Knowledge Organization and Inference Engine for the WVU Face Decision Support System

The knowledge-based organization for the West Virginia University Face Decision Support System is given, along with the initial development of the associated inference engine. The knowledge base contains generic knowledge about underground coal mines that utilize continuous miners. A typical knowledge entry is given, and the inference engine methodology is explained. The engine utilizes this knowledge with data from monitoring systems and from interaction with the section foreman, to assist in making section management decisions and plans

Spiky parallel electrostatic ion cyclotron and ion acoustic waves

International audienceOne of the interesting observations from the FAST satellite is the detection of strong spiky waveforms in the parallel electric field in association with ion cyclotron oscillations in the perpendicular electric fields. We report here an analytical model of the coupled nonlinear ion cyclotron and ion-acoustic waves, which could explain the observations. Using the fluid equations for the plasma consisting of warm electrons and cold ions, a nonlinear wave equation is derived in the rest frame of the propagating wave for any direction of propagation oblique to the ambient magnetic field. The equilibrium bulk flow of ions is also included in the model to mimic the field-aligned current. Depending on the wave Mach number M defined by M = V/Cs with V and Cs being the wave phase velocity and ion-acoustic speed, respectively, we find a range of solutions varying from a sinusoidal wave form for small amplitudes and low M to sawtooth and highly spiky waveforms for nearly parallel propagation. The results from the model are compared with the satellite observations

Many-Body Corrections to Charged-Current Neutrino Absorption Rates in Nuclear Matter

Including nucleon--nucleon correlations due to both Fermi statistics and nuclear forces, we have developed a general formalism for calculating the charged--current neutrino--nucleon absorption rates in nuclear matter. We find that at one half nuclear density many--body effects alone suppress the rates by a factor of two and that the suppression factors increase to $\sim$5 at $4\times10^{14}$ g cm$^{-3}$. The associated increase in the neutrino--matter mean--free--paths parallels that found for neutral--current interactions and opens up interesting possibilities in the context of the delayed supernova mechanism and protoneutron star cooling.Comment: 11 pages, APS REVTeX format, 1 PostScript figure, uuencoded compressed, and tarred, submitted to Physical Review Letter

Oxidation of Monochloro-, Dichloro- & Trichloroacetic Acids by Potassium Permanganate

700-70

Economic Investigation of Community-Scale Versus Building Scale Net-Zero Energy

The study presented in this report examines issues concerning whether achieving net-zero energy performance at the community scale provides economic and potentially overall efficiency advantages over strategies focused on individual buildings

On some singularities of the correlation functions that determine neutrino opacities

Certain perturbation graphs in the calculation of the effects of the medium on neutrino scattering in supernova matter have a nonintegrable singularity in a physical region. A number of papers have addressed the apparent pathology through an ansatz that invokes higher order (rescattering) effects. Taking the Gamow-Teller terms as an example, we display an expression for the spin-spin correlation function that determines the cross-sections. It is clear from the form that there are no pathologies in the order by order perturbation expansion. Explicit formulae are given for a simple case, leading to an answer that is very different from one given by other authors.Comment: 8 page

Quark Matter in Neutron Stars: An apercu

The existence of deconfined quark matter in the superdense interior of neutron stars is a key question that has drawn considerable attention over the past few decades. Quark matter can comprise an arbitrary fraction of the star, from 0 for a pure neutron star to 1 for a pure quark star, depending on the equation of state of matter at high density. From an astrophysical viewpoint, these two extreme cases are generally expected to manifest different observational signatures. An intermediate fraction implies a hybrid star, where the interior consists of mixed or homogeneous phases of quark and nuclear matter, depending on surface and Coulomb energy costs, as well as other finite size and screening effects. In this brief review article, we discuss what we can deduce about quark matter in neutron stars in light of recent exciting developments in neutron star observations. We state the theoretical ideas underlying the equation of state of dense quark matter, including color superconducting quark matter. We also highlight recent advances stemming from re-examination of an old paradigm for the surface structure of quark stars and discuss possible evolutionary scenarios from neutron stars to quark stars, with emphasis on astrophysical observations.Comment: 15 pages, 1 figure. Invited review for Modern Physics Letters

A to G transitions at 260, 386 and 437 in DAZL gene are not associated with spermatogenic failure in Indian population

The autosomal DAZL (Deleted-in-Azoospermic-Like) gene, mapped to the short arm of the human chromosome 3, is the precursor for the Y-chromosomal DAZ cluster, which encodes for putative RNA-binding proteins. Mutations in the DAZL have been reported to be associated with spermatogenic failure in Taiwanese population but not in Caucasians. As there was no study on Indian populations, we have analysed the entire coding sequences of exons 2 and 3 of DAZL in a total of 1010 men from Indian subcontinent, including 660 infertile men with 598 non-obstructive azoospermia, 62 severe oligozoospermia and 350 normozoospermic fertile control men, to investigate whether mutation(s) in the DAZL is associated with male infertility. Interestingly, none of our samples (1010) showed A386G (T54A) mutation, which was found to be associated with spermatogenic failure in Taiwanese population. In contrast, A260G (T12A) mutation was observed in both infertile and normozoospermic fertile control men, without any significant association with infertile groups (χ2=0.342; p=0.556). Similarly, we have found a novel A437G (I71V) mutation, which is also present in both infertile and normozoospermic fertile control men without any significant difference (χ2=0.476; p=0.490). Our study clearly demonstrates the complete absence of the A386G (T54A) mutation in Indian subcontinent and the other two mutations- A260G (T12A) and A437G (I71V)- observed are polymorpic. Therefore, we conclude that these mutations in the DAZL gene are not associated with male infertility in Indian subcontinent