3,169 research outputs found
Direction of light propagation to order G^2 in static, spherically symmetric spacetimes: a new derivation
A procedure avoiding any integration of the null geodesic equations is used
to derive the direction of light propagation in a three-parameter family of
static, spherically symmetric spacetimes within the post-post-Minkowskian
approximation. Quasi-Cartesian isotropic coordinates adapted to the symmetries
of spacetime are systematically used. It is found that the expression of the
angle formed by two light rays as measured by a static observer staying at a
given point is remarkably simple in these coordinates. The attention is mainly
focused on the null geodesic paths that we call the "quasi-Minkowskian light
rays". The vector-like functions characterizing the direction of propagation of
such light rays at their points of emission and reception are firstly obtained
in the generic case where these points are both located at a finite distance
from the centre of symmetry. The direction of propagation of the
quasi-Minkowskian light rays emitted at infinity is then straightforwardly
deduced. An intrinsic definition of the gravitational deflection angle relative
to a static observer located at a finite distance is proposed for these rays.
The expression inferred from this definition extends the formula currently used
in VLBI astrometry up to the second order in the gravitational constant G.Comment: 19 pages; revised introduction; added references for introduction;
corrected typos; published in Class. Quantum Gra
The effect of deep versus moderate neuromuscular block on postoperative respiratory function in bariatric laparoscopic surgery : a randomized, double blind clinical trial
Realistic Model of the Nucleon Spectral Function in Few- and Many- Nucleon Systems
By analysing the high momentum features of the nucleon momentum distribution
in light and complex nuclei, it is argued that the basic two-nucleon
configurations generating the structure of the nucleon Spectral Function at
high values of the nucleon momentum and removal energy, can be properly
described by a factorised ansatz for the nuclear wave function, which leads to
a nucleon Spectral Function in the form of a convolution integral involving the
momentum distributions describing the relative and center-of-mass motion of a
correlated nucleon-nucleon pair embedded in the medium. The Spectral Functions
of and infinite nuclear matter resulting from the convolution formula
and from many-body calculations are compared, and a very good agreement in a
wide range of values of nucleon momentum and removal energy is found.
Applications of the model to the analysis of inclusive and exclusive processes
are presented, illustrating those features of the cross section which are
sensitive to that part of the Spectral Function which is governed by
short-range and tensor nucleon-nucleon correlations.Comment: 40 pages Latex , 16 ps figures available from the above e-mail
address or from [email protected]
The He(e, ed)p Reaction in q-constant Kinematics
The cross section for the He(e, ed)p reaction has been measured as a
function of the missing momentum in q -constant kinematics at
beam energies of 370 and 576 MeV for values of the three-momentum transfer
of 412, 504 and 604 \mevc. The L(+TT), T and LT structure functions have been
separated for = 412 and 504 \mevc. The data are compared to three-body
Faddeev calculations, including meson-exchange currents (MEC), and to
calculations based on a covariant diagrammatic expansion. The influence of
final-state interactions and meson-exchange currents is discussed. The
-dependence of the data is reasonably well described by all calculations.
However, the most advanced Faddeev calculations, which employ the AV18
nucleon-nucleon interaction and include MEC, overestimate the measured cross
sections, especially the longitudinal part, and at the larger values of .
The diagrammatic approach gives a fair description of the cross section, but
under(over)estimates the longitudinal (transverse) structure function.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figure
Effects of correcting metabolic acidosis on muscle mass and functionality in chronic kidney disease:a systematic review and meta-analysis
Metabolic acidosis unfavourably influences the nutritional status of patients with non-dialysis dependent chronic kidney disease (CKD) including the loss of muscle mass and functionality, but the benefits of correction are uncertain. We investigated the effects of correcting metabolic acidosis on nutritional status in patients with CKD in a systematic review and meta-analysis. A search was conducted in MEDLINE and the Cochrane Library from inception to June 2023. Study selection, bias assessment, and data extraction were independently performed by two reviewers. The Cochrane risk of bias tool was used to assess the quality of individual studies. We applied random effects meta-analysis to obtain pooled standardized mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). We retrieved data from 12 intervention studies including 1995 patients, with a mean age of 63.7 ± 11.7 years, a mean estimated glomerular filtration rate of 29.8 ± 8.8 mL/min per 1.73 m2, and 58% were male. Eleven studies performed an intervention with oral sodium bicarbonate compared with either placebo or with standard care and one study compared veverimer, an oral HCl-binding polymer, with placebo. The mean change in serum bicarbonate was +3.6 mEq/L in the intervention group and +0.4 mEq/L in the control group. Correcting metabolic acidosis significantly improved muscle mass assessed by mid-arm muscle circumference (SMD 0.35 [95% CI 0.16 to 0.54], P < 0.001) and functionality assessed with the sit-to-stand test (SMD −0.31 [95% CI −0.52 to 0.11], P = 0.003). We found no statistically significant effects on dietary protein intake, handgrip strength, serum albumin and prealbumin concentrations, and blood urea nitrogen. Correcting metabolic acidosis in patients with CKD improves muscle mass and physical function. Correction of metabolic acidosis should be considered as part of the nutritional care for patients with CKD.</p
Ecological succession of a Jurassic shallow-water ichthyosaur fall.
After the discovery of whale fall communities in modern oceans, it has been hypothesized that during the Mesozoic the carcasses of marine reptiles created similar habitats supporting long-lived and specialized animal communities. Here, we report a fully documented ichthyosaur fall community, from a Late Jurassic shelf setting, and reconstruct the ecological succession of its micro- and macrofauna. The early 'mobile-scavenger' and 'enrichment-opportunist' stages were not succeeded by a 'sulphophilic stage' characterized by chemosynthetic molluscs, but instead the bones were colonized by microbial mats that attracted echinoids and other mat-grazing invertebrates. Abundant cemented suspension feeders indicate a well-developed 'reef stage' with prolonged exposure and colonization of the bones prior to final burial, unlike in modern whale falls where organisms such as the ubiquitous bone-eating worm Osedax rapidly destroy the skeleton. Shallow-water ichthyosaur falls thus fulfilled similar ecological roles to shallow whale falls, and did not support specialized chemosynthetic communities
Performance of the LHCb Vertex Detector Alignment Algorithm determined with Beam Test Data
LHCb is the dedicated heavy flavour experiment at the Large Hadron Collider
at CERN. The partially assembled silicon vertex locator (VELO) of the LHCb
experiment has been tested in a beam test. The data from this beam test have
been used to determine the performance of the VELO alignment algorithm. The
relative alignment of the two silicon sensors in a module and the relative
alignment of the modules has been extracted. This alignment is shown to be
accurate at a level of approximately 2 micron and 0.1 mrad for translations and
rotations, respectively in the plane of the sensors. A single hit precision at
normal track incidence of about 10 micron is obtained for the sensors. The
alignment of the system is shown to be stable at better than the 10 micron
level under air to vacuum pressure changes and mechanical movements of the
assembled system.Comment: accepted for publication in NIM
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