1,695 research outputs found
NGC 7789: An Open Cluster Case Study
We have obtained high-resolution spectra of 32 giants in the open cluster NGC
7789 using the Wisconsin-Indiana-Yale-NOAO Hydra spectrograph. We explore
differences in atmospheric parameters and elemental abundances caused by the
use of the linelist developed for the Gaia-ESO Survey (GES) compared to one
based on Arcturus used in our previous work. [Fe/H] values decrease when using
the GES linelist instead of the Arcturus-based linelist; these differences are
probably driven by systematically lower (~ -0.1 dex) GES surface gravities.
Using the GES linelist we determine abundances for 10 elements - Fe, Mg, Si,
Ca, Ti, Na, Ni, Zr, Ba, and La. We find the cluster's average metallicity
[Fe/H] = 0.03 +/- 0.07 dex, in good agreement with literature values, and a
lower [Mg/Fe] abundance than has been reported before for this cluster (0.11
+/- 0.05 dex). We also find the neutron-capture element barium to be highly
enhanced - [Ba/Fe] = +0.48 +/- 0.08 - and disparate from cluster measurements
of neutron-capture elements La and Zr (-0.08 +/- 0.05 and 0.08 +/- 0.08,
respectively). This is in accordance with recent discoveries of supersolar Ba
enhancement in young clusters along with more modest enhancement of other
neutron-capture elements formed in similar environments.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, Table 1 typo fixe
Many-body interactions and melting of colloidal crystals
We study the melting behavior of charged colloidal crystals, using a
simulation technique that combines a continuous mean-field Poisson-Boltzmann
description for the microscopic electrolyte ions with a Brownian-dynamics
simulation for the mesoscopic colloids. This technique ensures that many-body
interactions between the colloids are fully taken into account, and thus allows
us to investigate how many-body interactions affect the solid-liquid phase
behavior of charged colloids. Using the Lindemann criterion, we determine the
melting line in a phase-diagram spanned by the colloidal charge and the salt
concentration. We compare our results to predictions based on the established
description of colloidal suspensions in terms of pairwise additive Yukawa
potentials, and find good agreement at high-salt, but not at low-salt
concentration. Analyzing the effective pair-interaction between two colloids in
a crystalline environment, we demonstrate that the difference in the melting
behavior observed at low salt is due to many-body interactions
Self-similarity of complex networks
Complex networks have been studied extensively due to their relevance to many
real systems as diverse as the World-Wide-Web (WWW), the Internet, energy
landscapes, biological and social networks
\cite{ab-review,mendes,vespignani,newman,amaral}. A large number of real
networks are called ``scale-free'' because they show a power-law distribution
of the number of links per node \cite{ab-review,barabasi1999,faloutsos}.
However, it is widely believed that complex networks are not {\it length-scale}
invariant or self-similar. This conclusion originates from the ``small-world''
property of these networks, which implies that the number of nodes increases
exponentially with the ``diameter'' of the network
\cite{erdos,bollobas,milgram,watts}, rather than the power-law relation
expected for a self-similar structure. Nevertheless, here we present a novel
approach to the analysis of such networks, revealing that their structure is
indeed self-similar. This result is achieved by the application of a
renormalization procedure which coarse-grains the system into boxes containing
nodes within a given "size". Concurrently, we identify a power-law relation
between the number of boxes needed to cover the network and the size of the box
defining a finite self-similar exponent. These fundamental properties, which
are shown for the WWW, social, cellular and protein-protein interaction
networks, help to understand the emergence of the scale-free property in
complex networks. They suggest a common self-organization dynamics of diverse
networks at different scales into a critical state and in turn bring together
previously unrelated fields: the statistical physics of complex networks with
renormalization group, fractals and critical phenomena.Comment: 28 pages, 12 figures, more informations at http://www.jamlab.or
Outbursts of EX Hydrae: mass-transfer events or disc instabilities?
We present the 45-yr record of the light curve of EX Hya, and discuss the characteristics of its 15 observed outbursts. We then concentrate on the 1998 outburst, reporting the first outburst X-ray observations. We discover an X-ray beat-cycle modulation, indicating that an enhanced accretion stream couples directly with the magnetosphere in outburst, confirming our previous prediction. Optical eclipse profiles late in outburst show that the visible light is dominated by an enhanced mass-transfer stream overflowing the accretion disc. We are uncertain whether the enhanced mass transfer is triggered by a disc instability, or by some other cause. While in outburst, EX Hya shows some of the characteristics of SW Sex stars
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A Spontaneous Fatp4/Scl27a4 Splice Site Mutation in a New Murine Model for Congenital Ichthyosis
Congenital ichthyoses are life-threatening conditions in humans. We describe here the identification and molecular characterization of a novel recessive mutation in mice that results in newborn lethality with severe congenital lamellar ichthyosis. Mutant newborns have a taut, shiny, non-expandable epidermis that resembles cornified manifestations of autosomal-recessive congenital ichthyosis in humans. The skin is stretched so tightly that the newborn mice are immobilized. The genetic defect was mapped to a region near the proximal end of chromosome 2 by SNP analysis, suggesting Fatp4/Slc27a4 as a candidate gene. FATP4 mutations in humans cause ichthyosis prematurity syndrome (IPS), and mutations of Fatp4 in mice have previously been found to cause a phenotype that resembles human congenital ichthyoses. Characterization of the Fatp4 cDNA revealed a fusion of exon 8 to exon 10, with deletion of exon 9. Genomic sequencing identified an A to T mutation in the splice donor sequence at the 3′-end of exon 9. Loss of exon 9 results in a frame shift mutation upstream from the conserved very long-chain acyl-CoA synthase (VLACS) domain. Histological studies revealed that the mutant mice have defects in keratinocyte differentiation, along with hyperproliferation of the stratum basale of the epidermis, a hyperkeratotic stratum corneum, and reduced numbers of secondary hair follicles. Since Fatp4 protein is present primarily at the stratum granulosum and the stratum spinosum, the hyperproliferation and the alterations in hair follicle induction suggest that very long chain fatty acids, in addition to being required for normal cornification, may influence signals from the stratum corneum to the basal cells that help to orchestrate normal skin differentiation
Numerical electrokinetics
A new lattice method is presented in order to efficiently solve the
electrokinetic equations, which describe the structure and dynamics of the
charge cloud and the flow field surrounding a single charged colloidal sphere,
or a fixed array of such objects. We focus on calculating the electrophoretic
mobility in the limit of small driving field, and systematically linearise the
equations with respect to the latter. This gives rise to several subproblems,
each of which is solved by a specialised numerical algorithm. For the total
problem we combine these solvers in an iterative procedure. Applying this
method, we study the effect of the screening mechanism (salt screening vs.
counterion screening) on the electrophoretic mobility, and find a weak
non-trivial dependence, as expected from scaling theory. Furthermore, we find
that the orientation of the charge cloud (i. e. its dipole moment) depends on
the value of the colloid charge, as a result of a competition between
electrostatic and hydrodynamic effects.Comment: accepted for publication in Journal of Physics Condensed Matter
(proceedings of the 2012 CODEF conference
The electrical double layer for a fully asymmetric electrolyte around a spherical colloid: an integral equation study
The hypernetted chain/mean spherical approximation (HNC/MSA) integral
equation is obtained and solved numerically for a totally asymmetric primitive
model electrolyte around a spherical macroparticle. The ensuing radial
distribution functions show a very good agreement when compared to our Monte
Carlo and molecular dynamics simulations for spherical geometry and with
respect to previous anisotropic reference HNC calculations in the planar limit.
We report an analysis of the potential vs charge relationship, radial
distribution functions, mean electrostatic potential and cumulative reduced
charge for representative cases of 1:1 and 2:2 salts with a size asymmetry
ratio of 2. Our results are collated with those of the Modified Gouy-Chapman
(MGC) and unequal radius Modified Gouy-Chapman (URMGC) theories and with those
of HNC/MSA in the restricted primitive model (RPM) to assess the importance of
size asymmetry effects. One of the most striking characteristics found is
that,\textit{contrary to the general belief}, away from the point of zero
charge the properties of an asymmetric electrical double layer (EDL) are not
those corresponding to a symmetric electrolyte with the size and charge of the
counterion, i.e. \textit{counterions do not always dominate}. This behavior
suggests the existence of a new phenomenology in the EDL that genuinely belongs
to a more realistic size-asymmetric model where steric correlations are taken
into account consistently. Such novel features can not be described by
traditional mean field theories like MGC, URMGC or even by enhanced formalisms,
like HNC/MSA, if they are based on the RPM.Comment: 29 pages, 13 figure
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