Generation of Closed Timelike Curves with Rotating Superconductors

The spacetime metric around a rotating SuperConductive Ring (SCR) is deduced from the gravitomagnetic London moment in rotating superconductors. It is shown that theoretically it is possible to generate Closed Timelike Curves (CTC) with rotating SCRs. The possibility to use these CTC's to travel in time as initially idealized by G\"{o}del is investigated. It is shown however, that from a technology and experimental point of view these ideas are impossible to implement in the present context.Comment: 9 pages. Submitted to Classical and Quantum Gravit

Gravitoelectromagnetism and Dark Energy in Superconductors

A gravitomagnetic analogue of the London moment in superconductors can explain the anomalous Cooper pair mass excess reported by Janet Tate. Ultimately the gravitomagnetic London moment is attributed to the breaking of the principle of general covariance in superconductors. This naturally implies non-conservation of classical energy-momentum. Possible relation with the manifestation of dark energy in superconductors is questioned.Comment: 10 pages. Poster presented at "From Quantum to Cosmos - Fundamental Physics Research in Space" 22-24 May 2006, To Appear in Int. J. Mod. Phys.

Scalar-Tensor theories from Λ(ϕ)\Lambda(\phi) Plebanski gravity

We study a modification of the Plebanski action, which generically corresponds to a bi-metric theory of gravity, and identify a subclass which is equivalent to the Bergmann-Wagoner-Nordtvedt class of scalar-tensor theories. In this manner, scalar-tensor theories are displayed as constrained BF theories. We find that in this subclass, there is no need to impose reality of the Urbantke metrics, as also the theory with real bivectors is a scalar-tensor theory with a real Lorentzian metric. Furthermore, while under the former reality conditions instabilities can arise from a wrong sign of the scalar mode kinetic term, we show that such problems do not appear if the bivectors are required to be real. Finally, we discuss how matter can be coupled to these theories. The phenomenology of scalar field dark matter arises naturally within this framework.Comment: 21 page

Oscillatons revisited

In this paper, we study some interesting properties of a spherically symmetric oscillating soliton star made of a real time-dependent scalar field which is called an oscillaton. The known final configuration of an oscillaton consists of a stationary stage in which the scalar field and the metric coefficients oscillate in time if the scalar potential is quadratic. The differential equations that arise in the simplest approximation, that of coherent scalar oscillations, are presented for a quadratic scalar potential. This allows us to take a closer look at the interesting properties of these oscillating objects. The leading terms of the solutions considering a quartic and a cosh scalar potentials are worked in the so called stationary limit procedure. This procedure reveals the form in which oscillatons and boson stars may be related and useful information about oscillatons is obtained from the known results of boson stars. Oscillatons could compete with boson stars as interesting astrophysical objects, since they would be predicted by scalar field dark matter models.Comment: 10 pages REVTeX, 10 eps figures. Updated files to match version published in Classical and Quantum Gravit

Survival Probability in Patients with Sickle Cell Anemia Using the Competitive Risk Statistical Model.

The clinical picture of patients with sickle cell anemia (SCA) is associated with several complications some of which could be fatal. The objective of this study is to analyze the causes of death and the effect of sex and age on survival of Brazilian patients with SCA. Data of patients with SCA who were seen and followed at HEMORIO for 15 years were retrospectively collected and analyzed. Statistical modeling was performed using survival analysis in the presence of competing risks estimating the covariate effects on a sub-distribution hazard function. Eight models were implemented, one for each cause of death. The cause-specific cumulative incidence function was also estimated. Males were most vulnerable for death from chronic organ damage (p = 0.0005) while females were most vulnerable for infection (p=0.03). Age was significantly associated (p ≤ 0.05) with death due to acute chest syndrome (ACS), infection, and death during crisis. The lower survival was related to death from infection, followed by death due to ACS. The independent variables age and sex were significantly associated with ACS, infection, chronic organ damage and death during crisis. These data could help Brazilian authorities strengthen public policies to protect this vulnerable population

Deformation of quantum mechanics in fractional-dimensional space

A new kind of deformed calculus (the D-deformed calculus) that takes place in fractional-dimensional spaces is presented. The D-deformed calculus is shown to be an appropriate tool for treating fractional-dimensional systems in a simple way and quite analogous to their corresponding one-dimensional partners. Two simple systems, the free particle and the harmonic oscillator in fractional- dimensional spaces are reconsidered into the framework of the D-deformed quantum mechanics. Confined states in a D-deformed quantum well are studied. D-deformed coherent states are also found.Comment: 12 pages, some misprints have been corrected, two figures are adde

New Features of Extended Wormhole Solutions in the Scalar Field Gravity Theories

The present paper reports interesting new features that wormhole solutions in the scalar field gravity theory have. To demonstrate these, we obtain, by using a slightly modified form of the Matos-Nunez algorithm, an extended class of asymptotically flat wormhole solutions belonging to Einstein minimally coupled scalar field theory. Generally, solutions in these theories do not represent traversable wormholes due to the occurrence of curvature singularities. However, the Ellis I solution of the Einstein minimally coupled theory, when Wick rotated, yields Ellis class III solution, the latter representing a singularity-free traversable wormhole. We see that Ellis I and III are not essentially independent solutions. The Wick rotated seed solutions, extended by the algorithm, contain two new parameters a and \delta;. The effect of the parameter a on the geodesic motion of test particles reveals some remarkable features. By arguing for Sagnac effect in the extended Wick rotated solution, we find that the parameter a can indeed be interpreted as a rotation parameter of the wormhole. The analyses reported here have wider applicability in that they can very well be adopted in other theories, including in the string theory.Comment: 19 page

VirtualECare: group support in collaborative networks organizations for digital homecare

Collaborative Work plays an important role in today’s organizations and normally in areas where decisions must be made. However, any decision that involves a collective or group of decision makers is, by itself, complex but is becoming normal in recent years. In this work we present the VirtualECare project (Figure 10), intelligent multi‐agent system able to monitor, interact and serve its customers, which are, normally, in need of care services. In the last years there has been a substantially increase in the number of people needed of intensive care, especially among the elderly, a phenomenon that is related to population ageing. However, this is not exclusive of the elderly, as diseases as obesity, diabetes, and blood pressure have been increasing among young adults. As a new reality, it has to be dealt by the health sector, and particularly by the public one. Thus, the importance of finding new and cost effective ways for health care delivery are of particular importance, especially when one want them not to be removed from their “habitat”. Following this line of thinking, the VirtualECare project will be presented, like similar ones that preceded it. Recently we have assisted to a growing interest in combining the advances in information society ‐ computing, telecommunications and presentation – in order to create Group Decision Support Systems (GDSS). Indeed, the new economy, along with increased competition in today’s complex business environments, takes the companies to seek complementarities in order to increase competitiveness and reduce risks. Under these scenarios, planning takes a major role in a company life. However, effective planning depends on the generation and analysis of ideas (innovative or not) and, as a result, the idea generation and management processes are crucial. Our objective is to apply the above presented GDSS to a new area. We believe that the use of GDSS in the healthcare arena will allow professionals to achieve better results in the analysis of one’s Electronically Clinical Profile (ECP). This achievement is vital, regarding the explosion of knowledge and skills, together with the need to use limited resources and get better results

An Alternative Interpretation for the Moduli Fields of the Cosmology Associated to Type IIB Supergravity with Fluxes

We start with a particular cosmological model derived from type IIB supergravity theory with fluxes, where usually the dilaton is interpreted as a Quintessence field. Instead of that, in this letter we interpret the dilaton as the dark matter of the universe. With this alternative interpretation we find that in this supergravity model gives a similar evolution and structure formation of the universe compared with the $\Lambda$CDM model in the linear regime of fluctuations of the structure formation. Some free parameters of the theory are fixed using the present cosmological observations. In the non-linear regimen there are some differences between the type IIB supergravity theory with the traditional CDM paradigm. The supergravity theory predicts the formation of galaxies earlier than the CDM and there is no density cusp in the center of galaxies. These differences can distinguish both models and can give a distinctive feature to the phenomenology of the cosmology coming from superstring theory with fluxes.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, references added, minor modifications, typos corrected. Version accepted for publication in IJMP