A Supersymmetry Model of Leptons

If supersymmetry (SUSY) is not for stabilizing the electroweak energy scale, what is it used for in particle physics? We propose that it is for flavor problems. A cyclic family symmetry is introduced. Under the family symmetry, only the $\tau$-lepton is massive due to the vacuum expectation value (VEV) of the Higgs field. This symmetry is broken by a sneutrino VEV which results in the muon mass. The comparatively large sneutrino VEV does not result in a large neutrino mass due to requiring heavy gauginos. SUSY breaks at a high scale $\sim 10^{13}$ GeV. The electroweak energy scale is unnaturally small. No additional global symmetry, like the R-parity, is imposed. Other aspects of the model are discussed.Comment: 10 pages, no figure, revtex

Towards an individualized protocol for workload increments in cardiopulmonary exercise testing in children and adolescents with cystic fibrosis

AbstractBackgroundThere is no single optimal exercise testing protocol for children and adolescents with cystic fibrosis (CF) that differs widely in age and disease status. The aim of this study was to develop a CF-specific, individualized approach to determine workload increments for a cycle ergometry testing protocol.MethodsA total of 409 assessments consisting of maximal exercise data, anthropometric parameters, and lung function measures from 160 children and adolescents with CF were examined. 90% of the database was analyzed with backward linear regression with peak workload (Wpeak) as the dependent variable. Afterwards, we [1] used the remaining 10% of the database (model validation group) to validate the model's capacity to predict Wpeak and [2] validated the protocol's ability to provide a maximal effort within a 10±2minute time frame in 14 adolescents with CF who were tested using this new protocol (protocol validation group).ResultsNo significant differences were seen in Wpeak and predicted Wpeak in the model validation group or in the protocol validation group. Eight of 14 adolescents with CF in the protocol validation group performed a maximal effort, and seven of them terminated the test within the 10±2minute time frame. Backward linear regression analysis resulted in the following equation: Wpeak (W)=−142.865+2.998×Age (years)−19.206×Sex (0=male; 1=female)+1.328×Height (cm)+23.362×FEV1 (L) (R=.89; R2=.79; SEE=21). Bland–Altman analysis showed no systematic bias between the actual and predicted Wpeak.ConclusionWe developed a CF-specific linear regression model to predict peak workload based on standard measures of anthropometry and FEV1, which could be used to calculate individualized workload increments for a cycle ergometry testing protocol

The characteristics of bike-sharing usage:case study in Zhongshan, China

Public bike systems have grown in popularity and are expanding rapidly across cities worldwide. Such systems provide access to pickup and drop-off public bikes at numerous bike stations for free or for an affordable fee and aim at increasing bike use and extending the accessibility of traditional public transport systems. A variety of studies have examined the characteristics of bike-sharing systems, mostly in American and European cities and with a focus on user demographics. The objective of this study is to investigate the general characteristics of system usage, in terms of system efficiency, trip characteristics and bike activity patterns, for Zhongshan’s public bike system during a five-month period. The findings show that the system is not very efficient based on usage metrics which are low compared to successful systems in other countries. Demand is relatively high in city centre zones due to high population and activity density. However, there is no clear direction of inbound or outbound trips in rush hours. This may be attributed not only to mixed land use patterns throughout the city, but also to the fact that most trips are local trips over short distance. This could indicate that public bike trips are mainly substitute for walking trips rather than for car or PT trips. On the outskirts, demand and system efficiency are low, indicating that location allocation of stations needs adjustment. In the conclusions, we discuss how these findings can be used for improving the system

A Methodology to Engineer and Validate Dynamic Multi-level Multi-agent Based Simulations

This article proposes a methodology to model and simulate complex systems, based on IRM4MLS, a generic agent-based meta-model able to deal with multi-level systems. This methodology permits the engineering of dynamic multi-level agent-based models, to represent complex systems over several scales and domains of interest. Its goal is to simulate a phenomenon using dynamically the lightest representation to save computer resources without loss of information. This methodology is based on two mechanisms: (1) the activation or deactivation of agents representing different domain parts of the same phenomenon and (2) the aggregation or disaggregation of agents representing the same phenomenon at different scales.Comment: Presented at 3th International Workshop on Multi-Agent Based Simulation, Valencia, Spain, 5th June 201

IDETC 2005-85013 A CASE STUDY IN BACKLASH CHARACTERIZATION IN MECHANICAL SYSTEMS

ABSTRACT The Frequenc

Measuring accessibility to jobs for the urban poor in Ahmedabad

Transport plays an integral role in the levels of mobility and socio-economic participation in any given society. Yet, traditional urban transport planning has neglected this important role and has limited its focus on the efficiency of the transport network itself, thereby overlooking the more difficult to measure socio-economic implications. This paper reports on the use of accessibility metrics for quantifying the effect of public transport and urban development interventions, such as BRT and social housing projects, in lowering the spatial mismatch between low income residents and their jobs, with examples from a World Bank commissioned project in Ahmedabad, India. In addition, we show how geo-spatial network modelling techniques can be used in measuring levels of accessibility for this purpose. Our findings show that the presented metrics and developed tool can highlight critical investment and policy reform needs for developing cities in India and beyond

Multi-agent system for on-demand production integrating production and quality control

Multi-agent systems is being pointed as particularly suited to design and engineer a new class of control systems to operate at the factory plants addressing the current requirements of modularity, flexibility and re-configurability. This paper introduces the main principles of a multi-agent system approach to support the integration of production and quality control processes in washing machines production lines that is being developed under the EU FP7 GRACE project

Lipochitin oligosaccharides from Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. viciae reduce auxin transport n capacity in Vicia sativa subsp. nigra roots

Microbial Biotechnolog

Open Problems on Central Simple Algebras

We provide a survey of past research and a list of open problems regarding central simple algebras and the Brauer group over a field, intended both for experts and for beginners.Comment: v2 has some small revisions to the text. Some items are re-numbered, compared to v

Role of plant root exudate and Sym plasmid-localized nodulation genes in the synthesis by Rhizobium leguminosarum of Tsr factor, which causes thick and short roots on common vetch

Microbial Biotechnolog