Race-time prediction for the Va’a paralympic sprint canoe

The 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro will see 200m sprint canoe events for the first time, using the Va’a class. The aim of this study is to predict race times for the Va’a over a 200m sprint event, through simulation of the hydrodynamic resistance of the hull (with outrigger) and the propulsion provided by the athlete. Such a simulation, once suitably validated, allows investigation of design and configuration changes on predicted race performance. The accuracy of the simulation is discussed through a comparison to times recorded for an athlete over a 200m race distanc

Very high energy observations of the BL Lac objects 3C 66A and OJ 287

Using the Solar Tower Atmospheric Cherenkov Effect Experiment (STACEE), we have observed the BL Lac objects 3C 66A and OJ 287. These are members of the class of low-frequency-peaked BL Lac objects (LBLs) and are two of the three LBLs predicted by Costamante and Ghisellini to be potential sources of very high energy (>100 GeV) gamma-ray emission. The third candidate, BL Lacertae, has recently been detected by the MAGIC collaboration. Our observations have not produced detections; we calculate a 99% CL upper limit of flux from 3C 66A of 0.15 Crab flux units and from OJ 287 our limit is 0.52 Crab. These limits assume a Crab-like energy spectrum with an effective energy threshold of 185 GeV.Comment: 24 pages, 15 figures, Accepted for publication in Astroparticle Physic

Stationary shapes of deformable particles moving at low Reynolds numbers

Lecture Notes of the Summer School ``Microswimmers -- From Single Particle Motion to Collective Behaviour'', organised by the DFG Priority Programme SPP 1726 (Forschungszentrum J{\"{u}}lich, 2015).Comment: Pages C7.1-16 of G. Gompper et al. (ed.), Microswimmers - From Single Particle Motion to Collective Behaviour, Lecture Notes of the DFG SPP 1726 Summer School 2015, Forschungszentrum J\"ulich GmbH, Schriften des Forschungszentrums J\"ulich, Reihe Key Technologies, Vol 110, ISBN 978-3-95806-083-

Modeling of complex oxide materials from the first principles: systematic applications to vanadates RVO3 with distorted perovskite structure

"Realistic modeling" is a new direction of electronic structure calculations, where the main emphasis is made on the construction of some effective low-energy model entirely within a first-principle framework. Ideally, it is a model in form, but with all the parameters derived rigorously, on the basis of first-principles electronic structure calculations. The method is especially suit for transition-metal oxides and other strongly correlated systems, whose electronic and magnetic properties are predetermined by the behavior of some limited number of states located near the Fermi level. After reviewing general ideas of realistic modeling, we will illustrate abilities of this approach on the wide series of vanadates RVO3 (R= La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd, Tb, Yb, and Y) with distorted perovskite structure. Particular attention will be paid to computational tools, which can be used for microscopic analysis of different spin and orbital states in the partially filled t2g-band. We will explicitly show how the lifting of the orbital degeneracy by the monoclinic distortion stabilizes C-type antiferromagnetic (AFM) state, which can be further transformed to the G-type AFM state by changing the crystal distortion from monoclinic to orthorhombic one. Two microscopic mechanisms of such a stabilization, associated with the one-electron crystal field and electron correlation interactions, are discussed. The flexibility of the orbital degrees of freedom is analyzed in terms of the magnetic-state dependence of interatomic magnetic interactions.Comment: 23 pages, 13 figure

Orbital Wave and its Observation in Orbital Ordered Titanates and Vanadates

We present a theory of the collective orbital excitation termed orbital wave in perovskite titanates and vanadates with the triply degenerate $t_{2g}$ orbitals. The dispersion relations of the orbital waves for the orbital ordered LaVO$_3$, YVO$_3$ and YTiO$_3$ are examined in the effective spin-orbital coupled Hamiltonians associated with the Jahn-Teller type couplings. We propose possible scattering processes for the Raman and inelastic neutron scatterings from the orbital wave and calculate the scattering spectra for titanates and vanadates. It is found that both the excitation spectra and the observation methods of the orbital wave are distinct qualitatively from those for the $e_g$ orbital ordered systems.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure

Antimetastatic Potential of PAI-1 Specific RNA Aptamers

The serine protease inhibitor plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) is increased in several cancers, including breast, where it is associated with a poor outcome. Metastatic breast cancer has a dismal prognosis, as evidenced by treatment goals that are no longer curative but are largely palliative in nature. PAI-1 competes with integrins and the urokinase plasminogen activator receptor on the surface of breast cancer cells for binding to vitronectin. This results in the detachment of tumor cells from the extracellular matrix, which is critical to the metastatic process. For this reason, we sought to isolate RNA aptamers that disrupt the interaction between PAI-1 and vitronectin. Through utilization of combinatorial chemistry techniques, aptamers have been selected that bind to PAI-1 with high affinity and specificity. We identified two aptamers, WT-15 and SM-20, that disrupt the interactions between PAI-1 and heparin, as well as PAI-1 and vitronectin, without affecting the antiprotease activity of PAI-1. Furthermore, SM-20 prevented the detachment of breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-231) from vitronectin in the presence of PAI-1, resulting in an increase in cellular adhesion. Therefore, the PAI-1 aptamer SM-20 demonstrates therapeutic potential as an antimetastatic agent and could possibly be used as an adjuvant to traditional chemotherapy for breast cancer.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78126/1/oli.2008.0177.pd

Observational diagnostics of gas in protoplanetary disks

Protoplanetary disks are composed primarily of gas (99% of the mass). Nevertheless, relatively few observational constraints exist for the gas in disks. In this review, I discuss several observational diagnostics in the UV, optical, near-IR, mid-IR, and (sub)-mm wavelengths that have been employed to study the gas in the disks of young stellar objects. I concentrate in diagnostics that probe the inner 20 AU of the disk, the region where planets are expected to form. I discuss the potential and limitations of each gas tracer and present prospects for future research.Comment: Review written for the proceedings of the conference "Origin and Evolution of Planets 2008", Ascona, Switzerland, June 29 - July 4, 2008. Date manuscript: October 2008. 17 Pages, 6 graphics, 134 reference

High-resolution SOFIA/EXES Spectroscopy of SO2 Gas in the Massive Young Stellar Object MonR2 IRS3: Implications for the Sulfur Budget

Stars and planetary system

Model-independent search for CP violation in D0→K−K+π−π+ and D0→π−π+π+π− decays

A search for CP violation in the phase-space structures of D0 and View the MathML source decays to the final states K−K+π−π+ and π−π+π+π− is presented. The search is carried out with a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fb−1 collected in 2011 by the LHCb experiment in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV. For the K−K+π−π+ final state, the four-body phase space is divided into 32 bins, each bin with approximately 1800 decays. The p-value under the hypothesis of no CP violation is 9.1%, and in no bin is a CP asymmetry greater than 6.5% observed. The phase space of the π−π+π+π− final state is partitioned into 128 bins, each bin with approximately 2500 decays. The p-value under the hypothesis of no CP violation is 41%, and in no bin is a CP asymmetry greater than 5.5% observed. All results are consistent with the hypothesis of no CP violation at the current sensitivity