A Lindley-type equation arising from a carousel problem

In this paper we consider a system with two carousels operated by one picker. The items to be picked are randomly located on the carousels and the pick times follow a phase-type distribution. The picker alternates between the two carousels, picking one item at a time. Important performance characteristics are the waiting time of the picker and the throughput of the two carousels. The waiting time of the picker satisfies an equation very similar to Lindley's equation for the waiting time in the PH/U/1 queue. Although the latter equation has no simple solution, we show that the one for the waiting time of the picker can be solved explicitly. Furthermore, it is well known that the mean waiting time in the PH/U/1 queue depends on to the complete interarrival time distribution, but numerical results show that, for the carousel system, the mean waiting time and throughput are rather insensitive to the pick-time distribution.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure, 19 reference

How robust is a thermal photon interpretation of the ALICE low-p_T data?

We present a rigorous theoretical analysis of the ALICE measurement of low-p_T direct-photon production in central lead-lead collisions at the LHC with a centre-of-mass energy of \sqrt{s_{NN}}=2.76 TeV. Using NLO QCD, we compute the relative contributions to prompt-photon production from different initial and final states and the theoretical uncertainties coming from independent variations of the renormalisation and factorisation scales, the nuclear parton densities and the fragmentation functions. Based on different fits to the unsubtracted and prompt-photon subtracted ALICE data, we consistently find T = 304 \pm 58 MeV and 309 \pm 64 MeV for the effective temperature of the quark-gluon plasma (or hot medium) at p_T \in [0.8;2.2] GeV and p_T \in [1.5;3.5] GeV as well as a power-law (p_T^{-4}) behavior for p_T > 4 GeV as predicted by QCD hard scattering.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures, 1 tabl

Group classification of the Sachs equations for a radiating axisymmetric, non-rotating, vacuum space-time

We carry out a Lie group analysis of the Sachs equations for a time-dependent axisymmetric non-rotating space-time in which the Ricci tensor vanishes. These equations, which are the first two members of the set of Newman-Penrose equations, define the characteristic initial-value problem for the space-time. We find a particular form for the initial data such that these equations admit a Lie symmetry, and so defines a geometrically special class of such spacetimes. These should additionally be of particular physical interest because of this special geometric feature.Comment: 18 Pages. Submitted to Classical and Quantum Gravit

A Lindley-type equation arising from a carousel problem

Abstract: In this paper we consider a system with two carousels operated by one picker. The items to be picked are randomly located on the carousels and the pick times follow a phasetype distribution. The picker alternates between the two carousels, picking one item at a time. Important performance characteristics are the waiting time of the picker and the throughput of the two carousels. The waiting time of the picker satisfies an equation very similar to Lindley’s equation for the waiting time in the P H/U/1 queue. Although the latter equation has no simple solution, it appears that the one for the waiting time of the picker can be solved explicitly. Furthermore, it is well known that the mean waiting time in the P H/U/1 queue depends on to the complete inter-arrival time distribution, but numerical results show that, for the carousel system, the mean waiting time and throughput are rather insensitive to the pick-time distribution

Clinical update: Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia: An update for the COVID-19 era

The increased use of heparin during the current COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the risk of a rare but potentially serious complication of heparin therapy, viz. heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT). This is a short review on the pharmacology of heparin and its derivatives, and the pathophysiology of HIT. Guidance on laboratory testing for and clinical management of HIT is presented in accordance with international guidelines. There are important similarities and differences between HIT and the new entity of vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia, also known as thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome, which clinicians need to be aware of

Wall-Fluid and Liquid-Gas Interfaces of Model Colloid-Polymer Mixtures by Simulation and Theory

We perform a study of the interfacial properties of a model suspension of hard sphere colloids with diameter $\sigma_c$ and non-adsorbing ideal polymer coils with diameter $\sigma_p$. For the mixture in contact with a planar hard wall, we obtain from simulations the wall-fluid interfacial free energy, $\gamma_{wf}$, for size ratios $q=\sigma_p/\sigma_c=0.6$ and 1, using thermodynamic integration, and study the (excess) adsorption of colloids, $\Gamma_c$, and of polymers, $\Gamma_p$, at the hard wall. The interfacial tension of the free liquid-gas interface, $\gamma_{lg}$, is obtained following three different routes in simulations: i) from studying the system size dependence of the interfacial width according to the predictions of capillary wave theory, ii) from the probability distribution of the colloid density at coexistence in the grand canonical ensemble, and iii) for statepoints where the colloidal liquid wets the wall completely, from Young's equation relating $\gamma_{lg}$ to the difference of wall-liquid and wall-gas interfacial tensions, $\gamma_{wl}-\gamma_{wg}$. In addition, we calculate $\gamma_{wf}, \Gamma_c$, and $\Gamma_p$ using density functional theory and a scaled particle theory based on free volume theory. Good agreement is found between the simulation results and those from density functional theory, while the results from scaled particle theory quantitatively deviate but reproduce some essential features. Simulation results for $\gamma_{lg}$ obtained from the three different routes are all in good agreement. Density functional theory predicts $\gamma_{lg}$ with good accuracy for high polymer reservoir packing fractions, but yields deviations from the simulation results close to the critical point.Comment: 23 pages, 10 figures, REVTEX. Fig 5a changed. Final versio

Stabilized high-power laser system for the gravitational wave detector advanced LIGO

An ultra-stable, high-power cw Nd:YAG laser system, developed for the ground-based gravitational wave detector Advanced LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory), was comprehensively characterized. Laser power, frequency, beam pointing and beam quality were simultaneously stabilized using different active and passive schemes. The output beam, the performance of the stabilization, and the cross-coupling between different stabilization feedback control loops were characterized and found to fulfill most design requirements. The employed stabilization schemes and the achieved performance are of relevance to many high-precision optical experiments

Is there a reentrant glass in binary mixtures?

By employing computer simulations for a model binary mixture, we show that a reentrant glass transition upon adding a second component only occurs if the ratio $\alpha$ of the short-time mobilities between the glass-forming component and the additive is sufficiently small. For $\alpha \approx 1$, there is no reentrant glass, even if the size asymmetry between the two components is large, in accordance with two-component mode coupling theory. For $\alpha \ll 1$, on the other hand, the reentrant glass is observed and reproduced only by an effective one-component mode coupling theory.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure