The descriptions of new microanatomical structures of the male reproductive system and sperm of Myschocyttarus cassununga (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)

The male reproductive system of Mischocyttarus cassununga consists of two testes, each one with three follicles, as occurs in most Vespidae. The seminal vesicle is divided in two chambers, separated by a constriction, so that the anterior locus is a little larger. In the testicular follicles, the spermatozoa are organized in cysts, with approximately 128 per cyst, where the nuclei are oriented toward the follicle center. The spermatozoa of M. cassununga is about 97 μm in length, which makes them the shortest sperm described for Vespidae. Sperm ultrastructure of M. cassununga is very similar of the others Vespidae. But, despite these similarities, the bilobated mitochondrial derivative represents an autapomorphy for M. cassununga. The subdivision of the seminal vesicle has never been observed in any other Vespidae. Thus, this study supports the validity of insect sperm morphology as a tool for phylogenetic analysis within Hymenoptera.     

Study of diffusion of wave packets in a square lattice under external fields along the discrete nonlinear Schrödinger equation

The object of the present work is to analyze the effect of nonlinearity on wave packet propagation in a square lattice subject to a magnetic and an electric field in the Hall configuration, by using the Discrete Nonlinear Schrödinger Equation (DNLSE). In previous works we have shown that without the nonlinear term, the presence of the magnetic field induces the formation of vortices that remain stationary, while a wave packet is introduced in the system. As for the effect of an applied electric field, it was shown that the vortices propagate in a direction perpendicular to the electric field, similar behavior as presented in the classical treatment, we provide a quantum mechanics explanation for that. We have performed the calculations considering first the action of the magnetic field as well as the nonlinearity. The results indicate that for low values of the nonlinear parameter U the vortices remain stationary while preserving the form. For greater values of the parameter the picture gets distorted, the more so, the greater the nonlinearity. As for the inclusion of the electric field, we note that for small U, the wave packet propagates perpendicular to the applied field, until for greater values of U the wave gets partially localized in a definite region of the lattice. That is, for strong nonlinearity the wave packet gets partially trapped, while the tail of it can propagate through the lattice. Note that this tail propagation is responsible for the over-diffusion for long times of the wave packet under the action of an electric field. We have produced short films that show clearly the time evolution of the wave packet, which can add to the understanding of the dynamics.     

Separation of glucose and fructose by freezing crystallization

This work comprises the implementation of a methodology for the study of an industrial crystallization process by freezing and cooling to be applied in the separation of sugars with industrial relevance (glucose and fructose). The main interest is the production of fructose. This sugar is obtained by sucrose hydrolysis in acidic solutions, which yields an equimolar mixture of glucose and fructose. The developed separation process is based on the solubility difference between the sugars. Experiments were carried out in a jacketed glass crystallizer where the solution coming from the sucrose acid inversion was submitted to a slow cooling. Since glucose has lower solubility than fructose, it crystallizes in the bulk as the temperature is lowered, thus it can be removed from the solution by fliltration or centrifugation. Best fructose‐glucose separation was achieved for a total sugar concentration of 50 wt%. (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)