24,087 research outputs found
Fisher matrix forecasts for astrophysical tests of the stability of the fine-structure constant
We use Fisher Matrix analysis techniques to forecast the cosmological impact
of astrophysical tests of the stability of the fine-structure constant to be
carried out by the forthcoming ESPRESSO spectrograph at the VLT (due for
commissioning in late 2017), as well by the planned high-resolution
spectrograph (currently in Phase A) for the European Extremely Large Telescope.
Assuming a fiducial model without variations, we show that ESPRESSO
can improve current bounds on the E\"{o}tv\"{o}s parameter---which quantifies
Weak Equivalence Principle violations---by up to two orders of magnitude,
leading to stronger bounds than those expected from the ongoing tests with the
MICROSCOPE satellite, while constraints from the E-ELT should be competitive
with those of the proposed STEP satellite. Should an variation be
detected, these measurements will further constrain cosmological parameters,
being particularly sensitive to the dynamics of dark energy.Comment: Phys. Lett. B (in press
Is it really possible to grow isotropic on-lattice diffusion-limited aggregates?
In a recent paper (Bogoyavlenskiy V A 2002 \JPA \textbf{35} 2533), an
algorithm aiming to generate isotropic clusters of the on-lattice
diffusion-limited aggregation (DLA) model was proposed. The procedure consists
of aggregation probabilities proportional to the squared number of occupied
sites (). In the present work, we analyzed this algorithm using the noise
reduced version of the DLA model and large scale simulations. In the noiseless
limit, instead of isotropic patterns, a () rotation in the
anisotropy directions of the clusters grown on square (triangular) lattices was
observed. A generalized algorithm, in which the aggregation probability is
proportional to , was proposed. The exponent has a nonuniversal
critical value , for which the patterns generated in the noiseless limit
exhibit the original (axial) anisotropy for and the rotated one
(diagonal) for . The values and were found for square and triangular lattices, respectively.
Moreover, large scale simulations show that there are a nontrivial relation
between noise reduction and anisotropy direction. The case (\bogo's
rule) is an example where the patterns exhibit the axial anisotropy for small
and the diagonal one for large noise reduction.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figure
Signals for New Spin-1 Resonances in Electroweak Gauge Boson Pair Production at the LHC
The mechanism of electroweak symmetry breaking (EWSB) will be directly
scrutinized soon at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC). We analyze the LHC
potential to look for new vector bosons associated with the EWSB sector. We
present a possible model independent approach to search for these new spin--1
resonances. We show that the analyses of the processes pp --> l^+ l^- Emiss_T,
l^\pm j j Emiss_T, l^\pm l^+ l^- Emiss_T, and l^+ l^- j j (with l=e or \mu and
j=jet) have a large reach at the LHC and can lead to the discovery or exclusion
of many EWSB scenarios such as Higgsless models.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figure
Fertilização com uréia em superfície em pastagem irrigada e a volatilização de amônia.
A aplicação de uréia em superfície na pastagem pode ocasionar elevadas perdas de amônia por volatilização e uma das alternativas para minimizar esse efeito é a irrigação ou a precipitação logo após a adubação. O objetivo dessa pesquisa foi avaliar o efeito da aplicação de lâminas de água, após a adubação com uréia (75 kgN/ha) na superfície e a lanço em pastagem de colonião, nas perdas de N por volatilização. Foram realizados três experimentos em três épocas, verão, inverno e primavera. O delineamento experimental foi em faixas, em sistema de aspersão em linha, com cinco repetições. Os tratamentos foram quatro níveis de irrigação após a adubação com uréia, sendo três tratamentos com lâminas de água e um controle (sem irrigação). Um dos tratamentos consistia em elevar a umidade do solo à capacidade de campo e os outros dois eram lâminas de água intermediárias aos do controle e capacidade de campo, havendo variação conforme a estação do ano. No verão, a aplicação de apenas 3,2 mm de água elevou a umidade do solo para 52,4% da capacidade de água disponível e reduziu as perdas de N-NH3 para menos de 3,1 % do N aplicado, enquanto a ausência de irrigação provocou perdas de 30,5%. No inverno e na primavera a volatilização de N-NH3 foi baixa, mesmo na ausência de irrigação após a adubação. Na primavera, a irrigação com 16 mm de água elevou a umidade do solo à capacidade de campo e reduziu as perdas para 1,6 % do N aplicado, enquanto no controle as perdas foram de 5%
Extended-release niacin increases anti-apolipoprotein A-I antibodies that block the antioxidant effect of high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol: the EXPLORE clinical trial.
Extended-release niacin (ERN) is the most effective agent for increasing high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C). Having previously identified anti-HDL antibodies, we investigated whether ERN affected the antioxidant capacity of HDL and whether ERN was associated with the production of antibodies against HDL (aHDL) and apolipoprotein A-I (aApoA-I).
METHODS:
Twenty-one patients older than 18 years, with HDL-C ≤40 mg dl-1 (men) or ≤50 mg dl-1 (women) were randomly assigned to receive daily ERN (n = 10) or placebo (n = 11) for two sequential 12-week periods, with 4 weeks of wash-out before cross-over. Primary outcome was change of paraoxonase-1 (PON1) activity and secondary outcomes were changes in aHDL and aApoA-I antibodies. Clinical Trial Unique Identifier: EudraCT 2006-006889-42.
RESULTS:
The effect of ERN on PON1 activity was nonsignificant (coefficient estimate 20.83 U l-1 , 95% confidence interval [CI] -9.88 to 51.53; P = 0.184). ERN was associated with an increase in HDL-C levels (coefficient estimate 5.21 mg dl-1 , 95% CI 1.16 to 9.25; P = 0.012) and its subclasses HDL2 (coefficient estimate 2.46 mg dl-1 , 95% CI 0.57 to 4.34; P = 0.011) and HDL3 (coefficient estimate 2.73 mg dl-1 , 95% CI 0.47 to 4.98; P = 0.018). ERN was significantly associated with the production of aApoA-I antibodies (coefficient estimate 0.25 μg ml-1 , 95% CI 0.09-0.40; P = 0.001). aApoA-I titres at baseline were correlated with decreased PON activity.
CONCLUSIONS:
The rise in HDL-C achieved with ERN was not matched by improved antioxidant capacity, eventually hampered by the emergence of aApoA-I antibodies. These results may explain why Niacin and other lipid lowering agents fail to reduce cardiovascular risk.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Persistent Chaos in High Dimensions
An extensive statistical survey of universal approximators shows that as the
dimension of a typical dissipative dynamical system is increased, the number of
positive Lyapunov exponents increases monotonically and the number of parameter
windows with periodic behavior decreases. A subset of parameter space remains
in which topological change induced by small parameter variation is very
common. It turns out, however, that if the system's dimension is sufficiently
high, this inevitable, and expected, topological change is never catastrophic,
in the sense chaotic behavior is preserved. One concludes that deterministic
chaos is persistent in high dimensions.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures; Changes in response to referee comment
Human case of West Nile neuroinvasive disease in Portugal, summer 2015
A case of West Nile virus (WNV) infection was reported in the Algarve region, Portugal, in the first week of September 2015. WNV is known to circulate in Portugal, with occasional reports in horses and birds (2004 to 2011) and very sporadically human cases (in 2004 and in 2010). Here we present the clinical and laboratory aspects related to the first human case of West Nile neuroinvasive disease reported in Portugal
Spectroscopy of brown dwarf candidates in IC 348 and the determination of its substellar IMF down to planetary masses
Context. Brown dwarfs represent a sizable fraction of the stellar content of
our Galaxy and populate the transition between the stellar and planetary mass
regime. There is however no agreement on the processes responsible for their
formation. Aims. We have conducted a large survey of the young, nearby cluster
IC 348, to uncover its low-mass brown dwarf population and study the cluster
properties in the substellar regime. Methods. Deep optical and near-IR images
taken with MegaCam and WIRCam at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) were
used to select photometric candidate members. A spectroscopic follow-up of a
large fraction of the candidates was conducted to assess their youth and
membership. Results. We confirmed spectroscopically 16 new members of the IC
348 cluster, including 13 brown dwarfs, contributing significantly to the
substellar census of the cluster, where only 30 brown dwarfs were previously
known. Five of the new members have a L0 spectral type, the latest-type objects
found to date in this cluster. At 3 Myr, evolutionary models estimate these
brown dwarfs to have a mass of ~13 Jupiter masses. Combining the new members
with previous census of the cluster, we constructed the IMF complete down to 13
Jupiter masses. Conclusions. The IMF of IC 348 is well fitted by a log-normal
function, and we do not see evidence for variations of the mass function down
to planetary masses when compared to other young clusters.Comment: Accepted to A&A (8 November 2012
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