61 research outputs found
The Quark-Photon Vertex and the Pion Charge Radius
The rainbow truncation of the quark Dyson-Schwinger equation is combined with
the ladder Bethe-Salpeter equation for the dressed quark-photon vertex to study
the low-momentum behavior of the pion electromagnetic form factor. With model
gluon parameters previously fixed by the pion mass and decay constant, the pion
charge radius is found to be in excellent agreement with the data. When
the often-used Ball-Chiu Ansatz is used to construct the quark-photon vertex
directly from the quark propagator, less than half of is generated.
The remainder of is seen to be attributable to the presence of the
-pole in the solution of the ladder Bethe-Salpeter equation.Comment: 21 pages, 9 figure
Extended Superscaling of Electron Scattering from Nuclei
An extended study of scaling of the first and second kinds for inclusive
electron scattering from nuclei is presented. Emphasis is placed on the
transverse response in the kinematic region lying above the quasielastic peak.
In particular, for the region in which electroproduction of resonances is
expected to be important, approximate scaling of the second kind is observed
and the modest breaking of it is shown probably to be due to the role played by
an inelastic version of the usual scaling variable.Comment: LaTeX, 36 pages including 5 color postscript figures and 4 postscript
figure
Open Issues on the Synthesis of Evolved Stellar Populations at Ultraviolet Wavelengths
In this paper we briefly review three topics that have motivated our (and
others') investigations in recent years within the context of evolutionary
population synthesis techniques. These are: The origin of the FUV up-turn in
elliptical galaxies, the age-metallicity degeneracy, and the study of the
mid-UV rest-frame spectra of distant red galaxies. We summarize some of our
results and present a very preliminary application of a UV grid of theoretical
spectra in the analysis of integrated properties of aged stellar populations.
At the end, we concisely suggest how these topics can be tackled once the World
Space Observatory enters into operation in the midst of this decade.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Astrophysics & Space
Science, UV Universe special issu
Superscaling of Inclusive Electron Scattering from Nuclei
We investigate the degree to which the concept of superscaling, initially
developed within the framework of the relativistic Fermi gas model, applies to
inclusive electron scattering from nuclei. We find that data obtained from the
low energy loss side of the quasielastic peak exhibit the superscaling
property, i.e., the scaling functions f(\psi') are not only independent of
momentum transfer (the usual type of scaling: scaling of the first kind), but
coincide for A \geq 4 when plotted versus a dimensionless scaling variable
\psi' (scaling of the second kind). We use this behavior to study as yet poorly
understood properties of the inclusive response at large electron energy loss.Comment: 33 pages, 12 color EPS figures, LaTeX2e using BoxedEPSF macros; email
to [email protected]
Sustained VWF‐ADAMTS‐13 axis imbalance and endotheliopathy in long COVID syndrome is related to immune dysfunction
Background
Prolonged recovery is common after acute SARS-CoV-2 infection; however, the pathophysiological mechanisms underpinning Long COVID syndrome remain unknown. VWF/ADAMTS-13 imbalance, dysregulated angiogenesis, and immunothrombosis are hallmarks of acute COVID-19. We hypothesized that VWF/ADAMTS-13 imbalance persists in convalescence together with endothelial cell (EC) activation and angiogenic disturbance. Additionally, we postulate that ongoing immune cell dysfunction may be linked to sustained EC and coagulation activation.
Patients and methods
Fifty patients were reviewed at a minimum of 6 weeks following acute COVID-19. ADAMTS-13, Weibel Palade Body (WPB) proteins, and angiogenesis-related proteins were assessed and clinical evaluation and immunophenotyping performed. Comparisons were made with healthy controls (n = 20) and acute COVID-19 patients (n = 36).
Results
ADAMTS-13 levels were reduced (p = 0.009) and the VWF-ADAMTS-13 ratio was increased in convalescence (p = 0.0004). Levels of platelet factor 4 (PF4), a putative protector of VWF, were also elevated (p = 0.0001). A non-significant increase in WPB proteins Angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2) and Osteoprotegerin (OPG) was observed in convalescent patients and WPB markers correlated with EC parameters. Enhanced expression of 21 angiogenesis-related proteins was observed in convalescent COVID-19. Finally, immunophenotyping revealed significantly elevated intermediate monocytes and activated CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in convalescence, which correlated with thrombin generation and endotheliopathy markers, respectively.
Conclusion
Our data provide insights into sustained EC activation, dysregulated angiogenesis, and VWF/ADAMTS-13 axis imbalance in convalescent COVID-19. In keeping with the pivotal role of immunothrombosis in acute COVID-19, our findings support the hypothesis that abnormal T cell and monocyte populations may be important in the context of persistent EC activation and hemostatic dysfunction during convalescence
Radiative Decays, Nonet Symmetry and SU(3) Breaking
We re-examine the problem of simultaneously describing in a consistent way
all radiative and leptonic decays of light mesons (V -> P gamma, P -> V gamma,
P -> gamma gamma, V -> e^+ e^-). For this purpose, we rely on the Hidden Local
Symmetry model in both its anomalous and non--anomalous sectors. We show that
the SU(3) symmetry breaking scheme proposed by Bando, Kugo and Yamawaki,
supplemented with nonet symmetry breaking in the pseudoscalar sector, allows
one to reach a nice agreement with all data, except for the K^{*+/-} radiative
decay. An extension of this breaking pattern allows one to account for this
particular decay mode too. Considered together, the whole set of radiative
decays provides a pseudoscalar mixing angle theta_P ~ -11^o and a value for
theta_V which is ~ 3^o from that of ideal mixing. We also show that it is
impossible, in a practical sense, to disentangle the effects of nonet symmetry
breaking and those of glue inside the eta', using only light meson decays.Comment: 36 pages. Published versio
Scale-free static and dynamical correlations in melts of monodisperse and Flory-distributed homopolymers: A review of recent bond-fluctuation model studies
It has been assumed until very recently that all long-range correlations are
screened in three-dimensional melts of linear homopolymers on distances beyond
the correlation length characterizing the decay of the density
fluctuations. Summarizing simulation results obtained by means of a variant of
the bond-fluctuation model with finite monomer excluded volume interactions and
topology violating local and global Monte Carlo moves, we show that due to an
interplay of the chain connectivity and the incompressibility constraint, both
static and dynamical correlations arise on distances . These
correlations are scale-free and, surprisingly, do not depend explicitly on the
compressibility of the solution. Both monodisperse and (essentially)
Flory-distributed equilibrium polymers are considered.Comment: 60 pages, 49 figure
Horizontal Branch Stars: The Interplay between Observations and Theory, and Insights into the Formation of the Galaxy
We review HB stars in a broad astrophysical context, including both variable
and non-variable stars. A reassessment of the Oosterhoff dichotomy is
presented, which provides unprecedented detail regarding its origin and
systematics. We show that the Oosterhoff dichotomy and the distribution of
globular clusters (GCs) in the HB morphology-metallicity plane both exclude,
with high statistical significance, the possibility that the Galactic halo may
have formed from the accretion of dwarf galaxies resembling present-day Milky
Way satellites such as Fornax, Sagittarius, and the LMC. A rediscussion of the
second-parameter problem is presented. A technique is proposed to estimate the
HB types of extragalactic GCs on the basis of integrated far-UV photometry. The
relationship between the absolute V magnitude of the HB at the RR Lyrae level
and metallicity, as obtained on the basis of trigonometric parallax
measurements for the star RR Lyrae, is also revisited, giving a distance
modulus to the LMC of (m-M)_0 = 18.44+/-0.11. RR Lyrae period change rates are
studied. Finally, the conductive opacities used in evolutionary calculations of
low-mass stars are investigated. [ABRIDGED]Comment: 56 pages, 22 figures. Invited review, to appear in Astrophysics and
Space Scienc
Associations of autozygosity with a broad range of human phenotypes
In many species, the offspring of related parents suffer reduced reproductive success, a phenomenon known as inbreeding depression. In humans, the importance of this effect has remained unclear, partly because reproduction between close relatives is both rare and frequently associated with confounding social factors. Here, using genomic inbreeding coefficients (F-ROH) for >1.4 million individuals, we show that F-ROH is significantly associated (p <0.0005) with apparently deleterious changes in 32 out of 100 traits analysed. These changes are associated with runs of homozygosity (ROH), but not with common variant homozygosity, suggesting that genetic variants associated with inbreeding depression are predominantly rare. The effect on fertility is striking: F-ROH equivalent to the offspring of first cousins is associated with a 55% decrease [95% CI 44-66%] in the odds of having children. Finally, the effects of F-ROH are confirmed within full-sibling pairs, where the variation in F-ROH is independent of all environmental confounding.Peer reviewe
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