The Quark-Hadron Phase Transition, QCD Lattice Calculations and Inhomogeneous Big-Bang Nucleosynthesis

We review recent lattice QCD results for the surface tension at the finite temperature quark-hadron phase transition and discuss their implications on the possible scale of inhomogeneities. In the quenched approximation the average distance between nucleating centers is smaller than the diffusion length of a protron, so that inhomogeneities are washed out by the time nucleosynthesis sets in. Consequently the baryon density fluctuations formed by a QCD phase transition in the early universe cannot significantly affect standard big-bang nucleosynthesis calculations and certainly cannot allow baryons to close the universe. At present lattice results are inconclusive when dynamical fermions are included.Comment: 8 pages, LaTe

Introduction of Empirical Topology in Construction of Relationship Networks of Informative Objects

Understanding the structure of relationships between objects in a given database is one of the most important problems in the field of data mining. The structure can be defined for a set of single objects (clustering) or a set of groups of objects (network mapping). We propose a method for discovering relationships between individuals (single or groups) that is based on what we call the empirical topology, a system-theoretic measure of functional proximity. To illustrate the suitability and efficiency of the method, we apply it to an astronomical data base

Scales of the Extra Dimensions and their Gravitational Wave Backgrounds

Circumstances are described in which symmetry breaking during the formation of our three-dimensional brane within a higher-dimensional space in the early universe excites mesoscopic classical radion or brane-displacement degrees of freedom and produces a detectable stochastic background of gravitational radiation. The spectrum of the background is related to the unification energy scale and the the sizes and numbers of large extra dimensions. It is shown that properties of the background observable by gravitational-wave observatories at frequencies $f\approx 10^{-4}$ Hz to $10^3$ Hz contain information about unification on energy scales from 1 to $10^{10}$ TeV, gravity propagating through extra-dimension sizes from 1 mm to $10^{-18}$mm, and the dynamical history and stabilization of from one to seven extra dimensions.Comment: 6 pages, Latex, 1 figure, submitted to Phys. Re

Partial wave analysis of the reaction gamma p -> p omega$ and the search for nucleon resonances

An event-based partial wave analysis (PWA) of the reaction gamma p -> p omega has been performed on a high-statistics dataset obtained using the CLAS at Jefferson Lab for center-of-mass energies from threshold up to 2.4 GeV. This analysis benefits from access to the world's first high precision spin density matrix element measurements, available to the event-based PWA through the decay distribution of omega-> pi+ pi - pi0. The data confirm the dominance of the t-channel pi0 exchange amplitude in the forward direction. The dominant resonance contributions are consistent with the previously identified states F[15](1680) and D[13](1700) near threshold, as well as the G[17](2190) at higher energies. Suggestive evidence for the presence of a J(P)=5/2(+) state around 2 GeV, a "missing" state, has also been found. Evidence for other states is inconclusive

WHO global research priorities for antimicrobial resistance in human health

The WHO research agenda for antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in human health has identified 40 research priorities to be addressed by the year 2030. These priorities focus on bacterial and fungal pathogens of crucial importance in addressing AMR, including drug-resistant pathogens causing tuberculosis. These research priorities encompass the entire people-centred journey, covering prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of antimicrobial-resistant infections, in addition to addressing the overarching knowledge gaps in AMR epidemiology, burden and drivers, policies and regulations, and awareness and education. The research priorities were identified through a multistage process, starting with a comprehensive scoping review of knowledge gaps, with expert inputs gathered through a survey and open call. The priority setting involved a rigorous modified Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative approach, ensuring global representation and applicability of the findings. The ultimate goal of this research agenda is to encourage research and investment in the generation of evidence to better understand AMR dynamics and facilitate policy translation for reducing the burden and consequences of AMR

Large-scale fire: creator and destroyer of secondary forests in Western Indonesia

Large scale, catastrophic fires have become a significant and visible part of the tropical forest landscape in the past two decades with increased commercial exploitation of forests, forest conversion and increased population pressure. Secondary forests are an increasingly prominent feature of tropical landscapes and fires play a significant role in both the creation and destruction of these forests. In the past two decades large scale forest fires have become more frequent in the moist tropics. In addition to climatic factors, the nature of tropical forests appears to be changing and becoming, as a consequence, more predisposed to burning. Secondary forests arising from intensive logging, in particular those that are in a degraded condition, are particularly vulnerable to repeated burning and further degradation. There has been limited general success in fire prevention and rehabilitation of secondary forests affected by fire. In addition, forest policy is not yet sufficiently attuned to address the management needs of the ever increasing area of secondary forests affected by or developing following fire. Little is known about the exact extent and economic value or potential of post fire secondary forests in Asia. It is clear, however, based on the experience of the past two decades, that there has been a significant increase in secondary forest affected by fire, particularly in Indonesia. Rough estimates for Indonesia infer that there could be as many as 5 million ha of post fire secondary forests following the 1997 98 fires. Based on this knowledge alone, it would seem that post fire secondary forest is already an important forest type that will provide important goods and services both to the environment, the state and local communities alike, as the area of primary forest diminishes through overexploitation and conversion

Directional sensitivity of the retina: 75 years of Stiles–Crawford effect

The reduction of the brightness when a light beam's entry into the eye is shifted from the centre to the edge of the pupil has from the outset been shown to be due to a change in luminous efficiency of radiation when it is incident obliquely on the retina. The phenomenon is most prominent in photopic vision and this has concentrated attention on the properties of retinal cones, where responsibility has yet to be assigned to factors such as differences in shape, fine structure and configuration, and membrane anchoring of photopigment molecules. Geometrical optics and waveguide formulations have been applied to the question of how light is guided in receptors, but details of their geometry and optical parameters even if they become available will make calculations complex and of only moderate generality. In practice, the diminution of oblique light helps visual performance by reducing deleterious influence of ocular aberrations and of glare caused by light scattering when the pupil is wide. Receptor orientation can come into play in ocular conditions due to mechanical disturbance and has been shown to have potentiality as a tool for clinical diagnosis. Currently, open questions include microanatomical and molecular differences between rods and cones, the coupling of the optical image of the eye with the transducing apparatus in the photoreceptors, possible phototropism and more convincing methods of estimating the actual spatial distribution of photon events as it affects visual resolution