607 research outputs found
Free energy determination of phase coexistence in model C60: A comprehensive Monte Carlo study
The free energy of the solid and fluid phases of the Girifalco C60 model are
determined through extensive Monte Carlo simulations. In this model the
molecules interact through a spherical pair potential, characterized by a
narrow and attractive well, adjacent to a harshly repulsive core. We have used
the Widom test particle method and a mapping from an Einstein crystal, in order
to estimate the absolute free energy in the fluid and solid phases,
respectively; we have then determined the free energy along several isotherms,
and the whole phase diagram, by means of standard thermodynamic integrations.
We highlight how the interplay between the liquid-vapor and the liquid-solid
coexistence conditions determines the existence of a narrow liquid pocket in
the phase diagram, whose stability is assessed and confirmed in agreement with
previous studies. In particular, the critical temperature follows closely an
extended corresponding-states rule recently outlined by Noro and Frenkel [J.
Chem. Phys. 113:2941 (2000)].
We discuss the emerging "energetic" properties of the system, which drive the
phase behavior in systems interacting through short-range forces [A. A. Louis,
Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 359:939 (2001)], in order to explain the discrepancy
between the predictions of several structural indicators and the results of
full free energy calculations, to locate the fluid phase boundaries.
More generally, we aim to provide extended reference data for calculations of
the free energy of the C60 fullerite in the low temperature regime, as for the
determination of the phase diagram of higher order fullerenes and other
fullerene-related materials, whose description is based on the same model
adopted in this work.Comment: RevTeX, 11 pages, 9 figure
A Study of Gaussianity in CMB band maps
The detection of non-Gaussianity in the CMB data would rule out a number of
inflationary models. A null detection of non-Gaussianity, instead, would
exclude alternative models for the early universe. Thus, a detection or
non-detection of primordial non-Gaussianity in the CMB data is crucial to
discriminate among inflationary models, and to test alternative scenarios.
However, there are various non-cosmological sources of non-Gaussianity. This
makes important to employ different indicators in order to detect distinct
forms of non-Gaussianity in CMB data. Recently, we proposed two new indicators
to measure deviation from Gaussianity on large angular scales, and used them to
study the Gaussianity of the raw band WMAP maps with and without the KQ75 mask.
Here we extend this work by using these indicators to perform similar analyses
of deviation from Gaussianity of the foreground-reduced Q, V, and W band maps.
We show that there is a significant deviation from Gaussianity in the
considered full-sky maps, which is reduced to a level consistent with
Gaussianity when the KQ75 mask is employed.Comment: 5 pages, 2 PS figures, uses ws-ijmpd.cls ; to be published in the
International Journal of Modern Physics
One Loop Back Reaction On Chaotic Inflation
We extend, for the case of a general scalar potential, the inflaton-graviton
Feynman rules recently developed by Iliopoulos {\it et al.} As an application
we compute the leading term, for late co-moving times, of the one loop back
reaction on the expansion rate for . This is
expressed as the logarithmic time derivative of the scale factor in the
coordinate system for which the expectation value of the metric has the form:
. This quantity should be a gauge
independent observable. Our result for it agrees exactly with that inferred
from the effect previously computed by Mukhanov {\it et al.} using canonical
quantization. It is significant that the two calculations were made with
completely different schemes for fixing the gauge, and that our computation was
done using the standard formalism of covariant quantization. This should settle
some of the issues recently raised by Unruh.Comment: 41 pages, LaTeX 2 epsilo
Spherical collapse model in dark energy cosmologies
We study the spherical collapse model for several dark energy scenarios using
the fully nonlinear differential equation for the evolution of the density
contrast within homogeneous spherical overdensities derived from Newtonian
hydrodynamics. While mathematically equivalent to the more common approach
based on the differential equation for the radius of the perturbation, this
approach has substantial conceptual as well as numerical advantages. Among the
most important are that no singularities at early times appear, which avoids
numerical problems in particular in applications to cosmologies with dynamical
and early dark energy, and that the assumption of time-reversal symmetry can
easily be dropped where it is not strictly satisfied. We use this approach to
derive the two parameters characterising the spherical-collapse model, i.e.~the
linear density threshold for collapse and the virial
overdensity , for a broad variety of dark-energy models and
to reconsider these parameters in cosmologies with early dark energy. We find
that, independently of the model under investigation, and
are always very close to the values obtained for the
standard CDM model, arguing that the abundance of and the mean density
within non-linear structures are quite insensitive to the differences between
dark-energy cosmologies. Regarding early dark energy, we thus arrive at a
different conclusion than some earlier papers, including one from our group,
and we explain why.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publications on MNRA
Energy-Momentum Tensor of Cosmological Fluctuations during Inflation
We study the renormalized energy-momentum tensor (EMT) of cosmological scalar
fluctuations during the slow-rollover regime for chaotic inflation with a
quadratic potential and find that it is characterized by a negative energy
density which grows during slow-rollover. We also approach the back-reaction
problem as a second-order calculation in perturbation theory finding no
evidence that the back-reaction of cosmological fluctuations is a gauge
artifact. In agreement with the results on the EMT, the average expansion rate
is decreased by the back-reaction of cosmological fluctuations.Comment: 19 pages, no figures.An appendix and references added, conclusions
unchanged, version accepted for publication in PR
Physical approximations for the nonlinear evolution of perturbations in dark energy scenarios
The abundance and distribution of collapsed objects such as galaxy clusters
will become an important tool to investigate the nature of dark energy and dark
matter. Number counts of very massive objects are sensitive not only to the
equation of state of dark energy, which parametrizes the smooth component of
its pressure, but also to the sound speed of dark energy as well, which
determines the amount of pressure in inhomogeneous and collapsed structures.
Since the evolution of these structures must be followed well into the
nonlinear regime, and a fully relativistic framework for this regime does not
exist yet, we compare two approximate schemes: the widely used spherical
collapse model, and the pseudo-Newtonian approach. We show that both
approximation schemes convey identical equations for the density contrast, when
the pressure perturbation of dark energy is parametrized in terms of an
effective sound speed. We also make a comparison of these approximate
approaches to general relativity in the linearized regime, which lends some
support to the approximations.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figure
Osteopontin expression in healing wounds of horses and in human keloids
REASONS FOR PERFORMING STUDY:
Convincing evidence shows that persistent or excessive expression of osteopontin (OPN) is linked to fibroproliferation of various organs in laboratory animals and in man, such that its downregulation is a logical therapeutic objective.
OBJECTIVES:
To investigate OPN expression in an equine model of wound healing and in clinical specimens of equine exuberant granulation tissue and human keloids in an effort to better understand the contribution of this protein to inflammation-associated skin fibrosis.
STUDY DESIGN:
Description of gene and protein expression in an experimental equine model of wound healing and clinical specimens in horse and man.
METHODS:
Osteopontin gene expression was evaluated by quantitative PCR, while protein expression was investigated by means of immunohistochemical staining.
RESULTS:
Quantitative PCR showed that the OPN gene is expressed in normal intact skin of horses and continues to be expressed during the wound-healing process. An increase in gene expression was observed throughout the phases of wound healing, with a final decrease at wound closure. The protein was not detected in normal skin. Keratinocytes in wound-edge samples did not express the protein, whereas dermal immunoreactivity was confined to inflammatory cells. Healed wounds were devoid of staining. Equine exuberant granulation tissue showed immunoreactivity of the surrounding epidermis, infiltrating neutrophils, mononuclear cells, endothelial cells and fibroblasts. Human keloids showed OPN immunoreactivity throughout the epidermis as well as in mononuclear cells and scattered fibroblasts.
CONCLUSIONS:
Immunohistochemical data show a different pattern of expression between normally healing and fibrotic wounds (exuberant granulation tissue and keloids), thus suggesting a role in fibroproliferation in horses and man
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