1,479 research outputs found
Z2SAL: a translation-based model checker for Z
Despite being widely known and accepted in industry, the Z formal specification language has not so far been well supported by automated verification tools, mostly because of the challenges in handling the abstraction of the language. In this paper we discuss a novel approach to building a model-checker for Z, which involves implementing a translation from Z into SAL, the input language for the Symbolic Analysis Laboratory, a toolset which includes a number of model-checkers and a simulator. The Z2SAL translation deals with a number of important issues, including: mapping unbounded, abstract specifications into bounded, finite models amenable to a BDD-based symbolic checker; converting a non-constructive and piecemeal style of functional specification into a deterministic, automaton-based style of specification; and supporting the rich set-based vocabulary of the Z mathematical toolkit. This paper discusses progress made towards implementing as complete and faithful a translation as possible, while highlighting certain assumptions, respecting certain limitations and making use of available optimisations. The translation is illustrated throughout with examples; and a complete working example is presented, together with performance data
Phase correction for ALMA with 183 GHz water vapour radiometers
Fluctuating properties of the atmosphere, and in particular its water vapour
content, give rise to phase fluctuations of astronomical signals which, if
uncorrected, lead to rapid deterioration of performance of (sub)-mm
interferometers on long baselines. The Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimeter
Array (ALMA) uses a 183 GHz Water Vapour Radiometer (WVR) system to help
correct these fluctuations and provide much improved performance on long
baselines and at high frequencies. Here we describe the design of the overall
ALMA WVR system, the choice of design parameters and the data processing
strategy. We also present results of initial tests that demonstrate both the
large improvement in phase stability that can be achieved and the very low
contribution to phase noise from the WVRs. Finally, we describe briefly the
main limiting factors to the accuracy of phase correction seen in these initial
tests; namely, the degrading influence of cloud and the residual phase
fluctuations that are most likely to be due to variations in the density of the
dry component of the ai
Preliminary interpretation of Titan plasma interaction as observed by the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer: Comparisons with Voyager 1
The Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) instrument observed the plasma environment at Titan during the Cassini orbiter's TA encounter on October 26, 2004. Titan was in Saturn's magnetosphere during the Voyager 1 flyby and also during the TA encounter. CAPS measurements from this encounter are compared with measurements made by the Voyager 1 Plasma Science Instrument (PLS). The comparisons focus on the composition and nature of ambient and pickup ions. They lead to: A) the major ion components of Saturn's magnetosphere in the vicinity of Titan are H+, H-2(+) and O+/CH4+ ions; B) finite gyroradius effects are apparent in ambient O+ ions as the result of their absorption by Titan's extended atmosphere; C) the principal pickup ions are composed of H+, H-2(+), N+/CH2+, CH4+, and N-2(+); D) the pickup ions are in narrow energy ranges; and E) there is clear evidence of the slowing down of background ions due to pickup ion mass loading
Helium reionization and the thermal proximity effect
We examine the temperature structure of the intergalactic medium IGM)
surounding a hard radiation source, such as a Quasi-Stellar Object (QSO), as it
responds to the onset of helium reionization by the source. We model the
reionization using a radiative transfer (RT) code coupled to a particle-mesh
(PM) N-body code. Neutral hydrogen and helium are initially ionized by a
starburst spectrum, which is allowed to gradually evolve into a power law
spectrum (fnu ~ nu^(-0.5)). Multiple simulations were performed with different
times for the onset and dominance of the hard spectrum, with onset redshifts
ranging from z = 3.5 to 5.5. The source is placed in a high-density region to
mimic the expected local environment of a QSO. Simulations with the source
placed in a low-density environment were also performed as control cases to
explore the role of the environment on the properties of the surrounding IGM.
We find in both cases that the IGM temperature within the HeIII region produced
exceeds the IGM temperature before full helium reionization, resulting in a
"thermal proximity effect", but that the temperature in the HeIII region
increases systematically with distance from the source. With time the
temperature relaxes with a reduced spread as a function of impact parameter
along neighbouring lines of sight, although the trend continues to persist
until z = 2. Such a trend could be detected using the widths of intervening
metal absorption systems using high resolution, high signal-to-noise ratio
spectra.Comment: 17 pages, 12 figures, for publication in MNRA
Repression of DNA-binding dependent glucocorticoid receptor-mediated gene expression
The glucocorticoid receptor (GR) affects the transcription of genes involved in diverse processes, including energy metabolism and the immune response, through DNA-binding dependent and independent mechanisms. The DNA-binding dependent mechanism occurs by direct binding of GR to glucocorticoid response elements (GREs) at regulatory regions of target genes. The DNA-binding independent mechanism involves binding of GR to transcription factors and coactivators that, in turn, contact DNA. A small molecule that competes with GR for binding to GREs could be expected to affect the DNA-dependent pathway selectively by interfering with the protein-DNA interface. We show that a DNA-binding polyamide that targets the consensus GRE sequence binds the glucocorticoid-induced zipper (GILZ) GRE, inhibits expression of GILZ and several other known GR target genes, and reduces GR occupancy at the GILZ promoter. Genome-wide expression analysis of the effects of this polyamide on a set of glucocorticoid-induced and -repressed genes could help to elucidate the mechanism of GR regulation for these genes
The Inhomogeneous Ionizing Background Following Reionization
We study the spatial fluctuations in the hydrogen ionizing background in the
epoch following reionization (z ~ 5--6). The rapid decrease with redshift in
the photon mean free path (m.f.p.), combined with the clustering of
increasingly rare ionizing sources, can result in a very inhomogenous ionizing
background during this epoch. We systematically investigate the probability
density functions (PDFs) and power spectra of ionizing flux, by varying several
parameters such as the m.f.p., minimum halo mass capable of hosting stars, and
halo duty cycle. In order to be versatile, we make use of analytic,
semi-numeric and numeric approaches. Our models show that the ionizing
background indeed has sizable fluctuations during this epoch sourced by the
clustering of sources, with the PDFs being a factor of few wide at half of the
maximum likelihood. The distributions also show marked asymmetries, with a
high-value tail set by clustering on small scales, and a shorter low-value tail
which is set by the mean free path. The power spectrum of the ionizing
background is much more sensitive to source properties than the PDF and can be
well-understood analytically with a framework similar to the halo model
(usually used to describe dark matter clustering). Nevertheless, we find that
Lya forest spectra are extremely insensitive to the details of the UVB, despite
marked differences in the PDFs and power spectra of our various ionizing
backgrounds. Assuming a uniform ionizing background only underestimates the
value of the mean ionization rate inferred from the Lya forest by a few
percent. Instead, analysis of the Lya forest is dominated by the uncertainties
in the density field. Thus, our results justify the common assumption of a
uniform ionizing background in Lya forest analysis even during this epoch.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figures, submitted to the MNRA
The Late Reionization of Filaments
We study the topology of reionization using accurate three-dimensional
radiative transfer calculations post-processed on outputs from cosmological
hydrodynamic simulations. In our simulations, reionization begins in overdense
regions and then "leaks" directly into voids, with filaments reionizing last
owing to their combination of high recombination rate and low emissivity. This
result depends on the uniquely-biased emissivity field predicted by our
prescriptions for star formation and feedback, which have previously been shown
to account for a wide array of measurements of the post-reionization Universe.
It is qualitatively robust to our choice of simulation volume, ionizing escape
fraction, and spatial resolution (in fact it grows stronger at higher spatial
resolution) even though the exact overlap redshift is sensitive to each of
these. However, it weakens slightly as the escape fraction is increased owing
to the reduced density contrast at higher redshift. We also explore whether our
results are sensitive to commonly-employed approximations such as using
optically-thin Eddington tensors or substantially altering the speed of light.
Such approximations do not qualitatively change the topology of reionization.
However, they can systematically shift the overlap redshift by up to , indicating that accurate radiative transfer is essential for
computing reionization. Our model cannot simultaneously reproduce the observed
optical depth to Thomson scattering and ionization rate per hydrogen atom at
, which could owe to numerical effects and/or missing early sources of
ionization.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures, accepted to MNRA
GeV Gamma-Ray Attenuation and the High-Redshift UV Background
We present new calculations of the evolving UV background out to the epoch of
cosmological reionization and make predictions for the amount of GeV gamma-ray
attenuation by electron-positron pair production. Our results are based on
recent semi-analytic models of galaxy formation, which provide predictions of
the dust-extinguished UV radiation field due to starlight, and empirical
estimates of the contribution due to quasars. We account for the reprocessing
of ionizing photons by the intergalactic medium. We test whether our models can
reproduce estimates of the ionizing background at high redshift from flux
decrement analysis and proximity effect measurements from quasar spectra, and
identify a range of models that can satisfy these constraints. Pair-production
against soft diffuse photons leads to a spectral cutoff feature for gamma rays
observed between 10 and 100 GeV. This cutoff varies with redshift and the
assumed star formation and quasar evolution models. We find only negligible
amounts of absorption for gamma rays observed below 10 GeV for any emission
redshift. With observations of high-redshift sources in sufficient numbers by
the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and new ground-based instruments it should
be possible to constrain the extragalactic background light in the UV and
optical portion of the spectrum.Comment: 19 pages, 12 figures, Accepted for publication in MNRAS, this version
includes minor correction
A Descriptive Morphology of the Ant Genus Procryptocerus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
Morphology is the most direct approach biologists have to recognize uniqueness of insect species as compared to close relatives. Ants of the genus Procryptocerus possess important morphologic characters yet have not been explored for use in a taxonomic revision. The genus is characterized by the protrusion of the clypeus forming a broad nasus and antennal scrobes over the eyes. The toruli are located right posterior to the flanks of the nasus opposite to each other. The vertex is deflexed posteriorly in most species. An in-group comparison of the external morphology is presented focusing on the workers. A general morphology for gynes and males is also presented. Previously mentioned characters as well as new ones are presented, and their character states in different species are clarified. For the metasoma a new system of ant metasomal somite nomenclature is presented that is applicable to Aculeata in general. Finally, a Glossary of morphological terms is offered for the genus (available online). Most of the terminology can be used in other members of the Formicidae and Aculeata
- …