3,375 research outputs found
Effect of magnetic state on the transition in iron: First-principle calculations of the Bain transformation path
Energetics of the fcc () - bcc () lattice transformation by
the Bain tetragonal deformation is calculated for both magnetically ordered and
paramagnetic (disordered local moment) states of iron. The first-principle
computational results manifest a relevance of the magnetic order in a scenario
of the - transition and reveal a special role of the Curie
temperature of -Fe, , where a character of the transformation is
changed. At a cooling down to the temperatures one can expect that
the transformation is developed as a lattice instability whereas for
it follows a standard mechanism of creation and growth of an embryo of the new
phase. It explains a closeness of to the temperature of start of the
martensitic transformation, .Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, submitted in Phys. Rev. Letter
Two-proton events in the 17F(p,2p)16O reaction
In a recent experimental study (Gomez del Campo et al, PRL 86, 43 (2001)) of
the reaction 17F(p,2p)16O, two-proton events were measured from excitations
near a 1-, E*=6.15 MeV state in 18Ne. We calculate by means of R-matrix theory
the resonant two-proton production cross section and branching ratios. We
conclude that it is unlikely that two-proton production via population of the
1- state is sufficient to explain the observed two-proton events. Alternative
sources of such events are discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. Resubmission to Physical Review C (first received
6 March 2001
Predicting remaining life of transmission tower steelwork components
Failures in transmission towerâs components usually result in extended disruption of power supply. Repair is very costly as it involves replacement of the transmission linesâ sections affected. Additionally, it might also entail litigation cost associated with power disruption. Maintenance decisions have to be taken in time to prevent a failure. At present, maintenance decisions are mainly based on expertâs judgement, who perform inspections every 10 to 12 years. On specific sites, towerâs components degrade much faster due to aggressive atmospheric conditions, with corrosion being the primary cause of deterioration. In this context, data indicating health state from an UK utility were used to create a Cox model that relates the time before a failure occurs to climatic and atmospheric conditions highly correlated with corrosion. The paper demonstrates the use of the model for predicting remaining tower life, and highlights how this can feed into maintenance planning
On Horizons and Plane Waves
We investigate the possibility of having an event horizon within several
classes of metrics that asymptote to the maximally supersymmetric IIB plane
wave. We show that the presence of a null Killing vector (not necessarily
covariantly constant) implies an effective separation of the Einstein equations
into a standard and a wave component. This feature may be used to generate new
supergravity solutions asymptotic to the maximally supersymmetric IIB plane
wave, starting from standard seed solutions such as branes or intersecting
branes in flat space. We find that in many cases it is possible to preserve the
extremal horizon of the seed solution. On the other hand, non-extremal
deformations of the plane wave solution result in naked singularities. More
generally, we prove a no-go theorem against the existence of horizons for
backgrounds with a null Killing vector and which contain at most null matter
fields. Further attempts at turning on a nonzero Hawking temperature by
introducing additional matter have proven unsuccessful. This suggests that one
must remove the null Killing vector in order to obtain a horizon. We provide a
perturbative argument indicating that this is in fact possible.Comment: 46 pp, 1 figur
Motor phenotype and magnetic resonance measures of basal ganglia iron levels in Parkinson's disease
BACKGROUND: In Parkinson's disease the degree of motor impairment can be classified with respect to tremor dominant and akinetic rigid features. While tremor dominance and akinetic rigidity might represent two ends of a continuum rather than discrete entities, it would be important to have non-invasive markers of any biological differences between them in vivo, to assess disease trajectories and response to treatment, as well as providing insights into the underlying mechanisms contributing to heterogeneity within the Parkinson's disease population. METHODS: Here, we used magnetic resonance imaging to examine whether Parkinson's disease patients exhibit structural changes within the basal ganglia that might relate to motor phenotype. Specifically, we examined volumes of basal ganglia regions, as well as transverse relaxation rate (a putative marker of iron load) and magnetization transfer saturation (considered to index structural integrity) within these regions in 40 individuals. RESULTS: We found decreased volume and reduced magnetization transfer within the substantia nigra in Parkinson's disease patients compared to healthy controls. Importantly, there was a positive correlation between tremulous motor phenotype and transverse relaxation rate (reflecting iron load) within the putamen, caudate and thalamus. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that akinetic rigid and tremor dominant symptoms of Parkinson's disease might be differentiated on the basis of the transverse relaxation rate within specific basal ganglia structures. Moreover, they suggest that iron load within the basal ganglia makes an important contribution to motor phenotype, a key prognostic indicator of disease progression in Parkinson's disease
Exercise-Induced Changes in Metabolic Intermediates, Hormones, and Inflammatory Markers Associated With Improvements in Insulin Sensitivity
OBJECTIVE: To understand relationships between exercise training-mediated improvements in insulin sensitivity (S(I)) and changes in circulating concentrations of metabolic intermediates, hormones, and inflammatory mediators. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Targeted mass spectrometry and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays were used to quantify metabolic intermediates, hormones, and inflammatory markers at baseline, after 6 months of exercise training, and 2 weeks after exercise training cessation (n = 53). A principal components analysis (PCA) strategy was used to relate changes in these intermediates to changes in S(I). RESULTS: PCA reduced the number of intermediates from 90 to 24 factors composed of biologically related components. With exercise training, improvements in S(I) were associated with reductions in by-products of fatty acid oxidation and increases in glycine and proline (P < 0.05, RÂČ = 0.59); these relationships were retained 15 days after cessation of exercise training (P < 0.05, RÂČ = 0.34). CONCLUSIONS: These observations support prior observations in animal models that exercise training promotes more efficient mitochondrial ÎČ-oxidation and challenges current hypotheses regarding exercise training and glycine metabolism
Tumor site immune markers associated with risk for subsequent basal cell carcinomas.
BackgroundBasal cell carcinoma (BCC) tumors are the most common skin cancer and are highly immunogenic.ObjectiveThe goal of this study was to assess how immune-cell related gene expression in an initial BCC tumor biopsy was related to the appearance of subsequent BCC tumors.Materials and methodsLevels of mRNA for CD3Δ (a T-cell receptor marker), CD25 (the alpha chain of the interleukin (IL)-2 receptor expressed on activated T-cells and B-cells), CD68 (a marker for monocytes/macrophages), the cell surface glycoprotein intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), the cytokine interferon-Îł (IFN-Îł) and the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 were measured in BCC tumor biopsies from 138 patients using real-time PCR.ResultsThe median follow-up was 26.6 months, and 61% of subjects were free of new BCCs two years post-initial biopsy. Patients with low CD3Δ CD25, CD68, and ICAM-1 mRNA levels had significantly shorter times before new tumors were detected (pâ=â0.03, pâ=â0.02, pâ=â0.003, and pâ=â0.08, respectively). Furthermore, older age diminished the association of mRNA levels with the appearance of subsequent tumors.ConclusionsOur results show that levels of CD3Δ, CD25, CD68, and ICAM-1 mRNA in BCC biopsies may predict risk for new BCC tumors
A Note on D-brane - Anti-D-brane Interactions in Plane Wave Backgrounds
We study aspects of the interaction between a D-brane and an anti-D-brane in
the maximally supersymmetric plane wave background of type IIB superstring
theory, which is equipped with a mass parameter mu. An early such study in flat
spacetime (mu=0) served to sharpen intuition about D-brane interactions,
showing in particular the key role of the ``stringy halo'' that surrounds a
D-brane. The halo marks the edge of the region within which tachyon
condensation occurs, opening a gateway to new non-trivial vacua of the theory.
It seems pertinent to study the fate of the halo for non--zero mu. We focus on
the simplest cases of a Lorentzian brane with p=1 and an Euclidean brane with
p=-1, the D--instanton. For the Lorentzian brane, we observe that the halo is
unaffected by the presence of non--zero mu. This most likely extends to other
(Lorentzian) p. For the Euclidean brane, we find that the halo is affected by
non-zero mu. As this is related to subtleties in defining the exchange
amplitude between Euclidean branes in the open string sector, we expect this to
extend to all Euclidean branes in this background.Comment: 14 pages, LaTeX, 2 eps figures. v2: a reference and some clarifying
remarks added; v3: Considerably revised version; halo unaffected by plane
wave background for Lorentzian branes, but Euclidean branes' halo is modifie
- âŠ