1,465 research outputs found
Phase Transitions in Isolated Vortex Chains
In very anisotropic layered superconductors (e.g. BiSrCaCuO)
a tilted magnetic field can penetrate as two co-existing lattices of vortices
parallel and perpendicular to the layers. At low out-of-plane fields the
perpendicular vortices form a set of isolated vortex chains, which have
recently been observed in detail with scanning Hall-probe measurements. We
present calculations that show a very delicate stability of this isolated-chain
state. As the vortex density increases along the chain there is a first-order
transition to a buckled chain, and then the chain will expel vortices in a
continuous transition to a composite-chain state. At low densities there is an
instability towards clustering, due to a long-range attraction between the
vortices on the chain, and at very low densities it becomes energetically
favorable to form a tilted chain, which may explain the sudden disappearance of
vortices along the chains seen in recent experiments.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figure
Interaction of hydrocortisone with ATP and adenosine on nerve-mediated contractions of frog skeletal muscle
The inhibitory effects of ATP and adenosine on the nerve-mediated contractile responses of isolated sartorius muscle of the frog, Rana ridibunda, evoked by electrical field stimulation (EFS) were studied using pharmacological organ-bath technique. The effects of hydrocortisone applied in vitro and in vivo on contractility of sartorius muscle were also examined. ATP (100 μM) significantly reduced the amplitude of contraction to EFS of sartorius muscle, while pyridoxalphosphate-6-azonphenyl-2′,4′-disulfonic acid (PPADS; 10 μM), a P2 receptor antagonist, abolished inhibitory effect of ATP. A similar inhibitory effect of adenosine (100 μM) was fully antagonized by 8-(p-sulfophenyl)-theophylline (8-SPT, 100 μM), a P1 receptor antagonist. Incubation of the tissue with hydrocortisone (10 μM) caused a slight, but significant, decrease of muscle contractions. After incubation of muscle preparations with both hydrocortisone and ATP, no inhibition of muscle contractility was registered. A single injection of hydrocortisone (100 mg/kg) 12 h prior to experiments to frogs did not significantly change the nerve-mediated contractility of isolated sartorius muscle; however, it abolished the inhibitory action of ATP without changing inhibitory activity of adenosine. After treatment of frogs with hydrocortisone for 14 days (100 mg/kg/day), both ATP and adenosine retained their inhibitory action on EFS-induced contractions of the muscle, and their effects were antagonized by PPADS and 8-SPT, respectively. It is concluded that hydrocortisone has antagonistic actions against the inhibitory effects of ATP at the frog neuromuscular junction, although this effect is lost following long-term treatment with hydrocortisone. © 2009 Elsevier B.V
Observing Non-Gaussian Sources in Heavy-Ion Reactions
We examine the possibility of extracting non-Gaussian sources from
two-particle correlations in heavy-ion reactions. Non-Gaussian sources have
been predicted in a variety of model calculations and may have been seen in
various like-meson pair correlations. As a tool for this investigation, we have
developed an improved imaging method that relies on a Basis spline expansion of
the source functions with an improved implementation of constraints. We examine
under what conditions this improved method can distinguish between Gaussian and
non-Gaussian sources. Finally, we investigate pion, kaon, and proton sources
from the p-Pb reaction at 450 GeV/nucleon and from the S-Pb reaction at 200
GeV/nucleon studied by the NA44 experiment. Both the pion and kaon sources from
the S-Pb correlations seem to exhibit a Gaussian core with an extended,
non-Gaussian halo. We also find evidence for a scaling of the source widths
with particle mass in the sources from the p-Pb reaction.Comment: 16 pages, 15 figures, 5 tables, uses RevTex3.
Air ions induced aerosol sensing by eye-safe LIDAR
Low concentrations aerosols quantification is rather challenging for LIDAR
instruments due to eye-safety restrictions so high energy pulses cannot be
utilized to improve the sensitivity. Highly sensitive but eye-save LIDAR has
been developed for the quantification of the water droplet aerosol which was
induced by air ions. Few days sensing of aerosols in closed tunnel revealed a
strong correlation between air optical transparency (LIDAR measurements) and
concentrations of positive/negative ions (ion counter Sapphir 3-M). The
correlation coefficient was observed to be almost unity for the air
transparency signal and air ions unipolarity coefficient. High sensitivity of
the water droplet aerosol quantification makes the developed eye-safe LIDAR a
perspective instrument for space resolved measurements of the air ions
distribution. Space and time resolved measurements of air ions exhalation can
be a new instrument for tectonic activity study including new earthquake
forecasting indicators search
Properties of Neutral Charmed Mesons in Proton--Nucleus Interactions at 70 GeV
The results of treatment of data obtained in the SERP-E-184experiment
"Investigation of mechanisms of the production of charmed particles in
proton-nucleus interactions at 70 GeV and their decays" by irradiating the
active target of the SVD-2 facility consisting of carbon, silicon, and lead
plates, are presented. After separating a signal from the two-particle decay of
neutral charmed mesons and estimating the cross section for charm production at
a threshold energy {\sigma}(c\v{c})=7.1 \pm 2.4(stat.) \pm 1.4(syst.)
\mub/nucleon, some properties of D mesons are investigated. These include the
dependence of the cross section on the target mass number (its A dependence);
the behavior of the differential cross sections d{\sigma}/dpt2 and
d{\sigma}/dxF; and the dependence of the parameter {\alpha} on the kinematical
variables xF, pt2, and plab. The experimental results in question are compared
with predictions obtained on the basis of the FRITIOF7.02 code.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures,3 table
Comparison of Geant4 hadron generation with data from the interactions with beryllium nuclei of +8.9 GeV/c protons and pions, and of -8 GeV/c pions
Hadron generation in the Geant4 simulation tool kit is compared with
inclusive spectra of secondary protons and pions from the interactions with
beryllium nuclei of +8.9 GeV/c protons and pions, and of -8.0 GeV/c pions. The
data were taken in 2002 at the CERN Proton Synchrotron with the HARP
spectrometer. We report on significant disagreements between data and simulated
data especially in the polar-angle distributions of secondary protons and
pions.Comment: 15 pages, 13 figure
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