224 research outputs found
Duality of Quasilocal Gravitational Energy and Charges with Non-orthogonal Boundaries
We study the duality of quasilocal energy and charges with non-orthogonal
boundaries in the (2+1)-dimensional low-energy string theory. Quasilocal
quantities shown in the previous work and some new variables arisen from
considering the non-orthogonal boundaries as well are presented, and the boost
relations between those quantities are discussed. Moreover, we show that the
dual properties of quasilocal variables such as quasilocal energy density,
momentum densities, surface stress densities, dilaton pressure densities, and
Neuve-Schwarz(NS) charge density, are still valid in the moving observer's
frame.Comment: 19pages, 1figure, RevTe
Thermodynamic Curvature of the BTZ Black Hole
Some thermodynamic properties of the Ba\~nados-Teitelboim-Zanelli (BTZ) black
hole are studied to get the effective dimension of its corresponding
statistical model. For this purpose, we make use of the geometrical approach to
the thermodynamics: Considering the black hole as a thermodynamic system with
two thermodynamic variables (the mass and the angular momemtum ), we
obtain two-dimensional Riemannian thermodynamic geometry described by positive
definite Ruppeiner metric. From the thermodynamic curvature we find that the
extremal limit is the critical point. The effective spatial dimension of the
statistical system corresponding to the near-extremal BTZ black holes is one.
Far from the extremal point, the effective dimension becomes less than one,
which leads to one possible speculation on the underlying structure for the
corresponding statistical model.Comment: 19 pages, LaTeX with revtex macro, 4 figures in eps file
Electromigration-Induced Flow of Islands and Voids on the Cu(001) Surface
Electromigration-induced flow of islands and voids on the Cu(001) surface is
studied at the atomic scale. The basic drift mechanisms are identified using a
complete set of energy barriers for adatom hopping on the Cu(001) surface,
combined with kinetic Monte Carlo simulations. The energy barriers are
calculated by the embedded atom method, and parameterized using a simple model.
The dependence of the flow on the temperature, the size of the clusters, and
the strength of the applied field is obtained. For both islands and voids it is
found that edge diffusion is the dominant mass-transport mechanism. The rate
limiting steps are identified. For both islands and voids they involve
detachment of atoms from corners into the adjacent edge. The energy barriers
for these moves are found to be in good agreement with the activation energy
for island/void drift obtained from Arrhenius analysis of the simulation
results. The relevance of the results to other FCC(001) metal surfaces and
their experimental implications are discussed.Comment: 9 pages, 13 ps figure
Dynamics of Baryons from String Theory and Vector Dominance
We consider a holographic model of QCD from string theory, a la Sakai and
Sugimoto, and study baryons. In this model, mesons are collectively realized as
a five-dimensional \ Yang-Mills field and baryons
are classically identified as solitons with a unit Pontryagin number
and electric charges. The soliton is shown to be very small in the large
't Hooft coupling limit, allowing us to introduce an effective field . Its coupling to the mesons are dictated by the soliton structure, and
consists of a direct magnetic coupling to the field strength as well
as a minimal coupling to the gauge field. Upon the dimensional
reduction, this effective action reproduces all interaction terms between
nucleons and an infinite tower of mesons in a manner consistent with the large
expansion. We further find that all electromagnetic interactions, as
inferred from the same effective action via a holographic prescription, are
mediated by an infinite tower of vector mesons, rendering the baryon
electromagnetic form factors completely vector-dominated as well. We estimate
nucleon-meson couplings and also the anomalous magnetic moments, which compare
well with nature.Comment: 65pages, 3 figures, vector mesons and axial-vector mesons are now
canonically normalized (comparisons with data and conclusions unaffected
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in myosin-binding protein C (MYBPC3) Icelandic founder mutation carriers
Objective: The myosin-binding protein C (MYBPC3) c.927-2A>G founder mutation accounts for >90% of sarcomeric hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) in Iceland. This cross-sectional observational study explored the penetrance and phenotypic burden among
carriers of this single, prevalent founder mutation.
Methods: We studied 60 probands with HCM caused by MYBPC3 c.927-2A>G and 225 first-degree relatives. All participants underwent comprehensive clinical evaluation and relatives were genotyped.
Results: Genetic and clinical evaluation of relatives identified 49 genotype-positive (G+) relatives with left ventricular hypertrophy (G+/LVH+), 59 G+without LVH (G+/LVH−) and 117 genotype-negative relatives (unaffected). Compared with HCM probands, G+/
LVH+ relatives were older at HCM diagnosis, had less LVH, a less prevalent diastolic dysfunction, fewer ECG abnormalities, lower serum N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I levels, and fewer symptoms. The penetrance of HCM was influenced by age and sex; specifically, LVH was present in 39%
of G+males but only 9% of G+females under age 40 years (p=0.015), versus 86% and 83%, respectively, after age 60 (p=0.89). G+/LVH− subjects had normal wall thicknesses, diastolic function and NT-proBNP levels, but subtle changes in LV geometry and more ECG
abnormalities than their unaffected relatives.
Conclusions: Phenotypic expression of the Icelandic MYBPC3 founder mutation varies by age, sex and proband status. Men are more likely to have LVH at a younger age, and disease manifestations were more prominent in probands than in relatives identified via
family screening. G+/LVH− individuals had subtle clinical differences from unaffected relatives well into adulthood, indicating subclinical phenotypic expression of the pathogenic mutation
Quasars and their host galaxies
This review attempts to describe developments in the fields of quasar and
quasar host galaxies in the past five. In this time period, the Sloan and 2dF
quasar surveys have added several tens of thousands of quasars, with Sloan
quasars being found to z>6. Obscured, or partially obscured quasars have begun
to be found in significant numbers. Black hole mass estimates for quasars, and
our confidence in them, have improved significantly, allowing a start on
relating quasar properties such as radio jet power to fundamental parameters of
the quasar such as black hole mass and accretion rate. Quasar host galaxy
studies have allowed us to find and characterize the host galaxies of quasars
to z>2. Despite these developments, many questions remain unresolved, in
particular the origin of the close relationship between black hole mass and
galaxy bulge mass/velocity dispersion seen in local galaxies.Comment: Review article, to appear in Astrophysics Update
Whole Blood Profiling of T-cell-Derived microRNA Allows the Development of Prognostic models in Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Background: MicroRNAs [miRNAs] are cell-specific small non-coding RNAs that can regulate gene expression and have been implicated in inflammatory bowel disease [IBD] pathogenesis. Here we define the cell-specific miRNA profiles and investigate its biomarker potential in IBD.
Methods: In a two-stage prospective multi-centre case control study, next generation sequencing was performed on a discovery cohort of immunomagnetically separated leukocytes from 32 patients (nine Crohn''s disease [CD], 14 ulcerative colitis [UC], eight healthy controls) and differentially expressed signals were validated in whole blood in 294 patients [97 UC, 98 CD, 98 non-IBD, 1 IBDU] using quantitative PCR. Correlations were analysed with phenotype, including need for early treatment escalation as a marker of progressive disease using Cox proportional hazards.
Results: In stage 1, each leukocyte subset [CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells and CD14+ monocytes] was analysed in IBD and controls. Three specific miRNAs differentiated IBD from controls in CD4+ T-cells, including miR-1307-3p [p = 0.01], miR-3615 [p = 0.02] and miR-4792 [p = 0.01]. In the extension cohort, in stage 2, miR-1307-3p was able to predict disease progression in IBD (hazard ratio [HR] 1.98, interquartile range [IQR]: 1.20-3.27; logrank p = 1.80 × 10-3), in particular CD [HR 2.81; IQR: 1.11-3.53, p = 6.50 × 10-4]. Using blood-based multimarker miRNA models, the estimated chance of escalation in CD was 83% if two or more criteria were met and 90% for UC if three or more criteria are met.
Interpretation: We have identified and validated unique CD4+ T-cell miRNAs that are differentially regulated in IBD. These miRNAs may be able to predict treatment escalation and have the potential for clinical translation; further prospective evaluation is now indicated
Higher order WKB corrections to black hole entropy in brick wall formalism
We calculate the statistical entropy of a quantum field with an arbitrary
spin propagating on the spherical symmetric black hole background by using the
brick wall formalism at higher orders in the WKB approximation. For general
spins, we find that the correction to the standard Bekenstein-Hawking entropy
depends logarithmically on the area of the horizon. Furthermore, we apply this
analysis to the Schwarzschild and Schwarzschild-AdS black holes and discuss our
results.Comment: 21 pages, published versio
Observing Supermassive Black Holes across cosmic time: from phenomenology to physics
In the last decade, a combination of high sensitivity, high spatial
resolution observations and of coordinated multi-wavelength surveys has
revolutionized our view of extra-galactic black hole (BH) astrophysics. We now
know that supermassive black holes reside in the nuclei of almost every galaxy,
grow over cosmological times by accreting matter, interact and merge with each
other, and in the process liberate enormous amounts of energy that influence
dramatically the evolution of the surrounding gas and stars, providing a
powerful self-regulatory mechanism for galaxy formation. The different
energetic phenomena associated to growing black holes and Active Galactic
Nuclei (AGN), their cosmological evolution and the observational techniques
used to unveil them, are the subject of this chapter. In particular, I will
focus my attention on the connection between the theory of high-energy
astrophysical processes giving rise to the observed emission in AGN, the
observable imprints they leave at different wavelengths, and the methods used
to uncover them in a statistically robust way. I will show how such a combined
effort of theorists and observers have led us to unveil most of the SMBH growth
over a large fraction of the age of the Universe, but that nagging
uncertainties remain, preventing us from fully understating the exact role of
black holes in the complex process of galaxy and large-scale structure
formation, assembly and evolution.Comment: 46 pages, 21 figures. This review article appears as a chapter in the
book: "Astrophysical Black Holes", Haardt, F., Gorini, V., Moschella, U and
Treves A. (Eds), 2015, Springer International Publishing AG, Cha
The Formation of the First Massive Black Holes
Supermassive black holes (SMBHs) are common in local galactic nuclei, and
SMBHs as massive as several billion solar masses already exist at redshift z=6.
These earliest SMBHs may grow by the combination of radiation-pressure-limited
accretion and mergers of stellar-mass seed BHs, left behind by the first
generation of metal-free stars, or may be formed by more rapid direct collapse
of gas in rare special environments where dense gas can accumulate without
first fragmenting into stars. This chapter offers a review of these two
competing scenarios, as well as some more exotic alternative ideas. It also
briefly discusses how the different models may be distinguished in the future
by observations with JWST, (e)LISA and other instruments.Comment: 47 pages with 306 references; this review is a chapter in "The First
Galaxies - Theoretical Predictions and Observational Clues", Springer
Astrophysics and Space Science Library, Eds. T. Wiklind, V. Bromm & B.
Mobasher, in pres
- …