Possibility of \Lambda\Lambda pairing and its dependence on background density in relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov model

We calculate a \Lambda\Lambda pairing gap in binary mixed matter of nucleons and \Lambda hyperons within the relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov model. Lambda hyperons to be paired up are immersed in background nucleons in a normal state. The gap is calculated with a one-boson-exchange interaction obtained from a relativistic Lagrangian. It is found that at background density \rho_{N}=2.5\rho_{0} the \Lambda\Lambda pairing gap is very small, and that denser background makes it rapidly suppressed. This result suggests a mechanism, specific to mixed matter dealt with relativistic models, of its dependence on the nucleon density. An effect of weaker \Lambda\Lambda attraction on the gap is also examined in connection with revised information of the \Lambda\Lambda interaction.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, REVTeX 4; substantially rewritten, emphasis is put on the LL pairing in pure neutron matte

Impossible worlds

Impossible worlds are representations of impossible things and impossible happenings. They earn their keep in a semantic or metaphysical theory if they do the right theoretical work for us. As it happens, a worlds-based account provides the best philosophical story about semantic content, knowledge and belief states, cognitive significance and cognitive information, and informative deductive reasoning. A worlds-based story may also provide the best semantics for counterfactuals. But to function well, all these accounts need use of impossible and as well as possible worlds. So what are impossible worlds? Graham Priest claims that any of the usual stories about possible worlds can be told about impossible worlds, too. But far from it. I'll argue that impossible worlds cannot be genuine worlds, of the kind proposed by Lewis, McDaniel or Yagisawa. Nor can they be ersatz worlds on the model proposed by Melia or Sider. Constructing impossible worlds, it turns out, requires novel metaphysical resources

Overflow pattern and the formation of scoured region by the Tsunami propagated in river channels in Great East Japan earthquake

The tsunami caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake on 11 March 2011, with a magnitude of 9.0, caused catastrophic damage to people and buildings in the Tohoku and Kanto regions of Japan. A field survey was conducted to elucidate the damage to river embankments and their hinterlands (residential area) by tsunami propagation in river channels and overtopping of embankments. Three, three, and four rivers in Iwate Pref., Miyagi Pref., and the Kanto Region, respectively, were selected for the field investigation. In the hinterlands, the tsunami came from coast and river, and the situation, including the evacuation of people, became complex. Tsunami inundation patterns were classified by the river capacity and whether a river or sea embankment was breached or not. This will provide useful information for making new hazard maps and planning new cities

Effects of the coastal forests, sea embankment and sand dune on reducing washout region of houses at the tsunami caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake

The tsunami caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake on 11 March 2011, broke most of the sea embankment and coastal forests, and caused dreadful damage to people and buildings in Tohoku and Kanto districts of Japan. This study hypothesized that the coastal forest had a tsunami mitigation effect even when the coastal vegetation was bent down, because most of the vegetation was not washed out, hence could acts as a dense roughness element. Therefore, the objective of this study is to evaluate the vegetation effect on reducing the washout region of houses under severe tree breaking phenomenon using numerical simulation and data from field investigation in April and May 2011. Numerical simulations estimated the effects of a 640m-coastal forest, sea embankment around 5.4m in height or sand dune (2m increase) on reducing the washout region of houses by around 100 m, 600m and 600m for 10m height tsunami at coast. It was observed/concluded that although the quantitative effect of coastal forest is smaller than sea embankment, the coastal forest and sand dune is not a negligible component of the mitigation measures when a large tsunami occurs and overflows the sea embankment

Estimation of drag coefficient of trees considering the tree bending or overturning situations

Drag coefficients of a real tree trunk and the sheltering effects of an upstream trunk on a downstream one in a linear arrangement with different spacings and inclinations were investigated in detail. In addition, for elucidating the change of drag coefficient for an overturned tree, drag force acting on a real tree with roots was also measured in this study. For the measurement of drag force with different inclinations, Terminalia Cattapa and Albizia sp., vegetated in Sri Lanka, were selected in this study. Drag coefficient of inclined tree trunk has the similar tendency in relation to the Reynolds number with that of vertical standing tree investigated in Tanaka et al.(2011). For the vertical tree trunk with rough surface, drag coefficient of rear-side tree trunk was decreased with decreasing L/d (where, L is spacing and d is the diameter of trunk). In addition, as a result of mutual interference experiment of two inclined tree trunk, the drag coefficient of rear-side trunk decreased with the increase of the inclination. Under the influence of the increment of projected area due to existence of roots and shear force acting on tree trunk surface, the drag coefficient of a tree with roots became similar value (1.0-1.2) comparing with that of a vertical standing tree

Comparison of proton channel, phagocyte oxidase, and respiratory burst levels between human eosinophil and neutrophil granulocytes.

Robust production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by phagocyte NADPH oxidase (phox) during the respiratory burst (RB) is a characteristic feature of eosinophil and neutrophil granulocytes. In these cells the voltage-gated proton channel (Hv1) is now considered as an ancillary subunit of the phox needed for intense ROS production. Multiple sources reported that the expression of phox subunits and RB is more intensive in eosinophils than in neutrophils. In most of these studies the eosinophils were not isolated from healthy individuals, and a comparative analysis of Hv1 expression had never been carried out. We performed a systematic comparison of the levels of essential phox subunits, Hv1 expression and ROS producing capacity between eosinophils and neutrophils of healthy individuals. The expression of phox components was similar, whereas the amount of Hv1 was approximately 10-fold greater in eosinophils. Furthermore, Hv1 expression correlated with Nox2 expression only in eosinophils. Additionally, in confocal microscopy experiments co-accumulation of Hv1 and Nox2 at the cell periphery was observed in resting eosinophils but not in neutrophils. While phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate-induced peak extracellular ROS release was approximately 1.7-fold greater in eosinophils, oxygen consumption studies indicated that the maximal intensity of the RB is only approximately 1.4-fold greater in eosinophils. Our data reinforce that eosinophils, unlike neutrophils, generate ROS predominantly extracellularly. In contrast to previous works we have found that the two granulocyte types display very similar phox subunit expression and RB capacity. The large difference in Hv1 expression suggests that its support to intense ROS production is more important at the cell surface

Family history in stone disease: how important is it for the onset of the disease and the incidence of recurrence?

The aim of this study was to evaluate the possible effect of a positive family history on the age at the onset of urinary stone disease and the frequency of subsequent symptomatic episodes relating to the disease. Between March 2006 and April 2009, patients with either a newly diagnosed or a previously documented stone disease were included in the study program. They were required to fill in a questionnaire and divided into two groups according to the positive family history of stone disease; group I comprised patients with a family history for urinary calculi and group II those without. Depending on the data obtained from questionnaires, all patients were evaluated in detail with respect to the age at the onset of the stone disease, stone passage and interventions over time, time to first recurrence (time interval between the onset of the disease and the first recurrence), number of total stone episodes and recurrence intervals. 1,595 patients suffering from urolithiasis with the mean age of 41.7 (14–69 years) were evaluated with respect to their past history of the disease. There were 437 patients in group I and 1,158 in group II. There was no statistically significant difference between the mean age value of two groups (P = 0.09). When both genders in group I were analyzed separately, female patients tended to have higher rate of family history positivity than males. Comparative evaluation of the age at the onset of the disease between the two groups did reveal that stone formation occured at younger ages in patients with positive family history [P = 0.01 (males), P = 0.01 (females)] and the mean age of onset of the disease was lower in males than females in group I (P = 0.01). Patients in group I had relatively more stone episodes from the onset of the disease [P < 0.01 (2–4 episodes), P < 0.01 (≥5 episodes)]. Male patients were associated with higher number of stone episodes (P = 0.01). Mean time interval between recurrences was noted to be significantly shorter in group I patients when compared with patients in group II [P < 0.01 (males), P = 0.02 (females)]. In conclusion, our results showed that urinary stone formation may occur at younger ages and that the frequency of symptom episodes may be higher in patients with a positive family history. We believe that the positive family history for urinary stone disease could give us valuable information concerning the onset as well as the severity of the disease

Mechanisms of organelle division and inheritance and their implications regarding the origin of eukaryotic cells

Mitochondria and plastids have their own DNAs and are regarded as descendants of endosymbiotic prokaryotes. Organellar DNAs are not naked in vivo but are associated with basic proteins to form DNA-protein complexes (called organelle nuclei). The concept of organelle nuclei provides a new approach to explain the origin, division, and inheritance of organelles. Organelles divide using organelle division rings (machineries) after organelle-nuclear division. Organelle division machineries are a chimera of the FtsZ (filamentous temperature sensitive Z) ring of bacterial origin and the eukaryotic mechanochemical dynamin ring. Thus, organelle division machineries contain a key to solve the origin of organelles (eukaryotes). The maternal inheritance of organelles developed during sexual reproduction and it is also probably intimately related to the origin of organelles. The aims of this review are to describe the strategies used to reveal the dynamics of organelle division machineries, and the significance of the division machineries and maternal inheritance in the origin and evolution of eukaryotes