1,145 research outputs found
Scalar-tensor analysis of an exponential Lagrangian for the Gravitational Field
Within the scheme of modified gravity, an exponential Lagrangian density will
be considered, and the corresponding scalar-tensor description will be
addressed for both positive and negative values of the cosmological constant.
For negative values of the cosmological term, the potential of the scalar field
exhibits a minimum, around which scalar-field equations can be linearized. The
study of the deSitter regime shows that a comparison with the modified-gravity
description is possible in an off-shell region, i.e., in a region where the
classical equivalence between the two formulations is not fulfilled.
Furthermore, despite the negative cosmological constant, an accelerating
deSitter phase is predicted in the region where the series expansion of the
exponential term does not hold. For positive values of the cosmological
constant, the quantum regime is analyzed within the framework of Loop Quantum
Cosmology.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, to appear in the proceedings of'' 4th
Italian-Sino Workshop on Relativistic Astrophysics'', AIP Conference Serie
Modelling Heat Transfer of Carbon Nanotubes
Modelling heat transfer of carbon nanotubes is important for the thermal
management of nanotube-based composites and nanoelectronic device. By using a
finite element method for three-dimensional anisotropic heat transfer, we have
simulated the heat conduction and temperature variations of a single nanotube,
a nanotube array and a part of nanotube-based composite surface with heat
generation. The thermal conductivity used is obtained from the upscaled value
from the molecular simulations or experiments. Simulations show that nanotube
arrays have unique cooling characteristics due to its anisotropic thermal
conductivity.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure
Longitudinal Structure Functions in Decaying and Forced Turbulence
In order to reliably compute the longitudinal structure functions in decaying
and forced turbulence, local isotropy is examined with the aid of the isotropic
expression of the incompressible conditions for the second and third order
structure functions. Furthermore, the Karman-Howarth-Kolmogorov relation is
investigated to examine the effects of external forcing and temporally
decreasing of the second order structure function. On the basis of these
investigations, the scaling range and exponents of the longitudinal
structure functions are determined for decaying and forced turbulence with the
aid of the extended-self-similarity (ESS) method. We find that 's are
smaller, for , in decaying turbulence than in forced turbulence. The
reasons for this discrepancy are discussed. Analysis of the local slopes of the
structure functions is used to justify the ESS method.Comment: 15 pages, 16 figure
Coronary-artery bypass surgery in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy
BACKGROUND
The survival benefit of a strategy of coronary-artery bypass grafting (CABG) added to
guideline-directed medical therapy, as compared with medical therapy alone, in patients
with coronary artery disease, heart failure, and severe left ventricular systolic
dysfunction remains unclear.
METHODS
From July 2002 to May 2007, a total of 1212 patients with an ejection fraction of 35%
or less and coronary artery disease amenable to CABG were randomly assigned to
undergo CABG plus medical therapy (CABG group, 610 patients) or medical therapy
alone (medical-therapy group, 602 patients). The primary outcome was death from any
cause. Major secondary outcomes included death from cardiovascular causes and death
from any cause or hospitalization for cardiovascular causes. The median duration of
follow-up, including the current extended-follow-up study, was 9.8 years.
RESULTS
A primary outcome event occurred in 359 patients (58.9%) in the CABG group and in
398 patients (66.1%) in the medical-therapy group (hazard ratio with CABG vs. medical
therapy, 0.84; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.73 to 0.97; P=0.02 by log-rank test). A
total of 247 patients (40.5%) in the CABG group and 297 patients (49.3%) in the
medical-therapy group died from cardiovascular causes (hazard ratio, 0.79; 95% CI,
0.66 to 0.93; P=0.006 by log-rank test). Death from any cause or hospitalization for
cardiovascular causes occurred in 467 patients (76.6%) in the CABG group and in 524
patients (87.0%) in the medical-therapy group (hazard ratio, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.64 to 0.82;
P<0.001 by log-rank test).
CONCLUSIONS
In a cohort of patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy, the rates of death from any
cause, death from cardiovascular causes, and death from any cause or hospitalization
for cardiovascular causes were significantly lower over 10 years among patients who
underwent CABG in addition to receiving medical therapy than among those who received
medical therapy alone. (Funded by the National Institutes of Health; STICH [and
STICHES] ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00023595.
High body burdens of 2,2',4,4'-tetrabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-47) in California women.
Following our first report on elevated polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) concentrations in California women, we expanded our investigation to include diverse groups of local women. We analyzed additional adipose and serum samples collected in the late 1990s from San Francisco Bay Area women participating in a breast cancer study and in a reproductive study, respectively. Adipose samples (n = 32) were analyzed by low-resolution mass spectrometry in negative-ion chemical ionization mode, whereas serum samples (n = 50) were analyzed by dual-column gas chromatography with electron capture detection. The results confirmed our earlier findings. Concentrations of 2,2,4,4 -tetrabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-47) in contemporary California women ranged between 5 and 510 ng/g lipid, with a median (16.5 ng/g lipid) 3-10 times higher than those reported from Europe. In contrast, PBDEs were not measurable in any of 420 archived serum samples collected in the 1960s from San Francisco Bay Area women participating in a study of child development. BDE-47 concentrations did not increase with age or with concentrations of a polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB-153), suggesting other routes of exposure in addition to diet. Rising body burdens of endocrine-disrupting chemicals such as PBDEs may pose a potential public health threat
Multifractal stationary random measures and multifractal random walks with log-infinitely divisible scaling laws
We define a large class of continuous time multifractal random measures and
processes with arbitrary log-infinitely divisible exact or asymptotic scaling
law. These processes generalize within a unified framework both the recently
defined log-normal Multifractal Random Walk (MRW) [Bacry-Delour-Muzy] and the
log-Poisson "product of cynlindrical pulses" [Barral-Mandelbrot]. Our
construction is based on some ``continuous stochastic multiplication'' from
coarse to fine scales that can be seen as a continuous interpolation of
discrete multiplicative cascades. We prove the stochastic convergence of the
defined processes and study their main statistical properties. The question of
genericity (universality) of limit multifractal processes is addressed within
this new framework. We finally provide some methods for numerical simulations
and discuss some specific examples.Comment: 24 pages, 4 figure
N-Glycosylation-Defective Splice Variants of Neuropilin-1 Promote Metastasis by Activating Endosomal Signals
Neuropilin-1 (NRP1) is an essential transmembrane receptor with a variety of cellular functions. Here, we identify two human NRP1 splice variants resulting from the skipping of exon 4 and 5, respectively, in colorectal cancer (CRC). Both NRP1 variants exhibit increased endocytosis/recycling activity and decreased levels of degradation, leading to accumulation on endosomes. This increased endocytic trafficking of the two NRP1 variants, upon HGF stimulation, is due to loss of N-glycosylation at the Asn150 or Asn261 site, respectively. Moreover, these NRP1 variants enhance interactions with the Met and β1-integrin receptors, resulting in Met/β1-integrin co-internalization and co-accumulation on endosomes. This provides persistent signals to activate the FAK/p130Cas pathway, thereby promoting CRC cell migration, invasion and metastasis. Blocking endocytosis or endosomal Met/β1-integrin/FAK signaling profoundly inhibits the oncogenic effects of both NRP1 variants. These findings reveal an important role for these NRP1 splice variants in the regulation of endocytic trafficking for cancer cell dissemination
Supersymmetric Intersecting Branes on the Waves
We construct a general family of supersymmetric solutions in time- and
space-dependent wave backgrounds in general supergravity theories describing
single and intersecting p-branes embedded into time-dependent dilaton-gravity
plane waves of an arbitrary (isotropic) profile, with the brane world-volume
aligned parallel to the propagation direction of the wave. We discuss how many
degrees of freedom we have in the solutions. We also propose that these
solutions can be used to describe higher-dimensional time-dependent "black
holes", and discuss their property briefly.Comment: 12 pages, LaTe
Thermal AdS(3), BTZ and competing winding modes condensation
We study the thermal physics of AdS(3) and the BTZ black hole when embedded
in String theory. The exact calculation of the Hagedorn temperature in TAdS(3)
is reinterpreted as the appearance of a winding tachyon both in AdS(3) and BTZ.
We construct a dual framework for analyzing the phases of the system. In this
dual framework, tachyon condensation and geometric capping appear on the same
footing, bridging the usual gap of connecting tachyon condensation to
modifications of geometry. This allows us to construct in a natural way a
candidate for the unstable phase, analogous to a small black hole in higher
dimensions. Additional peculiar effects associated with the Hagedorn
temperature and the Hawking-Page transition, some to do with the asymptotic
structure of AdS(3) and some with strong curvature effects, are analyzed and
explained.Comment: 40 pages, 5 figures, JHEP3 format. v2: added references, minor
corrections and clarification
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