Multi-resolution texture classification based on local image orientation

The aim of this paper is to evaluate quantitatively the discriminative power of the image orientation in the texture classification process. In this regard, we have evaluated the performance of two texture classification schemes where the image orientation is extracted using the partial derivatives of the Gaussian function. Since the texture descriptors are dependent on the observation scale, in this study the main emphasis is placed on the implementation of multi-resolution texture analysis schemes. The experimental results were obtained when the analysed texture descriptors were applied to standard texture databases

A Clinical Trial of the Effects of Oral Beta-Carotene on the Responses of Human Skin to Solar Radiation

Beta-carotene (180 mg/day, p. o. ) or a placebo was administered to 30 normal male volunteers for 10 weeks, after which the volunteers were exposed to sunlight in the Arizona desert for up to 2 hours. Beta-carotene had a small but statistically significant effect in increasing the minimal erythema dose of sunburn radiation. The observed effects were too small to recommend the use of beta-carotene as a photoprotective agent for sunburn, but the methods developed provide a workable model for randomized controlled trials for evaluating the efficacy of systemic photoprotective agents

Symmetries of the Kac-Peterson Modular Matrices of Affine Algebras

The characters $\chi_\mu$ of nontwisted affine algebras at fixed level define in a natural way a representation $R$ of the modular group $SL_2(Z)$. The matrices in the image $R(SL_2(Z))$ are called the Kac-Peterson modular matrices, and describe the modular behaviour of the characters. In this paper we consider all levels of $(A_{r_1}\oplus\cdots\oplus A_{r_s})^{(1)}$, and for each of these find all permutations of the highest weights which commute with the corresponding Kac-Peterson matrices. This problem is equivalent to the classification of automorphism invariants of conformal field theories, and its solution, especially considering its simplicity, is a major step toward the classification of all Wess-Zumino-Witten conformal field theories.Comment: 16 pp, plain te

Study of the B^0 Semileptonic Decay Spectrum at the Upsilon(4S) Resonance

We have made a first measurement of the lepton momentum spectrum in a sample of events enriched in neutral B's through a partial reconstruction of B0 --> D*- l+ nu. This spectrum, measured with 2.38 fb**-1 of data collected at the Upsilon(4S) resonance by the CLEO II detector, is compared directly to the inclusive lepton spectrum from all Upsilon(4S) events in the same data set. These two spectra are consistent with having the same shape above 1.5 GeV/c. From the two spectra and two other CLEO measurements, we obtain the B0 and B+ semileptonic branching fractions, b0 and b+, their ratio, and the production ratio f+-/f00 of B+ and B0 pairs at the Upsilon(4S). We report b+/b0=0.950 (+0.117-0.080) +- 0.091, b0 = (10.78 +- 0.60 +- 0.69)%, and b+ = (10.25 +- 0.57 +- 0.65)%. b+/b0 is equivalent to the ratio of charged to neutral B lifetimes, tau+/tau0.Comment: 14 page, postscript file also available at http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLN

Left ventricular mass increases with deteriorating glucose tolerance, especially in women: Independence of increased arterial stiffness or decreased flow-mediated dilation - The Hoorn Study

OBJECTIVE - Type 2 diabetes and impaired glucose metabolism (IGM) are associated with an increased cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Increased left ventricular mass (LVM) is thought to increase CVD risk through several unfavorable cardiac changes. Type 2 diabetes and IGM are associated with increased LVM, but the underlying mechanism is unclear. We investigated the association between glucose tolerance status (GTS) and LVM and explored whether any such association could be mediated through increased arterial stiffness, impaired endothelial function, or the presence of atherosclerosis. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS - We used ultrasound to measure LVM, carotid and femoral stiffness, carotid-femoral transit time, and flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD) and tonometry to estimate compliance and augmentation index. The study population (n = 780) consisted of 287 individuals with normal glucose metabolism (NGM), 179 with IGM, and 314 with type 2 diabetes, and the mean age was 68.4 years. RESULTS - In women, after adjusting for age, height, BMI, and mean arterial pressure, LVM increased significantly with deteriorating GTS (LVM 157 g in NGM, 155 g in IGM, and 169 g in type 2 diabetes, P for trend <0.018). Additional adjustment for arterial stiffness, FMD, or the presence of atherosclerosis did not materially alter the results, even though these variables were significantly associated with both GTS and LVM. Indexes of hyperglycemia/-insulinemia or insulin resistance explained at most 7% of the association between GTS and LVM. In men, no statistically significant associations were observed. CONCLUSIONS - Our data expand the conceptual view of the pathogenesis of GTS-related changes in LVM because we show that the increase in LVM in women is independent of increased arterial stiffness, impaired FMD, or the presence of atherosclerosis. In addition, we show that this increase in LVM is only minimally explained by indexes of hyperglycemia/-insulinemia or insulin resistance. Our data may, in part, explain the increased CVD risk seen in women with deteriorating GTS

Time-integrated luminosity recorded by the BABAR detector at the PEP-II e+e- collider

This article is the Preprint version of the final published artcile which can be accessed at the link below.We describe a measurement of the time-integrated luminosity of the data collected by the BABAR experiment at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy e+e- collider at the ϒ(4S), ϒ(3S), and ϒ(2S) resonances and in a continuum region below each resonance. We measure the time-integrated luminosity by counting e+e-→e+e- and (for the ϒ(4S) only) e+e-→μ+μ- candidate events, allowing additional photons in the final state. We use data-corrected simulation to determine the cross-sections and reconstruction efficiencies for these processes, as well as the major backgrounds. Due to the large cross-sections of e+e-→e+e- and e+e-→μ+μ-, the statistical uncertainties of the measurement are substantially smaller than the systematic uncertainties. The dominant systematic uncertainties are due to observed differences between data and simulation, as well as uncertainties on the cross-sections. For data collected on the ϒ(3S) and ϒ(2S) resonances, an additional uncertainty arises due to ϒ→e+e-X background. For data collected off the ϒ resonances, we estimate an additional uncertainty due to time dependent efficiency variations, which can affect the short off-resonance runs. The relative uncertainties on the luminosities of the on-resonance (off-resonance) samples are 0.43% (0.43%) for the ϒ(4S), 0.58% (0.72%) for the ϒ(3S), and 0.68% (0.88%) for the ϒ(2S).This work is supported by the US Department of Energy and National Science Foundation, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (Canada), the Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique and Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physiquedes Particules (France), the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung and Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Germany), the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (Italy), the Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter (The Netherlands), the Research Council of Norway, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (Spain), and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (United Kingdom). Individuals have received support from the Marie-Curie IEF program (European Union) and the A.P. Sloan Foundation (USA)

Measurement of the Mass Splittings between the bbˉχb,J(1P)b\bar{b}\chi_{b,J}(1P) States

We present new measurements of photon energies and branching fractions for the radiative transitions: Upsilon(2S)->gamma+chi_b(J=0,1,2). The masses of the chi_b states are determined from the measured radiative photon energies. The ratio of mass splittings between the chi_b substates, r==(M[J=2]-M[J=1])/(M[J=1]-M[J=0]) with M the chi_b mass, provides information on the nature of the bbbar confining potential. We find r(1P)=0.54+/-0.02+/-0.02. This value is in conflict with the previous world average, but more consistent with the theoretical expectation that r(1P)<r(2P); i.e., that this mass splittings ratio is smaller for the chi_b(1P) triplet than for the chi_b(2P) triplet.Comment: 11 page postscript file, postscript file also available through http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLN

Radiative Decay Modes of the D0D^{0} Meson

Using data recorded by the CLEO-II detector at CESR we have searched for four radiative decay modes of the $D^0$ meson: $D^0\to\phi\gamma$, $D^0\to\omega\gamma$, $D^0\to\bar{K}^{*}\gamma$, and $D^0\to\rho^0\gamma$. We obtain 90% CL upper limits on the branching ratios of these modes of $1.9\times 10^{-4}$, $2.4\times 10^{-4}$, $7.6\times 10^{-4}$ and $2.4\times 10^{-4}$ respectively.Comment: 15 page postscript file, postscript file also available through http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLN

Measurement of the polarisation of W bosons produced with large transverse momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS experiment

This paper describes an analysis of the angular distribution of W->enu and W->munu decays, using data from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2010, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 35 pb^-1. Using the decay lepton transverse momentum and the missing transverse energy, the W decay angular distribution projected onto the transverse plane is obtained and analysed in terms of helicity fractions f0, fL and fR over two ranges of W transverse momentum (ptw): 35 < ptw < 50 GeV and ptw > 50 GeV. Good agreement is found with theoretical predictions. For ptw > 50 GeV, the values of f0 and fL-fR, averaged over charge and lepton flavour, are measured to be : f0 = 0.127 +/- 0.030 +/- 0.108 and fL-fR = 0.252 +/- 0.017 +/- 0.030, where the first uncertainties are statistical, and the second include all systematic effects.Comment: 19 pages plus author list (34 pages total), 9 figures, 11 tables, revised author list, matches European Journal of Physics C versio