Symplectic No-core Shell-model Approach to Intermediate-mass Nuclei

We present a microscopic description of nuclei in an intermediate-mass region, including the proximity to the proton drip line, based on a no-core shell model with a schematic many-nucleon long-range interaction with no parameter adjustments. The outcome confirms the essential role played by the symplectic symmetry to inform the interaction and the winnowing of shell-model spaces. We show that it is imperative that model spaces be expanded well beyond the current limits up through fifteen major shells to accommodate particle excitations that appear critical to highly-deformed spatial structures and the convergence of associated observables.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figure

Cobalt use and regulation in horseracing: a review

Cobalt, atomic weight 58.9, is a metallic element and environmental substance found in the animal in microgram quantities, predominantly as vitamin B12, but is also a component of at least one mammalian enzyme unassociated with B12. Cobalt is a required trace mineral and has long been administered as a dietary supplement to humans and animals. Cobalt deficiency outside of its requirement in vitamin B12 has not been reported in humans. The administration of cobalt salts was once standard treatment for anaemia in humans, owing to its ability to stimulate red blood cell synthesis. Elemental cobalt acts by stabilising hypoxia inducible factor (HIF-1α), which activates the erythropoietin gene, which in turn increases haemoglobin/red blood cell synthesis, which had led to a presumption that cobalt may be performance enhancing in athletes. Administration of cobalt in amounts sufficient to significantly increase the haematocrit are associated with risk of toxicity in humans, and the only cobalt administration study in horses showed no effect on red blood cell parameters or toxicity. Because of the perception that cobalt administration may enhance athletic performance, racing regulators have recently begun to restrict cobalt use in horseracing which has led to the introduction of cobalt thresholds in several racing jurisdictions. The International Federation of Horseracing Authorities is considering an international regulatory threshold for cobalt of 100 ng/ml in urine, based on studies performed in five different countries. In the United States, the Racing Commissioners International has recently set a primary plasma threshold of 25 ng/ml and secondary threshold of 50 ng/ml. One New York and New Jersey racetrack owner has initiated testing for cobalt and has denied his facilities to trainers whose horses tested positive for excessive quantities of cobalt. This review seeks to summarise what is known about the use of cobalt in horse racing

VELO Module Production - Laser Test and Noise Analysis

This note describes the algorithms used to detect problems by analyzing datasets taken at different stages of module production using the hybrid readout systems

Classifying the biodiversity of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area for the classification phase of the representative areas program

This technical report outlines the methods that the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority used to classify the biodiversity of the marine environs of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area for the Representative Areas Program. Classification was the first step in the multiphase Representative Areas Program that eventuated in a new network of no-take areas, free from extractive activities, in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park

CARMA Large Area Star Formation Survey: Observational Analysis of Filaments in the Serpens South Molecular Cloud

We present the N2H+(J=1-0) map of the Serpens South molecular cloud obtained as part of the CARMA Large Area Star Formation Survey (CLASSy). The observations cover 250 square arcminutes and fully sample structures from 3000 AU to 3 pc with a velocity resolution of 0.16 km/s, and they can be used to constrain the origin and evolution of molecular cloud filaments. The spatial distribution of the N2H+ emission is characterized by long filaments that resemble those observed in the dust continuum emission by Herschel. However, the gas filaments are typically narrower such that, in some cases, two or three quasi-parallel N2H+ filaments comprise a single observed dust continuum filament. The difference between the dust and gas filament widths casts doubt on Herschel ability to resolve the Serpens South filaments. Some molecular filaments show velocity gradients along their major axis, and two are characterized by a steep velocity gradient in the direction perpendicular to the filament axis. The observed velocity gradient along one of these filaments was previously postulated as evidence for mass infall toward the central cluster, but these kind of gradients can be interpreted as projection of large-scale turbulence.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, published in ApJL (July 2014

Parent Stars of Extrasolar Planets. XI. Trends with Condensation Temperature Revisited

We report the results of abundance analyses of new samples of stars with planets and stars without detected planets. We employ these data to compare abundance-condensation temperature trends in both samples. We find that stars with planets have more negative trends. In addition, the more metal-rich stars with planets display the most negative trends. These results confirm and extend the findings of Ramirez et al. (2009) and Melendez et al. (2009), who restricted their studies to solar analogs. We also show that the differences between the solar photospheric and CI meteoritic abundances correlate with condensation temperature.Comment: 7 pages, 11 figures; to be published in MNRA

Parent Stars of Extrasolar Planets. X. Lithium Abundances and vsini Revisited

We determine Li abundances and vsini values from new spectra of 53 stars with Doppler-detected planets not included in our previous papers in this series. We also examine two sets of stars without detected planets, which together serve as our comparison sample. Using the method of comparison of Li abundances and vsini values between two sets of stars we introduced in Gonzalez (2008), we confirm that these two quantities are smaller among stars with planets compared to stars without detected planets near the solar temperature. The transition from low to high Li abundance among SWPs occurs near 5850 K, a revision of about 50 K from our previous determination. The transition from low to high vsini occurs near 6000 K, but this temperature is not as well constrained.Comment: accepted for publication in MNRAS; 14 pages, 13 figures, 3 table

Dexamethasone serum concentrations after intravenous administration in horses during race training

Dexamethasone (DXM) sodium phosphate is a widely used corticosteroid for inflammatory conditions in horses, regulated in racing jurisdictions in the USA by a 0.005 ng/ml serum/plasma threshold. This study seeks to describe serum concentrations of DXM at 48 and 72 h after intravenous administration of 20 mg DXM sodium phosphate over 1 to 5 days, and to identify a possible source of DXM overages. 74 horses (39 Thoroughbreds, 13 Standardbreds, 22 Quarter Horses) in active race training received 20 mg DXM sodium phosphate. Serum was collected before injection, at 48 and 72 h post last injection, and analysed by LC/MS-MS (limit of quantification (LOQ) = 2.5 pg/ml). No differences were identified by ANOVA (P ≤ 0.05) for racing breeds, age, gender or the number of days of DXM sodium phosphate administration, so data were pooled for each time point. Summary statistics could not be derived for 72 h DXM serum concentration data owing to censored data, but ranged from \u3c 2.5 to 95.8 pg/ml. There was one extreme outlier (Tukey) at 48 h, and two extreme outliers at 72 h. A separate study was conducted using sedentary experimental horses to determine the likelihood that positive DXM samples could result from environmental transfer. Urine was collected from a mare 2 to 3 h post administration of 20 mg DXM. Hay with 100 ml of the DXM (17 ng/ml) containing urine was offered to each of six experimental horses and blood was collected at 0, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24 h. All six horses had plasma DXM concentration above the limit of detection and five of six had plasma DXM concentrations above the LOQ for at least one sample time

Glutamate Decarboxylases in Nonneural Cells of Rat Testis and Oviduct: Differential Expression of GAD 65 and GAD 67

Γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) and its synthetic enzyme, glutamate decarboxylase (GAD), are not limited to the nervous system but are also found in nonneural tissues. The mammalian brain contains at least two forms of GAD (GAD 67 and GAD 65 ), which differ from each other in size, sequence, immunoreactivity, and their interaction with the cofactor pyridoxal 5′-phosphate (PLP). We used cDNAs and antibodies specific to GAD 65 and GAD 67 to study the molecular identity of GADs in peripheral tissues. We detected GAD and GAD mRNAs in rat oviduct and testis. In oviduct, the size of GAD, its response to PLP, its immunoreactivity, and its hybridization to specific RNA and DNA probes all indicate the specific expression of the GAD 65 gene. In contrast, rat testis expresses the GAD 67 gene. The GAD in these two reproductive tissues is not in neurons but in nonneural cells. The localization of brain GAD and GAD mRNAs in the mucosal epithelial cells of the oviduct and in spermatocytes and spermatids of the testis shows that GAD is not limited to neurons and that GABA may have functions other than neurotransmission.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66211/1/j.1471-4159.1992.tb09763.x.pd