919 research outputs found
The 10Be contents of SNC meteorites
Several authors have explored the possibility that the Shergottites, Nakhlites, and Chassigny (SNC) came from Mars. The spallogenic gas contents of the SNC meteorites have been used to: constrain the sizes of the SNC's during the last few million years; to establish groupings independent of the geochemical ones; and to estimate the likelihood of certain entries in the catalog of all conceivable passages from Mars to Earth. The particular shielding dependence of Be-10 makes the isotope a good probe of the irradiation conditions experienced by the SNC meteorites. The Be-10 contents of nine members of the group were measured using the technique of accelerator mass spectrometry. The Be-10 contents of Nakhla, Governador Valadares, Chassigny, and probably Lafayette, about 20 dpm/kg, exceed the values expected from irradiation of the surface of a large body. The Be-10 data therfore do not support scenario III of Bogard et al., one in which most of the Be-10 in the SNC meteorites would have formed on the Martian surface; they resemble rather the Be-10 contents found in many ordinary chondrites subjected to 4 Pi exposures. The uncertainties of the Be-10 contents lead to appreciable errors in the Be-10 ages, t(1) = -1/lambda ln(1 Be-10/Be-10). Nonetheless, the Be-10 ages are consistent with the Ne-21 ages calculated assuming conventional, small-body production rates and short terrestrial ages for the finds. It is believed that this concordance strengthens the case for at least 3 different irradiation ages for the SNC meteorites. Given the similar half-thicknesses of the Be-10 and Ne-21 production rates, the ratios of the Be-10 and Ne-21 contents do not appear consistent with common ages for any of the groups. In view of the general agreement between the Be-10 and Ne-21 ages it does not seem useful at this time to construct multiple-stage irradiation histories for the SNC meteorites
The outcomes of pregnancy in women with untreated epilepsy
Purpose: To determine the outcomes in regards to seizure control and foetal malformation in pregnant women with epilepsy not treated with antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). Method: Analysis of data from the Australian Register of AEDs in Pregnancy on 148 women with epilepsy who were not receiving AEDs before and during at least the first trimester of pregnancy. Results: Seizure control was less likely to be maintained in AED-untreated pregnancies. Whether AED therapy had been ceased in preparation for pregnancy, or had not been employed for long periods before pregnancy, made no statistically significant difference to seizure control outcomes, but those who ceased therapy in preparation for pregnancy were more likely to again be taking AED therapy by term. Foetal malformation rates were reasonably similar in untreated pregnancies, and in treated pregnancies if pregnancies exposed to known AED teratogens (valproate and probably topiramate) were excluded from consideration. Conclusion: Leaving epilepsy untreated during pregnancy appears disadvantageous from the standpoint of seizure control: it also does not reduce the hazard of foetal malformation unless it avoids valproate or topiramate intake during pregnancy
Beable trajectories for revealing quantum control mechanisms
The dynamics induced while controlling quantum systems by optimally shaped
laser pulses have often been difficult to understand in detail. A method is
presented for quantifying the importance of specific sequences of quantum
transitions involved in the control process. The method is based on a
``beable'' formulation of quantum mechanics due to John Bell that rigorously
maps the quantum evolution onto an ensemble of stochastic trajectories over a
classical state space. Detailed mechanism identification is illustrated with a
model 7-level system. A general procedure is presented to extract mechanism
information directly from closed-loop control experiments. Application to
simulated experimental data for the model system proves robust with up to 25%
noise.Comment: Latex, 20 pages, 13 figure
Electronic Structure of Lanthanum Hydrides with Switchable Optical Properties
Recent dramatic changes in the optical properties of LaH_{2+x} and YH_{2+x}
films discovered by Huiberts et al. suggest their electronic structure is
described best by a local model. Electron correlation is important in H^-
-centers and in explaining the transparent insulating behavior of LaH_3. The
metal-insulator transition at takes place in a band of highly
localized states centered on the -vacancies in the LaH_3 structure.Comment: plain tex, 3 figure
Yang-Lee zeros for a nonequilibrium phase transition
Equilibrium systems which exhibit a phase transition can be studied by
investigating the complex zeros of the partition function. This method,
pioneered by Yang and Lee, has been widely used in equilibrium statistical
physics. We show that an analogous treatment is possible for a nonequilibrium
phase transition into an absorbing state. By investigating the complex zeros of
the survival probability of directed percolation processes we demonstrate that
the zeros provide information about universal properties. Moreover we identify
certain non-trivial points where the survival probability for bond percolation
can be computed exactly.Comment: LaTeX, IOP-style, 13 pages, 10 eps figure
Altered cortical thickness following prenatal sodium valproate exposure
Prenatal exposure to sodium valproate (VPA) is associated with neurodevelopmental impairments. Cortical thickness was measured in 16 children exposed prenatally to VPA and 16 controls. We found increased left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG; BA45) and left pericalcarine sulcus (BA18) thickness, an association between VPA dose and right IFG thickness, and a close relationship between verbal skills and left IFG thickness. A significant interaction between group and hemispheric IFG thickness showed absence of the normal asymmetry in the IFG region of VPA-exposed children. These data provide preliminary insights into the putative neural basis of difficulties experienced by some VPA-exposed children
Angular Dependences of Third Harmonic Generation from Microdroplets
We present experimental and theoretical results for the angular dependence of
third harmonic generation (THG) of water droplets in the micrometer range (size
parameter ). The THG signal in - and -polarization obtained
with ultrashort laser pulses is compared with a recently developed nonlinear
extension of classical Mie theory including multipoles of order .
Both theory and experiment yield over a wide range of size parameters
remarkably stable intensity maxima close to the forward and backward direction
at ``magic angles''. In contrast to linear Mie scattering, both are of
comparable intensity.Comment: 4 pages, RevTeX, 3 figures available on request from
[email protected], submitted to PR
Hydrogen Bond Dynamics Near A Micellar Surface: Origin of the Universal Slow Relaxation at Complex Aqueous Interfaces
The dynamics of hydrogen bonds among water molecules themselves and with the
polar head groups (PHG) at a micellar surface have been investigated by long
molecular dynamics simulations. The lifetime of the hydrogen bond between a PHG
and a water molecule is found to be much longer than that between any two water
molecules, and is likely to be a general feature of hydrophilic surfaces of
organized assemblies. Analyses of individual water trajectories suggest that
water molecules can remain bound to the micellar surface for more than a
hundred picosecond. The activation energy for such a transition from the bound
to a free state for the water molecules is estimated to be about 3.5kcal/mole.Comment: 12 pages. Phys. Rev. Lett. (Accepted) (2002
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