1,361 research outputs found
Li and Be depletion in metal-poor subgiants
Original article can be found at: http://www.aanda.org/--Copyright The European Southern Observatory (ESO) DOI : 10.1051/0004-6361:20053182Peer reviewe
On OH line formation and oxygen abundances in metal-poor stars
The formation of the UV OH spectral lines has been investigated for a range of stellar parameters in the light of 3D hydrodynamical model atmospheres. The low atmospheric temperatures encountered at low metallicities compared with the radiative equilibrium values enforced in classical 1D hydrostatic model atmospheres have a profound impact on the OH line strengths. As a consequence, the derived O abundances using 3D models are found to be systematically lower by more than 0.6 dex at [Fe/H] =-3.0 compared with previous 1D analyses, casting doubts on the recent claims for a monotonic increase in [O/Fe] towards lower metallicities. In fact, taken at face value the resulting 3D LTE trend is in rough agreement with the conventional [O/Fe] plateau. Caution must, however, be exercised in view of the remaining assumptions in the 3D calculations. We have verified that the stellar parameters remain essentially unchanged with 3D model atmospheres provided that the infrared flux method (Delta T_eff <~ 20 K), Hipparcos parallaxes (Delta {log } g <~ 0.05) and Fe ii lines (Delta [Fe/H] <~ 0.1 dex) are utilised, leaving the 3D O abundances from OH lines largely intact (Delta [O/H] <~ 0.05 dex). Greater concern stems from possible departures from LTE in both the line formation and the molecular equilibrium, which, if present, would increase the derived O abundances again. Non-LTE line formation calculations with 1D model atmospheres suggest no significant steepening of the [O/Fe] trend even if the abundance corrections amount to about 0.2 dex for all investigated stellar parameters. We note, however, that the 3D case may not necessarily be as metallicity-independent. The apparent lack of laboratory or theoretical rate coefficients at the relevant temperatures for the involved molecular reactions unfortunately prevents a quantitative discussion on the possible effects of non-equilibrium chemistry
Corrections to the apparent value of the cosmological constant due to local inhomogeneities
Supernovae observations strongly support the presence of a cosmological
constant, but its value, which we will call apparent, is normally determined
assuming that the Universe can be accurately described by a homogeneous model.
Even in the presence of a cosmological constant we cannot exclude nevertheless
the presence of a small local inhomogeneity which could affect the apparent
value of the cosmological constant. Neglecting the presence of the
inhomogeneity can in fact introduce a systematic misinterpretation of
cosmological data, leading to the distinction between an apparent and true
value of the cosmological constant. We establish the theoretical framework to
calculate the corrections to the apparent value of the cosmological constant by
modeling the local inhomogeneity with a solution. Our assumption
to be at the center of a spherically symmetric inhomogeneous matter
distribution correspond to effectively calculate the monopole contribution of
the large scale inhomogeneities surrounding us, which we expect to be the
dominant one, because of other observations supporting a high level of isotropy
of the Universe around us.
By performing a local Taylor expansion we analyze the number of independent
degrees of freedom which determine the local shape of the inhomogeneity, and
consider the issue of central smoothness, showing how the same correction can
correspond to different inhomogeneity profiles. Contrary to previous attempts
to fit data using large void models our approach is quite general. The
correction to the apparent value of the cosmological constant is in fact
present for local inhomogeneities of any size, and should always be taken
appropriately into account both theoretically and observationally.Comment: 16 pages,new sections added analyzing central smoothness and accuracy
of the Taylor expansion approach, Accepted for publication by JCAP. An essay
based on this paper received honorable mention in the 2011 Essay Context of
the Gravity Research Foundatio
avaliação da textura de uvas de diferentes variedades
O objectivo deste trabalho foi avaliar as propriedades reológicas de diferentes variedades de uvas para vinificar. Foram estudadas as variedades brancas Siria, Antão Vaz, Perrum, Rabo de Ovelha e Arinto e as variedades tintas Trincadeira, Aragonez, Tinta Caiada, Moreto e Castelão. Para se avaliar da existência ou não de diferenças entre as variedades, foram efectuados testes em 200 bagos de cada variedade, nomeadamente a compressão do bago inteiro e a resistência da pelicula (pericarpo) e da polpa (mesocarpo) à penetração. Um segundo objectivo deste trabalho foi seleccionar os métodos e parâmetros que melhor caracterizam as variedades reologicamente, por forma a reduzir o tempo de análise e simplificar a metodologia de análise.
Foram encontradas diferenças significativas entre as variedades para todos os parâmetros reológicos estudados.
Os valores elevados de firmeza (F) obtidos pela máxima força durante a compressão do bago inteiro, pela máxima força durante o teste de penetração da película, e pela força a 3 mm de deformação da polpa, demostraram serem bons indicadores para serem usados em trabalhos futuros
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Computer simulation of protein solvation, hydrophobic mapping, and the oxygen effect in radiation biology
This is the final report of a three-year, Laboratory-Directed Research and Development project at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Hydrophobic effects are central to the structural stability of biomolecules, particularly proteins, in solution but are not understood at a molecular level. This project developed a new theoretical approach to calculation of hydrophobic effects. This information theory approach can be implemented with experimental, including computer simulation-experimental, information. The new theory is consistent with, builds upon, and subsumes previous integral equation and scaled particle statistical thermodynamic modes of hydrophobic effects. the new theory is sufficiently simple to permit application directly to complex biomolecules in solution and to permit further expansion to incorporate more subtle effects
The Effects of Early Childhood Development Centers on Child Development and Nutritional Outcomes in Estancia, El Salvador
Emulsion Chamber with Big Radiation Length for Detecting Neutrino Oscillations
A conceptual scheme of a hybrid-emulsion spectrometer for investigating
various channels of neutrino oscillations is proposed. The design emphasizes
detection of leptons by detached vertices, reliable identification of
electrons, and good spectrometry for all charged particles and photons. A
distributed target is formed by layers of low-Z material,
emulsion-plastic-emulsion sheets, and air gaps in which decays are
detected. The tracks of charged secondaries, including electrons, are
momentum-analyzed by curvature in magnetic field using hits in successive thin
layers of emulsion. The leptons are efficiently detected in all major
decay channels, including \xedec. Performance of a model spectrometer, that
contains 3 tons of nuclear emulsion and 20 tons of passive material, is
estimated for different experimental environments. When irradiated by the
beam of a proton accelerator over a medium baseline of km/GeV, the spectrometer will efficiently detect either the \omutau and
\omue transitions in the mass-difference region of eV,
as suggested by the results of LSND. When exposed to the neutrino beam of a
muon storage ring over a long baseline of 10-20 km/GeV, the
model detector will efficiently probe the entire pattern of neutrino
oscillations in the region eV, as
suggested by the data on atmospheric neutrinos.Comment: 34 pages, 8 figure
Application of response surface methodology to laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy : influences of hardware configuration
Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was employed to optimise LIBS analysis of single crystal silicon at atmospheric pressure and under vacuum conditions (pressure ~10-6mbar). Multivariate analysis software (StatGraphics 5.1) was used to design and analyse several multi-level, full factorial RSM experiments. A Quality Factor (QF) was conceived as the response parameter for the experiments, representing the quality of the LIBS spectrum captured for a given hardware configuration. The QF enabled the hardware configuration to be adjusted so that a best compromise between resolution, signal intensity and signal noise could be achieved. The effect on the QF of simultaneously adjusting spectrometer gain, gate delay, gate width, lens position and spectrometer slit width was investigated, and the conditions yielding the best QF determined
Further Studies on the Physical and Biogeochemical Causes for Large Interannual Changes in the Patagonian Shelf Spring-Summer Phytoplankton Bloom Biomass
A very strong and persistent phytoplankton bloom was observed by ocean color satellites during September - December 2003 along the northern Patagonian shelf. The 2003 bloom had the highest extent and chlorophyll a (Chl-a) concentrations of the entire Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) period (1997 to present). SeaWiFS-derived Chl-a exceeded 20 mg/cu m in November at the bloom center. The bloom was most extensive in December when it spanned more than 300 km across the shelf and nearly 900 km north-south (35degS to 43degS). The northward reach and the deep penetration on the shelf of the 2003 bloom were quite anomalous when compared with other years, which showed the bloom more confined to the Patagonian shelf break (PSB). The PSB bloom is a conspicuous austral spring-summer feature detected by ocean color satellites and its timing can be explained using the Sverdrup critical depth theory. Based on high-resolution numerical simulations, in situ and remote sensing data, we provide some suggestions for the probable mechanisms responsible for that large interannual change of biomass as seen by ocean color satellites. Potential sources of macro and micro (e.g., Fe) nutrients that sustain the high phytoplankton productivity of the Patagonian shelf waters are identified, and the most likely physical processes that maintain the nutrient balance in the region are discussed
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Computational and theoretical aspects of biomolecular structure and dynamics
This is the final report for a project that sought to evaluate and develop theoretical, and computational bases for designing, performing, and analyzing experimental studies in structural biology. Simulations of large biomolecular systems in solution, hydrophobic interactions, and quantum chemical calculations for large systems have been performed. We have developed a code that implements the Fast Multipole Algorithm (FMA) that scales linearly in the number of particles simulated in a large system. New methods have been developed for the analysis of multidimensional NMR data in order to obtain high resolution atomic structures. These methods have been applied to the study of DNA sequences in the human centromere, sequences linked to genetic diseases, and the dynamics and structure of myoglobin
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