4,440 research outputs found
New approach to nonlinear electrodynamics: dualities as symmetries of interaction
We elaborate on the duality-symmetric nonlinear electrodynamics in a new
formulation with auxiliary tensor fields. The Maxwell field strength appears
only in bilinear terms of the corresponding generic Lagrangian, while the
self-interaction is presented by a function E depending on the auxiliary
fields. Two types of dualities inherent in the nonlinear electrodynamics models
admit a simple off-shell characterization in terms of this function. In the
standard formulation, the continuous U(1) duality symmetry is nonlinearly
realized on the Maxwell field strength. In the new setting, the same symmetry
acts as linear U(1) transformations of the auxiliary field variables. The
nonlinear U(1) duality condition proves to be equivalent to the linear U(1)
invariance of the self-interaction E. The discrete self-duality (or
self-duality by Legendre transformation) amounts to a weaker reflection
symmetry of E. For a class of duality- symmetric Lagrangians we introduce an
alternative representation with the auxiliary scalar field and find new
explicit examples of such systems.Comment: Latex file, 21 page
Central Production with Tagged Forward Protons and the Star Detector at RHIC
We describe a setup which will allow extend the physics reach of the STAR
detector at RHIC to include the measurement of very forward protons. Tagging on
very forward protons, detected by the Roman Pots at RHIC energies, selects
processes, in which the proton stays intact and the exchange is dominated by
one with the quantum numbers of the vacuum, thus enhancing the probability of
measuring reactions where colorless gluonic matter dominates the exchange. The
processes include both elastic and inelastic diffraction. The capabilities of
the STAR detector to detect Gleuballs and Exotics in central production
mechanism are described.Comment: Submitted to the HADRON07: XII Int. Conf. on Hadron Spectroscopy
Frascati, October 8-13, 2007; 8 pages, 2 figure
Synthesis of branched carbon nanotubes
The present invention discloses a relatively simple CVD method for forming branched carbon nanotubes. In general, the method includes adding a dopant to the precursor materials. The dopant can be a material that has a thermodynamically more favorable carbide-forming reaction at the reactor conditions than does the catalyst that is provided to the reactor by a second precursor material. The doped nanoparticles formed in the reactor can adhere to the walls of the developing nanotubes and provide a nucleation site for the development of one or more branches on the nanotube. The nanotubes formed according to the invention can be recognized as such due to the presence of the doped nanoparticles adhered along the walls of the branched nanotubes
Selfduality of non-linear electrodynamics with derivative corrections
In this paper we investigate how electromagnetic duality survives derivative
corrections to classical non-linear electrodynamics. In particular, we
establish that electromagnetic selfduality is satisfied to all orders in
for the four-point function sector of the four dimensional open
string effective action.Comment: 8 page
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Molybdenum Disulfide Catalytic Coatings via Atomic Layer Deposition for Solar Hydrogen Production from Copper Gallium Diselenide Photocathodes
We demonstrate that applying atomic layer deposition-derived molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) catalytic coatings on copper gallium diselenide (CGSe) thin film absorbers can lead to efficient wide band gap photocathodes for photoelectrochemical hydrogen production. We have prepared a device that is free of precious metals, employing a CGSe absorber and a cadmium sulfide (CdS) buffer layer, a titanium dioxide (TiO2) interfacial layer, and a MoS2 catalytic layer. The resulting MoS2/TiO2/CdS/CGSe photocathode exhibits a photocurrent onset of +0.53 V vs RHE and a saturation photocurrent density of -10 mA cm-2, with stable operation for >5 h in acidic electrolyte. Spectroscopic investigations of this device architecture indicate that overlayer degradation occurs inhomogeneously, ultimately exposing the underlying CGSe absorber
Genomic islands: tools of bacterial horizontal gene transfer and evolution
Bacterial genomes evolve through mutations, rearrangements or horizontal gene transfer. Besides the core genes encoding essential metabolic functions, bacterial genomes also harbour a number of accessory genes acquired by horizontal gene transfer that might be beneficial under certain environmental conditions. The horizontal gene transfer contributes to the diversification and adaptation of microorganisms, thus having an impact on the genome plasticity. A significant part of the horizontal gene transfer is or has been facilitated by genomic islands (GEIs). GEIs are discrete DNA segments, some of which are mobile and others which are not, or are no longer mobile, which differ among closely related strains. A number of GEIs are capable of integration into the chromosome of the host, excision, and transfer to a new host by transformation, conjugation or transduction. GEIs play a crucial role in the evolution of a broad spectrum of bacteria as they are involved in the dissemination of variable genes, including antibiotic resistance and virulence genes leading to generation of hospital ‘superbugs', as well as catabolic genes leading to formation of new metabolic pathways. Depending on the composition of gene modules, the same type of GEIs can promote survival of pathogenic as well as environmental bacteri
Building capacity for public and population health research in Africa : the consortium for advanced research training in Africa (CARTA) model
Background: Globally, sub-Saharan Africa bears the greatest burden of disease. Strengthened research
capacity to understand the social determinants of health among different African populations is key to
addressing the drivers of poor health and developing interventions to improve health outcomes and health
systems in the region. Yet, the continent clearly lacks centers of research excellence that can generate a strong
evidence base to address the region’s socio-economic and health problems.
Objective and program overview: We describe the recently launched Consortium for Advanced Research
Training in Africa (CARTA), which brings together a network of nine academic and four research institutions
from West, East, Central, and Southern Africa, and select northern universities and training institutes.
CARTA’s program of activities comprises two primary, interrelated, and mutually reinforcing objectives: to
strengthen research infrastructure and capacity at African universities; and to support doctoral training
through the creation of a collaborative doctoral training program in population and public health. The
ultimate goal of CARTA is to build local research capacity to understand the determinants of population
health and effectively intervene to improve health outcomes and health systems.
Conclusions: CARTA’s focus on the local production of networked and high-skilled researchers committed to
working in sub-Saharan Africa, and on the concomitant increase in local research and training capacity of
African universities and research institutes addresses the inability of existing programs to create a critical
mass of well-trained and networked researchers across the continent. The initiative’s goal of strengthening
human resources and university-wide systems critical to the success and sustainability of research
productivity in public and population health will rejuvenate institutional teaching, research, and administrative
systems
1/N_c Corrections to the Hadronic Matrix Elements of Q_6 and Q_8 in K --> pi pi Decays
We calculate long-distance contributions to the amplitudes A(K^0 --> pi pi,
I) induced by the gluon and the electroweak penguin operators Q_6 and Q_8,
respectively. We use the 1/N_c expansion within the effective chiral lagrangian
for pseudoscalar mesons. In addition, we adopt a modified prescription for the
identification of meson momenta in the chiral loop corrections in order to
achieve a consistent matching to the short-distance part. Our approach leads to
an explicit classification of the loop diagrams into non-factorizable and
factorizable, the scale dependence of the latter being absorbed in the
low-energy coefficients of the effective theory. Along these lines we calculate
the one-loop corrections to the O(p^0) term in the chiral expansion of both
operators. In the numerical results, we obtain moderate corrections to
B_6^(1/2) and a substantial reduction of B_8^(3/2).Comment: 32 pages, LaTeX, 8 eps figures. One reference added, to appear in
Phys. Rev.
Comparing life expectancy of three deer species between captive and wild populations
Life in zoological gardens provides a number of benefits to captive animals, resulting in an artificial reduction of the “struggle for life” compared to their free-ranging counterparts. These advantages should result in a higher chance of surviving from one year to the next, and thus in longer average life expectancies for captive animals, given that the biological requirements of the species are adequately met. Here, we compare the life expectancy of captive and free-ranging populations of three deer species (reindeer Rangifer tarandus, red deer Cervus elaphus, and roe deer Capreolus capreolus). Whereas captive reindeer and red deer had life expectancies equal to or longer than free-ranging individuals, the life expectancy of captive roe deer was shorter than that of free-ranging animals. These results support the impression that roe deer are difficult to keep in zoos, whereas reindeer and red deer perform well under human care. We suggest that the mean life expectancy of captive populations relative to that of corresponding free-ranging populations is a reliable indicator to evaluate the husbandry success of a species in captivity
Physical exercise and cardiovascular response:design and implementation of a pediatric CMR cohort study
To examine feasibility and reproducibility and to evaluate the cardiovascular response to an isometric handgrip exercise in low-risk pediatric population using Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance measurements. In a subgroup of 207 children with a mean age of 16 years participating in a population-based prospective cohort study, children performed an isometric handgrip exercise. During rest and exercise, continuous heart rate and blood pressure were measured. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) measurements included left ventricular mass, aortic distensibility and pulse wave velocity at rest and left ventricular end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes, ejection fraction, stroke volume and cardiac output during rest and exercise. 207 children had successful CMR measurements in rest and 184 during exercise. We observed good reproducibility for all cardiac measurements. Heart rate increased with a mean ± standard deviation of 42.6% ± 20.0 and blood pressure with 6.4% ± 7.0, 5.4% ± 6.1 and 11.0% ± 8.3 for systolic, diastolic and mean arterial blood pressure respectively (p-values < 0.05). During exercise, left ventricular end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes and cardiac output increased, whereas left ventricular ejection fraction slightly decreased (p-values < 0.05). Stroke volume did not change significantly. A sustained handgrip exercise of 7 min at 30-40% maximal voluntary contraction is a feasible exercise-test during CMR in a healthy pediatric population, which leads to significant changes in heart rate, blood pressure and functional measurements of the left ventricle in response to exercise. This approach offers great novel opportunities to detect subtle differences in cardiovascular health.</p
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