Investigation of heavy-heavy pseudoscalar mesons in thermal QCD Sum Rules

We investigate the mass and decay constant of the heavy-heavy pseudoscalar, $B_c$, $\eta_c$ and $\eta_b$ mesons in the framework of finite temperature QCD sum rules. The annihilation and scattering parts of spectral density are calculated in the lowest order of perturbation theory. Taking into account the additional operators arising at finite temperature, the nonperturbative corrections are also evaluated. The masses and decay constants remain unchanged under $T\cong 100 ~MeV$, but after this point, they start to diminish with increasing the temperature. At critical or deconfinement temperature, the decay constants reach approximately to 35% of their values in the vacuum, while the masses are decreased about 7%, 12% and 2% for $B_c$, $\eta_c$ and $\eta_b$ states, respectively. The results at zero temperature are in a good consistency with the existing experimental values as well as predictions of the other nonperturbative approaches.Comment: 11 Pages, 2 Tables and 6 Figure

Optimizing decomposition of software architecture for local recovery

Cataloged from PDF version of article.The increasing size and complexity of software systems has led to an amplified number of potential failures and as such makes it harder to ensure software reliability. Since it is usually hard to prevent all the failures, fault tolerance techniques have become more important. An essential element of fault tolerance is the recovery from failures. Local recovery is an effective approach whereby only the erroneous parts of the system are recovered while the other parts remain available. For achieving local recovery, the architecture needs to be decomposed into separate units that can be recovered in isolation. Usually, there are many different alternative ways to decompose the system into recoverable units. It appears that each of these decomposition alternatives performs differently with respect to availability and performance metrics. We propose a systematic approach dedicated to optimizing the decomposition of software architecture for local recovery. The approach provides systematic guidelines to depict the design space of the possible decomposition alternatives, to reduce the design space with respect to domain and stakeholder constraints and to balance the feasible alternatives with respect to availability and performance. The approach is supported by an integrated set of tools and illustrated for the open-source MPlayer software

Evidence of Saharan dust in upper Pleistocene reworked palaeosols of North-west Sardinia, Italy: Palaeoenvironmental implications

A multi-disciplinary approach was followed to investigate two thick palaeosol strata that alternate with wind-blown dominated deposits developed along the Alghero coast (North-west Sardinia, Italy). Optically stimulated luminescence ages reveal that both palaeosols were developed during cooler drier periods: the first one at around 70ka Marine Isotope Stage 4 and the latter around 50ka (Marine Isotope Stage 3). In contrast, the pedological features indicate that the palaeosols underwent heavy weathering processes under warm humid to sub-humid conditions, characteristic of the Sardinian climate during the last interglacial stage (Marine Isotope Stage 5e). To reconcile this apparent data discrepancy, a range of sedimentological and pedological analyses were conducted. These analyses reveal that the palaeosols possess a complex history, with accumulation and weathering occurring during Marine Isotope Stage 5e, and erosion, colluviation and final deposition taking place during the following cold stages. Thus, even if these reddish palaeosols were last formed during the glacial period, the sediments building up these strata probably record the climate of the last interglacial stage (Marine Isotope Stage 5e). Trace element and X-ray diffraction analyses, together with scanning electron microscope images, reveal the presence of Saharan dust in the parent material of the palaeosols. However, no evidence of any far-travelled African dust has been observed in the Marine Isotope Stage 4-3 aeolian deposits. It is possible to conclude that in the West Mediterranean islands, Saharan dust input, even if of modest magnitude, is preserved preferentially in soils accumulated and weathered during interglacial stages. © 2011 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2011 International Association of Sedimentologists