1,108 research outputs found
The spectroscopic parameters of sodium cyanide, NaCN (X 1A'), revisited
The study of the rotational spectrum of NaCN (X A') has recently been
extended in frequency and in quantum numbers. Difficulties have been
encountered in fitting the transition frequencies within experimental
uncertainties. Various trial fits traced the difficulties to the incomplete
diagonalization of the Hamiltonian. Employing fewer spectroscopic parameters
than before, the transition frequencies could be reproduced within experimental
uncertainties on average. Predictions of -type -branch transitions with
up to 570 GHz should be reliable to better than 1 MHz. In addition,
modified spectroscopic parameters have been derived for the 13C isotopic
species of NaCN.Comment: 5 pages, no figure, J. Mol. Spectrosc., appeared; CDMS links update
Finite-size effects on the chiral phase diagram of four-fermion models in four dimensions
We study the size dependence of the dynamical symmetry breaking in the
four-dimensional Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model. We show that the presence of
boundaries reduces the chiral breaking region, and this effect is strengthened
for a larger number of compactified dimensions. A critical value for the length
of the compactified dimensions exists, below which the dynamical symmetry
breaking is not possible. Considering finite temperature and chemical
potential, the chiral phase structure for the system with compactified
dimensions is obtained. A gradual decreasing of the chiral breaking region with
increasing of chemical potential is found. Also, at fixed chemical potential,
the decreasing of the size of the system changes the order of the chiral phase
transition.Comment: LATEX 14 pages 2 figure
Detectability of non-differentiable generalized synchrony
Generalized synchronization of chaos is a type of cooperative behavior in
directionally-coupled oscillators that is characterized by existence of stable
and persistent functional dependence of response trajectories from the chaotic
trajectory of driving oscillator. In many practical cases this function is
non-differentiable and has a very complex shape. The generalized synchrony in
such cases seems to be undetectable, and only the cases, in which a
differentiable synchronization function exists, are considered to make sense in
practice. We show that this viewpoint is not always correct and the
non-differentiable generalized synchrony can be revealed in many practical
cases. Conditions for detection of generalized synchrony are derived
analytically, and illustrated numerically with a simple example of
non-differentiable generalized synchronization.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures, submitted to PR
Mucoid morphotype variation of Burkholderia multivorans during chronic cystic fibrosis lung infection is correlated with changes in metabolism, motility, biofilm formation and virulence
Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc) bacteria are opportunistic pathogens infecting hosts such as cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. Long-term Bcc infection of CF patients' airways has been associated with emergence of phenotypic variation. Here we studied two Burkholderia multivorans clonal isolates displaying different morphotypes from a chronically infected CF patient to evaluate trait development during lung infection. Expression profiling of mucoid D2095 and non-mucoid D2214 isolates revealed decreased expression of genes encoding products related to virulence-associated traits and metabolism in D2214. Furthermore, D2214 showed no exopolysaccharide production, lower motility and chemotaxis, and more biofilm formation, particularly under microaerophilic conditions, than the clonal mucoid isolate D2095. When Galleria mellonella was used as acute infection model, D2214 at a cell number of approximately 7×10(6) c.f.u. caused a higher survival rate than D2095, although 6 days post-infection most of the larvae were dead. Infection with the same number of cells by mucoid D2095 caused larval death by day 4. The decreased expression of genes involved in carbon and nitrogen metabolism may reflect lower metabolic needs of D2214 caused by lack of exopolysaccharide, but also by the attenuation of pathways not required for survival. As a result, D2214 showed higher survival than D2095 in minimal medium for 28 days under aerobic conditions. Overall, adaptation during Bcc chronic lung infections gave rise to genotypic and phenotypic variation among isolates, contributing to their fitness while maintaining their capacity for survival in this opportunistic human niche
Search for Top Quark FCNC Couplings in Z' Models at the LHC and CLIC
The top quark is the heaviest particle to date discovered, with a mass close
to the electroweak symmetry breaking scale. It is expected that the top quark
would be sensitive to the new physics at the TeV scale. One of the most
important aspects of the top quark physics can be the investigation of the
possible anomalous couplings. Here, we study the top quark flavor changing
neutral current (FCNC) couplings via the extra gauge boson Z' at the Large
Hadron Collider (LHC) and the Compact Linear Collider (CLIC) energies. We
calculate the total cross sections for the signal and the corresponding
Standard Model (SM) background processes. For an FCNC mixing parameter x=0.2
and the sequential Z' mass of 1 TeV, we find the single top quark FCNC
production cross sections 0.38(1.76) fb at the LHC with sqrt{s_{pp}}=7(14) TeV,
respectively. For the resonance production of sequential Z' boson and decays to
single top quark at the Compact Linear Collider (CLIC) energies, including the
initial state radiation and beamstrahlung effects, we find the cross section
27.96(0.91) fb at sqrt{s_{e^{+}e^{-}}}=1(3) TeV, respectively. We make the
analysis to investigate the parameter space (mixing-mass) through various Z'
models. It is shown that the results benefit from the flavor tagging.Comment: 20 pages, 17 figures, 6 table
Development of a VR Prototype for Enhancing Earthquake Evacuee Safety
Training and education for enhancing evacuee safety is essential to reduce deaths, injuries and damages from disasters, such as fire and earthquake. However, traditional training approaches, e.g. evacuation drills, hardly simulate the real world emergency, which lead to the limitation of reality and poor interaction. In addition, traditional approaches may not provide investigation of participants' behavior during evacuations and give feedback after training. As a novel and effective alternative to overcome these limitations, in this paper, a VR-based training prototype system is designed and implemented for enhance earthquake evacuation safety. Key modules including earthquake scenario simulation, damage representation, interaction, player investigation and feedback are developed. In the immersive VR environment, players can be provided with learning outcomes as well as behavior feedback as crucial goals for safety training. Based on the result of the evaluation, this prototype has proven to be promising for enhancing earthquake evacuee safety and shows positive pedagogical functions
GPIHBP1 expression in gliomas promotes utilization of lipoprotein-derived nutrients
GPIHBP1, a GPI-anchored protein of capillary endothelial cells, binds lipoprotein lipase (LPL) within the subendothelial spaces and shuttles it to the capillary lumen. The GPIHBP1-bound LPL is essential for the margination of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins (TRLs) along capillaries, allowing the lipolytic processing of TRLs to proceed. In peripheral tissues, the intravascular processing of TRLs by the GPIHBP1-LPL complex is crucial for generating lipid nutrients for adjacent parenchymal cells. GPIHBP1 is absent in capillaries of the brain, which uses glucose for fuel; however, GPIHBP1 is expressed in capillaries of mouse and human gliomas. Importantly, the GPIHBP1 in glioma capillaries captures locally produced LPL. We document, by NanoSIMS imaging, that TRLs marginate along glioma capillaries and that there is uptake of TRL-derived lipid nutrients by surrounding glioma cells. Thus, GPIHBP1 expression in gliomas facilitates TRL processing and provides a source of lipid nutrients for glioma cells
Unusual chemical composition of a Mexican propolis collected in Quitana Roo, Mexico
Propolis, or bee glue, is a natural resinous hive product collected by honeybees from buds and exudates of various trees and plants. Mixed with beewax and salivary enzymes, it is used to fill in cracks and holes in the hive as well as a chemical weapon against intruders. It is well known that the chemical composition of propolis depends on the flora at the site of collection. The aim of this study was to compare two different propolis batches. The first one collected in France (south-west) and the second one in Quintana Roo, Mexico. The ethanolic extract of the French propolis (EEP) contained mainly polyphenols such as phenolic acids and their esters and flavonoids (poplar type), while the same kind of extract from the Mexican propolis showed only triterpenoids such as α and β-amyrin derivatives. Although the latter composition is quite unusual for a Mexican propolis, α and β-amyrins -and their derivatives- have been reported to occur in the resin of Bursera simaruba,1 a tree that grows in Quintana Roo. Both propolis were evaluated in terms of their biological activity, including antioxidant (DPPH), anti-AGEs, antifungal (Candida albicans and Aspergillus fumigatus), and antibacterial (21 Gram-positive and Gram-negative strains including Staphyloccocus aureus). Whereas French EEP exhibited high antioxidant and anti-AGEs activities,2 as well as very good antifungal (towards C. albicans) and antibacterial (towards S. aureus) activities, Mexican EEP proved to be inactive. These results suggest that the chemical composition of the propolis collected in Quintana Roo is qualitatively and quantitatively of particular importance in the ecological interaction between the bees and the parasites and microorganisms that occur specifically in that region
HyperCP: A high-rate spectrometer for the study of charged hyperon and kaon decays
The HyperCP experiment (Fermilab E871) was designed to search for rare
phenomena in the decays of charged strange particles, in particular CP
violation in and hyperon decays with a sensitivity of
. Intense charged secondary beams were produced by 800 GeV/c protons
and momentum-selected by a magnetic channel. Decay products were detected in a
large-acceptance, high-rate magnetic spectrometer using multiwire proportional
chambers, trigger hodoscopes, a hadronic calorimeter, and a muon-detection
system. Nearly identical acceptances and efficiencies for hyperons and
antihyperons decaying within an evacuated volume were achieved by reversing the
polarities of the channel and spectrometer magnets. A high-rate
data-acquisition system enabled 231 billion events to be recorded in twelve
months of data-taking.Comment: 107 pages, 45 Postscript figures, 14 tables, Elsevier LaTeX,
submitted to Nucl. Instrum. Meth.
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