Induced scattering of short radio pulses

Effect of the induced Compton and Raman scattering on short, bright radio pulses is investigated. It is shown that when a single pulse propagates through the scattering medium, the effective optical depth is determined by the duration of the pulse but not by the scale of the medium. The induced scattering could hinder propagation of the radio pulse only if close enough to the source a dense enough plasma is presented. The induced scattering within the relativistically moving source places lower limits on the Lorentz factor of the source. The results are applied to the recently discovered short extragalactic radio pulse.Comment: submitted to Ap

Chiral multiplets versus parity doublets in highly excited baryons

It has recently been suggested that the parity doublet structure seen in the spectrum of highly excited baryons may be due to effective chiral restoration for these states. We argue how the idea of chiral symmetry restoration high in the spectrum is consistent with the concept of quark-hadron duality. If chiral symmetry is effectively restored for highly-lying states, then the baryons should fall into representations of $SU(2)_L\times SU(2)_R$ that are compatible with the given parity of the states - the parity-chiral multiplets. We classify all possible parity-chiral multiplets: (i) $(1/2,0)\oplus(0, 1/2)$ that contain parity doublet for nucleon spectrum;(ii) $(3/2,0) \oplus (0, 3/2)$ consists of the parity doublet for delta spectrum; (iii) $(1/2,1) \oplus (1, 1/2)$ contains one parity doublet in the nucleon spectrum and one parity doublet in the delta spectrum of the same spin that are degenerate in mass. Here we show that the available spectroscopic data for nonstrange baryons in the $\sim$ 2 GeV range is consistent with all possibilities, but the approximate degeneracy of parity doublets in nucleon and delta spectra support the latter possibility with excited baryons approximately falling into $(1/2,1) \oplus (1, 1/2)$ representation of SU(2)_L\timesSU(2)_R with approximate degeneracy between positive and negative parity $N$ and $\Delta$ resonances of the same spin.Comment: RevTeX, 6 pages. The paper has been expanded in order to make the idea of chiral symmetry restoration as it follows from the concept of quark-hadron duality more transparent. To appear in Phys. Rev.

Non-invasive molecular imaging of inflammatory macrophages in allograft rejection.

BackgroundMacrophages represent a critical cell type in host defense, development and homeostasis. The ability to image non-invasively pro-inflammatory macrophage infiltrate into a transplanted organ may provide an additional tool for the monitoring of the immune response of the recipient against the donor graft. We therefore decided to image in vivo sialoadhesin (Sn, Siglec 1 or CD169) using anti-Sn mAb (SER-4) directly radiolabelled with (99m)Tc pertechnetate.MethodsWe used a heterotopic heart transplantation model where allogeneic or syngeneic heart grafts were transplanted into the abdomen of recipients. In vivo nanosingle-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT/CT) imaging was performed 7 days post transplantation followed by biodistribution and histology.ResultsIn wild-type mice, the majority of (99m)Tc-SER-4 monoclonal antibody cleared from the blood with a half-life of 167 min and was located predominantly on Sn(+) tissues in the spleen, liver and bone marrow. The biodistribution in the transplantation experiments confirmed data derived from the non-invasive SPECT/CT images, with significantly higher levels of (99m)Tc-SER-4 observed in allogeneic grafts (9.4 (±2.7) %ID/g) compared to syngeneic grafts (4.3 (±10.3) %ID/g) (p = 0.0022) or in mice which received allogeneic grafts injected with (99m)Tc-IgG isotype control (5.9 (±0.6) %ID/g) (p = 0.0185). The transplanted heart to blood ratio was also significantly higher in recipients with allogeneic grafts receiving (99m)Tc-SER-4 as compared to recipients with syngeneic grafts (p = 0.000004) or recipients with allogeneic grafts receiving (99m)Tc-IgG isotype (p = 0.000002).ConclusionsHere, we demonstrate that imaging of Sn(+) macrophages in inflammation may provide an important additional and non-invasive tool for the monitoring of the pathophysiology of cellular immunity in a transplant model

(1+1)-dimensional Baryons from the SU(N) Color-Flavor Transformation

The color-flavor transformation, an identity that connects two integrals, each of which is over one of a dual pair of Lie groups acting in the fermionic Fock space, is extended to the case of the special unitary group. Using this extension, a toy model of lattice QCD is studied: N_f species of spinless fermions interacting with strongly coupled SU(N_c) lattice gauge fields in 1+1 dimensions. The color-flavor transformed theory is expressed in terms of gauge singlets, the meson fields, organized into sectors distinguished by the distribution of baryonic flux. A comprehensive analytical and numerical search is made for saddle-point configurations of the meson fields, with various topological charges, in the vacuum and single-baryon sectors. Two definitions of the static baryon on the square lattice, straight and zigzag, are investigated. The masses of the baryonic states are estimated using the saddle-point approximation for large N_c.Comment: LateX, 53 pages, 13 figure

The Color--Flavor Transformation of induced QCD

The Zirnbauer's color-flavor transformation is applied to the $U(N_c)$ lattice gauge model, in which the gauge theory is induced by a heavy chiral scalar field sitting on lattice sites. The flavor degrees of freedom can encompass several `generations' of the auxiliary field, and for each generation, remaining indices are associated with the elementary plaquettes touching the lattice site. The effective, color-flavor transformed theory is expressed in terms of gauge singlet matrix fields carried by lattice links. The effective action is analyzed for a hypercubic lattice in arbitrary dimension. We investigate the corresponding d=2 and d=3 dual lattices. The saddle points equations of the model in the large-$N_c$ limit are discussed.Comment: 24 pages, 6 figures, to appear in Int. J. Mod. Phys.

High-Angular Resolution Dust Polarization Measurements: Shaped B-field Lines in the Massive Star Forming Region Orion BN/KL

We present observational results of the thermal dust continuum emission and its linear polarization in one of the nearest massive star-forming sites Orion BN/KL in Orion Molecular Cloud-1. The observations were carried out with the Submillimeter Array. With an angular resolution of 1" (~2 mpc; 480 AU), we have detected and resolved the densest cores near the BN/KL region. At a wavelength of ~870 micron, the polarized dust emission can be used to trace the structure of the magnetic field in this star-forming core. The dust continuum appears to arise from a V-shaped region, with a cavity nearly coincident with the center of the explosive outflows observed on larger scales. The position angles (P.A.s) of the observed polarization vary significantly by a total of about 90 degree but smoothly, i.e., curl-like, across the dust ridges. Such a polarization pattern can be explained with dust grains being magnetically aligned instead of mechanically with outflows, since the latter mechanism would cause the P.A.s to be parallel to the direction of the outflow, i.e., radial-like. The magnetic field projected in the plane of sky is therefore derived by rotating the P.A.s of the polarization by 90 degree. We find an azimuthally symmetric structure in the overall magnetic field morphology, with the field directions pointing toward 2.5" west to the center of the explosive outflows. We also find a preferred symmetry plane at a P.A. of 36 degree, which is perpendicular to the mean magnetic field direction (120 degree) of the 0.5 pc dust ridge. Two possible interpretations of the origin of the observed magnetic field structure are discussed.Comment: 27 pages, 7 figures; ApJ in pres

Haplotypic structure of the X chromosome in the COGA population sample and the quality of its reconstruction by extant software packages

BACKGROUND: The haplotypes of the X chromosome are accessible to direct count in males, whereas the diplotypes of the females may be inferred knowing the haplotype of their sons or fathers. Here, we investigated: 1) the possible large-scale haplotypic structure of the X chromosome in a Caucasian population sample, given the single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) maps and genotypes provided by Illumina and Affimetrix for Genetic Analysis Workshop 14, and, 2) the performances of widely used programs in reconstructing haplotypes from population genotypic data, given their known distribution in a sample of unrelated individuals. RESULTS: All possible unrelated mother-son pairs of Caucasian ancestry (N = 104) were selected from the 143 families of the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism pedigree files, and the diplotypes of the mothers were inferred from the X chromosomes of their sons. The marker set included 313 SNPs at an average density of 0.47 Mb. Linkage disequilibrium between pairs of markers was computed by the parameter D', whereas for measuring multilocus disequilibrium, we developed here an index called D*, and applied it to all possible sliding windows of 5 markers each. Results showed a complex pattern of haplotypic structure, with regions of low linkage disequilibrium separated by regions of high values of D*. The following programs were evaluated for their accuracy in inferring population haplotype frequencies: 1) ARLEQUIN 2.001; 2) PHASE 2.1.1; 3) SNPHAP 1.1; 4) HAPLOBLOCK 1.2; 5) HAPLOTYPER 1.0. Performances were evaluated by Pearson correlation (r) coefficient between the true and the inferred distribution of haplotype frequencies. CONCLUSION: The SNP haplotypic structure of the X chromosome is complex, with regions of high haplotype conservation interspersed among regions of higher haplotype diversity. All the tested programs were accurate (r = 1) in reconstructing the distribution of haplotype frequencies in case of high D* values. However, only the program PHASE realized a high correlation coefficient (r > 0.7) in conditions of low linkage disequilibrium

Phase-resolved spectral analysis of 4U 1901+03 during its outburst

The high mass X-ray binary 4U 1901+03 was reported to have the pulse profile evolving with the X-ray luminosity and energy during its outburst in February-July 2003: the pulse peak changed from double to single along with the decreasing luminosity. We have carried out a detailed analysis on the contemporary phase-resolved energy spectrum of 4U 1901+03 as observed by Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE). We find that, both the continuum and the pulse spectra are phase dependent. The optical depth derived from the pulse spectrum is in general larger than that from the continuum. Fe Ka emission line is only detected in the spectrum of the continuum and is missing in the pulse spectrum. This suggests an origin of Fe emission from the accretion disk but not the surface of the neutron star.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures, accepted by Ap

Renormalization of Poincare Transformations in Hamiltonian Semiclassical Field Theory

Semiclassical Hamiltonian field theory is investigated from the axiomatic point of view. A notion of a semiclassical state is introduced. An "elementary" semiclassical state is specified by a set of classical field configuration and quantum state in this external field. "Composed" semiclassical states viewed as formal superpositions of "elementary" states are nontrivial only if the Maslov isotropic condition is satisfied; the inner product of "composed" semiclassical states is degenerate. The mathematical proof of Poincare invariance of semiclassical field theory is obtained for "elementary" and "composed" semiclassical states. The notion of semiclassical field is introduced; its Poincare invariance is also mathematically proved.Comment: LaTeX, 40 pages; short version of hep-th/010307

The Common Core Writing Standards: A Descriptive Study of Content and Alignment with A Sample of Former State Standards

Many students do not meet expected standards of writing performance, despite the need for writing competence in and out of school. As policy instruments, writing content standards have an impact on what is taught and how students perform. This study reports findings from an evaluation of the content of a sample of seven diverse states’ current writing standards compared to content of the Common Core State Standards for writing and language (CCSS-WL). Standards were evaluated for breadth of content coverage (range), how often content was referenced (frequency), the degree of emphasis placed on varied content elements (balance), and the degree of overlap between one set of standards and another (alignment). The study addressed two research questions: (1) What is the nature of the CCSS-WL and the sample states’ standards for writing with respect to content breadth, frequency, and balance? (2) To what degree do the states\u27 writing standards align with the CCSS-WL? Results indicated that CCSS-WL are succinct and balanced, with breadth of coverage in some aspects of writing but not others. The seven states’ standards represented varying degrees of breadth, frequency, and balance with few patterns across states. None of the states’ standards had strong alignment with CCSS-WL, indicating a potential mismatch between prior curricular materials and instructional methods developed with former standards as guides to help students meet grade-level writing expectations in the new CCSS