2,498 research outputs found
The resistible effects of Coulomb interaction on nucleus-vapor phase coexistence
We explore the effects of Coulomb interaction upon the nuclear liquid vapor
phase transition. Because large nuclei (A>60) are metastable objects, phases,
phase coexistence, and phase transitions cannot be defined with any generality
and the analogy to liquid vapor is ill-posed for these heavy systems. However,
it is possible to account for the Coulomb interaction in the decay rates and
obtain the coexistence phase diagram for the corresponding uncharged system.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure
Modeling a Slicer Mirror Using Zemax User-Defined Surface
A slicer mirror is a complex surface composed by many tilted and decentered
mirrors sub-surfaces. The major difficulty to model such a complex surface is
the large number of parameters used to define it. The Zemax's
multi-configuration mode is usually used to specify each parameters (tilts,
curvatures, decenters) for each mirror sub-surface which are then considered
independently. Otherwise making use of the User-Defined Surface (UDS-DLL) Zemax
capability, we are able to consider the set of sub-surfaces as a whole surface.
In this paper, we present such a UDS-DLL tool comparing its performance with
those of the classical multi-configuration mode. In particular, we explore the
use of UDS-DLL to investigate the cross-talk due to the diffraction on the
slicer array mirrors which has been a burden task when using
multi-configuration mode.Comment: Submitted to the proceedings of the Durham Integral Field
Spectroscopy Workshop July 4th-8th 200
Compound nuclear decay and the liquid to vapor phase transition: a physical picture
Analyses of multifragmentation in terms of the Fisher droplet model (FDM) and
the associated construction of a nuclear phase diagram bring forth the problem
of the actual existence of the nuclear vapor phase and the meaning of its
associated pressure. We present here a physical picture of fragment production
from excited nuclei that solves this problem and establishes the relationship
between the FDM and the standard compound nucleus decay rate for rare particles
emitted in first-chance decay. The compound thermal emission picture is
formally equivalent to a FDM-like equilibrium description and avoids the
problem of the vapor while also explaining the observation of Boltzmann-like
distribution of emission times. In this picture a simple Fermi gas thermometric
relation is naturally justified and verified in the fragment yields and time
scales. Low energy compound nucleus fragment yields scale according to the FDM
and lead to an estimate of the infinite symmetric nuclear matter critical
temperature between 18 and 27 MeV depending on the choice of the surface energy
coefficient of nuclear matter.Comment: Five page two column pages, four figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Exploring supply chain finance along different supply chain stages: a case-based research in the agri-food industry
PurposeSince 2008's financial crisis, attention toward supply chain finance (SCF) has increased. However, most research investigates SCF considering single supply chain (SC) stages or buyer-supplier dyads and focuses on a single SCF solution. It is important to see how different solutions are adopted at different SC stages, by actors with different financing needs. This study aims to analyze SCF at different SC stages, to understand why different solutions are implemented at different SC stages and the contingency factors (regulation, SC stage, product category and size) influencing their adoption. Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on multiple exploratory case studies in the Italian agri-food industry, considering firms distributed at different SC stages and adopting multiple SCF solutions. The paper exploits a contingent approach (Sousa and Voss, 2008) to analyze how contingent factors influence SCF adoption at different SC stages. FindingsFindings explain how and why different SC stages (producer, cooperative, processor and retailer) implement different SCF solutions (reverse factoring, dynamic discounting, inventory finance and Minibond), describing contingency variables' impact on their adoption. Originality/valueTo the best of the authors' knowledge, the research is original in its description of SCF at different SC stages, considering different SC actors' drivers and barriers, and questioning the importance of a coordinated approach in SCF adoption along an entire SC. Moreover, the paper adopts a contingent approach, contributing to SCF research, seldomly based on theoretical lenses
New Wrinkles on an Old Model: Correlation Between Liquid Drop Parameters and Curvature Term
The relationship between the volume and surface energy coefficients in the
liquid drop A^{-1/3} expansion of nuclear masses is discussed. The volume and
surface coefficients in the liquid drop expansion share the same physical
origin and their physical connection is used to extend the expansion with a
curvature term. A possible generalization of the Wigner term is also suggested.
This connection between coefficients is used to fit the experimental nuclear
masses. The excellent fit obtained with a smaller number of parameters
validates the assumed physical connection.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure
Recent Findings on AMPA Receptor Recycling
α-Amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptors (AMPA-Rs) are tetrameric protein complexes that mediate most of the fast-excitatory transmission in response to the neurotransmitter glutamate in neurons. The abundance of AMPA-Rs at the surface of excitatory synapses establishes the strength of the response to glutamate. It is thus evident that neurons need to tightly regulate this feature, particularly in the context of all synaptic plasticity events, which are considered the biological correlates of higher cognitive functions such as learning and memory. AMPA-R levels at the synapse are regulated by insertion of newly synthesized receptors, lateral diffusion on the plasma membrane and endosomal cycling. The latter is likely the most important especially for synaptic plasticity. This process starts with the endocytosis of the receptor from the cell surface and is followed by either degradation, if the receptor is directed to the lysosomal compartment, or reinsertion at the cell surface through a specialized endosomal compartment called recycling endosomes. Although the basic steps of this process have been discovered, the details and participation of additional regulatory proteins are still being discovered. In this review article, we describe the most recent findings shedding light on this crucial mechanism of synaptic regulation
Relative potency ranking of azoles altering craniofacial morphogenesis in rats : an in vitro data modelling approach
Facial malformations represent one of the most frequent abnormality in humans. The adverse outcome pathway involved in facial defects seems to be related to retinoic acid (RA) pathway imbalance. Environmental agents inducing craniofacial malformations in experimental models include pesticides (especially azole fungicides). By using the in vitro alternative method postimplantation rat whole embryo culture (WEC), we evaluated the intrinsic embryotoxic activity of some azole antifungals (cyproconazole, CYPRO; triadimefon, FON; flusilazole, FLUSI; and prochloraz, PCZ), in comparison to RA. All the tested molecules induced in a dose-related manner specific defects of the craniofacial structures (fused branchial arches), similar to those induced by RA. Collected data were modelled using PROAST 65.5 software to characterise the relative potency factors (RPFs) versus RA. In comparison to RA, all the evaluated azoles were less potent, showing among them a similar potency. Our data suggest a possible azole-related RA signalling perturbation to be further investigated. Moreover, the present results indicate the approach used in this work to be an interesting tool applicable to the hazard evaluation of novel compounds or the assessment of combined exposure to azoles or other dismorphogens
Scaling Laws and Transient Times in 3He Induced Nuclear Fission
Fission excitation functions of compound nuclei in a mass region where shell
effects are expected to be very strong are shown to scale exactly according to
the transition state prediction once these shell effects are accounted for. The
fact that no deviations from the transition state method have been observed
within the experimentally investigated excitation energy regime allows one to
assign an upper limit for the transient time of 10 zs.Comment: 7 pages, TeX type, psfig, submitted to Phys. Rev. C, also available
at http://csa5.lbl.gov/moretto/ps/he3_paper.p
Fragment size correlations in finite systems - application to nuclear multifragmentation
We present a new method for the calculation of fragment size correlations in
a discrete finite system in which correlations explicitly due to the finite
extent of the system are suppressed. To this end, we introduce a combinatorial
model, which describes the fragmentation of a finite system as a sequence of
independent random emissions of fragments. The sequence is accepted when the
sum of the sizes is equal to the total size. The parameters of the model, which
may be used to calculate all partition probabilities, are the intrinsic
probabilities associated with the fragments. Any fragment size correlation
function can be built by calculating the ratio between the partition
probabilities in the data sample (resulting from an experiment or from a Monte
Carlo simulation) and the 'independent emission' model partition probabilities.
This technique is applied to charge correlations introduced by Moretto and
collaborators. It is shown that the percolation and the nuclear statistical
multifragmentaion model ({\sc smm}) are almost independent emission models
whereas the nuclear spinodal decomposition model ({\sc bob}) shows strong
correlations corresponding to the break-up of the hot dilute nucleus into
nearly equal size fragments
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