Superconducting gap symmetry of Ba0.6K0.4Fe2As2 studied by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy

We have performed high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy on the optimally-doped Ba$_{0.6}$K$_{0.4}$Fe$_2$As$_2$ compound and determined the accurate momentum dependence of the superconducting (SC) gap in four Fermi-surface sheets including a newly discovered outer electron pocket at the M point. The SC gap on this pocket is nearly isotropic and its magnitude is comparable ($\Delta$ $\sim$ 11 meV) to that of the inner electron and hole pockets ($\sim$12 meV), although it is substantially larger than that of the outer hole pocket ($\sim$6 meV). The Fermi-surface dependence of the SC gap value is basically consistent with $\Delta$($k$) = $\Delta$$_0$cos$k_x$cos$k_y$ formula expected for the extended s-wave symmetry. The observed finite deviation from the simple formula suggests the importance of multi-orbital effects.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl

Use of the Metropolis algorithm to simulate the dynamics of protein chains

The Metropolis implementation of the Monte Carlo algorithm has been developed to study the equilibrium thermodynamics of many-body systems. Choosing small trial moves, the trajectories obtained applying this algorithm agree with those obtained by Langevin's dynamics. Applying this procedure to a simplified protein model, it is possible to show that setting a threshold of 1 degree on the movement of the dihedrals of the protein backbone in a single Monte Carlo step, the mean quantities associated with the off-equilibrium dynamics (e.g., energy, RMSD, etc.) are well reproduced, while the good description of higher moments requires smaller moves. An important result is that the time duration of a Monte Carlo step depends linearly on the temperature, something which should be accounted for when doing simulations at different temperatures.Comment: corrections to the text and to the figure

A Survey on Multisensor Fusion and Consensus Filtering for Sensor Networks

Multisensor fusion and consensus filtering are two fascinating subjects in the research of sensor networks. In this survey, we will cover both classic results and recent advances developed in these two topics. First, we recall some important results in the development ofmultisensor fusion technology. Particularly, we pay great attention to the fusion with unknown correlations, which ubiquitously exist in most of distributed filtering problems. Next, we give a systematic review on several widely used consensus filtering approaches. Furthermore, some latest progress on multisensor fusion and consensus filtering is also presented. Finally, conclusions are drawn and several potential future research directions are outlined.the Royal Society of the UK, the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grants 61329301, 61374039, 61304010, 11301118, and 61573246, the Hujiang Foundation of China under Grants C14002 and D15009, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany, and the Innovation Fund Project for Graduate Student of Shanghai under Grant JWCXSL140

Association Between Air Pollution and Low Birth Weight: A Community-Based Study

The relationship between maternal exposure to air pollution during periods of pregnancy (entire and specific periods) and birth weight was investigated in a well-defined cohort. Between 1988 and 1991, all pregnant women living in four residential areas of Beijing were registered and followed from early pregnancy until delivery. Information on individual mothers and infants was collected. Daily air pollution data were obtained independently. The sample for analysis included 74,671 first-parity live births were gestational age 37-44 weeks. Multiple linear regression and logistic regression were used to estimate the effects of air pollution on birth weight and low birth weight (< 2,500 g), adjusting for gestational age, residence, year of birth, maternal age, and infant gender. There was a significant exposure-response relationship between maternal exposures to sulfur dioxide (SO2) and total suspended particles (TSP) during the third trimester of pregnancy and infant birth weight. The adjusted odds ratio for low birth weight was 1.11 (95% CI, 1.06-1.16) for each 100 micrograms/m3 increase in SO2 and 1.10 (95% CI, 1.05-1.14) for each 100 micrograms/m3 increase in TSP. The estimated reduction in birth weight was 7.3 g and 6.9 g for each 100 micrograms/m3 increase in SO2 and in TSP, respectively. The birth weight distribution of the high-exposure group was more skewed toward the left tail (i.e., with higher proportion of births < 2,500 g) than that of the low-exposure group. Although the effects of other unmeasured risk factors cannot be excluded with certainty, our data suggests that TSP and SO2, or a more complex pollution mixture associated with these pollutants, contribute to an excess risk of low birth weight in the Beijing population.National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (ES05947, ES08337); National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (R01 HD32505); Department of Health and Human Services (MCJ-259501, HRSA 5 T32 PE10014

The complexity of recognizing linear systems with certain integrality properties

Let A be a 0 - 1 matrix with precisely two 1's in each column and let 1 be the all-one vector. We show that the problems of deciding whether the linear system Ax ≥ 1,x ≥ 0 (1) defines an integral polyhedron, (2) is totally dual integral (TDI), and (3) box-totally dual integral (box-TDI) are all co-NP-complete, thereby confirming the conjecture on NP-hardness of recognizing TDI systems made by Edmonds and Giles in 1984. © 2007 Springer-Verlag.preprin

On the \phi(1020)f_0(980) S-wave scattering and the Y(2175) resonance

We have studied the \phi(1020)f_0(980) S-wave scattering at energies around threshold employing chiral Lagrangians coupled to vector mesons through minimal coupling. The interaction kernel is obtained by considering the f_0(980) as a K\bar{K} bound state. The Y(2175) resonance is generated in this approach by the self-interactions between the \phi(1020) and the f_0(980) resonances. We are able to describe the e^+e^-\to \phi(1020)f_0(980) recent scattering data to test experimentally our scattering amplitudes, concluding that the Y(2175) resonance has a large \phi(1020)f_0(980) meson-meson component.Comment: 20 pages, 8 figure