4,422 research outputs found
Hawking Radiation of Apparent Horizon in a FRW Universe
Hawking radiation is an important quantum phenomenon of black hole, which is
closely related to the existence of event horizon of black hole. The
cosmological event horizon of de Sitter space is also of the Hawking radiation
with thermal spectrum. By use of the tunneling approach, we show that there is
indeed a Hawking radiation with temperature, , for locally
defined apparent horizon of a Friedmann-Robertson-Walker universe with any
spatial curvature, where is the apparent horizon radius. Thus we
fill in the gap existing in the literature investigating the relation between
the first law of thermodynamics and Friedmann equations, there the apparent
horizon is assumed to have such a temperature without any proof. In addition,
we stress the implication of the Hawking temperature associated with the
apparent horizon.Comment: Latex, 9 paages; v2 published versio
Mid-infrared frequency comb spanning an octave based on an Er fiber laser and difference-frequency generation
We describe a coherent mid-infrared continuum source with 700 cm-1 usable
bandwidth, readily tuned within 600 - 2500 cm-1 (4 - 17 \mum) and thus covering
much of the infrared "fingerprint" molecular vibration region. It is based on
nonlinear frequency conversion in GaSe using a compact commercial 100-fs-pulsed
Er fiber laser system providing two amplified near-infrared beams, one of them
broadened by a nonlinear optical fiber. The resulting collimated mid-infrared
continuum beam of 1 mW quasi-cw power represents a coherent infrared frequency
comb with zero carrier-envelope phase, containing about 500,000 modes that are
exact multiples of the pulse repetition rate of 40 MHz. The beam's
diffraction-limited performance enables long-distance spectroscopic probing as
well as maximal focusability for classical and ultraresolving near-field
microscopies. Applications are foreseen also in studies of transient chemical
phenomena even at ultrafast pump-probe scale, and in high-resolution gas
spectroscopy for e.g. breath analysis.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures revised version, added reference
Induction of endothelial cell apoptosis by the antivascular agent 5,6-dimethylxanthenone-4-acetic acid
5,6-Dimethylxanthenone-4-acetic acid, synthesised in this laboratory, reduces tumour blood flow, both in mice and in patients on Phase I trial. We used TUNEL (TdT-mediated dUTP nick end labelling) assays to investigate whether apoptosis induction was involved in its antivascular effect. 5,6-Dimethylxanthenone-4-acetic acid induced dose-dependent apoptosis in vitro in HECPP murine endothelial cells in the absence of up-regulation of mRNA for tumour necrosis factor. Selective apoptosis of endothelial cells was detected in vivo in sections of Colon 38 tumours in mice within 30 min of administration of 5,6-Dimethylxanthenone-4-acetic acid (25 mg kg−1). TUNEL staining intensified with time and after 3 h, necrosis of adjacent tumour tissue was observed. Apoptosis of central vessels in splenic white pulp was also detected in tumour-bearing mice but not in mice without tumours. Apoptosis was not observed in liver tissue. No apoptosis was observed with the inactive analogue 8-methylxanthenone-4-acetic acid. Positive TUNEL staining of tumour vascular endothelium was evident in one patient in a Phase I clinical trial, from a breast tumour biopsy taken 3 and 24 h after infusion of 5,6-Dimethylxanthenone-4-acetic acid (3.1 mg m−2). Tumour necrosis and the production of tumour tumour necrosis factor were not observed. No apoptotic staining was seen in tumour biopsies taken from two other patients (doses of 3.7 and 4.9 mg m−2). We conclude that 5,6-Dimethylxanthenone-4-acetic acid can induce vascular endothelial cell apoptosis in some murine and human tumours. The action is rapid and appears to be independent of tumour necrosis factor induction
Long Lived Fourth Generation and the Higgs
A chiral fourth generation is a simple and well motivated extension of the
standard model, and has important consequences for Higgs phenomenology. Here we
consider a scenario where the fourth generation neutrinos are long lived and
have both a Dirac and Majorana mass term. Such neutrinos can be as light as 40
GeV and can be the dominant decay mode of the Higgs boson for Higgs masses
below the W-boson threshold. We study the effect of the Majorana mass term on
the Higgs branching fractions and reevaluate the Tevatron constraints on the
Higgs mass. We discuss the prospects for the LHC to detect the semi-invisible
Higgs decays into fourth generation neutrino pairs. Under the assumption that
the lightest fourth generation neutrino is stable, it's thermal relic density
can be up to 20% of the observed dark matter density in the universe. This is
in agreement with current constraints on the spin dependent neutrino-neutron
cross section, but can be probed by the next generation of dark matter direct
detection experiments.Comment: v1: 19 pages, 5 figures; v2: References added; v3: version to appear
in JHE
Long-lived charged Higgs at LHC as a probe of scalar Dark Matter
We study inert charged Higgs boson production and decays at LHC
experiments in the context of constrained scalar dark matter model (CSDMM). In
the CSDMM the inert doublet and singlet scalar's mass spectrum is predicted
from the GUT scale initial conditions via RGE evolution. We compute the cross
sections of processes at the LHC and show that
for light the first one is dominated by top quark mediated 1-loop
diagram with Higgs boson in s-channel. In a significant fraction of the
parameter space are long-lived because their decays to predominantly
singlet scalar dark matter (DM) and next-to-lightest (NL) scalar, are suppressed by the small singlet-doublet mixing
angle and by the moderate mass difference
The experimentally measurable displaced vertex in decays to leptons
and/or jets and missing energy allows one to discover the signal over
the huge background. We propose benchmark points for studies of this
scenario at the LHC. If, however, are short-lived, the subsequent
decays necessarily produce additional
displaced vertices that allow to reconstruct the full decay chain.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figure
Effective Dark Matter Model: Relic density, CDMS II, Fermi LAT and LHC
The Cryogenic Dark Matter Search recently announced the observation of two
signal events with a 77% confidence level. Although statistically inconclusive,
it is nevertheless suggestive. In this work we present a model-independent
analysis on the implication of a positive signal in dark matter scattering off
nuclei. Assuming the interaction between (scalar, fermion or vector) dark
matter and the standard model induced by unknown new physics at the scale
, we examine various dimension-6 tree-level induced operators and
constrain them using the current experimental data, e.g. the WMAP data of the
relic abundance, CDMS II direct detection of the spin-independent scattering,
and indirect detection data (Fermi LAT cosmic gamma-ray), etc. Finally, the LHC
reach is also explored
Evidence of a metabolic memory to early-life dietary restriction in male C57BL/6 mice
<p>Background: Dietary restriction (DR) extends lifespan and induces beneficial metabolic effects in many animals. What is far less clear is whether animals retain a metabolic memory to previous DR exposure, that is, can early-life DR preserve beneficial metabolic effects later in life even after the resumption of ad libitum (AL) feeding. We examined a range of metabolic parameters (body mass, body composition (lean and fat mass), glucose tolerance, fed blood glucose, fasting plasma insulin and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), insulin sensitivity) in male C57BL/6 mice dietary switched from DR to AL (DR-AL) at 11 months of age (mid life). The converse switch (AL-DR) was also undertaken at this time. We then compared metabolic parameters of the switched mice to one another and to age-matched mice maintained exclusively on an AL or DR diet from early life (3 months of age) at 1 month, 6 months or 10 months post switch.</p>
<p>Results: Male mice dietary switched from AL-DR in mid life adopted the metabolic phenotype of mice exposed to DR from early life, so by the 10-month timepoint the AL-DR mice overlapped significantly with the DR mice in terms of their metabolic phenotype. Those animals switched from DR-AL in mid life showed clear evidence of a glycemic memory, with significantly improved glucose tolerance relative to mice maintained exclusively on AL feeding from early life. This difference in glucose tolerance was still apparent 10 months after the dietary switch, despite body mass, fasting insulin levels and insulin sensitivity all being similar to AL mice at this time.</p>
<p>Conclusions: Male C57BL/6 mice retain a long-term glycemic memory of early-life DR, in that glucose tolerance is enhanced in mice switched from DR-AL in mid life, relative to AL mice, even 10 months following the dietary switch. These data therefore indicate that the phenotypic benefits of DR are not completely dissipated following a return to AL feeding. The challenge now is to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying these effects, the time course of these effects and whether similar interventions can confer comparable benefits in humans.</p>
Genome-wide regulation of innate immunity by juvenile hormone and 20-hydroxyecdysone in the Bombyx fat body
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Insect innate immunity can be affected by juvenile hormone (JH) and 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E), but how innate immunity is developmentally regulated by these two hormones in insects has not yet been elucidated. In the silkworm, <it>Bombyx mori</it>, JH and 20E levels are high during the final larval molt (4 M) but absent during the feeding stage of 5<sup>th </sup>instar (5 F), while JH level is low and 20E level is high during the prepupal stage (PP). Fat body produces humoral response molecules and hence is considered as the major organ involved in innate immunity.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A genome-wide microarray analysis of <it>Bombyx </it>fat body isolated from 4 M, 5 F and PP uncovered a large number of differentially-expressed genes. Most notably, 6 antimicrobial peptide (AMP) genes were up-regulated at 4 M versus PP suggesting that <it>Bombyx </it>innate immunity is developmentally regulated by the two hormones. First, JH treatment dramatically increased AMP mRNA levels and activities. Furthermore, 20E treatment exhibited inhibitory effects on AMP mRNA levels and activities, and RNA interference of the 20E receptor <it>EcR</it>-<it>USP </it>had the opposite effects to 20E treatment.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Taken together, we demonstrate that JH acts as an immune-activator while 20E inhibits innate immunity in the fat body during <it>Bombyx </it>postembryonic development.</p
Chiral U(1) flavor models and flavored Higgs doublets: the top FB asymmetry and the Wjj
We present U(1) flavor models for leptophobic Z' with flavor dependent
couplings to the right-handed up-type quarks in the Standard Model, which can
accommodate the recent data on the top forward-backward (FB) asymmetry and the
dijet resonance associated with a W boson reported by CDF Collaboration. Such
flavor-dependent leptophobic charge assignments generally require extra chiral
fermions for anomaly cancellation. Also the chiral nature of U(1)' flavor
symmetry calls for new U(1)'-charged Higgs doublets in order for the SM
fermions to have realistic renormalizable Yukawa couplings. The stringent
constraints from the top FB asymmetry at the Tevatron and the same sign top
pair production at the LHC can be evaded due to contributions of the extra
Higgs doublets. We also show that the extension could realize cold dark matter
candidates.Comment: 40 pages, 10 figures, added 1 figure and extended discussion,
accepted for publication in JHE
Control and Characterization of Individual Grains and Grain Boundaries in Graphene Grown by Chemical Vapor Deposition
The strong interest in graphene has motivated the scalable production of high
quality graphene and graphene devices. Since large-scale graphene films
synthesized to date are typically polycrystalline, it is important to
characterize and control grain boundaries, generally believed to degrade
graphene quality. Here we study single-crystal graphene grains synthesized by
ambient CVD on polycrystalline Cu, and show how individual boundaries between
coalescing grains affect graphene's electronic properties. The graphene grains
show no definite epitaxial relationship with the Cu substrate, and can cross Cu
grain boundaries. The edges of these grains are found to be predominantly
parallel to zigzag directions. We show that grain boundaries give a significant
Raman "D" peak, impede electrical transport, and induce prominent weak
localization indicative of intervalley scattering in graphene. Finally, we
demonstrate an approach using pre-patterned growth seeds to control graphene
nucleation, opening a route towards scalable fabrication of single-crystal
graphene devices without grain boundaries.Comment: New version with additional data. Accepted by Nature Material
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