The ion motion in self-modulated plasma wakefield accelerators

The effects of plasma ion motion in self-modulated plasma based accelerators is examined. An analytical model describing ion motion in the narrow beam limit is developed, and confirmed through multi-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. It is shown that the ion motion can lead to the early saturation of the self-modulation instability, and to the suppression of the accelerating gradients. This can reduce the total energy that can be transformed into kinetic energy of accelerated particles. For the parameters of future proton-driven plasma accelerator experiments, the ion dynamics can have a strong impact. Possible methods to mitigate the effects of the ion motion in future experiments are demonstrated.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let

FLOW PATTERNS OF THE ESTER OIL-REFRIGERANT R134A MIXTURE FLASHING FLOW THROUGH A SMALL DIAMETER TUBE

This work presents an experimental investigation of the ester oil ISO VG10-refrigerant R134a mixture flashing flow with foam formation through a straight horizontal 3.22 mm-diameter-6.0 m- long tube. An experimental apparatus was designed to allow the measurement of both pressure and temperature profiles along the tube as well as the visualization of the flow patterns. Tests were performed at different mass flow rates, several refrigerant mass fractions at the inlet of the flow, and inlet mixture temperatures around 28 and 39 °C. A liquid mixture flow with constant temperature and pressure gradient could be noticed at the inlet of the tube. As the flow proceeded towards the exit of the tube the pressure drop produced a reduction of the refrigerant solubility in the oil yielding to formation of the first bubbles. Initially, small and few bubbles could be noticed and the flow behaved as a conventional two-phase flow. Eventually, the bubble population increased and foam flow was observed at the exit of the tube. Due to the great formation of bubbles, both the temperature and pressure gradient of the mixture were greatly reduced in this region of the flow

Efeito do aumento simulado da radiação UV-B na expressão peroxidase na interação morangueiro X Botrytis cinerea X Clonostachys rosea em campo.

Com a diminuição da camada de ozônio espera-se um aumento da radiação UV- B (290-315 nm). Os estudos sobre o efeito da radiação UV-B em patossistemas são limitados principalmente em condições de campo. O objetivo deste trabalho foi estudar o efeito do aumento simulado da radiação UV-B na expressão da enzima peroxidase na interação morangueiro x Clonostachys rosea x Botrytis cinerea em condições de campo. O experimento foi conduzido durante 15 dias em parcelas subdivididas em três condições de radiação (1. Ambiente; 2.Ausência de radiação e 3. Aumento de radiação suplementada por lâmpadas) e quatros tratamentos (1. Testemunha, 2. Plantas inoculadas com C. rosea; 3. Plantas inoculadas com B. cinerea e 4. Plantas inoculadas com ambos microrganimos). A atividade da peroxidase foi determinada por espectrofotômetro a 470 nm. Os resultados expressos em unidades de PO. mg-1 tecido.min-1 demonstraram que a radiação UV-B natural e a suplementada por lâmpadas reduziram a atividade da peroxidase em plantas inoculadas com ambos microrganimos

Spin measurements for 147Sm+n resonances: Further evidence for non-statistical effects

We have determined the spins J of resonances in the 147Sm(n,gamma) reaction by measuring multiplicities of gamma-ray cascades following neutron capture. Using this technique, we were able to determine J values for all but 14 of the 140 known resonances below En = 1 keV, including 41 firm J assignments for resonances whose spins previously were either unknown or tentative. These new spin assignments, together with previously determined resonance parameters, allowed us to extract separate level spacings and neutron strength functions for J = 3 and 4 resonances. Furthermore, several statistical test of the data indicate that very few resonances of either spin have been missed below En = 700eV. Because a non-statistical effect recently was reported near En = 350 eV from an analysis of 147Sm(n,alpha) data, we divided the data into two regions; 0 < En < 350 eV and 350 < En < 700 eV. Using neutron widths from a previous measurement and published techniques for correcting for missed resonances and for testing whether data are consistent with a Porter-Thomas distribution, we found that the reduced-neutron-width distribution for resonances below 350 eV is consistent with the expected Porter-Thomas distribution. On the other hand, we found that reduced-neutron-width data in the 350 < En < 700 eV region are inconsistent with a Porter-Thomas distribution, but in good agreement with a chi-squared distribution having two or more degrees of freedom. We discuss possible explanations for these observed non-statistical effects and their possible relation to similar effects previously observed in other nuclides.Comment: 40 pages, 13 figures, accepted by Phys. Rev.

Impact of continuous positive airway pressure treatment on left atrial volume and function in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea assessed by real-time three-dimensional echocardiography

Background: Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) has been reported as a predictor of left ventricle (LV) diastolic dysfunction and left atrium (LA) remodelling. the aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of OSA treatment with a continuous positive airway pressure device (CPAP) on the LA volume and function, as well as on the LV diastolic function.Methods: in total, 56 OSA patients were studied. All patients underwent real-time three-dimensional (RT3DE) and two-dimensional echocardiogram with tissue Doppler evaluation in order to estimate LA volumes, function and LV diastolic performance. A total of 30 patients with an apnoea-hypopnoea index greater than 20 were randomly selected to receive sham CPAP (n = 15) or effective CPAP (n = 15) for 24 weeks. They underwent echo examination on three different occasions: at baseline, after 12 weeks and 24 weeks of CPAP or sham CPAP.Results: in the effective CPAP group we observed the following changes from the baseline to the 24-week echo evaluation: (a) a reduction in the E/E' ratio (10.3 (1.9) to 7.9 (1.3), p = 0.03); (b) an increase in the LA passive emptying fraction (28.8% (11.9%) to 46.8% (9.3%), p = 0.01); and (c) a reduction in the LA active emptying fraction (42.7% (11.5%) to 25.7 (15.7), p<0.01). in the sham group, there were no changes from the baseline to the 24-week echo. We found a positive correlation between 24 week/baseline LA active emptying volume and 24 week/baseline E/E' ratios (r = 0.40, p<0.05) and a negative correlation between 24 week/baseline LA passive emptying volume and 24 week/baseline E/E' ratios (r = 20.53, p<0.05). No significant changes were found on LA total emptying fraction.Conclusion: CPAP improved LV diastolic function and LA passive emptying, but not LA structural variables in OSA patients.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)CEPIDAFIPUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Psychobiol, Discipline Sleep Biol & Med, BR-05021010 São Paulo, BrazilAlbert Einstein Hosp, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Discipline Cardiol, BR-05021010 São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Psychobiol, Discipline Sleep Biol & Med, BR-05021010 São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Discipline Cardiol, BR-05021010 São Paulo, BrazilWeb of Scienc

Point-contact spectroscopy on URu2_2Si2_2

Tunnel and point contact experiments have been made in a URu$_2$Si$_2$ single crystal along the c-axis. The experiments were performed changing temperature and contact size in a low temperature scanning tunneling microscope. A resonance develops at the Fermi level at $T\sim 60$ K. This resonance splits and becomes asymmetric when the 17.5 K phase transition is crossed. These results are consistent with the existence of Kondo like bound states of the U$^{4+}$ ionic configurations and the conduction electrons. Below the transition, these configurations are split by the development of quadrupolar ordering. The peak separation can be interpreted as a direct measurement of the order parameter. Measurements on a policrystalline UAu_2Si_2$ sample are also reported, with a comparative study of the behavior of both materials.Comment: 4 pages (Latex) + 2 postscript figure

Star-Forming Brightest Cluster Galaxies at 0.25 < z < 1.25: A Transitioning Fuel Supply

We present a multi-wavelength study of 90 brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) in a sample of galaxy clusters selected via the Sunyaev Zel'dovich effect by the South Pole Telescope, utilizing data from various ground- and space-based facilities. We infer the star formation rate (SFR) for the BCG in each cluster, based on the UV and IR continuum luminosity, as well as the [O II] emission line luminosity in cases where spectroscopy is available, finding 7 systems with SFR > 100 Msun/yr. We find that the BCG SFR exceeds 10 Msun/yr in 31 of 90 (34%) cases at 0.25 < z < 1.25, compared to ~1-5% at z ~ 0 from the literature. At z > 1, this fraction increases to 92(+6)(-31)%, implying a steady decrease in the BCG SFR over the past ~9 Gyr. At low-z, we find that the specific star formation rate in BCGs is declining more slowly with time than for field or cluster galaxies, most likely due to the replenishing fuel from the cooling ICM in relaxed, cool core clusters. At z > 0.6, the correlation between cluster central entropy and BCG star formation - which is well established at z ~ 0 - is not present. Instead, we find that the most star-forming BCGs at high-z are found in the cores of dynamically unrelaxed clusters. We investigate the rest-frame near-UV morphology of a subsample of the most star-forming BCGs using data from the Hubble Space Telescope, finding complex, highly asymmetric UV morphologies on scales as large as ~50-60 kpc. The high fraction of star-forming BCGs hosted in unrelaxed, non-cool core clusters at early times suggests that the dominant mode of fueling star formation in BCGs may have recently transitioned from galaxy-galaxy interactions to ICM cooling.Comment: 20 pages, 10 figures. Submitted for publication in ApJ. Comments welcom

Influence of realistic parameters on state-of-the-art LWFA experiments

We examine the influence of non-ideal plasma-density and non-Gaussian transverse laser-intensity profiles in the laser wakefield accelerator analytically and numerically. We find that the characteristic amplitude and scale length of longitudinal density fluctuations impacts on the final energies achieved by electron bunches. Conditions that minimize the role of the longitudinal plasma density fluctuations are found. The influence of higher order Laguerre-Gaussian laser pulses is also investigated. We find that higher order laser modes typically lead to lower energy gains. Certain combinations of higher order modes may, however, lead to higher electron energy gains.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures; Accepted for publication in Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusio