2,526 research outputs found
Idealized Slab Plasma approach for the study of Warm Dense Matter
Recently, warm dense matter (WDM) has emerged as an interdisciplinary field
that draws increasing interest in plasma physics, condensed matter physics,
high pressure science, astrophysics, inertial confinement fusion, as well as
materials science under extreme conditions. To allow the study of well-defined
WDM states, we have introduced the concept of idealized-slab plasmas that can
be realized in the laboratory via (i) the isochoric heating of a solid and (ii)
the propagation of a shock wave in a solid. The application of this concept
provides new means for probing the dynamic conductivity, equation of state,
ionization and opacity. These approaches are presented here using results
derived from first-principles (density-functional type) theory, Thomas-Fermi
type theory, and numerical simulations.Comment: 37 pages, 21 figures, available, pdf file only. To appear in: Laser
and Particle beams. To appear more or less in this form in Laser and Particle
beam
Hypersensitive reaction of Solanum dulcamara to the gall mite Aceria cladophthirus causes an increased susceptibility to Tetranychus urticae
Hypersensitive reaction of Solanum dulcamara to the gal mite Aceria cladophthirus causes an increased susceptibility to Tetranychus urticae
Assessment of the diffusion coefficient of nanocarriers with the fluorescence recovery technique in gastrointestinal mucus
Image Gallery: Super‐high magnification dermoscopy can identify pigmented cells: correlation with reflectance confocal microscopy
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The 2-D electron gas at arbitrary spin polarizations and arbitrary coupling strengths: Exchange-correlation energies, distribution functions and spin-polarized phases
We use a recent approach [Phys. Rev. Letters, {\bf 84}, 959 (2000)] for
including Coulomb interactions in quantum systems via a classical mapping of
the pair-distribution functions (PDFs) for a study of the 2-D electron gas. As
in the 3-D case, the ``quantum temperature'' T_q of a classical 2-D Coulomb
fluid which has the same correlation energy as the quantum fluid is determined
as a function of the density parameter r_s. Spin-dependent exchange-correlation
energies are reported. Comparisons of the spin-dependent pair-distributions and
other calculated properties with any available 2-D quantum Monte Carlo (QMC)
results show excellent agreement, strongly favouring more recent QMC data. The
interesting novel physics brought to light by this study are: (a) the
independently determined quantum-temperatures for 3-D and 2-D are found to be
approximately the same, (i.e, universal) function of the classical coupling
constant Gamma. (b) the coupling constant Gamma increases rapidly with r_s in
2-D, making it comparatively more coupled than in 3-D; the stronger coupling in
2-D requires bridge corrections to the hyper- netted-chain method which is
adequate in 3-D; (c) the Helmholtz free energy of spin-polarized and
unpolarized phases have been calculated. The existence of a spin-polarized 2-D
liquid near r_s = 30, is found to be a marginal possibility. These results
pertain to clean uniform 2-D electron systems.Comment: This paper replaces the cond-mat/0109228 submision; the new version
include s more accurate numerical evaluation of the Helmholtz energies of the
para- and ferromagentic 2D fluides at finite temperatures. (Paper accepted
for publication in Phys. Rev. Lett.
The gravitational mass of Proxima Centauri measured with SPHERE from a microlensing event
Proxima Centauri, our closest stellar neighbour, is a low-mass M5 dwarf
orbiting in a triple system. An Earth-mass planet with an 11 day period has
been discovered around this star. The star's mass has been estimated only
indirectly using a mass-luminosity relation, meaning that large uncertainties
affect our knowledge of its properties. To refine the mass estimate, an
independent method has been proposed: gravitational microlensing. By taking
advantage of the close passage of Proxima Cen in front of two background stars,
it is possible to measure the astrometric shift caused by the microlensing
effect due to these close encounters and estimate the gravitational mass of the
lens (Proxima Cen). Microlensing events occurred in 2014 and 2016 with impact
parameters, the closest approach of Proxima Cen to the background star, of
1\farcs6 0\farcs1 and 0\farcs5 0\farcs1, respectively. Accurate
measurements of the positions of the background stars during the last two years
have been obtained with HST/WFC3, and with VLT/SPHERE from the ground. The
SPHERE campaign started on March 2015, and continued for more than two years,
covering 9 epochs. The parameters of Proxima Centauri's motion on the sky,
along with the pixel scale, true North, and centering of the instrument
detector were readjusted for each epoch using the background stars visible in
the IRDIS field of view. The experiment has been successful and the astrometric
shift caused by the microlensing effect has been measured for the second event
in 2016. We used this measurement to derive a mass of
0.150 (an error of 40\%) \MSun for Proxima
Centauri acting as a lens. This is the first and the only currently possible
measurement of the gravitational mass of Proxima Centauri.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, accepted by MNRA
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Moderate Champagne consumption promotes an acute improvement in acute endothelial-independent vascular function in healthy human volunteers
Epidemiological studies have suggested an inverse correlation between red wine consumption and the incidence of CVD. However, Champagne wine has not been fully investigated for its cardioprotective potential. In order to assess whether acute and moderate Champagne wine consumption is capable of modulating vascular function, we performed a randomised, placebo-controlled, cross-over intervention trial. We show that consumption of Champagne wine, but not a control matched for alcohol, carbohydrate and fruit-derived acid content, induced an acute change in endothelium-independent vasodilatation at 4 and 8 h post-consumption. Although both Champagne wine and the control also induced an increase in endothelium-dependent vascular reactivity at 4 h, there was no significant difference between the vascular effects induced by Champagne or the control at any time point. These effects were accompanied by an acute decrease in the concentration of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP-9), a significant decrease in plasma levels of oxidising species and an increase in urinary excretion of a number of phenolic metabolites. In particular, the mean total excretion of hippuric acid, protocatechuic acid and isoferulic acid were all significantly greater following the Champagne wine intervention compared with the control intervention. Our data suggest that a daily moderate consumption of Champagne wine may improve vascular performance via the delivery of phenolic constituents capable of improving NO bioavailability and reducing matrix metalloproteinase activity
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