Complex critical exponents for percolation transitions in Josephson-junction arrays, antiferromagnets, and interacting bosons

We show that the critical behavior of quantum systems undergoing a percolation transition is dramatically affected by their topological Berry phase $2\pi\rho$. For irrational $\rho$, we demonstrate that the low-energy excitations of diluted Josephson-junctions arrays, quantum antiferromagnets, and interacting bosons are spinless fermions with fractal spectrum. As a result, critical properties not captured by the usual Ginzburg-Landau-Wilson description of phase transitions emerge, such as complex critical exponents, log-periodic oscillations and dynamically broken scale-invariance.Comment: revised version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let

Büchwald-Hartwig reaction applied to synthesis of new luminescent liquid crystal triarylamines derived from isoxazoles

© 2015 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. The present work describes the synthesis and characterization of novel series of triarylamines isoxazoles (TAA) addressed to the organic photovoltaic materials. Diarylisoxazoles were synthesized by sequential [3+2] 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction between arylnitrile oxides and selected arylalkenes followed by MnO2-oxidation. Isoxazoles were coupled to diarylamines by Büchwald-Hartwig reaction to afford desired compounds 6a-k. Some TAA display liquid-crystalline behaviour and UV-Vis absorption and fluorescence emission were analysed for all samples of TAA 6a-k

Variação da produtividade do arroz de terras altas influenciados pela seca meteorológica em Goiás.

A seca é um fenômeno meteorológico caracterizado pela falta de precipitação pluvial, que pode causar grandes prejuízos à produção agrícola. O presente trabalho tem como objetivo caracterizar a ocorrência de seca, utilizando o Índice Padronizado de Precipitação (SPI) em cinco microrregiões do estado de Goiás e sua influencia na produtividade de arroz de terras altas. As cinco microrregiões estudadas foram: Anápolis, Ceres, Iporá, Anicuns e Goiânia. A série de dados históricos de precipitação foi disponibilizada pela Agência Nacional de Águas (ANA), coletados em um município pertencente à microrregião analisada. O período de estudo foi de 1975 a 2005. Os dados de produtividade, para o mesmo período foi disponibilizado pela AGROTEC. Os valores do SPI foram caracterizados pela a ocorrência dos eventos de seca, frequência relativa, comparação com os dados de produtividade do arroz de terras altas e o percentual de acerto do índice. Foi possível observar que o SPI não acompanhou totalmente a variação da produtividade do arroz de terras altas. O SPI apresentou percentuais de acerto baixos, em todas as microrregiões, ficando próximo a 51%

Impacts of in vivo and in vitro exposures to tamoxifen: comparative effects on human cells and marine organisms

Tamoxifen (TAM) is a first generation-SERM administered for hormone receptor-positive (HER+) breast cancer in both pre- and post-menopausal patients and may undergo metabolic activation in organisms that share similar receptors and thus face comparable mechanisms of response. The present study aimed to assess whether environmental trace concentrations of TAM are bioavailable to the filter feeder M. galloprovincialis (100 ng L-1) and to the deposit feeder N. diversicolor (0.5, 10, 25 and 100 ng L-1) after 14 days of exposure. Behavioural impairment (burrowing kinetic), neurotoxicity (AChE activity), endocrine disruption by alkali-labile phosphate (ALP) content, oxidative stress (SOD, CAT, GPXs activities), biotransformation (GST activity), oxidative damage (LPO) and genotoxicity (DNA damage) were assessed. Moreover, this study also pertained to compare TAM cytotoxicity effects to mussels and targeted human (i.e. immortalized retinal pigment epithelium - RPE; and human transformed endothelial cells - HeLa) cell lines, in a range of concentrations from 0.5 ng L-1 to 50 μg L-1. In polychaetes N. diversicolor, TAM exerted remarkable oxidative stress and damage at the lowest concentration (0.5 ng L-1), whereas significant genotoxicity was reported at the highest exposure level (100 ng L-1). In mussels M. galloprovincialis, 100 ng L-1 TAM caused endocrine disruption in males, neurotoxicity, and an induction in GST activity and LPO byproducts in gills, corroborating in genotoxicity over the exposure days. Although cytotoxicity assays conducted with mussel haemocytes following in vivo exposure was not effective, in vitro exposure showed to be a feasible alternative, with comparable sensitivity to human cell line (HeLa).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Persistence in the zero-temperature dynamics of the QQ-states Potts model on undirected-directed Barab\'asi-Albert networks and Erd\"os-R\'enyi random graphs

The zero-temperature Glauber dynamics is used to investigate the persistence probability $P(t)$ in the Potts model with $Q=3,4,5,7,9,12,24,64, 128$, $256, 512, 1024,4096,16384$,..., $2^{30}$ states on {\it directed} and {\it undirected} Barab\'asi-Albert networks and Erd\"os-R\'enyi random graphs. In this model it is found that $P(t)$ decays exponentially to zero in short times for {\it directed} and {\it undirected} Erd\"os-R\'enyi random graphs. For {\it directed} and {\it undirected} Barab\'asi-Albert networks, in contrast it decays exponentially to a constant value for long times, i.e, $P(\infty)$ is different from zero for all $Q$ values (here studied) from $Q=3,4,5,..., 2^{30}$; this shows "blocking" for all these $Q$ values. Except that for $Q=2^{30}$ in the {\it undirected} case $P(t)$ tends exponentially to zero; this could be just a finite-size effect since in the other "blocking" cases you may have only a few unchanged spins.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures for IJM

Runoff at the micro-plot and slope scale following wildfire, central Portugal

Through their effects on soil properties and vegetation/litter cover, wildfires can strongly enhance overland flow generation and accelerate soil erosion [1] and, thereby, negatively affect land-use sustainability as well as downstream aquatic and flood zones. Wildfires are a common phenomenon in present-day Portugal, devastating in an average year some 100.000 ha of forest and woodlands and in an exceptional year like 2003 over 400.000 ha. There therefore exists a clear need in Portugal for a tool that can provide guidance to post-fire land management by predicting soil erosion risk, on the one hand, and, on the other, the mitigation effectiveness of soil conservation measures. Such a tool has recently been developed for the Western U.S.A. [3: ERMiT] but its suitability for Portuguese forests will need to be corroborated by field observations. Testing the suitability of existing erosion models in recently burned forest areas in Portugal is, in a nutshell, the aim of the EROSFIRE projects. In the first EROSFIRE project the emphasis was on the prediction of erosion at the scale of individual hill slopes. In the ongoing EROSFIRE-II project the spatial scope is extended to include the catchment scale, so that also the connectivity between hill slopes as well as channel and road processes are being addressed. Besides ERMiT, the principal models under evaluation for slope-scale erosion prediction are: (i) the variant of USLE [4] applied by the Portuguese Water Institute after the wildfires of 2003; (ii) the Morgan–Morgan–Finney model (MMF) [5]; (iii) MEFIDIS [6]. From these models, MEFIDIS and perhaps MMF will, after successful calibration at the slope scale, also be applied for predicting catchment-scale sediment yields of extreme events

The Ratio of Ortho- to Para-H2 in Photodissociation Regions

We discuss the ratio of ortho- to para-H2 in photodissociation regions (PDRs). We draw attention to an apparent confusion in the literature between the ortho-to-para ratio of molecules in FUV-pumped vibrationally excited states, and the H2 ortho-to-para abundance ratio. These ratios are not the same because the process of FUV-pumping of fluorescent H2 emission in PDRs occurs via optically thick absorption lines. Thus, gas with an equilibrium ratio of ortho- to para-H2 equal to 3 will yield FUV-pumped vibrationally excited ortho-to-para ratios smaller than 3, because the ortho-H2 pumping rates are preferentially reduced by optical depth effects. Indeed, if the ortho and para pumping lines are on the ``square root'' part of the curve-of-growth, then the expected ratio of ortho and para vibrational line strengths is the square root of 3, ~ 1.7, close to the typically observed value. Thus, contrary to what has sometimes been stated in the literature, most previous measurements of the ratio of ortho- to para-H2 in vibrationally excited states are entirely consistent with a total ortho-to-para ratio of 3, the equilibrium value for temperatures greater than 200 K. We present an analysis and several detailed models which illustrate the relationship between the total ratios of ortho- to para-H2 and the vibrationally excited ortho-to-para ratios in PDRs. Recent Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) measurements of pure rotational and vibrational H2 emissions from the PDR in the star-forming region S140 provide strong observational support for our conclusions.Comment: 23 pages (including 5 figures), LaTeX, uses aaspp4.sty, accepted for publication in Ap

Runoff and erosion at the micro-plot and slope scale in a small burnt catchment, central Portugal

Wildfires can have important impacts on hydrological processes and soil erosion in forest catchments, due to the destruction of vegetation cover and changes to soil properties. However, the processes involved are non-linear and not fully understood. This has severely limited the understanding on the impacts of wildfires, especially in the up-scaling from hillslopes to catchments; in consequence, current models are poorly adapted for burnt forest conditions. The objective of this presentation is to give an overview of the hydrological response and sediment yield from the micro-plot to slope scale, in the first year following a wildfire (2008/2009) that burnt an entire catchment nearby the Colmeal village, central Portugal. The overview will focus on three slopes inside the catchment, with samples including: • Runoff at micro-plot scale (12 bounded plots) and slope scale (12 open plots); • Sediments and Organic Matter loss at micro-plot scale (12 bounded plots) and slope scale (12 open plots plus 3 Sediment fences); • Rainfall and Soil moisture data; • Soil Water Repellency and Ground Cover data. The analysis of the first year following the wildfire clearly shows the complexity of runoff generation and the associated sediment transport in recently burnt areas, with pronounced differences between hillslopes and across spatial scales as well as with marked variations through time. This work was performed in the framework of the EROSFIRE-II project (PTDC/AGR-CFL/70968/2006) which has as overall aim to predict soil erosion risk in recently burnt forest areas, including common post-fire forest management practices; the project focuses on the simultaneous measurement of runoff and soil erosion at multiple spatial scales.The results to be presented in this session are expected to show how sediment is generated, transported and exported in the Colmeal watershed; and contribute to understand and simulate erosion processes in burnt catchments, including for model development and evaluation