Measurements of Quarkonium Production and Polarization at CMS

The polarizations of Y(nS) (n=1,2,3) and prompt J/\psi and \psi(2S), as well as the differential cross section of the Y(nS), are measured in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using a dimuon data sample collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.9 fb-1. The differential cross section is measured as a function of transverse momentum of Y(nS). The data show a transition from exponential to power-law behavior in the neighborhood of 20 GeV, and the power-law exponents for all three states are consistent. The polarization parameters \lambda\theta, \lambda\phi, and \lambda\theta\phi, as well as the frame-invariant quantity \lambda, are measured from the dimuon decay angular distributions in three different polarization frames. No evidence of large polarizations is seen in these kinematic regions, which extend much beyond those previously explored.Comment: to appear in the proceedings of The 6th International Workshop on Charm Physics (CHARM 2013

Transfer Function Analysis: Modelling Residential Building Costs in New Zealand by Including the Influences of House Price and Work Volume

An accurate cost estimate not only plays a key role in project feasibility studies but also in achieving a final successful outcome. Conventionally, estimating cost typically relies on the experience of professionals and cost data from previous projects. However, this process is complex and time-consuming, and it is challenging to ensure the accuracy of the estimates. In this study, the bivariate and multivariate transfer function models were adopted to estimate and forecast the building costs of two types of residential buildings in New Zealand: Low-rise buildings and high-rise buildings. The transfer function method takes advantage of the merits of univariate time series analysis and the power of explanatory variables. In the dynamic project conduction environment, simply including building cost data in the cost forecasting models is not valid for making predictions, because the change in demand must be considered. Thus, the time series of house prices and work volume were used to explain exogenous effects in the transfer function model. To demonstrate the effectiveness of transfer function models, this study compared the results generated by the transfer function models with autoregressive integrated moving average models. According to the forecasting performance of the models, the proposed approach achieved better results than autoregressive integrated moving average models. The proposed method can provide accurate cost estimates that can help stakeholders in project budget planning and management strategy making at the early stage of a project

Effect of Printing Orientation on Strength of 3D Printed ABS Plastics

The mechanical strengths of ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene) components fabricated by fused deposition modeling (FDM) technique have been studied, with the focus on the effect of printing orientations on the strength. Using the properties derived from stress-strain curves of the samples, the 0-degree printed sample has the strongest mechanical properties, which is likely due to preferred orientations in individual slice