Development of the mesospheric Na layer at 69° N during the Geminids meteor shower 2010

The ECOMA sounding rocket campaign in 2010 was performed to investigate the charge state and number density of meteoric smoke particles during the Geminids meteor shower in December 2010. The ALOMAR Na lidar contributed to the campaign with measurements of sodium number density, temperature and line-of-sight wind between 80 and 110 km altitude over Andøya in northern Norway. This paper investigates a possible connection between the Geminids meteor shower and the mesospheric sodium layer. We compare with data from a meteor radar and from a rocket-borne in situ particle instrument on three days. Our main result is that the sodium column density is smaller during the Geminids meteor shower than the winter average at the same latitude. Moreover, during two of the three years considered, the sodium column density decreased steadily during these three weeks of the year. Both the observed decrease of Na column density by 30% and of meteoric smoke particle column density correlate well with a corresponding decrease of sporadic meteor echoes. We found no correlation between Geminids meteor flux rates and sodium column density, nor between sporadic meteors and Na column density (<I>R</I> = 0.25). In general, we found the Na column density to be at very low values for winter, between 1.8 and 2.6 &times; 10¹³ m⁻². We detected two meteor trails containing sodium, on 13 December 2010 at 87.1 km and on 19 December 2010 at 84 km. From these meteor trails, we estimate a global meteoric Na flux of 121 kg d⁻¹ and a global total meteoric influx of 20.2 t d⁻¹

Interpretation of Recent SPS Dilepton Data

We summarize our current theoretical understanding of in-medium properties of the electromagnetic current correlator in view of recent dimuon data from the NA60 experiment in In(158 AGeV)-In collisions at the CERN-SPS. We discuss the sensitivity of the results to space-time evolution models for the hot and dense partonic and hadronic medium created in relativistic heavy-ion collisions and the contributions from different sources to the dilepton-excess spectra.Comment: To appear in the proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Ultra-Relativistic Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions (Quark Matter 2006) v2: references added, minor typos correcte

Putting e-commerce to work: The Japanese convenience store case

Japanese convenience stores (CVS) are exploiting e- and m-commerce solutions different from, but relevant to, US practices. Seven-Eleven Japan, Lawson, and FamilyMart − three of the largest CVS − base their fundamental business models on increasing store traffic. Japanese reluctance to make credit card payments over the Internet or via telephones opened the way for CVS to provide third-party payment services, which required substantial IT infrastructure. Now they are leveraging this investment. In doing so, they are following a different e-commerce B2C model than is typical in the United States. Their approach incorporates heavy dependence on IT-based alliances (e-retsu), a range of services and products, and telematics (coupling detailed database management with the use of smart cell phones and sophisticated in-car communication and guidance systems) rather than PCs. This business-to-consumer (B2C) model is relevant to markets and market segments possessing similar characteristics

Heavy-Quark Diffusion and Hadronization in Quark-Gluon Plasma

We calculate diffusion and hadronization of heavy quarks in high-energy heavy-ion collisions implementing the notion of a strongly coupled quark-gluon plasma in both micro- and macroscopic components. The diffusion process is simulated using relativistic Fokker-Planck dynamics for elastic scattering in a hydrodynamic background. The heavy-quark transport coefficients in the medium are obtained from non-perturbative $T$-matrix interactions which build up resonant correlations close to the transition temperature. The latter also form the basis for hadronization of heavy quarks into heavy-flavor mesons via recombination with light quarks from the medium. The pertinent resonance recombination satisfies energy conservation and provides an equilibrium mapping between quark and meson distributions. The recombination probability is derived from the resonant heavy-quark scattering rate. Consequently, recombination dominates at low transverse momentum ($p_T$) and yields to fragmentation at high $p_T$. Our approach thus emphasizes the role of resonance correlations in the diffusion and hadronization processes. We calculate the nuclear modification factor and elliptic flow of $D$- and $B$-mesons for Au-Au collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, and compare their decay-electron spectra to available data. We also find that a realistic description of the medium flow is essential for a quantitative interpretation of the data.Comment: 16 pages, 14 figure

Transverse flow and hadro-chemistry in Au+Au collisions at \sqrt{s_{NN}}=200 GeV

We present a hydrodynamic assessment of preliminary particle spectra observed in Au+Au collisions at \sqrt{s_{NN}}=200 GeV. The hadronic part of the underlying equation of state is based on explicit conservation of (measured) particle ratios throughout the resonance gas stage after chemical freezeout by employing chemical potentials for stable mesons, nucleons and anti-nucleons. We find that under these conditions the data (in particular the proton spectra) favor a low freeze-out temperature of around 100 MeV. Furthermore we show that through inclusion of a moderate pre-hydrodynamic transverse flow field the shape of the spectra improves with respect to the data. The effect of the initial transverse boost on elliptic flow and the freeze-out geometry of the system is also elucidated.Comment: as published: more data included in Fig. 1, discussions throughout the text improved, 6 pages, 4 figure

Antibacterial properties of imipenem with special reference to the activity against methicillin-resistant staphylococci, cefotaxime-resistant Enterobacteriaceae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Imipenem was examined with standardized agar dilution procedures against a wide range of bacteria. Geometric mean MICs against the genera Escherichia, Klebsiella, Enterobacter, Citrobacter and Serratia were 0·1-0·4 mg/1, and Proteus and Providencia spp. were inhibited by 0·25-4 mg/1. Acinetobacter calcoaceticus var. anitratum strains were inhibited by concentrations ranging from 0·12-0·5 mg/1. Methicillin-susceptible staphylococci were highly susceptible to the drug (MICs: ⩾0·03 mg/1) and enterococci were inhibited by 0·25-16 mg/1. Most of the multi-resistant JK corynebacteria were resistant to imipenem. Imipenem was more active than any other ß-lactam against methicillin-resistant staphylococci; this was also demonstrated in a population analysis. Imipenem-resistant minorities in populations, however, were also observed. Cefotaxime-resistant and -intermediate Enterobacter and Citrobacter strains were inhibited by concentrations of 0·5 mg/1 or less. No third-generation cephalosporin nor any other ß-lactam showed similarly high activity against these groups of organisms. Among 20 ceftazidime-resistant and 20 ceftazidime-susceptible isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, no strain was resistant and only five ceftazidime-resistant strains were intermediately susceptible (MIC, 8 mg/1) to imipene

The Vector Probe in Heavy-Ion Reactions

We review essential elements in using the $J^P=1^-$ channel as a probe for hot and dense matter as produced in (ultra-) relativistic collisions of heavy nuclei. The uniqueness of the vector channel resides in the fact that it directly couples to photons, both real and virtual (dileptons), enabling the study of thermal radiation and in-medium effects on both light ($\rho, \omega, \phi$) and heavy ($\Psi, \Upsilon$) vector mesons. We emphasize the importance of interrelations between photons and dileptons, and characterize relevant energy/mass regimes through connections to Quark-Gluon-Plasma emission and chiral symmetry restoration. Based on critical analysis of our current understanding of data from fixed-target energies, we identify open key questions to be addressed.Comment: Invited Talk at the Hot Quarks 2004 Workshop, July 18-24, 2004 (Taos Valley, NM, USA), 15 pages latex incl 14 figs and iop style files, to appear in the proceeding