An Ensemble Kalman-Particle Predictor-Corrector Filter for Non-Gaussian Data Assimilation

An Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF, the predictor) is used make a large change in the state, followed by a Particle Filer (PF, the corrector) which assigns importance weights to describe non-Gaussian distribution. The weights are obtained by nonparametric density estimation. It is demonstrated on several numerical examples that the new predictor-corrector filter combines the advantages of the EnKF and the PF and that it is suitable for high dimensional states which are discretizations of solutions of partial differential equations.Comment: ICCS 2009, to appear; 9 pages; minor edit

H^+ -> W^+ l_i^- l_j^+$ decay in the two Higgs doublet model

We study the lepton flavor violating H^+ -> W^+ l_i^- l_j^+ and the lepton flavor conserving $H^+ -> W^+ l_i^- l_i^+ (l_i=\tau, l_j=\mu) decays in the general 2HDM, so called model III. We estimate the decay width \Gamma for LFV (LFC) at the order of the magnitude of (10^{-11}-10^{-5}) GeV ((10^{-9}-10^{-4}) GeV), for 200 GeV\leq m_{H^\pm}\leq 400 GeV, and the intermediate values of the coupling \bar{\xi}^{E}_{N,\tau \mu}\sim 5 GeV (\bar{\xi}^{E}_{N,\tau \tau}\sim 30 GeV). We observe that the experimental result of the process under consideration can give comprehensive information about the physics beyond the standard model and the existing free parameters.Comment: 8 pages, 7 Figure

Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scans accurately predict differing body fat content in live sheep

Background There is considerable interest in implementing mobile scanning technology for on-farm body composition analysis on live animals. These experiments evaluated the use of dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) as an accurate method of total body fat measurement in live sheep. Results In Exp. 1, visceral and whole body fat analysis was undertaken in sheep with body condition scores (BCS) in the range 2 to 3.25 (scale 1: thin to 5: fat). The relationship of BCS was moderately correlated with visceral fat depot mass (r = 0.59, P  0.05, n = 9). There was a moderate correlation between DXA body fat and BCS (r = 0.70, P < 0.01, n = 17), and DXA body fat was highly correlated with chemical body fat (r = 0.81, P < 0.001, n = 9). In Exp. 3, a series of five DXA scans, at 8-week intervals, was performed on growing sheep over a 32-week period. The average BCS ranged from 2.39 ± 0.07 (S.E.M.) to 3.05 ± 0.11 and the DXA body fat (%) ranged from 16.8 ± 0.8 to 24.2 ± 1.2. There was a moderate correlation between DXA body fat and BCS over the 32 weeks (r = 0.61, P < 0.001, n = 24). Conclusions Overall, these experiments indicated that there was good agreement between BCS, DXA and chemical analysis for measuring total body fat in sheep, and that DXA scanning is a valid method for longitudinal measurement of total body fat in live sheep

Anatomy of nuclear shape transition in the relativistic mean field theory

A detailed microscopic study of the temperature dependence of the shapes of some rare-earth nuclei is made in the relativistic mean field theory. Analyses of the thermal evolution of the single-particle orbitals and their occupancies leading to the collapse of the deformation are presented. The role of the non-linear $\sigma-$field on the shape transition in different nuclei is also investigated; in its absence the shape transition is found to be sharper.Comment: REVTEX file (13pages), 12 figures, Phys. Rev. C(in press), \documentstyle[aps,preprint]{revtex

Charge-Symmetry Breaking and the Two-Pion-Exchange Two-Nucleon Interaction

Charge-symmetry breaking in the nucleon-nucleon force is investigated within an effective field theory, using a classification of isospin-violating interactions based on power-counting arguments. The relevant charge-symmetry-breaking interactions corresponding to the first two orders in the power counting are discussed, including their effects on the 3He-3H binding-energy difference. The static charge-symmetry-breaking potential linear in the nucleon-mass difference is constructed using chiral perturbation theory. Explicit formulae in momentum and configuration spaces are presented. The present work completes previously obtained results.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figure

Complete genome sequence of the hippuricase-positive Campylobacter avium Type 5 LMG 24591

cited By 0Campylobacter avium is a thermotolerant Campylobacter species that has been isolated from poultry. C. avium was also the second hippuricase-positive species to be identified within Campylobacter. Here, we present the genome sequence of the C. avium type strain LMG 24591 (= CCUG 56292T), isolated in 2006 from a broiler chicken in Italy. © 2017 Miller et al.Peer reviewe

Biodeterioration of Roman tombs: The role of pigmented actinobacteria

Etruscan and Roman necropolises are cemeteries with different types of burial practices, which are remarkable for their magnificent mural paintings. The conservation of these paintings is difficult, mainly derived from environmental factors and the opening of the tombs to public visits. One of the most complex phenomena observed on these sites is biodeterioration. The Circular Mausoleum tomb (Roman Necropolis of Carmona, Seville, Spain) is characterized by a heavy colonization of phototrophic microorganisms on the walls and ceiling. In addition, some areas near the ceiling exhibited an important number of violet stains of unknown origin. Previously, Agarossi (1994) found similar violet stains, attributed to streptomycetes, in two Etruscan tombs. However, no data on the species involved or the chemical structure of the pigments were reported. Here we show that the violet stains observed in the Circular Mausoleum are produced by a strain of the actinobacterium Streptomyces isolated from the mortar walls, and able to synthesize the same violet pigment in the laboratory. Streptomyces parvus MC05 was identified after whole genome study by means of Next Generation Sequencing methods. Pairwise comparisons carried out for genomes of the type strain of S. parvus DSM40348T and the MC05 strain were performed using Jspecies service. While results observed for ANIb, ANIm and Tetra indexes indicated that both strains belong to the same species, the S. parvus MC05 strain differs from the DSM20348T type strain in genome size and secondary metabolites production. AntiSMASH analysis implemented for both strains showed that the S. parvus MC05, isolated from the tomb, presents the capacity of synthesize bioactive compounds which were absents in the type strain. HPLC-MS of the culture extracts from S. parvus MC05 showed the production of three main granaticin derivatives (dihydrogranaticin A, granaticin A and granaticin B) in addition to minor products of other granaticin analogues. Granaticin pigments exhibited antibacterial activity, which justified the low number of clones of Gram positive bacteria found in the whole microbial community study. Gram negative bacteria were not affected (Dominguez-Moñino et al. 2017). To conclude, the origin of the violet stains in the walls of the Circular Mausoleum is the presence of S. parvus MC05, a member of the complex microbial community thriving on the tomb. In growing periods (rainy season) the bacterium excretes the soluble violet granaticins, compounds with a benzoisochromanequinone structure, which diffuses to the mortar and surrounding substrata in wetting periods

Actinobacteria isolated from subterranean and cultural heritage: implications for biotechnology

Due to their extraordinary properties, Actinobacteria can thrive in extreme environments, such as limestone caves, lava tubes and stone monuments. They grow forming microbial mats and speleothems on the walls and ceilings of caves, ranging from extensive coatings to small colonies (Riquelme et al. 2015). Their colour includes yellow, tan, orange, grey, pink and white. Recently, we have found abundant yellow and white-coloured bacterial mats coating the cave walls and secondary mineral deposits (speleothems) of lava tubes from La Palma Island, Canary Islands, Spain (Gonzalez-Pimentel et al. 2018) and Mount Etna in Catania (Sicily, Italy). Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) of the coloured microbial mats revealed abundant Actinobacteria-like cells, including a variety of filaments and spore structures with smooth surface ornamentation or profuse surface appendages. The DNA-/RNA-based analyses confirmed that these microbial mats are mainly composed of metabolically active Actinobacteria (Gonzalez-Pimentel et al. 2018). It is well known that Actinobacteria, mainly isolated from marine and soil ecosystems, are an important source of bioactive compounds, with Streptomyces ranking first with a huge number of bioactive secondary metabolites (Guo et al. 2015). These compounds, not only produced by Streptomyces but also by Bacillus, are very important to the industrial sector, such as pharmacology, biofuel and food industries, as well as to the conservation of stone cultural heritage, due to their antimicrobial properties (Silva et al. 2017). In the last decades, these sectors have intensified demands for exploring novel eco-friendly bioactive compounds, which stresses the need to investigate new groups of Actinobacteria from underexplored habitats. Yet, Actinobacteria from caves have not been the target of intensive screening for bioactive secondary metabolites. Hence, Actinobacterial-like microbial mats were collected and isolated from lava tubes in La Palma and Mount Etna to investigate their biotechnological potential. The screening of antimicrobial activity was based both on culture-dependent techniques using the agar diffusion assay and on metagenomics. Our study has showed that the strain Streptomyces sp. MZ0467C isolated from La Palma lava tube has antimicrobial activity against Microbacterium, Rhodococcus, Arthrobacter, Kocuria, Sphingomonas and Paenibacillus due to its ingenious adaptations and metabolic strategies to survive under extreme environmental conditions. This demonstrates that Actinobacteria from subterranean environments are promising sources of antibacterial compounds with interest for cultural heritage conservation

The development of coal-based technologies for Department of Defense facilities: Phase 1 final report. Volume 1: Technical report

The first phase of a three-phase project investigating the development of coal-based technologies for Department of Defense facilities has been completed. The objectives of the project are to: decrease DOD`s dependence on foreign oil and increase its use of coal; promote public and private sector deployment of technologies for utilizing coal-based fuels in oil-designed combustion equipment; and provide a continuing environment for research and development of coal-based fuel technologies for small-scale applications at a time when market conditions in the US are not favorable for the introduction of coal-fired equipment in the commercial and industrial capacity ranges. The Phase 1 activities were focused on developing clean, coal-based combustion technologies for the utilization of both micronized coal-water mixtures (MCWMs) and dry, micronized coal (DMC) in fuel oil-designed industrial boilers. The specific objective in Phase 1 was to deliver fully engineered retrofit options for a fuel oil-designed watertube boiler located on a DOD installation to fire either MCWM or DMC. This was achieved through a project consisting of fundamental, pilot-sale, and demonstration-scale activities investigating coal beneficiation and preparation, and MCWM and DMC combustion performance. In addition, detailed engineering designs and an economic analysis were conducted for a boiler located at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, near Crane, Indiana. Results are reported on MCWM and DMC combustion performance evaluation; engineering design; and cost/economic analysis