Quantum Gas Mixtures and Dual-Species Atom Interferometry in Space

The capability to reach ultracold atomic temperatures in compact instruments has recently been extended into space. Ultracold temperatures amplify quantum effects, while free-fall allows further cooling and longer interactions time with gravity - the final force without a quantum description. On Earth, these devices have produced macroscopic quantum phenomena such as Bose-Einstein condensation (BECs), superfluidity, and strongly interacting quantum gases. Quantum sensors interfering the superposition of two ultracold atomic isotopes have tested the Universality of Free Fall (UFF), a core tenet of Einstein's classical gravitational theory, at the $10^{-12}$ level. In space, cooling the elements needed to explore the rich physics of strong interactions and preparing the multiple species required for quantum tests of the UFF has remained elusive. Here, utilizing upgraded capabilities of the multi-user Cold Atom Lab (CAL) instrument within the International Space Station (ISS), we report the first simultaneous production of a dual species Bose-Einstein condensate in space (formed from $^{87}$Rb and $^{41}$K), observation of interspecies interactions, as well as the production of $^{39}$K ultracold gases. We have further achieved the first space-borne demonstration of simultaneous atom interferometry with two atomic species ($^{87}$Rb and $^{41}$K). These results are an important step towards quantum tests of UFF in space, and will allow scientists to investigate aspects of few-body physics, quantum chemistry, and fundamental physics in novel regimes without the perturbing asymmetry of gravity

Improvisation and Transformation: Yes to the Mess

The field of organizational change has chiefly been studied from a teleological perspective. Most models of change emphasize action that is rational and goal oriented. What often gets overlooked and under theorized is the continuous, iterative nature of organizational life, the unplanned and serendipitous actions by and between people that lead to new discoveries and innovation. Recent research on organizational improvisation seeks to explore this area. In this chapter we will address two questions – what is the experience of improvisation and what are the conditions that support improvisation to flourish in organizations? In the first part of this paper, we look at the phenomenology of improvisation, the actual lived experience of those who improvise in the face of the unknown or in the midst of chaotic conditions. We will explore the strategies that some professional improvisers employ to deliberately create the improvisatory moment. We will then look at the dynamics of organizational life and explore the cultural beliefs, organizational structures, and leadership practices that support improvisation. We will draw primarily upon the model from Barrett (2012) that focuses on the how the nature of jazz improvisation and the factors that support improvisation can be transferred to leadership activities. This falls in the tradition of others who draw upon arts-based metaphors, including jazz music and theatrical improvisation, to suggest insights for leadership and ways of organizing. Since this is a book devoted to individual transformation as well as organizational transformation, we will also touch on the topic of how improvisation is a developmental project and explore the potential for improvisation to lead to personal transformation. We will attempt to move back and forth between both themes – organizational and personal transformation. Ultimately the two topics are not separate. Any significant organizational transformation begins with an improvisation. And any meaningful improvisatory move by a person is potentially a moment of self-discovery and an identity-shaping event

Evaluation of a Peer Network-Based Sexual Risk Reduction Intervention for Men in Beer Halls in Zimbabwe: Results from a Randomized Controlled Trial

While much emphasis has been placed on involving men in AIDS prevention in sub-Saharan Africa, there remain few rigorously evaluated interventions in this area. A particularly appealing point of intervention is the sexual risk behavior associated with men’s alcohol consumption. This article reports the outcomes of The Sahwira HIV Prevention Program, a male-focused, peer-based intervention promoting the idea that men can assist their friends in avoiding high-risk sexual encounters associated with alcohol drinking. The intervention was evaluated in a randomized, controlled trial (RCT) implemented in 24 beer halls in Harare, Zimbabwe. A cadre of 413 male beer hall patrons (~20% of the patronage) was trained to assist their male peers within their friendship networks. Activities included one-on-one interactions, small group discussions, and educational events centering on the theme of men helping their male friends avoid risk. Venues were randomized into 12 control versus 12 intervention beer halls with little cross-contamination between study arms. The penetration and impact of the intervention were assessed by pre- and post-intervention cross-sectional surveys of the beer hall patronage. The intervention was implemented with a high degree of fidelity to the protocol, with exposure to the intervention activities significantly higher among intervention patrons compared to control. While we found generally declining levels of risk behavior in both study arms from baseline to post-intervention, we found no evidence of an impact of the intervention on our primary outcome measure: episodes of unprotected sex with non-wife partners in the preceding 6 months (median 5.4 episodes for men at intervention beer halls vs. 5.1 among controls, P = 0.98). There was also no evidence that the intervention reduced other risks for HIV. It remains an imperative to find ways to productively engage men in AIDS prevention, especially in those venues where male bonding, alcohol consumption, and sexual risk behavior are intertwined

A communal catalogue reveals Earth's multiscale microbial diversity

Our growing awareness of the microbial world's importance and diversity contrasts starkly with our limited understanding of its fundamental structure. Despite recent advances in DNA sequencing, a lack of standardized protocols and common analytical frameworks impedes comparisons among studies, hindering the development of global inferences about microbial life on Earth. Here we present a meta-analysis of microbial community samples collected by hundreds of researchers for the Earth Microbiome Project. Coordinated protocols and new analytical methods, particularly the use of exact sequences instead of clustered operational taxonomic units, enable bacterial and archaeal ribosomal RNA gene sequences to be followed across multiple studies and allow us to explore patterns of diversity at an unprecedented scale. The result is both a reference database giving global context to DNA sequence data and a framework for incorporating data from future studies, fostering increasingly complete characterization of Earth's microbial diversity.Peer reviewe

CMS physics technical design report : Addendum on high density QCD with heavy ions

Peer reviewe

A communal catalogue reveals Earth’s multiscale microbial diversity

Our growing awareness of the microbial world’s importance and diversity contrasts starkly with our limited understanding of its fundamental structure. Despite recent advances in DNA sequencing, a lack of standardized protocols and common analytical frameworks impedes comparisons among studies, hindering the development of global inferences about microbial life on Earth. Here we present a meta-analysis of microbial community samples collected by hundreds of researchers for the Earth Microbiome Project. Coordinated protocols and new analytical methods, particularly the use of exact sequences instead of clustered operational taxonomic units, enable bacterial and archaeal ribosomal RNA gene sequences to be followed across multiple studies and allow us to explore patterns of diversity at an unprecedented scale. The result is both a reference database giving global context to DNA sequence data and a framework for incorporating data from future studies, fostering increasingly complete characterization of Earth’s microbial diversity

Description and performance of track and primary-vertex reconstruction with the CMS tracker

A description is provided of the software algorithms developed for the CMS tracker both for reconstructing charged-particle trajectories in proton-proton interactions and for using the resulting tracks to estimate the positions of the LHC luminous region and individual primary-interaction vertices. Despite the very hostile environment at the LHC, the performance obtained with these algorithms is found to be excellent. For tbar t events under typical 2011 pileup conditions, the average track-reconstruction efficiency for promptly-produced charged particles with transverse momenta of pT > 0.9GeV is 94% for pseudorapidities of |η| < 0.9 and 85% for 0.9 < |η| < 2.5. The inefficiency is caused mainly by hadrons that undergo nuclear interactions in the tracker material. For isolated muons, the corresponding efficiencies are essentially 100%. For isolated muons of pT = 100GeV emitted at |η| < 1.4, the resolutions are approximately 2.8% in pT, and respectively, 10μm and 30μm in the transverse and longitudinal impact parameters. The position resolution achieved for reconstructed primary vertices that correspond to interesting pp collisions is 10–12μm in each of the three spatial dimensions. The tracking and vertexing software is fast and flexible, and easily adaptable to other functions, such as fast tracking for the trigger, or dedicated tracking for electrons that takes into account bremsstrahlung

Alignment of the CMS tracker with LHC and cosmic ray data

© CERN 2014 for the benefit of the CMS collaboration, published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License by IOP Publishing Ltd and Sissa Medialab srl. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation and DOI.The central component of the CMS detector is the largest silicon tracker ever built. The precise alignment of this complex device is a formidable challenge, and only achievable with a significant extension of the technologies routinely used for tracking detectors in the past. This article describes the full-scale alignment procedure as it is used during LHC operations. Among the specific features of the method are the simultaneous determination of up to 200 000 alignment parameters with tracks, the measurement of individual sensor curvature parameters, the control of systematic misalignment effects, and the implementation of the whole procedure in a multi-processor environment for high execution speed. Overall, the achieved statistical accuracy on the module alignment is found to be significantly better than 10μm

Optimasi Portofolio Resiko Menggunakan Model Markowitz MVO Dikaitkan dengan Keterbatasan Manusia dalam Memprediksi Masa Depan dalam Perspektif Al-Qur`an

Risk portfolio on modern finance has become increasingly technical, requiring the use of sophisticated mathematical tools in both research and practice. Since companies cannot insure themselves completely against risk, as human incompetence in predicting the future precisely that written in Al-Quran surah Luqman verse 34, they have to manage it to yield an optimal portfolio. The objective here is to minimize the variance among all portfolios, or alternatively, to maximize expected return among all portfolios that has at least a certain expected return. Furthermore, this study focuses on optimizing risk portfolio so called Markowitz MVO (Mean-Variance Optimization). Some theoretical frameworks for analysis are arithmetic mean, geometric mean, variance, covariance, linear programming, and quadratic programming. Moreover, finding a minimum variance portfolio produces a convex quadratic programming, that is minimizing the objective function ðð¥with constraintsð ð 𥠥 ðandð´ð¥ = ð. The outcome of this research is the solution of optimal risk portofolio in some investments that could be finished smoothly using MATLAB R2007b software together with its graphic analysis