4,545 research outputs found
The Influence of Metallicity on Star Formation in Protogalaxies
In cold dark matter cosmological models, the first stars to form are believed
to do so within small protogalaxies. We wish to understand how the evolution of
these early protogalaxies changes once the gas forming them has been enriched
with small quantities of heavy elements, which are produced and dispersed into
the intergalactic medium by the first supernovae. Our initial conditions
represent protogalaxies forming within a fossil H II region, a previously
ionized region that has not yet had time to cool and recombine. We study the
influence of low levels of metal enrichment on the cooling and collapse of
ionized gas in small protogalactic halos using three-dimensional, smoothed
particle hydrodynamics (SPH) simulations that incorporate the effects of the
appropriate chemical and thermal processes. Our previous simulations
demonstrated that for metallicities Z < 0.001 Z_sun, metal line cooling alters
the density and temperature evolution of the gas by less than 1% compared to
the metal-free case at densities below 1 cm-3) and temperatures above 2000 K.
Here, we present the results of high-resolution simulations using particle
splitting to improve resolution in regions of interest. These simulations allow
us to address the question of whether there is a critical metallicity above
which fine structure cooling from metals allows efficient fragmentation to
occur, producing an initial mass function (IMF) resembling the local Salpeter
IMF, rather than only high-mass stars.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures, First Stars III conference proceeding
Failure of Intravenous Morphine to Serve as an Effective Instrumental Reinforcer in Dopamine D2 Receptor Knock-Out Mice
The rewarding effects of opiates are thought to be mediated through dopaminergic mechanisms in the ventral tegmental area, dopamine-independent mechanisms in the nucleus accumbens, or both. The purpose of the present study was to explore the contribution of dopamine to opiate-reinforced behavior using D2 receptor knock-out mice. Wild-type, heterozygous, and D2 knock-out mice were first trained to lever press for water reinforcement and then implanted with intravenous catheters. The ability of intravenously delivered morphine to maintain lever pressing in these mice was studied under two schedules of reinforcement: a fixed ratio 4 (FR4) schedule (saline, 0.1, 0.3, or 1.0 mg/kg, per injection) and a progressive ratio (PR) schedule (1.0 mg/kg, per injection). In the wild-type and heterozygous mice, FR4 behavior maintained by morphine injections was significantly greater than behavior maintained by vehicle injections. Response rate was inversely related to injection dose and increased significantly in the wild-type and heterozygous mice when the animals were placed on the PR schedule. In contrast, the knock-out mice did not respond more for morphine than for saline and did not respond more when increased ratios were required by the PR schedule. Thus, morphine served as a positive reinforcer in the wild-type and heterozygous mice but failed to do so in the knock-out mice. Under this range of doses and response requirements, the rewarding effects of morphine appear to depend critically on an intact D2 receptor systemFil: Elmer, Greg I.. University of Maryland; Estados UnidosFil: Pieper, Jeanne O.. National Institutes of Health; Estados UnidosFil: Rubinstein, Marcelo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular "Dr. Héctor N. Torres"; ArgentinaFil: Low, Malcolm J.. Oregon Health and Sciences University; Estados UnidosFil: Grandy, David K.. Oregon Health and Sciences University; Estados UnidosFil: Wise, Roy A.. National Institutes of Health; Estados Unido
The views of general practitioners and practice nurses towards the barriers and facilitators of proactive, internet-based chlamydia screening for reaching young heterosexual men
Background:
Chlamydia trachomatis is a common bacterial sexually transmitted infection (STI), which disproportionately affects young people under 25 years. Commonly, more women are offered screening than men. This study obtained the views of general practitioners and practice nurses towards Internet-based screening and assessed levels of support for the development of proactive screening targeting young heterosexual men via the Internet.
Methods:
Semi-structured telephone interviews with 10 general practitioners and 8 practice nurses, across Central Scotland. Topics covered: experience of screening heterosexual men for chlamydia, views on the use of the Internet as a way to reach young men for chlamydia screening, beliefs about the potential barriers and facilitators to Internet-based screening. Transcripts from audio recordings were analysed with Framework Analysis, using QSR NVivo10.
Results:
Experiences of chlamydia screening were almost exclusively with women, driven by the nature of consultations and ease of raising sexual health issues with female patients; few practice nurses reported seeing men during consultations. All participants spoke in favour of Internet-based screening for young men. Participants reported ease of access and convenience as potential facilitators of an Internet-based approach but anonymity and confidentiality could be potential barriers and facilitators to the success of an Internet approach to screening. Concerns over practical issues as well as those pertaining to gender and socio-cultural issues were raised.
Conclusions:
Awareness of key barriers and facilitators, such as confidentiality, practicality and socio-cultural influences, will inform the development of an Internet-based approach to screening. However, this approach may have its limits in terms of being able to tackle wider social and cultural barriers, along with shifts in young people's and health professionals' attitudes towards screening. Nevertheless, employing innovative efforts as part of a multi-faceted approach is required to ensure effective interventions reach the policy agenda
Galaxies in box: A simulated view of the interstellar medium
We review progress in the development of physically realistic three
dimensional simulated models of the galaxy.We consider the scales from star
forming molecular clouds to the full spiral disc. Models are computed using
hydrodynamic (HD) or magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations and may include cosmic
ray or tracer particles. The range of dynamical scales between the full galaxy
structure and the turbulent scales of supernova (SN) explosions and even cloud
collapse to form stars, make it impossible with current computing tools and
resources to resolve all of these in one model. We therefore consider a
hierarchy of models and how they can be related to enhance our understanding of
the complete galaxy.Comment: Chapter in Large Scale Magnetic Fields in the Univers
KK Parity in Warped Extra Dimension
We construct models with a Kaluza-Klein (KK) parity in a five- dimensional
warped geometry, in an attempt to address the little hierarchy problem present
in setups with bulk Standard Model fields. The lightest KK particle (LKP) is
stable and can play the role of dark matter. We consider the possibilities of
gluing two identical slices of 5D AdS in either the UV (IR-UV-IR model) or the
IR region (UV-IR-UV model) and discuss the model-building issues as well as
phenomenological properties in both cases. In particular, we find that the
UV-IR-UV model is not gravitationally stable and that additional mechanisms
might be required in the IR-UV-IR model in order to address flavor issues.
Collider signals of the warped KK parity are different from either the
conventional warped extra dimension without KK parity, in which the new
particles are not necessarily pair-produced, or the KK parity in flat universal
extra dimensions, where each KK level is nearly degenerate in mass. Dark matter
and collider properties of a TeV mass KK Z gauge boson as the LKP are
discussed.Comment: 35 pages, 11 figure
Excited Leptons at the CERN Large Hadron Collider
We analyze the potential of the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) to search
for excited spin-1/2 electrons and neutrinos. Assuming a SU(2)_L X U(1)_Y
invariant model, we study in detail the single production of excited electrons
and neutrinos and respective backgrounds through the reactions p p -> e+ e- V
and e+- \nu V with V=photon, W, or Z. We show that the LHC will be able to
tighten considerably the direct constraints on these possible new states,
probing excited lepton masses up to 1-2 TeV depending on their couplings to
fermions and gauge bosons.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figure
Sustainable eSiC reinforced composite materials – synthetization and characterization
Sustainable and light weight composite materials have received extensive attention in the application of
aerospace, automotive, agriculture and marine. Synthetic SiC is expensive and harmful to the human being. Therefore, the
aim of this study is to develop eSiC reinforced aluminium matrix sustainable composite material using waste rice husk with
the process route of powder metallurgy. Simple and cost-effective pyrolysis process was used for the extraction of low�density eSiC from agricultural waste rice husk which contains a significant amount of silica. This silica was then converted
in to environmentally friendly SiC (known as eSiC) material and used as a reinforcing agent to the lightweight composite
development. From the results, these materials showed good metallurgical bonding with better mechanical properties. It is
also observed that compared to metallic cast iron, this new composite material is better in terms of cost, material usage,
eco-friendly (no harm to the environment and people), hence, sustainable. This concept demonstrates that this new
sustainable and lightweight material can be used for aerospace, automotive and other structural applications, especially for
disk brake, liner, and shaft. This eSiC can also be used as a coating material for composite coating development
On Non-linear Action for Gauged M2-brane
We propose a non-linear extension of U(1) \times U(1) (abelian) ABJM model
including T_{M2} (higher derivative) corrections. The action proposed here is
expected to describe a single M2-brane proving C^4/Z_k target space. The model
includes couplings with the 3-form background in the eleven-dimensional
supergravity which is consistent with the orbifold projection. We show that the
novel higgs mechanism proposed by Mukhi and Papageorgakis does work even in the
presence of higher derivative corrections and couplings with the background
field, giving the correct structure of the Dirac-Born-Infeld action with
Wess-Zumino term for a D2-brane. We also find half BPS solutions in the full
non-linear theory which is interpreted as an another M2-brane intersecting with
the original M2-brane. A possible generalization to U(N) \times U(N) gauge
group is briefly discussed.Comment: 19 pages, no figure, references added, typos correcte
Boundary Conditions for Interacting Membranes
We investigate supersymmetric boundary conditions in both the Bagger-Lambert
and the ABJM theories of interacting membranes. We find boundary conditions
associated to the fivebrane, the ninebrane and the M-theory wave. For the ABJM
theory we are able to understand the enhancement of supersymmetry to produce
the (4,4) supersymmetry of the self-dual string. We also include supersymmetric
boundary conditions on the gauge fields that cancel the classical gauge anomaly
of the Chern-Simons terms.Comment: 36 pages, latex, v2 minor typos correcte
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