612 research outputs found
A non-perturbative approach to halo breakup
The theory of weakly bound cluster breakup, like halo nucleus breakup, needs
an accurate treatment of the transitions from bound to continuum states induced
by the nuclear and Coulomb potentials. When the transition probability is not
very small, a non-perturbative framework might be necessary. Nuclear excitation
dominates at small impact parameters whereas the Coulomb potential being long
range acts over a larger impact parameter interval. In this article, we propose
an effective breakup amplitude which meets a number of requirements necessary
for an accurate quantitative description of the breakup reaction mechanism.
Furthermore our treatment gives some insight on the interplay between time
dependent perturbation theory and sudden approximation and it allows to include
the nuclear and Coulomb potentials to all orders within an eikonal-like
framework.Comment: 22 Latex pages, 1 table, 8 eps figures. Accepted for publication on
Nucl. Phys.
Imbalance of naive and memory T lymphocytes with sustained high cellular activation during the first year of life from uninfected children born to HIV-1-infected mothers on HAART
The immune consequences of in utero HIV exposure to uninfected children whose mothers were submitted to highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) during gestation are not well defined. We evaluated 45 HIV-exposed uninfected (ENI) neonates and 45 healthy unexposed control (CT) neonates. All HIV-infected mothers received HAART during pregnancy, and the viral load at delivery was <50 copies/mL for 56.8%. Twenty-three ENI neonates were further evaluated after 12 months and compared to 23 unexposed healthy age-matched infants. Immunophenotyping was performed by flow cytometry in cord and peripheral blood. Cord blood lymphocyte numbers did not differ between groups. However, ENI neonates had a lower percentage of naive T cells than CT neonates (CD4+, 76.6 vs 83.1%, P < 0.001; CD8+, 70.9 vs 79.6%, P = 0.003) and higher percentages of central memory T cells than CT neonates (CD4+, 13.9 vs 8.7%, P < 0.001; CD8+, 8.6 vs 4.8%, P = 0.001). CD38 mean fluorescence intensity of T cells was higher in ENI neonates (CD4+, 62.2 vs 52.1, P = 0.007; CD8+, 47.7 vs 35.3, P < 0.001). At 12 months, ENI infants still had higher mean fluorescence intensity of CD38 on T cells (CD4+, 34.2 vs 23.3, P < 0.001; CD8+, 26.8 vs 19.4, P = 0.035). Despite effective maternal virologic control at delivery, HIV-exposed uninfected children were born with lower levels of naive T cells. Immune activation was present at birth and remained until at least 12 months of age, suggesting that in utero exposure to HIV causes subtle immune abnormalities.FAPESPCoordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES
A Self-Consistent First-Principles Technique Having Linear Scaling
An algorithm for first-principles electronic structure calculations having a
computational cost which scales linearly with the system size is presented. Our
method exploits the real-space localization of the density matrix, and in this
respect it is related to the technique of Li, Nunes and Vanderbilt. The density
matrix is expressed in terms of localized support functions, and a matrix of
variational parameters, L, having a finite spatial range. The total energy is
minimized with respect to both the support functions and the elements of the L
matrix. The method is variational, and becomes exact as the ranges of the
support functions and the L matrix are increased. We have tested the method on
crystalline silicon systems containing up to 216 atoms, and we discuss some of
these results.Comment: 12 pages, REVTeX, 2 figure
Towards a Linear-Scaling DFT Technique: The Density Matrix Approach
A recently proposed linear-scaling scheme for density-functional
pseudopotential calculations is described in detail. The method is based on a
formulation of density functional theory in which the ground state energy is
determined by minimization with respect to the density matrix, subject to the
condition that the eigenvalues of the latter lie in the range [0,1].
Linear-scaling behavior is achieved by requiring that the density matrix should
vanish when the separation of its arguments exceeds a chosen cutoff. The
limitation on the eigenvalue range is imposed by the method of Li, Nunes and
Vanderbilt. The scheme is implemented by calculating all terms in the energy on
a uniform real-space grid, and minimization is performed using the
conjugate-gradient method. Tests on a 512-atom Si system show that the total
energy converges rapidly as the range of the density matrix is increased. A
discussion of the relation between the present method and other linear-scaling
methods is given, and some problems that still require solution are indicated.Comment: REVTeX file, 27 pages with 4 uuencoded postscript figure
Elementary excitations of trapped Bose gas in the large-gas-parameter regime
We study the effect of going beyond the Gross-Pitaevskii theory on the
frequencies of collective oscillations of a trapped Bose gas in the large gas
parameter regime. We go beyond the Gross-Pitaevskii regime by including a
higher-order term in the interatomic correlation energy. To calculate the
frequencies we employ the sum-rule approach of many-body response theory
coupled with a variational method for the determination of ground-state
properties. We show that going beyond the Gross-Pitaevskii approximation
introduces significant corrections to the collective frequencies of the
compressional mode.Comment: 17 pages with 4 figures. To be published in Phys. Rev.
Response of vegetation to fire disturbance: short-term dynamics in two savanna physiognomies
Fire is a constitutive ecological force in savanna ecosystems, but few studies have monitored its short-term effects on plant community dynamics. This study investigated changes in plant diversity in the South American savanna (Cerrado) after severe disturbance by fire. We monitored 30 permanent plots (10 m Ă 5 m) distributed in two Cerrado physiognomies (tĂpico: more forested; ralo: grass-dominated), being 10 plots in the area disturbed by fire, and five in a preserved control area (undisturbed). From August 2010 to June 2011, we evaluated changes in species richness, abundance and composition of savanna vegetation. Monitoring started one week after the fire; disturbed plots were surveyed monthly, while control plots were surveyed every two months. We observed rapid reassembling in both physiognomies: plots affected by fire showed rapid increase in species richness and plant density during the first four months after the disturbance. Concerning species composition, disturbed plots in the cerrado tĂpico tended to converge to control plots after one year, but each local assemblage followed particular temporal trajectories. A different pattern characterized cerrado ralo plots, which showed heterogeneous trajectories and lack of convergence between disturbed and control plots; the structure of these assemblages will likely change in next years. In conclusion, our results showed that fire significantly affected plant diversity in the two savanna physiognomies (cerrado tĂpico and ralo), but also indicated that community reassembling is fast, with different dynamics between Cerrado physiognomies
Leading Charm Production in the Interacting Gluon Model
We discuss leading charm production in connection with energy deposition in
the central rapidity region. Special attention is given to the correlation
between production in central and fragmentation regions. If the fraction of the
reaction energy released in the central region increases the asymmetry in the
distributions of charmed mesons will become smaller. We illustrate this
quantitatively with simple calculations performed using the Interacting Gluon
Model. Leading beauty production is also considered.Comment: 13 pages in Latex file and 7 uuencoded ps-figure
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