Resonant Zener tunneling in two-dimensional periodic photonic lattices

We study Zener tunneling in two-dimensional photonic lattices and derive, for the case of hexagonal symmetry, the generalized Landau-Zener-Majorana model describing resonant interaction between high-symmetry points of the photonic spectral bands. We demonstrate that this effect can be employed for the generation of Floquet-Bloch modes and verify the model by direct numerical simulations of the tunneling effect.     

TiF(4) varnish-A (19)F-NMR stability study and enamel reactivity evaluation

The aim of this study was to develop a titanium tetrafluoride (TiF(4)) varnish and evaluate the stability of the formulation and its reactivity with dental enamel. The varnish was prepared in a resinous matrix using ethanol 96% as solvent. Samples (n=45) were aged at 65 degrees C and 30% of relativity humidity (RE n degrees 01/05-ANVISA) and after 3, 6, 9 and 12 months, nine samples were removed for evaluation and compared with fresh samples. Chemical stability of TiF(4) varnish was determinate by (19)F-NMR and the reactivity of the formulation was quantified by formation of fluoride loosely (CaF(2)) and firmly bound (fluorapatite; FA) to enamel. For reactivity comparisons, a varnish without TiF(4) was used as control. The loss of soluble fluoride was about 0.9% after one year of storage. The values of the reactivity (mean+/-S.D.) of fresh, aged at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months and control samples were: CaF(2) (microg F/mm(2)): 89.3+/-27.5(a); 54.5+/-14.3(b); 51.2+/-29.8(b); 69.3+/-21.3(a); 48.0+/-27.4(b); 0.10+/-0.07(c), FA (microg F/g): 2477.5+/-1044.0(a); 2484.8+/-992.0(a); 2580.0+/-1383.9(a); 2517.2+/-929.9(a); 2121.0+/-1059.2(a); 330.0+/-180.0(b), respectively. Means followed by distinct letters were statistically different (p<0.05). After one year of storage, the formulation was chemically stable and the levels of FA were maintained. However there was an initial decrease in the ability to form CaF(2).     

Three-dimensional molecular packing of thin organic films of PTCDI-C8 determined by surface X-ray diffraction

We have determined the full molecular 3D packing of thin organic films of the archetypical organic n-type semiconductor N, N'-dioctyl-3,4:9,10-perylene tetracarboxylic diimide (PTCDI-C 8) by surface X-ray crystallography. We show that PTCDI-C 8 forms smooth layered films on Al 2O 3 (11-20) with an outstanding degree of molecular order. The thin-film structure is found to consist of a triclinic unit cell with the plane of the aromatic core tilted by 67 +/- 2 degrees with respect to the surface plane, which differs significantly from the bulk structure. The 3D crystallites extend with vertical coherent order across the entire film thickness.     

Influence of external magnetic field,finite-size effects and chemical potential on the phase transition of a complex scalar field

A scalar model is built, as a quantum field theory defined on a toroidal topology, to describe a phase transition in films subjected to periodic boundary conditions and influenced by an external and constant magnetic field. Criticality is studied and the relations between the critical temperature, the film thickness, the magnetic field strength and the chemical potential are investigated. Since the model describes a second-order phase transition a comparison with the Ginzburg–Landau theory is made.     

Global existence and uniform decay for the coupled Klein-Gordon-Schr?dinger equations

This paper is concerned to the existence, uniqueness and uniform decay for the solutions of the coupled Klein-Gordon-Schr?dinger damped equations where ω is a bounded domain of R ⁿ , n≤ 3, F : R ²→R is a C ¹-function; γ, β; θ are constants such that γ, β > 0 and 1 ≤ 2θ≤ 2. Received January 1999 – Accepted October 1999     

Superabsorbent Hydrogels Based to Polyacrylamide/Cashew Tree Gum for the Controlled Release of Water and Plant Nutrients

Agricultural production is influenced by the water content in the soil and availability of fertilizers. Thus, superabsorbent hydrogels, based on polyacrylamide, natural cashew tree gum (CG) and potassium hydrogen phosphate (PHP), as fertilizer and water releaser were developed. The structure, morphology, thermal stability and chemical composition of samples of polyacrylamide and cashew tree gum hydrogels with the presence of fertilizer (HCGP) and without fertilizer (HCG) were investigated, using X-ray diffractometry (XRD), Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA/DTG) and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS). Swelling/reswelling tests, textural analysis, effect of pH, release of nutrients and kinetics were determined; the ecotoxicity of the hydrogels was investigated by the Artemia salina test. The results showed that PHP incorporation in the hydrogel favored the crosslinking of chains. This increased the thermal stability in HCGP but decreased the hardness and adhesion properties. The HCGP demonstrated good swelling capacity (~15,000 times) and an excellent potential for reuse after fifty-five consecutive cycles. The swelling was favored in an alkaline pH due to the ionization of hydrophilic groups. The sustained release of phosphorus in HCGP was described by the Korsmeyer–Peppas model, and Fickian diffusion is the main fertilizer release mechanism. Finally, the hydrogels do not demonstrate toxicity, and HCGP has potential for application in agriculture.     

Stabilization of the damped wave equation with Cauchy–Ventcel boundary conditions

This paper is devoted to the study of uniform energy decay rates of solutions to the wave equation with Cauchy–Ventcel boundary conditions:

Decay of Solutions to Damped Korteweg–de Vries Type Equation

In the present paper we establish results concerning the decay of the energy related to the damped Korteweg–de Vries equation posed on infinite domains. We prove the exponential decay rates of the energy when a initial value problem and a localized dissipative mechanism are in place. If this mechanism is effective in the whole line, we get a similar result in H ^k -level, k∈ℕ. In addition, the decay of the energy regarding a initial boundary value problem posed on the right half-line, is obtained considering convenient a smallness condition on the initial data but a more general dissipative effect.