Flux Expulsion - Field Evolution in Neutron Stars

Models for the evolution of magnetic fields of neutron stars are constructed, assuming the field is embedded in the proton superconducting core of the star. The rate of expulsion of the magnetic flux out of the core, or equivalently the velocity of outward motion of flux-carrying proton-vortices is determined from a solution of the Magnus equation of motion for these vortices. A force due to the pinning interaction between the proton-vortices and the neutron-superfluid vortices is also taken into account in addition to the other more conventional forces acting on the proton-vortices. Alternative models for the field evolution are considered based on the different possibilities discussed for the effective values of the various forces. The coupled spin and magnetic evolution of single pulsars as well as those processed in low-mass binary systems are computed, for each of the models. The predicted lifetimes of active pulsars, field strengths of the very old neutron stars, and distribution of the magnetic fields versus orbital periods in low-mass binary pulsars are used to test the adopted field decay models. Contrary to the earlier claims, the buoyancy is argued to be the dominant driving cause of the flux expulsion, for the single as well as the binary neutron stars. However, the pinning is also found to play a crucial role which is necessary to account for the observed low field binary and millisecond pulsars.Comment: 23 pages, + 7 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

The relationship between violence during pregnancy and low birth weight: A meta-analysis study

Background & Aim: Violence during pregnancy affects both mother and fetus. This study was performed to investigate the relationship between physical, sexual and psychological violence during pregnancy and low birth weight in the world as a meta-analysis. Methods & Materials: This study is a meta-analysis that was performed on articles published in Persian and English languages from the beginning of 1995 to the end of 2015. Articles were extracted by searching in the databases of Scopus, Medline, EMBASE, Pubmed, Web of Science, Google scholar, Science Direct, Irandoc, Magiran, Medlib, and SID using key words of violence during pregnancy, low birth weight, physical, sexual and psychological violence and their compounds. The results of studies were combined using a random effects model in the meta-analysis. The heterogeneity of studies was evaluated using the I2 index and meta-regression, and the data analysis was performed using STATA software v.11.2 and SPSS software v.16. Results: Of 254 found articles, 16 relevant articles with the sample number of 117287 people were included in the study. The results of meta-analysis showed that physical OR:1.61 (CI95:2.04–2.28), psychological OR:1.26 (CI95:1.02–1.56) and sexual violence OR:1.26 (CI95:1.02–1.56) during pregnancy, lead to an increase in the rate of low birth weight infants in the exposed mothers. Conclusion: Physical, psychological and sexual violence during pregnancy lead to an increase in the rate of low birth weight infants in the exposed mothers. Therefore, maternal screening and counseling by trained general practitioners and professionals before and during pregnancy are recommended. © 2016, Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS). All Rights Reserved

Novel 5-oxo-hexahydroquinoline derivatives: design, synthesis, in vitro P-glycoprotein-mediated multidrug resistance reversal profile and molecular dynamics simulation study

Overexpression of the efflux pump P-glycoprotein (P-gp) is one of the important mechanisms of multidrug resistance (MDR) in many tumor cells. In this study, 26 novel 5-oxo-hexahydroquinoline derivatives containing different nitrophenyl moieties at C-4 and various carboxamide substituents at C-3 were designed, synthesized and evaluated for their ability to inhibit P-gp by measuring the amount of rhodamine 123 (Rh123) accumulation in uterine sarcoma cells that overexpress P-gp (MES-SA/Dx5) using flow cytometry. The effect of compounds with highest MDR reversal activities was further evaluated by measuring the alterations of MES-SA/Dx5 cells' sensitivity to doxorubicin (DXR) using MTT assay. The results of both biological assays indicated that compounds bearing 2-nitrophenyl at C-4 position and compounds with 4-chlorophenyl carboxamide at C-3 demonstrated the highest activities in resistant cells, while they were devoid of any effect in parental nonresistant MES-SA cells. One of the active derivatives, 5c, significantly increased intracellular Rh123 at 100 mu M, and it also significantly reduced the IC50 of DXR by 70.1% and 88.7% at 10 and 25 mu M, respectively, in MES-SA/Dx5 cells. The toxicity of synthesized compounds against HEK293 as a noncancer cell line was also investigated. All tested derivatives except for 2c compound showed no cytotoxicity. A molecular dynamics simulation study was also performed to investigate the possible binding site of 5c in complex with human P-gp, which showed that this compound formed 11 average H-bonds with Ser909, Thr911, Arg547, Arg543 and Ser474 residues of P-gp. A good agreement was found between the results of the computational and experimental studies. The findings of this study show that some 5-oxo-hexahydroquinoline derivatives could serve as promising candidates for the discovery of new agents for P-gp-mediated MDR reversal

Towards building a conceptual framework on intermarriage

Increasing migration worldwide and the cultural diversity generated as a consequence of international migration has facilitated the unions of people from different countries, religions, races, and ethnicities. Such unions are often celebrated as a sign of integration; however, at the same time as they challenge people's idea of us and them, intermarriages in fact still remain controversial, and even to some extent, taboo in many societies. Research and theorizing on intermarriage is conducted predominantly in the English-speaking North American and British contexts. This special issue includes empirical studies from not only the English-speaking countries such as the U.S., Canada, and the UK, but also from Japan, Sweden, Belgium, France, and Spain and demonstrate the increasingly diverse directions taken in the study of intermarriage in regards to the patterns, experiences, and social implications of intermarriages. Moreover, the articles address the assumed link between intermarriage and “integration.

Non-contact rack and pinion powered by the lateral Casimir force

The lateral Casimir force is employed to propose a design for a potentially wear-proof rack and pinion with no contact, which can be miniaturized to nano-scale. The robustness of the design is studied by exploring the relation between the pinion velocity and the rack velocity in the different domains of the parameter space. The effects of friction and added external load are also examined. It is shown that the device can hold up extremely high velocities, unlike what the general perception of the Casimir force as a weak interaction might suggest.Comment: 4 pages, submitted for publication on 17 Jan 0

Petrography, geochemistry and tectonic significance of the Mahoor granitoids (Lut Block, Eastern Iran)

The Mahoor granitoids are Cu–Zn-bearing porphyries that outcrop in the central part of the Lut Block, about 135 km south-west of Nehbandan (eastern Iran). These granitoids occur mainly as dykes and stocks that intrude Eocene volcanics. Petrographically, all the studied intrusives display porphyritic textures with mm-sized phenocrysts, most commonly of plagioclase and hornblende, embedded in a fine-grained groundmass with variable amounts of plagioclase, hornblende, clinopyroxene, quartz and opaques. Hydrothermal alteration affected these granitoids, as revealed by the common occurrence of sericite, chlorite, sphene/leucoxene, epidote and calcite. Chemical classification criteria show that the intrusives may be named as gabbrodiorites, diorites, monzodiorites and tonalites. Major element geochemistry reveals that all the studied lithologies are typically metaluminous (A/CNK ≤ 0.94) and, in addition, suggest, that they constitute a suite belonging to the high-K calc-alkaline series. Magnetic susceptibility (1485 × 10-5 SI) together with mineralogical and geochemical features show that they belong to magnetite granitoid series (I-type). In primitive mantle-normalized trace element spiderdiagrams, the analysed samples display strong enrichment in LILE compared to HFSE (15.5 ≤ RbN/YN ≤ 45.9), accompanied by negative anomalies of Nb, Ta and Ti. REE chondrite-normalized plots show slight to moderate LREE enrichment (4.9 ≤ LaN/LuN ≤ 8.4) and negative Eu anomalies (Eu/Eu* ratios vary from 0.65 to 0.88). Tectonic characteristics also indicate that the study area is emplaced in a volcanic arc setting. The whole set of geochemical data suggest that the Mahoor granitoids are co-genetic, belong to the calc-alkaline series and have been originated in an active continental margin setting. Sulfide mineralizations (pyrite, chalcopyrite and sphalerite) related to these granitoids are common and occur both disseminated and as hydrothermal veins, indicating a high mineralization potential for this area

A two-parameter random walk with approximate exponential probability distribution

We study a non-Markovian random walk in dimension 1. It depends on two parameters eps_r and eps_l, the probabilities to go straight on when walking to the right, respectively to the left. The position x of the walk after n steps and the number of reversals of direction k are used to estimate eps_r and eps_l. We calculate the joint probability distribution p_n(x,k) in closed form and show that, approximately, it belongs to the exponential family.Comment: 12 pages, updated reference to companion paper cond-mat/060126