1,158 research outputs found
Low-Frequency Optical Conductivity in Inhomogeneous d-wave Superconductors
Motivated by the recent optical conductivity experiments on
Bi_2Sr_2CaCu_2O_{8+delta} films, we examine the possible origin of
low-frequency dissipation in the superconducting state. In the presence of
spatial inhomogeneity of the local phase stiffness rho_s, it is shown that some
spectral weight is removed from omega=0 to finite frequencies and contribute to
dissipation. A case where both rho_s and the local normal fluid density are
inhomogeneous is also considered. We find an enhanced dissipation at low
frequency if the two variations are anti-correlated.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev.
Detection and modelling of contacts in explicit finite-element simulation of soft tissue biomechanics
Realistic modelling of soft-tissue biomechanics and mechanical interactions between tissues is an important part of surgical simulation, and may become a valuable asset in
surgical image-guidance. Unfortunately, it is also computationally very demanding. Explicit
matrix-free FEM solvers have been shown to be a good choice for fast tissue simulation,
however little work has been done on contact algorithms for such FEM solvers.
This work introduces such an algorithm that is capable of handling the scenarios typically encountered in image-guidance. The responses are computed with an evolution of
the Lagrange-multiplier method first used by Taylor and Flanagan in PRONTO 3D with
spatio-temporal smoothing heuristics for improved stability with coarser meshes and larger
time steps. For contact search, a bounding-volume hierarchy (BVH) capable of identifying self collisions, and which is optimised for the small time steps by reducing the number
of bounding-volume refittings between iterations through identification of geometry areas
with mostly rigid motion and negligible deformation, is introduced. Further optimisation is
achieved by integrating the self-collision criterion in the BVH creation and updating algorithms.
The effectiveness of the algorithm is demonstrated on a number of artificial test cases
and meshes derived from medical image data
Anatomy of F_D-Term Hybrid Inflation
We analyze the cosmological implications of F-term hybrid inflation with a
subdominant Fayet--Iliopoulos D-term whose presence explicitly breaks a
D-parity in the inflaton-waterfall sector. This scenario of inflation, which is
called F_D-term hybrid model for brevity, can naturally predict lepton number
violation at the electroweak scale, by tying the mu-parameter of the MSSM to an
SO(3)-symmetric Majorana mass m_N, via the vacuum expectation value of the
inflaton field. We show how a negative Hubble-induced mass term in a
next-to-minimal extension of supergravity helps to accommodate the present CMB
data and considerably weaken the strict constraints on the theoretical
parameters, resulting from cosmic string effects on the power spectrum P_R. The
usual gravitino overabundance constraint may be significantly relaxed in this
model, once the enormous entropy release from the late decays of the ultraheavy
waterfall gauge particles is properly considered. As the Universe enters a
second thermalization phase involving a very low reheat temperature, which
might be as low as about 0.3 TeV, thermal electroweak-scale resonant
leptogenesis provides a viable mechanism for successful baryogenesis, while
thermal right-handed sneutrinos emerge as new possible candidates for solving
the cold dark matter problem. In addition, we discuss grand unified theory
realizations of F_D-term hybrid inflation devoid of cosmic strings and
monopoles, based on the complete breaking of an SU(2) subgroup. The F_D-term
hybrid model offers rich particle-physics phenomenology, which could be probed
at high-energy colliders, as well as in low-energy experiments of lepton
flavour or number violation.Comment: 73 pages, LaTeX, minor rewordings, references added, to appear in
JHE
Two-photon final states in peripheral heavy ion collisions
We discuss processes leading to two photon final states in peripheral heavy
ion collisions at RHIC. Due to the large photon luminosity we show that the
continuum subprocess can be observed with a
large number of events. We study this reaction when it is intermediated by a
resonance made of quarks or gluons and discuss its interplay with the continuum
process, verifying that in several cases the resonant process ovewhelms the
continuum one. It is also investigated the possibility of observing a scalar
resonance (the meson) in this process. Assuming for the the
mass and total decay width values recently reported by the E791 Collaboration
we show that RHIC may detect this particle in its two photon decay mode if its
partial photonic decay width is of the order of the ones discussed in the
literature.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figure
Charged Higgs bosons in the Next-to MSSM (NMSSM)
The charged Higgs boson decays and
are studied in the framework of the next-to Minimal Supersymmetric Standard
Model (NMSSM). It is found that the decay rate for can
exceed the rates for the and channels both below and above
the top-bottom threshold. The dominance of is most readily
achieved when has a large doublet component and small mass. We also study
the production process at the LHC followed by the decay
which leads to the signature . We suggest
that is a promising discovery channel for a light charged
Higgs boson in the NMSSM with small or moderate and dominant decay
mode . This signature can also arise from
the Higgsstrahlung process followed by the decay . It is shown that there exist regions of parameter space where these
processes can have comparable cross sections and we suggest that their
respective signals can be distinguished at the LHC by using appropriate
reconstruction methods.Comment: 20 pages, 22 eps figures, more reference adde
Searching singlet extensions of the supersymmetric standard model in orbifold compactification of heterotic string
We search for supersymmetric standard model realizations with extra singlets
and extra using the heterotic string compactification on the orbifold with two Wilson lines. We analyze the vacuum restabilization
mechanism for three representative Pati-Salam string models obtained in the
literature and present detailed results for the effective superpotential
compatible with the string selection rules. An automated selection of
semi-realistic vacua along flat directions in the non-Abelian singlet modes
field space is performed by requiring the presence of massless pairs of
electroweak Higgs bosons having trilinear superpotential couplings with
massless singlet modes and the decoupling of color triplet exotic modes needed
to suppress and number violating processes.Comment: revtex4 format, 21 pages, 7 tables, shortened version added
reference
Association between alcohol intoxication and mortality in severe traumatic brain injury in the emergency department: a retrospective cohort
BackgroundAcute alcohol intoxication is very common in patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Whether there is an independent association between alcohol intoxication and mortality is debated. This study hypothesized that alcohol intoxication is independently associated with less mortality after severe TBI (sTBI).MethodsThis retrospective observational cohort study included all patients with sTBI [head-Abbreviated Injury Score (AIS) >= 3, corresponding to serious head injury or worse] admitted from 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2016 in an academic level I trauma center. Patients were classified as with alcohol intoxication or without intoxication based on blood alcohol concentration or description of alcohol intoxication on admission. The primary endpoint was in-hospital mortality. Multivariable logistic regression analysis, including patient and injury characteristics, was used to assess independent association with alcohol intoxication.ResultsOf the 2865 TBI patients, 715 (25%) suffered from alcohol intoxication. They were younger (mean age 46 vs. 68 years), more often male (80 vs. 57%) and had a lower median Glasgow Coma Scale upon arrival (14 vs. 15) compared to the no-intoxication group. There was no difference in injury severity by head AIS or Rotterdam CT. Alcohol intoxication had an unadjusted association with in-hospital mortality [unadjusted odds ratio (OR) 0.51; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.38-0.68]; however, there was no independent association after adjusting for potentially confounding patient and injury characteristics (adjusted OR 0.72; 95% CI, 0.48-1.09).ConclusionIn this retrospective study, there was no independent association between alcohol intoxication and higher in-hospital mortality in emergency patients with sTBI.Trauma Surger
Combination of HBIG and lamivudine-resistant mutations: A formula for trouble?
Background & Aims: Lamivudine has become a main therapeutic option for treating hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Although drug resistance develops, the clinical course after selection of antiviral-resistant HBV mutants seems to be benign. However, we observed a severe clinical course of hepatitis B infection in several liver transplant recipients after the emergence of lamivudine resistance. This was associated with high viral load in the blood. Methods: In this report, we characterize the molecular mechanisms underlying drug-dependent enhanced replication of particular lamivudine-resistant HBV mutants selected in these patients, which were associated with sudden onset of liver failure. Results: The clinical course was characterized by a sudden rise in serum bilirubin, prothrombin time, and transaminase. HBV sequence analysis of these patients revealed both mutations in the “a-determinant” of the envelope and the YMDD (tyrosine, methionine, aspartate, aspartate) motif (domain C) of the polymerase protein. Transfection experiments with replication competent vectors indicated that the “a-determinant” changes were not associated with resistance, whereas mutations in the YMDD motif conferred resistance to lamivudine. More importantly, combinations of mutations in the “a-determinant” and the YMDD motif in patients with a severe hepatitis were not only resistant to lamivudine treatment, but showed enhanced replication in vitro in the presence of lamivudine. This observation was confirmed in separate laboratories. Conclusions: Severe and fatal hepatitis B infection can occur during lamivudine therapy and may be associated with certain HBV mutants selected during sequential nucleoside and HBIg treatment. The lamivudine-enhanced replication shown by these mutants suggests that continuation of therapy with lamivudine could be deleterious in some patients.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/35279/1/500081118_ftp.pd
Measurement of the p-pbar -> Wgamma + X cross section at sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV and WWgamma anomalous coupling limits
The WWgamma triple gauge boson coupling parameters are studied using p-pbar
-> l nu gamma + X (l = e,mu) events at sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV. The data were
collected with the DO detector from an integrated luminosity of 162 pb^{-1}
delivered by the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. The cross section times branching
fraction for p-pbar -> W(gamma) + X -> l nu gamma + X with E_T^{gamma} > 8 GeV
and Delta R_{l gamma} > 0.7 is 14.8 +/- 1.6 (stat) +/- 1.0 (syst) +/- 1.0 (lum)
pb. The one-dimensional 95% confidence level limits on anomalous couplings are
-0.88 < Delta kappa_{gamma} < 0.96 and -0.20 < lambda_{gamma} < 0.20.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev. D Rapid Communication
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