360 research outputs found
Theoretical Evaluations of the Fission Cross Section of the 77 eV Isomer of 235-U
We have developed models of the fission barrier (barrier heights and
transition state spectra) that reproduce reasonably well the measured fission
cross section of U from neutron energy of 1 keV to 2 MeV. From these
models we have calculated the fission cross section of the 77 eV isomer of
U over the same energy range. We find that the ratio of the isomer
cross section to that of the ground state lies between about 0.45 and 0.55 at
low neutron energies. The cross sections become approximately equal above 1
MeV. The ratio of the neutron capture cross section to the fission cross
section for the isomer is predicted to be about a factor of 3 larger for the
isomer than for the ground state of U at keV neutron energies. We have
also calculated the cross section for the population of the isomer by inelastic
neutron scattering form the U ground state. We find that the isomer is
strongly populated, and for the cross section
leading to the population of the isomer is of the order of 0.5 barn. Thus,
neutron reaction network calculations involving the uranium isotopes in a high
neutron fluence are likely to be affected by the 77 eV isomer of U.
With these same models the fission cross sections of U and U
can be reproduced approximately using only minor adjustments to the barrier
heights. With the significant lowering of the outer barrier that is expected
for the outer barrier the general behavior of the fission cross section of
Pu can also be reproduced.Comment: 17 pages including 8 figure
Stability of 1+1 dimensional causal relativistic viscous hydrodynamics
The stability of the 1+1 dimensional solution of Israel-Stewart theory is
investigated. Firstly, the evolution of the temperature and the ratio of the
bulk pressure over the equilibrium pressure of the background is explored. Then
the stability with linear perturbations is studied by using the Lyapunov direct
method. It shows that the shear viscosity may weaken the instability induced by
the large peak of bulk viscosity around the phase transition temperature .Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures, 1 table; to be published in Nuclear Physics
Charged hadron transverse momentum distributions in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV
We present transverse momentum distributions of charged hadrons produced in
Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV. The spectra were measured for
transverse momenta p_T from 0.25 to 4.5 GeV/c in a rapidity range of 0.2 < y_pi
< 1.4. The evolution of the spectra is studied as a function of collision
centrality, from 65 to 344 participating nucleons. The results are compared to
data from proton-antiproton collisions and Au+Au collisions at lower RHIC
energies. We find a significant change of the spectral shape between
proton-antiproton and peripheral Au+Au collisions. Comparing peripheral to
central Au+Au collisions, we find that the yields at high p_T exhibit
approximate scaling with the number of participating nucleons, rather than
scaling with the number of binary collisions.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Phys.Lett.
Space-time evolution of hadronization
Beside its intrinsic interest for the insights it can give into color
confinement, knowledge of the space-time evolution of hadronization is very
important for correctly interpreting jet-quenching data in heavy ion collisions
and extracting the properties of the produced medium. On the experimental side,
the cleanest environment to study the space-time evolution of hadronization is
semi-inclusive Deeply Inelastic Scattering on nuclear targets. On the
theoretical side, 2 frameworks are presently competing to explain the observed
attenuation of hadron production: quark energy loss (with hadron formation
outside the nucleus) and nuclear absorption (with hadronization starting inside
the nucleus). I discuss recent observables and ideas which will help to
distinguish these 2 mechanisms and to measure the time scales of the
hadronization process.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures. Based on talks given at "Hot Quarks 2006",
Villasimius, Italy, May 15-20, 2006, and at the "XLIV internataional winter
meeting on nuclear physics", Bormio, Italy, Jan 29 - Feb 5, 2006. To appear
in Eur.Phys.J.
Differential epitope recognition in the immunodominant staphylococcal antigen A of Staphylococcus aureus by mouse versus human IgG antibodies
The immunodominant staphylococcal antigen A (IsaA) is a potential target for active or passive immunization against the important human pathogen _Staphylococcus aureus_. Consistent with this view, monoclonal antibodies against IsaA were previously shown to be protective against _S. aureus_ infections in mouse models. Further, patients with the genetic blistering disease epidermolysis bullosa (EB) displayed high IsaA-specific IgG levels that could potentially be protective. Yet, mice actively immunized with IsaA were not protected against _S. aureus_ infection. The present study was aimed at explaining these differences in IsaA-specific immune responses. By epitope mapping, we show that the protective human monoclonal antibody (humAb) 1D9 recognizes a conserved 62-residue N-terminal domain of IsaA. The same region of IsaA is recognized by IgGs in EB patient sera. Further, we show by immunofluorescence microscopy that this N-terminal IsaA domain is exposed on the _S. aureus_ cell surface. In contrast to the humAb 1D9 and IgGs from EB patients, the non-protective IgGs from mice immunized with IsaA were shown to predominantly bind the C-terminal domain of IsaA. Altogether, these observations focus attention on the N-terminal region of IsaA as a potential target for future immunization against _S. aureus_
Evidence of Final-State Suppression of High-p_T Hadrons in Au + Au Collisions Using d + Au Measurements at RHIC
Transverse momentum spectra of charged hadrons with 6 GeV/c have
been measured near mid-rapidity (0.2 1.4) by the PHOBOS experiment
at RHIC in Au + Au and d + Au collisions at . The spectra for different collision centralities are compared to collisions at the same energy. The resulting nuclear modification
factor for central Au + Au collisions shows evidence of strong suppression of
charged hadrons in the high- region ( GeV/c). In contrast, the d +
Au nuclear modification factor exhibits no suppression of the high-
yields. These measurements suggest a large energy loss of the high-
particles in the highly interacting medium created in the central Au + Au
collisions. The lack of suppression in d + Au collisions suggests that it is
unlikely that initial state effects can explain the suppression in the central
Au + Au collisions.Comment: 3 pages, 4 figures, International Europhysics Conference on High
Energy Physics EPS (July 17th-23rd 2003) in Aachen, German
Disulfide bond structure and domain organization of yeast beta(1,3)-glucanosyltransferases involved in cell wall biogenesis
The Gel/Gas/Phr family of fungal \u3b2(1,3)-glucanosyltransferases plays an important role in cell wall biogenesis by processing the main component \u3b2(1,3)-glucan. Two subfamilies are distinguished depending on the presence or absence of a C-terminal cysteine-rich domain, denoted "Cys-box." The N-terminal domain (NtD) contains the catalytic residues for transglycosidase activity and is separated from the Cys-box by a linker region. To obtain a better understanding of the structure and function of the Cys-box-containing subfamily, we identified the disulfide bonds in Gas2p from Saccharomyces cerevisiae by an improved mass spectrometric methodology. We mapped two separate intra-domain clusters of three and four disulfide bridges. One of the bonds in the first cluster connects a central Cys residue of the NtD with a single conserved Cys residue in the linker. Site-directed mutagenesis of the Cys residue in the linker resulted in an endoplasmic reticulum precursor that was not matured and underwent a gradual degradation. The relevant disulfide bond has a crucial role in folding as it may stabilize the NtD and facilitate its interaction with the C-terminal portion of a Gas protein. The four disulfide bonds in the Cys-box are arranged in a manner consistent with a partial structural resemblance with the plant X8 domain, an independent carbohydrate-binding module that possesses only three disulfide bonds. Deletion of the Cys-box in Gas2 or Gas1 proteins led to the formation of an NtD devoid of any enzymatic activity. The results suggest that the Cys-box is required for proper folding of the NtD and/or substrate binding
Cronin Effect and High-p_T Suppression in pA Collisions
We review the predictions of the theory of Color Glass Condensate for gluon
production cross section in p(d)A collisions. We demonstrate that at moderate
energies, when the gluon production cross section can be calculated in the
framework of McLerran-Venugopalan model, it has only partonic level Cronin
effect in it. At higher energies/rapidities corresponding to smaller values of
Bjorken x quantum evolution becomes important. The effect of quantum evolution
at higher energies/rapidities is to introduce suppression of high-p_T gluons
slightly decreasing the Cronin enhancement. At still higher energies/rapidities
quantum evolution leads to suppression of produced gluons at all values of p_T.Comment: 32 pages, 8 figures, v2: extended and improved discussion, references
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Experimental and Theoretical Challenges in the Search for the Quark Gluon Plasma: The STAR Collaboration's Critical Assessment of the Evidence from RHIC Collisions
We review the most important experimental results from the first three years
of nucleus-nucleus collision studies at RHIC, with emphasis on results from the
STAR experiment, and we assess their interpretation and comparison to theory.
The theory-experiment comparison suggests that central Au+Au collisions at RHIC
produce dense, rapidly thermalizing matter characterized by: (1) initial energy
densities above the critical values predicted by lattice QCD for establishment
of a Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP); (2) nearly ideal fluid flow, marked by
constituent interactions of very short mean free path, established most
probably at a stage preceding hadron formation; and (3) opacity to jets. Many
of the observations are consistent with models incorporating QGP formation in
the early collision stages, and have not found ready explanation in a hadronic
framework. However, the measurements themselves do not yet establish
unequivocal evidence for a transition to this new form of matter. The
theoretical treatment of the collision evolution, despite impressive successes,
invokes a suite of distinct models, degrees of freedom and assumptions of as
yet unknown quantitative consequence. We pose a set of important open
questions, and suggest additional measurements, at least some of which should
be addressed in order to establish a compelling basis to conclude definitively
that thermalized, deconfined quark-gluon matter has been produced at RHIC.Comment: 101 pages, 37 figures; revised version to Nucl. Phys.
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