191 research outputs found
Anomalous dimensions and phase transitions in superconductors
The anomalous scaling in the Ginzburg-Landau model for the superconducting
phase transition is studied. It is argued that the negative sign of the
exponent is a consequence of a special singular behavior in momentum space. The
negative sign of comes from the divergence of the critical correlation
function at finite distances. This behavior implies the existence of a Lifshitz
point in the phase diagram. The anomalous scaling of the vector potential is
also discussed. It is shown that the anomalous dimension of the vector
potential has important consequences for the critical dynamics in
superconductors. The frequency-dependent conductivity is shown to obey the
scaling . The prediction is
obtained from existing Monte Carlo data.Comment: RevTex, 20 pages, no figures; small changes; version accepted in PR
A Model for the Stray Light Contamination of the UVCS Instrument on SOHO
We present a detailed model of stray-light suppression in the spectrometer
channels of the Ultraviolet Coronagraph Spectrometer (UVCS) on the SOHO
spacecraft. The control of diffracted and scattered stray light from the bright
solar disk is one of the most important tasks of a coronagraph. We compute the
fractions of light that diffract past the UVCS external occulter and
non-specularly pass into the spectrometer slit. The diffracted component of the
stray light depends on the finite aperture of the primary mirror and on its
figure. The amount of non-specular scattering depends mainly on the
micro-roughness of the mirror. For reasonable choices of these quantities, the
modeled stray-light fraction agrees well with measurements of stray light made
both in the laboratory and during the UVCS mission. The models were constructed
for the bright H I Lyman alpha emission line, but they are applicable to other
spectral lines as well.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures, Solar Physics, in pres
Gravitational Collapse and Disk Formation in Magnetized Cores
We discuss the effects of the magnetic field observed in molecular clouds on
the process of star formation, concentrating on the phase of gravitational
collapse of low-mass dense cores, cradles of sunlike stars. We summarize recent
analytic work and numerical simulations showing that a substantial level of
magnetic field diffusion at high densities has to occur in order to form
rotationally supported disks. Furthermore, newly formed accretion disks are
threaded by the magnetic field dragged from the parent core during the
gravitational collapse. These disks are expected to rotate with a sub-Keplerian
speed because they are partially supported by magnetic tension against the
gravity of the central star. We discuss how sub-Keplerian rotation makes it
difficult to eject disk winds and accelerates the process of planet migration.
Moreover, magnetic fields modify the Toomre criterion for gravitational
instability via two opposing effects: magnetic tension and pressure increase
the disk local stability, but sub-Keplerian rotation makes the disk more
unstable. In general, magnetized disks are more stable than their nonmagnetic
counterparts; thus, they can be more massive and less prone to the formation of
giant planets by gravitational instability.Comment: Chapter 16 in "Magnetic Fields in Diffuse Media", Springer-Verlag,
eds. de Gouveia Dal Pino, E., Lazarian, A., Melioli,
Comparação entre duas concentrações de glicerol para a criopreservação de sêmen de suçuarana (Puma concolor)
Meta-analysis of type 2 Diabetes in African Americans Consortium
Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is more prevalent in African Americans than in Europeans. However, little is known about the genetic risk in African Americans despite the recent identification of more than 70 T2D loci primarily by genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in individuals of European ancestry. In order to investigate the genetic architecture of T2D in African Americans, the MEta-analysis of type 2 DIabetes in African Americans (MEDIA) Consortium examined 17 GWAS on T2D comprising 8,284 cases and 15,543 controls in African Americans in stage 1 analysis. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) association analysis was conducted in each study under the additive model after adjustment for age, sex, study site, and principal components. Meta-analysis of approximately 2.6 million genotyped and imputed SNPs in all studies was conducted using an inverse variance-weighted fixed effect model. Replications were performed to follow up 21 loci in up to 6,061 cases and 5,483 controls in African Americans, and 8,130 cases and 38,987 controls of European ancestry. We identified three known loci (TCF7L2, HMGA2 and KCNQ1) and two novel loci (HLA-B and INS-IGF2) at genome-wide significance (4.15 × 10(-94)<P<5 × 10(-8), odds ratio (OR) = 1.09 to 1.36). Fine-mapping revealed that 88 of 158 previously identified T2D or glucose homeostasis loci demonstrated nominal to highly significant association (2.2 × 10(-23) < locus-wide P<0.05). These novel and previously identified loci yielded a sibling relative risk of 1.19, explaining 17.5% of the phenotypic variance of T2D on the liability scale in African Americans. Overall, this study identified two novel susceptibility loci for T2D in African Americans. A substantial number of previously reported loci are transferable to African Americans after accounting for linkage disequilibrium, enabling fine mapping of causal variants in trans-ethnic meta-analysis studies.Peer reviewe
Multi-ancestry study of blood lipid levels identifies four loci interacting with physical activity
Many genetic loci affect circulating lipid levels, but it remains unknown whether lifestyle factors, such as physical activity, modify these genetic effects. To identify lipid loci interacting with physical activity, we performed genome-wide analyses of circulating HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and triglyceride levels in up to 120,979 individuals of European, African, Asian, Hispanic, and Brazilian ancestry, with follow-up of suggestive associations in an additional 131,012 individuals. We find four loci, in/near CLASP1, LHX1, SNTA1, and CNTNAP2, that are associated with circulating lipid levels through interaction with physical activity; higher levels of physical activity enhance the HDL cholesterol-increasing effects of the CLASP1, LHX1, and SNTA1 loci and attenuate the LDL cholesterol- increasing effect of the CNTNAP2 locus. The CLASP1, LHX1, and SNTA1 regions harbor genes linked to muscle function and lipid metabolism. Our results elucidate the role of physical activity interactions in the genetic contribution to blood lipid levels
Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research
Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time, and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space. While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes, vast areas of the tropics remain understudied. In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity, but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases. To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge, it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost
Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE), far detector technical design report, volume III: DUNE far detector technical coordination
The preponderance of matter over antimatter in the early universe, the dynamics of the supernovae that produced the heavy elements necessary for life, and whether protons eventually decay—these mysteries at the forefront of particle physics and astrophysics are key to understanding the early evolution of our universe, its current state, and its eventual fate. The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is an international world-class experiment dedicated to addressing these questions as it searches for leptonic charge-parity symmetry violation, stands ready to capture supernova neutrino bursts, and seeks to observe nucleon decay as a signature of a grand unified theory underlying the standard model. The DUNE far detector technical design report (TDR) describes the DUNE physics program and the technical designs of the single- and dual-phase DUNE liquid argon TPC far detector modules. Volume III of this TDR describes how the activities required to design, construct, fabricate, install, and commission the DUNE far detector modules are organized and managed. This volume details the organizational structures that will carry out and/or oversee the planned far detector activities safely, successfully, on time, and on budget. It presents overviews of the facilities, supporting infrastructure, and detectors for context, and it outlines the project-related functions and methodologies used by the DUNE technical coordination organization, focusing on the areas of integration engineering, technical reviews, quality assurance and control, and safety oversight. Because of its more advanced stage of development, functional examples presented in this volume focus primarily on the single-phase (SP) detector module
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