588 research outputs found
Statutory Comment
International audienc
15-Ketodihydro-PGF2α, Progesterone and Cortisol Profiles in Heifers after Induction of Parturition by Injection of Dexamethasone
In order to study rapid changes in 15-ketodihydro-PGF2α, cortisol and progesterone in the period preceding parturition in cattle, pre-term parturition was induced in 4 late pregnant heifers. Parturitions were induced by 2 intramuscular injections of 20 mg dexamethasone with a 24-h interval. The first injection was made on days 254, 258, 264 and 265 in gestation, respectively. Twenty-four h before the first injection an intravenous polyurethane cannula was inserted. Blood samples were collected at least every hour until 12 h after parturition and during the second stage of labour at least 6 times per hour. Plasma was analysed for 15-ketodihydro-PGF2α and progesterone by radioimmunoassays, and for cortisol by an ELISA. The average time from injection to parturition was 7.7 (6.6–8.9) days (mean (range)). Two of the heifers had retained foetal membranes (RFM). At the start of the experiment the levels of PGF2α metabolite were low (< 300 pmol/L) and increased slowly to levels between 1000 and 2000 pmol/L at one day before parturition. During the last day, however, the levels increased rapidly and the highest levels (>10000 pmol/L) were reached at the time of delivery. No pulsatile release was seen. Immediately after foetal expulsion the PG-metabolite levels decreased rapidly in all animals. In the 2 animals with RFM, however, this decline ceased within a few h. The PG-metabolite levels in these animals then started to increase and reached levels as high as during parturition. Luteolysis occurred between 1.6 and 0.4 days before parturition in all animals. The cortisol profile showed a distinct peak at the time of parturition in the RFM heifers. This peak was absent in the non-RFM heifers. This study shows that the PGF2α release at prepartal luteolysis and parturition is not pulsatile in cattle and that cortisol profiles in heifers with retained foetal membranes might differ from the profiles in non-RFM heifers at the time of parturition
Behavior of expanded polystyrene (EPS) blocks under cyclic pavement foundation loading
This study introduces a mechanism for initial assessment and future development to improve understanding of expanded polystyrene (EPS) behavior as a super-lightweight material for road construction. Large scale cyclic plate load tests on model pavements were performed. The effect of several factors including thickness of soil, thickness of subsequent EPS layers and density of EPS on the surface deformations, resilient modulus (Mr) and interlayer pressure transfer were investigated. The results indicated that, compared to a covering soil layer of 300 mm, the rut depth on the loading surface reduced by 13.5% and 40.8% when the soil thickness was increased by 33% and 100%, respectively. With a constant soil thickness, increasing the thickness of an upper (denser) EPS layer with respect to a bottom (softer) EPS layer, from 200 mm to 600 mm, would only result in a 20% decrease in the peak settlements after loading. Resilient modulus of the system was found to be dependent on soil thickness. A designer can choose an appropriate resilient modulus assuming the soil-EPS composite acts as subgrade or subbase. In order to extend the results to a wider range of geofoams, soils and layer thicknesses, a simple stress analysis method was also trialed
N=1/2 Super Yang-Mills Theory on Euclidean AdS2xS2
We study D-branes in the background of Euclidean AdS2xS2 with a graviphoton
field turned on. As the background is not Ricci flat, the graviphoton field
must have both self-dual and antiself-dual parts. This, in general, will break
all the supersymmetries on the brane. However, we show that there exists a
limit for which one can restore half of the supersymmetries. Further, we show
that in this limit, the N=1/2 SYM Lagrangian on flat space can be lifted on to
the Euclidean AdS2xS2 preserving the same amount of supersymmetries as in the
flat case. We observe that without the C-dependent terms present in the action
this lift is not possible.Comment: 12 pages, latex file; v2: minor corrections, references adde
U(N) Instantons on N=1/2 superspace -- exact solution & geometry of moduli space
We construct the exact solution of one (anti)instanton in N=1/2 super
Yang-Mills theory defined on non(anti)commutative superspace. We first identify
N = 1/2 superconformal invariance as maximal spacetime symmetry. For gauge
group U(2), SU(2) part of the solution is given by the standard
(anti)instanton, but U(1) field strength also turns out nonzero. The solution
is SO(4) rotationally symmetric. For gauge group U(N), in contrast to the U(2)
case, we show that the entire U(N) part of the solution is deformed by
non(anti)commutativity and fermion zero-modes. The solution is no longer
rotationally symmetric; it is polarized into an axially symmetric configuration
because of the underlying non(anti)commutativity. We compute the `information
metric' of one (anti) instanton. We find that moduli space geometry is deformed
from hyperbolic space (Euclidean anti-de Sitter space) in a way anticipated
from reduced spacetime symmetry. Remarkably, the volume measure of the moduli
space turns out to be independent of the non(anti)commutativity. Implications
to D-branes in Ramond- Ramond flux background and Maldacena's gauge-gravity
correspondence are discussed.Comment: 39 pages, 3 figures, JHEP style; v2. typos corrected + a paragraph
adde
Black hole partition functions and duality
The macroscopic entropy and the attractor equations for BPS black holes in
four-dimensional N=2 supergravity theories follow from a variational principle
for a certain `entropy function'. We present this function in the presence of
R^2-interactions and non-holomorphic corrections. The variational principle
identifies the entropy as a Legendre transform and this motivates the
definition of various partition functions corresponding to different ensembles
and a hierarchy of corresponding duality invariant inverse Laplace integral
representations for the microscopic degeneracies. Whenever the microscopic
degeneracies are known the partition functions can be evaluated directly. This
is the case for N=4 heterotic CHL black holes, where we demonstrate that the
partition functions are consistent with the results obtained on the macroscopic
side for black holes that have a non-vanishing classical area. In this way we
confirm the presence of a measure in the duality invariant inverse Laplace
integrals. Most, but not all, of these results are obtained in the context of
semiclassical approximations. For black holes whose area vanishes classically,
there remain discrepancies at the semiclassical level and beyond, the nature of
which is not fully understood at present.Comment: 36 pages, Late
Non-supersymmetric Black Holes and Topological Strings
We study non-supersymmetric, extremal 4 dimensional black holes which arise
upon compactification of type II superstrings on Calabi-Yau threefolds. We
propose a generalization of the OSV conjecture for higher derivative
corrections to the non-supersymmetric black hole entropy, in terms of the one
parameter refinement of topological string introduced by Nekrasov. We also
study the attractor mechanism for non-supersymmetric black holes and show how
the inverse problem of fixing charges in terms of the attractor value of CY
moduli can be explicitly solved.Comment: 47 pages, harvmac. v2: footnote(4) expanded, references adde
Branes in Time-Dependent Backgrounds and AdS/CFT Correspondence
We study supergravity solutions of Dp-branes in the time-dependent orbifold
background. We show that worldvolume theories decouple from the bulk gravity
for p less than six. Along AdS/CFT correspondence, these solutions could
provide the gravity description of noncommutative field theory with
time-dependent noncommutative parameter. Type II NS5-brane (M5-brane) in the
presence of RR n-form for n=0,..., 4 (C field) in this time-dependent
background have also been studied.Comment: 15 pages, latex file, v2: typos corrected, ref added, v3: references
added, minor change
- …