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Storm Wave Induced Mortality of Giant Kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera, in Southern California
High energy solar neutrinos and p-wave contributions to ^3He(p,\nue^+)^4He
High energy solar neutrinos can come from the hep reaction ^3He(p,\nue^+)^4He
with a large end point energy of 18.8 MeV. Understanding the hep reaction may
be important for interpreting solar neutrino spectra. We calculate the
contribution of the axial charge transition to the hep
thermonuclear S factor using a one-body reaction model involving a nucleon
moving in optical potentials. Our result is comparable to or larger than
previous calculations of the s-wave Gamow Teller contribution. This indicates
that the hep reaction may have p-wave strength leading to an enhancement of the
S factor.Comment: 4 pages, 1 ps figure, very minor changes, Phys. Rev. C in pres
Temperature dependence in interatomic potentials and an improved potential for Ti
The process of deriving an interatomic potentials represents an attempt to
integrate out the electronic degrees of freedom from the full quantum
description of a condensed matter system. In practice it is the derivatives of
the interatomic potentials which are used in molecular dynamics, as a model for
the forces on a system. These forces should be the derivative of the free
energy of the electronic system, which includes contributions from the entropy
of the electronic states. This free energy is weakly temperature dependent, and
although this can be safely neglected in many cases there are some systems
where the electronic entropy plays a significant role. Here a method is
proposed to incorporate electronic entropy in the Sommerfeld approximation into
empirical potentials. The method is applied as a correction to an existing
potential for titanium. Thermal properties of the new model are calculated, and
a simple method for fixing the melting point and solid-solid phase transition
temperature for existing models fitted to zero temperature data is presented.Comment: CCP 201
Neurochemical Aftermath of Repetitive Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
IMPORTANCE: Evidence is accumulating that repeated mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) incidents can lead to persistent, long-term debilitating symptoms and in some cases a progressive neurodegenerative condition referred to as chronic traumatic encephalopathy. However, to our knowledge, there are no objective tools to examine to which degree persistent symptoms after mTBI are caused by neuronal injury.
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether persistent symptoms after mTBI are associated with brain injury as evaluated by cerebrospinal fluid biochemical markers for axonal damage and other aspects of central nervous system injury.
DESIGN, SETTINGS, AND PARTICIPANTS: A multicenter cross-sectional study involving professional Swedish ice hockey players who have had repeated mTBI, had postconcussion symptoms for more than 3 months, and fulfilled the criteria for postconcussion syndrome (PCS) according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fourth Edition) matched with neurologically healthy control individuals. The participants were enrolled between January 2014 and February 2016. The players were also assessed with Rivermead Post Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire and magnetic resonance imaging.
MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Neurofilament light protein, total tau, glial fibrillary acidic protein, amyloid β, phosphorylated tau, and neurogranin concentrations in cerebrospinal fluid.
RESULTS: A total of 31 participants (16 men with PCS; median age, 31 years; range, 22-53 years; and 15 control individuals [11 men and 4 women]; median age, 25 years; range, 21-35 years) were assessed. Of 16 players with PCS, 9 had PCS symptoms for more than 1 year, while the remaining 7 returned to play within a year. Neurofilament light proteins were significantly increased in players with PCS for more than 1 year (median, 410 pg/mL; range, 230-1440 pg/mL) compared with players whose PCS resolved within 1 year (median, 210 pg/mL; range, 140-460 pg/mL) as well as control individuals (median 238 pg/mL, range 128-526 pg/mL; P = .04 and P = .02, respectively). Furthermore, neurofilament light protein concentrations correlated with Rivermead Post Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire scores and lifetime concussion events (ρ = 0.58, P = .02 and ρ = 0.52, P = .04, respectively). Overall, players with PCS had significantly lower cerebrospinal fluid amyloid-β levels compared with control individuals (median, 1094 pg/mL; range, 845-1305 pg/mL; P = .05).
CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Increased cerebrospinal fluid neurofilament light proteins and reduced amyloid β were observed in patients with PCS, suggestive of axonal white matter injury and amyloid deposition. Measurement of these biomarkers may be an objective tool to assess the degree of central nervous system injury in individuals with PCS and to distinguish individuals who are at risk of developing chronic traumatic encephalopathy
Oxygen Vacancy Formation and Water Adsorption on Reduced AnO2 {111}, {110} and {100} Surfaces (An = U, Pu); A Computational Study
The substoichiometric {111}, {110} and {100} surfaces of UO2 and PuO2 are studied computationally using two distinct yet related approaches based on density functional theory; the periodic electrostatic embedded cluster method (PEECM) and Hubbard-corrected periodic boundary condition DFT. First and second layer oxygen vacancy formation energies and geometries are presented and discussed; the energies are found to be substantially larger for UO2 vs PuO2, a result traced to the substantially more positive An(IV)/An(III) reduction potential for Pu, and hence relative ease of Pu(III) formation. For {110} and {100}, the significantly more stable dissociative water adsorption seen previously for stoichiometric surfaces [J. Nucl. Mater. 2016, 482, 124–134; J. Phys. Chem. C 2017, 121, 1675-1682] is also found for the defect surfaces. By contrast, vacancy creation substantially changes the most stable mode of water adsorption on the {111} surface, such that the almost degenerate molecular and dissociative adsorptions on the pristine surface are replaced by a strong preference for dissociative adsorption on the substoichiometric surface. The implications of this result for the formation of H2 are discussed. The generally very good agreement between the data from the embedded cluster and periodic DFT approaches provides additional confidence in the reliability of the results and conclusions
IHCV: Discovery of Hidden Time-Dependent Control Variables in Non-Linear Dynamical Systems
Discovering non-linear dynamical models from data is at the core of science.
Recent progress hinges upon sparse regression of observables using extensive
libraries of candidate functions. However, it remains challenging to model
hidden non-observable control variables governing switching between different
dynamical regimes. Here we develop a data-efficient derivative-free method,
IHCV, for the Identification of Hidden Control Variables. First, the
performance and robustness of IHCV against noise are evaluated by benchmarking
the IHCV method using well-known bifurcation models (saddle-node,
transcritical, pitchfork, Hopf). Next, we demonstrate that IHCV discovers
hidden driver variables in the Lorenz, van der Pol, Hodgkin-Huxley, and
Fitzhugh-Nagumo models. Finally, IHCV generalizes to the case when only partial
observational is given, as demonstrated using the toggle switch model, the
genetic repressilator oscillator, and a Waddington landscape model. Our
proof-of-principle illustrates that utilizing normal forms could facilitate the
data-efficient and scalable discovery of hidden variables controlling
transitions between different dynamical regimes and non-linear models.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figure
Double-Pionic Fusion of Nuclear Systems and the ABCEffect -- Aproaching a Puzzle by Exclusive and Kinematically Complete Measurements
The ABC effect - a puzzling low-mass enhancement in the invariant
mass spectrum - is well-known from inclusive measurements of two-pion
production in nuclear fusion reactions. Here we report on first exclusive and
kinematically complete measurements of the most basic double pionic fusion
reaction at 1.03 and 1.35 GeV. The measurements, which
have been carried out at CELSIUS-WASA, reveal the ABC effect to be a
channel phenomenon associated with both a resonance-like
energy dependence in the integral cross section and the formation of a
system in the intermediate state. A corresponding simple
s-channel resonance ansatz provides a surprisingly good description of the
data
Serum Tau Fragments Predict Return to Play in Concussed Professional Ice Hockey Players
The diagnosis of sports-related concussion is mainly based on subjective clinical symptoms and neuropsychological tests. Therefore, reliable brain injury biomarkers to assess when it is safe to return to play are highly desirable. The overall objective of this study was to evaluate the utility of two newly described tau fragments for diagnosis and prognosis of sports-related concussions. This multi-center prospective cohort study involved all 12 teams of the top professional ice hockey league in Sweden. A total of 288 players consented to participate in the study. Thirty-five players sustained concussions, of whom 28 underwent repeated blood samplings at 1, 12, 36, and 144 h after the trauma, or when the player returned to play (7 to >90 days). There was no significant increase in the levels of Tau-A in post-concussion samples compared with preseason values. However, serum levels of Tau-C were significantly higher in post-concussion samples compared with preseason. Further, levels of Tau-A correlated with the duration of post-concussive symptoms. Tau-A in serum, which is newly discovered biomarker, could be used to predict when it is safe to return to play after a sports-related concussion
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