1,206 research outputs found
Analytical solution of the geodesic equation in Kerr-(anti) de Sitter space-times
The complete analytical solutions of the geodesic equations in Kerr-de Sitter
and Kerr-anti-de Sitter space-times are presented. They are expressed in terms
of Weierstrass elliptic p, zeta, and sigma functions as well as hyperelliptic
Kleinian sigma functions restricted to the one-dimensional theta-divisor. We
analyze the dependency of timelike geodesics on the parameters of the
space-time metric and the test-particle and compare the results with the
situation in Kerr space-time with vanishing cosmological constant. Furthermore,
we systematically can find all last stable spherical and circular orbits and
derive the expressions of the deflection angle of flyby orbits, the orbital
frequencies of bound orbits, the periastron shift, and the Lense-Thirring
effect.Comment: 18 pages, 11 figure
Orbits in the Field of a Gravitating Magnetic Monopole
Orbits of test particles and light rays are an important tool to study the
properties of space-time metrics. Here we systematically study the properties
of the gravitational field of a globally regular magnetic monopole in terms of
the geodesics of test particles and light. The gravitational field depends on
two dimensionless parameters, defined as ratios of the characteristic mass
scales present. For critical values of these parameters the resulting metric
coefficients develop a singular behavior, which has profound influence on the
properties of the resulting space-time and which is clearly reflected in the
orbits of the test particles and light rays.Comment: 24 pages, 15 figures. Accepted for publication in GR
Upregulation of ERK1/2-eNOS via AT2 Receptors Decreases the Contractile Response to Angiotensin II in Resistance Mesenteric Arteries from Obese Rats
It has been clearly established that mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKS) are important mediators of angiotensin II (Ang II) signaling via AT1 receptors in the vasculature. However, evidence for a role of these kinases in changes of Ang II-induced vasoconstriction in obesity is still lacking. Here we sought to determine whether vascular MAPKs are differentially activated by Ang II in obese animals. the role of AT2 receptors was also evaluated. Male monosodium glutamate-induced obese (obese) and non-obese Wistar rats (control) were used. the circulating concentrations of Ang I and Ang II, determined by HPLC, were increased in obese rats. Ang II-induced isometric contraction was decreased in endothelium-intact resistance mesenteric arteries from obese compared with control rats and exhibited a retarded AT1 receptor antagonist response. Blocking of AT2 receptors and inhibition of either endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) or extracellular signal-regulated protein kinases 1 and 2 (ERK1/2) restored Ang II-induced contraction in obese rats. Western blot analysis revealed increased protein expression of AT2 receptors in arteries from obese rats. Basal and Ang II-induced ERK1/2 phosphorylation was also increased in obese rats. Blockade of either AT1 or AT2 receptors corrected the increased ERK1/2 phosphorylation in arteries from obese rats to levels observed in control preparations. Phosphorylation of eNOS was increased in obese rats. Incubation with the ERK1/2 inhibitor before Ang II stimulation did not affect eNOS phosphorylation in control rats; however, it corrected the increased phosphorylation of eNOS in obese rats. These results clearly demonstrate that enhanced AT2 receptor and ERK1/2-induced, NO-mediated vasodilation reduces Ang II-induced contraction in an endothelium-dependent manner in obese rats.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Univ São Paulo, Inst Biomed Sci, Dept Pharmacol, São Paulo, BrazilUniv Fed Goias, Div Cardiovasc Physiol, Dept Biol Sci, Jatai, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Div Nephrol, Dept Med, Escola Paulista Med, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Div Nephrol, Dept Med, Escola Paulista Med, São Paulo, BrazilFAPESP: 2007/58311-0FAPESP: 2008/51622-3FAPESP: 2010/03642-5Web of Scienc
Geodesic motion in the space-time of a cosmic string
We study the geodesic equation in the space-time of an Abelian-Higgs string
and discuss the motion of massless and massive test particles. The geodesics
can be classified according to the particles energy, angular momentum and
linear momentum along the string axis. We observe that bound orbits of massive
particles are only possible if the Higgs boson mass is smaller than the gauge
boson mass, while massless particles always move on escape orbits. Moreover,
neither massive nor massless particles can ever reach the string axis for
non-vanishing angular momentum. We also discuss the dependence of light
deflection by a cosmic string as well as the perihelion shift of bound orbits
of massive particles on the ratio between Higgs and gauge boson mass and the
ratio between symmetry breaking scale and Planck mass, respectively.Comment: 20 pages including 14 figures; v2: references added, discussion on
null geodesics extended, numerical results adde
Incidence and predictors of onboard injuries among Sri Lankan flight attendants
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Occupational injuries among flight attendants have not been given appropriate attention in Sri Lanka. The purpose of this study was to estimate the incidence of onboard injury among Sri Lankan flight attendants and to describe the determinants of onboard injury.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out among Sri Lankan flight attendants. All flight attendants undergoing their annual health and first aid training were invited to participate. Flight attendants who flew continuously for a six-month period prior to data collection were included in the study sample. Recall history of injuries for a period of six months was recorded.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The study sample consisted of 98 (30.4%) male and 224 (69.6%) female flight attendants. The mean age of the study sample was 31 years (SD = 8) and the average duration of service was 10 years (SD = 7). A total of 100 onboard falls, slips or trips in the previous six months were reported by 52 (16.1%) respondents. Of the total sample, 128 (39.8%) cabin crew members reported an injury in the six months preceding the study. This represents a total injury incidence of 795 per 1000 person per year. The leading causes of injury was pulling, pushing or lifting (60.2%). The commonest type of injuries were strains and sprains (52.3%). Turbulence related injuries were reported by 38 (29.7%) flight attendants. The upper limbs (44.5%) and the back (32%) were the commonest sites affected. After controlling for other factors, female flight attendants had 2.9 times higher risk (95% CI 1.2–7.2) of sustaining and injury than males. Irrespective of sex, body weight less than 56 kilograms (OR 2.9, 95% CI 1.4–5.8) and less than seven years of on board experience (OR 10.5, 95% CI 3.6–31.0) were associated with higher risk of injury.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Work related injury is a major occupational hazard to flight attendants. Appropriate preventive strategies are required to minimize them.</p
Energetic Components of Cooperative Protein Folding
A new lattice protein model with a four-helix bundle ground state is analyzed
by a parameter-space Monte Carlo histogram technique to evaluate the effects of
an extensive variety of model potentials on folding thermodynamics. Cooperative
helical formation and contact energies based on a 5-letter alphabet are found
to be insufficient to satisfy calorimetric and other experimental criteria for
two-state folding. Such proteinlike behaviors are predicted, however, by models
with polypeptide-like local conformational restrictions and
environment-dependent hydrogen bonding-like interactions.Comment: 11 pages, 4 postscripts figures, Phys. Rev. Lett. (in press
Equilibrium configurations of fluids and their stability in higher dimensions
We study equilibrium shapes, stability and possible bifurcation diagrams of
fluids in higher dimensions, held together by either surface tension or
self-gravity. We consider the equilibrium shape and stability problem of
self-gravitating spheroids, establishing the formalism to generalize the
MacLaurin sequence to higher dimensions. We show that such simple models, of
interest on their own, also provide accurate descriptions of their general
relativistic relatives with event horizons. The examples worked out here hint
at some model-independent dynamics, and thus at some universality: smooth
objects seem always to be well described by both ``replicas'' (either
self-gravity or surface tension). As an example, we exhibit an instability
afflicting self-gravitating (Newtonian) fluid cylinders. This instability is
the exact analogue, within Newtonian gravity, of the Gregory-Laflamme
instability in general relativity. Another example considered is a
self-gravitating Newtonian torus made of a homogeneous incompressible fluid. We
recover the features of the black ring in general relativity.Comment: 42 pages, 11 Figures, RevTeX4. Accepted for publication in Classical
and Quantum Gravity. v2: Minor corrections and references adde
A Probabilistic Temporal Logic with Frequency Operators and Its Model Checking
Probabilistic Computation Tree Logic (PCTL) and Continuous Stochastic Logic
(CSL) are often used to describe specifications of probabilistic properties for
discrete time and continuous time, respectively. In PCTL and CSL, the
possibility of executions satisfying some temporal properties can be
quantitatively represented by the probabilistic extension of the path
quantifiers in their basic Computation Tree Logic (CTL), however, path formulae
of them are expressed via the same operators in CTL. For this reason, both of
them cannot represent formulae with quantitative temporal properties, such as
those of the form "some properties hold to more than 80% of time points (in a
certain bounded interval) on the path." In this paper, we introduce a new
temporal operator which expressed the notion of frequency of events, and define
probabilistic frequency temporal logic (PFTL) based on CTL\star. As a result,
we can easily represent the temporal properties of behavior in probabilistic
systems. However, it is difficult to develop a model checker for the full PFTL,
due to rich expressiveness. Accordingly, we develop a model-checking algorithm
for the CTL-like fragment of PFTL against finite-state Markov chains, and an
approximate model-checking algorithm for the bounded Linear Temporal Logic
(LTL) -like fragment of PFTL against countable-state Markov chains.Comment: In Proceedings INFINITY 2011, arXiv:1111.267
Stellar structure and compact objects before 1940: Towards relativistic astrophysics
Since the mid-1920s, different strands of research used stars as "physics
laboratories" for investigating the nature of matter under extreme densities
and pressures, impossible to realize on Earth. To trace this process this paper
is following the evolution of the concept of a dense core in stars, which was
important both for an understanding of stellar evolution and as a testing
ground for the fast-evolving field of nuclear physics. In spite of the divide
between physicists and astrophysicists, some key actors working in the
cross-fertilized soil of overlapping but different scientific cultures
formulated models and tentative theories that gradually evolved into more
realistic and structured astrophysical objects. These investigations culminated
in the first contact with general relativity in 1939, when J. Robert
Oppenheimer and his students George Volkoff and Hartland Snyder systematically
applied the theory to the dense core of a collapsing neutron star. This
pioneering application of Einstein's theory to an astrophysical compact object
can be regarded as a milestone in the path eventually leading to the emergence
of relativistic astrophysics in the early 1960s.Comment: 83 pages, 4 figures, submitted to the European Physical Journal
Measurement of the cross-section and charge asymmetry of bosons produced in proton-proton collisions at TeV with the ATLAS detector
This paper presents measurements of the and cross-sections and the associated charge asymmetry as a
function of the absolute pseudorapidity of the decay muon. The data were
collected in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with
the ATLAS experiment at the LHC and correspond to a total integrated luminosity
of 20.2~\mbox{fb^{-1}}. The precision of the cross-section measurements
varies between 0.8% to 1.5% as a function of the pseudorapidity, excluding the
1.9% uncertainty on the integrated luminosity. The charge asymmetry is measured
with an uncertainty between 0.002 and 0.003. The results are compared with
predictions based on next-to-next-to-leading-order calculations with various
parton distribution functions and have the sensitivity to discriminate between
them.Comment: 38 pages in total, author list starting page 22, 5 figures, 4 tables,
submitted to EPJC. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at
https://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/STDM-2017-13
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