The bubbles of matter from multiskyrmions

The multiskyrmions with large baryon number B given by rational map (RM) ansaetze can be described reasonably well within the domain wall approximation, or as spherical bubbles with energy and baryon number density concentrated at their boundary. A special class of profile functions is considered approximating the true profile and domain wall behaviour at the same time. An upper bound is obtained for the masses of RM multiskyrmions which is close to the calculated masses, especially at large B. The gap between rigorous upper and lower bounds for large B multiskyrmions is less than 4%. The basic properties of such bubbles of matter are investigated, some of them being of universal character, i.e. they do not depend on baryon number of configuration and on the number of flavors. As a result, the lagrangian of the Skyrme type models provides field theoretical realization of the bag model of special kind.Comment: 7 pages, no figure

Исследование характеристик пьезоэлектрического двигателя в системах позиционирования

В статті розглянуто характеристики позиціювання і точності, а також частотні та навантажувальні характеристики п’єзоелектричних двигунів, які використовуються в системах прецизійного позиціювання.Characteristics of the positioning, accuracy, frequency and loading of piezoelectric motor which are used in systems of precision positioning are considered.В статье рассмотрены характеристики позиционирования и точности, а также частотные и нагрузочные характеристики пьезоэлектрических двигателей, которые используются в системах прецизионного позиционирования

Multiskyrmions and baryonic bags

Analytical treatment of skyrmions given by rational map (RM) ansaetze proposed recently for the Skyrme model is extended to the model including the 6-th order term in chiral fields derivatives in the lagrangian (the SK6 variant of the model) and used for calculation of different properties of multiskyrmions. For special class of profile functions approximating the true profile and the domain wall behaviour at the same time, the masses and other static properties of multiskyrmions are expressed in terms of the Euler-type integrals. An upper bound is obtained for the masses of RM multiskyrmions which is close to the calculated masses, especially at large B. The gap between rigorous upper bound and lower bound, obtained for the SK6 model as well, for large B multiskyrmions is less than 9%, in comparison with about 4% for the SK4 (Skyrme) variant. The basic properties of such bubbles of matter are investigated, some of them, e.g. the thickness of the bubbles envelope, being of universal character, i.e. they do not depend on baryon number of configuration, or reveal a simple and natural dependence. The dependence of these properties on the number of flavours is absent or very weak in both models. Qualitatively, the properties of the baryonic bags are the same for the SK6 and SK4 variants of the model, although differ in some details.Comment: 16 pages, no figure

Towards an Abelian Formulation of Lattice QCD Confinement

We probe for operators occurring in the APQCD(``abelian-projected QCD'') action by evaluating abelian-projected $1$-plaquette spectral densities in pure gauge $SU(3)$ fixed to maximal abelian gauge. Couplings $B_{APQCD}(q,L)$ are extracted from the spectral densities for each representation $q$, $L\times L$ plaquette. While APQCD is dominated by a $q=L=1$ resonance, we also find evidence for weakly coupled $L=2$ plaquettes. Moreover, since $B_{APQCD}(1,1) > B_{QED}(1,1)$ even if $\beta_{QED} > \beta_c$, $L>1$ plaquettes must be significant since APQCD is confining.Comment: 1+11 pages, fixed minor postscript erro

Overview of NSTX Upgrade initial results and modelling highlights

The National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) has undergone a major upgrade, and the NSTX Upgrade (NSTX-U) Project was completed in the summer of 2015. NSTX-U first plasma was subsequently achieved, diagnostic and control systems have been commissioned, the H-mode accessed, magnetic error fields identified and mitigated, and the first physics research campaign carried out. During ten run weeks of operation, NSTX-U surpassed NSTX record pulse-durations and toroidal fields (TF), and high-performance similar to 1 MA H-mode plasmas comparable to the best of NSTX have been sustained near and slightly above the n = 1 no-wall stability limit and with H-mode confinement multiplier H-98y,H-2 above 1. Transport and turbulence studies in L-mode plasmas have identified the coexistence of at least two ion-gyro-scale turbulent micro-instabilities near the same radial location but propagating in opposite (i.e. ion and electron diamagnetic) directions. These modes have the characteristics of ion-temperature gradient and micro-tearing modes, respectively, and the role of these modes in contributing to thermal transport is under active investigation. The new second more tangential neutral beam injection was observed to significantly modify the stability of two types of Alfven eigenmodes. Improvements in offline disruption forecasting were made in the areas of identification of rotating MHD modes and other macroscopic instabilities using the disruption event characterization and forecasting code. Lastly, the materials analysis and particle probe was utilized on NSTX-U for the first time and enabled assessments of the correlation between boronized wall conditions and plasma performance. These and other highlights from the first run campaign of NSTX-U are described

Impact of anxiety and depression disorders on adherence to anticoagulant therapy among patients with atrial fibrillation

Aim. To determine the possible impact of anxiety and depression disorders on the adherence of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) to anticoagulant the rapy.Material and methods. The study included outpatients with AF of any type. After signing the informed consent, patients filled out questionnaires and scales that determined the level of anxiety and personal predisposition (MMAS-8, MMAS-4, SF-36, SHAI, STAI, HADS, NEO-FFI).Results. A total of 117 outpatients treated for AF were included. The mean age of patients was 74±5 years (men, 38%). Based on MMAS-4 and MMAS-8 results, adherent and non-adherent cohorts of patients were formed. Low adherence group had significantly higher situational anxiety according to STAI (45,9±9,9 vs 41,1±10,7, p=0,045) and depression according to HADS (7,9±3,6 vs 5,9±3,5, p=0,018). SF 36 showed that non-adherent patients had a lower general health (41,6±12,9 vs 52,2±20,0, p=0,01). Five-factor model revealed an association between low compliance and low extraversion (21,3±6,6 vs 26,4±7,2, p=0,002). Pharmacokinetic data on blood concentrations of anticoagulants or its metabolites at the second visit were available in 76 (67%) patients. Assessment of pharmacokinetic and compliance data revealed a moderate direct correlation (Matthews correlation coefficient (MCC), 0,345) and a weak direct correlation with the MMAS-8 (MCC, 0,177). The difference in MMAS-4 and MMAS-8 scores between high and low pharmacokinetic adherence groups was significant on both scales (p=0,011 and 0,015, respectively).Conclusion. The rationale for widespread introduction of standardized questionnaires and scales (MMAS 4, MMAS 8, STAI, HADS, SF 36, Big 5) was shown in order to early identify patients with low adherence to treatment. The results highlight the need for further study of the contribution of psychiatric disorders to low compliance to anticoagulant therapy

Measurements, system response, and calibration of the SLAC T-510 experiment

The SLAC T-510 experiment provides the first beam-test of radio-frequency radiation from a charged particle cascade in the presence of a magnetic field (up to 970 G), a model system for radio-frequency emission from a cosmic-ray air shower. The primary purpose of this experiment is to provide a suite of controlled laboratory tests to compare to simulations based on particlelevel models of RF emission, making the calibrations of critical importance. We present system calibrations and analysis of the experiment from end to end. Measurements of the beam charge and two-dimensional magnetic field map are fed directly into the simulations using two different formalisms: ZHS and Endpoints. Simulated electric fields are forward-folded with the system response, allowing for direct comparisons of spectra and waveforms with the simulations

Novel facultative Methylocella strains are active methane consumers at terrestrial natural gas seeps

Natural gas seeps contribute to global climate change by releasing substantial amounts of the potent greenhouse gas methane and other climate-active gases including ethane and propane to the atmosphere. However, methanotrophs, bacteria capable of utilising methane as the sole source of carbon and energy, play a significant role in reducing the emissions of methane from many environments. Methylocella-like facultative methanotrophs are a unique group of bacteria that grow on other components of natural gas (i.e. ethane and propane) in addition to methane but a little is known about the distribution and activity of Methylocella in the environment. The purposes of this study were to identify bacteria involved in cycling methane emitted from natural gas seeps and, most importantly, to investigate if Methylocella-like facultative methanotrophs were active utilisers of natural gas at seep sites

Heart Rate Variability Dynamics for the Prognosis of Cardiovascular Risk

Statistical, spectral, multi-resolution and non-linear methods were applied to heart rate variability (HRV) series linked with classification schemes for the prognosis of cardiovascular risk. A total of 90 HRV records were analyzed: 45 from healthy subjects and 45 from cardiovascular risk patients. A total of 52 features from all the analysis methods were evaluated using standard two-sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov test (KS-test). The results of the statistical procedure provided input to multi-layer perceptron (MLP) neural networks, radial basis function (RBF) neural networks and support vector machines (SVM) for data classification. These schemes showed high performances with both training and test sets and many combinations of features (with a maximum accuracy of 96.67%). Additionally, there was a strong consideration for breathing frequency as a relevant feature in the HRV analysis