4,061 research outputs found
Exploring Lifetime Effects in Femtoscopy
We investigate the role of lifetime effects from resonances and emission
duration tails in femtoscopy at RHIC in two Blast-Wave models. We find the
non-Gaussian components compare well with published source imaged data, but the
value of R_out obtained from Gaussian fits is not insensitive to the
non-Gaussian contributions when realistic acceptance cuts are applied to
models.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure
Pure hydrogen low-temperature plasma exposure of HOPG and graphene: Graphane formation?
Single- and multilayer graphene and highly ordered pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) were exposed to a pure hydrogen low-temperature plasma (LTP). Characterizations include various experimental techniques such as photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and scanning probe microscopy. Our photoemission measurement shows that hydrogen LTP exposed HOPG has a diamond-like valence-band structure, which suggests double-sided hydrogenation. With the scanning tunneling microscopy technique, various atomic-scale charge-density patterns were observed, which may be associated with different C-H conformers. Hydrogen-LTP-exposed graphene on SiO₂ has a Raman spectrum in which the D peak to G peak ratio is over 4, associated with hydrogenation on both sides. A very low defect density was observed in the scanning probe microscopy measurements, which enables a reverse transformation to graphene. Hydrogen-LTP-exposed HOPG possesses a high thermal stability, and therefore, this transformation requires annealing at over 1000 °C
Highly-anisotropic and strongly-dissipative hydrodynamics with transverse expansion
A recently formulated framework of highly-anisotropic and
strongly-dissipative hydrodynamics (ADHYDRO) is used to describe the evolution
of matter created in ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions. New developments
of the model contain: the inclusion of asymmetric transverse expansion
(combined with the longitudinal boost-invariant flow) and comparisons of the
model results with the RHIC data, which have become possible after coupling of
ADHYDRO with THERMINATOR. Various soft-hadronic observables (the
transverse-momentum spectra, the elliptic flow coefficient v_2, and the HBT
radii) are calculated for different initial conditions characterized by the
value of the initial pressure asymmetry. We find that as long as the initial
energy density profile is unchanged the calculated observables remain
practically the same. This result indicates the insensitivity of the analyzed
observables to the initial anisotropy of pressure and suggests that the
complete thermalization of the system may be delayed to easily acceptable times
of about 1 fm/c
EXAFS studies of prostate cancer cell lines
Sulphur plays a vital role in every human organism. It is known, that sulphur-bearing compounds, such as for example cysteine and glutathione, play critical roles in development and progression of many diseases. Any alteration in sulphur's biochemistry could become a precursor of serious pathological conditions. One of such condition is prostate cancer, the most frequently diagnosed malignancy in the western world and the second leading cause of cancer related death in men. The purpose of presented studies was to examine what changes occur in the nearest chemical environment of sulphur in prostate cancer cell lines in comparison to healthy cells. The Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy was used, followed by theoretical calculations. The results of preliminary analysis is presented
Early dynamics of transversally thermalized matter
We argue that the idea that the parton system created in relativistic
heavy-ion collisions is formed in a state with transverse momenta close to
thermodynamic equilibrium and its subsequent dynamics at early times is
dominated by pure transverse hydrodynamics of the perfect fluid is compatible
with the data collected at RHIC. This scenario of early parton dynamics may
help to solve the problem of early equilibration.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, Talk given by M. Chojnacki at Quark Matter 2008,
Jaipur, Indi
Solution of the RHIC HBT puzzle with Gaussian initial conditions
It is argued that the consistent description of the transverse-momentum
spectra, elliptic flow, and the HBT radii in the relativistic heavy-ion
collisions studied at RHIC may be obtained within the hydrodynamic model if one
uses the Gaussian profile for the initial energy density in the transverse
plane. Moreover, we show that the results obtained in the scenario with an
early start of hydrodynamics (at the proper time tau0 = 0.25 fm) are
practically equivalent to the results obtained in the model where the
hydrodynamics is preceded by the free-streaming stage of partons (in the proper
time interval 0.25 fm < tau < 1 fm) which suddenly equilibrate and with the
help of the Landau matching conditions are transformed into the hydrodynamic
regime (at the proper time tau0 = 1 fm).Comment: talk presented by WF at SQM2008 Conferenc
Laboratory Characterization and Astrophysical Detection of Vibrationally Excited States of Vinyl Cyanide in Orion-KL
New laboratory data of CHCHCN (vinyl cyanide) in its ground and
vibrationally excited states at the microwave to THz domain allow searching for
these excited state transitions in the Orion-KL line survey.
Frequency-modulated spectrometers combined into a single broadband 50-1900 GHz
spectrum provided measurements of CHCHCN covering a spectral range of
18-1893 GHz, whose assignments was confirmed by Stark modulation spectra in the
18-40 GHz region and by ab-initio anharmonic force field calculations. For
analyzing the emission lines of CHCHCN species detected in Orion-KL we used
the excitation and radiative transfer code (MADEX) at LTE conditions. The
rotational transitions of the ground state of this molecule emerge from four
cloud components of hot core nature which trace the physical and chemical
conditions of high mass star forming regions in the Orion-KL Nebula. The total
column density of CHCHCN in the ground state is (3.00.9)x10
cm. We report on the first interstellar detection of transitions in the
v10=1/(v11=1,v15=1) dyad in space, and in the v11=2 and v11=3 states in
Orion-KL. The lowest energy vibrationally excited states of vinyl cyanide such
as v11=1 (at 328.5 K), v15=1 (at 478.6 K), v11=2 (at 657.8 K), the
v10=1/(v11=1,v15=1) dyad (at 806.4/809.9 K), and v11=3 (at 987.9 K) are
populated under warm and dense conditions, so they probe the hottest parts of
the Orion-KL source. Column density and rotational and vibrational temperatures
for CHCHCN in their ground and excited states, as well as for the
isotopologues, have been constrained by means of a sample of more than 1000
lines in this survey. Moreover, we present the detection of methyl isocyanide
(CHNC) for the first time in Orion-KL and a tentative detection of vinyl
isocyanide (CHCHNC) and give column density ratios between the cyanide and
isocyanide isomers.Comment: 46 pages, 22 figures, 14 tables, 9 online table
Altering the properties of graphene on Cu(111) by intercalation of potassium bromide
The catalytic growth on transition metal surfaces provides a clean and controllable route to obtain defect-free, monocrystalline graphene. However, graphene's optical and electronic properties are diminished by the interaction with the metal substrate. One way to overcome this obstacle is the intercalation of atoms and molecules decoupling the graphene and restoring its electronic structure. We applied noncontact atomic force microscopy to study the structural and electric properties of graphene on clean Cu(111) and after the adsorption of KBr or NaCl. By means of Kelvin probe force microscopy, a change in graphene's work function has been observed after the deposition of KBr, indicating a changed graphene-substrate interaction. Further measurements of single-electron charging events as well as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed an electronic decoupling of the graphene islands by KBr intercalation. The results have been compared with density functional theory calculations, supporting our experimental findings
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Tissue factor pathway inhibitor-2 is a novel inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinases with implications for atherosclerosis
Degradation of ECM, particularly interstitial collagen, promotes plaque instability, rendering atheroma prone to rupture. Previous studies implicated matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) in these processes, suggesting that dysregulated MMP activity, probably due to imbalance with endogenous inhibitors, promotes complications of atherosclerosis. We report here that the serine proteinase inhibitor tissue factor pathway inhibitor-2 (TFPI-2) can function as an MMP inhibitor. TFPI-2 diminished the ability of the interstitial collagenases MMP-1 and MMP-13 to degrade triple-helical collagen, the primary load-bearing molecule of the ECM within human atheroma. In addition, TFPI-2 also reduced the activity of the gelatinases MMP-2 and MMP-9. In contrast to the "classical" tissue inhibitors of MMPs (TIMPs), TFPI-2 expression in situ correlated inversely with MMP levels in human atheroma. TFPI-2 colocalized primarily with smooth muscle cells in the normal media as well as the plaque's fibrous cap. Conversely, the macrophage-enriched shoulder region, the prototypical site of matrix degradation and plaque rupture, stained only weakly for TFPI-2 but intensely for gelatinases and interstitial collagenases. Evidently, human mononuclear phagocytes, an abundant source of MMPs within human atheroma, lost their ability to express this inhibitor during differentiation in vitro. These findings establish a new, anti-inflammatory function of TFPI-2 of potential pathophysiological significance for human diseases, including atherosclerosis
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Exploring Lifetime Effects in Femtoscopy
We investigate the role of lifetime effects from resonances and emission duration tails in femtoscopy at RHIC in two Blast-Wave models. We find the non-Gaussian components compare well with published source imaged data, but the value of R{sub out} obtained from Gaussian fits is not insensitive to the non-Gaussian contributions when realistic acceptance cuts are applied to models
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