Molecular dynamics simulations of vibrated granular gases

We present molecular dynamics simulations of mono- or bidisperse inelastic granular gases driven by vibrating walls, in two dimensions (without gravity). Because of the energy injection at the boundaries, a situation often met experimentally, density and temperature fields display heterogeneous profiles in the direction perpendicular to the walls. A general equation of state for an arbitrary mixture of fluidized inelastic hard spheres is derived and successfully tested against numerical data. Single-particle velocity distribution functions with non-Gaussian features are also obtained, and the influence of various parameters (inelasticity coefficients, density...) analyzed. The validity of a recently proposed Random Restitution Coefficient model is assessed through the study of projected collisions onto the direction perpendicular to that of energy injection. For the binary mixture, the non-equipartition of translational kinetic energy is studied and compared both to experimental data and to the case of homogeneous energy injection (``stochastic thermostat''). The rescaled velocity distribution functions are found to be very similar for both species

Understanding lactatemia in human sepsis potential impact for early management

Rationale: Hyperlactatemia in sepsis may derive from a prevalent impairment of oxygen supply/demand and/or oxygen use. Discriminating between these two mechanisms may be relevant for the early fluid resuscitation strategy. Objectives: To understand the relationship among central venous oxygen saturation (ScvO2), lactate, and base excess to better determine the origin of lactate. Methods: This was a post hoc analysis of baseline variables of 1,741 patients with sepsis enrolled in the multicenter trial ALBIOS (Albumin ItalianOutcome Sepsis). Variableswere analyzed as a function of sextiles of lactate concentration and sextiles of ScvO2.Wedefined the "alactic base excess," as the sum of lactate and standard base excess. Measurements and Main Results: Organ dysfunction severity scores, physiologic variables of hepatic, metabolic, cardiac, and renal function, and 90-day mortality were measured. ScvO2 was lower than 70% only in 35% of patients. Mortality, organ dysfunction scores, and lactate were highest in the first and sixth sextiles of ScvO2. Although lactate level related strongly to mortality, it was associated with acidemia only when kidney function was impaired (creatinine >2 mg/dl), as rapidly detected by a negative alactic base excess. In contrast, positive values of alactic base excess were associated with a relative reduction of fluid balance. Conclusions: Hyperlactatemia is powerfully correlated with severity of sepsis and, in established sepsis, is caused more frequently by impaired tissue oxygen use, rather than by impaired oxygen transport. Concomitant acidemia was only observed in the presence of renal dysfunction, as rapidly detected by alactic base excess. The current strategy of fluid resuscitation could be modified according to the origin of excess lactate

Exact steady state solution of the Boltzmann equation: A driven 1-D inelastic Maxwell gas

The exact nonequilibrium steady state solution of the nonlinear Boltzmann equation for a driven inelastic Maxwell model was obtained by Ben-Naim and Krapivsky [Phys. Rev. E 61, R5 (2000)] in the form of an infinite product for the Fourier transform of the distribution function $f(c)$. In this paper we have inverted the Fourier transform to express $f(c)$ in the form of an infinite series of exponentially decaying terms. The dominant high energy tail is exponential, $f(c)\simeq A_0\exp(-a|c|)$, where $a\equiv 2/\sqrt{1-\alpha^2}$ and the amplitude $A_0$ is given in terms of a converging sum. This is explicitly shown in the totally inelastic limit ($\alpha\to 0$) and in the quasi-elastic limit ($\alpha\to 1$). In the latter case, the distribution is dominated by a Maxwellian for a very wide range of velocities, but a crossover from a Maxwellian to an exponential high energy tail exists for velocities $|c-c_0|\sim 1/\sqrt{q}$ around a crossover velocity $c_0\simeq \ln q^{-1}/\sqrt{q}$, where $q\equiv (1-\alpha)/2\ll 1$. In this crossover region the distribution function is extremely small, $\ln f(c_0)\simeq q^{-1}\ln q$.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures; a table and a few references added; to be published in PR

Two-domains bulklike Fermi surface of Ag films deposited onto Si(111)-(7x7)

Thick metallic silver films have been deposited onto Si(111)-(7x7) substrates at room temperature. Their electronic properties have been studied by using angle resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (ARPES). In addition to the electronic band dispersion along the high-symmetry directions, the Fermi surface topology of the grown films has been investigated. Using ARPES, the spectral weight distribution at the Fermi level throughout large portions of the reciprocal space has been determined at particular perpendicular electron-momentum values. Systematically, the contours of the Fermi surface of these films reflected a sixfold symmetry instead of the threefold symmetry of Ag single crystal. This loss of symmetry has been attributed to the fact that these films appear to be composed by two sets of domains rotated 60$^o$ from each other. Extra, photoemission features at the Fermi level were also detected, which have been attributed to the presence of surface states and \textit{sp}-quantum states. The dimensionality of the Fermi surface of these films has been analyzed studying the dependence of the Fermi surface contours with the incident photon energy. The behavior of these contours measured at particular points along the Ag $\Gamma$L high-symmetry direction puts forward the three-dimensional character of the electronic structure of the films investigated.Comment: 10 pages, 12 figures, submitted to Physical Review

Thinking forward: Promising but unproven ideas for future intensive care

Progress toward determining the true worth of ongoing practices or value of recent innovations can be glacially slow when we insist on following the conventional stepwise scientific pathway. Moreover, a widely accepted but flawed conceptual paradigm often proves difficult to challenge, modify or reject. Yet, most experienced clinicians, educators and clinical scientists privately entertain untested ideas about how care could or should be improved, even if the supporting evidence base is currently thin or non-existent. This symposium encouraged experts to share such intriguing but unproven concepts, each based upon what the speaker considered a logical but unproven rationale. Such free interchange invited dialog that pointed toward new or neglected lines of research needed to improve care of the critically ill. In this summary of those presentations, a brief background outlines the rationale for each novel and deliberately provocative unconfirmed idea endorsed by the presenter

Photoproduction of D∗±D^{*\pm} mesons associated with a leading neutron

The photoproduction of $D^{*\pm} (2010)$ mesons associated with a leading neutron has been observed with the ZEUS detector in $ep$ collisions at HERA using an integrated luminosity of 80 pb$^{-1}$. The neutron carries a large fraction, {$x_L>0.2$}, of the incoming proton beam energy and is detected at very small production angles, {$\theta_n<0.8$ mrad}, an indication of peripheral scattering. The $D^*$ meson is centrally produced with pseudorapidity {$|\eta| 1.9$ GeV}, which is large compared to the average transverse momentum of the neutron of 0.22 GeV. The ratio of neutron-tagged to inclusive $D^*$ production is $8.85\pm 0.93({\rm stat.})^{+0.48}_{-0.61}({\rm syst.})\%$ in the photon-proton center-of-mass energy range {$130 <W<280$ GeV}. The data suggest that the presence of a hard scale enhances the fraction of events with a leading neutron in the final state.Comment: 28 pages, 4 figures, 2 table

Measurement of the open-charm contribution to the diffractive proton structure function

Production of D*+/-(2010) mesons in diffractive deep inelastic scattering has been measured with the ZEUS detector at HERA using an integrated luminosity of 82 pb^{-1}. Diffractive events were identified by the presence of a large rapidity gap in the final state. Differential cross sections have been measured in the kinematic region 1.5 < Q^2 < 200 GeV^2, 0.02 < y < 0.7, x_{IP} < 0.035, beta 1.5 GeV and |\eta(D*+/-)| < 1.5. The measured cross sections are compared to theoretical predictions. The results are presented in terms of the open-charm contribution to the diffractive proton structure function. The data demonstrate a strong sensitivity to the diffractive parton densities.Comment: 35 pages, 11 figures, 6 table

Search for contact interactions, large extra dimensions and finite quark radius in ep collisions at HERA

A search for physics beyond the Standard Model has been performed with high-Q^2 neutral current deep inelastic scattering events recorded with the ZEUS detector at HERA. Two data sets, e^+ p \to e^+ X and e^- p \to e^- X, with respective integrated luminosities of 112 pb^-1 and 16 pb^-1, were analyzed. The data reach Q^2 values as high as 40000 GeV^2. No significant deviations from Standard Model predictions were observed. Limits were derived on the effective mass scale in eeqq contact interactions, the ratio of leptoquark mass to the Yukawa coupling for heavy leptoquark models and the mass scale parameter in models with large extra dimensions. The limit on the quark charge radius, in the classical form factor approximation, is 0.85 10^-16 cm.Comment: 28 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Physics Letters

Isolated tau leptons in events with large missing transverse momentum at HERA

A search for events containing isolated tau leptons and large missing transverse momentum, not originating from the tau decay, has been performed with the ZEUS detector at the electron-proton collider HERA, using 130 pb^-1 of integrated luminosity. A search was made for isolated tracks coming from hadronic tau decays. Observables based on the internal jet structure were exploited to discriminate between tau decays and quark- or gluon-induced jets. Three tau candidates were found, while 0.40 +0.12 -0.13 were expected from Standard Model processes, such as charged current deep inelastic scattering and single W-boson production. To search for heavy-particle decays, a more restrictive selection was applied to isolate tau leptons produced together with a hadronic final state with high transverse momentum. Two candidate events survive, while 0.20 +-0.05 events are expected from Standard Model processes.Comment: 28 pages, 4 figures, 3 tables, accepted by Phys. Lett. B. Updated with minor changes to the text requested by the journal refere

Search for lepton-flavor violation at HERA

A search for lepton-flavor-violating interactions $e p \to \mu X$ and $e p\to \tau X$ has been performed with the ZEUS detector using the entire HERA I data sample, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 130 pb^{-1}. The data were taken at center-of-mass energies, $\sqrt{s}$, of 300 and 318 GeV. No evidence of lepton-flavor violation was found, and constraints were derived on leptoquarks (LQs) that could mediate such interactions. For LQ masses below $\sqrt{s}$, limits were set on $\lambda_{eq_1} \sqrt{\beta_{\ell q}}$, where $\lambda_{eq_1}$ is the coupling of the LQ to an electron and a first-generation quark $q_1$, and $\beta_{\ell q}$ is the branching ratio of the LQ to the final-state lepton $\ell$ ($\mu$ or $\tau$) and a quark $q$. For LQ masses much larger than $\sqrt{s}$, limits were set on the four-fermion interaction term $\lambda_{e q_\alpha} \lambda_{\ell q_\beta} / M_{\mathrm{LQ}}^2$ for LQs that couple to an electron and a quark $q_\alpha$ and to a lepton $\ell$ and a quark $q_\beta$, where $\alpha$ and $\beta$ are quark generation indices. Some of the limits are also applicable to lepton-flavor-violating processes mediated by squarks in $R$-Parity-violating supersymmetric models. In some cases, especially when a higher-generation quark is involved and for the process $e p\to \tau X$, the ZEUS limits are the most stringent to date.Comment: 37 pages, 10 figures, Accepted by EPJC. References and 1 figure (Fig. 6) adde