48 research outputs found
Detecting Microscopic Black Holes with Neutrino Telescopes
If spacetime has more than four dimensions, ultra-high energy cosmic rays may
create microscopic black holes. Black holes created by cosmic neutrinos in the
Earth will evaporate, and the resulting hadronic showers, muons, and taus may
be detected in neutrino telescopes below the Earth's surface. We simulate such
events in detail and consider black hole cross sections with and without an
exponential suppression factor. We find observable rates in both cases: for
conservative cosmogenic neutrino fluxes, several black hole events per year are
observable at the IceCube detector; for fluxes at the Waxman-Bahcall bound,
tens of events per year are possible. We also present zenith angle and energy
distributions for all three channels. The ability of neutrino telescopes to
differentiate hadrons, muons, and possibly taus, and to measure these
distributions provides a unique opportunity to identify black holes, to
experimentally constrain the form of black hole production cross sections, and
to study Hawking evaporation.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figure
Spectropolarimetry of the thermonuclear supernova SN 2021rhu: high calcium polarization 79 Days after peak luminosity
We report spectropolarimetric observations of the Type Ia supernova (SN) SN 2021rhu at four epochs: â7, +0, +36, and +79 days relative to its B-band maximum luminosity. A wavelength-dependent continuum polarization peaking at 3890 ± 93 Ă
and reaching a level of % was found. The peak of the polarization curve is bluer than is typical in the Milky Way, indicating a larger proportion of small dust grains along the sight line to the SN. After removing the interstellar polarization, we found a pronounced increase of the polarization in the Ca ii near-infrared triplet, from âŒ0.3% at day â7 to âŒ2.5% at day +79. No temporal evolution in high-resolution flux spectra across the Na i D and Ca ii H and K features was seen from days +39 to +74, indicating that the late-time increase in polarization is intrinsic to the SN as opposed to being caused by scattering of SN photons in circumstellar or interstellar matter. We suggest that an explanation for the late-time rise of the Ca ii near-infrared triplet polarization may be the alignment of calcium atoms in a weak magnetic field through optical excitation/pumping by anisotropic radiation from the SN
Geographic population structure analysis of worldwide human populations infers their biogeographical origins
The search for a method that utilizes biological information to predict humansâ place of origin has occupied scientists for millennia. Over the past four decades, scientists have employed genetic data in an effort to achieve this goal but with limited success. While biogeographical algorithms using next-generation sequencing data have achieved an accuracy of 700âkm in Europe, they were inaccurate elsewhere. Here we describe the Geographic Population Structure (GPS) algorithm and demonstrate its accuracy with three data sets using 40,000â130,000 SNPs. GPS placed 83% of worldwide individuals in their country of origin. Applied to over 200 Sardinians villagers, GPS placed a quarter of them in their villages and most of the rest within 50âkm of their villages. GPSâs accuracy and power to infer the biogeography of worldwide individuals down to their country or, in some cases, village, of origin, underscores the promise of admixture-based methods for biogeography and has ramifications for genetic ancestry testing
Loss-of-function mutations in UDP-Glucose 6-Dehydrogenase cause recessive developmental epileptic encephalopathy
Developmental epileptic encephalopathies are devastating disorders characterized by intractable epileptic seizures and developmental delay. Here, we report an allelic series of germline recessive mutations in UGDH in 36 cases from 25 families presenting with epileptic encephalopathy with developmental delay and hypotonia. UGDH encodes an oxidoreductase that converts UDP-glucose to UDP-glucuronic acid, a key component of specific proteoglycans and glycolipids. Consistent with being loss-of-function alleles, we show using patientsâ primary fibroblasts and biochemical assays, that these mutations either impair UGDH stability, oligomerization, or enzymatic activity. In vitro, patient-derived cerebral organoids are smaller with a reduced number of proliferating neuronal progenitors while mutant ugdh zebrafish do not phenocopy the human disease. Our study defines UGDH as a key player for the production of extracellular matrix components that are essential for human brain development. Based on the incidence of variants observed, UGDH mutations are likely to be a frequent cause of recessive epileptic encephalopathy
Borboletas (Lepidoptera: Hesperioidea e Papilionoidea) do campus da Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul
Sq and EEJâA Review on the Daily Variation of the Geomagnetic Field Caused by Ionospheric Dynamo Currents
Effects of unilateral ovariectomy on recruitment and growth of follicles in the rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss
Virgin female rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, were unilaterally ovariectomised at various stages of ovarian development to investigate the effect of the removal of one ovary on subsequent recruitment and growth of follicles in the remaining ovary. The right ovary was removed from groups of 12â15 fish, 12, 7 and 4 months before they were due to ovulate, and the gonadosomatic index and follicle number and size determined just prior to ovulation. There were no differences in fecundity or follicle size in fish unilaterally ovariectomised at 12 and 7 months prior to ovulation compared to the controls. However, in the females unilaterally ovariectomised 4 months prior to ovulation, the remaining ovary either had the normal number of follicles for a single ovary but of a significantly larger size than follicles in the controls, or alternatively had almost 70% more than the normal number of vitellogenic follicles but comprising two distinctly different size populations. Differences in plasma oestradiol-17ÎČ concentrations at the final sample were seen only in females unilaterally ovariectomised 4 months prior to ovulation, where the levels were significantly lower than both the sham operated and control fish (p < 0.05).
These data show that in the rainbow trout, complete compensatory ovarian hypertrophy following unilateral ovariectomy can occur throughout a major part of ovarian development, but that follicle recruitment is limited to stages up to (and therefore fecundity is determined by) mid-vitellogenesis
A classification of duct modes based on surface waves
For the relatively high frequencies relevant in a turbofan engine duct the modes of a lined section may be classified in two categories: genuine acoustic 3D duct modes resulting from the finiteness of the duct geometry, and 2D surface waves that exist only near the wall surface in a way essentially independent of the rest of the duct. Per frequency and circumferential order there are at most 4 surface waves. They occur in two kinds: 2 acoustic surface waves that exist with and without mean flow, and 2 hydrodynamic surface waves that exist only with mean flow. The number and location of the surface waves depends on the wall impedance Z and mean flow Mach number. When Z is varied, an acoustic mode may change via small transition zones into a surface waves and vice versa. Compared to the acoustic modes, the surface waves behave-for example as a function of the wall impedance-rather differently as they have their own dynamics. They are therefore more difficult to find. A method is described to trace all modes by continuation in Z from the hard-wall values, by starting in an area of the complex Z plane without surface waves. Keywords: Acoustic surface waves; Duct geometries; Duct modes; High frequency HF; Mean flow; Transition zones; Wall impedance; Wall surface