2,655 research outputs found
Shape memory effect and mechanical properties of carbon nanotube/shape memory polymer nanocomposites
ArticleCOMPOSITE STRUCTURES. 81(2): 176-184 (2007)journal articl
Innovative online platforms: Research opportunities
Economic growth in many countries is increasingly driven by successful startups that operate as online platforms. These success stories have motivated us to define and classify various online platforms according to their business models. This study discusses strategic and operational issues arising from five types of online platforms (resource sharing, matching, crowdsourcing, review, and crowdfunding) and presents some research opportunities for operations management scholars to explore
Ultrafast outflow in tidal disruption event ASASSN-14li
At only 90 Mpc, ASASSN-14li is one of the nearest tidal disruption event
(TDE) ever discovered, and because of this, it has been observed by several
observatories at many wavelengths. In this paper, we present new results on
archival XMM-Newton observations, three of which were taken at early times
(within 40 days of the discovery), and three of which were taken at late times,
about one year after the peak. We find that, at early times, in addition to the
~1e5 K blackbody component that dominates the X-ray band, there is evidence for
a broad, P Cygni-like absorption feature at around 0.7 keV in all XMM-Newton
instruments (CCD detectors and grating spectrometers), and that this feature
disappears (or at least diminishes) in the late-time observations. We perform
photoionization modelling with XSTAR and interpret this absorption feature as
blueshifted OVIII, from an ionized outflow with a velocity of 0.2c. As the TDE
transitions from high to low accretion rate, the outflow turns off, thus
explaining the absence of the absorption feature during the late-time
observations
Can stellar mass black holes be quark stars?
We investigate the possibility that stellar mass black holes, with masses in
the range of and , respectively, could be in fact
quark stars in the Color-Flavor-Locked (CFL) phase. Depending on the value of
the gap parameter, rapidly rotating CFL quark stars can achieve much higher
masses than standard neutron stars, thus making them possible stellar mass
black hole candidates. Moreover, quark stars have a very low luminosity and a
completely absorbing surface - the infalling matter on the surface of the quark
star is converted into quark matter. A possibility of distinguishing CFL quark
stars from stellar mass black holes could be through the study of thin
accretion disks around rapidly rotating quark stars and Kerr type black holes,
respectively. Furthermore, we show that the radiation properties of accretion
disks around black holes and CFL quark stars are also very similar. However,
strange stars exhibit a low luminosity, but high temperature bremsstrahlung
spectrum, which, in combination with the emission properties of the accretion
disk, may be the key signature to differentiate massive strange stars from
black hole.Comment: 27 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
Forward-backward Asymmetry and Branching Ratio of B \rar K_1 \ell^+ \ell^- Transition in Supersymmetric Models
The mass eigen states and are mixture of the strange
members of two axial-vector SU(3) octet, and .
Taking into account this mixture, the forward-backward asymmetry and branching
ratio of B \rar K_1(1270,1400) \ell^+ \ell^- transitions are studied in the
framework of different supersymmetric models. It is found that the results have
considerable deviation from the standard model predictions. Any measurement of
these physical observables and their comparison with the results obtained in
this paper can give useful information about the nature of interactions beyond
the standard model.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure
Phytoestrogens
Collectively, plants contain several different families of natural products among which are compounds with weak estrogenic or antiestrogenic activity toward mammals. These compounds, termed phytoestrogens, include certain isoflavonoids, flavonoids, stilbenes, and lignans. The best-studied dietary phytoestrogens are the soy isoflavones and the flaxseed lignans. Their perceived health beneficial properties extend beyond hormone-dependent breast and prostate cancers and osteoporosis to include cognitive function, cardiovascular disease, immunity and inflammation, and reproduction and fertility. In the future, metabolic engineering of plants could generate novel and exquisitely controlled dietary sources with which to better assess the potential health beneficial effects of phytoestrogens
LHC Discovery Potential for Non-Standard Higgs Bosons in the 3b Channel
In a variety of well motivated models, such as two Higgs Doublet Models
(2HDMs) and the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM), there are neutral
Higgs bosons that have significantly enhanced couplings to b-quarks and tau
leptons in comparison to those of the SM Higgs. These so called non-standard
Higgs bosons could be copiously produced at the LHC in association with b
quarks, and subsequently decay into b-quark pairs. However, this production
channel suffers from large irreducible QCD backgrounds. We propose a new search
strategy for non-standard neutral Higgs bosons at the 7 TeV LHC in the 3b's
final state topology. We perform a simulation of the signal and backgrounds,
using state of the art tools and methods for different sets of selection cuts,
and conclude that neutral Higgs bosons with couplings to b-quarks of about 0.3
or larger, and masses up to 400 GeV, could be seen with a luminosity of 30
fb^{-1}. In the case of the MSSM we also discuss the complementarity between
the 3b channel and the inclusive tau pair channel in exploring the
supersymmetric parameter space.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, 4 tables, references added, published versio
QGP flow fluctuations and the characteristics of higher moments
The dynamical development of expanding Quark-gluon Plasma (QGP) flow is
studied in a 3+1D fluid dynamical model with a globally symmetric, initial
condition. We minimize fluctuations arising from complex dynamical processes at
finite impact parameters and from fluctuating random initial conditions to have
a conservative fluid dynamical background estimate for the statistical
distributions of the thermodynamical parameters. We also avoid a phase
transition in the equation of state, and we let the matter supercool during the
expansion.
Then central Pb+Pb collisions at TeV are studied in an
almost perfect fluid dynamical model, with azimuthally symmetric initial state
generated in a dynamical flux-tube model. The general development of
thermodynamical extensives are also shown for lower energies.
We observe considerable deviations from a thermal equilibrium source as a
consequence of the fluid dynamical expansion arising from a least fluctuating
initial state
Brown Carbon Aerosol in Urban Xi’an, Northwest China: TheComposition and Light Absorption Properties
Light-absorbing organic carbon (i.e., brown carbon or BrC) in the atmospheric aerosol has significant contribution to light absorption and radiative forcing. However, the link between BrC optical properties and chemical composition remains poorly constrained. In this study, we combine spectrophotometric measurements and chemical analyses of BrC samples collected from July 2008 to June 2009 in urban Xi'an, Northwest China. Elevated BrC was observed in winter (5 times higher than in summer), largely due to increased emissions from wintertime domestic biomass burning. The light absorption coefficient of methanol-soluble BrC at 365 nm (on average approximately twice that of water-soluble BrC) was found to correlate strongly with both parent polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (parent-PAHs, 27 species) and their carbonyl oxygenated derivatives (carbonyl-OPAHs, 15 species) in all seasons (r(2) > 0.61). These measured parent-PAHs and carbonyl-OPAHs account for on average similar to 1.7% of the overall absorption of methanol-soluble BrC, about 5 times higher than their mass fraction in total organic carbon (OC, similar to 0.35%). The fractional solar absorption by BrC relative to element carbon (EC) in the ultraviolet range (300-400 nm) is significant during winter (42 +/- 18% for water-soluble BrC and 76 +/- 29% for methanol-soluble BrC), which may greatly affect the radiative balance and tropospheric photochemistry and therefore the climate and air quality
Resonances in and
A partial wave analysis is presented of and
from a sample of 58M events in the BES II detector. The
is observed clearly in both sets of data, and parameters of the
Flatt\' e formula are determined accurately: (stat)
(syst) MeV/c, MeV/c, . The data also exhibit a strong peak
centred at MeV/c. It may be fitted with and a
dominant signal made from interfering with a smaller
component. There is evidence that the signal is
resonant, from interference with . There is also a state in with MeV/c and
MeV/c; spin 0 is preferred over spin 2. This state, , is
distinct from . The data contain a strong peak due to
. A shoulder on its upper side may be fitted by interference
between and .Comment: 17 pages, 6 figures, 1 table. Submitted to Phys. Lett.
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