722 research outputs found
Heritable and nutritional influences on bone mineral mass
Osteoporosis is the net result of the maximal amount of bone mineral mass achieved by the end of pubertal growth (peak bone mass) minus post-menopausal and elderly bone losses. Peak bone mineral mass is determined from early childhood by both heritable and environmental factors. Recent developments in the molecular epidemiology of osteoporosis have shown the interest, but also the limitations, of specific molecular markers, such as the vitamin D receptor gene polymorphisms Bsm 1 and Fok 1, to explain bone mineral density differences across the population. Importantly, however, interactions between VDR gene polymorphisms and environmental factors, particularly dietary calcium, have provided new insights into the complex determination of bone mineral mas
Spacetime structure of the global vortex
We analyse the spacetime structure of the global vortex and its maximal
analytic extension in an arbitrary number of spacetime dimensions. We find that
the vortex compactifies space on the scale of the Hubble expansion of its
worldvolume, in a manner reminiscent of that of the domain wall. We calculate
the effective volume of this compactification and remark on its relevance to
hierarchy resolution with extra dimensions. We also consider strongly
gravitating vortices and derive bounds on the existence of a global vortex
solution.Comment: 19 pages revtex, 2 figures, minor changes, references adde
Pubertal timing and body mass index gain from birth to maturity in relation with femoral neck BMD and distal tibia microstructure in healthy female subjects
Childhood body mass index (BMI) gain is linked to hip fracture risk in elderly. In healthy girls, menarcheal age is inversely related to BMI gain during childhood and to femoral neck areal bone mass density (aBMD) and distal tibia structural components at maturity. This study underscores the importance of pubertal timing in age-related fragility fracture risk
Asynchrony between the rates of standing height gain and bone mass accumulation during puberty
During puberty, the marked increases in both standing height and bone mass appear to be dissociated in time, the former occurring earlier than the latter. However, the age or pubertal stage at which this dissociation is maximal in girls as opposed to boys, and whether this dissociation is similar at all parts of the skeleton, are not clearly established. Standing height and bone mineral mass, as assessed by measuring areal bone mineral density (BMD), at the levels of the lumbar spine, femoral neck and midfemoral shaft, were measured in 98 females and 100 males between the ages of 9 and 19 years twice at a 1-year interval. In males, the greatest difference between height and BMD gains occurred in the 13-14 year age group and was more pronounced for the lumbar spine and femoral neck than for the midfemoral shaft. In females, the greatest difference was detectable at a younger age (11-12 year age group) and appeared to be of a lower magnitude than in males. In both genders, the maximal difference occurred during the period of peak height velocity, which corresponded to the pubertal stages P2-P3. Such a dissociation between the rates of statural growth and mineral mass accrual could define a state of relatively low bone mass and contribute to the higher incidence of fracture known to occur at the age and/or pubertal stage when this dissociation is maxima
Phonon Mode Spectroscopy, Electron-Phonon Coupling and the Metal-Insulator Transition in Quasi-One-Dimensional M2Mo6Se6
We present electronic structure calculations, electrical resistivity data and
the first specific heat measurements in the normal and superconducting states
of quasi-one-dimensional M2Mo6Se6 (M = Tl, In, Rb). Rb2Mo6Se6 undergoes a
metal-insulator transition at ~170K: electronic structure calculations indicate
that this is likely to be driven by the formation of a dynamical charge density
wave. However, Tl2Mo6Se6 and In2Mo6Se6 remain metallic down to low temperature,
with superconducting transitions at Tc = 4.2K and 2.85K respectively. The
absence of any metal-insulator transition in these materials is due to a larger
in-plane bandwidth, leading to increased inter-chain hopping which suppresses
the density wave instability. Electronic heat capacity data for the
superconducting compounds reveal an exceptionally low density of states DEF =
0.055 states eV^-1 atom^-1, with BCS fits showing 2Delta/kBTc >= 5 for
Tl2Mo6Se6 and 3.5 for In2Mo6Se6. Modelling the lattice specific heat with a set
of Einstein modes, we obtain the approximate phonon density of states F(w).
Deconvolving the resistivity for the two superconductors then yields their
electron-phonon transport coupling function a^2F(w). In Tl2Mo6Se6 and
In2Mo6Se6, F(w) is dominated by an optical "guest ion" mode at ~5meV and a set
of acoustic modes from ~10-30meV. Rb2Mo6Se6 exhibits a similar spectrum;
however, the optical phonon has a lower intensity and is shifted to ~8meV.
Electrons in Tl2Mo6Se6 couple strongly to both sets of modes, whereas In2Mo6Se6
only displays significant coupling in the 10-18meV range. Although pairing is
clearly not mediated by the guest ion phonon, we believe it has a beneficial
effect on superconductivity in Tl2Mo6Se6, given its extraordinarily large
coupling strength and higher Tc compared to In2Mo6Se6.Comment: 16 pages, 13 figure
Thick domain wall universes
We investigate the spacetime of a thick gravitating domain wall for a general
potential . Using general analytical arguments we show that all
nontrivial solutions fall into two categories: those interpretable as an
isolated domain wall with a cosmological event horizon, and those which are
pure false vacuum de Sitter solutions. Although this latter solution is always
unstable to the field rolling coherently to its true vacuum, we show that there
is an additional instability to wall formation if the scalar field does not
couple too strongly to gravity. Using the and sine-Gordon
models as illustrative examples, we investigate the phase space of the
gravitating domain wall in detail numerically, following the solutions from
weak to strong gravity. We find excellent agreement with the analytic work.
Then, we analyse the domain wall in the presence of a cosmological constant
finding again the two kinds of solutions, wall and de Sitter, even in the
presence of a negative cosmological constant.Comment: 20 pages revtex, epsfig, references added, some conclusions altere
Thick domain walls around a black hole
We discuss the gravitationally interacting system of a thick domain wall and
a black hole. We numerically solve the scalar field equation in the
Schwarzschild spacetime and obtain a sequence of static axi-symmetric solutions
representing thick domain walls. We find that, for the walls near the horizon,
the Nambu--Goto approximation is no longer valid.Comment: 18 pages, 11 figures, one reference adde
Abelian Higgs Hair for a Static Charged Black String
We study the problem of vortex solutions in the background of an electrically
charged black string. We show numerically that the Abelian Higgs field
equations in the background of a four-dimensional black string have vortex
solutions. These solutions which have axial symmetry, show that the black
string can support the Abelian Higgs field as hair. This situation holds also
in the case of the extremal black string. We also consider the self-gravity of
the Abelian Higgs field and show that the effect of the vortex is to induce a
deficit angle in the metric under consideration.Comment: REVTEX4, 12 pages, 6 figures, The version to be appeared in Phys.
Rev.
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