1,994 research outputs found
Cosmological Magnetic Fields from Primordial Helicity
Primordial magnetic fields may account for all or part of the fields observed
in galaxies. We consider the evolution of the magnetic fields created by
pseudoscalar effects in the early universe. Such processes can create
force-free fields of maximal helicity; we show that for such a field magnetic
energy inverse cascades to larger scales than it would have solely by flux
freezing and cosmic expansion. For fields generated at the electroweak phase
transition, we find that the predicted wavelength today can in principle be as
large as 10 kpc, and the field strength can be as large as 10^{-10} G.Comment: 13 page
A Phenomenological Analysis of Gluon Mass Effects in Inclusive Radiative Decays of the and $\Upsilon
The shapes of the inclusive photon spectra in the processes \Jp \to \gamma
X and \Up \to \gamma X have been analysed using all available experimental
data.
Relativistic, higher order QCD and gluon mass corrections were taken into
account in the fitted functions. Only on including the gluon mass corrections,
were consistent and acceptable fits obtained. Values of
GeV and GeV were found for the
effective gluon masses (corresponding to Born level diagrams) for the \Jp and
\Up respectively. The width ratios \Gamma(V \to {\rm hadrons})/\Gamma(V \to
\gamma+ {\rm hadrons}) V=\Jp, \Up were used to determine and . Values consistent with the current world
average were obtained only when gluon mass correction factors,
calculated using the fitted values of the effective gluon mass, were applied. A
gluon mass GeV, as suggested with these results, is consistent with
previous analytical theoretical calculations and independent phenomenological
estimates, as well as with a recent, more accurate, lattice calculation of the
gluon propagator in the infra-red region.Comment: 50 pages, 11 figures, 15 table
Cosmological Magnetic Fields from Primordial Helical Seeds
Most early Universe scenarios predict negligible magnetic fields on
cosmological scales if they are unprocessed during subsequent expansion of the
Universe. We present a new numerical treatment of the evolution of primordial
fields and apply it to weakly helical seeds as they occur in certain early
Universe scenarios. We find that initial helicities not much larger than the
baryon to photon number can lead to fields of about 10^{-13} Gauss with
coherence scales slightly below a kilo-parsec today.Comment: 4 revtex pages, 2 postscript figures include
Interleukin-7 deficiency in rheumatoid arthritis: consequences for therapy-induced lymphopenia
We previously demonstrated prolonged, profound CD4+ T-lymphopenia in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients following lymphocyte-depleting therapy. Poor reconstitution could result either from reduced de novo T-cell production through the thymus or from poor peripheral expansion of residual T-cells. Interleukin-7 (IL-7) is known to stimulate the thymus to produce new T-cells and to allow circulating mature T-cells to expand, thereby playing a critical role in T-cell homeostasis. In the present study we demonstrated reduced levels of circulating IL-7 in a cross-section of RA patients. IL-7 production by bone marrow stromal cell cultures was also compromised in RA. To investigate whether such an IL-7 deficiency could account for the prolonged lymphopenia observed in RA following therapeutic lymphodepletion, we compared RA patients and patients with solid cancers treated with high-dose chemotherapy and autologous progenitor cell rescue. Chemotherapy rendered all patients similarly lymphopenic, but this was sustained in RA patients at 12 months, as compared with the reconstitution that occurred in cancer patients by 3–4 months. Both cohorts produced naïve T-cells containing T-cell receptor excision circles. The main distinguishing feature between the groups was a failure to expand peripheral T-cells in RA, particularly memory cells during the first 3 months after treatment. Most importantly, there was no increase in serum IL-7 levels in RA, as compared with a fourfold rise in non-RA control individuals at the time of lymphopenia. Our data therefore suggest that RA patients are relatively IL-7 deficient and that this deficiency is likely to be an important contributing factor to poor early T-cell reconstitution in RA following therapeutic lymphodepletion. Furthermore, in RA patients with stable, well controlled disease, IL-7 levels were positively correlated with the T-cell receptor excision circle content of CD4+ T-cells, demonstrating a direct effect of IL-7 on thymic activity in this cohort
Avalanche dynamics, surface roughening and self-organized criticality - experiments on a 3 dimensional pile of rice
We present a two-dimensional system which exhibits features of self-organized
criticality. The avalanches which occur on the surface of a pile of rice are
found to exhibit finite size scaling in their probability distribution. The
critical exponents are = 1.21(2) for the avalanche size distribution and
= 1.99(2) for the cut-off size. Furthermore the geometry of the avalanches
is studied leading to a fractal dimension of the active sites of =
1.58(2). Using a set of scaling relations, we can calculate the roughness
exponent = 0.41(3) and the dynamic exponent = 1.56(8). This result is compared with that obtained from a power
spectrum analysis of the surface roughness, which yields = 0.42(3) and
= 1.5(1) in excellent agreement with those obtained from the scaling
relations.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in PR
Measurements of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) using PTR-MS: Calibration, humidity dependence, inter-comparison and results from field studies in an oil and gas production region
Natural gas production is associated with emissions of several trace gases,
some of them classified as air toxics. While volatile organic compounds
(VOCs) have received much attention, hydrogen sulfide (H2S) can also be
of concern due to the known health impacts of exposure to this hazardous air
pollutant. Here, we present quantitative, fast time-response measurements of
H2S using proton-transfer-reaction mass-spectrometry (PTR-MS)
instruments. An ultra-light-weight PTR-MS (ULW-PTR-MS) in a mobile
laboratory was operated for measurements of VOCs and H2S in a gas and
oil field during the Uintah Basin Winter Ozone Study (UBWOS) 2012 campaign.
Measurements of VOCs and H2S by a PTR-MS were also made at the Horse
Pool ground site in the Uintah Basin during UBWOS 2013. The H2S
measurement by PTR-MS is strongly humidity dependent because the proton
affinity of H2S is only slightly higher than that of water. The
H2S sensitivity of PTR-MS ranged between 0.6–1.4 ncps ppbv−1 during
UBWOS 2013. We compare the humidity dependence determined in the laboratory
with in-field calibrations and determine the H2S mixing ratios for the
mobile and ground measurements. The PTR-MS measurements at Horse Pool are
evaluated by comparison with simultaneous H2S measurements using a PTR
time-of-flight MS (PTR-ToF-MS) and a Picarro cavity ring down spectroscopy
(CRDS) instrument for H2S / CH4. On average 0.6 ± 0.3 ppbv
H2S was present at Horse Pool during UBWOS 2013. The correlation
between H2S and methane enhancements suggests that the source of
H2S is associated with oil and gas extraction in the basin. Significant
H2S mixing ratios of up to 9 ppmv downwind of storage tanks were
observed during the mobile measurements. This study suggests that H2S
emissions associated with oil and gas production can lead to short-term high
levels close to point sources, and elevated background levels away from
those sources. In addition, our work has demonstrated that PTR-MS can make
reliable measurements of H2S at levels below 1 ppbv
George Enescu; a 3ª sonata para piano e violino Op. 25 e o carácter popular romeno
Estudo sobre as caracterÃsticas e particularidades da escrita para violino desenvolvida por George Enescu. Como complemento necessário, são apresentados dados sobre a vida do compositor e violinista George Enescu, abordando a sua formação e consequente carreira, a evolução da sua linguagem musical como intérprete e compositor e a elaboração em retrospetiva da sua obra dividida em duas categorias: música clássica tradicional e música sob influência do folclore romeno. Análise estilÃstica e interpretativa da sonata nº 3
para piano e violino, a influência de raiz no folclore romeno e as suas implicações técnicas para o executante-intérprete.A study of the characteristics and specificity of the musical language for the violin developed by George Enescu. For contextualization purposes, some information on George Enescu’s life is provided, focusing on his academic background and consequent career as a composer and violinist, as well as delving into the development of his musical language as an interpreter and composer by compiling a synthesis of his compositional works, sorted into two categories: western classical music and music influenced by the Romanian
folklore. A stylistic and interpretative analysis of the 3rd Sonata for Piano and Violin, its Romanian folkloric influences and the technical implications for the performer
Modeling of Photoionized Plasmas
In this paper I review the motivation and current status of modeling of
plasmas exposed to strong radiation fields, as it applies to the study of
cosmic X-ray sources. This includes some of the astrophysical issues which can
be addressed, the ingredients for the models, the current computational tools,
the limitations imposed by currently available atomic data, and the validity of
some of the standard assumptions. I will also discuss ideas for the future:
challenges associated with future missions, opportunities presented by improved
computers, and goals for atomic data collection.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figures, to appear in the proceedings of Xray2010,
Utrecht, the Netherlands, March 15-17 201
Fine Structure of Avalanches in the Abelian Sandpile Model
We study the two-dimensional Abelian Sandpile Model on a square lattice of
linear size L. We introduce the notion of avalanche's fine structure and
compare the behavior of avalanches and waves of toppling. We show that
according to the degree of complexity in the fine structure of avalanches,
which is a direct consequence of the intricate superposition of the boundaries
of successive waves, avalanches fall into two different categories. We propose
scaling ans\"{a}tz for these avalanche types and verify them numerically. We
find that while the first type of avalanches has a simple scaling behavior, the
second (complex) type is characterized by an avalanche-size dependent scaling
exponent. This provides a framework within which one can understand the failure
of a consistent scaling behavior in this model.Comment: 10 page
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