Low-energy pi pi photoproduction off nuclei

In the present paper we investigate pi0 pi0 and pi(+/-)pi0 photoproduction off complex nuclei at incident beam energies of 400-460 MeV. Simulations of two pion photoproduction on protons and nuclei are performed by means of a semi-classical BUU transport model including a full coupled-channel treatment of the final state interactions. Elastic scattering of the final state pions with the nucleons in the surrounding nuclear medium is found to yield a downward shift of the pi pi invariant mass distribution. We show that the target mass dependence of the pi0 pi0 invariant mass spectrum as measured by the TAPS collaboration can be explained without introducing medium effects beyond absorption and quasi-elastic scattering of the final state particles. On the other hand, we find considerable discrepancies with the data in the pi(+/-)pi0 channel, which are not understood.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

The influence of the nuclear medium on inclusive electron and neutrino scattering off nuclei

We present a model for inclusive electron and neutrino scattering off nuclei paying special attention to the influence of in-medium effects on the quasi-elastic scattering and pion-production mechanisms. Our results for electron scattering off Oxygen are compared to experimental data at beam energies ranging from 0.7-1.5 GeV. The good description of electron scattering serves as a benchmark for neutrino scattering.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

The Effect of a Maternal Mediterranean Diet in Pregnancy on Insulin Resistance is Moderated by Maternal Negative Affect.

There is inconsistent evidence that healthy dietary interventions can effectively mitigate the risk of adverse outcomes associated with elevated insulin resistance in pregnancy, suggesting that other moderating factors may be at play. Maternal psychological state is an important factor to consider in this regard, because stress/mood state can directly influence glycemia and a bidirectional relationship may exist between nutrition and psychological state. The objective of this study was to examine the interaction between maternal negative affect and diet quality on third trimester insulin resistance. We conducted a prospective longitudinal study of N = 203 women with assessments in early and mid-pregnancy, which included an ecological momentary assessment of maternal psychological state, from which a negative affect score (NAS) was derived, and 24-h dietary recalls, from which the Mediterranean Diet Score (MDS) was computed. The homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) was computed from third trimester fasting plasma glucose and insulin values. Early pregnancy MDS was inversely associated with the HOMA-IR, but this did not maintain significance after adjusting for covariates. There was a significant effect of the mid-pregnancy MDS*NAS interaction term with the HOMA-IR in the adjusted model, such that a higher negative affect was found to override the beneficial effects of a Mediterranean diet on insulin resistance. These results highlight the need to consider nutrition and affective state concurrently in the context of gestational insulin resistance

Quasielastic Scattering at MiniBooNE Energies

We present our description of neutrino induced charged current quasielastic scattering (CCQE) in nuclei at energies relevant for the MiniBooNE experiment. In our framework, the nucleons, with initial momentum distributions according to the Local Fermi Gas model, move in a density- and momentum-dependent mean field potential. The broadening of the outgoing nucleons due to nucleon-nucleon interactions is taken into account by spectral functions. Long range (RPA) correlations renormalizing the electroweak strength in the medium are also incorporated. The background from resonance excitation events that do not lead to pions in the final state is also predicted by propagating the outgoing hadrons with the Giessen semiclassical BUU model in coupled channels (GiBUU). We achieve a good description of the shape of the CCQE Q2 distribution extracted from data by MiniBooNE, thanks to the inclusion of RPA correlations, but underestimate the integrated cross section when the standard value of MA = 1 GeV is used. Possible reasons for this mismatch are discussed.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, Proceedings of the Sixth International Workshop on Neutrino-Nucleus Interactions in the Few-GeV Region (NuInt09), May 18-22, Sitges, Barcelona, Spai

Towards Verifying Nonlinear Integer Arithmetic

We eliminate a key roadblock to efficient verification of nonlinear integer arithmetic using CDCL SAT solvers, by showing how to construct short resolution proofs for many properties of the most widely used multiplier circuits. Such short proofs were conjectured not to exist. More precisely, we give n^{O(1)} size regular resolution proofs for arbitrary degree 2 identities on array, diagonal, and Booth multipliers and quasipolynomial- n^{O(\log n)} size proofs for these identities on Wallace tree multipliers.Comment: Expanded and simplified with improved result

Age and weathering rate of sediments in small catchments:The role of hillslope erosion

Uranium-series (U-series) isotopes in river material can be used to determine quantitative time constraints on the transfer of erosion products from source to sink. In this study, we investigate the U-series isotope composition of river-borne material in small catchments of Puerto Rico and southeastern Australia in order to improve our understanding of (i) the controls on the U-series isotope composition of river-borne material and (ii) how erosion products acquire their geochemical characteristics. In both regions, thorium isotopes track the origin of sediment and dissolved loads. Stream solutes are mainly derived from the deepest part of the weathering profile, whereas stream sediments originate from much shallower horizons, even in landslide-dominated Puerto Rican catchments. This suggests that in environments where thick weathering profiles have developed, solutes and sediments have distinct origins. The U-series isotope composition of stream sediments was modelled to infer a weathering age, i.e. the average time elapsed since the sediment\u27s minerals have started weathering. In southeastern Australia, the weathering age of stream sediments ranges between 346 ± 12 kyr and 1.78 ± 0.16 Myr, similar to values inferred from weathering profiles in the same catchment. Old weathering ages likely reflect the shallow origin of sediments mobilised via near-surface soil transport, the main mechanism of erosion in this catchment. Contrastingly, in Puerto Rico weathering ages are much younger, ranging from 5.1 ± 0.1 to 19.4 ± 0.4 kyr, reflecting that sediments are derived from less weathered, deeper saprolite, mobilised by landslides. Weathering ages of stream sediments are used to infer catchment-wide, mineral-specific weathering rates that are one to two orders of magnitude faster for Puerto Rico than for southeastern Australia. Thus, the type of erosion (near-surface soil transport vs. landslide) also affects the weathering rate of river sediments, because their weathering ages determine the potential for further weathering during sediment transport and storage in alluvial plains