1,147 research outputs found
Characteristic value determination from small samples
The paper deals with the characteristic value determination from relatively small samples. When the distribution and its parameters of a random variable are known, the characteristic value is deterministic quantity. However, in practical problems the parameters of distribution are unknown and can only be estimated from random samples. Therefore the characteristic value is by itself a random variable. The estimates of characteristic values are strongly dependant on the distribution of random variable. In the paper we show the analytical solution for characteristic value determination from random samples of normal and lognormal random variables. The confirmation of analytical results is accomplished by the use of computer simulations. For Gumbel, and Weibull distribution the characteristic value estimates are obtained numerically by combination of simulations and bisection method. In the paper the numerical results are presented for 5% characteristic values with 75% confidence interval, which is in accord with the majority of European building standards. The proposed approach is demonstrated on the data of experimentally obtained bending strengths of finger jointed wooden beams. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
On measuring alpha in B(t)-> rho^\pm pi^\mp
Defining a most economical parametrization of time-dependent B-> rho^\pm
pi^\mp decays, including a measurable phase alpha_{eff} which equals the weak
phase alpha in the limit of vanishing penguin amplitudes, we propose two ways
for determining alpha in this processes. We explain the limitation of one
method, assuming only that two relevant tree amplitudes factorize and that
their relative strong phase, delta_t, is negligible. The other method, based on
broken flavor SU(3), permits a determination of alpha in B^0-> rho^\pm pi^\mp
in an overconstrained system using also rate measurements of B^{0,+}-> K^* pi
and B^{0,+}->rho K. Current data are shown to restrict two ratios of penguin
and tree amplitudes, r_\pm, to a narrow range around 0.2, and to imply an upper
bound |alpha_{eff} - alpha| < 15 degrees. Assuming that delta_t is much smaller
than 90 degrees, we find alpha =(93\pm 16) degrees and (102 \pm 20) degrees
using BABAR and BELLE results for B(t)-> rho^\pm pi^mp. Avoiding this
assumption for completeness, we demonstrate the reduction of discrete
ambiguities in alpha with increased statistics, and show that SU(3) breaking
effects are effectively second order in r_\pm.Comment: 23 pages, 2 figures, data and references updated, to be published in
Phys. Rev.
Diagnostic accuracy of haemophilia early arthropathy detection with ultrasound (HEAD-US): A comparative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study
Background. Repeated haemarthroses affect approximately 90% of patients with severe haemophilia and lead to progressive arthropathy, which is the main cause of morbidity in these patients. Diagnostic imaging can detect even subclinical arthropathy changes and may impact prophylactic treatment. Magnetic resonance imagining (MRI) is generally the gold standard tool for precise evaluation of joints, but it is not easily feasible in regular follow-up of patients with haemophilia. The development of the standardized ultrasound (US) protocol for detection of early changes in haemophilic arthropathy (HEAD-US) opened new perspectives in the use of US in management of these patients. The HEAD-US protocol enables quick evaluation of the six mostly affected joints in a single study. The aim of this prospective study was to determine the diagnostic accuracy of the HEAD-US protocol for the detection and quantification of haemophilic arthropathy in comparison to the MRI. Patients and methods. The study included 30 patients with severe haemophilia. We evaluated their elbows, ankles and knees (overall 168 joints) by US using the HEAD-US protocol and compared the results with the MRI using the International Prophylaxis Study Group (IPSG) MRI score. Results. The results showed that the overall HEAD-US score correlated very highly with the overall IPSG MRI score (r = 0.92). Correlation was very high for the evaluation of the elbows and knees (r 48 0.95), and slightly lower for the ankles (r 48 0.85). Conclusions. HEAD-US protocol proved to be a quick, reliable and accurate method for the detection and quantification of haemophilic arthropathy
Resting Behaviour of Broilers in Three Different Rearing Systems
The highest number of broilers is reared in the intensive fattening system on the floor with litter. Besides the intensive systems some sustainable rearing ways are also brought forward (ecological, biologic-dynamic, organic, etc.). The aim of this study was to establish the possible differences in resting behaviour of broilers in three rearing systems: intensive on the floor, free range, and organic system. The results showed great varieties between intensive and less intensive systems. In the intensive system on the floor animals rested statistically highly significantly more than in other two systems. However no differences in the behaviour of broilers in the stall were noticed, ifcompared to broilers in free range and those in the organic system. Comparison of the outdoor area showed that broilers rested statistically significantly more in the organic system. The reasons for different resting behaviour could be in leg weakness, body weight, group size, health problems, age, housing system, etc. Our research did not confirm our hypothesis that the older broilers rest more
B --> pi and B --> K transitions in partially quenched chiral perturbation theory
We study the properties of the B-->pi and B-->K transition form factors in
partially quenched QCD by using the approach of partially quenched chiral
perturbation theory combined with the static heavy quark limit. We show that
the form factors change almost linearly when varying the value of the sea quark
mass, whereas the dependence on the valence quark mass contains both the
standard and chirally divergent (quenched) logarithms. A simple strategy for
the chiral extrapolations in the lattice studies with Nsea=2 is suggested. It
consists of the linear extrapolations from the realistically accessible quark
masses, first in the sea and then in the valence quark mass. From the present
approach, we estimate the uncertainty induced by such extrapolations to be
within 5%.Comment: Published versio
Angles from Decays with Charm
Proceedings of the CKM 2005 Workshop (WG5), UC San Diego, 15-18 March 2005.Comment: 62 pages, 55 figures. Proceedings of the CKM 2005 Workshop (WG5), UC
San Diego, 15-18 March 200
Iron under Earth's core conditions: Liquid-state thermodynamics and high-pressure melting curve
{\em Ab initio} techniques based on density functional theory in the
projector-augmented-wave implementation are used to calculate the free energy
and a range of other thermodynamic properties of liquid iron at high pressures
and temperatures relevant to the Earth's core. The {\em ab initio} free energy
is obtained by using thermodynamic integration to calculate the change of free
energy on going from a simple reference system to the {\em ab initio} system,
with thermal averages computed by {\em ab initio} molecular dynamics
simulation. The reference system consists of the inverse-power pair-potential
model used in previous work. The liquid-state free energy is combined with the
free energy of hexagonal close packed Fe calculated earlier using identical
{\em ab initio} techniques to obtain the melting curve and volume and entropy
of melting. Comparisons of the calculated melting properties with experimental
measurement and with other recent {\em ab initio} predictions are presented.
Experiment-theory comparisons are also presented for the pressures at which the
solid and liquid Hugoniot curves cross the melting line, and the sound speed
and Gr\"{u}neisen parameter along the Hugoniot. Additional comparisons are made
with a commonly used equation of state for high-pressure/high-temperature Fe
based on experimental data.Comment: 16 pages including 6 figures and 5 table
Chiral corrections and lattice QCD results for fBs/fBd and (Delta ms/Delta md)
It has been argued recently that the inclusion of the chiral logarithms in
extrapolation of the lattice data can shift the value of the hadronic parameter
xi = (fBs sqrt(B_{Bs}))/(fBd sqrt(B_{Bd})), from 1.16(6) to 1.32(10) and even
higher. If true, that would considerably change the theoretical estimate for
the ratio of oscillation frequencies in the neutral Bs- and Bd-systems, and
would affect the standard CKM unitarity triangle analysis. In this letter we
show that (fBs/fBd) \approx (fK/fpi), and thus the uncertainty due to the
missing chiral logs is smaller than previously thought. By combining the NLO
chiral expansion with the static heavy quark limit we obtain xi = 1.22(8).Comment: Published versio
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