Superheated Droplet Detectors as CDM Detectors: The SIMPLE Experiment

Superheated Droplet Detectors (SDDs) are becoming commonplace in neutron personnel dosimetry. Their total insensitivity to minimum ionizing radiation (while responsive to nuclear recoils of energies ~ few keV), together with their low cost, ease of production, and operation at room temperature and 1 atm makes them ideal for Cold Dark Matter (CDM) searches. SDD's are optimal for the exploration of the spin-dependent neutralino coupling due to their high fluorine content. The status of SIMPLE (Superheated Instrument for Massive ParticLe Experiments) is presented. Under realistic background considerations, we expect an improvement in the present Cold Dark Matter sensitivity of 2-3 orders of magnitude after ~1 kg-y of data acquisition.Comment: 6 pages, including 4 figures. To appear in the Proceedings of the Intl. Workshop on the Identification of Dark Matter (Sheffield, Sept. 96

Taking a Razor to Dark Matter Parameter Space at the LHC

Dark matter (DM) has been searched for at colliders in a largely model independent fashion by looking for an excess number of events involving a single jet, or photon, and missing energy. We investigate the possibility of looking for excesses in more inclusive jet channels. Events with multiple jets contain more information and thus more handles to increase the signal to background ratio. In particular, we adapt the recent CMS "razor" analysis from a search for supersymmetry to a search for DM. We consider simplified models where DM is a Dirac fermion that couples to the quarks of the Standard Model (SM) through exchange of vector or axial-vector mediators or to gluons through scalar exchange. We consider both light and heavy (leading to effective contact interactions) mediators. Since the razor analysis requires multiple jets in the final state, the data set is complementary to that used for the monojet search and thus the bounds can be combined.Comment: 25 pages, 10 figures; v2 published version; v3 removes duplication of manuscript in pd

Schmerztherapie in der Geburtshilfe

Zusammenfassung: Die epidurale Analgesie ist die effektivste Therapie gegen Schmerzen unter der Geburt. Der Geburtsverlauf wird nur minimal beeinflusst, insbesondere gibt es keinen Einfluss auf die Häufigkeit von Schnittentbindungen. Die jüngste Entwicklung mit programmierten intermittierenden Boli ist vielversprechend. Eine parenterale Analgesie mit Opioiden hat den Nachteil einer systemischen Wirkung mit der entsprechenden Gefahr der Atemdepression. Das Sicherheitsprofil der Remifentanil-PCA (patientinnnenkontrollierte Analgesie) ist noch unbekannt, sie wird vorwiegend bei Kontraindikationen für ein neuraxiales Verfahren empfohle

Variation of the Diameter of the Sun as Measured by the Solar Disk Sextant (SDS)

The balloon-borne Solar Disk Sextant (SDS) experiment has measured the angular size of the Sun on seven occasions spanning the years 1992 to 2011. The solar half-diameter -- observed in a 100-nm wide passband centred at 615 nm -- is found to vary over that period by up to 200 mas, while the typical estimated uncertainty of each measure is 20 mas. The diameter variation is not in phase with the solar activity cycle; thus, the measured diameter variation cannot be explained as an observational artefact of surface activity. Other possible instrument-related explanations for the observed variation are considered but found unlikely, leading us to conclude that the variation is real. The SDS is described here in detail, as is the complete analysis procedure necessary to calibrate the instrument and allow comparison of diameter measures across decades.Comment: 41 pages; appendix and 2 figures added plus some changes in text based on referee's comments; to appear in MNRA

Modeling and Simulation of Nonlinear Dynamics of Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicles

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90638/1/AIAA-54288-189.pd

Averaging of the Nonlinear Dynamics of Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicles for Symmetrical Flapping

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90719/1/AIAA-2011-1228-201.pd