748 research outputs found
Instrumental oscillations in RHESSI count rates during solar flares
Aims: We seek to illustrate the analysis problems posed by RHESSI spacecraft
motion by studying persistent instrumental oscillations found in the
lightcurves measured by RHESSI's X-ray detectors in the 6-12 keV and 12-25 keV
energy range during the decay phase of the flares of 2004 November 4 and 6.
Methods: The various motions of the RHESSI spacecraft which may contribute to
the manifestation of oscillations are studied. The response of each detector in
turn is also investigated. Results: We find that on 2004 November 6 the
observed oscillations correspond to the nutation period of the RHESSI
instrument. These oscillations are also of greatest amplitude for detector 5,
while in the lightcurves of many other detectors the oscillations are small or
undetectable. We also find that the variation in detector pointing is much
larger during this flare than the counterexample of 2004 November 4.
Conclusions: Sufficiently large nutation motions of the RHESSI spacecraft lead
to clearly observable oscillations in count rates, posing a significant hazard
for data analysis. This issue is particularly problematic for detector 5 due to
its design characteristics. Dynamic correction of the RHESSI counts, accounting
for the livetime, data gaps, and the transmission of the bi-grid collimator of
each detector, is required to overcome this issue. These corrections should be
applied to all future oscillation studies.Comment: 8 pages, 10 figure
Time-odd mean fields in the rotating frame: microscopic nature of nuclear magnetism
The microscopic role of nuclear magnetism in rotating frame is investigated
for the first time in the framework of the cranked relativistic mean field
theory. It is shown that nuclear magnetism modifies the expectation values of
single-particle spin, orbital and total angular momenta along the rotational
axis effectively creating additional angular momentum. This effect leads to the
increase of kinematic and dynamic moments of inertia at given rotational
frequency and has an impact on effective alignments.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Physical Review
Moments of Inertia of Nuclei in the Rare Earth Region: A Relativistic versus Non-Relativistic Investigation
A parameter free investigation of the moments of inertia of ground state
rotational bands in well deformed rare-earth nuclei is carried out using
Cranked Relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov (CRHB) and non-relativistic Cranked
Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov (CHFB) theories. In CRHB theory, the relativistic
fields are determined by the non-linear Lagrangian with the NL1 force and the
pairing interaction by the central part of finite range Gogny D1S force. In
CHFB theory, the properties in particle-hole and particle-particle channels are
defined solely by Gogny D1S forces. Using an approximate particle number
projection before variation by means of the Lipkin Nogami method improves the
agreement with the experimental data, especially in CRHB theory. The effect of
the particle number projection on the moments of inertia and pairing energies
is larger in relativistic than in non-relativistic theory.Comment: 18 pages + 2 PostScript figure
Effects of crack tip geometry on dislocation emission and cleavage: A possible path to enhanced ductility
We present a systematic study of the effect of crack blunting on subsequent
crack propagation and dislocation emission. We show that the stress intensity
factor required to propagate the crack is increased as the crack is blunted by
up to thirteen atomic layers, but only by a relatively modest amount for a
crack with a sharp 60 corner. The effect of the blunting is far less
than would be expected from a smoothly blunted crack; the sharp corners
preserve the stress concentration, reducing the effect of the blunting.
However, for some material parameters blunting changes the preferred
deformation mode from brittle cleavage to dislocation emission. In such
materials, the absorption of preexisting dislocations by the crack tip can
cause the crack tip to be locally arrested, causing a significant increase in
the microscopic toughness of the crack tip. Continuum plasticity models have
shown that even a moderate increase in the microscopic toughness can lead to an
increase in the macroscopic fracture toughness of the material by several
orders of magnitude. We thus propose an atomic-scale mechanism at the crack
tip, that ultimately may lead to a high fracture toughness in some materials
where a sharp crack would seem to be able to propagate in a brittle manner.
Results for blunt cracks loaded in mode II are also presented.Comment: 12 pages, REVTeX using epsfig.sty. 13 PostScript figures. Final
version to appear in Phys. Rev. B. Main changes: Discussion slightly
shortened, one figure remove
3-D Perturbations in Conformal Turbulence
The effects of three-dimensional perturbations in two-dimensional turbulence
are investigated, through a conformal field theory approach. We compute scaling
exponents for the energy spectra of enstrophy and energy cascades, in a strong
coupling limit, and compare them to the values found in recent experiments. The
extension of unperturbed conformal turbulence to the present situation is
performed by means of a simple physical picture in which the existence of small
scale random forces is closely related to deviations of the exact
two-dimensional fluid motion.Comment: Discussion of intermittency improved. Figure include
On the possibility of magneto-structural correlations: detailed studies of di-nickel carboxylate complexes
A series of water-bridged dinickel complexes of the general formula [Ni<sub>2</sub>(μ<sub>2</sub>-OH<sub>2</sub>)(μ2-
O<sub>2</sub>C<sup>t</sup>Bu)<sub>2</sub>(O<sub>2</sub>C<sup>t</sup>Bu)2(L)(L0)] (L = HO<sub>2</sub>C<sup>t</sup>Bu, L0 = HO<sub>2</sub>C<sup>t</sup>Bu (1), pyridine (2),
3-methylpyridine (4); L = L0 = pyridine (3), 3-methylpyridine (5)) has been synthesized
and structurally characterized by X-ray crystallography. The magnetic properties
have been probed by magnetometry and EPR spectroscopy, and detailed measurements
show that the axial zero-field splitting, D, of the nickel(ii) ions is on the same order as
the isotropic exchange interaction, J, between the nickel sites. The isotropic exchange
interaction can be related to the angle between the nickel centers and the bridging
water molecule, while the magnitude of D can be related to the coordination sphere at
the nickel sites
Entanglement, Bell Inequalities and Decoherence in Particle Physics
We demonstrate the relevance of entanglement, Bell inequalities and
decoherence in particle physics. In particular, we study in detail the features
of the ``strange'' system as an example of entangled
meson--antimeson systems. The analogies and differences to entangled spin--1/2
or photon systems are worked, the effects of a unitary time evolution of the
meson system is demonstrated explicitly. After an introduction we present
several types of Bell inequalities and show a remarkable connection to CP
violation. We investigate the stability of entangled quantum systems pursuing
the question how possible decoherence might arise due to the interaction of the
system with its ``environment''. The decoherence is strikingly connected to the
entanglement loss of common entanglement measures. Finally, some outlook of the
field is presented.Comment: Lectures given at Quantum Coherence in Matter: from Quarks to Solids,
42. Internationale Universit\"atswochen f\"ur Theoretische Physik,
Schladming, Austria, Feb. 28 -- March 6, 2004, submitted to Lecture Notes in
Physics, Springer Verlag, 45 page
Nitrosocarbonyl Hetero-Diels–Alder Cycloaddition: A New Tool for Conjugation
It is demonstrated that nitrosocarbonyl hetero-Diels-Alder chemistry is an efficient and versatile reaction that can be applied in macromolecular synthesis. Polyethylene glycol functionalized with a hydroxamic acid moiety undergoes facile coupling with cyclopentadiene-terminated polystyrene, through a copper-catalyzed as well as thermal hetero-Diels-Alder reaction. The mild and orthogonal methods used to carry out this reaction make it an attractive method for the synthesis of block copolymers. The resulting block copolymers were analyzed and characterized using GPC and NMR. The product materials could be subjected to thermal retro [4 + 2] cycloaddition, allowing for the liberation of the individual polymer chains and subsequent recycling of the diene-terminated polymers. © 2014 American Chemical Society
Cognitive Aging in Zebrafish
BACKGROUND: Age-related impairments in cognitive functions represent a growing clinical and social issue. Genetic and behavioral characterization of animal models can provide critical information on the intrinsic and environmental factors that determine the deterioration or preservation of cognitive abilities throughout life. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Behavior of wild-type, mutant and gamma-irradiated zebrafish (Danio rerio) was documented using image-analysis technique. Conditioned responses to spatial, visual and temporal cues were investigated in young, middle-aged and old animals. The results demonstrate that zebrafish aging is associated with changes in cognitive responses to emotionally positive and negative experiences, reduced generalization of adaptive associations, increased stereotypic and reduced exploratory behavior and altered temporal entrainment. Genetic upregulation of cholinergic transmission attenuates cognitive decline in middle-aged achesb55/+ mutants, compared to wild-type siblings. In contrast, the genotoxic stress of gamma-irradiation accelerates the onset of cognitive impairment in young zebrafish. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These findings would allow the use of powerful molecular biological resources accumulated in the zebrafish field to address the mechanisms of cognitive senescence, and promote the search for therapeutic strategies which may attenuate age-related cognitive decline
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