Cooling of strange stars in the color-flavor locked phase with a rotating crust Cooling of strange stars in the color-flavor locked phase with a rotating crust

The presence of the color-flavor locked (CFL) phase strongly suppresses the neutrino emission processes and the quark specific heat. As a result the cooling of the strange stars in the CFL phase is dominated by deconfinement heating and surface emission. The temperature of these stars with strong magnetic field ($B{\geq}10^{10}G$) rise significantly during the first several ten or hundred years, which may be an effective signature of strange stars as implicated by pulsar 0540-69. Furthermore a limit line is predicted, which means compact stars have an upper limit temperature at any moment. We still may search for the candidates for strange stars in the CFL phase along the limit line. The presence of the color-flavor locked (CFL) phase strongly suppresses the neutrino emission processes and the quark specific heat. As a result the cooling of the strange stars in the CFL phase is dominated by deconfinement heating and surface emission. The temperature of these stars with strong magnetic field ($B{\geq}10^{10}G$) rise significantly during the first several ten or hundred years, which may be an effective signature of strange stars as implicated by pulsar 0540-69. Furthermore a limit line is predicted, which means compact stars have an upper limit temperature at any moment. We still may search for the candidates for strange stars in the CFL phase along the limit line.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures 9 pages, 3 figure

Comparative Study and Simulation of Soil Infiltration Performance in Open Green Space

Soil infiltration is important for urban open space to exert sponge benefits, and its permeability characteristics are influenced by physical and chemical properties. To determine the characteristics and differences of soil permeability in different open spaces, we used the cutting-ring method to measure the soil infiltration process in four types of open space. The effects of physicochemical properties on soil infiltration were analyzed through comparison. The infiltration process of the four types of green spaces was fitted on the basis of Kostiakov and Philip infiltration models, and the suitability of the models was discussed. The water infiltration process shows that the law of initial infiltration rate > average infiltration rate > stable infiltration rate. The stable infiltration rate of each green space ranges from 2.46 mm/min to 3.60 mm/min, and the ranking is as follows: park > square > block > other shared space. The determination coefficient of the Kostiakov model for the soil infiltration process of the four types of green space is higher than 0.94, which is suitable to describe the soil infiltration characteristics of green space in the study area. The soil infiltration performance of green space shows a negative correlation with soil bulk density and moisture content but a positive correlation with non-capillary porosity. This study provides a reference for the construction of sponge cities and ecological hydrological observation

Stress-driven crystallization via shear-diffusion transformations in a metallic glass at very low temperatures

At elevated temperatures, glasses crystallize via thermally activated diffusion. However, metallic glasses can also undergo deformation-induced crystallization at very low temperatures. Here we demonstrate the crystallization of Al[subscript 50]Fe[subscript 50] metallic glasses under cyclic deformation at 50 K using molecular dynamics simulations and reveal the underlying atomic-scale processes. We demonstrate that stress-driven nonaffine atomic rearrangements, or shear diffusion transformation (SDT) events, lead to successive metabasin-to-metabasin transitions and long-range ordering. We also illustrate that the nucleation and growth of the crystal proceed via collective attachment of ordered clusters, advancing the amorphous/crystal interface in an intermittent manner. The cooperative nature of the steplike crystallization is attributed to the large activation volume of Eshelby transformations which generate as a by-product nonaffine diffusive atomic displacements that accumulate over loading cycles. The dual nature of shear (affine) and diffusion (nonaffine) in low-temperature stress-driven SDT events thus unifies inelasticity with crystallization.National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program) (Grant 2012CB619402)National Basic Research Program of China (111 Program) (Grant B06025)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant DMR-1120901)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant DMR-1410636

Transcriptional Modulation of Intestinal Innate Defense/Inflammation Genes by Preterm Infant Microbiota in a Humanized Gnotobiotic Mouse Model

Background and Aims: It is known that postnatal functional maturation of the small intestine is facilitated by microbial colonization of the gut. Preterm infants exhibit defects in gut maturation, weak innate immunity against intestinal infection and increased susceptibility to inflammatory disorders, all of which may be related to the inappropriate microbial colonization of their immature intestines. The earliest microbes to colonize the preterm infant gut encounter a naïve, immature intestine. Thus this earliest microbiota potentially has the greatest opportunity to fundamentally influence intestinal development and immune function. The aim of this study was to characterize the effect of early microbial colonization on global gene expression in the distal small intestine during postnatal gut development.Methods: Gnotobiotic mouse models with experimental colonization by early (prior to two weeks of life) intestinal microbiota from preterm human infants were utilized. Microarray analysis was used to assess global gene expression in the intestinal epithelium.Results and Conclusion: Multiple intestinal genes involved in metabolism, cell cycle regulation, cell-cell or cell-extracellular matrix communication, and immune function are developmental- and intestinal microbiota- regulated. Using a humanized gnotobiotic mouse model, we demonstrate that certain early preterm infant microbiota from prior to 2 weeks of life specifically induce increased NF-κB activation and a phenotype of increased inflammation whereas other preterm microbiota specifically induce decreased NF-κB activation. These fundamental differences correlate with altered clinical outcomes and suggest the existence of optimal early microbial communities to improve health outcomes.</p

A compliant self-stabilization nanopositioning device with modified active–passive hybrid vibration isolation strategy

Micro/mini light-emitting diodes (LEDs) display panel inspection and repairs have a high demand for vibration isolating devices to protect industrial-level atomic force microscopes (AFM scanning head) against vibrations. The motivation of this work is to combine the advantages of both passive and active vibration isolation strategies to improve inspection performance. The developed self-stabilization device achieves this objective with a design that incorporates a suspension-type passive vibration isolation unit and integrates it with the modified active–passive hybrid (MAPH) vibration isolation strategy using piezoelectric ceramics (PZT) and voice coil motors (VCM) as compensators. First, the design, modeling, and optimization of a self-stabilization device are presented based on the MAPH vibration isolation strategy. To satisfy the requirements of vibration isolation performance and a lightweight design, a multiobjective optimization task was conducted. Next, a tailor-made double compensating PID controller was designed to allow this mechanism to run in the MAPH method to effectively isolate vibrations. Finally, a series of validation experiments, including passive vibration isolation performance tests and MAPH closed-loop tests, were applied. From 1 to 500 Hz, more than 98% frequency domain achieved a vibration isolation rate of 90%, the vibration amplification effect of the passive vibration isolation was significantly suppressed, the steady-state positioning accuracy reached ±0.1μ m, load capacity was up to 2.5 kg, the attenuation ratio of the disturbances reached up to 70%, and the heat of the VCM was effectively reduced. All results comprehensively confirmed that the developed compliant MAPH vibration isolation system has achieved a satisfactory self-stabilization function

Functional characterization of PETIOLULE-LIKE PULVINUS (PLP) gene in abscission zone development in Medicago truncatula and its application to genetic improvement of alfalfa

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is one of the most important forage crops throughout the world. Maximizing leaf retention during the haymaking process is critical for achieving superior hay quality and maintaining biomass yield. Leaf abscission process affects leaf retention. Previous studies have largely focused on the molecular mechanisms of floral organ, pedicel and seed abscission but scarcely touched on leaf and petiole abscission. This study focuses on leaf and petiole abscission in the model legume Medicago truncatula and its closely related commercial species alfalfa. By analysing the petiolule-like pulvinus (plp) mutant in M. truncatula at phenotypic level (breakstrength and shaking assays), microscopic level (scanning electron microscopy and cross-sectional analyses) and molecular level (expression level and expression pattern analyses), we discovered that the loss of function of PLP leads to an absence of abscission zone (AZ) formation and PLP plays an important role in leaflet and petiole AZ differentiation. Microarray analysis indicated that PLP affects abscission process through modulating genes involved in hormonal homeostasis, cell wall remodelling and degradation. Detailed analyses led us to propose a functional model of PLP in regulating leaflet and petiole abscission. Furthermore, we cloned the PLP gene (MsPLP) from alfalfa and produced RNAi transgenic alfalfa plants to down-regulate the endogenous MsPLP. Down-regulation of MsPLP results in altered pulvinus structure with increased leaflet breakstrength, thus offering a new approach to decrease leaf loss during alfalfa haymaking process