813 research outputs found
Effective Actions for Heterotic M-Theory
We discuss the moduli space approximation for heterotic M-theory, both for
the minimal case of two boundary branes only, and when a bulk brane is
included. The resulting effective actions may be used to describe the
cosmological dynamics in the regime where the branes are moving slowly, away
from singularities. We make use of the recently derived colliding branes
solution to determine the global structure of moduli space, finding a boundary
at which the trajectories undergo a hard wall reflection. This has important
consequences for the allowed moduli space trajectories, and for the behaviour
of cosmological perturbations in the model.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figures. References added and some discussions clarifie
Modelling stellar coronal magnetic fields
Our understanding of the structure and dynamics of stellar coronae has
changed dramatically with the availability of surface maps of both star spots
and also magnetic field vectors. Magnetic field extrapolations from these
surface maps reveal surprising coronal structures for stars whose masses and
hence internal structures and dynamo modes may be very different from that of
the Sun. Crucial factors are the fraction of open magnetic flux (which
determines the spin-down rate for the star as it ages) and the location and
plasma density of closed-field regions, which determine the X-ray and radio
emission properties. There has been recent progress in modelling stellar
coronae, in particular the relative contributions of the field detected in the
bright surface regions and the field that may be hidden in the dark star spots.
For the Sun, the relationship between the field in the spots and the large
scale field is well studied over the solar cycle. It appears, however, that
other stars can show a very different relationship.Comment: 6pages, 4 figure
Numerical modelling of two-way reinforced concrete slabs in fire
This paper describes numerical modelling of the fire behaviour of two-way reinforced concrete slabs using a special purpose non-linear finite-element program, SAFIR. Several two-way reinforced concrete and composite steel-concrete slabs are tested under exposure to the ISO standard fire in order to validate the shell finite element in the SAFIR program. The modelling results showed agreement with the fire tests and demonstrate that the SAFIR shell element can be used to predict tensile membrane behaviour of two-way reinforced concrete slabs in fire conditions. The analyses show that two-way slabs have excellent fire resistance if they deform in double curvature and develop tensile membrane action. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
Moduli of Langlands Parameters
Let be a nonarchimedean local field of residue characteristic , let
be a split connected reductive group over with an
action of , and let denote the semidirect product . We construct a moduli space of Langlands parameters , and
show that it is locally of finite type and flat over , and
that it is a reduced local complete intersection. We give parameterizations of
the connected components of this space over algebraically closed fields of
characteristic zero and characteristic , as well as of the
components over and (conjecturally) over
. Finally we study the functions on this space that
are invariant under conjugation by (or, equivalently, the GIT
quotient by ) and give a complete description of this ring of
functions after inverting an explicit finite set of primes depending only on
.Comment: 79 page
A comparison of HPV DNA testing and liquid based cytology over three rounds of primary cervical screening: extended follow up in the ARTISTIC trial.
BACKGROUND: The additional sensitivity of HPV testing compared with cytology could permit extended cervical screening intervals. We wished to determine, through a further (third) round of screening in the ARTISTIC trial, the protection provided by a negative baseline HPV screen compared with that of cytology over a 6 year period. METHODS: Cumulative rates of CIN2 or worse (CIN2+) and CIN3 or worse (CIN3+) were correlated with baseline HPV status and cytology. HPV was detected using the Hybrid Capture 2 (Qiagen) assay for high risk types and genotyped using the Linear Array (Roche) and Papillocheck (Greiner) assays. LBC was performed using ThinPrep (Hologic). FINDINGS: Round 3 included 8,873 women of whom 6,337 had been screened in both rounds 1 and 2 and 2,536 had not been screened since round 1. The median duration of follow-up was 72.7 months. The cumulative rate of CIN2+ over three rounds was 3.88% (95%CI 3.59%, 4.17%) overall; 2.39% in round 1, 0.78% in round 2 and 0.74% in round 3. Cumulative rates by baseline status were 20.53% (95%CI 19.04%, 22.08%) for abnormal cytology, 20.12% (95%CI 18.68%, 21.61%) for HPV detection, 1.41% (95%CI 1.19%, 1.65%) for negative cytology and 0.87% (95%CI 0.70%, 1.06%) for a negative HPV test. In HPV negative women aged over 50 the cumulative rate was 0.16% (95%CI 0.07%, 0.34%). Women who were HPV positive/cytology negative at entry had a cumulative CIN2+ rate of 7.73% (95%CI 6.29%, 9.36%) over 6 years, twice the overall rate. INTERPRETATION: A negative HPV test was significantly more protective than normal cytology over three rounds. The findings of this extension of ARTISTIC suggest that the screening interval could be extended to 6 years if HPV testing replaced cytology as the primary screening test
Bilingualism and executive functioning in children born very low birth weight and normal birth weight
Research has documented an advantage on executive functioning in bilingual compared to monolingual children, suggesting that bilingual children may develop inhibitory control earlier than their monolingual peers. There are no known studies examining the differences between monolingual and bilingual children who were born very low birth weight (VLBW). Children born VLBW are at greater risk for difficulties with attention and inhibition. Executive functioning abilities were measured at 3-4 years and at 5-7 years. Caregivers reported sociodemographic information. Bilingualism was measured by self-report and observation of unstructured mother-child play. Executive functioning abilities were measured using the Bear Dragon (inhibition and working memory 3-4 years), Memory for Location 2 (working memory 3-4 years), Gift Delay (inhibition 3-4 & 5-7 years), WJ-III Memory for Words (working memory 3-4 & 5-7 years), Color Form (inhibition and task switching 5-7 years), and the DCCS (inhibition and task switching 5-7 years). Children born normal birth weight (NBW) performed significantly better on tasks involving working memory (3-4 years), and inhibition (5-7years). Monolingual children born NBW performed better on tasks of working memory (3-4 years) and inhibition (5-7 years) compared to bilingual children born VLBW. Modest evidence for a bilingual (parent reported but not observational) advantage on one of three inhibition tasks (Gift Delay) emerged at school age (5-7 years). Children born NBW performed better on executive functioning measures beginning at the preschool age (3-4 years). Evidence for developmental differences between these groups helps to provide a broader understanding of the development of early executive processes
Extended-Synaptotagmin-2 Mediates FGF Receptor Endocytosis and ERK Activation In Vivo
SummaryTargeting of activated plasma membrane receptors to endocytic pathways is important in determining the outcome of growth factor signaling. However, the molecular mechanisms are still poorly understood. Here, we show that the synaptotagmin-related membrane protein E-Syt2 is essential for rapid endocytosis of the activated FGF receptor and for functional signal transduction during Xenopus development. E-Syt2 depletion prevents an early phase of activated FGF receptor endocytosis that we show is required for ERK activation and the induction of the mesoderm. E-Syt2 interacts selectively with the activated FGF receptor and with Adaptin-2, and is required upstream of Ras activation and of receptor autophosphorylation for ERK activation and the induction of the mesodermal marker Xbra. The data identify E-Syt2 as an endocytic adaptor for the clathrin-mediated pathway whose function is conserved in human and suggest a broader role for the E-Syt subfamily in growth factor signaling
Colliding Branes in Heterotic M-theory
We study the collision of two flat, parallel end-of-the-world branes in
heterotic M-theory. By insisting that there is no divergence in the Riemann
curvature as the collision approaches, we are able to single out a unique
solution possessing the local geometry of (2d compactified Milne)/Z_2 x R_3,
times a finite-volume Calabi-Yau manifold in the vicinity of the collision. At
a finite time before and after the collision, a second type of singularity
appears momentarily on the negative-tension brane, representing its bouncing
off a zero of the bulk warp factor. We find this singularity to be remarkably
mild and easily regularised. The various different cosmological solutions to
heterotic M-theory previously found by other authors are shown to merely
represent different portions of a unique flat cosmological solution to
heterotic M-theory.Comment: 29 pp, 4 figs; Appendix B revised to include junction condition for
scala
The Beta Problem: A Study of Abell 262
We present an investigation of the dynamical state of the cluster A262.
Existing optical line of sight velocities for select cluster galaxies have been
augmented by new data obtained with the Automated Multi-Object Spectrograph at
Lick Observatory. We find evidence for a virialized early-type population
distinct from a late-type population infalling from the Pisces-Perseus
supercluster ridge. We also report on a tertiary population of low luminosity
galaxies whose velocity dispersion distinguishes them from both the early and
late-type galaxies. We supplement our investigation with an analysis of
archival X-ray data. A temperature is determined using ASCA GIS data and a gas
profile is derived from ROSAT HRI data. The increased statistics of our sample
results in a picture of A262 with significant differences from earlier work. A
previously proposed solution to the "beta-problem" in A262 in which the gas
temperature is significantly higher than the galaxy temperature is shown to
result from using too low a velocity dispersion for the early-type galaxies.
Our data present a consistent picture of A262 in which there is no
"beta-problem", and the gas and galaxy temperature are roughly comparable.
There is no longer any requirement for extensive galaxy-gas feedback to
drastically overheat the gas with respect to the galaxies. We also demonstrate
that entropy-floor models can explain the recent discovery that the beta values
determined by cluster gas and the cluster core radii are correlated.Comment: 31 pages, 14 figures, AAS LaTeX v5.0, Encapsulated Postscript
figures, to be published in The Astrophysical Journa
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