1,867 research outputs found
Study of the Local Interstellar Medium using Pulsar Scintillation
We present here the results from an extensive scintillation study of twenty
pulsars in the dispersion measure (DM) range 3 - 35 pc cm^-3 carried out using
the Ooty Radio Telescope, to investigate the distribution of ionized material
in the local interstellar medium (LISM). Our analysis reveals several anomalies
in the scattering strength, which suggest that the distribution of scattering
material in the Solar neighborhood is not uniform. Our model suggests the
presence of a low density bubble surrounded by a shell of much higher density
fluctuations. We are able to put some constraints on geometrical and scattering
properties of such a structure, and find it to be morphologically similar to
the Local Bubble known from other studies.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Domain walls between gauge theories
Noncommutative U(N) gauge theories at different N may be often thought of as
different sectors of a single theory: the U(1) theory possesses a sequence of
vacua labeled by an integer parameter N, and the theory in the vicinity of the
N-th vacuum coincides with the U(N) noncommutative gauge theory. We construct
noncommutative domain walls on fuzzy cylinder, separating vacua with different
gauge theories. These domain walls are solutions of BPS equations in gauge
theory with an extra term stabilizing the radius of the cylinder. We study
properties of the domain walls using adjoint scalar and fundamental fermion
fields as probes. We show that the regions on different sides of the wall are
not disjoint even in the low energy regime -- there are modes penetrating from
one region to the other. We find that the wall supports a chiral fermion zero
mode. Also, we study non-BPS solution representing a wall and an antiwall, and
show that this solution is unstable. We suggest that the domain walls emerge as
solutions of matrix model in large class of pp-wave backgrounds with
inhomogeneous field strength. In the M-theory language, the domain walls have
an interpretation of a stack of branes of fingerstall shape inserted into a
stack of cylindrical branes.Comment: Final version; minor corrections; to appear in Nucl.Phys.
Absence of plastin 1 causes abnormal maintenance of hair cell stereocilia and a moderate form of hearing loss in mice
Hearing relies on the mechanosensory inner and outer hair cells (OHCs) of the organ of Corti, which convert mechanical deflections of their actin-rich stereociliary bundles into electrochemical signals. Several actin-associated proteins are essential for stereocilia formation and maintenance, and their absence leads to deafness. One of the most abundant actin-bundling proteins of stereocilia is plastin 1, but its function has never been directly assessed. Here, we found that plastin 1 knock-out (Pls1 KO) mice have a moderate and progressive form of hearing loss across all frequencies. Auditory hair cells developed normally in Pls1 KO, but in young adult animals, the stereocilia of inner hair cells were reduced in width and length. The stereocilia of OHCs were comparatively less affected; however, they also showed signs of degeneration in ageing mice. The hair bundle stiffness and the acquisition of the electrophysiological properties of hair cells were unaffected by the absence of plastin 1, except for a significant change in the adaptation properties, but not the size of the mechanoelectrical transducer currents. These results show that in contrast to other actin-bundling proteins such as espin, harmonin or Eps8, plastin 1 is dispensable for the initial formation of stereocilia. However, the progressive hearing loss and morphological defects of hair cells in adult Pls1 KO mice point at a specific role for plastin 1 in the preservation of adult stereocilia and optimal hearing. Hence, mutations in the human PLS1 gene may be associated with relatively mild and progressive forms of hearing loss
A Nonparametric Method for the Derivation of α/β Ratios from the Effect of Fractionated Irradiations
Multifractionation isoeffect data are commonly analysed under the assumption that cell survival determines the observed tissue or tumour response, and that it follows a linear-quadratic dose dependence. The analysis is employed to derive the α/β ratios of the linear-quadratic dose dependence, and different methods have been developed for this purpose. A common method uses the so-called Fe plot. A more complex but also more rigorous method has been introduced by Lam et al. (1979). Their method, which is based on numerical optimization procedures, is generalized and somewhat simplified in the present study. Tumour-regrowth data are used to explain the nonparametric procedure which provides α/β ratios without the need to postulate analytical expressions for the relationship between cell survival and regrowth delay
Exponential Metric Fields
The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) mission will use advanced
technologies to achieve its science goals: the direct detection of
gravitational waves, the observation of signals from compact (small and dense)
stars as they spiral into black holes, the study of the role of massive black
holes in galaxy evolution, the search for gravitational wave emission from the
early Universe. The gravitational red-shift, the advance of the perihelion of
Mercury, deflection of light and the time delay of radar signals are the
classical tests in the first order of General Relativity (GR). However, LISA
can possibly test Einstein's theories in the second order and perhaps, it will
show some particular feature of non-linearity of gravitational interaction. In
the present work we are seeking a method to construct theoretical templates
that limit in the first order the tensorial structure of some metric fields,
thus the non-linear terms are given by exponential functions of gravitational
strength. The Newtonian limit obtained here, in the first order, is equivalent
to GR.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astrophysics and Space Science, 17 page
Correlated Hybrid Fluctuations from Inflation with Thermal Dissipation
We investigate the primordial scalar perturbations in the thermal dissipative
inflation where the radiation component (thermal bath) persists and the density
fluctuations are thermally originated. The perturbation generated in this model
is hybrid, i.e. it consists of both adiabatic and isocurvature components. We
calculate the fractional power ratio () and the correlation coefficient
() between the adiabatic and the isocurvature perturbations at the
commencing of the radiation regime. Since the adiabatic/isocurvature
decomposition of hybrid perturbations generally is gauge-dependent at
super-horizon scales when there is substantial energy exchange between the
inflaton and the thermal bath, we carefully perform a proper decomposition of
the perturbations. We find that the adiabatic and the isocurvature
perturbations are correlated, even though the fluctuations of the radiation
component is considered uncorrelated with that of the inflaton. We also show
that both and depend mainly on the ratio between the
dissipation coefficient and the Hubble parameter during inflation.
The correlation is positive () for strong dissipation cases
where , and is negative for weak dissipation instances where
. Moreover, and in this model are not
independent of each other. The predicted relation between and
is consistent with the WMAP observation. Other testable predictions are also
discussed.Comment: 18 pages using revtex4, accepted for publication in PR
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