265 research outputs found
Spin and pseudospin symmetries in the antinucleon spectrum of nuclei
Spin and pseudospin symmetries in the spectra of nucleons and antinucleons
are studied in a relativistic mean-field theory with scalar and vector
Woods-Saxon potentials, in which the strength of the latter is allowed to
change. We observe that, for nucleons and antinucleons, the spin symmetry is of
perturbative nature and it is almost an exact symmetry in the physical region
for antinucleons. The opposite situation is found in the pseudospin symmetry
case, which is better realized for nucleons than for antinucleons, but is of
dynamical nature and cannot be viewed in a perturbative way both for nucleons
and antinucleons. This is shown by computing the spin-orbit and
pseudospin-orbit couplings for selected spin and pseudospin partners in both
spectra.Comment: 8 figures, uses revtex 4.1 macro
Determination of the neutron star mass-radii relation using narrow-band gravitational wave detector
The direct detection of gravitational waves will provide valuable
astrophysical information about many celestial objects. The most promising
sources of gravitational waves are neutron stars and black holes. These objects
emit waves in a very wide spectrum of frequencies determined by their
quasi-normal modes oscillations. In this work we are concerned with the
information we can extract from f and p-modes when a candidate leaves its
signature in the resonant mass detectors ALLEGRO, EXPLORER, NAUTILUS, MiniGrail
and SCHENBERG. Using the empirical equations, that relate the gravitational
wave frequency and damping time with the mass and radii of the source, we have
calculated the radii of the stars for a given interval of masses in the
range of frequencies that include the bandwidth of all resonant mass detectors.
With these values we obtain diagrams of mass-radii for different frequencies
that allowed to determine the better candidates to future detection taking in
account the compactness of the source. Finally, to determine which are the
models of compact stars that emit gravitational waves in the frequency band of
the mass resonant detectors, we compare the mass-radii diagrams obtained by
different neutron stars sequences from several relativistic hadronic equations
of state (GM1, GM3, TM1, NL3) and quark matter equations of state (NJL, MTI bag
model). We verify that quark stars obtained from MIT bag model with bag
constant equal to 170 MeV and quark of matter in color-superconductivity phase
are the best candidates for mass resonant detectors.Comment: 10 pages and 3 figure
On the nature of some SGRs and AXPs as rotation-powered neutron stars
We investigate the possibility that some SGRs/AXPs could be canonical
rotation-powered pulsars using realistic NS structure parameters instead of
fiducial values. We show that realistic NS parameters lowers the estimated
value of the magnetic field and radiation efficiency, ,
with respect to estimates based on fiducial NS parameters. We show that nine
SGRs/AXPs can be described as canonical pulsars driven by the NS rotational
energy, for computed in the soft (2--10~keV) X-ray band. We compute the
range of NS masses for which . We discuss the observed
hard X-ray emission in three sources of the group of nine potentially
rotation-powered NSs. This additional hard X-ray component dominates over the
soft one leading to in two of them. We show that 9
SGRs/AXPs can be rotation-powered NSs if we analyze their X-ray luminosity in
the soft 2--10~keV band. Interestingly, four of them show radio emission and
six have been associated with supernova remnants (including Swift J1834.9-0846
the first SGR observed with a surrounding wind nebula). These observations give
additional support to our results of a natural explanation of these sources in
terms of ordinary pulsars. Including the hard X-ray emission observed in three
sources of the group of potential rotation-powered NSs, this number of sources
with becomes seven. It remains open to verification
1) the accuracy of the estimated distances and 2) the possible contribution of
the associated supernova remnants to the hard X-ray emission.Comment: 11 pages, 14 figures, to appear in A&
Structural dynamic updating using a global optimization methodology
In this article, we present the application of a global optimization technique, in particular the
GlobalSearch command from MatLab®, in the updating of structural dynamic models. For
comparative purposes, we evaluate the efficiency of the global method relatively to the local search
method previously used in the Finite Element Model Updating program. The Finite Element Model
Updating programs are designed with the primary purpose of validating and optimizing structural
numerical models. The first step for structural optimization process is to idealize the desired behavior
of the dynamic model to develop, or collect experimental data of a physical model considered as the
reference model. The process begins with the construction, on a finite element program, of a numerical
model with initial physical parameters, preferably close to the reference model parameters. The
numerical model is then submitted, through a Finite Element Model Updating program, to a successive
parametric updating until improving its dynamic behavior described by their natural frequencies, mode
shapes and damping properties, be similar to the dynamic behavior of the reference model. The
Sequential Quadratic Programming algorithm was already used in the optimization of the Finite
Element Model Updating program, and the obtained solutions showed that it can’t achieve the global
optimal value of the objective function. This kind of methods, used for nonlinear constrained
optimization problems, have, generally, difficulties to achieve the global optimum, since they are local
optimization methods.Centre for Mechanical and Materials Technologies (CT2M)
and Algoritmi R&D Centreinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Recommended from our members
Macroclimate and viticultural zoning in Europe: observed trends and atmospheric forcing
Temperature and precipitation are major forcing factors influencing grapevine phenology and yield, as well as wine quality. Bioclimatic indices describing the suitability of a particular region for wine production are a commonly used tool for viticultural zoning. For this research these indices were computed for Europe by using the E-OBS gridded daily temperature and precipitation data set for the period from 1950 to 2009. Results showed strong regional contrasts based on the different index patterns and reproduced the wide diversity of local conditions that largely explain the quality and diversity of grapevines being grown across Europe. Owing to the strong inter-annual variability in the indices, a trend analysis and a principal component analysis were applied together with an assessment of their mean patterns. Significant trends were identified in the Winkler and Huglin indices, particularly for southwestern Europe. Four statistically significant orthogonal modes of variability were isolated for the Huglin index (HI), jointly representing 82% of the total variance in Europe. The leading mode was largely dominant (48% of variance) and mainly reflected the observed historical long-term changes. The other 3 modes corresponded to regional dipoles within Europe. Despite the relevance of local and regional climatic characteristics to grapevines, it was demonstrated via canonical correlation analysis that the observed inter-annual variability of the HI was strongly controlled by the large-scale atmospheric circulation during the growing season (April to September)
Interleukin-5 modulates interleukin-8 secretion in eosinophilic inflammation.
Serum and BALF (bronchoalveolar lavage fluid) IL-8 levels and serum levels were investigated in Toxocara canis infected guinea-pigs and the role of IL-5 as a modulator of cytokine secretion was studied. Serum levels increased early in infected animals, exceeding control levels 4 h after infection, peaked between days 6 and 18, and continued to exceed control levels after 48 days of infection. Serum and BALF IL-8 levels showed the same profile as blood eosinophilia, increasing 6 days post-infection and peaking between days 18 and 24. Treatment of infected animals with anti-IL-5 Ab suppressed eosinophilia with a parallel increase in blood IL-8 levels, whereas no change was found in levels. To support our in vivo observation we carried out experiments in vitro using guinea-pig LPS-stimulated adherent peritoneal cells which release large amounts of IL-8 into the supernatants. When rIL-5 was added to LPS-stimulated cells, 65% inhibition of IL-8 release into the supernatants was observed. Pre-incubation of cells with anti-IL-5 Ab prevented the inhibition of IL-8 release into the supernatants induced by rIL-5. Our results demonstrate for the first time that TNF-alpha and IL-8 are released concomitant with or after IL-5 in the eosinophilic inflammation induced by T. canis. Moreover, in addition to showing that IL-5 is fundamental for the induction of blood eosinophilia, the present results suggest that this cytokine may play a new biological role by acting as modulator of IL-8 secretion
Assessment of grapevine sap flow and trunk diameter variations in Mediterranean climate using time series decomposition
Vitis vinifera L. is a plant species that depends highly on temperature and water availability. Excessively hot and dry conditions can undermine growth and threaten grapevine performance. In these situations, grapevines activate self-regulating mechanisms to respond to water stress by prioritizing their survival through stomatal control and water redistribution. The monitoring of these mechanisms, through the measurements of the trunk diameter fluctuations and sap flow, was made for ‘Touriga-Nacional’ planted in the Douro Demarcated Region (NE Portugal), during the 2017 growing season. Seasonal and trend decomposition of the acquired data, as well as the assessment of the potential influence of meteorological variables was carried out, using locally estimated weighted regression and scatterplot smoothing. The objective behind this decomposition was to assess if the individual analysis of the periodic and inter-daily variations of the grapevine's trunk diameter fluctuations and sap flow could improve the understanding of their response to abiotic stress. The results have shown the methodology is efficient in extracting the different components and that their analysis is informative. It was possible to determine that the delay between the daily trunk diameter and sap flow periodic variations became shorter in time, suggesting the loss of water by transpiration is more easily observable under increasingly hotter and drier conditions. Furthermore, longerterm, inter-daily variations at the trunk are highly correlated with those of relative humidity, evidencing the impact of air moisture on their water status. Such findings justify the implementation of locally weighted regression and scatterplot smoothing (STL) in the operational processing of sap flow and trunk diameter time series in the control of grapevine water status, in the case of optimization of vineyard management by wine growers
Constraining relativistic models through heavy ion collisions
Relativistic models can be successfully applied to the description of compact
star properties in nuclear astrophysics as well as to nuclear matter and finite
nuclei properties, these studies taking place at low and moderate temperatures.
Nevertheless, all results are model dependent and so far it is unclear whether
some of them should be discarded. Moreover, in the regime of hot hadronic
matter very few calculations exist using these relativistic models, in
particular when applied to particle yields in heavy ion collisions.
In the present work we comment on the known constraints that can help the
selection of adequate models in this regime and investigate the main
differences that arise when the particle production during a Au+Au collision at
RHIC is calculated with different models.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure, 3 table
- …