1,075 research outputs found
Mortality in patients with successful initial response to highly active antiretroviral therapy is still higher than in non-HIV-infected individuals.
Mortality in HIV-infected patients has decreased dramatically since the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). We analyzed progression to death in a population of 3678 antiretroviral treatment-naive patients from the ATHENA national observational cohort from 24 weeks after the start of HAART. Mortality was compared with that in the general population in the Netherlands matched by age and gender. Only log-transformed CD4 cell count (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.50, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.40 to 0.61 per unit increase) and plasma viral load (HR = 0.30, 95% CI: 0.15 to 0.60, HIV RNA level or = 100,000 copies/mL) measured at 24 weeks and infection via intravenous drug use (IDU) (HR = 0.16, 95% CI: 0.10 to 0.26, non-IDU vs. IDU) were significantly associated with progression to death. For non-IDU patients with 600 x 10 CD4 cells/L and an HIV RNA level <100,000 copies/mL at 24 weeks, mortality was predicted to be 5.3 (95% CI: 3.5 to 8.4) and 10.4 (95% CI: 6.4 to 17.4) times higher than in the general population for 25-year-old men and women, respectively, and 1.15 (95% CI: 1.08 to 1.25) and 1.29 (95% CI: 1.16 to 1.50) times higher for 65-year-old men and women, respectively. Hence, mortality in HIV-infected patients with a good initial response to HAART is still higher than in the general population
HST Observations of SGR 0526-66: New Constraints on Accretion and Magnetar Models
Soft Gamma-ray Repeaters (SGRs) are among the most enigmatic sources known
today. Exhibiting huge X- and Gamma-ray bursts and flares, as well as soft
quiescent X-ray emission, their energy source remains a mystery. Just as
mysterious are the Anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs), which share many of the same
characteristics. Thanks to recent Chandra observations, SGR 0526-66, the first
SGR, now appears to be a transition object bridging the two classes, and
therefore observations of it have implications for both SGRs and AXPs. The two
most popular current models for their persistent emission are accretion of a
fossil disk or decay of an enormous (~10^15 G) magnetic field in a magnetar. We
show how deep optical observations of SGR 0526-66, the only SGR with small
enough optical extinction for meaningful observations, show no evidence of an
optical counterpart. These observation place strong new constraints on both
accretion disk and magnetar models, and suggest that the spectral energy
distribution may peak in the hard-UV. Almost all accretion disks are excluded
by the optical data, and a magnetar would require a ~10^15-10^16 G field.Comment: 23 pages, 5 figures. Accepted by Ap
An Introduced Predator Alters Aleutian Island Plant Communities by Thwarting Nutrient Subsidies
The ramifying effects of top predators on food webs traditionally have been studied within the framework of trophic cascades. Trophic cascades are compelling because they embody powerful indirect effects of predators on primary production. Although less studied, indirect effects of predators may occur via routes that are not exclusively trophic. We quantified how the introduction of foxes onto the Aleutian Islands transformed plant communities by reducing abundant seabird populations, thereby disrupting nutrient subsidies vectored by seabirds from sea to land. We compared soil and plant fertility, plant biomass and community composition, and stable isotopes of nitrogen in soil, plants, and other organisms on nine fox-infested and nine historically fox-free islands across the Aleutians. Additionally, we experimentally augmented nutrients on a fox-infested island to test whether differences in plant productivity and composition between fox-infested and fox-free islands could have arisen from differences in nutrient inputs between island types.
Islands with historical fox infestations had soils low in phosphorus and nitrogen and plants low in tissue nitrogen. Soils, plants, slugs, flies, spiders, and bird droppings on these islands had low δ15N values indicating that these organisms obtained nitrogen from internally derived sources. In contrast, soils, plants, and higher trophic level organisms on fox-free islands had elevated δ15N signatures indicating that they utilized nutrients derived from the marine environment. Furthermore, soil phosphorus (but not nitrogen) and plant tissue nitrogen were higher on fox-free than fox-infested islands. Nutrient subsidized fox-free islands supported lush, high biomass plant communities dominated by graminoids. Fox-infested islands were less graminoid dominated and had higher cover and biomass of low-lying forbs and dwarf shrubs. While δ15N profiles of soils and plants and graminoid biomass varied with island size and distance from shore, after accounting for these effects differences between fox-infested and fox-free islands still existed. Fertilization over four years caused a 24-fold increase in graminoid biomass and a shift toward a more graminoid dominated plant community typical of fox-free islands. These results indicate that apex predators can influence plant productivity and composition through complex interaction web pathways involving both top-down forcing and bottom-up nutrient exchanges across systems. Read More: http://www.esajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1890/05-049
Field-induced confinement in (TMTSF)2ClO4 under accurately aligned magnetic fields
We present transport measurements along the least conducting c direction of
the organic superconductor (TMTSF)2ClO4, performed under an accurately aligned
magnetic field in the low temperature regime. The experimental results reveal a
two-dimensional confinement of the carriers in the (a,b) planes which is
governed by the magnetic field component along the b' direction. This 2-D
confinement is accompanied by a metal-insulator transition for the c axis
resistivity. These data are supported by a quantum mechanical calculation of
the transverse transport taking into account in self consistent treatment the
effect of the field on the interplane Green function and on the intraplane
scattering time
Universal scaling behavior of coupled chains of interacting fermions
The single-particle hopping between two chains is investigated by
exact-diagonalizations techniques supplemented by finite-size scaling analysis.
In the case of two coupled strongly-correlated chains of spinless fermions, the
Taylor expansion of the expectation value of the single-particle interchain
hopping operator of an electron at momentum k_F in powers of the interchain
hopping t_perp is shown to become unstable in the thermodynamic limit. In the
regime alpha<alpha_{tp} (alpha_{tp} simeq 0.41) where transverse two-particle
hopping is less relevant than single-particle hopping, the finite-size effects
can be described in terms of a universal scaling function. From this analysis
it is found that the single-particle transverse hopping behaves as
t_perp^{alpha/(1-alpha)} in agreement with a RPA-like treatment of the
interchain coupling. For alpha>alpha_{tp}, the scaling law is proven to change
its functional form, thus signaling, for the first time numerically, the onset
of coherent transverse two-particle hopping.Comment: 12 pages, Late
Possible Triplet Electron Pairing and an Anisotropic Spin Susceptibility in Organic Superconductors (TMTSF)_2 X
We argue that (TMTSF)_2 PF_6 compound under pressure is likely a triplet
superconductor with a vector order parameter d(k) \equiv (d_a(k) \neq 0, d_c(k)
= ?, d_{b'}(k) = 0); |d_a(k)| > |d_c(k)|. It corresponds to an anisotropic spin
susceptibility at T=0: \chi_{b'} = \chi_0, \chi_a \ll \chi_0, where \chi_0 is
its value in a metallic phase. [The spin quantization axis, z, is parallel to a
so-called b'-axis]. We show that the suggested order parameter explains why the
upper critical field along the b'-axis exceeds all paramagnetic limiting
fields, including that for a nonuniform superconducting state, whereas the
upper critical field along the a-axis (a \perp b') is limited by the Pauli
paramagnetic effects [I. J. Lee, M. J. Naughton, G. M. Danner and P. M.
Chaikin, Phys. Rev. Lett. 78, 3555 (1997)]. The triplet order parameter is in
agreement with the recent Knight shift measurements by I. J. Lee et al. as well
as with the early results on a destruction of superconductivity by nonmagnetic
impurities and on the absence of the Hebel-Slichter peak in the NMR relaxation
rate.Comment: 4 pages, 1 eps figur
Energy loss of fast quarks in nuclei
We report an analysis of the nuclear dependence of the yield of Drell-Yan
dimuons from the 800 GeV/c proton bombardment of , C, Ca, Fe, and W
targets. Employing a new formulation of the Drell-Yan process in the rest frame
of the nucleus, this analysis examines the effect of initial-state energy loss
and shadowing on the nuclear-dependence ratios versus the incident proton's
momentum fraction and dimuon effective mass. The resulting energy loss per unit
path length is GeV/fm. This is the first
observation of a nonzero energy loss of partons traveling in nuclear
environment.Comment: 5 pages, including 4 figure
On-chain electrodynamics of metallic (TMTSF)_2 X salts: Observation of Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid response
We have measured the electrodynamic response in the metallic state of three
highly anisotropic conductors, (TMTSF)_2 X, where X=PF_6, AsF_6, or ClO_4, and
TMTSF is the organic molecule tetramethyltetraselenofulvalene. In all three
cases we find dramatic deviations from a simple Drude response. The optical
conductivity has two features: a narrow mode at zero frequency, with a small
spectral weight, and a mode centered around 200 cm^{-1}, with nearly all of the
spectral weight expected for the relevant number of carriers and single
particle bandmass. We argue that these features are characteristic of a nearly
one-dimensional half- or quarter-filled band with Coulomb correlations, and
evaluate the finite energy mode in terms of a one-dimensional Mott insulator.
At high frequencies (\hbar\omega > t_\perp, the transfer integral perpendicular
to the chains), the frequency dependence of the optical conductivity
\sigma_1(\omega) is in agreement with calculations based on an interacting
Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid, and is different from what is expected for an
uncorrelated one-dimensional semiconductor. The zero frequency mode shows
deviations from a simple Drude response, and can be adequately described with a
frequency dependent mass and relaxation rate.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, RevTeX; minor corrections to text and
references; To be published in Phys. Rev. B, 15 July 199
Exoplanet Characterization and the Search for Life
Over 300 extrasolar planets (exoplanets) have been detected orbiting nearby
stars. We now hope to conduct a census of all planets around nearby stars and
to characterize their atmospheres and surfaces with spectroscopy. Rocky planets
within their star's habitable zones have the highest priority, as these have
the potential to harbor life. Our science goal is to find and characterize all
nearby exoplanets; this requires that we measure the mass, orbit, and
spectroscopic signature of each one at visible and infrared wavelengths. The
techniques for doing this are at hand today. Within the decade we could answer
long-standing questions about the evolution and nature of other planetary
systems, and we could search for clues as to whether life exists elsewhere in
our galactic neighborhood.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Astro2010 Decadal Revie
Larkin-Ovchinnikov-Fulde-Ferrell state in quasi-one-dimensional superconductors
The properties of a quasi-one-dimensional (quasi-1D) superconductor with {\it
an open Fermi surface} are expected to be unusual in a magnetic field. On the
one hand, the quasi-1D structure of the Fermi surface strongly favors the
formation of a non-uniform state (Larkin-Ovchinnikov-Fulde-Ferrell (LOFF)
state) in the presence of a magnetic field acting on the electron spins. On the
other hand, a magnetic field acting on an open Fermi surface induces a
dimensional crossover by confining the electronic wave-functions wave-functions
along the chains of highest conductivity, which results in a divergence of the
orbital critical field and in a stabilization at low temperature of a cascade
of superconducting phases separated by first order transistions. In this paper,
we study the phase diagram as a function of the anisotropy. We discuss in
details the experimental situation in the quasi-1D organic conductors of the
Bechgaard salts family and argue that they appear as good candidates for the
observation of the LOFF state, provided that their anisotropy is large enough.
Recent experiments on the organic quasi-1D superconductor (TMTSF)ClO
are in agreement with the results obtained in this paper and could be
interpreted as a signature of a high-field superconducting phase. We also point
out the possibility to observe a LOFF state in some quasi-2D organic
superconductors.Comment: 24 pages+17 figures (upon request), RevTex, ORSAY-LPS-24109
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