6,620 research outputs found
Orientational Ordering and Dynamics of Rodlike Polyelectrolytes
The interplay between electrostatic interactions and orientational
correlations is studied for a model system of charged rods positioned on a
chain, using Monte Carlo simulation techniques. It is shown that the coupling
brings about the notion of {\em electrostatic frustration}, which in turn
results in: (i) a rich variety of novel orientational orderings such as chiral
phases, and (ii) an inherently slow dynamics characterized by
stretched-exponential behavior in the relaxation functions of the system.Comment: 7 pages, 10 figure
Learning From Early Attempts to Generalize Darwinian Principles to Social Evolution
Copyright University of Hertfordshire & author.Evolutionary psychology places the human psyche in the context of evolution, and addresses the Darwinian processes involved, particularly at the level of genetic evolution. A logically separate and potentially complementary argument is to consider the application of Darwinian principles not only to genes but also to social entities and processes. This idea of extending Darwinian principles was suggested by Darwin himself. Attempts to do this appeared as early as the 1870s and proliferated until the early twentieth century. But such ideas remained dormant in the social sciences from the 1920s until after the Second World War. Some lessons can be learned from this earlier period, particularly concerning the problem of specifying the social units of selection or replication
Nucleon-nucleon cross sections in neutron-rich matter and isospin transport in heavy-ion reactions at intermediate energies
Nucleon-nucleon (NN) cross sections are evaluated in neutron-rich matter
using a scaling model according to nucleon effective masses. It is found that
the in-medium NN cross sections are not only reduced but also have a different
isospin dependence compared with the free-space ones. Because of the
neutron-proton effective mass splitting the difference between nn and pp
scattering cross sections increases with the increasing isospin asymmetry of
the medium. Within the transport model IBUU04, the in-medium NN cross sections
are found to influence significantly the isospin transport in heavy-ion
reactions. With the in-medium NN cross sections, a symmetry energy of
was found most acceptable
compared with both the MSU isospin diffusion data and the presently acceptable
neutron-skin thickness in Pb. The isospin dependent part of isobaric nuclear incompressibility was further narrowed down to
MeV. The possibility of determining simultaneously the in-medium
NN cross sections and the symmetry energy was also studied. The proton
transverse flow, or even better the combined transverse flow of neutrons and
protons, can be used as a probe of the in-medium NN cross sections without much
hindrance from the uncertainties of the symmetry energy.Comment: 32 pages including 14 figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev.
The application of ultrasonic NDT techniques in tribology
The use of ultrasonic reflection is emerging as a technique for studying tribological contacts. Ultrasonic waves can be transmitted non-destructively through machine components and their behaviour at an interface describes the characteristics of that contact. This paper is a review of the current state of understanding of the mechanisms of ultrasonic reflection at interfaces, and how this has been used to investigate the processes of dry rough surface contact and lubricated contact. The review extends to cover how ultrasound has been used to study the tribological function of certain engineering machine elements
Pulmonary effects of inhalation of spark-generated silver nanoparticles in Brown-Norway and Sprague-Dawley rats
The increasing use of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) in consumer products is concerning. We examined the potential toxic effects when inhaled in Brown-Norway (BN) rats with a pre-inflammatory state compared to Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats.We determined the effect of AgNPs generated from a spark generator (mass concentration: 600-800 μg/mm(3); mean diameter: 13-16 nm; total lung doses: 8 [Low] and 26-28 [High] μg) inhaled by the nasal route in both rat strains. Rats were sacrificed at day 1 and day 7 after exposure and measurement of lung function.In both strains, there was an increase in neutrophils in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid at 24 h at the high dose, with concomitant eosinophilia in BN rats. While BAL inflammatory cells were mostly normalised by Day 7, lung inflammation scores remained increased although not the tissue eosinophil scores. Total protein levels were elevated at both lung doses in both strains. There was an increase in BAL IL-1β, KC, IL-17, CCL2 and CCL3 levels in both strains at Day 1, mostly at high dose. Phospholipid levels were increased at the high dose in SD rats at Day 1 and 7, while in BN rats, this was only seen at Day 1; surfactant protein D levels decreased at day 7 at the high dose in SD rats, but was increased at Day 1 at the low dose in BN rats. There was a transient increase in central airway resistance and in tissue elastance in BN rats at Day 1 but not in SD rats. Positive silver-staining was seen particularly in lung tissue macrophages in a dose and time-dependent response in both strains, maximal by day 7. Lung silver levels were relatively higher in BN rat and present at day 7 in both strains.Presence of cellular inflammation and increasing silver-positive macrophages in lungs at day 7, associated with significant levels of lung silver indicate that lung toxicity is persistent even with the absence of airway luminal inflammation at that time-point. The higher levels and persistence of lung silver in BN rats may be due to the pre-existing inflammatory state of the lungs
Isospin splitting of the nucleon mean field
The isospin splitting of the nucleon mean field is derived from the Brueckner
theory extended to asymmetric nuclear matter. The Argonne V18 has been adopted
as bare interaction in combination with a microscopic three body force. The
isospin splitting of the effective mass is determined from the
Brueckner-Hartree-Fock self-energy: It is linear acording to the Lane ansatz
and such that for neutron-rich matter. The symmetry potential
is also determined and a comparison is made with the predictions of the
Dirac-Brueckner approach and the phenomenological interactions. The theoretical
predictions are also compared with the empirical parametrizations of neutron
and proton optical-model potentials based on the experimental nucleon-nucleus
scattering and the phenomenological ones adopted in transport-model simulations
of heavy-ion collisions. The direct contribution of the rearrangement term due
to three-body forces to the single particle potential and symmetry potential is
discussed.Comment: 8 pages, 10 figure
Interaction of the v-rel protein with an NF-kappa B DNA binding site
The avian reticuloendotheliosis virus T contains within its genome the oncogene rel. The expression of this gene is responsible for the induction of lymphoid tumors in birds. Recently, the rel gene was shown to be related to the p50 DNA binding subunit of the transcription factor complex NF-kappa B. Binding sites for the NF-kappa B complex are found in the enhancer regions of a number of genes, including the immunoglobulin kappa gene and the human immunodeficiency virus long terminal repeat. In this communication we identify an activity from avian reticuloendotheliosis virus T-transformed avian lymphoid cells that binds in an electrophoretic-mobility-shift assay to an NF-kappa B binding site from the kappa enhancer. This activity contains proteins immunologically related to rel, as detected by polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies directed against v-rel. In a DNA affinity precipitation assay using the NF-kappa B site from the human immunodeficiency virus long terminal repeat, v-rel and several other proteins were identified. These data suggest that oncogenic transformation by v-rel is the result of an altered pattern of gene expression
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