Finite Size Effects in Quark-Gluon Plasma Formation

Using lattice simulations of quenched QCD we estimate the finite size effects present when a gluon plasma equilibrates in a slab geometry, i.e., finite width but large transverse dimensions. Significant differences are observed in the free energy density for the slab when compared with bulk behavior. A small shift in the critical temperature is also seen. The free energy required to liberate heavy quarks relative to bulk is measured using Polyakov loops; the additional free energy required is on the order of $30-40 MeV$ at $2-3 T_c$.Comment: LATTICE98(hightemp), talk at Lattice 98, 3 pages, 3 encapsulated postscript figures, uses espcrc2.st

Using Digital Maps to Find Shelter for Pedestrians and Cyclists During Inclement Weather

Walkers, runners, hikers, and bicyclists or other travelers that use non-motorized vehicles are at risk of being caught in bad weather. Currently, such users of a road or hiking/bicycling pathway need to find shelters on their own or ask locals or fellow travelers for advice. This disclosure describes techniques that enable road or trail users to find nearby shelters to stay in during periods of bad weather or in other situations where they may need to take shelter. With user permission, data from observed points where stops are made during bad weather events, geographic data, reviews and other textual materials, etc. are used to train a prediction model to generate route recommendations that include shelters. The identified route is provided in a digital map provided to the user. The map includes markings for shelters that are determined based on the form of transport

Interpretations on Extreme Returns in the Canadian Hedge Fund Market

Inspired by the award winning paper, Are Extreme Returns on Hedge Fund Portfolios Problematic for Investors (Brulhart and Klein, 2006) we analyzed the nature of extreme returns in the Canadian hedge fund market. Although much has been written on this topic for US and global hedge funds, no one has studied the nature of extreme returns in the still developing Canadian hedge fund market before. We find that the hedge fund returns are generally more favourable than that of major equity and bond indices from the perspective of mean-variance measures. As in Brulhart and Klein (2006), the standard measures of skewness and kurtosis can provide misleading insight, or lead to incorrect conclusion about higher order risks. In his paper, we interpret the extreme return in two perspectives by considering the moments of higher order as well as the magnitude and duration of drawdown period. Last but not the least, we conduct a comparison of de-levered returns on the various indices and find that investors should be surprised by the results but in a pleasant way

A Method to Manage Multiple Tabs in an Efficient Way

There are lots of enterprise software which can help users to remote use the server/OS/machine and also help to monitor server/OS/machine status. Let’s take an example with a Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) product. By using a BMC, a user can remote login to multiple servers and check out the system status and configuration by different webpage. Our solution is to help users to monitor multiple servers in 1 single page by using the web browser tabs. Users can be alerted for some emergency events by the different color web tabs. Different events or activities information will be pulled in and show up on belonging web tabs. Users can also set up different buttons on the web tab for further operation actions. By using this solution, users can monitor the servers easily and execute further actions in a convenient/centralized way

A snoRNA modulates mRNA 3' end processing and regulates the expression of a subset of mRNAs.

mRNA 3' end processing is an essential step in gene expression. It is well established that canonical eukaryotic pre-mRNA 3' processing is carried out within a macromolecular machinery consisting of dozens of trans-acting proteins. However, it is unknown whether RNAs play any role in this process. Unexpectedly, we found that a subset of small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) are associated with the mammalian mRNA 3' processing complex. These snoRNAs primarily interact with Fip1, a component of cleavage and polyadenylation specificity factor (CPSF). We have functionally characterized one of these snoRNAs and our results demonstrated that the U/A-rich SNORD50A inhibits mRNA 3' processing by blocking the Fip1-poly(A) site (PAS) interaction. Consistently, SNORD50A depletion altered the Fip1-RNA interaction landscape and changed the alternative polyadenylation (APA) profiles and/or transcript levels of a subset of genes. Taken together, our data revealed a novel function for snoRNAs and provided the first evidence that non-coding RNAs may play an important role in regulating mRNA 3' processing