26,805 research outputs found
NRQCD results on the MILC extra coarse ensemble
We present preliminary results using NRQCD to describe heavy quarks on the
MILC 2+1 flavour dynamical extra coarse ensemble. We calculate the spectra of
low lying states in bottomonium to complement earlier results on the finer MILC
ensembles. We then exploit the coarseness of the lattices to calculate charm
propagators using NRQCD. These are used to examine the charmonium spectrum and
to calclate the mass of the using NRQCD. Finally we look breifly at the
and systems using the imporoved staggered formalism to describe the
light valence quarks.Comment: 6 pages, Talk presented at Lattice 2005 (Heavy Quarks), Dublin, 25-30
July 200
The 'Settlers and Colonists' Affair
In the final weeks of 2012, media reports on Alasdair Gray’s essay ‘Settlers and Colonists’ sparked a heated debate concerning Scottish cultural governance and ‘anti-Englishness’. This chapter documents and contextualizes the controversy vis-à-vis the campaigns for and against Scottish independence, and several related cultural debates. A detailed chronology of initial media coverage and political reaction (extraordinary in its volume and vehemence) is supplemented by a list of recommended essays and blogs providing further insight. The lasting impact of this episode on Gray’s reputation and public standing is unclear; this chapter examines the role of politicians, the media and Gray himself in a process by which the author became (and was made to become) a casualty of his own incautious words, but also rendered curiously voiceless
E-Learning for Teachers and Trainers : Innovative Practices, Skills and Competences
Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.Final Published versio
Characteristics, of TIROS, GOES, DMSP and LANDSAT Systems
The characteristics of the TIROS, GOES, DMSP and LANDSAT systems of satellites are described. The data listed for each system are altitude of orbit, inclination/position, orbit type, orbits per day, expected operational lifetime and the sensor systems. The sensor systems are described as to wavelength of each channel, resolution, field of view and other pertinent information. Data information such as availability rate, collection method, primary use/application and how to obtain additional information is also given
Microlensing of Extended Stellar Sources
We investigate the feasibility of reconstructing the radial intensity profile
of extended stellar sources by inverting their microlensed light curves. Using
a simple, linear, limb darkening law as an illustration, we show that the
intensity profile can be accurately determined, at least over the outer part of
the stellar disc, with realistic light curve sampling and photometric errors.
The principal requirement is that the impact parameter of the lens be less than
or equal to the stellar radius. Thus, the analysis of microlensing events
provides a powerful method for testing stellar atmosphere models.Comment: 4 pages LaTeX, to appear in New Astronomy Reviews - proceedings of
the Oxford Workshop `Gravitational Lensing: Nature's Own Weighing Scales'.
Uses elsart.cls. Paper also available at
ftp://info.astro.gla.ac.uk/pub/martin/extended.p
Use of record-linkage to handle non-response and improve alcohol consumption estimates in health survey data: a study protocol
<p>Introduction: Reliable estimates of health-related behaviours, such as levels of alcohol consumption in the population, are required to formulate and evaluate policies. National surveys provide such data; validity depends on generalisability, but this is threatened by declining response levels. Attempts to address bias arising from non-response are typically limited to survey weights based on sociodemographic characteristics, which do not capture differential health and related behaviours within categories. This project aims to explore and address non-response bias in health surveys with a focus on alcohol consumption.</p>
<p>Methods and analysis: The Scottish Health Surveys (SHeS) aim to provide estimates representative of the Scottish population living in private households. Survey data of consenting participants (92% of the achieved sample) have been record-linked to routine hospital admission (Scottish Morbidity Records (SMR)) and mortality (from National Records of Scotland (NRS)) data for surveys conducted in 1995, 1998, 2003, 2008, 2009 and 2010 (total adult sample size around 40 000), with maximum follow-up of 16 years. Also available are census information and SMR/NRS data for the general population. Comparisons of alcohol-related mortality and hospital admission rates in the linked SHeS-SMR/NRS with those in the general population will be made. Survey data will be augmented by quantification of differences to refine alcohol consumption estimates through the application of multiple imputation or inverse probability weighting. The resulting corrected estimates of population alcohol consumption will enable superior policy evaluation. An advanced weighting procedure will be developed for wider use.</p>
<p>Ethics and dissemination: Ethics approval for SHeS has been given by the National Health Service (NHS) Multi-Centre Research Ethics Committee and use of linked data has been approved by the Privacy Advisory Committee to the Board of NHS National Services Scotland and Registrar General. Funding has been granted by the MRC. The outputs will include four or five public health and statistical methodological international journal and conference papers.</p>
Electron-nuclei spin dynamics in II-VI semiconductor quantum dots
We report on the dynamics of optically induced nuclear spin polarization in
individual CdTe/ZnTe quantum dots loaded with one electron by modulation
doping. The fine structure of the hot trion (charged exciton with an
electron in the -shell) is identified in photoluminescence excitation
spectra. A negative polarisation rate of the photoluminescence, optical pumping
of the resident electron and the built-up of dynamic nuclear spin polarisation
(DNSP) are observed in time-resolved optical pumping experiments when the
quantum dot is excited at higher energy than the hot trion triplet state. The
time and magnetic field dependence of the polarisation rate of the
emission allows to probe the dynamics of formation of the DNSP in the optical
pumping regime. We demonstrate using time-resolved measurements that the
creation of a DNSP at B=0T efficiently prevents longitudinal spin relaxation of
the electron caused by fluctuations of the nuclear spin bath. The DNSP is built
in the microsecond range at high excitation intensity. A relaxation time of the
DNSP in about 10 microseconds is observed at and significantly increases
under a magnetic field of a few milli-Tesla. We discuss mechanisms responsible
for the fast initialisation and relaxation of the diluted nuclear spins in this
system
Inducible nitric oxide synthase-derived superoxide contributes to hypereactivity in small mesenteric arteries from a rat model of chronic heart failure
The aims of this study were to (a) determine whether inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) is expressed in small mesenteric arteries from rats with chronic heart failure (CHF), (b) investigate the functional significance of this potential source of nitric oxide (NO) on vascular responsiveness and (c) investigate the role that superoxide plays in modulating vascular function in these arteries.
CHF was induced in male Wistar rats by coronary artery ligation (CAL). In sham-operated rats the ligature was not tied but pulled under the artery. Six weeks after surgery CAL rats had left ventricular (LV) infarctions and elevated LV end-diastolic pressures.
Immunoreactive iNOS was found in endothelial cells, vascular smooth muscle cells and in the adventitia of small mesenteric arteries from CAL rats but not those from sham-operated rats.
Third order mesenteric arteries (300–350 μm) were mounted in a small vessel pressure myograph. Endothelium-intact arteries from CAL rats were more responsive to phenylephrine (PE) than arteries from sham-operated rats (pD2 value, CAL, 6.2±0.1; sham-operated, 5.9±0.1, P<0.05).
Both the selective iNOS inhibitor, N-(3-(Aminomethyl) benzyl) acetamidine dihydrochloride (1400W; 10−6 M) and the superoxide dismutase mimetic, Mn [III] tetrakis [1-methyl-4-pyridyl] porphyrin, (MnTMPyP; 10−4 M) reversed the hyperesponsiveness (pD2 values, 1400W, 5.9±0.1; MnTMPyP, 5.81±0.1, P<0.05). The NOS substrate, L-arginine (10−3 M), reduced responsiveness of endothelium-denuded small mesenteric arteries from CAL rats (P<0.01). None of these drugs altered responses to PE in arteries from sham-operated rats.
In summary, this study demonstrates that iNOS is expressed in mesenteric arteries from rats with CHF. However, instead of generating large quantities of NO, iNOS appears to be generating superoxide, perhaps because of a deficiency in its substrate, L-arginine. Increased superoxide generation from iNOS contributes to the hyperesponsive nature of endothelium-intact small mesenteric arteries from rats with CHF
The Molonglo Galactic Plane Survey: I. Overview and Images
The first epoch Molonglo Galactic Plane Survey (MGPS1) is a radio continuum
survey made using the Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope (MOST) at 843
MHz with a resolution of 43" X 43" cosec |delta|. The region surveyed is 245
deg < l < 355 deg, |b| < 1.5 deg. The thirteen 9 deg X 3 deg mosaic images
presented here are the superposition of over 450 complete synthesis
observations, each taking 12 h and covering 70' X 70' cosec |delta|. The
root-mean-square sensitivity over much of the mosaiced survey is 1-2 mJy/beam
(1 sigma), and the positional accuracy is approximately 1" X 1" cosec |delta|
for sources brighter than 20 mJy. The dynamic range is no better than 250:1,
and this also constrains the sensitivity in some parts of the images. The
survey area of 330 sq deg contains well over 12,000 unresolved or barely
resolved objects, almost all of which are extra-galactic sources lying in the
Zone of Avoidance. In addition a significant fraction of this area is covered
by extended, diffuse emission associated with thermal complexes, discrete H II
regions, supernova remnants, and other structures in the Galactic interstellar
medium.Comment: Paper with 3 figures and 1 table + Table 2 + 7 jpg grayscales for Fig
4. Astrophysical Journal Supplement (in press) see also
http://www.astrop.physics.usyd.edu.au/MGP
The Upsilon spectrum and m_b from full lattice QCD
We show results for the Upsilon spectrum calculated in lattice QCD including
for the first time vacuum polarization effects for light u and d quarks as well
as s quarks. We use gluon field configurations generated by the MILC
collaboration. The calculations compare the results for a variety of u and d
quark masses, as well as making a comparison to quenched results (in which
quark vacuum polarisation is ignored) and results with only u and d quarks. The
b quarks in the Upsilon are treated in lattice Nonrelativistic QCD through NLO
in an expansion in the velocity of the b quark. We concentrate on accurate
results for orbital and radial splittings where we see clear agreement with
experiment once u, d and s quark vacuum polarisation effects are included. This
now allows a consistent determination of the parameters of QCD. We demonstrate
this consistency through the agreement of the Upsilon and B spectrum using the
same lattice bare b quark mass. A one-loop matching to continuum QCD gives a
value for the b quark mass in full lattice QCD for the first time. We obtain
m_b^{\bar{MS}}(m_b^{\bar{MS}}) = 4.4(3) GeV. We are able to give physical
results for the heavy quark potential parameters, r_0 = 0.469(7) fm and r_1 =
0.321(5) fm. Results for the fine structure in the spectrum and the Upsilon
leptonic width are also presented. We predict the Upsilon - eta_b splitting to
be 61(14) MeV, the Upsilon^{\prime} - eta_b^{\prime} splitting as 30(19) MeV
and the splitting between the h_b and the spin-average of the chi_b states to
be less than 6 MeV. Improvements to these calculations that will be made in the
near future are discussed.Comment: 24 pages, 19 figures. Version to be published. Minor changes made and
typographical errors corrected. Experimental leptonic widths updated in
section
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