1,609 research outputs found
A Strong X-Ray Burst from the Low Mass X-Ray Binary EXO0748-676
We have observed an unusually strong X-ray burst as a part of our regular
eclipse timing observations of the low mass binary system EXO0748-676. The
burst peak flux was 5.2x10^-8 ergs cm^-2 s^-1, approximately five times the
normal peak X-ray burst flux observed from this source by RXTE. Spectral fits
to the data strongly suggest that photospheric radius expansion occurred during
the burst. In this Letter we examine the properties of this X-ray burst, which
is the first example of a radius expansion burst from EXO0748-676 observed by
RXTE. We find no evidence for coherent burst oscillations. Assuming that the
peak burst luminosity is the Eddington luminosity for a 1.4 solar mass neutron
star we derive a distance to EXO0748-676 of 7.7 kpc for a helium-dominated
burst photosphere and 5.9 kpc for a hydrogen-dominated burst photosphere.Comment: 15 pages including 2 figures and 1 table. Accepted for publication in
the Astrophysical Journa
Coupling between magnetic ordering and structural instabilities in perovskite biferroics: A first-principles study
We use first-principles density functional theory-based calculations to
investigate structural instabilities in the high symmetry cubic perovskite
structure of rare-earth (R La, Y, Lu) and Bi-based biferroic chromites,
focusing on and point phonons of states with para-, ferro-, and
antiferromagnetic ordering. We find that (a) the structure with G-type
antiferromagnetic ordering is most stable, (b) the most dominant structural
instabilities in these oxides are the ones associated with rotations of oxygen
octahedra, and (c) structural instabilities involving changes in Cr-O-Cr bond
angle depend sensitively on the changes in magnetic ordering. The dependence of
structural instabilities on magnetic ordering can be understood in terms of how
super-exchange interactions depend on the Cr-O-Cr bond angles and Cr-O bond
lengths. We demonstrate how adequate buckling of Cr-O-Cr chains can favour
ferromagnetism. Born effective charges (BEC) calculated using the Berry phase
expression are found to be anomalously large for the A-cations, indicating
their chemical relevance to ferroelectric distortions.Comment: 8 pages, 13 figure
MacWilliams Identities for -tuple Weight Enumerators
Since MacWilliams proved the original identity relating the Hamming weight
enumerator of a linear code to the weight enumerator of its dual code there
have been many different generalizations, leading to the development of
-tuple support enumerators. We prove a generalization of theorems of Britz
and of Ray-Chaudhuri and Siap, which build on earlier work of Kl{\o}ve,
Shiromoto, Wan, and others. We then give illustrations of these -tuple
weight enumerators.Comment: 17 pages. Accepted to SIAM Journal on Discrete Mathematic
The KO*-rings of BT^m, the Davis-Januszkiewicz Spaces and certain toric manifolds
This paper contains an explicit computation of the KO*-ring structure of an
m-fold product of CP^{\infty}, the Davis-Januszkiewicz spaces and toric
manifolds which have trivial Sq^2-homology.Comment: 34 page
Oxidative protein refolding on size exclusion chromatography:From batch single-column to multi-column counter-current continuous processing
Recently protein refolding on size exclusion chromatography (SEC) operated in multi-column continuous simulated moving bed (SMB) configurations (hereinafter SMB-SEC) has been investigated for future industrial applications. This is due to several advantages offered by SMB configurations particularly when process parameters are thoroughly screened and optimized. A robust mathematical model is essential for high-throughput process screening and optimization. In this work, a previously investigated single-column mathematical model was modified to extend its applicability for protein oxidative refolding/aggregation predictions in SMB-SEC. The model considers a wide loading concentration range of the model protein (lysozyme) on SEC. The potential influences of high concentrations of chaotropic reagents on kinetic and thermodynamic model parameters have been discussed based on previous experimental results and their predicted local concentrations through the SMB-SEC columns and at the product stream. It was observed that aggregation occurs when local protein concentration exceeds a critical concentration. No urea recovery at the product stream indicated that the refolding reaction will continue off-column to recover the native-protein product. Therefore, it is suggested that the developed model is tested against experimental results for total soluble protein (early intermediates and native conformations) in the presence of L{small}-arginine additive and process performance indicators are defined based on this criterion
Adiabatic invariance with first integrals of motion
The construction of a microthermodynamic formalism for isolated systems based
on the concept of adiabatic invariance is an old but seldom appreciated effort
in the literature, dating back at least to P. Hertz [Ann. Phys. (Leipzig) 33,
225 (1910)]. An apparently independent extension of such formalism for systems
bearing additional first integrals of motion was recently proposed by Hans H.
Rugh [Phys. Rev. E 64, 055101 (2001)], establishing the concept of adiabatic
invariance even in such singular cases. After some remarks in connection with
the formalism pioneered by Hertz, it will be suggested that such an extension
can incidentally explain the success of a dynamical method for computing the
entropy of classical interacting fluids, at least in some potential
applications where the presence of additional first integrals cannot be
ignored.Comment: 2 pages, no figures (REVTeX 4
Multi-Level Risk and Protective Factors for Substance Use among Zambian Street Youth
Background: High rates of substance use have been reported among youth in Zambia. This is particularly concerning given that substance use is one of the biggest risk factors placing young people at risk for HIV infection. Objectives: The purpose of the current study is to examine how multilevel risk and protective factors (i.e., community, family, peers, individual) influence alcohol and marijuana use. Methods: A total of 250 street youth in Lusaka, Zambia, were interviewed in the summer of 2014 about their alcohol and marijuana use and reasons for usage. Data were analyzed using descriptive and multivariate methods. Results: Youth reported high rates of alcohol use. At the multivariate level, peer- and individual-level variables (e.g., using alcohol or drugs for coping or for fun) explained the most variance, followed by family-level factors. Community-level variables explained the least variance in all models. Conclusion/Importance: A better understanding of multilevel risk and protective factors for young people’s alcohol and marijuana use could lead to the development of better intervention strategies to reduce this behavior among Zambian street youth
Analysis of White Dwarfs with Strange-Matter Cores
We summarize masses and radii for a number of white dwarfs as deduced from a
combination of proper motion studies, Hipparcos parallax distances, effective
temperatures, and binary or spectroscopic masses. A puzzling feature of these
data is that some stars appear to have radii which are significantly smaller
than that expected for a standard electron-degenerate white-dwarf equations of
state. We construct a projection of white-dwarf radii for fixed effective mass
and conclude that there is at least marginal evidence for bimodality in the
radius distribution forwhite dwarfs. We argue that if such compact white dwarfs
exist it is unlikely that they contain an iron core. We propose an alternative
of strange-quark matter within the white-dwarf core. We also discuss the impact
of the so-called color-flavor locked (CFL) state in strange-matter core
associated with color superconductivity. We show that the data exhibit several
features consistent with the expected mass-radius relation of strange dwarfs.
We identify eight nearby white dwarfs which are possible candidates for strange
matter cores and suggest observational tests of this hypothesis.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in J. Phys. G: Nucl.
Part. Phy
Disk Diffusion Propagation Model for the Outburst of XTE J1118+480
We present a linear diffusion model for the evolution of the double-peaked
outburst in the transient source XTEJ1118+480. The model treats the two
outbursts as episodic mass deposition at the outer radius of the disk followed
by evolution of disk structure according to a diffusion process. We demonstrate
that light curves with fast-rise, exponential decay profile are a general
consequence of the diffusion process. Deconvolution of the light curve proves
to be feasible and gives an input function specifying mass deposition at the
outer disk edge as well as the total mass of the disk, both as functions of
time. The derived evolution of total disk mass can be correlated with the
observed evolution of the ~0.1 Hz QPO in the source reported in Wood et al.
(2000).Comment: 26 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
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