Chemical reducing pedoenvironment in a peatland influenced by hematitic phyllite lithology in the southern Espinhaço chain,Brazil

A peatland in Pinheiro, Diamantina City, Minas Gerais State - Brazil, was sampled at different depths of two profiles with diverse vegetation coverings (grassland field and bush) in order to collect materials that might reflect changes in the chemical states of iron over the peat formation coming from original minerals such as hematitic phyllite surrounding the boggy pedon. Samples collected were chemically, structurally and magnetically characterized. The results show that both series of peats are composed of organic matter and minerals such as quartz, kaolinite, gibbsite, rutile and muscovite. Deeper layers present only quartz. Mössbauer spectroscopy shows that iron is present in both electron states, Fe²⁺ and Fe³⁺, under both vegetations, each valence appearing in the spectra in the form of a discrete doublet. No hyperfine magnetic splitting was observed in any spectrum at room temperature. The Mössbauer subspectral area of Fe²⁺ tended to increase from the upper to deeper layers. Magnetic measurements reveal that the magnetic response of the surface samples is the highest, displaying a sharp decrease below 15 cm and that the magnetic signal is a superposition of (super)paramagnetic and ferrimagnetic contributions. Samples from the grassland field also show a diamagnetic component for the deeper layers.     

Chemical Synthesis of Highly Magnetic, Air-Stable Silica-Coated iron Particles

Highly magnetic and air-stable silica-coated Fe particles have been prepared by a rapid and simple method. The specific magnetization of the sample can be as high as 201 Am^2 /kg even including silica, which is a non-magnetic material. The iron particle coated with silica is passivated and protected from oxidation. The influences of H2 reduction temperature on structure and magnetic properties are also studied.     

What is the fate of a black hole embedded in an expanding universe?

Within a large class of exact solutions of the Einstein equations describing a black hole embedded in a Friedmann universe it is shown that, under certain assumptions, only those with comoving Hawking–Hayward quasi-local mass are generic, in the sense that they are late-time attractors.     

Calculation of the transfer integrals in Wannier representation for a planar trans-polyacetylene chain

In this paper,the electronic transfer integrals,the energy gap,and the bandwidth of a planar trans-polyacetylene chain are calculated in Wannier representation,in which a combination of the wave function of hydrogen-like atoms is used to stand for the Wannier function.When the effective nuclear charge number Z=2.125 and the distortion amplitude of the carbon sites u=0.0038 nm,the nearest,next,and third neighborhopping energies obtained are -3.224 78 eV,-2.388 61 eV,0.148 14 eV,0.006 65 eV,and 0.00650 eV,respectively.The energy bandwidth and gap corresponding to these values are Wd=11.19 eV and Eg=1.70 eV,respectively.These results coincide with the experimental values.     

Chemical Potential Dependence of the Dressed-Quark Propagator in a Simple Confining QCD Model

Based on the Dyson-Schwinger approach, a method for obtaining the chemical potential dependence of the dressed quark propagator in the ‘Nambu-Goldstone‘ and the ‘Wigner‘ phase is developed. The bag constant in the presence of the non-zero chemical potential is analysed.     

First description of B chromosomes in the family Auchenipteridae,Parauchenipterus galeatus (Siluriformes) of the São Francisco River basin (MG,Brazil)

B chromosomes are considered additional and non-essential; they likely originate from A chromosomes and follow a distinct evolution. In fish, approximately half of the Neotropical species with B chromosomes are Characiformes and 35% are Siluriformes. There has been no report of B chromosomes in Auchenipteridae until this moment. B chromosomes found in a population of Parauchenipterus galeatus from the São Francisco River basin in the state of Minas Gerais (Brazil) were small, metacentric, totally heterochromatic and exhibited intra-individual and inter-individual variation. The diploid number was 58 chromosomes (22 metacentric, 16 submetacentric, 12 subtelocentric and 8 acrocentric). The nucleolar organizing regions were simple and the heterochromatin intercalated in the ribosomal sites, characterized by CMA₃ and DAPI fluorochromes, was of a GC-rich constitution. The 5S rDNA genes were located in an intercalary position in only one chromosome pair. An hypothesis about the origin of the B chromosomes in P. galeatus and a review on B chromosomes in catfish are also presented in this study.     

Mössbauer diagnostics of the isomorphic substitution of iron for aluminum in triclinic iron vanadate

Mössbauer spectroscopy and X-ray powder diffractometry (XRD) phase analysis are used to study mixed vanadates with the composition Al _x Fe_{3 ? x} V₃O₁₂, where x is 0, 0.3, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.7, and 3.0. Mössbauer spectroscopy is used to study the distribution of trivalent cations over different crystallographic positions. It is shown that the distribution of aluminum atoms differs from those expected from statistic and thermodynamic models.     

Mössbauer study of iron removal in a montmorillonite

⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy in conjunction with atomic absorption spectrometry and X-ray powder differaction analyses have been used to study the iron present in a montmorillonite prior to and after different successive stages of two deferration processes. Fe³⁺ ions occupy mainly octahedrical M(2) sites in the mineral structure; no impurities of iron oxides were detected. The quite efficient deferration by HCl refluxing produced a substantial alteration of lamellar structure of montmorillonite, whilst dithionite/citrate treatment did not induce severe structural changes but had low iron removal efficiency.     

Hematite from a mining area in the east border of Quadrilátero Ferrífero, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Iron oxides are dominant minerals in many geo-domains of economical interest, as iron ore mines. Knowing the main mineral transformation pathways is a fundamental step to plan prospecting new mineral deposits. This study aimed at contributing to a better understanding of the chemical and mineralogical processes related to the genesis and transformations of iron oxides involving hematite in an iron-ore mine of the east border of Quadrilátero Ferrífero, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Two representative geo-samples were analyzed with synchrotron radiation X-ray diffraction (XRD), ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy, X-ray fluorescence and saturation magnetization (σ) measurements. The iron content varied from 65 to 69 mass% Fe. From XRD data, hematite is indeed the major mineral for all samples but characteristic reflections of goethite and magnetite also appear. For the magnetic sample, σ = 6.9 J T^???1 kg^???1. 298 K- and 110 K-Mössbauer data allow characterizing hematite in these iron-rich geo-materials.     

Feeding and Growth of Apple Snail Pomacea lineata in the Pantanal Wetland,Brazil—a Stable Isotope Approach

Abstract

Apple snails Pomacea lineata (SPIX 1827) are widespread in the tropical regions of Brazil as well as in the Pantanal wetland of Mato Grosso in the western part of the country. They have a key position in the Pantanal food web and serve as food for many animals e.g. fishes, birds, and caimans. However, little is known about their feeding preferences and growth rates. Stable isotopes have been used successfully on numerous studies as food source indicator. Therefore, the δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C values of snails from 0.45 to 3.03cm in length, which were collected in the rainy season from March through May, were analyzed. Snails signatures revealed ambiguous evidence for food preferences. δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C values ranged between ?2.8 and 12.4‰ and between ?24.2 and ?16.4‰, respectively. This range of values mirrors the highly variable isotope values of possible food sources comprising C₃ and C₄ macrophytes. To test whether all common food sources were similarly assimilated, feeding experiments with different diets were conducted. Snail eggs were reared in tanks and offered different but single plants. Snails fed different diets and δ¹³C values of the food were reflected in the animal tissue. Growth varied considerably in experiments with different diets indicating the preference for certain food sources. Also, the fractionation of nitrogen isotopes between food and animal varied from 0.1 to 17.0‰. The results are explained by different feeding habits, and it is supposed that animals fed either on the plant itself or on bacteria mats growing in the tanks. In an additional experiment juvenile snails were offered one single food with a distinctive C₄ grass signature. These snails did not grow detectably, but nevertheless isotope signatures approached to values of the diet.     

Effect of the Aharonov-Bohm flux on the magnetic gap soliton in antiferromagnetic chain

Employing the double-sublattice, the coherent state ansatz, and the time-dependent variational principle, we have studied the effects of the Aharonov-Bohm flux on the soliton in one-dimensional antiferromagnetic chain. The results show that the Aharonov-Bohm flux have an effect on the peak, the width, the energy and the spatial configuration of the spin of the soliton.     

A Mossbauer study of the magnetic coupling in iron phosphorous trisulfides

The polycrystalline sample of layered compound FePS_3 has been investigated by using M?ssbauer spectroscopy (12K to 300K), magnetic susceptibility measurements, x-ray diffraction and FTIR spectroscopy. The antiferromagnetic order exists below T_N=120.5±1K. The M?ssbauer spectra below T_N indicate that the magnetization axis is perpendicular to the layer of FePS_3, and the divalent iron cations are in their high spin configurations. By fitting the hyperfine field parameters near the Néel temperature, we obtain information on the nature of magnetic interactions in the material. The results show that the magnetic coupling can be treated by the two-dimensional Ising model, and it can be interpreted on the basis of a crystal-field effect.     

Distribution of iron atoms in Fe-Mn alloys with the structure of β-Mn

X-ray analysis and Mössbauer spectroscopy were used to study the distribution of iron atoms in Fe-Mn alloys isostructural to -Mn and to determine the iron concentrations in the positions 8(c) and 12(d) of the -Mn structure in alloys of different compositions.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 3, pp. 86–89, March, 1981.     

Third-order approximation of the temperature expansion for a Bogolyubov “chain”

A solution of the Bogolyubov chain is found for a binary distribution function in the third-order approximation of the temperature expansion. The corresponding equations of state are obtained for a van der Waals crystal.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 11, pp. 60–64,'November, 1976.     

First-principles study of the effect of iron on the crystal structure,stability and chemical bonding in the β-based AlCu ordered η2-phase and the pretransition state of a solid solution

First-principles calculations showed that the thermodynamic stability of β-based ordered η₂-AlCu phase doped with Fe is due to iron substitution in the copper sublattice (Fe_Cu), which corresponds to the maximum number of Fe–Al bonds in the first cubic coordination polyhedron. This iron localisation leads to stable ω-like atomic displacements and pentagonal Al-nets in the (010) plane of η₂-AlCu(Fe). This phase with iron substituting copper (e/a?=?1.925) is an energetically preferred η-based non-canonical approximant of the icosahedral phase (e/a?=?1.86). The energy gain for the Fe_Cu position is determined by strong covalent Fe3d–Al3p bonding, while there is a weak Fe3d–Cu4s3d hybridisation for the Fe_Al substitution. Using a composite cluster model, we demonstrate that short-range order in the pretransition state of the β-Al–Cu–Fe solid solution observed prior to the precipitation of η-phase is stabilised due to formation of Fe–Al bonds in the first cubic coordination polyhedron of the composite cluster.     

Quantum criticality of quantum speed limit for a two-qubit system in the spin chain with the Dzyaloshinsky–Moriya interaction

We study the quantum speed limit (QSL) time of a two-qubit system coupled to a spin–chain model with the Dzyaloshinsky–Moriya (DM) interaction. For the Bell state coupled to the Ising model or anisotropic XY model, we find that there is a prominent corresponding relationship between the QSL time and quantum phase transition in a spin–chain environment with larger scale, and the DM interaction can strongly enhance or suppress the response relation. Remarkably, when the surrounding environment is set to the XX model, the DM interaction makes it possible for us to witness the quantum phase transition by the local anomalous enhancement of the QSL time near the critical point. In addition, our analyses indicate that the entanglement can speed-up the system evolution in many-body environment.