R-Process Nucleosynthesis In Neutrino-Driven Winds From A Typical Neutron Star With M = 1.4 Msun

We study the effects of the outer boundary conditions in neutrino-driven winds on the r-process nucleosynthesis. We perform numerical simulations of hydrodynamics of neutrino-driven winds and nuclear reaction network calculations of the r-process. As an outer boundary condition of hydrodynamic calculations, we set a pressure upon the outermost layer of the wind, which is approaching toward the shock wall. Varying the boundary pressure, we obtain various asymptotic thermal temperature of expanding material in the neutrino-driven winds for resulting nucleosynthesis. We find that the asymptotic temperature slightly lower than those used in the previous studies of the neutrino-driven winds can lead to a successful r-process abundance pattern, which is in a reasonable agreement with the solar system r-process abundance pattern even for the typical proto-neutron star mass Mns ~ 1.4 Msun. A slightly lower asymptotic temperature reduces the charged particle reaction rates and the resulting amount of seed elements and lead to a high neutron-to-seed ratio for successful r-process. This is a new idea which is different from the previous models of neutrino-driven winds from very massive (Mns ~ 2.0 Msun) and compact (Rns ~ 10 km) neutron star to get a short expansion time and a high entropy for a successful r-process abundance pattern. Although such a large mass is sometimes criticized from observational facts on a neutron star mass, we dissolve this criticism by reconsidering the boundary condition of the wind. We also explore the relation between the boundary condition and neutron star mass, which is related to the progenitor mass, for successful r-process.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figure

Music in Quarantine: Connections Between Changes in Lifestyle, Psychological States, and Musical Behaviors During COVID-19 Pandemic

Music is not only the art of organized sound but also a compound of social interaction among people, built upon social and environmental foundations. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, containment measures such as shelter-in-place, lockdown, social distancing, and self-quarantine have severely impacted the foundation of human society, resulting in a drastic change in our everyday experience. In this paper, the relationships between musical behavior, lifestyle, and psychological states during the shelter-in-place period of the COVID-19 pandemic are investigated. An online survey on musical experience, lifestyle changes, stress level, musical behaviors, media usage, and environmental sound perception was conducted. The survey was conducted in early June 2020. Responses from 620 people in 24 countries were collected, with the large proportion of the responses coming from the U.S. (55.5%) and India (21.4%). Structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis revealed causal relationships between lifestyle, stress, and music behaviors. Elements such as stress-level change, work risk, and staying home contribute to changes in musical experiences, such as moderating emotion with music, feeling emotional with music, and being more attentive to music. Stress-level change was correlated with work risk and income change, and people who started living with others due to the outbreak, especially with their children, indicated less change in stress level. People with more stress-level change tended to use music more purposefully for their mental well-being, such as to moderate emotions, to influence mood, and to relax. In addition, people with more stress-level change tend to be more annoyed by neighbors' noise. Housing type was not directly associated with annoyance; however, attention to environmental sounds decreased when the housing type was smaller. Attention to environmental and musical sounds and the emotional responses to them are highly inter-correlated. Multi-group SEM based on musicians showed that the causal relationship structure for professional musicians differs from that of less-experienced musicians. For professional musicians, staying at home was the only component that caused all musical behavior changes; stress did not cause musical behavior changes. Regarding Internet use, listening to music via YouTube and streaming was preferred over TV and radio, especially among less-experienced musicians, while participation in the online music community was preferred by more advanced musicians. This work suggests that social, environmental, and personal factors and limitations influence the changes in our musical behavior, perception of sonic experience, and emotional recognition, and that people actively accommodated the unusual pandemic situations using music and Internet technologies

Comparison of the Effects of Two Types of Stretching Warm Ups for Rehabilitation

This pilot study compares the effects of static therapeutic trunk stretching using an unstable flex chair, a stretching bench and a stretching stick on physical fitness with those of a general Japanese style of static stretching. The participants underwent physical fitness tests. Before and after warming up using a general Japanese style of stretching and trunk treatment stretching. Twenty-three healthy college students (age, 20.7 ± 1.2 years; height, 165.3 ± 7.6 cm; weight, 59.0 ± 9.7 kg; BMI 21.4 ± 2.3) were enrolled in this study. The physical fitness test assesses grip strength, sit-ups, eyes-closed single-leg stance, sit-and-reach flexibility, six-minute walk, and ten-meter obstacle course. The participants performed vertical jump, forward standing flexion measured using the analog flexion meter, thoracolumbar extension, horizontal flexure, deep forward bow. These results suggest that trunk stretching improves flexibility, walking ability, endurance and explosive power more effectively than the general Japanese style of stretching. Three static trunk stretches can improve flexibility, walking ability, endurance and explosive power. Trunk treatment stretching before physical activity might reduce the incidence of injury and improve the physical performance of individuals who participate in exercise, athletes and injured persons undergoing rehabilitation.ArticleBAOJ Medical and nursing.1(1):003(2015)journal articl

Geometrical Effects of Baryon Density Inhomogeneities on Primordial Nucleosynthesis

We discuss effects of fluctuation geometry on primordial nucleosynthesis. For the first time we consider condensed cylinder and cylindrical-shell fluctuation geometries in addition to condensed spheres and spherical shells. We find that a cylindrical shell geometry allows for an appreciably higher baryonic contribution to be the closure density (\Omega_b h_{50}^2 \la 0.2) than that allowed in spherical inhomogeneous or standard homogeneous big bang models. This result, which is contrary to some other recent studies, is due to both geometry and recently revised estimates of the uncertainties in the observationally inferred primordial light-element abundances. We also find that inhomogeneous primordial nucleosynthesis in the cylindrical shell geometry can lead to significant Be and B production. In particular, a primordial beryllium abundance as high as [Be] = 12 + log(Be/H) $\approx -3$ is possible while still satisfying all of the light-element abundance constraints.Comment: Latex, 20 pages + 11 figures(not included). Entire ps file with embedded figures available via anonymous ftp at ftp://genova.mtk.nao.ac.jp/pub/prepri/bbgeomet.ps.g

Big Bang Nucleosynthesis and Lepton Number Asymmetry in the Universe

Recently it is reported that there is the discrepancy between big bang nucleosynthesis theory and observations (BBN crisis). We show that BBN predictions agree with the primordial abundances of light elements, He4, D, He3 and Li7 inferred from the observational data if an electron neutrino has a net chemical potential xi_{nu_e} due to lepton asymmetry. We estimate that xi_{nu_e} = 0.043^{+0.040}_{-0.040} (95% C.L.) and Omega_bh^2 = 0.015^{+0.006}_{-0.003} (95% C.L.).Comment: 10 pages, using AAS LATEX and three postscript figure

Inhibitory effect of ferulic acid and isoferulic acid on the production of macrophage inflammatory protein-2 in response to respiratory syncytial virus infection in RAW264.7 cells.

We investigated the effect of ferulic acid (FA) and isoferulic acid (IFA), which are the main active components of the rhizoma of Cimicifuga heracleifolia (CH), an anti-inflammatory drug used frequently in Japanese traditional medicine, on the production of macrophage inflammatory protein-2 (MIR-2) in a murine macrophage cell line, RAW264.7, in response to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection. Following the exposure of cells to RSV for 20h, the MIP-2 level in condition medium was increased to about 20 ng/ml, although this level in mock-infected cells was negligible. In the presence of either FA or IFA, RSV-infected cells reduced MIP-2 production in a dose-dependent manner. These data suggest that FA and IFA might be responsible, at least in part, for the anti-inflammatory drug effect of CH extract through the inhibition of MIP-2 production