527 research outputs found
Plasticity in parental behavior and vasopressin: responses to co-parenting, pup age, and an acute stressor are experience-dependent
IntroductionThe impact of variation in parental caregiving has lasting implications for the development of offspring. However, the ways in which parents impact each other in the context of caregiving is comparatively less understood, but can account for much of the variation observed in the postnatal environment. Prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) demonstrate a range of postnatal social groups, including pups raised by biparental pairs and by their mothers alone. In addition to the challenges of providing parental care, prairie vole parents often experience acute natural stressors (e.g., predation, foraging demands, and thermoregulation) that could alter the way co-parents interact.MethodsWe investigated how variation in the experience of raising offspring impacts parental behavior and neurobiology by administering an acute handling stressor on prairie vole families of single mothers and biparental parents over the course of offspring postnatal development.ResultsMothers and fathers exhibited robust behavioral plasticity in response to the age of their pups, but in sex-dependent ways. Pup-directed care from mothers did not vary as a function of their partnerâs presence, but did covary with the number of hypothalamic vasopressin neurons in experience-dependent ways. The relationship between vasopressin neuron numbers and fathersâ behaviors was also contingent upon the stress handling manipulation, suggesting that brain-behavior associations exhibit stress-induced plasticity.ConclusionThese results demonstrate that the behavioral and neuroendocrine profiles of adults are sensitive to distinct and interacting experiences as a parent, and extend our knowledge of the neural mechanisms that may facilitate parental behavioral plasticity
Indirect and direct energy gaps in the Kondo semiconductor YbB12
Optical conductivity [] of the Kondo semiconductor YbB
has been measured over wide ranges of temperature (=8690 K) and photon
energy ( 1.3 meV). The data reveal the
entire crossover of YbB from a metallic electronic structure at high
into a semiconducting one at low . Associated with the gap development in
, a clear onset is newly found at =15 meV for 20 K. The onset energy is identified as the gap width of YbB
appearing in . This gap in \sigma(\omega)\sigma(\omega)$ is interpreted as arising from the direct gap. The
absorption coefficient around the onset and the mIR peak indeed show
characteristic energy dependences expected for indirect and direct optical
transitions in conventional semiconductors.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, submitted to J. Phys. Soc. Jp
Effect of a gap opening on the conductance of graphene superlattices
The electronic transmission and conductance of a gapped graphene superlattice
were calculated by means of the transfer-matrix method. The system that we
study consists of a sequence of electron-doped graphene as wells and hole-doped
graphene as barriers. We show that the transmission probability approaches
unity at some critical value of the gap. We also find that there is a domain
around the critical gap value for which the conductance of the system attains
its maximum value.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures. To appear in Solid State Communication
Origin and Health Impacts of Emissions of Toxic By-Products and Fine Particles from Combustion and Thermal Treatment of Hazardous Wastes and Materials
High-temperature, controlled incineration and thermal treatment of contaminated soils, sediments, and wastes at Superfund sites are often preferred methods of remediation of contaminated sites under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 and related legislation. Although these methods may be executed safely, formation of toxic combustion or reaction by-products is still a cause of concern. Emissions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs); chlorinated hydrocarbons (CHCs), including polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans; and toxic metals (e.g., chromium VI) have historically been the focus of combustion and health effects research. However, fine particulate matter (PM) and ultrafine PM, which have been documented to be related to cardiovascular disease, pulmonary disease, and cancer, have more recently become the focus of research. Fine PM and ultrafine PM are effective delivery agents for PAHs, CHCs, and toxic metals. In addition, it has recently been realized that brominated hydrocarbons (including brominated/chlorinated dioxins), redox-active metals, and redox-active persistent free radicals are also associated with PM emissions from combustion and thermal processes. In this article, we discuss the origin of each of these classes of pollutants, the nature of their association with combustion-generated PM, and the mechanisms of their known and potential health impacts
4He decay of excited states in 14C
A study of the 7Li(9Be,4He 10Be)2H reaction at E{beam}=70 MeV has been
performed using resonant particle spectroscopy techniques and provides the
first measurements of alpha-decaying states in 14C. Excited states are observed
at 14.7, 15.5, 16.4, 18.5, 19.8, 20.6, 21.4, 22.4 and 24.0 MeV. The
experimental technique was able to resolve decays to the various particle bound
states in 10Be, and provides evidence for the preferential decay of the high
energy excited states into states in 10Be at ~6 MeV. The decay processes are
used to indicate the possible cluster structure of the 14C excited states.Comment: accepted for publication in PR
Helium Clustering in Neutron-Rich Be Isotopes
Measurements of the helium-cluster breakup and neutron removal cross sections
for neutron-rich Be isotopes A=10-12,14 are presented. These have been studied
in the 30 to 42 MeV/u energy range where reaction measurements are proposed to
be sensitive to the cluster content of the ground-state wave-function. These
measurements provide a comprehensive survey of the decay processes of the Be
isotopes by which the valence neutrons are removed revealing the underlying
alpha-alpha core-cluster structure. The measurements indicate that clustering
in the Be isotopes remains important up to the drip-line nucleus 14^Be and that
the dominant helium-cluster structure in the neutron-rich Be isotopes
corresponds to alpha-Xn-alpha.Comment: 5 pages, 2 tables and 3 figure
Ab-initio structural, elastic, and vibrational properties of carbon nanotubes
A study based on ab initio calculations is presented on the estructural,
elastic, and vibrational properties of single-wall carbon nanotubes with
different radii and chiralities. We use SIESTA, an implementation of
pseudopotential-density-functional theory which allows calculations on systems
with a large number of atoms per cell. Different quantities like bond
distances, Young moduli, Poisson ratio and the frequencies of different phonon
branches are monitored versus tube radius. The validity of expectations based
on graphite is explored down to small radii, where some deviations appear
related to the curvature effects. For the phonon spectra, the results are
compared with the predictions of the simple zone-folding approximation. Except
for the known defficiencies of this approximation in the low-frequency
vibrational regions, it offers quite accurate results, even for relatively
small radii.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. B (11 Nov. 98
How Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke, Outdoor Air Pollutants, and Increased Pollen Burdens Influences the Incidence of Asthma
Asthma is a multifactorial airway disease that arises from a relatively common genetic background interphased with exposures to allergens and airborne irritants. The rapid rise in asthma over the past three decades in Western societies has been attributed to numerous diverse factors, including increased awareness of the disease, altered lifestyle and activity patterns, and ill-defined changes in environmental exposures. It is well accepted that persons with asthma are more sensitive than persons without asthma to air pollutants such as cigarette smoke, traffic emissions, and photochemical smog components. It has also been demonstrated that exposure to a mix of allergens and irritants can at times promote the development phase (induction) of the disease. Experimental evidence suggests that complex organic molecules from diesel exhaust may act as allergic adjuvants through the production of oxidative stress in airway cells. It also seems that climate change is increasing the abundance of aeroallergens such as pollen, which may result in greater incidence or severity of allergic diseases. In this review we illustrate how environmental tobacco smoke, outdoor air pollution, and climate change may act as environmental risk factors for the development of asthma and provide mechanistic explanations for how some of these effects can occur
Nuclear Alpha-Particle Condensates
The -particle condensate in nuclei is a novel state described by a
product state of 's, all with their c.o.m. in the lowest 0S orbit. We
demonstrate that a typical -particle condensate is the Hoyle state
( MeV, state in C), which plays a crucial role for
the synthesis of C in the universe. The influence of antisymmentrization
in the Hoyle state on the bosonic character of the particle is
discussed in detail. It is shown to be weak. The bosonic aspects in the Hoyle
state, therefore, are predominant. It is conjectured that -particle
condensate states also exist in heavier nuclei, like O,
Ne, etc. For instance the state of O at MeV
is identified from a theoretical analysis as being a strong candidate of a
condensate. The calculated small width (34 keV) of ,
consistent with data, lends credit to the existence of heavier Hoyle-analogue
states. In non-self-conjugated nuclei such as B and C, we discuss
candidates for the product states of clusters, composed of 's,
triton's, and neutrons etc. The relationship of -particle condensation
in finite nuclei to quartetting in symmetric nuclear matter is investigated
with the help of an in-medium modified four-nucleon equation. A nonlinear order
parameter equation for quartet condensation is derived and solved for
particle condensation in infinite nuclear matter. The strong qualitative
difference with the pairing case is pointed out.Comment: 71 pages, 41 figures, review article, to be published in "Cluster in
Nuclei (Lecture Notes in Physics) - Vol.2 -", ed. by C. Beck,
(Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 2011
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