393 research outputs found
Physics of Trans-Planckian Gravity
We study the field theoretical description of a generic theory of gravity
flowing to Einstein General Relativity in IR. We prove that, if ghost-free, in
the weakly coupled regime such a theory can never become weaker than General
Relativity. Using this fact, as a byproduct, we suggest that in a ghost-free
theory of gravity trans-Planckian propagating quantum degrees of freedom cannot
exist. The only physical meaning of a trans-Planckian pole is the one of a
classical state (Black Hole) which is described by the light IR quantum degrees
of freedom and gives exponentially-suppressed contributions to virtual
processes. In this picture Einstein gravity is UV self-complete, although not
Wilsonian, and sub-Planckian distances are unobservable in any healthy theory
of gravity. We then finally show that this UV/IR correspondence puts a severe
constraint on any attempt of conventional Wilsonian UV-completion of
trans-Planckian gravity. Specifically, there is no well-defined energy domain
in which gravity could become asymptotically weak or safe.Comment: 23 pages, 4 figures, v2: Paper reorganized to improve clarity;
additional explanations and references added; version accepted for
publication in Phys. Rev.
Electron-positron pair creation in the superposition of two oscillating electric field pulses with largely different frequency, duration and relative positioning
Production of electron-positron pairs in two oscillating strong electric
field pulses with largely different frequencies and durations is considered. In
a first scenario, the influence of a low-frequency background field on pair
production by a short main pulse of high frequency is analyzed. The background
field is shown to cause characteristic modifications of the momentum spectra of
created particles which, in turn, may be used for imaging of the background
pulse. In a second scenario, an ultrashort, relatively weak assisting pulse is
superimposed onto a strong main pulse. By studying the dependence of the pair
production on the field parameters it is shown that duration and relative
position of the ultrashort pulse modify the momentum spectra of produced
particles in a distinctive way. Both scenarios enable, moreover, to extract
partial information about the time periods when pairs with certain momenta are
produced predominantly.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure
Interactions of Ar(9+) and metastable Ar(8+) with a Si(100) surface at velocities near the image acceleration limit
Auger LMM spectra and preliminary model simulations of Ar(9+) and metastable
Ar(8+) ions interacting with a clean monocrystalline n-doped Si(100) surface
are presented. By varying the experimental parameters, several yet undiscovered
spectroscopic features have been observed providing valuable hints for the
development of an adequate interaction model. On our apparatus the ion beam
energy can be lowered to almost mere image charge attraction. High data
acquisition rates could still be maintained yielding an unprecedented
statistical quality of the Auger spectra.Comment: 34 pages, 11 figures, http://pikp28.uni-muenster.de/~ducree
X-ray photoemission study of NiS_{2-x}Se_x (x = 0.0 - 1.2)
Electronic structure of NiS_{2-x}Se_x system has been investigated for
various compositions (x) using x-ray photoemission spectroscopy. An analysis of
the core level as well as the valence band spectra of NiS_2 in conjunction with
many-body cluster calculations provides a quantitative description of the
electronic structure of this compound. With increasing Se content, the on-site
Coulomb correlation strength (U) does not change, while the band width W of the
system increases, driving the system from a covalent insulating state to a
pd-metallic state.Comment: 19 pages, 6 figures, To appear in Phys. Rev. B, 200
Effects of non-digestible oligosaccharides on inflammation, lung health and performance of calves
Our objective was to determine the effects of nondigestible oligosaccharides (NDO) on lung health and performance. Three hundred male Holstein-Friesian calves aged 18.0 ± 3.6 d received 1 of 6 treatments for 8.5 wk (period 1). Treatments included a negative control (CON), galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) administered as a spray via the nose once daily (SPR), GOS administered via the milk replacer (MR) at 1% (GOS-L) and 2% (GOS-H), fructo-oligosaccharides administered via the MR at 0.25% (FOS) and a combination of GOS and fructo-oligosaccharides administered via the MR at 1% and 0.25%, respectively (GOS-FOS). Milk replacer was fed twice daily. Feeding levels were equal between calves and increased progressively in time. Body weight was measured every 4 wk and clinical health was scored weekly. Blood and broncho-alveolar lavage fluid (BALF) samples were collected bi-weekly from a subset of calves (n = 120). After period 1, all calves received the same control MR for 18 wk until slaughter (period 2), during which general performance and clinical health were measured. Generally, infection pressure was high, with clinical scores and BALF proinflammatory TNFα concentrations increasing with time in period 1, which resulted in a high number of required group antimicrobial treatments (6 group antimicrobial treatments in 13 wk, supplied to all calves). Average daily gain adjusted to equal solid feed intake was increased for GOS-L (+61 g/d) compared with CON calves from experimental wk 1 to 5. Plasma white blood cell concentration tended to be lowered by GOS-L, plasma IL-8 concentration was reduced by all orally supplemented NDO, plasma IL-6 was reduced by all NDO treatments except GOS-FOS and plasma IL-1β was reduced by all NDO treatments compared with CON, although this differed per time point for SPR. The neutrophil percentage in BALF was reduced by GOS-L in wk 6, which was associated with a relative increase in macrophages. The BALF concentration of TNFα and IL-8 was reduced or tended to be reduced by GOS-L and GOS-H, while IL-6 was or tended to be reduced by SPR, GOS-L, GOS-H, and GOS-FOS, and IL-1β was reduced by SPR, GOS-L, GOS-H, and FOS. Generally, feeding the combination of GOS and FOS was not more effective than feeding GOS or FOS alone, because feeding GOS-FOS resulted in higher concentrations of plasma and BALF cytokine and chemokine concentrations compared with feeding GOS-L alone, and resulted in higher plasma cytokine concentrations compared with feeding FOS alone. None of the BALF and plasma cytokine or chemokine concentrations differed between the GOS-L and GOS-H treatment. Performance and clinical scores in period 2 did not differ among treatments. Altogether, all tested NDO reduced systemic and lung inflammation in calves under high natural infection pressure and for GOS-fed calves, this increased performance during the first 4 wk. Combining GOS and FOS did not have a synergistic effect. The intranasal administration of GOS also lowered systemic and lung inflammation, but tended to negatively affect performance. Overall, this study demonstrates the potential of NDO to alleviate systemic and respiratory inflammation in calves
Itinerant ferromagnetism in half-metallic CoS_2
We have investigated electronic and magnetic properties of the pyrite-type
CoS_2 using the linearized muffin-tin orbital (LMTO) band method. We have
obtained the ferromagnetic ground state with nearly half-metallic nature. The
half-metallic stability is studied by using the fixed spin moment method. The
non-negligible orbital magnetic moment of Co 3d electrons is obtained as in the local spin density approximation (LSDA). The calculated
ratio of the orbital to spin angular momenta / = 0.15 is
consistent with experiment. The effect of the Coulomb correlation between Co 3d
electrons is also explored with the LSDA + U method. The Coulomb correlation at
Co sites is not so large, eV, and so CoS_2 is possibly
categorized as an itinerant ferromagnet. It is found that the observed
electronic and magnetic behaviors of CoS_2 can be described better by the LSDA
than by the LSDA + U.Comment: 4 pages, 3 postscript figure
Chlamydophila pneumoniae induces a sustained airway hyperresponsiveness and inflammation in mice
Background: It has been reported that Chlamydophila (C.) pneumoniae is involved in the initiation and promotion of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD). Surprisingly, the effect of C. pneumoniae on airway function has never been investigated.Methods: In this study, mice were inoculated intranasally with C. pneumoniae (strain AR39) on day 0 and experiments were performed on day 2, 7, 14 and 21.Results: We found that from day 7, C. pneumoniae infection causes both a sustained airway hyperresponsiveness and an inflammation. Interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and macrophage inflammatory chemokine-2 (MIP-2) levels in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL)-fluid were increased on all experimental days with exception of day 7 where MIP-2 concentrations dropped to control levels. In contrast, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) levels were only increased on day 7. From day 7 to 21 epithelial damage and secretory cell hypertrophy was observed. It is suggested that, the inflammatory cells/mediators, the epithelial damage and secretory cell hypertrophy contribute to initiation of airway hyperresponsiveness.Conclusion: Our study demonstrates for the first time that C. pneumoniae infection can modify bronchial responsiveness. This has clinical implications, since additional changes in airway responsiveness and inflammation-status induced by this bacterium may worsen and/or provoke breathlessness in asthma and COPD
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