1,252 research outputs found
Shapes of the Proton
A model proton wave function, constructed using Poincare invariance, and
constrained by recent electromagnetic form factor data, is used to study the
shape of the proton. Spin-dependent quark densities are defined as matrix
elements of density operators in proton states of definite spin-polarization,
and shown to have an infinite variety of non-spherical shapes. For high
momentum quarks with spin parallel to that of the proton, the shape resembles
that of a peanut, but for quarks with anti-parallel spin the shape is that of a
bagel.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, to be submitted to Phys. Rev. C This corrects a
few typos and explains some further connections with experiment
Temperature is the evil twin: effects of increased temperature and ocean acidification on reproduction in a reef fish
Reproduction in many organisms can be disrupted by changes to the physical environment, such as those predicted to occur during climate change. Marine organisms face the dual climate change threats of increasing temperature and ocean acidification, yet no studies have examined the potential interactive effects of these stressors on reproduction in marine fishes. We used a long-term experiment to test the interactive effects of increased temperature and CO2 on the reproductive performance of the anemonefish, Amphiprion melanopus. Adult breeding pairs were kept for 10 months at three temperatures (28.5°C [+0.0°C], 30.0°C [+1.5°C] and 31.5°C [+3.0°C]) cross-factored with three CO2 levels (a current-day control [417 μatm] and moderate [644 μatm] and high [1134 μatm]) treatments consistent with the range of CO2 projections for the year 2100. We recorded each egg clutch produced during the breeding season, the number of eggs laid per clutch, average egg size, fertilization success, survival to hatching, hatchling length, and yolk provisioning. Adult body condition, hepatosomatic index, gonadosomatic index, and plasma 17β-estradiol concentrations were measured at the end of the breeding season to determine the effect of prolonged exposure to increased temperature and elevated CO2 on adults, and to examine potential physiological mechanisms for changes in reproduction. Temperature had by far the stronger influence on reproduction, with clear declines in reproduction occurring in the +1.5°C treatment and ceasing altogether in the +3.0°C treatment. In contrast, CO2 had a minimal effect on the majority of reproductive traits measured, but caused a decline in offspring quality in combination with elevated temperature. We detected no significant effect of temperature or CO2 on adult body condition or hepatosomatic index. Elevated temperature had a significant negative effect on plasma 17β-estradiol concentrations, suggesting that declines in reproduction with increasing temperature were due to the thermal sensitivity of reproductive hormones rather than a reduction in energy available for reproduction. Our results show that elevated temperature exerts a stronger influence than high CO2 on reproduction in A. melanopus. Understanding how these two environmental variables interact to affect the reproductive performance of marine organisms will be important for predicting the future impacts of climate change
Study on the Implications of Asynchronous GMO Approvals for EU Imports of Animal Feed Products
The aim of this study is to understand the implications of asynchronous approvals for genetically modified organisms (GMOs) that are imported to the European Union for use within animal feed products, specifically with regard to the EU livestock sector, as well as upon the upstream and downstream economic industries related to it. Asynchronous approval refers to the situation in which there is a delay in the moment when a genetically modified (GM) event – modifying a specific trait of a plant or animal – is allowed to be used in one country in comparison to another country. In the perspective of this study, the asynchronous GMO approvals concern the use of GM varieties of plants that are approved in the countries which supply them to the EU, in one form or another of feed material, before these are approved by the EU
Ferromagnetism in Oriented Graphite Samples
We have studied the magnetization of various, well characterized samples of
highly oriented pyrolitic graphite (HOPG), Kish graphite and natural graphite
to investigate the recently reported ferromagnetic-like signal and its possible
relation to ferromagnetic impurities. The magnetization results obtained for
HOPG samples for applied fields parallel to the graphene layers - to minimize
the diamagnetic background - show no correlation with the magnetic impurity
concentration. Our overall results suggest an intrinsic origin for the
ferromagnetism found in graphite. We discuss possible origins of the
ferromagnetic signal.Comment: 11 figure
Beta amyloid and hyperphosphorylated tau deposits in the pancreas in type 2 diabetes.
Strong epidemiologic evidence suggests an association between Alzheimer disease (AD) and type 2 diabetes. To determine if amyloid beta (Abeta) and hyperphosphorylated tau occurs in type 2 diabetes, pancreas tissues from 21 autopsy cases (10 type 2 diabetes and 11 controls) were analyzed. APP and tau mRNAs were identified in human pancreas and in cultured insulinoma beta cells (INS-1) by RT-PCR. Prominent APP and tau bands were detected by Western blotting in pancreatic extracts. Aggregated Abeta, hyperphosphorylated tau, ubiquitin, apolipoprotein E, apolipoprotein(a), IB1/JIP-1 and JNK1 were detected in Langerhans islets in type 2 diabetic patients. Abeta was co-localized with amylin in islet amyloid deposits. In situ beta sheet formation of islet amyloid deposits was shown by infrared microspectroscopy (SIRMS). LPS increased APP in non-neuronal cells as well. We conclude that Abeta deposits and hyperphosphorylated tau are also associated with type 2 diabetes, highlighting common pathogenetic features in neurodegenerative disorders, including AD and type 2 diabetes and suggesting that Abeta deposits and hyperphosphorylated tau may also occur in other organs than the brain
Independence of , Poincare Invariance and the Non-Conservation of Helicity
A relativistic constituent quark model is found to reproduce the recent data
regarding the ratio of proton form factors, . We show that
imposing Poincare invariance leads to substantial violation of the helicity
conservation rule, as well as an analytic result that the ratio
for intermediate values of .Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures, to be submitted to Phys. Rev. C typos corrected,
references added, 1 new figure to show very high Q^2 behavio
Prognostic Impact of PHIP Copy Number in Melanoma: Linkage to Ulceration
Ulceration is an important prognostic factor in melanoma whose biologic basis is poorly understood. Here we assessed the prognostic impact of pleckstrin homology domain-interacting protein (PHIP) copy number and its relationship to ulceration. PHIP copy number was determined using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) in a tissue microarray cohort of 238 melanomas. Elevated PHIP copy number was associated with significantly reduced distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS; P=0.01) and disease-specific survival (DSS; P=0.009) by Kaplan–Meier analyses. PHIP FISH scores were independently predictive of DMFS (P=0.03) and DSS (P=0.03). Increased PHIP copy number was an independent predictor of ulceration status (P=0.04). The combined impact of increased PHIP copy number and tumor vascularity on ulceration status was highly significant (P<0.0001). Stable suppression of PHIP in human melanoma cells resulted in significantly reduced glycolytic activity in vitro, with lower expression of lactate dehydrogenase 5, hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha subunit, and vascular endothelial growth factor, and was accompanied by reduced microvessel density in vivo. These results provide further support for PHIP as a molecular prognostic marker of melanoma, and reveal a significant linkage between PHIP levels and ulceration. Moreover, they suggest that ulceration may be driven by increased glycolysis and angiogenesis
Angular Conditions,Relations between Breit and Light-Front Frames, and Subleading Power Corrections
We analyze the current matrix elements in the general collinear (Breit)
frames and find the relation between the ordinary (or canonical) helicity
amplitudes and the light-front helicity amplitudes. Using the conservation of
angular momentum, we derive a general angular condition which should be
satisfied by the light-front helicity amplitudes for any spin system. In
addition, we obtain the light-front parity and time-reversal relations for the
light-front helicity amplitudes. Applying these relations to the spin-1 form
factor analysis, we note that the general angular condition relating the five
helicity amplitudes is reduced to the usual angular condition relating the four
helicity amplitudes due to the light-front time-reversal condition. We make
some comments on the consequences of the angular condition for the analysis of
the high- deuteron electromagnetic form factors, and we further apply the
general angular condition to the electromagnetic transition between spin-1/2
and spin-3/2 systems and find a relation useful for the analysis of the
N- transition form factors. We also discuss the scaling law and the
subleading power corrections in the Breit and light-front frames.Comment: 24 pages,2 figure
A calibration method for broad-bandwidth cavity enhanced absorption spectroscopy performed with supercontinuum radiation
An efficient calibration method has been developed for broad-bandwidth cavity enhanced absorption spectroscopy. The calibration is performed using phase shift cavity ring-down spectroscopy, which is conveniently implemented through use of an acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF). The AOTF permits a narrowband portion of the SC spectrum to be scanned over the full high-reflectivity bandwidth of the cavity mirrors. After calibration the AOTF is switched off and broad-bandwidth CEAS can be performed with the same light source without any loss of alignment to the set-up. We demonstrate the merits of the method by probing transitions of oxygen molecules O-2 and collisional pairs of oxygen molecules (O-2)(2) in the visible spectral range
Three-dimensional general relativistic hydrodynamics II: long-term dynamics of single relativistic stars
This is the second in a series of papers on the construction and validation
of a three-dimensional code for the solution of the coupled system of the
Einstein equations and of the general relativistic hydrodynamic equations, and
on the application of this code to problems in general relativistic
astrophysics. In particular, we report on the accuracy of our code in the
long-term dynamical evolution of relativistic stars and on some new physics
results obtained in the process of code testing. The tests involve single
non-rotating stars in stable equilibrium, non-rotating stars undergoing radial
and quadrupolar oscillations, non-rotating stars on the unstable branch of the
equilibrium configurations migrating to the stable branch, non-rotating stars
undergoing gravitational collapse to a black hole, and rapidly rotating stars
in stable equilibrium and undergoing quasi-radial oscillations. The numerical
evolutions have been carried out in full general relativity using different
types of polytropic equations of state using either the rest-mass density only,
or the rest-mass density and the internal energy as independent variables. New
variants of the spacetime evolution and new high resolution shock capturing
(HRSC) treatments based on Riemann solvers and slope limiters have been
implemented and the results compared with those obtained from previous methods.
Finally, we have obtained the first eigenfrequencies of rotating stars in full
general relativity and rapid rotation. A long standing problem, such
frequencies have not been obtained by other methods. Overall, and to the best
of our knowledge, the results presented in this paper represent the most
accurate long-term three-dimensional evolutions of relativistic stars available
to date.Comment: 19 pages, 17 figure
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