1,041 research outputs found
Neuromuscular organization and aminergic modulation of contractions in the Drosophila ovary
Background: The processes by which eggs develop in the insect ovary are well characterized. Despite a large number of Drosophila mutants that cannot lay eggs, the way that the egg is moved along the reproductive tract from ovary to uterus is less well understood. We remedy this with an integrative study on the reproductive tract muscles (anatomy, innervation, contractions, aminergic modulation) in female flies. Results: Each ovary, consisting of 15-20 ovarioles, is surrounded by a contractile meshwork, the peritoneal sheath. Individual ovarioles are contained within a contractile epithelial sheath. Both sheaths contain striated muscle fibres. The oviduct and uterine walls contain a circular striated muscle layer. No longitudinal muscle fibres are seen. Neurons that innervate the peritoneal sheath and lateral oviduct have many varicosities and terminate in swellings just outside the muscles of the peritoneal sheath. They all express tyrosine decarboxylase (required for tyramine and octopamine synthesis) and Drosophila vesicular monoamine transporter (DVMAT). No fibres innervate the ovarioles. The common oviduct and uterus are innervated by two classes of neurons, one with similar morphology to those of the peritoneal sheath and another with repeated branches and axon endings similar to type I neuromuscular junctions. In isolated genital tracts from 3- and 7-day old flies, each ovariole contracts irregularly (12.5 +/- 6.4 contractions/minute; mean +/- 95% confidence interval). Peritoneal sheath contractions (5.7 +/- 1.6 contractions/minute) move over the ovary, from tip to base or vice versa, propagating down the oviduct. Rhythmical spermathecal rotations (1.5 +/- 0.29 contractions/minute) also occur. Each genital tract organ exhibits its own endogenous myogenic rhythm. The amplitude of contractions of the peritoneal sheath increase in octopamine (100 nM, 81% P < 0.02) but 1 mu M tyramine has no effect. Neither affects the frequency of peritoneal sheath contractions. Conclusion: The muscle fibres of the reproductive tract are circular and have complex bursting myogenic rhythms under octopaminergic neuromodulation. We propose a new model of tissue-specific actions of octopamine, in which strengthening of peritoneal sheath contractions, coupled with relaxation of the oviduct, eases ovulation. This model accounts for reduced ovulation in flies with mutations in the octopaminergic system
Observing Nucleon Decay in Lead Perchlorate
Lead perchlorate, part of the OMNIS supernova neutrino detector, contains two
nuclei, 208Pb and 35Cl, that might be used to study nucleon decay. Both would
produce signatures that will make them especially useful for studying
less-well-studied neutron decay modes, e.g., those in which only neutrinos are
emitted.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure
Current driven switching of magnetic layers
The switching of magnetic layers is studied under the action of a spin
current in a ferromagnetic metal/non-magnetic metal/ferromagnetic metal spin
valve. We find that the main contribution to the switching comes from the
non-equilibrium exchange interaction between the ferromagnetic layers. This
interaction defines the magnetic configuration of the layers with minimum
energy and establishes the threshold for a critical switching current.
Depending on the direction of the critical current, the interaction changes
sign and a given magnetic configuration becomes unstable. To model the time
dependence of the switching process, we derive a set of coupled Landau-Lifshitz
equations for the ferromagnetic layers. Higher order terms in the
non-equilibrium exchange coupling allow the system to evolve to its
steady-state configuration.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure. Submitted to Phys. Rev.
A Quantum-Mechanical Equivalent-Photon Spectrum for Heavy-Ion Physics
In a previous paper, we calculated the fully quantum-mechanical cross section
for electromagnetic excitation during peripheral heavy-ion collisions. Here, we
examine the sensitivity of that cross section to the detailed structure of the
projectile and target nuclei. At the transition energies relevant to nuclear
physics, we find the cross section to be weakly dependent on the projectile
charge radius, and to be sensitive to only the leading momentum-transfer
dependence of the target transition form factors. We exploit these facts to
derive a quantum-mechanical ``equivalent-photon spectrum'' valid in the
long-wavelength limit. This improved spectrum includes the effects of
projectile size, the finite longitudinal momentum transfer required by
kinematics, and the response of the target nucleus to the off-shell photon.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figure
The incidence and make up of ability grouped sets in the UK primary school
The adoption of setting in the primary school (pupils ability grouped across classes for particular subjects) emerged during the 1990s as a means to raise standards. Recent research based on 8875 children in the Millennium Cohort Study showed that 25.8% of children in Year 2 were set for literacy and mathematics and a further 11.2% of children were set for mathematics or literacy alone. Logistic regression analysis showed that the best predictors of being in the top set for literacy or mathematics were whether the child was born in the Autumn or Winter and cognitive ability scores. Boys were significantly more likely than girls to be in the bottom literacy set. Family circumstances held less importance for setting placement compared with the child’s own characteristics, although they were more important in relation to bottom set placement. Children in bottom sets were significantly more likely to be part of a long-term single parent household, have experienced poverty, and not to have a mother with qualifications at NVQ3 or higher levels. The findings are discussed in relation to earlier research and the implications for schools are set out
Hmm-based monitoring of packet channels
Abstract. Performance of real-time applications on network communication channels are strongly related to losses and temporal delays. Several studies showed that these network features may be correlated and exhibit a certain degree of memory such as bursty losses and delays. The memory and the statistical dependence between losses and temporal delays suggest that the channel may be well modelled by a Hidden Markov Model (HMM) with appropriate hidden variables that capture the current state of the network. In this paper we discuss on the effectiveness of using an HMM to model jointly loss and delay behavior of real communication channel. Excellent performance in modelling typical channel behavior in a set of real packet links are observed. The system parameters are found via a modified version of the EM algorithm. Hidden state analysis shows how the state variables characterize channel dynamics. State-sequence estimation is obtained by use of the Viterbi algorithm. Real-time modelling of the channel is the first step to implement adaptive communication strategies.
Orbital and spin contributions to the -tensors in metal nanoparticles
We present a theoretical study of the mesoscopic fluctuations of -tensors
in a metal nanoparticle. The calculations were performed using a semi-realistic
tight-binding model, which contains both spin and orbital contributions to the
-tensors. The results depend on the product of the spin-orbit scattering
time and the mean-level spacing , but are
otherwise weakly affected by the specific shape of a {\it generic}
nanoparticle. We find that the spin contribution to the -tensors agrees with
Random Matrix Theory (RMT) predictions. On the other hand, in the strong
spin-orbit coupling limit , the
orbital contribution depends crucially on the space character of the
quasi-particle wavefunctions: it levels off at a small value for states of
character but is strongly enhanced for states of character. Our numerical
results demonstrate that when orbital coupling to the field is included, RMT
predictions overestimate the typical -factor of orbitals that have dominant
-character. This finding points to a possible source of the puzzling
discrepancy between theory and experiment.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures; accepted for publication in Physical Review
Spontaneous Violation of the CP Symmetry in the Higgs Sector of the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Model
The spontaneous violation of the CP symmetry in the next-to-minimal
supersymmetric standard Model (NMSSM) is investigated. It is found that the
spontaneous violation of the CP symmetry can occur in the Higgs sector of the
NMSSM for a wide region of the parameter space of the model, at the 1-loop
level where the radiative corrections due to the top quark and scalar-top quark
loops are found to generate the scalar-pseudoscalar mixings between the two
Higgs doublets of the NMSSM. In our model, we assume that the masses of the
left-handed and the right-handed scalar-top quarks are not degenerate. And we
investigate our model anaytically: We derive analytical formulae of the 1-loop
mass matrix for the neutral Higgs bosons. We calculate the upper bound on the
lightest neutral Higgs boson mass under the assumption. It is found to be about
140 GeV for our choice of parameter values in the presence of the spontaneous
violation of the CP symmetry in the NMSSM. Thus, the possibility of the
spontaneous violation of the CP symmetry is not completely ruled out in the
Higgs sector of the NMSSM if the masses of the left-handed and the right-handed
scalar-top quarks are not degenerate. Further, the phenomenology of the
- mixing within the context of our model is studied. The lower
bound on CP violating phase in the - mixing is found to increase
if either decreases or increases.Comment: 21 pages, 5 figures, To appear in Phys. Rev.
Finitely-Generated Projective Modules over the Theta-deformed 4-sphere
We investigate the "theta-deformed spheres" C(S^{3}_{theta}) and
C(S^{4}_{theta}), where theta is any real number. We show that all
finitely-generated projective modules over C(S^{3}_{theta}) are free, and that
C(S^{4}_{theta}) has the cancellation property. We classify and construct all
finitely-generated projective modules over C(S^{4}_{\theta}) up to isomorphism.
An interesting feature is that if theta is irrational then there are nontrivial
"rank-1" modules over C(S^{4}_{\theta}). In that case, every finitely-generated
projective module over C(S^{4}_{\theta}) is a sum of a rank-1 module and a free
module. If theta is rational, the situation mirrors that for the commutative
case theta=0.Comment: 34 page
Charged Higgs boson in the next-to-minimal supersymmetric standard model with explicit CP violation
The phenomenology of the explicit CP violation in the Higgs sector of the
next-to-minimal supersymmetric standard model (NMSSM) is investigated, with
emphasis on the charged Higgs boson. The radiative corrections due to both
quarks and scalar-quarks of the third generation are taken into account, and
the negative result of the search for the Higgs bosons at CERN LEP2, with the
discovery limit of 0.1 pb, is imposed as a constraint. It is found that there
are parameter regions of the NMSSM where the lightest neutral Higgs boson may
even be massless, without being detected at LEP2. This implies that the LEP2
data do not contradict the existence of a massless neutral Higgs boson in the
NMSSM. For the charged Higgs boson, the radiative corrections to its mass may
be negative in some parameter regions of the NMSSM. The phenomenological lower
bound on the radiatively corrected mass of the charged Higgs boson is increased
as the CP violation becomes maximal, i.e., as the CP violating phase becomes
. At the maximal CP violation, its lower bound is about 110 GeV for 5
40. The vacuum expectation value (VEV) of the
neutral Higgs singlet is shown to be no smaller than 16 GeV for any parameter
values of the NMSSM with explicit CP violation. This value of the lower limit
is found to increase up to about 45 GeV as the ratio () of the VEVs
of the two Higgs doublets decreases to smaller values ( 2). The discovery
limit of the Higgs boson search at LEP2 is found to cover about a half of the
kinematically allowed part of the whole parameter space of the NMSSM, and the
portion is roughly stable against the CP violating phase.Comment: Latex, 24 pages, 6 figure
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