Adapting Real Quantifier Elimination Methods for Conflict Set Computation

The satisfiability problem in real closed fields is decidable. In the context of satisfiability modulo theories, the problem restricted to conjunctive sets of literals, that is, sets of polynomial constraints, is of particular importance. One of the central problems is the computation of good explanations of the unsatisfiability of such sets, i.e.\ obtaining a small subset of the input constraints whose conjunction is already unsatisfiable. We adapt two commonly used real quantifier elimination methods, cylindrical algebraic decomposition and virtual substitution, to provide such conflict sets and demonstrate the performance of our method in practice

Identification by MALDI-TOF MS of Sporothrix brasiliensis isolated from a subconjunctival infiltrative lesion in an immunocompetent patient

Sporotrichosis is a globally distributed subcutaneous fungal infection caused by dimorphic fungi belonging to the Sporothrix species complex that affects the skin of limbs predominantly, but not exclusively. A rare case of ocular sporotrichosis in an immunocompetent Brazilian patient from the countryside of Rio de Janeiro State is reported. A 68-year-old woman presented with a subconjunctival infiltrative lesion in the right eye with pre-auricular lymphadenopathy of onset 4 months ago that evolved to suppurative nodular lesions on the eyelids. Conjunctival secretion was evaluated by histopathological examination and inoculated on Sabouraud Dextrose Agar (SDA). Histopathology showed oval bodies within giant cells and other mononucleated histiocytes. Fungus grown on SDA was identified as Sporothrix sp. by morphological observations. The isolated strain was finally identified by Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) associated with an in-house database enriched with reference Sporothrix complex spectra. The strain presented a MALDI spectrum with the ion peaks of the molecular mass profile of S. brasiliensis. The patient was adequately treated with amphotericin B subsequently replaced by itraconazole. Due to scars left by the suppurative process, the patient presented poor final visual acuity. The present work presents an overview of ocular sporotrichosis and discusses the diagnostic difficulty that can lead to visual sequelae in these cases.Financial support for this work by Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Rio de Janeiro [FAPERJ] (Grants: INST E-26/010.001784/2016; JCNE E-26/203.301/2017), by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico [CNPq] (Grant Proc. 409227/2016-1). This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brasil (CAPES). MALDI-TOF MS analyses were partially developed using equipment funded by CONICYT/Chile through the project Fondequip EQM160054 2016. The Universidad de La Frontera (Temuco, Chile) partially funded this work through the Project DIUFRO PIA19-0001. Furthermore, this study was also supported by FCT under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2019 unit and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020 - Programa Operacional Regional do Norte.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Periodic boundary conditions on the pseudosphere

We provide a framework to build periodic boundary conditions on the pseudosphere (or hyperbolic plane), the infinite two-dimensional Riemannian space of constant negative curvature. Starting from the common case of periodic boundary conditions in the Euclidean plane, we introduce all the needed mathematical notions and sketch a classification of periodic boundary conditions on the hyperbolic plane. We stress the possible applications in statistical mechanics for studying the bulk behavior of physical systems and we illustrate how to implement such periodic boundary conditions in two examples, the dynamics of particles on the pseudosphere and the study of classical spins on hyperbolic lattices.Comment: 30 pages, minor corrections, accepted to J. Phys.

Microdevices for extensional rheometry of low viscosity elastic liquids : a review

Extensional flows and the underlying stability/instability mechanisms are of extreme relevance to the efficient operation of inkjet printing, coating processes and drug delivery systems, as well as for the generation of micro droplets. The development of an extensional rheometer to characterize the extensional properties of low viscosity fluids has therefore stimulated great interest of researchers, particularly in the last decade. Microfluidics has proven to be an extraordinary working platform and different configurations of potential extensional microrheometers have been proposed. In this review, we present an overview of several successful designs, together with a critical assessment of their capabilities and limitations

Recent Developments of World-Line Monte Carlo Methods

World-line quantum Monte Carlo methods are reviewed with an emphasis on breakthroughs made in recent years. In particular, three algorithms -- the loop algorithm, the worm algorithm, and the directed-loop algorithm -- for updating world-line configurations are presented in a unified perspective. Detailed descriptions of the algorithms in specific cases are also given.Comment: To appear in Journal of Physical Society of Japa

First Observation of the Doubly Charmed Baryon Xi_cc^+

We observe a signal for the doubly charmed baryon Xi_cc^+ in the charged decay mode Xi_cc^+ --> Lambda_c^+ K- pi+ in data from SELEX, the charm hadro-production experiment at Fermilab. We observe an excess of 15.9 events over an expected background of 6.1 +/- 0.5 events, a statistical significance of 6.3sigma. The observed mass of this state is (3519 +/- 1) MeV/c^2. The Gaussian mass width of this state is 3MeV/c^2, consistent with resolution; its lifetime is less than 33fsec at 90% confidence.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Physical Review Letter

Search for New Particles Decaying to Dijets at CDF

We have used 106 pb^-1 of data collected with the Collider Detector at Fermilab to search for new particles decaying to dijets. We exclude at the 95% confidence level models containing the following new particles: axigluons and flavor universal colorons with mass between 200 and 980 GeV/c, excited quarks with mass between 80 and 570 GeV/c^2 and between 580 and 760 GeV/c^2, color octet technirhos with mass between 260 and 480 GeV/c^2, W' bosons with mass between 300 and 420 GeV/c^2, and E_6 diquarks with mass between 290 and 420 GeV/c^2.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures, 1 table. Submitted to Physical Review D Rapid Communications. Postscript file of paper is also available at http://www-cdf.fnal.gov/physics/pub97/cdf3276_dijet_search_prd_rc.p

Variations in Amazonian forest canopy structure and light environments across environmental and disturbance gradients.

A critical problem in tropical forest ecology is understanding how vegetation structure and function vary over environmental gradients. The degree to which forest structure changes across the Amazon basin and the role of environmental variability in shaping forest structure and dynamics are poorly characterised, despite the importance of these forests for regional and global climate. To address these challenges, we connected 10 years of investigations to amass a large database of ground-based profiling canopy lidar (PCL) data from 297 Amazon forest plots across large-scale environmental and disturbance gradients. Mean annual precipitation varied from 1,963 to 3,159 mm, number of dry season months from 0 to 5, and plot soil types covered about half of the variation in phosphorus, exchangeable cation, and soil physical property values observed in Amazonia. We quantified detailed metrics of vertical and horizontal structure and canopy light environments. Forest structure varied considerably across plots; maximum canopy height ranged from 6.1 to 35.7 m, gap fraction from 0.00 to 0.36, LAI from 0.5 to 7.3, rugosity from 1.5 to 7.5 m, and the relative height of 50% light transmission from 0.3 to 0.8. Disturbed sites exhibited almost twice the level of variation (SD) to non-disturbed sites for many metrics. Vertical leaf area density (LAD) profiles also showed high between plot variability, especially at low and high relative canopy heights. Plots with similar LAD profiles sometimes exhibited different distributions of ?canopy photic environment layers??where canopy leaf area is separated into photic environment layers by depth from canopy surface. This demonstrates that LAD profiles alone are insufficient for characterising canopy environments, essential to light-driven regeneration and carbon cycle processes. In addition, we evaluated relationships between lidar metrics and environmental variables extracted from geospatial layers. Our dataset allows a unique and detailed multi-site analysis of canopy structure and environments across the Amazon, including regions with little or no lidar sampling. Examining how structural attributes alter across environmental gradients is critical to understanding how current and future climate influences Amazonian forest structure, function, and dynamics.Paper 499657