25,692 research outputs found
Weak decays of medium and heavy Lambda-hypernuclei
We have made a new evaluation of the Lambda decay width in nuclear matter
within the Propagator Method. Through the Local Density Approximation it is
possible to obtain results in finite nuclei. We have also studied the
dependence of the widths on the N-N and Lambda-N short range correlations.
Using reasonable values for the parameters that control these correlations, as
well as realistic nuclear densities and Lambda wave functions, we reproduce,
for the first time, the experimental non-mesonic widths in a wide range of mass
numbers (from medium to heavy hypernuclei).Comment: 22 pages, including 5 figure
Phase diagram and surface tension in the three-flavor Polyakov-quark-meson model
We obtain the in-medium effective potential of the three-flavor
Polyakov-Quark-Meson model as a real function of real variables in the Polyakov
loop variable, to allow for the study of all possible minima of the model. At
finite quark chemical potential, the real and imaginary parts of the effective
potential, in terms of the Polyakov loop variables, are made apparent, showing
explicitly the fermion sign problem of the theory. The phase diagram and other
equilibrium observables, obtained from the real part of the effective
potential, are calculated in the mean-field approximation. The obtained results
are compared to those found with the so-called saddle-point approach. Our
procedure also allows the calculation of the surface tension between the
chirally broken and confined phase, and the chirally restored and deconfined
phase. The values of surface tension we find for low temperatures are very
close to the ones recently found for two-flavor chiral models. Some
consequences of our results for the early Universe, for heavy-ion collisions,
and for proto-neutron stars are briefly discussed.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figures. V2: typos fixed, references adde
Direct 3D Tomographic Reconstruction and Phase-Retrieval of Far-Field Coherent Diffraction Patterns
We present an alternative numerical reconstruction algorithm for direct
tomographic reconstruction of a sample refractive indices from the measured
intensities of its far-field coherent diffraction patterns. We formulate the
well-known phase-retrieval problem in ptychography in a tomographic framework
which allows for simultaneous reconstruction of the illumination function and
the sample refractive indices in three dimensions. Our iterative reconstruction
algorithm is based on the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm. We demonstrate the
performance of our proposed method with simulation studies
Prebiotic, Probiotic, and Synbiotic Supplementation in Chronic Kidney Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Gut dysbiosis has been implicated in the pathogenesis of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Restoring gut microbiota with prebiotic, probiotic, and synbiotic supplementation has emerged as a potential therapeutic intervention but has not been systematically evaluated in the CKD population.This is a systematic review. A structured search of MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and the International Clinical Trials Register Search Portal was conducted for articles published since inception until July 2017. Included studies were randomized controlled trials investigating the effects of prebiotic, probiotic, and/or synbiotic supplementation (>1\ua0week) on uremic toxins, microbiota profile, and clinical and patient-centered outcomes in adults and children with CKD.Sixteen studies investigating 645 adults met the inclusion criteria; 5 investigated prebiotics, 6 probiotics, and 5 synbiotics. The quality of the studies (Grades of Recommendation, Assessment, Development and Evaluation) ranged from moderate to very low. Prebiotic, probiotic, and synbiotic supplementation may have led to little or no difference in serum urea (9 studies, 345 participants: mean difference [MD] -0.30\ua0mmol/L, 95% confidence interval [CI] -2.20 to 1.61, P\ua0=\ua0.76, I\ua0=\ua053%), indoxyl sulfate (4 studies, 144 participants: MD -0.02\ua0mg/dL, 95% CI -0.09 to 0.05, P\ua0=\ua0.61, I\ua0=\ua00%), and p-cresyl sulfate (4 studies, 144 participants: MD -0.13\ua0mg/dL, 95% CI -0.41 to 0.15, P\ua0=\ua0.35, I\ua0=\ua00%). Prebiotic supplementation may have slightly reduced serum urea concentration (4 studies, 105 participants: MD -2.23\ua0mmol/L, 95% CI -3.83 to -0.64, P\ua0=\ua0.006, I\ua0=\ua011). Of the 2 studies investigating microbiota changes, synbiotic interventions significantly increased Bifidobacterium. Supplement effects on clinical outcomes were uncertain.There is limited evidence to support the use of prebiotics, probiotics, and/or synbiotics in CKD management
Multi- nuclei and kaon condensation
We extend previous relativistic mean-field (RMF) calculations of multi- nuclei, using vector boson fields with SU(3) PPV coupling constants and
scalar boson fields constrained phenomenologically. For a given core nucleus,
the resulting separation energy , as well as the
associated nuclear and -meson densities, saturate with the number
of mesons for . Saturation
appears robust against a wide range of variations, including the RMF nuclear
model used and the type of boson fields mediating the strong interactions.
Because generally does not exceed 200 MeV, it is argued that
multi- nuclei do not compete with multihyperonic nuclei in providing
the ground state of strange hadronic configurations and that kaon condensation
is unlikely to occur in strong-interaction self-bound strange hadronic matter.
Last, we explore possibly self-bound strange systems made of neutrons and
mesons, or protons and mesons, and study their properties.Comment: 21 pages, 8 figures, revised text and reference
The atomic orbitals of the topological atom
The effective atomic orbitals have been realized in the framework of Bader’s atoms in molecules theory for a general wavefunction. This formalism can be used to retrieve from any type of calculation a
proper set of orthonormalized numerical atomic orbitals, with occupation numbers that sum up to the
respective Quantum Theory of Atoms in Molecules (QTAIM) atomic populations. Experience shows
that only a limited number of effective atomic orbitals exhibit significant occupation numbers. These
correspond to atomic hybrids that closely resemble the core and valence shells of the atom. The
occupation numbers of the remaining effective orbitals are almost negligible, except for atoms with
hypervalent character. In addition, the molecular orbitals of a calculation can be exactly expressed
as a linear combination of this orthonormalized set of numerical atomic orbitals, and the Mulliken
population analysis carried out on this basis set exactly reproduces the original QTAIM atomic populations of the atoms. Approximate expansion of the molecular orbitals over a much reduced set of
orthogonal atomic basis functions can also be accomplished to a very good accuracy with a singular
value decomposition procedure
PEA‐15 (Phosphoprotein Enriched in Astrocytes 15) Is a Protective Mediator in the Vasculature and Is Regulated During Neointimal Hyperplasia
This work was supported by a grant from the Medical Research Council, UK (MR/K012789/1). Additional information can be downloaded from the publisher's websitePeer reviewedPublisher PD
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