685 research outputs found
Impact of Distillery Effluent and Salts on Hydraulic Conductivity of a Sandy Loam Soil
Irrigation with distillery effluent, besides influencing crop yield, may have considerable impact on
physical properties of soil because of its high salt and organic carbon contents. This experimental study
was conducted to evaluate the effect of distillery effluent on hydraulic conductivity of a sandy loam
alluvial soil and compare the effect of inorganic salts of potassium (K) with that of distillery effluent on
hydraulic conductivity of soil. The treatments consisted of 4 sources of K: potassium chloride, potassium
sulphate, post methantion distillery effluent (PME) and oxidized PME (PME minus organic carbon) at 4
levels equivalent to 10, 20, 40 and 100% of the K concentration in the PME. There were 4 replications for
each treatment. Soils, collected from the upper 15 cm of a farm were crushed, passed through a 2-mm
sieve and packed in 6.5 cm diameter and 50 cm long columns. Each of the solutions was applied 4 times at
the interval of 20 days to the soil column, which were subsequently flushed with distilled water and
saturated hydraulic conductivity of soil was measured using the constant head technique. Application of
PME and salts increased the hydraulic conductivity of soil to 3 to 4 fold as compared to that of the
untreated soil. With the increasing levels of salt concentration, the rate of increase in hydraulic
conductivity initially decreased, but at 100% salt level soil hydraulic conductivity increased sharply. The
oxidized PME, which contained only the inorganic salts present in the PME, had highest hydraulic
conductivity at 100% salt level followed by PME and inorganic salts. The exchangeable K content of soil (x)
and hydraulic conductivity (y) showed a polynomial relationship (y = 15.28 â 1.61x + 0.05x2). The study
showed that application of PME has significant impacts on soil hydraulic conductivity suggesting that
impact assessment of PME application on physical properties of soil be recommended to find an optimum
application rate before the practice is adopted
Trisomy 21 activates the kynurenine pathway via increased dosage of interferon receptors
Altres ajuts: This work has also been supported by a "MaratĂł TV3" grant (20141210 to J.F. and 044412 to R.B.).Trisomy 21 (T21) causes Down syndrome (DS), affecting immune and neurological function by ill-defined mechanisms. Here we report a large metabolomics study of plasma and cerebrospinal fluid, showing in independent cohorts that people with DS produce elevated levels of kynurenine and quinolinic acid, two tryptophan catabolites with potent immunosuppressive and neurotoxic properties, respectively. Immune cells of people with DS overexpress IDO1, the rate-limiting enzyme in the kynurenine pathway (KP) and a known interferon (IFN)-stimulated gene. Furthermore, the levels of IFN-inducible cytokines positively correlate with KP dysregulation. Using metabolic tracing assays, we show that overexpression of IFN receptors encoded on chromosome 21 contribute to enhanced IFN stimulation, thereby causing IDO1 overexpression and kynurenine overproduction in cells with T21. Finally, a mouse model of DS carrying triplication of IFN receptors exhibits KP dysregulation. Together, our results reveal a mechanism by which T21 could drive immunosuppression and neurotoxicity in DS
Gravitational Collapse in Generalized Vaidya Space-Time for Lovelock Gravity Theory
In this work, we have assumed the generalized Vaidya solution in Lovelock
theory of gravity in -dimensions. It has been shown that Gauss-Bonnet
gravity, dimensionally continued Lovelock gravity and pure Lovelock gravity can
be constructed by suitable choice of parameters. We have investigated the
occurrence of singularities formed by the gravitational collapse in above three
particular forms of Lovelock theory of gravity. The dependence of the nature of
singularity on the existence of radial null geodesic for Vaidya space-time has
been specially considered. In all the three models, we have shown that the
nature of singularities (naked singularity or black hole) completely depend on
the parameters. Choices of various parameters are shown in tabular form. In
Gauss-Bonnet gravity theory, it can be concluded that the possibility of naked
singularity increases with increase in dimensions. In dimensionally continued
Lovelock gravity, the naked singularity is possible for odd dimensions for
several values of parameters. In pure Lovelock gravity, only black hole forms
due to the gravitational collapse for any values of parameters. It has been
shown that when accretion is taking place on a collapsing object, it is highly
unlikely to get a black hole. Finally on considering the phantom era in the
expanding universe it is observed that there is no possibility of formation of
a black hole if we are in the Gauss-Bonnet gravity considering the accreting
procedure upon a collapsing object.Comment: 11 page
WASP-14b: 7.3 M-J transiting planet in an eccentric orbit
We report the discovery of a 7.3 M-J exoplanet WASP-14b, one of the most massive transiting exoplanets observed to date. The planet orbits the 10th-magnitude F5V star USNO-B1 11118-0262485 with a period of 2.243 752 d and orbital eccentricity e = 0.09. A simultaneous fit of the transit light curve and radial velocity measurements yields a planetary mass of 7.3 +/- 0.5 M-J and a radius of 1.28 +/- 0.08 R-J. This leads to a mean density of about 4.6 g cm(-3) making it the densest transiting exoplanets yet found at an orbital period less than 3 d. We estimate this system to be at a distance of 160 +/- 20 pc. Spectral analysis of the host star reveals a temperature of 6475 +/- 100 K, log g = 4.07 cm s(-2) and v sin i = 4.9 +/- 1.0 km s(-1), and also a high lithium abundance, log N(Li) = 2.84 +/- 0.05. The stellar density, effective temperature and rotation rate suggest an age for the system of about 0.5-1.0 Gyr
Search for a W' boson decaying to a bottom quark and a top quark in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV
Results are presented from a search for a W' boson using a dataset
corresponding to 5.0 inverse femtobarns of integrated luminosity collected
during 2011 by the CMS experiment at the LHC in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV.
The W' boson is modeled as a heavy W boson, but different scenarios for the
couplings to fermions are considered, involving both left-handed and
right-handed chiral projections of the fermions, as well as an arbitrary
mixture of the two. The search is performed in the decay channel W' to t b,
leading to a final state signature with a single lepton (e, mu), missing
transverse energy, and jets, at least one of which is tagged as a b-jet. A W'
boson that couples to fermions with the same coupling constant as the W, but to
the right-handed rather than left-handed chiral projections, is excluded for
masses below 1.85 TeV at the 95% confidence level. For the first time using LHC
data, constraints on the W' gauge coupling for a set of left- and right-handed
coupling combinations have been placed. These results represent a significant
improvement over previously published limits.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters B. Replaced with version publishe
Search for the standard model Higgs boson decaying into two photons in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV
A search for a Higgs boson decaying into two photons is described. The
analysis is performed using a dataset recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC
from pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, which corresponds to an
integrated luminosity of 4.8 inverse femtobarns. Limits are set on the cross
section of the standard model Higgs boson decaying to two photons. The expected
exclusion limit at 95% confidence level is between 1.4 and 2.4 times the
standard model cross section in the mass range between 110 and 150 GeV. The
analysis of the data excludes, at 95% confidence level, the standard model
Higgs boson decaying into two photons in the mass range 128 to 132 GeV. The
largest excess of events above the expected standard model background is
observed for a Higgs boson mass hypothesis of 124 GeV with a local significance
of 3.1 sigma. The global significance of observing an excess with a local
significance greater than 3.1 sigma anywhere in the search range 110-150 GeV is
estimated to be 1.8 sigma. More data are required to ascertain the origin of
this excess.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters
Measurement of the Lambda(b) cross section and the anti-Lambda(b) to Lambda(b) ratio with Lambda(b) to J/Psi Lambda decays in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV
The Lambda(b) differential production cross section and the cross section
ratio anti-Lambda(b)/Lambda(b) are measured as functions of transverse momentum
pt(Lambda(b)) and rapidity abs(y(Lambda(b))) in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7
TeV using data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The measurements are
based on Lambda(b) decays reconstructed in the exclusive final state J/Psi
Lambda, with the subsequent decays J/Psi to an opposite-sign muon pair and
Lambda to proton pion, using a data sample corresponding to an integrated
luminosity of 1.9 inverse femtobarns. The product of the cross section times
the branching ratio for Lambda(b) to J/Psi Lambda versus pt(Lambda(b)) falls
faster than that of b mesons. The measured value of the cross section times the
branching ratio for pt(Lambda(b)) > 10 GeV and abs(y(Lambda(b))) < 2.0 is 1.06
+/- 0.06 +/- 0.12 nb, and the integrated cross section ratio for
anti-Lambda(b)/Lambda(b) is 1.02 +/- 0.07 +/- 0.09, where the uncertainties are
statistical and systematic, respectively.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters
Search for new physics in events with opposite-sign leptons, jets, and missing transverse energy in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV
A search is presented for physics beyond the standard model (BSM) in final
states with a pair of opposite-sign isolated leptons accompanied by jets and
missing transverse energy. The search uses LHC data recorded at a
center-of-mass energy sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the CMS detector, corresponding to
an integrated luminosity of approximately 5 inverse femtobarns. Two
complementary search strategies are employed. The first probes models with a
specific dilepton production mechanism that leads to a characteristic kinematic
edge in the dilepton mass distribution. The second strategy probes models of
dilepton production with heavy, colored objects that decay to final states
including invisible particles, leading to very large hadronic activity and
missing transverse energy. No evidence for an event yield in excess of the
standard model expectations is found. Upper limits on the BSM contributions to
the signal regions are deduced from the results, which are used to exclude a
region of the parameter space of the constrained minimal supersymmetric
extension of the standard model. Additional information related to detector
efficiencies and response is provided to allow testing specific models of BSM
physics not considered in this paper.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO
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