1,373 research outputs found
Techno-economic feasibility of photovoltaic solar electrodialysis with bipolar membranes
Electrodialysis with bipolar membranes (EDBM) can transform concentrated brines into acids and bases through the application of an electric field. Nevertheless, the widespread use of EDBM is limited by its high energy consumption, typically based on fossil fuels. Yet, the integration of EDBM with renewable energy sources, like solar photovoltaic (PV), remains unexplored. This study presents a techno-economic analysis of PV-EDBM to produce NaOH and HCl from seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) brines. An integrated PV-EDBM model was developed and applied to a hypothetical PV-EDBM plant located in the SWRO facility of Lampedusa (Italy). Results revealed that PV has no negative impact on the performance in terms of product concentration, specific energy consumption and current efficiency. Meanwhile, the levelized cost of NaOH for PV-EDBM was reduced by 20 % in comparison to the electrical grid mix, achieving 210 €·ton−1 NaOH on an annual average for PV-EDBM. Therefore, the investment associated with PV is offset by the benefits of reduced electricity costs from the grid. Consequently, EDBM emerges as a feasible solution to address resource scarcity, representing a significant step towards integrating renewable energies with advanced wastewater treatment technologies, thus paving the path to a greener future
The Low Redshift survey at Calar Alto (LoRCA)
The Baryon Acoustic Oscillation (BAO) feature in the power spectrum of
galaxies provides a standard ruler to measure the accelerated expansion of the
Universe. To extract all available information about dark energy, it is
necessary to measure a standard ruler in the local, z<0.2, universe where dark
energy dominates most the energy density of the Universe. Though the volume
available in the local universe is limited, it is just big enough to measure
accurately the long 100 Mpc/h wave-mode of the BAO. Using cosmological N-body
simulations and approximate methods based on Lagrangian perturbation theory, we
construct a suite of a thousand light-cones to evaluate the precision at which
one can measure the BAO standard ruler in the local universe. We find that
using the most massive galaxies on the full sky (34,000 sq. deg.), i.e. a
K(2MASS)<14 magnitude-limited sample, one can measure the BAO scale up to a
precision of 4\% and 1.2\% using reconstruction). We also find that such a
survey would help to detect the dynamics of dark energy.Therefore, we propose a
3-year long observational project, named the Low Redshift survey at Calar Alto
(LoRCA), to observe spectroscopically about 200,000 galaxies in the northern
sky to contribute to the construction of aforementioned galaxy sample. The
suite of light-cones is made available to the public.Comment: 15 pages. Accepted in MNRAS. Please visit our website:
http://lorca-survey.ft.uam.es
The Maximal Inverse Seesaw from Operator and Oscillating Asymmetric Sneutrino Dark Matter
The maximal supersymmetric inverse seesaw mechanism (MSIS)
provides a natural way to relate asymmetric dark matter (ADM) with neutrino
physics. In this paper we point out that, MSIS is a natural outcome if one
dynamically realizes the inverse seesaw mechanism in the next-to minimal
supersymmetric standard model (NMSSM) via the dimension-five operator
, with the NMSSM singlet developing TeV scale VEV; it
slightly violates lepton number due to the suppression by the fundamental scale
, thus preserving maximally. The resulting sneutrino is a
distinguishable ADM candidate, oscillating and favored to have weak scale mass.
A fairly large annihilating cross section of such a heavy ADM is available due
to the presence of singlet.Comment: journal versio
Computing Yukawa Couplings from Magnetized Extra Dimensions
We compute Yukawa couplings involving chiral matter fields in toroidal
compactifications of higher dimensional super-Yang-Mills theory with magnetic
fluxes. Specifically we focus on toroidal compactifications of D=10
super-Yang-Mills theory, which may be obtained as the low-energy limit of Type
I, Type II or Heterotic strings. Chirality is obtained by turning on constant
magnetic fluxes in each of the 2-tori. Our results are general and may as well
be applied to lower D=6,8 dimensional field theories. We solve Dirac and
Laplace equations to find out the explicit form of wavefunctions in extra
dimensions. The Yukawa couplings are computed as overlap integrals of two Weyl
fermions and one complex scalar over the compact dimensions. In the case of
Type IIB (or Type I) string theories, the models are T-dual to (orientifolded)
Type IIA with D6-branes intersecting at angles. These theories may have
phenomenological relevance since particular models with SM group and three
quark-lepton generations have been recently constructed. We find that the
Yukawa couplings so obtained are described by Riemann theta-functions, which
depend on the complex structure and Wilson line backgrounds. Different patterns
of Yukawa textures are possible depending on the values of these backgrounds.
We discuss the matching of these results with the analogous computation in
models with intersecting D6-branes. Whereas in the latter case a string
computation is required, in our case only field theory is needed.Comment: 73 pages, 9 figures. Using JHEP3.cls. Typos and other minor
corrections fixed. References adde
State of the Art Review: Emerging Therapies: The Use of Insulin Sensitizers in the Treatment of Adolescents with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)
PCOS, a heterogeneous disorder characterized by cystic ovarian morphology, androgen excess, and/or irregular periods, emerges during or shortly after puberty. Peri- and post-pubertal obesity, insulin resistance and consequent hyperinsulinemia are highly prevalent co-morbidities of PCOS and promote an ongoing state of excess androgen. Given the relationship of insulin to androgen excess, reduction of insulin secretion and/or improvement of its action at target tissues offer the possibility of improving the physical stigmata of androgen excess by correction of the reproductive dysfunction and preventing metabolic derangements from becoming entrenched. While lifestyle changes that concentrate on behavioral, dietary and exercise regimens should be considered as first line therapy for weight reduction and normalization of insulin levels in adolescents with PCOS, several therapeutic options are available and in wide use, including oral contraceptives, metformin, thiazolidenediones and spironolactone. Overwhelmingly, the data on the safety and efficacy of these medications derive from the adult PCOS literature. Despite the paucity of randomized control trials to adequately evaluate these modalities in adolescents, their use, particularly that of metformin, has gained popularity in the pediatric endocrine community. In this article, we present an overview of the use of insulin sensitizing medications in PCOS and review both the adult and (where available) adolescent literature, focusing specifically on the use of metformin in both mono- and combination therapy
Neutrino masses in R-parity violating supersymmetric models
We study neutrino masses and mixing in R-parity violating supersymmetric
models with generic soft supersymmetry breaking terms. Neutrinos acquire masses
from various sources: Tree level neutrino--neutralino mixing and loop effects
proportional to bilinear and/or trilinear R-parity violating parameters. Each
of these contributions is controlled by different parameters and have different
suppression or enhancement factors which we identified. Within an Abelian
horizontal symmetry framework these factors are related and specific
predictions can be made. We found that the main contributions to the neutrino
masses are from the tree level and the bilinear loops and that the observed
neutrino data can be accommodated once mild fine-tuning is allowed.Comment: 18 pages; minor typos corrected. To be published in Physical Review
Neutrino Unification
Present neutrino data are consistent with neutrino masses arising from a
common seed at some ``neutrino unification'' scale . Such a simple
theoretical ansatz naturally leads to quasi-degenerate neutrinos that could lie
in the electron-volt range with neutrino mass splittings induced by
renormalization effects associated with supersymmetric thresholds. In such a
scheme the leptonic analogue of the Cabibbo angle describing
solar neutrino oscillations is nearly maximal. Its exact value is correlated
with the smallness of . These features agree both with latest
data on the solar neutrino spectra and with the reactor neutrino data. The two
leading mass-eigenstate neutrinos present in \ne form a pseudo-Dirac neutrino,
avoiding conflict with neutrinoless double beta decay.Comment: RevTex format, 2 figures, 4 pages, a few new references, no other
important change, figures unchanged, version to be published in PR
Neutrino Masses and Mixings from Supersymmetry with Bilinear R--Parity Violation: A Theory for Solar and Atmospheric Neutrino Oscillations
The simplest unified extension of the MSSM with bi-linear R--Parity violation
naturally predicts a hierarchical neutrino mass spectrum, in which one neutrino
acquires mass by mixing with neutralinos, while the other two get mass
radiatively. We have performed a full one-loop calculation of the
neutralino-neutrino mass matrix in the bi-linear \rp MSSM, taking special care
to achieve a manifestly gauge invariant calculation. Moreover we have performed
the renormalization of the heaviest neutrino, needed in order to get meaningful
results. The atmospheric mass scale and maximal mixing angle arise from
tree-level physics, while solar neutrino scale and oscillations follow from
calculable one-loop corrections. If universal supergravity assumptions are made
on the soft-supersymmetry breaking terms then the atmospheric scale is
calculable as a function of a single \rp violating parameter by the
renormalization group evolution due to the non-zero bottom quark Yukawa
coupling. The solar neutrino problem must be accounted for by the small mixing
angle (SMA) MSW solution. If these assumptions are relaxed then one can
implement large mixing angle solutions, either MSW or just-so. The theory
predicts the lightest supersymmetic particle (LSP) decay to be observable at
high-energy colliders, despite the smallness of neutrino masses indicated by
experiment. This provides an independent way to test this solution of the
atmospheric and solar neutrino anomalies.Comment: 46 pages, references added + several misprints correcte
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