118 research outputs found

    Neutrino-Accelerated Hot Hydrogen Burning

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    We examine the effects of significant electron anti-neutrino fluxes on hydrogen burning. Specifically, we find that the bottleneck weak nuclear reactions in the traditional pp-chain and the hot CNO cycle can be accelerated by anti-neutrino capture, increasing the energy generation rate. We also discuss how anti-neutrino capture reactions can alter the conditions for break out into the rp-process. We speculate on the impact of these considerations for the evolution and dynamics of collapsing very- and super- massive compact objects.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures, submitted to ApJ; minor content chang

    Gravitational Collapse in Turbulent Molecular Clouds. I. Gasdynamical Turbulence

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    Observed molecular clouds often appear to have very low star formation efficiencies and lifetimes an order of magnitude longer than their free-fall times. Their support is attributed to the random supersonic motions observed in them. We study the support of molecular clouds against gravitational collapse by supersonic, gas dynamical turbulence using direct numerical simulation. Computations with two different algorithms are compared: a particle-based, Lagrangian method (SPH), and a grid-based, Eulerian, second-order method (ZEUS). The effects of both algorithm and resolution can be studied with this method. We find that, under typical molecular cloud conditions, global collapse can indeed be prevented, but density enhancements caused by strong shocks nevertheless become gravitationally unstable and collapse into dense cores and, presumably, stars. The occurance and efficiency of local collapse decreases as the driving wave length decreases and the driving strength increases. It appears that local collapse can only be prevented entirely with unrealistically short wave length driving, but observed core formation rates can be reproduced with more realistic driving. At high collapse rates, cores are formed on short time scales in coherent structures with high efficiency, while at low collapse rates they are scattered randomly throughout the region and exhibit considerable age spread. We suggest that this naturally explains the observed distinction between isolated and clustered star formation.Comment: Minor revisions in response to referee, thirteen figures, accepted to Astrophys.

    Resonance Lifetimes from Complex Densities

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    The ab-initio calculation of resonance lifetimes of metastable anions challenges modern quantum-chemical methods. The exact lifetime of the lowest-energy resonance is encoded into a complex "density" that can be obtained via complex-coordinate scaling. We illustrate this with one-electron examples and show how the lifetime can be extracted from the complex density in much the same way as the ground-state energy of bound systems is extracted from its ground-state density

    Monetary Policy Rules and Directions of Causality: a Test for the Euro Area

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    Using a VAR model in first differences with quarterly data for the euro zone, the study aims to ascertain whether decisions on monetary policy can be interpreted in terms of a “monetary policy rule” with specific reference to the so-called nominal GDP targeting rule (Hall and Mankiw, 1994; McCallum, 1988; Woodford, 2012). The results obtained indicate a causal relation proceeding from deviation between the growth rates of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and target GDP to variation in the three-month market interest rate. The same analyses do not, however, appear to confirm the existence of a significant inverse causal relation from variation in the market interest rate to deviation between the nominal and target GDP growth rates. Similar results were obtained on replacing the market interest rate with the European Central Bank refinancing interest rate. This confirmation of only one of the two directions of causality does not support an interpretation of monetary policy based on the nominal GDP targeting rule and gives rise to doubt in more general terms as to the applicability of the Taylor rule and all the conventional rules of monetary policy to the case in question. The results appear instead to be more in line with other possible approaches, such as those based on post Keynesian analyses of monetary theory and policy and more specifically the so-called solvency rule (Brancaccio and Fontana, 2013, 2015). These lines of research challenge the simplistic argument that the scope of monetary policy consists in the stabilization of inflation, real GDP, or nominal income around a “natural equilibrium” level. Rather, they suggest that central banks actually follow a more complex purpose, which is the political regulation of the financial system with particular reference to the relations between creditors and debtors and the related solvency of economic units

    'I-I' and 'I-me' : Transposing Buber's interpersonal attitudes to the intrapersonal plane

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    Hermans' polyphonic model of the self proposes that dialogical relationships can be established between multiple I-positions1 (e.g., Hermans, 2001a). There have been few attempts, however, to explicitly characterize the forms that these intrapersonal relationships may take. Drawing on Buber's (1958) distinction between the 'I-Thou' and 'I-It' attitude, it is proposed that intrapersonal relationships can take one of two forms: an 'I-I' form, in which one I-position encounters and confirms another I-position in its uniqueness and wholeness; and an 'I-Me' form, in which one I-position experiences another I-position in a detached and objectifying way. This article argues that this I-Me form of intrapersonal relating is associated with psychological distress, and that this is so for a number of reasons: Most notably, because an individual who objectifies and subjugates certain I-position cannot reconnect with more central I-positions when dominance reversal (Hermans, 2001a) takes place. On this basis, it is suggested that a key role of the therapeutic process is to help clients become more able to experience moments of I-I intrapersonal encounter, and it is argued that this requires the therapist to confirm the client both as a whole and in terms of each of his or her different voices

    Forty years of reform and opening up:China’s progress toward a sustainable path

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    After 40 years of reform and “opening up,” China has made remarkable economic progress. Such economic prosperity, however, has been coupled with environmental degradation. We analyze diverse long-term data to determine whether China is experiencing a decoupling of economic growth and environmental impacts, and where China stands with respect to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in terms of reducing regional division, urban-rural gap, social inequality, and land-based impacts on oceans. The results highlight that China’s desire to achieve “ecological civilization” has resulted in a decoupling trend for major pollutants since 2015, while strong coupling remains with CO2 emissions. Progress has been made in health care provision, poverty reduction, and gender equity in education, while income disparity continues between regions and with rural-urban populations. There is a considerable way to go toward achieving delivery of the SDGs; however, China’s progress toward economic prosperity and concomitant sustainability provides important insights for other countries

    RNAi for Treating Hepatitis B Viral Infection

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    Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is one of the leading causes of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Current treatment strategies of HBV infection including the use of interferon (IFN)-α and nucleotide analogues such as lamivudine and adefovir have met with only partial success. Therefore, it is necessary to develop more effective antiviral therapies that can clear HBV infection with fewer side effects. RNA interference (RNAi), by which a small interfering RNA (siRNA) induces the gene silence at a post-transcriptional level, has the potential of treating HBV infection. The successful use of chemically synthesized siRNA, endogenous expression of small hairpin RNA (shRNA) or microRNA (miRNA) to silence the target gene make this technology towards a potentially rational therapeutics for HBV infection. However, several challenges including poor siRNA stability, inefficient cellular uptake, widespread biodistribution and non-specific effects need to be overcome. In this review, we discuss several strategies for improving the anti-HBV therapeutic efficacy of siRNAs, while avoiding their off-target effects and immunostimulation. There is an in-depth discussion on the (1) mechanisms of RNAi, (2) methods for siRNA/shRNA production, (3) barriers to RNAi-based therapies, and (4) delivery strategies of siRNA for treating HBV infection

    Effective suppression of Dengue fever virus in mosquito cell cultures using retroviral transduction of hammerhead ribozymes targeting the viral genome

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    Outbreaks of Dengue impose a heavy economic burden on developing countries in terms of vector control and human morbidity. Effective vaccines against all four serotypes of Dengue are in development, but population replacement with transgenic vectors unable to transmit the virus might ultimately prove to be an effective approach to disease suppression, or even eradication. A key element of the refractory transgenic vector approach is the development of transgenes that effectively prohibit viral transmission. In this report we test the effectiveness of several hammerhead ribozymes for suppressing DENV in lentivirus-transduced mosquito cells in an attempt to mimic the transgenic use of these effector molecules in mosquitoes. A lentivirus vector that expresses these ribozymes as a fusion RNA molecule using an Ae. aegypti tRNAval promoter and terminating with a 60A tail insures optimal expression, localization, and activity of the hammerhead ribozyme against the DENV genome. Among the 14 hammerhead ribozymes we designed to attack the DENV-2 NGC genome, several appear to be relatively effective in reducing virus production from transduced cells by as much as 2 logs. Among the sequences targeted are 10 that are conserved among all DENV serotype 2 strains. Our results confirm that hammerhead ribozymes can be effective in suppressing DENV in a transgenic approach, and provide an alternative or supplementary approach to proposed siRNA strategies for DENV suppression in transgenic mosquitoes

    HERA Collider Physics

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    HERA, the first electron-proton collider, has been delivering luminosity since 1992. It is the natural extension of an impressive series of fixed-target lepton-nucleon scattering experiments. The increase of a factor ten in center-of-mass energy over that available for fixed-target experiments has allowed the discovery of several important results, such as the large number of slow partons in the proton, and the sizeable diffractive cross section at large Q2Q^2. Recent data point to a possible deviation from Standard Model expectations at very high Q2Q^2, highlighting the physics potential of HERA for new effects. The HERA program is currently in a transition period. The first six years of data taking have primarily elucidated the structure of the proton, allowed detailed QCD studies and had a strong impact on the understanding of QCD dynamics. The coming years will bring the era of electroweak studies and high Q2Q^2 measurements. This is therefore an appropriate juncture at which to review HERA results.Comment: 351 pages, 154 figures, submitted to Reviews of Modern Physic
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