16,399 research outputs found
Atypical Thermonuclear Supernovae from Tidally Crushed White Dwarfs
Suggestive evidence has accumulated that intermediate mass black holes (IMBH)
exist in some globular clusters. As stars diffuse in the cluster, some will
inevitable wander sufficiently close to the hole that they suffer tidal
disruption. An attractive feature of the IMBH hypothesis is its potential to
disrupt not only solar-type stars but also compact white dwarf stars. Attention
is given to the fate of white dwarfs that approach the hole close enough to be
disrupted and compressed to such extent that explosive nuclear burning may be
triggered. Precise modeling of the dynamics of the encounter coupled with a
nuclear network allow for a realistic determination of the explosive energy
release, and it is argued that ignition is a natural outcome for white dwarfs
of all varieties passing well within the tidal radius. Although event rates are
estimated to be significantly less than the rate of normal Type Ia supernovae,
such encounters may be frequent enough in globular clusters harboring an IMBH
to warrant a search for this new class of supernova.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, ApJ, accepte
Income Earning Potential versus Consumptive Amenities in Determining Ranchland Values
The relative importance of income earning potential versus consumptive values in setting ranchland prices is examined using a truncated hedonic model. The market value of New Mexico ranches is related to annual income earning potential and other ranch characteristics including ranch size, location, elevation, terrain, and the amount of deeded, public, and state trust land on the ranch. We found ranch income to be a statistically important determinant of land value, but yet a relatively small percentage of ranch value was explained by income earnings. Ranch location, scenic view, and the desirable lifestyle influenced ranch value more than ranch income.consumptive value, grazing fees, grazing permit value, hedonic model, land value, lifestyle agriculture, public land grazing, voluntary grazing permit buyout, Land Economics/Use,
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Comparative effectiveness trial comparing MyPlate to calorie counting for mostly low-income Latino primary care patients of a federally qualified community health center: study design, baseline characteristics.
BackgroundPrimary care-based behavior change obesity treatment has long featured the Calorie restriction (CC), portion control approach. By contrast, the MyPlate-based obesity treatment approach encourages eating more high-satiety/high-satiation foods and requires no calorie-counting. This report describes study methods of a comparative effectiveness trial of CC versus MyPlate. It also describes baseline findings involving demographic characteristics and their associations with primary outcome measures and covariates, including satiety/satiation, dietary quality and acculturation.MethodsA comparative effectiveness trial was designed to compare the CC approach (n = 130) versus a MyPlate-based approach (n = 131) to treating patient overweight. Intervenors were trained community health workers. The 11 intervention sessions included two in-home health education sessions, two group education sessions, and seven telephone coaching sessions. Questionnaire and anthropometric assessments occurred at baseline, 6- and 12 months; food frequency questionnaires were administered at baseline and 12 months. Participants were overweight adult primary care patients of a federally qualified health center in Long Beach, California. Two measures of satiety/satiation and one measure of post-meal hunger comprised the primary outcome measures. Secondary outcomes included weight, waist circumference, blood pressure, dietary quality, sugary beverage intake, water intake, fruit and vegetable fiber intake, mental health and health-related quality of life. Covariates included age, gender, nativity status (U.S.-born, not U.S.-born), race/ethnicity, education, and acculturation.AnalysisBaseline characteristics were compared using chi square tests. Associations between covariates and outcome measures were evaluated using multiple regression and logistic regression.ResultsTwo thousand eighty-six adult patients were screened, yielding 261 enrollees who were 86% Latino, 8% African American, 4% White and 2% Other. Women predominated (95%). Mean age was 42 years. Most (82%) were foreign-born; 74% chose the Spanish language option. Mean BMI was 33.3 kg/m2; mean weight was 82 kg; mean waist circumference was 102 cm. Mean blood pressure was 122/77 mm. Study arms on key baseline measures did not differ except on dietary quality and sugary beverage intake. Nativity status was significantly associated with dietary quality.ConclusionsThe two treatment arms were well-balanced demographically at baseline. Nativity status is inversely related to dietary quality.Trial registrationNCT02514889 , posted on 8/4/2015
Continuity of Local Time: An applied perspective
Continuity of local time for Brownian motion ranks among the most notable
mathematical results in the theory of stochastic processes. This article
addresses its implications from the point of view of applications. In
particular an extension of previous results on an explicit role of continuity
of (natural) local time is obtained for applications to recent classes of
problems in physics, biology and finance involving discontinuities in a
dispersion coefficient. The main theorem and its corollary provide physical
principles that relate macro scale continuity of deterministic quantities to
micro scale continuity of the (stochastic) local time.Comment: To appear in: "The fascination of Probability, Statistics and Their
Applications. In honour of Ole E. Barndorff-Nielsen on his 80th birthday
Spin phonon coupling in frustrated magnet CdCrO
The infrared phonon spectrum of the spinel CdCr2O4 is measured as a function
temperature from 6 K to 300K. The triply degenerate Cr phonons soften in the
paramagnetic phase as temperature is lowered below 100 K and then split into a
singlet and doublet in the low T antiferromagnetic phase which is tetragonally
distorted to relieve the geometric frustration in the pyrochlore lattice of
Cr ions. The phonon splitting is inconsistent with the simple increase
(decrease) in the force constants due to deceasing (increasing) bond lengths in
the tetragonal phase. Rather they correspond to changes in the force constants
due to the magnetic order in the antiferromagnetic state. The phonon splitting
in this system is opposite of that observed earlier in ZnCr2O4 as predicted by
theory. The magnitude of the splitting gives a measure of the spin phonon
coupling strength which is smaller than in the case of ZnCr2O4.Comment: 4.2 pages, 4 figures, 1 reference added, submmite
Regulation of brain endothelial barrier function by microRNAs in health and neuroinflammation
Brain endothelial cells constitute the major cellular element of the highly specialized blood–brain barrier (BBB) and thereby contribute to CNS homeostasis by restricting entry of circulating leukocytes and blood-borne molecules into the CNS. Therefore, compromised function of brain endothelial cells has serious consequences for BBB integrity. This has been associated with early events in the pathogenesis of several disorders that affect the CNS, such as multiple sclerosis, HIV-associated neurologic disorder, and stroke. Recent studies demonstrate that brain endothelial microRNAs play critical roles in the regulation of BBB function under normal and neuroinflammatory conditions. This review will focus on emerging evidence that indicates that brain endothelial microRNAs regulate barrier function and orchestrate various phases of the neuroinflammatory response, including endothelial activation in response to cytokines as well as restoration of inflamed endothelium into a quiescent state. In particular, we discuss novel microRNA regulatory mechanisms and their contribution to cellular interactions at the neurovascular unit that influence the overall function of the BBB in health and during neuroinflammatio
Equivalence of the Falicov-Kimball and Brandt-Mielsch forms for the free energy of the infinite-dimensional Falicov-Kimball model
Falicov and Kimball proposed a real-axis form for the free energy of the
Falicov-Kimball model that was modified for the coherent potential
approximation by Plischke. Brandt and Mielsch proposed an imaginary-axis form
for the free energy of the dynamical mean field theory solution of the
Falicov-Kimball model. It has long been known that these two formulae are
numerically equal to each other; an explicit derivation showing this
equivalence is presented here.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, typeset with ReVTe
Thermodynamic Study of Excitations in a 3D Spin Liquid
In order to characterize thermal excitations in a frustrated spin liquid, we
have examined the magnetothermodynamics of a model geometrically frustrated
magnet. Our data demonstrate a crossover in the nature of the spin excitations
between the spin liquid phase and the high-temperature paramagnetic state. The
temperature dependence of both the specific heat and magnetization in the spin
liquid phase can be fit within a simple model which assumes that the spin
excitations have a gapped quadratic dispersion relation.Comment: 5 figure
Absence of ferromagnetism in Co and Mn substituted polycrystalline ZnO
We discuss the properties of semiconducting bulk ZnO when substituted with
the magnetic transition metal ions Mn and Co, with substituent fraction ranging
from = 0.02 to = 0.15. The magnetic properties were measured as a
function of magnetic field and temperature and we find no evidence for magnetic
ordering in these systems down to = 2 K. The magnetization can be fit by
the sum of a Curie-Weiss term with a Weiss temperature of 100 K and
a Curie term. We attribute this behavior to contributions from both \textit{t}M
ions with \textit{t}M nearest neighbors and from isolated spins. This
particular functional form for the susceptibility is used to explain why no
ordering is observed in \textit{t}M substituted ZnO samples despite the large
values of the Weiss temperature. We also discuss in detail the methods we used
to minimize any impurity contributions to the magnetic signal.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures (revised
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