Probability: modeling and applications to random processes

This is a review of the book "Probability: Modeling and Applications to Random Processes" by Gregory K. Miller

R. K. Narayanswami B.A.B.L. Engine Driver : Story-Telling and Memory in The Grandmother’s Tale, and Selected Stories

Much like the Nambi of this tale, R. K. Narayan has merited his reputation as a marvelous storyteller. Noted for his laser-beam focus on the closely-imagined Malgudi, he has come to be recognized as the Indian novelist, from whose pen many readers expected all the accumulated wisdom of the subcontinent\u27s abiding concern for transcendence. While such guru-ization amused Narayan, it also elicited his quietly sustained argument against procrustean templates by which the west insisted on reading him as typically Indian.

Spectroscopy of Four Cataclysmic Variables with Periods above 7 Hours

We present spectroscopy of four cataclysmic variables. Using radial velocity measurements, we find orbital periods for the first time. The stars and their periods are GY Hya, 0.347230(9) d; SDSS J204448-045929, 1.68(1) d; V392 Hya, 0.324952(5) d; and RX J1951.7+3716, 0.492(1) d. We also detect the spectra of the secondary stars, estimate their spectral types, and derive distances based on surface brightness and Roche lobe constraints.Comment: 22 pages, 3 figures, 5 tables, to be published in December 2006 PAS

QCD corrections to the hadronic production of a heavy quark pair and a W-boson including decay correlations

We perform an analytic calculation of the one-loop amplitude for the W-boson mediated process 0 \to d u-bar Q Q-bar l-bar l, retaining the mass for the quark Q. The momentum of each of the massive quarks is expressed as the sum of two massless momenta and the corresponding heavy quark spinor is expressed as a sum of two massless spinors. Using a special choice for the heavy quark spinors we obtain analytic expressions for the one-loop amplitudes which are amenable to fast numerical evaluation. The full next-to-leading order (NLO) calculation of hadron+hadron \to W(\to e nu) b b-bar with massive b-quarks is included in the program MCFM. A comparison is performed with previous published work.Comment: 45 pages, 17 figure

Lin28A induces energetic switching to glycolytic metabolism in human embryonic kidney cells

Background: Loss of a cell’s capacity to generate sufficient energy for cellular functions is a key hallmark of the ageing process and ultimately leads to a variety of important age-related pathologies such as cancer, Parkinson’s disease and atherosclerosis. Regenerative medicine has sought to reverse these pathologies by reprogramming somatic cells to a more juvenile energetic state using a variety of stem cell factors. One of these factors, Lin28, is considered a candidate for modification in the reprogramming of cellular energetics to ameliorate the ageing process while retaining cell phenotype. Results: Over-expression of Lin28A resulted in key changes to cellular metabolism not observed in wild-type controls. Extracellular pH flux analysis indicated that Lin28A over expression significantly increased the rate of glycolysis, whilst high resolution oxygen respirometry demonstrated a reduced oxygen consumption. Western blot and real-time PCR analysis identified Hexokinase II as one of the key modulators of glycolysis in these cells which was further confirmed by increased glucose transport. A metabolic switching effect was further emphasised by Western blot analysis where the oxygen consuming mitochondrial complex IV was significantly reduced after Lin28A over expression. Conclusions: Results from this study confirm that Lin28A expression promotes metabolic switching to a phenotype that relies predominantly on glycolysis as an energy source, while compromising oxidative phosphorylation. Mechanisms to augment regulated Lin28A in age related pathologies that are characterised by mitochondria dysfunction or in differentiated and aged post-mitotic cells is the future goal of this work

Single top production and decay at next-to-leading order

We present the results of a next-to-leading order analysis of single top production including the decay of the top quark. Radiative effects are included both in the production and decay stages, using a general subtraction method. This calculation gives a good treatment of the jet activity associated with single top production. We perform an analysis of the single top search at the Tevatron, including a consideration of the main backgrounds, many of which are also calculated at next-to-leading order.Comment: 35 pages + 15 figures, revtex