322 research outputs found
Gravitational time advancement and its possible detection
The gravitational time advancement is a natural but a consequence of curve
space-time geometry. In the present work the expressions of gravitational time
advancement have been obtained for geodesic motions. The situation when the
distance of signal travel is small in comparison to the distance of closest
approach has also been considered. The possibility of experimental detection of
time advancement effect has been explored.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, a part of the work has been changed in the
revised versio
Is peak exposure to computer use a risk factor for neck and upper-extremity symptoms?
Objective Epidemiologic studies on physical exposure during computer use have mainly focused on average exposure duration. In this study, we aimed to relate periods of high peak exposure during computer use with the occurrence of neck-shoulder (NS) and arm-wrist-hand (AWH) symptoms. Methods A prospective cohort study among 1951 office workers was carried out for two years, with periodical questionnaires and continuous measurements of computer input use. To define peak exposure, a distinction was made between peak days and weeks. Peak days were defined as days with a long duration of computer (ie, ≥4 hours) or mouse use (ie, ≥2.5 hours) or days with high frequency of mouse (ie, ≥20 clicks per minute) or keyboard use (ie, ≥160 keystrokes per minute). Weeks containing ≥3 peak days were considered peak weeks. Independent variables were numbers of peak days and peak weeks during a 3-month measurement period; dependent variables were self-reported NS and AWH symptoms during the following 3-month measurement period. Results Valid data were available for 2116 measurements of 774 office workers. No relation was found between any of the peak exposure parameters and AWH symptoms or with peak exposure in duration and NS symptoms. Most parameters referring to high frequency-related peak exposure were associated with less NS symptoms, but the effect estimates were very small and the confidence intervals close to the null. Conclusion In this study, we found no indication that high peaks in computer use were related to the occurrence of NS or AWH symptoms. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Exclusive Higgs Boson Production with bottom quarks at Hadron Colliders
We present the next-to-leading order QCD corrected rate for the production of
a scalar Higgs boson with a pair of high p_T bottom and anti-bottom quarks at
the Tevatron and at the Large Hadron Collider. Results are given for both the
Standard Model and the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model. The exclusive
b-bbar-h production rate is small in the Standard Model, but it can be greatly
enhanced in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model for large tan(beta),
making b-bbar-h an important discovery mode. We find that the next-to-leading
order QCD results are much less sensitive to the renormalization and
factorization scales than the lowest order results, but have a significant
dependence on the choice of the renormalization scheme for the bottom quark
Yukawa coupling.Comment: 27 pages, 17 figures, RevTeX
Thermal and electromagnetic properties of 166-Er and 167-Er
The primary gamma-ray spectra of 166-Er and 167-Er are deduced from the
(3-He,alpha gamma) and (3-He,3-He' gamma) reaction, respectively, enabling a
simultaneous extraction of the level density and the gamma-ray strength
function. Entropy, temperature and heat capacity are deduced from the level
density within the micro-canonical and the canonical ensemble, displaying
signals of a phase-like transition from the pair-correlated ground state to an
uncorrelated state at Tc=0.5 MeV. The gamma-ray strength function displays a
bump around E-gamma=3 MeV, interpreted as the pygmy resonance.Comment: 21 pages including 2 tables and 11 figure
Level densities and -strength functions in Sm
The level densities and -strength functions of the weakly deformed
Sm and Sm nuclei have been extracted. The temperature versus
excitation energy curve, derived within the framework of the micro canonical
ensemble, shows structures, which we associate with the break up of Cooper
pairs. The nuclear heat capacity is deduced within the framework of both the
micro canonical and the canonical ensemble. We observe negative heat capacity
in the micro canonical ensemble whereas the canonical heat capacity exhibits an
S-shape as function of temperature, both signals of a phase transition. The
structures in the -strength functions are discussed in terms of the
pygmy resonance and the scissors mode built on exited states. The samarium
results are compared with data for the well deformed Dy,
Er and Yb isotopes and with data from
(n,)-experiments and giant dipole resonance studies.Comment: 12 figure
Calculation of magnetic anisotropy energy in SmCo5
SmCo5 is an important hard magnetic material, due to its large magnetic
anisotropy energy (MAE). We have studied the magnetic properties of SmCo5 using
density functional theory (DFT) calculations where the Sm f-bands, which are
difficult to include in DFT calculations, have been treated within the LDA+U
formalism. The large MAE comes mostly from the Sm f-shell anisotropy, stemming
from an interplay between the crystal field and the spin-orbit coupling. We
found that both are of similar strengths, unlike some other Sm compounds,
leading to a partial quenching of the orbital moment (f-states cannot be
described as either pure lattice harmonics or pure complex harmonics), an
optimal situation for enhanced MAE. A smaller portion of the MAE can be
associated with the Co-d band anisotropy, related to the peak in the density of
states at the Fermi energy. Our result for the MAE of SmCo5, 21.6 meV/f.u.,
agrees reasonably with the experimental value of 13-16 meV/f.u., and the
calculated magnetic moment (including the orbital component) of 9.4 mu_B agrees
with the experimental value of 8.9 mu_B.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev.
The role and uses of antibodies in COVID-19 infections: a living review
Coronavirus disease 2019 has generated a rapidly evolving field of research, with the global scientific community striving for solutions to the current pandemic. Characterizing humoral responses towards SARS-CoV-2, as well as closely related strains, will help determine whether antibodies are central to infection control, and aid the design of therapeutics and vaccine candidates. This review outlines the major aspects of SARS-CoV-2-specific antibody research to date, with a focus on the various prophylactic and therapeutic uses of antibodies to alleviate disease in addition to the potential of cross-reactive therapies and the implications of long-term immunity
Metamorphosis and Taxonomy of Andreev Bound States
We analyze the spatial and energy dependence of the local density of states
in a SNS junction. We model our system as a one-dimensional tight-binding chain
which we solve exactly by numerical diagonalization. We calculate the
dependence of the Andreev bound states on position, phase difference, gate
voltage, and coupling with the superconducting leads. Our results confirm the
physics predicted by certain analytical approximations, but reveal a much
richer set of phenomena beyond the grasp of these approximations, such as the
metamorphosis of the discrete states of the normal link (the normal bound
states) into Andreev bound states as the leads become superconducting.Comment: 23 pages, 15 figure
Geographical and temporal distribution of SARS-CoV-2 clades in the WHO European Region, January to June 2020
We show the distribution of SARS-CoV-2 genetic clades over time and between countries and outline potential genomic surveillance objectives. We applied three available genomic nomenclature systems for SARS-CoV-2 to all sequence data from the WHO European Region available during the COVID-19 pandemic until 10 July 2020. We highlight the importance of real-time sequencing and data dissemination in a pandemic situation. We provide a comparison of the nomenclatures and lay a foundation for future European genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2.Peer reviewe
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