Point-Like Graviton Scattering in Plane-Wave Matrix Model

In a plane-wave matrix model we discuss a two-body scattering of gravitons in the SO(3) symmetric space. In this case the graviton solutions are point-like in contrast to the scattering in the SO(6) symmetric space where spherical membranes are interpreted as gravitons. We concentrate on a configuration in the 1-2 plane where a graviton rotates with a constant radius and the other one elliptically rotates. Then the one-loop effective action is computed by using the background field method. As the result, we obtain the 1/r^7-type interaction potential, which strongly suggests that the scattering in the matrix model would be closely related to that in the light-front eleven-dimensional supergravity.Comment: 17 pages, 1 figure, LaTeX, v2) references adde

Correction to: Does transcranial direct current stimulation improve functional locomotion in people with Parkinson’s disease? A systematic review and meta-analysis

In the original article [1], we mentioned that some study characteristics of the article by Dagan and colleagues [2] were unavailable. However, we realized that the authors provided the relevant information in their supplementary file. As such, we added participant characteristics (i.e., age = 68.8 ± 6.8, gender = 17 M, 3 F, PD duration = 9.0 ± 5.7, and UPDRS Part III at baseline = Total 39.7 ± 14.6) to Table 1, stimulation parameters (i.e., intensity = 3 mA, duration = 20 min, areas = 3 cm2) to Table 2, and methodological quality assessments (i.e., allocation concealment = 1 and Total score = 9) to Table 3. Based on the new information, we updated Fig. 2 with the corrected selection bias and performance bias results. Finally, we confirmed that these corrections did not change the meta-analytic findings in the original article

Southern Ocean Control of 2°C Global Warming in Climate Models

Global warming will soon reach the Paris Agreement targets of 1.5°C/2°C temperature increase above pre-industrial levels. Under a business-as-usual scenario, the time to reach these targets varies widely among climate models. Using Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 and 6, we show that a 2°C global warming is determined by Southern Ocean (SO) state closely tied with a low-level cloud (LLC) amount feedback strength during reference (1861–1900) period; climate models with cold SO tend to accompany more low-level cloudiness and Antarctic sea ice concentration due to a strong LLC amount feedback. Consequently, initially cold SO models tend to simulate a fast global warming by absorbing more downward shortwave radiation compared to initially warm SO models because more LLC disappears due to a strong LLC amount feedback during the 2°C rise. Our results demonstrate that climate models that correctly simulate initial SO state can improve 2°C warming projections with reduced uncertainties.publishedVersio

The assessment of Shin's method for the prediction of creatinine kinase-MB elevation after percutaneous coronary intervention: an intravascular ultrasound study

Cardiac enzyme release is common after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). At present there is no established relationship between the quantity of necrotic core and dense calcium, as assessed by Shin's method using intravascular ultrasound virtual histology (VH-IVUS), and post-PCI creatinine kinase-MB (CK-MB) elevation. A total of 112 consecutive patients with unstable angina and a normal pre-PCI CK-MB level were imaged using VH-IVUS. Patients were divided into 2 groups according to the presence (CK-MB group, n = 22) or absence (non CK-MB group, n = 90) of a post-PCI CK-MB elevation >1.0 the upper limit of normal (3.6 ng/ml). Using Shin's method contours were drawn around the IVUS catheter (instead of the lumen), and the vessel. Mean area and volume of necrotic core and dense calcium were significantly greater in CK-MB group than in non CK-MB group (1.7 ± 0.9 mm2vs. 0.9 ± 0.6 mm2, P < 0.001; 17.2 ± 8.8 mm3vs. 8.8 ± 5.8 mm3, P < 0.001, and 0.9 ± 0.6 mm2vs. 0.4 ± 0.4 mm2, P = 0.001; 9.1 ± 5.8 mm3vs. 3.9 ± 3.7 mm3, P < 0.001, respectively). Percent necrotic core and dense calcium areas calculated by external elastic membrane (EEM) area were significantly greater in CK-MB group than in non CK-MB group (11.9 ± 5.1 vs. 6.6 ± 4.0%, P < 0.001 and 6.5 ± 4.0 vs. 3.0 ± 2.9%, P 

Proton strangeness form factors in (4,1) clustering configurations

We reexamine a recent result within a nonrelativistic constituent quark model (NRCQM) which maintains that the uuds\bar s component in the proton has its uuds subsystem in P state, with its \bar s in S state (configuration I). When the result are corrected, contrary to the previous result, we find that all the empirical signs of the form factors data can be described by the lowest-lying uuds\bar s configuration with \bar s in P state that has its uuds subsystem in $S$ state (configuration II). Further, it is also found that the removal of the center-of-mass (CM) motion of the clusters will enhance the contributions of the transition current considerably. We also show that a reasonable description of the existing form factors data can be obtained with a very small probability P_{s\bar s}=0.025% for the uuds\bar s component. We further see that the agreement of our prediction with the data for G_A^s at low-q^2 region can be markedly improved by a small admixture of configuration I. It is also found that by not removing CM motion, P_{s\bar s} would be overestimated by about a factor of four in the case when transition dominates over direct currents. Then, we also study the consequence of a recent estimate reached from analyzing the existing data on quark distributions that P_{s\bar s} lies between 2.4-2.9% which would lead to a large size for the five-quark (5q) system, as well as a small bump in both G^s_E+\eta G^s_M and G^s_E in the region of q^2 =< 0.1 GeV^2.Comment: Prepared for The Fifth Asia-Pacific Conference on Few-Body Problems in Physics 2011 in Seoul, South Korea, 22-26 August 201

Experimental and numerical investigation on cross flow in the PMR200 core

Papers presented to the 11th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, South Africa, 20-23 July 2015.The Prismatic Modular Reactor (PMR) is one of the major Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR) concepts, which consists of hexagonal prismatic fuel blocks and reflector blocks made of nuclear grade graphite. However, the shape of graphite blocks could be easily changed by neutron damage during the reactor operation and the shape change can make the gaps between the blocks inducing bypass flow. Two types of gap shape should be considered. The vertical gap and horizontal gap are called bypass gap and cross gap, respectively. The cross gap complicates flow field in reactor core by connecting coolant channel and bypass gap and it could lead to loss of effective coolant flow in fuel blocks. In this paper, cross flow experimental facility was constructed to investigate the cross flow phenomena in the core of the VHTR and the experiment was carried out under varying flow rates and gap sizes. The results of the experiments were compared with CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) analysis results. In order to apply the CFD code to the cross flow phenomena, the prediction capability of the CFD code was verified. Good agreement between experimental results and CFD predictions was observed and the characteristics of the cross flow was discussed in detail.This work was supported by a Basic Atomic Energy Research Institute (BAERI) grant funded by the Korean government Ministry of Education and Science Technology (MEST) (NRF-2010-0018759)am201

Semiclassical force for electroweak baryogenesis: three-dimensional derivation

We derive a semiclassical transport equation for fermions propagating in the presence of a CP-violating planar bubble wall at a first order electroweak phase transition. Starting from the Kadanoff-Baym (KB) equation for the two-point (Wightman) function we perform an expansion in gradients, or equivalently in the Planck constant h-bar. We show that to first order in h-bar the KB equations have a spectral solution, which allows for an on-shell description of the plasma excitations. The CP-violating force acting on these excitations is found to be enhanced by a boost factor in comparison with the 1+1-dimensional case studied in a former paper. We find that an identical semiclassical force can be obtained by the WKB method. Applications to the MSSM are also mentioned.Comment: 19 page

Lipid mediators in innate immunity against tuberculosis: opposing roles of PGE2 and LXA4 in the induction of macrophage death

Virulent Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) induces a maladaptive cytolytic death modality, necrosis, which is advantageous for the pathogen. We report that necrosis of macrophages infected with the virulent Mtb strains H37Rv and Erdmann depends on predominant LXA4 production that is part of the antiinflammatory and inflammation-resolving action induced by Mtb. Infection of macrophages with the avirulent H37Ra triggers production of high levels of the prostanoid PGE2, which promotes protection against mitochondrial inner membrane perturbation and necrosis. In contrast to H37Ra infection, PGE2 production is significantly reduced in H37Rv-infected macrophages. PGE2 acts by engaging the PGE2 receptor EP2, which induces cyclic AMP production and protein kinase A activation. To verify a role for PGE2 in control of bacterial growth, we show that infection of prostaglandin E synthase (PGES)−/− macrophages in vitro with H37Rv resulted in significantly higher bacterial burden compared with wild-type macrophages. More importantly, PGES−/− mice harbor significantly higher Mtb lung burden 5 wk after low-dose aerosol infection with virulent Mtb. These in vitro and in vivo data indicate that PGE2 plays a critical role in inhibition of Mtb replication

Energy landscape of relaxed amorphous silicon

We analyze the structure of the energy landscape of a well-relaxed 1000-atom model of amorphous silicon using the activation-relaxation technique (ART nouveau). Generating more than 40,000 events starting from a single minimum, we find that activated mechanisms are local in nature, that they are distributed uniformly throughout the model and that the activation energy is limited by the cost of breaking one bond, independently of the complexity of the mechanism. The overall shape of the activation-energy-barrier distribution is also insensitive to the exact details of the configuration, indicating that well-relaxed configurations see essentially the same environment. These results underscore the localized nature of relaxation in this material.Comment: 8 pages, 12 figure

Reversible Pressure-Induced Amorphization in Solid C70 : Raman and Photoluminescence Study

We have studied single crystals of $C_{70}$ by Raman scattering and photoluminescence in the pressure range from 0 to 31.1 GPa. The Raman spectrum at 31.1 GPa shows only a broad band similar to that of the amorphous carbon without any trace of the Raman lines of $C_{70}$. After releasing the pressure from 31.1 GPa, the Raman and the photoluminescence spectra of the recovered sample are that of the starting $C_{70}$ crystal. These results indicate that the $C_{70}$ molecules are stable upto 31.1 GPa and the amorphous carbon high pressure phase is reversible, in sharp contrast to the results on solid $C_{60}$. A qualitative explaination is suggested in terms of inter- versus intra-molecular interactions.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev. Lett., 12 pages, RevTeX (preprint format), 3 figures available upon reques