4,646 research outputs found
Inclusive CP Asymmetries in Semileptonic Decays of B Mesons
We estimate the sensitivity of single lepton CP violation measurements with
respect to that of traditional di-lepton measurements. We find that the
sensitivity of the single lepton method is better than that of the di-lepton
method. The achievable sensitivity with the currently available data is already
in the range relevant to standard model predictions. We also give general
expressions for inclusive decay time distributions on where the
other is not measured, which will be used to obtain time dependent
asymmetries. The expression is of general use whenever one deals with inclusive
time-dependent as well as time-integrated measurements in where the final state of the other is not reconstructed or
when only the time difference is measured.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure. Two references added, and a few typos correcte
Comprehensive Two-Point Analyses of Weak Gravitational Lensing Surveys
We present a framework for analyzing weak gravitational lensing survey data,
including lensing and source-density observables, plus spectroscopic redshift
calibration data. All two-point observables are predicted in terms of
parameters of a perturbed Robertson-Walker metric, making the framework
independent of the models for gravity, dark energy, or galaxy properties. For
Gaussian fluctuations the 2-point model determines the survey likelihood
function and allows Fisher-matrix forecasting. The framework includes nuisance
terms for the major systematic errors: shear measurement errors, magnification
bias and redshift calibration errors, intrinsic galaxy alignments, and
inaccurate theoretical predictions. We propose flexible parameterizations of
the many nuisance parameters related to galaxy bias and intrinsic alignment.
For the first time we can integrate many different observables and systematic
errors into a single analysis. As a first application of this framework, we
demonstrate that: uncertainties in power-spectrum theory cause very minor
degradation to cosmological information content; nearly all useful information
(excepting baryon oscillations) is extracted with ~3 bins per decade of angular
scale; and the rate at which galaxy bias varies with redshift substantially
influences the strength of cosmological inference. The framework will permit
careful study of the interplay between numerous observables, systematic errors,
and spectroscopic calibration data for large weak-lensing surveys.Comment: submitted to Ap
Distance, Growth Factor, and Dark Energy Constraints from Photometric Baryon Acoustic Oscillation and Weak Lensing Measurements
Baryon acoustic oscillations (BAOs) and weak lensing (WL) are complementary
probes of cosmology. We explore the distance and growth factor measurements
from photometric BAO and WL techniques and investigate the roles of the
distance and growth factor in constraining dark energy. We find for WL that the
growth factor has a great impact on dark energy constraints but is much less
powerful than the distance. Dark energy constraints from WL are concentrated in
considerably fewer distance eigenmodes than those from BAO, with the largest
contributions from modes that are sensitive to the absolute distance. Both
techniques have some well determined distance eigenmodes that are not very
sensitive to the dark energy equation of state parameters w_0 and w_a,
suggesting that they can accommodate additional parameters for dark energy and
for the control of systematic uncertainties. A joint analysis of BAO and WL is
far more powerful than either technique alone, and the resulting constraints on
the distance and growth factor will be useful for distinguishing dark energy
and modified gravity models. The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) will
yield both WL and angular BAO over a sample of several billion galaxies. Joint
LSST BAO and WL can yield 0.5% level precision on ten comoving distances evenly
spaced in log(1+z) between redshift 0.3 and 3 with cosmic microwave background
priors from Planck. In addition, since the angular diameter distance, which
directly affects the observables, is linked to the comoving distance solely by
the curvature radius in the Friedmann-Robertson-Walker metric solution, LSST
can achieve a pure metric constraint of 0.017 on the mean curvature parameter
Omega_k of the universe simultaneously with the constraints on the comoving
distances.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, details and references added, ApJ accepte
Characterizing and Propagating Modeling Uncertainties in Photometrically-Derived Redshift Distributions
The uncertainty in the redshift distributions of galaxies has a significant
potential impact on the cosmological parameter values inferred from multi-band
imaging surveys. The accuracy of the photometric redshifts measured in these
surveys depends not only on the quality of the flux data, but also on a number
of modeling assumptions that enter into both the training set and SED fitting
methods of photometric redshift estimation. In this work we focus on the
latter, considering two types of modeling uncertainties: uncertainties in the
SED template set and uncertainties in the magnitude and type priors used in a
Bayesian photometric redshift estimation method. We find that SED template
selection effects dominate over magnitude prior errors. We introduce a method
for parameterizing the resulting ignorance of the redshift distributions, and
for propagating these uncertainties to uncertainties in cosmological
parameters.Comment: 13 pages, 12 figures, version published in Ap
An all-electric single-molecule hybridisation detector for short DNA fragments
In combining DNA nanotechnology and high-bandwidth single-molecule detection in nanopipettes, we demonstrate an all-electric, label-free hybridisation sensor for short DNA sequences (< 100 nt). Such short fragments are known to occur as circulating cell-free DNA in various bodily fluids, such as blood plasma and saliva, and have been identified as disease markers for cancer and infectious diseases. To this end, we use as a model system a 88-mer target from the RV1910c gene in Mycobacterium tuberculosis that is associated with antibiotic (isoniazid) resistance in TB. Upon binding to short probes attached to long carrier DNA, we show that resistive pulse sensing in nanopipettes is capable of identifying rather subtle structural differences, such as the hybridisation state of the probes, in a statistically robust manner. With significant potential towards multiplexing and high-throughput analysis, our study points towards a new, single-molecule DNA assay technology that is fast, easy to use and compatible with point of care environments
Optimal Surveys for Weak Lensing Tomography
Weak lensing surveys provide a powerful probe of dark energy through the
measurement of the mass distribution of the local Universe. A number of
ground-based and space-based surveys are being planned for this purpose. Here,
we study the optimal strategy for these future surveys using the joint
constraints on the equation of state parameter wn and its evolution wa as a
figure of merit by considering power spectrum tomography. For this purpose, we
first consider an `ideal' survey which is both wide and deep and exempt from
systematics. We find that such a survey has great potential for dark energy
studies, reaching one sigma precisions of 1% and 10% on the two parameters
respectively. We then study the relative impact of various limitations by
degrading this ideal survey. In particular, we consider the effect of sky
coverage, survey depth, shape measurements systematics, photometric redshifts
systematics and uncertainties in the non-linear power spectrum predictions. We
find that, for a given observing time, it is always advantageous to choose a
wide rather than a deep survey geometry. We also find that the dark energy
constraints from power spectrum tomography are robust to photometric redshift
errors and catastrophic failures, if a spectroscopic calibration sample of
10^4-10^5 galaxies is available. The impact of these systematics is small
compared to the limitations that come from potential uncertainties in the power
spectrum, due to shear measurement and theoretical errors. To help the planning
of future surveys, we summarize our results with comprehensive scaling
relations which avoid the need for full Fisher matrix calculations.Comment: Submitted to MNRAS. 10 pages, including 13 figures and 2 table
Modulation of Early Host Innate Immune Response by an Avipox Vaccine Virus' Lateral Body Protein
The avian pathogen fowlpox virus (FWPV) has been successfully used as a vaccine vector in poultry and humans, but relatively little is known about its ability to modulate host antiviral immune responses in these hosts, which are replication-permissive and nonpermissive, respectively. FWPV is highly resistant to avian type I interferon (IFN) and able to completely block the host IFN-response. Microarray screening of host IFN-regulated gene expression in cells infected with 59 different, nonessential FWPV gene knockout mutants revealed that FPV184 confers immunomodulatory capacity. We report that the FPV184-knockout virus (FWPVΔ184) induces the cellular IFN response as early as 2 h postinfection. The wild-type, uninduced phenotype can be rescued by transient expression of FPV184 in FWPVΔ184-infected cells. Ectopic expression of FPV184 inhibited polyI:C activation of the chicken IFN-β promoter and IFN-α activation of the chicken Mx1 promoter. Confocal and correlative super-resolution light and electron microscopy demonstrated that FPV184 has a functional nuclear localisation signal domain and is packaged in the lateral bodies of the virions. Taken together, these results provide a paradigm for a late poxvirus structural protein packaged in the lateral bodies, capable of suppressing IFN induction early during the next round of infection
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