1,115 research outputs found
Relativistic Kinetics of Phonon Gas in Superfluids
The relativistic kinetic theory of the phonon gas in superfluids is
developed. The technique of the derivation of macroscopic balance equations
from microscopic equations of motion for individual particles is applied to an
ensemble of quasi-particles. The necessary expressions are constructed in terms
of a Hamilton function of a (quasi-)particle. A phonon contribution into
superfluid dynamic parameters is obtained from energy-momentum balance
equations for the phonon gas together with the conservation law for superfluids
as a whole. Relations between dynamic flows being in agreement with results of
relativistic hydrodynamic consideration are found. Based on the kinetic
approach a problem of relativistic variation of the speed of sound under phonon
influence at low temperature is solved.Comment: 23 pages, Revtex fil
O(\alpha_s) corrections to the decays of polarized W^+- and Z bosons into massive quark pairs
We present O(\alpha_s) results on the decays of polarized W^+- and Z bosons
into massive quark pairs. The NLO QCD corrections to the polarized decay
functions are given up to the second order in the quark mass expansion. We find
a surprisingly strong dependence of the NLO polarized decay functions on finite
quark mass effects even at the relatively large mass scale of the W^+- and Z
bosons. As a main application we consider the decay t -> b + W^+ involving the
helicity fractions \rho_{mm} of the W^+ boson followed by the polarized decay
W^+(\uparrow) -> q_1 qbar_2 for which we determine the O(\alpha_s) polar angle
decay distribution. We also discuss NLO polarization effects in the
production/decay process e^+e^- -> Z(\uparrow) -> q qbar.Comment: 25 pages, 2 figures and 1 tabl
Effective nonlinear optical properties of composite media of graded spherical particles
We have developed a nonlinear differential effective dipole approximation
(NDEDA), in an attempt to investigate the effective linear and third-order
nonlinear susceptibility of composite media in which graded spherical
inclusions with weak nonlinearity are randomly embedded in a linear host
medium. Alternatively, based on a first-principles approach, we derived exactly
the linear local field inside the graded particles having power-law dielectric
gradation profiles. As a result, we obtain also the effective linear dielectric
constant and third-order nonlinear susceptibility. Excellent agreement between
the two methods is numerically demonstrated. As an application, we apply the
NDEDA to investigate the surface plasma resonant effect on the optical
absorption, optical nonlinearity enhancement, and figure of merit of
metal-dielectric composites. It is found that the presence of gradation in
metal particles yields a broad resonant band in the optical region, and further
enhances the figure of merit.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figure
Current-induced highly dissipative domains in high Tc thin films
We have investigated the resistive response of high Tc thin films submitted
to a high density of current. For this purpose, current pulses were applied
into bridges made of Nd(1.15)Ba(1.85)Cu3O7 and Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8. By recording the
time dependent voltage, we observe that at a certain critical current j*, a
highly dissipative domain develops somewhere along the bridge. The successive
formation of these domains produces stepped I-V characteristics. We present
evidences that these domains are not regions with a temperature above Tc, as
for hot spots. In fact this phenomenon appears to be analog to the nucleation
of phase-slip centers observed in conventional superconductors near Tc, but
here in contrast they appear in a wide temperature range. Under some
conditions, these domains will propagate and destroy the superconductivity
within the whole sample. We have measured the temperature dependence of j* and
found a similar behavior in the two investigated compounds. This temperature
dependence is just the one expected for the depairing current, but the
amplitude is about 100 times smaller.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures, Revtex, to appear in Phys. Rev.
Cyclophilin A/EMMPRIN Axis Is Involved in Pro-Fibrotic Processes Associated with Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm of Marfan Syndrome Patients
Background: Marfan syndrome (MFS) is a genetic disease, characterized by thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA), which treatment is to date purely surgical. Understanding of novel molecular targets is mandatory to unveil effective pharmacological approaches. Cyclophilin A (CyPA) and its receptor EMMPRIN are associated with several cardiovascular diseases, including abdominal aortic aneurysm. Here, we envisioned the contribution of CyPA/EMMPRIN axis in MFS-related TAA.
METHODS:
We obtained thoracic aortic samples from healthy controls (HC) and MFS patients' aortas and then isolated vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) from the aortic wall.
RESULTS:
our findings revealed that MFS aortic tissue samples isolated from the dilated zone of aorta showed higher expression levels of EMMPRIN vs. MFS non-dilated aorta and HC. Interestingly, angiotensin II significantly stimulated CyPA secretion in MFS-derived VSMC (MFS-VSMC). CyPA treatment on MFS-VSMC led to increased levels of EMMPRIN and other MFS-associated pro-fibrotic mediators, such as TGF-\u3b21 and collagen I. These molecules were downregulated by in vitro treatment with CyPA inhibitor MM284. Our results suggest that CyPA/EMMPRIN axis is involved in MFS-related TAA development, since EMMPRIN is upregulated in the dilated zone of MFS patients' TAA and the inhibition of its ligand, CyPA, downregulated EMMPRIN and MFS-related markers in MFS-VSMC.
CONCLUSIONS:
these insights suggest both a novel detrimental role for CyPA/EMMPRIN axis and its inhibition as a potential therapeutic strategy for MFS-related TAA treatment
A gauge model for quantum mechanics on a stratified space
In the Hamiltonian approach on a single spatial plaquette, we construct a
quantum (lattice) gauge theory which incorporates the classical singularities.
The reduced phase space is a stratified K\"ahler space, and we make explicit
the requisite singular holomorphic quantization procedure on this space. On the
quantum level, this procedure furnishes a costratified Hilbert space, that is,
a Hilbert space together with a system which consists of the subspaces
associated with the strata of the reduced phase space and of the corresponding
orthoprojectors. The costratified Hilbert space structure reflects the
stratification of the reduced phase space. For the special case where the
structure group is , we discuss the tunneling probabilities
between the strata, determine the energy eigenstates and study the
corresponding expectation values of the orthoprojectors onto the subspaces
associated with the strata in the strong and weak coupling approximations.Comment: 38 pages, 9 figures. Changes: comments on the heat kernel and
coherent states have been adde
STRAIN DIFFERENCES IN THE EXPRESSION OF THE EPA-1-RESTRICTING ELEMENT
Epa-1-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) lyse epidermal cells (EC) of different Epa-1 + H-2 k strains, such as AKR, CBA, C58, and RF, at different levels. We used an H-2K k -specific monoclonal antibody (mAb) to test the hypothesis that this phenomenon is due to differences in the H-2-restricting element. Initially, we established the specificity of this mAb for the Epa-1-restricting element by demonstrating its capacity to inhibit the lysis of CBA EC by Epa-1-specific CTL. We then used it as the probe in a cellular radioimmunoassay to quantify the expression of the restricting element by EC of different H-2 k strains. We found that C58 and RF EC bound significantly less of the mAb than did CBA EC. Although AKR also bound less of the mAb than did CBA EC, the difference was not statistically significant. To examine the generality of this phenomenon, we quantified the expression of K k antigens on spleen cells (SC) of the same four strains. We found that RF SC, but not AKR or C58 SC, bound significantly less of the K k mAb than did CBA SC. Thus, the differential CTL lysis of Epa-1 + EC of different strains probably reflects differences in expression of the H-2-restricting element rather than of the nominal antigen.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/75485/1/j.1744-313X.1987.tb00375.x.pd
Inclusive production of charged pions in p+C collisions at 158 GeV/c beam momentum
The production of charged pions in minimum bias p+C interactions is studied
using a sample of 377000 inelastic events obtained with the NA49 detector at
the CERN SPS at 158 GeV/c beam momentum. The data cover a phase space area
ranging from 0 to 1.8 GeV/c in transverse momentum and from -0.1 to 0.5 in
Feynman x. Inclusive invariant cross sections are given on a grid of 270 bins
per charge thus offering for the first time a dense coverage of the projectile
hemisphere and of the cross-over region into the target fragmentation zone.Comment: 31 pages, 30 figures, submitted to European Journal of Physic
Results on correlations and fluctuations from NA49
The large acceptance and high momentum resolution as well as the significant
particle identification capabilities of the NA49 experiment at the CERN SPS
allow for a broad study of fluctuations and correlations in hadronic
interactions. In the first part recent results on event-by-event charge and p_t
fluctuations are presented. Charge fluctuations in central Pb+Pb reactions are
investigated at three different beam energies (40, 80, and 158 AGeV), while for
the p_t fluctuations the focus is put on the system size dependence at 158
AGeV. In the second part recent results on Bose Einstein correlations of h-h-
pairs in minimum bias Pb+Pb reactions at 40 and 158 AGeV, as well as of K+K+
and K-K- pairs in central Pb+Pb collisions at 158 AGeV are shown. Additionally,
other types of two particle correlations, namely pi p, Lambda p, and Lambda
Lambda correlations, have been measured by the NA49 experiment. Finally,
results on the energy and system size dependence of deuteron coalescence are
discussed.Comment: 10 pages, 12 figures, Presented at Quark Matter 2002, Nantes, France,
Corrected error in Eq.
Experimental Study of the Shortest Reset Word of Random Automata
In this paper we describe an approach to finding the shortest reset word of a
finite synchronizing automaton by using a SAT solver. We use this approach to
perform an experimental study of the length of the shortest reset word of a
finite synchronizing automaton. The largest automata we considered had 100
states. The results of the experiments allow us to formulate a hypothesis that
the length of the shortest reset word of a random finite automaton with
states and 2 input letters with high probability is sublinear with respect to
and can be estimated as $1.95 n^{0.55}.
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