Logarithmic Corrections in Dynamic Isotropic Percolation

Based on the field theoretic formulation of the general epidemic process we study logarithmic corrections to scaling in dynamic isotropic percolation at the upper critical dimension d=6. Employing renormalization group methods we determine these corrections for some of the most interesting time dependent observables in dynamic percolation at the critical point up to and including the next to leading correction. For clusters emanating from a local seed at the origin we calculate the number of active sites, the survival probability as well as the radius of gyration.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, version to appear in Phys. Rev.

Configuration Complexities of Hydrogenic Atoms

The Fisher-Shannon and Cramer-Rao information measures, and the LMC-like or shape complexity (i.e., the disequilibrium times the Shannon entropic power) of hydrogenic stationary states are investigated in both position and momentum spaces. First, it is shown that not only the Fisher information and the variance (then, the Cramer-Rao measure) but also the disequilibrium associated to the quantum-mechanical probability density can be explicitly expressed in terms of the three quantum numbers (n, l, m) of the corresponding state. Second, the three composite measures mentioned above are analytically, numerically and physically discussed for both ground and excited states. It is observed, in particular, that these configuration complexities do not depend on the nuclear charge Z. Moreover, the Fisher-Shannon measure is shown to quadratically depend on the principal quantum number n. Finally, sharp upper bounds to the Fisher-Shannon measure and the shape complexity of a general hydrogenic orbital are given in terms of the quantum numbers.Comment: 22 pages, 7 figures, accepted i

Spectral quark model and low-energy hadron phenomenology

We propose a spectral quark model which can be applied to low energy hadronic physics. The approach is based on a generalization of the Lehmann representation of the quark propagator. We work at the one-quark-loop level. Electromagnetic and chiral invariance are ensured with help of the gauge technique which provides particular solutions to the Ward-Takahashi identities. General conditions on the quark spectral function follow from natural physical requirements. In particular, the function is normalized, its all positive moments must vanish, while the physical observables depend on negative moments and the so-called log-moments. As a consequence, the model is made finite, dispersion relations hold, chiral anomalies are preserved, and the twist expansion is free from logarithmic scaling violations, as requested of a low-energy model. We study a variety of processes and show that the framework is very simple and practical. Finally, incorporating the idea of vector-meson dominance, we present an explicit construction of the quark spectral function which satisfies all the requirements. The corresponding momentum representation of the resulting quark propagator exhibits only cuts on the physical axis, with no poles present anywhere in the complex momentum space. The momentum-dependent quark mass compares very well to recent lattice calculations. A large number of predictions and relations can be deduced from our approach for such quantities as the pion light-cone wave function, non-local quark condensate, pion transition form factor, pion valence parton distribution function, etc.Comment: revtex, 24 pages, 3 figure

Electronic Structure of Transition-Metal Dicyanamides Me[N(CN)2_2]2_2 (Me = Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu)

The electronic structure of Me[N(CN)$_2$]$_2$ (Me=Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu) molecular magnets has been investigated using x-ray emission spectroscopy (XES) and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) as well as theoretical density-functional-based methods. Both theory and experiments show that the top of the valence band is dominated by Me 3d bands, while a strong hybridization between C 2p and N 2p states determines the valence band electronic structure away from the top. The 2p contributions from non-equivalent nitrogen sites have been identified using resonant inelastic x-ray scattering spectroscopy with the excitation energy tuned near the N 1s threshold. The binding energy of the Me 3d bands and the hybridization between N 2p and Me 3d states both increase in going across the row from Me = Mn to Me = Cu. Localization of the Cu 3d states also leads to weak screening of Cu 2p and 3s states, which accounts for shifts in the core 2p and 3s spectra of the transition metal atoms. Calculations indicate that the ground-state magnetic ordering, which varies across the series is largely dependent on the occupation of the metal 3d shell and that structural differences in the superexchange pathways for different compounds play a secondary role.Comment: 20 pages, 11 figures, 2 table

Changes in hypothalamic expression of the Lin28/let-7 system and related MicroRNAs during postnatal maturation and after experimental manipulations of puberty

[Abstract] Lin28 and Lin28b are related RNA-binding proteins that inhibit the maturation of miRNAs of the let-7 family and participate in the control of cellular stemness and early embryonic development. Considerable interest has arisen recently concerning other physiological roles of the Lin28/let-7 axis, including its potential involvement in the control of puberty, as suggested by genome-wide association studies and functional genomics. We report herein the expression profiles of Lin28 and let-7 members in the rat hypothalamus during postnatal maturation and in selected models of altered puberty. The expression patterns of c-Myc (upstream positive regulator of Lin28), mir-145 (negative regulator of c-Myc), and mir-132 and mir-9 (putative miRNA repressors of Lin28, predicted by bioinformatic algorithms) were also explored. In male and female rats, Lin28, Lin28b, and c-Myc mRNAs displayed very high hypothalamic expression during the neonatal period, markedly decreased during the infantile-to-juvenile transition and reached minimal levels before/around puberty. A similar puberty-related decline was observed for Lin28b in monkey hypothalamus but not in the rat cortex, suggesting species conservation and tissue specificity. Conversely, let-7a, let-7b, mir-132, and mir-145, but not mir-9, showed opposite expression profiles. Perturbation of brain sex differentiation and puberty, by neonatal treatment with estrogen or androgen, altered the expression ratios of Lin28/let-7 at the time of puberty. Changes in the c-Myc/Lin28b/let-7 pathway were also detected in models of delayed puberty linked to early photoperiod manipulation and, to a lesser extent, postnatal underfeeding or chronic subnutrition. Altogether, our data are the first to document dramatic changes in the expression of the Lin28/let-7 axis in the rat hypothalamus during the postnatal maturation and after different manipulations that disturb puberty, thus suggesting the potential involvement of developmental changes in hypothalamic Lin28/let-7 expression in the mechanisms permitting/leading to puberty onset.Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad; BFU 2008-00984Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad; BFU 2011-25021Junta de Andalucía; P08-CVI-03788United States. National Institutes of Health HD025123-ARRAUnited States. National Science Foundation; IOS1121691Instituto de Salud Carlos III; PI10/00088Xunta de Galicia; IN845B-2010/187Xunta de Galicia; 10CSA916014P

Are retailers “bagging” the carrier bag levy in England? An exploratory enquiry

This paper examines the business impact of the legislation in England requiring retailers to charge consumers for single-use carrier bags. The legislation impacts three key stakeholders – Government, retailers, and consumers. The primary focus of this study is, however, from the perspective of retailers and how this group of stakeholders may have benefitted from the charge. Retailers are using the collected revenues to promote their image in the marketplace and presenting themselves as corporate social responsible entities. For retailers, the charge provides an avenue for bolstering their carbon footprint as consumers are expected to reuse their plastic bags – i.e. the “bag for life” as they now have to pay for them. At the same time, the proceeds are helping some retailers to top up their coffers which to some extent implies that there is some misuse or abuse of the policy by retailers

Search for direct production of charginos and neutralinos in events with three leptons and missing transverse momentum in √s = 7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for the direct production of charginos and neutralinos in final states with three electrons or muons and missing transverse momentum is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in three signal regions that are either depleted or enriched in Z-boson decays. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set in R-parity conserving phenomenological minimal supersymmetric models and in simplified models, significantly extending previous results

Measurement of D*+/- meson production in jets from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper reports a measurement of D*+/- meson production in jets from proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The measurement is based on a data sample recorded with the ATLAS detector with an integrated luminosity of 0.30 pb^-1 for jets with transverse momentum between 25 and 70 GeV in the pseudorapidity range |eta| < 2.5. D*+/- mesons found in jets are fully reconstructed in the decay chain: D*+ -> D0pi+, D0 -> K-pi+, and its charge conjugate. The production rate is found to be N(D*+/-)/N(jet) = 0.025 +/- 0.001(stat.) +/- 0.004(syst.) for D*+/- mesons that carry a fraction z of the jet momentum in the range 0.3 < z < 1. Monte Carlo predictions fail to describe the data at small values of z, and this is most marked at low jet transverse momentum.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (22 pages total), 5 figures, 1 table, matches published version in Physical Review

Ecological Invasion, Roughened Fronts, and a Competitor's Extreme Advance: Integrating Stochastic Spatial-Growth Models

Both community ecology and conservation biology seek further understanding of factors governing the advance of an invasive species. We model biological invasion as an individual-based, stochastic process on a two-dimensional landscape. An ecologically superior invader and a resident species compete for space preemptively. Our general model includes the basic contact process and a variant of the Eden model as special cases. We employ the concept of a "roughened" front to quantify effects of discreteness and stochasticity on invasion; we emphasize the probability distribution of the front-runner's relative position. That is, we analyze the location of the most advanced invader as the extreme deviation about the front's mean position. We find that a class of models with different assumptions about neighborhood interactions exhibit universal characteristics. That is, key features of the invasion dynamics span a class of models, independently of locally detailed demographic rules. Our results integrate theories of invasive spatial growth and generate novel hypotheses linking habitat or landscape size (length of the invading front) to invasion velocity, and to the relative position of the most advanced invader.Comment: The original publication is available at www.springerlink.com/content/8528v8563r7u2742

Plane-symmetric inhomogeneous magnetized viscous fluid universe with a variable Λ\Lambda

The behavior of magnetic field in plane symmetric inhomogeneous cosmological models for bulk viscous distribution is investigated. The coefficient of bulk viscosity is assumed to be a power function of mass density $(\xi =\xi_{0}\rho^{n})$. The values of cosmological constant for these models are found to be small and positive which are supported by the results from recent supernovae Ia observations. Some physical and geometric aspects of the models are also discussed.Comment: 18 pages, LaTex, no figur