765 research outputs found
QRS duration and cardiovascular mortality in Asian patients with heart failure and preserved and reduced ejection fraction
Microstructural dynamics and rheology of worm-like diblock copolymer nanoparticle dispersions under a simple shear and a planar extensional flow
We investigate the shear and extensional flow behavior of dispersions composed of two types of worm-like nanoparticles (WLNPs) with comparable cross-sectional diameters, similar persistence lengths but differing contour lengths, and thus differing flexibility. By measuring the flow-induced birefringence (FIB) of WLNP dispersions in two contrasting microfluidic devices, we obtain an experimental quantification of the role of shearing and planar extensional flows at aligning a short and stiff WLNP (S-WLNP) and a relatively long and flexible WLNP (L-WLNP). We show that shear and extensional flows induce the alignment of both types of WLNPs. However, extensional deformations are more effective than shear deformations at triggering the onset of alignment of the WLNP. The difference between shear and extensional deformations for WLNP alignment is explained based on the ratio of extensional and shear viscosity of the solvent fluid (Trouton ratio of the solvent) and a structural parameter related to the WLNP extensibility and flexibility. Under shear flow, these WLNP dispersions display shear-thinning behavior, with an exponential reduction in viscosity with increasing alignment. Under extensional flow, the WLNP alignment leads to extensional thinning, making WLNP ideal additives for industrial and biotechnology formulations exposed to extensional dominated flows (e.g., jetting, spraying, and printing processes)
Higher order WKB corrections to black hole entropy in brick wall formalism
We calculate the statistical entropy of a quantum field with an arbitrary
spin propagating on the spherical symmetric black hole background by using the
brick wall formalism at higher orders in the WKB approximation. For general
spins, we find that the correction to the standard Bekenstein-Hawking entropy
depends logarithmically on the area of the horizon. Furthermore, we apply this
analysis to the Schwarzschild and Schwarzschild-AdS black holes and discuss our
results.Comment: 21 pages, published versio
Constraints on cosmic hemispherical power anomalies from quasars
Recent analyses of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) maps from the WMAP
satellite have uncovered evidence for a hemispherical power anomaly, i.e. a
dipole modulation of the CMB power spectrum at large angular scales with an
amplitude of +/-14 percent. Erickcek et al have put forward an inflationary
model to explain this anomaly. Their scenario is a variation on the curvaton
scenario in which the curvaton possesses a large-scale spatial gradient that
modulates the amplitude of CMB fluctuations. We show that this scenario would
also lead to a spatial gradient in the amplitude of perturbations sigma_8, and
hence to a dipole asymmetry in any highly biased tracer of the underlying
density field. Using the high-redshift quasars from the Sloan Digital Sky
Survey, we find an upper limit on such a gradient of |nabla
sigma_8|/sigma_8<0.027/r_{lss} (99% posterior probability), where r_{lss} is
the comoving distance to the last-scattering surface. This rules out the
simplest version of the curvaton spatial gradient scenario.Comment: matches JCAP accepted version (minor revisions
Sub-barrier capture with quantum diffusion approach: actinide-based reactions
With the quantum diffusion approach the behavior of capture cross sections
and mean-square angular momenta of captured systems are revealed in the
reactions with deformed nuclei at subbarrier energies. The calculated results
are in a good agreement with existing experimental data. With decreasing
bombarding energy under the barrier the external turning point of the
nucleusnucleus potential leaves the region of short-range nuclear interaction
and action of friction. Because of this change of the regime of interaction, an
unexpected enhancement of the capture cross section is expected at bombarding
energies far below the Coulomb barrier. This effect is shown its worth in the
dependence of mean-square angular momentum of captured system on the bombarding
energy. From the comparison of calculated and experimental capture cross
sections, the importance of quasifission near the entrance channel is shown for
the actinide-based reactions leading to superheavy nuclei.Comment: 11 pages, 16 figures, Regular Articl
A systems biology approach reveals major metabolic changes in the thermoacidophilic archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus in response to the carbon source L-fucose versus D-glucose
Archaea are characterised by a complex metabolism with many unique enzymes that differ from their bacterial and eukaryotic counterparts. The thermoacidophilic archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus is known for its metabolic versatility and is able to utilize a great variety of different carbon sources. However, the underlying degradation pathways and their regulation are often unknown. In this work, we analyse growth on different carbon sources using an integrated systems biology approach. The comparison of growth on L-fucose and D-glucose allows first insights into the genome-wide changes in response to the two carbon sources and revealed a new pathway for L-fucose degradation in S. solfataricus. During growth on L-fucose we observed major changes in the central carbon metabolic network, as well as an increased activity of the glyoxylate bypass and the 3-hydroxypropionate/4-hydroxybutyrate cycle. Within the newly discovered pathway for L-fucose degradation the following key reactions were identified: (i) L-fucose oxidation to L-fuconate via a dehydrogenase, (ii) dehydration to 2-keto-3-deoxy-L-fuconate via dehydratase, (iii) 2-keto-3-deoxy-L-fuconate cleavage to pyruvate and L-lactaldehyde via aldolase and (iv) L-lactaldehyde conversion to L-lactate via aldehyde dehydrogenase. This pathway as well as L-fucose transport shows interesting overlaps to the D-arabinose pathway, representing another example for pathway promiscuity in Sulfolobus species
Observations of Coronal Mass Ejections with the Coronal Multichannel Polarimeter
The Coronal Multichannel Polarimeter (CoMP) measures not only the
polarization of coronal emission, but also the full radiance profiles of
coronal emission lines. For the first time, CoMP observations provide
high-cadence image sequences of the coronal line intensity, Doppler shift and
line width simultaneously in a large field of view. By studying the Doppler
shift and line width we may explore more of the physical processes of CME
initiation and propagation. Here we identify a list of CMEs observed by CoMP
and present the first results of these observations. Our preliminary analysis
shows that CMEs are usually associated with greatly increased Doppler shift and
enhanced line width. These new observations provide not only valuable
information to constrain CME models and probe various processes during the
initial propagation of CMEs in the low corona, but also offer a possible
cost-effective and low-risk means of space weather monitoring.Comment: 6 figures. Will appear in the special issue of Coronal Magnetism,
Sol. Phy
Superconductivity in the two dimensional Hubbard Model.
Quasiparticle bands of the two-dimensional Hubbard model are calculated using
the Roth two-pole approximation to the one particle Green's function. Excellent
agreement is obtained with recent Monte Carlo calculations, including an
anomalous volume of the Fermi surface near half-filling, which can possibly be
explained in terms of a breakdown of Fermi liquid theory. The calculated bands
are very flat around the (pi,0) points of the Brillouin zone in agreement with
photoemission measurements of cuprate superconductors. With doping there is a
shift in spectral weight from the upper band to the lower band. The Roth method
is extended to deal with superconductivity within a four-pole approximation
allowing electron-hole mixing. It is shown that triplet p-wave pairing never
occurs. Singlet d_{x^2-y^2}-wave pairing is strongly favoured and optimal
doping occurs when the van Hove singularity, corresponding to the flat band
part, lies at the Fermi level. Nearest neighbour antiferromagnetic correlations
play an important role in flattening the bands near the Fermi level and in
favouring superconductivity. However the mechanism for superconductivity is a
local one, in contrast to spin fluctuation exchange models. For reasonable
values of the hopping parameter the transition temperature T_c is in the range
10-100K. The optimum doping delta_c lies between 0.14 and 0.25, depending on
the ratio U/t. The gap equation has a BCS-like form and (2*Delta_{max})/(kT_c)
~ 4.Comment: REVTeX, 35 pages, including 19 PostScript figures numbered 1a to 11.
Uses epsf.sty (included). Everything in uuencoded gz-compressed .tar file,
(self-unpacking, see header). Submitted to Phys. Rev. B (24-2-95
Exotic Meson Production in the System observed in the Reaction at 18 GeV/c
This letter reports results from the partial wave analysis of the
final state in collisions at 18GeV/c.
Strong evidence is observed for production of two mesons with exotic quantum
numbers of spin, parity and charge conjugation, in the decay
channel . The mass MeV/c^2 and
width MeV/c^2 of the first state are consistent
with the parameters of the previously observed . The second
resonance with mass MeV/c^2 and width MeV/c^2 agrees very well with predictions from theoretical
models. In addition, the presence of is confirmed with mass MeV/c^2 and width MeV/c^2
and a new state, , is observed with mass
MeV/c^2 and width MeV/c^2. The decay properties of
these last two states are consistent with flux tube model predictions for
hybrid mesons with non-exotic quantum numbers
Analysis and annotation of DNA methylation in two nonhuman primate species using the Infinium Human Methylation 450K and EPIC BeadChips
Aim: Nonhuman primates are essential for research on many human diseases. The Infinium Human Methylation450/EPIC BeadChips are popular tools for the study of the methylation state across the human genome at affordable cost. Methods: We performed a precise evaluation and re-annotation of the BeadChip probes for the analysis of genome-wide DNA methylation patterns in rhesus macaques and African green monkeys through in silico analyses combined with functional validation by pyrosequencing. Results: Up to 165,847 of the 450K and 261,545 probes of the EPIC BeadChip can be reliably used. The annotation files are provided in a format compatible with a variety of standard bioinformatic pipelines. Conclusion: Our study will facilitate high-throughput DNA methylation analyses in Macaca mulatta and Chlorocebus sabaeus.Host-parasite interactio
- …