27 research outputs found
Three-Nucleon Photodisintegration of 3He
The three-nucleon photodisintegration of 3He has been calculated in the whole
phase space using consistent Faddeev equations for the three-nucleon bound and
scattering states. Modern nucleon-nucleon and 3N forces have been applied as
well as different approaches to nuclear currents. Phase space regions are
localized where 3N force effects are especially large. In addition
semi-exclusive cross sections for 3He(gamma,N) have been predicted which carry
interesting peak structures. Finally some data for the exclusive 3N breakup
process of 3He and its total breakup cross section have been compared to
theory.Comment: 28 pages, 6 png figures, 11 ps figures, modified version with changed
figures, conclusions unchanged, to appear in Phys.Rev.
Updated Nucleosynthesis Constraints on Unstable Relic Particles
We revisit the upper limits on the abundance of unstable massive relic
particles provided by the success of Big-Bang Nucleosynthesis calculations. We
use the cosmic microwave background data to constrain the baryon-to-photon
ratio, and incorporate an extensively updated compilation of cross sections
into a new calculation of the network of reactions induced by electromagnetic
showers that create and destroy the light elements deuterium, he3, he4, li6 and
li7. We derive analytic approximations that complement and check the full
numerical calculations. Considerations of the abundances of he4 and li6 exclude
exceptional regions of parameter space that would otherwise have been permitted
by deuterium alone. We illustrate our results by applying them to massive
gravitinos. If they weigh ~100 GeV, their primordial abundance should have been
below about 10^{-13} of the total entropy. This would imply an upper limit on
the reheating temperature of a few times 10^7 GeV, which could be a potential
difficulty for some models of inflation. We discuss possible ways of evading
this problem.Comment: 40 pages LaTeX, 18 eps figure
Genome-wide meta-analysis associates HLA-DQA1/DRB1 and LPA and lifestyle factors with human longevity
Genomic analysis of longevity offers the potential to illuminate the biology of human aging. Here, using genome-wide association meta-analysis of 606,059 parents' survival, we discover two regions associated with longevity (HLA-DQA1/DRB1 and LPA). We also validate previous suggestions that APOE, CHRNA3/5, CDKN2A/B, SH2B3 and FOXO3A influence longevity. Next we show that giving up smoking, educational attainment, openness to new experience and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels are most positively genetically correlated with lifespan while susceptibility to coronary artery disease (CAD), cigarettes smoked per day, lung cancer, insulin resistance and body fat are most negatively correlated. We suggest that the effect of education on lifespan is principally mediated through smoking while the effect of obesity appears to act via CAD. Using instrumental variables, we suggest that an increase of one body mass index unit reduces lifespan by 7 months while 1 year of education adds 11 months to expected lifespan
The causal role of vitamin D deficiency in worse Covid-19 outcomes: implications for policy and practice development
Covid-19 continues to contribute to excess morbidity and mortality in Ireland. The associated hospitalisation and ICU admissions impose an unsustainable burden on the Irish public health system. In the last twenty-eight days alone, there have been a further 176 Covid-19 related deaths, with total mortality now standing in excess of 8,515 case fatalities1 . Since early in the pandemic, emerging evidence has supported a role for insufficient vitamin D status as a contributor to both SARS-CoV-2 infection and severity of Covid-19 outcomes2-5.</p