346 research outputs found
Resting vs. active: a meta-analysis of the intra- and inter-specific associations between minimum, sustained, and maximum metabolic rates in vertebrates
Variation in aerobic capacity has far reaching consequences for the physiology, ecology, and evolution of vertebrates. Whether at rest or active, animals are constrained to operate within the energetic bounds determined by their minimum (minMR) and sustained or maximum metabolic rates (upperMR). MinMR and upperMR can differ considerably among individuals and species but are often presumed to be mechanistically linked to one another. Specifically, minMR is thought to reflect the idling cost of the machinery needed to support upperMR. However, previous analyses based on limited datasets have come to conflicting conclusions regarding the generality and strength of their association.
Here we conduct the first comprehensive assessment of their relationship, based on a large number of published estimates of both the intra-specific (n = 176) and inter-specific (n = 41) phenotypic correlations between minMR and upperMR, estimated as either exercise-induced maximum metabolic rate (VO2max), cold-induced summit metabolic rate (Msum), or daily energy expenditure (DEE).
Our meta-analysis shows that there is a general positive association between minMR and upperMR that is shared among vertebrate taxonomic classes. However, there was stronger evidence for intra-specific correlations between minMR and Msum and between minMR and DEE than there was for a correlation between minMR and VO2max across different taxa. As expected, inter-specific correlation estimates were consistently higher than intra-specific estimates across all traits and vertebrate classes.
An interesting exception to this general trend was observed in mammals, which contrast with birds and exhibit no correlation between minMR and Msum. We speculate that this is due to the evolution and recruitment of brown fat as a thermogenic tissue, which illustrates how some species and lineages might circumvent this seemingly general association.
We conclude that, in spite of some variability across taxa and traits, the contention that minMR and upperMR are positively correlated generally holds true both within and across vertebrate species. Ecological and comparative studies should therefore take into consideration the possibility that variation in any one of these traits might partly reflect correlated responses to selection on other metabolic parameters
Tracing Ghost Cavities with Low Frequency Radio Observations
We present X-ray and multi-frequency radio observations of the central radio
sources in several X-ray cavity systems. We show that targeted radio
observations are key to determining if the lobes are being actively fed by the
central AGN. Low frequency observations provide a unique way to study both the
lifecycle of the central radio source as well as its energy input into the ICM
over several outburst episodes.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, To appear in the Proceedings of "Heating vs.
Cooling in Galaxies and Clusters of Galaxies", eds. H. Boehringer, P.
Schuecker, G. W. Pratt & A. Finoguenov (ESO Astrophysics Symposia,
Springer-Verlag), Garching (Germany), August 200
Cold Feedback in Cooling-Flow Galaxy Clusters
We put forward an alternative view to the Bondi-driven feedback between
heating and cooling of the intra-cluster medium (ICM) in cooling flow galaxies
and clusters. We adopt the popular view that the heating is due to an active
galactic nucleus (AGN), i.e. a central black hole accreting mass and launching
jets and/or winds. We propose that the feedback occurs with the entire cool
inner region (5-30 kpc). A moderate cooling flow does exist here, and
non-linear over-dense blobs of gas cool fast and are removed from the ICM
before experiencing the next major AGN heating event. Some of these blobs may
not accrete on the central black hole, but may form stars and cold molecular
clouds. We discuss the conditions under which the dense blobs may cool to low
temperatures and feed the black hole.Comment: 6 pages, no figures, to appear in the Proceedings of "Heating vs.
Cooling in Galaxies and Clusters of Galaxies", August 2006, Garching
(Germany
Nuclear muon capture by 3He: meson exchange currents for the triton channel
Exchange current corrections are calculated using currents found from the
hard-pion model and AV14+3BF wavefunctions. Results are given for the rate and
spin observables. Their sensitivity to g_P, the nucleon pseudoscalar form
factor, is reported.Comment: 35 pages, uuencoded gz-compressed tar file 42 Kbyte
B Production Asymmetries in Perturbative QCD
This paper explores a new mechanism for B production in which a b quark
combines with a light parton from the hard-scattering process before
hadronizing into the B hadron. This recombination mechanism can be calculated
within perturbative QCD up to a few nonperturbative constants. Though
suppressed at large transverse momentum by a factor Lambda_QCD m_b/p_t^2
relative to b quark fragmentation production, it can be important at large
rapidities. A signature for this heavy-quark recombination mechanism in
proton-antiproton colliders is the presence of rapidity asymmetries in B cross
sections. Given reasonable assumptions about the size of nonperturbative
parameters entering the calculation, we find that the asymmetries are only
significant for rapidities larger than those currently probed by collider
experiments.Comment: 17 pages, LaTeX, 4 ps figures, tightenlines, sections added, final
version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Excitation functions of hadronic observables from SIS to RHIC energies
We calculate excitation functions for various dynamical quantities as well as
experimental observables from SIS to RHIC energies within the HSD transport
approach which is based on string, quark, diquark () and hadronic degrees of freedom without including any explicit
phase transition to a quark-gluon plasma (QGP). It is argued that the failure
of this more 'conventional' approach in comparison to experimental data should
indicate the presence of a different phase which might be either attributed to
space-time regions of vanishing scalar quark condensate ( = 0) or
to the presence of a QGP phase with strongly interacting partons. We study the
ratio, the low mass dilepton enhancement in the invariant mass regime
from 0.2 -- 1.2 GeV as well as charmonium suppression for central Au + Au
collisions as a function of the bombarding energy and present predictions for
these observables as well as hadron rapiditiy distributions at RHIC energies.
Whereas all observables studied within HSD show smooth increasing/decreasing
excitation functions, the experimental ratio indicates a maximum at
11 AGeV (or above) which is interpreted as a signature for a chirally
restored phase in the course of the reaction.Comment: 34 pages, LaTeX, including 14 postscript figures (high quality color
versions of figs. 3,4 are available from
http://theorie.physik.uni-giessen.de/~brat/own.html), Nucl. Phys.
Measurement of the Charged Multiplicities in b, c and Light Quark Events from Z0 Decays
Average charged multiplicities have been measured separately in , and
light quark () events from decays measured in the SLD experiment.
Impact parameters of charged tracks were used to select enriched samples of
and light quark events, and reconstructed charmed mesons were used to select
quark events. We measured the charged multiplicities:
,
, from
which we derived the differences between the total average charged
multiplicities of or quark events and light quark events: and . We compared
these measurements with those at lower center-of-mass energies and with
perturbative QCD predictions. These combined results are in agreement with the
QCD expectations and disfavor the hypothesis of flavor-independent
fragmentation.Comment: 19 pages LaTex, 4 EPS figures, to appear in Physics Letters
An Integrated TCGA Pan-Cancer Clinical Data Resource to Drive High-Quality Survival Outcome Analytics
For a decade, The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) program collected clinicopathologic annotation data along with multi-platform molecular profiles of more than 11,000 human tumors across 33 different cancer types. TCGA clinical data contain key features representing the democratized nature of the data collection process. To ensure proper use of this large clinical dataset associated with genomic features, we developed a standardized dataset named the TCGA Pan-Cancer Clinical Data Resource (TCGA-CDR), which includes four major clinical outcome endpoints. In addition to detailing major challenges and statistical limitations encountered during the effort of integrating the acquired clinical data, we present a summary that includes endpoint usage recommendations for each cancer type. These TCGA-CDR findings appear to be consistent with cancer genomics studies independent of the TCGA effort and provide opportunities for investigating cancer biology using clinical correlates at an unprecedented scale. Analysis of clinicopathologic annotations for over 11,000 cancer patients in the TCGA program leads to the generation of TCGA Clinical Data Resource, which provides recommendations of clinical outcome endpoint usage for 33 cancer types
Heavy quarkonium: progress, puzzles, and opportunities
A golden age for heavy quarkonium physics dawned a decade ago, initiated by
the confluence of exciting advances in quantum chromodynamics (QCD) and an
explosion of related experimental activity. The early years of this period were
chronicled in the Quarkonium Working Group (QWG) CERN Yellow Report (YR) in
2004, which presented a comprehensive review of the status of the field at that
time and provided specific recommendations for further progress. However, the
broad spectrum of subsequent breakthroughs, surprises, and continuing puzzles
could only be partially anticipated. Since the release of the YR, the BESII
program concluded only to give birth to BESIII; the -factories and CLEO-c
flourished; quarkonium production and polarization measurements at HERA and the
Tevatron matured; and heavy-ion collisions at RHIC have opened a window on the
deconfinement regime. All these experiments leave legacies of quality,
precision, and unsolved mysteries for quarkonium physics, and therefore beg for
continuing investigations. The plethora of newly-found quarkonium-like states
unleashed a flood of theoretical investigations into new forms of matter such
as quark-gluon hybrids, mesonic molecules, and tetraquarks. Measurements of the
spectroscopy, decays, production, and in-medium behavior of c\bar{c}, b\bar{b},
and b\bar{c} bound states have been shown to validate some theoretical
approaches to QCD and highlight lack of quantitative success for others. The
intriguing details of quarkonium suppression in heavy-ion collisions that have
emerged from RHIC have elevated the importance of separating hot- and
cold-nuclear-matter effects in quark-gluon plasma studies. This review
systematically addresses all these matters and concludes by prioritizing
directions for ongoing and future efforts.Comment: 182 pages, 112 figures. Editors: N. Brambilla, S. Eidelman, B. K.
Heltsley, R. Vogt. Section Coordinators: G. T. Bodwin, E. Eichten, A. D.
Frawley, A. B. Meyer, R. E. Mitchell, V. Papadimitriou, P. Petreczky, A. A.
Petrov, P. Robbe, A. Vair
Long-term reduction in 137Cs concentration in food crops on coral atolls resulting from potassium treatment
Bikini Island was contaminated March 1, 1954 by the Bravo detonation (U.S nuclear test series, Castle) at Bikini Atoll. About 90% of the estimated dose from nuclear fallout to potential island residents is from cesium-137 ({sup 137}Cs) transferred from soil to plants that are consumed by residents. Thus, radioecology research efforts have been focused on removing {sup 137}Cs from soil and/or reducing its uptake into vegetation. Most effective was addition of potassium (K) to soil that reduces {sup 137}Cs concentration in fruits to 3-5% of pretreatment concentrations. Initial observations indicated this low concentration continued for some time after K was last applied. Long-term studies were designed to evaluate this persistence in more detail because it is very important to provide assurance to returning populations that {sup 137}Cs concentrations in food (and, therefore, radiation dose) will remain low for extended periods, even if K is not applied annually or biennially. Potassium applied at 300, 660, 1260, and 1970 kg ha{sup -1} lead to a {sup 137}Cs concentration in drinking coconut meat that is 34, 22, 10, and about 4 % of original concentration, respectively. Concentration of {sup 137}Cs remains low 8 to 10 y after K is last applied. An explanation for this unexpected result is discussed
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