A 1 GHz RF Trigger Unit implemented in FPGA logic

Applications of Trigger Units (TU) can be found in almost all accelerators at CERN. The requirements in terms of operating frequencies, configuration or modes of operation change from one application to another, how-ever, in terms of design requirements for the Trigger Unit, the operating frequency is probably the most demanding one. In this work, we present an implementation of a Trigger Unit almost fully embedded in the FPGA logic operating at a maximum frequency of 1 GHz using the internal serializer/deserializer circuitry to simplify the timing constraints of the design. This implementation allows easy reconfiguration of the module and the development of new modes of operation, which are described in this paper.Comment: Poster presented at LLRF Workshop 2017 (LLRF2017, arXiv:1803.07677

Management of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia in the Elderly

BACKGROUND: Because chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) typically follows an indolent course, many patients do not need to initiate therapy until they reach a relatively advanced age, when frailty and reduced organ function can make some of the standard treatments difficult to tolerate and less effective. However, recent advances in the understanding of CLL biology and the approval of agents in novel treatment classes have offered significant advances in the management of the disease. METHODS: The author reviewed current treatment goals in CLL management, including issues surrounding complete remission (CR) and minimal residual disease (MRD); the findings of trials of treatments from novel drug classes, primarily kinase inhibitors and monoclonal antibodies; and current strategies for use of standard and novel therapies for treatment of individuals diagnosed with CLL, particularly elderly patients. RESULTS: Several agents and regimens featuring improved clinical outcomes and tolerability are now available or in advanced development for the management of CLL patients, including the elderly and those with high-risk disease. These include ibrutinib, idelalisib plus rituximab, and obinutuzumab plus chlorambucil. CONCLUSION: The availability of Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitors and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase inhibitors and other novel therapies will allow elderly CLL patients to receive more efficacious treatment with greater tolerability than available with traditional approaches for management of the disease

Quark-Loop Amplitudes for W^+- H^-+ Associated Hadroproduction

In this addendum to our paper entitled "W^+- H^-+ Associated Production at the Large Hadron Collider" [Phys. Rev. D 59, 015009 (1999)], we list analytic results for the helicity amplitudes of the partonic subprocess gg -> W^-H^+ induced by virtual quarks.Comment: 6 pages (Latex

Discovery of a New Quadruple Lens HST 1411+5211

Gravitational lensing is an important tool for probing the mass distribution of galaxies. In this letter we report the discovery of a new quadruple lens HST 1411+5211 found in archived WFPC2 images of the galaxy cluster CL140933+5226. If the galaxy is a cluster member then its redshift is $z=0.46$. The images of the source appear unresolved in the WFC implying that the source is a quasar. We have modeled the lens as both a single galaxy and a galaxy plus a cluster. The latter model yields excellent fits to the image positions along with reasonable parameters for the galaxy and cluster making HST 1411+5211 a likely gravitational lens. Determination of the source redshift and confirmation of the lens redshift would allow us to put strong constraints on the mass distribution of the lensing galaxy.Comment: 11 pages including 1 postscript figure, aastex. Accepted to the ApJL. Also available from: http://www.astro.lsa.umich.edu:80/users/philf/www/papers/list.htm

Squark Loop Correction to W^{+-} H^{-+} Associated Hadroproduction

We study the squark loop correction to W^{+-} H^{-+} associated hadroproduction via gluon-gluon fusion within the minimal supersymmetric extension of the standard model. We list full analytic results and quantitatively analyze the resulting shift in the cross section at the CERN Large Hadron Collider assuming a supergravity-inspired scenario.Comment: 13 pages (Latex), 5 figures (Postscript

Risk-Seeking versus Risk-Avoiding Investments in Noisy Periodic Environments

We study the performance of various agent strategies in an artificial investment scenario. Agents are equipped with a budget, $x(t)$, and at each time step invest a particular fraction, $q(t)$, of their budget. The return on investment (RoI), $r(t)$, is characterized by a periodic function with different types and levels of noise. Risk-avoiding agents choose their fraction $q(t)$ proportional to the expected positive RoI, while risk-seeking agents always choose a maximum value $q_{max}$ if they predict the RoI to be positive ("everything on red"). In addition to these different strategies, agents have different capabilities to predict the future $r(t)$, dependent on their internal complexity. Here, we compare 'zero-intelligent' agents using technical analysis (such as moving least squares) with agents using reinforcement learning or genetic algorithms to predict $r(t)$. The performance of agents is measured by their average budget growth after a certain number of time steps. We present results of extensive computer simulations, which show that, for our given artificial environment, (i) the risk-seeking strategy outperforms the risk-avoiding one, and (ii) the genetic algorithm was able to find this optimal strategy itself, and thus outperforms other prediction approaches considered.Comment: 27 pp. v2 with minor corrections. See http://www.sg.ethz.ch for more inf

The MSSM prediction for W+/- H-/+ production by gluon fusion

We discuss the associated W+/- H-/+ production in p p collision for the Large Hadron Collider. A complete one-loop calculation of the loop-induced subprocess g g -> W+/- H-/+ is presented in the framework of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM), and the possible enhancement of the hadronic cross section is investigated under the constraint from the squark direct-search results and the low-energy precision data. Because of the large destructive interplay in the quark-loop contributions between triangle-type and box-type diagrams, the squark-loop contributions turn out to be comparable with the quark-loop ones. In particular, the hadronic cross section via gluon fusion can be extensively enhanced by squark-pair threshold effects in the box-type diagrams, so that it can be as large as the hadronic cross section via the b b-bar -> W+/- H-/+ subprocess which appears at tree level.Comment: 35 pages, 7 figures, version to appear in Physical Review