31,621 research outputs found
Blockwise SVD with error in the operator and application to blind deconvolution
We consider linear inverse problems in a nonparametric statistical framework.
Both the signal and the operator are unknown and subject to error measurements.
We establish minimax rates of convergence under squared error loss when the
operator admits a blockwise singular value decomposition (blockwise SVD) and
the smoothness of the signal is measured in a Sobolev sense. We construct a
nonlinear procedure adapting simultaneously to the unknown smoothness of both
the signal and the operator and achieving the optimal rate of convergence to
within logarithmic terms. When the noise level in the operator is dominant, by
taking full advantage of the blockwise SVD property, we demonstrate that the
block SVD procedure overperforms classical methods based on Galerkin projection
or nonlinear wavelet thresholding. We subsequently apply our abstract framework
to the specific case of blind deconvolution on the torus and on the sphere
Doubled Full Shot Noise in Quantum Coherent Superconductor - Semiconductor Junctions
We performed low temperature shot noise measurements in Superconductor (TiN)
- strongly disordered normal metal (heavily doped Si) weakly transparent
junctions. We show that the conductance has a maximum due to coherent multiple
reflections at low energy and that shot noise is then twice the Poisson noise
(S=4eI). The shot noise changes to the normal value (S=2eI) due to a large
quasiparticle contribution.Comment: published in Physical Review Letter
On Hasse--Schmidt derivations: the action of substitution maps
We study the action of substitution maps between power series rings as an
additional algebraic structure on the groups of Hasse--Schmidt derivations.
This structure appears as a counterpart of the module structure on classical
derivations.Comment: 42 pages; Dedicated to Antonio Campillo on the occasion of his 65th
birthday; minor corrections; final versio
The electron density is smooth away from the nuclei
We prove that the electron densities of electronic eigenfunctions of atoms
and molecules are smooth away from the nuclei.Comment: 16 page
Quantification of antithrombin isoform proportions in plasma samples of healthy subjects, sepsis patients, and in antithrombin concentrates
Antithrombin (AT) circulates in plasma in two isoforms, AT-alpha (90-95%) and AT-beta (5-10%). AT isoform proportions were measured in plasma samples of 17 healthy subjects and 26 posttraumatic or postoperative septic patients, as well as in 4 commercially available AT concentrates. Total AT was immune-purified from plasma and concentrates. Micellar electrokinetic chromatography was used to analytically separate and quantify the isoforms. Compared with plasma samples of healthy donors, septic plasmas revealed significantly reduced AT activity (p < 0.001) and beta-isoform content (p < 0.05). AT-beta correlated inversely with urea and creatinine serum concentrations (p < 0.01), indicating a relationship between better renal function and higher beta-isoform content. beta-Isoform neither correlated with age, gender, and 28-day mortality, nor with plasma concentrations of various inflammatory and organ function parameters. The commercial AT concentrate, which is equivalent to the current WHO standard, had an AT-beta content close to that found in plasma of healthy subjects. The availability of this novel quantitative AT isoform assay allows, for the first time, a closer look at the role of AT isoforms in hemostasis and sepsis pathophysiology. Copyright (C) 2002 S. Karger AG, Basel
The Effects of Additives on the Physical Properties of Electroformed Nickel and on the Stretch of Photoelectroformed Nickel Components
The process of nickel electroforming is becoming increasingly important in
the manufacture of MST products, as it has the potential to replicate complex
geometries with extremely high fidelity. Electroforming of nickel uses
multi-component electrolyte formulations in order to maximise desirable product
properties. In addition to nickel sulphamate (the major electrolyte component),
formulation additives can also comprise nickel chloride (to increase nickel
anode dissolution), sulphamic acid (to control pH), boric acid (to act as a pH
buffer), hardening/levelling agents (to increase deposit hardness and lustre)
and wetting agents (to aid surface wetting and thus prevent gas bubbles and
void formation). This paper investigates the effects of some of these variables
on internal stress and stretch as a function of applied current density.Comment: Submitted on behalf of TIMA Editions
(http://irevues.inist.fr/tima-editions
Enhancement of perfluorooctanoate and perfluorooctanesulfonate activity at acoustic cavitation bubble interfaces
Acoustic cavitation driven by ultrasonic irradiation decomposes and mineralizes the recalcitrant perfluorinated surfactants perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoate (PFOA). Pyrolytic cleavage of the ionic headgroup is the rate-determining step. In this study, we examine the sonochemical adsorption of PFOX, where X = S for PFOS and A for PFOA, by determining kinetic order and absolute rates over an initial PFOX concentration range of 20 nM to 200 μM. Sonochemical PFOX kinetics transition from pseudo-first-order at low initial concentrations, [PFOX]_i 40 μM, as the bubble interface sites are saturated. At PFOX concentrations below 100 μM, concentration-dependent rates were modeled with Langmuir−Hinshelwood (LH) kinetics. Empirically determined rate maximums, V_(Max)^(−PFOA) = 2230 ± 560 nM min^−1 and V_(Max)^(−PFOS) = 230 ± 60 nM min^−1, were used in the LH model, and sonochemical surface activities were estimated to be K_(Sono)^(PFOS) = 120000 M^−1 and K_(Sono)^(PFOA) = 28500 M^−1, 60 and 80 times greater than equilibrium surface activities, K_(Eq)^(PFOS) and K_(Eq)^(PFOA). These results suggest enhanced sonochemical degradation rates for PFOX when the bubble interface is undersaturated. The present results are compared to previously reported sonochemical kinetics of nonvolatile surfactants
Spectral properties and geology of bright and dark material on dwarf planet Ceres
Variations and spatial distributions of bright and dark material on dwarf
planet Ceres play a key role in understanding the processes that have led to
its present surface composition. We define limits for bright and dark material
in order to distinguish them consistently, based on the reflectance of the
average surface using Dawn Framing Camera data. A systematic classification of
four types of bright material is presented based on their spectral properties,
composition, spatial distribution, and association with specific
geomorphological features. We found obvious correlations of reflectance with
spectral shape (slopes) and age; however, this is not unique throughout the
bright spots. Although impact features show generally more extreme reflectance
variations, several areas can only be understood in terms of inhomogeneous
distribution of composition as inferred from Dawn Visible and Infrared
Spectrometer data. Additional material with anomalous composition and spectral
properties are rare. The identification of the composition and origin of the
dark, particularly the darkest material, remains to be explored. The spectral
properties and the morphology of the dark sites suggest an endogenic origin,
but it is not clear whether they are more or less primitive surficial exposures
or excavated subsurface but localized material. The reflectance, spectral
properties, inferred composition, and geologic context collectively suggest
that the bright and dark material tends to gradually change toward the average
surface over time. This could be because of multiple processes, i.e., impact
gardening/space weathering, and lateral mixing, including thermal and aqueous
alteration, accompanied by changes in composition and physical properties such
as grain size, surface temperature, and porosity (compaction).Comment: Meteoritics and Planetary Science; Dawn at Ceres special issu
CENP-A Is Dispensable for Mitotic Centromere Function after Initial Centromere/Kinetochore Assembly
Human centromeres are defined by chromatin containing the histone H3 variant CENP-A assembled onto repetitive alphoid DNA sequences. By inducing rapid, complete degradation of endogenous CENP-A, we now demonstrate that once the first steps of centromere assembly have been completed in G1/S, continued CENP-A binding is not required for maintaining kinetochore attachment to centromeres or for centromere function in the next mitosis. Degradation of CENP-A prior to kinetochore assembly is found to block deposition of CENP-C and CENP-N, but not CENP-T, thereby producing defective kinetochores and failure of chromosome segregation. Without the continuing presence of CENP-A, CENP-B binding to alphoid DNA sequences becomes essential to preserve anchoring of CENP-C and the kinetochore to each centromere. Thus, there is a reciprocal interdependency of CENP-A chromatin and the underlying repetitive centromere DNA sequences bound by CENP-B in the maintenance of human chromosome segregation
KWISP: an ultra-sensitive force sensor for the Dark Energy sector
An ultra-sensitive opto-mechanical force sensor has been built and tested in
the optics laboratory at INFN Trieste. Its application to experiments in the
Dark Energy sector, such as those for Chameleon-type WISPs, is particularly
attractive, as it enables a search for their direct coupling to matter. We
present here the main characteristics and the absolute force calibration of the
KWISP (Kinetic WISP detection) sensor. It is based on a thin Si3N4
micro-membrane placed inside a Fabry-Perot optical cavity. By monitoring the
cavity characteristic frequencies it is possible to detect the tiny membrane
displacements caused by an applied force. Far from the mechanical resonant
frequency of the membrane, the measured force sensitivity is 5.0e-14
N/sqrt(Hz), corresponding to a displacement sensitivity of 2.5e-15 m/sqrt(Hz),
while near resonance the sensitivity is 1.5e-14 N/sqrt(Hz), reaching the
estimated thermal limit, or, in terms of displacement, 7.5e-16 N/sqrt(Hz).
These displacement sensitivities are comparable to those that can be achieved
by large interferometric gravitational wave detectors.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures in colo
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