7,883 research outputs found
Unlocking CO Depletion in Protoplanetary Disks II. Primordial C/H Predictions Inside the CO Snowline
CO is thought to be the main reservoir of volatile carbon in protoplanetary
disks, and thus the primary initial source of carbon in the atmospheres of
forming giant planets. However, recent observations of protoplanetary disks
point towards low volatile carbon abundances in many systems, including at
radii interior to the CO snowline. One potential explanation is that gas phase
carbon is chemically reprocessed into less volatile species, which are frozen
on dust grain surfaces as ice. This mechanism has the potential to change the
primordial C/H ratio in the gas. However, current observations primarily probe
the upper layers of the disk. It is not clear if the low volatile carbon
abundances extend to the midplane, where planets form. We have run a grid of
198 chemical models, exploring how the chemical reprocessing of CO depends on
disk mass, dust grain size distribution, temperature, cosmic ray and X-ray
ionization rate, and initial water abundance. Building on our previous work
focusing on the warm molecular layer, here we analyze the results for our grid
of models in the disk midplane at 12 au. We find that either an ISM level
cosmic ray ionization rate or the presence of UV photons due to a low dust
surface density are needed to chemically reduce the midplane CO gas abundance
by at least an order of magnitude within 1 Myr. In the majority of our models
CO does not undergo substantial reprocessing by in situ chemistry and there is
little change in the gas phase C/H and C/O ratios over the lifetime of the
typical disk. However, in the small sub-set of disks where the disk midplane is
subject to a source of ionization or photolysis, the gas phase C/O ratio
increases by up to nearly 9 orders of magnitude due to conversion of CO into
volatile hydrocarbons.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ, 15 pages, 10 figures, 3 table
Simulation of alnico coercivity
Micromagnetic simulations of alnico show substantial deviations from
Stoner-Wohlfarth behavior due to the unique size and spatial distribution of
the rod-like Fe-Co phase formed during spinodal decomposition in an external
magnetic field. The maximum coercivity is limited by single-rod effects,
especially deviations from ellipsoidal shape, and by interactions between the
rods. Both the exchange interaction between connected rods and magnetostatic
interaction between rods are considered, and the results of our calculations
show good agreement with recent experiments. Unlike systems dominated by
magnetocrystalline anisotropy, coercivity in alnico is highly dependent on
size, shape, and geometric distribution of the Fe-Co phase, all factors that
can be tuned with appropriate chemistry and thermal-magnetic annealing
Exchange interactions and temperature dependence of the magnetization in half--metallic Heusler alloys
We study the exchange interactions in half-metallic Heusler alloys using
first-principles calculations in conjunction with the frozen-magnon
approximation. The Curie temperature is estimated within both mean-field (MF)
and random-phase-approximation (RPA) approaches. For the half-Heusler alloys
NiMnSb and CoMnSb the dominant interaction is between the nearest Mn atoms. In
this case the MF and RPA estimations differ strongly. The RPA approach provides
better agreement with experiment. The exchange interactions are more complex in
the case of full-Heusler alloys CoMnSi and CoCrAl where the dominant
effects are the inter-sublattice interactions between the Mn(Cr) and Co atoms
and between Co atoms at different sublattices. For these compounds we find that
both MF and RPA give very close values of the Curie temperature slightly
underestimating experimental quantities. We study the influence of the lattice
compression on the magnetic properties. The temperature dependence of the
magnetization is calculated using the RPA method within both quantum mechanical
and classical approaches.Comment: New figures and discussio
Egg shape changes at the theropod–bird transition, and a morphometric study of amniote eggs
The eggs of amniotes exhibit a remarkable variety of shapes,
from spherical to elongate and from symmetrical to asymmetrical.
We examine eggshell geometry in a diverse sample of fossil
and living amniotes using geometric morphometrics and linear
measurements. Our goal is to quantify patterns of morphospace
occupation and shape variation in the eggs of recent through to
Mesozoic birds (neornithe plus non-neornithe avialans), as well
as in eggs attributed to non-avialan theropods. In most amniotes,
eggs show significant deviation from sphericity, but departure
from symmetry around the equatorial axis is mostly confined
to theropods and birds. Mesozoic bird eggs differ significantly
from extant bird eggs, but extinct Cenozoic bird eggs do not. This
suggests that the range of egg shapes in extant birds had already
been attained in the Cenozoic. We conclude with a discussion
of possible biological factors imparting variation to egg shapes
during their formation in the oviduct
Priorities and opportunities for palliative and end of life care in United Kingdom health policies: a national documentary analy
Background:
Access to high-quality palliative care is inadequate for most people living and dying with serious illness. Policies aimed at optimising delivery of palliative and end of life care are an important mechanism to improve quality of care for the dying. The extent to which palliative care is included in national health policies is unknown. We aimed to identify priorities and opportunities for palliative and end of life care in national health policies in the UK.
Methods:
Documentary analysis consisting of 1) summative content analysis to describe the extent to which palliative and end of life care is referred to and/or prioritised in national health and social care policies, and 2) thematic analysis to explore health policy priorities that are opportunities to widen access to palliative and end of life care for people with serious illness. Relevant national policy documents were identified through web searches of key government and other organisations, and through expert consultation. Documents included were UK-wide or devolved (i.e. England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales), health and social care government strategies published from 2010 onwards.
Results:
Fifteen policy documents were included in the final analysis. Twelve referred to palliative or end of life care, but details about what should improve, or mechanisms to achieve this, were sparse. Policy priorities that are opportunities to widen palliative and end of life care access comprised three inter-related themes: (1) integrated care – conceptualised as reorganisation of services as a way to enable improvement; (2) personalised care – conceptualised as allowing people to shape and manage their own care; and (3) support for unpaid carers – conceptualised as enabling unpaid carers to live a more independent lifestyle and balance caring with their own needs.
Conclusions:
Although information on palliative and end of life care in UK health and social care policies was sparse, improving palliative care may provide an evidence-based approach to achieve the stated policy priorities of integrated care, personalised care, and support for unpaid carers. Aligning existing evidence of the benefits of palliative care with the three priorities identified may be an effective mechanism to both strengthen policy and improve care for people who are dying
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Ossification patterns of the carpus and tarsus in salamanders and impacts of preaxial dominance on the fin-to-limb transition
Early limb skeletogenesis in salamanders is characterized by preaxial elements, digits I and II forming earlier than their postaxial counterparts (digits III to V), a phenomenon known as preaxial dominance, whereas in amniotes and anurans, these developmental sequences are reversed. This pattern characterizes the late skeletogenesis of digits and zeugopodium of anamniote tetrapods but remains unknown in carpals/tarsals. To correct this gap in knowledge, we investigate the ossification patterns of the carpals/tarsals in six salamander families/clades based on micro–computed tomography scans. We found that preaxial dominance is seen in the distal carpals/tarsals of several salamander clades and diverse early tetrapods, such as temnospondyls and amniotes. This distribution suggests that preaxial dominance is a primitive developmental pattern in tetrapods. Our results demonstrate that the distal carpals/tarsals are developmentally and evolutionarily independent in the autopodium, and preaxial dominance facilitates stabilization of the number of distal carpals/tarsals during fin-to-limb transition and digit reduction in early tetrapods
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