84 research outputs found
Role of the Coulomb interaction in the flow and the azimuthal distribution of kaons from heavy ion reactions
Coulomb final-state interaction of positive charged kaons in heavy ion
reactions and its impact on the kaon transverse flow and the kaon azimuthal
distribution are investigated within the framework of QMD (Quantum Molecular
Dynamics) model. The Coulomb interaction is found to tend to draw the flow of
kaons away from that of nucleons and lead to a more isotropic azimuthal
distribution of kaons in the target rapidity region. The recent FOPI data have
been analyzed by taking into accout both the Coulomb interaction and a kaon
in-medium potential of the strong interaction. It is found that both the
calculated kaon flows with only the Coulomb interaction and with both the
Coulomb interaction and the strong potential agree within the error bars with
the data. The kaon azimuthal distribution exhibits asymmetries of similar
magnitude in both theoretical approaches. This means, the inclusion of the
Coulomb potential makes it more difficult to extract information of the kaon
mean field potential in nuclear matter from the kaon flow and azimuthal
distribution data.Comment: 14 pages Latex, 4 PS-file
Software for full-color 3D reconstruction of the biological tissues internal structure
A software for processing sets of full-color images of biological tissue
histological sections is developed. We used histological sections obtained by
the method of high-precision layer-by-layer grinding of frozen biological
tissues. The software allows restoring the image of the tissue for an arbitrary
cross-section of the tissue sample. Thus, our method is designed to create a
full-color 3D reconstruction of the biological tissue structure. The resolution
of 3D reconstruction is determined by the quality of the initial histological
sections. The newly developed technology available to us provides a resolution
of up to 5 - 10 {\mu}m in three dimensions.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figure
On the Lorentz structure of the symmetry energy
We investigate in detail the density dependence of the symmetry energy in a
relativistic description by decomposing the iso-vector mean field into
contributions with different Lorentz covariant properties. We find important
effects of the iso-vector, scalar channel (i.e. -meson like) on the
high density behavior of the symmetry energy. Applications to static properties
of finite nuclei and to dynamic situations of heavy ion collisions are explored
and related to each other. The nuclear structure studies show only moderate
effects originating from the virtual meson. At variance, in heavy ion
collisions one finds important contributions on the reaction dynamics arising
from the different Lorentz structure of the high density symmetry energy when a
scalar iso-vector field is introduced. Particularly interesting is the
related neutron/proton effective mass splitting for nucleon transport effects
and for resonance and particle production around the threshold. We show that
the -like channel turns out to be essential for the production of
pions, when comparing with experimental data, in particular for high momentum
selections.Comment: 30 pages, 12 figures (.eps
Heavy ion collisions with non-equilibrium Dirac-Brueckner mean fields
The influence of realistic interactions on the reaction dynamics in
intermediate energy heavy ion collisions is investigated. The mean field in
relativistic transport calculations is derived from microscopic Dirac-Brueckner
(DB) self-energies, taking non-equilibrium effects, in particular the
anisotropy of the local phase space configurations, into account. Thus this
approach goes beyond the local density approximation. A detailed analysis of
various in-plane and out-of-plane flow observables is presented for Au on Au
reactions at incident energies ranging from 250 to 800 A.MeV and the results
are compared to recent measurements of the FOPI collaboration. An overall good
agreement with in-plane flow data and a reasonable description of the
out-of-plane emission is achieved. For these results the intrinsic momentum
dependence of the non-equilibrium mean fields is important. On the other hand,
the local density approximation with the same underlying DB forces as well as a
standard non-linear version of the model are less successful in
describing the present data. This gives evidence of the applicability of self
energies derived from the DB approach to nuclear matter also far from
saturation and equilibrium.Comment: 63 pages Latex, using Elsevier style, 20 ps-figures, to appear in
Nucl. Phys.
Planar 17O NMR study of Pr_yY_{1-y}Ba_2Cu_3O_{6+x}
We report the planar ^{17}O NMR shift in Pr substituted YBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{6+x},
which at x=1 exhibits a characteristic pseudogap temperature dependence,
confirming that Pr reduces the concentration of mobile holes in the CuO_{2}
planes. Our estimate of the rate of this counterdoping effect, obtained by
comparison with the shift in pure samples with reduced oxygen content, is found
insufficient to explain the observed reduction of T_c. From the temperature
dependent magnetic broadening of the ^{17}O NMR we conclude that the Pr moment
and the local magnetic defect induced in the CuO_2 planes produce a long range
spin polarization in the planes, which is likely associated with the extra
reduction of T_c. We find a qualitatively different behaviour in the oxygen
depleted Pr_yY_{1-y}Ba_2Cu_3O_{6.6}, i.e. the suppression of T is nearly
the same, but the magnetic broadening of the ^{17}O NMR appears weaker. This
difference may signal a weaker coupling of the Pr to the planes in the
underdoped compound, which might be linked with the larger Pr to CuO_2 plane
distance, and correspondingly weaker hybridization.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures, accepted in Phys Rev
Isospin Physics in Heavy-Ion Collisions at Intermediate Energies
In nuclear collisions induced by stable or radioactive neutron-rich nuclei a
transient state of nuclear matter with an appreciable isospin asymmetry as well
as thermal and compressional excitation can be created. This offers the
possibility to study the properties of nuclear matter in the region between
symmetric nuclear matter and pure neutron matter. In this review, we discuss
recent theoretical studies of the equation of state of isospin-asymmetric
nuclear matter and its relations to the properties of neutron stars and
radioactive nuclei. Chemical and mechanical instabilities as well as the
liquid-gas phase transition in asymmetric nuclear matter are investigated. The
in-medium nucleon-nucleon cross sections at different isospin states are
reviewed as they affect significantly the dynamics of heavy ion collisions
induced by radioactive beams. We then discuss an isospin-dependent transport
model, which includes different mean-field potentials and cross sections for
the proton and neutron, and its application to these reactions. Furthermore, we
review the comparisons between theoretical predictions and available
experimental data. In particular, we discuss the study of nuclear stopping in
terms of isospin equilibration, the dependence of nuclear collective flow and
balance energy on the isospin-dependent nuclear equation of state and cross
sections, the isospin dependence of total nuclear reaction cross sections, and
the role of isospin in preequilibrium nucleon emissions and subthreshold pion
production.Comment: 101 pages with embedded epsf figures, review article for
"International Journal of Modern Physics E: Nuclear Physics". Send request
for a hard copy to 1/author
Maternal outcomes and risk factors for COVID-19 severity among pregnant women.
Pregnant women may be at higher risk of severe complications associated with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which may lead to obstetrical complications. We performed a case control study comparing pregnant women with severe coronavirus disease 19 (cases) to pregnant women with a milder form (controls) enrolled in the COVI-Preg international registry cohort between March 24 and July 26, 2020. Risk factors for severity, obstetrical and immediate neonatal outcomes were assessed. A total of 926 pregnant women with a positive test for SARS-CoV-2 were included, among which 92 (9.9%) presented with severe COVID-19 disease. Risk factors for severe maternal outcomes were pulmonary comorbidities [aOR 4.3, 95% CI 1.9-9.5], hypertensive disorders [aOR 2.7, 95% CI 1.0-7.0] and diabetes [aOR2.2, 95% CI 1.1-4.5]. Pregnant women with severe maternal outcomes were at higher risk of caesarean section [70.7% (nâ=â53/75)], preterm delivery [62.7% (nâ=â32/51)] and newborns requiring admission to the neonatal intensive care unit [41.3% (nâ=â31/75)]. In this study, several risk factors for developing severe complications of SARS-CoV-2 infection among pregnant women were identified including pulmonary comorbidities, hypertensive disorders and diabetes. Obstetrical and neonatal outcomes appear to be influenced by the severity of maternal disease
Genetic Drivers of Heterogeneity in Type 2 Diabetes Pathophysiology
Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a heterogeneous disease that develops through diverse pathophysiological processes1,2 and molecular mechanisms that are often specific to cell type3,4. Here, to characterize the genetic contribution to these processes across ancestry groups, we aggregate genome-wide association study data from 2,535,601 individuals (39.7% not of European ancestry), including 428,452 cases of T2D. We identify 1,289 independent association signals at genome-wide significance (P \u3c 5 Ă 10-8) that map to 611 loci, of which 145 loci are, to our knowledge, previously unreported. We define eight non-overlapping clusters of T2D signals that are characterized by distinct profiles of cardiometabolic trait associations. These clusters are differentially enriched for cell-type-specific regions of open chromatin, including pancreatic islets, adipocytes, endothelial cells and enteroendocrine cells. We build cluster-specific partitioned polygenic scores5 in a further 279,552 individuals of diverse ancestry, including 30,288 cases of T2D, and test their association with T2D-related vascular outcomes. Cluster-specific partitioned polygenic scores are associated with coronary artery disease, peripheral artery disease and end-stage diabetic nephropathy across ancestry groups, highlighting the importance of obesity-related processes in the development of vascular outcomes. Our findings show the value of integrating multi-ancestry genome-wide association study data with single-cell epigenomics to disentangle the aetiological heterogeneity that drives the development and progression of T2D. This might offer a route to optimize global access to genetically informed diabetes care
Genetic drivers of heterogeneity in type 2 diabetes pathophysiology
Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a heterogeneous disease that develops through diverse pathophysiological processes1,2 and molecular mechanisms that are often specific to cell type3,4. Here, to characterize the genetic contribution to these processes across ancestry groups, we aggregate genome-wide association study data from 2,535,601 individuals (39.7% not of European ancestry), including 428,452 cases of T2D. We identify 1,289 independent association signals at genome-wide significance (Pâ<â5âĂâ10-8) that map to 611 loci, of which 145 loci are, to our knowledge, previously unreported. We define eight non-overlapping clusters of T2D signals that are characterized by distinct profiles of cardiometabolic trait associations. These clusters are differentially enriched for cell-type-specific regions of open chromatin, including pancreatic islets, adipocytes, endothelial cells and enteroendocrine cells. We build cluster-specific partitioned polygenic scores5 in a further 279,552 individuals of diverse ancestry, including 30,288 cases of T2D, and test their association with T2D-related vascular outcomes. Cluster-specific partitioned polygenic scores are associated with coronary artery disease, peripheral artery disease and end-stage diabetic nephropathy across ancestry groups, highlighting the importance of obesity-related processes in the development of vascular outcomes. Our findings show the value of integrating multi-ancestry genome-wide association study data with single-cell epigenomics to disentangle the aetiological heterogeneity that drives the development and progression of T2D. This might offer a route to optimize global access to genetically informed diabetes care.</p
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