472 research outputs found
Instability and dynamics of two nonlinearly coupled laser beams in a plasma
We investigate the nonlinear interaction between two laser beams in a plasma
in the weakly nonlinear and relativistic regime. The evolution of the laser
beams is governed by two nonlinear Schroedinger equations that are coupled with
the slow plasma density response. We study the growth rates of the Raman
forward and backward scattering instabilities as well of the Brillouin and
self-focusing/modulational instabilities. The nonlinear evolution of the
instabilities is investigated by means of direct simulations of the
time-dependent system of nonlinear equations.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figure
Strict Forest Reserve Research in the Margin of the Carpathians, the Vár-hegy Case-Study
Sixteen forest reserves are situated in the northern part of Hungary which belongs to the Carpathian region according to EURAC delimitation (Ruffini et al. 2006). These Hungarian forest reserves expand the natural forest remnant/forest reserve net of the Carpathians towards the lower hilly region, representing the deciduous beech and oak forest belts near their lower (xeric) distribution limits. This paper outlines the Hungarian forest reserves belonging to the Carpathian region and the preliminary results of current projects in the Vár-hegy Forest Reserve (Bükk Mts., Hungary) as a case study. The alteration of tree species composition was investigated here based on the reconstruction of forest history in the previous 130 years (management period) and analyses of forest stand inventory. In another project CO2 sequestration changes of these forest stands were modeled since the clear-cutting in the 1880th and carbon stored in the forest ecosystem compartments was estimated. Our results show that the forest reserve stands are presently in a transition state from the managed forest towards a more natural mixed forest with several age-classes
Left hemisphere enhancement of auditory activation in language impaired children
Specific language impairment (SLI) is a developmental disorder linked to deficient auditory processing. In this magnetoencephalography (MEG) study we investigated a specific prolonged auditory response (N250m) that has been reported predominantly in children and is associated with level of language skills. We recorded auditory responses evoked by sine-wave tones presented alternately to the right and left ear of 9–10-year-old children with SLI (n = 10) and children with typical language development (n = 10). Source analysis was used to isolate the N250m response in the left and right hemisphere. In children with language impairment left-hemisphere N250m responses were enhanced compared to those of controls, while no group difference was found in the right hemisphere. Consequently, language impaired children lacked the typical right-ward asymmetry that was found in control children. Furthermore, left but not right hemisphere N250m responses correlated positively with performance on a phonological processing task in the SLI group exclusively, possibly signifying a compensatory mechanism for delayed maturation of language processing. These results suggest that enhanced left-hemisphere auditory activation reflects a core neurophysiological manifestation of developmental language disorders, and emphasize the relevance of this developmentally specific activation pattern for competent language development. © 2019, The Author(s).Peer reviewe
Confirmation of an exoplanet using the transit color signature: Kepler-418b, a blended giant planet in a multiplanet system
We announce confirmation of Kepler-418b, one of two proposed planets in this
system. This is the first confirmation of an exoplanet based primarily on the
transit color signature technique. We used the Kepler public data archive
combined with multicolor photometry from the Gran Telescopio de Canarias and
radial velocity follow-up using FIES at the Nordic Optical Telescope for
confirmation. We report a confident detection of a transit color signature that
can only be explained by a compact occulting body, entirely ruling out a
contaminating eclipsing binary, a hierarchical triple, or a grazing eclipsing
binary. Those findings are corroborated by our radial velocity measurements,
which put an upper limit of ~1 Mjup on the mass of Kepler-418b. We also report
that the host star is significantly blended, confirming the ~10% light
contamination suspected from the crowding metric in the Kepler light curve
measured by the Kepler team. We report detection of an unresolved light source
that contributes an additional ~40% to the target star, which would not have
been detected without multicolor photometric analysis. The resulting
planet-star radius ratio is 0.110 +/- 0.0025, more than 25% more than the 0.087
measured by Kepler, leading to a radius of 1.20 +/- 0.16 Rjup instead of the
0.94 Rjup measured by the Kepler team. This is the first confirmation of an
exoplanet candidate based primarily on the transit color signature,
demonstrating that this technique is viable from ground for giant planets. It
is particularly useful for planets with long periods such as Kepler-418b, which
tend to have long transit durations. Additionally, multicolor photometric
analysis of transits can reveal unknown stellar neighbors and binary companions
that do not affect the classification of the transiting object but can have a
very significant effect on the perceived planetary radius.Comment: accepted by Astronomy & Astrophysic
A feature-rich transmission spectrum for WASP-127b
WASP-127b is one of the lowest density planets discovered to date. With a
sub-Saturn mass () and super-Jupiter radius
(), it orbits a bright G5 star, which is about to
leave the main-sequence. We aim to explore WASP-127b's atmosphere in order to
retrieve its main atmospheric components, and to find hints for its intriguing
inflation and evolutionary history. We used the ALFOSC spectrograph at the NOT
telescope to observe a low resolution (, seeing limited) long-slit
spectroscopic time series during a planetary transit, and present here the
first transmission spectrum for WASP-127b. We find the presence of a strong
Rayleigh slope at blue wavelengths and a hint of Na absorption, although the
quality of the data does not allow us to claim a detection. At redder
wavelengths the absorption features of TiO and VO are the best explanation to
fit the data. Although higher signal-to-noise ratio observations are needed to
conclusively confirm the absorption features, WASP-127b seems to posses a
cloud-free atmosphere and is one of the best targets to perform further
characterization studies in the near future.Comment: Accepted for Publication A&A Letters, May 22nd, 201
Electrostatic pair creation and recombination in quantum plasmas
The collective production of electron-positron pairs by electrostatic waves
in quantum plasmas is investigated. In particular, a semi-classical governing
set of equation for a self-consistent treatment of pair creation by the
Schwinger mechanism in a quantum plasma is derived.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, to appear in JETP Letter
Corticomuscular Coherence Is Tuned to the Spontaneous Rhythmicity of Speech at 2-3 Hz
Human speech features rhythmicity that frames distinctive, fine-grained speech patterns. Speech can thus be counted among rhythmic motor behaviors that generally manifest characteristic spontaneous rates. However, the critical neural evidence for tuning of articulatory control to a spontaneous rate of speech has not been uncovered. The present study examined the spontaneous rhythmicity in speech production and its relationship to cortex–muscle neurocommunication, which is essential for speech control. Our MEG results show that, during articulation, coherent oscillatory coupling between the mouth sensorimotor cortex and the mouth muscles is strongest at the frequency of spontaneous rhythmicity of speech at 2–3 Hz, which is also the typical rate of word production. Corticomuscular coherence, a measure of efficient cortex–muscle neurocommunication, thus reveals behaviorally relevant oscillatory tuning for spoken language.Peer reviewe
Glial cells are functionally impaired in juvenile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis and detrimental to neurons.
The neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses (NCLs or Batten disease) are a group of inherited, fatal neurodegenerative disorders of childhood. In these disorders, glial (microglial and astrocyte) activation typically occurs early in disease progression and predicts where neuron loss subsequently occurs. We have found that in the most common juvenile form of NCL (CLN3 disease or JNCL) this glial response is less pronounced in both mouse models and human autopsy material, with the morphological transformation of both astrocytes and microglia severely attenuated or delayed. To investigate their properties, we isolated glia and neurons from Cln3-deficient mice and studied their basic biology in culture. Upon stimulation, both Cln3-deficient astrocytes and microglia also showed an attenuated ability to transform morphologically, and an altered protein secretion profile. These defects were more pronounced in astrocytes, including the reduced secretion of a range of neuroprotective factors, mitogens, chemokines and cytokines, in addition to impaired calcium signalling and glutamate clearance. Cln3-deficient neurons also displayed an abnormal organization of their neurites. Most importantly, using a co-culture system, Cln3-deficient astrocytes and microglia had a negative impact on the survival and morphology of both Cln3-deficient and wildtype neurons, but these effects were largely reversed by growing mutant neurons with healthy glia. These data provide evidence that CLN3 disease astrocytes are functionally compromised. Together with microglia, they may play an active role in neuron loss in this disorder and can be considered as potential targets for therapeutic interventions
37 GHz observations of a large sample of BL Lacertae objects
We present 37 GHz data obtained at Metsahovi Radio Observatory in 2001
December - 2005 April for a large sample of BL Lacertae objects. We also report
the mean variability indices and radio spectral indices in frequency intervals
5 - 37 GHz and 37 - 90 GHz. Approximately 34 % of the sample was detected at 37
GHz, 136 BL Lacertae objects in all. A large majority of the detected sources
were low-energy BL Lacs (LBLs). The variability index values of the sample were
diverse, the mean fractional variability of the sample being \Delta S_2 = 0.31.
The spectral indices also varied widely, but the average radio spectrum of the
sample sources is flat. Our observations show that many of the high-energy BL
Lacs (HBL), which are usually considered radio-quiet, can at times be detected
at 37 GHz.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures + 5 tables. Published in Astronomical Journa
Kepler423b: a half-Jupiter mass planet transiting a very old solar-like star
We report the spectroscopic confirmation of the Kepler object of interest
KOI-183.01 (Kepler-423b), a half-Jupiter mass planet transiting an old
solar-like star every 2.7 days. Our analysis is the first to combine the full
Kepler photometry (quarters 1-17) with high-precision radial velocity
measurements taken with the FIES spectrograph at the Nordic Optical Telescope.
We simultaneously modelled the photometric and spectroscopic data-sets using
Bayesian approach coupled with Markov chain Monte Carlo sampling. We found that
the Kepler pre-search data conditioned (PDC) light curve of KOI-183 exhibits
quarter-to-quarter systematic variations of the transit depth, with a
peak-to-peak amplitude of about 4.3 % and seasonal trends reoccurring every
four quarters. We attributed these systematics to an incorrect assessment of
the quarterly variation of the crowding metric. The host star KOI-183 is a G4
dwarf with M_\rm{Sun},
R_\rm{Sun}, K, dex, and with
an age of Gyr. The planet KOI-183b has a mass of
M and a radius of
R, yielding a planetary bulk
density of g/cm. The radius of KOI-183b
is consistent with both theoretical models for irradiated coreless giant
planets and expectations based on empirical laws. The inclination of the
stellar spin axis suggests that the system is aligned along the line of sight.
We detected a tentative secondary eclipse of the planet at a 2-
confidence level ( ppm) and found that the
orbit might have a small non-zero eccentricity of .
With a Bond albedo of , KOI-183b is one of the
gas-giant planets with the lowest albedo known so far.Comment: 13 pages, 13 figures, 5 tables. Accepted for publication in A&A.
Planet designation changed from KOI-183b to Kepler-423
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