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Turbulent flow at 190 m height above London during 2006-2008: A climatology and the applicability of similarity theory
Flow and turbulence above urban terrain is more complex than above rural terrain, due to the different momentum and heat transfer characteristics that are affected by the presence of buildings (e.g. pressure variations around buildings). The applicability of similarity theory (as developed over rural terrain) is tested using observations of flow from a sonic anemometer located at 190.3 m height in London, U.K. using about 6500 h of data. Turbulence statistics—dimensionless wind speed and temperature, standard deviations and correlation coefficients for momentum and heat transfer—were analysed in three ways. First, turbulence statistics were plotted as a function only of a local stability parameter z/Λ (where Λ is the local Obukhov length and z is the height above ground); the σ_i/u_* values (i = u, v, w) for neutral conditions are 2.3, 1.85 and 1.35 respectively, similar to canonical values. Second, analysis of urban mixed-layer formulations during daytime convective conditions over London was undertaken, showing that atmospheric turbulence at high altitude over large cities might not behave dissimilarly from that over rural terrain. Third, correlation coefficients for heat and momentum were analyzed with respect to local stability. The results give confidence in using the framework of local similarity for turbulence measured over London, and perhaps other cities. However, the following caveats for our data are worth noting: (i) the terrain is reasonably flat, (ii) building heights vary little over a large area, and (iii) the sensor height is above the mean roughness sublayer depth
Order by disorder and spiral spin liquid in frustrated diamond lattice antiferromagnets
Frustration refers to competition between different interactions that cannot
be simultaneously satisfied, a familiar feature in many magnetic solids. Strong
frustration results in highly degenerate ground states, and a large suppression
of ordering by fluctuations. Key challenges in frustrated magnetism are
characterizing the fluctuating spin-liquid regime and determining the mechanism
of eventual order at lower temperature. Here, we study a model of a diamond
lattice antiferromagnet appropriate for numerous spinel materials. With
sufficiently strong frustration a massive ground state degeneracy develops
amongst spirals whose propagation wavevectors reside on a continuous
two-dimensional ``spiral surface'' in momentum space. We argue that an
important ordering mechanism is entropic splitting of the degenerate ground
states, an elusive phenomena called order-by-disorder. A broad ``spiral
spin-liquid'' regime emerges at higher temperatures, where the underlying
spiral surface can be directly revealed via spin correlations. We discuss the
agreement between these predictions and the well characterized spinel MnSc2S4
Specific immune priming in the invasive ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi
Specific immune priming enables an induced immune response upon repeated pathogen encounter. As a functional analogue to vertebrate immune memory, such adaptive plasticity has been described, for instance, in insects and crustaceans. However, towards the base of the metazoan tree our knowledge about the existence of specific immune priming becomes scattered. Here, we exposed the invasive ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi repeatedly to two different bacterial epitopes (Gram-positive or -negative) and measured gene expression. Ctenophores experienced either the same bacterial epitope twice (homologous treatments) or different bacterial epitopes (heterologous treatments). Our results demonstrate that immune gene expression depends on earlier bacterial exposure. We detected significantly different expression upon heterologous compared with homologous bacterial treatment at three immune activator and effector genes. This is the first experimental evidence for specific immune priming in Ctenophora and generally in non-bilaterian animals, hereby adding to our growing notion of plasticity in innate immune systems across all animal phyla
Vectorial Control of Magnetization by Light
Coherent light-matter interactions have recently extended their applications
to the ultrafast control of magnetization in solids. An important but
unrealized technique is the manipulation of magnetization vector motion to make
it follow an arbitrarily designed multi-dimensional trajectory. Furthermore,
for its realization, the phase and amplitude of degenerate modes need to be
steered independently. A promising method is to employ Raman-type nonlinear
optical processes induced by femtosecond laser pulses, where magnetic
oscillations are induced impulsively with a controlled initial phase and an
azimuthal angle that follows well defined selection rules determined by the
materials' symmetries. Here, we emphasize the fact that temporal variation of
the polarization angle of the laser pulses enables us to distinguish between
the two degenerate modes. A full manipulation of two-dimensional magnetic
oscillations is demonstrated in antiferromagnetic NiO by employing a pair of
polarization-twisted optical pulses. These results have lead to a new concept
of vectorial control of magnetization by light
A 3D computed tomography based tool for orthopedic surgery planning
Series : Lecture notes in computational vision and biomechanics, vol. 19The preparation of a plan is essential for a surgery to take place in the
best way possible and also for shortening patient’s recovery times. In the orthopedic
case, planning has an accentuated significance due to the close relation between the
degree of success of the surgery and the patient recovering time. It is important that
surgeons are provided with tools that help them in the planning task, in order to
make it more reliable and less time consuming. In this paper, we present a 3D Computed
Tomography based solution and its implementation as an OsiriX plugin for
orthopedic surgery planning. With the developed plugin, the surgeon is able to manipulate
a three-dimensional isosurface rendered from the selected imaging study (a
CT scan). It is possible to add digital representations of physical implants (surgical
templates), in order to evaluate the feasibility of a plan. These templates are STL
files generated from CAD models. There is also the feature to extract new isosurfaces
of different voxel values and slice the final 3D model according to a predefined
plane, enabling a 2D analysis of the planned solution. Finally, we discuss how the
proposed application assists the surgeon in the planning process in an alternative
way, where it is possible to three-dimensionally analyze the impact of a surgical
intervention on the patient.(undefined
Increased Matrix Metalloproteinase (MMPs) Levels Do Not Predict Disease Severity or Progression in Emphysema
Rationale: Though matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are critical in the pathogenesis of COPD, their utility as a disease biomarker remains uncertain. This study aimed to determine whether bronchoalveolar lavage (BALF) or plasma MMP measurements correlated with disease severity or functional decline in emphysema. Methods: Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and luminex assays measured MMP-1, -9, -12 and tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase-1 in the BALF and plasma of non-smokers, smokers with normal lung function and moderate-to-severe emphysema subjects. In the cohort of 101 emphysema subjects correlative analyses were done to determine if MMP or TIMP-1 levels were associated with key disease parameters or change in lung function over an 18-month time period. Main Results: Compared to non-smoking controls, MMP and TIMP-1 BALF levels were significantly elevated in the emphysema cohort. Though MMP-1 was elevated in both the normal smoker and emphysema groups, collagenase activity was only increased in the emphysema subjects. In contrast to BALF, plasma MMP-9 and TIMP-1 levels were actually decreased in the emphysema cohort compared to the control groups. Both in the BALF and plasma, MMP and TIMP-1 measurements in the emphysema subjects did not correlate with important disease parameters and were not predictive of subsequent functional decline. Conclusions: MMPs are altered in the BALF and plasma of emphysema; however, the changes in MMPs correlate poorly with parameters of disease intensity or progression. Though MMPs are pivotal in the pathogenesis of COPD, these findings suggest that measuring MMPs will have limited utility as a prognostic marker in this disease. © 2013 D'Armiento et al
The microwave background temperature at the redshift of 2.33771
The Cosmic Microwave Background radiation is a fundamental prediction of Hot
Big Bang cosmology. The temperature of its black-body spectrum has been
measured at the present time, = 2.726 0.010 K, and is
predicted to have been higher in the past. At earlier time, the temperature can
be measured, in principle, using the excitation of atomic fine structure levels
by the radiation field. All previous measurements however give only upper
limits as they assume that no other significant source of excitation is
present. Here we report the detection of absorption from the first {\sl and}
second fine-structure levels of neutral carbon atoms in an isolated remote
cloud at a redshift of 2.33771. In addition, the unusual detection of molecular
hydrogen in several rotational levels and the presence of ionized carbon in its
excited fine structure level make the absorption system unique to constrain,
directly from observation, the different excitation processes at play. It is
shown for the first time that the cosmic radiation was warmer in the past. We
find 6.0 < T_{\rm CMBR} < 14 K at z = 2.33771 when 9.1 K is expected in the Hot
Big Bang cosmology.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in Nature, Press
embargo until 1900 hrs London time (GMT) on 20 Dec 200
A systematic review of biomarkers for disease progression in Parkinson's disease
Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Electroweak corrections to Higgs-strahlung off W/Z bosons at the Tevatron and the LHC with HAWK
The associate production of Higgs bosons with W or Z bosons, known as
Higgs-strahlung, is an important search channel for Higgs bosons at the hadron
colliders Tevatron and LHC for low Higgs-boson masses. We refine a previous
calculation of next-to-leading-order electroweak corrections (and recalculate
the QCD corrections) upon including the leptonic decay of the W/Z bosons,
thereby keeping the fully differential information of the 2-lepton + Higgs
final state. The gauge invariance of the W/Z-resonance treatment is ensured by
the use of the complex-mass scheme. The electroweak corrections, which are at
the level of -(5-10)% for total cross sections, further increase in size with
increasing transverse momenta p_T in differential cross sections. For instance,
for p_T,H >~ 200GeV, which is the interesting range at the LHC, the electroweak
corrections to WH production reach about -14% for M_H = 120GeV. The described
corrections are implemented in the HAWK Monte Carlo program, which was
initially designed for the vector-boson-fusion channel, and are discussed for
various distributions in the production channels pp / p \bar p -> H + l nu_l /
l^-l^+ / nu_l \bar nu_l + X.Comment: 22 p
Bargaining with Optimism
Excessive optimism is a prominent explanation for bargaining delays. Recent results demonstrate that optimism plays a subtle role in bargaining, and its careful analysis may shed valuable insights into negotiation behavior. This article reviews some of these results, focusing on the following findings. First, when there is a nearby deadline, optimistic players delay the agreement to the last period before the deadline, replicating a broad empirical regularity known as the deadline effect. Second, there cannot be a substantial delay under persistent optimism; i.e., excessive optimism alone cannot explain delays. Third, when optimistic players are expected to learn during the negotiation, they delay the agreement in order to persuade their opponents. The delays in these results can be quite costly, Pareto inefficient, and common knowledge at the beginning of the game
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