922 research outputs found
Ghost points in inverse scattering constructions of stationary Einstein metrics
We prove a removable singularities theorem for stationary Einstein equations,
with useful implications for constructions of stationary solutions using
soliton methods
Determining and modelling a complete time-temperature-transformation diagram for a Pt-based metallic glass former through combination of conventional and fast scanning calorimetry
State of the art fast differential scanning calorimetry (FDSC) is used to complement conventional differential
scanning calorimetry (DSC) studies about the isothermal time-temperature-transformation (TTT) diagram of the
bulk metallic glass forming liquid Pt42.5Cu27Ni9.5P21 to allow a comprehensive study of the crystallization kinetics of this system over a broad temperature range. FDSC and DSC data align well in the low-temperature
region of the crystallization nose but show distinct discrepancies in the high-temperature region as the FDSC
studies reveal faster crystallization times. The results are mathematically described and discussed based on the
Johnson-Mehl-Avrami-Kolmogorov (JMAK) equation. Thereby, either homogeneous or heterogeneous nucleation
is assumed, depending on the respective experimental conditions in FDSC and DSC studies. With this approach,
the complete TTT diagram can be modelled as superposition of two sequential JMAK fits
Fingolimod and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in checkpoint-inhibitor treated cancer patients.
Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are emerging as the new standard of care for treating various metastatic cancers. It is known that effective anti-tumor immune responses are associated with a stronger presence of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in solid tumor tissue. Cancer patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) are often under continuous treatment with fingolimod, an immune-modulating drug that inhibits lymphocyte egress from secondary lymphatic organs. Little is known about the effect of fingolimod on ICI cancer therapy, as fingolimod may limit the number of TILs. Here we present three patients with RRMS, who developed various cancers during fingolimod treatment. Histology of all tumors consistently showed low numbers of TILs. A second biopsy taken from one of the tumors, a melanoma, revealed a significant increase of TILs after stopping fingolimod and starting pembrolizumab, indicating a surge in the number and re-invigoration of T cells. Our study suggests that fingolimod limits the number of TILs in solid tumors and may, thus, inhibit anti-cancer immune responses
Conservation agriculture with optimum fertilizer nitrogen rate reduces GWP for rice cultivation in floodplain soils
Wetland rice cultivation contributes significantly to global warming potential (GWP), an effect which is largely attributed to emissions of methane (CH4). Emerging technologies for wetland rice production such as conservation agriculture (CA) may mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but the effects are not well defined. Investigations were carried out in an irrigated rice (Boro rice) field in the fifth crop after conversion of conventional tillage (CT) to strip tillage (ST). Two crop residue levels (low versus high, LR versus HR) and three nitrogen (N) application rates (N1 = 108, N2 = 144, and N3 = 180 kg N ha−1) were laid out in a split-plot experiment with three replicates. Yield-scaled GHG emissions and GWP were estimated to evaluate the impacts of CA on mitigating CH4 and N2O emissions in the rice paddy field. There was a 55% higher N2O emission in ST with HR coupled with N3 than that in CT with LR coupled with N1. The N2O emission factors ranged from 0.43 to 0.75% in ST and 0.45 to 0.59% in CT, irrespective of the residue level and N rate. By contrast, CH4 emissions were significantly lower in CA than in the conventional practices (CT plus LR). The ST with LR in N2 reduced the GWP by 39% over the GWP in CT with HR in N1 and 16% over the conventional practices. Based on our investigation of the combination of tillage, residue, and N rate treatments, the adoption of CA with high and low residue levels reduced the GWP by 10 and 16%, respectively, because of lower CH4 and N2O emissions than the current management practices. The relatively high N2O emission factors suggest that mitigation of this GHG in wetland rice systems needs greater attention
Deep inelastic scattering off a N=4 SYM plasma at strong coupling
By using the AdS/CFT correspondence we study the deep inelastic scattering of
an R-current off a N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills (SYM) plasma at finite
temperature and strong coupling. Within the supergravity approximation valid
when the number of colors is large, we compute the structure functions by
solving Maxwell equations in the space-time geometry of the AdS_5 black
three-brane. We find a rather sharp transition between a low energy regime
where the scattering is weak and quasi-elastic, and a high-energy regime where
the current is completely absorbed. The critical energy for this transition
determines the plasma saturation momentum in terms of its temperature T and the
Bjorken x variable: Q_s=T/x. These results suggest a partonic picture for the
plasma where all the partons have transverse momenta below the saturation
momentum and occupation numbers of order one.Comment: Version accepted for publication in JHEP: more references added; some
technical points were displaced from Sect. 4 to the new Appendix
BTZ black holes and the near-horizon geometry of higher-dimensional black holes
We investigate the connection between the BTZ black holes and the
near-horizon geometry of higher-dimensional black holes. Under mild conditions,
we show that (i) if a black hole has a global structure of the type of the
non-extremal Reissner-Nordstrom black holes, its near-horizon geometry is
times a sphere, and further (ii) if such a black hole is obtained from
a boosted black string by dimensional reduction, the near-horizon geometry of
the latter contains a BTZ black hole. Because of these facts, the calculation
of the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy and the absorption cross-sections of scalar
fields is essentially reduced to the corresponding calculation in the BTZ
geometry under appropriate conditions. This holds even if the geometry is not
supersymmetric in the extremal limit. Several examples are discussed. We also
discuss some generalizations to geometries which do not have near the
horizon.Comment: 19 pages, LaTex, (v2) a comment on black holes with 2 and 3 charges
added, (v3) some phrases made more precise, references added, minor changes;
version to appear in Phys. Rev.
Shockwaves and deep inelastic scattering within the gauge/gravity duality
Within the gauge/gravity correspondence, we discuss the general formulation
of the shockwave metric which is dual to a 'nucleus' described by the
strongly-coupled N=4 SYM theory in the limit where the number of colors Nc is
arbitrarily large. We emphasize that the 'nucleus' must possess Nc^2 degrees of
freedom per unit volume, so like a finite-temperature plasma, in order for a
supergravity description to exist. We critically reassess previous proposals
for introducing transverse inhomogeneity in the shockwave and formulate a new
proposal in that sense, which involves no external source but requires the
introduction of an 'infrared' cutoff which mimics confinement. This cutoff
however plays no role when the shockwave is probed by a highly virtual
projectile, so like in deep inelastic scattering. We consider two such
projectiles, the dilaton and the R-current, and compute the respective
structure functions including unitarity corrections. We find that there are no
leading-twist contributions to the structure functions at high virtuality,
meaning that there are no point-like constituents in the strongly coupled
'nucleus'. In the black-disk regime at low virtuality, the structure functions
are suggestive of parton saturation with occupation numbers of order one. The
saturation momentum Qs grows with the energy like Qs^2 ~ 1/x (with x the
Bjorken variable), which is the hallmark of graviton exchanges and is also
necessary for the fulfillment of the energy-momentum sum rules.Comment: 43 page
Amplitude measurements of Faraday waves
A light reflection technique is used to measure quantitatively the surface
elevation of Faraday waves. The performed measurements cover a wide parameter
range of driving frequencies and sample viscosities. In the capillary wave
regime the bifurcation diagrams exhibit a frequency independent scaling
proportional to the wavelength. We also provide numerical simulations of the
full Navier-Stokes equations, which are in quantitative agreement up to
supercritical drive amplitudes of 20%. The validity of an existing perturbation
analysis is found to be limited to 2.5% overcriticaly.Comment: 7 figure
Phase transitions of hadronic to quark matter at finite T and \mu_B
The phase transition of hadronic to quark matter and the boundaries of the
mixed hadron-quark coexistence phase are studied within the two Equation of
State (EoS) model. The relativistic effective mean field approach with constant
and density dependent meson-nucleon couplings is used to describe hadronic
matter, and the MIT Bag model is adopted to describe quark matter. The
boundaries of the mixed phase for different Bag constants are obtained solving
the Gibbs equations.
We notice that the dependence on the Bag parameter of the critical
temperatures (at zero chemical potential) can be well reproduced by a fermion
ultrarelativistic quark gas model, without contribution from the hadron part.
At variance the critical chemical potentials (at zero temperature) are very
sensitive to the EoS of the hadron sector. Hence the study of the hadronic EoS
is much more relevant for the determination of the transition to the
quark-gluon-plasma at finite baryon density and low-T. Moreover in the low
temperature and finite chemical potential region no solutions of the Gibbs
conditions are existing for small Bag constant values, B < (135 MeV)^4. Isospin
effects in asymmetric matter appear relevant in the high chemical potential
regions at lower temperatures, of interest for the inner core properties of
neutron stars and for heavy ion collisions at intermediate energies.Comment: 24 pages and 16 figures (revtex4
Magnetic Field Structures in a Facular Region Observed by THEMIS and Hinode
The main objective of this paper is to build and compare vector magnetic maps
obtained by two spectral polarimeters, i.e. THEMIS/MTR and Hinode SOT/SP, using
two inversion codes (UNNOFIT and MELANIE) based on the Milne-Eddington solar
atmosphere model. To this end, we used observations of a facular region within
active region NOAA 10996 on 23 May 2008, and found consistent results
concerning the field strength, azimuth and inclination distributions. Because
SOT/SP is free from the seeing effect and has better spatial resolution, we
were able to resolve small magnetic polarities with sizes of 1" to 2", and we
could detect strong horizontal magnetic fields, which converge or diverge in
negative or positive facular polarities. These findings support models which
suggest the existence of small vertical flux tube bundles in faculae. A new
method is proposed to get the relative formation heights of the multi-lines
observed by MTR assuming the validity of a flux tube model for the faculae. We
found that the Fe 1 6302.5 \AA line forms at a greater atmospheric height than
the Fe 1 5250.2 \AA line.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in Solar
Physic
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