2,659 research outputs found
Effect of stellar flares on the upper atmospheres of HD 189733b and HD 209458b
Stellar flares are a frequent occurrence on young low-mass stars around which
many detected exoplanets orbit. Flares are energetic, impulsive events, and
their impact on exoplanetary atmospheres needs to be taken into account when
interpreting transit observations. We have developed a model to describe the
upper atmosphere of Extrasolar Giant Planets (EGPs) orbiting flaring stars. The
model simulates thermal escape from the upper atmospheres of close-in EGPs.
Ionisation by solar radiation and electron impact is included and photochemical
and diffusive transport processes are simulated. This model is used to study
the effect of stellar flares from the solar-like G star HD209458 and the young
K star HD189733 on their respective planets. A hypothetical HD209458b-like
planet orbiting the active M star AU Mic is also simulated. We find that the
neutral upper atmosphere of EGPs is not significantly affected by typical
flares. Therefore, stellar flares alone would not cause large enough changes in
planetary mass loss to explain the variations in HD189733b transit depth seen
in previous studies, although we show that it may be possible that an extreme
stellar proton event could result in the required mass loss. Our simulations do
however reveal an enhancement in electron number density in the ionosphere of
these planets, the peak of which is located in the layer where stellar X-rays
are absorbed. Electron densities are found to reach 2.2 to 3.5 times pre-flare
levels and enhanced electron densities last from about 3 to 10 hours after the
onset of the flare. The strength of the flare and the width of its spectral
energy distribution affect the range of altitudes that see enhancements in
ionisation. A large broadband continuum component in the XUV portion of the
flaring spectrum in very young flare stars, such as AU Mic, results in a broad
range of altitudes affected in planets orbiting this star.Comment: accepted for publication in A&
Density Functional Theory of Multicomponent Quantum Dots
Quantum dots with conduction electrons or holes originating from several
bands are considered. We assume the particles are confined in a harmonic
potential and assume the electrons (or holes) belonging to different bands to
be different types of fermions with isotropic effective masses. The density
functional method with the local density approximation is used. The increased
number of internal (Kohn-Sham) states leads to a generalisation of Hund's first
rule at high densities. At low densitites the formation of Wigner molecules is
favored by the increased internal freedom.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure
Magnetic phases of one-dimensional lattices with 2 to 4 fermions per site
We study the spectral and magnetic properties of one-dimensional lattices
filled with 2 to 4 fermions (with spin 1/2) per lattice site. We use a
generalized Hubbard model that takes account all interactions on a lattice
site, and solve the many-particle problem by exact diagonalization. We find an
intriguing magnetic phase diagram which includes ferromagnetism, spin-one
Heisenberg antiferromagnetism, and orbital antiferromagnetism.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure
Fertility of frozen-thawed stallion semen cannot be predicted by the currently used laboratory methods
The aim of the project was to use current simple and practical laboratory tests and compare results with the foaling rates of mares inseminated with commercially produced frozen semen. In Exp. 1, semen was tested from 27 and in Exp. 2 from 23 stallions; 19 stallions participated in both experiments. The mean number of mares per stallion in both experiments was 37 (min. 7, max. 121). Sperm morphology was assessed and bacterial culture performed once per stallion. In Exp. 1, progressive motility after 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 h of incubation using light microscopy, motility characteristics measured with an automatic sperm analyzer, plasma membrane integrity using carboxyfluorescein diacetate/propidium iodide (CFDA/PI) staining and light microscopy, plasma membrane integrity using PI staining and a fluorometer, plasma membrane integrity using a resazurin reduction test, and sperm concentration were evaluated. In Exp. 2, the same tests as in Exp. 1 and a hypo-osmotic swelling test (HOST) using both light microscopy and a fluorometer were performed immediately after thawing and after a 3-h incubation. Statistical analysis was done separately to all stallions and to those having ≥ 20 mares; in addition, stallions with foaling rates < 60 or ≥ 60% were compared. In Exp. 1, progressive motility for all stallions after a 2 – 4-h incubation correlated with the foaling rate (correlation coefficients 0.39 – 0.51), (p < 0.05). In stallions with > 20 mares, the artificial insemination dose showed a correlation coefficient of -0.58 (p < 0.05). In Exp. 2, the HOST immediately after thawing showed a negative correlation with foaling rate (p < 0.05). No single test was consistently reliable for predicting the fertilizing capacity of semen, since the 2 experiments yielded conflicting results, although the same stallions sometimes participated in both. This shows the difficulty of frozen semen quality control in commercially produced stallion semen, and on the other hand, the difficulty of conducting fertility trials in horses
Enhancement of bulk second-harmonic generation from silicon nitride films by material composition
We present a comprehensive tensorial characterization of second-harmonic
generation from silicon nitride films with varying composition. The samples
were fabricated using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition, and the
material composition was varied by the reactive gas mixture in the process. We
found a six-fold enhancement between the lowest and highest second-order
susceptibility, with the highest value of approximately 5 pm/V from the most
silicon-rich sample. Moreover, the optical losses were found to be sufficiently
small (below 6 dB/cm) for applications. The tensorial results show that all
samples retain in-plane isotropy independent of silicon content, highlighting
the controllability of the fabrication process.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables; Re-submitted to Optics Letter
Intraindividual association between shift work and risk of drinking problems: Data from the Finnish Public Sector Cohort
OBJECTIVES:
Studies concerning the association between shift work and drinking problems showed inconsistent results. We used data from a large occupational cohort to examine the association between shift work and different types of drinking behaviour.
METHODS: A total of 93 121 non-abstinent workers from the Finnish Public Sector Study were enrolled in the study. Six waves of survey data were collected between 2000 and 2017. Work schedules were categorised as regular day, non-night shift and night shift work, and shift intensities were calculated from registered working hour data. Two indicators of adverse drinking behaviour were measured: at-risk drinking (>7 and >14 drinks per week in women and men, respectively) and high-intensity drinking (measured as pass-out experience). Intraindividual analysis was conducted using fixed-effects regression to examine the association between shift work and drinking behaviours.
RESULTS: Compared with regular day work, night shift work was associated with an increased risk of high-intensity drinking (OR 1.28, 95% CI 1.07 to 1.52) but a lower risk of at-risk drinking (OR 0.85, 95% CI 0.74 to 0.99). Shift workers who worked long shifts had a lower risk of at-risk drinking compared with those who rarely worked long shifts (OR 0.58, 95% CI 0.37 to 0.93).
CONCLUSIONS: Associations between shift work and alcohol use vary according to drinking patterns. Workers engaged in high-intensity drinking more often during night shift schedules compared with day work, but did not drink averagely higher volume
Persistent Currents in Small, Imperfect Hubbard Rings
We have done a study with small, imperfect Hubbard rings with exact
diagonalization. The results for few-electron rings show, that the
imperfection, whether localized or not, nearly always decrease, but can also
\emph{increase} the persistent current, depending on the character of the
imperfection and the on-site interaction. The calculations are generally in
agreement with more specialized studies. In most cases the electron spin plays
an important role.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure
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