Post-Newtonian expansion for Gauss-Bonnet Gravity

The Parametrized Post-Newtonian expansion of gravitational theories with a scalar field coupled to the Gauss-Bonnet invariant is performed and confrontation of such theories with Solar system experiments is discussed.Comment: 4 pages; typos corrected, published versio

Temperature dependent characterization of optical fibres for distributed temperature sensing in hot geothermal wells

This study was performed in order to select a proper fibre for the application of a distributed temperature sensing system within a hot geothermal well in Iceland. Commercially available high temperature graded index fibres have been tested under in-situ temperature conditions. Experiments have been performed with four different polyimide coated fibres, a fibre with an aluminum coating and a fibre with a gold coating. To select a fibre, the relationship between attenuation, temperature, and time has been analyzed together with SEM micrographs. On the basis of these experiments, polyimide fibres have been chosen for utilisation. Further tests in ambient and inert atmosphere have been conducted with two polyimide coated fibres to set an operating temperature limit for these fibres. SEM micrographs, together with coating colour changes have been used to characterize the high temperature performance of the fibres. A novel cable design has been developed, a deployment strategy has been worked out and a suitable well for deployment has been selected.Comment: PACS: 42.81.Pa, 93.85.Fg, 47.80.Fg, 91.35.Dc, 07.20.Dt, 07.60.V

Performance measurement and management in portuguese law enforcement

Performance measurement of police services is complicated by ambiguous and complex goal- and objectives-setting, and by the difficulties of measuring outputs. This article looks at the organizational and management changes being made in Portuguese police forces. The authors fill a gap in the literature on performance measurement in Portugal by taking a national approach to the study of how law enforcement agencies are introducing new management accounting changes. The article therefore widens the debate on performance measurement and performance improvements in law enforcement

Global patterns of diapycnal mixing from measurements of the turbulent dissipation rate

The authors present inferences of diapycnal diffusivity from a compilation of over 5200 microstructure profiles. As microstructure observations are sparse, these are supplemented with indirect measurements of mixing obtained from (i) Thorpe-scale overturns from moored profilers, a finescale parameterization applied to (ii) shipboard observations of upper-ocean shear, (iii) strain as measured by profiling floats, and (iv) shear and strain from full-depth lowered acoustic Doppler current profilers (LADCP) and CTD profiles. Vertical profiles of the turbulent dissipation rate are bottom enhanced over rough topography and abrupt, isolated ridges. The geography of depth-integrated dissipation rate shows spatial variability related to internal wave generation, suggesting one direct energy pathway to turbulence. The global-averaged diapycnal diffusivity below 1000-m depth is O(10?4) m2 s?1 and above 1000-m depth is O(10?5) m2 s?1. The compiled microstructure observations sample a wide range of internal wave power inputs and topographic roughness, providing a dataset with which to estimate a representative global-averaged dissipation rate and diffusivity. However, there is strong regional variability in the ratio between local internal wave generation and local dissipation. In some regions, the depth-integrated dissipation rate is comparable to the estimated power input into the local internal wave field. In a few cases, more internal wave power is dissipated than locally generated, suggesting remote internal wave sources. However, at most locations the total power lost through turbulent dissipation is less than the input into the local internal wave field. This suggests dissipation elsewhere, such as continental margins

\u3cem\u3eOAS1\u3c/em\u3e Polymorphisms Are Associated with Susceptibility to West Nile Encephalitis in Horses

West Nile virus, first identified within the United States in 1999, has since spread across the continental states and infected birds, humans and domestic animals, resulting in numerous deaths. Previous studies in mice identified the Oas1b gene, a member of the OAS/RNASEL innate immune system, as a determining factor for resistance to West Nile virus (WNV) infection. A recent case-control association study described mutations of human OAS1 associated with clinical susceptibility to WNV infection. Similar studies in horses, a particularly susceptible species, have been lacking, in part, because of the difficulty in collecting populations sufficiently homogenous in their infection and disease states. The equine OAS gene cluster most closely resembles the human cluster, with single copies of OAS1, OAS3 and OAS2 in the same orientation. With naturally occurring susceptible and resistant sub-populations to lethal West Nile encephalitis, we undertook a case-control association study to investigate whether, similar to humans (OAS1) and mice (Oas1b), equine OAS1 plays a role in resistance to severe WNV infection. We identified naturally occurring single nucleotide mutations in equine (Equus caballus) OAS1 and RNASEL genes and, using Fisher\u27s Exact test, we provide evidence that mutations in equine OAS1 contribute to host susceptibility. Virtually all of the associated OAS1 polymorphisms were located within the interferon-inducible promoter, suggesting that differences in OAS1 gene expression may determine the host\u27s ability to resist clinical manifestations associated with WNV infection

Enhanced Direct CP Violation in B±→ρ0π±B^{\pm} \to \rho^{0} \pi^{\pm}

We study direct CP violation in the hadronic decay $B^{\pm} \to \rho^{0}\pi^{\pm}$, including the effect of $\rho - \omega$ mixing. We find that the CP violating asymmetry is strongly dependent on the CKM matrix elements, especially the Wolfenstein parameter $\eta$. For fixed $N_{c}$ (the effective parameter associated with factorization), the CP violating asymmetry, $a$, has a maximum of order $30$ when the invariant mass of the $\pi^{+}\pi^{-}$ pair is in the vicinity of the $\omega$ resonance. The sensitivity of the asymmetry, $a$, to $N_{c}$ is small. Moreover, if $N_{c}$ is constrained using the latest experimental branching ratios from the CLEO collaboration, we find that the sign of $\sin \delta$ is always positive. Thus, a measurement of direct CP violation in $B^{\pm} \to \rho^{0}\pi^{\pm}$ would remove the mod$(\pi)$ ambiguity in ${\rm arg}[ - \frac{V_{td}V_{tb}^{\star}}{V_{ud}V_{ub}^{\star}}]$.Comment: 37 pages, 7 figure

Association between lifestyle factors and the incidence of multimorbidity in an older English population.

Background: Evidence on the role of lifestyle factors in relation to multimorbidity, especially in elderly populations, is scarce. We assessed the association between five lifestyle factors and incident multimorbidity (presence of ≥2 chronic conditions) in an English cohort aged ≥50 years. Methods: We used data from wave 4, 5 and 6 of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Data on smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, fruit and vegetable consumption and BMI were extracted and combined to generate a sum of unhealthy lifestyle factors for each individual. We examined whether these lifestyle factors individually or in combination predicted during the subsequent wave. We used marginal structural Cox proportional hazard models, adjusted for both time-constant and time-varying factors. Results: A total of 5,476 participants contributed 232,749 person-months of follow-up during which 1,156 cases of incident multimorbidity were recorded. Physical inactivity increased the risk of multimorbidity by 33% (adjusted Hazard Ratio (aHR) 1.33, 95% CI 1.03-1.73). The risk was about two-three times higher when inactivity was combined with obesity (aHR 2.87, 95% CI 1.55-5.31) or smoking (aHR 2.35, 95% CI 1.36-4.08) and about four times when combined with both (aHR 3.98, 95% CI 1.02-17.00). Any combination of 2, 3 and 4 or more unhealthy lifestyle factors significantly increased the multimorbidity hazard, compared to none, from 42% to 114%. Conclusion: This study provides evidence of a temporal association between combinations of different unhealthy lifestyle factors with multimorbidity. Population level interventions should include reinforcing positive lifestyle changes in the population to reduce the risk of developing multimorbidity

The Transit Light Curve Project. XI. Submillimagnitude Photometry of Two Transits of the Bloated Planet WASP-4b

We present photometry of two transits of the giant planet WASP-4b with a photometric precision of 400-800 parts per million and a time sampling of 25-40 seconds. The two midtransit times are determined to within 6 seconds. Together with previously published times, the data are consistent with a constant orbital period, giving no compelling evidence for period variations that would be produced by a satellite or additional planets. Analysis of the new photometry, in combination with stellar-evolutionary modeling, gives a planetary mass and radius of 1.237 +/- 0.064 M_jup and 1.365 +/- 0.021 R_jup. The planet is 15% larger than expected based on previously published models of solar-composition giant planets. With data of the quality presented here, the detection of transits of a "super-Earth" of radius 1.75 R_earth would have been possible.Comment: To appear in AJ [18 pages

On the construction of a geometric invariant measuring the deviation from Kerr data

This article contains a detailed and rigorous proof of the construction of a geometric invariant for initial data sets for the Einstein vacuum field equations. This geometric invariant vanishes if and only if the initial data set corresponds to data for the Kerr spacetime, and thus, it characterises this type of data. The construction presented is valid for boosted and non-boosted initial data sets which are, in a sense, asymptotically Schwarzschildean. As a preliminary step to the construction of the geometric invariant, an analysis of a characterisation of the Kerr spacetime in terms of Killing spinors is carried out. A space spinor split of the (spacetime) Killing spinor equation is performed, to obtain a set of three conditions ensuring the existence of a Killing spinor of the development of the initial data set. In order to construct the geometric invariant, we introduce the notion of approximate Killing spinors. These spinors are symmetric valence 2 spinors intrinsic to the initial hypersurface and satisfy a certain second order elliptic equation ---the approximate Killing spinor equation. This equation arises as the Euler-Lagrange equation of a non-negative integral functional. This functional constitutes part of our geometric invariant ---however, the whole functional does not come from a variational principle. The asymptotic behaviour of solutions to the approximate Killing spinor equation is studied and an existence theorem is presented.Comment: 36 pages. Updated references. Technical details correcte

Spin Foam Models of Riemannian Quantum Gravity

Using numerical calculations, we compare three versions of the Barrett-Crane model of 4-dimensional Riemannian quantum gravity. In the version with face and edge amplitudes as described by De Pietri, Freidel, Krasnov, and Rovelli, we show the partition function diverges very rapidly for many triangulated 4-manifolds. In the version with modified face and edge amplitudes due to Perez and Rovelli, we show the partition function converges so rapidly that the sum is dominated by spin foams where all the spins labelling faces are zero except for small, widely separated islands of higher spin. We also describe a new version which appears to have a convergent partition function without drastic spin-zero dominance. Finally, after a general discussion of how to extract physics from spin foam models, we discuss the implications of convergence or divergence of the partition function for other aspects of a spin foam model.Comment: 23 pages LaTeX; this version to appear in Classical and Quantum Gravit