289 research outputs found
High-salt intake affects retinal vascular tortuosity in healthy males: an exploratory randomized cross-over trial.
The retinal microcirculation is increasingly receiving credit as a relatively easily accessible microcirculatory bed that correlates closely with clinical cardiovascular outcomes. The effect of high salt (NaCl) intake on the retinal microcirculation is currently unknown. Therefore, we performed an exploratory randomized cross-over dietary intervention study in 18 healthy males. All subjects adhered to a two-week high-salt diet and low-salt diet, in randomized order, after which fundus photographs were taken and assessed using a semi-automated computer-assisted program (SIVA, version 4.0). Outcome parameters involved retinal venular and arteriolar tortuosity, vessel diameter, branching angle and fractal dimension. At baseline, participants had a mean (SD) age of 29.8 (4.4) years and blood pressure of 117 (9)/73 (5) mmHg. Overall, high-salt diet significantly increased venular tortuosity (12.2%, p = 0.001). Other retinal parameters were not significantly different between diets. Changes in arteriolar tortuosity correlated with changes in ambulatory systolic blood pressure (r = - 0.513; p = 0.04). In conclusion, high-salt diet increases retinal venular tortuosity, and salt-induced increases in ambulatory systolic blood pressure associate with decreases in retinal arteriolar tortuosity. Besides potential eye-specific consequences, both phenomena have previously been associated with hypertension and other cardiovascular risk factors, underlining the deleterious microcirculatory effects of high salt intake
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.
Evidence for a Low-Spin to Intermediate-Spin State Transition in LaCoO3
We present measurements of the magnetic susceptibility and of the thermal
expansion of a LaCoO single crystal. Both quantities show a strongly
anomalous temperature dependence. Our data are consistently described in terms
of a spin-state transition of the Co ions with increasing temperature
from a low-spin ground state to an intermediate-spin state without (100K -
500K) and with (>500K) orbital degeneracy. We attribute the lack of orbital
degeneracy up to 500K to (probably local) Jahn-Teller distortions of the
CoO octahedra. A strong reduction or disappearance of the Jahn-Teller
distortions seems to arise from the insulator-to-metal transition around 500 K.Comment: an error in the scaling factor of Eq.(4) and consequently 2 values of
table I have been corrected. The conclusions of the paper remain unchanged.
See also: C. Zobel et al. Phys. Rev. B 71, 019902 (2005) and J. Baier et al.
Phys. Rev. B 71, 014443 (2005
The 3D Structure of N132D in the LMC: A Late-Stage Young Supernova Remnant
We have used the Wide Field Spectrograph (WiFeS) on the 2.3m telescope at
Siding Spring Observatory to map the [O III] 5007{\AA} dynamics of the young
oxygen-rich supernova remnant N132D in the Large Magellanic Cloud. From the
resultant data cube, we have been able to reconstruct the full 3D structure of
the system of [O III] filaments. The majority of the ejecta form a ring of
~12pc in diameter inclined at an angle of 25 degrees to the line of sight. We
conclude that SNR N132D is approaching the end of the reverse shock phase
before entering the fully thermalized Sedov phase of evolution. We speculate
that the ring of oxygen-rich material comes from ejecta in the equatorial plane
of a bipolar explosion, and that the overall shape of the SNR is strongly
influenced by the pre-supernova mass loss from the progenitor star. We find
tantalizing evidence of a polar jet associated with a very fast oxygen-rich
knot, and clear evidence that the central star has interacted with one or more
dense clouds in the surrounding ISM.Comment: Accepted for Publication in Astrophysics & Space Science, 18pp, 8
figure
Hadronic final states in deep-inelastic scattering with Sherpa
We extend the multi-purpose Monte-Carlo event generator Sherpa to include
processes in deeply inelastic lepton-nucleon scattering. Hadronic final states
in this kinematical setting are characterised by the presence of multiple
kinematical scales, which were up to now accounted for only by specific
resummations in individual kinematical regions. Using an extension of the
recently introduced method for merging truncated parton showers with
higher-order tree-level matrix elements, it is possible to obtain predictions
which are reliable in all kinematical limits. Different hadronic final states,
defined by jets or individual hadrons, in deep-inelastic scattering are
analysed and the corresponding results are compared to HERA data. The various
sources of theoretical uncertainties of the approach are discussed and
quantified. The extension to deeply inelastic processes provides the
opportunity to validate the merging of matrix elements and parton showers in
multi-scale kinematics inaccessible in other collider environments. It also
allows to use HERA data on hadronic final states in the tuning of hadronisation
models.Comment: 32 pages, 22 figure
Spin structure of the nucleon: QCD evolution, lattice results and models
The question how the spin of the nucleon is distributed among its quark and
gluon constituents is still a subject of intense investigations. Lattice QCD
has progressed to provide information about spin fractions and orbital angular
momentum contributions for up- and down-quarks in the proton, at a typical
scale \mu^2~4 GeV^2. On the other hand, chiral quark models have traditionally
been used for orientation at low momentum scales. In the comparison of such
model calculations with experiment or lattice QCD, fixing the model scale and
the treatment of scale evolution are essential. In this paper, we present a
refined model calculation and a QCD evolution of lattice results up to
next-to-next-to-leading order. We compare this approach with the Myhrer-Thomas
scenario for resolving the proton spin puzzle.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, equation (9) has been corrected leading to a
revised figure 1b. Revision matches published versio
Magnetic Fields, Relativistic Particles, and Shock Waves in Cluster Outskirts
It is only now, with low-frequency radio telescopes, long exposures with
high-resolution X-ray satellites and gamma-ray telescopes, that we are
beginning to learn about the physics in the periphery of galaxy clusters. In
the coming years, Sunyaev-Zeldovich telescopes are going to deliver further
great insights into the plasma physics of these special regions in the
Universe. The last years have already shown tremendous progress with detections
of shocks, estimates of magnetic field strengths and constraints on the
particle acceleration efficiency. X-ray observations have revealed shock fronts
in cluster outskirts which have allowed inferences about the microphysical
structure of shocks fronts in such extreme environments. The best indications
for magnetic fields and relativistic particles in cluster outskirts come from
observations of so-called radio relics, which are megaparsec-sized regions of
radio emission from the edges of galaxy clusters. As these are difficult to
detect due to their low surface brightness, only few of these objects are
known. But they have provided unprecedented evidence for the acceleration of
relativistic particles at shock fronts and the existence of muG strength fields
as far out as the virial radius of clusters. In this review we summarise the
observational and theoretical state of our knowledge of magnetic fields,
relativistic particles and shocks in cluster outskirts.Comment: 34 pages, to be published in Space Science Review
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
The sound of geological targets on Mars from the absolute intensity of laser-induced sparks shock waves
Inspection of geological material is one of the main goals of the Perseverance rover during its journey across the landscape of the Jezero crater in Mars. NASA's rover integrates SuperCam, an instrument capable of performing standoff characterization of samples using a variety of techniques. Among those tools, SuperCam can perform laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) studies to elucidate the chemical composition of the targets of interest. Data from optical spectroscopy can be supplemented by simultaneously-produced laser-produced plasma acoustics in order to expand the information acquired from the probed rocks thanks to the SuperCam's microphone (MIC) as it can be synchronized with the LIBS laser. Herein, we report cover results from LIBS and MIC during Perseverance's first 380 sols on the Martian surface. We study the correlation between both recorded signals, considering the main intrasample and environmental sources of variation for each technique, to understand their behavior and how they can be interpreted together towards complimenting LIBS with acoustics. We find that louder and more stable acoustic signals are recorded from rock with compact surfaces, i.e., low presence loose particulate material, and harder mineral phases in their composition. Reported results constitute the first description of the evolution of the intensity in the time domain of shockwaves from laser-produced plasmas on geological targets recorded in Mars. These signals are expected contain physicochemical signatures pertaining to the inspected sampling positions. As the dependence of the acoustic signal recorded on the sample composition, provided by LIBS, is unveiled, the sound from sparks become a powerful tool for the identification of mineral phases with similar optical emission spectra.Many people helped with this project in addition to the co-authors, including hardware and operation teams, and we are most grateful for their support. This project was supported in the USA by NASAâs Mars Exploration Program and in France is conducted under the authority of CNES. Research funded by projects UMA18-FEDERJA-272 from Junta de AndalucĂa and PID2020-119185GB-I00 from Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion, of Spain. P.P. is grateful to the European Unionâs Next Generation EU (NGEU) plan and the Spanish Ministerio de Universidades for his Margarita Salas fellowship under the program âČâČAyudas para la Recualificacion del Sistema Universitario EspañolâČâČ. RCW was funded by JPL contract 1681089. A.U was funded by NASA Mars 2020 Participating Scientist program 80NSSC21K0330.
Funding for open access charge: Universidad de MĂĄlaga / CBU
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