Current-carrying cosmic string loops 3D simulation: towards a reduction of the vorton excess problem

The dynamical evolution of superconducting cosmic string loops with specific equations of state describing timelike and spacelike currents is studied numerically. This analysis extends previous work in two directions: first it shows results coming from a fully three dimensional simulation (as opposed to the two dimensional case already studied), and it now includes fermionic as well as bosonic currents. We confirm that in the case of bosonic currents, shocks are formed in the magnetic regime and kinks in the electric regime. For a loop endowed with a fermionic current with zero-mode carriers, we show that only kinks form along the string worldsheet, therefore making these loops slightly more stable against charge carrier radiation, the likely outcome of either shocks or kinks. All these combined effects tend to reduce the number density of stable loops and contribute to ease the vorton excess problem. As a bonus, these effects also may provide new ways of producing high energy cosmic rays.Comment: 11 pages, RevTeX 4 format, 8 figures, submitted to PR

Religiousness as tourist performances: a case study of Greek Orthodox pilgrimage

The aim of this paper is to decipher ways of experiencing religiousness through tourist performances, intersecting textual approaches with the essential embodiment and materiality of the tourist world. Exploring the diversity of religious tourists’ practices within the Greek Orthodox context, two dimensions underpinning religious tourist experience are highlighted: institutional performances and unconventional performances. Focussing on the embodied experience and drawing upon theories of performance, the paper critiques the interplays of body and place to re-conceptualise current understanding of the pilgrimage/tourism relationship. In doing so, the paper proposes that tourism and religion are not separate entities but linked through embodied notions of godliness sensed through touristic performances

Glacial history of the Greenland Ice Sheet and a local ice cap in Qaanaaq, northwest Greenland

In this study, we present new information on the glacial history of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) and a local ice cap in Qaanaaq, northwest Greenland. We use geomorphological mapping, 10Be exposure dating of boulders, analysis of lake cores, and 14C dating of reworked marine molluscs and subfossil plants to constrain the glacial history. Our 14C ages of reworked marine molluscs reveal that the ice extent in the area was at or behind its present‐day position from 42.2 ± 0.4 to 30.6 ± 0.3k cal a BP after which the GrIS expanded to its maximum position during the Last Glacial Maximum. We find evidence of early ice retreat in the deep fjord (Inglefield Bredning) at 11.9 ± 0.6 ka whereas the Taserssuit Valley was deglaciated ~4 ka later at 7.8 ± 0.1k cal a BP. A proglacial lake record suggests that the local ice cap survived the Holocene Thermal Maximum but moss kill‐dates reveal that it was smaller than present for a period of time before 3.3 ± 0.1k until 0.9 ± 0.1k cal a BP, following which the ice in the area expanded towards its Little Ice Age extent

Gene expression of lung squamous cell carcinoma reflects mode of lymph node involvement

Tumour, node, metastasis staging is essential for lung cancer management. However, similarly staged cancers may have markedly different prognoses, indicating that stage cannot completely explain tumour behaviour. While ipsilateral hilar node involvement is designated N1, the current authors hypothesised that primary tumours involving nodes by direct extension are biologically distinct from those involving nodes through lymphatic metastasis. Microarrays were used to investigate the gene expression profiles of 59 primary lung squamous cell carcinomas, comparing NO tumours (n=35), N1 tumours by direct extension I n=8), and N1/N2 tumours by lymphatic metastasis (M1/N2m; n=16). Hierarchical clustering using 125 genes differentially expressed between NO and N1/N2m tumours found N1d tumours clustered with NO tumours. Class prediction modelling found the expression profiles of all eight N1d tumours were more similar to NO than to N1/N2m tumours. The present study demonstrates for the first time that N1 turnours directly invading hilar nodes are genomically different to those that metastasise via lymphatics. Independent reports suggest that tumours with direct, rather than metastatic node involvement have better outcomes. Consequently, the data suggest that there is a need to re-evaluate the N1 staging definition in lung cancer. This is relevant for prognosis prediction and also for clinical management, particularly in selecting those patients most likely to benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy

Gene expression of lung squamous cell carcinoma reflects mode of lymph node involvement

Tumour, node, metastasis staging is essential for lung cancer management. However, similarly staged cancers may have markedly different prognoses, indicating that stage cannot completely explain tumour behaviour. While ipsilateral hilar node involvement is designated N1, the current authors hypothesised that primary tumours involving nodes by direct extension are biologically distinct from those involving nodes through lymphatic metastasis. Microarrays were used to investigate the gene expression profiles of 59 primary lung squamous cell carcinomas, comparing NO tumours (n=35), N1 tumours by direct extension I n=8), and N1/N2 tumours by lymphatic metastasis (M1/N2m; n=16). Hierarchical clustering using 125 genes differentially expressed between NO and N1/N2m tumours found N1d tumours clustered with NO tumours. Class prediction modelling found the expression profiles of all eight N1d tumours were more similar to NO than to N1/N2m tumours. The present study demonstrates for the first time that N1 turnours directly invading hilar nodes are genomically different to those that metastasise via lymphatics. Independent reports suggest that tumours with direct, rather than metastatic node involvement have better outcomes. Consequently, the data suggest that there is a need to re-evaluate the N1 staging definition in lung cancer. This is relevant for prognosis prediction and also for clinical management, particularly in selecting those patients most likely to benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy