1,653 research outputs found
Evidence for Adsorption of Chlorine Species on Iron(III) (hydr)oxides in the Sheepbed Mudstone, Gale Crater, Mars
Chlorine is a widespread element on Mars present in dust, soils and rocks, including the Sheepbed mudstone at Yellowknife Bay, Gale crater. Combined elemental and volatile analyses of two drilled samples, Cumberland and John Klein, indicated that chloride (Cl-) and perchlorate (ClO4 -) are likely present in the mudstone. The nature of chlorine species in Sheepbed mudstone is still not well constrained. It has been proposed that both are present as amorphous or crystalline salts physically mixed with mudstone minerals. We alternatively hypothesize that adsorbed perchlorate and chloride exist in the mudstone and adsorption could occur, in particular, on Fe(III) (hydr)oxide phases as supported by laboratory observations on terrestrial materials. Mineralogical and compositional analyses of the drilled Cumberland mudstone sample revealed the presence of ~30 wt% of a Fe-rich X-ray amorphous phase. Ferrihydrite has been proposed as a component of the Fe-rich X-ray amorphous material. The objectives of this work were to determine adsorption of perchlorate and chloride on ferrihydrite and to enable data comparison by characterizing adsorbed chloride and perchlorate with thermal and evolved gas analysis run under operating conditions similar to the SAM instrument onboard the Curiosity rover
Efficient numerical diagonalization of hermitian 3x3 matrices
A very common problem in science is the numerical diagonalization of
symmetric or hermitian 3x3 matrices. Since standard "black box" packages may be
too inefficient if the number of matrices is large, we study several
alternatives. We consider optimized implementations of the Jacobi, QL, and
Cuppen algorithms and compare them with an analytical method relying on
Cardano's formula for the eigenvalues and on vector cross products for the
eigenvectors. Jacobi is the most accurate, but also the slowest method, while
QL and Cuppen are good general purpose algorithms. The analytical algorithm
outperforms the others by more than a factor of 2, but becomes inaccurate or
may even fail completely if the matrix entries differ greatly in magnitude.
This can mostly be circumvented by using a hybrid method, which falls back to
QL if conditions are such that the analytical calculation might become too
inaccurate. For all algorithms, we give an overview of the underlying
mathematical ideas, and present detailed benchmark results. C and Fortran
implementations of our code are available for download from
http://www.mpi-hd.mpg.de/~globes/3x3/ .Comment: 13 pages, no figures, new hybrid algorithm added, matches published
version, typo in Eq. (39) corrected; software library available at
http://www.mpi-hd.mpg.de/~globes/3x3
Sudden natural death in a suicide attempt
In this article, we report an unusual case of sudden death arising from a ruptured basilar artery aneurysm during a suicide attempt. A 72-year-old male was found dead in his home after sustaining superficial flesh gunshot wounds (entrance and exit) involving the forehead. The victim had been depressed for several months and had frank suicide intention. The pertinent autopsy findings revealed a superficial nonpenetrating bullet path of the scalp with no skull fractures or brain injuries. However, brain examination identified subarachnoid hemorrhage and subdural clot about the brainstem and within the posterior fossa linked to a basilar artery aneurysm rupture. The cause and manner of death and contributing factors of the "non-lethal" gunshot wounds are discussed
Relativistic Magnetic Monopole Flux Constraints from RICE
We report an upper limit on the flux of relativistic monopoles based on the
non-observation of in-ice showers by the Radio Ice Cherenkov Experiment (RICE)
at the South Pole. We obtain a 95% C.L. limit of order 10^{-18}/(cm^2-s-sr) for
intermediate mass monopoles of 10^7<gamma<10^{12} at the anticipated energy
E=10^{16} GeV. This bound is over an order of magnitude stronger than all
previously published experimental limits for this range of boost parameters
gamma, and exceeds two orders of magnitude improvement over most of the range.
We review the physics of radio detection, describe a Monte Carlo simulation
including continuous and stochastic energy losses, and compare to previous
experimental limits.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. D. Minor
revisions, including expanded discussion of monopole energy uncertaint
Heavy cannabis use is associated with low bone mineral density and an increased risk of fractures
Purpose: To investigate possible associations between recreational cannabis use and bone health in humans. Methods: Cross-sectional study of individuals recruited from primary care in the UK between 2011 and 2014. Cases were regular smokers of cannabis divided into moderate (n=56) and heavy user (n=144) subgroups depending on whether they reported fewer or more than 5000 cannabis smoking episodes during their lifetime. Controls comprised 114 cigarette smokers. Results: Heavy cannabis users had lower total hip bone mineral density (mean ± SD Z-score: -0.20±0.9 vs. +0.2±0.9, p<0.0005), lower spine bone mineral density (-0.5±1.2 vs. 0.0±1.2, p<0.0005) and lower BMI (26.5±6.0 vs 29.0±7.0, p=0.01) than controls. Fracture rate was also increased in heavy users (rate ratio=2.17, 95% confidence interval 1.59 to 2.95; p<0.001). When compared with controls, CTX serum concentrations were raised in heavy cannabis users (0.3±0.1 vs. 0.2±0.1 pg/ml, p=0.045) as were P1NP concentrations (47.1±19.2 vs. 41.2±17.8 pg/ml, p=0.01). Serum 25(OH)D concentrations were reduced in heavy users compared with controls (25.3±16.8 vs. 36.9±26.7 nmol/l, p=0.002). Multiple regression analysis revealed that heavy cannabis use was an independent predictor of spine bone mineral density accounting for 5.4% of the variance (p=0.035) and total hip bone mineral density accounting for 5.8% of the variance (p=0.001) but mediation analysis suggested that the effect on spine bone mineral density was indirect and mediated through low BMI. Conclusion: Heavy cannabis use is associated with low bone mineral density, low BMI, high bone turnover and an increased risk of fracture. Heavy cannabis use negatively impacts on bone health both directly and indirectly through an effect on BMI
Cherenkov radio pulses from electromagnetic showers in the time-domain
The electric field of the Cherenkov radio pulse produced by a single charged
particle track in a dielectric medium is derived from first principles. An
algorithm is developed to obtain the pulse in the time domain for numerical
calculations. The algorithm is implemented in a Monte Carlo simulation of
electromagnetic showers in dense media (specifically designed for coherent
radio emission applications) as might be induced by interactions of ultra-high
energy neutrinos. The coherent Cherenkov radio emission produced by such
showers is obtained simultaneously both in the time and frequency domains. A
consistency check performed by Fourier-transforming the pulse in time and
comparing it to the frequency spectrum obtained directly in the simulations
yields, as expected, fully consistent results. The reversal of the time
structure inside the Cherenkov cone and the signs of the corresponding pulses
are addressed in detail. The results, besides testing algorithms used for
reference calculations in the frequency domain, shed new light into the
properties of the radio pulse in the time domain. The shape of the pulse in the
time domain is directly related to the depth development of the excess charge
in the shower and its width to the observation angle with respect to the
Cherenkov direction. This information can be of great practical importance for
interpreting actual data.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure
Exclusive Hadronic Processes and Color Transparency
We review the current status of high energy exclusive processes and color
transparency.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figures, based on talk given at International Symposium
on Nuclear Physics, Mumbai, Dec 18-22, 200
- …