299 research outputs found
Extended phase space thermodynamics for charged and rotating black holes and Born-Infeld vacuum polarization
We investigate the critical behaviour of charged and rotating AdS black holes
in d spacetime dimensions, including effects from non-linear electrodynamics
via the Born-Infeld action, in an extended phase space in which the
cosmological constant is interpreted as thermodynamic pressure. For
Reissner-Nordstrom black holes we find that the analogy with the Van der Walls
liquid-gas system holds in any dimension greater than three, and that the
critical exponents coincide with those of the Van der Waals system. We find
that neutral slowly rotating black holes in four space-time dimensions also
have the same qualitative behaviour. However charged and rotating black holes
in three spacetime dimensions do not exhibit critical phenomena. For
Born-Infeld black holes we define a new thermodynamic quantity B conjugate to
the Born-Infeld parameter b that we call Born-Infeld vacuum polarization. We
demonstrate that this quantity is required for consistency of both the first
law of thermodynamics and the corresponding Smarr relation.Comment: 23 pages, 32 figures, v2: minor changes, upgraded reference
Maternal corticotropin-releasing hormone is associated with LEP DNA methylation at birth and in childhood: an epigenome-wide study in Project Viva
BackgroundCorticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) plays a central role in regulating the secretion of cortisol which controls a wide range of biological processes. Fetuses overexposed to cortisol have increased risks of disease in later life. DNA methylation may be the underlying association between prenatal cortisol exposure and health effects. We investigated associations between maternal CRH levels and epigenome-wide DNA methylation of cord blood in offsprings and evaluated whether these associations persisted into mid-childhood.MethodsWe investigated mother-child pairs enrolled in the prospective Project Viva pre-birth cohort. We measured DNA methylation in 257 umbilical cord blood samples using the HumanMethylation450 Bead Chip. We tested associations of maternal CRH concentration with cord blood cells DNA methylation, adjusting the model for maternal age at enrollment, education, maternal race/ethnicity, maternal smoking status, pre-pregnancy body mass index, parity, gestational age at delivery, child sex, and cell-type composition in cord blood. We further examined the persistence of associations between maternal CRH levels and DNA methylation in children's blood cells collected at mid-childhood (n = 239, age: 6.7-10.3 years) additionally adjusting for the children's age at blood drawn.ResultsMaternal CRH levels are associated with DNA methylation variability in cord blood cells at 96 individual CpG sites (False Discovery Rate <0.05). Among the 96 CpG sites, we identified 3 CpGs located near the LEP gene. Regional analyses confirmed the association between maternal CRH and DNA methylation near LEP. Moreover, higher maternal CRH levels were associated with higher blood-cell DNA methylation of the promoter region of LEP in mid-childhood (P < 0.05, β = 0.64, SE = 0.30).ConclusionIn our cohort, maternal CRH was associated with DNA methylation levels in newborns at multiple loci, notably in the LEP gene promoter. The association between maternal CRH and LEP DNA methylation levels persisted into mid-childhood
Assessing the performance of centralized waiting lists for patients without a regular family physician using clinical-administrative data
P-V criticality of charged AdS black holes
Treating the cosmological constant as a thermodynamic pressure and its
conjugate quantity as a thermodynamic volume, we reconsider the critical
behaviour of charged AdS black holes. We complete the analogy of this system
with the liquid-gas system and study its critical point, which occurs at the
point of divergence of specific heat at constant pressure. We calculate the
critical exponents and show that they coincide with those of the Van der Waals
system.Comment: 13 pages, 15 figures, v2:added reference
Jet energy measurement with the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at root s=7 TeV
The jet energy scale and its systematic uncertainty are determined for jets measured with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 7TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 38 pb-1. Jets are reconstructed with the anti-kt algorithm with distance parameters R=0. 4 or R=0. 6. Jet energy and angle corrections are determined from Monte Carlo simulations to calibrate jets with transverse momenta pT≥20 GeV and pseudorapidities {pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy systematic uncertainty is estimated using the single isolated hadron response measured in situ and in test-beams, exploiting the transverse momentum balance between central and forward jets in events with dijet topologies and studying systematic variations in Monte Carlo simulations. The jet energy uncertainty is less than 2. 5 % in the central calorimeter region ({pipe}η{pipe}<0. 8) for jets with 60≤pT<800 GeV, and is maximally 14 % for pT<30 GeV in the most forward region 3. 2≤{pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy is validated for jet transverse momenta up to 1 TeV to the level of a few percent using several in situ techniques by comparing a well-known reference such as the recoiling photon pT, the sum of the transverse momenta of tracks associated to the jet, or a system of low-pT jets recoiling against a high-pT jet. More sophisticated jet calibration schemes are presented based on calorimeter cell energy density weighting or hadronic properties of jets, aiming for an improved jet energy resolution and a reduced flavour dependence of the jet response. The systematic uncertainty of the jet energy determined from a combination of in situ techniques is consistent with the one derived from single hadron response measurements over a wide kinematic range. The nominal corrections and uncertainties are derived for isolated jets in an inclusive sample of high-pT jets. Special cases such as event topologies with close-by jets, or selections of samples with an enhanced content of jets originating from light quarks, heavy quarks or gluons are also discussed and the corresponding uncertainties are determined. © 2013 CERN for the benefit of the ATLAS collaboration
Measurement of the inclusive and dijet cross-sections of b-jets in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector
The inclusive and dijet production cross-sections have been measured for jets
containing b-hadrons (b-jets) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass
energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The
measurements use data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb^-1.
The b-jets are identified using either a lifetime-based method, where secondary
decay vertices of b-hadrons in jets are reconstructed using information from
the tracking detectors, or a muon-based method where the presence of a muon is
used to identify semileptonic decays of b-hadrons inside jets. The inclusive
b-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse momentum in the
range 20 < pT < 400 GeV and rapidity in the range |y| < 2.1. The bbbar-dijet
cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass in the
range 110 < m_jj < 760 GeV, the azimuthal angle difference between the two jets
and the angular variable chi in two dijet mass regions. The results are
compared with next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. Good agreement is observed
between the measured cross-sections and the predictions obtained using POWHEG +
Pythia. MC@NLO + Herwig shows good agreement with the measured bbbar-dijet
cross-section. However, it does not reproduce the measured inclusive
cross-section well, particularly for central b-jets with large transverse
momenta.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (21 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final
version published in European Physical Journal
Host Cell Transcriptome Profile during Wild-Type and Attenuated Dengue Virus Infection
10.1371/journal.pntd.0002107PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases73
Biology and conservation of freshwater bivalves : past, present and future perspectives
Freshwater bivalves have been highly
threatened by human activities, and recently their
global decline has been causing conservational and
social concern. In this paper, we review the most
important research events in freshwater bivalve biology
calling attention to the main scientific achievements.
A great bias exists in the research effort, with
much more information available for bivalve species
belonging to the Unionida in comparison to other
groups. The same is true for the origin of these studies,
since the publishing pattern does not always correspond
to the hotspots of biodiversity but is concentrated in the northern hemisphere mainly in
North America, Europe and Russia, with regions such
as Africa and Southeast Asia being quite understudied.
We also summarize information about past, present
and future perspectives concerning the most important
research topics that include taxonomy, systematics,
anatomy, physiology, ecology and conservation of
freshwater bivalves. Finally, we introduce the articles
published in this Hydrobiologia special issue related
with the International Meeting on Biology and Conservation
of Freshwater Bivalves held in 2012 in
Braganc¸a, Portugal.We would like to express our gratitude to our sponsors and institutions, especially to the Polytechnic Institute of Braganca for all the logistic support. We acknowledge all keynote speakers, authors, session chairpersons and especially to all attendees whose contributions were fundamental for the success of this meeting. We would also like to thank all referees of this special issue and to Koen Martens, Editor-in-Chief of Hydrobiologia, for all the valuable comments and suggestions. The chronogram was built with the help of the expert opinion of fellow colleagues Rafael Araujo, Arthur Bogan, Kevin Cummings, Dan Graf, Wendell Haag, Karl-Otto Nagel and David Strayer to whom we are very grateful. The authors acknowledge the support provided by Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and COMPETE funds-projects CONBI (Contract: PTDC/AAC-AMB/117688/2010) and ECO-IAS (Contract: PTDC/AAC-AMB/116685/2010), and by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the COMPETE, under the project "PEst-C/MAR/LA0015/2011"
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