198 research outputs found
High frequency oscillations during magnetar flares
The recent discovery of high frequency oscillations during giant flares from
the Soft Gamma Repeaters SGR 1806-20 and SGR 1900+14 may be the first direct
detection of vibrations in a neutron star crust. If this interpretation is
correct it offers a novel means of testing the neutron star equation of state,
crustal breaking strain, and magnetic field configuration. We review the
observational data on the magnetar oscillations, including new timing analysis
of the SGR 1806-20 giant flare using data from the Ramaty High Energy Solar
Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) and the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE). We
discuss the implications for the study of neutron star structure and crust
thickness, and outline areas for future investigation.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, to appear in the proceedings of the conference
"Isolated Neutron Stars: from the Interior to the Surface" (April 2006,
London), eds. D. Page, R. Turolla, & S. Zane, Astrophysics & Space Science in
pres
School-based targeted prevention compared to specialist mental health treatment for youth anxiety
Background
The ‘FRIENDS for life’ program (FRIENDS) is a 10-session cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) program used for prevention and treatment of youth anxiety. There is discussion about whether FRIENDS is best applied as prevention or as treatment.
Methods
We compared FRIENDS delivered in schools as targeted prevention to a previous specialist mental health clinic trial. The targeted prevention sample (N = 82; Mage = 11.6 years, SD = 2.1; 75.0% girls) was identified and recruited by school nurses in collaboration with a community psychologist. The clinical sample (N = 88, Mage = 11.7 years, SD = 2.1; 54.5% girls) was recruited for a randomized controlled trial from community child- and adolescent psychiatric outpatient clinics and was diagnosed with anxiety disorders.
Results
Both samples showed significantly reduced anxiety symptoms from baseline to postintervention, with medium mean effect sizes across raters (youths and parents) and timepoints (post; 12-months follow-up). Baseline youth-reported anxiety symptom levels were similar between the samples, whereas parent-reported youth anxiety was higher in the clinical sample.
Conclusions
The study suggests that self-reported anxiety levels may not differ between youth recruited in schools and in clinic settings. The results indicate promising results of the FRIENDS program when delivered in schools by less specialized health personnel from the school health services, as well as when delivered in clinics by trained mental health professionals.publishedVersio
Plasma Magnetosphere Formation Around Oscillating Magnetized Neutron Stars
The notion of death line of rotating pulsars is applied to model of
oscillating neutron stars. It is shown that the magnetosphere of typical
non-rotating oscillating stars may not contain secondary plasma to support the
generation of radio emission in the region of open field lines of plasma
magnetosphere.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astrophysics & Space Scienc
Soft end-point and mass corrections to the eta' g*g* vertex function
Power-suppressed corrections arising from end-point integration regions to
the space-like vertex function of the massive eta'-meson virtual gluon
transition eta' - g*g* are computed. Calculations are performed within the
standard hard-scattering approach (HSA) and the running coupling method
supplemented by the infrared renormalon calculus. Contributions to the vertex
function from the quark and gluon contents of the eta' -meson are taken into
account and the Borel resummed expressions for F_{eta' g*g*}(Q2,\omega ,\eta),
as well as for F_{eta' g g*}}(Q^{2},\omega =\pm 1,\eta) and F_{eta'
g*g*}(Q^{2},\omega =0,\eta) are obtained. It is demonstrated that the
power-suppressed corrections \sim (\Lambda ^{2}/Q^{2})^{n}, in the explored
range of the total gluon virtuality 1 <Q2 < 25 GeV2, considerably enhance the
vertex function relative to the results found in the framework of the standard
HSA with a fixed coupling. Modifications generated by the eta ' -meson mass
effects are discussed
Stochastic evolution equations driven by Liouville fractional Brownian motion
Let H be a Hilbert space and E a Banach space. We set up a theory of
stochastic integration of L(H,E)-valued functions with respect to H-cylindrical
Liouville fractional Brownian motions (fBm) with arbitrary Hurst parameter in
the interval (0,1). For Hurst parameters in (0,1/2) we show that a function
F:(0,T)\to L(H,E) is stochastically integrable with respect to an H-cylindrical
Liouville fBm if and only if it is stochastically integrable with respect to an
H-cylindrical fBm with the same Hurst parameter. As an application we show that
second-order parabolic SPDEs on bounded domains in \mathbb{R}^d, driven by
space-time noise which is white in space and Liouville fractional in time with
Hurst parameter in (d/4,1) admit mild solution which are H\"older continuous
both and space.Comment: To appear in Czech. Math.
Homogenized dynamics of stochastic partial differential equations with dynamical boundary conditions
A microscopic heterogeneous system under random influence is considered. The
randomness enters the system at physical boundary of small scale obstacles as
well as at the interior of the physical medium. This system is modeled by a
stochastic partial differential equation defined on a domain perforated with
small holes (obstacles or heterogeneities), together with random dynamical
boundary conditions on the boundaries of these small holes.
A homogenized macroscopic model for this microscopic heterogeneous stochastic
system is derived. This homogenized effective model is a new stochastic partial
differential equation defined on a unified domain without small holes, with
static boundary condition only. In fact, the random dynamical boundary
conditions are homogenized out, but the impact of random forces on the small
holes' boundaries is quantified as an extra stochastic term in the homogenized
stochastic partial differential equation. Moreover, the validity of the
homogenized model is justified by showing that the solutions of the microscopic
model converge to those of the effective macroscopic model in probability
distribution, as the size of small holes diminishes to zero.Comment: Communications in Mathematical Physics, to appear, 200
Health promotion: results of focus groups with African-American men
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jomh.2010.11.00
Model-based analyses: Promises, pitfalls, and example applications to the study of cognitive control
We discuss a recent approach to investigating cognitive control, which has the potential to deal with some of the challenges inherent in this endeavour. In a model-based approach, the researcher defines a formal, computational model that performs the task at hand and whose performance matches that of a research participant. The internal variables in such a model might then be taken as proxies for latent variables computed in the brain. We discuss the potential advantages of such an approach for the study of the neural underpinnings of cognitive control and its pitfalls, and we make explicit the assumptions underlying the interpretation of data obtained using this approach
Do Femtonewton Forces Affect Genetic Function? A Review
Protein-Mediated DNA looping is intricately related to gene expression. Therefore any mechanical constraint that disrupts loop formation can play a significant role in gene regulation. Polymer physics models predict that less than a piconewton of force may be sufficient to prevent the formation of DNA loops. Thus, it appears that tension can act as a molecular switch that controls the much larger forces associated with the processive motion of RNA polymerase. Since RNAP can exert forces over 20 pN before it stalls, a ‘substrate tension switch’ could offer a force advantage of two orders of magnitude. Evidence for such a mechanism is seen in recent in vitro micromanipulation experiments. In this article we provide new perspective on existing theory and experimental data on DNA looping in vitro and in vivo . We elaborate on the connection between tension and a variety of other intracellular mechanical constraints including sequence specific curvature and supercoiling. In the process, we emphasize that the richness and versatility of DNA mechanics opens up a whole new paradigm of gene regulation to explore.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/41816/1/10867_2005_Article_9002.pd
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