12,645 research outputs found
Multifractal Scaling of Thermally-Activated Rupture Processes
We propose a ``multifractal stress activation'' model combining thermally
activated rupture and long memory stress relaxation, which predicts that
seismic decay rates after mainshocks follow the Omori law with
exponents linearly increasing with the magnitude of the mainshock and
the inverse temperature. We carefully test this prediction on earthquake
sequences in the Southern California Earthquake catalog: we find power law
relaxations of seismic sequences triggered by mainshocks with exponents
increasing with the mainshock magnitude by approximately for each
magnitude unit increase, from to ,
in good agreement with the prediction of the multifractal model.Comment: four pages and 2 figure
Positronium oscillations to Mirror World revisited
We present a calculation of the branching ratio of orthopositronium decay
into an invisible mode, which is done in the context of Mirror World models,
where ordinary positronium can disappear from our world due to oscillation into
its mirror twin. In this revision we clarify some formulas and approximations
used previously, correct them at some places, add new effects relevant for a
feasible experiment and finally perform a combined analysis. We include into
consideration various effects due to external magnetic and electric fields,
collisions with cavity walls and scattering off gas atoms in the cavity.
Oscillations of the Rydberg positroniums are also considered. To perform a
numerical estimates in a realistic case we wrote computer code, which can be
adopted in any experimental setup. Its work is illustrated with an example of a
planned positronium experiment within the AEgIS project.Comment: 23 pages, 4 figures, typos corrected, references added, published
versio
Development of a high-altitude airborne dial system: The Lidar Atmospheric Sensing Experiment (LASE)
The ability of a Differential Absorption Lidar (DIAL) system to measure vertical profiles of H2O in the lower atmosphere was demonstrated both in ground-based and airborne experiments. In these experiments, tunable lasers were used that required real-time experimenter control to locate and lock onto the atmospheric H2O absorption line for the DIAL measurements. The Lidar Atmospheric Sensing Experiment (LASE) is the first step in a long-range effort to develop and demonstrate an autonomous DIAL system for airborne and spaceborne flight experiments. The LASE instrument is being developed to measure H2O, aerosol, and cloud profiles from a high-altitude ER-2 (extended range U-2) aircraft. The science of the LASE program, the LASE system design, and the expected measurement capability of the system are discussed
Total 4He Photoabsorption Cross Section Revisited: Correlated HH versus Effective Interaction HH
Two conceptually different hyperspherical harmonics expansions are used for
the calculation of the total 4He photoabsorption cross section. Besides the
well known method of CHH the recently introduced effective interaction approach
for the hyperspherical formalism is applied. Semi-realistic NN potentials are
employed and final state interaction is fully taken into account via the
Lorentz integral transform method. The results show that the effective
interaction leads to a very good convergence, while the correlation method
exhibits a less rapid convergence in the giant dipole resonance region. The
rather strong discrepancy with the experimental photodisintegration cross
sections is confirmed by the present calculations.Comment: LaTeX, 7 pages, 3 ps figure
Phase Coexistence Near a Morphotropic Phase Boundary in Sm-doped BiFeO3 Films
We have investigated heteroepitaxial films of Sm-doped BiFeO3 with a
Sm-concentration near a morphotropic phase boundary. Our high-resolution
synchrotron X-ray diffraction, carried out in a temperature range of 25C to
700C, reveals substantial phase coexistence as one changes temperature to
crossover from a low-temperature PbZrO3-like phase to a high-temperature
orthorhombic phase. We also examine changes due to strain for films greater or
less than the critical thickness for misfit dislocation formation.
Particularly, we note that thicker films exhibit a substantial volume collapse
associated with the structural transition that is suppressed in strained thin
films
Cmah-dystrophin deficient mdx mice display an accelerated cardiac phenotype that is improved following peptide-PMO exon skipping treatment
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is caused by loss of dystrophin protein, leading to progressive muscle weakness and premature death due to respiratory and/or cardiac complications. Cardiac involvement is characterized by progressive dilated cardiomyopathy, decreased fractional shortening and metabolic dysfunction involving reduced metabolism of fatty acids—the major cardiac metabolic substrate. Several mouse models have been developed to study molecular and pathological consequences of dystrophin deficiency, but do not recapitulate all aspects of human disease pathology and exhibit a mild cardiac phenotype. Here we demonstrate that Cmah (cytidine monophosphate-sialic acid hydroxylase)-deficient mdx mice (Cmah−/−;mdx) have an accelerated cardiac phenotype compared to the established mdx model. Cmah−/−;mdx mice display earlier functional deterioration, specifically a reduction in right ventricle (RV) ejection fraction and stroke volume (SV) at 12 weeks of age and decreased left ventricle diastolic volume with subsequent reduced SV compared to mdx mice by 24 weeks. They further show earlier elevation of cardiac damage markers for fibrosis (Ctgf), oxidative damage (Nox4) and haemodynamic load (Nppa). Cardiac metabolic substrate requirement was assessed using hyperpolarized magnetic resonance spectroscopy indicating increased in vivo glycolytic flux in Cmah−/−;mdx mice. Early upregulation of mitochondrial genes (Ucp3 and Cpt1) and downregulation of key glycolytic genes (Pdk1, Pdk4, Ppara), also denote disturbed cardiac metabolism and shift towards glucose utilization in Cmah−/−;mdx mice. Moreover, we show long-term treatment with peptide-conjugated exon skipping antisense oligonucleotides (20-week regimen), resulted in 20% cardiac dystrophin protein restoration and significantly improved RV cardiac function. Therefore, Cmah−/−;mdx mice represent an appropriate model for evaluating cardiac benefit of novel DMD therapeutics
Potash Studies on Burley Tobacco in Owen County, Kentucky
Since the late 1970\u27s, farmers in the Wheatley Community of Owen county have reported seeing potassium (K) deficiency on tobacco during the growing season. Most of them had been following University of Kentucky fertilizer recommendations for burley production. Analyses of cured leaf samples from one such crop in 1980 confirmed K deficiency. It was decided that the problem warranted conducting some field experiments in order to define the problem and hopefully develop a solution. Consequently, we located a field on the Harold Malcomb farm near Wheatly, that tested low in soil K and designed a field experiment with the objectives of (1) testing the effectiveness of UK soil test recommendations for potash, (2) testing K rates applied pre-plant, sidedressed, and in combination, and (3) since soil Zinc (Zn) levels were low, we also decided to test for a tobacco yield response to fertilizer Zn. Subsequently, K studies were conducted in different fields of the Malcomb farm during 1981, 1984, 1985, 1986, and i987, and in a field on the Steve Simpson farm near New Columbus in 1986. The following report summarizes what we learned
Automated Harvesting of Burley Tobacco II. Evaluation of System Performance
A prototype system for fully automated harvesting of burley tobacco has been developed and tested. Three years of field testing has shown that mechanical losses associated with the system were only slightly higher than via conventional methods. The system performed reliably at a sustained harvesting rate of approximately 1.4 ha/day (3.4 acre/day), while indicating that a rate of 2 ha/day (5 acre/day) should be easily achievable. The system is operated by two workers and reduces conventional labor requirement by approximately 80-85%
Automated Harvesting of Burley Tobacco I. System Development
A fully automated system for harvesting and handling mature buriey tobacco has been developed. This article identifies the operations essential to this harvesting concept and describes the development of the mechanisms by which they were accomplished. The system detaches, inverts and places mature plants into portable holders for air curing under waterproof covering without requiring any manual handling of the crop. Manual labor currently required to harvest buriey tobacco would be reduced by 80-85% and the system would eliminate the drudgery associated with manual handling. The harvesting system has an approximate capacity of 1.4 to 2.0 ha/day (3.5 to 5.0 ac/day) and is operated by two workers
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