Precision Primordial 4^4He Measurement with CMB Experiments

Big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) and the cosmic microwave background (CMB) are two major pillars of cosmology. Standard BBN accurately predicts the primordial light element abundances ($^4$He, D, $^3$He and $^7$Li), depending on one parameter, the baryon density. Light element observations are used as a baryometers. The CMB anisotropies also contain information about the content of the universe which allows an important consistency check on the Big Bang model. In addition CMB observations now have sufficient accuracy to not only determine the total baryon density, but also resolve its principal constituents, H and $^4$He. We present a global analysis of all recent CMB data, with special emphasis on the concordance with BBN theory and light element observations. We find $\Omega_{B}h^{2}=0.025+0.0019-0.0026$ and $Y_{p}=0.250+0.010-0.014$ (fraction of baryon mass as $^4$He) using CMB data alone, in agreement with $^4$He abundance observations. With this concordance established we show that the inclusion of BBN theory priors significantly reduces the volume of parameter space. In this case, we find $\Omega_{B}h^2=0.0244+0.00137-0.00284$ and $Y_p = 0.2493+0.0006-0.001$. We also find that the inclusion of deuterium abundance observations reduces the $Y_p$ and $\Omega_{B}h^2$ ranges by a factor of $\sim$2. Further light element observations and CMB anisotropy experiments will refine this concordance and sharpen BBN and the CMB as tools for precision cosmology.Comment: 7 pages, 3 color figures made minor changes to bring inline with journal versio

Measuring α\alpha in the Early Universe: CMB Temperature, Large-Scale Structure and Fisher Matrix Analysis

We extend our recent work on the effects of a time-varying fine-structure constant $\alpha$ in the cosmic microwave background, by providing a thorough analysis of the degeneracies between $\alpha$ and the other cosmological parameters, and discussing ways to break these with both existing and/or forthcoming data. In particular, we present the state-of-the-art CMB constraints on $\alpha$, through a combined analysis of the BOOMERanG, MAXIMA and DASI datasets. We also present a novel discussion of the constraints on $\alpha$ coming from large-scale structure observations, focusing in particular on the power spectrum from the 2dF survey. Our results are consistent with no variation in $\alpha$ from the epoch of recombination to the present day, and restrict any such (relative) variation to be less than about 4%. We show that the forthcoming MAP and (particularly) Planck experiments will be able to break most of the currently existing degeneracies between $\alpha$ and other parameters, and measure $\alpha$ to better than percent accuracy.Comment: 11 pages in RevTex4 format. Low-quality figures to comply with arXiv restrictions (better ones available from the authors). v2: Updated Oklo discussion, plus other cosmetic changes. Version to appear in Phys Rev

Brane World Cosmology with Gauss-Bonnet Interaction

We study a Randall-Sundrum model modified by a Gauss-Bonnet interaction term. We consider, in particular, a Friedmann-Robertson-Walker metric on the brane and analyse the resulting cosmological scenario. It is shown that the usual Friedmann equations are recovered on the brane. The equation of state relating the enery density and the pressure is uniquely determined by the matching conditions. A cosmological solution with negative pressure is found.Comment: 9 pages, revtex styl

Primordial He4 Abundance Constrains the Possible Time Variation of the Higgs Vacuum Expectation Value

We constrain the possible time variation of the Higgs vacuum expectation value ($v$) by recent results on the primordial $^4He$ abundance ($Y_P$). For that, we use an analytic approach which enables us to take important issues into consideration, that have been ignored by previous works, like the $v$-dependence of the relevant cross sections of deuterium production and photodisintegration, including the full Klein- Nishina cross section. Furthermore, we take a non-equilibrium Ansatz for the freeze-out concentration of neutrons and protons and incorporate the latest results on the neutron decay. Finally, we approximate the key-parameters of the primordial $^4He$ production (the mean lifetime of the free neutron and the binding energy of the deuteron) by terms of $v\over v_0$ (where $v_0$ denotes the present theoretical estimate). Eventually, we derive the relation $Y_P \simeq 0.2479 - 5.54 (\frac{v-v_0}{v_0})^2 - 0.808~ (\frac{v-v_0}{v_0})$ and the most stringent limit on a possible time variation of $v$ is given by: $-5.4 \cdot 10^{-4} \leq \frac{v-v_0}{v_0} \leq 4.4 \cdot 10^{-4}$.Comment: Accepted for publication in IJT

Cartilage immunoprivilege depends on donor source and lesion location

The ability to repair damaged cartilage is a major goal of musculoskeletal tissue engineering. Allogeneic (same species, different individual) or xenogeneic (different species) sources can provide an attractive source of chondrocytes for cartilage tissue engineering, since autologous (same individual) cells are scarce. Immune rejection of non-autologous hyaline articular cartilage has seldom been considered due to the popular notion of “cartilage immunoprivilege.” The objective of this study was to determine the suitability of allogeneic and xenogeneic engineered neocartilage tissue for cartilage repair. To address this, scaffold-free tissue engineered articular cartilage of syngeneic (same genetic background), allogeneic, and xenogeneic origin were implanted into two different locations of the rabbit knee (n=3 per group/location). Xenogeneic engineered cartilage and control xenogeneic chondral explants provoked profound innate inflammatory and adaptive cellular responses, regardless of transplant location. Cytological quantification of immune cells showed that, while allogeneic neocartilage elicited an immune response in the patella, negligible responses were observed when implanted into the trochlea; instead the responses were comparable to microfracture-treated empty defect controls. Allogeneic neocartilage survived within the trochlea implant site and demonstrated graft integration into the underlying bone. In conclusion, the knee joint cartilage does not represent an immune privileged site, strongly rejecting xenogeneic but not allogeneic chondrocytes in a location-dependent fashion. This difference in location-dependent survival of allogeneic tissue may be associated with proximity to the synovium

Primordial Nucleosynthesis for the New Cosmology: Determining Uncertainties and Examining Concordance

Big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) and the cosmic microwave background (CMB) have a long history together in the standard cosmology. The general concordance between the predicted and observed light element abundances provides a direct probe of the universal baryon density. Recent CMB anisotropy measurements, particularly the observations performed by the WMAP satellite, examine this concordance by independently measuring the cosmic baryon density. Key to this test of concordance is a quantitative understanding of the uncertainties in the BBN light element abundance predictions. These uncertainties are dominated by systematic errors in nuclear cross sections. We critically analyze the cross section data, producing representations that describe this data and its uncertainties, taking into account the correlations among data, and explicitly treating the systematic errors between data sets. Using these updated nuclear inputs, we compute the new BBN abundance predictions, and quantitatively examine their concordance with observations. Depending on what deuterium observations are adopted, one gets the following constraints on the baryon density: OmegaBh^2=0.0229\pm0.0013 or OmegaBh^2 = 0.0216^{+0.0020}_{-0.0021} at 68% confidence, fixing N_{\nu,eff}=3.0. Concerns over systematics in helium and lithium observations limit the confidence constraints based on this data provide. With new nuclear cross section data, light element abundance observations and the ever increasing resolution of the CMB anisotropy, tighter constraints can be placed on nuclear and particle astrophysics. ABRIDGEDComment: 54 pages, 20 figures, 5 tables v2: reflects PRD version minor changes to text and reference

Psychosocial Treatment of Children in Foster Care: A Review

A substantial number of children in foster care exhibit psychiatric difficulties. Recent epidemiologi-cal and historical trends in foster care, clinical findings about the adjustment of children in foster care, and adult outcomes are reviewed, followed by a description of current approaches to treatment and extant empirical support. Available interventions for these children can be categorized as either symptom-focused or systemic, with empirical support for specific methods ranging from scant to substantial. Even with treatment, behavioral and emotional problems often persist into adulthood, resulting in poor functional outcomes. We suggest that self-regulation may be an important mediat-ing factor in the appearance of emotional and behavioral disturbance in these children

Comparison of biomass and coal char reactivities

Char combustion is typically the rate limiting step during the combustion of solid fuels. The magnitude and variation of char reactivity during combustion are, therefore, of primary concern when comparing solid fuels such as coal and biomass. In an effort to evaluate biomass` potential as a sustainable and renewable energy source, the reactivities of both biomass and coal chars were compared using Sandia`s Captive Particle Imaging (CPI) apparatus. This paper summarizes the experimental approach used to determine biomass and coal reactivities and presents results from CPT experiments. The reactivity of six types of char particles, two high-rank coal chars, two low-rank coal chars, and two biomass chars, were investigated using the CPT apparatus. Results indicate that both of the high-rank coal chars have relatively low reactivities when compared with the higher reactivities measured for the low-rank coal and the biomass chars. In addition, extinction behavior of the chars support related investigations that suggest carbonaceous structural ordering is an important consideration in understanding particle reactivity as a function of extent of burnout. High-rank coal chars were found to have highly ordered carbon structures, where as, both low-rank coal and biomass chars were found to have highly disordered carbon structures