1,550 research outputs found
Localization of gravity in brane world with arbitrary extra dimensions
We study the induced 4-dimensional linearized Einstein field equations in an
m-dimensional bulk space by means of a confining potential. It is shown that in
this approach the mass of graviton is quantized. The cosmological constant
problem is also addressed within the context of this approach. We show that the
difference between the values of the cosmological constant in particle physics
and cosmology stems from our measurements in two different scales, small and
large.Comment: 8 pages. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with
arXiv:gr-qc/0408004, arXiv:gr-qc/0607067, arXiv:0704.1035, arXiv:0707.3558,
arXiv:0710.266
Acute Hepatitis C Virus in an HIV Clinic: A Screening Strategy, Risk Factors, and Perception of Risk
Abstract Acute hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is being acquired undetected among HIV-infected individuals. A practical way to regularly screen HIV-infected patients for acute HCV irrespective of perceived risk or symptoms is needed. We piloted implementation of an acute HCV screening strategy using routine HIV clinical care schedules and the least costly blood tests, in a Rhode Island HIV care center. Study participants had ongoing HCV risk, completed questionnaires encompassing risk behaviors and perception of risk, and were screened with quarterly alanine aminotransferase (ALT). ALT rise triggered HCV RNA testing, with pooled rather than individual specimen HCV RNA testing for underinsured participants. Participants were primarily older, collegeeducated men who have sex with men (MSM) with history of sexually transmitted infection other than HIV. One of 58 participants developed acute HCV in 50 person-years of observation for an annual incidence of 2.0% per year (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.05-11.1%). The majority (54%) of MSM did not perceive that traumatic sexual and drug practices they were engaging in put them at risk for HCV. Unprotected sex often occurred under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Self-reported HCV risk and participation in several risk behaviors declined during the study. It was possible to collect frequent ALTs in a busy HIV clinic with 71% of total projected ALTs obtained and 88% of participants having at least one ALT during the 9-month follow-up period. All instances of ALT rise led to reflexive HCV RNA testing. Tracking quarterly ALT for elevation to systematically prompt HCV RNA testing before seroconversion is a promising approach to screen for acute HCV in a real-world HIV clinical setting
Various features of quasiequilibrium sequences of binary neutron stars in general relativity
Quasiequilibrium sequences of binary neutron stars are numerically calculated
in the framework of the Isenberg-Wilson-Mathews (IWM) approximation of general
relativity. The results are presented for both rotation states of synchronized
spins and irrotational motion, the latter being considered as the realistic one
for binary neutron stars just prior to the merger. We assume a polytropic
equation of state and compute several evolutionary sequences of binary systems
composed of different-mass stars as well as identical-mass stars with adiabatic
indices gamma=2.5, 2.25, 2, and 1.8. From our results, we propose as a
conjecture that if the turning point of binding energy (and total angular
momentum) locating the innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO) is found in
Newtonian gravity for some value of the adiabatic index gamma_0, that of the
ADM mass (and total angular momentum) should exist in the IWM approximation of
general relativity for the same value of the adiabatic index.Comment: Text improved, some figures changed or deleted, new table, 38 pages,
31 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Merger of binary neutron stars of unequal mass in full general relativity
We present results of three dimensional numerical simulations of the merger
of unequal-mass binary neutron stars in full general relativity. A -law
equation of state is adopted, where , ,
\varep, and are the pressure, rest mass density, specific internal
energy, and the adiabatic constant, respectively. We take and the
baryon rest-mass ratio to be in the range 0.85--1. The typical grid size
is for . We improve several implementations since the
latest work. In the present code, the radiation reaction of gravitational waves
is taken into account with a good accuracy. This fact enables us to follow the
coalescence all the way from the late inspiral phase through the merger phase
for which the transition is triggered by the radiation reaction. It is found
that if the total rest-mass of the system is more than times of the
maximum allowed rest-mass of spherical neutron stars, a black hole is formed
after the merger irrespective of the mass ratios. The gravitational waveforms
and outcomes in the merger of unequal-mass binaries are compared with those in
equal-mass binaries. It is found that the disk mass around the so formed black
holes increases with decreasing rest-mass ratios and decreases with increasing
compactness of neutron stars. The merger process and the gravitational
waveforms also depend strongly on the rest-mass ratios even for the range --1.Comment: 32 pages, PRD68 to be publishe
Magnetic Fields in the Milky Way
This chapter presents a review of observational studies to determine the
magnetic field in the Milky Way, both in the disk and in the halo, focused on
recent developments and on magnetic fields in the diffuse interstellar medium.
I discuss some terminology which is confusingly or inconsistently used and try
to summarize current status of our knowledge on magnetic field configurations
and strengths in the Milky Way. Although many open questions still exist, more
and more conclusions can be drawn on the large-scale and small-scale components
of the Galactic magnetic field. The chapter is concluded with a brief outlook
to observational projects in the near future.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figures, to appear in "Magnetic Fields in Diffuse Media",
eds. E.M. de Gouveia Dal Pino and A. Lazaria
Search For Trapped Antihydrogen
We present the results of an experiment to search for trapped antihydrogen
atoms with the ALPHA antihydrogen trap at the CERN Antiproton Decelerator.
Sensitive diagnostics of the temperatures, sizes, and densities of the trapped
antiproton and positron plasmas have been developed, which in turn permitted
development of techniques to precisely and reproducibly control the initial
experimental parameters. The use of a position-sensitive annihilation vertex
detector, together with the capability of controllably quenching the
superconducting magnetic minimum trap, enabled us to carry out a
high-sensitivity and low-background search for trapped synthesised antihydrogen
atoms. We aim to identify the annihilations of antihydrogen atoms held for at
least 130 ms in the trap before being released over ~30 ms. After a three-week
experimental run in 2009 involving mixing of 10^7 antiprotons with 1.3 10^9
positrons to produce 6 10^5 antihydrogen atoms, we have identified six
antiproton annihilation events that are consistent with the release of trapped
antihydrogen. The cosmic ray background, estimated to contribute 0.14 counts,
is incompatible with this observation at a significance of 5.6 sigma. Extensive
simulations predict that an alternative source of annihilations, the escape of
mirror-trapped antiprotons, is highly unlikely, though this possibility has not
yet been ruled out experimentally.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figure
The Influence of the effect of solute on the thermodynamic driving force on grain refinement of Al alloys
Grain refinement is known to be strongly affected by the solute in cast alloys. Addition of some solute can reduce grain size considerably while others have a limited effect. This is usually attributed to the constitutional supercooling which is quantified by the growth restriction factor, Q. However, one factor that has not been considered is whether different solutes have differing effects on the thermodynamic driving force for solidification. This paper reveals that addition of solute reduces the driving force for solidification for a given undercooling, and that for a particular Q value, it is reduced more substantially when adding eutectic-forming solutes than peritectic-forming elements. Therefore, compared with the eutectic-forming solutes, addition of peritectic-forming solutes into Al alloys not only possesses a higher initial nucleation rate resulted from the larger thermodynamic driving force for solidification, but also promotes nucleation within the constitutionally supercooled zone during growth. As subsequent nucleation can occur at smaller constitutional supercoolings for peritectic-forming elements, a smaller grain size is thus produced. The very small constitutional supercooling required to trigger subsequent nucleation in alloys containing Ti is considered as a major contributor to its extraordinary grain refining efficiency in cast Al alloys even without the deliberate addition of inoculants.The Australian Research Council (ARC DP10955737)
Mutations in ELAC2 associated with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy impair mitochondrial tRNA 3'-end processing
Mutations in either the mitochondrial or nuclear genomes are associated with a diverse group of human disorders characterized by impaired mitochondrial respiration. Within this group, an increasing number of mutations have been identified in nuclear genes involved in mitochondrial RNA metabolism, including ELAC2. The ELAC2 gene codes for the mitochondrial RNase Z, responsible for endonucleolytic cleavage of the 3' ends of mitochondrial pre-tRNAs. Here, we report the identification of sixteen novel ELAC2 variants in individuals presenting with mitochondrial respiratory chain deficiency, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and lactic acidosis. We provide evidence for the pathogenicity of the novel missense variants by studying the RNase Z activity in an in vitro system. We also modelled the residues affected by missense mutation in solved RNase Z structures, providing insight into enzyme structure and function. Finally, we show that primary fibroblasts from the affected individuals have elevated levels of unprocessed mitochondrial RNA precursors. Our study thus broadly confirms the correlation of ELAC2 variants with severe infantile-onset forms of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and mitochondrial respiratory chain dysfunction. One rare missense variant associated with the occurrence of prostate cancer (p.Arg781His) impairs the mitochondrial RNase Z activity of ELAC2, suggesting a functional link between tumorigenesis and mitochondrial RNA metabolism
Active Brownian Particles. From Individual to Collective Stochastic Dynamics
We review theoretical models of individual motility as well as collective
dynamics and pattern formation of active particles. We focus on simple models
of active dynamics with a particular emphasis on nonlinear and stochastic
dynamics of such self-propelled entities in the framework of statistical
mechanics. Examples of such active units in complex physico-chemical and
biological systems are chemically powered nano-rods, localized patterns in
reaction-diffusion system, motile cells or macroscopic animals. Based on the
description of individual motion of point-like active particles by stochastic
differential equations, we discuss different velocity-dependent friction
functions, the impact of various types of fluctuations and calculate
characteristic observables such as stationary velocity distributions or
diffusion coefficients. Finally, we consider not only the free and confined
individual active dynamics but also different types of interaction between
active particles. The resulting collective dynamical behavior of large
assemblies and aggregates of active units is discussed and an overview over
some recent results on spatiotemporal pattern formation in such systems is
given.Comment: 161 pages, Review, Eur Phys J Special-Topics, accepte
Observation of exclusive DVCS in polarized electron beam asymmetry measurements
We report the first results of the beam spin asymmetry measured in the
reaction e + p -> e + p + gamma at a beam energy of 4.25 GeV. A large asymmetry
with a sin(phi) modulation is observed, as predicted for the interference term
of Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering and the Bethe-Heitler process. The
amplitude of this modulation is alpha = 0.202 +/- 0.028. In leading-order and
leading-twist pQCD, the alpha is directly proportional to the imaginary part of
the DVCS amplitude.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure
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