11,412 research outputs found
Light attenuation characteristics of glacially-fed lakes
Transparency is a fundamental characteristic of aquatic ecosystems and is highly responsive to changes in climate and land use. The transparency of glacially-fed lakes may be a particularly sensitive sentinel characteristic of these changes. However, little is known about the relative contributions of glacial flour versus other factors affecting light attenuation in these lakes. We sampled 18 glacially-fed lakes in Chile, New Zealand, and the U.S. and Canadian Rocky Mountains to characterize how dissolved absorption, algal biomass (approximated by chlorophyll a), water, and glacial flour contributed to attenuation of ultraviolet radiation (UVR) and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR, 400–700 nm). Variation in attenuation across lakes was related to turbidity, which we used as a proxy for the concentration of glacial flour. Turbidity-specific diffuse attenuation coefficients increased with decreasing wavelength and distance from glaciers. Regional differences in turbidity-specific diffuse attenuation coefficients were observed in short UVR wavelengths (305 and 320 nm) but not at longer UVR wavelengths (380 nm) or PAR. Dissolved absorption coefficients, which are closely correlated with diffuse attenuation coefficients in most non-glacially-fed lakes, represented only about one quarter of diffuse attenuation coefficients in study lakes here, whereas glacial flour contributed about two thirds across UVR and PAR. Understanding the optical characteristics of substances that regulate light attenuation in glacially-fed lakes will help elucidate the signals that these systems provide of broader environmental changes and forecast the effects of climate change on these aquatic ecosystems
Two- and three-point functions in two-dimensional Landau-gauge Yang-Mills theory: Continuum results
We investigate the Dyson-Schwinger equations for the gluon and ghost
propagators and the ghost-gluon vertex of Landau-gauge gluodynamics in two
dimensions. While this simplifies some aspects of the calculations as compared
to three and four dimensions, new complications arise due to a mixing of
different momentum regimes. As a result, the solutions for the propagators are
more sensitive to changes in the three-point functions and the ansaetze used
for them at the leading order in a vertex a expansion. Here, we therefore go
beyond this common truncation by including the ghost-gluon vertex
self-consistently for the first time, while using a model for the three-gluon
vertex which reproduces the known infrared asymptotics and the zeros at
intermediate momenta as observed on the lattice. A separate computation of the
three-gluon vertex from the results is used to confirm the stability of this
behavior a posteriori. We also present further arguments for the absence of the
decoupling solution in two dimensions. Finally, we show how in general the
infrared exponent kappa of the scaling solutions in two, three and four
dimensions can be changed by allowing an angle dependence and thus an essential
singularity of the ghost-gluon vertex in the infrared.Comment: 24 pages; added references, improved choices of parameters for vertex
models; identical to version published in JHE
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High concentrations of morphine sensitize and activate mouse dorsal root ganglia via TRPV1 and TRPA1 receptors.
BACKGROUND: Morphine and its derivatives are key drugs in pain control. Despite its well-known analgesic properties morphine at high concentrations may be proalgesic. Particularly, short-lasting painful sensations have been reported upon dermal application of morphine. To study a possible involvement of TRP receptors in the pro-nociceptive effects of morphine (0.3 - 10 mM), two models of nociception were employed using C57BL/6 mice and genetically related TRPV1 and TRPA1 knockout animals, which were crossed and generated double knockouts. Hindpaw skin flaps were used to investigate the release of calcitonin gene-related peptide indicative of nociceptive activation. RESULTS: Morphine induced release of calcitonin gene-related peptide and sensitized the release evoked by heat or the TRPA1 agonist acrolein. Morphine activated HEK293t cells transfected with TRPV1 or TRPA1. Activation of C57BL/6 mouse dorsal root ganglion neurons in culture was investigated with calcium imaging. Morphine induced a dose-dependent rise in intracellular calcium in neurons from wild-type animals. In neurons from TRPV1 and TRPA1 knockout animals activation by morphine was markedly reduced, in the TRPV1/A1 double knockout animals this morphine effect was abrogated. Naloxone induced an increase in calcium levels similar to morphine. The responses to both morphine and naloxone were sensitized by bradykinin. CONCLUSION: Nociceptor activation and sensitization by morphine is conveyed by TRPV1 and TRPA1
On the massive gluon propagator, the PT-BFM scheme and the low-momentum behaviour of decoupling and scaling DSE solutions
We study the low-momentum behaviour of Yang-Mills propagators obtained from
Landau-gauge Dyson-Schwinger equations (DSE) in the PT-BFM scheme. We compare
the ghost propagator numerical results with the analytical ones obtained by
analyzing the low-momentum behaviour of the ghost propagator DSE in Landau
gauge, assuming for the truncation a constant ghost-gluon vertex and a simple
model for a massive gluon propagator. The asymptotic expression obtained for
the regular or decoupling ghost dressing function up to the order is proven to fit pretty well the numerical PT-BFM results.
Furthermore, when the size of the coupling renormalized at some scale
approaches some critical value, the numerical PT-BFM propagators tend to behave
as the scaling ones. We also show that the scaling solution, implying a
diverging ghost dressing function, cannot be a DSE solution in the PT-BFM
scheme but an unattainable limiting case.Comment: 16 pages, 2 figs., 2 tabs (updated version to be published in JHEP
Jet Substructure Without Trees
We present an alternative approach to identifying and characterizing jet
substructure. An angular correlation function is introduced that can be used to
extract angular and mass scales within a jet without reference to a clustering
algorithm. This procedure gives rise to a number of useful jet observables. As
an application, we construct a top quark tagging algorithm that is competitive
with existing methods.Comment: 22 pages, 16 figures, version accepted by JHE
Pre- and postoperative headache in patients with meningioma
Background
Meningiomas are generally slowly growing intracranial tumors. They are often incidentally diagnosed, given that symptoms may be absent even in cases of an enormous tumor size. Headache is a frequent but not consistent symptom. Therefore, we examined the association between structural, biochemical and histochemical tumor parameters with preoperative as well as postoperative occurrence of headache.
Methods
In our study, we prospectively investigated 69 consecutive patients enrolled for meningioma neurosurgery. Anatomical, histological and biochemical parameters were acquired, and headache parameters were registered from the clinical report and from a questionnaire filled by the patients before neurosurgery. The headache was re-evaluated one year after neurosurgery. The study was designed to exploratively investigate whether there is an association of acquired clinical and biological parameters with the occurrence of preoperative and postoperative headache.
Results
Edema diameter and the proliferation marker MIB-1 were negatively associated with the incidence and intensity of preoperative headache, while the content of prostaglandin E2 in the tumor tissue was positively associated with preoperative headache intensity. Headache was more prevalent when the meningioma was located in the area supplied by the ophthalmic trigeminal branch. Compared to preoperative headache levels, an overall reduction was observed one year postoperative, and patients with a larger tumor had a higher headache remission. In parietal and occipital meningiomas and in those with a larger edema, the percentage of the headache remission rate was higher compared to other locations or smaller edema. Multivariable analyses showed an involvement of substance P and prostaglandin E2 in preoperative headache.
Conclusions
The study demonstrates new associations between meningiomas and headache. The postoperative headache outcome in the presented patient sample is encouraging for the performed neurosurgical intervention. These results should be tested in a prospective study that incorporates all patients with meningiomas
Predicting EQ-5D index scores from Promis Profile 29 in the United Kingdom, France, And Germany
This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the publisher via the DOI in this recor
The Replication Argument for Incompatibilism
In this paper, I articulate an argument for incompatibilism about moral responsibility and determinism. My argument comes in the form of an extended story, modeled loosely on Peter van Inwagen’s “rollback argument” scenario. I thus call it “the replication argument.” As I aim to bring out, though the argument is inspired by so-called “manipulation” and “original design” arguments, the argument is not a version of either such argument—and plausibly has advantages over both. The result, I believe, is a more convincing incompatibilist argument than those we have considered previously
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