396 research outputs found
Megathrust Heterogeneity, Crustal Accretion, and a Topographic Embayment in the Western Nepal Himalaya : Insights From the Inversion of Thermochronological Data
Between 81 degrees 30MODIFIER LETTER PRIMEE and 83 degrees E, the Himalayan range's "perfect" arcuate shape is interrupted by an embayment. We hypothesize that thrust geometry and duplexing along the megathrust at midlower-crustal depths play a leading role in growth of the embayment as well the southern margin of the Tibetan plateau. To test this hypothesis, we conducted thermokinematic modeling of published thermochronologic data from the topographic and structural embayment in the western Nepal Himalaya to investigate the three-dimensional geometry and kinematics of the megathrust at midlower-crustal depths. Models that can best reproduce observed cooling ages suggest that the megathrust in the western Nepal Himalaya is best described as two ramps connected by a long flat that extends further north than in segments to the east and west. These models suggest that the high-slope zone along the embayment lies above the foreland limb of an antiformal crustal accretion zone on the megathrust with lateral and oblique ramps at midlower-crustal depths. The lateral and oblique ramps may have initiated by ca. 10 Ma. This process may have controlled along-strike variation in Himalayan-plateau growth and therefore development of the topographic embayment. Finally, we analyze geological and morphologic features and propose an evolution model in which landscape and drainage systems across the central-western Himalaya evolve in response to crustal accretion at depth and the three-dimensional geometry of the megathrust. Our work highlights the importance of crustal accretion at different depths in orogenic-wedge growth and that the midlower crustal accretion determines the location of plateau edge.Peer reviewe
Transmission of 'Candidatus Anaplasma camelii' to mice and rabbits by camel-specific keds, Hippobosca camelina.
Anaplasmosis, caused by infection with bacteria of the genus Anaplasma, is an important veterinary and zoonotic disease. Transmission by ticks has been characterized but little is known about non-tick vectors of livestock anaplasmosis. This study investigated the presence of Anaplasma spp. in camels in northern Kenya and whether the hematophagous camel ked, Hippobosca camelina, acts as a vector. Camels (n = 976) and > 10,000 keds were sampled over a three-year study period and the presence of Anaplasma species was determined by PCR-based assays targeting the Anaplasmataceae 16S rRNA gene. Camels were infected by a single species of Anaplasma, 'Candidatus Anaplasma camelii', with infection rates ranging from 63-78% during the dry (September 2017), wet (June-July 2018), and late wet seasons (July-August 2019). 10-29% of camel keds harbored 'Ca. Anaplasma camelii' acquired from infected camels during blood feeding. We determined that Anaplasma-positive camel keds could transmit 'Ca. Anaplasma camelii' to mice and rabbits via blood-feeding. We show competence in pathogen transmission and subsequent infection in mice and rabbits by microscopic observation in blood smears and by PCR. Transmission of 'Ca. Anaplasma camelii' to mice (8-47%) and rabbits (25%) occurred readily after ked bites. Hence, we demonstrate, for the first time, the potential of H. camelina as a vector of anaplasmosis. This key finding provides the rationale for establishing ked control programmes for improvement of livestock and human health
Some FRW Models of Accelerating Universe with Dark Energy
The paper deals with a spatially homogeneous and isotropic FRW space-time
filled with perfect fluid and dark energy components. The two sources are
assumed to interact minimally, and therefore their energy momentum tensors are
conserved separately. A special law of variation for the Hubble parameter
proposed by Berman (1983) has been utilized to solve the field equations. The
Berman's law yields two explicit forms of the scale factor governing the FRW
space-time and constant values of deceleration parameter. The role of dark
energy with variable equation of state parameter has been studied in detail in
the evolution of FRW universe. It has been found that dark energy dominates the
universe at the present epoch, which is consistent with the observations. The
physical behavior of the universe is discussed in detail.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure
Desensitizing Inflation from the Planck Scale
A new mechanism to control Planck-scale corrections to the inflationary eta
parameter is proposed. A common approach to the eta problem is to impose a
shift symmetry on the inflaton field. However, this symmetry has to remain
unbroken by Planck-scale effects, which is a rather strong requirement on
possible ultraviolet completions of the theory. In this paper, we show that the
breaking of the shift symmetry by Planck-scale corrections can be
systematically suppressed if the inflaton field interacts with a conformal
sector. The inflaton then receives an anomalous dimension in the conformal
field theory, which leads to sequestering of all dangerous high-energy
corrections. We analyze a number of models where the mechanism can be seen in
action. In our most detailed example we compute the exact anomalous dimensions
via a-maximization and show that the eta problem can be solved using only
weakly-coupled physics.Comment: 34 pages, 3 figures
Non-minimal kinetic coupling and Chaplygin gas cosmology
In the frame of the scalar field model with non minimal kinetic coupling to
gravity, we study the cosmological solutions of the Chaplygin gas model of dark
energy. By appropriately restricting the potential, we found the scalar field,
the potential and coupling giving rise to the Chaplygin gas solution.
Extensions to the generalized and modified Chaplygin gas have been made.Comment: 18 pages, 2 figures. To appear in EPJ
Dynamics of coupled bosonic systems with applications to preheating
Coupled, multi-field models of inflation can provide several attractive
features unavailable in the case of a single inflaton field. These models have
a rich dynamical structure resulting from the interaction of the fields and
their associated fluctuations. We present a formalism to study the
nonequilibrium dynamics of coupled scalar fields. This formalism solves the
problem of renormalizing interacting models in a transparent way using
dimensional regularization. The evolution is generated by a renormalized
effective Lagrangian which incorporates the dynamics of the mean fields and
their associated fluctuations at one-loop order. We apply our method to two
problems of physical interest: (i) a simple two-field model which exemplifies
applications to reheating in inflation, and (ii) a supersymmetric hybrid
inflation model. This second case is interesting because inflation terminates
via a smooth phase transition which gives rise to a spinodal instability in one
of the fields. We study the evolution of the zero mode of the fields and the
energy density transfer to the fluctuations from the mean fields. We conclude
that back reaction effects can be significant over a wide parameter range. In
particular for the supersymmetric hybrid model we find that particle production
can be suppressed due to these effects.Comment: 23 pages, 16 eps-figures, minor changes in the text, references
added, accepted for publication in PR
Warped Tachyonic Inflation in Type IIB Flux Compactifications and the Open-String Completeness Conjecture
We consider a cosmological scenario within the KKLT framework for moduli
stabilization in string theory. The universal open string tachyon of decaying
non-BPS D-brane configurations is proposed to drive eternal topological
inflation. Flux-induced `warping' can provide the small slow-roll parameters
needed for successful inflation. Constraints on the parameter space leading to
sufficient number of e-folds, exit from inflation, density perturbations and
stabilization of the Kahler modulus are investigated. The conditions are
difficult to satisfy in Klebanov-Strassler throats but can be satisfied in T^3
fibrations and other generic Calabi-Yau manifolds. This requires large volume
and magnetic fluxes on the D-brane. The end of inflation may or may not lead to
cosmic strings depending on the original non-BPS configuration. A careful
investigation of initial conditions leading to a phenomenologically viable
model for inflation is carried out. The initial conditions are chosen on the
basis of Sen's open string completeness conjecture. We find time symmetrical
bounce solutions without initial singularities for k=1 FRW models which are
correlated with an inflationary period. Singular big-bang/big-crunch solutions
also exist but do not lead to inflation. There is an intriguing correlation
between having an inflationary universe in 4 dimensions and 6 compact
dimensions or a big-crunch singularity and decompactification.Comment: 43 pages, 9 figures. v3: Typos correcte
Pregnancy Recruitment for Population Research: the National Children's Study Vanguard Experience in W ayne C ounty, M ichigan
Background To obtain a probability sample of pregnancies, the N ational C hildren's S tudy conducted doorâtoâdoor recruitment in randomly selected neighbourhoods in randomly selected counties in 2009â10. In 2011, an experiment was conducted in 10 US counties, in which the twoâstage geographic sample was maintained, but participants were recruited in prenatal care provider offices. We describe our experience recruiting pregnant women this way in W ayne C ounty, M ichigan, a county where geographically eligible women attended 147 prenatal care settings, and comprised just 2% of total county pregnancies. Methods After screening for address eligibility in prenatal care offices, we used a threeâpart recruitment process: (1) providers obtained permission for us to contact eligible patients, (2) clinical research staff described the study to women in clinical settings, and (3) survey research staff visited the home to consent and interview eligible women. Results We screened 34â065 addresses in 67 provider settings to find 215 eligible women. Providers obtained permission for research contact from 81.4% of eligible women, of whom 92.5% agreed to a home visit. All homeâvisited women consented, giving a net enrolment of 75%. From birth certificates, we estimate that 30% of eligible county pregnancies were enrolled, reaching 40â50% in the final recruitment months. Conclusions We recruited a high fraction of pregnancies identified in a broad crossâsection of provider offices. Nonetheless, because of time and resource constraints, we could enrol only a fraction of geographically eligible pregnancies. Our experience suggests that the probability sampling of pregnancies for research could be more efficiently achieved through sampling of providers rather than households.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/97525/1/ppe12047.pd
Bianchi type I space and the stability of inflationary Friedmann-Robertson-Walker space
Stability analysis of the Bianchi type I universe in pure gravity theory is
studied in details. We first derive the non-redundant field equation of the
system by introducing the generalized Bianchi type I metric. This non-redundant
equation reduces to the Friedmann equation in the isotropic limit. It is shown
further that any unstable mode of the isotropic perturbation with respect to a
de Sitter background is also unstable with respect to anisotropic
perturbations. Implications to the choice of physical theories are discussed in
details in this paper.Comment: 5 pages, some comment adde
Probing Planckian physics: resonant production of particles during inflation and features in the primordial power spectrum
The phenomenon of resonant production of particles {\it after} inflation has
received much attention in the past few years. In a new application of resonant
production of particles, we consider the effect of a resonance {\em during}
inflation. We show that if the inflaton is coupled to a massive particle,
resonant production of the particle during inflation modifies the evolution of
the inflaton, and may leave an imprint in the form of sharp features in the
primordial power spectrum. Precision measurements of microwave background
anisotropies and large-scale structure surveys could be sensitive to the
features, and probe the spectrum of particles as massive as the Planck scale.Comment: 19 pages, 11 eps figure
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