12,515 research outputs found
The connection between entropy and the absorption spectra of Schwarzschild black holes for light and massless scalar fields
We present heuristic arguments suggesting that if EM waves with wavelengths
somewhat larger than the Schwarzschild radius of a black hole were fully
absorbed by it, the second law of thermodynamics would be violated, under the
Bekenstein interpretation of the area of a black hole as a measure of its
entropy. Thus, entropy considerations make the well known fact that large
wavelengths are only marginally absorbed by black holes, a natural consequence
of thermodynamics. We also study numerically the ingoing radial propagation of
a scalar field wave in a Schwarzschild metric, relaxing the standard assumption
which leads to the eikonal equation, that the wave has zero spatial extent. We
find that if these waves have wavelengths larger that the Schwarzschild radius,
they are very substantially reflected, fully to numerical accuracy.
Interestingly, this critical wavelength approximately coincides with the one
derived from entropy considerations of the EM field, and is consistent with
well known limit results of scattering in the Schwarzschild metric. The
propagation speed is also calculated and seen to differ from the value , for
wavelengths larger than , in the vicinity of . As in all
classical wave phenomena, whenever the wavelength is larger or comparable to
the physical size of elements in the system, in this case changes in the
metric, the zero extent 'particle' description fails, and the wave nature
becomes apparent.Comment: 14 Pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in the Journal Entrop
Preface "Nonlinear processes in oceanic and atmospheric flows"
Nonlinear phenomena are essential ingredients in many oceanic and atmospheric
processes, and successful understanding of them benefits from multidisciplinary
collaboration between oceanographers, meteorologists, physicists and
mathematicians. The present Special Issue on ``Nonlinear Processes in Oceanic
and Atmospheric Flows'' contains selected contributions from attendants to the
workshop which, in the above spirit, was held in Castro Urdiales, Spain, in
July 2008. Here we summarize the Special Issue contributions, which include
papers on the characterization of ocean transport in the Lagrangian and in the
Eulerian frameworks, generation and variability of jets and waves, interactions
of fluid flow with plankton dynamics or heavy drops, scaling in meteorological
fields, and statistical properties of El Ni\~no Southern Oscillation.Comment: This is the introductory article to a Special Issue on "Nonlinear
Processes in Oceanic and Atmospheric Flows'', published in the journal
Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics, where the different contributions are
summarized. The Special Issue itself is freely available from
http://www.nonlin-processes-geophys.net/special_issue103.htm
Human papillomavirus E2 regulates SRSF3 (SRp20) to promote capsid protein expression in infected differentiated keratinocytes
The human papillomavirus (HPV) life cycle is tightly linked to differentiation of the infected epithelial cell suggesting a sophisticated interplay between host cell metabolism and virus replication. Previously we demonstrated in differentiated keratinocytes in vitro and in vivo that HPV16 infection caused increased levels of the cellular SR splicing factors (SRSFs) SRSF1 (ASF/SF2), SRSF2 (SC35) and SRSF3 (SRp20). Moreover, the viral E2 transcription and replication factor that is expressed at high levels in differentiating keratinocytes could bind and control activity of the SRSF1 gene promoter. Here we reveal that E2 proteins of HPV16 and HPV31 control expression of SRSFs 1, 2 and 3 in a differentiation-dependent manner. E2 has the greatest trans-activation effect on expression of SRSF3. siRNA depletion experiments in two different models of the HPV16 life cycle (W12E and NIKS16) and one model of the HPV31 life cycle (CIN612-9E) revealed that only SRSF3 contributed significantly to regulation of late events in the virus life cycle. Increased levels of SRSF3 are required for L1 mRNA and capsid protein expression. Capsid protein expression was regulated specifically by SRSF3 and appeared independent of other SRSFs. Taken together these data suggest a significant role of the HPV E2 protein in regulating late events in the HPV life cycle through transcriptional regulation of SRSF3 expression.
IMPORTANCE Human papillomavirus replication is accomplished in concert with differentiation of the infected epithelium. Virus capsid protein expression is confined to the upper epithelial layers so as to avoid immune detection. In this study we demonstrate that the viral E2 transcription factor activates the promoter of the cellular SRSF3 RNA processing factor. SRSF3 is required for expression of the E4Ì‚L1 mRNA and so controls expression of the HPV L1 capsid protein. Thus we reveal a new dimension of virus-host interaction crucial for production of infectious virus. SRSF proteins are known drug targets. Therefore, this study provides an excellent basis for developing strategies to regulate capsid protein production in the infected epithelium and production of new virions
Predicting the baryon asymmetry with degenerate right-handed neutrinos
We consider the generation of a baryon asymmetry in an extension of the
Standard Model with two singlet Majorana fermions that are degenerate above the
electroweak phase transition. The model can explain neutrino masses as well as
the observed matter-antimatter asymmetry, for masses of the heavy singlets
below the electroweak scale. The only physical CP violating phases in the model
are those in the PMNS mixing matrix, i.e. the Dirac phase and a Majorana phase
that enter light neutrino observables. We present an accurate analytic
approximation for the baryon asymmetry in terms of CP flavour invariants, and
derive the correlations with neutrino observables. We demonstrate that the
measurement of CP violation in neutrino oscillations as well as the mixings of
the heavy neutral leptons with the electron, muon and tau flavours suffice to
pin down the matter-antimatter asymmetry from laboratory measurements.Comment: 29 + 4 pages, 9 figures. Includes a comparison to the non-degenerate
scenario. Matches published version in JHE
X-Ray Fluorescence Analysis of Fine Atmospheric Aerosols from a Site in Mexico City
A study was performed in the Winter of the year 2015 in a Southwestern site in the MAMC (Ciudad Universitaria), collecting PM2.5 samples with a Mini Vol. As a part of wider study focused to fully characterize aerosols at this site, an X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) spectrometer (based on an Rh X-ray tube) built to analyze environmental samples, was used to characterize the sample set. A total of 16 elements (Al, Si, P, S, Cl, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, and Pb) were detected in most samples and mean concentrations were calculated. Cluster analysis was also applied to the elemental concentrations to find possible correlations among the elements
Reliability-based design optimization of composite stiffened panels in post-buckling regime
This paper focuses on Deterministic and Reliability Based Design Optimization (DO and RBDO) of composite stiffened panels considering post-buckling regime and progressive failure analysis. The ultimate load that a post-buckled panel can hold is to be maximised by changing the stacking sequence of both skin and stringers composite layups. The RBDO problem looks for a design that collapses beyond the shortening of failure obtained in the DO phase with a target reliability while considering uncertainty in the elastic properties of the composite material. The RBDO algorithm proposed is decoupled and hence separates the Reliability Analysis (RA) from the deterministic optimization. The main code to drive both the DO and RBDO approaches is written in MATLAB and employs Genetic Algorithms (GA) to solve the DO loops because discrete design variables and highly nonlinear response functions are expected. The code is linked with Abaqus to perform parallel explicit nonlinear finite element analyses in order to obtain the structural responses at each generation. The RA is solved through an inverse Most Probable failure Point (MPP) search algorithm that benefits from a Polynomial Chaos Expansion with Latin Hypercube Sampling (PCE-LHS) metamodel when the structural responses are required. The results led to small reductions in the maximum load that the panels can bear but otherwise assure that they will collapse beyond the shortening of failure imposed with a high reliability
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