead to its reduction. Taken together, we explored the global principles of pangenome evolution, quantified the influence of habitat, and phylogenetic inertia on the evolution of pangenomes and identified criteria governing species ubiquity and habitat specificity

OBTENÇÃO E CARACTERIZAÇÃO DE NANOPARTÍCULAS DE PLGA PARA VEICULAÇÃO INTRAVENOSA DE PROTEÍNAS

O desenvolvimento de nanopartículas é considerado atualmente um sistema promissor para o carreamento de drogas em sítios específicos. O uso de polímeros na obtenção desse sistema pode ser de origem natural ou sintética desde que seja biocompatível ou biodegradável. Desenvolver sistemas de transportes para carrear proteínas requer cuidado com variáveis como tempo de homogeneização e concentração do surfactante, que interferem diretamente na obtenção destas. As nanopartículas foram obtidas pelo método de dupla emulsificação, onde foram elaborados 6 sistemas (A,B,C,D,E e F), utilizando diferentes concentrações de PVA (0,5; 1 e 1,5%) e tempo de homogeneização de 30 e 60 segundos. Os sistemas foram analisados pela técnica de espalhamento de luz dinâmico. Os resultados mostraram que o sistema D apresentou melhor IPD com 0,638, com tamanho de partícula de 678,3 nm, o que sugere homogeneidade maior em relação aos outros sistemas. Porém, há a necessidade de se otimizar o método para obtenção de partículas de tamanhos menores para a veiculação intravenosa