Scale-free static and dynamical correlations in melts of monodisperse and Flory-distributed homopolymers: A review of recent bond-fluctuation model studies

It has been assumed until very recently that all long-range correlations are screened in three-dimensional melts of linear homopolymers on distances beyond the correlation length $\xi$ characterizing the decay of the density fluctuations. Summarizing simulation results obtained by means of a variant of the bond-fluctuation model with finite monomer excluded volume interactions and topology violating local and global Monte Carlo moves, we show that due to an interplay of the chain connectivity and the incompressibility constraint, both static and dynamical correlations arise on distances $r \gg \xi$. These correlations are scale-free and, surprisingly, do not depend explicitly on the compressibility of the solution. Both monodisperse and (essentially) Flory-distributed equilibrium polymers are considered.Comment: 60 pages, 49 figure

Coulomb dissociation reactions on proton-rich Ar isotopes

5 pags., 3 figs., 1 tab. -- 11th Symposium on Nuclei in the Cosmos, 19-23 July 2010, Heidelberg, GermanyA Coulomb dissociation experiment on the proton-rich 32Ar and 34Ar isotopes was performed at the ALADIN-LAND setup at GSI in Darmstadt. Recent RQRPA calculations show a low-lying E1 soft-vibrational mode at an excitation energy Ex ≈ 9 MeV for proton-rich argon isotopes at the dripline. In a macroscopic picture, this can be understood as an out-of-phase oscillation of a thin proton skin against the isospin-saturated core, similar to the neutron pygmy resonance at the neutron dripline. On the other hand, the measured (γ, p) reactions are interesting for the calculation of reaction cross-sections and radiative proton capture rates for the rp-process. In this hydrogen burning process a lot of nuclear structure inputs are still missing. Especially in the argon region a bottleneck for the reaction flow is assumed at 30S and 34Ar. The impact of the predicted proton pygmy resonance on the reaction flow is not yet clear. The experimental motivation and the experiment itself are described. Identification plots for incoming and outgoing particles are shown and a tracking algorithm is applied and shows to work succesfully.This project is supported by the HGF Young Investigators Project VH-NG-327.Peer reviewe

Collider aspects of flavour physics at high Q

This review presents flavour related issues in the production and decays of heavy states at LHC, both from the experimental side and from the theoretical side. We review top quark physics and discuss flavour aspects of several extensions of the Standard Model, such as supersymmetry, little Higgs model or models with extra dimensions. This includes discovery aspects as well as measurement of several properties of these heavy states. We also present public available computational tools related to this topic.Comment: Report of Working Group 1 of the CERN Workshop ``Flavour in the era of the LHC'', Geneva, Switzerland, November 2005 -- March 200

Measurement of prompt hadron production ratios in pppp collisions at s=\sqrt{s} = 0.9 and 7 TeV

The charged-particle production ratios $\bar{p}/p$, $K^-/K^+$, $\pi^-/\pi^+$, $(p + \bar{p})/(\pi^+ + \pi^-)$, $(K^+ + K^-)/(\pi^+ + \pi^-)$ and $(p + \bar{p})/(K^+ + K^-)$ are measured with the LHCb detector using $0.3 {\rm nb^{-1}}$ of $pp$ collisions delivered by the LHC at $\sqrt{s} = 0.9$ TeV and $1.8 {\rm nb^{-1}}$ at $\sqrt{s} = 7$ TeV. The measurements are performed as a function of transverse momentum $p_{\rm T}$ and pseudorapidity $\eta$. The production ratios are compared to the predictions of several Monte Carlo generator settings, none of which are able to describe adequately all observables. The ratio $\bar{p}/p$ is also considered as a function of rapidity loss, $\Delta y \equiv y_{\rm beam} - y$, and is used to constrain models of baryon transport.Comment: Incorrect entries in Table 2 corrected. No consequences for rest of pape

Measurement of the forward energy flow in pp collisions at &#8730;<span style="text-decoration:overline">s</span>=7 TeV

The energy flow created in pp collisions at s√=7 TeV is studied within the pseudorapidity range 1.9&#60;η&#60;4.9 with data collected by the LHCb experiment. The measurements are performed for inclusive minimum-bias interactions, hard scattering processes and events with an enhanced or suppressed diffractive contribution. The results are compared to predictions given by Pythia-based and cosmic-ray event generators, which provide different models of soft hadronic interactions

Open data from the third observing run of LIGO, Virgo, KAGRA, and GEO

The global network of gravitational-wave observatories now includes five detectors, namely LIGO Hanford, LIGO Livingston, Virgo, KAGRA, and GEO 600. These detectors collected data during their third observing run, O3, composed of three phases: O3a starting in 2019 April and lasting six months, O3b starting in 2019 November and lasting five months, and O3GK starting in 2020 April and lasting two weeks. In this paper we describe these data and various other science products that can be freely accessed through the Gravitational Wave Open Science Center at https://gwosc.org. The main data set, consisting of the gravitational-wave strain time series that contains the astrophysical signals, is released together with supporting data useful for their analysis and documentation, tutorials, as well as analysis software packages

A Flexion Mode Piezoelectric Micro-Transformer Processed by Aerosol Deposition Method

International audienc

IL-23 promotes CD4(+) T cells to produce IL-17 in Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease

Background: Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) disease is a systemic refractory autoimmune disease. IL-23 has been thought to play a critical role in autoimmune disease through inducing the development of IL-17-producing CD4(+) T cells. Objective: To investigate the expression of IL-23 and IL-17 and the influence of IL-23 on IL-17 production in patients with VKH disease. Methods: Blood samples were taken from 25 patients with VKH disease and 16 healthy controls. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were subjected to analysis of IL-23p19 mRNA and IL-23 protein expression using RT-PCR and ELISA, respectively. The IL-17 levels in the supernatants of PBMCs and CD4(+) T cells cultured in the absence or presence of recombinant (r)IL-23, rIL-12, or anti-IFN-gamma were determined by ELISA. Results: The patients with VKH disease with active uveitis showed an elevated level of IL-23p19 mRNA in PBMCs, higher IL-23 in the serum and supernatants of PBMCs, and increased production of IL-17 by polyclonally stimulated PBMCs and CD4+ T cells. Recombinant IL-23 significantly enhanced IL-17 production, whereas rIL-12 and IFN-gamma inhibited IL-17 production. More importantly, IL-17 production was significantly increased in patients with active uveitis in the presence of rIL-23. Both rIL-23 and rIL-12 enhanced IFN-gamma production. Conclusion: The results suggest that IL-23-stimulated production of IL-17 by CD4+ T cells may be responsible for the development of uveitis seen in patients with VKH disease. Clinical implications: This study provides a new insight into the mechanism involved in the development of VKH disease