Gauge singlet scalar as inflaton and thermal relic dark matter

We show that, by adding a gauge singlet scalar S to the standard model which is nonminimally coupled to gravity, S can act both as the inflaton and as thermal relic dark matter. We obtain the allowed region of the (m_s, m_h) parameter space which gives a spectral index in agreement with observational bounds and also produces the observed dark matter density while not violating vacuum stability or nonperturbativity constraints. We show that, in contrast to the case of Higgs inflation, once quantum corrections are included the spectral index is significantly larger than the classical value (n = 0.966 for N = 60) for all allowed values of the Higgs mass m_h. The range of Higgs mass compatible with the constraints is 145 GeV < m_h < 170 GeV. The S mass lies in the range 45 GeV < ms < 1 TeV for the case of a real S scalar with large quartic self-coupling lambdas, with a smaller upper bound for smaller lambdas. A region of the parameter space is accessible to direct searches at the LHC via h-->SS, while future direct dark matter searches should be able to significantly constrain the model.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures. Published versio

Use of Woody Vegetation by Beavers in Southeastern Virginia

Nonbreeding and sometimes transient beavers, Castor canadensis, cut a variety of woody plants throughout the year during a 15-month study at three sites in southeastern Virginia. Ten species of trees were cut in proportions greater than would be expected according to their availabilities. Beavers heavily used viburnum, alder, ironwood, bayberry, tulip poplar, and dogwood. Winter food caches were constructed but were only lightly used

Teaching And Application In Introductory Finance: Using An Excel-Based Case Study As A Pedagogical Tool

Recognizing the importance of practical application to a comprehensive business education, teaching, and application are integrated in the finance curriculum by introducing an Excel-based case study in the introductory finance course.  The case brings together the theoretical concepts of capital budgeting analysis and the practical business tool of spreadsheet software for students to work in groups to analyze the proposed project and decide whether to accept it

A New Approach for the Analysis of Impact-Echo Data

The recently developed impact-echo (IE) method, which utilizes an impact and subsequent displacement monitoring of the concrete surface, appears promising for the inspection of concrete structures. IE has been shown to be particularly suitable for void, delamination, and cracking detection in hardened concrete structures including bridge decks since deep penetration into the structure and one-sided accessibility are obtained. For this method to be reliable, however, accurate measurements of peak frequencies in the magnitude spectrum of the frequency domain must be made. In addition, the interpretation of confusing spectrums may be required. The first part of this paper reviews the existing impact echo technique, including typical signal generation and capture possibilities as well as the accepted signal processing. Next, an alternative approach to signal processing is developed; this approach is based on a brief literature review and laboratory experiments. It is proposed that this approach, based on the spacing of peaks in the magnitude spectrum may reduce the uncertainty of impact echo signal analysis

Screening of a HUVEC cDNA library with transplant-associated coronary artery disease sera identifies RPL7 as a candidate autoantigen associated with this disease.

A HUVEC cDNA library was screened with sera from two patients who had developed transplant-associated coronary artery disease (TxCAD) following cardiac transplantation. A total of six positive clones were isolated from a primary screen of 40 000 genes. Subsequent DNA sequence analysis identified these to be lysyl tRNA synthetase, ribosomal protein L7, ribosomal protein L9, beta transducin and TANK. Another gene whose product could not be identified showed homology to a human cDNA clone (DKFZp566M063) derived from fetal kidney. Full-length constructs of selected genes were expressed as his-tag recombinant fusion proteins and used to screen a wider patient base by ELISA to determine prevalence and association with TxCAD. Of these ribosomal protein L7 showed the highest prevalence (55.6%) with TxCAD sera compared to 10% non-CAD

Generation of guided waves in hollow cylinders by wedge and comb type transducers

It was shown by Denos C. Gazis in 19591 that in linearly elastic hollow circular cylinders there exists an infinite number of “normal modes”, each of which has its own propagation characteristics such as phase and group velocity as well as their own displacement and stress distributions throughout the cross section of the cylinder. It was also shown that, even for a given mode, these characteristics changed with changing frequency. In general, when such a cylinder is loaded by external forces, all of the modes of the structure will be excited in varying strengths determined by the characteristics of the applied loading. From a nondestructive evaluation (NDE) point of view, however, there are some modes which, due to their unique characteristics, are more sensitive to the quantities being measured or the defects being sought. It would be advantageous, therefore, to modify the applied loading so as to excite with appreciable amplitude only those modes which are found to be sensitive to the quantity being measured. In order to do this however, the relationship between the applied loading and the amplitudes of the generated modes must be understood. In this paper, the general problem of determining the amplitudes with which each propagating mode is generated due to the application of specific types of separable, time harmonic loading is investigated. (The more general problem of non-separable loading can be found in a recent paper2). The general results for separable loading are then specialized to two types of transducers commonly used in NDE to determine how the parameters of these two types of sources affect the amplitudes of the generated modes

Some Biological Aspects of Freshwater Lobsters, Cherax quadricarinatus, in Ralik River of Southeast Minahasa and in Tondano Lake of Minahasa

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the length of weight, the growth patterns and the biological conditions of freshwater crayfish, Cherax quadricarinatus, in two different locations namely river and lake.  Sampling in Ralik river of Southeast Minahasa, used a sibu-sibu fishing gear (salapa) by traversing the river (opposite the current) from the point of the pick up location until the sampling point taken. As for sampling at Tondano Lake of Minahasa, it was carried out by buying directly from local fishermen who used bubu as a fishing tool. Furthermore, samples from these two locations were analyzed at the Freshwater Bioecology Laboratory of FPIK UNSRAT Manado.The results obtained from this study are the linear equation of the relationship of the length of weight in the river for male lobsters W = -1.761049+ 3.1153 log L, and W = -1.647836 + 2.957268 log L for female lobsters; in the lake W = -1,494 + 2,8495 log L for males and females W = -1,388 + 2,7198 log L. The growth pattern of male and female lobsters in river and males in the lake is isometric; whereas females in allometric lakes. The value of the biological condition of the river male losbters ranged from 0.90 to 1.14 with an average value of 1.004 ± 0.06, whereas in lake male lobster the value of the condition factor ranged from 0.83 to 1.23 with an average value of 1.004 ± 0.09. The value of the condition of river female lobsters with a range between 0.82-1.18 with an average value of 1.004 ± 0.89 and the condition factor of lake female lobsters ranged from 0.90 to 1.11 with an average value of 1.001 ± 0.06. This shows that the body condition of a fat lobsters were good enough. Keywords: Freshwater Lobster, Long-weight, Growth pattern, Factor of biological conditions. ABSTAKTujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui hubungan panjang berat, pola pertumbuhan faktor kondisi biologis dari lobster air tawar Cherax quadricarinatus di dua lokasi berbeda yaitu sungai dan danau. Pengambilan sampel di Sungai Ralik, Minahasa Tenggara menggunakan alat tangkap sibu-sibu (salapa) dengan cara menyusuri sungai (berlawanan arus) dari titik lokasi pengambilan sampai batas pengambilan sampel dilakukan. Adapun pengambilan sampel di Danau Tondano Minahasa, dilakukan dengan cara membeli langsung dari nelayan lokal yang memakai bubu sebagai alat tangkap. Sampel-sampel yang diperoleh selanjutnya dianalisis di Laboratorium Bioekologi Perairan Tawar FPIK UNSRAT Manado.Hasil yang didapat dari penelitian ini yakni persamaan linier hubungan panjang berat di sungai untuk jantan W = -1,761049+ 3.1153 log L, dan W = -1,647836 + 2,957268 log L untuk betina; di danau W = -1,494 + 2,8495 log L untuk jantan dan betina W = -1,388 + 2,7198 log L. Pola pertumbuhan lobster jantan dan betina di sungai dan jantan di danau adalah  isometrik; sedangkan betina di danau allometrik. Nilai faktor kondisi biologis lobster jantan sungai berkisar antara 0,90-1,14 dengan nilai rata- rata 1,004±0,06, sedangkan lobster jantan danau berkisar antara 0,83-1,23 dengan nilai rata-rata 1,004±0,09. Nilai faktor kondisi lobster betina sungai berkisar antara 0.82-1.18 dengan nilai rata-rata 1,004±0,89 dan lobster betina danau berkisar antara 0,90-1,11 dengan nilai rata-rata 1,001±0,06. Hal ini menunjukkan bahwa kondisi badan lobster cukup baik. Kata kunci : Lobster air tawar, Panjang-berat, Pola pertumbuhan, Faktor kondisi biologis

Finite Size and Speciment Thickness Influence in Acousto-Ultrasonic NDE

Acousto-ultrasonics (AU) uses a pair of transducers to characterize distributed damage in composite plates. A transducer placed normal to the surface creates resonances which propagate as plate waves. Once the receiving transducer picks up the signal, simple analysis techniques, such as the zeroth or first moment of the power spectrum, are applied to create a Stress Wave Factor (SWF). The SWF is then used to quantify the damage state of the composite once the system has been properly trained