4,799 research outputs found
Mass, radius, and composition of the outer crust of nonaccreting cold neutron stars
The properties and composition of the outer crust of nonaccreting cold
neutron stars are studied by applying the model of Baym, Pethick, and
Sutherland, which was extended by including higher order corrections of the
atomic binding, screening, exchange and zero-point energy. The most recent
experimental nuclear data from the atomic mass table of Audi, Wapstra, and
Thibault from 2003 is used. Extrapolation to the drip line is utilized by
various state-of-the-art theoretical nuclear models (finite range droplet,
relativistic nuclear field and non-relativistic Skyrme Hartree-Fock
parameterizations). The different nuclear models are compared with respect to
the mass and radius of the outer crust for different neutron star
configurations and the nuclear compositions of the outer crust.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, submitted to J. Phys. G, part of the proceedings
of the Nuclear Physics in Astrophysics III conference in Dresde
Dynamical Systems On Three Manifolds Part II: 3-Manifolds,Heegaard Splittings and Three-Dimensional Systems
The global behaviour of nonlinear systems is extremely important in control
and systems theory since the usual local theories will only give information
about a system in some neighbourhood of an operating point. Away from that
point, the system may have totally different behaviour and so the theory
developed for the local system will be useless for the global one.
In this paper we shall consider the analytical and topological structure of
systems on 2- and 3- manifolds and show that it is possible to obtain systems
with 'arbitrarily strange' behaviour, i.e., arbitrary numbers of chaotic
regimes which are knotted and linked in arbitrary ways. We shall do this by
considering Heegaard Splittings of these manifolds and the resulting systems
defined on the boundaries.Comment: 15 pages with 9 pictures. Accepted by Int. J. of Bifurcation and
Chao
Finite-size effects in dynamics of zero-range processes
The finite-size effects prominent in zero-range processes exhibiting a
condensation transition are studied by using continuous-time Monte Carlo
simulations. We observe that, well above the thermodynamic critical point, both
static and dynamic properties display fluid-like behavior up to a density
{\rho}c (L), which is the finite-size counterpart of the critical density
{\rho}c = {\rho}c (L \rightarrow \infty). We determine this density from the
cross-over behavior of the average size of the largest cluster. We then show
that several dynamical characteristics undergo a qualitative change at this
density. In particular, the size distribution of the largest cluster at the
moment of relocation, the persistence properties of the largest cluster and
correlations in its motion are studied.Comment: http://pre.aps.org/abstract/PRE/v82/i3/e03111
Triaxial nuclear models and the outer crust of nonaccreting cold neutron stars
The properties and composition of the outer crust of nonaccreting cold
neutron stars are studied by applying the model of Baym, Pethick, and
Sutherland (BPS) and taking into account for the first time triaxial
deformations of nuclei. Two theoretical nuclear models, Hartree-Fock plus
pairing in the BCS approximation (HF-BCS) with Skyrme SLy6 parametrization and
Hartree-Fock-Bogolyubov (HFB) with Gogny D1S force, are used to calculate the
nuclear masses. The two theoretical calculations are compared concerning their
neutron drip line, binding energies, magic neutron numbers, and the sequence of
nuclei in the outer crust of nonaccreting cold neutron stars, with special
emphasis on the effect of triaxial deformations. The BPS model is extended by
the higher-order corrections for the atomic binding, screening, exchange and
zero-point energies. The influence of the higher-order corrections on the
sequence of the outer crust is investigated.Comment: 7 page
Construction and characterization of a BAC-library for a key pollinator, the bumblebee Bombus terrestris L
Abstract.: The primitively social bumblebee Bombus terrestris is an ecological model species as well as an important agricultural pollinator. As part of the ongoing development of genomic resources for this model organism, we have constructed a publicly available bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) library from males of a field-derived colony. We have shown that this library has a high coverage, which allows any particular sequence to be retrieved from at least one clone with a probability of 99.7%. We have further demonstrated the library's usefulness by successfully screening it with probes derived both from previously described B. terrestris genes and candidate genes from another bumblebee species and the honeybee. This library will facilitate genomic studies in B. terrestris and will allow for novel comparative studies in the social Hymenopter
EROs found behind lensing clusters: II.Empirical properties, classification, and SED modelling based on multi-wavelength observations
We study the properties and nature of extremely red galaxies (ERO, R-K>5.6)
found behind two lensing clusters and compare them with other known galaxy
populations. New HST/ACS observations, Spitzer IRAC and MIPS, and Chandra/ACIS
observations of the two lensing clusters Abell 1835 and AC114 contemplate our
earlier optical and near-IR observations and have been used to study extremely
red objects (EROs) in these deep fields. We have found 6 and 9 EROs in Abell
1835 and AC114. Several (7) of these objects are undetected up to the I and/or
z band, and are hence ``optical'' drop-out sources. The photometric redshifts
of most of our sources (80%) are z~0.7-1.5. According to simple colour-colour
diagrams the majority of our objects would be classified as hosting old stellar
populations. However, there are clear signs of dusty starbursts for several
among them. These objects correspond to the most extreme ones in R-K colour. We
estimate a surface density of (0.97+-0.31) arcmin-2 for EROs with (R-K>5.6) at
K<20.5. Among our 15 EROs 6 (40 %) also classify as distant red galaxies
(DRGs). 11 of 13 EROs with available IRAC photometry also fulfil the selection
criteria for IRAC selected EROs (IEROs) of Yan et al. (2004). SED modelling
shows that ~ 36 % of the IEROs in our sample are luminous or ultra-luminous
infrared galaxies ((U)LIRG). Some very red DRGs are found to be very dusty
starbursts, even (U)LIRGs, as also supported by their mid-IR photometry. No
indication for AGNs is found, although faint activity cannot be excluded for
all objects. From mid-IR and X-ray data 5 objects are clearly classified as
starbursts. The derived properties are quite similar to those of DRGs and
IEROs, except for 5 extreme objects in terms of colours, for which a very high
extinction (Av>3) is found.Comment: 20 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Transcriptional Profiling of Ileocecal Valve of Holstein Dairy Cows Infected with Mycobacterium avium subsp. Paratuberculosis
Johne’s disease is a chronic infection of the small intestine caused by Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP), an intracellular bacterium. The events of pathogen survival within the host cell(s), chronic inflammation and the progression from asymptomatic subclinical stage to an advanced clinical stage of infection, are poorly understood. This study examines gene expression in the ileocecal valve (ICV) of Holstein dairy cows at different stages of MAP infection. The ICV is known to be a primary site of MAP colonization and pro-vides an ideal location to identify genes that are relevant to the progression of this disease. RNA was prepared from ICV tissues and RNA-Seq was used to compare gene transcription between clinical, subclinical, and uninfected control animals. Interpretation of the gene expression data was performed using pathway analysis and gene ontology categories containing multiple differentially expressed genes. Results demonstrated that many of the pathways that had strong differential gene expression between uninfected control and clinical cows were related to the immune system, such as the T- and B-cell receptor signaling, apoptosis, NOD-like receptor signaling, and leukocyte transendothelial migration pathways. In contrast, the comparison of gene transcription between control and subclinical cows identified pathways that were primarily involved in metabolism. The results from the comparison between clinical and subclinical animals indicate recruitment of neutrophils, up-regulation of lysosomal peptidases, increase in immune cell transendothelial migration, and modifications of the extracelluar matrix. This study provides important insight into how cattle respond to a natural MAP infection at the gene transcription level within a key target tissue for infection
Extragalactic Globular Clusters in the Near-Infrared II. The Globular Clusters Systems of NGC 3115 and NGC 4365
We combine near-infrared photometry obtained with the VLT/ISAAC instrument
and archival HST/WFPC2 optical images to determine VIK magnitudes and colours
of globular clusters in two early-type galaxies, NGC 3115 and NGC 4365. The
combination of near-IR and optical photometry provides a way to lift the
age-metallicity degeneracy. For NGC 3115, the globular cluster colours reveal
two major sub-populations, consistent with previous studies. By comparing the
V-I, V-K colours of the NGC 3115 globular clusters with SSP models, we find
that the colour difference between the two >10 Gyr old major sub-populations is
primarily due to a difference in metallicity. We find \Delta[Fe/H] = 1.0 +/-
0.3 dex and the blue and red globular cluster sub-populations being coeval
within 3 Gyr. In contrast to the NGC 3115 globular clusters, the globular
cluster system in NGC 4365 exhibits a more complex age and metallicity
structure. We find a significant population of intermediate-age very metal-rich
globular clusters along with an old population of both metal-rich and
metal-poor clusters. Specifically, we observe a large population of globular
clusters with V-K and V-I colours, for which all current SSP models give ages
and metallicities in the range ~2-8 Gyr and ~0.5-3 Z_solar, respectively. After
10 Gyr of passive evolution, the intermediate-age globular clusters in NGC 4365
will have colours which are consistent with the very metal-rich population of
globular clusters in giant elliptical galaxies, such as M87. Our results for
both globular cluster systems are consistent with previous age and metallicity
studies of the diffuse galactic light. In addition to the major globular
cluster populations in NGC 3115 and NGC 4365 we report on the detection of
objects with extremely red colours.Comment: accepted for publication in A&A, 19 pages, incl. 9 figure
Time and energy constraints and the relationships between currencies in foraging theory
Measured foraging strategies often cluster around values that maximize the ratio of energy gained over energy spent while foraging (efficiency), rather than values that would maximize the long-term net rate of energy gain (rate). The reasons for this are not understood. This paper focuses on time and energy constraints while foraging to illustrate the relationship between efficiency and rate-maximizing strategies and develops models that provide a simple framework to analyze foraging strategies in two distinct foraging contexts. We assume that while capturing and ingesting food for their own use (which we term feeding), foragers behave so as to maximize the total net daily energetic gain. When gathering food for others or for storage (which we term provisioning), we assume that foragers behave so as to maximize the total daily delivery, subject to meeting their own energetic requirements. In feeding contexts, the behavior maximizing total net daily gain also maximizes efficiency when daily intake is limited by the assimilation capacity. In contrast, when time available to forage sets the limit to gross intake, the behavior maximizing total net daily gain also maximizes rate. In provisioning contexts, when daily delivery is constrained by the energy needed to power self-feeding, maximizing efficiency ensures the highest total daily delivery. When time needed to recoup energetic expenditure limits total delivery, a low self-feeding rate relative to the rate of energy expenditure favors efficient strategies. However, as the rate of self-feeding increases, foraging behavior deviates from efficiency maximization in the direction predicted by rate maximization. Experimental manipulations of the rate of self-feeding in provisioning contexts could be a powerful tool to explore the relationship between rate and efficiency-maximizing behavio
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