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- Schael, S, et al.
(författare)
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Precision electroweak measurements on the Z resonance
- 2006
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Ingår i: Physics Reports. - : Elsevier BV. - 0370-1573 .- 1873-6270. ; 427:5-6, s. 257-454
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report on the final electroweak measurements performed with data taken at the Z resonance by the experiments operating at the electron-positron colliders SLC and LEP. The data consist of 17 million Z decays accumulated by the ALEPH, DELPHI, L3 and OPAL experiments at LEP, and 600 thousand Z decays by the SLID experiment using a polarised beam at SLC. The measurements include cross-sections, forward-backward asymmetries and polarised asymmetries. The mass and width of the Z boson, m(Z) and Gamma(Z), and its couplings to fermions, for example the p parameter and the effective electroweak mixing angle for leptons, are precisely measured: m(Z) = 91.1875 +/- 0.0021 GeV, Gamma(Z) = 2.4952 +/- 0.0023 GeV, rho(l) = 1.0050 +/- 0.0010, sin(2)theta(eff)(lept) = 0.23153 +/- 0.00016. The number of light neutrino species is determined to be 2.9840 +/- 0.0082, in agreement with the three observed generations of fundamental fermions. The results are compared to the predictions of the Standard Model (SM). At the Z-pole, electroweak radiative corrections beyond the running of the QED and QCD coupling constants are observed with a significance of five standard deviations, and in agreement with the Standard Model. Of the many Z-pole measurements, the forward-backward asymmetry in b-quark production shows the largest difference with respect to its SM expectation, at the level of 2.8 standard deviations. Through radiative corrections evaluated in the framework of the Standard Model, the Z-pole data are also used to predict the mass of the top quark, m(t) = 173(+10)(+13) GeV, and the mass of the W boson, m(W) = 80.363 +/- 0.032 GeV. These indirect constraints are compared to the direct measurements, providing a stringent test of the SM. Using in addition the direct measurements of m(t) and m(W), the mass of the as yet unobserved SM Higgs boson is predicted with a relative uncertainty of about 50% and found to be less than 285 GeV at 95% confidence level. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 4. |
- Ianora, A., et al.
(författare)
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New Trends in Marine Chemical Ecology
- 2006
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Ingår i: Estuaries and Coasts. ; 29:4, s. 531-551
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This essay is the outcome of a colloquium convened in November 2005 at the Benthos Laboratory of the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn in Ischia, Italy, on chemical ecology and the role of secondary metabolites in the structuring and functioning of marine biodiversity. The participants of the workshop are part of the European Network of Excellence MarBEF (Marine Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function), a consortium of 56 European marine institutes to integrate and disseminate knowledge and expertise on marine biodiversity. Here we review some of the new trends and emerging topics in marine chemical ecology. The first section deals with microbial chemical interactions. Microbes communicate with each other using diffusible molecules such as N-acylhomoserine lactones (AHL). These are regulators in cell-density-dependent gene regulation (quorum sensing) controlling microbial processes. In chemical interactions with higher organisms, microbes can act either as harmful pathogens that are repelled by the host’s chemical defense or as beneficial symbionts. These symbionts are sometimes the true producers of the host’s secondary metabolites that have defensive and protective functions for their hosts. We also describe how allelochemicals can shape phytoplankton communities by regulating competition for available resources, and also interactions among individuals of the same species. Compounds such as the diatom-derived unsaturated aldehydes have been demonstrated to act as infochemicals, and they possibly function as a diffusible bloom-termination signal that triggers an active cell death and bloom termination at sea. The same molecules have also been shown to interfere with the reproductive capacity of grazing animals deterring future generations of potential predators. Such compounds differ from those that act as feeding deterrents since they do not target the predator but its offspring. Many of the neurotoxins produced by dinoflagellates act as feeding deterrents, and laboratory experiments have shown that ingestion of these algae by some microzooplankton and macrozooplankton can cause acute responses such as death, incapacitation, altered swimming behavior, and reduced fecundity and egg-hatching success. These effects may rarely occur in nature because of low individual grazing rates on dinoflagellate cells and grazing on other food sources such as microflagellates and diatoms. We also consider the nutritional component of marine plant-herbivore interactions, especially in the plankton, and the information available on the effects of growing conditions of algae on the production of toxic metabolites. Species producing saxitoxins seem to consistently produce the highest amounts of toxins (on a per cell basis) in the exponential phase of growth, and there is a decrease in their production under nitrogen, but not under phosphorus stress, where the production actually increases. We try to explain the circumstances under which organisms defend themselves chemically and argue that the most likely explanatory model for the production of secondary metabolites used for defense in planktonic organisms is the carbon nutrient balance hypothesis, which predicts that most algae produce their toxins mainly under conditions where carbon is in excess and nitrogen (or other nutrients) is limiting. We also discuss chemically mediated macroalgal-herbivore interactions in the benthos and the large variation in concentration of seaweed defense metabolites at different spatial and temporal scales. Seaweeds have been shown to produce a large variety of secondary metabolites with highly variable chemical structures such as terpenoids, acetogenins, amino acid derivates, and polyphenols. Many of these compounds probably have multiple simultaneous functions for the seaweeds and can act as allelopathic, antimicrobial, and antifouling or ultraviolet-screening agents, as well as herbivore deterrents. We also provide examples of interactions between marine benthic invertebrates, especially sponges, molluscs, and cnidarians, that are mediated by specific secondary metabolites and discuss the role of these in shaping benthic communities
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| 5. |
- Ma, Y. J., et al.
(författare)
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Time-dependent global MHD simulations of Cassini T32 flyby : From magnetosphere to magnetosheath
- 2009
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Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research. - 0148-0227 .- 2156-2202. ; 114:3, s. A03204-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- When the Cassini spacecraft flew by Titan on 13 June 2007, at 13.6 Saturn local time, Titan was directly observed to be outside Saturn's magnetopause. Cassini observations showed dramatic changes of magnetic field orientation as well as other plasma flow parameters during the inbound and outbound segments. In this paper, we study Titan's ionospheric responses to such a sudden change in the upstream plasma conditions using a sophisticated multispecies global MHD model. Simulation results of three different cases (steady state, simple current sheet crossing, and magnetopause crossing) are presented and compared against Cassini Magnetometer, Langmuir Probe, and Cassini Plasma Spectrometer observations. The simulation results provide clear evidence for the existence of a fossil field that was induced in the ionosphere. The main interaction features, as observed by the Cassini spacecraft, are well reproduced by the time-dependent simulation cases. Simulation also reveals how the fossil field was trapped during the interaction and shows the coexistence of two pileup regions with opposite magnetic orientation, as well as the formation of a pair of new Alfven wings and tail disconnection during the magnetopause crossing process.
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| 6. |
- Antzutkin, Oleg, et al.
(författare)
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Binding of Aluminium(III)-Citrate Complexes, [Al3(H-1Cit)3(OH)]-4 and [Al3(H-1Cit)3(OH)4]-7, to Alzheimer's A-beta(1-40) Peptides : In situ Atomic Force, Electron Microscopy and Solid State 13C and 27Al NMR Studies
- 2005
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Ingår i: Sixth Keele Meeting on Aluminium. - : Centro de Estudos do Ambiente e Mar, Universidade de Aveiro. ; , s. 16-
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- It is believed that Alzheimer's disease (AD) amyloid-β-peptide (Aβ) deposits contribute directly to the disease's progressive neurodegeneration. Aggregation cascade for Aβ peptides, its relevance to neurotoxicity in the course of AD, various factors modulating Aβ aggregation kinetics and experimental methods useful for these studies were recently discussed [1]. Al(III), Zn(II), Cu(II) and Fe(III) ions are often colocalized at the center of the core of Alzheimer's amyloid plaques [2] and are suggested to promote aggregation of physiological concentrations of Aβ [3]. It has also been suggested that Al can block calcium permeable putative Aβ-peptide channels in bilayer membranes [4]. Therefore studies of complexation of metal ions with Aβ-oligomers and fibrils are important in the search for the causes of and potential treatments for AD.We studied effects of highly soluble and biologically relevant aluminium(III)-citrate compounds, [Al3(H-1Cit)3(OH)]-4 and [Al3(H-1Cit)3(OH)4]-7, on the fibrillogenesis of Aβ(1-40). All resonances in 156.37 MHz 27Al and 90.52 MHz 13C MAS NMR spectra of powder Al(III)-citrate complexes were assigned. 27Al MAS NMR of dialysed samples of Aβ(1-40) co-incubated with the Al(III)-citrate complexes at different concentrations in TRIS buffer solutions, pH 7.4, shows that Al(III)-citrates bind to Aβ(1-40) as [Al3(H-1Cit)3(OH)]-4 and either accelerate ([Al3(H-1Cit)3(OH)]-4 complex) or retard ([Al3(H-1Cit)3(OH)4]-7 compound) aggregation of Aβ(1-40) as revealed by AFM. [1] ON Antzutkin, Magn. Reson. Chem. 42 (2004) 231; [2] MA Lovell et al., J. Neurol. Sci. 158 (1998) 47; Ch Exley et al., Al and Alzheimer's disease, Ch Exley (Ed)1998) 47; Ch Exley , Ch Exley (Ed) Elsevier Science, 2001, 421; [3] PW Mantyh et al., J. Neurochem. 61 (1993) 1171; [4] N Arispe et al, PNAS 90 (1993) 567.
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| 9. |
- Kordas, K., et al.
(författare)
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Magnetic-field induced efficient alignment of carbon nanotubes in aqueous solutions
- 2007
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Ingår i: Chemistry of Materials. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0897-4756 .- 1520-5002. ; 19:4, s. 787-791
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Efficient alignment of aqueous carboxyl-functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes having remanent iron catalyst particles are carried out in relatively low external magnetic fields (B <= 1017 mT). The nanotubes were grown by catalytic chemical vapor deposition and then functionalized in a multistep oxidation process using nitric acid and potassium permanganate. In the field-induced ordering, the ferromagnetic property of iron nanoparticles entrapped in the inner-tubular cavity of nanotubes is exploited. Considerable dichroism of nanotube solutions (up to 3.02) is measured and deposition of aligned CNT networks from the solutions on silicon substrates is demonstrated.
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| 10. |
- Nagy, P., et al.
(författare)
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Solubility, complex formation, and redox reactions in the Tl 2O3-HCN/CN--H2O system. Crystal structures of the cyano compounds Tl(CN)3·H2O, Na[Tl(CN)4]·3H2O, K[Tl(CN)4], and TlITlIII(CN)4 and of TlI2C2O
- 2005
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Ingår i: Inorganic Chemistry. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0020-1669 .- 1520-510X. ; 44:7, s. 2347-2357
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Thallium(III) oxide can be dissolved in water in the presence of strongly complexing cyanide ions. TlIII is leached from its oxide both by aqueous solutions of hydrogen cyanide and by alkali-metal cyanides. The dominating cyano complex of thallium(III) obtained by dissolution of Tl 2O3 in HCN is [Tl(CN)3(Bq)] as shown by 205Tl NMR. The Tl(CN)3 species has been selectively extracted into diethyl ether from aqueous solution with the ratio CN -/TlIII = = 3. When aqueous solutions of the MCN (M = Na+, K+) salts are used to dissolve thallium(III) oxide, the equilibrium in liquid phase is fully shifted to the [Tl(CN) 4]- complex. The Tl(CN)3 and Tl(CN) 4- species have for the first time been synthesized in the solid state as Tl(CN)3·H2O (1), M[Tl(CN) 4] (M = Tl (2) and K (3)), and Na[Tl(CN)4]·3H 2O (4) salts, and their structures have been determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. In the crystal structure of 1, the thallium(III) ion has a trigonal bipyramidal coordination with three cyanide ions in the equatorial plane, while an oxygen atom of the water molecule and a nitrogen atom from a cyanide ligand, attached to a neighboring thallium complex, form a linear O-Tl-N fragment. In the three compounds of the tetracyano-thallium(III) complex, 2-4, the [Tl(CN)4]- unit has a distorted tetrahedral geometry. Along with the acidic leaching (enhanced by TlIII-CN- complex formation), an effective reductive dissolution of the thallium(III) oxide can also take place in the Tl 2O3-HCN-H2O system yielding thallium(I), while hydrogen cyanide is oxidized to cyanogen. The latter is hydrolyzed in aqueous solution giving rise to a number of products including (CONH2) 2, NCO-, and NH4+ detected by 14N NMR. The crystalline compounds, TlI[Tl III(CN)4], TlI2C2O 4, and (CONH2)2, have been obtained as products of the redox reactions in the system. © 2005 American Chemical Society.
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