Novel Method of Measuring Electron Positron Colliding Beam Parameters

Through the simultaneous measurement of the transverse size as a function of longitudinal position, and the longitudinal distribution of luminosity, we are able to measure the $\beta_y^\ast$ (vertical envelope function at the collision point), vertical emittance, and bunch length of colliding beams at the Cornell Electron-positron Storage Ring (CESR). This measurement is possible due to the significant ``hourglass'' effect at CESR and the excellent tracking resolution of the CLEO detector.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures, submitted to NIM

The MAHB, the Culture Gap, and Some Really Inconvenient Truths

Humanity's failure to take adequate actions to stem a likely environmental collapse calls for extraordinary measures to understand and alter human behavior, argues Paul Ehrlich. His Millennium Assessment of Human Behavior (MAHB) aims to chart the path to a sustainable future

Performance measures for object detection evaluation

Cataloged from PDF version of article.We propose a new procedure for quantitative evaluation of object detection algorithms. The procedure consists of a matching stage for finding correspondences between reference and output objects, an accuracy score that is sensitive to object shapes as well as boundary and fragmentation errors, and a ranking step for final ordering of the algorithms using multiple performance indicators. The procedure is illustrated on a building detection task where the resulting rankings are consistent with the visual inspection of the detection maps. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Association Between Sedentary Time and Quality of Life From the Osteoarthritis Initiative: Who Might Benefit Most From Treatment?

Objective To investigate the relationship between sedentary behavior and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) among participants in the Osteoarthritis Initiative. Design Longitudinal, observational design. Setting Osteoarthritis Initiative cohort. Participants Individuals (N=1794) from a prospective, multicenter longitudinal cohort were classified into quantile groups based on average daily sedentary time (most sedentary, quartile 1 [Q1] ≥11.6h; 10.7h≤ Q2 Interventions Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures Individual QALYs were estimated over 2 years from the area under the curve of health-related utility scores derived from the Medical Outcomes Study 12-Item Short-Form Health Survey versus time. The relationship between baseline sedentary behavior and median 2-year QALYs was estimated using quantile regression adjusted for socioeconomic factors and body mass index. Results Lower QALYs over 2 years were more frequently found among the most sedentary (Q1, median 1.59), and QALYs increased as time spent in baseline sedentary behavior decreased (median QALYs for Q2, 1.64; Q3, 1.65; Q4, 1.65). The relationship of sedentary time and median QALY change was only significant for the most sedentary Q1 group, where an additional hour of sedentary behavior significantly reduced QALYs by −.072 (95% confidence interval, −.121 to −.020). Conclusions Our findings suggest that individuals with the most extreme sedentary profiles may be vulnerable to additional losses of quality of life if they become more sedentary. Targeting these individuals to decrease sedentary behavior has the potential to be cost-effective

Current-Induced Step Bending Instability on Vicinal Surfaces

We model an apparent instability seen in recent experiments on current induced step bunching on Si(111) surfaces using a generalized 2D BCF model, where adatoms have a diffusion bias parallel to the step edges and there is an attachment barrier at the step edge. We find a new linear instability with novel step patterns. Monte Carlo simulations on a solid-on-solid model are used to study the instability beyond the linear regime.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Physical Activity Minimum Threshold Predicting Improved Function in Adults With Lower‐Extremity Symptoms

Objective To identify an evidence‐based minimum physical activity threshold to predict improved or sustained high function for adults with lower‐extremity joint symptoms. Methods Prospective multisite data from 1,629 adults, age ≥49 years with symptomatic lower‐extremity joint pain/aching/stiffness, participating in the Osteoarthritis Initiative accelerometer monitoring substudy were clinically assessed 2 years apart. Improved/high function in 2‐year gait speed and patient‐reported outcomes (PROs) were based on improving or remaining in the best (i.e., maintaining high) function quintile compared to baseline status. Optimal thresholds predicting improved/high function were investigated using classification trees for the legacy federal guideline metric requiring 150 minutes/week of moderate‐vigorous (MV) activity in bouts lasting 10 minutes or more (MV‐bout) and other metrics (total MV, sedentary, light intensity activity, nonsedentary minutes/week). Results Optimal thresholds based on total MV minutes/week predicted improved/high function outcomes more strongly than the legacy or other investigated metrics. Meeting the 45 total MV minutes/week threshold had increased relative risk (RR) for improved/high function (gait speed RR 1.8, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 1.6, 2.1 and PRO physical function RR 1.4, 95% CI 1.3, 1.6) compared to less active adults. Thresholds were consistent across sex, body mass index, knee osteoarthritis status, and age. Conclusion These results supported a physical activity minimum threshold of 45 total MV minutes/week to promote improved or sustained high function for adults with lower‐extremity joint symptoms. This evidence‐based threshold is less rigorous than federal guidelines (≥150 MV‐bout minutes/week) and provides an intermediate goal towards the federal guideline for adults with lower‐extremity symptoms

Rate theory for correlated processes: Double-jumps in adatom diffusion

We study the rate of activated motion over multiple barriers, in particular the correlated double-jump of an adatom diffusing on a missing-row reconstructed Platinum (110) surface. We develop a Transition Path Theory, showing that the activation energy is given by the minimum-energy trajectory which succeeds in the double-jump. We explicitly calculate this trajectory within an effective-medium molecular dynamics simulation. A cusp in the acceptance region leads to a sqrt{T} prefactor for the activated rate of double-jumps. Theory and numerical results agree

Numerical test of the damping time of layer-by-layer growth on stochastic models

We perform Monte Carlo simulations on stochastic models such as the Wolf-Villain (WV) model and the Family model in a modified version to measure mean separation $\ell$ between islands in submonolayer regime and damping time $\tilde t$ of layer-by-layer growth oscillations on one dimension. The stochastic models are modified, allowing diffusion within interval $r$ upon deposited. It is found numerically that the mean separation and the damping time depend on the diffusion interval $r$, leading to that the damping time is related to the mean separation as ${\tilde t} \sim \ell^{4/3}$ for the WV model and ${\tilde t} \sim \ell^2$ for the Family model. The numerical results are in excellent agreement with recent theoretical predictions.Comment: 4 pages, source LaTeX file and 5 PS figure

Growth of Patterned Surfaces

During epitaxial crystal growth a pattern that has initially been imprinted on a surface approximately reproduces itself after the deposition of an integer number of monolayers. Computer simulations of the one-dimensional case show that the quality of reproduction decays exponentially with a characteristic time which is linear in the activation energy of surface diffusion. We argue that this life time of a pattern is optimized, if the characteristic feature size of the pattern is larger than $(D/F)^{1/(d+2)}$, where $D$ is the surface diffusion constant, $F$ the deposition rate and $d$ the surface dimension.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, uses psfig; to appear in Phys. Rev. Let