A comparative study of the D0 neural-network analysis of the top quark non-leptonic decay channel

A simpler neural-network approach is presented for the analysis of the top quark non-leptonic decay channel in events of the D0 Collaboration. Results for the top quark signal are comparable to those found by the D0 Collaboration by a more elaborate handling of the event information used as input to the neural network.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figur

Delirium Management, Treatment and Prevention Solid Organ Transplantation

Delirium following solid organ transplant is a very common complication. Post-operative delirium has been shown to be associated with longer length of stays, increased post-operative complications, increased readmission rates, higher costs, and increased mortality. Therefore, every healthcare provider who is involved in the care of transplant recipients should be well educated in the importance of early diagnosis of delirium, treatment of potential contributing factors, and optimizing management. Routine delirium screening to allow prompt diagnosis and workup is paramount to the care of post-operative transplant patients. Identifying high risk individuals for pre-operative rehabilitation to help decrease post-operative delirium rates, as well as focusing on functional and cognitive recovery following delirium are important preventative and rehabilitation efforts to optimize outcomes for transplant patients. This chapter will highlight a proactive approach to delirium prevention and management in the transplant population

Interannual variability of winter precipitation in the European Alps: relations with the North Atlantic Oscillation.

Abstract. The European Alps rely on winter precipitation for various needs in terms of hydropower and other water uses. Major European rivers originate from the Alps and depend on winter precipitation and the consequent spring snow melt for their summer base flows. Understanding the fluctuations in winter rainfall in this region is crucially important to the study of changes in hydrologic regime in river basins, as well as to the management of their water resources. Despite the recognized relevance of winter precipitation to the water resources of the Alps and surrounding regions, the magnitude and mechanistic explanation of interannual precipitation variability in the Alpine region remains unclear and poorly investigated. Here we use gridded precipitation data from the CRU TS 1.2 to study the interannual variability of winter alpine precipitation. We found that the Alps are the region with the highest interannual variability in winter precipitation in Europe. This variability cannot be explained by large scale climate patterns such as the Arctic Oscillation (AO), North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) or the East Atlantic/West Russia (EA/WR), even though regions below and above the Alps demonstrate connections with these patterns. Significant trends were detected only in small regions located in the Eastern part of the Alps

The assembly of massive galaxies from NIR observations of the Hubble Deep Field South

We use a deep K(AB)<25 galaxy sample in the Hubble Deep Field South to trace the evolution of the cosmological stellar mass density from z~ 0.5 to z~3. We find clear evidence for a decrease of the average stellar mass density at high redshift, 2<z<3.2, that is 15^{+25}_{-5}% of the local value, two times higher than what observed in the Hubble Deep Field North. To take into account for the selection effects, we define a homogeneous subsample of galaxies with 10^{10}M_\odot \leq M_* \leq 10^{11}M_\odot: in this sample, the mass density at z>2 is 20^{+20}_{-5} % of the local value. In the mass--limited subsample at z>2, the fraction of passively fading galaxies is at most 25%, although they can contribute up to about 40% of the stellar mass density. On the other hand, star--forming galaxies at z>2 form stars with an average specific rate at least ~4 x10^{-10} yr$^{-1}$, 3 times higher than the z<~1 value. This implies that UV bright star--forming galaxies are substancial contributors to the rise of the stellar mass density with cosmic time. Although these results are globally consistent with $\Lambda$--CDM scenarios, the present rendition of semi analytic models fails to match the stellar mass density produced by more massive galaxies present at z>2.Comment: Accepted for publication on ApJLetter

Strongly star-forming rotating disks in a complex merging system at z = 4,7 as revealed by ALMA

We performed a kinematical analysis of the [CII] line emission of the BR 1202-0725 system at z~4,7 using ALMA observations. The most prominent sources of this system are a quasar and a submillimeter galaxy, separated by a projected distance of about 24 kpc and characterized by very high SFR, higher than 1000 Msun/yr. However, the ALMA observations reveal that these galaxies apparently have undisturbed rotating disks, which is at variance with the commonly accepted scenario in which strong star formation activity is induced by a major merger. We also detected faint components which, after spectral deblending, were spatially resolved from the main QSO and SMG emissions. The relative velocities and positions of these components are compatible with orbital motions within the gravitational potentials generated by the QSO host galaxy and the SMG, suggesting that they are smaller galaxies in interaction or gas clouds in accretion flows of tidal streams. We did not find any clear spectral evidence for outflows caused by AGN or stellar feedback. This suggests that the high star formation rates might be induced by interactions or minor mergers with these companions, which do not affect the large-scale kinematics of the disks, however. Our kinematical analysis also indicates that the QSO and the SMG have similar Mdyn, mostly in the form of molecular gas, and that the QSO host galaxy and the SMG are seen close to face-on with slightly different disk inclinations: the QSO host galaxy is seen almost face-on (i~15), while the SMG is seen at higher inclinations (i~25). Finally, the ratio between the black hole mass of the QSO, obtained from XShooter spectroscopy, and the Mdyn of the host galaxy is similar to value found in very massive local galaxies, suggesting that the evolution of black hole galaxy relations is probably better studied with dynamical than with stellar host galaxy masses.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic

New Orientia tsutsugamushi strain from scrub typhus in Australia.

In a recent case of scrub typhus in Australia, Orientia tsutsugamushi isolated from the patient's blood was tested by sequence analysis of the 16S rDNA gene. The sequence showed a strain of O. tsutsugamushi that was quite different from the classic Karp, Kato, and Gilliam strains. The new strain has been designated Litchfield

European large-scale farmland investments and the land-water-energy-food nexus

The escalating human demand for food, water, energy, fibres and minerals have resulted in increasing commercial pressures on land and water resources, which are partly reflected by the recent increase in transnational land investments. Studies have shown that many of the land-water issues associated with land acquisitions are directly related to the areas of energy and food production. This paper explores the land-water-energy-food nexus in relation to large-scale farmland investments pursued by investors from European countries. The analysis is based on a “resource assessment approach” which evaluates the linkages between land acquisitions for agricultural (including both energy and food production) and forestry purposes, and the availability of land and water in the target countries. To that end, the water appropriated by agricultural and forestry productions is quantitatively assessed and its impact on water resource availability is analysed. The analysis is meant to provide useful information to investors from EU countries and policy makers on aspects of resource acquisition, scarcity, and access to promote responsible land investments in the target countries

The evolution of the galaxy luminosity function in the rest frame blue band up to z=3.5

We present an estimate of the cosmological evolution of the field galaxy luminosity function (LF) in the rest frame 4400 Angstrom B -band up to redshift z=3.5. To this purpose, we use a composite sample of 1541 I--selected galaxies selected down to I_(AB)=27.2 and 138 galaxies selected down to K_(AB)=25 from ground-based and HST multicolor surveys, most notably the new deep JHK images in the Hubble Deep Field South (HDF-S) taken with the ISAAC instrument at the ESO-VLT telescope. About 21% of the sample has spectroscopic redshifts, and the remaining fraction well calibrated photometric redshifts. The resulting blue LF shows little density evolution at the faint end with respect to the local values, while at the bright end (M_B(AB)<-20) a brightening increasing with redshift is apparent with respect to the local LF. Hierarchical CDM models overpredict the number of faint galaxies by about a factor 3 at z=1. At the bright end the predicted LFs are in reasonable agreement only at low and intermediate redshifts (z=1), but fail to reproduce the pronounced brightening observed in the high redshift (z=2-3) LF. This brightening could mark the epoch where a major star formation activity is present in the galaxy evolution.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figures, Astrophysical Journal Letters, in pres

grc4f v1.0: a Four-fermion Event Generator for e+e- Collisions

grc4f is a Monte-Carlo package for generating e+e- to 4-fermion processes in the standard model. All of the 76 LEP-2 allowed fermionic final state processes evaluated at tree level are included in version 1.0. grc4f addresses event simulation requirements at e+e- colliders such as LEP and up-coming linear colliders. Most of the attractive aspects of grc4f come from its link to the GRACE system: a Feynman diagram automatic computation system. The GRACE system has been used to produce the computational code for all final states, giving a higher level of confidence in the calculation correctness. Based on the helicity amplitude calculation technique, all fermion masses can be kept finite and helicity information can be propagated down to the final state particles. The phase space integration of the matrix element gives the total and differential cross sections, then unweighted events are Generated. Initial state radiation (ISR) corrections are implemented in two ways, one is based on the electron structure function formalism and the second uses the parton shower algorithm called QEDPS. The latter can also be applied for final state radiation (FSR) though the interference with the ISR is not yet taken into account. Parton shower and hadronization of the final quarks are performed through an interface to JETSET. Coulomb correction between two intermediate W's, anomalous coupling as well as gluon contributions in the hadronic processes are also included.Comment: 30 pages, LaTeX, 5 pages postscript figures, uuencode