1,386 research outputs found
On the role of different Skyrme forces and surface corrections in exotic cluster-decay
We present cluster decay studies of Ni formed in heavy-ion
collisions using different Skyrme forces. Our study reveals that different
Skyrme forces do not alter the transfer structure of fractional yields
significantly. The cluster decay half-lives of different clusters lies within
\pm 10% for PCM and \pm 15% for UFM.Comment: 13 pages,6 figures and 1 table; in press Pramana Journal of Physics
(2010
Evolutionary Reduction of the First Thoracic Limb in Butterflies
Members of the diverse butterfly families Nymphalidae (brush-footed butterflies) and Riodinidae (metalmarks) have reduced first thoracic limbs and only use two pairs of legs for walking. In order to address questions about the detailed morphology and evolutionary origins of these reduced limbs, the three thoracic limbs of 13 species of butterflies representing all six butterfly families were examined and measured, and ancestral limb sizes were reconstructed for males and females separately. Differences in limb size across butterflies involve changes in limb segment size rather than number of limb segments. Reduction of the first limb in both nymphalids and riodinids appears particularly extensive in the femur, but the evolution of these reduced limbs is suggested to be a convergent evolutionary event. Possible developmental differences as well as ecological factors driving the evolution of reduced limbs are discussed
Entanglement Entropy of 3-d Conformal Gauge Theories with Many Flavors
Three-dimensional conformal field theories (CFTs) of deconfined gauge fields
coupled to gapless flavors of fermionic and bosonic matter describe quantum
critical points of condensed matter systems in two spatial dimensions. An
important characteristic of these CFTs is the finite part of the entanglement
entropy across a circle. The negative of this quantity is equal to the finite
part of the free energy of the Euclidean CFT on the three-sphere, and it has
been proposed to satisfy the so called F-theorem, which states that it
decreases under RG flow and is stationary at RG fixed points. We calculate the
three-sphere free energy of non-supersymmetric gauge theory with a large number
N_F of bosonic and/or fermionic flavors to the first subleading order in 1/N_F.
We also calculate the exact free energies of the analogous chiral and
non-chiral {\cal N} = 2 supersymmetric theories using localization, and find
agreement with the 1/N_F expansion. We analyze some RG flows of supersymmetric
theories, providing further evidence for the F-theorem.Comment: 31 pages, 2 figures; v2 refs added, minor change
Gravel pits support waterbird diversity in an urban landscape
We assessed the benefit of 11 gravel pits for the settlement of waterbird communities in an urbanized area lacking natural wetlands. Gravel pits captured 57% of the regional species pool of aquatic birds. We identified 39 species, among which five were regionally rare. We used the Self Organizing Map algorithm to calculate the probabilities of presence of species, and to bring out habitat conditions that predict assemblage patterns. The age of the pits did not correlate with assemblage composition and species richness. There was a positive influence of macrophyte cover on waterbird species richness. Larger pits did not support more species, but species richness increased with connectivity. As alternative wetland habitats, gravel pits are attractive to waterbirds, when they act as stepping stones that ensure connectivity between larger natural and/or artificial wetlands separated in space
Initial psychological responses to influenza A, H1N1 ("Swine flu")
Background
The outbreak of the pandemic flu, Influenza A H1N1 (Swine Flu) in early 2009, provided a major challenge to health services around the world. Previous pandemics have led to stockpiling of goods, the victimisation of particular population groups, and the cancellation of travel and the boycotting of particular foods (e.g. pork). We examined initial behavioural and attitudinal responses towards Influenza A, H1N1 ("Swine flu") in the six days following the WHO pandemic alert level 5, and regional differences in these responses.
Methods
328 respondents completed a cross-sectional Internet or paper-based questionnaire study in Malaysia (N = 180) or Europe (N = 148). Measures assessed changes in transport usage, purchase of preparatory goods for a pandemic, perceived risk groups, indicators of anxiety, assessed estimated mortality rates for seasonal flu, effectiveness of seasonal flu vaccination, and changes in pork consumption
Results
26% of the respondents were 'very concerned' about being a flu victim (42% Malaysians, 5% Europeans, p < .001). 36% reported reduced public transport use (48% Malaysia, 22% Europe, p < .001), 39% flight cancellations (56% Malaysia, 17% Europe, p < .001). 8% had purchased preparatory materials (e.g. face masks: 8% Malaysia, 7% Europe), 41% Malaysia (15% Europe) intended to do so (p < .001). 63% of Europeans, 19% of Malaysians had discussed the pandemic with friends (p < .001). Groups seen as at 'high risk' of infection included the immune compromised (mentioned by 87% respondents), pig farmers (70%), elderly (57%), prostitutes/highly sexually active (53%), and the homeless (53%). In data collected only in Europe, 64% greatly underestimated the mortality rates of seasonal flu, 26% believed seasonal flu vaccination gave protection against swine flu. 7% had reduced/stopped eating pork. 3% had purchased anti-viral drugs for use at home, while 32% intended to do so if the pandemic worsened.
Conclusion
Initial responses to Influenza A show large regional differences in anxiety, with Malaysians more anxious and more likely to reduce travel and to buy masks and food. Discussions with family and friends may reinforce existing anxiety levels. Particular groups (homosexuals, prostitutes, the homeless) are perceived as at greater risk, potentially leading to increased prejudice during a pandemic. Europeans underestimated mortality of seasonal flu, and require more information about the protection given by seasonal flu inoculation
Logarithmic Corrections to Schwarzschild and Other Non-extremal Black Hole Entropy in Different Dimensions
Euclidean gravity method has been successful in computing logarithmic
corrections to extremal black hole entropy in terms of low energy data, and
gives results in perfect agreement with the microscopic results in string
theory. Motivated by this success we apply Euclidean gravity to compute
logarithmic corrections to the entropy of various non-extremal black holes in
different dimensions, taking special care of integration over the zero modes
and keeping track of the ensemble in which the computation is done. These
results provide strong constraint on any ultraviolet completion of the theory
if the latter is able to give an independent computation of the entropy of
non-extremal black holes from microscopic description. For Schwarzschild black
holes in four space-time dimensions the macroscopic result seems to disagree
with the existing result in loop quantum gravity.Comment: LaTeX, 40 pages; corrected small typos and added reference
Variant of TYR and Autoimmunity Susceptibility Loci in Generalized Vitiligo.
BACKGROUND
Generalized vitiligo is an autoimmune disease characterized by melanocyte loss, which results in patchy depigmentation of skin and hair, and is associated with an elevated risk of other autoimmune diseases.
METHODS
To identify generalized vitiligo susceptibility loci, we conducted a genomewide association study. We genotyped 579,146 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 1514 patients with generalized vitiligo who were of European-derived white (CEU) ancestry and compared the genotypes with publicly available control genotypes from 2813 CEU persons. We then tested 50 SNPs in two replication sets, one comprising 677 independent CEU patients and 1106 CEU controls and the other comprising 183 CEU simplex trios with generalized vitiligo and 332 CEU multiplex families.
RESULTS
We detected significant associations between generalized vitiligo and SNPs at several loci previously associated with other autoimmune diseases. These included genes encoding major-histocompatibility-complex class I molecules (P=9.05×10−23) and class II molecules (P=4.50×10−34), PTPN22 (P=1.31×10−7), LPP (P=1.01×10−11), IL2RA (P=2.78×10−9), UBASH3A (P=1.26×10−9), and C1QTNF6 (P=2.21×10−16). We also detected associations between generalized vitiligo and SNPs in two additional immune-related loci, RERE (P=7.07×10−15) and GZMB (P=3.44×10−8), and in a locus containing TYR (P=1.60×10−18), encoding tyrosinase.
CONCLUSIONS
We observed associations between generalized vitiligo and markers implicating multiple genes, some associated with other autoimmune diseases and one (TYR) that may mediate target-cell specificity and indicate a mutually exclusive relationship between susceptibility to vitiligo and susceptibility to melanoma
Logarithmic correction to BH entropy as Noether charge
We consider the role of the type-A trace anomaly in static black hole
solutions to semiclassical Einstein equation in four dimensions. Via Wald's
Noether charge formalism, we compute the contribution to the entropy coming
from the anomaly induced effective action and unveil a logarithmic correction
to the Bekenstein-Hawking area law.
The corrected entropy is given by a seemingly universal formula involving the
coefficient of the type-A trace anomaly, the Euler characteristic of the
horizon and the value at the horizon of the solution to the uniformization
problem for Q-curvature. Two instances are examined in detail: Schwarzschild
and a four-dimensional massless topological black hole. We also find agreement
with the logarithmic correction due to one-loop contribution of conformal
fields in the Schwarzschild background.Comment: 14 pages, JHEP styl
Cardy and Kerr
The Kerr/CFT correspondence employs the Cardy formula to compute the entropy
of the left moving CFT states. This computation, which correctly reproduces the
Bekenstein--Hawking entropy of the four-dimensional extremal Kerr black hole,
is performed in a regime where the temperature is of order unity rather than in
a high-temperature regime. We show that the comparison of the entropy of the
extreme Kerr black hole and the entropy in the CFT can be understood within the
Cardy regime by considering a D0-D6 system with the same entropic properties.Comment: 20 pages; LaTeX; JHEP format; v.2 references added, v.3 Section 4
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Nonlinear Hydrodynamics from Flow of Retarded Green's Function
We study the radial flow of retarded Green's function of energy-momentum
tensor and -current of dual gauge theory in presence of generic higher
derivative terms in bulk Lagrangian. These are first order non-linear Riccati
equations. We solve these flow equations analytically and obtain second order
transport coefficients of boundary plasma. This way of computing transport
coefficients has an advantage over usual Kubo approach. The non-linear equation
turns out to be a linear first order equation when we study the Green's
function perturbatively in momentum. We consider several examples including
term and generic four derivative terms in bulk. We also study the flow
equations for -charged black holes and obtain exact expressions for second
order transport coefficients for dual plasma in presence of arbitrary chemical
potentials. Finally we obtain higher derivative corrections to second order
transport coefficients of boundary theory dual to five dimensional gauge
supergravity.Comment: Version 2, reference added, typos correcte
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