The role of psychological factors in the adoption of improved natural grassland by Brazilian cattle farmers in Biome Pampa

The objective of the research was to explore factors determining cattle farmers' intention to adopt improved natural grassland in Brazil. The research was carried out in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, in the south of Brazil

Dynamics and rheology of a suspension of super-paramagnetic chains under the combined effect of a shear flow and a rotating magnetic field

This study presents an analysis of the dynamics of a single and multiple chains of spherical super-paramagnetic beads suspended in a Newtonian fluid under the combined effect of an external rotating magnetic field and a shear flow. Viscosity results depend on two main non-dimensional numbers: the ratio between the shear rate and the magnetic rotation frequency and the ratio between the hydrodynamic and magnetostatic interactions (the Mason number). When the shear rate is smaller than the magnetic frequency, the chain rotation accelerates the surrounding fluid, reducing the value of the measured suspension viscosity even below the solvent one. In this regime, shear-thickening is observed. For values of the shear rates comparable to the rotation magnetic frequency, the viscosity reaches a maximum and non-linear coupling effects come up. If the shear rate is increased to values above the rotation frequency, the viscosity decreases and a mild shear-thinning is observed. In terms of the Mason number, the suspension viscosity reduces in line with literature results reported for fixed magnetic fields, whereas the shear-rate/magnetic-frequency ratio parameters induces a shift of the viscosity curve towards larger values. Results at larger concentrations and multiple chains amplify the observed effects

Effect of the particle size range of construction and demolition waste on the fresh and hardened-state properties of fly ash-based geopolymer mortars with total replacement of sand

This study seeks the valorization of industrial residues (fly ash and construction and demolition waste (CDW)) through the production of geopolymer mortars. The effect of the sand substitution by CDW and the influence of the particle size range of CDW fine aggregates on the fresh and hardened properties of the mortars were evaluated. Geopolymer mortars were produced using biomass fly ash waste and metakaolin as a binder, CDW as fine aggregates, and an alkali solution of sodium silicate and sodium hydroxide as activator. The geopolymer mortars were characterized in fresh state by the flow table test and in the hardened state through chemical, physical/microstructural analyzes. The mortars produced with CDW showed lower flowability when compared to the ones prepared with sand. The compressive and flexural strength of hardened mortars, respectively, obtained with residues were higher when compared to sand: 40 MPa and 8.5 MPa with CDW, against 23 MPa and 3.1 MPa for sand-based samples. It was observed that mortars developed with recycled aggregate and natural aggregate present similar chemical and mineralogical compositions. The superior results obtained in the mechanical properties of mortars produced with CDW are related to the recycled aggregate-geopolymer paste interface.publishe

Comparing groups of Brazilian cattle farmers with different levels of intention to use improved natural grassland

This study used the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to analyze the intention of Brazilian farmers to use improved natural grassland. The TPB hypothesizes that the adoption of an innovation is driven by the intention to use it, which in turn is determined by three socio-psychological constructs: attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control. These constructs are derived from beliefs. The theoretical framework and model were applied to a sample of 214 Brazilian cattle farmers. Based on the socio-psychological constructs that influence intention, two groups of farmers were identified; farmers that were willing and farmers that were unwilling to use improved natural grassland. Results showed that compared to unwilling farmers, willing farmers evaluated the use of improved natural grassland on their farms more favorably (attitude), they felt a greater social pressure upon them to adopt this innovation (social norm), and they reported a higher capability (perceived behavioral control) to use improved natural grassland. Willing and unwilling farmers also differed in their behavioral beliefs concerning the outcomes of using improved natural grassland, their normative beliefs concerning important others, and their control beliefs concerning factors that could facilitate or inhibit the use of improved natural grassland. The two groups did not differ in most of their socioeconomic characteristics, but did differ in their goals and relative risk attitudes

Counter-propagating entangled photons from a waveguide with periodic nonlinearity

The conditions required for spontaneous parametric down-conversion in a waveguide with periodic nonlinearity in the presence of an unguided pump field are established. Control of the periodic nonlinearity and the physical properties of the waveguide permits the quasi-phase matching equations that describe counter-propagating guided signal and idler beams to be satisfied. We compare the tuning curves and spectral properties of such counter-propagating beams to those for co-propagating beams under typical experimental conditions. We find that the counter-propagating beams exhibit narrow bandwidth permitting the generation of quantum states that possess discrete-frequency entanglement. Such states may be useful for experiments in quantum optics and technologies that benefit from frequency entanglement.Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev.

Generalized Wasserstein distance and its application to transport equations with source

In this article, we generalize the Wasserstein distance to measures with different masses. We study the properties of such distance. In particular, we show that it metrizes weak convergence for tight sequences. We use this generalized Wasserstein distance to study a transport equation with source, in which both the vector field and the source depend on the measure itself. We prove existence and uniqueness of the solution to the Cauchy problem when the vector field and the source are Lipschitzian with respect to the generalized Wasserstein distance

Multimodality Treatment for Early-Stage Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Bridging Therapy for Liver Transplantation

Purpose: To evaluate the efficiency of a multimodality approach consisting of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) and radiofrequency ablation (RFA) as bridging therapy for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) awaiting orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) and to evaluate the histopathological response in explant specimens. Materials and Methods: Between April 2001 and November 2011, 36 patients with 50 HCC nodules (1.4-5.0 cm, median 2.8 cm) on the waiting list for liver transplantation were treated by TACE and RFA. The drop-out rate during the follow-up period was recorded. The local efficacy was evaluated by histopathological examination of the explanted livers. Results: During a median follow-up time of 29 (4.0-95.3) months the cumulative drop-out rate for the patients on the waiting list was 0, 2.8, 5.5, 11.0, 13.9 and 16.7% at 3, 6, 12, 24, 36 and 48 months, respectively. 16 patients (with 26 HCC lesions) out of 36(44.4%) were transplanted by the end of study with a median waiting list time of 13.7 (2.5-37.8) months. The histopathological examination of the explanted specimens revealed a complete necrosis in 20 of 26 HCCs (76.9%), whereas 6 (23.1%) nodules showed viable residual tumor tissue. All transplanted patients are alive at a median time of 29.9 months. Imaging correlation showed 100% specificity and 66.7% sensitivity for the depiction of residual or recurrent tumor. Conclusion: We conclude that TACE.combined with RFA could provide an effective treatment to decrease the drop-out rate from the OLT waiting list for HCC patients. Furthermore, this combination therapy results in high rates of complete tumor necrosis as evaluated in the histopathological analysis of the explanted livers. Further randomized trials are needed to demonstrate if there is a benefit in comparison with a single-treatment approach. copyright (C) 2012 S. Karger AG, Base

From finite geometry exact quantities to (elliptic) scattering amplitudes for spin chains: the 1/2-XYZ

Initially, we derive a nonlinear integral equation for the vacuum counting function of the spin 1/2-XYZ chain in the {\it disordered regime}, thus paralleling similar results by Kl\"umper \cite{KLU}, achieved through a different technique in the {\it antiferroelectric regime}. In terms of the counting function we obtain the usual physical quantities, like the energy and the transfer matrix (eigenvalues). Then, we introduce a double scaling limit which appears to describe the sine-Gordon theory on cylindrical geometry, so generalising famous results in the plane by Luther \cite{LUT} and Johnson et al. \cite{JKM}. Furthermore, after extending the nonlinear integral equation to excitations, we derive scattering amplitudes involving solitons/antisolitons first, and bound states later. The latter case comes out as manifestly related to the Deformed Virasoro Algebra of Shiraishi et al. \cite{SKAO}. Although this nonlinear integral equations framework was contrived to deal with finite geometries, we prove it to be effective for discovering or rediscovering S-matrices. As a particular example, we prove that this unique model furnishes explicitly two S-matrices, proposed respectively by Zamolodchikov \cite{ZAMe} and Lukyanov-Mussardo-Penati \cite{LUK, MP} as plausible scattering description of unknown integrable field theories.Comment: Article, 41 pages, Late

On the commuting charges for the highest dimension SU(2) operators in planar N=4{\cal N}=4 SYM

We consider the highest anomalous dimension operator in the SU(2) sector of planar ${\cal N}=4$ SYM at all-loop, though neglecting wrapping contributions. In any case, the latter enter the loop expansion only after a precise length-depending order. In the thermodynamic limit we write both a linear integral equation for the Bethe root density and a linear system obeyed by the commuting charges. Consequently, we determine the leading strong coupling contribution to the density and from this an approximation to the leading and sub-leading terms of any charge $Q_r$: it scales as $\lambda ^{1/4-r/2}$, which generalises the Gubser-Klebanov-Polyakov energy law. In the end, we briefly extend these considerations to finite lengths and 'excited' operators by using the idea of a non-linear integral equation.Comment: Latex file, 20 pages, some typos corrected, some technical details expanded and explaine