4,831 research outputs found
Azimuthal Asymmetries: Access to Novel Structure Functions
One of the most interesting consequence of non-zero intrinsic transverse
momentum of partons in the nucleon is the nontrivial azimuthal dependence of
the cross section of hard scattering processes. Many of the observable
asymmetries contain unknown functions which provide essential information on
the quark and gluon structure. Several of them have been studied in the last
few years; we discuss their qualitative and quantitative features in
semi-inclusive DIS.Comment: 6 pages, LaTeX, 7 eps figures, Talk presented at the 15th
International Spin Physics Symposium, Spin 2002, Brookhaven National
Laboratory, September 9-14, 200
Shadows of Relic Neutrino Masses and Spectra on Highest Energy GZK Cosmic Rays
The Ultra High Energy (UHE) neutrino scattering onto relic cosmic neutrinos
in galactic and local halos offers an unique way to overcome GZK cut-off. The
UHE nu secondary of UHE photo-pion decays may escape the GZK cut-off and travel
on cosmic distances hitting local light relic neutrinos clustered in dark
halos. The Z resonant production and the competitive W^+W^-, ZZ pair production
define a characteristic imprint on hadronic consequent UHECR spectra. This
imprint keeps memory both of the primary UHE nu spectra as well as of the
possible relic neutrino masses values, energy spectra and relic densities. Such
an hadronic showering imprint should reflect into spectra morphology of cosmic
rays near and above GZK 10^{19}-10^{21}eV cut-off energies. A possible neutrino
degenerate masses at eVs or a more complex and significant neutrino mass split
below or near Super-Kamiokande \triangle m_{\nu_{SK}}= 0.1 eV masses might be
reflected after each corresponding Z peak showering, into new twin unexpected
UHECR flux modulation behind GZK energies: E_{p} sim 3(frac{triangle
m_{\nu_{SK}}}/m_{\nu}10^{21}),eV.
Other shadowsof lightest, nearly massless, neutrinos m_{nu_{2K} simeq 0.001eV
simeq kT_{\nu}, their lowest relic temperatures, energies and densities might
be also reflected at even higher energies edges near Grand Unification: E_{p}
\sim 2.2(m_{\nu_{2K}/E_{\nu}})10^{23}, eV .Comment: 14 pages, 6 Figures,Invited Talk Heidelberg DARK 200
Deuteron photodisintegration within the Quark-Gluon Strings Model and QCD motivated nonlinear Regge trajectories
We investigate deuteron two-body photodisintegration within the framework of
the Quark-Gluon Strings Model with nonlinear baryon Regge trajectories. Special
attention is paid to the use of QCD motivated Regge trajectories of the
logarithmic and square-root form which have been suggested recently by
Brisudov\'{a}, Burakovsky and Goldman. We find that the recent experimental
data from TJNAF in the few GeV region can reasonably be described by the model.
Angular distributions at different -energies are presented and the
effect of a forward-backward asymmetry is discussed. Predictions for the energy
dependence of at higher energies and different are
presented, too.Comment: 21 pages, LaTeX, including 6 postscript figures; submitted to Phys.
Rev.
Temporal changes of vascular plant diversity in response to tree dieback in a mediterranean lowland forest
Palo Laziale wood is a small biotope of about 129 ha situated along the north coast of Rome. It is one of the last remaining patches of an ancient lowland floodplain forest that once covered the coastal area of the Lazio region. It contains several habitats and species of high conservation interest which has been included in the Natura2000 network. The forest suffered an impressive dieback event in 2003, coinciding with a particularly hot and dry summer.
In the framework of an ecological restoration project (LIFE PRIMED LIFE17 NAT/GR/000511), a preliminary assessment of the biotic and abiotic components of the ecosystem was carried out, including a floristic analysis. This analysis was compared with that conducted in 1990 to assess whether there was any change in the species composition also following the forest dieback. Comparisons between biological forms, chorotypes and the Ellenberg indicators were also made in the analysis.
The total flora of the site increased from 462 to 490 species. Moreover, there has been a turnover of species with the disappearance of some grassland and halophytic species and the appearance of allochthonous/ruderal and freshwater habitat species. Despite this, the flora remained unchanged in ecological terms, demonstrating a certain resilience of the plant species, confirming this approach to identify declining processes and support ecosystem-based restoration actions elsewhere
Polarization observables in high-energy deuteron photodisintegration within the Quark-Gluon Strings Model
Deuteron two-body photodisintegration is analysed within the framework of the
Quark-Gluon Strings Model. The model describes fairly well the recent
experimental data from TJNAF in the few GeV region. Angular distributions at
different -energies are presented and the effect of a forward-backward
asymmetry is discussed. New results from the QGSM for polarization observables
from 1.5 -- 6 GeV are presented and compared with the available data.Comment: 3 pages, LaTeX, 4 postscript figures; contribution to QNP2002,
Juelich, June 10-14, 200
Menstrual pattern and menstrual disorders among adolescents: an update of the Italian data.
Abstract Background The most striking event in the whole process of female puberty is the onset of menstruation. To our knowledge, no large population-based studies have been performed on the topic of menstrual health among Italian adolescents in recent years. The aims of this study were to produce up-to-date information on the menstrual pattern of Italian girls attending secondary school, and to estimate the prevalence of menstrual cycle abnormalities in this population. Methods This was a cross-sectional study on a population-based sample of Italian adolescents aged 13–21 years attending secondary school. Only girls who had already started menstruating were requested to participate. Information was collected by means of a questionnaire that included items on the girls’ demographic details, anthropometrics, smoking and drinking habits, use of contraceptive pills, and socioeconomic status. The questions on the girls’ menstrual pattern concerned their age at menarche, duration of the most recent menstruation intervals (35 days, variable), average days of bleeding (6 days), and any menstrual problems and their frequency. Results A total of 6,924 questionnaires were administered and 4,992 (71%) were returned. One hundred girls failed to report their date of birth, so 4,892 subjects were analyzed. The girls’ mean age was 17.1 years (SD ±1.4); their mean age at menarche was 12.4 (±1.3) years, median 12.4 years (95%CI 12.3–12.5). In our sample population, 3.0% (95%CI 2.5%-3.4%) of the girls had menstruation intervals of less than 21 days, while it was more than 35 days in 3.4% (95%CI 2.9%-3.9%). About 9% of the girls (95%CI 7.7%-9.4%) said the length of their menstruation interval was currently irregular. Short bleeding periods (6 days) in 19% (95%CI 17.9%-20.1%). Menstruation-related abdominal pain was reported by about 56% of our sample. About 6.2% of the girls (95%CI 5.4%-7.0%) were suffering from dysmenorrhea. Conclusions In conclusion, to the best of our knowledge, this is one of the largest studies on menstrual patterns and menstrual disorders among Italian adolescent girls. Adolescent girls referring persistent oligomenorrhoea, in first two years from menarche, had a higher risk for developing a persistent menstrual irregularity. They had longer bleeding periods (>6 days) and this has practical implications because it makes these adolescents potentially more susceptible to iron deficiency anemia. Clinicians need to identify menstrual abnormalities as early as possible in order to minimize their possible consequences and sequelae, and to promote proper health information. We recommend that adolescents should be encouraged to chart their menstrual frequency and regularity prospectively from the menarche onwards.</p
Nucleon polarizabilities in the perturbative chiral quark model
The nucleon polarizabilities alpha(E) and beta(M) are studied in the context
of the perturbative chiral quark model. We demonstrate that meson cloud effects
are sufficient to explain the electric polarizability of nucleon. Contributions
of excite quark states to the paramagnetic polarizability are dominant and
cancel the diamagnetic polarizability arising from the chiral field. The
obtained results are compared to data and other theoretical predictions.Comment: 25 pages, 18 figures, 2 table
New routes to the functionalization patterning and manufacture of graphene-based materials for biomedical applications
This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Royal Society via the DOI in this record.Graphene-based materials are being widely explored for a range of biomedical applications, from targeted drug delivery to biosensing, bioimaging and use for antibacterial treatments, to name but a few. In many such applications it is not graphene itself that is used as the active agent, but one of its chemically-functionalised forms. The type of chemical species used for functionalisation will play a key role in determining the utility of any graphene-based device in any particular biomedical application, since this determines to a large part its physical, chemical, electrical and optical interactions. However, other factors will also be important in determining the eventual uptake of graphene-based biomedical technologies, in particular the ease and cost of manufacture of proposed device and system designs. In this work we describe three novel routes for the chemical functionalisation of graphene using oxygen, iron chloride and fluorine. We also introduce novel in-situ methods for controlling and patterning such functionalisation on the micro- and nano-scales. Our approaches are readily transferable to large-scale manufacturing, potentially paving the way for the eventual cost-effective production of functionalised graphene-based materials, devices and systems for a range of important biomedical applications.AA, VKN, MFC and CDW acknowledge funding via the EU FP7 project CareRAMM (grant no. 309980). SR and MFC. acknowledge financial support from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (grant nos. EP/J000396/1, EP/K017160/1, EP/K010050/1, EP/G036101/1, EP/M001024/1, and EP/M002438/1)
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