1,530 research outputs found
Passive water control at the surface of a superhydrophobic lichen
Some lichens have a super-hydrophobic upper surface, which repels water drops, keeping the surface dry but probably preventing water uptake. Spore ejection requires water and is most efficient just after rainfall. This study was carried out to investigate how super-hydrophobic lichens manage water uptake and repellence at their fruiting bodies, or podetia. Drops of water were placed onto separate podetia of Cladonia chlorophaea and observed using optical microscopy and cryo-scanning-electron microscopy (cryo-SEM) techniques to determine the structure of podetia and to visualise their interaction with water droplets. SEM and optical microscopy studies revealed that the surface of the podetia was constructed in a three-level structural hierarchy. By cryo-SEM of water-glycerol droplets placed on the upper part of the podetium, pinning of the droplet to specific, hydrophilic spots (pycnidia/apothecia) was observed. The results suggest a mechanism for water uptake, which is highly sophisticated, using surface wettability to generate a passive response to different types of precipitation in a manner similar to the Namib Desert beetle. This mechanism is likely to be found in other organisms as it offers passive but selective water control
Optimization viewpoint on Kalman smoothing, with applications to robust and sparse estimation
In this paper, we present the optimization formulation of the Kalman
filtering and smoothing problems, and use this perspective to develop a variety
of extensions and applications. We first formulate classic Kalman smoothing as
a least squares problem, highlight special structure, and show that the classic
filtering and smoothing algorithms are equivalent to a particular algorithm for
solving this problem. Once this equivalence is established, we present
extensions of Kalman smoothing to systems with nonlinear process and
measurement models, systems with linear and nonlinear inequality constraints,
systems with outliers in the measurements or sudden changes in the state, and
systems where the sparsity of the state sequence must be accounted for. All
extensions preserve the computational efficiency of the classic algorithms, and
most of the extensions are illustrated with numerical examples, which are part
of an open source Kalman smoothing Matlab/Octave package.Comment: 46 pages, 11 figure
ACL graft re-rupture after double-bundle reconstruction: factors that influence the intra-articular pattern of injury
To determine the most common rupture patterns of previously reconstructed DB-ACL cases, seen at the time of revision surgery, and to determine the influence of age, gender, time between the initial ACL reconstruction and re-injury, tunnel angle and etiology of failure. Forty patients who presented for revision surgery after previous double-bundle ACL reconstruction were enrolled. Three orthopedic surgeons independently reviewed the arthroscopic videos and determined the rupture pattern of both the anteromedial and posterolateral grafts. The graft rupture pattern was then correlated with the previously mentioned factors. The most common injury pattern seen at the time of revision ACL surgery was mid-substance AM and PL bundle rupture. Factors that influenced the rupture pattern (proximal vs. mid-substance and distal rupture vs. elongated, but in continuity) were months between ACL reconstruction and re-injury (P = 0.002), the etiology of failure (traumatic vs. atraumatic) (P = 0.025) and the measured graft tunnel angle (P = 0.048). The most common pattern of graft re-rupture was mid-substance AM and mid-substance PL. As the length of time from the initial DB-ACL reconstruction to revision surgery increased, the pattern of injury more closely resembled that of the native ACL. Evaluation of patients who have undergone double-bundle ACL reconstruction, with a particular focus on graft maturity, mechanism of injury and femoral tunnel angles, and graft rupture pattern assists in preoperative planning for revision surger
Where is SUSY?
The direct searches for Superymmetry at colliders can be complemented by
direct searches for dark matter (DM) in underground experiments, if one assumes
the Lightest Supersymmetric Particle (LSP) provides the dark matter of the
universe. It will be shown that within the Constrained minimal Supersymmetric
Model (CMSSM) the direct searches for DM are complementary to direct LHC
searches for SUSY and Higgs particles using analytical formulae. A combined
excluded region from LHC, WMAP and XENON100 will be provided, showing that
within the CMSSM gluinos below 1 TeV and LSP masses below 160 GeV are excluded
(m_{1/2} > 400 GeV) independent of the squark masses.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figure
Improving the sensitivity of Higgs boson searches in the golden channel
Leptonic decays of the Higgs boson in the ZZ* channel yield what is known as
the golden channel due to its clean signature and good total invariant mass
resolution. In addition, the full kinematic distribution of the decay products
can be reconstructed, which, nonetheless, is not taken into account in
traditional search strategy relying only on measurements of the total invariant
mass. In this work we implement a type of multivariate analysis known as the
matrix element method, which exploits differences in the full production and
decay matrix elements between the Higgs boson and the dominant irreducible
background from q bar{q} -> ZZ*. Analytic expressions of the differential
distributions for both the signal and the background are also presented. We
perform a study for the Large Hadron Collider at sqrt{s}=7 TeV for Higgs masses
between 175 and 350 GeV. We find that, with an integrated luminosity of 2.5
fb^-1 or higher, improvements in the order of 10 - 20 % could be obtained for
both discovery significance and exclusion limits in the high mass region, where
the differences in the angular correlations between signal and background are
most pronounced.Comment: 31 pages, 8 figures. v2: Minus signs in definitions of angles
corrected. Typos fixed. Reference added. Cosmetic changes to Figure 4.
Additional sentence added for clarificatio
Polymorphisms in folate-metabolizing genes, chromosome damage, and risk of Down syndrome in Italian women: identification of key factors using artificial neural networks
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Studies in mothers of Down syndrome individuals (MDS) point to a role for polymorphisms in folate metabolic genes in increasing chromosome damage and maternal risk for a Down syndrome (DS) pregnancy, suggesting complex gene-gene interactions. This study aimed to analyze a dataset of genetic and cytogenetic data in an Italian group of MDS and mothers of healthy children (control mothers) to assess the predictive capacity of artificial neural networks assembled in TWIST system in distinguish consistently these two different conditions and to identify the variables expressing the maximal amount of relevant information to the condition of being mother of a DS child.</p> <p>The dataset consisted of the following variables: the frequency of chromosome damage in peripheral lymphocytes (BNMN frequency) and the genotype for 7 common polymorphisms in folate metabolic genes (<it>MTHFR </it>677C>T and 1298A>C, <it>MTRR </it>66A>G, <it>MTR </it>2756A>G, <it>RFC1 </it>80G>A and <it>TYMS </it>28bp repeats and 1494 6bp deletion). Data were analysed using TWIST system in combination with supervised artificial neural networks, and a semantic connectivity map.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>TWIST system selected 6 variables (BNMN frequency, <it>MTHFR </it>677TT, <it>RFC1 </it>80AA, <it>TYMS </it>1494 6bp +/+, <it>TYMS </it>28bp 3R/3R and <it>MTR </it>2756AA genotypes) that were subsequently used to discriminate between MDS and control mothers with 90% accuracy. The semantic connectivity map provided important information on the complex biological connections between the studied variables and the two conditions (being MDS or control mother).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Overall, the study suggests a link between polymorphisms in folate metabolic genes and DS risk in Italian women.</p
Observation of CR Anisotropy with ARGO-YBJ
The measurement of the anisotropies of cosmic ray arrival direction provides
important informations on the propagation mechanisms and on the identification
of their sources. In this paper we report the observation of anisotropy regions
at different angular scales. In particular, the observation of a possible
anisotropy on scales between 10 and 30
suggests the presence of unknown features of the magnetic fields the charged
cosmic rays propagate through, as well as potential contributions of nearby
sources to the total flux of cosmic rays. Evidence of new weaker few-degree
excesses throughout the sky region R.A. is
reported for the first time.Comment: Talk given at 12th TAUP Conference 2011, 5-9 September 2011, Munich,
German
Reading Stoneridge Carefully: A Duty-based Approach to Reliance and Third Party Liability Under Rule 10b-5
Factors that influence the intra-articular rupture pattern of the ACL graft following single-bundle reconstruction
The number of revision anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) surgeries performed annually continues to rise. The purpose of this study was to determine the most common rupture pattern in ACL revision cases after previous single-bundle reconstruction. The second aim was to determine the relationship between rupture pattern and patient-specific factors (age, gender, time between the initial ACL reconstruction and re-injury, and etiology/mechanism of failure) and surgical factors (graft type, tunnel angle). This was a cohort study of 60 patients that underwent revision ACL surgery after previous single-bundle ACL reconstruction. Three sports medicine-trained orthopedic surgeons reviewed the arthroscopic videos and determined the rupture pattern of the grafts. The rupture pattern was then correlated to the above-mentioned factors. The inter-observer agreement had a kappa of 0.7. The most common rupture pattern after previous single-bundle ACL reconstruction is elongation of the graft. This is different from the native ACL, which displays more proximal ruptures. With the use of autograft tissue and after a longer period of time, the rupture pattern in revision surgery is more similar to that of the native ACL. The most common rupture pattern after previous single-bundle reconstruction was elongation of the graft. Factors that influenced the rupture pattern were months between ACL reconstruction and re-injury and graft type. Cohort study, Level I
Experimental Observation of Quantum Chaos in a Beam of Light
The manner in which unpredictable chaotic dynamics manifests itself in
quantum mechanics is a key question in the field of quantum chaos. Indeed, very
distinct quantum features can appear due to underlying classical nonlinear
dynamics. Here we observe signatures of quantum nonlinear dynamics through the
direct measurement of the time-evolved Wigner function of the quantum-kicked
harmonic oscillator, implemented in the spatial degrees of freedom of light.
Our setup is decoherence-free and we can continuously tune the semiclassical
and chaos parameters, so as to explore the transition from regular to
essentially chaotic dynamics. Owing to its robustness and versatility, our
scheme can be used to experimentally investigate a variety of nonlinear quantum
phenomena. As an example, we couple this system to a quantum bit and
experimentally investigate the decoherence produced by regular or chaotic
dynamics.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure
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