5,018 research outputs found
USSR Space Life Sciences Digest
Research in exobiology, life sciences technology, space biology, and space medicine and physiology, primarily using data gathered on the Salyut 6 orbital space station, is reported. Methods for predicting, diagnosing, and preventing the effects of weightlessness are discussed. Psychological factors are discussed. The effects of space flight on plants and animals are reported. Bioinstrumentation advances are noted
Infusing Problem-Based Learning (PBL) Into Science Methods Courses Across Virginia
This article outlines the results of a collaborative study of the effects of infusing problem-based learning (PBL) into K-12 science methods courses across four universities in Virginia. Changes in pre-service teachers\u27 attitudes surrounding science teaching were measured before and after completing a science methods course in which they experienced PBL first-hand as participants, and then practiced designing their own PBL units for use in their future classrooms. The results indicate that exposure to PBL enhances pre-service teachers\u27 knowledge of inquiry methods and self-efficacy in teaching science
Probing Nonequilibrium Electron Distributions in Gold by Use of Second Harmonic Generation
Second-harmonic radiation is generated at a gold surface by use of a laser pulse that is varied in duration from 14 to 29 fs and in intensity from 109 to 1011W/cm2 . At laser intensities below 1010W/cm2 , the second-harmonic signal has the expected quadratic dependence on pump-laser intensity; however, at higher intensities, the dependence is supraquadratic. This difference arises because the leading edge of the laser pulse interacts significantly with the gold electrons to create a nonequilibrium, photoexcited distribution. The second-harmonic generation process occurs before electron–electron or electron–phonon collisions can equilibrate the distribution and therefore serves as a probe of the nonequilibrium distribution
Oxidative stress dependent microRNA-34a activation via PI3Kα reduces the expression of sirtuin-1 and sirtuin-6 in epithelial cells
Sirtuin-1 (SIRT1) and SIRT6, NAD(+)-dependent Class III protein deacetylases, are putative anti-aging enzymes, down-regulated in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which is characterized by the accelerated ageing of the lung and associated with increased oxidative stress. Here, we show that oxidative stress (hydrogen peroxide) selectively elevates microRNA-34a (miR-34a) but not the related miR-34b/c, with concomitant reduction of SIRT1/-6 in bronchial epithelial cells (BEAS2B), which was also observed in peripheral lung samples from patients with COPD. Over-expression of a miR-34a mimic caused a significant reduction in both mRNA and protein of SIRT1/-6, whereas inhibition of miR-34a (antagomir) increased these sirtuins. Induction of miR-34a expression with H2O2 was phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI3K) dependent as it was associated with PI3Kα activation as well as phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) reduction. Importantly, miR-34a antagomirs increased SIRT1/-6 mRNA levels, whilst decreasing markers of cellular senescence in airway epithelial cells from COPD patients, suggesting that this process is reversible. Other sirtuin isoforms were not affected by miR-34a. Our data indicate that miR-34a is induced by oxidative stress via PI3K signaling, and orchestrates ageing responses under oxidative stress, therefore highlighting miR-34a as a new therapeutic target and biomarker in COPD and other oxidative stress-driven aging diseases
Quantum turbulence at finite temperature: the two-fluids cascade
To model isotropic homogeneous quantum turbulence in superfluid helium, we
have performed Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) of two fluids (the normal
fluid and the superfluid) coupled by mutual friction. We have found evidence of
strong locking of superfluid and normal fluid along the turbulent cascade, from
the large scale structures where only one fluid is forced down to the vorticity
structures at small scales. We have determined the residual slip velocity
between the two fluids, and, for each fluid, the relative balance of inertial,
viscous and friction forces along the scales. Our calculations show that the
classical relation between energy injection and dissipation scale is not valid
in quantum turbulence, but we have been able to derive a temperature--dependent
superfluid analogous relation. Finally, we discuss our DNS results in terms of
the current understanding of quantum turbulence, including the value of the
effective kinematic viscosity
Vibrations of a Columnar Vortex in a Trapped Bose-Einstein Condensate
We derive a governing equation for a Kelvin wave supported on a vortex line
in a Bose-Einstein condensate, in a rotating cylindrically symmetric parabolic
trap. From this solution the Kelvin wave dispersion relation is determined. In
the limit of an oblate trap and in the absence of longitudinal trapping our
results are consistent with previous work. We show that the derived Kelvin wave
dispersion in the general case is in quantitative agreement with numerical
calculations of the Bogoliubov spectrum and offer a significant improvement
upon previous analytical work.Comment: 5 pages with 1 figur
Unexpected impact of D waves in low-energy neutral pion photoproduction from the proton and the extraction of multipoles
Contributions of waves to physical observables for neutral pion
photoproduction from the proton in the near-threshold region are studied and
means to isolate them are proposed. Various approaches to describe the
multipoles are employed
--a phenomenological one, a unitary one, and heavy baryon chiral perturbation
theory. The results of these approaches are compared and found to yield
essentially the same answers. waves are seen to enter together with
waves in a way that any means which attempt to obtain the multipole
accurately must rely on knowledge of waves and that consequently the latter
cannot be dismissed in analyses of low-energy pion photoproduction. It is shown
that waves have a significant impact on double-polarization observables
that can be measured. This importance of waves is due to the soft nature of
the wave and is a direct consequence of chiral symmetry and the
Nambu--Goldstone nature of the pion. -wave contributions are shown to be
negligible in the near-threshold region.Comment: 38 pages, 13 figures, 19 tables. Version to be published in Physical
Review
Equilibrium rotation of a vortex bundle terminating on a lateral wall
The paper investigates possibility of equilibrium solid-body rotation of a
vortex bundle diverging at some height from a cylinder axis and terminating on
a lateral wall of a container. Such a bundle arises when vorticity expands up
from a container bottom eventually filling the whole container. The analysis
starts from a single vortex, then goes to a vortex sheet, and finally addresses
a multi-layered crystal vortex bundle. The equilibrium solid-body rotation of
the vortex bundle requires that the thermodynamic potentials in the
vortex-filled and in the vortex-free parts of the container are equal providing
the absence of a force on the vortex front separating the two parts. The paper
considers also a weakly non-equilibrium state when the bundle and the container
rotate with different angular velocities and the vortex front propagates with
the velocity determined by friction between vortices and the container or the
normal liquid moving together with the container.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figure
The radial curvature of an end that makes eigenvalues vanish in the essential spectrum II
Under the quadratic-decay-conditions of the radial curvatures of an end, we
shall derive growth estimates of solutions to the eigenvalue equation and show
the absence of eigenvalues.Comment: "" in the conditions and should be replaced by
"". in the conclusion of Theorem 1.3
should be replaced by ; trivial miss-calculatio
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