Measurement of the 0.511 MeV gamma ray line from the Galactic Center

The detection of the 0.511 MeV electron positron annihilation line coming from the Galactic Center to provide the means to estimate the rate of positron production and to test some theoretical sources of positrons is addressed. The results of the measurements of the 0.511 MeV line flux made with a gamma ray experiment on board a stratospheric balloon are presented. The detector field of view looked at the galactic longitude range -31 deg l(II) +41 deg. The observed flux is 0.0067 (+ or - 0.0005) photons 1/cm(2)5 which is in very good agreement with the expected flux when assuming that the Galactic Center is a line source emitting uniformly

Magnetic properties of Fe3O4 nanoparticles coated with oleic and dodecanoic acids

Magnetic nanoparticles (NP) of magnetite (Fe3O4) coated with oleic acid (OA) and dodecanoic acid (DA) were synthesized and investigated through Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM),magnetization M, and ac magnetic susceptibility measurements. The OA coated samples were produced with different magnetic concentrations (78, 76, and 65%) and the DA sample with 63% of Fe3O4. Images from TEM indicate that the NP have a nearly spherical geometry and mean diameter ~ 5.5 nm. Magnetization measurements, performed in zero field cooled (ZFC) and field cooled (FC) processes under different external magnetic fields H, exhibited a maximum at a given temperature TB in the ZFC curves, which depends on the NP coating (OA or DA), magnetite concentration, and H. The temperature TB decreases monotonically with increasing H and, for a given H, the increase in the magnetite concentration results in an increase of TB. The observed behavior is related to the dipolar interaction (DI) between NP which seems to be an important mechanism in all samples studied. This is supported by the results of the ac magnetic susceptibility Xac measurements, where the temperature in which X' peaks for different frequencies follows the Vogel-Fulcher model, a feature commonly found in systems with dipolar interactions. Curves of H vs. TB/TB(H=0) for samples with different coatings and magnetite concentrations collapse into a universal curve, indicating that the qualitative magnetic behavior of the samples may be described by the NP themselves, instead of the coating or the strength of the dipolar interaction. Below TB, M vs. H curves show a coercive field (HC) that increases monotonically with decreasing temperature. The saturation magnetization (MS) follows the Bloch's law and values of MS at room temperature as high as 78 emu/g were estimated, a result corresponding to ~80% of the bulk value. The overlap of M/MS vs. H/T curves for a given sample and the low HC at high temperatures suggest superparamagnetic behavior in all samples studied. The overlap of M/MS vs. H curves at constant temperature for different samples indicates that the NP magnetization behavior is preserved, independently of the coating and magnetite concentration.Comment: 8 pages and 9 figure

Measuring The Co2 Flux At The Air/water Interface In Lakes Using Flow Injection Analysis.

The carbon dioxide flux at the air/water interface in lakes was calculated after the determination of H2CO3* (free CO2) and atmospheric CO2 using flow injection analysis (FIA) coupled to a conductometric detector. The method is based on the diffusion of CO2 through a hydrophobic membrane into a flow of deionized water, generating a gradient of conductivity proportional to the concentration of CO2 in the sample. Using one experimental set-up, the speciation of the inorganic carbon (H2CO3* and dissolved inorganic carbon) was accomplished by simply adjusting the sample pH. The determination of CO2 in the atmosphere was carried out by direct injection of the gaseous samples. The FIA apparatus was taken into the field and CO2 fluxes were evaluated in several Brazilian lakes. In these lakes, representing different eutrophic stages, the CO2 flux varied from -242 (invasive) up to 3227 (evasive) mumol CO2 m-2 h-1.3317-2

Nonsingular solutions of Hitchin's equations for noncompact gauge groups

We consider a general ansatz for solving the 2-dimensional Hitchin's equations, which arise as dimensional reduction of the 4-dimensional self-dual Yang-Mills equations, with remarkable integrability properties. We focus on the case when the gauge group G is given by a real form of SL(2,C). For G=SO(2,1), the resulting field equations are shown to reduce to either the Liouville, elliptic sinh-Gordon or elliptic sine-Gordon equations. As opposed to the compact case, given by G=SU(2), the field equations associated with the noncompact group SO(2,1) are shown to have smooth real solutions with nonsingular action densities, which are furthermore localized in some sense. We conclude by discussing some particular solutions, defined on R^2, S^2 and T^2, that come out of this ansatz.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures. To appear in Nonlinearit

Heterotic Compactification, An Algorithmic Approach

We approach string phenomenology from the perspective of computational algebraic geometry, by providing new and efficient techniques for proving stability and calculating particle spectra in heterotic compactifications. This is done in the context of complete intersection Calabi-Yau manifolds in a single projective space where we classify positive monad bundles. Using a combination of analytic methods and computer algebra we prove stability for all such bundles and compute the complete particle spectrum, including gauge singlets. In particular, we find that the number of anti-generations vanishes for all our bundles and that the spectrum is manifestly moduli-dependent.Comment: 36 pages, Late

Tuberculose extrapulmonar em pacientes com AIDS na cidade do Rio Grande, Brasil. Diagnóstico laboratorial

ABSTRACTOne hundred two specimens of extrapulmonary material from 74 AIDS patients from the AIDS Service of University Hospital, FURG, Rio Grande, RS, Brazil, were examined at Mycobacteria Laboratory, between September 1997 and December 1999. This study had the aim to evaluate laboratoy importance in the diagnosis of extrapulmonary tuberculosis in AIDS patients with clinical suggestive symptoms of tuberculosis. Acid-fast bacilli (AFB) stains were performed using the Kinyon Method (cold stainning). Mycobacterial isolation was made In the Ogawa medium. The Ogawa medium added with p-nitrobenzoic acid, 2-tiophenocarboxylic acid hidrazide and pyruvic acid sodium salt was used to the Identification of mycobacterial species. Confirmation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis was done by the niacin test. The extrapulmonary tuberculosis diagnosis was done in 12,74% of specimens from 17,56% of the patients. Distribution of specimens with positive results in relation to the obtained sites were: 8/13 lymph node biopsies, 2/13 liver biopsies, 2/13 ascitic nuid and 1/13 pleural nuid. ABF were found on microscopic examination from 7/13 specimens and 10/13 in culture. The microscopic examination of ABF stain was the only method responsible for the extrapulmonary tuberculosis diagnostic in 3/13 cases and the culture in 6/13 cases. Among the positive specimens at microscopic examination or ABF stains, 6/7 were lymph node biopsies and In ascitic fluid. The used methods in the diagnosis, of the extrapulmonary tuberculosis showed good results, by this way we strongly recommend the realization of both as routine in our place.REV PORT PNEUMOL 2000; VI (4): 277-28

Metal-insulator transition in Nd1−x_{1-x}Eux_{x}NiO3_{3} compounds

Polycrystalline Nd$_{1-x}$Eu$_{x}$NiO$_3$ ($0 \leq x \leq 0.5$) compounds were synthesized in order to investigate the character of the metal-insulator (MI) phase transition in this series. Samples were prepared through the sol-gel route and subjected to heat treatments at $\sim$1000 $^\circ$C under oxygen pressures as high as 80 bar. X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Neutron Powder Diffraction (NPD), electrical resistivity $\rho(T)$, and Magnetization $M(T)$ measurements were performed on these compounds. The results of NPD and XRD indicated that the samples crystallize in an orthorhombic distorted perovskite structure, space group $Pbnm$. The analysis of the structural parameters revealed a sudden and small expansion of $\sim$0.2% of the unit cell volume when electronic localization occurs. This expansion was attributed to a small increase of $\sim$0.003 \AA{} of the average Ni-O distance and a simultaneous decrease of $\sim$$- 0.5^\circ$ of the Ni-O-Ni superexchange angle. The $\rho(T)$ measurements revealed a MI transition occurring at temperatures ranging from $T_{\rm MI}\sim 193$ to 336 K for samples with $x = 0$ and 0.50, respectively. These measurements also show a large thermal hysteresis in NdNiO$_{3}$ during heating and cooling processes suggesting a first-order character of the phase transition at $T_{\rm MI}$. The width of this thermal hysteresis was found to decrease appreciably for the sample Nd$_{0.7}$Eu$_{0.3}$NiO$_{3}$. The results indicate that cation disorder associated with increasing substitution of Nd by Eu is responsible for changing the first order character of the transition in NdNiO$_{3}$.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figure