Electromagnetic-field quantization and spontaneous decay in left-handed media

We present a quantization scheme for the electromagnetic field interacting with atomic systems in the presence of dispersing and absorbing magnetodielectric media, including left-handed material having negative real part of the refractive index. The theory is applied to the spontaneous decay of a two-level atom at the center of a spherical free-space cavity surrounded by magnetodielectric matter of overlapping band-gap zones. Results for both big and small cavities are presented, and the problem of local-field corrections within the real-cavity model is addressed.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures, RevTe

Efeitos das deficiências de macronutrientes em duas variedades de soja (Glycine max (L.) Merr.), Santa rosa e UFV-1, cultivadas em solução nutritiva

Two soybean varieties were grown in nutrient solution in the presence and in conditions of deficiency of macronutrients (supplied at 1 tenth of full strength level). During the life cycle samples were taken for leaf analyses, as well as for the determination of the activity of nitrate reductase (NO3R). At the end of the pod filling, periodical mineral analyses were carried out in all the organs of the plants under the "complete" tratment; only leaves were analysed in teh remaining plants. The main conclusion were the following (1) symptoms of deficiency which showed up (N, P, K and Ca) are in agreement with those described in the literature; (2) plants deficient in N,P, K or Ca did not produce any pods; (3) there was a differential response in quantitative terms, of the two varieties to the deficiency of elements in the substrate; (4) the adequate levels of N, P, K, Ca, Mg and S are not the same for the two varieties; (5) quick tests provided and indication of the nutritional status; (6) NO3R activity reflected the level of N in the nutrient solution.Duas variedades de soja, Santa Rosa e UFV-1 foram cultivadas em solução nutritiva deficiente em macronutrientes. Foi possível obter sintomas de carência, verificar o efeito das deficiências no crescimento, composição mineral e produção de vagens. Fez-se a diagnose foliar no caso de N, P e K e verificou-se o efeito do nivel de N na solução sobre a atividade da redutase de nitrato

Measurement of charged particle multiplicities in pppp collisions at s=7{\sqrt{s} =7}TeV in the forward region

The charged particle production in proton-proton collisions is studied with the LHCb detector at a centre-of-mass energy of ${\sqrt{s} =7}$TeV in different intervals of pseudorapidity $\eta$. The charged particles are reconstructed close to the interaction region in the vertex detector, which provides high reconstruction efficiency in the $\eta$ ranges $-2.5<\eta<-2.0$ and $2.0<\eta<4.5$. The data were taken with a minimum bias trigger, only requiring one or more reconstructed tracks in the vertex detector. By selecting an event sample with at least one track with a transverse momentum greater than 1 GeV/c a hard QCD subsample is investigated. Several event generators are compared with the data; none are able to describe fully the multiplicity distributions or the charged particle density distribution as a function of $\eta$. In general, the models underestimate the charged particle production