Abelian Landau-Pomeranchuk-Migdal effects

It is shown that the high-energy expansion of the scattering amplitude calculated from Feynman diagrams factorizes in such a way that it can be reduced to the eikonalized form up to the terms of inverse power in energy in accordance with results obtained by solving the Klein-Gordon equation. Therefore the two approaches when applied to the suppression of the emission of soft photons by fast charged particles in dense matter should give rise to the same results. A particular limit of thin targets is briefly discussed.Comment: 14 pages, LATEX, 1 Fig. ps, submitted to Mod. Phys. Lett.

Mechanisms Mediating the Biologic Activity of Synthetic Proline, Glycine, and Hydroxyproline Polypeptides in Human Neutrophils

The accumulation of neutrophils at sites of tissue injury or infection is mediated by chemotactic factors released as part of the inflammatory process. Some of these factors are generated as a direct consequence of tissue injury or infection, including degradation fragments of connective tissue collagen and bacterial- or viral-derived peptides containing collagen-related structural motifs. In these studies, we examined biochemical mechanisms mediating the biologic activity of synthetic polypeptides consisting of repeated units of proline (Pro), glycine (Gly), and hydroxyproline (Hyp), major amino acids found within mammalian and bacterial collagens. We found that the peptides were chemoattractants for neutrophils. Moreover, their chemotactic potency was directly related to their size and composition. Thus, the pentameric peptides (Pro-Pro-Gly)(5) and (Pro-Hyp-Gly)(5) were more active in inducing chemotaxis than the corresponding decameric peptides (Pro-Pro-Gly)(10) and (Pro-Hyp-Gly)(10). In addition, the presence of Hyp in peptides reduced chemotactic activity. The synthetic peptides were also found to reduce neutrophil apoptosis. In contrast to chemotaxis, this activity was independent of peptide size or composition. The effects of the peptides on both chemotaxis and apoptosis were blocked by inhibitors of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3-K) and p38 mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase. However, only (Pro-Pro-Gly)(5) and (Pro-Pro-Gly)(10) induced expression of PI3-K and phosphorylation of p38 MAP kinase, suggesting a potential mechanism underlying reduced chemotactic activity of Hyp-containing peptides. Although none of the synthetic peptides tested had any effect on intracellular calcium mobilization, each induced nuclear binding activity of the transcription factor NF-κB. These findings indicate that polymeric polypeptides containing Gly-X-Y collagen-related structural motifs promote inflammation by inducing chemotaxis and blocking apoptosis. However, distinct calcium-independent signaling pathways appear to be involved in these activities

Inflammatory effects of inhaled sulfur mustard in rat lung

Inhalation of sulfur mustard (SM), a bifunctional alkylating agent that causes severe lung damage, is a significant threat to both military and civilian populations. The mechanisms mediating its cytotoxic effects are unknown and were investigated in the present studies. Male rats Crl:CD(SD) were anesthetized, and then intratracheally intubated and exposed to 0.7–1.4 mg/kg SM by vapor inhalation. Animals were euthanized 6, 24, 48 h or 7 days post-exposure and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BAL) and lung tissue collected. Exposure of rats to SM resulted in rapid pulmonary toxicity, including focal ulceration and detachment of the trachea and bronchial epithelia from underlying mucosa, thickening of alveolar septal walls and increased numbers of inflammatory cells in the tissue. There was also evidence of autophagy and apoptosis in the tissue. This was correlated with increased BAL protein content, a marker of injury to the alveolar epithelial lining. SM exposure also resulted in increased expression of markers of inflammation including cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and matrix metalloproteinase- 9 (MMP-9), each of which has been implicated in pulmonary toxicity. Whereas COX-2, TNFα and iNOS were mainly localized in alveolar regions, MMP-9 was prominent in bronchial epithelium. In contrast, expression of the anti-oxidant hemeoxygenase, and the anti-inflammatory collectin, surfactant protein-D, decreased in the lung after SM exposure. These data demonstrate that SM-induced oxidative stress and injury are associated with the generation of cytotoxic inflammatory proteins which may contribute to the pathogenic response to this vesicant

The Landau-Pomeranchuk-Migdal effect in QED

The calculation of the radiative energy loss encountered by a fast charged particle which undergoes multiple scattering is being investigated. A detailed derivation of the Landau-Pomeranchuk-Migdal coherent effect in QED is given, focusing on the specific feature of the Coulomb interaction. As a result the radiation intensity per unit length in the coherent regime is shown to be proportional to $\sqrt \omega$ for a photon energy $\omega$ times a logarithmic enhancement which is determined exactly.Comment: 19 pages, LaTeX styl

Fractional Dynamics from Einstein Gravity, General Solutions, and Black Holes

We study the fractional gravity for spacetimes with non-integer dimensions. Our constructions are based on a geometric formalism with the fractional Caputo derivative and integral calculus adapted to nonolonomic distributions. This allows us to define a fractional spacetime geometry with fundamental geometric/physical objects and a generalized tensor calculus all being similar to respective integer dimension constructions. Such models of fractional gravity mimic the Einstein gravity theory and various Lagrange-Finsler and Hamilton-Cartan generalizations in nonholonomic variables. The approach suggests a number of new implications for gravity and matter field theories with singular, stochastic, kinetic, fractal, memory etc processes. We prove that the fractional gravitational field equations can be integrated in very general forms following the anholonomic deformation method for constructing exact solutions. Finally, we study some examples of fractional black hole solutions, fractional ellipsoid gravitational configurations and imbedding of such objects in fractional solitonic backgrounds.Comment: latex2e, 11pt, 40 pages with table of conten

Applications of Lagrangian dispersion modeling to the analysis of changes in the specific absorption of elemental carbon

International audienceWe use a Lagrangian dispersion model driven by a mesoscale model with four-dimensional data assimilation to simulate the dispersion of elemental carbon (EC) over a region encompassing Mexico City and its surroundings, the study domain for the 2006 MAX-MEX experiment, which was a component of the MILAGRO campaign. The results are used to identify periods when biomass burning was likely to have had a significant impact on the concentrations of elemental carbon at two sites, T1 and T2, downwind of the city, and when emissions from the Mexico City Metropolitan Area (MCMA) were likely to have been more important. They are also used to estimate the median ages of EC affecting the specific absorption of light, ?ABS, at 870 nm as well as to identify periods when the urban plume from the MCMA was likely to have been advected over T1 and T2. Median EC ages at T1 and T2 are substantially larger during the day than at night. Values of ?ABS at T1, the nearer of the two sites to Mexico City, were smaller at night and increased rapidly after mid-morning, peaking in the mid-afternoon. The behavior is attributed to the coating of aerosols with substances such as sulfate or organic carbon during daylight hours, but such coating appears to be limited or absent at night. Evidence for this is provided by scanning electron microscopy images of aerosols collected at the sampling sites. During daylight hours the values of ?ABS did not increase with aerosol age for median ages in the range of 1?4 h. There is some evidence for absorption increasing as aerosols were advected from T1 to T2 but the statistical significance of that result is not strong