1,376 research outputs found
Optimal infinite scheduling for multi-priced timed automata
This paper is concerned with the derivation of infinite schedules for timed automata that are in some sense optimal. To cover a wide class of optimality criteria we start out by introducing an extension of the (priced) timed automata model that includes both costs and rewards as separate modelling features. A precise definition is then given of what constitutes optimal infinite behaviours for this class of models. We subsequently show that the derivation of optimal non-terminating schedules for such double-priced timed automata is computable. This is done by a reduction of the problem to the determination of optimal mean-cycles in finite graphs with weighted edges. This reduction is obtained by introducing the so-called corner-point abstraction, a powerful abstraction technique of which we show that it preserves optimal schedules
Magnetic ground state and magnon-phonon interaction in multiferroic h-YMnO
Inelastic neutron scattering has been used to study the magneto-elastic
excitations in the multiferroic manganite hexagonal YMnO. An avoided
crossing is found between magnon and phonon modes close to the Brillouin zone
boundary in the -plane. Neutron polarization analysis reveals that this
mode has mixed magnon-phonon character. An external magnetic field along the
-axis is observed to cause a linear field-induced splitting of one of the
spin wave branches. A theoretical description is performed, using a Heisenberg
model of localized spins, acoustic phonon modes and a magneto-elastic coupling
via the single-ion magnetostriction. The model quantitatively reproduces the
dispersion and intensities of all modes in the full Brillouin zone, describes
the observed magnon-phonon hybridized modes, and quantifies the magneto-elastic
coupling. The combined information, including the field-induced magnon
splitting, allows us to exclude several of the earlier proposed models and
point to the correct magnetic ground state symmetry, and provides an effective
dynamic model relevant for the multiferroic hexagonal manganites.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figure
Muon spin rotation study of magnetism and superconductivity in Ba(Fe1-xCox)2As2 single crystals
Using muon spin rotation (muSR) we investigated the magnetic and
superconducting properties of a series of Ba(Fe1-xCox)2As2 single crystals with
0 =< x =< 0.15. Our study details how the antiferromagnetic order is suppressed
upon Co substitution and how it coexists with superconductivity. In the
non-superconducting samples at 0 < x < 0.04 the antiferromagnetic order
parameter is only moderately suppressed. With the onset of superconductivity
this suppression becomes faster and it is most rapid between x = 0.045 and
0.05. As was previously demonstrated by muSR at x = 0.055 [P. Marsik et al.,
Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 57001 (2010)], the strongly weakened antiferromagnetic
order is still a bulk phenomenon that competes with superconductivity. The
comparison with neutron diffraction data suggests that the antiferromagnetic
order remains commensurate whereas the amplitude exhibits a spatial variation
that is likely caused by the randomly distributed Co atoms. A different kind of
magnetic order that was also previously identified [C. Bernhard et al., New J.
Phys. 11, 055050 (2009)] occurs at 0.055 < x < 0.075 where Tc approaches the
maximum value. The magnetic order develops here only in parts of the sample
volume and it seems to cooperate with superconductivity since its onset
temperature coincides with Tc. Even in the strongly overdoped regime at x =
0.11, where the static magnetic order has disappeared, we find that the low
energy spin fluctuations are anomalously enhanced below Tc. These findings
point toward a drastic change in the relationship between the magnetic and
superconducting orders from a competitive one in the strongly underdoped regime
to a constructive one in near optimally and overdoped samples.Comment: 33 Pages, 9 Figure
The politicisation of evaluation: constructing and contesting EU policy performance
Although systematic policy evaluation has been conducted for decades and has been growing strongly within the European Union (EU) institutions and in the member states, it remains largely underexplored in political science literatures. Extant work in political science and public policy typically focuses on elements such as agenda setting, policy shaping, decision making, or implementation rather than evaluation. Although individual pieces of research on evaluation in the EU have started to emerge, most often regarding policy “effectiveness” (one criterion among many in evaluation), a more structured approach is currently missing. This special issue aims to address this gap in political science by focusing on four key focal points: evaluation institutions (including rules and cultures), evaluation actors and interests (including competencies, power, roles and tasks), evaluation design (including research methods and theories, and their impact on policy design and legislation), and finally, evaluation purpose and use (including the relationships between discourse and scientific evidence, political attitudes and strategic use). The special issue considers how each of these elements contributes to an evolving governance system in the EU, where evaluation is playing an increasingly important role in decision making
Measurement of unique magnetic and superconducting phases in oxygen-doped high-temperature superconductors La<sub>2-x</sub>Sr<sub>x</sub>CuO<sub>4+y</sub>
We present a combined magnetic neutron scattering and muon spin rotation
study of the nature of the magnetic and superconducting phases in
electronically phase separated La(2-x)Sr(x)CuO(4+y), x = 0.04, 065, 0.09. For
all samples, we find long-range modulated magnetic order below T_N ~ T_c = 39
K. In sharp contrast wit oxygen-stoichiometric La(2-x)Sr(x)CuO(4), we find that
the magnetic propagation vector as well as the ordered magnetic moment is
independent of Sr content and consistent with that of the 'striped' cuprates.
Our study provides direct proof that superoxygenation in La(2-x)Sr(x)CuO(4+y)
allows the spin stripe ordered phase to emerge and phase separate from
superconducting regions with the hallmarks of optimally doped
oxygen-stoichiometric La(2-x)Sr(x)CuO(4)
Increasing condom use in heterosexual men: development of a theory-based interactive digital intervention
Increasing condom use to prevent sexually transmitted infections is a key public health goal. Interventions are more likely to be effective if they are theory- and evidence-based. The Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW) provides a framework for intervention development. To provide an example of how the BCW was used to develop an intervention to increase condom use in heterosexual men (the MenSS website), the steps of the BCW intervention development process were followed, incorporating evidence from the research literature and views of experts and the target population. Capability (e.g. knowledge) and motivation (e.g. beliefs about pleasure) were identified as important targets of the intervention. We devised ways to address each intervention target, including selecting interactive features and behaviour change techniques. The BCW provides a useful framework for integrating sources of evidence to inform intervention content and deciding which influences on behaviour to target
The Edgeworth-Kuiper debris disk
(Abridged) The Edgeworth-Kuiper belt with its presumed dusty debris is a
natural reference for extrsolar debris disks. We employ a new algorithm to
eliminate the inclination and the distance selection effects in the known TNO
populations to derive expected parameters of the "true" EKB. Its estimated mass
is M_EKB=0.12 M_earth, which is by a factor of \sim 15 larger than the mass of
the EKB objects detected so far. About a half of the total EKB mass is in
classical and resonant objects and another half is in scattered ones. Treating
the debiased populations of EKB objects as dust parent bodies, we then
"generate" their dust disk with our collisional code. Apart from accurate
handling of collisions and direct radiation pressure, we include the
Poynting-Robertson (P-R) drag, which cannot be ignored for the EKB dust disk.
Outside the classical EKB, the radial profile of the optical depth
approximately follows tau \sim r^-2 which is roughly intermediate between the
slope predicted analytically for collision-dominated (r^-1.5) and
transport-dominated (r^-2.5) disks. The cross section-dominating grain size
still lies just above the blowout size (\sim 1...2 \microm), as it would
without the P-R transport. However, if the EKB were by one order of magnitude
less massive, the optical depth profile would fall off as tau \sim r^-3, and
the cross section-dominating grain size would shift from \sim 1...2\microm to
~100 \microm. These properties are seen if dust is assumed to be generated only
by known TNOs. If the solar system were observed from outside, the thermal
emission flux from the EKB dust would be about two orders of magnitude lower
than for solar-type stars with the brightest known infrared excesses observed
from the same distance. Herschel and other new-generation facilities should
reveal extrasolar debris disks nearly as tenuous as the EKB disk. The
Herschel/PACS instrument should be able to detect disks at a \sim 1...2M_EKB
level.Comment: 18 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Starcounts Redivivus. IV. Density Laws Through Photometric Parallaxes
In an effort to more precisely define the spatial distribution of Galactic
field stars, we present an analysis of the photometric parallaxes of 70,000
stars covering nearly 15 square degrees in seven Kapteyn Selected Areas. We
address the affects of Malmquist Bias, subgiant/giant contamination,
metallicity and binary stars upon the derived density laws. The affect of
binary stars is the most significant. We find that while the disk-like
populations of the Milky Way are easily constrained in a simultaneous analysis
of all seven fields, no good simultaneous solution for the halo is found. We
have applied halo density laws taken from other studies and find that the
Besancon flattened power law halo model (c/a=0.6, r^-2.75) produces the best
fit to our data. With this halo, the thick disk has a scale height of 750 pc
with an 8.5% normalization to the old disk. The old disk scale height is
280-300 pc. Corrected for a binary fraction of 50%, these scale heights are 940
pc and 350-375 pc, respectively. Even with this model, there are systematic
discrepancies between the observed and predicted density distributions. Our
model produces density overpredictions in the inner Galaxy and density
underpredictions in the outer Galaxy. A possible solution is modeling the
stellar halo as a two-component system in which the halo has a flattened inner
distribution and a roughly spherical, but substructured outer distribution.
Further reconciliation could be provided by a flared thick disk, a structure
consistent with a merger origin for that population. (Abridged)Comment: 66 pages, accepted to Astrophysical journal, some figures compresse
DNA Methylation of the ABO Promoter Underlies Loss of ABO Allelic Expression in a Significant Proportion of Leukemic Patients
Background: Loss of A, B and H antigens from the red blood cells of patients with myeloid malignancies is a frequent occurrence. Previously, we have reported alterations in ABH antigens on the red blood cells of 55% of patients with myeloid malignancies. Methodology/Principal Findings: To determine the underlying molecular mechanisms of this loss, we assessed ABO allelic expression in 21 patients with ABH antigen loss previously identified by flow cytometric analysis as well as an additional 7 patients detected with ABH antigen changes by serology. When assessing ABO mRNA allelic expression, 6/12 (50%) patients with ABH antigen loss detected by flow cytometry and 5/7 (71%) of the patients with ABH antigen loss detected by serology had a corresponding ABO mRNA allelic loss of expression. We examined the ABO locus for copy number and DNA methylation alterations in 21 patients, 11 with loss of expression of one or both ABO alleles, and 10 patients with no detectable allelic loss of ABO mRNA expression. No loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at the ABO locus was observed in these patients. However in 8/11 (73%) patients with loss of ABO allelic expression, the ABO promoter was methylated compared with 2/10 (20%) of patients with no ABO allelic expression loss (P = 0.03). Conclusions/Significance: We have found that loss of ABH antigens in patients with hematological malignancies is associated with a corresponding loss of ABO allelic expression in a significant proportion of patients. Loss of ABO allelic expression was strongly associated with DNA methylation of the ABO promoter.Tina Bianco-Miotto, Damian J. Hussey, Tanya K. Day, Denise S. O'Keefe and Alexander Dobrovi
The Halo Stars in NGC 5128. III: An Inner-Halo Field and the Metallicity Distribution
We present new HST/WFPC2 (V,I) photometry for the red-giant stars in NGC 5128
at a projected distance of 8 kpc from the galaxy center, which probe a mixture
of its inner halo and outer bulge. The color-magnitude diagram shows an old
red-giant branch which is even broader in color than our two previously studied
outer-halo fields (at 21 and 31 kpc), with significant numbers of stars
extending to Solar metallicity and higher. The peak frequency of the
metallicity distribution function (MDF) is at [m/H] ~ -0.4, with even fewer
metal-poor stars than in the outer-halo fields. We find that the main features
of the halo MDF can be reproduced by a simple chemical evolution model in which
early star formation goes on simultaneously with an initial stage of rapid
infall of very metal-poor gas, after which the infall dies away exponentially.
A comparison with the MDF for the NGC 5128 globular clusters indicates that
there is a clear decrease of specific frequency (number of clusters per
unit halo light) with increasing metallicity, from S_N ~ 4-8 at [Fe/H] < -1.6
down to S_N = 1.5 at [Fe/H] > -1. This trend may indicate that globular cluster
formation efficiency is a strong function of the metallicity of the
protocluster gas.Comment: 25 pages, LaTeX, plus 20 figures as .jpg files; Astronomical Journal
vol.123, in press for May 2002. A complete postscript file with better
quality figures is at http://physun.mcmaster.ca/~harris/WEHarris.htm
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