2,213 research outputs found
Quantitative study of hydration of C3S and C2S by thermal analysis. Evolution and composition of C-S-H gels formed
This research is part of a European project (namely, CODICE project), main objective of which is modelling, at a multi-scale, the evolution of the mechanical performance of non-degraded and degraded cementitious matrices. For that, a series of experiments were planned with pure synthetic tri-calcium silicate (C3S) and bi-calcium silicate (C2S) (main components of the Portland cement clinker) to obtain different calcium–silicate–hydrate (C–S–H) gel structures during their hydration. The characterization of those C–S–H gels and matrices will provide experimental parameters for the validation of the multi-scale modelling scheme proposed. In this article, a quantitative method, based on thermal analyses, has been used for the determination of the chemical composition of the C–S–H gel together with the degree of hydration and quantitative evolution of all the components of the pastes. Besides, the microstructure and type of silicate tetrahedron and mean chain length (MCL) were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and 29Si magic-angle-spinning (MAS) NMR, respectively. The main results showed that the chemical compositions for the C–S–H gels have a CaO/SiO2 M ratio almost constant of 1.7 for both C3S and C2S compounds. Small differences were found in the gel water content: the H2O/SiO2 M ratio ranged from 2.9 ± 0.2 to 2.6 ± 0.2 for the C3S (decrease) and from 2.4 ± 0.2 to 3.2 ± 0.2 for the C2S (increase). The MCL values of the C–S–H gels, determined from 29Si MAS NMR, were 3.5 and 4 silicate tetrahedron, for the hydrated C3S and C2S, respectively, remaining almost constant at all hydration periods
Quantum critical states and phase transitions in the presence of non equilibrium noise
Quantum critical points are characterized by scale invariant correlations and
correspondingly long ranged entanglement. As such, they present fascinating
examples of quantum states of matter, the study of which has been an important
theme in modern physics. Nevertheless very little is known about the fate of
quantum criticality under non equilibrium conditions. In this paper we
investigate the effect of external noise sources on quantum critical points. It
is natural to expect that noise will have a similar effect to finite
temperature, destroying the subtle correlations underlying the quantum critical
behavior. Surprisingly we find that in many interesting situations the
ubiquitous 1/f noise preserves the critical correlations. The emergent states
show intriguing interplay of intrinsic quantum critical and external noise
driven fluctuations. We demonstrate this general phenomenon with specific
examples in solid state and ultracold atomic systems. Moreover our approach
shows that genuine quantum phase transitions can exist even under non
equilibrium conditions.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figure
Multi-lepton signals from the top-prime quark at the LHC
We analyze the collider signatures of models with a vector-like top-prime
quark and a massive color-octet boson. The top-prime quark mixes with the top
quark in the Standard Model, leading to richer final states than ones that are
investigated by experimental collaborations. We discuss the multi-lepton final
states, and show that they can provide increased sensitivity to models with a
top-prime quark and gluon-prime. Searches for new physics in high multiplicity
events are an important component of the LHC program and complementary to
analyses that have been performed.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, 2 table
Sensory Neurons and Schwann Cells Respond to Oxidative Stress by Increasing Antioxidant Defense Mechanisms
Abstract Elevated blood glucose is a key initiator of mechanisms leading to diabetic neuropathy. Increases in glucose induce acute mitochondrial oxidative stress in dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons, the sensory neurons normally affected in diabetic neuropathy, whereas Schwann cells are largely unaffected. We propose that activation of an antioxidant response in DRG neurons would prevent glucose-induced injury. In this study, mild oxidative stress (1 μM H2O2) leads to the activation of the transcription factor Nrf2 and expression of antioxidant (phase II) enzymes. DRG neurons are thus protected from subsequent hyperglycemia-induced injury, as determined by activation of caspase 3 and the TUNEL assay. Schwann cells display high basal antioxidant enzyme expression and respond to hyperglycemia and mild oxidative stress via further increases in these enzymes. The botanical compounds resveratrol and sulforaphane activate the antioxidant response in DRG neurons. Other drugs that protect DRG neurons and block mitochondrial superoxide, identified in a compound screen, have differential ability to activate the antioxidant response. Multiple cellular targets exist for the prevention of hyperglycemic oxidative stress in DRG neurons, and these form the basis for new therapeutic strategies against diabetic neuropathy. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 11, 425-438.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78129/1/ars.2008.2235.pd
Observation of a red-blue detuning asymmetry in matter-wave superradiance
We report the first experimental observations of strong suppression of
matter-wave superradiance using blue-detuned pump light and demonstrate a
pump-laser detuning asymmetry in the collective atomic recoil motion. In
contrast to all previous theoretical frameworks, which predict that the process
should be symmetric with respect to the sign of the pump-laser detuning, we
find that for condensates the symmetry is broken. With high condensate
densities and red-detuned light, the familiar distinctive multi-order,
matter-wave scattering pattern is clearly visible, whereas with blue-detuned
light superradiance is strongly suppressed. In the limit of a dilute atomic
gas, however, symmetry is restored.Comment: Accepted by Phys. Rev. Let
First experience with the wearable cardioverter defibrillator in the Netherlands
The implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) has significantly improved survival in patients with an increased risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD). The wearable cardioverter defibrillator (WCD) is an alternative to the ICD in patients with a transient ICD indication or those in whom an ICD temporarily cannot be implanted. We describe here the technical details of the WCD and report three patients who were treated with a WCD in an outpatient setting. The WCD allowed the cardiac condition of two patients to improve to such an extent that permanent ICD implantation was deemed unnecessary. This new form of therapy may result in significant cost reduction, avoidance of unnecessary ICD implantation, and increased patient satisfaction
Toward High-Precision Measures of Large-Scale Structure
I review some results of estimation of the power spectrum of density
fluctuations from galaxy redshift surveys and discuss advances that may be
possible with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. I then examine the realities of
power spectrum estimation in the presence of Galactic extinction, photometric
errors, galaxy evolution, clustering evolution, and uncertainty about the
background cosmology.Comment: 24 pages, including 11 postscript figures. Uses crckapb.sty (included
in submission). To appear in ``Ringberg Workshop on Large-Scale Structure,''
ed D. Hamilton (Kluwer, Amsterdam), p. 39
A dynamic network approach for the study of human phenotypes
The use of networks to integrate different genetic, proteomic, and metabolic
datasets has been proposed as a viable path toward elucidating the origins of
specific diseases. Here we introduce a new phenotypic database summarizing
correlations obtained from the disease history of more than 30 million patients
in a Phenotypic Disease Network (PDN). We present evidence that the structure
of the PDN is relevant to the understanding of illness progression by showing
that (1) patients develop diseases close in the network to those they already
have; (2) the progression of disease along the links of the network is
different for patients of different genders and ethnicities; (3) patients
diagnosed with diseases which are more highly connected in the PDN tend to die
sooner than those affected by less connected diseases; and (4) diseases that
tend to be preceded by others in the PDN tend to be more connected than
diseases that precede other illnesses, and are associated with higher degrees
of mortality. Our findings show that disease progression can be represented and
studied using network methods, offering the potential to enhance our
understanding of the origin and evolution of human diseases. The dataset
introduced here, released concurrently with this publication, represents the
largest relational phenotypic resource publicly available to the research
community.Comment: 28 pages (double space), 6 figure
Phenomenological Implications of Deflected Mirage Mediation: Comparison with Mirage Mediation
We compare the collider phenomenology of mirage mediation and deflected
mirage mediation, which are two recently proposed "mixed" supersymmetry
breaking scenarios motivated from string compactifications. The scenarios
differ in that deflected mirage mediation includes contributions from gauge
mediation in addition to the contributions from gravity mediation and anomaly
mediation also present in mirage mediation. The threshold effects from gauge
mediation can drastically alter the low energy spectrum from that of pure
mirage mediation models, resulting in some cases in a squeezed gaugino spectrum
and a gluino that is much lighter than other colored superpartners. We provide
several benchmark deflected mirage mediation models and construct model lines
as a function of the gauge mediation contributions, and discuss their discovery
potential at the LHC.Comment: 29 pages, 9 figure
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