Role of Selenium in Dopamine Transmission and Modulation by Methamphetamine.

Ph.D. Thesis. University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa 2017

D-meson diffusion in hadronic matter

We present effective-field-theory results with unitarized interactions on the D-meson transport coefficients in a gas populated by light mesons and baryons at finite temperature and baryochemical potential. The Fokker-Planck equation is used to compute the drag force, the relaxation time and the diffusion coefficients of D mesons for collisions at FAIR. At finite baryochemical potential, the combined effect of net baryonic density and sizable meson-baryon interaction makes the D mesons to relax more efficiently than in the case at zero baryochemical potential. We also describe the connection with the quark-gluon plasma phase in adiabatic trajectories on the phase diagram at both zero and finite baryochemical potential.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. Contribution to the FAIRNESS 2013 - Workshop for young scientists with research interests focused on FAIR physics. 15-21 September 2013, Berlin (Germany

Absolute velocity along the AR7W section in the Labrador Sea

Author Posting. © Elsevier B.V., 2012. The definitive version was published in Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers 72 (2013): 72–87, doi:10.1016/j.dsr.2012.11.005.Nearly every spring since 1990, hydrographic data have been collected along a section in the Labrador Sea known as AR7W. Since 1995, lowered acoustic doppler current profiler (LADCP) data have also been collected. In this work we use data from six of these sections, spanning the time period 1995 through 2008, to determine absolute velocity across AR7W and analyze the main features of the general circulation in the area. We find that absolute velocity fields are characterized by strong, nearly barotropic flows all along the section, meaning there is no “level of no motion” for geostrophic velocity calculations. There is strong variability from year to year, especially in the strength of the boundary currents at each end; nevertheless, combining data from.all 6 sections yields a well-organized velocity field resembling that presented by Pickart and Spall (2007), except that our velocities tend to be stronger: there is a cyclonic boundary current system with offshore recirculations at both ends of the line; the interior is filled with virtually uniform, top-to-bottom bands of velocity with alternating signs. At the southwestern end of the section, the LADCP data reveal a dual core of the Labrador Current at times when horizontal resolution is adequate. At the northeastern end, the location of the recirculation offshore of the boundary current is bimodal, and hence the apparent width of the boundary current is bimodal as well. In the middle of the section, we have found a bottom current carrying overflow waters along the Northwest Atlantic Mid-Ocean Channel, suggesting one of various possible fast routes for those waters to reach the central Labrador Sea. We have used the hydrographic data to compute geostrophic velocities, referenced to the LADCP profiles, as well as to compute ocean heat transport across AR7W for four of our sections. For all but one year, these fluxes are comparable to the mean air–sea heat flux that occurs between AR7W and Davis Strait from December to May (O(50–80 TW)), and much larger than the annual average values (O(10–20 TW)).This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. OCE-0622640. Igor Yashayaev is supported by the ocean climate monitoring program of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Evolution of the freshwater coastal current at the southern tip of Greenland

Author Posting. © American Meteorological Society, 2018. This article is posted here by permission of American Meteorological Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Physical Oceanography 48 (2018): 2127-2140, doi:10.1175/JPO-D-18-0035.1.Shipboard hydrographic and velocity measurements collected in summer 2014 are used to study the evolution of the freshwater coastal current in southern Greenland as it encounters Cape Farewell. The velocity structure reveals that the coastal current maintains its identity as it flows around the cape and bifurcates such that most of the flow is diverted to the outer west Greenland shelf, while a small portion remains on the inner shelf. Taking into account this inner branch, the volume transport of the coastal current is conserved, but the freshwater transport decreases on the west side of Cape Farewell. A significant amount of freshwater appears to be transported off the shelf where the outer branch flows adjacent to the shelfbreak circulation. It is argued that the offshore transposition of the coastal current is caused by the flow following the isobaths as they bend offshore because of the widening of the shelf on the west side of Cape Farewell. An analysis of the potential vorticity shows that the subsequent seaward flux of freshwater can be enhanced by instabilities of the current. This set of circumstances provides a pathway for the freshest water originating from the Arctic, as well as runoff from the Greenland ice sheet, to be fluxed into the interior Labrador Sea where it could influence convection in the basin.Funding for this project was provided by the National Science Foundation under Grant OCE-1259618.2019-03-1

Recent changes in the freshwater composition east of Greenland

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2015. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geophysical Research Letters 42 (2015): 2326–2332, doi:10.1002/2014GL062759.Results from three hydrographic surveys across the East Greenland Current between 2011 and 2013 are presented with focus on the freshwater sources. End-member analysis using salinity, δ18O, and nutrient data shows that while meteoric water dominated the freshwater content, a significant amount of Pacific freshwater was present near Denmark Strait with a maximum in August 2013. While in 2011 and 2012 the net sea ice melt was dominated by brine, in 2013 it became close to zero. The amount of Pacific freshwater observed near Denmark Strait in 2013 is as large as the previous maximum in 1998. This, together with the decrease in meteoric water and brine, suggests a larger contribution from the Canadian Basin. We hypothesize that the increase of Pacific freshwater is the result of enhanced flux through Bering Strait and a shorter pathway of Pacific water through the interior Arctic to Fram Strait.The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7 2007–2013) under grant agreement 308299, NACLIM Project, and from the U.S. National Science Foundation under grant OCE-085041.2015-10-0